“Do I Really Need a Different Resume For Every Job I Apply For?”

The quick answer to this question is…YES.  Okay, maybe you don’t need a COMPLETELY different resume for each job you apply for, but you at least need to tailor the resume you do have to the particular job description you are applying to.  If you are applying for jobs in more than one field, then you SHOULD have one completely different resume for each field.  This may seem like a lot of work (and it will be, because writing one resume is not an easy task, much less writing a second or even a third one), but I promise you, in the long run, when you start applying for jobs in the multiple fields, this is going to save you  A LOT Of time.   (See my previous post on creating a Master Resume for some ideas how to go about creating multiple resumes).  Once you have created a solid resume for each field you are applying in, when you reply to particular job postings, you just need to tailor the resume for the proper field to match the job description of that posting.

How do you go about doing this?  It’s really not as difficult, or as much work as it may sound.

• First, change the title of your resume to the actual job title in the job description.  If the company is using a scanning software, this will definitely make sure you aren’t kicked out of the system.
• Fill your summary area with as many of the qualifications for the position listed in the job description.  Don’t lie if you don’t have some of the qualifications, just so they show up at the top of your resume, but be sure all the qualifications that you meet are in the summary.  Think of the summary as the “filler” area; there’s no set length or format for it, just be sure it is “filled” with all the important qualifications you have for the position.  Your skills, experiences, and accomplishments are the most important things on your resume, so you can adjust the length of your summary to fit the formatting once you have included all the skills, experiences, and accomplishments to meet the job description.
• Be sure all the skills, experiences, and accomplishments you possess that are listed in the job description are in your resume.   Include them multiple times if possible, but don’t be intentionally redundant; find a way to CLEVERLY include them more than once.   Also, if you have the skills already listed on your resume, but have them listed using synonyms, change the words on your resume to match the EXACT words listed on the job description.  If you use the exact words listed as skills on the job description, and list them multiple times on your resume, you will come out as a better match for the position if the employer uses a resume scanning software.   If you have the skills listed on the job description, but they just don’t happen to be on the current version of the resume you are using, go back to your Master Resume (remember this concept from an earlier post?  And you thought it was just a lot of work for no reason….:)) and replace the skills, experiences, or accomplishments on your current resume with ones from your Master Resume that match the job description.  The space on a resume is too valuable to waste it with things that don’t apply to the job you are applying for.

Once you’ve done these things, you’re ready to submit your resume for consideration of the job posting.  Tailoring a resume for a particular job posting is definitely not a quick and easy process, but it definitely takes MUCH less time than creating a completely different resume from scratch for each job you apply for.   Depending on how many jobs you are applying for, you can become very proficient at this, and it will be a fairly painless process.

Is Your Company Research Just a Waste of Time?

With the economy causing such an excessive number of applicants for each open position, learning as much as you can about a company you are interviewing with can really set you apart from your competition.  But, shouldn’t your research into a particular company start long before you get called for an interview?  How would you even know if you wanted to work at a company enough to apply for a position unless you did extensive research when you were creating a list of targeted companies?

Learning how the philosophy of the company matches your work values, and how the work the company specializes in matches your skill set is integral in whether you should even consider them as one of your targeted companies.  The best way of determining which companies to target is through a wide variety of methods:  information on the company’s website, business journals, trade publication, talking to people currently working at the company, information on LinkedIn, talking to people working at other (competing) companies in the same industry, and searching recent entries regarding the company on Google.

The error most job seekers make when researching a company with any of these methods is that they focus on gathering factual information:  when the company was founded, the name of the CEO, where the different branches are located, how many people work for the company, etc.   How often do you think an interviewer hears this same information if they happen to ask all the interviewees the question, “What do you know about our company?”  With dozens of people possibly being interviewed, how are you setting yourself apart from the rest of candidates if all you do is rattle off a bunch of facts?

How can your research help set you apart from other candidates?

1. Focus your research on current, or recent issues that have had both a positive, but especially a negative impact on the company.
2. Formulate a plan based on your skills that can help solve or alleviate a current issue the company is experiencing.
3. Initiate a discussion of an issue the company is experiencing when asked if there is anything is anything else you would like to discuss, if the interviewer doesn’t ask a question that allows a natural opportunity to discuss the issue.
4. Shows you have the skills to deal with an issue the company is currently experiencing makes it easier for the interviewer to imagine your working in the position you are interviewing for.
5. By developing a plan to deal with a real, current issue the company is experiencing, it shows your ability to think on your feet and demonstrates initiative; both things that are high on the list of things most interviewers say they look for during an interview.

When compiling a list of your targeted companies, don’t just think about “Would I like to work here?” or “Do I have the skills to do this job?”  Ask yourself, “What could I do to help this company solve a problem?”  If you think like an employee of the company while doing your research, you will set yourself apart from all the other candidates during the interview, and increase your chances of being offered the position.

Make Your Life Easier During Your Job Search: Start By Creating a Master Resume

With the unemployment rate the highest it has been in decades, there is a large group of people recently unemployed that have been consistently employed for several years; many have even had the same job for 10+ years.  A lot has changed since these people last had to look for a job.  The process of finding and applying for jobs has changed dramatically in the last 2 years even, let alone the last 10 years.  Not only have the methods of finding and applying for jobs changed, but the ways of creating resumes and cover letters, and preparing for interviews has undergone dramatic changes as well.  If I was in their position, I know I would feel as lost as they do when it comes to knowing where to start the job search process.  This post will help anyone get their job search organized from the very beginning, with the help of a Master Resume.

What Is a Master Resume?

You may be thinking to yourself , “Is there more than one kind of resume?” or “I need more than one resume?”  The answer to both questions is “Yes.”  If you are wanting show your qualifications for a particular job, one standard resume won’t work anymore like it did in the past.   The different kinds of resumes will be addressed in a later posting.  For now we will focus on the “Master Resume.”  A Master Resume is a great preparation tool for when you go to apply for a particular position, or positions.   It is a detailed log of every position you have held in approximately the last 10-15 years, and contains the job titles, companies, dates employed, job responsibilities, job skills, job accomplishments (qualified and quantified wherever possible), and STAR stories for each position.  No one else is ever going to see this resume (unless you choose to show it to someone), so if your final product ends up being 10 pages when you are creating your master resume….that’s OKAY!  The most important thing is that you document everything you can remember about every position you have held in the past 10-15 years.  I know this sounds like a arduous, painful exercise, but I promise you it will pay off for you in the end.

1)  Career Goal

Most resumes generally start with a summary or an objective (or both!!), but since this is more of an information gathering tool, I suggest starting with a “Career Goal.”  Make this a more broad phrase stating what you want to be doing, and at what type of company (Client Server Systems Architect for a major technology firm).  A Career Goal will help give direction and focus as you are completing the rest of the Master Resume.

2)  Job Title and Employment Data

Who

Where

When

Include your specific Job Title(s), the name of the Company (which branch if they are located in more than one city, which Department(s) you were employed in), and the Dates you were employed (use only years).

3)  Job Responsibilities

Create a listing of EVERYTHING that was expected of you as part of this position.  Be sure to include things that may not have been “officially” listed in the job description, that you were “assigned” to do (hopefully because someone saw you had a talent for doing well).

4)  Job Skills

Include both specific job-related skills and transferrable/soft skills.   Be sure you list any computer skills and programs you used regularly as part of your job, skills you used as a result of additional training obtained (training, presentation, marketing, sales), in addition to transferrable skills (problem solver, good customer service).  Think hard about all the different types of skills you used in this position.  Having a detailed list of job skills will make this exercise the most beneficial.

5)  Job Accomplishments

To me, this is the most important part of the Master Resume.  Being able to identify how you helped a company while you worked for them will help you in building a resume for a particular position, in addition to helping you understand what you can do for a future employer that will give him a reason to hire you.   Taking the time to figure out what you accomplished for each prior position will not just help you create a resume, but will also give you some advanced preparation for when you get called for an interview; if you’ve already thought about this beforehand, it will be easier for you to sell yourself during the interview.  If you’re able to quantify(show how much money you saved the company or the amount you were able to reduce manpower to perform a task by) or qualify(other ways it benefited the company besides saving money) your accomplishments, you will add even more value to why a company should hire you.

6)  STAR Stories

S–Situation

T–Task

A–Action

R–Result

If you’ve been out of the job search arena for several years, you will find a new type of interview strategy:  Behavioral Interviewing.  The types of questions asked in a behavioral interview are more open-ended than the types of direct questions asked in the past.  These types of questions are geared toward gauging how you would respond in a situation you might very well encounter in the position you are interviewing for.  They are meant to test your judgment and how well you can think on your feet.  Two often-asked behavioral questions are:  ”Tell me about a time when project you were working on turned out well, or surpassed your expectations,” and “Tell me about a time when a project didn’t turn out the way you had planned.”  You can prepare for both of these questions by including answers to them as part of your Master Resume for each position you have held.   If you relate one positive and one negative outcome of a project for each position when you create your Master Resume, you have the opportunity to refine what you would say when asked these questions, and can practice these responses so when you are asked these questions during an interview you have an engaging and organized answer.

Repeat Steps 2-6 for each position you have held in the last 10-15 years, in reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent position first.

7)  Education and Specialized Training

Include all college degrees, even if they don’t apply toward your Career Goal.  Also, include any specialized training that will support your Career Goal.  Be sure to also include any company-specific training that was offered to employees of the company you worked for if it provides more support for your Career Goal.  The concepts of a lot of training geared toward a particular field or industry will carry over, even if the training was geared to benefit a particular company.

Once you have taken the time to create a well-crafted, detailed Master Resume, you will find preparing a resume for a particular position to be much easier.   Compare the skills and qualifications from the job description of the job you are interested in applying for to those listed on your Master Resume.   If you’ve truly taken the time to create a proper Master Resume, you will be able to gauge if you are really qualified for the particular position.  If you feel you are qualified for the position, you will have all the information right in front of you for preparing the resume you will send to apply for the job; it may be as easy as just copying and pasting the skills and accomplishment statements from your Master Resume to a new document to create a resume targeted for that particular position.   Creating your Master Resume may seem like a very painful process while you are working on it, but once you see how much easier it makes your life when you begin applying for particular positions, you will be glad you took the time to do it at the beginning of your job search.

Would You Hire Your Dog?

The title may seem ridiculous when you first read it.  With all the years I spent in retail management, though, I worked with some employees that made me wish I was working with my dog instead.  Why is it so hard to find good employees?  What are some work behaviours  job seekers can learn from man’s best friend?

Don’t Argue/Don’t Talk Back. Even though a dog may be stubborn at times, he is always striving for acceptance from his owner.  If he does something to upset his owner, a dog will do ANYTHING to get back in his good graces.  Some people seem to live to be difficult and argue, no matter what a supervisor might ask them to do.

Good Hygiene. Have you ever noticed how a dog will clean on his paws anytime he is left unbothered?  If a dog does get really dirty, he won’t quit licking until he is completely clean.  You hear it said there is no reason for someone not to be clean.

Lets You Know When He Needs Something. Whether he needs to go outside to go to the bathroom, or if he is hungry, he ALWAYS finds a way to communicate with you.  More employees should follow this lead, rather than continue working on a project if they are unsure if they are doing a task properly, causing the company time and money.

He Focuses On a Task Until It Is Completely Finished. Have you ever watched a dog eat?  The food doesn’t last long and there is no trace of it ever existing.  No matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to distract him long enough to keep him from finishing eating his bowl of food.  (See also Good Hygiene) Don’t you get tired of having to constantly prompt an employee to finish a job?

You Never Have to Wonder Where He Went. As soon as you start moving around, or make too much noise, a dog will come running.  Have you ever noticed how good some employees are at disappearing, especially when you are looking for them to do some work?  

ALWAYS Makes You Feel Welcome. Whether he brings you your slippers when you walk in the door, nudges your crotch with his snout, give you kisses, or runs around wagging his tail when you walk in the door, a dog always makes you know just how happy he is to see you.  Shouldn’t you be greeted with that enthusiasm when you walk into a business?

Loyalty. How else did a dog earn the affectionate title of “Man’s Best Friend?”  You can always count you him being there for you no matter what.   With the changes in the workplace over the last few years, workers only working for a company on an average of 3 years, and never knowing when your position might be eliminated, you can’t really blame employees for not demonstrating the same sense of loyalty they did even 5 years ago.  Isn’t it a shame though?

Anyone that knows me well knows how important my dog is to me.  He is my family, my child, my best friend.   He is beautiful and incredibly smart, and has earned  all the respect he receives by demonstrating all of these qualities.

And, yes… I WOULD hire him for any job he was qualified for.

This is for Griffin.  

“Headfirst, Fearless”

A few weeks ago at the Grammy awards, Taylor Swift won four awards, including the biggest award of the night, Album of the Year for her second album “Fearless.”  A little over two months earlier, she won four more awards at the Country Music Association awards, also winning the biggest award, Entertainer of the Year.  Many other singers/musicians have had years even more successful than this…so what?  On December 13, between these major awards shows, Taylor Swift had a birthday.  She could no longer be called a “teenager;” she turned 20 years old.

Not only does Taylor sing and play several instruments, she writes (or co-writes) all the songs on her multi award-winning CD “Fearless.”  In the liner notes for the CD, she says that to her Fearless is “not the absence of fear, not being completely unafraid;” but “having fears, having doubts”–”lots of them,” and “living in spite of those things that scare you to death.”  Amazingly insightful for someone who wasn’t even 18 years old at the time she wrote the songs on this CD.

For someone so young and so new to the music industry (relatively speaking), the only way to prove yourself is to really put yourself out there, follow your dreams, and jump in “headfirst, fearless.”  Taylor Swift did this, and the payoff was huge; bigger than she ever imagined.  Job seekers in today’s economy have a lot to learn from the words and drive of Taylor Swift.

The state of the economy in our Country the last two years has left a lot of people fearing how they are going to provide for themselves and their families.  Jobs they have held for years in industries that used to flourish suddenly have disappeared, leaving people doubting if the skills and experience they have will be worth anything in this new economy.  With so many people reaching a year-and-a-half on unemployment, the fear of not being able to pay their bills is unfortunately becoming a reality.

Changing careers in mid-life can cause a lot of apprehension and stress for people.  The outlook you go into this career change with can play a huge part in how successful the transition will be.  Acknowledging the fear you have is the first step in processing these feelings you are experiencing.  In the words of Taylor Swift, having fears and doubts (lots of them) is not a bad thing, as long as you live in spite of these fears. Thinking of a career change as a challenge or a new adventure can help take the fear out of the situation, even if underneath it all you truly are scared to death.  If you are one of those who have been out of work for an extended period of time, you owe it to yourself and those who count on you, to put yourself out there,  give everything you have to this new opportunity, and jump in “headfirst, fearless.”

Is All Publicity Really Good Publicity?

“All publicity is good publicity.”  It’s an old adage that’s been passed down through the generations for many decades.  Just how true is it, though?  It used to be a line that was used primarily to refer to entertainers, politicians, and humanitarians.  No matter what kind of publicity they receive on a personal level, their latest project, platform, or cause always benefits exponentially just by bringing the name of the endorser to the forefront of the public’s thinking.  With the explosion of technology, especially over the past decade, those people we always thought of just ordinary Joes and Janes now have the ability to achieve this same level of influence, previously reserved for media celebrities, through  an amazing platform called “the internet.”

Does this level of influence always yield positive results in the end for the ordinary man and woman, especially those seeking a new career, like it does for celebrities?  Not always.

The last time the state of our Country’s economy reached a level as critical as we are experiencing now was over 25 years ago.  The highest level of technology we had attained at that time was the fax machine.  People didn’t have access to the personal computer as we know it now in their homes; there was no email, no MySpace, no Facebook, no LinkedIn, no Twitter.  If you wanted to apply for a job, you got the newspaper, and either mailed in your resume by what we affectionately now call “snail mail,” or you went to the company and applied for the job in person.  Occasionally, a person would send in a resume by fax, but fax machines were generally only found in private businesses then.

Flash forward back to present time, and we are experiencing record unemployment rates (even after more than a year-and-a-half); for some states, the highest ever in the history of our country.  Not only are there more people than ever looking for a new job, there is a new variable to factor into the equation of looking for a job:  that amazing platform I referred to earlier, called “the internet.”  If you don’t fully understand the impact of the internet on your job search, you may be in for a rude awakening.

With upwards of 75% of U.S. homes having access to the internet (and many public alternatives for those who don’t have access in their homes), most job seekers have a direct line to their own FREE, private P.R. firm, through the creation of their own website and/or the use of social media websites like MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.  Once you go from being an employed member of society to a job seeker, you MUST become painstakingly aware of how you go about using these internet avenues.  Hardly anyone uses a website or social media sites for anything actually illegal, but sometimes they are used for purposes that show questionable judgment, especially in the eyes of an HR professional or a hiring manager. It’s fine to use these for purely social means while you are employed, but once you begin looking for a job, it is imperative that you start thinking of them as “business networking sources.”  How can you go about ensuring that the publicity you generate from a website or social media site during your job search is “good publicity?”

Here are some things to consider:

• If you have pictures posted, be sure the main pic is a professional headshot, and be sure additional pics are tasteful.  No pics of you holding a drink, where you appear that you might be intoxicated/high, or dressed in minimal clothes.  A good guideline:  If you wouldn’t want it posted on your church’s website, don’t have the pic on any of your sites.
• If there is any chance someone might post an inappropriate comment on your wall, adjust the settings so no one can see the comments other than you.
• If there is a chance any of your connections might post something on their site that doesn’t show you in a good light, adjust your settings so those people aren’t viewable on your site, or so that none of your connections show.
• Google yourself to see just what types of things show up under your name and check each link for anything that might be detrimental in your getting hired.  Either block or remove anything you find that could cause an issue.
• Take every opportunity to sell yourself and your skills.  Create a Fanpage on Facebook featuring yourself and your skills, or your private business if you do consulting.  Consider creating an additional Twitter account that you use just for your job search.
• Keep your sites updated regularly so it shows that you are keeping busy and applying yourself during your job search.

There has never been a time in history where there is so much opportunity to promote yourself to so many people totally free.  You owe it to yourself to learn the strategies of creating the “best” publicity for yourself that you can using the internet.  I guarantee you the HR professionals and hiring managers have incorporated these strategies in the process they use for screening candidates.  Keep yourself one step ahead of them, and you are one step closer to that next, great opportunity.

Remember: If there is something so obscure you never think will surface, take the time to thoroughly analyze your internet presence because…. GOOGLE WILL FIND EVERYTHING!

15 Tips To Help Prepare For Interviews

Interview skills are the top item I hear people saying they need the most help with when they are seeking a new position.  Since every interview is structured differently, it is impossible to tell people what they need to do to ensure every interview is successful.   Here are a few tips that will help, no matter how an interview is structured or how it is conducted.

1)   Focus on how qualifications meet needs.

You can even create a t-match summary and print it out to use as a leave behind in addition to the copy of your resume the interviewer should already have.

2)   Be able to defend resume/cv and cover letter.

This is why it is so important to do your own resume (or at the most have someone help you).  If you don’t know everything on the resume and cover letter top to bottom, you might not be able to defend anything that might be asked about it during the interview.

3)   Prepare success stories (and not-so-successful stories)

Prepare at least one for each position listed on your resume.  It can also be beneficial to prepare ”not -so-successful” stories for when you are asked a question about a time when something you tried didn’t work out the way you planned/hoped it would.  We tend to get even more nervous when have to talk about something negative during an interview, so if you have thought about an instance and worked through in your mind how to best explain the situation, it should help to explain it without getting flustered during the interview.

4)   Get the inside scoop.

Research the organization, departments, and individuals–that’s what God created Google and LinkedIn for.

5)   Identify industry trends and be able to discuss them.

You must show that you are up to speed in your industry and ready to hit the ground running when you are hired.

6)   Identify salary range.

Do your research for your geographical area.  Have a range in mind from the research you have  done, but do NOT bring up the topic of salary during your first interview, especially, unless the interviewer asks you the question.

7)   Create an elevator pitch.

Prepare it and have it memorized, but not to the point of it sounding “canned.”  This can be a great way of answering the question, ” Tell me about yourself.”  Oftentimes this is the first question, and if you have this prepared and memorized, it can start off the interview on the right foot.

8)   Develop your brand.

Present yourself in a way that shows your qualifications for the position, in an organized manner, that sets you apart from the competition (the others who are interviewing for the same position).  Think NIKE!!!

9)   Create a “phone zone.”

Have a place in your home that everyone knows they must be quiet at all times….this trains them to be quiet in that place anytime you might be talking with a prospective employer.

10)  Practice, practice, practice.

With anyone you can, especially if you feel interviewing is something you really struggle with.  Not just with your family and friends.   Take advantage of any interview workshops that are open to the public to practice with people that you don’t know.  You tend not to be nervous with people you know, even if they are asking you the same questions an interviewer would.  How often do you interview with someone you know???

11)  Image:  dress, punctuality, professionalism, preparation.

The impression you leave starts from the time you walk in the door of the building.  These are all things that could play a part in making a decision between you and any other candidate.

12)  Use visualization techniques.

These can be very helpful, especially if you are extremely nervous.  Be sure to not get so into them that it looks like you are not giving the interviewer your full attention.

13)  Connect with the interviewer within the first 5 minutes.

Establish good eye contact and find something to say that can act as a transition during those awkward first few minutes between the time you walk in the door and the actual interview (job-related questions) begins.

14)  Downplay the negative:  focus on growth and lessons learned.

Acknowledge things that ended up not being positive experiences, but don’t go into the long story of how it happened.   NEVER criticize others for their involvement in a situation.

15)  Follow up.

Send thank you letters to everyone you interviewed with.  Be sure to mention your interest in being considered for the position in your thank you letter.  Ask when you can expect to hear about the next steps of the hiring process during the interview.  Do NOT call and ask about the position until after the date you were given.  If there has been no word once the date you were given arrives, periodically follow-up to show your continued interest in the position.