Unemployed in Des Moines

Harry Urschel has over 20 years experience as a technology recruiter in Minnesota. He currently operates as e-Executives, writes a blog for Job Seekers called The Wise Job Search, and can be found on Twitter as @eExecutives.

Dr. Randall Hansen, CEO of EmpoweringSites.com and founder of Quintessential Careers, has been recognized as an “icon of the World Wide Web” and one of a handful of “trailblazers” to have a significant impact on career development and the use of the Internet in job-hunting. He is a nationally-known career expert and coach, author of more than 150 career-related articles and books, publisher of a biweekly career e-zine, Webmaster and publisher of the award-winning Quintessential Careers site, and a college professor.

Heather Eagar is a former resume writer who aims to help job seekers.

We know that writing a good resume is time taking. But it may help you lead a job quickly if written properly. A good resume give the aspirants a better prospect to get selected in an interview. Below are the five fantastic ways to write an effective and good resume.

1. Avoid Useless, Hackneyed Resume Buzz Language

Resume buzz words can be classified into two types – first type of buzz words are those which are exclusively used for a profession or industry like accounting, IT industry and so on. This group of buzz words is generally used to describe the specific work experience of the candidates. However, make sure to avoid the overuse of uncommon words. Second type of buzz words are those which are used to demonstrate the skills and qualities of the candidates. Again you must avoid the overuse of these buzz words. These second types of buzz words are nowadays used by almost every applicant so they seem to be meaningless now.

2. Choose The Appropriate Words To Describe Your Expertise

Add good and relevant words to illustrate your skills and expertise. The overused words may lessen the impact of your skills. Highlight the important words that suitably describe your achievements and accomplishments. Use the words which enumerate the percentage and date of the accomplishment.

3. Mention Your Winning Projects

If you are the one having a long successful career in past, do not forget to mention your achievements, but make sure that the whole resume is not chock-full of that single past project. Give a short and snappy but to the point illustration of it.

4. Give The Appropriate Subheading To Each Illustration

Keep in mind that the subheadings must be exactly relevant to the matter in the paragraph. Be specific in giving the subheadings and writing the matter.

5. Use Bullets And Numbering

Bullets and numberings make a resume readable; therefore it is important to use the numberings or bullets in the resume. It also makes your resume look neat.

6. Details Of Past Experience

The past work experience details also play an important role in the resume, however make sure that you are not criticizing your old employer and the colleagues. This will leave a bad impact on the interviewer.

7. Avoid The Use Of Pronouns

Using the words “I” “he”, “she” etc. in the resume does not leave good impact on the employers. It rather seems weird. Use of pronouns in the resume shows your amateurish and unprofessional nature. Actually there is no need to use pronouns as it is but obvious that the resume is about you.

8. Order Of Points

Write the latest work experience or education first, this include the degree earned, company worked with, college or university or any other academics. Similarly if you have won certain awards write the most recent ones first.

These are just a few of the major resume writing tips. Following the above mentioned tips will make you stand out in the crowd.

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A couple weeks ago, I had the pleasure of being on Michael Libbie’s live-streamed Internet radio show, “Insight on Business”. He has dedicated every Monday to talking about happenings in the Des Moines Metro area which he calls “Metro Monday”. Take some time to check out the show – apparently Michael was overwhelmed with the number of comments on the live-chat and Twitter. We were talking about some pretty interesting stuff…let me know your thoughts…

Perry Newman, CPC CSMS is a nationally recognized executive resume writer, career coach, AIPC certified recruiter and SMMU certified social media strategist known for his ability to help his clients get results. You can view his sample resumes at http://www.perrynewman.com/, and email him your resume at perry@perrynewman.com for FREE resume critique.

With such a large pool of super talented candidates available for most top level positions today, the deciding factor in many decision makers’ minds is to hire the best person for the job, which does not necessarily equate to the most experienced or the best qualified candidate they have interviewed. So you ask what can make a seemingly less experienced or less qualified candidate a better choice. When I asked this question to a HR friend of mine she said “in my humble opinion it is The Credibility Factor.”

So I asked around a little more to see what other decision makers and HR types suggest you can do to establish a “Credibility Factor,” and here are a few suggestions I received:

1: Silence is Golden.
Many people feel the best way to show off their credibility when networking with others, when casually speaking to people in a business setting, and especially in a face-to-face or telephone interview is to speak more than the other person/s in the room. After all how will people find out how great you are if you don’t tell them?

This is all very true in proving that you may be the best qualified person or the candidate with the most experience for an interview or a job offer.

However, when it comes to building up your credibility as the “best person” for a job, I suggest you train yourself to be a better listener than talker. In the long run you will appear more credible by actively listening as others speak and asking insightful questions of others and listening to their responses.

Think of this as being at a cocktail party and two people in your field come to talk to you. The first person immediately wants to tell you how much you can learn form his vast experience in the field and the second person is more interested in knowing what you have to say about any given topic that comes up in discussion. I will bet that 85% of you may learn more from the first person, but if I asked you who you would prefer to be around and who you are more likely to want to befriend, work for, work with, or hire it would be person #2. The moral here is credibility is better built with your ears than your mouth.

2. Consistency trumps unpredictability.
One of my responders who hires sales/marketing people told me that a most important quality he looks for in a new hire is that the person be predictable. I asked him what that meant and how he could find this out. He said he asks people about their personal habits during an interview and discreetly confirms what they say is true. He asks questions like “do you catch the same train to work every day,” “do you have a consistent dress code for business calls”, and “do you frequent the same restaurants for client lunches or do you experiment with new places to eat with a new or established client.” His conclusion is that it is easier to judge future performance based on past history for people who have an established pattern of action, and that it is easier to come to trust and rely on a new hire if they are predictable. So try and be more consistent, if you are not there already. This is another way to increase your Credibility Factor.

3. Always tell the truth.
This should be a no brainer, but in a world dominated by grey areas instead of just black & white this can sometimes be a slippery slope. So my advice is to stick to the truth and let the chips fall where they may if you want to be taken seriously. After all if you lie – like so many politicians we read about, especially here in NYC – the truth is bound to come out sooner or later, and a lifetime of building up your credibility can be undone in less than 60 seconds.

4. Establish a reputation as a business “First Responder.”
Don’t you hate it when people don’t return your phone call, voice mail or email for days or weeks at a time? On the flip side don’t you love getting an answer to your question – even if it is not the one you want – ASAP?

Make it your business, especially in a job search, to touch base as with everyone who contacts you as soon as possible, even if they are pushy and annoying? The reputation you will develop is one of extreme credibility and I guarantee you this reputation will spread like wildfire.

There are several more good answers I got from my sources and perhaps at a later date I will get back to you in another blog post to complete this topic.

Judi Perkins, the How-To Career Coach, was a recruiter for 22 years, consulting with hundreds of hiring authorities throughout the hiring process. She’s seen over 500,000 resumes, knows how hiring authorities think and how they hire. As a result she understands and teaches what other coaches don’t: why the typical strategies in finding a job so often fail, what to do instead, and why. She’s been on PBS’s Frontline, will be in the May issue of Smart Money magazine, and has been quoted frequently in numerous articles for CareerBuilder, MSN Careers, Yahoo Hot Jobs, and the New York Times, among others. She’s also been featured as an expert in numerous career books. Sign up for her free newsletter at http://www.findtheperfectjob.com/

You just learned one of your previous employers has been giving you a bad reference. Count your blessings that you found out, because many never do. But what do you do about it?

Bad references don’t always prevent someone from getting a job. The key is how the issue is handled in the reference, and how you handle it prior to the reference being checked. So your goal isn’t necessarily to erase or debate the issue, only to reach agreement on its presentation.

When you phone, prevent them from becoming defensive by saying, “I’m calling to ask your help with something. I understand you have an issue with my performance when I worked for you, and I’m wondering if we might be able to reach an agreement on how it’s presented so that it doesn’t compromise my chances of employment. Would you mind sharing with me, please, what you weren’t happy with when we worked together?”

Your tone of voice must be respectful, polite, and convey your desire for information and understanding. If you’re angry, defensive, or whiny, or they perceive they’re being attacked, you’re not going to get what you want or need, which is information and cooperation. Creating an environment where they feel comfortable talking is more likely to open a conversation.

Don’t argue, interrupt or react defensively. Just listen. And when they’re done, tell them you appreciate their sharing with you. This relaxes them further and moves you closer to a win/win agreement.

Next ask them what – not “if” – the positive aspects of your performance were. Ask if they’d be willing to share that information also next time. Again, this is negotiation for a win/win, not an argument to win or lose. Make sure they realize you’re not asking them to remove the negative, but simply to frame it in a less harmful light and balance it with the positive. When you approach the conversation with the goal of resolving the situation and healing the relationship as best it can be healed, everyone usually wins.

As you continue interviewing, address this with a prospective employer before the reference is checked, but not until an offer is imminent. Assuming the issue is a valid one, acknowledge you’ve had some difficulty in the past, but since then it’s no longer relevant (if this is true.). Don’t make excuses or try to explain. Now you’ve defused the situation and removed the element of surprise.

If there’s no validity, you’ll need to address that too, but by presenting the supervisor as perhaps someone who was threatened, or new, or wanted their own person in your position, or whatever the case truly was, but be brief, objective, and balance it with a positive about the person as well. Trashing them reflects poorly on you and will backfire.

A wise word to every job seeker: contact your references before you start looking. Send them your resume. Tell them what you’ll be interviewing for. Ask them what they might contemplate saying and how they’d speak to your abilities. Ask their permission to use them as a reference. References are sacred. Their privacy and willingness to speak on your behalf is to be respected and appreciated. Then you prevent this problem from occurring.

Judi Perkins, the How-To Career Coach, was a recruiter for 22 years, consulting with hundreds of hiring authorities throughout the hiring process. She’s seen over 500,000 resumes, knows how hiring authorities think and how they hire. As a result she understands and teaches what other coaches don’t: why the typical strategies in finding a job so often fail, what to do instead, and why.

The reason hiring authorities control the interview process is because job seekers let them. From the moment a candidate begins their job search, right up until the offer – when they suddenly decide to show they’re not a push over by negotiating– most job seekers don’t realize how much they allow themselves to remain powerless. Over the next few weeks we’ll be looking at this problem closer.

The majority of people interviewing rail in frustration against the process. But in fact, most never connect the process with the concept of power, much less that they give that power away and that’s exactly what causes their frustration.

Too many candidates are under the impression that they must submissively answer questions until they’re invited to ask them. But there are ways of creating a dialogue and obtaining information that don’t take the control away from the interviewer, but that don’t give it away either.

Keeping your power begins with knowing what you want in your perfect job, and you find that out by taking a microscope to every single job you’ve held. You examine who you worked for, what bosses you liked or didn’t and why, what made you irritated, what worked for you, what didn’t, what gave you enjoyment, at what parts of your jobs you excelled and what parts you hated. Examining those issues helps you to discover what you want and what you want to avoid, and it’s this knowledge that shapes what you need to find out when you interview.

Unfortunately, instead of building a foundation and then beginning their search, most job changers jump headfirst into the market, and frequently end up deluding themselves about what’s important. As a result, they make decisions based on irrelevant and unimportant information. Since they don’t know what they want, they don’t know what they need to be discovering, or how to uncover it. All of this puts them at the mercy of the hiring authority.

One of the ways it happens is remaining silent after you’ve answered a question. To radically change the subject is to take control of the entire interview, and that’s not your place. But neither must you sit quietly and wait for the next question.

Instead, tag on your own question at the end. When he says, “Tell me about a time you…….” Answer, and finish with “Is that skill something that’s important to you in the person you hire?” He’ll say, “No,” or “Yes.” If it’s “No,” ask him what some of the important characteristics are. Other appropriate ways to throw the ball back in his court are:

• Do you find that to be true?
• Is that something this company values?
• Is that important to you?
• Would you agree with that?
• Do you see that fitting in with what you’re looking for?
• Is that an advantage to you?

Essentially, you’re probing, and you’re connecting it to your answer. His answers eliminate any assumptions you might otherwise make. They let you know where you stand, what you need to elaborate on or clarify, and what you might as well stop talking about, because it’s not important to the interviewer.

Additionally, candidates often provide explanations before asking their questions. When you want to know something, just ask the question. Explaining not only apologizes for asking it, but it indicates your preferred answer. Consequently the answer may not be what you want to know, it may be what the interviewer wants you to think.

Asking questions that stay on topic and create a dialogue allows you to retain your power. It also tells the interviewer that you know what you’re looking for and that you’re there to find out if this company meets that outline or not. That, alone, makes you stand out in the interviewing crowd.
Any interviewer worth his salt will appreciate your discernment. Any one who doesn’t may be on a power trip.

Billie Sucher is a private-practice career transition consultant based in Urbandale, Iowa, a suburb of Des Moines. For over two decades, she has provided career management services to organizations and individuals (executive-level to entry-level) throughout the country, doing so with an unwavering commitment and passion.

If you were born between 1946 and 1964, you are known as a Baby Boomer and age wise in 2010, you are somewhere between 46 and 64. In my practice, I work with a multi-generational client base, including many Boomers. A question I am often asked:

“I am ___ (fill in age) and wondering if I am too old to find a job?”

Routinely, I kindly offer something like:

“Help me understand — do you think you are too old to find a job?”

Client responses vary:

* I don’t think so, but I’m not sure

* I don’t know

* Maybe so

If you are 25, 35, 45, 56, 64, 74, or 84, in my opinion, you are not too old to find w – o – r – k or a j – o – b as long as you have:

* the drive to do so;

* the will to want to;

* and the guts and the grit to go fishing in a competitive, global, turbulent, and ever-evolving pond! And should you elect to cast your line into X, Y, or Z Waters, perhaps you will check your tackle box for the right bait:

1. Passion! Let others see it, hear it, feel it, get it, notice it, enjoy it!

2. Energy! Act like you have some and lots of it! Do not yawn during interviews or tell people how tired you are or that you are exhausted.

3. Enthusiasm! Bring it, show it, offer it, deliver it!

4. Let It Go! Don’t look back at what didn’t go your way, what didn’t work out, what you didn’t get, what life didn’t offer you; instead, today is a new day ——–>>>>> Press on! Move on! Go forward ——->>>>>>!

5. Think differently! Instead of thinking about your age and how ‘old’ you are, why not reconsider that you’re ’still above ground’ (a 67-years-of-age happily employed client told me that one) and that you have an immense body of talent to share!

6. Engage! Connect with purpose and intention; add an abundance of the above numbers 1, 2, 3 into conversation to keep the listener listening! Practice helps!

7. Attire/Appearance! Dress professionally, appropriately and well for the job you want. Maybe it’s time for that makeover you’ve been thinking about!

8. Attitude! While you cannot control you age, you can control your attitude; how will the employer gauge yours?

9. Language! Carefully select the best words to deliver the message you wish to convey about yourself, your brand. Figure this out ahead of time so you have specific ideas of what you would like to share about yourself in support of the j – o – b you would like.

10. Technology! Instead of saying ’something a bird does’ if you’re asked about a ‘tweet’, educate yourself about social media and its impact on job search. Do not take yourself out of the game because of technology — you are never too old or too young to learn!

11. Partner/Collaborate. Learn from all ages of people. Regardless of your generation, learning is learning. Here’s something I learned from a Millennial over the week-end, for example: www.bookrenter.com.

12. Volunteer! Whether you’re employed or unemployed and 22 or 82, helping others and serving others knows no age. Who knows what you will gain from giving of your time and talents!

13. Experiment! Try something new; try something different; take a calculated risk and see what you learn; see where it takes you!

14. Keep dreaming! Dreaming doesn’t stop because you turn ___ (fill in age), unless you let it! Whether you are 22 or 73, build a bucket list and start doing!

15. Stay active! As long as you are able, stay active always and in all ways!

An Activity For You:

1. Record your age: _____.

2. Record one goal: ________________________________.

3. Record the steps you would advise a ____ (Insert number from Step 1) years-of-age best friend to take to achieve Step Number 2 above.

4. Heed your own advice as expressed in Step Number 3.

5. Consider the wisdom of George Eliot: “It is never too late to be what you might have been.”

Harry Urschel has over 20 years experience as a technology recruiter in Minnesota. He currently operates as e-Executives, writes a blog for Job Seekers called The Wise Job Search, and can be found on Twitter as @eExecutives.

In your job search, if you are interviewing regularly, it’s highly likely that sooner or later you will be asked a question that may seem inappropriate or legally dubious. How you view that question, and how you respond will very likely have a great impact on your success.

I recently had someone in my job search class tell me about an interview he had at a small company. The hiring manager asked what year he graduated from college, as it wasn’t on the resume. The candidate told him it was an inappropriate question to ask.
The interviewer said he was curious, and really wanted to know. And for a couple of very uncomfortable minutes the two of them argued back-and-forth about the legitimacy of the question.

The candidate assumed it was an effort to determine his age, and make a judgment on his suitability for the job accordingly. I have no idea if that was the intent or not, however, questions like that do occur often. So how should you react? Here are some ideas that may help:

Most hiring managers are not HR and Legal experts! Although direct questions about age, race, family, and other topics are not supposed to be asked or considered in an interview process, they often get asked innocently. Certainly someone in HR ought to be very aware and conscious of inappropriate questions, however, a direct hiring manager may not be. Often they are simply getting to know someone and are not looking for ways to discriminate. It may not be possible to know if the question was asked out of ignorance or not, but the way you react may determine your fate anyway.
Getting to know you and small talk are not necessarily forms of discrimination. If the question was asked simply as a means to get to know you better, or as a form of small talk during the interview, an over-reaction can create a very negative impression if no discrimination was intended. Yes, an interviewer should know better than to ask inappropriate questions, however, when they come about from casual conversation, they often had no ill intent behind them. Your reaction generally has more to do with whether they move forward or not than the actual answer to the question.

You’re never obligated to take a job offer! While others may have differing opinions, my perspective is that candidates are generally best off not making large waves during the process and reserving their judgment and response for afterward. If an inappropriate question was asked. Answering respectfully, and minimizing the negative response enables the process to continue.

If you ultimately receive an offer, it’s likely no discrimination was ever intended or took place. An offer will generally be the proof. If you still aren’t convinced though, you certainly don’t have to take the position and you can decide whether to pursue the matter with them further then.

If you do not receive an offer. It still may have had nothing to do with discriminatory practices, but rather that they had another, better qualified candidate. If you have doubts, you can decide at that point whether to pursue the matter or not.

Getting into a verbal battle with them during the interview process, however, virtually guarantees they will not want to consider you further for the role… not because of discrimination, but because they are not interested in hiring a combative employee.

An appropriate response to a potentially inappropriate question might be:

“I’m very interested in this position and would gladly answer all appropriate questions you may have for me in order to determine if I’m the right fit. However, an answer to that question doesn’t necessarily shed any light on my relevant qualifications, so if you don’t mind, I’d prefer not to answer it. Can we move on to other more relevant topics?”

Many interviewers are likely to get the hint and move on. Some, however, may not. If they continue to press for an answer. In my opinion, it is often best to give them a quick, straight-forward answer rather than continue to challenge them on the appropriateness of the question. You can certainly determine further into the hiring process whether a further response on your part is warranted.

In the case of the person from my job search class… he actually did receive a follow-up interview. The hiring manager simply knew someone that went to the same college and was interested whether they might have graduated at the same time. He shouldn’t have pressed the matter, and he should have been more upfront with his reason for asking. However, no discrimination was intended in any way. The candidate was fortunate that the process continued on, however, certainly may not have in most cases.

Don’t assume every inappropriate question has dark motives behind it. It may have been asked innocently, or because of a lack of knowledge. How you react, however, can determine if a good opportunity progresses for you or not.

Jessica Holbrook is an expert resume writer, career and personal branding strategist, author, speaker and President/CEO of Great Resumes Fast. She creates high-impact, best-in-class, resumes and cover letters that win interviews. For a free resume analysis visit http://www.greatresumesfast.com/ or for a free phone consultation call.

It is beyond me why, in this day and age, job seekers still insist on using an objective statement. I can understand if you’re a new grad or fresh out of high school; in these situations an objective is permissible. But if you’re a professional, seasoned job seeker, or have more than two years of experience, put down the objective and slowly back away.

What’s wrong with an objective you say? Hmmm … where should I start. First, it’s overused. Second, it’s all about you. Third, it absolutely does not communicate in a captivating or influential way who you are, what you do, or why you’re the best fit for the employer’s opening. Not convinced yet?

Let me open the doors of professional branding statement heaven (cue lights from above and angelic singing) …

A branding statement will position you as a perfect match for the opening for which you are applying. It will tell the hiring manager who you are, what you’re known for, and what value you can add to the organization—all important things the hiring manager needs to know before he calls you for the interview. You can captivate the hiring manager in your opening statement—or you can bore him and make him hunt for the information he needs. As a former hiring manager, I’m telling you—do yourself a favor. Write the branding statement!

Here is an example of an objective:

To utilize my experience and educational background within an organization that promotes growth and advancement opportunities.

Here is an example of a branding statement:

Maximizing corporate potential by driving top-notch marketing solutions, innovative branding strategies, and dynamic corporate events.

The objective told me absolutely NOTHING about what you do or who you are. The branding statement, however, provides me with a clearer picture of where your resume is headed.

For additional samples of branding statements or resumes, visit http://www.greatresumesfat.com/. For a free resume analysis, submit your resume to info@greatresumesfast.com.