Week #1 - Tuesday

Before I get to today, I want to touch on yesterday.  It was a great day because I got to meet up with Brandon Smith, my executive coach who is going to help me put my best foot forward.  Before yesterday my job search was to:

• Update my resume and LinkedIn profile in no specific way, just putting my eyes on it again
• I emailed a few industry contacts, let them know that I was no longer where I was, attached my resume and asked them to keep their ears open for any opportunities.  Same thing to a few friends in similar industries
• I'd also found a few prospective jobs, applied and did a cursory LinkedIn search to see if there were any connections I could leverage
• But then I met with Brandon...

I know that 90% of statistics are made up (or was it 110%?) but Brandon told me that only 20% of available jobs are online.  He also told me that 50% of hiring managers surveyed said they posted the job out of obligation to company policy but that they already had a candidate that they favored.  That means that I'm only looking at 10% of the available jobs out there and if I even dream of having a shot, I better know somebody because the other piece of the puzzle (and I know bc I've done my share of hiring) is that I'd much rather move forward with someone's referral bc at least then I've got a character reference.

So how do we unlock the other 90%?  We do not...it's the wrong question.  The right question is "How do I manage this job search most intelligently?" and that I learned from Brandon over coffee yesterday.

First thing I needed to do was address my resume thoughtfully.  I thought mine was pretty good but I knew I'd become a slave to formatting and I was handcuffed to the idea that it needed to be one page.  I'm abandoning that philosophy and going almost 2 with it.  I have 3 relevant jobs spanning 9 years, the latest of which ran 6 1/4 years over which time I held 4 different positions.  So that's the story I needed to tell.  The story of my meteoric rise from entry level mastery to experienced manager.  But that's the catch 22...hiring managers don't have time to read my autobiography so that's where I needed to format this thing to tell the story, not just in words but in a structural, skimmable way.

It starts with my contact info and then might have a brif summary of me, I haven't quite decided on that, but I'm leaning toward omitting it and leading my qualifications with a section on Core Competencies which has 8 competencies organized neatly in 4 columns, 2 rows.  The next section is Professional Experience and that's where it stretches out but here's how I attempt to make it digestible...

Company name with a brief description of what they do and there revenue size.  Don't be worried about whether the revenue size is a positive or negative. Any size can be made to be positive.  Small companies give you an opportunity to highlight your ability to work independently, manage multiple roles that tend to be more defined in larger organizations.  You also likely had more chances to make a big impact on the overall growth during your tenure, so play that up.  Large companies can be a feather in your cap to a hiring manager.  The fact that a large company entrusted some aspect of their business to you makes you desirable, highlight those things that were entrusted to you.

But I digress...as you're playing that up across 3-5 bullets on why you're awesome, don't make the mistake I did.  Don't confuse accolades for responsibilities.  Don't bullet out your job description, be sure to include real #s that you made happen.  Numbers make it real and can be plucked out of the text to convey your success and experiences.

At this stage in my life, my education has less to do with where I am in my career then my recent experience so I put that in it's section under experience.  The last section I have in is "Additional Data".  I can't think of a better term for this yet but essentially, this is where I put languages, certifications, hobbies/interests and associations.  This may be more critical than you think bc this is where a hiring manager will look to see if you're a cultural fit. It's what makes you interesting outside of work and that's still important, especially if you're like me and looking for a company with a good culture.  If you're looking for GloboCom Worldwide, this may be less important but it won't hurt (unless you have creepy hobbies).

Okay so what have we learned, hopefully something but you may be saying, "Of course I'm going to update my resume and I love mine, it's perfect.  In fact, I've shared it with the harshest of critics and they think it's perfect too!" So if you've got your resume in tip-top shape, the next thing to do is make your LinkedIn profile mirror it.  Your LinkedIn profile is also a chance to expand on your resume by following pertinent groups, adding additional skills and getting referrals for the work you've done. Quick tip on getting referrals, give referrals.  Reciprocation is a powerful, almost innate human behavior.  If you give, you'll probably get something in return, if not, then send the request.

So now our resume is polished and our LinkedIn profile is buttoned up.  What next?  This is where my exec coach opened up my world...and I'll share it with you in tomorrow's post.

 nighty nite!