Author: gcapone

Business Cards for Job Seekers

For the employed, carrying business cards is routine. When you lose your job, the contact information on the card is no longer useful. What do you do?

Business cards sit on the desks and are carried in the wallets of almost all professionals. As common as beaming contact information from one PDA to another has become, the simple business card is an invaluable tool. A business card provides an extremely easy way to give your contact information to someone that wants to follow up.

For the employed, carrying business cards is routine. When you lose your job, the contact information on the card is no longer useful. What do you do?

First, try to keep copies of your resume on hand. Put a folder with a few copies in your car and take extra copies to networking events and other meetings.

There are times when you can’t take a resume with you – dinner with friends, church functions, sporting events, and other social situations, for example. These events are also some of the best places to network and get help with your job search. People that know you are more likely to help you.

So, what do you do if you are at a picnic and meet a friend of friend that offers to help you get an interview with a local company? You will want to get the individual’s contact information so you can follow up, and you will want to provide your contact information to them. This is where the business card comes in.

Design

Business cards for job seekers need to be professional. Stick to basic designs. Graphics may look pretty but may not reinforce the professional image you want to create. The exception to this is in the artistic fields. A graphic designer should express their creativity on their business cards and resume in ways that would be completely inappropriate in other professions.

Provide full contact information. You need your name, address, phone number, cell number and email address. Make sure you have a professional email address. If your personal email isn’t appropriate, get a free gmail account for your job search.

Most business card designs leave room for a few other lines of text. Usually, this is taken up with the company name, job title and company slogan. You can use these fields to brand yourself with keywords related to the position you are seeking. Below is a template and sample of a design from VistaPrint.

Buying Cards

You can get business cards a number of places.  Online, VistaPrint will print 250 business cards for free, charging only shipping (between $5.45 and $25.19 depending on how fast you want your order). The free cards include a VistaPrint logo on the back. For a few dollars, you can have them printed without this. There are a lot of printers that can do business cards for you and a number of them have free offers similar to VistaPrint – so look around for the one that suits you best.

You can find a local printer to do your business cards.  The cost may be a little higher, but you will have more control over the design and may get a faster turnaround.

You can also try printing your own business cards.  Avery and other label makers provide card stock for business cards allowing you to print your own cards at home.  You can get these at most office supply stores.

Expectations

What can you expect from your new business cards? That depends on what you do in your job search. If you go to a lot of social and networking events, you will end up giving out more cards. Of course, giving out a card with your contact information isn’t going to land an interview by itself. If that’s all you needed to do, you could go to the mall or a parking garage and put your resume on every windshield.

What the business card will do for you is give you a tool to allow you to take advantage of a chance meeting. You may not have any chance meetings requiring a business card like this, or you could have dozens. The important thing is being ready if you do.

Interview Tip #13

Interview Tip: Your attitude affects your interview performance. Smile and make eye contact during an interview.

Interview Tip:  Your attitude affects your interview performance. Smile and make eye contact during an interview.

Having a positive attitude, showing enthusiasm and energy, and displaying confidence will help the impression you make.  A good way to do this is to make eye contact and smile throughout the interview.  Some job seekers get nervous and allow this to affect their attitude and image.  Be aware of your expressions and eye contact during an interview and you will be more success creating the impression you want.

For many job seekers, a lack of confidence interviewing is a significant factor in their job search.  Completing several mock interviews can boost your confidence and improve performance.

Resume Tip

Resume Tip: Listing awards received on a resume is a good idea if they demonstrate a skill or accomplishment that relates to the job.

Resume Tip:  Listing awards received on a resume is a good idea if they demonstrate a skill or accomplishment that relates to the job.

Some job seekers list the awards they received on their resume.  This can be a good idea.  An award from an employer, customer or industry association provides a third party validation of your success. Some job seekers list awards unrelated to the job or provide no information that explains the award.  In either case, it is unlikely an award presented without details or unrelated to the job will help the job seeker.

Present awards that directly relate to the job.  Include specifics, including your actions, the competition for the award and how your contributions benefited the company.  This will make an impressive presentation.  No matter how proud you are of an accomplishment, if it is completely unrelated to your career, it will not add value on your resume. 

Body Language in an Interview

How you present yourself in an interview can influence the overall impressive you make on an interviewer. Some studies have said the words we use only account for 10% of the information communicated.

How you present yourself in an interview can influence the overall impressive you make on the interviewer. Some studies have said the words we use only account for 10% of the information communicated. The other 90% is made up of you body language, eye contact, tone, pitch, pace and volume.

Can you improve the non-verbal aspects of your interview performance?

Absolutely. Your non-verbal behavior can be adapted to suit any situation. Individuals in the public eye, actors, politicians and salespeople, work on their non-verbal behavior. Some employ coaches to work on these skills routinely throughout their careers. Hiring a full time coach is not practical for most people, though.

There are a few basic tactics that you can employ. The first and most important is to be enthusiastic. In an interview, you should show your interest in the position. Speaking in a monotone with low energy will make a bad impression.

The second tactic you should employ is mirroring. Pay attention to the interviewer and their non-verbal queues. If they sit very straight and lean forward, adopt a similar posture. If they sit back and slouch, you can relax and lean back a little, although you should maintain a professional appearance regardless of what the interviewer does. Mirroring can be extended to speaking style. If the interviewer speaks very quickly, you should try to match their pace.

Mirroring is a talent and a skill. Some people do it very naturally, while others struggle. To be most effective, you should mirror the interviewer almost unconsciously. I’m sure you have had the experience where you met someone and immediately liked them and bonded with them. Usually, this happens when two people have significant similarities in their non-verbal communication.

Because our non-verbal communication is done naturally without thinking, it is extremely difficult to for most people to change. You can learn mirroring techniques, but they take work and practice. Many job seekers find interviews very intimidating and struggle to know what to say. Focusing on mirroring can make this a greater challenge.

Should you adapt your non-verbal communication?

Yes and No. There are significant advantages to a positive attitude, good eye contact and paying attention to the body language of the interviewer. At the same time, you should only pay attention to these elements if they do not distract you from listening effectively. Failing to listen will hurt your chances much more than having your body language a little out of sync with the interviewer.  You should focus on listening closely, providing good answers and adapting subtly to the interviewer.  If you do these three things, you will give yourself the best chance of getting hired.

Resume Writing – Text Block Size

One of the mistakes I see a lot of job seekers make is writing a resume with large blocks of text. A resume is a summary of person’s career and potential. It isn’t a biography. Unfortunately, some job seekers write with large blocks of text that are more appropriate to a book and than a resume.

One of the mistakes I see a lot of job seekers make is writing a resume with large blocks of text.  A resume is a summary of person’s career and potential.  It isn’t a biography.  Unfortunately, some job seekers write with large blocks of text that are more appropriate to a book and than a resume.

In the Military Resume Benchmarking Report we released this week, we reviewed the text block size of military resumes.  We found nearly 70% of the resumes utilized short bullets for writing about their experience. This is a great style for a resume.

For the research report we looked at three styles – bullets, short paragraphs and long paragraphs.  Resumes with long paragraphs had text blocks that were more than a third of a page long, with some paragraphs approaching a full page.  Short paragraphs had more than five sentences but were less than a third of a page long.  Bullets were typically one to two sentences long, but could be up to five sentences.

Short and concise bullets make a resume easy to scan and read.  Many hiring managers will scan your resume first.  This initial look may only last 15 to 30 seconds.  The goal is to decide if the resume is worth reading closely.  If your resume is written in large blocks of text, a hiring manager may not read the most significant elements.  Using bullets can direct the reader to focus on the most important information.

When writing with bullets, consider using titles for each bullet.  A title can highlight an important concept and draw attention to the bullets that are the most important.  Most resumes write bullets like this:

  • Implemented a project resulting in $200k in savings
  • Led a quality improvement program, reducing defects by 40%
  • Revised production scheduling procedures, improving on-time shipping performance from 96% to 98% while cutting inventory levels by 15%.

Adding titles can highlight the accomplishments and draw the reader’s attention to the bullets:

  • Reduced Costs: Implemented a project resulting in $200k in savings
  • Improved Quality: Led a quality improvement program, reducing defects by 40%
  • Improved On-Time Performance: Revised production scheduling procedures, improving on-time shipping performance from 96% to 98% while cutting inventory levels by 15%.

By adding the titles, the bullets have a clear purpose.  A hiring manager can scan just the titles and get an idea for the job seeker has done.

One caution with adding titles, bolding and other style devices that emphasize information is to use these devices infrequently.  There are a few job seekers that go overboard and end up bolding or italicizing almost everything.  This defeats the purpose.  If everything is emphasized, then nothing will stand out.

New Book Review

Read a review of our book, Power Up Your Job Search: A Modern Approach to Interview Preparation, from Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor Bookpleasures.

Below is a copy of a review from Norm Goldman, publisher of Bookpleasures.  To to Amazon to get our Interview Prep Book.

Review: Power Up Your Job Search: A Modern Approach to Interview Preparation

By Norm Goldman Published April 23, 2009

With the job market in the dumps now may be the time to brush up on your interviewing skills in order to stand out from your competition. A step in the right direction would be to secure a copy of copy Power Up Your Job Search: A Modern Approach to Interview Preparation authored by Executive recruiters Gary W. Capone and Mark Henderson.

Capone and Henderson are founders and executives of Palladian International-an executive search firm that caters to a select group of companies who wish to identify and attract the highest performing individuals in order to separate them from those of mediocre skills. They specialize in working with manufacturing, distribution, sales, marketing and defense organizations for management and executive level positions.

They have put together an excellent and wide-ranging guide which, as they state in their introduction, was to create a tool that would “put all of their candidates in a position to communicate their skills, experiences and abilities honestly and effectively, enabling our clients to make the best assessment, and in turn, the best hiring decision.”

In order to accomplish this feat they have divided their guide into twenty-six lessons including invaluable exercises at the end of each. Covered are such topics as interview process, interview structure, what employers consider important, developing a positioning statement, different kinds of interview types and styles, samplings of interview questions, questions pertaining to experience, skills, behavior, communication skills, career goals, company and industry knowledge, education, aptitude, career progression, compensation and even off limits questions.

One noteworthy chapter and which in my estimate is probably the most important one is Lesson 8, Star (L). According to the authors, this is one of the most powerful techniques in the course and relies on preparing powerful stories from your experiences. You are probably asking what is Star (L)? Essentially, it represents Situation, Thoughts, Actions and Results. The L stands for Lessons Learned. We are informed that if you use this format in an interview, it will facilitate the interviewer’s task in following you.

In addition, it will also help you to remain focused and arrive at a clearly defined conclusion to your reply. How often have we experienced interviews where we are taken aback by a particular question and end up long-winded and incoherent? By using the STAR (L) method we can steer clear of this trap. Fundamentally, what it all boils down to is describing the situation you are going to discuss, discussing your thoughts concerning the situation, what actions you should take, what were the results and finally, if applicable, what did you gain from the experience that will help you in future situations.

To put it more succinctly, the authors sum it up as defining the problem, planning a solution, implementing the solution and measuring the result. As they state: “It is inevitable that you will be require to think on your feet during the interview. However, framing your response using the STAR (L) Method will result in more effective answers.”

There are other chapters in the book that are likewise invaluable assets including the Appendix that contains a list of some of the most frequent interview questions. This book is indeed a weighty tome written in a breezy style that will help you to appreciate the interviewing process. Moreover, it will prepare you in presenting yourself in a way that will make you stand out from your competitors. Without any doubt, the authors have achieved their goal in presenting a well-organized guide that is “short, concise and packed with value.” Those willing to take the time to follow their recommendations and participate in the exercises will find the book a most helpful and priceless tool.

Norm Goldman, Publisher & Editor Bookpleasures

Individuality in a Job Search

Individuality is a characteristic we value greatly. Whether we are seeking our 15 minutes of fame, expressing ourselves through fashion or are proud of a small quirk in our personality, we are all unique and, hopefully, proud of our individuality.

Individuality is a characteristic we value greatly. Whether we are seeking our 15 minutes of fame, expressing ourselves through fashion or are proud of a small quirk in our personality, we are all unique and, hopefully, proud of our individuality.

Then, we start a job search and become automatons – little more than cardboard cutouts of robotic workers.

What happened?

In a culture of individuality, the resumes I read every day and the interviews I conduct look and sound the same. Occasionally, I find someone that breaks out of the mold to show me something unique about them. I’m not talking about their passion for fly fishing, an interest in translating ancient sanskrit or their record in competitive clog dancing competitions. These interests are unusual but I have seen all three on resumes at one time or another.

The unique, mold-breaking presentation that stands out on a resume or in an interview comes from a job seeker that understands and communicates some action they took in their career that led to an exceptional outcome. It is this experience, a demonstrated accomplishment delivering value to the organization, that sets a person apart.

There are job seekers that differentiate themselves with specific accomplishments.  In fact, this is much more common than details of a person’s clog dancing on their resume.  The probably is that many job seekers do not list accomplishments. We have completed two resume benchmarking surveys.  In 2008, our resume research indicated that more than a quarter of experienced job seekers failed to list a single accomplishment on their resume.  In the resume research report we issued yesterday, we found more than half of transitioning military personnel failed to list an accomplishment.

The Typical Resume

The typical resume is laundry list of responsibilities. There may be a  few accomplishments thrown in, but for most job seekers, the focus is on responsibilities.  The job seeker details all of the basic day to day tasks the position requires.

For some positions, the list of responsibilities can be quite impressive. A Fortune 500 CEO, a Brain Surgeon or an Astronaut all have demanding jobs with responsibilities that are tough to fathom. Despite this, there are 500 Fortune 500 CEOs, there are over 3400 brain surgeons nationwide, and by comparison, the 86 active NASA Astronauts are a very elite group.

Now, if you are hiring a person for one of the these three roles, would a list of responsibilities set these individuals apart from their peers? The responsibilities might do a little to separate candidates. If you want an expert in performing surgery on brain cancer, a specialist in spinal injuries might not be ideal, just as a space shuttle pilot might not fit a role requiring a specific mission specialist background. Beyond that, the responsibilities do little to separate candidates.

The Interview

In an interview, most candidates expect to talk about their experience, in other words, they describe their responsibilities. Often they do this in very general terms. The result is a confirmation and fine tuning of the information on the resume, but the candidates do little to set themselves apart.

Imagine the resumes of the five living U.S. Presidents, Carter, Bush, Clinton, Bush and Obama. Serving as President may be the highest level of responsibility possible today. A listing responsibilities would be incredibly impressive. Managed a budget in excess of a trillion dollars – leader of the free world – commander of the most powerful military on the planet. This is big stuff. Would you consider all five of these individuals as automatons that could be interchanged without a difference in performance?

How to Be Different

The key to demonstrating your unique potential is showing what you have done. It is your the presentation of your accomplishments that will make you standout. Your competition will have the same experience you do. In fact, they probably have more experience. You can still land the interview and get the job offer. The key is showing what you are capable of doing by showing what you have done in the past.

Military Resume Benchmarking Report

The 2009 Military Resume Benchmarking Results provides transitioning and former military personnel with hard data on resume writing best practices. The report identified common resume writing mistakes and recommendations to avoid these pitfalls.

The 2009 Military Resume Benchmarking Results provides transitioning and former military personnel with hard data on resume writing best practices. The report identified common resume writing mistakes and recommendations to avoid these pitfalls.

The 2009 military resume benchmarking study examined thirty-six separate elements within each resume. All of the resumes were from former or current military personnel, representing all branches of the military. Both enlisted and officer ranks were included.

The study examined the content of each resume. A few results stood out:

  • Employer Name – 30% of the resumes failed to include the name of each employer in their work history. Listing the employer name for each job is an essential component of a resume.

  • Job Titles – One in six resumes failed to include job titles for every position in their work history. Job titles are critical to understanding the experience and career progression of a job seeker.

  • Introduction – In the study, 90% of the resumes had an introductory section, typically including an objective statement or summary of the candidate’s background.

Based on these results and others contained in the report, Palladian provides specific resume writing recommendations, especially applicable to military transition candidates. Specifically, a resume should provide the employer name, job title, start and end dates (with months and years) and the location for each position listed. The resume introductory section should focus on accomplishments, not responsibilities. Resumes should be one to two pages, and 300 to 600 words in length. To improve the readability of the resume, short bullets should be used. Finally, the job seeker should provide the military rank, or the highest rank achieved at minimum.

 

Interview Tip #12

Interview Tip: Show your ability to make the hiring manager’s job easier along with the contribution you could make to the company.

Interview Tip:  Show your ability to make the hiring manager’s job easier along with the contribution you could make to the company.

Showing the end results of your work is important on your resume, but you need to present more in an interview.  How you work, including how you get along with peers, interact with your boss, manage deadlines and deal with changing or ambiguous priorities, is essential to your presentation in an interview. To do this, you need to show the specific actions that led to the results you achieved.

Resume Tip #12

Resume Tip: Other candidates applying for the same position will have a similar background to you. Set yourself apart with specific accomplishments.

Resume Tip:  Other candidates applying for the same position will have a similar background to you. Set yourself apart with specific accomplishments.

In today’s economy, you can count on your competition being as qualified as you are.  The candidate that gets hired will demonstrate the potential value they offer better than the other candidates.  “Show me, don’t tell me.”  Present specific accomplishments and examples of situations where you have used key skills.  Most candidates will speak in generalizations and look exactly alike in the hiring manager’s eyes.  The candidate that stands out will create a clear image in the mind of the hiring manager of what their performance will look like.