Accelerate Your Search™ Now

A friend, business associate, or recruiter calls you with a great job opportunity.  They ask you to send your resume TODAY.  Yes, NOW, right now.  Are you ready to leverage this opportunity?

I regularly get calls where the caller says, “Cindy, this is Joe XX.  My friend, Dan XX referred me to you and I need a resume today. Can you help?”  I both love and hate these calls.  I love that the caller is a referral from a client/former client and I love to serve and help people.  I hate the call because often I am busy and I know my key referral partners are busy, too.  Most of all, I hate these calls because I can hear the panic in the caller’s voice as she describes a great position only to have a resume that is not updated, not ready to send.  Then, when I ask about her LinkedIn profile, the stress I hear doubles.

On this issue, here is my one suggestion:  act like a Boy Scout and “Always Be Prepared.”

If you have not looked at your resume in the last 6 months, it is time to give it an update.  Do it before you need it.

Business owners, this goes for you, too.  Banks, investors and strategic partners might ask you for your resume.

Also, if you are looking for a new position or seeking a promotion and you have been in the market for the last 90 days and are not landing interviews, it is time to take a serious look at your resume.  Your resume may well need an update.

Here are just a couple of reasons why you should update your resume:

• The studies, research and technology that will be used in addition to a human looking at your resume have changed.  There have been many changes in just the last six months.
• Many changes were implemented during the Great Recession and even more has changed since it ended.  With the growth of ‘Big Data’ there is even more information you can leverage to help give your resume more IMPACT and help you land an interview.  There is data on everything from eye-tracking studies, to keyword usage, to word count studies — confirming every word on your resume does indeed count.  New research is released all the time.

A recent study by Modestino et. al highlights what the study calls ‘upskilling’ by employers.  It paints a clear picture that employers are not looking for the same skills today that they were seeking in 2007, 2010 or 2012.   If you have not updated your resume to reflect your new skills, you might miss a good opportunity.

The study notes that employers have raised the skill requirements within specific types of jobs.  Understanding these changes in the market place, as well as the impact of time to hire for top professionals like you, is important.  Should you be working with a coach or other HR professional who keeps up with what employers are doing and what they are seeking in the candidates they want to hire?

I understand you are busy.  Most days it is tough just keeping up with your areas of expertise.  That is why I ‘keep up’ for my clients, past and present.  Don’t wait for the phone call to update your resume.  That added stress to your life is completely unnecessary — unless, of course, you are a stress junkie.  Update your resume regularly.  Do so on your time frame, not someone else’s.   If you are looking for information and resources on updating your resume, check <here>.

Even in a tighter labor market (think declining unemployment rates), employers continue to search for highly skilled workers for many different positions.  Employers call it ‘raising the bar.’

If it is time to you to update your resume, we are ready to help you.  If you are a do-it-yourself person, you might find these resources <link to the word “resources”> helpful.

If you want to avoid missing an opportunity that only comes along once in awhile, update your resume this month.  You can leverage your most recent experience, insure your resume is ready to go and communicate your unique value at a moments notice.  Go <here> to take advantage of one-on-one support with our May only special.

Summer’s coming — be ready for fun, relaxation and to take advantage of opportunities.  Avoid the run-of-the-mill update that looks like you haphazardly plugged in your last job and attached it to an email with little or no thought.  When you land the interview you may be scrambling to explain why your resume looks tossed together.

If you aren’t ready for the call when it comes, you may miss out on increased earnings, a great culture, and the launch pad for your next 5 to 10 years of success.  Employers who are seeking to hire professionals with relatively high skills expect you to be ready.  Are you?

Ditch the stress of missing out on something you want to do.  Ditch the stress of staying up all night to update your resume (you are not a college co-ed these days and paychecks of that size are, thankfully, gone). Get help now and be ready to land the job you want at the salary your desire FAST and with less stress.

Do you have a question or comment?  Post it below or give me a call.

During a recent workshop an attendee stood up and stated that if employers want a specific and up-to-date resume they should, “just get over it.”  Why?  She argued no one has time to be specific or keep things current these days.

Are there situations where your resume does not need to be current and specific?  Sure.  There are times when your skills are in high demand or your work is very well known and your resume is just a formality.

However, the bottom line in all communication is you need to address the wants/desires/needs of your audience.  If your communication tool [a résumé is a communication tool] falls short of connecting with your audience it is ineffective.

Maybe the better question is does your résumé effectively open a door and/or a conversation with someone you want or need to talk with?

If your résumé is working for you – then don’t worry about it. On the other hand if your résumé is not achieving the results you want, take a look at it with a critical eye.

Review your résumé.  If you are not sure it is doing the job you want it to do have someone else review it and offer feedback.

Do you have questions or concerns about your résumé?  Then feel free to contact me.

Is your resume stale and lifeless?  Or is it full of energy and relevant data about you and what you do?

Your resume is an important marketing tool.  If it is as stale as popcorn popped a week ago sitting in a humid kitchen, your reputation, career and next promotion are being impacted.

A resume without energy, pop and sizzle will sit.  In fact, it may never be read.

Think about it.  If you are busy, do you want to read a lifeless, seemingly endless list of job duties or do you want to know who this person is and what they can do for you?  The latter, I bet.  The same is true for busy hiring managers.

If you have not updated your resume in the last 90 days, it is time to do so.  That’s right, update it once a quarter.  Resumes have a short shelf life.

Before you do anything to your resume spend a week with it.  Here’s how:

1. Read it three times a day.  Once in the morning, once after lunch and once in the evening.  One of these times read it aloud.
2. After a week, grab a highlighter and highlight the accomplishments/results you achieved in the last six months or a year.  Where are these within the document?
3. Grab a different color highlighter and mark your relevant brand attributes.
4. Finally, grab a pen and mark out the parts that bore you, date you or are no longer relevant to the work you are doing or want to do.

Now you are ready to begin to update it and make your resume pop.  No more stale, lifeless resume for you.

Are you too close to your resume?  Do you want another set of eyes to give you feedback on your resume?   A resume critique may interest you.

Do you have a resume question?  Post it below.

What is your fear?  Telling the truth?  Sharing your truth?  Or, perhaps, of being rejected?

Fear can stop you in your tracks.  Why?

First, it is not easy or comfortable to step into your truth.  Second, telling and sharing your truth and what makes you unique makes you vulnerable.  Third, some will reject you for your truth.

“When you are true to yourself, people will love the truth in you” – Stacey Martino

The above quote is from an amazing woman I am honored to know.  She has built a business that few would dare to.

Additionally, she is sunny, bubbly, warm, open and highly excitable.  Stacey can be loud and describes herself as “overly-loving.”  To be in her presence is like unlocking a door and walking into a room filled with pure joy and fun.

So what does this have to do with you securing your ideal job?  Absolutely everything!

Stacey Martino is a person who knows herself.  She discovered she wanted to be herself all the time and she stopped hiding her strengths and talents because of fear.    A few weeks ago, in her blog, Stacey shared she was afraid of, “getting crushed by people who wipe the floor with OPEN people like me.”

Stacey didn’t ask me, but if she did, I would absolutely tell her to include that she is a sunny, bubbly, warm, open and sometimes loud and highly excitable person in her résumé.  Would this screen her out of some jobs as a marriage counselor?  ABSOLUTELY!

Why?  Simple.  There are workplaces, that no matter her skills, education or experience, her unique style would not be appreciated and in the end it would not serve the organization or her.  The result?  You guessed it — rejection!

If any of these fears are holding you back, consider this:  when your resume is one of 200 (or more!) being considered for a single position, it is not only your skills and career history that are reviewed.  Résumés need to be sifted and sorted and the pool narrowed to the select few who will be granted an interview.  In the end, your “unique truth” plays a huge role in securing an interview, a second interview and an offer.  Each applicant brings a unique and different dimension to a potential position, in addition to their skills and experience.  Remember, hiring is a process and not a perfect science.

Believe it or not, hiring managers are looking to make the best decisions using the facts they have or can obtain.  Every organization and every hiring manager needs to narrow the field and the methods used to do this vary.  Some immerse themselves in the pile of résumés, others search LinkedIn profiles or request recommendations from key contacts — some do it all.

Although there are proven methods to improve your results, getting your resume to land atop the pile can be a frustrating process.  And, while everyone understands how maddening the process can be, few are willing to do what it takes to positively impact their results.

The truth about who you are, what you do and how you do it helps in this process.  So does the truth that you are loud and fun!

Yes, many résumés are filled with lies.  Many lies are easy to spot.  Such as when a résumé states “excellent writer” and then the résumé is filled with bad grammar and misspellings.   Many more résumés simply omit the truth.

Have you neglected to help the hiring manager say “Yes!” to you?

Have you omitted your unique value and your truth in your résumé?

Are you pursuing a search of limiting your rejection rate in lieu of a search to land the job you want?

If you are unsure how to add your unique value to your résumé or you need assistance landing the job you want, contact me.

But, are you willing to do the labor to have a great resume?

Yes?  That’s great!  So many people aren’t — they’d prefer an extra day at the beach.  Then they wonder why their resume isn’t getting results.

Your resume is a key marketing tool.  Good marketing doesn’t just happen.  It takes work, thought and oftentimes a team to fine tune it and help get the message out.

Many people think creating a great resume is akin to developing a BIG billboard, posting it on a busy highway and then waiting for the phone to ring.  Businesses who depend solely on one advertising vehicle, like billboards, don’t stay in business long.  A single billboard may not been seen by the business’s target audience or remembered as the reader flew by at 60 mph.

A great resume is employer-focused.  It clearly identifies how you can meet their needs and wants.  It speaks to the employer in his or her language.  In other words, it is targeted directly to them.  Your resume demonstrates the value you alone bring.  It clearly states how you will earn your salary.  It markets and sells YOUR value.

A great resume includes:

• Your branding (what differentiates you from the competition)
• Appropriate keywords
• Strong examples of the results you achieve
• Relevant work history, and
• Your education

Your resume should leave nothing to the imagination — a hiring manager will clearly see how you will benefit the organization.  It is a marketing tool that visibly demonstrates your value.

Mostly importantly, it is unique.  You are different.  You need to see that, own it and share it.

Your assignment is to take a look at your resume.  Ask yourself, “Is it great?”  Rate it (1 is poor and 10 is great).  What’s your rating?  What will it take to move up one number?  Take that action.  Improve your resume!

Do you need an objective eye to look at your resume and career marketing materials?  Are you ready to stand out from the competition?  Let’s connect and discuss how I can assist you.

It is mid-year — time to review where you are, update your résumé and plan your career strategy for 2014.

Does your résumé share YOU and what makes YOU unique?  What should change?  Ask the tough questions as you review, edit or craft your branded résumé.

Performing a mid-year check of all your personal marketing tools, including social media profiles (LinkedIn) and your elevator pitch, is important in maintaining an up-t0-date brand and career focus.

Here are three tips to guide you:

1. Use your words.   Your words are the best words to describe your work and what others experience when working with you.  Repeating the words in a job description will tell someone you can read, yet it won’t help you stand out or create a competitive advantage.  You will sound like every other candidate.
2. Tell about your experience in short stories.   Share your current experience.  Write down your accomplishments and results in the last six months. Draft your short specific stories and be sure to include how you work.  Your stories will help you communicate to your boss, the CEO or a hiring manager how you work, the results you achieve and will provide evidence that you can solve the problems the manager, team or business faces.  Remember, a hiring manager wants to know you can do the job, how you will do the job and what the results will be.
3. Express why you do the work you do.   What is it about this work that excites you?  What is it that drives you, interests you and makes you want to jump up each day and engage in the work? Are you the architect who loves to create beautiful buildings? Sharing why your work matters is important – what is the emotional connection for you?

It is time to stand out, share what makes YOU unique and leverage your powerful competitive edge.

Additionally, think about who needs an updated copy of your résumé.

Help others keep YOU top of mind and quickly recall what you have to offer your employer, your next employer and the world.

Do you fret about rejection as you prepare or send your résumé?

Are your thoughts so focused on rejection that your résumé is ambiguous, general and plain?

Hopefully, your fear is not driving you to send out a boring résumé.  If it is, it is time to revolutionize the way you think about your résumé. (Remember, not every employer or hiring manager is going to like you or your experience — and that is OK!)

At the end of a recent presentation, a woman approached me and shared how frustrated she was having to spend endless hours targeting her resume to the large list of job openings found on the internet.  She shared her disappointment that after 100’s of applications, she had received a handful of rejection emails and not one interview.

Her kind soul, bright smile and brief words led me to believe that she was an organizer of projects, people and things.  She was someone who knew how to keep customers happy and projects moving forward.  I knew this in just a 3 minute conversation.

With tears and a crack in her voice she asked if I would look at her résumé.  I did.   The skills and personality that I experienced in our brief meeting were totally absent from her résumé.

I inquired if my impression of her was correct.  She confirmed it was.  Then, I inquired why she had elected to omit her uniqueness from her résumé.

In a bolded voice she stated, “Rejection is awful.”  She pulled her résumé from my hand, saying, “I am old school and what you are asking about does not belong in my résumé.”

Standing out, sharing who you are and how you deliver value can feel uncomfortable.  Clearly, this was outside of the woman’s comfort zone.

I smiled – I do get it.

Many people like to play it safe.   Innovation can feel risky.

For years, I was afraid to stand out or to share how I am different and unique.  Why? I didn’t know how to communicate my unique value in a way that worked for me.

Therefore, I took the safe, blend in, be the same as others, approach.  It seemed far less risky than standing out and facing the ridicule I feared.

Here is what I discovered — there is far more acceptance of my unique value when I genuinely share who I am.  It doesn’t mean everyone likes me or that I don’t experience rejection, I do.   Not everyone likes me, wants to work with me or hire me.

Are you leaving YOU out of your résumé?  WHY?

Is it fear of rejection?  Fear of ridicule?  Not sure how to communicate your unique value in a manner that is comfortable for you?

Here is a activitiy to help you revolutionize your thinking:

• Write down all the possible rejection and ridicule you might experience in a week, a month, in a year.
• Beside each item, note how many times you experienced the specific rejection or ridicule.
• Describe the rejection or ridicule experience in detail, then note how likely the same experience is to occur again.

The discovery for me?  The odds that the response I feared would actually occur were minimal.

Here are additional questions for you:

What is the real risk of genuinely sharing what makes YOU unique in your résumé?

Will sharing your unique value really increase the number of times your résumé is rejected?

What are the potential benefits of taking the risk and sharing your unique value?