Resume Help Blog

Archive for the ‘Advice and Articles’ Category

This article is written by Mary Rlizabeth Bradford an internationally certified advanced resume writer, job search coach & hidden job market expert. You can check out her sites at www.maryelizabethbradford.com and www.job-searchsystem.com

Have you been exploring alternatives to traditional job search methods? If you have, congratulations! You are on your way to greatly increasing your results and response rates!

I believe you will find this does wonders not only for reaching your job search goals, but also in keeping up your excitement and confidence in the process.

Developing the right list of target companies for you is so important because, done right, it’s going to save you a tremendous amount of time, increase your interviews and save you from the frustration of doing it wrong, which can create an illusion that the reason you are not getting enough quality interviews is because there is something wrong with you or your resume.

So here are 5 tips on how you can get started developing your own amazing list of target companies today:

Tip #1: Focus – Example A
Let’s say for example you want to stay in the state of Georgia and you would like to remain in the field of Academia. Your challenge is to find the institutions potentially suited for you in your state. You need to identify where these lists of institutions are AND you need to track where the movement or growth is with these individual institutions. Your best bet is to check out your trade and association journals for these lists and late breaking news like campus growth, appropriated funds, and promotions etc… anything that might indicate growth or development and a great reason for you to connect. Start by Googling Academia+Georgia or Associations+Higher Education+Georgia.

Tip#2: Focus – Example B
Perhaps you are in sales and marketing of consumer goods and you want to move into a senior sales role for the “green” market. You are open to relocating anywhere in the US. In order to not spread yourself too thin, you must come up with a nice handful of portals you can use to find emerging or developed companies that specialize in your “green” market of choice. Begin by Googling green jobs+products. Interested in wind farms or solar? Google green jobs+wind farms and wind farms+USA. You can also try Googling wind energy+investors. These are just a few examples.

Not only will you find companies and contact decision maker names this way, but you will also find articles and information on companies that are growing and developing new products and services. Any and all companies that you like should make your list!

Tip #3: Create an Abundant List
The general rule of thumb is: the smaller your geographic parameters are, the more you really need to dig to add anyone and everyone that meets your career focus parameters to your list. If your list is too small, you minimize your responses. Try to begin with 30 to 50 companies, ideally.

Conversely, you may develop over 150 potential company picks in your industry of choice. If this is you, then consider sending your mailings out in phases or hiring a printer (I like Insty Prints) to help you with your mailings.

There is another industry school of thought that touts concentrating on just a few companies at a time. If you are not in a hurry and are willing to invest in learning about, and networking with, key decision makers in each of these companies then I would agree this method is also effective.

Tip#4: Get To the Decision Maker
Sending all of your correspondence to the human resource department will get you far less valuable connections and interviews – primarily because unless HR has been handed a job description that closely matches your qualifications at the exact time you send them your resume, they are probably not going to be interested in you.

So, don’t gamble your confidence away! Though rarely you might hit the jackpot, these just aren’t very good odds. Get to the decision maker… the person two to four levels above your ideal position that is going to be interested to hear about your successes in productivity, profitability and problem solving.

No offense to my human resource friends that serve a valuable and honorable function.

Tip #5: Follow Up
You have to be prepared to follow up with a phone call once you have sent out your correspondence. I know, you are thinking, “but it is so uncomfortable to follow up with someone I don’t know and ask them for a job!” Good news! You don’t have to (and shouldn’t) come right out and ask them for a job.

As a professional, one of the things you must do in your job is learning the basics of networking. We ALL have to do it, so let’s discuss for a moment the value of learning how to network in a way that is comfortable and breeds confidence.

Here is a technique that I use: when I network, I think about it in a way that does not put undue pressure on myself or the immediate outcome.

In other words, when you follow up, don’t set yourself up by rationalizing that the only acceptable outcome is a job interview. Here is your realistic goal: to make an introduction, either personally or via voice mail that you feel good about. That’s it. When you go on a first date do you berate yourself that no one got married at the end of it? Of course not! So just take a deep breath and give the situation a chance to materialize into something positive.

Okay, so here is how to leave a nice message you can feel good about. Try something like this: “Hi this is ____.  Perhaps my name sounds familiar – I sent you some correspondence last week and indicated I would be following up with you. Its Wednesday, 10am, and I will be in the office all day. Please feel free to call me back at ____ and I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.”

This is a nice general introduction. Not to short and not too long.

If you connect with your contact live, this is even better! Say hello, inform him or her why you are calling and then share what you specialize in. Perhaps you increased revenue in your division by 57% last year, or you are a turnaround expert or you just lead your corporation through a very successful merger. Whatever your latest and greatest achievement is, this is what you lead with.

State your achievement in just a sentence or two and then say that you greatly admire their company and for these reasons you wanted to introduce yourself and find out if he/she might have an interest in learning more. This structure concentrates on your quantifiable achievements, is short and is flattering – a recipe for success!

Using these simple tips will put your job search focus in order and allow for a smooth transition from one objective to the other, so in no time at all you will have garnered positive results from your ideal companies!

The hospitality industry offers a wide range of jobs to job seekers. Whether you are aspiring to become a head waiter or a ticket reservation agent, you can find excellent employment opportunities in the hospitality industry.

With the wide range of jobs on offer, some think that finding a job in the hospitality industry is relatively easy. This may not be totally wrong, but a lot depends on the role you are seeking, your qualifications, and relevant experience. Like in any other industry, newcomers may find it a bit difficult to set their foot in the door. This, however, may not be the case if you follow the tips listed here.

Learn to sell yourself

The first lesson you need to learn is how to sell yourself. It is of utmost importance that you do this right. You must remember that as a newcomer, you may be competing with job aspirants with previous experience and/or with better qualifications.

Highlight your best skills and accomplishments in your resume. If you have done an internship, mention that too in your resume. Listing your qualifications, skills, accomplishments, and internship is only half the job. The rest is about demonstrating that you are dedicated to service and are someone who loves taking initiatives and challenges. To elaborate upon this in your resume, list all the initiatives you took during your internship. If you have not done an internship, you can mention the initiatives you took in school or college. Also, if applicable, mention all the accolades you received from employers and professors. If you are looking into being a server you can check out server-resume.com or if your looking to be a chef check out hcareers.com for further help on selling yourself through your resume.

Start at bottom if that is the only option available

As in other industries, freshers are usually given entry-level jobs. Don’t let this deter you; instead, use it as an opportunity to fulfill your goal. For instance, if your aim is to sit on the chair of executive accountant and posses an accounting degree, you may still be only offered an entry-level job in the accounts department.

In case you find that you are only getting calls for entry-level jobs, make full use of the opportunity. Create a resume which, while highlighting your qualifications and skills, does not make you seem too overqualified for the entry-level job. Highlight specifically what you have to offer and what makes you the best person for the job.

Once hired, impress the management with your superior skills and demonstrate that you are capable of handling bigger responsibilities than your present role can possibly offer. This strategy will help you rise through the ranks swiftly.

Everyone knows that each company has its own list of job titles given to employees. The job title you get in your current company may not be the same as that of your previous one, even though your responsibilities and duties remain the same. Companies tend to make up their own list of titles, and many of these reflect their corporate culture. Some companies make up creative names in order to make their employees feel better and more importantly, about their job. This sort of creativity may be good while you are in your company, but it does not work so well while hunting for new jobs.

To understand why the creative and seemingly powerful job title you had in your previous job should be omitted, you need to look into the basic purpose of a resume, which is to push you to the first interview. The resume does not secure an offer for you, nor does it get you a job; it only gets you to the first round of interviews for the job. In order for your resume to do this, you need to make sure that it is seen and reviewed by as many recruiters as possible and not removed at just a glance. This brings us to another important piece of information related to your job title, which is that recruiters look for candidates by the standard job title in the industry.

What are industry standard job titles?

If the standard job title of your job is a ‘database analyst’ or senior associate’, make sure that you use only that on your resume, and not your company-issued titles, no matter how fancy they may sound. If you look at these industry titles, you would find that they are quite generic. A ‘Senior’ designation on an industry standard job title, like the example above, can limit the number of people who are seeing it and reviewing.

This difference in treatment is primarily due to the pay. A senior associate will not get the interview because they would not be seen in the first place, and so there would not be any chance to negotiate pay. Of course, some recruiters feel that applicants should add their company-given title on their resume. If you want to appease both kinds of recruiters, you can add your company title to your resume and then mention the industry standard one and bold-face and italicize it. After this, write briefly about your work responsibilities and duties.

Knowing how to search for positions

If you have ever searched a position on job-hunting websites, you would know that the most important keyword to add is the position title, after which come other details like pay, geography, etc. When you type in your company title, you may not find any hits because that title is meant for your company only. Now, if you type in your industry standard job title, you would get more hits because it is more common. The same thing is done by recruiters, and you might be missing out on some great opportunities because your company-issued job title is not showing up in search results.

Conclusion

Some people feel that they deserve a fancy-looking title, and never take it away from their resume even if it is just a company-issued title. If you are in this group, you should get your ego out of the way and focus more on getting the interview. After all, you would not have any titles or pay to negotiate if recruiters and search engines look past your resume without even noticing it.