Dream Job Radio Interview

I was interviewed for Dream Job Radio today.  The topic was job search advice but we touched on developing yourself as an Entrepreneur.  Here is the link through ITunes.  Another source can be found here.

Local and Independent Authors Day at the Princeton Public Library

I am looking forward to reading from my book, Job Search for Moms at the Princeton Public Library next Saturday, March 19, 2011.  I will be speaking at approximately 2:45 PM in Session 3.  This is a very exciting event for the library.  The morning will feature the following presentations:

10:00 – 10:45am - Don Lafferty: Using Social Media, Marketing and public relations

10:45 – 11:30am - John Calu and David Hart – Transition from self to traditional and writing as a team

11:30-12:00pm - Chris Illuminati: Boggling and Self-Promotion

In the afternoon a wonderful selection of local and independent authors will introduce themselves, speak about their books and have a selection of books available for purchase. 

 Please stop by if you are in the area.  I would love to meet you.

Make Your Resume Wording Specific

I want to say a few quick words about resume preparation this morning.  I am helping a friend put his resume together.  We created one last year and he used it to find a position right away.  Lately he has become dissatisfied with the new company and wants to move on to something new.  What I thought would be a quick rewrite has become more of a challenge.  He sent me his accomplishments for his first year on the job but they were very vague.  Here are a few of his statements and the questions that I asked him to answer before we get started:

1.    Made the transition of the Linden, NJ service area a smooth process. What does that mean? What did it involve?  How many people were involved? What role did you play and what was the result?

2.    Learned the new MODE System. Why is this important and how does it help? What is it and how/where do you fit in? What does MODE stand for?

3.    Worked with assigned customers. How many customers do you have? Are they all over the country? What does “worked” mean?

4.    Use the HIS System proficiently.  What’s the actual name for the HIS system and what does it do? What does proficiently mean?

5.    Assist sales rep with their service needs. How many sales reps do you deal with and where are they?  What are their needs?

When you get down to writing your resume and can’t come up with anything specific, ask yourself some of these same questions to get specific, measurable accomplishments.  Write out the wording for acronyms.  Ask yourself this, “What did this job task result in?” That should help you get started.

Becoming Socially Connected For Your Job Search

If you are reading this, chances are you are somewhat technically savvy and I'm just preaching to the choir.  If you know someone who is not socially connected, perhaps you can point them to this article or at least print out it for them.

I've been giving a lot of training sessions for the age 40+ job seeker lately and the folks in these classes have to be some of my favorite people.  Still, when I mention social media, many of the aged 50 and over in the crowd freeze, roll their eyes or poke the person sitting next to them.  I can understand as I was in their shoes just a few years ago.  Other than opening a LinkedIn account using my name and position, I let it sit there and well, do nothing.  It wasn't until I was released from my former position that I learned the value of diving head-on into social media. 

Now, most of you reading this don't know me.  If you did, you'll know that several years ago I wasn’t interested in the internet. I didn’t really use it much at work except as a research tool and at home, I didn’t bother with it.  Well, times have changed and I have become a full fledged fan, especially when it comes to helping people find jobs.

After using the worn out phrase, "Google yourself at least once a week", at a Job Search for the Age 40+ Seeker the other night, some of the people started snickering.  Of course a few years ago, if I had said that, I might have blushed. It hit me then that for whatever reason; they too were not connecting (no pun intended) with the value of this remarkable technology.  Unfortunately, they will be left behind unless they catch up.

The bottom line is this.  Research shows that in 2011, many companies will move away from recruiters and job boards to list open positions and find prospective employees through LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.  If you don't have a strong presence in these groups then your chances of finding employment will start to decline.  Where should you start?  I would suggest you start by creating a LinkedIn profile.  Here are a couple of ideas:

1.   Follow the directions on the LinkedIn profile page to create a profile. Take a tutorial if you're uncomfortable just jumping in or read an article about creating a strong on-line presence.   About.com has some good, easy to follow articles.

2.  After creating a profile, look for personal contacts and let them know that you want to connect.  In your invitation, explain how you know each other and modify the standard LinkedIn greeting to reflect how you know one another. 

3.  Join groups representing your interests and experience.  You might also want to join some of the job search groups and perhaps a group representing another area of interest.  The other day I joined a Sales Training Group.  I don't know anything about sales training but thought I might learn something if I joined.  Finally, join a group where you can learn how to use LinkedIn properly.  I suggest the group called, Linked Strategies.  It is excellent.

All it takes is for you to make the first move and get started.  You’ll be amazed at the information and people at your finger tips and you will be creating a social presence.   There will be more to learn but this is a good place to start.

"Slow Down, Your Move to Fast....."

Have you had this happen to you?

The other day a friend confided that she is networking and volunteering so much that it has started to eat into her job search time.  I'll bet that's common, especially for the person used to working for eight or more hours a day.  We all know that networking brings about 70 - 80% of the job opportunities and volunteering develops new skills or strengthens existing ones.  Still, overdoing can take an emotional toll.  Slow down, choose your networking and volunteering activities and make sure that there is time to job search, spend time with your family and take care of YOU.  The Job search is stressful enough...

Creating Strong Resume Wording

While talking about resumes the other night to a very bright group of job seekers, I had a mini epiphany.  I notice that when preparing their resumes, most people have trouble coming up with measurable, specific examples of their past achievements.  I'm telling you, so many of the resumes that I have seen look exactly like job descriptions and have phrases like, "Displays excellent communication skills" , "Utilizes project management tools", "Demonstrates leadership skills" ,"Innovative thinker".  Since these words don't tell me anything about a person's skill set, how are they going to make an impact to the hiring manager?
As we discussed the importance of measurable results, it dawned on me to relate creating resume statements to that of goal setting.  I asked the group how many of them participated in annual goal setting at their former companies.  The majority had.  Then I asked them how they went about it and basically, most of them followed the SMART acronym.  SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely. We then took this and applied it to writing resume statements.  We decided that we didn't really need the A and the R (yaaaay, less steps!) but we certainly did need the S, M and T.  So what does that look like?

Specific: Make your resume impactful by being specific.  What did you do that made an impact? Let's say that you once managed a large domestic operating unit. Don't just say that.  Something like, "Manage $24MM US budget with influence on $43M North America unit expenditures with emphasis on improving total cost of ownership.  2010 accumulated cost savings of $1.1 M and projected 2011 savings of $584K" has more of an effect.

Measurable: Think of these words, "So what?" How were you acknowledged by your clients, did you have certain items published, did your excellent customer service skills save time or money?  In other words, what did your excellent skills result in?  Here’s an example, "Plan and schedule weekly shift work, conduct monthly quality control calls and correct service problems to ensure clients are satisfied with support and services resulting in a consistent completion rate of 98%." This is so much stronger than just, “Excellent customer service skills.”

Timely: Were you always ahead of the projected schedule, did you consistently make the target? Did something that you designed, developed or implemented save time for you, your organization or customer? An example is," Developed process validation and operating procedures for the start-up of a new pharmaceutical production facility ahead of scheduled implementation date resulting in a 20% increase in operating revenue.”

Can you see the difference? Think about goal setting when you write out your resume statements by asking yourself these three questions:

·         So what?

·         Resulting in what?

·         What was so special about that?

Don’t let your resume read like a job description or it may be passed by.

Planning the Job Search While Still On the Job

Last night I gave a resume writing class to a great group over in a local library.  A couple of people in the session had jobs but they were concerned that due to the economy and hearing the news around the water cooler that some changes may be in order, that they too might receive their walking papers. If that's what’s going to happen then it will happen but it occurred to me that there might be a couple of things that they can do now, while they are still there.  In no particular order they might consider these:

1. Network: Get to know your vendors or outside service providers better.  They work with people in other companies and may be privy to news of job openings or hidden positions.  Also, be aware that some of your co-workers have networking contacts and those people might be able to help you as well.

2. Learn something.  Take advantage of company-sponsored training and don't say that you don't have time for it.  You may not be able to afford it if you have to pay for it on your own later.

3. Stay current in your field: Either at home or on your break or even at work, research your particular field.  Learn what's new and what's changed. I know firsthand how difficult it is to carve out some time to do this but it is mandatory and necessary.  If someone newer comes into your department and can say and use the buzz words associated with your industry and you are not keeping up, you're in trouble.  Don't ever think that your tenure can keep you safe.

4. Join LinkedIn.  No, it is not used only by job seekers.  Use it to stay current in your field by joining groups in your industry.  You don't have to join the job search groups - stay close to the groups associated with your industry.  Make sure that while in these groups you answer questions and participate.  This will allow you to become a subject matter expert and you will learn something new.  (See # 3 above).

5. Join a professional group.  If your industry has one and your company will pay for the membership, go and participate.  You'll learn something and you'll make many networking contacts in your field.

6. Gather your past performance appraisals, goals, thank you notes, calendars, etc.  You may not realize it now but these will help you compose your resume, interview and network later on down the road.

What else can you do? I've only listed six items but there are many more. Who knows? Perhaps by doing some of these things, you’ll prove that you are a true asset to your organization and maybe you can stick around a bit longer.