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#ResumeWriting : In a Hot Job Market, Forget A.I. – Get in the S.H.A.D.E. … Caution: Recruiters are Using Programs to Weed Out AI Resumes. GReat REad!

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In the week ending June 8, 2024, seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims for benefits were ~242,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week of 229,000 (according to the USDOL). Going into the hot summer months, it will get harder for job seekers to find work. Job seekers need every advantage to get noticed by hiring managers. With more applicants per position, employers can be picky.

Interestingly, the ‘hot trend’ of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to write resumes seems to be picking up steam. Unfortunately, using AI may hurt versus help job seekers. Over the last year, I have noticed AI-generated resumes focusing on ‘high-dollar words,’ glorified and subjective descriptions, and trendy buzzwords, and unfortunately, do NOT explain what the job seeker physically did nor achievements for current or past employers.

Job seekers are paying third-party platforms to create resumes for them. These resumes look and sound impressive on the first read. After the initial glance, recruiters may have difficulty deciphering the ‘fancy language’ used by the AI generator. There is a term used by computer programmers – GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out). Artificial Intelligence gathers thousands of resume samples from the web to learn. Still, AI cannot discern the difference between a poorly written resume and a keyword-packed, metric-rich resume that recruiters seek. So everything gets lumped together – the garbage and the gold.

Increasingly, recruiters are using programs to weed out AI resumes and auto-reject those applicants. AI-generated documents have an almost recognizable style and tone, and the ‘anti-AI’ software is trained to identify and reject those. Recruiters want to see a human-written resume.

Job seekers must show why hiring them will increase the employer’s revenue, reduce overhead expenses, and answer why this job seeker is the best hire?’ against job-seeker competitors. When writing a resume, there are specific elements hiring managers want to see in a resume: 

Skill Capabilities

Hard (vs Soft) Skills

Achievements & Accomplishments

Diversity (broad job skills)

Education & Training

 

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Updated NEWS: #BestofFSCBlog – Aug23 we hit Two Milestones: #1– Hit over 1.2 million impressions on our FSC Career Blogs within 7 days on LinkedIn……. #2– Over 3.5 Million participates on our FSC Career Blog page below within three years!  Both the Team/myself want to thank you all for participating! …… Chris G. & Team,www.firstsun.com

Daily FSC Career Blogs/Articles: Articles/blogs on today’s Job Search (Over 8K Daily Readers)- Go to ‘Blog Search’ & type in updated info on resumes, job search, networking, social media job search, etc.

https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

New- FSC LinkedIn Newsletter– Daily articles/blogs on Today’s Job Market & Seach. Subscribe Today!

https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/fsc-linkedin-network-7081658661743308800

Connect with us on LinkedIn (under Chris G. Laughter) : https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-g-laughter-b46389198/

Best Daily Choice: Follow the Best of FSC Career Articles/Blogs  @

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Question: Searching for ‘the Best Daily Career Search Articles/Blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & Type(Jobsearch, Resume, Networking, etc) in Blog Search:  https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets Do You Have to be ‘Sharpened‘?

 

Did you know?  First Sun Consulting, Llc (FSC) is celebrating over 32 years in delivering corporate & individual outplacement services & programs to over 1200 corporate clients in the U.S., Canada, the UK, & Mexico!   Visit us @ www.firstsun.com  OR Ask for a Quote for Services at  info@firstsun.com

We here at FSC want to thank each of our corporate partners for the opportunity to serve & moving each of their transitioning employee(s) rapidly toward employment!

 

Article continued …

The worst thing job seekers can do is copy and paste the job description announcement from a public job notice. Adding AI-generated job descriptions is a second worse scenario. The best resumes have unique language that describes specific Skills (capabilities). The resume needs to list job-related Hard skills or unique technologies used in current or past jobs. (The job seeker can showcase their soft skills [personality, speaking capabilities] during the interview.)

The resume job descriptions should showcase Achievements and accomplishments and the monetary or positive organizational results. What sales revenues resulted? How many manufacturing units were completed in a record time?

The job seeker should include a Diversity of tasks and responsibilities (not only performing their job but backup co-workers’ responsibilities). What cross-training tasking can the job seeker perform? Does the job seeker have a broad range of skills (e.g., accounting, budgeting, sales, presentations) from previous jobs they can perform? Did they supervise others?

Education and training demonstrate knowledge of a specific industry and experience in training others. What computer skills are the job seeker bringing to the table? How many certifications do the job seeker have in the industry or field?

Job seekers should showcase how they have been ‘leaders’ – team lead, supervisor, or oversight to coworkers. What projects did they volunteer for, or did they lead others in accomplishing company strategic goals? How successful were the project achievements in metrics (e.g., sales increases of $XXX; reduction of XX man-hours)?

The resume should be a richly-worded document of ‘what the job seeker has done’ and ‘capabilities’ for hiring consideration. A vague or poorly written resume can easily be ignored (or marked as insufficient experience in the ATS software platform).

The goal is to get enough rich ‘teaser’ information into the resume that the hiring manager wants to call the applicant in for an interview to find out more. Artificial Intelligence programs have not yet reached the pinnacle of compiling information into a practical document. If the job seeker focuses on the S.H.A.D.E. in writing their resume, they will increase their success of catching the eye of recruiters.

 

FSC Career Blog Author:   Dawn Boyer, Ph.D., owner of D. Boyer Consulting – provides resume writing, editing, publishing, and print-on-demand consulting. Reach her at Dawn.Boyer@me.com or visit her website at www.dboyerconsulting.com.

Bio: Dawn D. Boyer, Ph.D., has been an entrepreneur and business owner for 20+ years, with a successful business and consulting firm (CEO) in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Richmond, Dahlgren/Colonial Beach, and Gloucester, VA. Her background experience is 24+ years in the Human Resources field, of which 12+ years are within the Federal & Defense Contracting industry. She is the author of 1,022+ books on business, human resources research, career search practice, women and gender study, genealogy and family lineages, quotes for motivation and self-improvement, and Adult Coloring Books. Her books are on Amazon.com under her author’s page for Dawn D. Boyer, Ph.D.

FSC Career Blog – June 19, 2024

 

 

#ResumeWriting : 5 Good Work Skills To Include In Your Resume In 2024. Question: Do You Have ALL These Skills on Your Resume?

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Skills-based hiring is leading the way as one of the newest talent acquisition trends for 2024. For years, employers and job-seekers alike have been discussing ways in which the candidate experience can be improved, and the talent pool diversified, through focusing on skills rather than the bias traditionally associated with job and educational history.

Now at last, that vision is finally becoming a reality, thanks to the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence within the workforce and particularly generative AI tools assisting the recruitment process. Speaking to the Society for Human Resource Management, Frederick Scott, vice president of talent strategy and inclusion said:

“In 2024, the technology is finally starting to catch up, and generative AI will unlock companies’ abilities for skills-based hiring, especially for early-in-career talent.”

What does this mean to you as a prospective candidate?

If you are on the hunt for a new role, either to expand your career to the next level, or simply for a fresh change due to needing a different work environment, you need to ensure now more than ever before, that you showcase your most important skills at key points throughout your resume. Employers are paying close attention to your skills, so finding creative ways to display them is where the majority of your effort should be concentrated.

But what are the core skills employers need you to include in your resume? According to research and reports from the World Economic Forum, FlexJobs, and LinkedInLNKD 0.0%, here are a few:

1. Communication

Employers need hires who have solid all-round communication skills. This includes communication at the interpersonal level, as well as other aspects such as presentation skills, being professional in your manner and representing the values of the company when composing emails, or when engaged in other forms of correspondence.

This skill is so critical that LinkedIn reported communication skills as being the number one skill for 2024. It was the common denominator in job adverts and the profiles of those who had been headhunted on LinkedIn over the past year, as per LinkedIn research.

 

Like this Article?  Share It!You can now easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award-Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 3.5 Million Growing Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

Updated NEWS: #BestofFSCBlog – Aug23 we hit Two Milestones: #1– Hit over 1.2 million impressions on our FSC Career Blogs within 7 days on LinkedIn……. #2– Over 3.5 Million participates on our FSC Career Blog page below within three years!  Both the Team/myself want to thank you all for participating! …… Chris G. & Team,www.firstsun.com

Daily FSC Career Blogs/Articles: Articles/blogs on today’s Job Search (Over 8K Daily Readers)- Go to ‘Blog Search’ & type in updated info on resumes, job search, networking, social media job search, etc.

https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

New- FSC LinkedIn Newsletter– Daily articles/blogs on Today’s Job Market & Seach. Subscribe Today!

https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/fsc-linkedin-network-7081658661743308800

Connect with us on LinkedIn (under Chris G. Laughter) : https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-g-laughter-b46389198/

Best Daily Choice: Follow the Best of FSC Career Articles/Blogs  @

https://twitter.com/search?q=bestoffscblog&src=typeahead_click

Question: Searching for ‘the Best Daily Career Search Articles/Blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & Type(Jobsearch, Resume, Networking, etc) in Blog Search:  https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets Do You Have to be ‘Sharpened‘?

 

Did you know?  First Sun Consulting, Llc (FSC) is celebrating over 32 years in delivering corporate & individual outplacement services & programs to over 1200 corporate clients in the U.S., Canada, the UK, & Mexico!   Visit us @ www.firstsun.com  OR Ask for a Quote for Services at  info@firstsun.com

We here at FSC want to thank each of our corporate partners for the opportunity to serve & moving each of their transitioning employee(s) rapidly toward employment!

 

Article continued …

2. Teamwork

Employers are looking for evidence of how well you’ll fit in with their company culture. Depending on the role, some jobs may require you to have stronger teamwork skills than others, so it’s very important that you make this clear throughout your resume. And at the end of the day, you will need to engage and collaborate with co-workers at some point, so how well you can succeed within a team setting is critical to your career success.

3. Leadership

Leadership skills is one of the core skill sets that you need to prove to employers, whether or not your plan on taking on a leadership-oriented role. This is because more and more employers are becoming aware that employees possessing leadership qualities are needed for organizations to successfully get ahead and remain star players in the competition.

Having leadership skills means taking responsibility for your actions, owning your mistakes, taking initiative, and jumping in where needed to tackle problems.

4. Problem-Solving

Can you demonstrate evidence of where you’ve put your creativity to work and developed a solution? What were its tangible results within your role, team, project, or department? The ultimate reason why a new employer would hire you is because you are the solution to their problem. If you can show that you think outside of the box and are innovative and unafraid of exploring untapped areas, you’re a star candidate.

5. Self-Motivation

How quickly do you quit? Do you have what it takes to face a challenge head-on and keep pushing forward? Employers are looking for candidates like you, who can demonstrate determination in the face of obstacles, and have the drive and will to succeed, because this leads to higher output and performance.

How To Include Skills In Your Resume

Now that you know what skills are needed, where do you place them, and how do you incorporate these skills?

Here are a couple examples of areas within your resume that are most likely to benefit from adding these skills:

First, always include a skills highlights section near the top of your resume, and use this to list your core competencies, relevant to the job role, in bullet points. Try to ensure that you include the above skills, as well as those that are mentioned in the person specification of the job advert.

Another good way to include these skills in your resume is to show them in practice, and include them naturally in sections such as your professional profile or your work experience section. When approaching each section, ask yourself, how can I highlight that I possess XYZ skill in this particular role?

For example, you might decide to include a bullet point in your work experience section, that speaks to how you demonstrated problem-solving ability, by saying: “Formulated strategies which increased overall performance, leading to the team exceeding target by 140% in my first month and over 200% in the second month.”

Using numbers as above helps to quantify your skills and strengthen the impression that you are confident with them and can provide value to your new employer.

As employers adapt to the needs of the current job climate and begin preparing their systems, policies, and technology for skills-based hiring, what are you doing? How will you prepare yourself—and your resume—for the skills trend?

 

Forbes.com | May 17, 2024 | Rachel Wells

#BestofFSCBlog : Reality Check- Recruiters are Not your Friends. There’s No Such Thing as a Professional Job-Finder. MUst REad!

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This fact may burst a bubble for most job seekers. The hard reality is job seekers have the wrong idea about what recruiters and headhunters do for a living. When one starts a search for a new job, the first professional they may try to connect with is a recruiter. A recruiter would know where to find a job…right? They can take the resume and push it to everyone they know…right? Dead wrong.  

Here is the hard-core truth. Recruiters are too busy to call anyone their company isn’t ‘interested in’ for a specific job. Recruiters will not return phone calls, voice mail, email, or text messages to strangers or applicants who don’t meet the minimum job requirements. They are already overwhelmed with communications trying to find the ‘perfect candidate.’ If you are not ‘the match,’ – you can talk ’til you’re blue in the face,’ but it won’t change circumstances. You will only waste your and the recruiter’s time.

There’s no such thing as a professional job-finder. Resume writers, career advisors, career counselors, life coaches, or outplacement service professionals may operate with parallel tasking – but they’re not job-finders. Recruiters are candidate finders. It’s not their responsibility to find a job for job seekers. Don’t blindly contact recruiters and ask them to help you find a job. 

 

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Best Daily Choice: Follow the Best of FSC Career Articles/Blogs @

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Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & Type(#Jobsearch, #Resume, or #Networking) in Blog Search:  https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Did you know?  First Sun Consulting, LLc (FSC) is celebrating over 30 years in the delivery of corporate & individual outplacement services & programs to over 1200 of our corporate clients in the U.S., Canada, UK, & Mexico!  

We here at FSC want to thank each of corporate partners in the opportunity in serving & moving each of their transitioning employee(s) rapidly toward employment !

Article continued …

It’s also a numbers game – job seekers submit resumes, aim for multiple interviews, and hope for an offer letter. Recruiters review hundreds of resumes from websites, headhunters, or employee referrals for each position, query the resumes for matching keywords, and send the top 5-10 results to a hiring manager. The hiring manager picks the top three to interview and make a decision based on salary (budget), availability, knowledge, skills, experience, abilities, and personality in the interview.  

It sounds harsh, but it is reality. Finding a job is not a matter of justice, fairness, or luck. No one owes anyone a job. Recruiters are your ‘friend’ only if you meet the immediate requirements of an open job requisition. Recruiters don’t have time to invest in job seekers, their inconveniences, and their car or family problems.  Recruiters do care about recruiting, filling jobs, keeping hiring managers happy, and staying within a staffing budget. They will be polite to qualified candidates and perform the steps necessary to get that candidate hired.  Likewise, hiring managers do not care about applicants’ inconveniences and problems.  Hiring managers care whether the qualified candidate has great skills, stays within a labor budget, and can get the job done.  

Recruiters and headhunters are ‘people finders,’ not ‘job finders.’ They have a set number of specific openings at any given time and usually only hire one person per seat. One. Recruiter’s jobs are to conduct a ‘high throughput’ process. It is a matter of getting the right resume with the needed skill set to the recruiter to solve a company’s problem.  

Job seekers must ask when the decision will be made during the interview. If the company is interested in hiring, they’ll call. If you know when the position closes, call the day after if you haven’t gotten a ‘sorry, we found another more qualified candidate’ message. One call…no more. Drop that job lead into the dead file if you get a voicemail and no callback. Most recruiters have an email management system within their ATS, and there is a chance they’ll notify the ‘rejects.’ But most likely, they don’t have time for follow-up. 

To summarize, there is little point in calling a recruiter to ask them to help you, the job seeker, to find a job. Job seekers should recognize the recruiters’ viewpoint for what they do for a living. It is up to the job seeker to find that job and apply. It’s not a recruiter’s responsibility to help the job seeker find or get that next career position.

 

FSC Career Blog Author:

Dawn Boyer, Ph.D., is an associate of First Sun Consulting, and the owner of D. Boyer Consulting – providing resume writing, editing, and publishing consulting services. Reach her at: Dawn.Boyer@DBoyerConsulting.com or http://dboyerconsulting.com.

Bio: Dawn D. Boyer, Ph.D., manages and operates a consulting firm in Norfolk, Richmond, Colonial Beach (Dahlgren), and Gloucester, VA. Her background is 24+ years in the Human Resources field, of which 12+ years are within the Federal & Defense Contracting industry. She is the author of 940+ books on business, human resources research, career search practice, women’s studies, genealogy lineages, and adult coloring books. Her books are listed on Amazon.com under her author’s page for Dawn D. Boyer, Ph.D.

 

FSC Career Blog | October 13, 2022 | Dawn Boyer, Ph. D. 

 

 

 

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#JobSearch : Lost Your Job?  First Steps First. Great Ideas to Get Through the Unemployment Period.

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Nothing is more worrisome than being out of work and dreading the bills coming in the mail that you can’t afford to pay.  Scarier yet is not having funds for job shopping (gas money or interview clothing).  Here are some ideas to help you get through the unemployment period and make time without a job work to your advantage.

Your full-time job while unemployed is applying online for jobs. Once you lose your job, you should immediately research your state’s unemployment benefits options.  In some states, a two-week waiting period must be reached before application; in other states, you may be eligible on the first day of unemployment. You must file for the benefits. In most states, you may do so online via an Internet-based application. The state will require forms completed pertaining to the circumstances leading to the job loss. Be truthful. If you were fired, state the honest reason. Not all states deny unemployment benefits for being fired unless the termination was for extreme reasons (e.g., embezzlement, equipment destruction, theft, avoidable OSHA-related safety incidents, or vandalism).

 

Like this Article?  Share It!    You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award-Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

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Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

Best Daily Choice: Follow the Best of FSC Career Articles/Blogs @

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Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & Type(#Jobsearch, #Resume, or #Networking) in Blog Search:  https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Did you know?  First Sun Consulting, LLc (FSC) is celebrating over 30 years in the delivery of corporate & individual outplacement services & programs to over 1200 of our corporate clients in the U.S., Canada, UK, & Mexico!  

We here at FSC want to thank each of corporate partners in the opportunity in serving & moving each of their transitioning employee(s) rapidly toward employment !

 

Article continued …

Regardless of the waiting period, the employment commission in each state is one of the best places to search for a new job.  Many companies post job openings to comply with the EEOC mandate for the 3-5-day public posting of positions, and they can do so for free. The state also supplies job listings within an easy commute to your city and surrounding areas.

Apply directly to public job openings – some companies will allow resume uploads into their Automatic Tracking Systems (ATS), even if there are currently no job openings (this is called ‘resume farming’  by recruiters). Alternatively, apply online by uploading your resume to proprietary resume databases, e.g., Monster.com, CareerBuilder.com, Indeed, or USAJobs.gov (resume loading for the job seeker).

You don’t want a blank space on your resume where you were unemployed if you can avoid it. Recruiters are not fond of seeing extended periods of unemployment (the UNNA syndrome – Unemployed Need Not Apply). However, after the 2009 housing crash and the COVID pandemic, they are more used to seeing these phenomena of long periods of unemployment. The good news is that there are two rich opportunities to add content to your resume, allow you to meet new people, and network for new employment opportunities.

First, offer your time or assistance to non-profit organizations or obtain training to enrich your job skills. Many small non-profit organizations (NPSs) are desperate for grant writers, volunteers, mentors, and specialists. There is a shortage in these skills for many small NPOs who can’t afford to pay salaries for these job skills – your local paper may run lists of NPOs needing assistance.

Second, if you can’t do the education or training and can’t offer assistance as a volunteer, the next best activity is to go into business for yourself as a consultant. Shop the market for companies needing your skill set as a 1099 consultant (a local city business license may be less than $50).  You never know when your skills sets may turn into a more realistic method to replace that lost salary.  Recruiters will note you didn’t let the dust settle after a job loss and view you as a more viable candidate.

While you are unemployed, get the training (or education) you didn’t have time to take while you were working, and add industry or trade certifications to the achievements on your resume. Take classes to advance your education beyond the courses or degree you last achieved.  There may be inexpensive adult education classes in your city that provide insight into a fresh new topic for you. Computer skills are one of the hottest training needs in any industry. If you gain insight into how software or a process works, it will move you ahead of the job’s competition.

As you achieve the training, education, or volunteer work, add it to your resume as the most recent ‘employment’ activity.  The longer you are unemployed, the more obvious the non-productive activity and the less viable a candidate you become to recruiters.  Filling that gap with volunteer activities, education or training, and/or part-time consulting work demonstrates you are still a viable and highly qualified candidate.

FSC Career Blog Author:  Dawn Boyer, Ph.D., is an associate of First Sun Consulting, and the owner of D. Boyer Consulting – providing resume writing, editing, and publishing consulting services. Reach her at: Dawn.Boyer@DBoyerConsulting.com or http://dboyerconsulting.com.  

Bio: Dawn D. Boyer, Ph.D., manages and operates a consulting firm in Norfolk, Richmond, Colonial Beach (Dahlgren), and Gloucester, VA.  Her background is 24+ years in the Human Resources field, of which 12+ years are within the Federal & Defense Contracting industry.  She is the author of 940+ books on business, human resources research, career search practice, women’s studies, genealogy lineages, and adult coloring books.  Her books are listed on Amazon.com under her author’s page for Dawn D. Boyer, Ph.D.

 

FSC Career Blog | September 19, 2022

 

#JobSearch : Why It’s A Smart And Effective Strategy To Interview In August. Good News -Bad News. MUst REad!

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August is traditionally one of the slowest months for hiring. The slowdown is comparable to the December holiday season. The major reason for the usual lull in the hiring process is that August is the last chance to take a summer vacation. Most families take time off around Christmas, Hanukkah and during the summer months, especially August.

A new vibe sets in toward the unofficial last month of the summer. Three-day weekends, summer Fridays and mentally checking out of work are commonly accepted practices. It’s an unwritten rule that this is the prime time for families to take their long-awaited trips to Disney, visit family, fly to Europe, check out interesting destinations across America or relax on a sunny beach, reading a trashy novel or just being in a moment of peace and tranquility.

What To Anticipate When You’re Interviewing

If you are in search mode, be prepared for more than the usual ghosting, absence of communications and lack of feedback. Since it’s prime travel and sightseeing season, there will be a turnstile effect occurring at companies. One person after another will be out of the office.

An interview scheduled weeks in advance will get canceled the night before, as the human resources professional reported that they have a cold and need to reschedule. They most likely emailed the change from their summer home in the Hamptons or Catskills.

Upon miraculous recovery, the HR person is back to work, but now the hiring manager is off on a two-week vacation. No sooner than when the supervisor returns, there is a domino effect of all the other parties involved in the interview process saying they’ll be on vacation or away for a few days. You were probably receiving communications about the process and now the emails, texts and phone messages have subsided. This pattern will last throughout the rest of the month into the first couple of weeks of September.

 

Like this Article?  Share It!    You now can easily enjoy/follow/share Today our Award-Winning Articles/Blogs with Now Over 2.5 Million Growing Participates Worldwide in our various Social Media formats below:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-g-laughter-b46389198/

Twitter: Follow us @ firstsunllc

Best Daily Choice: Follow the Best of FSC Career Articles/Blogs @

https://twitter.com/search?q=bestoffscblog&src=typeahead_click

Question: Want the ‘the best/current articles/blogs on the web’ on Job Search, Resume, Advancing/Changing your Career, or simply Managing People?

Answer: Simply go to our FSC Career Blog below & Type(#Jobsearch, #Resume, or #Networking) in Blog Search:  https://www.firstsun.com/fsc-career-blog/

What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Did you know?  First Sun Consulting, LLc (FSC) is celebrating over 30 years in the delivery of corporate & individual outplacement services & programs to over 1200 of our corporate clients in the U.S., Canada, UK, & Mexico!  

We here at FSC want to thank each of corporate partners in the opportunity in serving & moving each of their transitioning employee(s) rapidly toward employment !

 

Article continued …

There Will Always Be Some Opportunities Available

Don’t give up hope and put your search on hold. You can’t generalize that everything grinds to a standstill. There will always be a small number of roles deemed by management to be essential and need to be filled immediately.

For the crucial open roles, you’ll have a big advantage if you are actively hunting for a job. Fewer candidates will compete for the same job, as they’re off vacation. Even if people don’t go away, they mentally check out.

A smart contrarian plan is to aggressively search for a job while there’s less competition. You’ll stand out that way. With fewer résumés submitted, yours will resonate with the hiring manager. Savvy HR professionals and long-time managers know that if they neglect hiring over the last part of the summer, they’ll be inundated with angry requests from managers yelling, “Why don’t I have any applicants for my job openings?”

The forward-thinking people involved with the hiring process recognize things may move slowly, but they’ll proactively build a solid pipeline of candidates willing and ready to interview once mid-September rolls in. They know that mid-September resembles that back-to-school mentality. It’s the feeling that summer and fun is over and it’s time to get serious and focused again.

The Behind The Scenes Reasons Why Businesses Will Hire Now

Smart hiring managers know from experience that they’ll be caught flat-footed in September and October if they don’t continue hiring now. If they wait until September to re-up the hiring cycle, the time frame may take three to six months to place job listings online, review the onslaught of pent-up demand résumés, retain recruiters to assist with the hard-to-find prospects, conduct interviews, run background checks and prepare an offer. The recipient of an offer would require two or three-plus weeks for their notice period. This would bring you into a start date in late November or early December, which triggers big issues.

White-collar professionals in sectors, such as Wall Street and tech, rely heavily upon their oversized bonuses. In a blazing hot market, companies would buy out bonuses to allure a person to join their organization. It’s not an insignificant amount of money. An investment banker or software engineer may expect high five-digit bonus figures.

A placement in August allows someone to qualify for a bonus if they switch jobs. The longer the time goes by, companies may not want to buy out or give a person a $50k bonus for only working a month or so at the new firm.

In this current economy and job market that is characterized by uncertainty, including runaway inflation, a recession, possible stagflation, layoffs, job-offer rescissions and hiring freezes, it’s more than likely that companies won’t want to shell out a significant bonus. They’ll instead pass on the candidate and wait for someone else who doesn’t require a large bonus reward.

Search For A Job, But Also Practice Self-Care

Understandably, folks don’t want to embark upon a lengthy job search in brutally hot weather. It’s not pleasant to go into the subway station in New York City when it’s 95 degrees and humid outside. The temperature uncomfortably rises as you’re waiting by the railroad tracks. After departing the crowded train car, squished between two sweaty people, you’ll need to walk about 10 blocks to the building for an in-person interview. By the time you arrive, you’re sweaty, your attire is wrinkled, your hair disheveled and you’re starting to get cranky and irritable. This isn’t the best way to shine in a first meeting.

Despite the challenges, you should still continue interviewing. After two-plus years of unrelenting stress and anxiety, taking time out for self-care is not unreasonable. You owe it to yourself to process the effects of the pandemic, try to comprehend what will happen with runaway inflation and a recession and question if the job cuts and hiring freezes are the new normal. With the slower pace at the office and the ability to sneak away while working remotely, it’s easy to just coast for a while and decompress.

What Companies Should Do

After all these years, you’d think executives would see the cycles and take action. It would make sense for business leaders to call for vacation schedules that would make it easier to streamline and fast-track the hiring process.

Businesses lose two or more months of interviewing and vetting candidates by not taking proactive measures. Once companies return to a normal schedule, there will be pent-up demand for hiring without sufficient applicants available. Feeling that they’ve been ghosted, some may have given up. Top talent will have already found jobs with more motivated candidate-friendly companies.

Management should embrace the summertime vibe. As 4 million Americans quit their jobs every month, if companies are missing out on hiring during August, the least they could do is stem the tide of attrition.

With the slower pace, team leaders should schedule time to talk with their staff. They could go to an offsite location and the worker could share their goals. The manager, in turn, can address their desires, ask for feedback, provide accolades for their accomplishments and share constructive criticism that would help them grow and flourish.

The Bottom Line

August is a great time to both enjoy a relaxing summer and search for a great new job, as there will be less competition and you can stand out.

 

Forbes.com | August 4, 2022 | Jack Kelly 

#ResumeWriting : What is an ATS? What is SEO? What are Keywords in Resumes? Think your Resume Got Read? Think Again!

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Job seekers and resume owners are often confused about the terms and definitions of ATS, SEO, and keywords.  Some clients think there is a certain set of standardized words you insert into the resume to get seen after they upload the resume into an online system.

Here is an easy breakdown of the terms and how these resume elements are used by recruiters in the job placement industry.

ATS is the acronym for Automatic Tracking System. The ATS is the software application (often cloud-based) that recruiters use to receive, house, sort, document applicants who apply to specific job requisitions.  Recruiters also perform a procedure called a Boolean search in the SQL database to find applicants with keywords or key phrases in their resumes.  The Boolean search is an automated, and faster method to reduce the number of actual resumes recruiters have to read by identifying the ‘more qualified candidates’ in the system by keyword inclusion.

SEO is the acronym for Search Engine Optimization. Using an Internet browser (e.g., Google, Bing, Opera) to find information means implementing Boolean search using key words to find Search Engine Optimized pages or documents.  The search engine will look for websites with the keywords or phrases and the sites with the ‘most number’ of those keywords or phrases will show up in a result queue, with the most optimized websites at the top of the list.

Recruiters use the same Boolean search process in an ATS (resume database) as an Internet search.  Once the recruiter conducts the search either in the entire database or only within applicants to the specific job requisition, then resumes with the ‘most mentions’ of a key word or phrase will rise to the top of the result queue. Recruiters don’t have time to read 100, 200, 300 resumes, so rely on SEO keywords to find the ‘most qualified’ candidate based on the higher number of mentions of those keywords in the resume.  They will glance through the top 5-10 resumes in the results queue, and if these candidates fulfill the minimum qualifications, they will proceed to interview or push the resumes to hiring managers for decisions.  It is likely the remaining 90, 190, or 290 resumes will never be read and ‘marked’ en masse as ‘other candidates more qualified.’

 

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Did you know?  First Sun Consulting, LLc (FSC) is celebrating over 30 years in the delivery of corporate & individual outplacement services & programs to over 1200 of our corporate clients in the U.S., Canada, UK, & Mexico!  

We here at FSC want to thank each of corporate partners in the opportunity in serving & moving each of their transitioning employee(s) rapidly toward employment !

Article continued …

Keywords are single words or phrases directly relevant to a job-seeker’s career, skills, experience, and/or education.  For instance, a computer programmer should mention all the programming languages s/he uses as keywords.  Logistics careerists should use the words supply chain, logistics, supply, warehousing, and inventory as keywords, with metrics, to describe their job tasks and achievements.  Salespersons should include keywords related to revenue, sales, marketing, advertising, and income streams.  Property managers should include metrics for units rented, the values of rental properties, descriptions of how they manage or provide maintenance of facilities and vendors contracting for repairs as keywords and phrases.

Executives (C-suite) should not mistake words like ‘leadership,’ ‘guiding,’ and ‘support’ as keywords – these are vague and subjective.  Corporate executives and/or financial directors should have action verbs as keywords and phrases, including development, research, accounting, finance, investments, mergers and acquisitions, supervision, management, director (of something), and/or project or program management.

The action verbs at the beginning of a bullet should be followed with a documentable, objectively written action with a result.  One example, loaded with metrics, would be, “Managed >$20M in contracts for services, current, and future deployment projects including aircraft support equipment, office supplies, and electronics; managed and monitored contracts valued at

~$2.14M for parts and required services, $3.02M in Aircraft Ground Support Equipment requirements, and >$10M in electronics and future deployment components.”

Knowing what these terms mean, and how to use the processes to your advantage, will assist in writing a more objectively-worded, keyword-loaded, and action-based descriptors of your career and experience.  The more keywords, phrases, objective language, documentable metrics, and easy to read bullets in the resume, the faster recruiters will be able to find you, consider your strengths, and pick up the phone to interview.

SEO Key Words for web post:  achievements, action verbs, applicants, ATS, Automatic Tracking System , Boolean search, career , cloud-based, definitions, descriptors, experience, hiring managers, Internet browser, Internet search, interview, job description, job placement, job requisitions, key phrases, keyword inclusion, keywords, metrics, objective language, online system, optimized websites, phrase, qualifications, recruiters, result queue, resume database, Resumes, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Optimized, SEO, skills, software application, SQL database, subjective, system, terms, websites. Examples below:

Key Word Hash-Tags (#):  #achievements, #actionverbs, #applicants, #ATS, #AutomaticTrackingSystem, #Booleansearch, #career, #cloud-based, #definitions, #descriptors, #experience, #hiringmanagers, #Internetbrowser, #Internetsearch, #interview, #jobdescription, #jobplacement, #jobrequisitions, #keyphrases, #keywordinclusion, #keywords, #metrics, #objectivelanguage, #onlinesystem, #optimizedwebsites, #phrase, #qualifications, #recruiters, #resultqueue, #resumedatabase, #Resumes, #SearchEngineOptimization, #SearchEngineOptimized, #SEO, #skills, #softwareapplication, #SQLdatabase, #subjective, #system, #terms, #websites

 

FSC Career Blog Author:  Ms. Dawn D. Boyer, Ph.D., an Associate with First Sun, has a successful business and consulting firm in Norfolk, Richmond, Colonial Beach (Dahlgren), and Gloucester, VA.  Her background is 24+ years in the Human Resources field, of which 12+ years are within the Federal & Defense Contracting industry.  She is the author of 940+ books on business, human resources research, career search practice, women’s studies, genealogy lineages, and has illustrated ~118 adult coloring books.  Her books are listed on Amazon.com under her author’s page for Dawn D. Boyer, Ph.D.

Dawn Boyer, Ph.D., owner of D. Boyer Consulting, and an associate with First Sun Consulting, provides resume writing, editing, publishing, and print-on-demand consulting.  Reach her at: Dawn.Boyer@me.com or visit her website at www.dboyerconsulting.com.

 

                                                                                                                                          FSC Career Blog – July 31, 2022

 

 

 

#JobSearch : Critical Job Interview Mistake You Cannot Recover From. A MUst REad, Do NOT Go Into an Interview Until you REad this First!

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I talked to a couple of HR directors, and we got to talking about serious mistakes individuals make in the job interview. When I pointed out one of the errors I saw, everyone in the group said, “Yes, that’s the one you can never recover from.” With so many people getting job interviews right now, many people are not preparing properly. They certainly don’t roleplay before the interview and script out how they’ll answer the employer’s questions. Since most of the time these days interviews are held over video calls, job hunters approach their interviews very casually. After all, it’s just on Zoom—they can wing it. That may explain why they are making this critical error.

The fatal mistake happens when you are asked about your former or current company and one of your worst bosses. You may think these are easy questions to answer, but they are not. If you bring anything negative, it can torpedo your chances. For example, I was working with a CEO, interviewing professionals for a director job. When I asked Rick, “tell us about your worst boss,” this candidate certainly got our attention. He said, “That woman had Satan in her,” and then off he went complaining about how truly terrible this former boss was. In his mind, Rick was vindicating himself. But that is not how the CEO saw it. He wrote “Satan” in large letters across Rick’s resume. The CEO reacted strongly when I stated that I couldn’t believe how Rick had answered. “Neither could I,” he said, “and I will never hire that guy. If he talks that way about his former boss, that is how he’s going to talk about me if he comes to work here.” The CEO reiterated that speaking badly about a former boss or employer was a critical error that no one can recover from.

 

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Did you know?  First Sun Consulting, LLc (FSC) is celebrating over 30 years in the delivery of corporate & individual outplacement services & programs to over 1200 of our corporate clients in the U.S., Canada, UK, & Mexico!  

We here at FSC want to thank each of corporate partners in the opportunity in serving & moving each of their transitioning employee(s) rapidly toward employment !

Article continued …

How to handle the worst boss question the right way

When asked, “Describe the worst supervisor you’ve ever had,” this situational question requires a precise answer. As much as you want to tell the truth and criticize an old boss and point out that person’s faults, reconsider. As this CEO and the HR directors stated, being negative will reflect poorly on you and eliminate you from consideration.

Here is a better way to answer that question. Find something that you can say that doesn’t overly criticize in a very negative way. Try this: “One boss didn’t give me very much feedback. I only heard from him when there was a problem. Months might go by without any feedback or idea of what he was thinking. Although I don’t like to have someone standing over my shoulder, I do like feeling I’m part of a team. I want to collaborate, have input, exchange ideas, and feel that my work is in line with my boss’s and the company’s goals. Open communication, I guess, is what was lacking. I think that’s important to have with a supervisor.” This answer demonstrates a positive response concerning the importance of teamwork and the desire for collaboration—two things most employers want in their employees.

Answer to why do you want to leave your job 

Everyone will be asked, “Why do you want to leave your present job?” Companies want to hear that you seek more challenge, more advancement, a promotion, more growth opportunities, and in some cases, more financial reward. You can also leave to shorten your commute, want only remote work, or because your company is unstable. Try: “I have learned so much working for my current company, but there are no promotional opportunities. I enjoy challenges, learning new skills, and improving my old ones. Therefore, I am seeking a new position at this time that has upward mobility options.” Here’s another: “I noticed that your company had an opening I qualify for. I’ve been happy at my present position, but the option to move to a good company, such as yours, along with it being a remote job is very appealing to me. Also, I want a position with more responsibility, so I to have an even greater impact on the end results.”

Maybe you are unemployed right now. The question you’ll be asked is, “Why did you leave your last job?” I guarantee that you’ll get asked this question, so having an appropriate, acceptable answer is a must. Good reasons to depart include relocation, layoffs, reorganization, or downsizing that affected your duties. A reasonable response might be, “The company went through a downsizing; that’s why I’m available.” Maybe you have just moved to the area. Try this, “We’ve just relocated to this area to be near our family, and that’s why I’m available.” It shines a better light on you when “that’s why I’m available” is a part of your answer. It also signifies to the employer that you are a perfect candidate to consider.

Did you leave to care for your children and now wish to return to the workplace? If you have been gone more than a year, you’ll need to explain why you left and how you have stayed current during your time off. A good way to reply is to state that you kept your skills up to date. For example, say, “I’ve taken several courses and even completed a couple of new certifications. I’m involved in the professional association and groups too.” By demonstrating how you have been able to stay current, you reassure the employer that you still have the skills to perform the job now.

The moral of all this is always keep your answers positive. I highly recommend that every job candidate do a thorough interview preparation, including role-playing, before you ever talk to an employer. Any mistakes you make will be during those practice times, as you can draft the very best answers to impress the employer when you face them.

Forbes.com Author:  Robin Ryan
Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website or some of my other work here.
Forbes.com | January 25, 2022

#JobSearch : 6 Recruiter Tips To Getting Your Resume Seen And Landing An Interview. FYI: Recruiters Spend Only 7.4 Seconds Reviewing a Resume.

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According to the career website, Ladders, recruiters spend only 7.4 seconds reviewing a resume. Meaning, you as a job seeker have less than 8 seconds to make an impression on them.

Most job seekers want to share everything about themselves in their resume, therefore, their resume becomes cluttered and overwhelming for the recruiter. Moreover, the resume lacks a clear purpose making the recruiter confused about how a candidate’s skills will translate to the role in which they’re applying.

The career site discovered the resumes where recruiters spent the most time and focus had

  • an overview or mission statement at the top of the first page
  • a clear flow with title headers and marked sections supported by bulleted lists of accomplishments
  • relevant keywords presented in context throughout the resume

Here are six recruiter tips you can implement right away to get your resume seen and land a job.

Keep It Stupid Simple (K.I.S.S.)

Most of the time, the people hiring for the role have never worked in that position. For this reason, keep your resume simple and make sure it’s easily understood since they’ll be the ones reading it. To get noticed at a glance, Ben Lamarche, general manager of Lock Search Group, emphasized, “be sure to bullet point your most marketable skills and relevant management experiences. Don’t go into so much detail that a reader can’t form a quick mental picture of you as a candidate.”

Deepak Shukla, founder of Pearl Lemon, an SEO agency, said “cut out any fluff or experiences that are not relevant to the position. This puts greater emphasis on the information that actually matters to the recruiter.” Also, try to keep your resume to one page, but no more than two pages. David Reitman, Esq., owner of DLR Associates Recruiting, recommended to “focus on the past 5-10 years.” He said, “anything further in the past should simply be mentioned with no more than one line describing job duties.” Avoid repeating information. If your last job was similar to your current job, don’t restate everything you did; instead say, “duties substantially similar to..”

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Article continued …

Utilize The Words In The Job Description

Job seekers often complain about not getting their resume past the applicant tracking system (ATS). The reason being is because the ATS looks for specific keywords that are already in the job description. As a job seeker, it’s important to tailor your resume to include those keywords that are relevant to your experience.

Yaffa Grace, founder of The Essential Resume, advises her clients to take a yellow highlighter and highlight words that come up multiple times in the job description. She said, make sure you only use those keywords if you have the experience reflected in that keyword. You can do this by supporting those keywords with professional experiences that demonstrate you’re knowledgable. The worst thing you could do is lie about or exaggerate your experience. The interview will uncover those lies. If the interview doesn’t, your performance on the job surely will.

Lastly, if you’re going to claim you are detail oriented, make sure to review your resume for mistakes and have someone else look it over too. The quickest way to land in the rejected pile is by contradicting what you claim.

Tailor Your Resume To The Position

Most job seekers have multiple resumes. Each resume is tailored specifically for the role in which they’re applying by using the keywords in that job description. If you have a broad background and are applying for various types of positions, it’s important you tailor your resume to speak to the skills of those positions. For example, if you’re applying to a developer position, you would want to move non-relevant positions to “Additional Experience”, personalize your summary and skills section as well as the bullet points from your current and previous positions.

Chris Waltenbaugh, payment processing expert at Payment Depot, explained “for me, the resumes that stand out are the ones that show the person has taken time to think about the position in which they’re applying and carefully crafted a document that demonstrates their understanding and what’s unique about them that will bring value to the job.”

Focus On Specific Accomplishments Rather Than Vague Responsibilities

Rather than listing out generic bullet points from the job description, use specific examples that demonstrates what you’ve accomplished not just what you did. For example, using a statement such as “Increased employee retention rate by 45%” is a stronger statement than “Improved the employee experience.” It not only hones in on a specific outcome but it demonstrates your success that can benefit the company in which you’re applying.

Petra Odak, chief marketing officer at Better Proposals, shared “one thing that is guaranteed to get my attention when I’m hiring, is samples. We hired for a lot of marketing positions recently and the candidates that stood out are those that supplied a sample of their work. Be it writing, design, marketing copy or something else. Those that went the extra mile and showed us what they can do are the ones that got an interview.” She added, “everyone can write a good resume and cover letter, but a sample shows that you can actually do the work.”

Take It To The Next Level

Grabbing a recruiters attention requires additional effort. Christy Noel, career expert, marketing executive and author of Your Personal Career, expressed, “it’s not enough to solely rely on the job board or portal to submit your application. You should network to find someone who knows a person within the company that can be sent your resume to forward to the recruiter or hiring manager.” She explained “referrals have a 50% likelihood of getting an interview, non-referrals only have a 3% likelihood, so getting that person to submit your resume is critical to your job search.” LinkedIn is invaluable when it comes to networking with people at the company. Websites such as Rocket Reach and hunter.io help to find the email of specific people within the organization so you can send your resume and cover letter directly to them.

Another way to stand out is by being original in your approach. Andrew Taylor, director of Net Lawman, said “you can make your resume stand out by creating an infographic and including a video for your cover letter.”

Craft A Personalized Cover Letter

A personalized cover letter shows the employer you’re serious about the position in which you’re applying. Lawrence Calman-Grimsdale, marketing intelligence assistant at Jump, asserted, “it’s infinitely better to apply to three jobs with tailored cover letters than 100 without.” A cover letter should be well organized, concise and explain specific points from your resume that are relevant to the position. Furthermore, if you have gaps on your resume, make sure to give a brief explanation (health concerns, caring for a sick parent, etc…) so the recruiter isn’t left wondering.

To start, make sure to address the cover letter to the hiring manager in the organization. From there, each paragraph should be broken down into how you found the role and what made you want to apply, expanding on specific parts of your background that are relevant to the role and finally, a wrap up stating your excitement for the role, how they can contact you and thanking them for their time.

 

Forbes.com | October 13, 2020 | Heidi Lynne Kurter

#JobSearch : Two Of The Worst Things You Can Say In A Job Interview. If you Show Up for the Interview and Say Anything Close to the Following Two Phrases, you will Immediately Diminish your Candidacy…

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If you show up for the interview and say anything close to the following two phrases, you will immediately diminish your candidacy and likely get yourself ruled out of consideration for any job offer at all. The interviewer, especially a very good one, will be evaluating you for the things you say, the things you don’t say, your overall demeanor and presentation as well as your ability to appear contemplative and thoughtful with your dialogue and questions.

As you prepare for your next job interview, you’ll likely be thinking about many different things including the company/organization, the organizational culture, the leadership, pay, benefits, etc. You’ll also likely be thinking about what you want to say during the interview and what messages you want to send as you attempt to show the interviewer that you’re indeed the best candidate for the job.

The problem here is that what you say during the job interview is just as important—if not more—as what you don’t say. Here are two of the worst things you can say in a job interview.

1. Tell me about the job and the company.

Okay—if you show up for the job interview and you haven’t taken the time to understand the core aspects of the job and the company in advance, you will start off sending all the wrong signals. Not only could this simple phrase cause the interviewer to question your seriousness as a candidate, the interviewer may decide in that very moment to effectively end your candidacy for the position.

Yes, it’s okay to want seek out more details and insights during the interview (and you should do this), but you can’t just show up and ask a question like, “What is the job?” or “What does the company do?” and think that this isn’t going to make you look bad—very, very bad.

You have to be far more savvy than this. Even if you were only able to garner very limited information about the job and/or the company, don’t make the mistake of leaving the interviewer with any impression that you didn’t do your homework.

Here’s a better way.

Instead of asking the interviewer about the position or the company, state some details that you are aware of and then engage in a conversation that prompts the interviewer to freely share more details and insights about the specifics of the job and the company without ever concluding that you didn’t even know the basics. Rather than saying something like, “Tell me about the job and the company,” you’d be better off saying something like this:

I’ve reviewed the position announcement and while it was thorough, there are three key aspects of the role that I’d like to get more information about. Can we dig in on aspects A, B and C of the position because I believe I’m uniquely suited to make immediate contributions in these areas as well as some others.

When you frame it this way, the interviewer comes to believe that you have actually done your homework and that you understand the role enough to have already thought about where you might best contribute. She will be impressed by how contemplative you are and proceed to volunteer all sorts of useful information about the position and company that will give you a competitive edge in expanding the conversation and creating moments to be memorable and shine.

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

Article continued …

2. No, you’ve answered everything so I don’t have any questions.

No, no and just no. Under no circumstances should you leave the interview without asking thoughtful questions. Asking questions during the interview shows the interviewer more than just what you want to know; it shows her how you think. And by allowing the interviewer to see how you think, you can gain a leg up on the competition.

Why don’t you have any questions?  Leaders ask great questions so you should plan to ask the interviewer approximately three really good questions. But to ensure that you have at least three great questions you want to ask, you should actually go in with between five to eight questions because you never know how many of these might get answered by the interviewer before you ever get a chance to ask anything. You want to be prepared with your best preferred questions and then have some extra questions on hand.

Prior to applying for any job, it is incumbent upon you to evaluate the specifics of the career opportunity as much as possible and learn all you can about not only the job, but the company as well. Your thoroughness—and hence your questions—will send a message that you are indeed interested in the role and that you have already contemplated how the position might fit with your career interests and align with your career goals.

Here’s a better way.

You should always be prepared with thoughtful questions for the interviewer. And in a circumstance where the interviewer really does answer every question you had prepared, you have to think on the fly and frame a question in response to what you’ve learned during the interview. But, by all means, ask your interviewer some questions.

Most candidates will go into the interview with a goal to show the interviewer what they know and how that knowledge will help them succeed in the job. But when you ask great interview questions, you end up showing the interviewer how you think instead, and this will distinguish you from the other candidates. When you ask good questions, you demonstrate that you have a strategic-thinking mindset that can help to advance organizational efficacy and produce high-value deliverables for success.

The way to bring it home and get the job offer is to remember this. It is not about what you know. It’s about how you think, and the job offer will likely go to the candidate who shows himself or herself to be a strategic thinker with a mindset to advance organizational goals and add more institutional value than the competition.

Forbes.com | August 28, 2020 | Author:  Terina Allen 

#JobSearch : How To Prepare For Your Next Job Interview As A Senior Manager Or Executive. Great Checklist for All!

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If you fail to prepare for your next job interview, you will likely fail to get the job offer. Interview preparation is important regardless of the position, but it becomes increasingly important for jobs in senior management and executive-level roles.

But believe it or not, it happens far more often than you’d expect. Some of the most qualified job applicants end up being thoroughly disappointing during the job interview. Despite all their education, training and experience, they sometimes fail to demonstrate why they are best suited for the job and can fail to communicate what contributions or value they’d add to the team or organization if offered the job.

We all get it. The interview and hiring process can be daunting—even anxiety inducing—for job candidates. It can also be daunting for hiring managers and recruiters as well, and (in both instances) a lot of time, money and emotional investment might be at stake. But these interview anxieties and tensions can be alleviated with proper homework. Preparation and research can do more than just help you have a good interview. The most successful job interviewers start putting in the work long before the interview, and they go through a process that incorporates these ten aspects for preparation.

How to prepare for your next job interview.

  1. Research the company/organization thoroughly. Review any and all available reports; i.e., strategy, financial, company performance, reputation, future outlook, past, current and future challenges. Use industry journals, the company website(s), corresponding websites, news organizations and so forth.
  2. Be deliberate about finding out where the company has been, where they are currently and where they want to go.
  3. Try to get a feel for the culture. This is hard to do until you are actually on the inside, but you can garner some basics such as formality, friendliness, structure and so forth via the website and, even better, social media.
  4. Learn all you can about the leadership team and, specifically, the person whom you would be reporting to. Check out bio pages, social media (especially LinkedIn), and read blogs to see if any of these people are writing about things/topics that you should know about. Finding relevant connections between you and your interviewer(s) is critical. You might find something worth mentioning during the interview or in your subsequent thank-you letter.
  5. Get a copy of the position description. You might already have the job posting, but you want to get your hands, eyes and mind around that position description, if possible, so you can better prepare.
  6. Prepare a comprehensive portfolio packet for each member on the interview panel. Include things such as your cover letter, resume or curriculum vitae, a list of directly related trainings/workshops/seminars/certifications that you have completed beyond what is already listed on your resume/CV. You could also add in any relevant work product and writing samples.
  7. Learn the names and titles of everyone who will be interviewing you. Not only is the person you would be reporting important to research, but check out everyone who might/will impact the hiring decision (include all the panel members and the chair of the search committee or firm). Knowledge is power, and you might learn little tidbits of info that you can subtly use to make a connection. Find out what is important to these people so that you can find alignment and bridge gaps between them and you.
  8. Determine what to wear. If possible, check out what the current executives and senior managers who work at the company are wearing. Your image should align closely with theirs or be one step above. You can be a little bit unorthodox, but not too much.
  9. Read this article by Glassdoor to learn more useful tips for how to interview for a senior-level job.
  10. Prepare—in advance—some really good questions to ask your interviewer(s) during the job interview. Here are The 5 Best Interview Questions Candidates Ask During Job Interviews.

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Article continued …

Preparation will set you apart during the job interview!

When a job candidate combines really good interview preparation with strategic thinking, he or she can knock it out of the park and actually lock down that job offer! But first, you really do need to dedicate some time to your success by first doing your homework.

You should conduct research and evaluate the position description, the company and the culture to the extent possible. You should do some research on the specific individual (or individuals) who will be interviewing you. Learn all you can about what he or she is interested in. Gain some insights on the interviewer’s leadership philosophy if you can, and contemplate which aspects of the job might be of most interest to this person or individuals so that you can best anticipate what kinds of questions might come your way and how to steer the conversation towards a direction that would most interest your interviewer.

Forbes.com | August 28, 2020 | Terina Allen