jobseeker | A-Plus Career and Resume, LLC

Proofing Your Resume and Cover Letter

September 26th, 2017

Proofing a resume or cover letter both for the writer or the numerous friends and family who often review, can be a daunting task. You want that document to be perfect. You’ve heard that one mistake could cost you a job. First, let’s do away with that myth. Thinking that someone is taking your one, two or three-page resume and cover letter, reading it, and then dismissing you from consideration for one error somewhere in the middle the document typically doesn’t happen. Nearly every resume I review for client companies or at career fairs has a couple of errors in it, and this is after a person has typically done multiple reviews and had others review it multiple times. Most hiring managers and HR personnel reading the document are first doing an initial scan if it gets through the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Then, only if you make it into the “qualified” pile they will actually read it. To be truthful, that reading, while more detailed, is not for spotting every error in the document unless those errors are jumping out at them!

Most people reading your resume understand there may be a minor error or two. I assure you their resume probably has typos in it too. Add to that some of the strange things an ATS can do to the document, like inserting weird characters where they don’t belong, or changing all you letter “d’s” to “g’s,” which does happen, and now your potentially perfect document is inaccurate, or at least peculiar looking! That is not your fault and something readers on the other side of the ATS need to understand. What they don’t want to see are glaring errors, like your name or the company name misspelled, bad grammar, missing or incorrect punctuation, erroneous or misspelled industry terminology and acronyms, and overused action words.

So, how do proof your own writing? First, walk away from that document. It doesn’t matter if it is a resume, cover letter, reference list, reference letter, or any other career related information, you need to step away before reviewing it. Don’t write a resume that can impact your ability to get a job and then feel the need to send it out the same night. You will regret it most every time. Come back the next day and read it again with fresh eyes. Then walk away again for a few hours, come back and reread. Now walk away again, come back and read that document to yourself out loud. This allows you to catch syntax errors – those sentences and phrases that just don’t “sound” right. Sometimes what sounds great when reading it “in your head” doesn’t quite work when you read it out loud. Lastly, read it backwards. Yep, I said backwards. Certainly this seems laborious, but it actually allows you to catch additional errors like missing punctuation, misspelled industry or technical terminology, company names, and occasional repeated words like “the the,” more easily. When you read it back to front, the “reading what you think you wrote” issue goes out the window. How it sounds isn’t important at this point. Reading in reverse is all about spelling and punctuation.

As a final thought, know that regardless of how many times or how carefully you read your resume or cover letter for errors, we are still human, and so are your family and friends. You still just might have missed something. My feeling is that if a person reading your resume doesn’t understand that every once in a while we make errors – then that person or organization may have larger issues. Primarily having a mindset that says you can’t ever make an error. Typically these organizations will also give you the work of three people, demand you get it done with no overtime or constant forced overtime, or put you on salary so you can work 90 hours a week. If you misspelled your name, company name, or something painfully obvious on the resume, like writing HIPAA with two “p’s ,” then take your medicine (sorry, couldn’t resist the healthcare pun). However, if in the middle of the document you used “united” and accidentally spelled “untied” or Microsoft Word just didn’t catch a misspelling, and that is their major determining factor in an interview or hiring decision, consider yourself lucky. They may have saved you another job search.

Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 30-70+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Career Management, Job Search, Resume Writing
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Sources of Job Leads

April 29th, 2016

Advertised positions constitute a small percentage of the jobs that are available at any given time. Because running ads and screening the high volume of applications that come in can be an expensive and time-consuming process for employers, many companies prefer to hire from within or to hire individuals who have been recommended by one of their existing employees.

To find out about unadvertised opportunities, you will want to let people know that you are looking for work, and the type of job and company you are most interested in. Tap your personal network – friends, relatives, neighbors, former employers and colleagues, fellow members of your chosen religious institution, volunteer associations, clubs and other organizations, even your doctor, dentist, and other people you talk to from time to time. Most people know at least 200 other people, so just because someone doesn’t work in your industry doesn’t mean that he or she doesn’t know of someone who does.

Many teenagers and young adults get their first jobs through connections, such as parents, teachers, siblings, friends, parents of friends, relatives, neighbors, or coaches. This tactic can work for you too!

Some businesses, particularly in the retail and restaurant industries, rarely advertise jobs because they receive so many applications on a regular basis that they are able to select people to interview from the applications they have on file.

Job fairs can be an excellent venue for meeting a large number of potential employers at one time and to network with other attendees. Go to every booth and network with the recruiters and those standing in line, since each one of the recruiters attending may know of positions within and outside their company, and each attendee may know of companies hiring. Some organizations attend these events or hold their own job fair in order to collect a large number of resumes they can refer to when a position becomes vacant, not for immediate employment.

If you’re unemployed, find out what programs and services are available in your community. The staffs of these organizations usually have good employer contacts, and sometimes employers can receive a wage subsidy or other benefit by hiring someone through such a program.

This article was co-written by Karen Silins and Janet Barclay, and their information is included below:

Karen Silins is a multi-certified resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 50-70+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Janet Barclay is a former employment counselor who helps career practitioners and other solopreneurs to maximize their online presence by creating websites and blogs as well as providing blog promotion, proofreading and editing, content management, and WordPress technical support services. She can be reached through her website OrganizedAssistant.com.

Categories Job Search, Networking
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Maintain Your Online Presence

May 21st, 2015

Job Search

Having an online presence has become more important than ever in a person’s job search and overall career management. According to the CareerBuilder annual social media recruitment survey performed by Harris Poll: “Avoiding a professional online presence may be hurting your chances of finding a new job. More than one third of employers (35 percent) say they are less likely to interview job candidates if they are unable to find information about that person online.” ^[1]

From the screening of employees to digging up digital dirt recruiters, hiring managers, and Human Resources professionals regularly troll the Internet for information about a potential candidate. Not only do companies want to see a social media presence, but review it, looking at your posts, friends (and their posts), appropriateness of pictures shared, and overall professionalism and qualifications for the position in question. The CareerBuilder survey article also mentioned the following: “35 percent of employers who screen via social networks have requested to ‘be a friend’ or follow candidates that have private accounts. Of that group, 80 percent say they’ve been granted permission… and 48 percent of hiring managers who screen candidates via social networks said they’ve found information that caused them not to hire a candidate.” ^[2] This is yet another reason to have your social media both up to date and appropriate for all to read or view.

Additionally the article cited that up to 15% of candidates screen hiring managers and 38% seek to connect with them via social media. This survey utilized a large sampling group, encompassing over 2,100 hiring managers and HR employees, and more than 3,100 full time employees, all from a wide range of industries. So, remember my frequent plea to clients, seminar/workshop participants – and YOU – just because you have an opinion doesn’t mean you need to share it online! Be professional in all of your online interactions and spend time showing why you are the most capable candidate, whether you are currently seeking a job, or not.

[1] PR Newswire: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/35-percent-of-employers-less-likely-to-interview-applicants-they-cant-find-online-according-to-annual-careerbuilder-social-media-recruitment-survey-300083127.html

[2] PR Newswire: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/35-percent-of-employers-less-likely-to-interview-applicants-they-cant-find-online-according-to-annual-careerbuilder-social-media-recruitment-survey-300083127.html

Karen Silins is a multi-certified resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps her pulse on the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 50-70+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Job Search
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Background Checks: What is really necessary?

February 26th, 2015

Employment Background Checks

While background checks of potential employees are certainly necessary, some aspects that are being used today are inappropriate. I am all for the criminal history check, verification of past employers, and when necessary a person’s driving record. However, a credit check – your FICO score and overall credit history are no business of a potential employer. From the numerous studies that have been done showing credit history has no meaning to the ability or trustworthiness of an employee, to the less than stellar economy, and privacy issues (a credit check actually borders on infringement of a person’s right to privacy and is not a business’ concern), there are a multitude of reasons your credit history is meaningless.

With one in 10 losing out on a job due to their credit score (and these are the candidate’s that were actually informed of this issue), there is a real problem. To quote a 2010 New York Times article and Jerry K. Palmer, a psychology professor at Eastern Kentucky University, “At this point we don’t have any research to show any statistical correlation between what’s in somebody’s credit report and their job performance or their likelihood to commit fraud.” The article goes on to state “Bernie Madoff had a pretty good credit score” and I am pretty sure no company would want to hire him for any position. Dr. Palmer continues to comment in the article that “he was not aware of any studies that showed a correlation between poor credit and employee fraud or violence.”

It wouldn’t be fair however if I didn’t also quote TransUnion and other credit organizations in this article as well who say “credit checks are an important security measure for companies.” Keep in mind though that credit organizations also make a lot of money from all the credit checks. These same organizations also point to the fact that many jobseekers lie on their resume – but this has nothing to do with their credit score. Candidate’s lie about whether they have a college degree, their dates of employment, and their job tasks. But, many a candidate who has lied on their resume has an excellent credit score. The resume lies and criminal history (that the candidate doesn’t disclose) should be what an organization targets, not a FICO score.

So, let’s look at the various things that could have happened to impact a candidate’s credit history (particularly in light of the economic troubles of the last eight years) and are used against jobseekers:

–Unemployment

–Underemployment

–Unexpected medical expenses

–A fail business

–Inaccurate credit information

–Cosigning for an adult child’s loan (and the child doesn’t pay it back)

–Getting behind on a mortgage (sometimes due to predatory lending)

–Divorce

–Death of a spouse

–Long term illness (you, spouse, child, parent)

–Long term care expense for an aging parent

–Lowered income and increased expenses necessitating paying bills late

–Replacing an automobile

–Large automobile repairs

–Large home repairs not covered by insurance

–College expenses

…and those are just off the top of my head.

To be judged as somehow unworthy for a position due to any of the above is ridiculous and shameful. It is also embarrassing to a candidate to have them explain credit history issues in an interview situation when in all honesty a company or individual is merely being nosy. I have had so many clients experience this over the past seven years I can’t even begin to relate the number of horror stories I have been told. Clients have been called and told they weren’t hired due to credit history, asked embarrassing questions in interviews, felt the need to pre-explain the embarrassing situation prior to being asked the questions, and been treated as some sort of second rate citizen because they had a financial issue. It is all undeserved if only in light of the recent economic climate.

I typically believe the federal government should stay out of such matters, but this is one case where a law should be passed to stop the credit checks from even happening for employment. And, don’t give me the excuse it is due to money handling – I just recently had a high level bank manager as a client. This bank manager spoke of helping a new employee become bonded who had only two-month’s prior claimed bankruptcy. As she told me, she was hardly going to judge someone based on a score and a financial issue, as the employee and her husband had both experienced nearly a year of unemployment each. The employee has turned out to be stellar and is on their way to a promotion.

Let’s reserve the background check for what it was meant to do, detect lies about criminal history and employment history, thus protecting the company and giving insight into the veracity of a candidate’s information. Spend more time interviewing people and more time talking to references, as getting a true picture of a person doesn’t come from a FICO score.

Karen Silins is a multi-certified resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps her pulse on the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 50-70+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Human Resources
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Book Recommendations for Jobseekers and Small Business Owners

January 2nd, 2015

Marketing and Personal Branding

I am often asked about book recommendations regarding personal branding and marketing for jobseekers and business owners, so here are four to consider. I am definitely a fan of the most updated versions of “ME 2.0, 4 Steps to Building Your Future” by Dan Schawbel, “To Sell is Human” by Daniel Pink, “101 Strategic, Job Search Marketing Steps: The Helpful Checklist-Guide to All Things Considered Workforce Readiness and Social Media Smart” by Lenora M. Johnson, CPRW, and “Do It! Marketing: 77 Instant-Action Ideas to Boost Sales, Maximize Profits, and Crush Your Competition.” These books can help anyone get started in personal branding, including sales (you are selling as a jobseeker or business owner), social media, blogging, podcasting and the many jobseeker or business marketing options available through the Internet and your daily activities. Each book discusses integrated strategies to help those interested in personal branding for career or business success. Yes, some of these books are more targeted towards someone in a job search, and some are more focused on business ownership, and yet, the strategies and tactics generally apply to both audiences.

With today’s jobseeker and small business needs being so similar, i.e. Marketing and Personal Branding, the advice offered in the aforementioned books can be easily adapted to either type of individual. While there are a plethora of books that teach personal branding and marketing principles, I find these four to be particularly straightforward for the average reader, and the type of books where you can read just a few pages at a time and still receive benefit. Thus, these books are ideal for today’s busy lifestyle.

Categories Personal Branding
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HOW A FUNCTIONAL RESUME FORMAT CAN HURT YOUR JOB SEARCH

March 17th, 2014

Job Search

Let me start this blog post with a personal remark – I like functional resumes as part of a marketing package for clients, but I also understand the reality of how they are viewed, thus this article. A general resume with no focus aside, the most common mistake I see when critiquing resumes at a job fair or seminars/workshops is the functional resume format. While functional resumes are certainly not the evil incarnate some make them out to be, and can be a nice addition of marketing material to a job search, they are problematic for the great majority of jobseekers. Don’t take my word for it, recently I asked an HR and Recruiting Roundtable group directly what they liked and disliked about functional resumes. Unfortunately there was nothing they liked. The group came up with ZERO reasons for liking a functional resume. This group however did give many reasons why they disliked a functional resume format – here are some paraphrased quotes from that conversation:

1) Functional resumes don’t work effectively in the ATS (applicant tracking system). Anytime you apply online, and either browse and attach your resume, or copy and paste your resume into a job board or employer career site, you are using an ATS. These systems work by utilizing keyword and key phrase searches and specific algorithms for searching documents including reverse chronology of your employment (the preferred format) with accompanying bullet points. If you use a functional format the algorithms can’t “locate” your employment info and bullet points together and thus only your employer, job title and employment dates show up and all those bullet points most likely get skipped.

2) HR, Hiring Managers and Recruiters want to see your career progression. Just having a list of skills within a few bulleted points followed by a separate section with employer, job titles and dates provides no context for where or how you acquired your abilities, or how you used them in a given job. Ultimately the reader has no idea where you obtained a given skillset as all bulleted points are lumped under one area of experience or a few general headings of expertise.

3) Savvy readers think you are hiding something, including long-term unemployment, several employment gaps, or outdated experience.

4) It screams to any HR Manager, Hiring Manager or Recruiter that you are unemployed or a career-changer.

5) Functional formats tend to have mostly general statements instead of detail in how you used a competency or skill in the workplace and how it benefited an organization.

6) Hides your employers, job titles and dates of employment at the bottom of the page as if you are ashamed of where you worked.

7) Typically only a one-pager, and despite all those rumors of the one-page rule, for most jobseekers these do not provide enough information for the interviewer to determine you are a qualified candidate. Most jobseekers have two or three-page resumes.

8) Recruiters use Boolean searches for keywords and key phrases, and since most functional resumes just have a “bullet point” section and are often one-pagers, they lack detail. So, the ability to be seen in these searches with the necessary repeated keywords, key phrases and appropriate detail throughout the bulleted points will be limited or non-existent.

Ultimately the ATS is one of the biggest reasons to use the preferred reverse chronological format. I have access to some of these systems and when a functional resume is utilized the system simply doesn’t know what to do with it and deletes a bunch of your career information – all that hard work to write a resume, and most of your important career information never makes it past the system. So, if the systems you are applying to online like reverse chronological formats, and detect your resume information in an expected order which includes employer/company name, job title, dates of employment and bulleted points with keywords and key phrases, why would you give it any other format? I always tell my clients and seminar/workshop participants “play to the crowd.” The crowd in this instance is the ATS and it wants reverse chronological. Furthermore we know HR Managers, Hiring Managers and Recruiters prefer the reverse chronological format, so why not provide them what they want. I know this won’t end the debate about functional formats, but the facts are painfully obvious. Use a functional resume for a one-page marketing document, possibly in lieu of a business card, and use the reverse chronological for the rest of your job search.

Categories Resume Writing
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Respect the Jobseeker’s Valuable Time

August 23rd, 2013

Hire Me

Whether my clients are discussing their frustrations with the current job search environment, or seminar, workshop and career fair attendees are venting, some complaints remain constant, and one of those complaints is “why are companies wasting my time?” I know organizations are busier than ever, and employee and management hours have increased, but if you are going to take the time to write a job ad, put that ad on your website, job board, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc., or gather referrals from employees, seek out retained recruitment firms, or publicize it in any way that includes collecting resumes – then review the resumes, do interviews and hire someone!!!

Would you like to know why jobseekers call and “bother” you about your job openings? It’s rarely the common assumption of desperation or anxiety issues – it’s because they receive no answers and would like to know something… anything. This is both a lack of decision-making and a disregard for jobseeker time and energy by the organizations that put these ads out there and then don’t follow through. I literally just received a call from one of my clients about a local organization which put an ad on their site for a specific job months ago. This particular job is a great fit for my clients’ experience, but they can’t even get a group of employees together to review resumes to set interviews. My client is careful about NOT bugging them, only calling every few weeks to check on the progress, but this client also needs to change their focus on this organization if the job is filled or the interview process has already started. And let’s not even get started on companies refusing to let jobseekers know by a simple email if a job has been filled for which they applied.

Hiring Managers, HR Managers and Recruiters tell me that they are annoyed by jobseekers calling to check on whether jobs are filled – well right back at you ladies and gentlemen. Having pointedly called you out, please don’t think I am unsympathetic to your plight. As anyone who reads my blog, LinkedIn profile, Twitter, Google+ and Facebook posts, goes to my seminars, etc., knows, I’m a former HR Director. Our company never put an ad out that didn’t include evaluation of resumes (and this was pre-ATS or Applicant Tracking System, for the company), interviews and then hiring someone within a reasonable amount of time (weeks, not months)! Furthermore, I am still involved in HR, advising organizations to facilitate their job search process, including interview and selection of candidates, so I am keenly aware of the issues around job search, the ATS systems, and time limitations. You’re crazy busy, I understand, but you’re contributing to the very issue you complain about consistently. Processes must be established to help eliminate this problem, making your job easier and offering the due respect that jobseekers deserve.

If a jobseeker spends what can be an hour or more to fill out all of your ATS system requirements, and expend time and energy to personalize their resume and cover letter, shouldn’t you offer them the respect of completing the job search process in a realistic time period. Shouldn’t you follow up and let them know the outcome with a “Dear John” email if they aren’t selected for interview. Every company I have assisted in the job search process knows up front that this will be how their process will progress – no stalling, no excuses, no posting of fake jobs or jobs for which you don’t have permission to hire yet, no complaining about jobseekers checking on interview and hiring status, and… a follow up email will go to all candidates who applied regardless of receiving an interview. I will even help the company craft a simple email template that can be sent to all candidates not selected for the available position (interview or no interview).

This isn’t rocket science and the disrespect shown is costing you good candidates. Applicants talk to other potential applicants and do tell them how shabbily they were treated. The ill-treatment of jobseekers reflects on your company poorly, and this information gets passed around to others, and many of those jobseekers may choose not to apply to your company. I hear candidates talking about this at career fairs all the time, and the other jobseekers often say they won’t consider that organization anymore because it is most likely symptomatic of the overall treatment of employees. While you grumble that you cannot find qualified applicants, some of those qualified jobseekers have decided your company isn’t worth the time for an application – as their time will be wasted with a litany of excuses, you will simply ignore them, or won’t treat them appropriately as employees. Despite the fact most jobseekers worry a great deal about finding a position, people will only put up with so much before they don’t apply to your job postings any longer or never apply in the first place.

So, why not make your life a bit less problematic as an employer, and treat the jobseekers with the respect they deserve:

–Don’t put out any ad for an employee without a plan for reviewing of resumes, holding interviews and making a hiring decision within a realistic period of time – meaning one to three months at the most.

–Do make your ATS system user friendly and stop asking so many questions that tell you very little to nothing. Instead, ask three or four specific questions that will give you real information about candidate qualifications for the actual job along with having them attach a resume AND cover letter.

–Do send candidates who don’t make the interview cut and those that do but aren’t your chosen hire a simple email or letter stating that you have “gone in another direction,” decided on another candidate with more experience,” etc.

–Answer the phone or call back those that contact you when you are slow to interview and hire. All you have to say is you will send them an email or letter if they aren’t selected and call them directly if they are chosen to interview.

Simplify the hiring process by following the above suggestions. My corporate clients do, and there are zero complaints. Candidates have even sent them thank you letters or left thank you phone messages for actually responding so their job search time can be spent wisely. Ultimately the respect you show a potential employee will pay huge dividends far beyond that individual’s experience and your time spent ensuring a quality outcome.

Categories Job Search
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Social Media, the Golden Rule, Your Job Search (and Career)

August 7th, 2013

Job Search and Social Media

Daily I will admit shock at the posts I see on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other social media. This doesn’t even include blogs, articles (posted remarks after those blogs and articles), and comment sites (like “who called me” for 1-800 #’s). Somehow the Internet has become a cacophony of voices wanting to list each and every complaint they have publicly, and doing so with inappropriate and vulgar language, verbal bullying, racist slurs, misspellings, misused words, truly uniformed statements, and just overall nastiness. I regularly tell my clients, social media connections and seminar/workshop participants the following: Just because you have an opinion doesn’t mean you need to share it, particularly online.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve certainly cussed, misspelled a word here and there, and have been unhappy about something on occasion resulting in a complaint, but I avoid the sharing of all that information online. If there is an issue, I try to go direct to the source, offline, and if, when you get right down to it the subject isn’t that important, or really isn’t going to make a difference to talk about it, I rarely say anything. I haven’t always been this way. As a police officer’s daughter who was taught you don’t have to put up with everything that comes your way, a staunch believer in right and wrong, and a Type A personality, I can easily walk all over someone verbally. But to what end? In my early 20’s I started to realize, as most do, I wasn’t the center of the universe and people’s feelings, how I acted, and what I said really did matter.

Before the Internet allowed the quick and public exchange of insults, slurs, videos, feelings, and every personal detail anyone wanted to read, individuals would often avoid excessive inflammatory statements and extreme amounts of complaint. Typically only family and friends received these opinions and complaints, or a person submitted a letter to the editor, and there was often a governor as to what was and wasn’t appropriate! The over-sharing environment of the Internet has unfortunately created a culture that whatever you want to say is okay. This simply isn’t true, especially when it comes to your job search and career.

What you say matters!!! You are not anonymous on the computer, ever. Put that comment or video on the Internet, and it never goes away. 20 years from now search results could find a salacious comment you made or that video from when you were so drunk at the party you passed out, and so could a potential or current employer. I get it, sometimes you are looking at a remark a person made and you think – wow, you’re an idiot, but do you really need to say it, particularly online? Does cussing, using racial slurs or arguing empower you or feed your ego? Does complaining about everything that upsets you or sharing every aspect of your personal life online offer a cathartic release or help you to avoid confronting the issues in your life?

No! It only provides embarrassment years later when read and can keep you or your family and friend connections from getting a job. Indeed your inappropriate diatribes can actually prevent others you are connected to on social media (or that link to you that somehow comes up in a Google or Bing search by an HR Manager) from getting a job. Still think it’s all harmless?

Clients frequently ask me if they should unfriend a family or friend connection on social media who makes occasional (or regular) overly-personal, racist, outlandish, profanity-laced remarks, which my client doesn’t agree with, but they are linked to that person out of a feeling of obligation and don’t know what to do. I say emphatically yes, and do it immediately. I am not trying to start a family or friend fight, I am trying to preserve your job search and career. This person has no understanding or concern about what their comments might do to others they are connected to, they just want to comment.

Yes, you could say that this blog post is a complaint. Notice the difference though in intent – I am “cautioning” job seekers about how the online culture of complaint can ruin their job search and career, with examples and specifics, not judging you because of a post online I disagree with personally. A recent study cited nearly 10% of recent college graduates lost a potential job because of a social media post. Those are only the people who were informed of this fact. Think about the people that weren’t considered for a job that never knew it was due to their social media or online behavior. Most companies will not tell you the reason you were not hired or considered for a position these days, so could the number be more like 40-50%. What about 30, 40, and 50+ year olds, are they feeling these same affects though perhaps in lower numbers.

Remember, it’s not just what you say and do online it’s what your connections say and do. Freedom of speech comes with responsibility whether you are 15 or 55 years old, and breeches of restraint can result in loss of a job (yours or a network connections’), or even a lawsuit. I advise my clients to think of the Golden Rule when posting anything in an online environment. So to quote the movie Bambi – if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all (particularly online)!

Categories Job Search
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Is the Resume Dead?

February 21st, 2013

Job Interview

This was my recent answer on a Goggle+ thread as to whether the resume is dead:

No, because the resume ultimately helps you to develop the information/data/verbiage to communicate your personal brand – essentially it is a marketing document and tool, no longer just static and non-interactive because of its multiple uses. From utilizing content for appropriate social networking and blogging to online applications and in-person networking, to showcasing writing ability, it is still a necessary tool in hiring. It is no longer just a piece of paper.

While yes, I am a resume writer, I am also a career coach in personal branding, networking (including social networking), interviewing, job search, career exploration and transition, and career management, which also includes aiding businesses and their owners in marketing. I would have enough business just on the coaching side alone, but find the resume along with the detailed interview process I go through an absolute necessity in formulating my clients overall job search or business strategy. The resume and a comprehensive process to create it dovetail’s the development of additional marketing verbiage so essential in JobSearch 2.0 and Business 2.0.

The resume will never be dead, but will morph with the times, just as it has always done. We will see the use of resume mills and forms-only to fill out for the design of career documents replaced by personal interviews and actual time spent strategizing for it true use – marketing. As I began to state above in the first paragraph, resumes and cover letters are used in job search, interviews, networking, writing examples, to plan social media, blogging, website verbiage and selection of keywords for SEO, and career planning and management. I’ve seen these articles come out regularly saying the resume is dead over the last 20+ years of my former HR career and current resume writing and career coaching business – and they never go away, they adapt.

Categories Job Search, Resume Writing
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Sites You Should Be Using

December 17th, 2012

Find a Job

I am often asked by clients, seminar and workshop attendees and colleagues to recommend websites to bolster professional development, career and networking/business opportunities. With the myriad of sites available on the Internet, culling the herd can be exhausting and time consuming. My recommendations will come in blog posts over the upcoming months in three subject areas: professional development sites for clients/jobseekers and colleagues, informational sites to keep up on the industry (more colleague focused), and social networking sites-why you need to be on them! Today I start with two great sites for professional development, particularly for those that are unemployed, underemployed, or lack professional development opportunities in their current career.

Professional Development Sites

www.amanet.org

The American Management Association has wonderful free training for both jobseekers and industry professionals. AMA may have determined that the paid memberships, while practical, left out segments of the population they felt were important: the unemployed, underemployed and underpaid. With large scale, multi-day training programs and memberships often unfeasible for these target groups, what could they do to help? Offer a free membership and free and low-cost training options. AMA creates brand ambassadors who, when gainfully employed or in a better financial situation, most likely take advantage of their paid training opportunities. Furthermore, these individuals would share AMA programs with their new employers – extending the organizations influence, and filling training and development niches and gaps for these companies.

You can join by going to the MYAMA tab on the far right hand side of the page. Once you are a member go to the INDIVIDUALS tab and click on WEB EVENTS, PODCASTS or ARTICLES AND WHITE PAPERS. You can then take advantage of the free Webcasts, paid Webinars, free Podcasts, and free Articles and White Papers, which they have catalogued for members, and divided into various sections including Business Enhancement Skills, Communication Skills, Human Resources, Finance and Accounting, Sales and Project Management (to name a few). Each Webcast lasts about an hour, each Podcast lasts approximately one-half hour and both are well worth your time. Attention: Webcasts are free, Webinars are NOT – but are worth the price! Be sure to stay on the Webcasts unless you want to attend paid web events.

AMA also has a job board aimed at management positions, free monthly newsletters, events calendar, a LinkedIn group, and areas of the site devoted to government and enterprise-wide training needs for organizations. The site is consistently updated with great content and navigation is straightforward.

www.hr.com

This one should be a no-brainer for anyone in the Human Resources, Recruiting or Resume Writing and Career Coaching industry. You can keep up with HR trends in hiring, recruiting, interviewing, salary negotiation, and any issues jobseekers and employees/employers face. One caveat – the site seems to want a company email address and not a Yahoo, Hotmail, etc., personal email account, I am hoping this changes (or has recently changed). My colleagues HR, Management and Training and Development clients will find this site useful as well.

Free webcasts are the attraction, and although they have paid levels of membership I have had a free membership for over six years with no issues. Not only will jobseekers and industry professionals have access to new webcasts for free, there is a catalog of 1,500+ archived webcasts that you can access by going to the Webcasts and Events tab, then clicking on the drop down menu where it says Webcasts and the sub-menu on Archived Webcasts and Podcasts. You have access to recent and upcoming webcasts (upcoming webcasts are also featured on the Home Page), often PowerPoint slides or accompanying presentations, and the recordings of the all the older webcasts. Bonus: Each one-hour webcast or archived webcast can be submitted to qualify for HR Certification Institute recertification credits.

Additional benefits include Virtual Conferences, a variety of HR Communities to join with topical blogs, free compliance forms, an HR Wiki, a LinkedIn group, and certification opportunities. The site is well-maintained, and easily navigated.

Categories Job Search
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