I hope all our readers had a warm and merry Christmas celebration! I've fallen behind on the blog writing as I take time out to celebrate with family and friends.
So, here is a break into the career search train of thought for my readers. One of the latest questions from my toddler daughter: "Mommy, if baby Jesus is a king, then where's the princess?!"
Wishing you a safe and Happy New Year!
Refresh your phone interview basics with a Career Solvers post from a few weeks ago that reminds interviewees how important the basic preparations can be in a phone interview.
I would remind our readers that these points also apply to your phone interview with a recruiter. While my first phone interview with you may be more basic and informal by nature, I'm certainly looking for everything the prospective hiring manager is. Additionally, if you don't make a good impression in my first phone conversation, it is highly probable that you will not make it to the hiring manager's short list of candidates to review.
Below are a few points I feel are especially important. Read more details and the rest of the article here.
I must confess that I am going to recommend a resource to my job seeking readers that I haven't read yet. It's on my "to-do" list, but the reality is that I will not get it accomplished this month.
The resource is the book, "What Color Is Your Parachute?, 2008: A Practical Manual for Job-hunters and Career-Changers." This is the latest release by Richard Nelson Bolles, and his "What Color Is Your Parachute" book has been a New York Times bestseller for years.
While I haven't had a chance to read this release yet, I have read an earlier release, and agree that this is one book every person conducting a job search or considering a career change should read.
The Simple Dollar, a blog I catch from time to time, started a book review series, with his first entry focusing on the Chapters 1 through 4. Following is an excerpt that focuses on Chapter 3: How To Deal With Handicaps.
Part of the reason I wanted to read this book again in great detail is because there are so many little strokes of genius throughout it. The first one is in this chapter, where it suggests a really interesting exercise for job hunters with some sort of handicap. The book provides a list of about 250 action verbs, and then it invites the reader to separate these into two lists - ones you cannot do and ones that you can do (or at least potentially can do).
This activity is wonderful because most people with handicaps that might still be reading What Color Is Your Parachute? will have a much longer list of things they can do than things they cannot do. That’s incredibly empowering, as it takes the focus away from the handicap and puts it on the skills a person has, which is where the value is anyway.
For non-handicapped readers, there’s really only one point that should be brought out of this chapter: the idea that a handwritten thank you note is incredibly valuable to send after any interview, whether it be good or bad. A note like that shows that you actually care about the position in a personal way, which speaks a lot about your character to the people doing the hiring. You’ll also stand out distinctly from the horde that doesn’t bother to send one.
One of the reasons that the book still works so well is that, even though how and where we look for jobs has changed signficantly over the years, the basic premise of the book remains the same. If you follow that premise: the secret to a successful job hunt starts with knowing ourselves - you will be well positioned to successfully job search or change your career.
Work some time in your career search to read this book. With worksheets, tools, excercises and updated advice, it will be time well spent, and your job search may well end more successfully than you had imagined!For this blog workshop, I am going to continue the topic started last week on "how many pages?" Remember that the goal is only two pages, or even one page, if possible (and a requirement if you are in the early stages of your career). The focus of this workshop is the volume of the descriptions or content you write about each position you have held.
How many positions are detailed?
If you have worked for 15 or more years, it isn't necessary to have every detail spelled out for every job you've held. Many factors unique to you will influence exactly what you should spell out on your resume, but a general guideline I use for most of my candidates is to provide narrative or content for only the last 8 to 10 years of positions. After that, simply list the employer, title and dates held for each position - no bullets or narrative necessary.
This is especially true if you have worked for an employer for a long time - we could use 6+ years as an example - and your resume is mostly compiled of details of job duties within the same company. It is important to show the career progression and promotions you have achieved. It is not important to add duties or bullets to each and every one of those roles. A simple line with the title and years you held that position, such as "Mechanical Engineer, 1994-1997" or "Materials Manager, 1992-1996" will suffice. Certainly clear cut titles make this easier - people involved in the hiring process know what most Engineering, Production or Supply Chain roles are in most manufacturing companies, so save the space on your resume, and spare them the time to read what they already know.
So, you are decreasing the "known" or older employment verbiage to increase space for verbiage on the more current and relevant.
A word of caution here. Too much verbiage anywhere isn't a good thing either - so don't go overboard with the details of your current position. Eliminating descriptions from older jobs can help you keep to a two page resume, while allowing enough space to add what is unique, important or significant for accomplishments in your current role.
The other rule of thumb I would advise is that you need content for at least your last three positions held, starting with your current position. This, again, will differ depending on your circumstances and personal career track. If you've changed employers with each of those last three jobs, you may need to detail four jobs. Or, if you have had the same job at the same employer for eight or more years, maybe detailing the last two jobs is applicable for you.
An easier way to determine this is that most hiring managers and recruiters are going to be the most interested in your last 10 years of experience, with greater focus on the last 6 to 8 years. If your jobs 8+ years ago were classic roles - like "Manufacturing Engineer" or "Purchasing Manager" - that do not need descriptions, by listing your employer name, location, title and dates, you will satisfy the reader of your resume with the rest of your employment history.
One catch may be if you are applying for a position that requires experience you obtained more than 10 years ago. If that is your scenario, you'll have to find a way to include that detail. (Good luck, since most hiring managers are going to want the experience more recent. But it is possible, depending on how significant that previous experience is in the big picture!)
And, one last tip. The number of bullets or amount of verbiage for each of your positions doesn't have to be "even". Have the majority of bullets for your most recent position, and then keep scaling back with your previous positions.
It may be that a hiring manager or recruiter will ask for that earlier career detail, or that you may need to provide a complete chronological resume at some point in your interview process, so keep that detail on hand. However, your current resume must emphasize more of who you are today and your more recent accomplishments.
In future workshops, I'll address use of keywords, bullets and more. If you have a question, comment, or specific area of resume creation you would like to see addressed, please comment to this post, or email me directly.
