Career Coaching – Page 10 – New Century Dynamics Executive Search

July 13, 2014

Your Resume is Not Getting Traction: 5 Reasons Why

We all know the adage. “You only get one chance to make a good first impression.” Whereas this might not be completely accurate, where your resume is concerned it most certainly is true. Your resume is likely your first opportunity to make an impact with a hiring manager. In too many cases a strong candidate with a weak resume loses out on a great opportunity. It does not have to be that way. Understanding how a resume is reviewed and used will give you the fundamental information to craft a product that will stand out. The following five issues are likely working against you.

It is Not Easy to Read.

Use header and footer function to retain continuity.
Use Table function to hold formatting for employers, job titles and dates.
PDF is the best format for integrity in transmission.
12 pt type face size for the body of the resume, larger for headers, 14 to 16 pt.
Use spacing to break up jobs held and to transition from different formats.
White space is important! Use it liberally.
Use underlining to separate employers.

It is Not Fun and Interesting Reading;

Provide a short Executive Summary at the beginning to set the stage.

Use paragraph format for Career Summary, and Job Responsibilities.
Italics for job responsibilities will make the resume more interesting to read.
Use bullet-point format for Accomplishments and Skill Sets.
Use bold and underline functions to make headers stand out.
Give a brief description of each employer and the purpose of each position.

It Does Not Reveal You to be a Savvy Professional:

Leave off Personal interests and “references available upon request.”
Use industry specific terminology.
Accomplishments should be predominant
Executive/Career summary must address your functional discipline, level of accomplishment; and industry/segment expertise.
Give a short, one line explanation for employer changes.
Your resume file name should put your last name first, then first name and date.
Use File/Properties menu option to list key words and other data.
Use appropriate key words in the body of the resume.
Avoid trite phrases and meaningless buzz-words.

It Does Not Focus Enough On Your Accomplishments:

Your Career Summary should position you based on your general contributions.
Your Skill Sets should provide more definition to your strengths
Your Employment Summary should bullet-point your most significant accomplishments.

It Is Not Easy to Contact You:

Cell phone and email addresses are key.
Home mailing address is unnecessary.

The most important point to understand is that your resume is not read as much as it is scanned. In many of my search assignments up to 50% of the resumes I receive do not fit the desired profile, but I still must review each and every one to make that determination. Hiring managers and their support staff must use their time wisely when sifting through a mountain of resumes. These folks sort your resume into two piles; “possible” and “forget-about-it” by quickly scanning to see if the resume reflects the ideal profile for the position in question. Even if their scan picks up some of the key attributes in question, a poorly formatted resume can end up in the “forget-about-it” pile.

To further drive home the point one would do well by reviewing point of sale marketing messages used by retailers. They use very short messages, sometimes as few as two or three words, that make a strong emotional connection with the shopper. You would be wise to think like a retailer when crafting your resume.

To Summarize, if you are to be considered a viable job candidate, your resume must be interesting, easy to read, and user-friendly for digital (i.e. email) transmission and retrieval. To be viewed as a savvy professional, pay attention to the details. Put your recipient’s needs first. The previous bullet points will set you apart from the rest of the pack.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is very important to me so please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President

New Century Dynamics Executive Search

www.newcenturydynamics.com

July 6, 2014

Five Steps to employment for the over-50 Job-search: Why you need a career coach.

I landed my first job out of college by responding to a classified ad posted in the local newspaper. After that, I did not need to look for another job for 11 years. The next job I landed was through an executive recruiter and the one following that was through an ad placed in a trade magazine. My last job-search was conducted under direction of an outplacement firm which focused on the power of networking. Interestingly, my networking with an executive recruiter led to my final job in the corporate world. It was in that last situation, working with an outplacement counselor, where I had my first experience with a career coach. Although he was not familiar with my industry segment he was very good at helping me improve my networking skills, especially the quality of my communications. He kept me focused and motivated, resulting in a fairly short time between jobs. That was, wow, over 20 years ago. Email and the Internet were in their infancy. Snail mail and the telephone were still our primary modes of communication. It was still Prime Time for Baby-boomers.

Throughout my corporate career, interrupted by a few short-lived recessions, the economy was growing steadily, fueled by the demand created by baby-boomers and supported by deregulation and the Regan Era fiscal policies. Jobs were a lot easier to come by. It was easier to find a new situation. And then the world changed. The job market is a very different today. In many respects it is a lot more difficult. It is also much easier if you have the key. I left the corporate world in 1999 to begin my own executive search business.

One of the most upsetting situations I encounter in my work is talking with displaced Boomers who have had solid careers only to be derailed by a merger or a restructuring which cost them their job. They focused so much on their day to day responsibilities that they had not kept pace with the changing job market. To say that their job-search skills are rusty would be an understatement. Even worse, they have neglected their network. It is no longer effective and must be rebuilt. Their single-minded focus is to find another job, just like the last job. No other options are on the table. Many have the cushion of a severance package but few have outplacement benefits. They find it difficult to grasp the fact that the jobs they left are gone or have been filled by younger, lesser compensated employees. The absolute worst situation is to talk to someone who has burned through their severance and is working down their savings; true desperation. If you find yourself in this situation, you probably need professional help: an intervention. This is when a career coach can be very important.

When you hire a career coach you are entering into a personal relationship. A good coach will learn about your personality and how you approach a challenge, or adversity. She will use that understanding to help you craft a strategy and set goals to achieve your job search objectives. She will stay with you, offering encouragement and support as you execute your plan. A good coach will help you break through roadblocks, especially those you create for yourself. She knows the job market and can help you evaluate options for a meaningful next chapter. The bottom-line is that you need to feel comfortable with your coach as she may have a major impact on your career. For the relationship to work, both you and your coach need a connection, a bond.

It is a brave new world out there. We all need help from time to time. Your career is too important to neglect, so it is a wise move to engage a career coach to help you through you job search.

Thank you for visiting my blog.

Your feedback helps me continue to publish articles that you want to read. Your input is very important to me so please leave a comment.

Jim Weber, President

New Century Dynamics Executive Search

www.newcenturydynamics.com

May 27, 2014

Five Tips for Improving your Attitude

Originally Posted on May 6, 2014 by Richard Kirby, Executive Impact

Are you happy with your boss, your income, your career progression to date, your opportunities for advancement, your choice of profession, your industry’s outlook and your employer’s culture? If so, then you probably don’t need to read this. If you are not happy with any of these, however, I want to help you. Consider this….
Most of us have been encouraged to get a good education and become knowledgeable in our professions. Many have spent thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of hours earning credentials and gaining professional expertise. While these (may) have been good investments in your career and your future, how much of that time did you invest in thoughtfully developing and improving your attitude? If your answer is “Not much”, then please keep reading!
I suggest in the first chapter of my career book that “Attitude is important in landing a job, keeping a job, and being proactively prepared to change jobs.” Beyond this, I also believe your attitude is an important contributor to having a satisfying career and happy life. If you would like more career satisfaction and happiness, then it will definitely be worth your time to try one or more of these five tips for improving your attitude:
1. Select a point in time during your work day and monitor your thoughts for ten to twenty minutes. Categorize each thought you have as positive or negative. Avoid cheating by labeling thoughts as neutral. Keep score and see how you do. Make a game out of rephrasing your negative thoughts into positive ones.
2. With your physician’s agreement, start a consistent exercise program that is appropriate for your current health condition. Get your endorphins flowing! They naturally make you feel better and that contributes to a more positive disposition.
3. Notice the types of media you consume and consider eliminating as many negative inputs as possible. Examples would be most television news programs, movies that are violent or lack uplifting story lines, and publications that focus on what’s wrong with the world. Reducing negative inputs and replacing them with positive ones is likely to help support a better mood.
4. Pay attention to the people with whom you associate. Are they predominantly happy and positive … or not? Increasing your time spent with positive people and reducing or eliminating the negatives will definitely be beneficial.
5. Last, but certainly not least, seek out a capable life coach or (if you are more serious about this quest) psychologist. My wife is a psychologist and virtually every person I have sent her way in the past eight years has benefitted.
Your attitude is always showing. You project it in every interaction with your boss, your peers, your subordinates, your friends and your family. They may not notice in all cases and they may not tell you even when they notice something that is unflattering. However, you are putting it out there all the time … like CNN or Fox News.
I believe you deserve the best career possible, not just some mundane job that pays the rent and puts food on the table. Don’t you?
You have the power to improve your career results…. and your attitude can be one of your biggest contributors to your success. Try some of my tips this week and let me know what you think.

May 12, 2014

Five Reasons Your Attitude Is Hurting Your Career

Originally Posted on May 6, 2014 by Richard Kirby, President Executive Impact

This post is about trying to help you, not about criticizing you. Please consider it in that light.
Your attitude is one of the most important factors in creating your long-term career happiness. As noted in the first chapter of my career book, “Attitude is important in landing a job, keeping a job, and being proactively prepared to change jobs.”

Whether you recognize it or not, your attitude IS affecting your career…. either positively or negatively. In this article, I want to help alert you if it could be retarding your progress or standing in the way of achieving the career results you desire.

If you are happy with your boss, your peers, your subordinates, your income, your job title, your career progression, your opportunity for advancement, your profession, your industry, and your employer’s culture, then the odds are high that your attitude is in good shape. If you are not happy with one or more of these items, however, then one or more of the following “yellow flags” could be worth examining:

1. You have a troll for a boss who makes your workdays unpleasant, possibly because you attracted him/her or because you have stayed in your job when you know you should have left long ago.

2. You have jerks on your team who you don’t enjoy, possibly because you lack the self-confidence to professionally confront them or to refer the situation to someone with the authority to correct the situation.

3. You have a troublesome employee who is disruptive to your team, possibly because you feel you do not have the power to replace him or her.

4. Your income has become stagnant or dropped and this is creating financial stress, possibly because you don’t feel comfortable promoting your value within your employer or to other employers.

5. Your job title makes your position sound less responsible than it is and this creates a perception problem on your resume, possibly because you have not advocated strongly enough to have your title corrected/improved.

Yes, Virginia, I actually have the unmitigated gall to suggest that you have created your current career circumstances through your own personal choices and that those choices are likely to have been influenced by your attitude. Conversely, I want to offer you the genuine possibility that you have the power to improve all of these situations. Not by complaining. Not overnight. Not from terrible to fantastic in one fell swoop. But yes. You have the power to improve them.

How? Please stay tuned. I promise to address this in a few weeks. Until then, consider conducting some internet searches and seek out articles that offer ways to improve your attitude. The rewards could be huge!

Richard Kirby is an executive career consultant, recruiting manager, and author of Fast Track Your Job Search (and Career!).