The Eyes Have It

I was just reviewing a cover letter an applicant sent my way and discovered an unfortunate error on the letter. The fact is any error on a cover letter, resume, cv, thank you note, etc. is unfortunate. Very unfortunate.

In each case, it says “I’m not detailed-oriented”, even if that isn’t the case. I see an error on a cover letter and that person has created an uphill battle with me because I lose interest in the candidate on the spot. Unless you can think like an editor, please have someone review your work before you send it out. Two sets of eyes are always better than one and you’re career juts just may depend on it.

To your success,

Rita

The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing.

~ John Powell

Employ Best Work Habits When Seeking Employment

Here’s the easy way to tell whether you’re employing good job search habits and strategies: You results. If what you’re doing is producing results, i.e. two-way communications, phone interviews, in-person interviews, etc., then you’re on the money. However, if you’re getting little results in return for the action you’re taking, it may be time to look at what you’re doing and re-strategize, because how you approach your job search can make all the difference in the world. And this is where the habits used for a job search can either make or break your efforts. Here are a couple of job search habits you can adopt that are guaranteed to help you in your quest for a new position: 

Prepare for your job search the night before. If you’re going to start your job search on Monday, that means taking the time to create a list of who you’re going to call, email, text, etc. Sunday night. That way, you’ll start your Monday with a plan in place and will create better momentum for yourself and that momentum will translate into tangible results. When I first became a headhunter, we were instructed to create a list of no less than fifty companies to contact with the goal of turning as many of these companies into clients. Our list had a heading that would include: Company name, Phone number, Name of Contact (often left blank until the day we called to find out the name), Did we speak with the contact person (yes/no), Did we discuss our company & the prospect of our doing business together (yes/no), would they know of another company we should contact (if so, whom), and an open field to include any additional comments. This was a simple and effective tool that you could use for your own job search today. Once you start to employ this habit, you’ll make “preparing the night before” into “preparing before you’re done for the day” for the next business day. You’ll want to switch to the latter because you’ll be able to add info to your list from activities of the day while they’re still fresh in your mind. 

Creating the list needs to become routine for you. Once you start developing momentum, you’ll include other things on your list, like follow-up phone calls, emails, etc. Plan on how much time you’ll dedicate to creating your “to do” list for the next day, but once you get into the routine, it shouldn’t take more than about 45 minutes. 

Speaking of routines, it’s extremely effective to schedule and mark the time you’ll spend in the day and keep track to make sure you’re on that schedule. You’ll want to include lunch and a couple of breaks. Staying on that schedule not only helps you be accountable to yourself time wise, it also helps build inner-confidence that you are on task and that inner-confidence radiates to others, including potential employers. I guarantee it.

As you conduct your job search, don’t take it personally. Yes, you are looking for a position for you, but think of yourself and your talents as the commodity, not the individual. If you can do this, you’ll be a better advocate for yourself, which will help you market yourself that much more successfully. Remember that the person on the other end of the phone or reading the email, isn’t thinking about you, the person, but about your skills and talents and how they could benefit his/her company. The other key is to get clear on the top three points you would discuss about your professional background. Less than three may not be enough, more than three may be overkill. The top three points you’d discuss over the phone or via email need to be measurable, thought-provoking, and relevant to the company you’re contacting. 

 

To Your Success!
Rita

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act but a habit.
~ Aristotle

Who am I?

I am your constant companion.

I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden.

I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.

I am completely at your command.

Half the things you do, you might just as well turn

over to me, and I will be able to do them quickly and

correctly.

I am easily managed; you must merely be firm with

me.

Show me exactly how you want something done, and

after a few lessons I will do it automatically.

I am the servant of all great men.

And, alas, of all failures as well.

Those who are great, I have made great.

I am not a machine, though I work with all the precision

of a machine.

Plus, the intelligence of man.

You may run me for profit, or run me for ruin; it makes

no difference to me.

Take me, train me, be firm with me and I will put the

world at your feet.

Be easy with me, and I will destroy you.

Who am I? 

I am HABIT

Sound of Silence Part Two – Negotiating the Salary

You’re getting warm. The big day is on the horizon. You know they’re on the verge of offering you “the job.” But before they do, they ask you: “How much money are you looking for?”

May I suggest you:

1) Take a deep breath. Silence is your friend. It reads to the prospective employer as composure, not stupidity.

2) Remember one of the most important adages in the Job Search World: “He who speaks a figure first loses.”

3) Confidently say to your soon-to-be employer, “I’ll consider your best offer.”

Here’s why: Let’s say you wanted $100k per annum and you told this to the employer. Maybe she was prepared to offer you $120k per annum, but if you’re happy with $100k, well, that saves her 20k and you’ll be happy with what you received, right? Also, said employer may think you aren’t as experienced as she thought and may want to reconsider offering you that job. On the flipside, let’s say you said $100k per annum to the employer. Maybe she’s only budgeted to offer you $90k per annum. Now she’s going to rethink whether or not to offer you the job at the $90k amount, an amount you may have said “yes” to, except that by saying $100k, it’s the equivalent to saying “no” to a lower offer.

By saying, “I’ll consider your best offer” you take the ownership of quoting a figure off your shoulders and place it back on the shoulders of the potential employer. There’s a better-than-not chance that she will then give you an idea of just how much she’s willing to offer you, giving you the edge to better negotiate your salary. 

To your success!
Rita

Silence is the true friend that never betrays. 
~ Confucius

Sound of Silence Part One – During the Interview

Most people aren’t comfortable with being quiet and most people aren’t comfortable in a job interview. In an interview, most people think they need to barrel through with responses, as if there’s a timer overhead and if they take too much time, they’ll be eliminated. When asked a question, many interviewees think silence may make them appear foolish.  Maybe you feel that way, too, but consider the following:

You’re sitting at an interview, the interviewer has just asked you the million dollar question, the question that could potentially turn the tide for you and will make or break you as the ideal candidate . What do you do? 

A – Will you rattle off your answer because you think it makes you seem like you’re “in the know?”

B – Will you “um” or “ah” a response that comes across as immature?

C – Or will you remember that all the answers lie within you, that you know how to respond to this question, and that a small pause to collect and organize your thoughts will tell the interviewer that you are the consummate pro for this job?  

Trust in the silence and in the ability you have to allow the perfect response to rise like cream to the top. 

Here’s your success,

Rita

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

~  Abraham Lincoln

Here Comes Saturday

We are human beings, not human doings. This is the ideal for so many. Me? Monday through Friday (and a few Saturdays and Sundays), I’m a human doing. If I wasn’t, there’d be no blog posts from me, no computer to make my posts, no research to consider just what to post about, and no clients to help me afford doing any of the above. Nothing. Nada. Zip. But even the best of us know we need to take a little bit of time to diffuse after a crazy hustle & bustle week.

What will your weekend look like? Here are a couple of ideas to help you enjoy your weekend and recharge your battery:

Let's start with disconnecting the battery – turn off the PC and iDevice. Let the cell go to hell for at least a few hours. Get back to basics, back to the day when we’d pick up a book (made out of paper) and read it for pleasure, not work. Or maybe connect with nature. You say you have no yard? to make that connection? Go to the park. Go help an elderly friend or family member with a little bit of gardening. By helping another, you will receive one sweet gift: Your connection to being.

Find something that will make you laugh. Not to beat a dead horse (though that would be news-worthy), the negativity we receive by tuning into the news doesn’t do a thing for our spirit. But a classic Lucy or Seinfeld? That’s got to put a smile on your face. Laugh, and the world laughs with you.

Treat yourself like you deserve the best. Many people develop such a low sense of self-esteem when out of work. So what do they do for themselves? Nothing. And so deeper down the lowly self-esteem hole they go. Want to get out of that hole? Realize that you’re the only one that can pull yourself out. Not your mom or uncle or wife, but you! That doesn’t mean that you need to spend money; it just means that you make an investment in you – Give yourself a pedicure, a walk in the park, a second glance at that hobby you started twenty years ago. Just treat yourself the way you’d treat a cherished guest.

Have a weekend that makes you smile every time you think about it. That’s what I’m doing.

To our success,

Rita 

Reason # 44 on...

Why one should never lie on their resume: 

Confidence

Lack of confidence can cause us to do some crazy things:

Some people don’t show up on the first day of a new job because they’re sure they’ll “screw up.” Some people blow the interview because they’re so sure that someone better has already interviewed for the job, and they crumble. Some people don’t even apply for the job because they don’t see themselves as the “ideal” candidate, as if one exists. Sometimes we worry that we aren’t “enough” or that we’re “too much.”

If this sounds familiar, just know that the only person you EVER compete against in any aspect in your life, work included, is you.

And I’ll let you in on a little secret: It’s been my observation that often many of the people best qualified for the job too often fall in one of those top three scenarios. So the next time you have that pang of self-doubt, maybe you’ll be a bit more generous with yourself. Maybe instead of beating yourself up and “no showing” the job or freezing up at the interview or think you shouldn’t apply, you’ll consider that you may have those feeling because you really are a candidate of merit and will let that value shine. 

Once we realize that we are acceptable, very acceptable, we’ll realize that we can do more than we ever dreamed possible. After all, you are the answer you have been seeking.

To our success,

Rita

It is rewarding to find someone you like, but it is essential to like yourself.

It is quickening to recognize that someone is a good and decent human being, but it is indispensable to view yourself as acceptable.

It is a delight to discover people who are worthy of respect and admiration and love, but it is vital to believe yourself deserving of these things.

For you cannot live in someone else.

You cannot find yourself in someone else.

You cannot be given a life by someone else.

Of all the people you will know in a lifetime, you are the only one you will never leave or lose.

To the question of your life, you are the only answer.

To the problems of your life, you are the only solution.

~ Jo Coudert

Speak The Speech, I Pray You…And Write It, Too!

I just reviewed a resume of a sales manager interested in hiring me as a career consultant for a job change he’s contemplating. As a professional courtesy (and to show that I am just that good), I’ll do a quick “track changes” on the resume and send the corrected resume back to its owner for free, which I did for this fellow. Well, he reviewed my changes and said that I’m “just too nitpicky” for him, so he won’t be needing my services. No harm, no foul. However, when his resume is received, how likely is it that a company will ignore “a hold” vs. “ahold” when speaking about reaching clients or “quota” spelled as “quta”? Worse than that was his not highlighting his best experience first and leaving the weaker stuff for the bottom. 

Your resume has less than 15 seconds to impress someone and even less to be ditched into the circular file. If you want that interview, always remember that the devil is in the details, starting with your resume. Whatever you do, be nit-picky. After all, it’s your career!

To our success,

Rita

Monday.

I think the only thing worse about a Monday when you’re unemployed is a Monday when you’re unemployed and the weather is a sighing, eyes half-asleep, deep gray. You couple that with a cup of not so “good to the last drop” java and an hour or so of the national news, telling us just where the sky has most recently fallen and we’re talking turning that gray day into our blues.

Last night I caught a Joel Osteen sermon. I don’t care what religion you are or aren’t, Joel Osteen offers a message we could use in lieu of the “Chicken Little” news and certainly would be of benefit on a gray Monday morning. This particular message declared we need to think about having our success now, not down the road, and that most certainly applies to our having employment success. If we start the week thinking ours is a difficult task, then, at the very least, we’ve created an uphill battle for ourselves and potentially are declaring a self-fulfilling prophecy we are simply NOT going to enjoy. Joel said we need to wake up each morning declaring that this day may be filled with tremendous opportunity. I think that’s a perfect attitude to start each day because it has been my experience that we often get just what we’re looking for, so look for your success. This is not a Pollyanna mindset, a Christian mindset, or a metaphysical mindset; it is the mindset.

Decide what you want, which direction it lies and move towards it. After all, maybe come Monday, it’ll be alright, right?

To our success,

Rita

The greatest thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving.

~ Goethe

Lose the Ego and Get Some Pride

One of the best, most consistent ways a person can improve at work (or sports, marriage, etc.) is to let go of the ego. Ego can be many things, but it this case I’m referring to it as the justification tool a person uses to explain his circumstances. “I wouldn’t have been fired if the boss wasn’t a dirt bag” or “he got the promotion because he’s connected with the company” mask certain other possible truths like “I slacked off and I need to get it together and work harder” and “I’m going to talk to that guy about some of the key things he did to get promoted.”

If you can’t be brutally honest with yourself and ask yourself how you can improve your own game, then you’ll never recognize the truth about you, even when someone shares it, and you’re going to be left at the bottom of the pile each and every time; it’s simply a matter of time. A core element in true self-honesty lies in taking pride in yourself and assessing just what you need to do to improve yourself and taking steps to fix it because you deserve that. You do deserve that, don’t you?

To your success,

Rita

Million Dollar Attitude

I met with yet another phenomenal person looking for work. She was laid off from her last position about three months ago, is a single mom of three, and is quickly running out of financial resources. She said she really didn’t like the company she worked for, nor her supervisor, could see this layoff coming, but chose to ignore it.

I’ve worked with others with a similar story, but this woman is bright-eyed, has a enthusiastic smile, and a winning attitude. What did she say that stood out the most?

It was something to the effect that she knows she and her kids will be fine and she’s been offered the opportunity to learn from this past company & the layoff, and she’ll move forward professionally better than ever. 

Whoever hires her will be lucky!

To her and your success,
Rita

To be interested in the changing seasons is a happier state of mind than to be hopelessly in love with spring.

~ George Santayana

STAR Interviewing

One of the newer models of interviewing techniques is known as S.T.A.R. The acronym stands for Situation or Task, the Action you took, and your Results. To break it down:  

In the Situation, you’d describe a specific task or project you needed to accomplish, with enough detail to make the situation clear to the interviewer. The situation could be professional, volunteer, or whatever you feel will showcase your skill or ability.   

The Action portion is where you and your actions to handle the situation shine. The operative word here is YOU, not the group you worked with or anyone other than you and what you specifically did.

Results – What did you accomplish? What was/were the end result(s).  

An example of a STAR question could be, “Give me an example of how you dealt with a difficult customer” or “Tell me about a time you had to make a difficult choice at work. What did you do?”

Be familiar with this technique and think of various examples, but don’t memorize your answers.

A great pdf with more info can be found here: http://www.drexel.edu/SCDC/resources/STAR%20Method.pdf

Here’s to your success!
Rita
When the world says, "Give up,"
Hope whispers, "Try it one more time."

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. ~ Albert Einstein

So here’s the reality: Out of work with a joke of an employment check coming in. Bills are also coming in and piling up. And the mood is down. No comfort in knowing there are so many others in the same shoes. BTW: Shoes are in need of repair, too. What’s the feeling? Well, it ain’t swell. 

How’s this “ain’t swell” feeling going to serve me…or you? What can we do about it? Do you have a couple of minutes to laugh & learn? If so, please watch the following. If not, watch the following anyway. You’ll be glad you did. I was.

To your our success,
Rita