Questionable Resume Tips

Don’t you just hate getting unsolicited emails? I do too. That is why we don’t email blast unless you requested to be on our list.

Here is an unsolicited email to me about “c level careers + resume info”.  Now, I am not sure who sent it. I only opened it up to see if there was a best practice that could be useful to you. There are a few that I already knew but there were MANY ideas that I believe are harmful.

By the way, “C-Level” refers to CEO, COO, CFO, CMO… So you would think this advice would be the best of the best – especially since the author states that he is an “Executive Job Hunter’s Consultant and Strategist – since 1987”

So, here is what he said and my comments:

1. Readers perspective
   1. Him: Assume readers are skeptical and rarely give you the benefit of the doubt.
   2. Me: Assume first line readers will scan in 10 seconds. They are looking for key words and at the summary. 2^nd level readers assume 1^st level readers already screened you and will be checking to see if you lied on your resume like many have been caught doing and that you look like you are qualified. 3^rd level readers rarely depend upon a resume usually preferring to talk and listen to see if you really “get it”, are trustworthy, and are a cultural fit.
2. Screeners
   1. Him: Almost always toss all resumes except from people seeking to make a lateral move.
   2. Me: In today’s competitive environment, companies can be looking for someone who has “done it” to come it to “do it again. However, the best companies are looking for track records upwards and usually DO NOT throw away upward trends that are not a stretch. What screeners are looking for depends on what they are told to look for.
3. Summaries
   1. Him: Don’t use them. They annoy screeners because they all sound alike and are too generalized and cliché riddled.
   2. Me:  The “blah, blah, blah” syndrome is a point the recruiter I wrote about last week stated. Both are right if you are generalized and cliché riddled. The competitive candidate knows how to craft a summary that gives the screener what they are looking for – in 10 seconds. To omit a good summary is a terrible mistake.

More tomorrow!

Understanding The Job Seeking Process, Part 7

There are a number of steps in networking. However, I merely want to close out my thoughts on the executive summary, from a recruiter perspective, and a value proposition from my perspective.

Here is the setting: a general networking event or a chance meeting at a soccer field or as an association meeting.

Here is the question: “What do you do?”

Recruiter model:

I am a top financial officer with 20 years experience in Fortune 500 and medium sized business service companies with experience in multi-location, multi-division, and multi-country locations providing heavy tax and M&A expertise within the Atlanta area and having a strong focus on teaming across functions to optimize financial operations.

Value Proposition Model, with three topic results structure

I am a financial fire-fighter.  (pregnant pause)

My experience is in large and medium sized companies identifying issues and solving them, such as SEC reporting, M&A activities, and support of the Sales force.

Here are the test questions.

1. Which model would you most likely remember in 2 months?
2. Which model best explains what he can do – his value?
3. Which model would want you to ask more about – make you interested?
4. Which model would be easiest to tell others about?
5. Which model would give you interest in referring him to a friend?

I rest my case.

Understanding The Job Seeking Process, Part 5

Now let’s take a look at one simple difference between focusing on the gatekeepers and through sales and marketing techniques like networking.

I have heard that 80% of candidates focus on trying to go through gatekeepers – and feel like they are hitting their head against the wall.

I have also heard that 20% of all jobs are placed through going through the gatekeepers.

If you re-read what I just said and do the math, something should jump out at you. Am I crazy to compete for 20% of the jobs where 80% of the competition is?

I heard last Friday about the book called “Blue Waters”. I have not read it but my friend told me the concept is to stay away from the red waters (where the sharks are feeding) and go where the waters (and competition) are nice and blue.

To put it another way, I have heard that by networking you increase your chances of getting a job by 4,200%. If that does not get your attention, you might as well stop reading.  People play the lottery for worse than a one in one million chance of winning. Here the odds are 4,200% better than focusing on gatekeepers.

So now we are talking about the seventh Jobpreneurship™ process.  There are still 35 to go. But networking is a major strategy shift than trying to initially go through the gatekeepers.

The challenge is that very, very few people know how to truly network. So, you often get limited guidance. Sometimes, you get poor guidance from “coaches” who don’t know the best practices themselves.

That brings us around to my comments on Monday. The Managing Director of the national executive recruiting firm told 40+ executives that they should develop an executive summary that describes what they do – using terms that would help and executive recruiter see if they would fit into a current position.  The examples were longer than this paragraph and full of complex concepts. This statement would then be what you use in networking.

If you are networking with a gatekeeper with open jobs, you may want to follow his advice. However, since that is less than 20% of all possible jobs and since few recruiters have jobs that may fit your profile, I personally believe the advice is DEAD WRONG when it comes to networking.  Again, right when talking to a gatekeeper but WRONG when you are trying to network with non-gatekeepers.

Understanding The Job Seeking Process, Part 4

Why do so many “career coaches” focus on these six areas? Because most of them are former HR or recruiters. This is what they know from their perspective, their company requirements, and their experience. There is nothing wrong with this. Their coaching can be invaluable!

Other coaches may be focused on psychological issues, personal counseling, financial counseling, spiritual counseling, image development, branding, networking skills, etc. In most cases, their perspective is limited by their focus.

Think of going to a doctor who is a specialist. One focuses on the hand. Another the foot. Another the heart. Another common family issues. Another cancer…  ALL are important. It depends upon what your need is. Most of us cannot afford to go to every doctor. We have to prioritize and go when we have a need.

So, I applaud those who can help you with resumes, interviewing, executive summaries, etc. Just remember that their advice and experience might be not be as broad as you may need – especially during the challenging and competitive times that we are seeing today. Being right (maybe) on six of 42 processes is good but you might want to learn all 42 processes.

Understanding The Job Seeking Process, Part 3

The first typical advice is to be sure to use key words tied to your resume that fit the job you are looking to fill. Hopefully, your resume will appear in their top interest retained stack.

The second executive recruiter advice is to use an executive summary of your background. Why? With 10 seconds to review, either you are a potential fit or not. If you are not a fit, they usually begin tuning you out and trying to get off the phone.

Keep in mind, they are not looking for value, performance, or potential at this point. They are looking for a 10 second review to see if you are a potential fit to their 5-10 key factors. Round two begins to look at these other factors.

The Key Take-Away:  This approach is designed to eliminate candidates.

If you don’t play by their rules, you don’t get to play their game. You don’t even get up to bat.

If you do play by their rules, but your executive summary and key words don’t fit what they are looking for, you lose.

Remember, they are paid by the client. They are willing to review massive numbers of candidates but use automation and the 10 second rule for the first pass.

You are a commodity.  If your number comes up and if your summary and key words fit, then you get a chance for a phone interview – where the approach is again designed to eliminate candidates to find quickly those who might be the best fit.

If you were in HR or were a recruiter, would you do anything different? I wouldn’t. This is how the game is played. It is driven by the need for filling as many jobs as possible as fast as possible with the best possible candidate. If the highest qualified candidate does not even get looked at, that is the fault of the candidate who did not properly position himself. It is also an acceptable loss driven by the press for time and efficiency.

What could this mean for your job search?

Understanding The Job Seeking Process, Part 2

As a reminder, typical gatekeepers for the hiring manager are temporary agencies, job placement companies, contingency and retained recruiters, and internal recruiters.

Why? Because they are paid by the company to help the manager in the process. The typical manager does not hire daily, often does a poor job writing a job description they need filled (either because they are not sure themselves, don’t have time to do it, or just hate sitting down to do it – I have been guilty before on all counts!).  So the gatekeeper starts off with a poor requirements document that they need to fill ASAP! Keep in mind that job openings are approved long after the need is there, so now the manager is often desperate to get the position filled – before the budget is cut again or problems develop in his department.

Gatekeepers are also critical for hiring legal compliance and to ensure general hires fit into the companies culture and objectives.

So, now the gatekeepers have a poorly written requirements document that usually has key filters such as education, certification, years experience, industry experience, consistent career growth, and knowledge/experience of key areas. That usually results in the development of a key word search that allows the recruiter to blast through masses of internet hits and stacks of submitted resumes.

Top recruiters, particularly retained recruiters who make the big bucks, usually interview the hiring manager for job qualification factors (usually 5 key points) and job fit factors (usually another 5 key points). The job fit factors often include image, style, intellect, cultural fit, likeability, etc. These factors are critical for executives and the executive recruiter, who works with top management, gets a feel for what they are looking for in candidates.

Still, the typical method is to find candidates that fit the 5-10 key factors and then whittle the number down further through phone interviews.

HOWEVER, their best practices are for you to learn how to make their job easier and to get through what I call the firewall designed to limit access to hiring managers. Either way, what they do is usually in their best interests and the best interests of the company.

Keep in mind that so many applications come in that they have 10 seconds to read a resume and 10 seconds to listen to your targeted summary statement. They assume you have key words in your resume that will trigger the need to glance at your paper. Not a great opportunity to be noticed!

So, most advice starts with how to get through the screening process.

What do you hear as typical advice?

Understanding The Job Seeking Process!

I frequently attend job seeker meetings. I am also on the board of a local group with 1,700 members. So, I listen to what others say and what guest speakers recommend. To be honest with you, it breaks my heart when I hear peers or “experts” talk beyond their area of expertise. Am I just as guilty? Perhaps, but I have been studying this subject for a long time, listen to every best practice that I can get, and have a broader experience level than most.

Last week, I heard a speaker who was the Managing Director of a national executive recruiting firm (head hunters). Is he good? Absolutely! Is he experienced? Yes – 14 years in recruiting with a prior 20 years up to the VP HR level. Does he know what he is talking about? Yes! … but only from his level, experience, and perspective. In my opinion, he made a huge error by trying to apply his experience beyond his knowledge level. Let me begin to explain.

In Jobpreneurship™, there are 42 major processes that I have developed. Of the 42, only five to six are within the job seeking experience level of most recruiters (internal or external) or HR. I define the six (out of 42) as:

1. Summary Statement and Resume Development
2. Interview Preparation
3. Interview Skills and Best Practices
4. Understanding the Internal Process and Dance
5. Getting and Reviewing an Offer
6. Negotiating and Accepting a Position

This is where temporary agencies, job placement companies, contingency and retain recruiters, internal recruiters, and most employees live and have experience.

So, what is wrong with only focusing on these six areas? What do you think motivates them? Why do so many “career coaches” focus on these six areas? Can their advice hinder you? Should you ignore their advice? Is there a bigger picture that you should consider?

Let me know what you think!

When do you use a Resume?

Here are my thoughts about the questions I asked last time. If this sounds contrary to what you have been told, I encourage you to think through my logic to see what makes sense to you.

• All I need to get a job. – No. A resume never gets you a job.
• The first thing I work on when I get laid off / fired – No. A resume should be one of the last steps you take. Until you know what you want to do, where you want to work, and what the hiring manager is looking for in a new hire, you don’t know which of many words, talents, skills, accomplishments… that you should emphasize.
• The primary communication document to get a job. – Only if you are lazy and want to join the masses of the unemployed whose resumes wind up on a foot high stack (or higher) with a 10 second screening given to each.
• A history of my work experience – Can 2 pages possibly fully describe your work experience? Not unless you haven’t worked much.
• A picture of who I am – Really? Does it convey your values, your personality, your communication skills, your relationship skills, your intelligence, your cultural views, your political views (capitalistic versus socialistic), your initiative, your creativity, your enthusiasm, your thought approach (visionary vs. data focused vs. process centric vs. relationship based)?

OK. Now, explain what I would do with a resume.

• Send out to all my contacts – NEVER. Once I know what I want and where I want to work, I would arrange a personal meeting with those who could get me there. For others I would send out a 2 sentence summary. Sentence #1: a value proposition. Sentence #2: three key very high level examples of how I do what my value says I can do. Along with a brief intro and followed by a brief request for letting me know who I should meet and thanking them for being in my network.  Keep it professional, short, informative, and limited to a total of 150 words.
• Give to everyone I meet – NEVER. It signals that you are a job begger.
• Blast out to all major job boards. – Perhaps. But only when it reflects what you are wanting to do and what value you can provide. This is a low return effort but it can produce results.
• Use for all company applications – Of Course. But, why are you wasting time filling out applications; unless it is for a hiring interview?
• Use for all interviewing – If for a formal job interview, of course! If for a meet and greet, almost never.
• Blast out to all recruiters – Perhaps. But only when it reflects what you are wanting to do and what value you can provide. This is a low return effort but it can produce results. For recruiters in your network I would highly recommend the same method as point one (send out to all contacts) with the resume as an attachment.

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