Resume Rehab by Colleen » Job Search

Interviewing the Interviewer

colleenjaycox — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 19:01:28 +0000

One the worst mistakes I’ve seen otherwise perfect candidates make during their interviews is to not have any questions for the interviewer. It’s important to strike the right balance with your questions. Obviously, you don’t want to come in, get a chance to ask questions and then shrug your shoulders. You also don’t want to ask dumb questions about the company that you should know from doing basic research before the interview. Another “don’t” that comes to mind is to avoid asking inappropriate questions about salary too early on in the interviewing process.

Now that some of the “don’ts” are out of the way, I’d like to recommend this article that a friend sent to me, with a list of great questions that you can ask the interviewer in your next interview: http://www.cenedella.com/job-search/its-not-about-me-its-about-you-the-20-questions-you-need-to-ask-in-a-job-interview/

The next time you’re headed into an interview, after you’d researched the position, the company, and, if possible, the interviewer, take a look at his list and see if you can jot down a couple that could be pertinent to your situation.

Why you need a good LinkedIn Profile Picture

colleenjaycox — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 01:40:41 +0000

Did you know that profiles with pictures on LinkedIn are 7 times more likely to be viewed than those without pictures?

Learn more about what it takes to make the most out of your LinkedIn profile picture and those on other social media sites to improve your job prospects here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203388804576613561719372694.html

Why You Should Try an Informational Interview

colleenjaycox — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:31:12 +0000

From time to time, I wax poetically on the power of the informational interview. In fact, I probably went on about 30 before I found my first job after college. But the truth of the matter is two-fold. First, there were more companies without openings that would meet with me than there were places hiring that wanted to meet me. Second, those informational interviews opened the door to more interviews – both to other informational interviews and to interviews for real job opportunities.

Check out this article from Getting Rich Slowly on how going on informational interviews helped inspire writer April Dykman as she considered starting a side business teaching yoga: http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2010/07/13/use-an-informational-interview-to-overcome-mental-barriers/

Stats on the job market

colleenjaycox — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:19:04 +0000

A little depressing, but important to know.

This article from Dime Crunch states that the average job search is lasting 211 days and that there are 11.5 million receiving unemployment benefits right now, with more than 1.5 million expecting their benefits to run out in March.

Knowing that, ramp up your job search!

Revise your resume, get networking and improve your interviewing skills.

Need help? Let me know!

Send Thank You Notes

colleenjaycox — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:06:46 +0000

I don’t know how many times I’ve said it, but I’ll say it again.

Send a handwritten thank you note within 24 hours of your interview.

Over and over again, people tell me they never got a call back from an interview. When I ask if they send a thank you note and they shrug their shoulders, I know at least one reason they didn’t get a call back.

Don’t believe me?

Read these two articles that say what I’ve been saying all along: SEND THANK YOU NOTES! TO EVERYONE WITH WHICH YOU INTERVIEW!

http://www.freemoneyfinance.com/2009/12/great-thoughts-on-thank-you-notes.html

http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/a-little-thank-you-goes-a-long-way/

Benefits Beyond Salary

colleenjaycox — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:14:03 +0000

A recurring theme amongst the people I talk to that are fielding job offers (in this awful economy) is trying to understand what a good offer is.

Most people consider the salary offer as the job offer. But it is more than that. You need to consider the entire benefits package: insurance, retirement, commission and bonuses, potential for growth, and “intangible” benefits like the working environment, job location, etc.

I suggest reading this article from Talent Zoo about 5 Financial Secrets to Know When You Look for A Job by Ted Jenkin. He discusses many of these additional benefits and poses some questions for you to consider when you get the long awaited offer.

Identifying, qualifying and quantifying your achievements

colleenjaycox — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:16:59 +0000

The first thing I ask people to do when they want to update their resume, is to give me a description of their work history and achievements.

For most everyone, it’s pretty easy for them to tell me the dates and places where they have worked, past job titles and companies. But it’s that achievements part that is hard for them to come up with.

Use this list to figure out what you’ve accomplished. Once you have the list, try to weave accomplishments in with your job responsibilities and duties.

Actions: Did you…

open new accounts?
create an infrastructure for any function(s)?
design and/or implement standard operating procedures?
develop the professional capabilities of people who were then promoted to positions of greater accountability and/or who outperformed peers?
add new products?
develop or strengthen vendor partnerships?
launch a new brand?
develop a training program?
initiate and/or manage a major project?
renegotiate contracts?
reengineer business processes?
restructure organizations?
write or redesign job descriptions?
reach new audiences?
grow subscribers or membership base?
improve the accuracy of sales forecasts?
start a new division?
grow your referral base?
begin sourcing or production in a new region or country?
start outsourcing tasks?
expand your presence to a new geographic territory?
establish quality standards?
start evaluating vendor performance?
write an employee or vendor manual?
design forms or templates?
introduce and/or direct programs that resulted in achievement of certain industry standards?
expand or consolidate your vendor base?
accelerate product development?
implement new technology-based solutions or lead technology integrations?
win support from internal or external groups?
create a reference library or archives of key information?
improve inventory accuracy?
decrease order-to-delivery lead times or speed-to-market times?
design and/or institute order tracking or call tracking systems?
start a safety program?
automate a process previously performed manually?
eliminate unnecessary or redundant processes?
design a business continuity plan?
get rid of unprofitable product lines or customer accounts?
align services with customer requirements?

Results: As a result of these actions, did you…

increase sales/profits?
reduce costs?
grow market share?
increase service levels?
achieve better quality or consistency?
improve safety and/or reduce risk?
boost productivity?
lower employee turnover?
improve company’s reputation?
position the company for future growth?

This list is adapted from a WiseBread blog post.

Top Job Search Faux Pas from NPR

colleenjaycox — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:33:05 +0000

* Not having an updated profile, with recommendations, on sites like LinkedIn or similar sites relating to your line of work
* Having a husband-and-wife e-mail address
* Having an AOL address. Some executives say those are very outdated.
* Not doing extensive research about the company, its culture and the position you’re applying for
* Not filing your resume digitally, even if you bring paper backups
* “Cold” e-mailing executives with whom you’ve never made a prior connection, either online or in person
* Asking an executive you’re hoping will hire you to be your “friend” on Facebook

Read the entire article here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105483848

Important things you need to have on your resume

colleenjaycox — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:52:53 +0000

Sure it’s important to include your name, contact information, work history, education and key responsibilities.

The biggest mistake people make is leaving out their key differentiators.

What do employers really want to know about you? They want to know that you produce results.

What problems have you solved?
Did you serve as a project or team leader? Mentor to others?
Have you helped the company save money, improve efficiency or increase productivity?

And it doesn’t stop here. Anywhere that you can, you need to quantify and quality your achievements:

How many dollars did you save the company by your efforts?
How much in additional business did you bring in?
What was the percentage increase you brought about in productivity, safety, efficiency…?

In a tight job market, and as a young person just starting out in general, it’s important to include these extras to make you stand out in a sea of typical resumes and typical candidates.

Updating your resume after your first job

colleenjaycox — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:33:19 +0000

Making the transition from “recent graduate” to full-fledged “business professional” can be tough. The resume you have when you first get out of school may not have a lot of relevant job experience. Sure that part time job got you through school, but most employers aren’t really interested in your summer as a wedding caterer or camp counselor by the time you hit 25.

That being said, while you’re busy growing up and become a professional, your resume also needs to grow up. Here’s how you do it:

If you haven’t already, get rid of anything highschool related. No one cares what your GPA was junior year or that you were captain of the math team. If you went to a prestigious high school (like many people in St. Louis), think about getting active in the alumni association and putting that in a Community Involvement section.
Unless you had a very important leadership or employment role, you can probably remove most of your club or social involvement from college too. If you were a part of a Greek organization that may help for networking, get involved in the alumni association and put that in your Community Involvement section too.
Move your education information down underneath your work experience. Now that you have job experience, that’s a lot more important that your liberal arts degree that everyone else has, too.
Add an executive summary displaying your key skills and traits as well as your specific objectives for career development. Let’s face it, after graduation your objective literally translated to “please give me a job, any job.” Now that you’ve been out in the real world for a couple years, it’s important to know where you want to go next and what you’ll bring to your next employer.

To demonstrate the before and after of a resume makeover after a first job, check out Chris Mann’s new resume and his first resume out of school.

Still not sure how to make your resume mature with your career? E-mail me.