Thursday’s Thought: No More Colored, Thick or Fancy Paper

I don't recall exactly when the "shift" happened, but it did. One day, it seems, everyone suddenly decided to stop using colored, thick or fancy paper for their resume. It happened so quickly that there was never a "transition" period where I would get a mix of regular paper resumes along with the expensive style (colored, thick or fancy paper). Those of you that know me and my style might guess that I would "favor" the use of colored, thick or fancy paper for your resume. However, for some strange reason, not only do I not feel that it's necessary, I actually feel that they HURT your chances of being considered for the position. First of all, it screams that you are trying too hard, or maybe even desperate. It makes me think that you are lacking in skills and trying to make up for it with glitter. Secondly, it makes you look dated. It suggests, I am not hip with the new "rules" of job seeking etiquette, and I am not interested in playing nice in this sandbox. Being a rebel might be my recommendation for other areas in your job search quest, but the colored paper thingy doesn't apply in this instance.

However, I don't want you to lose that creative thinking side of your brain! Instead of getting creative with the paper that you print the words on, get creative with the content that goes on that plain white looking sheet of regular printer paper.

I still get the occasional resume on the fancy paper but it is from one of two groups: those who haven't had to look for a job in the past 15 years and recent college grads whose instructors haven't had to look for a job in the past 15 years and pass their "wisdom" on to their students.

I forgive them.

Tuesday’s Tip: Are You Riding the Social Media Wave?

The average teen sends over 2000 text messages per month. The average teen speaks a shorthand language that adults have never heard of and the average teen is well ahead of their parents on the the use of social media to interact with society.

If you have not given social media a valid try, then you are job cruising at a turtle's pace. Social media has opened up many instantaneous avenues to explore new job opportunities. But, since there are so many social media sites, where do I begin? The answer is not with Facebook; you can get lost in there and never come out! Instead, use LinkedIn and Twitter. Just start with these two (for six months) and then expand from there.

The key to using social media to help your job search is to re-frame your mindset from conducting a "Job Search" to conducting a "People Search". Once you properly network and utilize the features of these social media tools, you will have better "leads" for hidden opportunities and have a much better chance of obtaining a job than clicking the "Black Hole" button that job boards label "Apply".

One final tip: Since you want to try and have the same name across all social media sites, check to see if your name is available on the most popular ones. If not, you might want to tweak your name so that you have a start to building your "brand". To see if your name (or brand) is taken, check out http://namechk.com

Thursday’s Thought: Top 12 Reasons That Position Disappeared

I was so excited that things were going so well and I really thought "this is the one". Then I got the call from the recruiter telling me that the job has been placed on hold, or "frozen". What happened? Are they just playing with me? Possibly! But here are some other possible reasons for requisitions (job postings) being placed on hold?

1. Change in Hiring Manager


2. Budget constraints


3. Company reorganization


4. Future layoffs are pending


5. Project priorities or needs shifted


6. Internal employee surfaced and is slated for an interview


7. Too busy to interview


8. Ideal candidate has been identified, but not available until months down the road


9. Tired of interviewing candidates without the right combination of skill-sets


10. Decision makers went on vacation


11. Someone left the company and the Hiring Manager didn't want to loose that headcount, so a requisition was opened, but soon put on hold as a placeholder


12. Any other weird situation that is only explained by a corporate environment mentality

But don't get too discouraged because some of those positions do get re-posted and active again. If the Hiring Manager thought it didn't have a chance on being re-opened, then he/she would have just canceled it. So the best thing to do in this circumstance is to ask permission to keep in touch with the recruiter. Make sure you let the recruiter know about any changes in your job search to give them one last chance to act.

Tuesday’s Tip: 3 Ideas on How to Get Value Out of Job Fairs

Overall, I do not think you should attend many job fairs throughout the year, but I also do not want to wipe them clean from your job search plan. Instead of going to every single one that pops up, go to the one or two in your industry or one or two that you see your "target" companies will be attending.

Some ideas on how to make the job fair work for you:

1) Plan your route: Do not do what most job seekers do - go from booth to booth in order of the lineup. Instead, pick out 4-7 companies that you have researched or you know is a potential company that you would consider employment. Then, start at the far end of the row, and walk down the aisle (skipping over all other companies), and stopping at your destination. Recruiters watch out of the corner of their eyes for people that they hope stop by their booth, or people that they will try to stop and talk to. Thus, when a recruiter sees that he or she is your intended target, you have made a great first impression without even saying a word!

2) Prior to going to the booths that you want to visit, stand back and watch how long the recruiter speaks to the candidate in line and what they do with the resume when they leave. A lot of times, there will be a short pile (which is where you want to land), and a tall pile of "everyone else".  Also, see if they write anything on the back of the resume (this is a good sign)! If after your discussion with with them, you do not see any of these positive actions, then go back later.

3) If you feel the person that you talked to is not going to "represent" yourself well, then go to the other companies on your list and come back to that booth and talk to a different person. Walk up to them and say, "I already talked to John, but since this is one of my targeted companies, I wanted to ask you what you like about Company A?" This is provide you with a second chance to impress them (in case you struck out (like the NY Yankees did) with recruiter number 1.

Anyway, I am not the biggest fan of job fairs, but I wanted to toss out a few pointers and suggest that you consider trying a few out. After all, it can also be a networking opportunity not only with companies in attendance, but also consider talking to and meeting other job seekers that are there as well!

Thursday’s Thought: Why Don’t Companies Make a Decision Already?

So you're at the end of the interview and you feel things have gone great. If you want to "test" that theory, ask them one final question. Ask them, "Do you have any concerns about moving forward with me as the ideal candidate, because if there are, I would like to have an opportunity to explain anything that I might have mis-stated or not explained very well." Their answer to this question should provide you with all of the knowledge that you need to verify if you are going to (most likely) get an offer.

If they give you the standard answer, "We are interviewing other candidates, and will let you know in 2-3 weeks", then you are in BIG trouble. Take your coat back off, grab a seat and sell hard! Because you are not going to get that offer! In contrast, if you hear, "I am impressed with everything I have heard today, however, we do have additional candidates to interview and it might take us 2-3 weeks to complete that process. If you receive any other offers during this time frame, call me immediately because I want to have the option of acting sooner on this decision". Then you are sitting pretty, so stand up and leave with a smile.

So even though you know you're the perfect candidate, and the Hiring Manager even said so as well, there are many reasons why they delay the offer and make job seekers very frustrated. Here are my thoughts on a few reasons that you might not have heard (or even agree with):

Dreaming too big: They are waiting for a "Michael Jordon" to come along and save the day

Budget problems: They have gone over budget throughout the year and will not hire for a few months to smooth out that "overage" and not look so bad to their manager

Project behind excuse: They realize that their project is way behind and having 1 more resource will not completely fix the issue, so they delay hiring and point to the fact that the recruiter cannot find them a good candidate so that he/she can get this project completed.

Waiting for an internal to apply: Hiring managers always prefer to have the position filled with someone in the company. They don't have to do as much training and they come with a "proven" reputation.

Since companies are not perfect, and will not make perfect decisions, the best thing for you to do as a jobseeker, is to stay in contact with them throughout the decision making process. However, make sure you get permission to do this by saying at the close of the interview, "I know this is going to take a few weeks before a decision is reached. Is it okay if I contact you to keep you informed of my progress and to ask any additional questions that I might have?"

Tuesday’s Tip: Are You Keeping Your Skills Up To Par?

During your job search, you do not have a lot of time to waste. Every hour invested should have a meaning and a purpose. To help facilitate this, everyone should have a job search plan to keep you "task oriented" and "on-track". One section of that plan should consist of training.

Training can be obtained from a variety of sources. Reading books, attending webinars, attending conferences/seminars, self development courses, public classes and even attending courses in college (for free)! Yes, I said free college courses. How would you like to obtain the actual teaching that the students at MIT receive? You can! Go to this website to browse all of the free classes from MIT. Yes, the very well respected Massachusetts Institute of Technology (a top ten school).

http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm

These courses are the actual videos of professors lecturing actual students. There are 2000 courses to choose from. So what's the catch? You receive all of the training (and knowledge), but none of the degrees. The degree is what you have to pay for (and earn by passing all of the required classes). However, the goal for you right now, is to obtain the knowledge and utilize it to get you an offer.

Employers are going to ask you in interviews, "What have you been doing during your year of unemployment"? One fantastic answer is to demonstrate that you have kept your skills up to par! And learning from MIT professors is not too shabby! Make sure you "bridge" the learning that you received with the problem that needs to be solved at the company you are interviewing with and you are well on your way to making the short list.

Hiring – Sales Executive

Min Education: Four Year Degree Salary: Commission Job Type: Full Time Min Experience: 5 Years Required Travel: 25% Location: Chicagoland/work from home

To Apply: Email your resume in PDF format to Jobs@KevinCrews.com

Description:

The Sales Executive is responsible for the development of the corporate sales program. The incumbent has specific accountability for developing the client base, reaching specific sales targets, and building lasting relationships with the client.

Qualifications:

• · Minimum five years experience in selling Human Resource Services and products


• · Four year Bachelor degree


• · Proven success in developing markets and sales channels


• · Very strong oral and written communication skills


• · Experience in business-to-business (B2B) environment


• · Skilled in Microsoft Office, particularly PowerPoint, Excel, and Word.


• · Experience with SalesForce a plus


• · Must be self-motivated and driven to succeed

Responsibilities:

• · Develop and maintain clients nationally


• · Achieve annual and quarterly sales targets


• · Research market trends and report them back to the employer


• · Maintain relationships with existing customers in person, via telephone calls and email


• · Arrange meetings with potential customers to prospect for new business


• · Act as a contact between a company and its existing and potential markets


• · Negotiate the terms of an agreement and closing sales


• · Gather market and customer information


• · Represent the organization at trade exhibitions, events and demonstrations


• · Advise on forthcoming service offerings


• · Make accurate, rapid cost calculations, and providing customers with quotations


• · Attend team meeting and sharing best practice with colleagues

Thursday’s Thought: Working For a Company With a Bad Reputation – Should I Do It?

There have been many articles and discussions about avoiding working at companies that have a bad reputation (ie. The Enron's of current day), or large companies that do not return phone calls, or treat the candidate in a disrespectful manner. I want to go against the grain here (as I often do) and encourage jobseekers to not let one "touch-point" with the company sway your decision. In other words, I can guarantee you that if you talk to enough people in a large company, you ARE going to be mistreated eventually.

The number one reason why people stay (or leave) a company is because of their immediate manager. So, if you can see yourself working for that individual and like their image, then forget about what the media says about that company, how you were treated by HR, or anyone else that is not going to be a direct influence over your work. All companies are struggling these days (it just may not be public knowledge) and there is not one "super-safe" company to wait for an offer from.

Tuesday’s Tip: Does My Resume Need to Be Pretty?

Everyone has their own opinion about your resume, and if you ask 20 different people for advice, you'll get 25 different answers! Most are "right" that it should be changed, but clueless on what to change and WHY to change it. You must ask yourself if your resume is a History document of your career (which is the wrong answer) or if it is a carefully "strategized" marketing and sales document that makes it easy for employers to see the full value of what you bring to the table.

A goal for all marketing departments is to make their product attractive. Studies have shown that candidates with visually attractive resumes get far more more interviews. So by having the right information on your resume and taking it to the spa for a complete makeover, you will provide it with the "double punch" needed to getting you closer to that offer. Some things to consider when beautifying your resume:

Choose a layout and font that emphasizes readability (both in printed form and online).

Do not choose a "fancy" font (ie. cursive...) or one that is not one of the standard choices in MS Word.

Use a 10pt or 11pt font size. A 12pt font looks too much like a children's book and a 9pt font is too small for most to read. However, the "right" size of the font also depends on which font you choose, since not all fonts are created equally.

Attach appropriate job related logos, certifications, and job related pictures that will demonstrate "visually" who you are and the skills you provide.

The bottom line is that most people are visual learners, and if you portray to the employer that you are an "attractive" catch (both with quality verbiage and a pretty resume), you will rise to the top of the YES pile!