Don’t miss the Get Hired! Virginia – Career Networking Experience – Oct 27, 2009, Meadow Event Park
YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS EVENT!
To register, go to http://www.interviewangel.com/getconnected/default.aspx
Thank you for making a difference in our community.
Man, Like a Bullet, Travels Farther When he is Smooth.
I spend a lot of time around job seekers at networking events and have seen some attendees absolutely nail it and others absolutely blow it! As I have said repeatedly, the job search is a sales campaign (see http://ow.ly/hMQf and http://ow.ly/hMR4) and those engaging in the search are sales people. I know, I know, sales = bad… get over it! But lets face it, the current job market is a competitive place, and it isn’t going to get any easier, and some of the most competitive people I have ever met are career salesmen. They understand the importance of the first impression and prepare diligently. They seem to be on their “A game” at all times, especially when they are networking with individuals who can help them find customers (read – Jobs). The great ones always seem to be having an engaging and involved conversation with others, and never come across as “out to get something”. They are Sharp, Polished, and Smooth. The job seeker needs to take a cue from the salesman and do what I call “fake it till you make it”. If you aren’t exactly the smoothest operator, you need to practice your delivery of the elevator pitchthat everyone tells you is so important. It needs to come across as conversational and not the regurgitation of a string of words. All too many times I hear the robot selling me the newspaper, and not enough times do I hear the Sharp, Polished, Smooth, and Confident professional who knows who they are, and what they can offer. Once again, the skilled salesman can teach us a thing or two about the job search!
Laid off? Are you on your own? You don’t have to be!
It’s not surprising to read in the WSJ that companies are cutting back, and in some cases, completely eliminating severance payments and packages. See the story at http://bit.ly/20VNSi. We saw it locally in Richmond, VA when Quimonda announced in mid-February that they were stopping payment on their severance all together, http://bit.ly/UdqQI. As companies see it, if they reduce the severance they pay to their laid-off workers, they are able to preserve cash, and maybe limit the number of additional layoffs needed. The argument on the other side is that employers who make the choice to downsize their plans run the risk of hurting their “employment brand”, not only among those who were affected by RIFs, but also among the workers that weren’t.
However, there is a bright side for workers who are impacted by layoffs, and not given assistance by their former employer. There are a ton of resources available out there to help with resume writing and job search coaching. These types of services have been proven to lessen the amount of time it takes to find the next job, and isn’t that the real goal of any outplacement arrangement?
www.actum-inc.com/thecareergiant
The Resume From the Hiring Managers’ Perspective. Edition #1
This is the first edition in a series of posts that will attempt to answer the question of what hiring managers are looking for in a resume. In today’s hyper-competitive employment market, it is vital that your personal brochure is one of the few that make it through the screening process and gets you an interview. These posts will try to dive into the who, what, when, where and how when a hiring authority reviews resumes. I will be conducting brief interviews with managers from different lines of business and skill sets, and try to give readers the perspective that matters most!
My first interview was with my good buddy and long time client Steve Fox http://www.linkedin.com/pub/steve-fox/3/617/a57. Steve has his Masters from Johns Hopkins, served as an officer in the US Army, and managed large technology organizations for Capital One, Well Point and Circuit City, and has an impressive resume in his own right. Steve has hired dozens, if not hundreds of associates throughout his career, and has some very specific things that he looks for to determine if he’ll bring someone in for an interview. I asked Steve, “what is the first thing that you look for when you are reviewing resumes for one of your open position?” Steve responded, ”I typically take between 30 seconds and a couple of minutes to review a resume. I have always worked with a recruiter, so I typically get a smaller stack of applicants than what some hiring managers would get. If the resume is full of typos or grammatical mistakes or is just not well organized structurally, it typically gets the 30 second review. If its visually appealing, and structured in such a way that allows me to logically follow someone’s career, I will really dig in and see what that candidate has to offer.” Once the poorly organized and mistake ridden resumes or ”the dogs” are in the no pile, Steve is then looking for the “clearly and easily defined value” that the candidate offers. If the candidate has an objective or summary that has nothing to do with the posted position, that resume will join “the dogs.” If the candidate has done his/her research and has clearly spelled out how their skills meet the need, Steve will invite them in for an interview. While I talked with Steve, he made a quote that pretty much summed it all up. “A moderately successful person will make sure that their resume is sharp and put together, and will seek an objective opinion because they know that the resume is a reflection on them as a professional.” I think that pretty much says it all.
(Richmond, VA) — CBS 6 WTVR-TV is pleased to host a meaningful service for the community – The CBS 6 Joblink Pink Slip Party, Wednesday May 27th, from 5:30-7:30p.m. at TJ’s in the historic Jefferson Hotel.
A Pink Slip Party is a tradition that has been around since the early 1900’s. These “parties” were initially established by hundreds of unemployed workers to gather, commiserate being laid off, the closing of factories and the country being in a state of flux.
The CBS 6 Job Link Pink Slip Party will host a variety of beneficial services for Central Virginians. Attendees will have the opportunity to speak with employers, career advisors, recruiters, and financial & health experts – just to name a few.
“This will provide a valuable service for Central Virginians feeling the pain of the economy,” said CBS 6 Joblink Director Connie Salinas. “Virginia has not been immune to the economic problems you hear about every day,” continued Salinas. “The CBS 6 Joblink Pink Slip Party will bring people together and allow them to network with other colleagues in the community or explore new career opportunities.”
To attend, please RSVP before May 25th by clicking the pink slip web banner on CBS6JOBLINK.com. Registration is limited to the first 125 entries.
Where: TJs at The Jefferson
101 W. Franklin St.
Richmond, VA
Details: $10 Admission at the door
Light appetizers
Attire: Business Casual
Parking: Free Parking at The Jefferson lot on Main Street
Real Job Interview Stories
In 1989 The Wall Street Journal published the following responses to a survey given to top personnel executives of 100 major American corporations.
They were asked for stories of unusual behavior by job applicants…
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Said he was so well-qualified that if he didn’t get the job, it would prove that the company’s management was incompetent.
- Stretched out on the floor to fill out the job application.
- Brought her large dog to the interview.
- She wore a Walkman and said she could listen to me and the music at the same time.
- Balding candidate abruptly excused himself. Returned to office a few minutes later, wearing a hairpiece.
- Applicant challenged interviewer to arm wrestle.
- Asked to see interviewer’s resume to see if the personnel executive was qualified to judge the candidate.
- Announced she hadn’t had lunch and proceeded to eat a hamburger and french fries in the interviewer’s office.
- Said if he were hired, he would demonstrate his loyalty by having the corporate logo tattooed on his forearm.
- Interrupted to phone his therapist for advice on answering specific interview questions.
- Wouldn’t get out of the chair until I would hire him. I had to call the police.
- When I asked him about his hobbies, he stood up and started tap dancing around my office.
- Bounced up and down on my carpet and told me I must be highly thought of by the company because I was given such a thick carpet.
- Took a brush out of my purse, brushed his hair, and left.
- Pulled out a Polaroid camera and snapped a flash picture of me. Said he collected photos of everyone who interviewed him.
- Candidate asked me if I would put on a suit jacket to insure that the offer was formal.
- Said he wasn’t interested because the position paid too much.
- During the interview, an alarm clock went off from the candidate’s brief case. He took it out, shut it off, apologized and said he had to leave for another interview.
- A telephone call came in for the job applicant. His side of the conversation went like this: “Which company? When do I start? What’s the salary?”
I said, “l assume you’re not interested in conducting the interview any further.”
He promptly responded, “I am as long as you’ll pay me more.”
I didn’t hire him, but later found out there was no other job offer and the call was from his wife. It was a scam to get a higher offer. - An applicant came in wearing only one shoe. She explained that the other shoe was stolen off her foot in the bus.
- He took off his right shoe and sock, removed a medicated foot powder and dusted it on the foot and in the shoe. While he was putting back the shoe and sock, he mentioned that he had to use the powder four times a day, and this was the time.
- Candidate said he really didn’t want to get a job, but the unemployment office needed proof that he was looking for one.
- He whistled when the interviewer was talking.
- Asked who the “lovely babe” was, pointing to the picture on my desk. When I said it was my wife, he asked if she was home now and wanted my phone number. I called security.
- She threw-up on my desk and immediately started asking questions about the job, like nothing had happened.
- Pointing to a black case he carried into my office, he said that If he was not hired, the bomb would go off. Disbelieving, I began to state why he would never be hired and that I was going to call the police. He then reached down to the case, flipped a switch and ran. No one was injured, but I did need to get a new desk.
Actum, Inc.’s competitive advantages are:
- Quality - Our mission is to create satisfied customers by providing high quality service
- Price – A blend of quality and affordability
- Impact - The work we do has a positive impact on our customers and our community
- Focus – Individualized attention vs. a one-size-fits-all service
- Time – We spend the time to get to know our customers
As far as Price goes, we are extremely competitive. Here is a brief list of available resume writing services and their pricing for an Executive resume:
Monster = $349.95
Careerbuilder = $279.95
TheLadders = $695
Actum, Inc. = $239
ResumeEdge = $229.95
As you can see, we are not the cheapest resume writing service available, but we are also not the most expensive BY FAR! Our clear advantages, in addition to our fair pricing, over these competitors is our Impact on the local Richmond community, and our ability to Focus on One-on-One service!
As a career transition professional, I get to talk to a lot of folks who are on the job hunt, and most of them have no clue how to effectively build and maintain their professional network. The most common mistake that I see is letting the network die once you have found a job. Big mistake! This is the time to really solidify those relationships and “pay it forward” to those in your network who are still looking. You are now a ”success story” and others want to hear those stories. In addition, you may have the ability to directly help some of the folks you have met with connections to jobs within your new employer. The common thread that I have seen among people who find work quickly is that their network is very active. If you are building your network after you find yourself out of a job, it inevitably takes much longer to find a home. My advice, keep networking even when you are working.
“Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines.”
Today there are millions of people, both unemployed and underemployed, who have a decision to make. This is a short story about one of those people who found himself out of work and nervous, yet somehow energized by the prospect of change. After spending 15 years as an engineer in the semiconductor industry, “Ted” became one of the many victims of the poor economy, and its effect on his employer’s bottom line. When Richmond area company Qimonda closed its doors, Ted was without a paycheck for the first time in his adult life, and like most of his contemporaries, he immediately put the resume out and targeted similar types of jobs to the ones he had held all along. The catch came when he started looking more closely into his true career ambitions, aptitudes and interests, not to mention the fact that there weren’t a lot of chip manufacturers hiring engineers. He actually found that engineering wasn’t the job that he was most suited for, nor was it where his heart guided him. Ted decided to make a dramatic shift, and use the difficult situation as an opportunity. As the quote says, ”Problems are not stop signs, the are guidelines”, and Ted took it to heart. After taking a personal inventory, Ted felt that there must be a way to leverage his love for the outdoors, and make a career out of it. It started by targeting engieering opportunities that would allow him to work outside, and after hours of research the job hunt took a complete shift and moved into the emerging world of renewable energy. “(I) Have a lot of people telling me it’s a good time to take the time to retrain, if my heart is pulling me in a different direction.” The opportunity to follow your heart in your career doesn’t come along very often, and many people look up after 10 or 15 years or more and find themselves doing work that they aren’t passionate about. I guess the silver lining in this economic downturn, will be recognized by those who use the opportunity to follow their passions and re-direct their careers to align with their desires. Whether it is renewable energy, business ownership, or whatever new direction, use the opportunity to actually listen to that little voice and do what you love.
How many bad resumes have you reviewed in the past 30 days?
Personally, I’ve seen hundreds! Most people don’t have the requisite skills necessary to craft an impactful “personal brochure”, and most of the recruiters I talk to regularly don’t have the time or desire to help every candidate re-tool their resume. That is one of the reasons that I started Actum, Inc. after spending the past 11 years building recruiting organizations. Our focus is on helping candidates craft a polished and professional resume, and conduct an effective job search. The logic is this, you wouldn’t try to fix your own car, toilet or computer unless you had those specific skills, so why is your resume different?
