Earn

For the job jaded

Krug Champers to Resume self sufficiency

Hello lovely readers. You know what? Having now helped over 10,000 transitioning candidates develop effective personal branding strategies and campaigns to drive career success, it’s a given that I’ve seen a few resumes along the way. As a result, friends often ask if I might review their resumes as well. Now to be honest, after a day coaching folk on how to take their resumes from bog standard to kick ass, attention-grabbing, strength marketing, scan-bot loving documents, it’s kind of the last thing I want to be doing in my leisure time! Unless your reward for my efforts involves a crate of Krug Private Cuvée Champers, an extended holiday in Bora Bora and a bevvy of gorgeous…oh sorry, where was I?

Let me offer you a five-step editing plan that will help you take your resume from okay to pretty damn impressive without that expense…you’re welcome!

Editing is more than just giving your resume a once-over to eliminate egregious typos and grammar mistakes. It’s about looking at it with a critical eye, then making changes to ensure it’s the best it can be. And that’s what you want for your resume, right? Sooo..first up:

1: Consider the Resume’s Aim

On that first read, ignore typos and formatting and think about the overall message your resume is sending. From the top down, ask yourself the following:

Contact details:

• Is my email address professional? (‘sexybeast@hotmail.com’ just won’t do ok?)
• Have I added my LinkedIn URL below my email address and mobile number?

Insider tip – Hotmail addresses have a propensity for landing in the junk mail folder – consider an alternative such as Gmail, outlook etc., just for your marketing purposes

Executive Summary:

• Does my summary start with my ‘functional title’ e.g. ‘Sales Executive’ with expertise in….’
• Does my title follow with skills as they relate to the expectations of the job for which I’m applying?
• Does it summarise the actual strengths and experience I’ve articulated in the body of the resume?
• Does my summary sell me well enough to entice the reader to read more?

Insider tip: Summary should ‘summarise’ strengths depicted in the body of the resume and vice versa.

Career History:

• What makes my experience stand out amongst similarly experienced candidates?
• Are there gaps between the experience on the pages and experience required for the job?
• If so, what can I add to supplement those gaps?
• Are my responsibilities nicely summarised in a tidy three line job scope sentence?
• Do my achievements demonstrate what I did with my responsibilities that made a difference in my past jobs?
• Do my accomplishments answer the critical questions – ‘Why? (Challenge) How? (Actions) and So What? (Results)
• Have I quantified results as proof of outcomes?
• Have I started each achievement with an action verb?
• Have I edited my accomplishments back to sharp three line sentences?
• No more than 10-12 years history included?

Education/Professional Development:

• Have I included the name of the institutes from which I gained my formal qualifications?
• And listed the most relevant professional development courses I’ve attended?

And…
• Is there anything in the document that doesn’t need to be, such as photos, fancy graphics, hobbies, date of birth, marital status?
• Does the overall text sell me as the perfect candidate for the role?

Insider tip: Quantify the results in achievements where possible. The critical difference between an average resume and a brilliant one.

2: Scrutinize

Now to editing. Walk through your resume again and look at every section, every sentence, and every word and determine if there’s a better way to get your point across:

• Is this the most robust possible language I can use?
• Can anything be said more clearly? Or in fewer words?
• Have I used technical language that someone outside my company or industry might not understand?
• Have my acronyms been spelt out? (Don’t assume the reader will understand them)
• Are there any words I’ve used repeatedly? Can they be replaced with more creative language?

Insider tip: Send your resume to your selected referees, ask them for feedback and adjust accordingly, after all, they’ll be the ones substantiating your claims when called for a reference.

3: Double Check Facts and Stats

Now review your resume again, this time asking yourself:

• Are the companies I’ve worked for named the same thing today?
• Are my position titles accurate?
• Are my employment dates correct?
• Are the stats I’ve used to describe increases, budgets, savings and achievements (reasonably) accurate?

Insider tip: Another reason to seek referee feedback. The facts need to weigh up with their recall.

4: Double Proofread

You can review your document for hours and still fail to notice that you’ve used ‘lead’ instead of ‘led’, ‘there’ instead of ‘their’, ‘manger’ instead of ‘manager’. Don’t rely on Spellcheck alone. Proofreading one last time is a step you can’t neglect. More questions to ask:

• Are there any typos? Wrong word usage?
• Do each of my bullet points end with a period (or not)? Either is fine, be consistent.
• Are my commas in the right place?
• Is my sentence structure grammatically consistent?
• Is everything written in past tense?
• Have I removed all personal pronouns, e.g. ‘I’, ‘we’, ‘our’?
• Are the pages numbered in the footer?
• Is my name on each page in the header?

Insider tip: When proofreading, it’s helpful to read your resume from the bottom up. Again, have someone you trust review for grammar and consistency.

5: Aesthetic Appeal

Now it’s time to give it a final once-over with a designer’s eye, considering:

• Does each page look visually appealing?
• Are the pages overly cluttered?• The font too small? Difficult to read?
• Bullet points used for easy readability?
• Do the headings stand out?
• Is the font size and formatting for each section consistent?
• Does the layout make sense?
• No more than three pages max?

Insider Tip: Avoid templates with fancy symbols, fonts and layouts – they are the bain of recruiter’s lives for they’re challenging to extrapolate info from and the scanbots can’t always parse the necessary info that will get you to the ‘read’ pile.

Editing your resume to ensure it’s sharp and focused, sells you effectively and is error free can be exciting, challenging and rewarding all in one. Why? It reminds you of just how much you’ve accomplished in your career. And that boosts your confidence. Which in turn better prepares you for typical behavioural interviews. And the opportunity to negotiate salary because you now know your worth. And ultimately it can land you that job!

Oh! And if you need someone to share your celebratory Champers with, you know where to find me!

Throwing shade on the tyranny of ‘always’

“Telling ourselves the story of “always + undesired outcome” wreaks havoc, not just on our ability to succeed, but on our lives. We begin to see failure and pain as a matter of fate. We stop believing a successful outcome is possible. That disbelief in possibility leads to inaction, which in turn seals the inevitability of our past becoming our future.” So says Jonathan Fields and he’s absolutely right. Have caught myself doing exactly that on more than one occasion and I bet you have too.

Wearing my career transition expert hat I often hear my candidates exclaiming ‘I always freeze in interviews’, ‘I always get rejected’, I always…(insert any number of negative job search fears) and no matter how much encouragement I invest in helping them reframe such statements, there are times when I realise they are simply mired in what Jonathan describes as ‘false negative absolutes’.

(more…)

Oh! The Mighty Word…

Hello there lovely readers, now, given the blog’s focus this year has been on enhancing your wellbeing, As a career management expert, a great deal of my work involves helping individuals experiencing role redundancy to successfully transition to their next job. Identifying what they offer, what they need in return, what that next move looks like, where those opportunities lie; developing effective marketing resources, a sound job search and networking strategy, a campaign plan and finally, the confidence to keep the butterflies in formation sufficiently to interview, negotiate and land that next job. Thing is, none of this can take shape unless the individual is in the right frame of mind to begin with.

How we deal with redundancy depends on a number of factors. Age, our family, lifestyle and financial situations, past experiences, our natural disposition when handling change or upheaval – each playing a part in how effectively we cope with such momentous events. Emotions we deal with might include shock, anger, denial, worry, resistance, possible depression, acceptance, exploration and eventually, a new beginning. Thing is we don’t stop methodically at each station. Wouldn’t it be so much more convenient if we could just exclaim – ‘Shhh! Don’t disturb me for this is my worry day, hand me my worry beads, a glass of wine, a very big one please, then bugger off!’ Nope! It’s human nature to ricochet back and forth thanks to our emotional state on the day.

imageFor some experiencing redundancy it’s ‘Yea! I’ve just wheeled out a barrow full of payout money from that fantastic job where they simply couldn’t afford to keep me anymore, a nice reward for my services – now where would I like to work next?’ For others it’s ‘Oh my god, I’m taking the kids out of university, selling the house, moving in with the mother in law, downsizing the car, calling Centrelink!’ And on the rare occasion, ‘I’m taking ’em to court for unfair dismissal, after all the years I’ve served them, this is how they repay me! Well they won’t survive without me I can tell you, the place will go to hell in a basket!’ Whoa! Manage your ‘brand’ there fella! Yes, we each have our own processing mechanisms, but let’s look at the situation objectively…

For those beyond coping, immediate referral to their company’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and/or a counsellor or psychologist becomes a must for I would never assume to step into the specialist’s shoes. For others, simply implementing a myriad of coping mechanisms to help process, digest and assess before moving on to new beginnings will be sufficient. Surrounding one’s self with supportive family and friends, scripting those yet to grasp the situation; hobbies, health kicks, a long deserved holiday, tackling long overdue house renovations, clearing house clutter, job search planning and preparation to name a few. Trust me, I’ve been there twice and implementing a number of these certainly helped. But the one thing that particularly stood out for me, and continues to do so whenever life throws curveballs, is Journalling.

Journalling? Wait! Did I just hear a collective sigh?

Hey that’s ok for journalling is not for everybody.  But for many, a chance to clear the head of the day’s clutter, make sense of those swirling emotions, negative thoughts and self depreciating checklists. When I find myself feeling overwhelmed and needing to shut the chattering monkeys down sufficiently to sleep well, I reach for my journal. It just works.

Whether dealing with job lotravel-journal-luigi-azivino-ilmungo-43496328-flickr-ccbyncsa2 copyss or simply needing to process excessive brain activity and restore calm, it’s no surprise that journaling has re-emerged as a valuable tool for managing your personal carriage on the roller-coaster of this fast paced world. I don’t believe journals/diaries ever left, just that we’ve become too busy to use them…oh the irony! Take a look at a Kikki K catalog these days and you’ll see an evident resurgence – ‘A Sentence a Day Journal’; ‘100 Dreams Journal’ ‘Goals Journal’, ‘Words to Inspire Journal’, ‘Happiness Journal’, ‘Gratitude Journal’, ‘365 Journal’ – the list goes on.

Ok! So you’ve decided to give it a go. You’ve purchased your smart looking journal and you’re now wondering what the hell you’re meant to do with it?

Here’s a start – before turning the lights out, open your journal and put your favourite pen to the paper. Now write the first thing that comes into your head…a thought, a feeling, an emotion, a good thing that happened, a bad one, people you interacted with, a memorable snippet of conversation, a quote you liked, something you learnt…doesn’t matter what you write, just write. Now here comes the liberating part.

If you are feeling troubled, write down all the contributing factors. Yes, list them. Every single one of them, big or small. All of ’em! Now review each point and ask yourself ‘Is there anything I can do about this one?’ If the answer is ‘nope it’s beyond my control’ – your job being made redundant for instance – cross it off the list. Grant yourself permission to put a big line through it! Repeat with each point until you are left with only those you can control. Now remind yourself that you will never waste another moment of your valuable energy dwelling on those that fell on the cutting floor.

If worry is your middle name, why not take a leaf from Dale Carnegie’s perennial book ‘How to Stop Worrying and Start Living’ and think to yourself – what is the absolute worst that could possibly happen, yes, the absolute worst…then ask yourself how likely is that to ac20131129-201201tually occur? Work back from there on steps you would take to avoid that happening in the first place and suddenly, what might have felt insurmountable just lost it’s spotlight for you are already planning ahead. Which leads to the good part!

Look at the remaining points and think of just one action you will take to address each one, one by one. Just one action (baby steps) per point. Once done, take just three action steps (remember, baby steps) you can readily implement tomorrow and write them on a fresh page. Now commit yourself to addressing these when you wake.

Oh! And before you close that journal, just one more thing!

Write down ‘just one thing’ you were grateful for today. A roof over your head, a lovely chat with a friend, the joy of your child’s laughter, your partner’s embrace, the dog’s unwavering loyalty, the food on your table, nice weather… you get the gist. If all else fails, might I suggest  a thought for the many who are so much more worse off in our war torn world. And now for the best part of this journey…

Soon you’ll be writing more and more positives and a whole lot less negatives. That false bravado will move from ‘fakin’ it to makin’ it’ and the next exciting chapter of your life will start to unfold. During the journey your journal may move on to become your constant companion, or it may just emerge for troubling occasions, it doesn’t matter. Mine? It continues to serve as a gratitude journal. Cue collective sigh…why not give it a go?

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NB: Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), Counsellors and Psychologists are invaluable support mechanisms, don’t be afraid to seek their guidance. For immediate need reach out to BeyondBlue (24 hrs a day, 7 days a week) 1300 22 4636.

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