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Jump Start your Job Search with Positivity

Author and Speaker Nan Russell offers a simple and inspired recipe to jump start your job search with positive, proactive steps in just 7 days. As Nan states, "Forward action, no matter how small, fuels motivation, builds energy, and ignites job search creativity. It enhances perseverance, and gets results."

I want my clients to consistently combat worry, fear, self doubt, and frustration by making a committment to take action each day to advance your strategy. Whether it's company research, networking, informational interviewing, professional development, volunteer work...the key is to act and manifest positive change.

Check out Nan's full article and take action TODAY: 7 Steps to Re-Start Your Job Search Momentum with Positive Actions

As a career coach who believes in a pro-active search, I whole heartedly agree with Ford Myers of Career Potential. He shares some crucial advice for individuals engaged in the job hunt.

"Many people make significant job search mistakes and never even know about it. These blunders are easy to make, and they can cost you the job offer or lose you thousands of dollars.
10 Mistakes job seekers make...and how to avoid them!"

YOU, 2010!

Remember that old definition of insanity: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Well it’s 2010, and there is no time like the present to push the boundaries of your comfort zone by infusing some creative energy into your daily routine. No need to make lofty New Year’s resolutions just because it seems like the thing to do in January. I’m suggesting that you reflect back upon 2009 or further if necessary and examine your patterns.

Which of your patterns of thought and behavior have resulted in momentum and success and which patterns have knocked the wind out of you and left you feeling disillusioned and defeated? Then delve deeper and ask yourself a few more questions: “What could I accomplish if I were to focus in on the personal strengths I employed to score past achievements?” and “What are the possibilities if I were to engage these strengths in unconventional and creative ways?” For example, if you have been recognized by employers for the quality of your project management skills, what if you were to use these same skills to embark on a part-time entrepreneurial venture or volunteer at a non-profit and offer support to planning or development initiatives?

Here are a few ideas on how you can shake things up a bit and encourage a more creative view of life:

• Put on a smock and attend an art class or maybe grab your wooden spoon and join a cooking class.
• Stroll through aisles at the book store that you normally shy away from and select something new for your nightstand.
• Use a “buddy pass” and join a friend/co-worker for a work-out at their gym.
• Attend a self improvement or motivational workshop.
• “Get outta town!” Escape to the mountains or a beach for a long weekend…and leave your laptop at home.
• Buy a journal and start a “My Amazing Ideas Book”.
• Exercise your mind and grow! Sign up for a university course or certificate program.
• Dust off an old hobby or pursue a new pastime and add some fun to the daily schedule.
• Create a “Vision Board” and post pictures, cartoons, inspirational messages, action statements, etc. that reflect attainable goals.
• Join a new professional association, or reactivate a dormant membership, and attend a breakfast meeting, lunch-n-learn session or networking event.
• Invite a friend to lunch and encourage them to share what’s going on in their life.
• Seek out materials (books, audio programs, assessments, etc.) for exploration and development.
• Take a mid-week “mental health day” and tour a museum, attend a lecture, arrange some informational interviews.

Examine your comfort zone and challenge boundaries that may be contributing to outmoded, stale patterns in your life. Then commit to infusing some new stuff into the weekly routine. The key will be to reflect upon and assess the thought process, skills, energy, level of satisfaction, interests explored, etc. associated with each new activity. 2010 has arrived. What proactive steps can you take to make this your best year yet?

Some suggested resources for you:
Think Outside Your Blocks by Kevin Carroll
How to Get Ideas by Jack Foster

Refresh a Resume by Abandoning Outdated Rules

Everyone thinks they have a great resume. In reality most resumes could stand to be refreshed or even overhauled if they’ve been on the shelf for a while. You've become so accustomed to looking at your resume that you've likely convinced yourself of its brilliance. So set your ego aside for a bit and allow some objectivity to flow. And accept the fact that a true refresh of the resume will take time and effort. Make the update a priority over the course of a week, the job will get done.

I critique resumes each week and recognize frequent missteps you can avoid and common sense techniques you can follow to refresh your document. Here are several outdated beliefs on resume writing, along with some updated thinking:

Outdated: A resume should include a complete chronology of your career activities from college to present.
Updated: A resume is a business document and needs to be concise and on point. Avoid writing a career obituary with every detail of your journey. Choose your content for maximum impact, using a nice variety of action verbs throughout.

Outdated: A functional (also called a skills based resume) is the best format for candidates in transition, job hoppers and those with employment gaps.
Updated: Avoid a purely functional format. In theory, this format has merit but recruiters and hiring personnel hate connecting the dots of a functional resume.

Outdated: Use a general, one size fits all resume and a detailed cover letter.
Updated: The message that career development geeks, like myself, are trying to convey is that the resume is your No.1 personal marketing tool. It needs to sell you to each and every reader. Infuse two to four branding titles (job titles you have held or functional areas in which you excel) into the heading. Then make sure the resume content focuses on solid descriptions of your skills, strengths and areas of expertise; and includes strong (quantify whenever possible) examples of your work related accomplishments. However, when crafting the content to sell yourself, never embellish or lie on a resume, it will come back to bite you!

Outdated: Include a strong Objective statement to target the type of role and employer you are seeking.
Updated: If the resume has an Objective statement, throw it out! These are tired and outdated, even for the recent graduate. Objective statements send the message that “I, as the candidate, am looking for this type of role with this type of employer”. Brace yourself for this news flash; employers don’t care what you are looking for in your job search. They take the position that by submitting your resume, you’ve done your homework, and you’ve researched the organization and the specific job you’re seeking.

Outdated: Lead off with a Summary to outline the scope of your background.
Updated: Use a Profile section instead of an Summary. When creating a profile, include a short, focused narrative to describe the scope of your background. This is then reinforced with bulleted key terms outlining core skills and strengths. Rather than using a one size fits all resume, the profile section allows you to focus on a specific occupation/role. By customizing your profile, you’re creating a separate resume for each distinct position being pursued.

Outdated: Under each career position, provide a detailed list of your responsibilities and duties.
Updated: If you include a bulleted, laundry list of job duties under each career position you will bore the reader to death. Include a concise narrative of your responsibilities supported by bullet points highlighting your achievements. Selected achievements, combined with data on skills and strengths, communicate the value that you can bring to an organization. And this value is what employers focus on for selection of new talent.

Outdated: Stick to a one page resume.
Updated: A two page resume is perfectly acceptable, as long as it conveys strengths, expertise and accomplishments. Two pages of laundry list info and fluff is not acceptable. When feasible, include sections for Awards and Honors, Professional Affiliations, Community Affiliations, and Professional Development Activity. This conveys a greater scope and depth to your background.

Outdated: Craft a resume that is easy to cut and paste to web sites.
Updated: We have finally evolved from the era of the ugly cut and paste resume, and can now attach and upload a pdf or word file. Just remember to make the document pleasing to the eye. A resume should be content rich and visually appealing. Use formatting features (font type, bold, italic, underline, etc.) to draw the reader’s eye to specific content.

Outdated: End the resume with the following, “References Available Upon Request”.
Updated: No need to include this line item, it is understood. Prepare a separate handout of 3-5 professional references with complete contact information for each party listed.

Bottom line, any resume must pass the “7-10 second rule”. You have 7-10 seconds to grab the reader’s interest and invite them to read further. Follow these suggestions, and you will be well on your way to creating a document with fresh appeal and greater impact. Don’t be afraid to ask others for feedback on the draft of the new resume. And don’t be afraid to engage the help of a certified career coach or resume writer, as an investment in your primary marketing tool.

Job Hunting in a Tough Economy!

This week, a client asked me if he should put his job search on hold until the economy improves. A perfectly legitimate question! Essentially he wanted to know if this is a good time to look for a job. Whenever someone asks me that question, I respond with the same answer...

The best time to look for a job is when you need one (maybe you've lost your job due to downsizing or termination) or when you're ready for a new opportunity (due to burnout, career transition, a desire to master new skills, etc.). Most people underestimate the time and effort involved with a job search, so they put off critical prep work - like updating their marketing materials, identifying and organizing their resources, defining their network, and creating a profile (as a target) of a best fit job in a right fit organization.

Our presidential election may be decided but job seekers are left to conduct their search in an economic downturn or dare I say the "R" word - recession! Each week there seems to be some news story that triggers real anxiety about serious issues like employment, compensation, benefits and retirement. But we must push forward and not allow ourselves to be paralyzed by the evening news. Which means that candidates need to be even more proactive, more creative, more tenacious, and better prepared as they network, compete and market themselves to potential employers.

Let's also not forget about the power of positive thinking and that sometimes we do actually make our own luck. And if you're encountering some barriers and you need a fresh perspective, consider contacting a career coach!

Here are a few resources to review, dealing with job search and recession:

www.hrworld.com/features/top-25-recession-careers-022008/

www.careerhubblog.com/main/2008/01/72-recession-pr.html

www.cio.com/article/327613/_Secrets_for_Searching_for_a_Job_During_a_Recession_