Math was never my best subject but I did enjoy parts of it. I remember always enjoying the process of factoring whole numbers down to prime factors in order to find common denominators for fraction problems (weird I know, but true). I am often reminded of the factoring process when working with professionals in the throngs of a career change. As we sort through their transition, we work to uncover common denominators that highlight their new career criteria.

Guidelines for developing the common denominators are the new job descriptions and announcements for the type of position the professional is looking to transition into. We look for skills, achievements and experiences to demonstrate these smaller fractions in a way that will peak interest in the hiring manager. Our goal is to combine the fractions to create a whole number or in a job search would equal a dynamite resume and career search strategy.

A resume developed to lead a career-change job search must bring all of the fraction fragments together seamlessly in the form of a targeted, concise resume.

Any professional contemplating a career change can determine whether they have the actual requirements for the position the same way. Using job descriptions for the type of position you are interested in, review each past position in your career history and extract all nuggets that fit your current focus.

So, identify your focus, use job descriptions to determine what to leave in and highlight and what to leave out. Build and polish your resume so that it can brilliantly stand alone as a whole number and get you the interviews you deserve.

Shine on Job Seekers!

Most of my clients are experienced professionals in their 40’s or 50’s and come to me in the throngs of a failed job search. Usually their career has progressed easily through internal promotions or word of mouth referrals. Now faced with a struggling economy and a new job search arena, they feel unsure and even fearful of the challenge before them.

Suddenly they are 6 years old again and afraid to step off their bed for fear something is waiting underneath. Too afraid to look, they sit on their bed waiting for their mom to appear, then begs her to check for a safe path.

As adults, the wait for someone to come and hold your hand, help you look under the bed, and calm your fears might be a long one. There is help of course, in the form of certified career coaches and resume writers that are qualified to help with the process. We come with a flashlight and often a hug to light the way and rebuild confidence.

For those job seekers that want to overcome their fears themselves and succeed in a 21^st century job search, the most important tip I can offer is to get educated. Things don’t seem as scary when you know how something works, what to expect and which strategies to use to succeed. Doing nothing only makes the fears grow and immobilizes you even longer. If you are like most job seekers, you really can’t afford to allow the fear of the unknown to threaten you and often your family’s wellbeing and safety for too long.

“…the only thing to Fear is Fear itself.” ~ FDR

It isn’t finding a job that is fearful, it is not knowing how to find a job and not knowing where to look that holds people back. So how do you educate yourself? You start small. While you are beginning your job search make sure to read blogs, articles and books on successful job search strategies – it will save a lot of pain and suffering!

While you are educating yourself, realize what type of job you are looking for and begin researching companies that support that kind of a position. Research 5 – 10 companies to find out their current needs, goals, culture and whether it is a company you would like to work for. If none seem to fit find, 5 -10 more and do it again. When you have located several companies that do seem to fit, have your resume written to specifically answer and solve the problems of those companies, targeting their needs using your career history to back up your abilities.

You can find these companies and contacts using LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other online networking communities. Or you can work offline using the phone, knocking on doors and communicating face-to-face. I think a combination of the two works best. Finding contacts that can refer you directly to the hiring manager will put your resume on the top of the pile – every time!

If you are uncomfortable with communicating or networking with new contacts researching the contacts will help you feel more comfortable and give you specific content to use as ice breaker conversation. Find a few contacts for each company you have researched. Find out something you have in common such as, did you attend the same college, work at the same company, know mutual friends, or have similar outside interests; pets, sports, or volunteer activities? Even just by knowing their history will help to generate interesting conversation.

Doing your homework, having questions prepared and knowing the background of your potential targets will help you gently engage these new contacts. Your preparation can open doors to new connections, friendships and referrals. Remember to say and write thank you letters to your contacts and ask if you can reciprocate the assistance in some way.

The more you know the easier it will be to take that leap of faith, trust your preparation and look under the bed. You might be surprised to find a new job hiding under there!

5 Tips to Make the Most of Your Meandering Work History

Each individual is different of course, but those with a history of job hopping might find resistance by hiring managers looking for candidates that will remain loyal to their company as the economy works to recover.

I recently encountered such a client who was concerned with his resume and interview options because of the wide range of jobs he has had over the past 15 years.  We discussed strategies and decided that it would be best if we identified the skills and requirements of his current job search and focused the resume on those criteria.

Passionate about the career and direction he has chosen, he wanted to do what ever he could to make sure this issue was addressed in the best way possible.

Five quick tips I offered include:

1. Determine the crucial transferable skills, experience, and requirements of the current career focus. Investigate what education, certification, skills, experience and other requirements are expected when pursuing the chosen position. Research targeted companies to uncover the culture, values and expectations of the company for further use in your resume. Check out the job descriptions on a few job boards to get the full understanding of what will be expected in that role.
2. Build your resume with the new career focus in mind. Determine which transferable skills and experiences to mine from each past position. Showcase these skills in the resume by knowing what the reader is looking for and boldly providing examples of the sought skills.
3. Show commonalities between jobs to increase the look of a strategically planned background. If you are seeking a position in an industry you have worked in before, make sure to show the total number of years in the industry to give your experience more credibility. Also, highlight the repeat use of transferable skills in your past positions such as customer service, IT, leadership, training, or management.
4. Prepare a few answers ahead of time for interview questions pertaining to your work history. First and foremost, always be honest. Be sure to communicate to the interviewer that the strength of the skills and achievements you developed has led you to your ability to succeed at the targeted position. Convey your passion, interest and excitement for a chance to work with their company or in the particular position.
5. Use those past positions to regain contacts, make new connections and build your network. A varied history can actually have an advantage over someone who has been in the same industry for 20+ years with like minded professionals. Use the diversity of your background to expand your networks and opportunities into areas that might have normally seemed too remote.

For my client and other job hoppers to succeed, use your vast experience to address the needs and expectations of the targeted position or company by building your resume to showcase your value toward those needs. What can you offer that will help them or fill a need? Promote that value and you will get noticed regardless of your job hopping past.

Job seekers looking for information, experts and direction, will definitely find it at this week’s blog review. I am excited to share with you CareerRocketeer.com, a new site that offers top-quality career search, career development and personal branding information.

Many of you have already heard of it due to its rapid growth and escalating reputation. I first became aware of the CareerRocketeer LinkedIn group last fall and was immediately impressed with the membership, discussions and information being shared. Its following grew quickly and soon the LinkedIn group beckoned for a site of its’ own. This past May, the CareerRocketeer blog was launched as a broader platform for the LinkedIn group.

CareerRocketeer.com is the idea of Chris Perry, an MBA graduate from the Mason School of Business at the College of William and Mary and a career search and personal branding expert. Both the LinkedIn group and the CareerRocketeer blog have seen tremendous growth with more than 3,000 members in the LinkedIn group and more than 15,000 unique monthly visitors to the CareerRocketeer site.

The blog has several unique features it offers job seekers. First, it has daily expert contributors from a variety of career areas including resume writing, networking, social media, career coaching and personal branding. These guest experts including Harry Urschel (@eExecutive) and Anne Marie Cross (@annemarie), contribute weekly to the blog offering fresh articles, information and advice to job seekers. Along with the team of contributors, the blog also has many guest contributors offering insight through articles on many different career related topics.

The Profession Confession section of the blog reveals an inside look at career industry professions.  I was honored earlier this summer to be the first to contribute to this interesting page. Experts from different fields within the career industry answer a set of questions about their industry, their personal branding efforts dedicated to building their expertise, and a little personal insight into each expert.

With the enormous success of this blog, many new features are in the works. Two I can share are The Global Directory of Career Websites which will be very extensive and free to job seekers, allowing you to search for professionals by industry and service area. The other awesome feature is the Fair Frog which will calendar upcoming career fairs nationally.

I highly recommend CareerRocketeer for job seekers on the move that want to keep informed and learn from the experts. Whether you’re working, laid off, changing careers or just getting started, this site should be your first stop and with such current content, should be visited often.

Thursday’s Review

Finished a great book a few days ago and wanted to share it with you. It is an inspiring book written by an ex-corporate junkie that found and fell in love with being an entrepreneur. In her new book Escape from Cubicle Nation, Pam Slim has given readers an easy read that is packed with real, practical content.

Pam Slim provides an awareness for the reader of what to expect emotionally and steps to take as they plan their departure from corporate stress and trappings toward independence and the freedom to begin their own business. This book really highlights the stress and feelings felt at each step and how to practically deal with them as they arise with dozens of examples, including many personal ones to cement the understanding. There are also many resources to help get you through each stage.

For the entrepreneur, Escape from Cubicle Nation also focuses on the vital importance of life balance and keeping happiness and personal life at the forefront of each decision. If you don’t have a balance you won’t be truly happy with your decisions – know matter what they are. But, she doesn’t hold back on the effort that will be involved with the decision, it isn’t one that should be made hastily.

The book provides great ideas to help you determine your own unique direction and passion and then walks through the business side of building a business plan, website, marketing strategies and more. Having gone through many of the stages and steps in the book as a business owner myself, I love that she prepares the reader for things they wouldn’t even know about until they were hit broadside with it during their own transformation.

If you are in the process or even just dreaming of taking the leap to owning your own business, I strongly recommend reading Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pam Slim. This book gives a real look at the process, pitfalls and paradise found in owning your own business.

Saturday Evening Reposted

By Kris Plantrich, CCMC, CPRW, CEIP – Originally written for and reposted from CareerRocketeer.

In order to get the most out of your job search, it is important to develop a specific plan and use it to guide you through your career search. Developing a plan will ensure your search is targeted to a specific position; it will keep you on course and therefore will be more effective.

Decide on a precise target and keep it in mind during your resume development, job search and during the interviewing stage – become immersed in the process giving it 110% of your attention. A few tips on how to get started include:

Establish Clear Career Goals – Decide on the parameters of your job search. This can actually take some time for those changing careers, or returning to or just entering the workforce but well worth the time. Behavioral and professional assessments, research and even career coaching are often helpful tools to determine your career calling.

Once you know what you are really interested in, the industry, location, and type of company; you are ready to move forward. Be honest in this step because the rest of your search depends on it and the surer you are about your target the better fitting job you will find.

Develop Targeted Resume and other Career Documents – When developing your resume and writing the summary, work experience and achievements in the resume; focus every sentence on the needs of the employer. Include all keywords, skills, and experience requirements that are asked for in the job description.

Eliminate information that has no bearing on your current goals, it just takes up space. Keep the focus consistent in all of your career documents, particularly when developing your achievements. Tell not only what you accomplished, but how and the results of the achievements for the biggest impact.

Recruiters, HR professional and hiring managers are inundated with resumes and the only way you are going to get noticed is if your resume stands out. Let your value shine throughout your resume and cover letter by keeping it focused.

Launch an Intense Job Search – Consistency is key to your successful job search so focus on the industry, field, location and even companies you outlined earlier in your career goals. Find ways to bypass the main forms of introduction to a company. It is estimated that up to 70% of jobs are hidden – so get creative!

Find contacts through Linked In, FaceBook, Twitter, Plaxo, forums, groups, or any other online social networking tools. Google each company you target and read all you can about what they are doing and where they need help. If you are able to land an interview with one of the companies you will have to prepare even further and this will be a good place to start.

You can network in your own community as well. Get involved with community activities, volunteer and church groups, your kids’ schools, your own alumni, associations in the environment you are looking to get into and the associations you may have belonged to in the past.

Stay curious, creative, and motivated for the best results – and stay focused on your goals. Often job seekers hear of other jobs that don’t align with their career goals. It is understandable but when this happens you often settle and wind up unhappy with your decision.

Don’t bail on your goals until you’ve honestly given your job search your best efforts. You job search should be a full time job if you aren’t working and close to a full time job even if you are. This market is too tough to do anything half way.

Get Noticed at the Interview – So, you’ve stayed true to your goals and have landed a couple of really great interviews.  In order to WoW the interviewer and get noticed, you will need to reveal more than just skill and experience at the interview. You have to be the right fit for the company and be able to demonstrate how you can help them, be a value to them, solve their problem or make them money.

The preparation before the interview is crucial to understanding of their current involvements. They will expect you to know about their company – so do your homework. Think of ideas and actions you can take to help them with their current issues and use examples of your own achievements to confirm your value.

Your goals will guide you throughout your job search right down to the job offer. Does it match the goals you established before you began your job search, does it meet your expectations and provide you what you need?

Not all of your goals need to be shared with the interviewers, but they do need to be met by your new employer in order for you to find a truly rewarding career.

Without your career goals and plans you’ll likely be running from side to side trying to grab at anything that comes along. Your resume will have a little of everything, won’t stand out, and your search will find companies and jobs that really don’t fit your needs or wants. Stay the course, stay motivated – you’ll be glad you did.

Wednesday’s Q&A

Question: I was recently interviewed on an internet radio show. The show regularly features entrepreneurs and asks questions about entrepreneurial experience and their specific company. The first question asked was, “What is the most important thing to keep in mind when writing your resume?”

Answer: The most important factor is the focus of the resume. You’ll want to develop a very specific snapshot of the skills and experience sought for the position you are looking for. A concise resume will have what the reader is looking for, will grab their attention and will get the interview offer.

First, you will need to know what you want to do in your next position. Will it be the same as y our current or last job? Are you looking to move up the ladder or maybe change careers altogether? For some the answer will be easy and involve little or no thought. For others, this process may take a while to decide what job is right for you at this time in your career and life.

Once you’ve made your decision, determine what skills and experience will be needed to succeed in this job. In reality, you should already be aware of what the job description is if you are changing careers or even moving up your industry’s ladder. This is importance for your resume development because you will want to showcase the skills, requirements, experience and achievements that are being sought for the position you are looking to find.

Having a targeted resume is critical to an effective job search. If your focus reflects past positions you will only attract the same type of job. If you want to move forward you’ll have to look forward to see what skills will be needed for your next career and use your experiences to highlight these skills that will be used in your new position.

This can be hard for job seekers that have 10 or 20 years of experience in a couple of different areas or have really outstanding achievements that are not relevant to their current search. Their ego will want to include all of their best achievements even if they won’t really help to get the job they are seeking now. Including irrelevant information will actually water-down the resume and make it less concise, clear, and focused, and may even cause your resume to be over looked.

So find your target and keep your resume centered on this focus while developing your resume for the most effective and powerful document.

Shine On!

Monday’s PMA

This weekend and even this morning catching up with friends on Twitter, the topic of conversation varied but all focused on change. Change taking place in our personal lives and around the world in our professional lives every day. Talking with many on the changes in their lives, some were all for it while others were trying to control it, but all were noticing it.

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.  ~Victor Frankl

It is much easier to accept change and work with it than to avoid, deny, or fight change, but it usually takes a bit of fighting with it before accepting the challenge to change our selves – our thoughts. You don’t have to like the change occurring, but at least realize it is happening with or without your permission or approval.

You do still have control though. The control you have is to understand you have a choice in accepting and reacting to the change. You can fight it, be angry and get nothing accomplished or you can decide you will figure out how to use this change to get the most out of the situation.

In the case of a job loss, so many people are being laid off at the same time that it seems like know one has a choice. But individually you’ve got a lot of say in how you respond to your job loss. Most walk around in shock, disbelief or denial for a while, decide to take an extended vacation and then eventually get into the job search mode. Even once they’ve decided to look for a job, the effort – honestly, is pretty weak.

Then there are those that immediately accept this change. They don’t waste time in realizing there is no changing the lay off decision, but decide they have a choice on how to proceed. They use this privilege of choice, to make the most of their new situation and look at it as an opportunity.

These are the job seekers that find the jobs. Right now, it might take a little longer than say 2 or 3 years ago, but the motivated job seekers are still the ones landing the good jobs. Their attitude is louder than their words, because it reveals their drive and their confidence level. It is this go-getter attitude that will get their resume ready quickly, get in them touch with old contacts and help them make new ones daily, develop a plan, network often,  land interviews and get them the job.

So, your choice is to pick yourself and you attitude up and go find what you are looking for or sit back and watch others achieve their goals. I know what I would do…how bout you?

Wednesday’s Q&A

Question:  How can I find networking events in my area and what should I bring and expect.

Answer:  This question comes from a recent client who had always progressed into new positions by getting noticed and being asked to move up the ladder or to other organizations. Now, as many Americans are discovering, he needs a different strategy now.

My client was not comfortable with the idea of going someplace to “network” and wasn’t even sure where to begin. So we went through Google together and hit on 261,000 results with “Business Networking in Troy, MI”.

Going down the list there were local BNI, LBN and Chamber groups from Troy and surrounding communities. There were churches and colleges hosting activities and events too. We also found several independent networking groups including Oakland County networking groups and my favorite, Motor City Connect/MCC.

We then found smaller niche groups such a restaurant owner/manager group, a retail management group, a media group and a small business owner’s group. All this on the first 2 pages!!  With so many groups to choose from it wasn’t hard to get started. I suggested he try several and find 2 or 3 that he really liked and invest time in those groups.

The second part of the question involved knowing what to bring and expect at the meetings?

Attending networking groups can be scary the first couple of times but they shouldn’t be. Every meeting I’ve attended has been very friendly and helpful. Some places have weekly, monthly and annual fees, others are pay as you go and some are even free. All have their pros and cons, and most of the groups with fees allow visitors to attend for free.

When you go you should dress professionally, bring something to write on and with and bring your networking/contact cards. If you don’t have any yet – order some today! Include your personal contact information on the front; name, address, phone, email, web address, twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or any other information you’d like on it. The backside can include a skill set or bullet points of your value or achievements.

Even more importantly bring your curiosity and friendliness or at least responsiveness. Think of it as a party where you go introduce yourself and get to know the other person or persons around you. Remember you are there to meet new people and contacts and help other people. So, ask questions, get to know the others, have fun, and see if there are ways you can help them. You’ve got many contacts available to you that might be able share to help someone there.

 Some groups are very ritualistic others are more lenient in their order of business. Most will provide time for you to talk exclusively to the group, only for a few seconds or minutes – no speeches. Usually and introduction, greeting, 30 second commercial or a question and you’re done!

Networking is amazing – the people who attend are motivated to make friends, contacts, and help others so you’ll find people going out of their way to try and help you. Expect results. A computer technician I spoke with last week said his business has gone up 800% in a year! Appreciate and Reciprocate!

Shine On!

Tuesday’s Tips

Since I am working at the Womenforhire.com job fair in downtown Detroit most of today I thought it would be appropriate to share this with you. It is a information I have at my table when I work job fairs. When there I provide resume critiques, answers questions and just boost confidence for job seekers when I can. Most job seekers don’t enjoy looking for a new job and are not sure how to maneuver through the different networking opportunities such as a job fair. Hopefully these tips will help you succeed at the next career fair you attend.

Knowing which questions to ask will put you in front of the right decision makers and bring you more productive results. How you respond to questions and what you ask at a career fair, will give recruiters and hiring managers a great deal of information on your commitment to your job search, character and your potential as an employee.

Top 7 Keys for Preparation and Success at a Career Fair

1. Spend time thinking through and even writing out, answers to the questions below and other questions or information you want to convey – preparation is key!

2. If possible, find out which companies will be participating in the career fair and do some research ahead of time; it will help you identify the companies of interest to you and provide material to discuss during interviews at the fair.

3. It is a great idea to have business cards made with your name, contact information, and the position you are interested in along with several achievements, skills, education, or achievements that make you a great candidate. You can pass these out with your resume.

4. Arrive early, dress professionally and prepare to stay late. Make sure you bring plenty of resumes, mints, and a water bottle. Don’t forget to smile, be confident, shake hands, hold eye contact, and have fun!

5. Review the company list when you arrive and visit your targeted companies more than once to make sure you are remembered.

6. Visit with other candidates, it is a great way to get their feedback on companies, learn more about unfamiliar companies and share information, just one more vehicle to grow your network.

7. When talking with recruiters and hiring managers try and match their communication style to build a strong rapport, faster. This is a more informal type of interviewing so don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Top 7 Questions You Will Be Asked by Recruiters and Hiring Managers

1. Why Should I hire you instead of some other qualified candidate?
2. What are your short and long term goals?
3. Where do plan on being in your career in 5 years?
4. What are your 3 greatest strengths and 3 greatest weaknesses?
5. How do you work independently? In a team environment?
6. How do you handle conflict?
7. What is the biggest accomplishment you have achieved in the past 6 months?

Top 7 Questions for You to Ask Recruiters and Hiring Managers

1. Tell me more about the position I would be applying for?
2. What is the environment and culture of the department and company?
3. What is the management style of the manager I would report directly to?
4. What are the main problems or projects currently being addressed in the industry, company, and division I would be in?
5. What, if any, is the training and professional development received by new hires?
6. What is the hiring process used by your company?
7. When can I expect to hear from you?