The Interviewer Said!

February 6th, 2012 by Kira

This post was written by Perry Newman and was originally featured on the Career Rocketeer blog.

In my career, I have written and read thousands of resumes and I will be the first to admit a well-written resume is no guarantee that you will be hired for a new job. However from my own experience and the experiences of many of the people I have worked with I can say with 100% certainty that a well-written resume will increase your apply to interview ratio by at least 25% and improve your chances of impressing the people who interview you.

To highlight for you how a effective a tool a well-written resume can be, I asked a number of people who found a new positions about the feedback they received on the resume we collaborated on, and here are a few responses..

1: The interviewer said “you are a candidate we could not afford to pass on so after I finished reading your resume I picked up the phone ASAP to contact you to schedule an interview.”

2: The interviewer said” the minute I finished reading your resume I knew you were a perfect match for the profile we developed for a new hire.”

3: The interviewer said “after reading your resume I felt I’ve known you for years even though we’ve never met.

4: The interviewer said “based on your resume I know what we can expect from you in the future if we hire you.”

5: The interviewer said “I screened over 100 resumes but yours was one of only a handful that stood out and caught my attention based on its style and content.”

6: The interviewer said “your resume answered all the questions I had about you and raised a few questions I had not considered about your competition.”

The bottom line is if you have a well-written resume you can elicit they same type of responses as well. Not every resume can get interviewers and screeners to react like this; after all you must have the talent and ability to put on paper that will excite people. But I can tell you that a well-written resume will get people to take notice of you and what you have to offer and it will increase your chances of being considered a front runner for a new job.

Perry Newman is a nationally-renowned job transition specialist who develops branded resumes and is a career coach for executives, professionals and MBA’s seeking six- figure positions in multiple industries within the USA. As a Certified Placement Consultant, Certified Social Media Strategist and founder and former Managing Director of a NYC-based executive search firm, Perry has a rare combination of talent and experience that is essential for your success in today’s job market. Acknowledged as a subject matter expert in his field Perry is a sought-after public speaker for radio, TV shows and career services seminars and his articles and blog posts are published in national newspapers, magazines and blogs throughout the nation and the world.

Tags: employment, Job Search, job seekers, resumes
Posted in Candidates, FORTIS, Job Search | No Comments »

Staying Passionate and Energized in Your Career

January 30th, 2012 by Kira

Like many things in life, careers are cyclical. We have periods of intense happiness, hard work, and feeling passionate. Then again, we also experience low periods with frustration, exhaustion or even boredom.

It is possible to increase the periods of happiness and reduce the other times in your career. We wanted to offer a few ways you can stay passionate and energized in your career, even when you may not be “feeling it!”

Take a class, course, or other professional development offering where you can hone your skills, learn something new, and take your experience up a level.
Remember why you choose your career in the first place. What was it you were passionate about, and how can you ensure that passion is being integrated into your work.
Take time off. Whether a stay-vacation, a single day off, or a true vacation/get-away – get out of your normal routine and recharge.
Volunteer your time or services. Volunteering has proven to increase moral and productivity, and it greatly enhances your overall perception about life in general. Find a cause you care about, and spend time giving back.
Ask to be included in a new project, take on a new task, or do something out of the ordinary at the office.
Mentor someone new in your industry. This gives you a chance to experience the passion and commitment of someone new, and it also offers you a chance to reconnect with how far you’ve advanced over the years.
Enjoy the lull. Ironically, when your experiencing a lull, it’s a great time to actually enjoy the cycle of life. So, you aren’t as busy in the office, perhaps you’re even bored, what could you now use your for since you have some extra time?

These are just a few, simple things you can do to get re-energized about your career. What do you do when you want to recharge or renew your commitment to your work ? We’d love to know, please leave a comment below.

Tags: career, job, Passionately Employed, Work
Posted in Candidates, Clients, FORTIS | No Comments »

How to Deal with a Challenging Co-Worker

January 23rd, 2012 by Kira

How you handle yourself with a difficult or challenging co-worker can speak volumes about you to management and your peers. While there’s no need to be a “push-over” – handling someone with tact is bound to get you more respect in the workplace.

Here are a few things you can do to always come out as the better person.

1. Stop taking things personally. We all face challenging and difficult people at different times in our lives, whether on the job and even at home. Don’t let these encounters feel like a personal attack, in which you need to be defensive to win. Instead, realize that the person is likely experiencing their own set of challenges and is expressing them at everyone in their life. When you stop taking things personally, you can detach from their behavior.

2. Recognize different personality styles. Not all people are the same, and they shouldn’t be treated as such. The more aware you are of what makes people tick, what pushes their buttons, and how they interact with others, the more likely you are to engage with them in a productive way. For example, if you find that someone is highly defensive when they receive feedback, be sure to sing them extra praises when they do something right. This will help to break down their barriers.

3. Don’t speak or react out of anger. Anger can get you into trouble, it makes you say things you don’t mean, react without being logical or sensical, and isn’t an emotion to express haphazardly. It’s not to say you can’t get angry, just don’t react while angry. Take a moment to walk, take a breath, get outside – don’t vent to co-workers or throw fuel on the fire. Instead, remember a mantra such as, “This too will pass.” Or turn on some tunes that can help shift your energy. When you deal with people while you are angry, it’s likely you’ll regret how you handled the situation.

A challenging co-worker can cause a lot of issues at work, if you let them. Instead, rethink how you handle the people that push your buttons, after all, when you are upset with another person, it is you who is most affected by someone at the end of the day.

Tags: behavior, co-workers, culture, office environment
Posted in Candidates, Clients, FORTIS | No Comments »

How to Keep Your Cool During a Performance Review

January 16th, 2012 by Kira

This article was written by Robert Galford, Managing Partner of the Center for Leading Organizations, is a Leadership Fellow in Executive Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. It was originally posted on HBR Blog Network.

While the holiday season may be behind us, the peak season for exchanging gifts and messages is not over. Not by a long shot. For many companies, it’s salary and performance review time. It’s bonus time. It’s profit-sharing time.These anxiety-provoking milestones are filling your organization’s calendar even as you read this, and they will continue to do so for at least the next few months. And there is plenty of anxiety to go around, affecting both providers and recipients of such tidings. What does this signify? What are they telling me here? What does it say about how I am valued?

For the feedback providers among us, there is ample available advice on how best to proffer messages and to ensure their effective delivery. However, there’s far less guidance to help us when we are on the receiving end of these “gifts” (after all, aren’t we always hearing how feedback is a gift?).

The purpose of this post is to start a conversation among us, to consider how best to take in the feedback messages we receive — not just at this time of year, but all the time.

Here are four ways to become better at receiving — and implementing — feedback:

1. Relax. Nervous going in? Even a little? Of course you are. There’s an imbalance of power, information and preparation from moment one. The providers of your feedback spent at least some time gathering data, synthesizing it, and formulating the message. Even if they prepared it all by themselves, it was probably part of a broader organizational effort involving multiple inputs from a number of people. And you? You’re going in with none of that information. Given that imbalance, why would you possibly expect not to be even a little nervous? Give yourself a break. Relax. Unless you’re already in trouble, there will be no trapdoor under your chair.

2. Prepare yourself to hear one or more unexpected “somethings”

a. Something you did or didn’t do, that you had no idea was even on the radar screen as a factor or an issue.
b. Something that was a bigger deal than you thought. Or a smaller one. And the consequences or impact in the feedback message seems disproportionate.
c. Something that could or should have been addressed with you weeks or months earlier.
d. Something that you thought had already been resolved or improved upon.

3. If you don’t agree with the feedback, don’t launch into a defense right away. As you listen, hold that thought and hold your tongue! Force yourself not to form a conclusion or communicate a response too quickly, and maybe not even in the course of the conversation. You’ve spent zero time on absorbing and interpreting the data at this point. Apply the following filters:

a. Put it in absolute context first. Even if you are disappointed that it’s not the biggest bonus ever, or you didn’t “Exceed Expectations” in every category, or you discover your nemesis received the equivalent of the Nobel Prize, what’s the summary message to you? Is it more valid than not? More positive than negative? Was it mostly on-target?
b. Figure out how to use what you have heard. As a result of this feedback, do you know what you can or should do the same or differently going forward?

While a few on-the-spot questions are OK, finding your own version of “I’m guessing it’s OK for me to come back to you if I have more questions” is a better approach.

4. When it’s over:

a. Thank them sincerely for their time and thoughts, regardless of whether you were thrilled with their message or their delivery. Unless they were bored or rude, it required some work on their part.
b. Reflect on the overall message, and what it conveyed. If you are contemplating a campaign to prove you were right on some specific point, consider that it might ultimately be more helpful to focus on the broader takeaway and what it will require to do as well or better next time.
c. Don’t just file it and forget it. Look at it again in a few months, and see how you’re doing.

Finally, remember this was but a single piece or episode of feedback. If you’re lucky, you’ll receive many more.

Now, what’s your feedback on receiving feedback?

Posted in Candidates, FORTIS, Job Search | No Comments »

Making Your New Year’s Career Resolutions

January 3rd, 2012 by Kira

“Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” –Anonymous

This is such a great quote, and one that can be applied at anytime in your life. Although many people use the calendar new year to start fresh, remember that you can make a fresh start any moment you decide to.

With that said, what are your plans for 2012?

Will you make a career change?
Are you seeking a promotion?
Would you like to increase your performance, sales numbers, attitude?
Do you plan to move into management?
Go back to school? Take a course? Become certified in a skill?

Beyond setting goals, making plans, and writing out your intentions – also consider your state of being. Perhaps you can choose a word for the year – like “Fortis” – meaning strength. You could also choose words like courage, balance, or harmony.

A word for the year can be a focal point. Something for you to remember, and bring yourself back to a solid base throughout the months ahead.

Writing your goals and intentions, means you are more likely to achieve them. Take the time to do this over the next few days. Then put them in a place where you’ll see them frequently, revisit them, adjust them, and make them happen.

Happy New Year!

Posted in Candidates, Clients, FORTIS, Job Search | No Comments »

What is Career Branding?

December 5th, 2011 by Kira

This is a post that was originally featured on Career Rocketeer, written by Ian Levine.

Personal Branding (PB) + Relationship Capital (RC) = Career Branding (CB)

PB + RC = CB

Why does this matter?

The answer is simple. If you work the formula you will have more successful career branding!

The time to build a network is when you are seeking nothing in return. If your objective is to time results, you will most likely come up short of goals because your relationships will be all short term, results oriented. Thus any “relationships” will lack depth and breadth. What you really need to do is position for the “whenever”. You position for the “whenever” by building Relationship Capital before you need it.

Obviously, the unemployed are at a significant disadvantage to maximize an effective Career Branding campaign because by definition they have an immediate need for results. Thus their ability to build Relationship Capital is limited.

The unemployeds’ immediate need for results has lead to the proliferation of LinkedIn advisors that make two strong recommendations.

1) Build a large network of connections fast.

2) Come up with a slick LinkedIn tag line

Concept 1

An artificial network is effectively a “spray & pray” marketing technique. There are numerous LinkedIn webinars or services that suggest (or actually help) build large LinkedIn networks instantly through variousInmail and aggressive “Group joining techniques”. Our opinion is that this does not represent a strategic job search and offers very little true utility in finding work faster. It certainly can work and you could also win the lottery today and thus not be reading this article. Creating artificial networks is counter to our formula for Career Branding.

Concept 2

Over the last several years, the unemployed have been coached to change their LinkedIn profile headline to titles like:

Quality Guru
Sales Superstar
Digital Print Expert
Online Marketing Sherpa

Career Brander definitely recommends and respects the attempt to clarify one’s specialty and create a personal brand. A succinct and accurate LinkedIn headline is a good idea, however this is simply a beginning, and the real work is getting the personal association of the title in the marketplace. The mistake people make is waiting until they are looking for a new job to address their personal brand. Brands are earned not instantly accepted!

The trick is to build the personal brand over time and then match it to one’s networks of connections/relationships.

Think about a salesperson cold calling a prospect. If a sales person cold calls prospects, saying we are the best at “X” and asking for orders, they will fail 999.9 out of 1000 times. This is not how “buyers” are wired and is a fairly ridiculous approach. The prospect has not been nurtured. The sales person is not a known entity and thus the recipient of the call has no inclination to listen or necessarily believe anything they are saying. There is no reason for trust and trust is implied in every purchase! The same principle applies to job search.

Successful salespeople (and companies) brand themselves by building relationships BEFORE they need them. Career branding is no different. Relationships are best built before one party in the relationship has an immediate pending need. Trust is built by non-threatening exchanges that are not self centered. The exchanges need to offer something to the other party such as knowledge, connections or other learning’s. This principle is why, Career Brander does not advocate Linking on LinkedIn just to build out a network, but rather Linking based on real relationships. Perhaps a Luddite’s view; but an on-line relationship is generallynot nearly as deep as a more traditional personal one that has relationship capital build through non-cyber means. There are exceptions, but just connecting on LinkedIn does not represent Relationship Capital.

Personal Brands and Relationship Capital are earned. They take time to develop and require continual and consistent re-enforcement to build and become meaningful. They cannot be instantly achieved through LinkedIn profile headlines, cold calling, artificial social networks, or introductory emails. Start now and invest time to PB and RC every week.

If you look at your peers, those who cycle through successful career positions without extended job searches, they have mastered the PB + RC = CB formula.

Let’s relook at the formula at this articles beginning.

Personal Branding (What you are known for.)

Relationship Capital (Your network and how committed are they to you based on historical actions and interactions.)

Equals

Career Branding

Ian Levine is a leading authority and frequent speaker on sales optimization techniques. As the founder ofCareer Brander he applies sales and marketing techniques to Career Branding and Job Search. Career Brander’s Job Search Radar, is a robust tool that integrates Hoover’s premium content, social networks and web agents into an effective career transition platform. You can read additional personal branding, job search and career articles by Ian Levine on the Career Brander Blog.

Tags: Career Branding, Networking, Social Media
Posted in Candidates, FORTIS, Job Search | No Comments »

Keeping Your Team Motivated through the Holidays

November 28th, 2011 by Kira

The end of the year is near. The holiday season is in full swing. Office parties. Extra goodies in the break room. Gifts of gratitude dropped at your office door. It’s no wonder the holiday energy can impact your productivity. It’s hard enough to stay motivated when your schedule seems a little off, but adding extra chocolate and conversations to your routine is sure to grip your motivation and feel as though you are at a stand still.

For some, it’s a welcome break, but with looming deadlines, last quarter numbers and goals to meet, there’s still a need for focus and motivation.

Here are a few tips to keep you motivated through the holidays.

First, limit your intake of those high sugar, high fat foods in the break room. At least save them for after lunch, so you don’t have a spike and crash before noon.
Pick your battles. It’s likely you’ll be socializing more this month, limit alcohol , get to bed early, and say no whenever possible.
Schedule downtime. The last 30 days of the year can feel like a whirlwind. Hit the gym, take a break, unwind in whatever way you can.
Review your 2011 goals, and write your goals for 2012. See what can be completed, wrap it up, and get a fresh start in January.
Allow yourself time to play. While work is important, enjoy the season.
Get away and work. It may be necessary to lock yourself in the conference room, or change up your space to get things done. With holiday traffic (reps, etc.) parading around the office, it’s a good idea to get out of your usual space… but alert someone to where you will be working from!
Set a timer to stay focused for a time block when working on a specific project.
Listen to upbeat holiday music to stay in the season, but inspired by the tunes.

These are just a few things you can do to not only stay motivated, but also enjoy the season that is upon us. What other tips can you share about how you stay motivated during the holidays?

Tags: Focus, Motivation, Working
Posted in Candidates, Clients, FORTIS | No Comments »

When You’re Getting Interviewed, But Not Getting Hired

November 21st, 2011 by Kira

With all the applicants that are sending off their resumes to fill open positions, it’s easy to get excited when you get a call back for an interview. So, what happens when you consistently interview, but don’t get offered the job?

Here are a few things to consider if your getting an interview, but not an offer.

Does your resume accurately reflect your accomplishments, skills, and qualifications? If you’ve fluffed your resume, you could inadvertently cause a red-flag during the interview. When most employers or staffing companies do their first round of interviews they are seeking to eliminate people. They are watching for cues that you are being untruthful, incongruences, and signs that you won’t fit within the company culture. The more accurately your resume represents you, the more likely you are to move through to the next round of interviews.
If you are sure your resume accurately reflects your work history and skill set, take a look at where the next stumbling block may occur – the actual interview process. Would you consider yourself to be a good interviewee? Are you able to act natural and be yourself? Do you exhibit the level of professionalism the company is looking for? It’s not uncommon for people to believe they are a good interviewee, when in fact, compared to other candidates they lag behind. Seek out a professional coach or mentor to help identify where your interview skills could be improved.
Do you go for the close? Candidates who don’t inquire about the next step are missing out on a great opportunity to seal the deal. Always ask what the process is to get hired, don’t be afraid to inquire if there’s anything they are concerned about with you as the candidate of choice – which will give you an opportunity to refute those concerns. Also find out how you should follow up and how soon. Additionally, take the time to send a handwritten thank you note or card through the mail. Email is okay when you know the decision making process is short (it’s Wednesday and they want to decide by Friday), but nothing says you really want the job like proper follow up. Lastly, tell your interviewer that you are definitely interested in the position. If they feel you are possibly on the fence, it’s likely they’ll overlook you as a candidate.

Getting the interview is a great thing, and you should acknowledged that your resume helped you stand out in the stack. But interviewing frequently, without a lot of forward movement just lets you know there are other areas you can improve on for your job search. With a little awareness, attention, and creative thinking you’ll be sure to get an offer soon.

Tags: interviews, Job Search, offers, resumes
Posted in Candidates, FORTIS, Job Search | No Comments »

Recognizing Talents and Strength in Your Team

October 31st, 2011 by Kira

“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” Andrew Carnegie

The individuals that work together on your team come from all different backgrounds, educations, and skillset. They also comprise a variety of strengths and talents, some of which may go unnoticed in their positions.

In the book StrengthsFinder 2.0, author Tom Rath suggests a strengths model of leadership. Essentially, focusing on the strengths of your team and sharpening those, and ignoring the weaknesses. This goes against contradictory thinking that a person should identify their weaknesses and improve them. Rath suggests that when you take people’s natural strengths and abilities, they are more likely to succeed.

What are you doing to identify the strengths of the people on your team?

Begin to take notice where your team members are reaching beyond the expectations. If they get an assignment, are they exceptional in being strategic about how to implement it? Are they good at getting the rest of the team on board? Can they lift the moral of the team? What natural abilities do you see them using on a consistent basis?

To really optimize your team’s performance, it is essential to focus on their strengths that are natural, instead of their weaknesses.

When you know the strengths of your individual team members, you can then pair each individual with other team members who have a different strength’s style that complements their style. Additionally, you’ll want a team that is diverse in their strengths. The more varied your team, the more likely you are to have a fully functioning team that operates extremely well together and can achieve astounding results.

This also comes into play when you hire new team members. For your next hire, hire for talent and then develop that strength. With all team members, make the shift of focusing on how to improve a person’s strength, and ignore their weaknesses.

When you focus on people’s individual strengths you allow members of your team to be more fully engaged in their work, and you will also get the best results possible.

To take the StengthsFinder 2.0 assessment, you’ll need to grab a copy of the book. You can find more information on that here. http://www.strengthsfinder.com If you take the test, we’d love to know your top five strengths.

Tags: Knowing your strengths, Natural abilities, Strengths, strengths in a job interview, Talents, team
Posted in Candidates, Clients, FORTIS | No Comments »

4 Smart Strategies for Job Advancement

October 17th, 2011 by Kira

Smart executives know that in order to achieve job advancement, they cannot afford to take anything for granted. Performing well and bringing value is tantamount to success! However, you can be great at your job and never advance to the next level if you don’t make a conscious effort to plan for career growth. Those who decide to seek job advancement must leave nothing to chance.

To advance yourself to the next level, create a clear and concise roadmap that guides you through the process. Here are some specific strategies you will want to adopt in order to succeed:

Create Your Personal Brand

Creating a brand that is in high demand is one of the most powerful things you can do to fuel career advancement. Once you establish the skills and characteristics that make you unique, employers will be more likely to pursue you. To develop and implement a personal brandingstrategy, you must first assess your strengths, preferences, and differentiators. I often provide a DISC assessment as a first step in establishing a sound personal branding strategy.

Convey Your Value
Once you have a thorough picture of the image you wish to convey with your personal brand, you must continue to refine the brand and establish it as a common theme in all of your communications. You must BE your brand. Blogging, participating in discussions on social media sites, providing case studies, volunteering, and attending local networking events are all ways you can extend and grow brand recognition.

Update Your Career Documents
Smart executives recognize that part of positioning their brand includes creating outstanding career documents. A strong LinkedIn profile and the development of a professional biography can add value, and help with job advancement. It is no longer enough to have a basic résumé. Your résumé must be polished and focused to reflect your brand image. It should include targeted and impactful wording that illustrates your most impressive accomplishments. Many executives are opting to include a multimedia VisualCV / Digital Résumé as part of their repertoire.

Public Speaking & Media Interaction
I know that people hate the thought of speaking publicly; but the more you get your face and name out in the world as a valued resource and industry expert, the more likely you are to be remembered for new and interesting opportunities. If you are quoted as a trusted resource in multiple publications, this will add clout to your brand, as well.

Most successful executives have worked hard to develop their reputation and nurture their brand value. It is important to think about job advancement early in your career. By planning a well-defined strategy and mapping out a specific path for growth, you will be one step ahead of the competition.

This post was written by Debra Wheatman, originally posted on Careers Done Write.

Debra Wheatman, CPRW, CPCC is President of Careers Done Write, a premier career services provider focused on developing highly personalized career roadmaps for senior leaders and executives across all verticals and industries.

Tags: advancement, careers, job
Posted in Candidates, FORTIS, Job Search | No Comments »

Archives

Categories

RSS Syndication

Popular Tags