Thursday, October 23, 2008
The Truth Behind Job Search Myths
It seems like everyone is an expert when it comes to looking for a job. So it’s no wonder that so many people have misconceptions about how to actually find a great opportunity. From resumes that miss the target to forgetting about the cover letter, the are common mistakes made by job seekers every day just because they don’t know better. Here are six common job search myths and the real story that job seekers need to know.
Myth: If a company likes what they see in my resume, they’ll call me.
Reality: Good jobs are never won by waiting by the phone while the information age has made it extremely easy to send resumes, many people forget that the work involved in a job search does not stop once the “send” button is pushed. Companies receive so many resumes each day, and simply do not have time to respond to every inquiry. Therefore, it is up to the job seeker to make contact. Every resume you send should be followed up with a phone call. In his book, 95 Mistakes Job Seekers Make –and How to Avoid Them (Impact Publications), Richard Fein suggests job seekers make a chart that includes each company’s name, contact person and phone number, and a column for keeping track of action to date and next steps needed. He says you should call one week after sending a resume, and then again a week to 10 days later.
Myth: If it isn’t advertised, it’s not available
Reality: while there are certainly great opportunities to be found in the classified ads and online job postings, many open jobs are never advertised. So while it is important to include want ads and career websites as a part of your job search, this should only be one element of your strategy. In addition, you need to proactively call companies that interest you, as well as network. Call the head of the appropriate department and ask about openings. Request to come in for an interview. Have lunch with contacts and get your name out there. Chances are you’ll find just as many opportunities from cold calls and networking as you will from the help wanted ads.
Myth: A cover letter is just a throw away addition to a resume.
Reality: In almost all circumstances, resumes should be accompanied by a cover letter. This document can be used to your advantage if your letter is well written and specific to the company and position. According to Fein, cover letters can serve five major purposes: Highlighting items that are particularly relevant or impressive in your resume; reframing items to connect them specifically to the company’s needs; adding new material that is relevant to the specific job opportunity; explaining your interest in the specific job; and addressing credibility gap issues that appear in your resume. It’s clear cover letters can do a lot for your job search – make sure you put the time into creating them
Myth: A resume should explain responsibilities at previous jobs.
Reality: A resume needs to give the reader an idea of past positions you have held, but should not read like a page of job descriptions. Instead, you should write your resume like it is an advertisement for yourself. Fein says job seekers need to provide examples of success in their resumes. “Employees are paid not just to do, but to produce,” he says. “Your resume should focus on results.” Instead of just telling the reader about your duties, include facts and figures to demonstrate your success and accomplishments.
Myth: The more resumes I send out, the better.
Reality: while many people take a shotgun approach to job searching, this strategy generally does not end in success. “Your job search needs to be intensive, rather than extensive,” says Fein. This means you should focus your energy on quality contact with companies and opportunities that are truly worthwhile rather than doing mass mailings and nothing else.
Myth: every resume should show a chronological procession of experience
Reality: While chronological resumes are good for those who have been in the workforce for many years, new job seekers should take a different approach, says Fein. “Job seekers with no experience should organize their experience into categories,” he says. For example, if you are looking for a sales job, you would have a category called “Sales experience,” and list facts from a wide range of experience in that category. This will make it easy for the reader to see how your past experience relates to the position available, even when you do not have a long list of jobs.
Myth: If a company likes what they see in my resume, they’ll call me.
Reality: Good jobs are never won by waiting by the phone while the information age has made it extremely easy to send resumes, many people forget that the work involved in a job search does not stop once the “send” button is pushed. Companies receive so many resumes each day, and simply do not have time to respond to every inquiry. Therefore, it is up to the job seeker to make contact. Every resume you send should be followed up with a phone call. In his book, 95 Mistakes Job Seekers Make –and How to Avoid Them (Impact Publications), Richard Fein suggests job seekers make a chart that includes each company’s name, contact person and phone number, and a column for keeping track of action to date and next steps needed. He says you should call one week after sending a resume, and then again a week to 10 days later.
Myth: If it isn’t advertised, it’s not available
Reality: while there are certainly great opportunities to be found in the classified ads and online job postings, many open jobs are never advertised. So while it is important to include want ads and career websites as a part of your job search, this should only be one element of your strategy. In addition, you need to proactively call companies that interest you, as well as network. Call the head of the appropriate department and ask about openings. Request to come in for an interview. Have lunch with contacts and get your name out there. Chances are you’ll find just as many opportunities from cold calls and networking as you will from the help wanted ads.
Myth: A cover letter is just a throw away addition to a resume.
Reality: In almost all circumstances, resumes should be accompanied by a cover letter. This document can be used to your advantage if your letter is well written and specific to the company and position. According to Fein, cover letters can serve five major purposes: Highlighting items that are particularly relevant or impressive in your resume; reframing items to connect them specifically to the company’s needs; adding new material that is relevant to the specific job opportunity; explaining your interest in the specific job; and addressing credibility gap issues that appear in your resume. It’s clear cover letters can do a lot for your job search – make sure you put the time into creating them
Myth: A resume should explain responsibilities at previous jobs.
Reality: A resume needs to give the reader an idea of past positions you have held, but should not read like a page of job descriptions. Instead, you should write your resume like it is an advertisement for yourself. Fein says job seekers need to provide examples of success in their resumes. “Employees are paid not just to do, but to produce,” he says. “Your resume should focus on results.” Instead of just telling the reader about your duties, include facts and figures to demonstrate your success and accomplishments.
Myth: The more resumes I send out, the better.
Reality: while many people take a shotgun approach to job searching, this strategy generally does not end in success. “Your job search needs to be intensive, rather than extensive,” says Fein. This means you should focus your energy on quality contact with companies and opportunities that are truly worthwhile rather than doing mass mailings and nothing else.
Myth: every resume should show a chronological procession of experience
Reality: While chronological resumes are good for those who have been in the workforce for many years, new job seekers should take a different approach, says Fein. “Job seekers with no experience should organize their experience into categories,” he says. For example, if you are looking for a sales job, you would have a category called “Sales experience,” and list facts from a wide range of experience in that category. This will make it easy for the reader to see how your past experience relates to the position available, even when you do not have a long list of jobs.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Be Prepared When Opportunity Calls
Job interviews by Phone Are No Less Formal than Face-to-Face Meetings
Ms. Gikas was interviewing a senior-level manager on the phone when suddenly the job candidate paused. He said he was reading an email, recalls Ms. Gikas, a managing director in New York at Major Public Relations Firm. “It showed me that his conversation with me wasn’t very important,” she explains. He wasn’t invited to interview in person.
Job hunters often mistakenly believe that phone interviews are less formal than face-to-face meetings, recruiters say. Yet they’re a critical first hurdle in landing a job.
For applicants, the goal of a phone interview is to secure an in-person meeting. For recruiters, it’s to narrow their list of prospects. You can increase the odds of passing this initial screening if you follow the advice in these four tips:
Minimize Distractions
Flushing toilets, clamoring dishes, and barking dogs sometimes interrupt phone interviews, recruiters report. If you have scheduled a conversation, plan to be in a quiet place, says Chris Wilkins, manager, strategic staffing at office of Ingersoll Rand Co. If the call was unexpected, it is OK to ask to reschedule, he says.
Avoid using a cell phone, if possible, “You never know when a signal is going to be problematic.” “I’ve had that happen several times with candidates. It was hard to hear them, and calls ended prematurely.”
Sharpen Verbal Skills
Given a phone interview’s lack of eye contact and body language, candidates are evaluated largely by what they say and how they say it, according to recruiters. Interviewers listen for clues indication such qualities as passion for the job, professionalism and whether the person might be a good cultural fit. In may, Ruth Bielobocky, principal of Ion Design LLC, a marketing communications firm in Frederick, Md., rejected a candidate for a senior copywriting job because she wasn’t able to “get a sense of who he was,” she says. “I couldn’t imagine putting him in front of a client to communicate a concept, because you need to have enthusiasm and intonation in your voice to sell.”
“Teen speak” and other unpolished speech habits are a common knockout factor, says Mr. Wilkins. “I’ve had people call me ‘dude’ and ‘brother’ and use words like ‘freakin,’” he says. Other turnoffs are gum chewing, smoking, and eating.
Prepare in Advance
If you’ve scheduled or are anticipating a phone interview, keep notes and your resume at hand, says Amy Segal, director of talent management for Verizon Communications Inc., a New York based Telecommunications Company. “The interviewer is none the wiser,” she notes.
A bit of homework can go a long way. In January, a candidate for a job as vice president of human resources at Ingersoll Rand impressed Mr. Wilkins by mentioning its acquisition of Italian manufacturers CISA Spa. “The press release came out literally the day we spoke,” he says. Mr. Wilkins invited the candidate to interview in person, though the person withdrew because of the job’s location.
Susie Klinck, manager of the site-management team at the Palo Alto, Calif., office of Xerox Corp., says a candidate for a content-manager position at the technology and services company emailed her some work samples, and they reviewed them together on the phone.
The candidate secured an in-person interview. While she didn’t win the job, says Ms. Klinck, “being able to review her work together went a long way in her getting as far as she did.”
Follow Up
After a phone interview, send a thank-you that recaps your best selling points.
Yvonne Gagnon, a part-time communications-management student at Manhattanville College’s School of Graduate & Professional Studies in purchase, N.Y., did just that after a phone interview in July. She had emailed her resume to a recruiter at an executive-search firm and called a few days later to follow up. She was interviewed on the spot for a communications job at a credit-card company. “I didn’t know anything about the position or where her questioning was going,” She says. Afterward, Ms. Gagnon crafted an email summarizing what they had discussed and information that she hadn’t thought to mention.
“I’m really glad I did it, because I ended up getting five [in person] interviews” for that job through the recruiter, she says. While she didn’t get the job, she still makes follow-up emails a practice. “The face-to-face interview won’t happen if you don’t treat a phone interview with the same gravity,” she says.
Ms. Gikas was interviewing a senior-level manager on the phone when suddenly the job candidate paused. He said he was reading an email, recalls Ms. Gikas, a managing director in New York at Major Public Relations Firm. “It showed me that his conversation with me wasn’t very important,” she explains. He wasn’t invited to interview in person.
Job hunters often mistakenly believe that phone interviews are less formal than face-to-face meetings, recruiters say. Yet they’re a critical first hurdle in landing a job.
For applicants, the goal of a phone interview is to secure an in-person meeting. For recruiters, it’s to narrow their list of prospects. You can increase the odds of passing this initial screening if you follow the advice in these four tips:
Minimize Distractions
Flushing toilets, clamoring dishes, and barking dogs sometimes interrupt phone interviews, recruiters report. If you have scheduled a conversation, plan to be in a quiet place, says Chris Wilkins, manager, strategic staffing at office of Ingersoll Rand Co. If the call was unexpected, it is OK to ask to reschedule, he says.
Avoid using a cell phone, if possible, “You never know when a signal is going to be problematic.” “I’ve had that happen several times with candidates. It was hard to hear them, and calls ended prematurely.”
Sharpen Verbal Skills
Given a phone interview’s lack of eye contact and body language, candidates are evaluated largely by what they say and how they say it, according to recruiters. Interviewers listen for clues indication such qualities as passion for the job, professionalism and whether the person might be a good cultural fit. In may, Ruth Bielobocky, principal of Ion Design LLC, a marketing communications firm in Frederick, Md., rejected a candidate for a senior copywriting job because she wasn’t able to “get a sense of who he was,” she says. “I couldn’t imagine putting him in front of a client to communicate a concept, because you need to have enthusiasm and intonation in your voice to sell.”
“Teen speak” and other unpolished speech habits are a common knockout factor, says Mr. Wilkins. “I’ve had people call me ‘dude’ and ‘brother’ and use words like ‘freakin,’” he says. Other turnoffs are gum chewing, smoking, and eating.
Prepare in Advance
If you’ve scheduled or are anticipating a phone interview, keep notes and your resume at hand, says Amy Segal, director of talent management for Verizon Communications Inc., a New York based Telecommunications Company. “The interviewer is none the wiser,” she notes.
A bit of homework can go a long way. In January, a candidate for a job as vice president of human resources at Ingersoll Rand impressed Mr. Wilkins by mentioning its acquisition of Italian manufacturers CISA Spa. “The press release came out literally the day we spoke,” he says. Mr. Wilkins invited the candidate to interview in person, though the person withdrew because of the job’s location.
Susie Klinck, manager of the site-management team at the Palo Alto, Calif., office of Xerox Corp., says a candidate for a content-manager position at the technology and services company emailed her some work samples, and they reviewed them together on the phone.
The candidate secured an in-person interview. While she didn’t win the job, says Ms. Klinck, “being able to review her work together went a long way in her getting as far as she did.”
Follow Up
After a phone interview, send a thank-you that recaps your best selling points.
Yvonne Gagnon, a part-time communications-management student at Manhattanville College’s School of Graduate & Professional Studies in purchase, N.Y., did just that after a phone interview in July. She had emailed her resume to a recruiter at an executive-search firm and called a few days later to follow up. She was interviewed on the spot for a communications job at a credit-card company. “I didn’t know anything about the position or where her questioning was going,” She says. Afterward, Ms. Gagnon crafted an email summarizing what they had discussed and information that she hadn’t thought to mention.
“I’m really glad I did it, because I ended up getting five [in person] interviews” for that job through the recruiter, she says. While she didn’t get the job, she still makes follow-up emails a practice. “The face-to-face interview won’t happen if you don’t treat a phone interview with the same gravity,” she says.
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