Archive for the ‘Job Search’ Category

Tips for Internal Promotions – Job Promotions or Lateral Moves

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

Because internal promotions and lateral moves involve individuals that are already known entities, the key is to come prepared with proof of past job performance and answers to any objections that might be made.

Of course, this process of rating one’s worth should begin the very first day on a new job and continue until a promotion is offered or a lateral move requested.

1. Keep Detailed Records of Your Job Performance to Justify a Promotion:

 No matter how fair an employer tries to be, they don’t have the same vested interest as you in personal career progression. What’s more, they have many staff to consider, while your focus is understandably personal in nature.

Therefore, don’t assume that an employer will recall the good you’ve done for the company. Keep detailed records of past projects, ideas, and successes in which you were directly involved. Quantify all accomplishments with dollar figures or percentages and time periods. Specify what you’ve done to improve work performance, whether that involves continuing education or learning a new technology.

In other words, prove your worth on paper and be certain to provide copies to those involved in the interview process. Once the interview begins, be well prepared to speak about what you’ve already written down.

 2.  Create a Proposal of How You Can Contribute to the Company in a Lateral Move:

Whatever the reasons are for a lateral move (eg: a more personally rewarding position, moving to a more profitable division, a chance to get away from an intolerable manager or co-worker), you should be prepared to state how the move will benefit the company.

Detail in writing and verbally your transferable skills and what a good fit you would be with the new department. No company will move an employee from one area to another if major training or adjustments have to be made.

3.  Overcoming kneejerk objections:

Few managers like change, especially when you’re a good fit within a certain part of the organization. Some of the objections you may have to overcome are from those who like things just as they are (eg: a manager who knows you’ll get the job done) or those who don’t want to rock the boat (management that is skeptical of how you can positively impact their division).

The key is to always be prepared, and be proactive about what you have done.

Additionally, presentation is everything. When providing details about your accomplishments and qualifications, be certain that your work is flawless, easy to navigate, and showcases your talents.

When You Have Multiple Career Goals

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not necessary to have completely different resumes for each career goal. After all, your professional and academic experience doesn’t change. That said, how you construct an effective resume for multiple career goals does depend upon prioritization and organization of data, and answers to these questions:

1. Are the career fields similar?
2. Are the career fields diverse?

SIMILAR CAREER FIELDS

Let’s say as a Registered Nurse you’ve taught nursing students, you have served as an administrator at a nursing home, and you have worked in a hospital. Three careers, but all related. A resume in this instance can be both general (for application to many jobs) and specific (targeting one job) – it’s all in how you organize and prioritize the information.

For example, your Professional Experience can be broken down into three categories on your resume – Nursing Experience – Administrator Experience – Teaching Experience, with the appropriate employer and daily duties listed within each section (in a reverse chronological format). When applying for Nursing positions, that section would be listed first. When applying for a Teaching position, that section would be listed first.

In this way, one resume, with minor modifications, can be used for many postings.

DIVERSE CAREER FIELDS

You began your professional career in real estate sales, but then transitioned to the paralegal field, and finally chose yet another career in bookkeeping. Three very different careers that would seem to require three separate resumes, but that’s certainly not the case.

To avoid producing resume after resume for each job, and if at least some of the skills are transferable within different industries, then a functional format is best for you.

Functional formats stress professional skills, rather than employers or industries. So, instead of providing a reverse chronological resume that clearly shows you’ve been moving from career to career and back (which some employers might find troubling), a functional resume states core qualifications beneath varying subheadings.

The example given above would warrant three or more subheadings, namely:

Contract Negotiation (Real Estate)

Sales (Real Estate)

Contracts (Paralegal)

Payroll (Bookkeeping).

These subheadings can be organized in order of importance to the targeted position (eg: if Sales interests you, then you would list your Real Estate Experience first, followed by your other experience). The subheadings can also show broad experience that could very well be valued in an economy where employees are expected to wear many hats and to perform many functions.

What Do Employers Most Want to See in a Candidate’s Resume?

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

With so many individuals competing for jobs these days, the only thing that will differentiate you from the rest of the equally-qualified crowd is what you achieved while on the job. But be warned – an accomplishment must be quantified in order to hold any weight with the hiring manager or recruiter.

Too many times an individual writes: “Reorganized an entire department per management instructions.” That’s not an accomplishment, that is a daily duty. An accomplishment would read like this: “Generated savings in excess of $25,000 annually by reorganizing the marketing department and employing temp workers, rather than full-time staff.”

The above speaks to what a hiring manager and/or recruiter wants to see – how you can make them money and how you can save them money.

To further strengthen your resume, make certain to put at least one, preferably two, quantified and relevant accomplishments in the opening summary. This is especially true if you use the word ‘proven’ to describe yourself. For example, you write:

Accounting professional with comprehensive experience and proven results in negotiations with the IRS.

Proven by whom? You? That’s not enough proof for a hiring manager or recruiter. They want more. It’s better to write:

Accounting professional with comprehensive experience and proven results in negotiations with the IRS as evidenced by the $.5 million in savings, resulting from the 2009 audit.

The above clearly states that you saved your company a half million dollars through your expertise. That speaks volumes to hiring managers and puts you well above the others competing for the same position.

The Only Way to Compete Against Hundreds of Equally-Qualified Candidates

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

When applying for a specific position, it is important to make sure you include as many keywords within your field of expertise in order to generate a potential employer’s interest. Companies are receiving thousands of resumes each day and yours needs to stand out among all the others.

1. If there is a specific position that you are interested in applying for, be sure to research the company and thoroughly go over the job description and position requirements. If they have specific requirements for the opening and you have experience that fits what they are looking for, highlight this information early on in your resume so the reader can quickly see that you “match” the position. Use caution that you aren’t repeating the wording in the advertisement and don’t rule yourself out even if you feel you’re not a close match. Send the resume and let them decide.

2. When submitting your resume to various job sites and employers, it is important to include contributions and achievements along with a listing of your duties with current and past employers as well as your educational background. The resume is basically your advertisement and your goal is to create enough interest that will result in the organization wanting to learn more about you by telephone or in a face-to-face interview. When too many heavy details are included, you run the risk of overloading the reader, which can result in missing important accomplishments you have contributed during your career. A prospective employer isn’t going to take the time to read a resume that is too lengthy.

3. Finally, if you have been caught in a reduction in force, be assured that you will eventually have success in landing a job. Candidates who appear to be in a desperate situation simply don’t come across as well as candidates who have an image of confidence and self-worth. Many times when someone is no longer working, they feel lost and unsure. If you can look at an unemployment situation as a way of putting 100% of your efforts into the new job search, you will find far more success than those who sit by the phone waiting for it to ring. Get out there and make things happen!