From Twitter, LinkedIn & Facebook to Face-To-Face

Not long ago, I received an email from someone asking:

“I am in the midst of a horrible job hunt and have been for a while. Do you know of any online groups or support forums that can help me keep a schedule or talk about issues? I live in a small town and the local groups are more geared towards factory workers rather than professionals.”

Good question! Most larger metropolitan areas have a number of networking groups, professional or trade association meetings, or other resources available to help in your job search. A smaller community, however, can have real limitations. Online resources are incredibly valuable. However, whether you’re metro or rural, getting off-line and connecting face-to-face is critical to networking success. So what do you do?

Here are some ideas that may help!

Twellow – Twitter can be a tremendous place to find contacts and get conversations going to network with people in your field, companies you’re interested in, and with people in your local area! Twellow is an excellent tool to find people in each of those categories. Once you are registered on Twellow, go the the “Twellowhood” tab to find people in your geographic area. Follow them, engage with them, and create opportunities to be helpful to each other. For more help of how to use Twellow and Twitter effectively read: Twitter for a Job Search… Really?

LinkedIn Groups – Naturally, LinkedIn is a tremendous resource for finding people at target companies and in your location. However, it can also be a great give-and-take networking resource through LinkedIn Groups. There are thousands of groups related to virtually any topic, location, or field that you can imagine. Search through the Groups Directory to find groups related to your career field, join, and engage with people on topics that can enhance your knowledge and provide potential job leads. Find groups related to your geographic area and discuss leads, issues, and ideas in your vicinity. Find groups related to job search and gain ideas, get help, and build relationships that can help in personal accountability during your search.

If you aren’t able to find a LinkedIn Group that’s local to you… start one! Anyone can initiate a group, then send invitations to others in your area that you find through a location People Search. If you’re interested in a local group, chances are many others are as well, and you would be developing a resource that helps you and serves many others at the same time.

Facebook – Without too much discussion… certainly all that applies to LinkedIn, works on Facebook as well. Although it can be more difficult on Facebook to figure out what kind of career people are in, you can find people locally, create groups, and perhaps refer them to your LinkedIn Group.

Take it off-line! – Finding appropriate contacts, making an introduction, and engaging online is a terrific way to connect with people that wasn’t possible even a few years ago. Social Media sites have been a ‘game-changer’ to a job search networking process. However, relationships, both personal and business, are still most effectively developed face-to-face.

Through Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook arrange a job networking event locally that can add value for everyone. Invite other job seekers, potential hiring managers, HR representatives from local companies, and recruiters. It shouldn’t be too difficult to find an appropriate facility for the event. A church, community center, YMCA, school, or hotel will likely be glad to offer their facility in order to be a helpful resource for jobseekers. Many companies encourage their Managers and HR Staff to participate in such events because of the good will it forms, the benefit to the community, and naturally, the ability to find valuable potential employees.

If you can identify enough people all in the same field or industry as you, it’s often quite effective to focus on people with similar backgrounds. Networking can be most effective with others in your field. When you have several people all seeking similar opportunities, potential contact and lead referrals are more targeted. A position that doesn’t fit one person may be a great fit for another. I recently heard a term I like for this: “Coopetition”. Cooperation + Competition = Coopetition! There are many benefits in networking with others in your field… not the least of which is seeing who your competition likely is at many of the interviews you go to!

Once you have a number of people, you can also arrange a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly networking meeting to continue the sharing process. Your meetings can include sharing job search ideas. Perhaps bringing in speakers that can add expertise for you; often HR Pros or Recruiters can be good resources to be able to relate what works and what doesn’t when pursuing opportunities. Share contacts, leads, and company information.

Online tools are a great place to start, however, taking your efforts beyond the screen will make the difference to get you to your next job!

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Taking a Job Search Personally

Riding the roller coaster of emotions in a job search can be emotionally draining! Even the most even keeled personality can often feel like the ups and downs of a search are affecting the positive attitude they are trying to maintain in the process.

Why?

Obviously because a job search is so personal!

Even professional sales people, who are used to handling frequent rejection in their jobs, are often deeply affected by inevitable rejections that come in the job search process. When you’re selling an external product or service, it’s easier to be objective and level headed when getting a ‘No Thanks’. When the product is yourself, it feels more like a rejection of who you are.

So what do you do?

Here are 3 things that can help…

Decide what makes you, you! Many people, when asked about who they are, lead off with their occupation (i.e. “I’m an Accountant” or “I’m a Carpenter”). When your occupation is what defines you most in your own mind, it can be devastating to your self-image when you’re unemployed. Even more so when you can’t seem to find someone willing to hire you in that occupation. Is your career really who you are?

Everyone wears multiple hats. Which ones really matter to you most? Perhaps you are a devoted husband, wife, father, or mother. Perhaps you’re a grateful son, daughter, follower of Christ, or child of God. Maybe you’re a loyal friend, a talented athlete, musician, or writer. What things define you outside of your employment? Your employment status doesn’t change your identity in those areas. Those are the things you need to recognize, define, and focus on.

If, in your mind, what you are primarily is your career, any rejections or setbacks in that career will throw you off track. Decide what really makes you, you.

Realize that it’s a business decision, not a personal one. Although a personal connection with a hiring manager and ‘chemistry’ certainly play a role in who they hire, the final decision ultimately is a business decision. They will hire the person with the best combination of relevant technical / functional skills, track record, attitude, communication skills, and personality that matches their culture. You may have had an interview that felt like it was a home run, however, you have no idea who the other candidates were. Someone else may have hit the ball out of the park. They don’t see it as being opposed to you personally, they are simply choosing who they viewed as the best fit. Understanding that helps you accept it as well.

Envision yourself as a Sales and Marketing professional! The more you realize that as a job seeker, you have a full-time job as a Sales person, you will approach your job search more professionally, more fervently, and more objectively. You are selling, and your products are the services you offer that fulfill a companies requirements and wants for a particular position.

If you view your product as external, you can approach the task with greater objectivity. Examine how you approach your ‘customers’ and what message you want them to grasp. If they don’t buy / hire you, it’s not against you personally, they just haven’t seen how you are the best solution for their need. It will make you a better candidate, as well as help you keep the right personal perspective when you understand your role, and that you are not necessarily THE solution for every open position.

Taking rejection too personally in a job search is natural, and yet can be a challenge when trying to maintain a positive attitude. Examining how you view yourself and your search can help you overcome the difficulties and help you achieve the success you are seeking.

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What do hiring managers want?

As a recruiter, I was just talking to a client, a Director at a mid-size company, about a couple of positions he’s trying to fill and specifics of what he wants to see in a good candidate.

I wish many of the people in my job search classes could have listened in on the conversation because he clearly answered what many job seekers want to know… “What do hiring managers really want?”

Certainly, in both of the open positions he has, he needs specific skills for those roles. However, more important to him than having all the technical/functional skills were characteristics that were critical for him to find.

Those characteristics could be summarized by…

Positive Attitude, Communication Skills, and Professionalism!

He related to me how he believed those traits were the most important, and somehow the most difficult to find. He recently had to let someone on his team go because although the person had strong technical skills for the job, they did a poor job of communicating with others in their job, and their professionalism (i.e. appropriateness, and attitude) was lacking. They did a good job of executing the technical aspects of their job, but did more harm than good when it came to working with others and helping them understand the requirements and process.

He told me about multiple candidates they’ve talked to that also had the technical skills, however, fell short when it came to projecting those other qualities. He expressed concern that he couldn’t afford, in this economy, to hire average employees. He needs people that can not only do the job, but represent his department effectively and positively to the rest of the company.

People come in to interview often express sour grapes rather than optimism. They dress inappropriately or sloppily making a poor first impression. They ramble on or give one word answers to questions, or generally don’t articulate ideas well. They are unprepared and don’t know basic information about the company or position. They can’t ‘think on their feet’ well. They act intimidated when talking to superiors. They are not very self-aware about their own strengths, weaknesses, or abilities. They try too hard to impress instead of showing sincere interest in others. They come across as overly concerned with what’s in it for them.

So often I hear from job seekers something like:

“I don’t understand why I didn’t get that job! I was a perfect fit. My skills and experience matched up exactly with what they said they were looking for. They don’t know what they want!”

Actually they do know exactly what they want, and usually within a couple of minutes of talking to the job seeker it becomes clear to me why they didn’t get hired.

This market is very competitive. Hiring managers often have a number of people to choose from that have the technical or functional skills required for the position. The differentiators are the soft skills that sway them from one person to another. Don’t take those factors too lightly!

Examine yourself critically. What kind of attitude do you exude? What kind of first impression do you make? Are you well prepared? Do you articulate your answers well? Do you show sincere interest in them and the company? Do you exude professionalism?

THAT’s what managers want!

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One big lesson from the Olympics for your job search!

There have been a few articles I’ve seen using the Olympics to make a point related to a job search. However, I believe there’s one point that’s been fascinating to me but lost in many of the other discussions.

One of the most amazing things to me as I watch these elite athletes compete for a hunk of precious metal, is how some perform at their peak when it matters most, and how others fail!

Think about that… in any sport you choose to examine, the top 3 to 5 contenders are pretty close to equal ability. You know that in their practices and training sessions they’ve achieved their ‘perfect’ performance many times over. They wouldn’t attempt a particular feat in competition if they didn’t believe they’ve mastered it in practice. Yet, when the moment comes, some nail it, and others crumble.

Certainly sometimes there are unfortunate circumstances beyond their control that cause them to fail. Perhaps a competitor crashes into them, a piece of equipment breaks, or some other fluke occurs and they can’t do a thing about it. However, most of the time when one of them fails it’s because of mistakes they made themselves. Pressure, lack of confidence, insufficient preparation, or carelessness caused them to perform far below their ability.

Often, job seekers do the same thing.

They have a marketable background in their career, they get an interview for the job of their dreams, and they perform poorly at the interview and don’t get the job. What happened?

Although, from time to time, there may be other reasons… I believe the biggest reason athletes falter and job seekers bomb an interview is a lack of enough preparation!

The amount of preparation needed will vary from one person to another, however, it’s virtually impossible to be ‘over prepared’. Evan Lysecek’s coach said that in all the years he had been coaching skaters, he never had anyone that worked as hard as Evan. He had to tell him to quit practicing on some days. When it came time to execute his routine for the medal he gave the performance of his life and won the gold.

Larry Bird, the hall-of-fame basketball great used to say he never had much natural ability for the game. However he could determine to work harder than anyone else. He figured that if the best players in the league were practicing 100 free throws a week, he would practice 1,000.

In an interview, a candidate that is well prepared stands out dramatically from all the others that give answers off the cuff.

Success = Opportunity + Preparation

Practice, practice, and more practice sets up a successful performance. Sufficient practice creates confidence. It helps you learn how to compensate for a slight misstep. It makes the performance become second nature and doesn’t require as much thought when it counts. It reduces pressure, tension, and stress because you know you’ve done it dozens of times before.

Preparation is so key. It’s something everyone can do, yet most people don’t prepare nearly enough. Even athletes at the Olympic level often only do enough to perform well. However, those that win the gold prepare enough to excel and to be the best.

In this market companies are interviewing more candidates than ever for an open position because they have so much more to choose from. If they interview 5, or 10 candidates, someone will have prepared, and practiced extensively prior to the meeting. Will you be one of them? Will you have prepared more thoroughly than the others did? Did you practice answers to tough questions enough times so that they come naturally to you, or only enough so that you know approximately how you will answer?

Most people prepare by simply thinking “If I’m asked this question, I’ll talk about ____.” A well prepared person writes out their answer, hones the answer to make it as concise and substantive as they can, practices it, hones it further, then practices it further. They practice it into a recorder and listen back to themselves. They practice it to a friend, or relative, or spouse and get feedback. They practice questions from their kids over dinner. They practice in front of a mirror.

Sounds like a lot of work! It is… but you may be competing for the job against someone else that has gone to those lengths. Will you?

I’ve heard it said that “An amateur will practice until they get it right. A professional will practice until they can’t get it wrong.”

Success = Opportunity + Preparation

How prepared will you be for your next interview?

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Help them help you!

Most people understand the importance of networking when looking for a job, however, few do it effectively.

People tell me their networking conversations or meetings are awkward and rarely produce anything meaningful. When I dig a little deeper, I often find that they expect their networking contacts to somehow just know what to do. Most people would love to help you, but have no idea how they can. It’s up to you to help them help you!

Often, a job seeker will jump to a question like “Do you know of any job openings that would fit my  background?” Chances are the networking contact doesn’t know of a specific opening at the moment, and the conversation stalls there, becoming awkward for both. So… Rule #1 – Don’t ask for a job!

That may sound counterintuitive. After all, the conversation is about looking for job leads, isn’t it? Well, yes, and no. As soon as they realize you’re looking for a job, they understand that you’re interested in leads. In the course of the conversation you should certainly tell them that if they know of, or come across an opportunity, you would appreciate the referral. However, don’t put them on the spot at the moment by asking them if they know of leads directly.

So what is the objective and what should you ask? Although you hope they may offer up a potential job lead, your objective in each conversation is to get 2 or 3 additional people to talk to. In your conversation with them, you can give them an analogy like:

“My job during my search is to follow a trail of breadcrumbs from one person to another to another until I get to someone with the right opportunity for me, so I’m only hoping you might be able to point me to the next few links in the chain for me.”

Then have various questions prepared that would help them think of who they might refer. Questions like:

“Who would be the first couple of people you would connect with if you were in my situation?”

“Some of the best contacts for me are people that just seem to know EVERYONE. Who do you know that’s like that?”

“Is there anyone you know at ‘XYZ Company’, ‘ABC Corporation’, or ‘Alpha, Inc.’?”

“It’s often worthwhile for me to network with other people in my field whether they know of open jobs or not, who else do you know that’s also an ‘engineer’?”

“Often the best contacts don’t come from work situations, but rather from someone’s church, health club, other parents of kids sports teams, or some other outside activity. Is there anyone you might think of from some other situations like that?”

“Who else do you know that would be worthwhile for me to connect to?”

The likelihood of getting a response to any of your questions will depend on some key criteria in the mind of your contact:

• Are you professional, humble, and credible? If they don’t think these things of you, they are not going to be willing to stick their neck out to others they know by referring you on.
  
  
  
• Do they understand what you do and what you are looking for? If they don’t have a good idea of what you do or what it is you really want, they will feel uncomfortable about referring you to others.
  
  
  
• Do you communicate well? Can you articulate your experience and your questions well? Are you brief, and concise, or do you ramble on with too much information? They won’t want to refer you to their friends if they don’t feel comfortable with you themselves.
  
  
  
• Do you exude a positive attitude? Are you upbeat, or discouraged? Do you show passion, or are you a grump? They don’t expect a life of the party, however, don’t want to refer you to someone if you’re a downer.

In order to achieve all this it takes preparation! Write out, hone, and practice your Elevator Speech. Be prepared with plenty of possible questions to ask them so that you can have appropriate ones in mind regardless of the direction the conversation goes.

Always ask them if there’s some way you might be able to be of help to them. Make it clear that you would like to build a mutually beneficial relationship and you’re not only there to see what you can get out of it. People will always care more about helping you if they know you care about them.

Then finally, find some way to connect with all of your contacts once a month or so. See if you can be of use to them in some way, and let them know that you’d still be grateful for leads or referrals if anything new comes to mind.

That connection can best be accomplished by sending out a monthly email newsletter to all your contacts. Give a synopsis of what activity you’ve had the last month, what new companies you may be pursuing, a brief reminder of what you do and what you’re looking for, and perhaps some personal updates to make it warmer as well. Be sure to Blind Copy (BCC) all the addresses from your distribution list into the address field and attach another copy of your resume for them to have handy. People that have done that regularly tell me they get the greatest number of new leads from that newsletter each month. Many times, a contact that may not have had any ideas for you when you met may think of something weeks later, however, figure you may not need it anymore by then or they don’t know how to reach you. The newsletter continues to build the relationship, let’s them know you’re still actively looking, and gives them your current information to be able to reach you easily.

In order to make your networking as effective as possible… help them help you!

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Too Long or Too Short?

I’ve often said: “Show your resume to 10 people and you will get 10 different, and often conflicting opinions!”

A ‘good’ resume is very subjective to the reader. Everyone has preferences as to what’s appropriate and what’s not. There is no such thing as a ‘perfect’ resume and it should always be a work in progress… tweaking, tuning, and tailoring it to each position you apply to and for each circumstance. It’s a good idea to have multiple ‘generic’ versions so that you have appropriate ones for different situations.

Everyone has opinions about resumes and I’m no exception. I believe there are some good best practices in today’s job market that benefit anyone. However, I’m certainly willing to concede that other conflicting ideas may at times be valid as well.

One discussion that arises often is regarding an appropriate length of a resume… always one page? Two pages? Are 3, 5, or more pages ever appropriate? I believe there’s a definitive answer to that question: “It depends!”

Different situations can call for different resumes. In my opinion, the length of the resume can vary depending on where and how you use it:

One page: For someone with less than 5 years of professional work experience, I believe a 1 page resume is always appropriate. With only a few years of background to document, it’s likely to appear you’re adding fluff to stretch it out beyond 1 page. For someone with a relatively short work history, a 1 page resume can be used in any situation.

Regardless of the amount of experience you have, if you are meeting a networking contact, or sharing a resume with an acquaintance, a 1 page resume is easiest for them to get a sense of your background without having to dig too deep into a multi-page document. It can be thought of more as a marketing document. Pick the important information to share and choose your words carefully.

For someone with 15 or more years of experience, often a 1 page resume can appear too light. Although brevity can be a virtue, you don’t to want give your experience too little exposure either.

Two pages: When presenting a resume to apply for any direct-hire (as opposed to consulting or contract) position, it is virtually never a good idea to present more than 2 pages. In the vast majority of cases, someone will only scan your resume for less than a minute to make a determination about you. In that period of time they will not read past 2 pages. No matter how carefully you’ve chosen your words on the 3rd, 4th, or 5th pages, they will have no impact if they don’t get read. Even if they are willing to spend time to read more detail, your resume will have greater impact by expressing your experience effectively in fewer words.  if you can’t express your experience effectively in 2 pages, it’s not likely you will be able to do it well in 5 pages either.

Three pages or more: Although I find great benefits to brevity, there are situations where 3 or more pages are appropriate.

For someone pursuing consulting or contract opportunities, more detailed descriptions of previous projects and assignments is often called for. Typically, the consideration process for consultants involves fewer interviews, so more has to be learned from the resume. However, occasionally I’ve seen resumes that are 10 or more pages long and that is never called for.

Additionally, it can be a great advantage to take a longer and more detailed resume with you to an interview. Although you may have sent a 2 page resume to get the interview, it can be beneficial to bring a 3 to 5 page document to help guide the discussion. Often, an interview revolves around questions about what they read on your resume. Providing more detail can help steer the direction of the conversation to highlight areas you may want them to grasp about you. It’s a subtle way to gain more control in the process. As you meet your interviewer, you can hand them the longer resume and say something like: “I brought a more detailed resume to help with our discussion about my fit for the role.”

People often get passionate about their opinions regarding resumes. As a job seeker, you have to decide for yourself what advice to apply and what to ignore. You alone are responsible for what you present to a potential employer. Although there will certainly be many that disagree with the advice offered here, decide what makes the most sense for you.

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The job application process… and how to break through!

In this job market, it seems many job seekers have moved to Egypt… to the State of De-Nile!

They believe they can simply apply to job after job online, and through that process they will get a job. Although most of them instinctively know what the reality of that process is in today’s market, few change how they pursue that new position. Hopefully, by making today’s reality clear in this article, in black & white, some job seekers will wake up and realize they may need to try a different approach.

So… you see a job posting online that you like… and you decide to apply. What’s going on behind the scenes?

If the position is at a large company, chances are great that no one will see your resume or online application at all. Your submission doesn’t go to someone’s email or land on anyone’s desk, but rather goes into a database. Chances are you are one of anywhere from 500 to 1,000 people that applied in the same way (one large company I know receives 750 to 1200 applicants for every online posting).

Periodically an internal recruiter searches the database by keywords related to that role, or if the online application included a questionnaire, they look to see which submissions scored highest.

If your resume didn’t include the specific keywords they entered in their search, your entry doesn’t pop up. For example, if they key in the word ‘Supervisor’ as a search term, and your resume only says ‘Manager’, they will never see your resume. If you didn’t score 100% on their questionnaire, they will also not see your file. Out of hundreds of applicants, invariably at least a few will score perfectly.

A friend of mine who is an Executive VP at a large company tells of an experience where he was trying to help someone get an interview for an open position. He had her apply online, and then also took her resume to the internal recruiter working on that position. Even though the recruiter respected the VP, he wasn’t interested in talking to the candidate. He said that she scored 85% on the questionnaire, however, he had 16 candidates out of the nearly 750 that applied that scored a perfect 100%! Should he present someone less qualified to the hiring manager? (The referral did ultimately get the job… more on that later).

If you applied to a small or mid-size company, chances are they haven’t invested in a sophisticated applicant tracking system, so they do look through emails or printed resumes. However, it’s typical, even in a small company, that they will get 300-600 applicants for a posting. The Recruiter or Hiring Manager looks at the volume and their goal is to eliminate as many of those applicants as quickly as possible to reduce that pile down to 3 to 6 people they might call. In that scenario, they might scan a resume visually for 10 to 15 seconds looking for any reason to put them into the ‘NO’ pile. (And there isn’t enough time in the day to reply to the hundreds of people rejected to let them know they are no longer being considered.)

Although you might like to believe that when you apply, someone is reading every word trying to see how they can best use you in their organization. The reality is, their goal is to eliminate you from consideration as quickly as possible in the hopes that a small handful of candidates remain to pursue further.

In this market, they are not looking for the proverbial ‘Needle in the Haystack’, but rather they are trying to figure out the best needle in a stack of needles scattered within that haystack!

When hundreds of people apply for a position, certainly they are not all qualified. MOST of them scan job postings and think “I can do that!” They go ahead and apply whether they are really qualified or not hoping they may get lucky, and they feel they’ve had a productive day because they applied to 10, or 20, or 50 new jobs. When they are competing with maybe dozens of people that not only can do the job, but probably have actually done it, they will certainly not get a call. However they definitely make the selection process much more difficult. Among the applicants are the ones that have ‘been there and done that’ struggling to get noticed out of the tsunami of unqualified resumes.

I lead an 8-week job search class a few times each year. I often hear participants tell me they felt productive that week because they applied to ‘X’ number jobs. Part of my task is to gently make it clear that applying to countless jobs in this market is a colossal waste of time!

So how do you break out of that reality and start a more effective strategy in your job search? How did the woman in my example above get the job at the large company even though she wasn’t a perfect fit?

Networking and Direct Contact!

My friend at that large company bypassed the recruiter and went directly to the hiring manager. He told him, that although he knew several qualified people had applied, he recommended the hiring manager talk to this one as well. The candidate got the hiring managers name from my friend, and made an additional phone call on her own behalf. She was professional, polished, and practiced. She made a positive impression, got the interview, and later got the job. She would have never received a call from the recruiter, but took matters in her own hands and found success.

Especially in this market… if you don’t go the extra mile to find someone in the organization to talk to... anyone… the likelihood of getting a call is minute. Even talking to someone unrelated to the role will likely get you further than simply applying and waiting. How do you make those calls? You can find some help here: “I’ve got a contact name! Now what?”

Applying online makes you no more than a piece of data, just like the hundreds of others that did the same. A voice on the phone, hearing a true professional, will make a connection that is much more difficult to discard than an email or piece of paper.

I know that stepping away from the computer and actually calling someone you don’t know may be intimidating. However, it will likely make the difference between getting an interview or not. Decide if it’s more important to conduct your search only within your comfort zone… or to get a job!

Get out there! Stop denying the reality of this market, and do the things necessary to break through the crowd and get noticed. Out of 700 applicants… someone is taking the extra steps… make sure it’s you!

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Dress to get the job!

From time to time I get asked about what’s appropriate to wear to a job interview, networking meeting, or other event. The answer varies based on the circumstances and type of position.

The key to keep in mind at any time, however, is that first impressions do matter and dressing appropriately and professionally is a prime component of that first impression.

The way you dress can tell someone a lot about you:

• Do you pay attention to detail
• Do you think this meeting is important
• Do you care about the impression you make
• Do you care about being current
• …and other characteristics as well

So… what is appropriate dress for your meeting or event?  Here are some guidelines:

~ Different roles have different expectations. Certainly someone interviewing for a Machinist position in a manufacturing environment would not dress the same as someone interviewing for an Executive VP position at an investment firm. Someone interviewing for a waiter or waitress position at a sports bar doesn’t need to dress the same as someone interviewing for an Engineering Manager position at a Medical Device company. What’s considered appropriate varies with the role and the occasion. However, it’s always best to dress at the upper end of what’s appropriate for that role.

~ Some rules apply across the board. Regardless of the role you’re pursuing, certain rules apply to every situation:

• Clothes should be clean and unwrinkled
• Pants should be neither too long or too short
• Shoes should be clean and polished
• A dress on a woman is almost never appropriate
• T-shirts are almost never appropriate
• Jeans are almost never appropriate
• Shirts, blouses, and sweaters should never reveal more than a few inches below your neck
• Neatness counts!

~ Don’t think appearance doesn’t matter in some situations, it does! Often people go to a networking event, or informational interview or other meeting that is not an interview and think that dress isn’t as important in that venue… it is! I help lead networking events each month, and see it regularly. If someone is professionally and neatly dressed, they routinely get more referrals than someone that is too casual or sloppy. If someone is thinking about referring someone they know, they are evaluating whether they are willing to subject their friend or business contact to someone that doesn’t present themselves well. They see their own reputation, to some degree is on the line. First impressions matter! Not only in an interview, but in getting contacts too.

~ Find out what the organizations standard dress code is, and dress slightly above. You will never get dinged for overdressing slightly, but will easily get dinged for under-dressing.

• If you are interviewing for manufacturing, or service jobs where the dress code is normally jeans and a T-shirt, wear (unwrinkled) khaki’s and a polo-shirt, dress-shirt, or blouse to the interview. It’s not necessary, and probably not appropriate to wear a suit, however, it would not create a professional impression to wear jeans.
• If the company dress code is ‘business casual’ it would be appropriate to at least wear a sport coat with an open collar dress shirt, or a nice blouse if you’re a woman. It would also certainly be appropriate to wear a full business suit.
• If the company is business formal, it’s critical that you look the part. A well fitting suit, pressed shirt, straight tie (tied well), and polished shoes are imperative. As a woman, a professional pant suit, or business suit with skirt, and business pumps are appropriate. Expensive clothes are not necessary. Well fitting, clean, and pressed clothes are. Details matter. Be meticulous about having the right color socks, well groomed hair, clean hands and nails, appropriate portfolio, briefcase, or handbag.

Not too uncommon faux-pas that occur include:

• White socks with dark pants and shoes, or blue socks with black pants
• A tie that is tied too short, with too large a knot, or crooked
• A beachbag-like, or nightclub-like purse or handbag
• Wearing a dress more appropriate to an evening out than a professional interview
• Sandals on women
• Casual / soft-soled shoes with dress pants on men
• Scuffed or dirty shoes, wrinkled shirt or blouse
• Business suit with a short outer jacket instead of overcoat in winter
• Open collar shirt with or without a sport coat to a formal business environment
• Pants that are too long, too short, too tight, or too large
• Skirt that is too short, or top that is too low cut

~ Bold individualism is not an asset! Although you may like to think your tattoo, piercings, gothic fashion, eccentric makeup, or purple hair show you are willing to ‘think outside the box’, it will more likely be viewed as someone that doesn’t want to follow rules. If you want the job, it behooves you to cover the tattoo, remove the piercings, and dress and groom yourself more conventionally. It may be boring to you, however, it will likely make the difference between getting the job or not.

~ Sometimes other obstacles can be overcome by a professional impression. Some people are concerned about age discrimination if they are older. Often, that can be laid to rest by presenting themselves professionally up to date in their dress and grooming. A tired old suit, tie, or shoes create an image of someone somewhat out of touch. Well dressed, with a well pressed shirt, and up to date shoes instead of wing-tips can create an image of someone professionally current. Find the right balance between up to date vs. trying to look too young. Someone young with too little experience in their field can improve the impression they make by dressing more professionally than their counterparts of the same age.

 

Appearance does matter, and dressing appropriately and professionally regardless of the position you are pursuing can have a tremendous impact on your success. Don’t make the mistake of not taking your appearance seriously enough!

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“The Shark Tank” and your job interview!

I began watching “The Shark Tank” on ABC last year and it quickly became one of my favorite TV shows. It’s fascinating, and instructional, to watch people pitch their business ideas to the potential investors in the hopes of gaining venture capital to get their business off the ground or expanding more rapidly.

The investors on the panel for the show consider putting up their own money for ideas or business plans they think may be viable. They ask questions and probe the veracity of what they’re being told to determine if it may be a good deal for them or not.

The investors can be brutal in their questioning and comments as they figure out if a business idea is worthwhile or not. Although it may not be quite as intense, a job interview really is the same process. The potential investor / employer wants to clearly understand how you might provide their required ROI (Return on Investment) as they decide to hire you or not.

What can be learned from the show? A lot!

~ Know your facts! Many of the people that come on the show get torn down because they didn’t come prepared with the facts and figures necessary to make their business case. They may not know the true cost of producing an item, the size of the market they are entering, or other key components to understanding the value or profit they may be able to generate. In those cases the investors often make clear the harsh reality that the person isn’t ready to do this business. If they don’t know the facts, they can’t speak credibly about the potential.

Likewise in an interview, if you can’t effectively articulate the facts of your previous related experience and how that can bring value to your new employer, they will likely move on to the person that can. It’s not likely that they will give you the feedback like the investors in the show do. They will just make the mental note, probably politely go on with the interview, but not be interested in taking the process further.

It’s critical to know your facts well. Be able to give examples of related situations you’ve encountered in your previous roles, and articulate how that can be a benefit in this new position. At least one of the people competing with you for the position is likely to be able to do this well. In order to win, you have to be prepared.

~ Show the value! Many of the people on the show come in with a unique or interesting idea or concept. However, if they can’t find buyers, it’s simply a curiosity, not a business. Similarly, you may have great skills you’ve developed over the years. However, if you can’t show how they can be used to fill the need in the job you’re interviewing for, you will not be given an offer.

As you walk through a store, and maybe see something new that seems interesting, you’re not going to buy it unless you can clearly see how you would use it, get benefit, or get enjoyment out of it. You have to see the value! In the same way, an employer must clearly see the value you will bring to fill the need THEY have before they will move forward. Too often, people spend a great deal of time in their interviews describing skills or strengths that are irrelevant to the job at hand. The employer may see that your skills can be of worth to someone, but unless they see how it fills their own needs or wants they will not proceed.

~ Show your passion… professionally! Often, on the show they have someone that doesn’t really have a great product or business idea, and they don’t get the money. However, throughout their presentation and questions they exhibited a great deal of sincere passion for what they were doing. It was clear that they fully believed in their idea and in themselves and that they were going to be resilient regardless of the outcome of the show. Although they didn’t get the funding, often they came very close to getting a yes based on the passion alone. Other times, someone with a good idea tipped the scales heavily in their favor and got the funding because they showed that passion as well.

In a job interview as well, someone that shows a sincere interest and desire in the job and the company can sway the process toward them. It’s important to maintain a professional demeanor and not become overly emotional, however, it’s often not the most technically qualified person that gets a job, but the one that shows a real passion and enthusiasm for it.

 

On the show, as in interviews… most people don’t prepare enough to make sure they present their information and themselves in the best way possible. Preparation is critical! In the job market today, you are competing with more people than ever for each job. Out of the greater numbers, there will usually be someone that is truly well prepared, and that person often gets the offer.

Larry Bird, the Boston Celtics basketball star from many years ago used to say that he had never had much natural talent for the game. However, he decided he could do what most other players wouldn’t do. He would out-practice them. If most of the other players in the league took 100 practice shots per week… he would take 1,000. That’s how he became a hall-of-fame caliber player.

In your job search, you may not have the perfect job history or skills. However, you can be the most prepared for each interview. Write out your answers in advance. Practice them. Practice them some more. Improve them, and practice them some more. Preparation and passion will get you closer to your next career role!

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Functional or Dysfunctional???

People seem to get passionate about whether a Functional resume is ever appropriate versus a Chronological format to best represent their experience.

If you’re not familiar with the terms… a “Functional” resume lays out the functional experience you’ve had related to the field you are pursuing. It may break down the experience by specific areas of responsibility and accomplishments. It may, or may not, indicate the companies you worked for in the past and usually doesn’t show the dates you worked at those companies.

A “Chronological’ resume on the other hand, is what most people usually use. Listing the most recent job, title, dates, and experience, followed by the previous job, and so on.

It is often argued that a functional resume can be effective for a career change, to emphasize the transferrable skills versus actual role you previously held. It’s also often used to hide gaps in employment, or excessive job-hopping. Often, recruiters or hiring managers see a functional resume as a red-flag, that the candidate must be trying to hide something. That assessment is often true.

So, as a job seeker, what do you do if you do have a large gap, previous job-hopping, or spotty work history?

A purely chronological resume certainly points that out quickly and your chances of getting a call diminish rapidly. A purely functional resume causes them to doubt your claims and your chances of getting a call again drop to near zero.

The solution is a hybrid that gives them the job history and dates they seek, but doesn’t emphasize them as much as your relevant experience!

Use the first page, and probably the majority of your resume, to list relevant skills and experience for the position you are pursuing. Add a reference at the end of each bullet point showing where you gained those skills. An example might be:

 

Supervisory Experience
~ Led a team of 5 Direct Reports to achieve record production (ABC Manufacturing, Inc.)
~ Achieved 90% retention of a call center team in an otherwise high turnover environment (XYZ Corp)

 

Then in the last section of your resume, include a section titled “Employment History” that gives your Chronological experience in a brief format. Simply list the Company Name, Dates, and Title for each position.

The reader will be able to connect the dots of your experience from the references in the functional section and still be able to deduce your employment track record. You are not hiding anything. However, you are also not clearly emphasizing what may otherwise be a potential negative when being considered.

Certainly, if your background is spotty, or you are clearly not qualified for a particular role compared to other candidates they are considering. Nothing will ‘make’ them contact you. However, a ‘hybrid’ format may give you an opportunity to clearly convey your related experience and gain their interest before they make a decision based on other factors.

As always, it’s important to tailor your resume for each job you pursue. Use their terminology and clearly emphasize your most relevant experience for that particular role.

If you think your work history is harming your chances of getting interviews… a hybrid format may make the difference!

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