Rate Your Resume

Rate Your Resume

Whether you wrote your resume yourself or had help, your resume may not be helping your job search. Here are just a few areas on which to determine if your resume is an advantage or disadvantage and the logic behind it.


1) References Available Upon Request
a. If you have that phrase or something to that effect on your resume, give yourself -1 points.
b. If you do not have that on your resume give yourself +1 points.

Logic: Offering references began when we became a more mobile society. Before then everyone in town already knew us. When we moved, it was impressive to say we had people that would vouch for us. Today in most cases you will not get a job without references so this is an unnecessary phrase and ages your resume.

2) Using an AOL or Hotmail e-mail accounts
a. If your e-mail address is one of the above, give yourself -1 points.
b. If you have a professional email address (contains your name and is not “cutesy”) and it is not one of the above types, give yourself +1.

Logic: These two e-mail providers were some of the original. They now give the impression that you are old. Microsoft has a replacement for hotmail that integrates with it; it is called Outlook.com (this is not the product Outlook that is part of Office). If you have one of these e-mail addresses it is recommended that you get a new address. I recommend you get one that is independent of your service provider so in the event you change service providers you don’t lose the e-mail address.

3) Objective
a. If your resume starts with an Objective where you state what you want, give yourself -1 points.
b. If instead you start with your personal brand statement that states the value you bring for that particular position and the title of the job appears within the first 5 words, give yourself +1 points.

Logic: Back in the day, companies kept employees around for decades and wanted to know persons desires. Today companies focus on what you can do for them. Then in the 1980’s job seekers started this paragraph with superlatives such as “dynamic multiply talented….” That has become overused and it doesn’t say a thing. Your resume gets less than 12 seconds of a glance and you need to be more upfront with the title of the job, the value you bring, and how you are unique.

4) Historic Resume
a. If you developed your resume to document your past only (company, job title, dates, and job description), give yourself -3 points.
b. If you analyzed a sampling of job descriptions for the type of job you are pursuing and emphasized the experience, skills, and keywords they are looking for that you have in the past jobs, then give yourself +3 points.

Logic: Resumes when they were first used were just that, historical. Today the job market is so competitive and you have to quickly get the reader at a glance to see why they should hire you. This is painting the dots real close together so they see the picture. Don’t make them need time to figure out what you bring.

5) Date location
a. If your job dates are on the left OR snuggled up against the job, give yourself -1 point.
b. If your job dates are to the right, and if you have had a promotion, those dates are also indicated next to each title with the overall date next to the company, then give yourself +1 point.

Logic: In this country we read top to bottom, left to right, and whatever we read first has the most importance. If you put the dates first, you are saying that they are more important than your job titles, which you know they are not. If you snuggle your date next to the company or if you do not have dates on each of the positions you held for that company, you are hiding important information.

6) Bullets
a. If you are using bullets for job descriptions then give yourself -3 points.
b. If you have a small paragraph under each job that gives the scope of the work you did and use bullets for your accomplishments from most important to least important, then give yourself +3 points.

Logic: Hiring authorities are looking to see what you have done previously accomplishment wise as an indication of what you can do for them. It is the proof of what you brought to your past companies. You want the most important ones for each job listed first under each job; if they stop reading, they have read the most important ones first. Plus if you need to trim your resume, you can trim from the bottom of the list of accomplishments for each job because you already know they are the least important.

7) Error in spelling, inconsistent format, more than one phone number, etc.
a. If you have even a single misspelled word, have inconsistent formatting (especially if you are trying to convey that you are detail oriented), and / or if you have more than one phone number listed, give yourself -1 point for each occurrence.
b. If you have spell checked your resume and had someone else proof it, if you have gone over every item with a fined tooth comb to be sure of consistent font use and format, and if you only have one phone number, then give yourself +1 point for each.

Logic: The funniest resume I ever received as a hiring manager was the one who claimed to be detail oriented and had the word “detail” spelled wrong. Really? You may have spell check turned on but if your system is set to ignore capital letters, numbers, or a section of your resume is “protected” from spellcheck, you may have misspellings. Also check commonly confused words such as there, their, and they’re. For dates, determine a format and stick with it. If you use abbreviated months then abbreviate all of them (Sep. is the 3 letter abbreviation for September). If you use numbers, then use the same format (02 for February instead of 2). Also decide whether you will use a space before and after the hyphen on dates and then be consistent.

8) All marketing materials (elevator pitch, business card, LinkedIn profile, networking guide, cover letter, and resume)
a. If you do not have all of the above listed pieces of marketing material give yourself - 2 for not having a LinkedIn profile and -1 point for each of the others.
b. If you have all of the above, give yourself +2 for a LinkedIn profile and +1 point for each of the others. Give yourself an extra +2 if you use the T cover letter and always send it with your resume.

Logic: The resume is actually the least used piece of marketing materials if you are conducting the job search correctly. In fact I have listed the items in order of use.

9) Your name
a. If you have one name on your resume and a different version of your name on LinkedIn (different first name, middle initial in one place and not the other, different last name) then give yourself -1 point.
b. If all of your marketing materials have the EXACT same version of your name, give yourself +1 point.

Logic: In most cases the reader can probably figure out you are the same person but don’t make then work so hard to hire you. Consistency gives a more professional look.


Now add up your points. If you are not happy with the results, if this is the first time you have heard some of these points, or you heard them but haven’t acted upon them, that may be why your job search is not as productive as it could be.


E-mail me at Info@RightChanges.biz with the subject line Cover Letter and we’ll send you the article and template for the T cover letter as well as the networking guide.


Resume Need Help?
RightChanges wants to help as many people as possible so we are offering a Resume and More February Storm Special for $175.


Deadline: To take advantage of this special, payment must be received by February 28th . E-mail your contact information to Info@RightChanges.biz or go onto the RightChanges.biz web site and complete the Contact Us form. We’ll contact you back to get you scheduled and take payment.


This special provides 4 hours (two 1-hour sessions and one 2-hour session) with the coach to knock out your marketing materials. During the initial hour, we’ll review your current resume, assess your job search to date, and develop a list of information you need to bring in order to develop your resume. The next appointment is for two hours during which you work with the coach in developing the resume and your other marketing materials. The last hour session is to finish up the marketing materials and develop a plan to find the jobs.

The Question ALL Job Seekers Should ALWAYS Ask After an Interview Yet Many Don’t

There is a question all job seekers should ask at the completion of the interview and they either don’t ask at all or settle for half of an answer.

The Question

The last question you should always ask when you are completing an interview regardless if it is a phone interview or in-person interview is “what are the next steps?”

WAIT ! Don’t stop reading. Even if you ask that question you may be one of the job seekers who stops after they receive a first, yet incomplete, answer. When the interviewer says “well we have a few more people to meet with” that is not the complete answer.

In order to know how and when to follow up after the interview, job seekers need to understand the whole process and approximate timeline. If the interviewer answers “well we have a few more people to meet with” then you have to ask again in another way to get the complete answer.

Knowing the entire process and approximate timeline is not a state secret. There is no reason the interviewer would not share that with you as long as you indicate you understand that timelines are approximates.

Getting the Whole Answer

To get the rest of the story, you need to use active listening skills by acknowledging what they said and then asking for further details. You could say “I see. So you have a few others to meet with. Approximately when do you expect to have that round completed and what are the steps after that? When do you hope to have someone on board?” Using the phrase “approximately” or “about when” indicates that you acknowledge that life happens and that you cannot hold them to an exact date.

Knowing the complete answer also helps set your expectations. If the hiring manager is going to be on a vacation for the following two weeks for instance, then you know why the phone is not ringing instead of assuming the worst.

Follow-up

The timing of the follow-up is more art than science. I wish I could offer a formula (ex: interview date +3 days; if result equals weekend add additional 3 days) but it really depends on so many factors. I do have a few guidelines.

• Never follow up late on a Friday or last day before a holiday. They are probably trying to wrap things up before they leave the office and your follow-up could be unwelcomed.
• Never follow up on a Monday. Mondays are when people are ramping back up into the work week and are catching up on e-mails and other events that occurred over the weekend.


Knowing the process and approximate timelines really helps figure out when and how to follow up. Plus it shows interest and confidence.


Two Different Results


Here is an actual recent example of a client who did not ask the question.


Although I shared with the client the last question to ask, upon returning from the interview she admitted she did not ask them the question. The funny part was she then turned to me and asked if I knew about when they might get back to her. When I paused following her question she admitted this was not a fair question to ask of me since I had no information.



Here is an excerpt from an e-mail I received from another client in the same week who DID ask the question:


Thanks again for letting me know about the important question to ask at the end of an interview. I had my second interview with [an organization] this past Monday, and I followed your guide. It was great because now I know clearly the hiring manager's timeline of when they are expecting to wrap up the interview process and actually have someone on board. Of course, the timeline is not set in stone. Still, it was a good ending discussion.



Ask yourself then what would keep you from asking the question?



The next article series will be revisit Personal Branding. You will understand how to identify and leverage your personal brand to communicate why the company should hire you. To receive articles published by Judi Adams the moment they are published, go to RightChangesJobSearchCoach.blogspot.com and click Join This Site.



Judi Adams is the Affordable and Successful Job Search Coach, author of an Amazon hottest new release “Found a Job Yet? And Other Questions NOT to Ask!”, and keynote speaker. Judi is also the creator of the YouTube video series “The Five Deadly Sins of the Job Search” that can be found on YouTube.com using FoundaJobYet in the search field. Her blog RightChangesJobSearchCoach.blogspot.com has been read world-wide since 2009. Judi’s clients have had phenomenal success finding jobs they want by following the steps she outlines for them. For more information on RightChanges’ 2013 special for the initial hour of coaching, the new “advantage program for students”, and RightChanges other services, go to www.RightChanges.biz.

Part 3: The 3 Parts of a Successful Job Search

There are 3 parts of a successful job search and if you have been struggling in the search, you may not be using all 3 parts.

Part 1 - Reactive

Most job seekers are very familiar with the reactive job search which is replying to ads when they appear. Although this is a part of the job search, too many job seekers are limiting their approach to replying to ads and have not found it to be very fruitful.

Even for those who are using this approach, they may be missing out on some of the strategies available to them to be more successful.

http://rightchangesjobsearchcoach.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-3-parts-of-successful-job-search.html

Part 2 – Passive

In job search terms, the Passive approach includes posting your resume on job boards, having a LinkedIn profile, and working with external recruiters (aka search firms or headhunters); you take an action and then wait for someone to “bite”.

Even for those who are using the Passive approach, they may be missing out on some of the strategies available to them to be more successful.

http://rightchangesjobsearchcoach.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-3-parts-of-successful-job-search_21.html

Part 3 - Proactive

The 3rd approach to the job search is the Proactive approach and is both the most underutilized approach and the most successful approach.

You may be asking, “If it is the most successful approach then why is it the most underutilized approach?” That is a good question and sadly too easy to answer. It is because too many job seekers do not know about it, because those who do know about it do not know how to do it well, and because some (fortunately few) jobseekers are not willing to put in the work to get a job they WANT, they are looking for the easy way.

The Proactive job search is what puts you back in control. Unlike the Reactive and Passive job search approaches where you have to wait upon others, the Proactive job search approach gives you specific actions you can take to get the job.

Earlier, for the Passive approach, I used the analogy of fishing. The Proactive Approach would be more like fly fishing, where you have actions you take on a regular basis and those actions increase your chances of landing the job.

Read this entire article and then ask yourself what would keep you from using this approach knowing it is the most successful, could get you employed in a job you want, now that you know how to do it well.

The Proactive job search approach includes being active on LinkedIn (different than just having a profile), working your target company list, and networking. Do not let the word networking scare you. I am an introvert and do not love networking. Later in this article I will give you strategies and resources that will make the action of networking less daunting.

Being Active on LinkedIn

As mentioned earlier, being active on LinkedIn is different than just having a profile. First you want to be sure any updates you make to your profile are sent to members of your network. Locate & click “Privacy & Settings” and on the Profile tab, click “Turn on/off your activity broadcasts”. Be sure the checkbox for “let people know when you change your profile” is checked.

Then you want to find industry LinkedIn groups to join. The Search feature of LinkedIn has a Groups option; using it, type in the name of your industry. Next to each group on the resulting list, there will be a “Join” button.

Another way to find Groups, is to look at the profiles of people in your industry and see what groups they have joined.

You will have the chance to adjust your Groups settings for how frequently you receive updates from the Groups and whether other group members can send you In-Mail (LinkedIn’s e-mail function). While in an active search I recommend you set the updates to daily and allow group members the option to In-mail you.

You will receive those daily updates in your e-mail. Now the action part: actually read the updates. When there is an article or discussion that you like, then Like the article (click Like). The person who posted it will get a message that you (by name) Liked their article or posting. A thumb nail of your picture will appear next to the article as well. That brings awareness of you and builds interest in you.

You can also Comment on an article or discussion that has been started by others. People in the Group will read what you have posted and get an impression of you. Therefore, do not be a negative nelly and do not use this forum to express your personal and political beliefs. This is the time to establish yourself as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in your industry.

In addition to Liking and commenting on the discussion postings of others, you can post your own discussion or post a link to an article you read elsewhere and invite conversation. The more relevant to the Groups specialty, the more interest you will generate. This really sets you up as a SME.

Add to your profile under Courses any industry relevant training you have taken.

There is a way within LinkedIn to see how this approach is working for you. On the right side of the View version of your profile, there is a count of the times your profile has been viewed. The number of views and the number of days will change. This count is also a hyperlink (clicking it will take you to another page) where you can view who has viewed your profile. Occasionally instead of the person’s name appearing in the list of people who have viewed your profile, you may see that they just list their industry or that they are a “LinkedIn Member”. Many recruiters will hide what company they are from.

To the right of the list of names of the people who have viewed your profile, you will also see a graph which indicates how you are trending (are more people viewing your profile than before?). It is a good thing when your profile is trending up or stays high.

Another way to determine if you are attracting the right attention is to look on the right of your Profile view at the “People Also Viewed” section. This is not the list of the people who viewed you. Instead it is the list of people’s whose profiles the person who viewed your profile also viewed. You may recognize some of the names and can immediately figure out who might be looking at both profiles. In other cases you might not know the person. If they are in the same career or industry, it may be that you are attracting the interest of recruiters or hiring managers. Use this list to check out the competition’s LinkedIn profile and see if they have skills that you have but haven’t listed yet or something else on their profile that you want to add as well.

Working Your Target Company List

You want to have a list of between 5 and 10 companies that you would give your left arm to work for. Having this list does not mean you would not be willing to take a job with another company. This is the list you are proactively going to network into. Having more than 10 just dilutes your efforts and you will not get the results you want; you want a more laser like approach.

In creating the target company list, do not list just the big companies in your area. There are many small and mid- sized companies who are looking for people with your talents.

If your area has a business paper, read it on a regular basis. It is a great resource for knowing what is going on in your area business wise. In Atlanta we are blessed to have the Atlanta Business Chronicle (ABC). The Business Journals, of which the ABC is a member, produces annually a Book of Lists which lists companies in the specific geographic area sorted into different categories. This is an invaluable resource for understanding what companies are in the area and identifying target companies. A copy of the Book of Lists can usually be found in the reference section of your local library. The Atlanta Business Chronicle has offered a special job seeker rate which includes a copy of the Book of Lists. To find out more, just send me your e-mail address requesting the subscription details.

Having the list of target companies is just the start. You want to add the list of companies to your Networking Guide and give it to people in your network who have offered to help you with your job search. For more on the Networking Guide read this article:

http://rightchangesjobsearchcoach.blogspot.com/2011/05/what-document-is-as-valuable-to-job.html

Research your target companies and networking into them. You have a 50 times greater chance of getting a job in a company with an employee contact. Go into LinkedIn and using the advanced search for People, type the company name into the company field. I suggest leaving the drop box under the company field to “Current or Past” initially because the person you know the best may have just left the company. Use the widest search first and then as needed add criteria such as “Current” and postal code.

Review the profiles of the people you’d like to meet and see what groups they belong to. Do any of the groups have in person meetings as well? If so, note those for Networking. Consider Joining the industry groups that they belong to, especially if many of the people at that company belong to the same groups, so you can do what I term “come along side” of them i.e. meet them in the group discussions.

Within LinkedIn, search and “Follow” your target companies so you know what they are posting about themselves. Aside from LinkedIn, set Google Alerts to receive news about the companies as they are mentioned anywhere on-line.

Networking

The number one way to find a job and the best way to find what is termed “the hidden job market” is through networking.

Years ago we didn’t have to “network” because we knew everyone in town and they knew us. Today we can drive up to our house, push the remote to open the garage door, and never even see our neighbors. In order to know more than just the people in our immediate lives we now have to be intentional about networking. It is a life skill and, in my opinion, should be taught in school.

Job Networking groups are not a target rich environment to find a job. I believe in job networking groups; I’m a professional affiliate of Crossroads Career Services and I speak at many of the metro Atlanta groups. They are a great place to get job search tips and to get emotional and spiritual support – all necessary for the job search.

For job leads though going to a job networking group is like going to a married group to find a date. Someone there might know a single person but it makes more sense to go to a single group instead. Therefore I highly recommend networking at industry groups where employed people network and you can likely meet your future hiring manager and future peers. With attending industry events, you also get to stay up on your industry.

To find industry networking groups or associations, search the internet for the name of your industry and the word “association”.

There are numerous books written to develop the skill of networking that cannot be summarized in one article. The following are some basics though about networking that will make it easier for you to do. You may never love to do it but it is a life skill and we all have to be better at it.

To be prepared to network you must be able to very concisely answer the question “who are you and what do you do?” Do not say you are in a job search or that you are unemployed. Give your name, your job title, something about you that is unique (i.e. your personal brand – more on that in a future article) and then ask about them. The shortness of this introduction is why it is often called an elevator pitch. Do not get historical “well I used to do and I used to work for …” as they asked what you do not what you have done. You should also have a pen and stash of business cards containing your name, job title, and contact information.

In addition to industry networking groups, there are other places to network. Common interests groups are good places to network. For example let’s say you are into motorcycles. Other people with motorcycles instantly take to you because of that common interest. The same is true with other common interests. You never know who knows someone; the main point is to increase the number of people who know you and deepen those relationships so that they are invested in you and want to see you succeed.

There are four levels of knowing someone professionally: Meet, Know, Like and Trust. Imagine if you will that I have the home phone number to the CEO of the fastest growing company in town. I would not give that phone number to everyone I meet. I have to trust them before I’d give the CEO’s phone number to someone. People have to trust you before they open up their prized connections to you.

Like any life skill, we have to learn to do it, practice it, and do it. First set a goal. Even if there are a hundred people at an event, I feel successful if I meet five people and then make a point later to deepen the connection with at least three of them. Set a goal and reward yourself for completing your goal.

Remember to reach out to people already in your life with whom you have lost contact. Start every meeting by finding out what is new with them.

There are three books I highly recommend on the topic of networking. One of the three I recommend for both men and women and then the others are gender specific. This is the only topic I have gender specific recommendations for.

The book for both genders is “The Heart and Art of Netweaving” by Robert (Bob) Littell. This book reminds us that networking is not all about us. For introverts, that is great news as we do not mind listening to others talk about themselves, we prefer it to having the spotlight on us.

For men I recommend the book by Harvey MacKay “Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty” and for women I recommend the book by Susan RoAne “How to Work a Room” or her new book “Face to Face”.

Series Summary

There are three approaches to the job search. All should be used but time should be spent proportional to their success rates.

Considering that only a portion of all of the available jobs are found on-line, only a little amount of time each week should be spent in the Reactive approach to the job search. Since the Passive approach requires little effort, set a schedule to re-post your resume every three weeks and reconnecting with recruiters.

Then to yield better results, spend the majority of your time leveraging the most successful approach – the Proactive approach. You will get better at it the more you do it.

E-mail Judi@RightChanges.biz with the subject line “Approaches” to receive an Excel spreadsheet that will help you organize the three approaches.

The next article will be “The one question a job seeker should ALWAYS ask after an interview yet many don’t”. I welcome your suggestions for future job search topics.

Judi Adams is the Affordable and Successful Job Search Coach, author of an Amazon hottest new release “Found a Job Yet? And Other Questions NOT to Ask!”, and keynote speaker. Judi is also the creator of the YouTube video series “The Five Deadly Sins of the Job Search” that can be found on YouTube.com using FoundaJobYet in the search field. Her blog RightChangesJobSearchCoach.blogspot.com has been read world-wide since 2009. Judi’s clients have had phenomenal success finding jobs they want by following the steps she outlines for them. For more information on RightChanges’ 2013 special for the initial hour of coaching, the new “advantage program for students”, and RightChanges other services, go to www.RightChanges.biz.