FIND OR BE FOUND

I don’t mind repeating this point over again due to the inordinate number of ultra qualified job seekers who have been referred to me by friends, clients, my blogs, and my standing offer of a free resume critique [see http://www.perrynewman.com,], that still don’t get it. The rules of resume writing and conducting a successful job search have changed dramatically since 2008, and most job seekers with three or more years experience who are imminently qualified for a job in their field are clueless and have failed to change with the times.

For example, when I ask perspective clients who are actively searching for a new job what their goal is 7 out of 10 tell me “Perry, I need a new resume”. Most are telling the truth - they certainly need a new and improved resume, however as Richard Dawson on Family Feud said, “Sorry, wrong answer.” What they want is not a new resume, after all a resume doesn’t pay the bills. The right answer is “I want a new job or career that I will enjoy and will pay me what I am worth.”

While their answer and mine might be a matter of semantics to you, to me it is a matter of perspective, or rather a lack of perspective. Simply put what I have found is this (and most resume writers and career coaches agree with me); if a job seeker does not have an above average resume the odds are they also don’t know how to conduct a job search in the age of social media networking.

As a matter of fact what prompted me to write this blog today is my newest client. Lisa is a very successful executive level Corporate Communications professional who has outstanding skills in business communications, marketing, pr and branding. When she contacted me the conversation was short and sweet. Very straightforward she told me she has not been in a serious job search mode for awhile, she knows the process of conducting a job search today has changed, and she is not prepared to make a serious effort until she has acquired all the prerequisite tools and up-to-date knowledge she is missing. Lisa is one of the job seekers out there who gets it! She has the right attitude and perspective and is not embarrassed to admit she is not all knowing, or foolish enough to think she can go it alone without some professional help and a mentor. In other words, Lisa knows what she doesn’t know, and she is intelligent enough to realize how much harm she can cause herself by undertaking a job search without being at the top of her game.

Now what is it that Lisa comprehends and the vast majority of job seekers don’t have a clue about?

I can sum it up in 3 words; ‘The Visibility Factor.’ Let me hypothetically explain what this means. Before I take you on as a new client, I do some homework on you because your electronic life is an open book. I review your resume and Linked-in profile; I check you out on Plaxo, Facebook and Twitter, and Google, Yahoo and Bing you. And I am not the only one doing this. A savvy recruiter, HR talent acquisition specialist and, believe it or not most hiring managers and decision makers today will do this as well because it only takes 15 minutes and yields tremendous results.

Doing this daily for the past two years I found the following trends:
1: Most job seekers 35 and older resemble the H.G. Wells character Dr. Griffin, The Invisible Man
2: Regardless of age 15% of all job seekers are highly visible in a positive way
3: Job seekers age 21-30 tend to have mostly perfunctory, or worse yet unflattering information for a job search publicly available about them.

When I started in the career services business many moons ago, most years the economy was strong and the process was designed for job seekers to find a new job. Then you wrote a factsheet resume and sent it to recruiters and HR departments blindly or in response to their job posting. In those days only 20% of the job seekers and recruiters I met networked. Most depended on the supply and demand system. Lots of jobs, not enough qualified candidates. The goal was for 3-4 companies to respond to a resume, schedule an interview, and then you wade through multiple job offers. This was still working for a lot of you up to 2007. In 2010 this is Old Skool, and as passé as disco balls and bell bottoms trousers.

What every job seeker has to realize is for the foreseeable future the objective is not to expend time, effort and money looking for a job, because the numbers game is now like playing a slot machine. It is stacked against you as much as 500 to1.

The formula today is to network and be found, and this starts with your resume. Most unprofessionally written resumes, and from what I’ve seen nearly 50% of professionally written resumes make the candidate they represent invisible in the crowd. This is unhealthy if your goal is to find a job; and it is the kiss of death if you are looking to be found. For you to be found your resume has to appear in the right places and get into the proper hands; and it must tell a story of a candidate who is like olive oil, which when placed with other liquids separates itself in the crowd and rises to the top.

Next, you must become an expert in the use of social media like Linked-in, Plaxo, E-cademy, Twitter, Facebook, blogs and Web sites so you can be found, and control the public image you portray. These are the tools of the 21st Century and I only see them becoming more sophisticated in the years to come. This is why I recently completed an intensive certification course at Social Media Magic University to improve my already considerable skills in these areas. What I learned here convinced me more than before that social media is here to stay and it will change your life and mine in ways we could not image a mere 5 years ago. This is especially true for anyone in need of a permanent job, a consulting gig, or looking to start or expand a service oriented business.

A most important lesson I learned from this course is, with effective application of social media techniques you can turn the odds in your favor no matter what your competition has to offer.

So if you are still concentrating your efforts on finding a new job, I suggest you take what I say to heart. You will find it takes a lot less effort, and it is a whole lot more fun and rewarding for you to be found, and with the proper guidance all of you can turn your old fashioned job search strategy around 180 degrees in under 10 days.

Executive Resumes & Job Search Tips

Since this week is Presidents Week, I thought it apropos to offer some insights into executive resumes and some tips on conducting a job search for high level professionals looking to get back in the game. If you have not found out the hard way, resumes of people who lead entire companies, subsidiaries, divisions or departments are like Hebrew National hot dogs; they are “held accountable to a higher standard.” So I hope this information is helpful for you, and if you are not sure if your resume is as solid as it can be you can always send it to me for a complimentary resume critique. perry@perrynewman.com

If you are a 6-figure executive looking for a new job you already know the ubiquitous job profile for positions at this level, and the criteria you are judged by are the ability to interact with boards of directors, business owners, oversight committees and fellow executives in the company, along with the ability to ensure a businesses meets profitability goals, and having a track record of promoting a positive corporate image in the eyes of customers, business partners and investors.

Candidates are also judged on their ability to provide vision and leadership to an organization, manage and inspire direct and indirect reports, be accountable for day-to-day operations, and ensure productivity and profitability under all conditions. In other words, as President Harry S. Truman is famous for saying, “The Buck Stops Here”, and your resume needs to shout this message out loud and clear to perspective employers.

Taking all this information into consideration, an executive’s resume can not gloss over these key points nor be overly expansive or contain useless or repetitive information. All these fine points must be covered with clarity and directness, and the resume must focus on accomplishments as opposed to rote responsibilities. Don’t be overly concerned about the number of pages; concentrate on what each page says about you and it will be OK. As I tell all my clients at this level, “decision makers do not care what you did in the past; their interest is in knowing how well you did it and can you repeat this success again for me.” Getting this across in writing is what differentiates a well written from an amateurish executive resume.

As part of the preparation process make sure you complete a thorough resume building exercise to gather the necessary substance for your executive resume before you begin writing. Then go over this information and find the right words and phrases to convey this information. Once you have done this it is time to work on style. As I mentioned above, just as your candidacy will be judged on how well you have promoted a positive corporate image in the eyes of customers, partners and investors, so too decision makers will judge your resume, and by extension your viability as a top candidate, by the image your resume and social media conveys.

This is why I recommend using either an Executive format or a Leadership format depending on how conservative or modern an image you want to portray. Both formats contain a powerful profile statement that highlights your strengths and value for the position you are applying for, along with a table of core competencies. Each format presents the same information, but with a much different visual appeal. Then it is time to list your employment history with a delicate balance of responsibilities and achievements for each position. This is the tricky part, especially knowing how far back to go if you have over 15-20 years of experience.

To fill out the executive resume you need a section on your academic credentials, licenses and certifications, another on business related affiliations, and one on publications if they are relevant. I recommend incorporating a section for professional endorsements, but consider them optional based on your personality and comfort zone in using them.

As for your Social Media image here are a few things you must know. First off you need a business oriented, friendly picture of yourself and it must be consistent on all your Social Media. Another important factor on your social media is that it is not a clone of your resume. Whereas a resume is a more formal document, your social media is just that. It needs to show people your human side and should not be 100% about business. Let people get to know you on a more personal level. Again I tell my clients over and over, “decision makers do not hire qualifications and skill sets they hire people, and more important they hire people they like.” So use your social media to make yourself not only a great candidate, but a likeable one as well.

BONUS HINTS FOR PRESIDENTS WEEK

The following search tip was recently forwarded to me by one of my clients and I think it is worth passing along to you as well.

Use you voicemail messages as a 30-second radio commercial.

What was suggested is you script out and rehearse a voice mail messages so you come across as natural and spontaneous before you leave a message on a decision maker’s voice mail; the odds being 25-1 you will reach VM rather than speak directly to the party you have called.. And what ever you do, don't try and simulate a phony voice-over announcer’s tone of voice, just practice your promo until you sound upbeat and ultra professional. While your competition is leaving spur of the moment and often rambling messages, you can gain a competitive edge by leaving a voicemail message that make people want to call you back.

Appearances Count

Keep those resumes coming my way, because I learn as much about improving my craft from critiquing your resumes as you learn from me about how to improve your resume’s presentation and apply /interview ratio. For a FREE resume critique submit your resume to perry@perrynewman.com.

Also before I delve into today’s topic I’d like to offer congratulations to the New Orleans Saints on winning the Super Bowl; and my condolences to the Colts who lost a great game. Now for all of you job seekers (football fans or not) there is a lesson to be learned here. The goal of a football team is not to get to the Super Bowl it is to win it. Conversely the goal of your resume is not to just generate job interviews; it is to get and accept a great job offer.

Talking about resumes, which is something I love to do, when I read ‘Dress to get the job!,’ Harry Urschel’s Career Rocketeer blog piece last Wednesday, it struck me how much the information and advice he offered is interchangeable with how to write a winning resume.

So pardon me Harry if I take what you wrote and put a different spin on it. After all imitation is the best form of flattery.

To begin his blog Harry wrote, “From time to time I get asked about what’s appropriate to wear to a job interview, networking meeting, or other event. The answer varies based on the circumstances and type of position. The key to keep in mind at any time, however, is that first impressions do matter and dressing appropriately and professionally is a prime component of that first impression.”

Well I too am asked a very similar question all the time concerning how to make a favorable first impression with a resume, and what information, style and format is appropriate too accomplish this. Just like Harry, I answer this query with “One size does not fit all. A resume must be made appropriate depending on the position and company you’re applying to.” Moreover, just like job seekers need different outfits to present distinct images on interviews, many of you will need more than one resume to appeal to different companies and decision makers who will judge the resume you submit.

Harry then continues with the following advice to his readers, to which I’ll substitute some words to make clear my point on how interchangeable our advice about dress codes and resume writing are.

HARRY: The way you dress (the way your resume looks) can tell someone a lot about you:
Do you pay attention to detail (Did you research your audience and what they want to know about you before you began to write)
Do you think this meeting (resume) is important
Do you care about the impression you (your resume) make/s
Do you care about being current (is your resume format dated or inappropriate)

Harry then goes on to say, “Some rules apply across the board. Regardless of the role you’re pursuing, certain rules apply to every situation:”
Clothes should be clean and unwrinkled (your resume should contain only useful information)
Pants (your resume) should be neither too long nor too short
Shoes (the wording and visual appeal of your resume) should be clean (crisp) and polished
T-shirts and jeans (writing too casually on your resume) are almost never appropriate
Neatness counts! (did you proofread your resume to make sure it contains no errors)

Harry closed his piece by saying, “Appearance does matter, and dressing appropriately and professionally regardless of the position you are pursuing can have a tremendous impact on your success. Don’t make the mistake of not taking your appearance seriously enough!’

When it comes to your resume I offer the exact same advice. “The visual and professionalism and appearance of a resume is tantamount to its success… and it is imperative that you take this advice seriously.” After all as I said about the Saints and Colts, the goal is not to get to the Super Bowl or just get interview after interview. Your only goal is to have the winner’s ring on your finger – YOU WANT TO START A GREAT NEW JOB ASAP!!!