Networking for Job Success

Networking Tips #3

You know you need to network to be successful in your job search.  You’ve had informative informational interviews.  You’ve identified contacts in your target companies and in your field of interest.  You have even joined a couple professional associations in your field.  Congratulations.  You are off to a great start but you still haven’t seen the full power of your network.

Imagine this.  You check the job postings each week at your target companies and finally this week when you look, Company A has a job posted which is your ideal job.  What do you do?

Prepare Your Resume and Cover Letter.  Review your resume in context of the job description.  Make any needed final changes and proofread carefully.  Have someone proof it as well just to be sure you have no errors.  Develop a customized cover letter addressing how you meet the specific requirements of the job.  Do not summarize your resume.  Instead “connect the dots” for the hiring manager by showing them how your experience would add value to their company in this role.

Apply Online.  While this does not do much to ensure your success, it is often a requirement by the company.  Many hiring managers are not allowed to speak with candidates who are not officially in the system.  Follow directions carefully and apply with your resume and customized cover letter attached.

Leverage Your Network.  Once you have applied online, reach out to your contact at Company A.  Tell them you saw the perfect job posted and that you have applied online.  Ask if they would do you a huge favor and share your resume and cover letter with the hiring manager.  Send your resume and cover letter to be forwarded to the hiring manager.

What’s a Hiring Manager to Do?  The hiring manager receives hundreds of online applications and doesn’t even know where to start.  If trusted colleagues within the organization share a few resumes and cover letters, those are most likely the first ones the manager will review.  If they see a possible fit, they start the interview process with those candidates.  Going to the mountain of resumes is often a last resort.  You want to be sure you are in the short pile and that is what a networking connection can do for you.

Increase Your Likelihood of Success.  You have to get an interview to have a chance of receiving the offer.  To get to the interview stage, someone has to see your resume and believe there is a fit.  Your networking connection can significantly increase the odds of getting your resume seen by the hiring manager.  Sometimes you get lucky and your connections give you a heads up that a position will be posting.  Networking makes a difference.

Stay tuned for more tips on networking successfully.

Top 10 Resume Mistakes

While your resume alone will never land you the job, it is a critical component in getting you the interview and an opportunity to sell yourself.  To increase your likelihood of success, avoid these common resume mistakes.

• Spelling and Grammatical Errors—Your resume represents your professional brand to perspective employers so you want it to be flawless. You need to proofread it several times and then have someone else proofread it for you.  Many hiring managers will automatically eliminate resumes with spelling and grammatical errors.  It reflects poorly on your attention to detail.

• Focus on Listing Responsibilities— Your resume should not be a listing of your job responsibilities. This is not a job description.  You need to focus your resume on your key accomplishments to demonstrate the value you brought to the company by being in this role.  How did you make a difference?

• Lack of Quantitative Data—Where possible you need to quantify the results you achieved to put them in perspective. “Reduced costs by 20%” is more significant and impactful than “reduced costs.”  “Designed and executed an online promotion campaign which increased market share resulting in increased revenue by 30%,” gives the reader a sense of what you did and the result.  For companies that are not well known, it is helpful to give some perspective.  “A technology company with $250 million in revenue.”  Also add perspective where it helps someone understand the role and scope of responsibility, “hired and trained a team of 20 customer service representatives.”

• Reliance on Acronyms—Avoid acronyms that are commonly used outside the company. Use English to explain the system or program  you worked on instead of company acronyms that no hiring manager will understand.

• Focus on Your Goals—Do not start your resume by stating your goal or professional objective. The hiring manager really doesn’t care that your goal is to achieve a financial management position within five years.  Focus instead on a summary of your transferrable skills and competencies.  Capture their attention up front to make them want to read the rest of your resume.  Focus on what you can do for them.

• Lack of Customization—Often candidates are pursuing opportunities in different lines of work. In those instances it is important to have multiple versions of your resume to demonstrate your relevant transferrable skills.  Your job history is the same but you may want to emphasize different skills and accomplishments depending on the type of position for which you are applying.

• Inconsistent bullet points and tense— You should always use present tense for your current position and past tense for all prior positions.  Your bullets should also have a consistent structure and be easy for the hiring manager to read.

• More is not better—Hiring managers are quickly turned off by long resumes. Seven years or less of professional experience should always be kept to a single page and resumes otherwise should not exceed two pages.  You should have more bullets for the current and relevant positions and significantly less detail on older positions.  The resume is meant to summarize your professional experience not provide a detailed accounting.  A resume that is multiple pages can quickly end up in the “no pile.”

• Failure to use action verbs— All bullet points on your resume should start with an action verb.  Avoid phrases such as “responsible for” or “worked on”.   Use a thesaurus if needed to identify strong action verbs to convey your experience.  Be careful not to overuse the same action verb in multiple bullets.

• Not enough white space – Some resume writers get very creative and cram as much as possible on the page by narrowing the margins and shrinking the font. This results in a resume that is difficult to read.  Many hiring managers won’t make the effort to carefully review a resume that is hard to read.  Better to focus on the key points and leave some white space so a reader can see the true value you bring.

Investing the time and energy to create a focused, flawless resume will pay off in your job search.

Accomplishments vs. Responsibilities on Your Resume

If one of your current projects while working from home and social distancing is to update your resume, it is important to focus on accomplishments not responsibilities.  This is a common resume error.  In focusing on responsibilities, the candidate significantly reduces their odds of standing out in the mountain of resumes.  To increase your likelihood of success, you need to focus on your accomplishments and quantify them where ever possible.

Responsibilities are the laundry list of tasks that are part of job description.  That is not relevant to a hiring manager.  The hiring manager wants to know what difference you made for the company by being there.  What happened because you were there doing this job?  Accomplishment statements demonstrate your successful results.

To effectively create accomplishment statements, identify the Situation, Task, Action and Result (STAR) for each experience.  Then, transform this information into a bullet for your resume.  Where possible quantify the result.  Begin each accomplishment statement with an action verb.

• Situation/Task – Describe the situation you encountered or the task for which you were responsible. Think in terms of the business problem that needed to be solved.
• Action – What did you do to address the business need?
• Results – What was the result of that action?

Consider the following examples as transforming the “before” responsibility statement into the “after” accomplishment statement.

• Before:  Managed contracts and change orders for each project.
• After:   Managed contracts and change orders on projects to ensure timely completion within budget.

• Before:  Managed all online adverting billing.
• After:  Managed $7 million of receivables for online advertisements.

• Before:  Helped promote financial products through direct interaction with clients.
• After:  Promoted financial projects to clients, resulting in 30% increase in assets under management.

If you catch yourself starting a bullet point with “responsible for” stop immediately!  That is the signal that you are focused on a responsibility and not an accomplishment.   Be sure to start each accomplishment statement with an action verb – present tense if current job, past tense for all others.

Put you best foot forward in your resume by focusing the hiring manager’s attention on what you accomplished for past employers to help demonstrate your ability to add value to their organization.  Accomplishment statements with quantifiable results will help your resume stand out from the crowd.

 

Tips for a Successful Resume #3

In order to have a resume which has maximum impact on potential employers, you should carefully consider everything you include on your resume.  Allocating space to on your resume tells the potential employer that you consider it important.  Be sure you are focusing their attention on the things that matter most to them.

Keep the Employer Perspective in Mind – Yes, it is your resume and you need to tell them about you but you have greater impact if you prepare your resume with the employer in mind.  You will likely have more content than will fit on one page so when making decisions about what to include, keep the employer perspective in mind.  You should focus on the skills and experiences that are transferrable and most relevant to the employer.  It should be about what they need not what you want.  Consider how you can make a difference to a company and help solve their problems.

Don’t let it stand alone —  General rule of thumb for a successful job search, don’t ever send your resume alone when applying for a job.  If the position is worth applying to, it is worth preparing a customized cover letter.  This gives you an opportunity to clearly “connect the dots” between their specific needs in the job posting and your experience and expertise.  Don’t expect an employer to take the time to do that themselves.  Show them how you can add value in this role.  If you are applying online, be sure you follow all the steps required in the posting.  Don’t give them an easy opportunity to eliminate you.

Life Outside of Work – It can certainly be appropriate to show employers a glimpse of your life outside of work.  If you have volunteer experience, you can include a volunteer section.  Identify the organization, your role and the dates.  If you were involved in an organization that could be unpopular or divisive, carefully consider how important it is to include it on your resume.  If you have unique hobbies or interests, you can list those as well.  Sometimes these unique items make someone want to talk to you.  Avoid “spending time with friends and family” since that clearly doesn’t differentiate you.

Consider Having Multiple Versions – For most job seekers, a single resume is not enough.  If you are pursuing opportunities in different fields, consider having separate versions of your resume to focus on the most relevant skills in each field.  Depending on the specific job you are applying for, you may want to emphasize different accomplishments from your previous experience and you may want to update the key words in your summary to better align with the job description.  Yes, this is additional work but it can increase the likelihood of an employer wanting to know more about you.  Your work experience overall remains the same, but you can choose to highlight different accomplishments and skills depending on the specific opportunity.  For employers using applicant tracking software having the appropriate key words in your summery can make a difference of advance in the process instead of being eliminated.

You are the Product – In a job search, you are the product.  This is the most important sales role of your life.  Be sure your resume is the best possible reflection of you – your skills, experience, accomplishments and expertise.  Make employers want to meet you.  Make them want to have you on their team.

Stay tuned for more tips on cover letters and interviews.

Tips for Attention Getting – Resume Tip #2

In order to have an opportunity to sell yourself to the hiring manager with an interview, your resume must sell you first.  Your resume needs to catch their attention and show them that you have experience and expertise relevant to this position.

Summarizing Your Professional Experience – This is a critical section of your resume.  Always list your most recent position first.  If you have had multiple positions within the same company, show the overall dates for employment and then dates for each specific position with the most recent first.  If the company is not well known, include a brief, one-line description of the company to provide context.  Bullet points should focus on your accomplishments in each position.  Why was the company better off by having you in that position at that time?  Do not list your job responsibilities.  When possible, quantify your accomplishments with the impact on the company – increased sales by 20%, reduced turnover 10%, identified cost savings of more than $50,000.  You should focus on the accomplishments that would be most relevant to the employer, not necessarily what you enjoyed the most.

If you are early in your career and your professional experience is limited, be sure to include summer jobs, part-time employments, internships and even volunteer work.  Identify accomplishments in each role.

Focus on Action – Every bullet point under your professional experience should start with an action verb.  If it is a current position, use current tense.  For all prior positions, use past tense.  Action verbs include words such as managed, implemented, designed, reduced, prepared, and many more.  Avoid passive phrases such as “responsible for” in your bullet points.  Be sure to vary the action verbs you use.

Academic Experience – The employer also wants to see your academic qualifications.  If your degree is recent and relevant you can choose to list it prior to your work experience but for most resumes it should follow the professional experience section.  List the school you attended, the dates you attended and the degree you earned with your major noted.  If you graduated with an honors status such as “summa cum laude” you can note that as well.  While you should never list all your specific courses, if you are a recent graduate with limited experience you may choose to highlight a few, relevant classes.  If you were a leader of a student group or were actively involved in campus activities, it is great to include that on your resume but it should be listed separately under activities.  The only time you would ever include high school on your resume would be if you did not have a college degree.

The professional experience and academic sections of your resume are important and deserve careful attention to detail in your preparation.  Ask someone else to proofread it for you to ensure that it is clear.  Avoid company jargon or acronyms.  With these sections complete you are well on your way to a successful resume.

Stay tuned for future postings on resume, cover letter, and interviewing tips.

Tips for a Successful Resume #1

A resume is not likely to land you a job.  The goal of a successful professional resume is to get you an interview.  The interview provides the opportunity to sell yourself for the position.  The resume is the critical first step to help a hiring manager see how you may be able to contribute to their organization.   Flawless execution is expected.  Don’t give the hiring manager any reason to move your resume immediately to the “reject” pile.

What a Resume Is and Isn’t – A resume is a summary of your professional experience, education and skills.  It should focus on accomplishments.  A resume is not a summary of your job responsibilities for each position you’ve held.   It is not your LinkedIn profile either but may contain some of the same information and must be consistent on that information.

Formatting Matters – For an initial resume review it is likely that someone will spend less than a minute reviewing your resume.  If you want them to spend more time and really see what you have to offer, it needs to be concise, easy to read and the key information must be easy to find.  Your resume should not exceed one page unless you have more than seven years of experience.  Be sure you use white space to keep it visually appealing.  You must have your contact information – address, email and telephone – so they can easily reach you if they are interested.  You should always use a professional looking email address with just your name – avoid cute nicknames etc. when job searching.  Quickest path to the reject pile is typos or grammatical errors.  Be sure to proof your resume and carefully and have someone else proof it as well.

Open Strong – They first thing they read should give them a quick sense of who you are and what you could do for them.  I strongly recommend starting with a summary statement focused on your key transferable skills and core competencies.  Whenever possible, focus on key words from the job description.  The summary gives the reader a lens through which they read the rest of your resume.  Catch their attention from their first glance.  Employers I work with find a summary statement preferable to an objective.  Often job seekers have specific objectives that do not relate to the job they are applying for.  Someone reading your summary should have a strong sense of your core competencies for the role you are exploring.

Honesty is the best and only policy – A resume is the factual history of your work experience.  Do not embellish or over-state your accomplishments or responsibilities.  Employers value integrity and you demonstrate that by being honest and forthright in all your interactions, starting with your resume.  Many companies will use outside firms to perform verifications with prior employers and schools.

In the early stages of the recruiting the process, your resume is you.  It needs to represent you professionally and accurately so they will want to know more about you.  While you resume will not likely land you the job, it needs to catch their attention so you will advance in the process.

Watch future postings for additional resume, cover letter, and interviewing tips.

Tips for Successful Resumes #3

In order to have a resume which has maximum impact on potential employers, you should carefully consider everything you include on your resume. Allocating space to on your resume tells the potential employer that you consider it important. Be sure you are focusing their attention on the things that matter most to them.

Keep the Employer Perspective in Mind – Yes, it is your resume and you need to tell them about you but you have greater impact if you prepare your resume with the employer in mind. You will likely have more content than will fit on one page so when making decisions about what to include, keep the employer perspective in mind. You should focus on the skills and experiences that are transferrable and most relevant to the employer. It should be about what they need not what you want. Consider how you can make a difference to a company and help solve their problems.

Don’t let it stand alone – General rule of thumb for a successful job search, don’t ever send your resume alone when applying for a job. If the position is worth applying to, it is worth preparing a customized cover letter. This gives you an opportunity to clearly “connect the dots” between their specific needs in the job posting and your experience and expertise. Don’t expect an employer to take the time to do that themselves.  Show them how you can add value in this role.  If you are applying online, be sure you follow all the steps required in the posting. Don’t give them an easy opportunity to eliminate you.

Life Outside of Work – It can certainly be appropriate to show employers a glimpse of your life outside of work. If you have volunteer experience, you can include a volunteer section. Identify the organization, your role and the dates.  If you were involved in an organization that could be unpopular or divisive, carefully consider how important it is to include it on your resume. If you have unique hobbies or interests, you can list those as well. Sometimes these unique items make someone want to talk to you. Avoid “spending time with friends and family” since that clearly doesn’t differentiate you.

Consider Having Multiple Versions – For most job seekers, a single resume is not enough. If you are pursuing opportunities in different fields, consider having separate versions of your resume to focus on the most relevant skills in each field. Depending on the specific job you are applying for, you may want to emphasize different accomplishments from your previous experience and you may want to update the key words in your summary to better align with the job description. Yes, this is additional work but it can increase the likelihood of an employer wanting to know more about you. Your work experience overall remains the same, but you can choose to highlight different accomplishments and skills depending on the specific opportunity.

You are the Product – In a job search, you are the product. This is the most important sales role of your life. Be sure your resume is the best possible reflection of you – your skills, experience, accomplishments and expertise. Make employers want to meet you. Make them want to have you on their team.

Tips for Successful Resumes #2

In order to have an opportunity to sell yourself to the hiring manager with an interview, your resume must sell you first. Your resume needs to catch their attention and show them that you have experience and expertise relevant to this position.

 

Summarizing Your Professional Experience – This is a critical section of your resume. Always list your most recent position first. If you have had multiple positions within the same company, show the overall dates for employment and then dates for each specific position with the most recent first. If the company is not well known, include a brief, one-line description of the company to provide context.  Bullet points should focus on your accomplishments in each position. Why was the company better off by having you in that position at that time? Do not list your job responsibilities. When possible, quantify your accomplishments with the impact on the company – increased sales by 20%, reduced turnover 10%, identified cost savings of more than $50,000. You should focus on the accomplishments that would be most relevant to the employer, not necessarily what you enjoyed the most.

If you are early in your career and your professional experience is limited, be sure to include summer jobs, part-time employments, internships and even volunteer work. Identify accomplishments in each role.

Focus on Action – Every bullet point under your professional experience should start with an action verb.  If it is a current position, use current tense. For all prior positions, use past tense. Action verbs include words such as managed, implemented, designed, reduced, prepared, and many more.  Avoid passive phrases such as “responsible for” in your bullet points.

Academic Experience – The employer also wants to see your academic qualifications.  If your degree is recent and relevant you can choose to list it prior to your work experience but for most resumes it should follow the professional experience section. List the school you attended, the dates you attended and the degree you earned with your major noted. If you graduated with an honors status such as “summa cum laude” you can note that as well. While you should never list all your specific courses, if you are a recent graduate with limited experience you may choose to highlight a few, relevant classes.  If you were a leader of a student group of were actively involved in campus activities, it is great to include that on your resume but it should be listed separately under activities. The only time you would ever include high school on your resume would be if you did not have a college degree.

 

The professional experience and academic sections of your resume are important and deserve careful attention to detail in your preparation. Ask someone else to proofread it for you to ensure that it is clear. Avoid company jargon or acronyms. With these sections complete you are well on your way to a successful resume.

 

See future postings for more resume tips.

Tips for Successful Resumes #1

A resume is not likely to land you a job, but it is a critical step in being considered. Flawless execution is expected. Don’t give the hiring manager any reason to move your resume immediately to the “reject” pile.

What a Resume Is and Isn’t – A resume is a summary of your professional experience, education and skills. It should focus on accomplishments. A resume is not a summary of your job responsibilities for each position you’ve held.

Formatting Matters – For an initial resume review it is likely that someone will spend less than a minute reviewing your resume. If you want them to spend more time and really see what you have to offer, it needs to be concise, easy to read and the key information must be easy to find. Your resume should not exceed one page unless you have more than seven years of experience. Be sure you use white space to keep it visually appealing.  You must have your contact information – address, email and telephone – so they can easily reach you if they are interested. You should always use a professional looking email address with just your name – avoid cute nicknames etc. when job searching. Quickest path to the reject pile is typos or grammatical errors. Be sure to proof your resume and carefully and have someone else proof it as well.

Open Strong –They first thing they read should give them a quick sense of who you are and what you could do for them. I strongly recommend starting with a summary statement focused on your key transferable skills and core competencies. Whenever possible, focus on key words from the job description. The summary gives the reader a lens through which they read the rest of your resume. Catch their attention from their first glance. Employers I work with find a summary statement preferable to an objective.  Often job seekers have specific objectives that do not relate to the job they are applying for.

Core Competencies – Highlight the key transferrable skills you bring to the table. Where possible, focus on your core competencies that tie to the employer needs in the job description. Focus on the strengths you bring to the position. Make them want to read more.

Honesty is the best and only policy – A resume is the factual history of your work experience.  Do not embellish or over-state your accomplishments or responsibilities.  Employers value integrity and you demonstrate that by being honest and forthright in all your interactions, starting with your resume. Many companies will use outside firms to perform verifications with prior employers and schools.

In the early stages of the recruiting the process, your resume is you. It needs to represent you professionally and accurately so they will want to know more about you. While you resume will not likely land you the job, it needs to catch their attention so you will advance in the process.

Watch future postings for additional resume tips.

Getting Your Resume To One Page

With increasing frequency, employers are asking for one page resumes.  In reality, even if they don’t ask, many will only read the first page.  You have great experience you want to share, short of using a ridiculously small font, how do you condense it to one page without losing all the value?

You can easily gain some usable space by trimming your margins.  There is no need to use the default one inch margins all the way around.  Do not reduce your margins to less than one-half inch.  It is important to have white space for readability.

Don’t go crazy adding new sections.  Each section requires a header which uses a line.  It can be ok to combine relevant sections into one such as Volunteer Experience and Community Involvement or Skills and Interests.

Not everything has to be on a separate line.  Think about where information can be reasonably combined on the same line.

Be careful of using the default spacing between lines.  This can cost you several lines per page.  Set the spacing for single spaced and add lines only where needed.

Monitor your bullets.  It should not take three lines of text to summarize your accomplishment.  Bullets should never exceed two lines and try to eliminate as many unnecessary words as possible.  Do not let one word carry over to a new line.  Rework it to fit to a single line.

Your resume is not intended to be detailed summary of your work history.  While you need to list each position you do not have to provide significant detail on older or less relevant positions.  Focus on what is clearly most relevant to the position you are considering.  Focus on the few key things that are most relevant and will make you stand out.

If you think this only applies for recent graduates or employees with minimal experience, think again.  Employers are expecting one page resumes for all but executive level hires.  Time to start editing for success.