Unemployed in Des Moines

John Stein gave a wonderful presentation last Thursday during our Unemployed in Des Moines Networking session. Below are some raw video clips of his presentation and the interaction that took place. Iowa Journal (IPTV) was also there shooting some footage to be included in a piece which will air this Thursday, February 11th at 8pm.

John Stein – 4-Feb-10 – Clip 1

John Stein – 4-Feb-10 – Clip 2

John Stein – 4-Feb-10 – Clip 3

John Stein – 4-Feb-10 – Clip 4

John Stein – 4-Feb-10 – Clip 5

John Stein – 4-Feb-10 – Clip 6

Unemployed in Des Moines Networking at Smokey Row this Thursday beginning at 9am.  John Stein is the owner of Stein’s Way, a learning and development firm based in central Iowa. During his program, we will read and discuss the article “The Importance of a Vision” and then spend time creating our own powerful three year visions, both personal and professional visions. We will then look at how to break that vision down so that it becomes part of our quarterly, monthly, daily reality. Finally, we will take the Clean Sweep 100 to determine any tolerations that might be getting in the way of our success.

The Career Doctor is Debra Wheatman. Debra is the founder and Chief Career Strategist of CareersDoneWrite. Debra and her team are dedicated to providing proactive career and résumé advice.

You have sent out hundreds and hundreds of resumes with barely a response. You reason that it’s the economy and some other factors that you are simply not aware of. How can this be? No response whatsoever? You have accomplished a lot; you were well liked in your last role and did a number of things for the company that even resulted in a promotion. So what’s going on? I will tell you. It has nothing to do with you. It’s your resume that sucks! What’s wrong with your resume? It may be these top five things:

1. Your Resume Is Not Results Oriented

For reasons completely unknown to me, people like to reference the things they are responsible for rather than the results they obtained! Again, this document is an important marketing and sales tool. The examples of what you have done with the corresponding outcome are paramount to ensure that your resume is considered! If you don’t reference how you drove productivity, revenue, profitability, or added value – some type of value, you will not be successful!

Make sure you provide the reader with the juicy details of how you added value for your employer. Here are a few examples to help you get started:
-    Drafted a full business plan, including the financial forecast to open a new profit center for the company, resulting in a 40% revenue increase in year one.
-    Conceptualized and implemented a team training concept, which reduced production downtime by 35% and increased employee productivity by 50%.

2. You Don’t Have Core Competencies Called Out

This is a quick snap-shot of what you are offering your next employer. This section is critical; it shows the reader at a quick glance what you bring to the table and what you have accomplished in the past. It will help the reader quickly understand the competencies you possess as they connect with the position for which you are applying.

It can be a bulleted list of key words that when scanned by a person or a system will be easily identified as your key attributes. Don’t be afraid to revise your existing, or add new competencies to meet the position description. I would not suggest adding them verbatim; get a little creative in how you write them.

3. You have Grammar And Spelling Mistakes

Grammar and spelling errors plague resumes! I once had a client who indicated that he put a plane in the ‘hanger’. Really, I thought – that had to be some closet! Spell check will not pick up things like this because hanger is a word, the wrong one, but a word nonetheless. Whatever the reason for the mistake – this is a costly error if detected by a hiring manager.

I would like to say that there is a catchall that will help you identify all errors related to grammar and spelling, but alas, I cannot. Of course use spell check. You should also read your resume backwards, yes, backwards to help you catch errors. I also recommend identifying a friend or family member that is rock solid with English grammar and spelling. Have that person review your resume to ensure that all errors are caught before you submit the resume. You should also consider getting The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, which will definitely put you on the straight and narrow with respect to proper word usage. You will still need to get help with the spelling area though.

4. Your Presentation is Awful

How your resume looks is also important! Do your dates line up? Do lines roll to a second or third page? Consistent and an aesthetically pleasing presentation will help your resume shine. This demonstrates attention to detail – an all-important characteristic. If your resume looks sloppy, what will the hiring manager think? Possibly that you are disorganized and lack focus to ensure the details are reviewed. First impressions are lasting ones, and you want your resume to clearly articulate that you are focused, capable, and able to contribute to positive and lasting change. Choose an updated font like Book Antiqua in 10pts, Cambria in 10pts, or Tahoma in 9.5pts. Times New Roman is an outdated font, so I would encourage you to use something more timely.

Either get your resume professionally done, which will ensure that you are positioned correctly, and all your i’s are dotted and your t’s are crossed. Alternatively, there are many templates available online where you can populate your information into an existing format. This will help you stay on track and generate a document that is consistent and pleasing to look at.

5. You Still Have An Objective Statement

Aside from being complete outdated, objectives tell the reader what you want, not what you offer. A resume is a marketing and sales tool about YOU. You need to offer up information about what you bring to the company – not what you want them to do for you.

Instead, start your resume off with a compelling summary. This is 6-7 sentences about what you offer. Since you don’t have a lot of time to make an impact, reference things that are unique – things where you made a sustainable impact. You can even show metrics in your summary to quickly demonstrate the value that you offer. Your summary is your overview about your key attributes peppered with an example or two to make a swift impact.

Unemployed in Des Moines Networking at Smokey Row this Thursday beginning at 9am.  John Stein is the owner of Stein’s Way, a learning and development firm based in central Iowa. During his program, we will read and discuss the article “The Importance of a Vision” and then spend time creating our own powerful three year visions, both personal and professional visions. We will then look at how to break that vision down so that it becomes part of our quarterly, monthly, daily reality. Finally, we will take the Clean Sweep 100 to determine any tolerations that might be getting in the way of our success.

Perry Newman, CPC is a nationally recognized executive resume writer, career coach and personal branding strategist renowned for his ability to produce marketing documents that garner an excellent send out to reply and interview to offer ratios. He is also an accomplished writer and public speaker, and the driving force behind First Impressions Resumes in NYC. For a complimentary consultation you can call him at 718.332.6130.

Over 75% of the job seekers in America have 2nd thoughts about their current resume. They want to know if it is a 20th Century fact sheet or 21st Century marketing document, and if it exudes an aura of professionalism or makes them look pedestrian. Also, most job seekers are stymied on how to improve their submit-to-interview ratio and how to customizing their resume for a specific job. The smartest ones seek out Subject Matter Experts to see what seasoned pros have to say. This is why Career Rocketeer readers keep sending me (perry@perrynewman.com) their resumes for a Free Resume Critique and asking me for professional advice.

But let’s be honest, professional resume writers do not all agree on what constitutes a great resume. However I believe I can put down in writing -and I will – that 95% of us agree on these two points: There Are No Universal Rules and One Size Does Not Fit All.

So just like wise job hunters network and seek answers from other professionals on how to improve their job search efforts, so too professional resume writers and career coaches must ask questions in order to improve the relevance and quality of their work.

Which brings me to this week’s topic: “When is it a smart move to Dumb Down your resume – if ever?

During the Q&A session of a national webinar I conducted last week, I was asked by an entry level paralegal job seeker with a Masters degree in Education whether she should leave her advanced degree off her resume and only list her BA and Paralegal Certification. She said she was told by people in the field that her Masters degree makes her appear overqualified.

My immediate reaction (and that of others in the audience) was to leave it on because a Masters degree in and of itself indicates value, whether it relates to the job directly or not; and this was how I answered the question.

Nevertheless when I got home I had second thoughts about my answer in this context and whether it applies universally. So the next day I posed this question to some of my Linked-In contacts to get their reactions. They ran the gamut from fellow resume writers and career coaches, to HR professionals and direct hiring authorities in different professions and industries. Some had an undergraduate degree, some postgraduate degrees, some were MBA’s, and some even had PhD’s.

By and large out of the responses I received the vast majority stated that as a general rule a Masters Degree should be included on your resume under all circumstances, and all agreed this is the case if the degree is an MBA. Most told me that it’s impractical to “Dumb Down” one’s education on a resume, and not surprisingly this group believes a resume is not the forum to address being overqualified. Some answers were based solely on the basis of academics while others were based on whether the degree left an employment gap on the resume.

If you’re also struggling with this dilemma, let me share a few of the actual responses so you can get a better feel on how it applies in your unique situation.

1: Keep it on, especially if you have a work history, if even a retail job, while completing your degree full time. I did my MBA full time while working a retail gig 30+ hours a week. Prospective employers were impressed by the drive I showed by continuing to work while getting my degree full time — especially since my retail gig involved training younger associates.

2: I don’t believe in ever ‘dumbing’ down educational credentials. In every job scenario it is important to show exactly who you are so that in a hiring situation the hiring manager knows what he or she is hiring. It is the hiring person’s decision IF a person is overqualified or not!

3: Speaking as a college recruiter, consultant and former senior business leader, NEVER omit any educational experiences. Completing any advanced degree or even a certificate shows your investment in yourself and your desire to acquire knowledge to do a better or more efficient job. Improving one’s critical thinking skills and abilities is never a bad move. The term “overqualified” is an excuse used by some managers to limit any perceived “issues” later in the employment. It indicates an organization’s inability to grasp the whole situation and underscores their shortsightedness. It can also be the easy way out when explaining a rejection. With so many people retooling and moving laterally or even in reverse to get a better shot at the top, any feedback that reads like over qualified suggested the hiring manager is under qualified.

4: I always go for completeness and transparency when it comes to the resumes I do for my clients. I encourage them to directly address the question that might arise (”Why would you be applying for this job with an advanced degree?”) in a cover letter or certainly in an interview. There are lots of positive reasons that might be plausible (trying to break into a new field, trying to fill in a gap in your experience, trying to find a job with regular hours since your spouse travels a lot, etc.).

However those who took the other side also in this discussion made a very compelling case for their point of view as well. So let’s hear what they have to say. FYI: As of now 71% said keep it on.

1: I’ve been in career coaching, hiring, and marketing for 20+ years… The only time your degree is really important is when they request a specific one or you are looking for an academic position. ALWAYS take off a PhD. The only legitimate Masters degree is an MBA, unless you are applying for an MSN, or MSW position, or a position that states specifically that you must have it.

2: It depends on the work history listed on the resume and the potential position. As a former hiring manager for administrative positions, I would wonder why someone with a Masters would apply for an administrative job.

3: I have Three Masters degrees Msc Engineering, MS, Finance and Technology and an EMBA and will be done with my course work for a Ph.D. this summer. Every small consulting job I got stems from my non degreed resume. Most jobs I have applied for with my full degree, I have been interviewed by people who become defensive and say “you are not Strategic enough”, or “you are not tactical enough,” “You are too strategic,” etc. confusing contrasts. So I think if the job does not want a degree really don’t put it there

4: I guess it depends on what the rest of the resume looks like. If she has a history of working as a paralegal, I would leave it on. If she is in a different position in between jobs, I might leave it off as it may send the message that this job is just a temp way to pay bills until something more suitable opens up.

As you can plainly see, the opinions expressed on this topic – as in most resume related questions – are purely subjective. There is no one universal response; with the closest one to universal being not to omit an MBA off of a resume.

If you’re struggling with this question, or any question relating to a job search for that matter, I suggest you do what I do. Seek out Subject Matter Experts, ascertain their opinions, and after examining their outlooks see what makes the most sense for you. Remember the answer is not determined by ‘Majority Rules.’ You can decide to do whatever you’re most comfortable with even if it is not the most popular opinion.

Unemployed in Des Moines Networking at Smokey Row this Thursday beginning at 9am.  John Stein is the owner of Stein’s Way, a learning and development firm based in central Iowa. During his program, we will read and discuss the article “The Importance of a Vision” and then spend time creating our own powerful three year visions, both personal and professional visions. We will then look at how to break that vision down so that it becomes part of our quarterly, monthly, daily reality. Finally, we will take the Clean Sweep 100 to determine any tolerations that might be getting in the way of our success.

Mikinzie Stuart will graduate in May 2010, and currently rocks the house at Ferris State University.She’s majoring in Technical and Professional Communication, which is, to put it succinctly: professional writing that delivers.

In the day and age of social media, emails and personal websites, our world is gradually becoming paperless. One *exception to this paperless world is your resume/ CV (*even resumes/CVs are becoming paperless, but most employers will prefer a hard copy for the final interview or will print off your “paperless” version onto paper during the application process).

But is the bridge between online and on-paper one that should be built? Or rather, does your social media contact information belong on your resume/ CV?

In my opinion, yes. I put my twitter handle in my resume. Where you decide to put your social media information is personal preference, but I decided to make my twitter handle very noticeable and included an entire section under “skills” where I include which social networks in which I am active.

I also have my blog (the one you are reading right now!) listed under relevant experience/ projects. However, I only suggest you include blogs in your resume that you regularly write for or that have received some sort of recognition.

Putting your social media contact information on your resume not only let’s the employer reviewing your resume/ CV that you’re tuned in to using social media, but that you have nothing to hide. Let’s face it, they’re going to google you regardless if you put your twitter handle on your resume/ CV or not. Why not beat them to the punch and say, “Here I am and this is why you want me to work for you” (this is also made under the assumption that your social media identity is kept clean/ professional. I think this is a safe assumption to make for most PR pre-pros). Showing employers that you have nothing to hide, but instead are actually borderline showing-off your social media identity not only shows candidness and professionalism, but confidence in who you are as a pre-pro and your willingness to make life easy for him or her.

As a result, your social media identity tells them even more about you:

• Personality type
• Personal brand
• Interests/ Hobbies
• Aspirations
• Skills (especially writing and using technology)

This type of information is especially helpful to your employer when applying for jobs that are out of state or area. It lets him or her get a sense of who you are and whether or not you would be a good fit for the company. It provides the employer a sneak peak to your feature film.

Some employers even place high-importance on the use of social media contact information. Here’s what some of the pros said:

Worob It’s the first thing I look for when reading resumes.

thescottbishop If you have an active and valuable twitter brand…add it to your resume (but be aware of what you tweet).

prtini Absolutely a good idea if you’re applying for PR/SM jobs. Shows you are involved online. Important for

employers to know.

sjhalestorm Fits very well into contact info. – gives feeling that you are involved, not hiding. Give potential employers all the opps you can to stalk you by including Twitter handle (+ others) – then impress them.

Additional Resources

Report today in the UK mentions use of Twitter handle / LinkedIn details on your CV

Careerealism’s Resume: 20 Down and Dirty on What to Include

Brand Republic: Social Media talent vacuum in PR and Marketing

Teena Rose, Book Author, Former Columnist, Professional 10-Year Resume Writing Veteran & Careerist at www.teenarose.com

Jobseekers have evolved from simply finding and applying for jobs, now leveraging and positioning themselves as top talent using social networking and social media tools. How long will job boards continue to ride the declining “financial wave,” ignoring what jobseekers really want and need in a job-search tool? The longer job boards stay oblivious, the more opportunity is given to job aggregators [and others] to woe a profitable audience.

Job boards are in a predicament— evolve to stay useful and relevant, or jobseekers will set their sights elsewhere.

Competing with boards are aggregators — certainly taking attention away from smaller, less established job boards are meta-search engines that congregate job openings from a multitude of sources; i.e. job boards, newspaper and classified listings, associations, social networks, content sites and company career sites.

But aggregators allow companies to post and sponsor job listings, which takes advertising dollars away from others. For example, Monster has seen continuous declines in revenue between 2008 and 2009, while CareerBuilder North America has seen its own losses.

Aggregators undoubtedly seem more in tune with jobseekers, and just may be leaving older, but not wiser, sites like Monster and CareerBuilder in the dust. Take SimplyHired, for example. A virtual newcomer, going beta in 2005, SimplyHired is no stranger to providing jobseekers with what they want and need, which probably accounts for the company’s continued revenue growth — while job boards struggle.

Some believe job boards have one fundamental flaw. While they focus too heavily on job delivery, sponsored ads, visual presentation, and resume collection, jobseekers are shifting to social platforms. Although job boards are using social media to promote their boards, they are missing that jobseekers need social networking functionality too as part of the job-search experience — not a separate entity, but an inclusive entity. Simply put, one way for job boards to compete is to embrace social media into their fold of offerings.

SimplyHired’s recent addition of LinkedIn into its offerings is certainly a feature that puts job-search on a new level. Take the following example for instance. Conducting a basic search for a Chief Executive Officer position within New York City returns a number of sponsored and organic jobs to peruse.

Jobseekers can now take their search one step further. Using SimplyHired’s new feature, Who Do I Know? on LinkedIn, a jobseeker can identify those within their LinkedIn network that coincide with current job openings.

After selecting Who Do I Know?, I quickly identify the name of the HR Director at Marsh in New York City for a Chief Marketing Officer position. For jobseekers, this information is very important and useful.

A small step forward to helping jobseekers, sure, but there is much room to grow. My hope is job boards recognize the need for evolution, to avoid being outdated job-search technology in a next generation job-search world.

Michael Libbie has a daily radio show, Insight on Business, from 12:30-2pm on www.desmoineslocallive.com.  Earlier this week, his guest was Michael Lynch, President of Manpower in Des Moines.  Have a listen.

William Roth is a Social Network Engineer at National Outdoor Leadership School. He writes a blog covering a variety of topics including social media, technology and design.
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