Resume Tip #4

Resume Tip: When writing about accomplishments, minimizing a loss can be as significant as generating a profit.

Resume Tip: When writing about accomplishments, minimizing a loss can be as significant as generating a profit.

The economy is down.  Many companies are seeing declining incomes, lower sales and declining performance.  It is still possible to be successful.  If a company breaks even this year, and all of its competitors have large losses, the company would be considered very successful.  Look for aspects of your career that demonstrate how you performed well compared to your competition and include examples of this performance on your resume.

 

Behavioral Interview Questions For Leadership Skills

Hiring managers often focus on assessing the leadership skills of job seekers. To do this, many use Behavioral Interview Questions. A behavioral interview question asks the job seeker to tell a specific story from their experience, illustrating how they acted and the results they achieved in the past. The goal of a behavioral question is to predict how the job seeker will preform based on their past performance.

Hiring managers often focus on assessing the leadership skills of job seekers. To do this, many use Behavioral Interview Questions. A behavioral interview question asks the job seeker to tell a specific story from their experience, illustrating how they acted and the results they achieved in the past. The goal of a behavioral question is to predict how the job seeker will preform based on their past performance.

Below are a selection of questions targeting leadership skills:

  • Tell me about a time when you led a team with low morale.

  • Tell me about a time when you managed two people that did not get along.

  • Tell me about a time when you fired someone that was very well liked at the company.

  • Tell me about a time when you helped someone improve their performance.

  • Tell me about a time when you had to get your team to make a major change that they disagreed with.

  • Tell me about a time when you recognized the achievement of someone you managed.

  • Tell me about a time when you hired someone that didn’t work out.

  • Tell me about the most challenging leadership situation you have faced.

  • Tell me about a time when you delegated effectively.

  • Tell me about a time when you made an unpopular decision.

  • Tell me about a time when you took over an under-performing team.

  • Tell me about the biggest leadership mistake you have made.

  • Tell me about a time when you had to adapt your leadership style to meet a challenge.

These questions touch on some of the aspects of leadership. There thousands of potential questions, and it is unlikely you will hear any of these specifically. If you prepare for these, though, you should be able to adapt to a wide range of leadership questions.


Get our book on behavioral interviewing.

Other Great Books to help you prepare for Behavioral Interviews:

Inbound Marketing for a Job Search

I ran into a great article about Inbound Marketing for a job search. Inbound Marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on allowing customers to find you. Most marketing is outbound in nature. Post ads, cold call, send direct mail are all outbound marketing techniques. They rely on the company contacting the prospect. Inbound marketing relies on positioning the company to get found by prospects that are looking to buy.

I’ve written several articles about creating an online presence that you can leverage in your job search.  The idea is to develop a brand that leads hiring managers to you, rather than try to get their attention sending out resumes.  You can do this through blogs, webpages, social media sites, LinkedIn, and numerous other tools.

Building a brand that can help your job search can’t be done overnight.  It requires work over a period of months to be effective.  Fortunately, it doesn’t require much time on a daily basis.

I bring this topic up again because I ran into a great article about Inbound Marketing for a job search.  Inbound Marketing is a type of marketing that focuses on allowing customers to find you.  Most marketing is outbound in nature.  Advertising, cold calls, and direct mail are all outbound marketing techniques.  They rely on the company contacting the prospect.  Inbound marketing relies on positioning the company to get found by prospects that are looking to buy.

In a job search, hiring managers actively look to find the best candidate.  Most candidates market themselves by sending resumes in response to job posting – an active marketing technique.  This technique puts your resume in a stack with everyone else.

An inbound approach would be to author a blog or website on your industry so that hiring managers find you when they look for industry experts.  This technique also allows you to build relationships with people that can influence your search by recommending you to hiring managers.

A key reason why this approach works is that it is difficult to execute.  Most people will not take the time to build an online presence.  The effort required might only be a few minutes a day, but few will commit to this.  Those that do will standout from their competition.

Take a look at the Inbound Marketing article for your job search.  I’ve run into several people recently that landed jobs directly as a result of these techniques.  They work, but they take time and effort to implement.

A Cover Letter Without Complete Sentences

I read a cover letter today that didn’t have a single complete sentence. Each sentence was written without a subject and many didn’t have a verb. The letter was nothing more than a collection of phrases and buzzwords. I’ve included most of the cover letter below, with identifying information removed.

I read a cover letter today that didn’t have a single complete sentence. Each sentence was written without a subject and many didn’t have a verb. The letter was nothing more than a collection of phrases and buzzwords. I’ve included most of the cover letter below, with identifying information removed.

Twenty years of sales experience with a proven track record and many achievements to mention! Caring and compassion to provide patients with quality products is important. Enjoy running a territory as if it was my own business and exceed at building and maintaining both new and existing relationships to maximize sales growth. Extensive experience calling on key personnel within hospitals and surgery centers.

This letter reads like a resume. It is common to omit the personal pronouns from a resume. This is the accepted style. In fact, the paragraph from the cover letter, with a few changes, could be used as a professional summary at the top of the resume.

A cover letter is different. The goal of a cover letter is to grab the attention of the reader and motivate them to want to read the resume.  To do this, you need to make a connection with reader.  Cover letters are direct, one-on-one communications between a job seeker and a hiring manager. It should be written like a business letter, with a personal, but professional style. The letter above does not fit this mold.

The first sentence of a cover letter should be direct and simple. It should have subject-verb-object structure. I read cover letters routinely that have complicated structures. This just discourages me from reading the entire cover letter. One of the sentence structures I do not like takes a modifying phrase and moves it to the beginning of the sentence. For example, “Possessing 10 years of experience in the widget industry, I have excellent management skills and an ability to drive performance and cut cost.” I would prefer a much more direct format. For example, “I have excellent management skills, gained through 10 years in the widget industry, enabling me to drive performance and cut costs.”

The cover letter I received is nothing more than a collection of phrases. After reading the first line, my impression was confusion. The structure did not fit what I expected. Now, it only took a second or two to figure out the format and structure, and this may seem inconsequential. The problem with this cover letter is that my first reaction was negative and my focus, even if for only a couple seconds, was on structure, not the content of the cover letter.  The end effect was to cause me to question whether I should read the cover letter just a few seconds after looking at it.

It is important to remember that hiring managers screen large numbers of resumes at a time.  Your cover letter and resume may only get a 15 to 30 look before the reader decides to discard it.  This requires a structure and style that can be easily understood.

Historic Context of Our Current Recession

There is a fantastic article in the Wall Street Journal, Obama’s Rhetoric Is the Real ‘Catastrophe,’ comparing our current economic situation to past downturns. The article details several major economic statistics for three time periods, the current situation, the recession of ’81-’82 and the Great Depression.

There is a fantastic article in the Wall Street Journal, comparing our current economic situation to past downturns.  The article details several major economic statistics for three time periods, the current situation, the recession of ’81-’82 and the Great Depression.

The situation today has a lot in common with the situation in 1981, although that recession was a little worse than we are seeing now.  In comparison, the Great Depression is in a category by itself.

One of the statistics from the article that stands out is in regard to unemployment.  The WSJ writes:

“In the last year, the U.S. economy shed 3.4 million jobs. That’s a grim statistic for sure, but represents just 2.2% of the labor force. From November 1981 to October 1982, 2.4 million jobs were lost — fewer in number than today, but the labor force was smaller. So 1981-82 job losses totaled 2.2% of the labor force, the same as now.

Job losses in the Great Depression were of an entirely different magnitude. In 1930, the economy shed 4.8% of the labor force. In 1931, 6.5%. And then in 1932, another 7.1%. Jobs were being lost at double or triple the rate of 2008-09 or 1981-82.”

Our current unemployment would have to triple to approach the worst of the depression.  Last month, we saw a number of positive economic numbers.  I don’t think we’ve turned the corner yet, but we’re not in the death spiral of the early 1930’s either.

It’s important to keep some perspective on the job market when all the news is terrible.  If you are out of work and can’t find a job, it can feel like there is no hope.  Finding a job is tougher today than it was a few years ago – there’s no doubt about that.  It is not impossible, though.

Confidence is a major factor in a job search.  A lack energy and enthusiasm will hurt the impression given in an interview.  It is important to talk about your past successes and demonstrate pride in your accomplishments.  Without energy, enthusiasm and pride, you’re much less likely to succeed.  Self-confidence is often the most difficult aspect of a search to handle.  Losing a job can cause a complete lack of confidence, or worse, mild to severe depression.  Focus on your strengths and past accomplishments.  If you cannot restore your confidence and enthusiasm, seek professional help.




Remember, no matter how bleak the outlook appears, there are still opportunities.  In the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, there were a lot of people that started businesses and began hiring as they grew.  These individuals believed strongly that they could succeed no matter what the economic climate held.  Many failed, but some succeeded.  Below are a few examples of the companies that got their start and fought through the Great Depression successfully:

  • 1929 United Technologies (39th on Fortune 500 List, $54Bil in revenues)
  • 1925 Caterpillar (50th on Fortune 500 List, $45Bil in revenues)
  • 1928 Motorola (65th on the Fortune 500 List, $36Bil in revenues)
  • 1927 Northrup Grumman (76th on the Fortune 500 List, $32Bil in revenues)
  • 1931 Tyson Foods (88th on the Fortune 500 List, $26Bil in revenues)
  • 1930 Publix Super Markets (107th on the Fortune 500 List, $23Bil in revenues)
  • 1926 UAL (124th on the Fortune 500 List, $20Bil in revenues)
  • 1930 Fortune Magazine (Publisher of the Fortune 500 List)

Read the WSJ Article

How Blogs Can Help Your Job Search

Blogging allows job seekers to connect with industry professionals, hiring managers and recruiters. There a number of ways to use blogs to get noticed and find a job.

Blogging allows job seekers to connect with industry professionals, hiring managers and recruiters.  There a number of ways to use blogs to get noticed and find a job.

Write a Blog About Your Search

There are a large number of blogs that focus on the activities of a job seeker in their search.  These blogs give advice and describe the experiences of the job seeker.  As this type of blog proliferates, the effectiveness will decline, but it can still be a benefit.

The advantage of a blog like this is to generate traffic on the hope that someone that visits can help you.  The problem with a blog focused on your search is that the bulk of the traffic will be other job seekers.  Few of these individuals will be in a hiring position.  There are still two benefits to this, though.  First, other job seekers can give advice and tips on where to find leads on jobs.  Second, there are a lot of recruiters and HR professionals that search and visit blogs within their industry.  One of these visitors may be a position to help you. 

I found a blog recently from a student, Germaine Paul, majoring in public relations at Oklahoma State.  The blog details the job search experiences and lessons learned as the student approaches graduation.  I found this blog while surfing stories about career advice.  This is something I do on a regular basis as I'm always looking to stay current on new trends. 

Writing a Blog About Your Industry

You can write a blog about topics within your industry.  This can set you up as a thought leader and attract the interest of hiring authorities in your field.  Many professionals routinely search the web for stories on their industry. 

This effort takes time to be effective.  You cannot post a few articles and generate attention and respect as an industry expert.  To develop a following my take months or years.  If you are currently unemployed, this is a much slower technique than others available.  If you are employed but worried about your job security, starting a blog may be a great tactic to prepare for a possible layoff.  You can build relationships that you can leverage down the road.

Participate in Blog Discussions

One important element of blogging is the dialog between the author and the readers through comments.  Some blogs generate very active discussions, with readers contributing additional thoughts, questions or answers to individual posts.  You can build relationships with others in your field by posting comments on blogs. 

Remember to add value to the blog.  Posting a comment that is poorly written or of little value to the community will make an impression, but not one that will help your search. 

One benefit to participating in a blog is to meet professionals in your field.  You may find contributors that work for companies you are targeting in your job search.  These individuals can become resources and advocates for you.  Consider participating in blogs from industry trade groups, industry thought leaders and trend setting companies. 

If a firm you are targeting has a corporate blog, participate in the discussions there.  The technical experts writing on the blog will notice the active contributors and may assist you in your search.

Mistakes to Avoid

If you are posting comments on a blog, make sure you are presenting a professional image.  It is unlikely that the blog comment form will have spell check.  After you write your comment, copy it over into Word and spell check it.  This will help identify obvious mistakes. 

Provide quality not quantity.  One good comment a week is much better than a dozen poor quality comments.  Don't write comments just to comment.  If you don't have something to contribute, wait for another post.  You want to make an impression of being very thoughtful and experienced in your field.

Interview Tip #3

Interview Tip: Focus on how you will benefit the company, showing your key skills and the value they provide an employer.

Interview Tip: Focus on how you will benefit the company, showing your key skills and the value they provide an employer.

Your potential to grow into a new job is important, but you also need to demonstrate your key skills. Usually, a company will expect you to add value almost immediately after starting. Showing how you can do this will improve the impression you make in an interview.

 

 

Resume Tip #3

Resume Tip: Show specific actions you have taken and the results you have achieved on your resume.

Resume Tip: Show specific actions you have taken and the results you have achieved on your resume.

The more specific you are on your resume, the easier it will be for a hiring manager to understand what you did. You may find a less significant accomplishment is better to highlight on your resume than a more significant one because the less significant example can be explained more clearly and concisely.

 

Resume Examples From Global Sourcing Professionals

Six accomplishments taken from the resumes of global sourcing professionals, along with an assessment of the effectiveness of the accomplishment in selling the candidate’s potential.

Most resumes look alike, with little to differentiate between them.  Job candidates list their past responsibilities and skills. When a company hires a global sourcing professional, all the qualified candidates will have similar backgrounds, having had the same responsibilities and skills.  To stand out, a resume should have specific accomplishments demonstrating the past performance of the job candidate.  The accomplishments provide the sizzle that can get a hiring manager excited.

Below are six accomplishments taken from the resumes of global sourcing professionals. After each example is an assessment of the effectiveness of the accomplishment in selling the candidate’s potential.

Increased profits by an average of 32% after researching and identifying opportunities for volume purchasing with several suppliers, including reviewing fast-moving items and negotiating per-order agreements.

Assessment: This accomplishment is good, but could be better.  Increasing profits by 32% sounds like a good accomplishment, but it isn’t specific enough.  A little more detail regarding the profit margin, total sales and resulting profits would make the accomplishment clearer.  The candidate does a good job of showing how the results were achieved with the description of negotiating volume purchase agreements.

Cut on-hand inventory by 30%, eliminated $50K in costs, and improved cash flow by reducing quantity purchasing and maintaining quantity pricing of packaging materials.

Assessment: This accomplishment provides very specific results.  It is weak on details of how the results were achieved.  Reducing inventories is easy.  What is difficult is reducing inventories while maintaining or improving customer service levels at the same time.  This example does not address the competing priority of customer service, or show how inventories were reduced.

15 years consistently maximizing corporate performance, driving growth, generating revenues, capturing market share, improving profits, and enhancing value in domestic and international markets in the sourcing and procurement industry.

Assessment: In isolation, this sounds good.  Unfortunately, general statements like this are so common that they are often disregarded by hiring managers.  Accomplishments need to be specific and detailed to have the greatest impact.  This accomplishment, despite being very boastful, will do little to differentiate the candidate.

Pioneered a vendor management program incorporating proper vendor administration.  This program enabled accurate measurement of supplier performance, resulting in sustainable cost savings over life of supplier relationships.

Assessment: This accomplishment is ok.  Developing a vendor management program could be a great experience.  The problem with the accomplishment is it doesn’t detail the scope of the program and it doesn’t give any direct results.  The program may have been tested with one small vendor and discontinued or it could have revamped tens of billions of dollars of purchasing.

Implemented change of steel grade for forgings creating $350,000 savings in steel surcharges.

Assessment: This is a good accomplishment.  It shows a specific result.  The activity that led to the result is also clear.  The element that is missing is the role of the candidate in delivering this result.  Did an engineer identify a cheaper material and the buyer just followed the spec?  Or, did the buyer identify the opportunity and take it to engineering and operations for approval?  The first situation isn’t really an accomplishment, while the second could be very impressive.

Consistently ranked in the top quarter of branch offices in Productivity and Cost Per Load.

Assessment: This accomplishment is not very specific, but is still good.  The element  that is noteworthy is the ranking.  Showing a performance measure relative to similar operations can help demonstrate the quality of the performance.

Soft Skills in Global Sourcing Roles

Technical expertise is critical to landing a global sourcing position, but the most successful candidates will demonstrate combination of technical expertise and soft skills.

Technical expertise is critical to landing a global sourcing position. The challenges in sourcing roles require skill and experience to be successful.  These challenges constantly change with new economic and international opportunities and pitfalls.  In this environment, as critical as technical skills are to global sourcing, professional more than just technical skills to be successful.  Roles in global sourcing require a balance of technical expertise and soft skills.

Soft skills form the foundation of a person’s career, driving the ability to apply technical expertise.  The most critical soft skills include:

  • Communications Skills
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Teamwork
  • Work Ethic/Attitude
  • Organization Skills
  • Flexibility
  • Problem Solving Skills

All of these attributes play a significant role in every career.  In global sourcing, soft skills are critically important.  Sourcing touches almost every functional area of a company, and requires coordinating and supporting these functional areas.  Sourcing also requires extensive interaction with people and organizations outside of the company.

Making the soft skills requirements even more important, global sourcing professionals need to work with international suppliers.  Navigating differences in communication styles and cultural values can be especially challenging.

To be successful in a global sourcing role, an individual needs to be able to apply their technical expertise with their soft skills to reach the desired outcome.  Communicating effectively, by phone, in written correspondence, one-on-one in person and before groups will affect the success of a sourcing professional.  Additionally, being cognizant of culture issues can make or break a vendor relationship.  Adapting to changing market conditions and solving problems are constant challenges and require an individual flexible enough to stay in front of the marketplace.

As you prepare your resume and get ready to interview, include how your soft skills have helped you succeed in the past.  For example, you may write on your resume how you developed a sourcing plan for a new product rollout, and this plan required coordinating sourcing activities in a number of countries.  The technical requirements of such a project could be substantial.  Within the presentation, a little information on soft skills required to pull off this project can help.  Mentioning the communications requirements, the relationship building with new suppliers, the organization and time management challenges and the ability to execute this project so that it supports the efforts of other functional areas are all topics that will help with the overall presentation.

As you move forward in your career search, remember to include your soft skills in your presentation.  A good balance of soft skills and technical expertise can help set you apart.