When submitting a resume, it is always a nice touch to include the name of the hiring manager or human resources professional on the accompanying cover letter. But more often than not, ads online do not include the name. There are a number of reasons why, but one of the most common right now is so that he/she can avoid being bombarded by calls from recruiters and job seekers alike. I have been on that end of the phone, and I can’t blame them. It’s time consuming, and can quickly become annoying. So without a name provided, how can you find one? Well here are a few tips that have successfully helped other job seekers with the same dilemma.
We live in a Google and online world. You can literally find just about anyone or anything. With that being said, do a Google search of the company name along with key words such as the title (or presumed title) of the manager, or "jobs," "employment," "human resources" to see if a similar posting has been archived from the past with the contact name listed.
Along those lines, try searching LinkedIn and Facebook using the same type of clues. LinkedIn in particular is about the easiest method for finding someone – I do it all the time.
Make a call to the main line of the company, and ask for the name of the hiring manager. Be conspicuous, and not too obvious so as to not blow your cover.
Try contacting an employee at the company and see if he/she will provide it. Even if you don’t find the exact name of the person you are searching for on LinkedIn or through a Google search, you should be able to find quite a few others within the organization.
And if you do find a name and want to do some additional research on the person, there are also an increasing number of search engines popping up such as Pipl, Wink, Zoominfo and Zabasearch. These sites are touted for being able to search deeper into the web than an engine like Google. But there is a line here that shouldn’t be crossed either. You don’t need to be accused of being a stalker.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Addressing the Lack of a Degree on the Resume
One question that comes up quite often is in regards to not having a degree when a job specifically requires one. I will be the first to admit, even holding a Master’s degree from a well-known University, that having a degree alone should not necessarily be a deciding factor in whether or not a candidate gets a job. Case in point: are you going to hire someone who has 20 years of experience and a track record of upward growth in accounting, or the candidate who as zero experience but has a degree? In my estimation, you are taking a much bigger risk hiring the candidate with zero experience. Hands-on job experience does make a difference. There is only so far a textbook or lectures can take you without practical application. The problem is how can you convince a prospective employer to hire you when they are adamant about having a degree?
Don’t panic, because there are a few ways to overcome this. First, and as I alluded to, many employers will overlook the lack of a degree if an applicant has sufficient experience directly related to the position. The key is to place the spotlight on the achievements, unique skill set, and distinctive background you do possess. You can also boost your candidate standing by emphasizing professional development or training endeavors in order to display a commitment to particular development within your field of expertise. If you have attended some college, then stress the coursework you have completed. If you have not completed any college, think about enrolling in a degree program so that you can list the name of the institution and anticipated degree and graduation date on your resume. Finally, do not mention on your resume or cover letter that you don’t have a degree. This unnecessarily brings attention to an issue that can be overcome, and you may as well raise the white flag in defeat by so doing.
The following is a quick checklist and summarization to follow for each point:
Employers will overlook a degree – but only if you have the necessary experience, and you need to make sure it is adequately highlighted in your resume. Incorporate quantifiable measures (dollar amounts, percentages, comparisons of improvement), and explain how you were able to identify issues and transform them by instituting new procedures. Bottom-line results such as profits are always an attention grabber.
Highlight your unique skills and background – this can be a huge advantage over applicants who do have a degree, because you have something they may not, like a specialized skill or knowledge of a computer program. Stress the areas you do excel in, and thus shift the focus to your potential contributions.
Emphasize professional development and/or training – you may have gained more specialized knowledge relevant to the position than your competition through additional training than they possess with a degree. Highlight it!
List the college education you do have – even if it is only a couple years or classes, it is better than listing nothing. You may have compelling reasons for having not finished, and these can become a talking point in an interview. The other strategy you can use is to enroll in a degree program in order to list an anticipated graduation date. It is a useful way to incorporate key words that would otherwise be missing – without being dishonest or misleading. The worst thing you can do is make up a degree when you do not have one. It will eventually catch up with you, trust me.
Don’t bring attention to the fact you don’t have a degree – if the reader is seeing a picture being painted of a candidate who has unique skills, an excellent background and plenty of additional training and professional development, it would be throwing in the towel if you directly bring attention to the fact you don’t have a degree. Let your entire background speak for itself. Don’t present red flags.
In short, put your best foot forward, and don’t waste your time and energy on areas that will show you in a negative light. If your thoughts are negative, the following results will be too.
Don’t panic, because there are a few ways to overcome this. First, and as I alluded to, many employers will overlook the lack of a degree if an applicant has sufficient experience directly related to the position. The key is to place the spotlight on the achievements, unique skill set, and distinctive background you do possess. You can also boost your candidate standing by emphasizing professional development or training endeavors in order to display a commitment to particular development within your field of expertise. If you have attended some college, then stress the coursework you have completed. If you have not completed any college, think about enrolling in a degree program so that you can list the name of the institution and anticipated degree and graduation date on your resume. Finally, do not mention on your resume or cover letter that you don’t have a degree. This unnecessarily brings attention to an issue that can be overcome, and you may as well raise the white flag in defeat by so doing.
The following is a quick checklist and summarization to follow for each point:
Employers will overlook a degree – but only if you have the necessary experience, and you need to make sure it is adequately highlighted in your resume. Incorporate quantifiable measures (dollar amounts, percentages, comparisons of improvement), and explain how you were able to identify issues and transform them by instituting new procedures. Bottom-line results such as profits are always an attention grabber.
Highlight your unique skills and background – this can be a huge advantage over applicants who do have a degree, because you have something they may not, like a specialized skill or knowledge of a computer program. Stress the areas you do excel in, and thus shift the focus to your potential contributions.
Emphasize professional development and/or training – you may have gained more specialized knowledge relevant to the position than your competition through additional training than they possess with a degree. Highlight it!
List the college education you do have – even if it is only a couple years or classes, it is better than listing nothing. You may have compelling reasons for having not finished, and these can become a talking point in an interview. The other strategy you can use is to enroll in a degree program in order to list an anticipated graduation date. It is a useful way to incorporate key words that would otherwise be missing – without being dishonest or misleading. The worst thing you can do is make up a degree when you do not have one. It will eventually catch up with you, trust me.
Don’t bring attention to the fact you don’t have a degree – if the reader is seeing a picture being painted of a candidate who has unique skills, an excellent background and plenty of additional training and professional development, it would be throwing in the towel if you directly bring attention to the fact you don’t have a degree. Let your entire background speak for itself. Don’t present red flags.
In short, put your best foot forward, and don’t waste your time and energy on areas that will show you in a negative light. If your thoughts are negative, the following results will be too.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Make sure to always send your resume (via email) as a Word or pdf attachment
This subject is probably one of the first I should have posted about because of the importance, but nonetheless I have seen 3 examples today and need to address it. When you as a job applicant submit your resume to an employer, make sure that you send it in Microsoft Word, or as a pdf attachment. Every once in a while I see a resume show up in some file extension I have never heard of before. 10 times out of 10 I can’t open it either. Most times (unless I am in need of super resumes) those emails end up deleted. You may be submitting your resume and not even realize it is never being seen because you are sending it in a format that is impossible for the vast majority of us to open.
To be safe, always save and send your resume in MS Word. Why? Because it is by far the most common program out there, and if a hiring manager or company isn’t using it, I would be worried about them. RTF is in theory the safest. Rich Text Format (RTF) is a standardized way to encode various text formatting properties, such as bold characters and typefaces, as well as document formatting and structures. By saving a document in RTF, you can open the file in many word processors and other RTF-aware software packages with much of its formatting left intact. Many word processing programs will allow you to save a document in RTF when you select Save As... .
To further help, I am including links below to a few quick tutorials on YouTube. I get questions about how to save documents all the time, and this should help those who are in need of a brush up:
Saving a Document As a PDF, RTF, DOC, or TXT File
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEKT07N6QSw
Saving documents in different formats
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYXCnsi9hIM
Converting A Microsoft Word Document To Adobe PDF Format
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zerocdgGB2g
Word 2007 Save As PDF
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7ChN-1dHsM&feature=related
To be safe, always save and send your resume in MS Word. Why? Because it is by far the most common program out there, and if a hiring manager or company isn’t using it, I would be worried about them. RTF is in theory the safest. Rich Text Format (RTF) is a standardized way to encode various text formatting properties, such as bold characters and typefaces, as well as document formatting and structures. By saving a document in RTF, you can open the file in many word processors and other RTF-aware software packages with much of its formatting left intact. Many word processing programs will allow you to save a document in RTF when you select Save As... .
To further help, I am including links below to a few quick tutorials on YouTube. I get questions about how to save documents all the time, and this should help those who are in need of a brush up:
Saving a Document As a PDF, RTF, DOC, or TXT File
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEKT07N6QSw
Saving documents in different formats
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYXCnsi9hIM
Converting A Microsoft Word Document To Adobe PDF Format
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zerocdgGB2g
Word 2007 Save As PDF
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7ChN-1dHsM&feature=related
Is your email address preventing you from interviews?
Literally, one of the very first things a prospective employer will see, even before opening your resume via email, is your email address itself. Let me tell you from experience, I have seen some personal emails used to submit resumes that have been anything but professional. It may be funny to use such emails with friends, but probably not a good idea to use when sending your resume to employers. The following are actual (or close to) email addresses I have ACTUALLY SEEN to apply for jobs I advertised for:
drinkingchampion@kegmaster.org
screwhomework@yourcollege.com
men_suck@hotmail.com
bubbanuts@gmail.com
fuqdup@yahoo.com
hateworking@gmail.com
69_fan@xxx.com
It’s better to stick with a professional "firstname.lastname@xxxxxxx.com" style email for your resume (i.e. John.Smith@gmail.com). Save the funny versions for your private interactions with friends and family.
One other email address you should not use is your work email address (or work number). The biggest problem with doing so is the loyalty you show to that company, and the perception of the type of loyalty you will also show to a new employer; the thought is, if someone uses his/her work email to apply for new jobs, what will stop them from doing the exact same thing in the future with our company? It can also be a quick way to get yourself into hot water, or in the worst scenario fired from a job.
In short, if there is any question about the way potential employers will view your email address, invest 3 minutes to create a new one. It’s one of the best ways to arbitrarily dismiss yourself BEFORE the reader even opens your resume otherwise.
drinkingchampion@kegmaster.org
screwhomework@yourcollege.com
men_suck@hotmail.com
bubbanuts@gmail.com
fuqdup@yahoo.com
hateworking@gmail.com
69_fan@xxx.com
It’s better to stick with a professional "firstname.lastname@xxxxxxx.com" style email for your resume (i.e. John.Smith@gmail.com). Save the funny versions for your private interactions with friends and family.
One other email address you should not use is your work email address (or work number). The biggest problem with doing so is the loyalty you show to that company, and the perception of the type of loyalty you will also show to a new employer; the thought is, if someone uses his/her work email to apply for new jobs, what will stop them from doing the exact same thing in the future with our company? It can also be a quick way to get yourself into hot water, or in the worst scenario fired from a job.
In short, if there is any question about the way potential employers will view your email address, invest 3 minutes to create a new one. It’s one of the best ways to arbitrarily dismiss yourself BEFORE the reader even opens your resume otherwise.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Indeed.com – save time by eliminating the need to hop from job search site to job search site
If you are applying for jobs online, chances are you spend a lot of time jumping from sites like Monster, to CareerBuilder, to The Ladders to ………… on and on and on every day in search of the newest job postings. Well here’s an idea: use Indeed.com. It is different than a lot of job search sites in that it funnels in job postings from major job search websites, classifieds, and other third party job posting sites to give you access to all of them in one place. Indeed.com also makes your searching easier by allowing you to narrow your search using simple point and click commands once you have a list of jobs. It will save you time, and you can focus more effort on networking and other job search endeavors.
A few interview tidbits to chew on
There are so many different aspects of interviewing for a job that can be covered; so many so that there are literally hundreds of books that have been written on the subject. In actuality it is does not need to be that complex, and I am wholeheartedly 100% against the interviewing books that teach people how to answer questions the way they think we want to hear it. It’s so easy to spot the rehearsed answers and B.S. If you want to be the ‘fake” candidate, then by all means use the canned and pre-packaged responses. If you want to actually impress, be genuine by being yourself, and by answering questions honestly.
I will be devoting more time to interviewing in later posts, but for now I wanted to talk about some of the DO’s and DON’Ts that come to mind. Every interview of course should be approached as a professional meeting, so treat it that way.
Let’s start with some DON’Ts:
Whatever you do, DO NOT bad mouth your current company or boss………EVER. This is the quickest way to disqualify yourself from a job. If you do it to someone else, what will stop you from doing it to them in the future.
DO NOT ask questions about salary and benefits – let them bring it up. You can refer to why this is so in a previous post, but let’s just say it shows a genuine interest in the scope of the job, not just the pay.
DO NOT chew gum, eat candy, or bring a drink with a straw. It’s annoying.
DON’T flirt. This may work if you’re looking to work at Hooters, but the majority of places will not look upon it favorably.
DON’T talk too much. It’s great that you talk about yourself, but dominating the conversation sends the wrong message. Use your listening skills and genuinely pay attention to what the interviewer has to say.
Now for the DO’S:
Study up on the organization you are interviewing with. Nothing is more impressive than interviewing a candidate who has actually done her/his homework. Conversely, nothing shows you could care less when not even knowing the company’s full name.
Focus on positives, not negatives. Nobody wants to hear about all of the bad experience in previous positions. Talk about the positive ones instead.
Use good body language and posture. This will show an interest in the position, and what the interviewer has to say.
Dress for the part, and dress appropriately. You probably shouldn’t be wearing a tux or evening gown, but for high-level professional jobs, a suit and tie for guys and a dress or women’s suit for gals fits the part. Some interviews may be less stringent, with business casual being the way to go. There usually are no circumstances were halter tops, mini-skirts, flip flops, t-shirts, or shorts are appropriate, Use your best judgment, and take some time to investigate the company if you are unsure.
Be on time. If you can’t make it to the interview on time, the very first impression you are giving them of you, then how can you expect them to believe you would be punctual if hired?
Turn your cell phone OFF. As much as this seems like it should be common sense, I’m still surprised how many people forget to do it. Even worse are the few people who have answered a call. It’s happened twice, and both times I ended the interview right then and there.
Bring a couple of copies of your resume. It’s always nice to have some just in case you end up interviewing with multiple people, or if the interviewer forgets his/her copy.
Most importantly – prior to your interview, be prepared with 4 or 5 professional achievements in mind. You will be surprised how you can use your accomplishments in almost any interview question. We want to know about you in an interview, and relaying personal examples is by far the best way to do it.
I will be devoting more time to interviewing in later posts, but for now I wanted to talk about some of the DO’s and DON’Ts that come to mind. Every interview of course should be approached as a professional meeting, so treat it that way.
Let’s start with some DON’Ts:
Whatever you do, DO NOT bad mouth your current company or boss………EVER. This is the quickest way to disqualify yourself from a job. If you do it to someone else, what will stop you from doing it to them in the future.
DO NOT ask questions about salary and benefits – let them bring it up. You can refer to why this is so in a previous post, but let’s just say it shows a genuine interest in the scope of the job, not just the pay.
DO NOT chew gum, eat candy, or bring a drink with a straw. It’s annoying.
DON’T flirt. This may work if you’re looking to work at Hooters, but the majority of places will not look upon it favorably.
DON’T talk too much. It’s great that you talk about yourself, but dominating the conversation sends the wrong message. Use your listening skills and genuinely pay attention to what the interviewer has to say.
Now for the DO’S:
Study up on the organization you are interviewing with. Nothing is more impressive than interviewing a candidate who has actually done her/his homework. Conversely, nothing shows you could care less when not even knowing the company’s full name.
Focus on positives, not negatives. Nobody wants to hear about all of the bad experience in previous positions. Talk about the positive ones instead.
Use good body language and posture. This will show an interest in the position, and what the interviewer has to say.
Dress for the part, and dress appropriately. You probably shouldn’t be wearing a tux or evening gown, but for high-level professional jobs, a suit and tie for guys and a dress or women’s suit for gals fits the part. Some interviews may be less stringent, with business casual being the way to go. There usually are no circumstances were halter tops, mini-skirts, flip flops, t-shirts, or shorts are appropriate, Use your best judgment, and take some time to investigate the company if you are unsure.
Be on time. If you can’t make it to the interview on time, the very first impression you are giving them of you, then how can you expect them to believe you would be punctual if hired?
Turn your cell phone OFF. As much as this seems like it should be common sense, I’m still surprised how many people forget to do it. Even worse are the few people who have answered a call. It’s happened twice, and both times I ended the interview right then and there.
Bring a couple of copies of your resume. It’s always nice to have some just in case you end up interviewing with multiple people, or if the interviewer forgets his/her copy.
Most importantly – prior to your interview, be prepared with 4 or 5 professional achievements in mind. You will be surprised how you can use your accomplishments in almost any interview question. We want to know about you in an interview, and relaying personal examples is by far the best way to do it.
10 Steps to increasing your visibility and success on LinkedIn
As a job seeker, the point of being on LinkedIn is to make yourself as visible as possible for hiring managers and recruiters. So with that in mind, be mindful of the bar showing what percentage your profile is complete. If it is not fully complete, it will not be as visible as it could be. Here are ten ways to improve that, step by step:
1. Include a picture
2. Work on getting the number of your contacts up. One thing that you can do is search for people in the advanced search section with keywords of "IT LION." LION stands for LinkedIn Open Networker, and these are people who will accept anyone as a contact. They also usually have hundreds if not thousands of contacts which opens your network significantly. IT I of course use simply as an example for Information Technology, but you can use any words that accomplish the search purpose, LION is the key though.
3. Get recommendation. You don't need 20, but 4 or 5 won't hurt
4. Joined some associations. Be sure to participate in some of the online forums and give yourself chances to interact with others.
5. Make sure the Skills section is pretty well filled in. This will give additional key words a searcher may be searching for.
6. I would look at perhaps creating a personal website or blog. Although not completely necessary, it also can be a nice touch if you can show observers more about you, especially when it comes to your professional expertise. A blog is a perfect medium to do this.
7. The title. Think of a description to use. Something like "Highly experienced ,,,,,." It doesn't need to be out of this world, or too elaborate, but just something that gives some interest.
8. Perhaps most important, and this is why I saved it for near the last, is the Summary and Experience sections. I would copy and paste it directly from your resume, because that is more in-depth than the descriptions you have now. I would use the Key Contributions and everything. Also don't forget Technical Skills. If you have been laid off, or if you have an impending layoff, you can and should also mention that at the beginning of the Summary. In this case a title such as "Qualified .......... seeking position as......." would be appropriate.
9. Answer questions. This is something that helps increases exposure.
10. Use the status bar once in a while to update your status and by saying things like, "seeking position as ....."
Beyond that just keep being persistent and seek out contacts such as recruiters or colleagues that can help you. Also I would recommend researching anywhere from 5 - 10 companies that you would like to target, and once you have built your network start doing searches to see names who pop up within that company so you can send them direct emails. Often times you will notice that a job pops up on Monster or CareerBuilder, but instead of applying directly send someone in the company an email. It is a way to get around the red tape and get in the door.
1. Include a picture
2. Work on getting the number of your contacts up. One thing that you can do is search for people in the advanced search section with keywords of "IT LION." LION stands for LinkedIn Open Networker, and these are people who will accept anyone as a contact. They also usually have hundreds if not thousands of contacts which opens your network significantly. IT I of course use simply as an example for Information Technology, but you can use any words that accomplish the search purpose, LION is the key though.
3. Get recommendation. You don't need 20, but 4 or 5 won't hurt
4. Joined some associations. Be sure to participate in some of the online forums and give yourself chances to interact with others.
5. Make sure the Skills section is pretty well filled in. This will give additional key words a searcher may be searching for.
6. I would look at perhaps creating a personal website or blog. Although not completely necessary, it also can be a nice touch if you can show observers more about you, especially when it comes to your professional expertise. A blog is a perfect medium to do this.
7. The title. Think of a description to use. Something like "Highly experienced ,,,,,." It doesn't need to be out of this world, or too elaborate, but just something that gives some interest.
8. Perhaps most important, and this is why I saved it for near the last, is the Summary and Experience sections. I would copy and paste it directly from your resume, because that is more in-depth than the descriptions you have now. I would use the Key Contributions and everything. Also don't forget Technical Skills. If you have been laid off, or if you have an impending layoff, you can and should also mention that at the beginning of the Summary. In this case a title such as "Qualified .......... seeking position as......." would be appropriate.
9. Answer questions. This is something that helps increases exposure.
10. Use the status bar once in a while to update your status and by saying things like, "seeking position as ....."
Beyond that just keep being persistent and seek out contacts such as recruiters or colleagues that can help you. Also I would recommend researching anywhere from 5 - 10 companies that you would like to target, and once you have built your network start doing searches to see names who pop up within that company so you can send them direct emails. Often times you will notice that a job pops up on Monster or CareerBuilder, but instead of applying directly send someone in the company an email. It is a way to get around the red tape and get in the door.
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