Get clear about what your strengths, skills and natural passions are. Without knowing what you are good at and what value you can bring to an organization or role, how do you expect others to think you’re the right and best person for a job? Make sure you are clear yourself about what your strengths are. Then communicate and articulate these to others in your job hunt. Learn to harness these strengths and find a role that plays to your strengths.
2. Get to grips with your skills
As well as your strengths, the skills, experience and expertise that you have built up is really important to understand, acknowledge and get across to potential employers. Sit down and review your career to date. Think about what skills you have gained in your various roles and how these are transferable into other situations and roles. Make sure you are clear about this so that you can communicate it to others in key situations. Work with a Guide if you aren’t clear about how to do this yourself.
3. Evaluate your options
Before gallivanting straight into the marketplace and spamming your CV out to everyone and anyone – think about what options you have and what is actually right for you. It’s just wasted energy if you aren’t focused about what you want. Competition will be high for generic roles – so try to get specific about what option is the one that really suits you.
4. Review your job search to date
If you have been in the job market for a while and you have been struggling – why not take some time to reflect and review what you’re doing. Many of us spend endless hours pumping out applications, filling in forms, ringing up agencies, going to interview after interview – all to no avail. So hey – what’s going wrong!? Think about what you are doing and make a plan that ensures that you are working smart and using your time wisely. Are you sending out generic applications? Are you being clear about what you want? Are you being targeted in your job hunt? Do the recruitment agencies know what you’re after? Do they care?
5. Revamp your CV
Before going out into the market and targeting a role, you may need to review and revamp your CV. If you haven’t touched it in many years then definitely spend a bit of time getting it up to date. Spend time understanding what your key strengths and skills are so that you can highlight them in your CV well. Make sure your CV is relevant and targeted to the roles you are going for.
Most of us believe that our CV is the most important aspect of a job hunt. This isn’t entirely correct. It plays its part for sure and you need to take some time out to make sure that you have it looking in tip top shape but it isn’t necessarily the first step to getting you on the right track. Dedicate sometime to the other key points in this list and you’ll be in a much better position to land that dream job you want!
I know there’s a lot of career changing advice out there. And I know you’re busy.
So I spent weeks reading through all those articles, blogs, tweets and books on career change. All to bring YOU answers to the 7 top career change questions you (dear readers) have asked me via this blog and on Twitter.
Seriously, I am EXCITED about sharing this with you. All of the world’s top career change advice, in ONE place? Wow. This should clear everything up. Ok, take a deep breath, here we go!
Answers to your top 7 career change questions, courtesy of the world’s leading career gurus.
1. What should I do next?
• Stick to what you know
• Explore things you don’t know
2. I don’t have the contacts I need! How do I meet them?
• Network online (face to face is so 2008)
• Network face to face (online’s pointless)
3. How should I make contact with people I don’t know?
• Cold call, you wimp.
• Don’t cold call, who likes cold callers?
4. Where should I look?
• Use lots of different avenues in your search
• Stick to one avenue and do it well
5. I’m going around in circles!
• Calm down: think things through, stop just diving in
• Get out there! Dive into action, stop thinking so much
6. How do I get my message across?
• Develop a personal brand
• Are you joking? Personal branding is a wanky term.
7. Should I focus on my skills when deciding what to do next?
• Yes, they are all you have. Analyse your skills
• No, your skills are just a mini-teeny part of you. Forget about them. Just visualise… like, stuff. Nice stuff.
All right! That sorted everything out then.
By the way, I wish the above was a joke. It’s not.
If you want to spend weeks reading career change books and blogs, I encourage you to. But at the end you’ll be as confused as I was when I first entered this field.
As a shortcut, here’s my take on it: ALL OF THE CAREER CHANGE GURUS ARE RIGHT. Even when they contradict each other.
How is that possible? Simple. They are each speaking to different people. And they each come from the perspective of what sort of person THEY are, and what would work for them. As everyone is different, we have contradiction!
Every one has their own path to what makes them happy in a career, and everyone has their own path to what works in career change. One single guide, or one single approach for changing careers will never work for everyone.
Imagine if Bill Gates tried to host the Oprah Winfrey show, or if Oprah tried to run Microsoft. Wouldn’t work, right? (Funny though). Oprah and Gates are both super-successful. But they get there in different ways. And I’d bet that if they were to change career they’d do things differently to each other.
Finally some good news
The good news IS, there is one guide, or piece of advice, for changing careers that WILL work for you. It won’t work for the person sitting next to you, but it will work for you. It’s just a question of finding it.
Knowing your personal success profile (ie: who you are and what works for you) is the only reliable way to discover the best way of changing careers – for you. It’s the only way of knowing which sort of advice you should listen to, which to ignore, and how to go about things in a way that will work for you.
Marianne Cantwell is a Free Range Human, and a career change expert. She helps mid-career professionals figure out what they REALLY want to do with the rest of their lives. Marianne gets her clients thinking outside the box, excited and motivated to create remarkable, awesome, simply wonderful careers they truly love. Visit Marianne’s site Free Range Humans and be sure to follow her on Twitter @FreeRangeHumans.
Well begun is half-done. But far too many resumes begin with objective statements that can only be described as half-baked.
As a professional resume writer, I review and analyze nearly 2,000 resumes every year. And in the vast majority of cases, almost every job seeker could use a better opening objective.
To show you what I mean, here are three example objectives from actual resumes sent to me for analysis. (My comments are in parentheses.) Each resume got off to a horrible start as a result of these objectionable objectives.
Objective 1
To obtain a responsible (as opposed to irresponsible?) and challenging (what, you don’t like dull work?) position where my education and work experience will have valuable application (instead of a worthless one?)
Objective 2
To contribute professionalism and experience to a challenging position offering ample skill utilization and growth opportunities. (This is just plain gobbledygook, and could describe any job on earth, really.)
Objective 3
Seeking a challenging career with a progressive organization which will utilize my skills, abilities and education in management, product management, operations, purchasing and buying – (Sorry, I gave up halfway through. Chances are, employers reading that sleep-inducing sentence will, too.)
OK. So much for how not to start your resume.
You can stand out from the crowd if you’ll just start your from the employer’s point of view, instead of your own. And use everyday language as you write.
Sounds simple, doesn’t it?
It is.
When writing your objective, make sure it answers this question: “What’s in it for me?”
That’s the question on every employer’s mind as he or she reads your resume.
Here’s an example objective, to get you started:
OBJECTIVE
Management position in procurement where over 10 years of experience will add value to operations.
Avoid such trite phrases as: “seeking a chance for advancement,” “where my skills will be utilized,” or “where I can further my career.” I’ve seen each of these on resumes that were badly hampered as a result.
So, to keep your objective from being objectionable (and torpedoing your job search), put the focus where it belongs — on the employer and their needs.
And don’t try to impress readers with your vocabulary. Write the way you would talk to your manager during a meeting. To see if you’ve succeeded, read your objective out loud.
When you’re out in the market, sometimes it can be hard to focus your job search and to feel confident in finding your next role. Here are some questions and thoughts from career consultants – to help you along your way. Have you focused your job search on one specific area of opportunity? Most of…
Today I had a chat with the popular career blogger and speaker Tim Tyrell-Smith. He shared his insights on interviews, social media for job seekers and how to network like mad to get results.
What is your day job Tim?
My current daytime role is vice president of marketing for a food company located just north of San Diego, CA
What is your background?
I have been a marketing guy my whole career specializing in product and brand management. I started my career with Nestle and continued with smaller, more entrepreneurial companies in the food, computer and automotive industries. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area (California, USA), got an undergraduate degree in English and then completed an MBA a few years later. I now live in Mission Viejo, CA with my wife and three kids.
Tell us about your blog Tim’s Strategy?
I started Tim’s Strategy (originally called spin strategy) in September, 2008. It was about 7 months after completing my own job search. I have always loved to write and combined that with my desire to give back to the local community. So I started sharing my strategy and ideas to help others through their own journey. I brought to life and shared the tools and templates I used to prepare me for interviews. Or to otherwise get my search organized and efficient. Those are all available on the free downloads page. I also have a career expert directory and my Watchlyst (a tool to keep track of the needs of my network). And much more on the way!
What’s the Tru Focus resumes and cover letters?
I launched the TruFocus templates a few weeks ago because I saw so many people struggling with their resume and CV format. Too many pages, poorly written accomplishments and no key data in the top 1/3 of page one. The original resume template post includes a tutorial to walk you through each section. A few weeks later, readers started asking about the cover letter. While I am not a big fan of cover letters (they often are not read and can be a negative if poorly written), I wrote a similar post and template. And I freely share my versions of both templates with anyone who asks.
How important are resumes and cover letters?
They are becoming increasingly less important with the growth of social media and networking. But they are still (at least in the US) a required document asked for by everyone in the hiring process. More and more, job seekers are being found on LinkedIn, XING and other social media sites in advance of the job seeker applying for a job. So since you need one, it is crucial that they quickly get your relevant experience, strengths and accomplishments across to the hiring manager.
Should job seekers rely on recruiters or go it alone?
Recruiters should be a part of the job search strategy, yes. But relying too much on recruiters or any other resource is a poor choice. It is said that recruiters represent only 8-12% of the available jobs. The percentage is higher at the executive level. My strategy: get your resume or CV in front of them, follow-up from time to time and then wait. If a new search matches your experience, they will call you. Any more communication and you risk becoming a nuisance.
What are you top 3 interviewing tips?
1. Be yourself. If someone hires the real you, it will likely make for a successful job for years to come. If you try to be someone else to get the job, you may find yourself unhappy in the job or out on the street looking for another role sooner than you’d like.
2. Tell great stories. Everyone likes a great story. Full of rich details, passion and energy. With good stories, you capture the attention of the interview team and give them a good reason to support your candidacy.
3. Be prepared. That way you can walk into the interview room relaxed and ready. Ready to discuss your relevant experience. Prepared to talk with specifics about the challenges your target company is facing in the market. And confident enough to deliver a strong first impression. With a smile.
Where should a job seeker be seen online?
The answer is “everywhere”. And I’m afraid that if you are nervous about your personal information being online, you need to change your way of thinking. You should have a profile on LinkedIn, Monster, Google, Facebook, Twitter and other relevant sites in your part of the world or industry. And include a nice, professional looking picture. It is absolutely essential that you be visible and with a strong, well-written summary, key strengths and work history. People are being found online now more than ever.
Is social media a big waste of time?
Sounds like a trick question… Of course not! But like any other activity in job search, it needs to be managed. Four hours on Twitter or Facebook can go by very quickly. And can be very ineffective if not done as part of a plan. You can use social media to build new relationships with target companies, recruiters, career coaches and even us friendly bloggers. It is a big part of the way networking happens today. And can be a great way to build on a relationship from a networking event.
What is the biggest tip you would give to job seekers today?
Get out of the house and network like crazy. Anywhere from 60-70 percent of the job leads are first found while networking. And many of the people you meet can provide introductions to key employees at a target company. Much better than hoping that your resume will catch the employer’s eye on its own. At least half of the job seekers I meet with each week are not networking enough. Instead they are relying upon old methods (resume blasting and job boards). They are wasting valuable time.
What is one thing people can do for you?
You know I really appreciate a referral. If someone likes what I write or has success with a template, tool or e-book I’ve created, sharing with others is greatly appreciated.
What has Tim got in the pipeline?
I am really excited about what is coming next for Tim’s Strategy. First, I am days away from the launch of a brand new logo and website re-design. Second, I have a number of really fun speaking events coming up here in Southern California. And third, I just launched my third e-book (this one on the benefit of taking action on your ideas). Further down the road I hope to get a book published the old-fashioned way and to move aggressively into digital media to deliver my ideas (podcasts and videos).
Final word of wisdom?
Since you can’t reasonably look for a job 12 hours a day, I’d love to encourage everyone to find time for two things during transition. First, help others. And, in so doing, build a lifelong network. One that cares about you and will be there when you need them. Second, take advantage of this period of your life. Spend quality time with family and friends. Tackle a few big projects in life (run a marathon, learn to play guitar, write that novel). And, if you have one, pursue a dream.
Be sure to check out our follow-up interview with Tim: Looking for a new job? Get out of the house!
Tim Tyrell-Smith is the founder of Tim’s Strategy: Ideas for Job Search Career and Life, a fast growing blog and website. Tim is also the author of: 30 Ideas. The Ideas of Successful Job Search. Download the book and other free tools at his blog and be sure to follow him on Twitter [url=http://twitter.com/timsstrategy”>@TimsStrategy
Today it’s more challenging than ever to land a great job. It’s possible you’ll have to go through several interviews before you find the position you’re looking for. You might feel a knot in your stomach, your pulse rate jump, and your hands suddenly perspire as you anticipate the interview. In fact, if you’re prone to sweaty palms,
Job Interview Tip #1: Freshen up First.
Sprinkle some talcum powder in your pocket ahead of time and massage a little onto your palms before shaking hands with those you meet.
Job Interview Tip #2: Break the Barrier with a Sincere Smile
Jonathan, a professional sales and marketing consultant shared with a friend recently that in this job-search climate he’s always on the lookout for such useful tips. Besides a warm, dry hand he claims a sincere and optimistic attitude, a smile, and looking the person in the eye, go a long way to break down initial barriers. Being friendly and forthright helps one relax and puts the hiring managers on your side.
You may even want to go a step further. Find out at least one unique detail about the person who will be interviewing you. For example, one job seeker learned that a woman hiring manager was crazy about cats. He mentioned his own cat in the discussion about the job. Her eyes lit up. They had something in common besides the opening in the company.
Another job seeker discovered the man who contacted him for an interview was an opera buff. During a question and answer session, the job seeker mentioned how he liked to relax on a Friday night after work by attending the opera and even suggested the company purchase a block of tickets and sell to employees at a discount. This idea sparked an interesting discussion of how to provide cultural experiences for employees.
Job Interview Tip #3: You Can Be Personal AND Professional
Looking to add some sort of personal touch to each interview is bound to engage at least one or two hiring managers and could make the difference between being overlooked and being hired. Here’s an example of how to move the conversation in this direction. Take the lead. “I noticed in your company brochure that you take good care of your employees and as a result they have a high level of loyalty to your organization.
In my last job I was in charge of the annual sales meeting one summer at a resort with an Olympic-sized swimming pool. I suggested we hold our session poolside. We then invited attendees to stay afterward for a swim and drinks on the company. We even provided bathing suits in assorted sizes for those who didn’t bring theirs. Employees talked about this event for months afterward.”
A conversation-starter such as this will provide so much more information and insight about you, your creativity, personality, and client relations than stock answers to typical interview questions. So make a plan now to be friendly, be confident, be creative, and spark the discussion with personal details that draw in the hiring manager.
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