David Marwick – Page 5

WHAT MAKES YOU STAND OUT

WRITTEN BY DAVID MARWICK FOR KEMPMILLJOBASSIST ON 07 APRIL 2017 Let’s say you saw a job opening last week that appealed to you and you submitted your resume. It’s safe to assume that you’re not the only person who applied. Perhaps 10 — or 500 — other people also applied. Therefore, it is critical that your resume stands out. To do so, it’s important to demonstrate the contributions that made you stand out in your previous and current jobs. What you accomplished in the past can help the employer assess what you can contribute in the future. Here are two ways to think about defining your those contributions. First, in every job, there is a way to distinguish the top performers from the rest. How can you demonstrate that you were a top performer? Second, if an employer is interviewing you and other people with similar resumes, how would you convince that employer to hire you over the other candidates? In some cases, your contributions are easy to define and quantify; for example, increasing sales or reduced costs. In other cases, your contributions may be harder to define, much less quantify; for example, strengthening a company’s brand or improving relations with a key client. Defining Your Accomplishments Ira Ziff and Robyn Barsky’s web site (see below for the URL) recommends putting the accomplishments in your resume through two filters: a results filter (What did you accomplish?) and an importance filter (Who cares?). For the results filter, ask yourself whether you accomplished any of the following or similar results. Did you: Contribute to decreasing costs? Contribute to increasing sales or profits? Contribute to an increase in market share? Contribute to an improvement in customer/client satisfaction? Enhance a company’s brand’s image or reputation? Strengthen the operational capacity of a team or an organization? Help transform a system/process, team, or project? Support management and/or better decision making? Change expectations and/or perceptions about something? Mitigate any risks for a department, employer, or client? Uncover or reveal vulnerabilities in a process, product, or service? Help resolve a problem? Then, ask yourself why this result was important and who benefited from it (for example, your team, division, or company). This is the importance filter. CAR Statements An excellent way to explain your contributions is through “CAR statements.” CAR stands for Challenge (what challenge were you facing?), Action (what action did you take?), and Result (what result did you achieve?). (Such statements may also be called CCAR statements — Context, Challenge, Action, and Result — or STAR statements — Situation, Task, Action, and Result). Here are examples from three fields: Nursing: Improved HCAPS scores from 6 percent to 14 percent over six months by piloting hourly nursing protocols and establishing new patient pain management standards. In this example, the Challenge was low HCAPS scores (6 percent). The Actions were (a) piloting hourly nursing protocols and (b) establishing new patient pain- management standards. The Result was a notable improvement (to 14 percent) in HCAPS scores over a short period of time. Marketing: Developed reading program and marketing partnership with Fortune 50 retailer, enabling the firm to gain significant goodwill and resulting in sales of 16,000 tickets. In this example, the implicit Challenge was developing ways to (a) generate goodwill for the firm and (b) sell tickets. The Action was developing a reading program and marketing partnership. The Results were (a) goodwill for the firm and (b) the sale of 16,000 tickets. Finance: Reduced proportion of overdue balances from 20 percent to 12 percent over nine months by using Excel to analyze characteristics of late payers and develop new approaches for such firms. In this example, the Challenge was a high proportion (20 percent) of overdue balances. The Actions were (a) analyzing the characteristics of late payers and (b) developing new approaches for them. The Result was a significant reduction (to 12 percent) in the proportion of overdue balances. CAR statements are not only the backbone of a strong resume. They can also be powerful selling points in an interview. For further reading: Material on defining your “so what?” may be found at Ira Ziff and Robyn Barsky’s web site. Go to www.GetWhatYouSet.com, then click on “resume + pitch.” Sample resumes for various professions may be found at http://chameleonresumes.com/executive-resume-samples/ Dan Butcher, “8 Tricks for Showcasing Accomplishments on Your Resume,” June 1, 2016, www.news.efinancialcareers.com David Marwick is KempMillJobAssist’s workshop coordinator. He studied economics at George Washington University and worked as an economist for George Washington University and the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

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WHEN YOUR INTERVIEW ‘REALLY’ ENDS

WRITTEN BY DAVID MARWICK FOR KEMPMILLJOBASSIST ON 16 MARCH 2017. Just as your real job interview begins well before your formal interview, which we discussed in the previous column, so too your interview does not end when you leave the interviewer’s office. Rather, your real interview continues through your follow-up actions. At a minimum, you don’t want to burn any bridges by being pushy. Beyond that, through the steps listed below, you can improve your chances of being hired. Confirm next steps. Before you leave the interviewer’s office, you should ask about the next steps in the hiring process and the timing of those steps. If you have not heard from the company within the stated time frame, it is okay for you to contact the company and ask about it. It is very important that you respect the time frame stated by the company and do not appear pushy (examples: calling to check in before the agreed-upon date, or calling frequently). Thank-you notes. You should write a thank-you note to everyone who interviewed you. While hand-written notes were once the standard, emails are now the norm. They should be sent within a day of your interview. Between the U.S. Postal Service and a company’s mail room, snail mail can take days to make it to the intended recipient and the hiring process may have advanced quite a bit by then. Emails, on the other hand, arrive almost immediately. Thank-you notes can serve three purposes: You thank the interviewer(s) for meeting with you and reference one or more points you discussed. You restate, briefly, why you think you are a good fit for the job. If you did not respond well to a specific question, you can provide a better answer. For example, “When you asked me about x, I wish I had mentioned y.” Response to a rejection. Even after a company informs you that they picked someone else for the opening, all is not lost. You should craft a letter which: expresses your thanks, again, for the opportunity to interview with that company, briefly restates, again, why you think you would be a good fit, and expresses that if a similar opportunity becomes available, you hope to be considered. If the candidate who was hired turns down the job and the company does not want to start the search process from the beginning (which entails a new batch of resumes to review, candidates to interview and other time-consuming tasks), they may pick you to fill the vacancy. Bottom line: Your interview continues even after you leave the interviewer’s office. For further reading: “Five Real-Life Examples of Job Seekers Hurt or Helped by Their Thank-You Notes,” by Caroline Ceniza-Levine (Forbes.com) “Why Bother with a Thank-You Letter?” by Alex Freund (www.landingexpert.com) “I Had My Interview. Now What? five Post-Interview Tips” by Kristin Sherry (LinkedIn) “The letter to write when you don’t get the job” by Lisa Vaas (www.theladders.com) David Marwick is KempMillJobAssist’s workshop coordinator. He studied economics at George Washington University and worked as an economist for George Washington University and the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

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WHEN YOUR INTERVIES ‘REALLY’ BEGINS

Interviewing, Job Search Articles and tools / March 7, 2017

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WRITTEN BY DAVID MARWICK FOR KEMPMILLJOBASSIST ON 02 MARCH 2017. Your interview for a new job does not begin when you sit down with your prospective employer’s hiring manager. That’s your formal interview. Your real interview includes everything a prospective employer can learn about you before your formal interview. Cover letter and resume. Expect an employer to review your cover letter and resume with no tolerance for typos and jargon, and to compare these documents for consistency. To protect yourself, you should carefully review these documents. Even better, have two other people review these materials–one, an expert proofreader; the other, someone who knows your industry. Social media. Expect an employer to check your social media– such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter– and to “Google” you. To protect yourself, you should scrub all your social media, to make sure there is nothing potentially incriminating for an employer to find. This includes Googling yourself first and fixing anything that could be a problem. For example, one client learned– for the first time–about a second cousin with the same name who had very different “cultural” tastes. Credit history. It’s likely that the company will check your credit score and/or credit history. An employer may reason that if you are not responsible with your own money, you may not be responsible on the job. Behavior while waiting. Expect your behavior before your formal interview to be noted. Expect your interviewer to ask the admin person about your behavior while waiting for the formal interview. Did you appear agitated? Were your phone calls loud or argumentative? Were you rude to the receptionist or others? An extreme example of this kind of vetting was practiced by Zappos, a shoe company known for its positive company culture. The company chairman explained how it made sure that hires were not only good cultural fits but also good people. “A lot of our job candidates are from out of town, and we’ll pick them up from the airport in a Zappos shuttle, give them a tour, and then they’ll spend the rest of the day interviewing,” he said. “At the end of the day of interviews, the recruiter will circle back to the shuttle driver and ask how he or she was treated. It doesn’t matter how well the day of interviews went, if our shuttle driver wasn’t treated well, then we won’t hire that person.” Bottom line: Your real interview starts long before your formal interview. For further reading: Louis DeNicola, “Why do some employers check your credit history?,” 03.29.16 https://www.creditkarma.com/article/why-some-employers-check-credit-history-1014152 Max Nisen, “Tony Hsieh’s Brilliant Strategy for Hiring Kind People,” 11.22.13 http://www.businessinsider.com/tony-hsieh-zappos-hiring-strategy-2013-11 Pauwels Consulting, “What (not) to do while waiting for a job interview,” 05.20.13 https://www.pauwelsconsulting.com/job-application-tips/what-to-while-waiting-for-a-job-interview/ David Marwick is KempMillJobAssist’s workshop coordinator. He studied economics at George Washington University and worked as an economist for George Washington University and the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

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INTRODUCING CHAMELEON RESUMES

Job Search Articles and tools, Other / February 16, 2017

WRITTEN BY DAVID MARWICK FOR KEMPMILLJOBASSIST ON 16 FEBRUARY 2017. From time to time, we will highlight sources of free online information that can help in your job search. Although these sources are typically for-profit ventures, to interest people in their services they provide some information for free. Today’s focus is Chameleon Resumes (www.chameleonresumes.com). Lisa Rangel is the company’s founder and managing director. Her free services include webinars, “cheat sheets” on resumes and LinkedIn, an e-book, weekly podcasts, and a blog. Although she states that executives are her target, there is much of value here for executives and non-executives alike. Webinars Rangel provides periodic webinars on writing resumes and using LinkedIn. The webinars last about an hour. If you sign up for an online seminar but then can’t watch it live, you can usually get a link to view it for a couple of days afterwards. You can learn about upcoming webinars by visiting www.chameleonresumes.com and clicking on Events. Warning: Rangel typically provides only a few days’ notice before these webinars. “Cheat Sheets” on Resumes and LinkedIn The resume “cheat sheet” includes pithy comments about various sections of the document, such as contact information, summary, work experience, education. Similarly, the LinkedIn “cheat sheet” explains the importance of having a professional photo and a complete profile and details the amount of available space for various fields and the more effective content for those fields. http://resumecheatshTheeet.com/ http://linkedinprofilecheatsheet.com/h e-Book “99 Job Search Tips from an Executive Recruiter” (available at http://bit.ly/16ClDsA) explains how your LinkedIn profile can help hiring managers find you, how you can find your own job leads, and how you can use Google to avoid bad employers. Weekly Podcasts Earlier this year, Rangel started a series of weekly podcasts, about 10-12 minutes each, on the theme “Pretend You’re Fired Today.” The premise is that even though you could be fired with little or no notice, you are not prepared to start searching immediately for a new job. Be proactive, not reactive! Topics so far have included: Pretend You’re Fired Today: My Story Behind the Podcast Executive Resume Trends in 2017 Finding Keywords to Optimize Your Resume How to Write an Achievement-based Resume Recruiters Will Love Tips to Write a Powerful CIO Resume Blog Posts Rangel frequently adds blog posts to her website at http://chameleonresumes.com/blog/. Recent blog posts include: Is Your Resume Readable on Mobile Devices? Frequently Asked LinkedIn Profile Questions Answered Common (But Important) Resume Questions Answered 7 Ways Recruiters Will Attract and Hire Talent in 2017 To learn more about Lisa Rangel, visit her LinkedIn profile at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisarangel. Job Search Nuggets are provided by KempMillJobAssist. Please direct questions or comments to the author at DMarwick@JobAssist.org.

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IT’S NOT (ONLY) ABOUT YOU

Job Search Articles and tools, Overall Approach / February 2, 2017

WRITTEN BY BY: DAVID MARWICK FOR KEMPMILLJOBASSIST ON 02 FEBRUARY 2017. POSTED IN FINANCIAL Introducing Job Search Nuggets provided by KempMillJobAssist, an all-volunteer organization formed about 12 years ago by residents of Kemp Mill to help their neighbors find jobs. The nuggets will include advice on job search topics, highlight free online resources, and answer questions of general interest. Please send questions and comments to DMarwick@JobAssist.org. “A company doesn’t care what you want. They want to know how you can meet their needs.” –– Lisa Rangel, founder of Chameleon Resumes Having a realistic perspective on the job market, especially about why a company posts a vacancy, is vital to success in finding a job. An unrealistic perspective can lead to frustration–– lots of applications, but no job offers. Let’s begin with two basic questions and answers. The first question is, why does an employer advertise a vacancy? An employer advertises a job opening because the employer has a mission to accomplish and needs someone to help accomplish it. The second question: why do you, job seeker, want to fill that vacancy?Possible answers could vary; maybe you want to earn additional income, use newfound skills, or advance your career. If your qualifications closely match the employer’s needs, the employer may be interested in speaking with you and possibly in hiring you–– but, to be blunt, the employer usually does not care why you want that job. Below are three typical mistakes by job seekers who are, to be delicate, less than fully qualified for a position and an employer’s likely response to those rationales. For the purposes of the example, this job seeker is applying for a position in the field of gerontology. What you say: “I have a lot of skills, and I’m sure you can find a role for me in your company.” What the employer thinks: If you haven’t made the effort to identify how you can help me fulfill my mission, please don’t expect me to take time from my busy schedule to figure it out. What you say: “I’ve always been interested in gerontology.” What the employer thinks: Your interest in gerontology is admirable, but I see little evidence in your resume that you are well qualified to work in the field, and I want to hire the best-qualified person available. What you say: “I don’t know much about gerontology, but I’m a quick study.” What the employer thinks: Why would I pay you to learn about gerontology when there are other candidates who already know about it? In short, when you make your case to an employer, always remember: It’s not about you. (For further reading, check out “Work Advice: No, temp agencies do not exist to find you a job” by Karla Miller for The Washington Post, January 19, 2017.) David Marwick is KempMillJobAssist’s Workshop Coordinator. He studied economics at George Washington University and worked as an economist for George Washington University and the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

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