Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

5 tips to write a winning resume

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With five candidates for every job, competition is fierce. Your online profile impacts your chances to win interviews, but your resume is still the most crucial element of your job search strategy.

Here are five tips to help you identify how to appeal to your targeted employers:

1.  Study organizations’ websites. Companies spend a lot of time, effort, and money compiling their public relations profiles for visitors. Look for repeated words and phrases, tag lines and hints about their philosophical approaches. Some employers include videos or testimonials from employees to illustrate their corporate culture.

What can you learn?

Is the company leadership focused? Team oriented? Do they value diversity? Is community service important? What are their goals? Do they specify problems they solve? What buzzwords appear multiple times on the sites? Studying their official online presence offers a window for you to determine a) if the job is a good fit and b) how to market yourself for the position.

Read the rest on my weekly blog on U.S. News & World Report’s Careers site…

How to target your resume for an employer

photo by Eileen Sand

Best Careers for 2011

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Following job trends has some advantages. I report on U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Careers” article every year. (This year, I am excited to announce that I’ve been invited to join U.S. News’ team of career bloggers — starting in mid-January!) In my many years following this report, categories often do not change very much from year to year. That is a good thing for anyone using the list to make a career choice!

For example, the article notes that “All of the healthcare jobs on last year’s list have made the cut again this year, plus two new positions: massage therapist and athletic trainer. While the field of athletic training doesn’t offer the sheer number of positions as nursing or dental hygiene, it outranks nearly all other healthcare occupations for expected job growth.”

It’s important to remember that jobs on this list are not necessarily easy to land! Although jobs are cut from the list if they have a higher-than average unemployment rate, the article notes that, with 9.6% unemployment, there are still (statistically) five unemployed people for every job, compared to an average of 1.7 people for every job in the three years before the recession.

Do Your Research

Every job seeker should keep an eye on his or her industry and make plans for the future with an informed outlook. I like to remind readers that it’s a good idea to set a Google alert for organizations and fields of interest to you so you’ll be aware when there are newsworthy ups and downs in your market. Clearly, there are trends in industries. While there are no guarantees, keeping an eye on these surveys and data should help direct those seeking career change make their plans.

Learn what you can about the number of job opportunities, salary expectations, educational requirements, job satisfaction — make a list of what is important to you and conduct a personal analysis to determine a good direction for your career.

Luckily, there are more and more resources every day to help you with your research.

You can go “old school” and talk to people you know or people they know via informational interviews. Or, expand your networking circle by using Twitter to research your job, LinkedIn to connect with new colleagues, Facebook (via BranchOut or Jibe) and Quora to meet new people who may have advice, information or recommendations for you.

Learn what blogs are popular and respected in your niche (I like to use Alltop.com as a great resource) and find out what your mentors are saying. Find them on Twitter (WeFollow.com is my favorite list for Twitter) and learn who they talk to, what conferences they attend (and what they think of the speakers).

Hop on a Twitter chat to connect with people in your targeted industry. Before you know it — with skill and persistence — you can become one of them! (Read this story of someone who has decided to lead the way in his industry, even if his colleagues are not already joining him on social media.)

Clearly, there are many, many ways to learn what everyone is saying and — most importantly — to insert yourself into the conversations (via participating in social media, meeting local colleagues, attending professional conferences, etc.) to really get to know about a field.

Here is U.S. News & World Report’s list of top jobs for 2011, broken down by categories considered promising growth fields:

Science and Technology

– Biomedical engineer

– Civil engineer

– Computer software engineer

– Computer support specialist

– Computer systems analyst

– Environmental engineering technician

– Environmental science technician

– Hydrologist

– Meteorologist

– Network architect

Health care

 

– Athletic trainer

– Dental hygienist

– Lab technician

– Massage therapist

– Occupational therapist

– Optometrist

– Physician assistant

– Physical therapist

– Physical therapist assistant

– Radiologic technologist

– Registered nurse

– School psychologist

– Veterinarian

Social Service

– Clergy

– Court reporter

– Education administrator

– Emergency management specialist

– Firefighter

– Marriage and family therapist

– Mediator

– Medical and public health social worker

– Special-education teacher

– Urban planner

Business and Finance

– Accountant

– Actuary

– Financial adviser

– Financial analyst

– Logistician

– Meeting planner

– Public relations specialist

– Sales manager

– Training specialist

Creative and Service

– Commercial pilot

– Curator

– Film and video editor

– Gaming manager

– Heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration technician

– Interpreter/Translator

– Multimedia artist

– Technical writer

Be sure to review U.S. News’ entire, informative article outlining the various opportunities and their methodology.

Please comment if you know anything about these professions! Would you recommend them? What are your experiences? Share in the comments!

Don’t forget that clear, concise, optimized job search materials AND a strong, well executed plan are key for job search success! I can help with every part of your job hunt! Need a great resume? Tips to use social networking? Interview coaching?  If you need help mobilizing your networks and your job search plans, learn more about how I can help you! While you’re at it, don’t forget those social networks! Be sure to become a fan of Keppie Careers on Facebook…I’d be thrilled to have you as part of the community! Since we’re on the subject of doing something new…Are you on Twitter? Jump on and touch base with me @keppie_careers.

photo by Court reporter

Consider using Quora to enhance your professional profile

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If you are a regular reader, you know I recommend using social media (Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.)  to enhance your network and expand your reach as a job seeker or entrepreneur.  At a recent social event with other contributors and speakers for Social Media Atlanta’s HR and Recruiting track, I met Douglas Kling, (@DouglasKling), Director of Recruiting at HUNTER Technical Resources. He recommended I look at Quora.com, a network focused on asking and answering questions.

Quora calls itself “A continually improving collection of questions and answers created, edited, and organized by everyone who uses it.” Their goal? “To have each question page become the best possible resource for someone who wants to know about the question.”

Crunchbase notes that Quora was founded in June 2009 and launched in private beta in January 2010:

“One way you can think of (Quora) is as a cache for the research that people do looking things up on the web and asking other people. Eventually, when you see a link to a question page on Quora, your feeling should be: “Oh, great! That’s going to have all the information I want about that.” It’s also a place where new stuff–that no one has written about yet–can get pulled onto the web.”

I found executive recruiter Harry Urschel’s new post in my Google reader while I was writing this post. Harry explains,

“…Quora is unique in the level of professional and expert responses you encounter. Ask a question regarding an Engineering challenge, and it’s not unlikely to get an answer from a Chief Engineer at Motorola or Intel. Ask a question regarding start-ups, and you’re likely to get a response from a Venture Capital expert. Ask questions about Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or virtually any other successful site, and you’re just as likely to get an answer from a Senior Executive from one of those organizations as you are from a power user.”

Similar to LinkedIn’s Answers section, there are questions on Quora about a wide array of topics. For example, someone asked: “Are there metrics on how helpful it is to address a user by their first name for account/marketing emails?” One reply was from Ramit Sethi, a NYT bestselling author of I Will Teach You to be Rich.

You may ask a question to the community, or target it to a particular user. Like Twitter, you can choose to “follow” other users and you will have followers as well. When you sign up, Quora offers you the opportunity to link with your Twitter account, and it will automatically follow Quora members whom you follow on Twitter. I found a very small percentage of people I follow on Twitter were also on Quora right now.

How does a site like this help you? In general, it follows the same principle as other social media sites: sharing information and advice in your subject matter area helps you raise your profile. When you answer questions with good information and people begin to turn to you for advice, your digital footprint (how many people know about you online) increases. When more people know about you, your network grows and this improves your chances for learning about (and being recommended for) opportunities — both jobs and entrepreneurial ventures.

Harry noted that Google found his profile and answers and quickly indexed them (therefore indexing his expertise). Since many employers are Googling candidates, having another resource to showcase your knowledge, skills and abilities in your niche topic can be helpful. It’s also possible (as in any social networking site) to build a rapport with an expert or mentor, which may lead to opportunities to contribute to their projects and/or to meet in person.

As someone who has been using Quora for the past few months, Douglas confirms that it is a good use of time and an interesting use of social media. He explained,

“The format allows for interactive discussion amongst subject matter experts on an ever-growing variety of topics. But, it also levels the playing field between the known experts and the unknown experts. The platform allows heretofore unknown experts in a specific space to increase their digital footprint based on the actual quality of the information they provide.”

Check it out: Quora.com. If you sign up, be sure to look for me: http://www.quora.com/Miriam-Salpeter.

The secret to effective job search

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Today’s post is one of many from members of the Career Collective community I co-coordinate with my colleague Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter. I encourage you to visit other members’ responses, which are linked at the end of my post. Please follow our hashtag on Twitter: #careercollective.

This month’s question focuses on common job search misconceptions. Unfortunately, “confused” is how job seekers often feel. They want to know the “right” way to apply for a job, what exactly their resume should say (and how it should look), whether or not anyone is reading their cover letter (should they even bother sending one?), when (and how often) to follow up…The list goes on and on.

However, I think the most important point that confuses job seekers is that the job search is not really about them. Nor is the resume, application, follow-up notes…None of it is about the job seeker.

The secret to successful job hunting? It’s about the employer.

If you are looking for a job, you need to research organizations and target your materials and networking efforts to appeal to them. You used XY skill at ABC place? That’s great, but what does it have to do with the job you want NOW? Everything on your resume and other communication (social media, in-person networking, etc.) needs to be geared to the employer’s interests and needs. Think of the employer as a spoiled child who wants everything his/her way. Avoid the temper tantrum in this case (which may be YOUR tantrum): give the employer what he needs to see. Convince her that you are the ONE candidate who is qualified and can do the job.

I’ve recently shared information about how to target your resume using keywords. Do that. If you are qualified for the position, you should be able to tweak and target your resume to appeal to your audience and land the interview.

When it comes to your resume, do your research to identify the employer’s salient points. For example, a manager may find that employers need candidates who have the following skills:

  • Mentoring/supervisory skills,
  • Diplomacy/communication
  • Leadership and
  • Specific subject matter expertise.

Once you identify the important skills – write the resume to identify and PROVE you are the candidate with the goods. When someone else reads the resume, will that person see proof of the necessary skills? Does the resume include accomplishments related to each of the points? It is not unusual to see a resume that states something but fails to prove it in the body of the resume. Any point that you are not supporting with evidence in your resume is a lost opportunity to drive home your point to the hiring manager.

Stop focusing on you and your needs – think about what someone else will be thinking when they encounter your materials or meet you. It’s the secret to job hunting successfully: it’s not about you.

Don’t miss my colleagues’ responses to this topic:

photo by Tambako the Jaguar

What’s age got to do with your career?

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There’s no question that generational issues play into job search. I wanted to share a few key details I learned in the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Atlanta’s conference this week, “What’s Age Got to Do with It?” Presented by Maureen Kelly, Atlanta Regional Convention, Heyward Williams, Georgia Power and Rosalia Thomas, IBM, the talk focused on how companies can help retain workers who may be retirement age and touched on generational issues in the workplace.

Boomers

The session addressed the issue of how companies can plan for and harness the power of their more experienced workers who may plan to retire in search of flexibility, but may still be willing to and interested in contributing to the organization’s brain trust. Job seekers may not realize that some companies are actually concerned about the fact that their more seasoned, knowledgeable workers may leave the organization high and dry when it is time to leave. With the projected number of people aged 65+ expected to grow exponentially, it’s an important topic to consider.

The presentation shared the following statistics:

– By 2010, 40% of the U.S. workforce will be over 40.

– Regarding the federal workforce (1.6 million civilians):

  • 50% can retire in the next 5 years
  • 70% are supervisors
  • NASA: scientists and engineers over 60 outnumber those under 30, 3 to 1.

In 1991, 11% planned to continue working past age 65.

In 2010, 33% expect to continue working past 65.

When I was tweeting this session, I heard from several Twitter friends questioning if people really wanted to stay in the workforce, or if financial considerations were primary decision factors. In fact, the presentation suggested that 71% of these workers are happy with their job and do not want to leave. (Per CNNMoney.com). (Of course, this is just a statistic, and will vary from person to person, but there was a strong feeling in the room that people WANT to work because they enjoy it and want to continue to contribute.)

The presentation noted these companies as having best practices regarding keeping their experienced professionals engaged in programs such as mentoring, consulting, advising, etc: Pfizer, Georgia Power, IBM, WellStar. These are companies that value age and experience. This is important to note.

(An aside: for those interested in exploring “encore careers” – work that combines passion, purpose and income, check out http://www.encore.org/.)

Gen Y

At the end of the talk, Rosalia Thomas from IBM shared some interested points regarding her impressions of Gen Y employees. In her view, Ys want everything quickly, want to move up and quickly take on leadership roles. They don’t offer any loyalty. She believes they focus mainly on how they will benefit from the job and how they can move to the next job. In fact, she related a story of a young hire who explained that she was only in the job for as long as she was benefiting, and planned to move on as soon as it was feasible. While Ms. Thomas’ explained that Gen Y job seekers have seen their parents burned by loyalty, the explanation didn’t seem to temper her opinion of employees so blunt about their goals and plans.

Ms. Thomas seemed very concerned with the trends she is seeing with Gen Y employees. It is important to point out that, while being loyal to a company may not be realistic or even expected, it may not behoove entry-level workers to be quite so direct about their plans. There is a lot of focus on authenticity in the blogosphere, but, for Gen Yers who wish to gain traction in certain companies, this talk was a reminder that those sentiments may not be received well.

All of this advice is fine, but you need help actually find a job? Check out THE CAREER SUMMIT for lots of great career advice.

The topics include everything from how to think about finding a job you love, to what has changed in search, demystifying the recruiting process, online career management, interviewing and (last but not least) — strategies and tips for your resume, social media profile and job search. Read more HERE or visit the site HERE to learn more.

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