Category: Charting Your Career for Success

Do you ever wonder what sets truly effective people apart? They work hard, of course. However, all employees worth keeping on the payroll work hard. Mastering your work requires specific actions to make your work stand out from the work of the other people around you. Here are ten principles I follow to ensure my work is always on point, delivering value and achieving goals:

1. Define Your Destination

Every successful journey starts with a clear destination. I always begin by understanding the ultimate goal of my work. This clarity acts as my compass, guiding every decision and helping me discern what’s essential and what’s merely a distraction. When you know where you’re going, it’s easy to see what belongs in the final product and what doesn’t.

2. Equip Yourself Right

The right tools are crucial for efficient and quality work. Whether it’s specialized software for a design project or the perfect wrench for a plumbing repair, I ensure I have the precise instruments needed to get the job done correctly.

3. Collaborate with Experts

No one excels in isolation. When a project requires skills beyond my own, I partner with the right professionals. Building a website? I bring in a web developer. Need compelling visuals? A graphic designer is my go-to. Recognizing and leveraging the strengths of others is key to comprehensive success.

4. Empower Your Team

Collaboration thrives on clarity. I believe in empowering those who help me by clearly communicating the project’s goal. When everyone understands the big picture, they can align their contributions perfectly, ensuring each piece fits seamlessly into the larger puzzle.

5. Prioritize for Progress

Not all tasks are created equally. I always establish clear priorities, tackling the most critical steps first. Just as clearing the land is the initial priority when building a house, I identify foundational tasks that must be completed before moving on to less urgent details, like hanging fixtures.

6. Command Your Deadlines

Deadlines aren’t just arbitrary dates; they’re strategic tools. I set realistic deadlines that align with my clients’ needs, ensuring my work is delivered ahead of schedule when possible. This not only makes clients happy but also allows for faster payment. If a project’s scope is still evolving, I wait until I have absolute clarity before committing to a firm delivery date.

7. Understand Your Impact

Why does your work matter? I always seek to understand the purpose of my work and who will benefit from it. Knowing my audience allows me to tailor my efforts to their specific needs, ensuring the final product is not just complete, but truly valuable.

8. Optimize for Efficiency

Distraction is the enemy of productivity. If I’m writing an article, I avoid endless internet meandering. My research is focused and deliberate, limited to essential books and websites. Operating efficiently means maximizing output while minimizing wasted effort.

9. Craft a Dynamic Blueprint

Every significant undertaking requires a plan. For shorter tasks, a simple outline might suffice. For larger projects, I develop a series of evolving plans. My work is a continuous journey of adding value and service to my customers, and my plans reflect this ongoing expansion. I know what I want to achieve, and I adjust my strategies to consistently reach those goals.

10. Serve with Purpose

My work is more than just tasks on a to-do list; it’s a vehicle for helping others succeed. This sense of purpose makes my work deeply meaningful. I want people to genuinely benefit from the ideas and services I offer, seeing them as catalysts for their own achievements.

Working through stacks of resumes, hiring managers and recruiters spend just seconds on deciding whether to save you resume or delete it. Job seekers must know how to write resumes employers will want to read. ~ Jay Wren

List things you have accomplished. Do not waste space on your just giving a job description. List things that showed that you were effective in the positions you held.

Resumes Employers Will Want to Read: Working through stacks of resumes, hiring managers and recruiters spend just seconds deciding whether to save you resume or delete it. Job seekers must know how to write resumes employers will want to read.

I based the following information on feedback I have received from hiring managers, staffing managers, and other recruiters. I have also discussed resumes with hundreds of applicants. These are suggestions only, but the layout is a working format.

A resume is a job application. You list the jobs you have had, where you performed those jobs, and when you had those jobs.

If you replace the information below with your information, you will have written a resume.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Your name
Street address City, State Zip
Phone
Email address

OBJECTIVE AND SUMMARY

Stating an objective or a giving a summary at the beginning of the resume is widespread practice. However, stating an objective or providing a summary is optional.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

There is no sentence structure in a resume. The wording in a resume is simply a series of statements of actions and accomplishments.

For example, this is a sentence: I doubled the company’s sales in 6 months.

This is “resume wording:” Doubled company’s sales in 6 months.

The history in a resume is just a list that includes employment periods, performance, skills, responsibilities, accomplishments, and education.

(Most recent job first)

Company Name, company Location, From -To

Most recent title, location, From – To

Use bullet format.

•        List things you have accomplished. Do not waste space on your just giving a job description. List things that showed that you were effective in the positions you held.
•        Use facts—for example, exceeded assigned sales goal by 30%, reduced costs, promoted people, saved time, increased productivity.
•        Employers and recruiters search their databases for specific words, so list successes with specific industry words or functions. Include the actual name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e.g., Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market Insights, Innovation).

Next list previous titles at this company and again list successes and accomplishments in bullet format.

Then include Previous Companies going back in time from most recent.

EDUCATION

Normally, education goes at the bottom of the resume. People who have recently received an educational degree or credential that alters their employability might consider putting education at the top of the resume.

Other items that might go at the bottom of the resume are awards, extra skills, volunteer work or relevant college employment.

HOW TO SHORTEN YOUR RESUME FOR READABILITY

Hiring managers only spend seconds looking at each resume. They are going through stacks of resumes, often in documents that have to be opened one at a time.

Avoiding the following items might make the difference as to whether anyone at the hiring company even reads your resume.

• Objective Summary Titles
• Hobbies References
• References available on request
• Compensation
• Long paragraph formats
• Long-winded discussions of core responsibilities
• Too many details on jobs with well-known functions
• Details on jobs that date back in time
• Paragraph formatting
• Third person reference

Photo by Dan Counsell on Unsplash

How to Start a Personal Services Company: A Guide for Aspiring Entrepreneurs

Starting your own personal services company can be a rewarding experience, offering flexibility, autonomy, and the chance to build a business that aligns with your passions. However, it also comes with unique challenges and considerations. Here’s a breakdown to help you navigate the journey:

1. Define Your Niche and Services

• Identify your skills and interests: What services are you passionate about and skilled at providing? Personal services can encompass a wide range of offerings, including:
  • Home services: Cleaning, organizing, meal prep, pet sitting, gardening
  • Personal care: Hair styling, makeup, massage therapy, personal training
  • Concierge services: Errand running, appointment scheduling, event planning
• Conduct market research: Analyze your local market to identify potential demand for your services and assess the competition.
• Develop a unique selling proposition (USP): what makes your service better than the competition? Is it your specialized skills, your personalized approach, or your commitment to customer satisfaction?

2. Build a Strong Foundation

• Legal Structure: Choose a business structure (sole proprietorship, LLC, etc.) that aligns with your needs and risk tolerance. Consult with an attorney or accountant for guidance.
• Insurance: Obtain necessary insurance coverage, such as general liability and professional liability, to protect your business and clients.
• Licensing and Certifications: Ensure you meet any licensing or certification requirements for your specific services.
• Financial Planning: Create a budget, secure funding (if needed), and establish a pricing strategy for your services.

3. Develop Your Business Plan

• Define your target market: Who are your ideal clients? What are their needs and preferences?
• Create a marketing strategy: Develop a plan for reaching your target market through online advertising, social media marketing, local partnerships, and word-of-mouth referrals.
• Build a professional brand: Establish an online presence with a website or social media pages that showcase your services and build credibility.
• Provide excellent customer service: Deliver high-quality service, build strong relationships with clients, and actively solicit feedback to improve your offerings.

4. Manage Your Business Effectively

• Time management: Efficiently schedule appointments and manage your workload to ensure productivity and work-life balance.
• Accounting and invoicing: Keep accurate records of income and expenses and implement a system for invoicing and payment collection.
• Customer relationship management: Use CRM software or other tools to manage client information and communication.
• Continuous improvement: Stay updated on industry trends, seek feedback from clients, and continuously refine your services to meet evolving needs.

5. Legal and Tax Considerations

• Tax obligations: Understand your tax obligations and consult with a tax professional for guidance.
• Contractual agreements: Use clear and legally sound contracts with clients to outline services, payment terms, and other important details.
• Compliance with regulations: Stay informed about and comply with all relevant laws and regulations, including labor laws and consumer protection laws.

Starting a personal services company requires dedication, hard work, and a commitment to providing excellent service. By carefully planning, building a strong foundation, and continuously adapting to the needs of your clients, you can increase your chances of success and create a thriving business.

Remember: This is a general overview. The specific steps and considerations will vary depending on the type of personal services you offer and your individual circumstances. It’s always advisable to seek professional advice from legal and financial experts to ensure you are operating your business legally and efficiently.

Disclaimer: This information is for general guidance only and should not be considered legal or financial advice.

Working through stacks of resumes, hiring managers and recruiters only spend seconds deciding whether to save you resume or delete it.  You need to know how to write resumes employers will want to read.

The best resumes show why you are the most qualified candidate for the job. ~ www.jaywren.com

Thirty Years of Reading Resumes

I based the following information on feedback I have received from hiring managers, staffing managers, and other recruiters.  I have also discussed resumes with hundreds of applicants.  These are suggestions only, but the layout is a working format.

A resume is a job application.  You list the jobs you have had. Additionally, you list where you performed those jobs and when you had those jobs.

If you replace the information below with your information, you will have written a resume.

Sample Resume

CONTACT INFORMATION

Your name
Street address City, State Zip
Phone
Email address

OBJECTIVE AND SUMMARY

Stating an objective or a giving a summary at the beginning of the resume is common practice. However, stating an objective or providing a summary is optional.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

There is no sentence structure in a resume. The wording in a resume is simply a series of statements of actions and accomplishments.

For example, this is a sentence: “I doubled the company’s sales in 6 months.” However, this is resume wording: “Doubled company’s sales in 6 months.”

The history in a resume includes more than employment periods. Additionally, you must show that you have the skills, education, and experience to qualify you as a leading candidate.

(Most recent job first)

Company Name, company Location, From–To

Most recent title, location, From–To

Use bullet format.

•        List things you have accomplished. Do not waste space on your just giving a job description. List things that showed that you made a difference in the positions you held.

•        Use facts—for example, exceeded assigned sales goal by 30%, reduced costs, promoted people, saved time, increased productivity, etc.

•        Employers and recruiters search their databases for specific words, so list successes with specific industry words or functions. Include the actual name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e.g., Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market Insights, Innovation), etc.

Next list previous titles at this company and again list successes and accomplishments in bullet format.

Then include Previous Companies going back in time from most recent.

EDUCATION

Normally, education goes at the bottom of the resume. However, people who have recently received a degree or a credential might consider putting education at the top of the resume.

Here are other items that might go at the bottom of the resume:

• Awards
• Extra skills
• Volunteer work
• Relevant college employment.

You Must Have Keywords for Resumes

What are career keywords?  Career keywords are names of skills, experience, tools, places, and companies.

To find information on the Internet, search engines look up words or keywords.

Hiring managers use keywords to find matches between the words in job specifications and the words in resumes and online profiles.

Here are some examples of names that might help a hiring manager find you and, therefore, you might want to include in your resume and in your online profile.

1. 1. Names of companies where you have worked, especially names of prestigious companies in your field
   2. Names of schools you have attended
   3. Names of academic achievements: cum laude, dean’s list, first in graduating class
   4. Names of clients or key accounts
   5. Names of brands, products, or services you have developed
   6. Names of fields in which you worked
   7. Names of computer software or online applications you know how to use: Word, Excel, Google Docs, Google Sheets, LibreOffice, QuickBooks
   8. Names of computer languages that you know: PHP, Java Python, Java, C++, Ruby, SQL
   9. Names of certifications or credentials: Certified Public Accountant, Certified Marriage and Family Counselor, Credentialed Teacher, Project Manager, Licensed Driver of Commercial Vehicles
   10. Names of hard skills: Foreign Languages, Typing Speed, Graphic Design
   11. Names of Soft Skills: Team Builder, Inter-departmental Facilitator, New-hire Mentor

Google.com/trends ranks words based on how often they appear in Internet search. You can test the effectiveness of keywords you are using in your resume and online profile by entering them into Google Trends.

HOW TO SHORTEN YOUR RESUME FOR READABILITY

Hiring managers only spend seconds looking at each resume. They are going through stacks of resumes, often in documents that have to be opened one at a time.

Avoiding the following items might make the difference as to whether your resume even gets read.

• Objective
• Summary
• Hobby References
• References available on request
• Compensation
• Long paragraph formats
• Long-winded discussions of core responsibilities
• Too many details on jobs with well-known functions
• Details on jobs that date back in time
• Paragraph formatting
• Third person reference
• Compensation
• Long paragraph formats
• Long-winded discussions of core responsibilities
• Too many details on jobs with well-known functions
• Details on jobs that date too far back in time
• Paragraph formatting

The tools and systems thousands of people have used to find the best jobs and to build the brightest careers. You don’t have to do everything right to find success, but you do have to do the right things. This book will tell you how.

Hiring in 2025 is being shaped by several key trends, reflecting rapid technological advancements and evolving workplace priorities. Here’s a breakdown of what’s trending:

Focus on Vocational Skills: The emphasis is shifting from traditional qualifications like degrees to what candidates can actually do. Skill-based hiring is becoming a primary focus. Companies are developing competency frameworks to assess essential skills for each role.

AI-Powered Recruitment: Artificial intelligence continues to revolutionize the hiring process. AI tools are being used to automate tasks like resume screening, scheduling interviews, and even improving candidate matching. However, there’s a growing understanding that AI is not a complete solution and requires strategic integration and human oversight to avoid biases and maintain a personal touch.

Employee Advocacy: A company’s reputation is increasingly important to job seekers. Employee advocacy, where current employees promote the company, is becoming a powerful tool for attracting talent. Candidates prioritize brand trust, making it crucial for companies to build a positive reputation.

Click Here.

Key Hiring Trends:

Flexibility is Key: Job seekers highly value flexible work arrangements, including hybrid and remote options. Companies offering such flexibility are better positioned to attract and retain top talent.

Rise of Recruitment Chatbots: Chatbots are being implemented to enhance communication with candidates, answer their queries, and improve the overall candidate experience.

Mobile-First Recruitment: Acknowledging that many job seekers use mobile devices, companies are optimizing their recruitment processes for mobile platforms.

Putting Job Seekers First: There’s a growing emphasis on improving the candidate journey, making the hiring process more transparent, engaging, and positive.

Internal Mobility: Companies are increasingly looking within their own ranks to fill open positions. Strong internal mobility programs are linked to higher employee engagement and retention.

Emphasis on Employee Value Proposition (EVP): Companies are focusing on clearly communicating what makes them a great place to work, going beyond basic perks to highlight values and a supportive work environment.

Quality of Hire: With AI potentially automating some tasks, recruiters are focusing more on strategic roles, including building relationships with candidates and ensuring a high quality of hire.

In-Demand Skills for 2025: Both technical and soft skills are highly sought after.

Technical Skills:

1. Data Science and Analytics: With the increasing reliance on data-driven decision-making, skills in data analysis, visualization, extraction, engineering, processing, and mining are crucial.
2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning: Proficiency in AI, including prompt engineering and generative AI modeling, is becoming increasingly essential across various roles.
3. Software Development and Programming: Skills in various programming languages (e.g., Python, Java, SQL), web development, and app development remain in high demand.
4. Cybersecurity: With growing concerns about data security, cybersecurity skills are critical. Cloud Computing: Expertise in cloud platforms and technologies is highly valued.
5. Digital Literacy: Basic digital skills are increasingly important for most roles.

Soft Skills – Traits:

1. Analytical Thinking: The ability to critically analyze information and solve problems is consistently ranked as a top in-demand skill.
2. Creativity and Proactivity: Thinking outside the box and generating innovative solutions are highly valued.
3. Problem-Solving: Identifying and resolving complex issues effectively.
4. Emotional Intelligence: Understanding and managing one’s own emotions and understanding the emotions of others.
5. Leadership and Management: Guiding and inspiring teams effectively.
6. Adaptability and Flexibility: Adjusting to changing circumstances and new challenges.
7. Communication (Advanced): Both written and verbal communication, including active listening and negotiation.
8. Resilience, Flexibility, and Agility: Bouncing back from setbacks and adapting to new situations quickly.
9. Curiosity and Lifelong Learning: A willingness to learn and stay updated with new developments.
10. Collaboration and Teamwork: Working effectively with others to achieve common goals.

Emerging Job Markets and Roles

Several sectors and roles are experiencing significant growth.

Technology: AI and Machine Learning Specialists, Big Data Specialists,
Fintech Engineers, Software and Application Developers, Cybersecurity Engineers, Data Scientists and Analysts, Cloud Engineers

Green Economy/Sustainability: Sustainability Specialists, Environmental and Renewable Energy Engineers, Autonomous and Electric Vehicle Specialists, Wind Turbine Service Technicians, Solar Photovoltaic Installers

Human Care Economy: Nursing Professionals, Social Work and Counseling Professionals, Personal Care Aides

Education: Tertiary and Secondary Education Teachers

Frontline Roles (in absolute volume): Farmworkers, Delivery Drivers, Construction Workers, Salespersons, Food Processing Workers.

Business and Finance: Business Intelligence Developers, Private Equity Analysts, Financial Analysts

Healthcare: Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants, Medical and Health Services Managers.

Declining Job Roles (in absolute numbers):

Clerical and Secretarial Workers (including Cashiers and Ticket Clerks, Administrative Assistants, and Executive Secretaries)
Postal Service Clerks
Bank Tellers
Data Entry Clerks
Printing Workers
Accountants and Auditors (due to automation)

In Conclusion

Overall, the hiring landscape in 2025 is dynamic, with a strong emphasis on skills, technology integration, and creating a positive and inclusive experience for candidates and employees alike. Organizations that adapt to these trends will be better positioned to attract and retain the talent they need to succeed.

Job offers: There are many things that you need to know to get a job offer.
For some people, turning down a job offer is unpleasant. Handling the situation with confidence is often difficult.

Learning to say no to other people is critical to creating healthy relationships.
www.jaywren.com

How you turn down a job offer is important to managing your career both short-term and long-term. In the short-term, you can add the contacts you made in your interviews to your career network. If you are willing to accept the offer provided that the hiring company can change the conditions that do not work for you, you can open the doors to an offer negotiation that may get you the job that you want. In the long-term, people often reappear in your career in ways that can help you. How you turn down a job offer affects the relationships you have with the people you have met.

Getting a job offer is only part of interviewing. Interviewing is a learning process. You learn things about yourself. You learn things about the hiring company. You may learn things that help you better understand your current job.

Withdrawing from the interview process or turning down an offer as soon as you have reached your decision is better for you and better for the people who are interviewing you. You save time for everyone involved. You also lower the risk of burning bridges with the people at the hiring company.

When you turn down an offer, call the people you have met. Thank them for their time. Then send each one of them a thank you note or an email. In your letter or email, you can give them your contact information for their future reference. Put the name, contact information, and brief notes about each person in your contact manager. This information becomes part of your database for managing your career.

When you do turn down a job offer, give the people you have met a specific reason for why you turned down their offer. During the interview process, you will learn things about your goals and about the job at the hiring company. Sometimes when you are interviewing your circumstances change. You receive an offer from another company. You receive a pay raise or a promotion at your current company. The reason you started to look for a job no longer exists. Letting the hiring company know immediately once you have made your decision is courteous and fair.  Explain that you had not known these things before you began the interview process.

If you are taking yourself out of the running, you can build goodwill by offering the hiring company suggestions for referrals or new prospects for the job. Before giving a person’s name as a prospect, get that person’s permission. Not everyone wants to have calls about a new job.

Build a Powerhouse Reference List as Part of Building Your Professional Network.

It seems that most people think of creating a reference list when a hiring manager requests to see one.

Another approach is to mention to people with whom you seem to bond that at some point you, should you need a reference, you would appreciate the person helping you. At the same time, let the person know that you are available to assist them whenever needed. Then, when the time comes, you can feel confident in having people who will speak positively about your character and your work. Building a reference list becomes simply an element of building your professional network.

Having a large list of references is important. Likewise, having a varied reference list is important. Different hiring managers have different ideas as to the types of people they want to contact. This experience can make you feel real pressure to tailor your list to a hiring manager’s request. Therefore, extend your contacts and build relationships wherever you go: work, neighborhood, conventions, and across your personal and professional spectrum.

Before submitting the reference’s name, speak with the person. Get up to speed with them. Offer to help them whenever they may have a need in their careers and networks.

Do not send references with your resume. You are burdening potential employers with the stress of managing extra documents they may feel they will never need. Moreover, you are sharing access to your professional when there is no need to do so.

A little planning can help make your job change easier. Build your reference list as you make new connections.

Identify your career options. Develop a refined list of options by examining your interests, skills, and values through self-assessment, researching companies, and talking to experienced professionals. You can further narrow your list when you take part in experiences such as shadowing or working alongside a company employee, volunteering, or internships.

Next, list all the things you need to do to accomplish your career goals.

Here are questions to ask to create a strategy for your career.

1. 1. Location: Where Do You Want to Live?
   2. Type of Job or Industry: What Do You Want to Do?
   3. How Well Do You Work with Other People?
   4. Opportunities for Promotion: Do You Want to Lead People?
   5. Money: How Important is Income?
   6. Risk: How Well Do You Tolerate Risk?
   7. Do You have a Mentor or Advisor?
   8. Job Security: What are the Risks of Playing It Safe?
   9. What Education Do You Need?
   10. What Experience Do You Need?
   11. Should You Take an Aptitude Test?
   12. Who Hires People with Your Goals and Qualifications?

Offer Questions: Mutual understanding starts with great questions. Here are questions you should ask before accepting a job offer.

When a company makes offers you a job, you have done a lot of work. Writing your resume, scheduling interviews, company research, job interviews, follow up, and other steps along the way.

Now you are in control of the process. You have the power to accept or decline the offer.

Before you do either, ask yourself some questions.

Job Offer Questions: Have you met the supervisor?

As a recruiter, I have seen situations where people had not met with the supervisor before starting to work.

In one case, a man quit three days after meeting his supervisor for the first time on the first day of work. He returned to his former employer.

Do you understand the job description?

I have learned from working on recruiting assignments that job descriptions can create confusion. Here are some things you might want to clarify before you take a job. This question is one the most important job offer questions.

• If the job involves travel, where will need to go and how often?
• What are the reporting relationships in the new company? If the job title includes a word such as “manager,” what does that mean? Will you manage a budget? Will you manage people? If so, how many?
• What is the job? If you think that you are joining an innovation team and you find that you are joining a planning team, you will need to do a lot more analysis that creative thinking.
• What is the promotion opportunity or expectation? If you want promotions and there is little opportunity, you are facing frustration. If the company expects you to take promotions and you want to settle into a career position, you could find that you face pressure to leave for people who can keep the promotion pipeline fluid.

Is the workplace right for you?

• How long is the commute?
• What type area surrounds the office?
• Does the job allow you to work at home or require that you commute daily?
• Do you have affordable transportation?

Do you have any special conditions?

For example, you sunk a few thousand dollars into a family vacation that will start six months into your new job.

If you cannot get your money back or if this vacation has special importance to your family, the time to raise the subject is before you accept the offer.

In taking my first job after military service, I came to an agreement that I would be able to take an early vacation for my honeymoon. The management team at the new company fully supported the honeymoon vacation time.

Discussing the matter in advance was important. I was able to prevent any surprises to my new employer. I had the peace of mind of knowing before I started the new job that my plans worked well for the company and me.

Do you understand the benefits?

There are a few things for you to consider about benefits before you accept a job offer.

• What the start date of the benefits? This information is critical to transitioning your healthcare coverage from your current coverage to the coverage at your new job.
• What are the out-of-pocket costs for the benefits? There are differences from one company to the next. I placed people with a company that had terrific coverage for people who lived in California, the home state of the company. However, the costs to people who lived outside of California were several thousand dollars a year.
• What benefits are you giving up in the transition? If you have prescription, major medical, primary care coverage, dental, and optical coverage at your current company, and the new company does not cover some of these things, based on your health, you might find a big gap between what you are getting and what the new company will give you.
• What are the deductibles in the plans at your new company? Insurance companies offer lower rates for higher deductibles. You not need in any surprises in these potential gaps.

How often will the new company pay you?

If the new company pays you twice a month, you get 24 checks a year.

If the new company pays you every two weeks, you get 26 checks a year.

I went through a counteroffer interview when I left a fulltime job while working my way through college. I didn’t accept the counteroffer. However, in hindsight, I did learn that my pay raise at the new job was not a great an increase as I thought.

Education requirements vary. The requirements vary by the job type. Additionally, education requirements vary from job sector and from one employer to the next. This article shows you how to prepare for presenting your education to get the maximum interviews.

Understanding Education Requirements

Knowing the education requirements of any job is important. Before going to a job interview, attempt to get a job description. Here are some places to find job descriptions.

1. Job boards and job search engines
2. Recruiters
3. Hiring company websites
4. Direct contact with the company’s human resources department or from the hiring manager
5. A jobs search with your favorite search engine

Do You Need a College Degree?

In some companies, college degrees are not a requirement.  Some of the most successful company founders don’t have a degree. In the tech sector, airlines sector, construction and home repair sector, sales positions, and other roles often don’t require a college degree.

On the other hand, many companies require a college degree. In some professions, a college degree plus college credentials or advanced degrees are requirements. College requirements are important in many fields. Additionally, credentials or certifications may be required.

Some organizations have specific training for their new hires. Furthermore, these companies train you in specific skills that last you throughout your career. In working for a company that is well known throughout your industry as a training company makes you more marketable.

However, a college degree may prove helpful to move into leadership roles for these positions. Please do your own research through job listings to find the education requirements.

How Important is Your College Major?

The importance of a college major depends on the industry. Accounting, finance, chemistry, engineering, physics, biology, and other majors often qualify a person immediately useful for specific jobs.

On the other hand, some positions do not require a specific college major.

I majored in English. Then I entered Naval Officers Candidate School. The math and science I studied in college were sufficient to give me a basis to study Navy navigation and tactics. When I went aboard the ship, I continued to receive training on the operations of the ship. A year into my service, I qualified as a Navy bridge officer (Officer of the Deck). Additionally, I was promoted to a position as a public affairs officer. My studies in journalism and English gave me the groundwork to develop the skills to manage the shipboard radio and television station, the ship’s newspaper and cruise book, to write daily press releases Additionally, I was able to develop the skills to coordinate and escort VIPs like the Bob Hope and his troupe of performers and technicians.

Should You Get a Degree?

For students who are making a decision whether to go through devote four or more years and spend thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars to get a degree, I want to share my thoughts.  Graduating from college did two things for my career. I got a key to let me through doors marked, “Degree required.” I gained acceptance into business circles and social circles where having a college degree meant credibility.

Career Strategy: Where do you start in creating a strategic plan that is tailored for you? What do you need to know about adjusting your plan to an ever-changing job market?

Check-off List

A career plan creates a check-off list. Through this check-off list, you will create focus and direction. Your intuition can emerge to see options that might somehow never have come to you.

Career Options

Identify your career options. Develop a refined list of options by examining your interests, skills, and values through self-assessment. researching companies, and talking to professionals in the field. You can further narrow your list when you take part in experiences such as shadowing or working alongside a company employee, volunteering, or internships.
Next, list all the things you need to do to accomplish your career goals.

Here are questions to ask to create a strategy for you career.

1. 1. Location: Where Do You Want to Live?
   2. Type of Job or Industry: What Do You Want to Do?
   3. How Well Do You Work with Other People?
   4. Opportunities for Promotion: Do You Want to Lead People?
   5. Money: How Important is Income?
   6. Risk: How Well Do You Tolerate Risk?
   7. Do You have a Mentor or Advisor?
   8. Job Security: What are the Risks of Playing It Safe?
   9. What Education Do You Need?
   10. What Experience Do You Need?
   11. Should You Take an Aptitude Test?
   12. Who Hires People with Your Goals and Qualifications?

   Organize by Your Priorities.

   It’s not enough to list options. You must prioritize them. What are your top skills? What interests you the most? What’s most important to you? Whether it’s intellectually challenging work, security and benefits, the right location, or a big paycheck, you must know your priorities.

   Compare one answer against the other in terms of importance. Reshuffle the order to match your priorities. Additionally, notice how your limits on any priority affects opportunities on your other priorities. Preferences on location can range from your home to one neighborhood to one city or to anywhere across the country. If you are open to living anywhere, your opportunities will increase for other priorities. For example, if you are open to relocation, your potential for promotions will increase to locations where a company has needs for managers. Additionally, your opportunities for security may increase with your willingness to change location.

Career Plan Benefits: a great career plan is an opportunity map. As your career advances, industry will change. Your career plan must be flexible to adjust to changes in industry. With an updated plan, you will discover new roads for opportunities to success.

Great career plans not only define where you want to go. The plan helps you identify the tools, skills, and network you need to get there. ~ www.jaywren.com

The Benefits of a Career Plan

A Check-off List

A Career Plan Creates a Check-off List of What You Need as Your Career Progresses.

Part of creating a career plan includes writing a check-off list. Through this check-off list, you will create focus and direction. Your intuition can emerge to see options that might somehow never have come to you.

Here is a summary of things you might consider including in your career plan check-off list:

1. The job you are in now
2. The jobs you want
3. People you will need to help you
4. Things you want to achieve
5. Places you want to live
6. The amount of money you want to make

The Psychological Advantages of a Career Plan

A Career Plan Gives You a Sense of Purpose and Direction.

Have you ever found yourself in a meeting, working on a project, or in any situation where the question came to mind, “What am I doing here?” or “Why am I doing this?”

Have you noticed that associated with those questions is an unpleasant feeling that you are wasting your time? You have no sense of purpose for your activities.

Going to work every day with a sense of purpose is a lot more fun than going to work every day and wondering why you are doing what you are doing.

Also, it seems logical that going to work every day with a sense of purpose increases your likelihood of being more successful.

1. Your interest in your work will increase.
2. You will be focused on your work.
3. Spontaneously, you will be more willing to invest energy and time in your work.

Preparation

Creating a career plan is preparation for each step of your career. You will more effectively gather the tools and develop the skills that you need. Furthermore, you will better understand which people to add to your network for success.

Mental Clarity

Whether you are working in front of other people or working alone at your desk, as you take advantage of creating a career plan, you will have more mental clarity and feel less stress.

Summary of Career Plan Benefits

In summary, you will have the following benefits from your career plan.

1. Increased creativity and confidence
2. Clear direction
3. Less stress through simplifying a planned process
4. Great habits for success
5. The great feelings of a sense of purpose
6. Spontaneity in handling the inevitable turns and redirections
7. Creating a vision for success

In closing, you will have empowered your mind with a conscious and unconscious mindset to create a path for your success.

Unemployed Job Seekers: How unemployed job seekers become more competitive against the employed job seekers.

Unemployed Job Seekers

People without a job face additional pressure. Loss of income during unemployment can create anxiety.  To an employer, a person being unemployed creates the perception of instability. This perception can weaken an applicant’s ability to get interviews. During interviews, unemployed people are under the pressure to explain why they are unemployed. The issue of unemployment is a distraction. When you want to focus on your qualifications, you must first overcome the issue of your job status.

Your Employed Competitors

People who have a job are in a more competitive position than people who are unemployed. Leaving a company for a better opportunity when you are doing a great job at your current company makes you especially competitive. Therefore, the best time to get a job is when you have a job.

Solutions for Unemployed Job Seekers

I have helped dozens of applicants prepare to handle unemployment during an interview. Moreover, I have helped these people get jobs. Here are some steps that will help.

Resume

Step one, create a personal brand of success. Structure your resume to focus on your career success. Target your resume to the hiring company.

Some people think that your resume should not show that you are unemployed. These people recommend that you leave the dates off your resume. Others recommend that you write your resume to show that you are still employed: 2013 – Present. However, from my experience, a resume that does not include dates raises questions about what a person is hiding. As a corporate recruiter, the two key points I required from a candidate were a list of employers and the dates of employment. The list of companies told me whether I was working with an applicant who was in the correct industry for my job search. The dates told how quickly the person progressed in levels of experience. Moreover, misrepresenting your information can lead to problems even after you are employed.

Social Media: Likewise, your LinkedIn account should match your resume.

Your Interview 

You must be able to handle the issue of unemployment in your interviews. To prepare, write your answer. Then rehearse your answer so that you can give a short, clear reply. Test your answer with people you trust. Get comfortable with your answer so that it makes you look confident in your ability to go forward with success in your next job. Show the power of your qualifications. State how you are seeking the type of job the company offers. Give details of why the job appeals to you. Additionally, talk about the positives of the hiring company.

Conclusion

In conducting your job search, the solution is not to focus on why you are unemployed.  Rather the solution is to focus on the steps to getting interviews and getting job offers from those interviews.

Interview Pitfalls: If you are unemployed, the reason you left your last job may be important to the hiring company. The interview pitfalls are creating impressions that you have done something wrong.

Your answers can help the interviewer learn several important things about you. Therefore, create your answers based on what you believe the interviewer wants to know. Here are some examples.

1. Know what type of job you are seeking
2. Help the interviewer evaluate your employment stability
3. Give the interviewer information on your integrity
4. May simply give the interviewer see how well you deal with difficult questions
5. Help the interviewer understand more about your judgement in making big decisions

Reasons People Leave a Job

Remember that there are valid reasons for people leaving a job. Creating presentations on how your company conditions and changes adversely affect your career and life will help the interview understand your situation.

• Safety issues can make jobs undesirable.
• Commute costs or commute distance are sometimes overwhelming.
• Job stress can create the necessity for finding a different job.
• A change in a person’s home life can force a person to find a new job.
• A challenging work relationship with your supervisor or co-workers can make you want to find a new place to work.
• Companies run into difficulty.
• Automation is reducing career opportunities.
• Companies move offices, retail locations, or manufacturing facilities to less desirable locations.

Avoiding the Interview Pitfall

The main issue is that you have a presentation that shows that your leaving your job in no way makes you less a great hire for their company.  Your accomplishments alone may allow the interviewer to move past the issue. A good response can make the pitfall disappear. Write out a solid, brief answer. The items above may help you prepare for a powerful, effective response.

Test Your Presentation for Feedback

To test how well your answer will avoid interview pitfalls, try giving your response to different people. Their feedback will help you evaluate the effectiveness of your response. Additionally, different people will have different views on how to answer the question. You may find that these people help you with additional information about your response. Their questions may help you think more deeply in creating a credible response.

Interview Pitfalls

In the end, you will need to select an answer that works best for you. Thoroughly rehearse your answer. And don’t worry. How you answer the question may be more important than your reason for leaving your last company. Don’t let this interview pitfall cost you a career opportunity.

Job interview agenda: a list of topics to be introduced during an interview. Bringing an agenda to an interview gives you several advantages.

First, the agenda provides you with a reference sheet. With your resume and your agenda, you will have the facts in front of you. Furthermore, having an agenda will help you stand out for the preparations you have made before the interview. Moreover, by giving to interviewer an opportunity to view your agenda, you gain a chance of controlling how the interview goes.

Job Interview Agenda Items

In writing your agenda, prepare to cover the information you want to discuss. Furthermore, prepare to ask questions about the information you need to know.

Create each agenda for the specific company you are meeting. Prepare for the interview with research and outline your research results in the agenda that you take the interview. Show interviewers that you have an interest in their company through the job interview agenda.

Hand out a copy of the agenda when you hand out your resume. Bring a copy for each person you will meet. Make your agenda specifically to fit the company and the specific job for which you are interviewing. By giving interviewers a copy of your agenda, you are giving them a copy of a presentation on why the company should hire you.

You can’t always influence the things that happen in an interview. Some interviewers are locked in on the details they want to cover. Nonetheless, even if the interviewer does not want to cover the information in your agenda, having one will help you to be better prepared for the interview.

Examples of Agenda Items

Here   are examples taking from an agenda daughter Heather Tran prepared for a marketing position. She got the job.

Example Number One

You might want to make an agenda item, “Why I want to work for your company.” From there, you create a list of reasons why you want to work for the company.

1. The reputation of the company as a customer-based marketer
2. The long history of success of your company
3. The opportunity to work in an environment that enables me to use the promotional and marketing tools I have developed for my career
4. Your company’s commitment to respecting and honoring all employees for their service
5. The opportunity to work in the field of my choice.

Example Number Two

“What I bring to your company”

1. Team skills: I work well with other people in all departments
2. Experience in creating promotional marketing programs to target community customers
3. Skills to create a call to action that leads customers to buy
4. A successful history of developing marketing strategies that include customer service, pricing, product choice, graphic design, and product presentation at retail and in the media

Example for a Specific Position

Marketing Promotion Position

“How I manage a promotion.”

1. Does the promotion present value to the customer?
2. Does it create the correct brand image?
3. Does it reach your target customer base?
4. Does it make a buyer out of your customer?
5. Does it create repeat customers?
6. Does it draw new customers to your business?

Your Experience in Preparing Agendas

The ideas in this article are suggestions only.

As part of my training at a major consumer products company, I prepared an agenda for each day of work. I worked in field sales positions. When my supervisor met with me, I could show him at the beginning of the day what my plans were for that day.

Likewise, you may have experience in preparing agendas. In this case, your personal experience may help you create an agenda that will take you through job interviews.

Warning signs: What should you look for when you are interviewing for a job? Should you be interviewing with a better company?

As the owner of a recruiting firm, I worked with applicants who dealt with troubling issues during the interview process.  Here are some of the things I learned from my experience in helping these applicants

Interviewers Fail to Keep their Commitments

In some cases, interviewers have valid reasons for cancelling an appointment, and they explain those reasons to you.  An easy way to handle the situation is to show understanding and simply reschedule.

However, some interviewers raise warning signs when they fail to keep commitments.

• The interviewers cancel appointments without attempting to reschedule.
• They cancel appointments more than once.
• Worth of all, the interviewers completely fail to call you or to meet with you without calling to cancel or reschedule.

If interviewers can’t keep their commitments, you should see that as a warning sign that you are interviewing with the wrong company.

Interview Interruptions

For interviews allowing interruptions is unfair to you. The interruptions are a distraction to you. The interview loses continuity and you may lose your ability to focus. Furthermore, these people can fail to focused on you and to give a fair evaluation.  This type of behavior is a warning sign that the interviewer is not interested in you or, perhaps, simply does not respect your time.

Remember that the way an interviewer handles an interview is a sign of how a company deals with its employees.  This behavior is uncommon, but when it has happened, applicants have often complained to me about it and rightfully so.

The interviewer is the face of the company.  If the interviewer doesn’t respect your time, how well will you be able to at a company where people do not respect your time.  This type of company is the wrong company.

Withholding Information Benefits and Salary Range

The company withholds information on benefits and salary range during the interview process.

The company benefits and compensation are confidential information.  For competitive security issues, companies must protect the details of their operations.  However, to avoid wasting their own time and the applicant’s time, the best interviewers provide general information on benefits and compensation.  Often, companies include a general statement on benefits and compensation on the job description.

You need to work for companies that put the information out front.  Companies that are not forthcoming during the interview are companies that show warning signs that you are interviewing with a company that runs its business that way.  This type of company is the wrong company.

Warning Signs

Take heed of warning signs. To summarize here common warning signs that I have seen during my experience as a recruiter.

• Interviewers fail to keep their commitments
• Interviewers allow interruptions
• It is difficult for you to get a general idea on benefits and salary range

Winning Performance is not only about how hard you work or how many skills you have. It’s, also, about having the soft skills for working effectively. Day in, day out, equally talented people give different levels of winning performance. Likewise, equally talented people can have widely different career success. Here are seven steps that will help you accomplish more with your time.

1. Seeking Advice for Winning Performance.

Seek advice before acting on important decisions. It is so easy for me to go into difficult situations and make large decisions with the belief that I already have all the answers.  It is equally easy for me to overlook things that I should have considered before acting. I have better results when I get ideas and solutions from other people. I better understand my circumstances by discussing them with someone else.

2. Getting the Greatest Results – Yards After Catch

Get the greatest results from each activity. The National Football League wide receiver Jerry Rice holds 23 NFL records. One of the more important records is the greater distance he gained after he caught the pass. From my observation, Jerry Rice trained harder and more skillfully than other athletes. Jerry Rice brought winning performance to every game he played.

3. Listen and Learn

Business professionals can do a better job for their company by identifying those small details that turn mediocre projects into hugely successful projects. They do the same tasks every else does and achieve greater results than anyone else, often because of their getting input from people around them. These people develop a team mentality that tells them when to act or when to set a finished product aside and return to it when they have a fresh perspective.

These people build companies like Apple, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, and so on across the spectrum.

4. Do One More Task

When you finish your work before the end of the day, do at least one more task before leaving work. It is easy to sit around or leave early. By starting and completing one more task on these days, you will find that your production can rise dramatically. If you add and complete one extra task per week, you will complete fifty more tasks over the course of the year. Your company will benefit. Your value to your company will grow.

5. Read

Regularly read articles and books about your job and your goals. Nearly every job continues to evolve.  Many jobs disappear entirely. New information and tools become available to make job performance easier and make you more marketable.  Take advantage of this information to grow in professional value and for personal enrichment.

6. See Solutions Not Problems

Everyone has problems. Everyone encounters obstacles. It is easy to give up or procrastinate instead of acting on these obstacles. In creating solutions, you can develop effective, often new ways of dealing with these obstacles.

As you create solutions, look for ways to help other people use your solutions. People have founded companies based on providing products and services to overcome common obstacles.  If you can sell the solutions you have developed in overcoming obstacles, you have a business.

7. Build Your Network

Continue to build your network of friends and mentors.  One of the more interesting qualities of my son is that he has multiple circles of friends. The people in each of these circles are people he has met at different times and in different settings.  Some of these friends are from high school classes. Other friends come from his sports activities. Additionally, he has friends from college and his career.

Since graduating from college, he has met these people from different circles to pick up new hobbies and to travel. He has traveled to Sweden, Peru, and Thailand to meet with friends he has met over the years. You may also find that having new circles of friends can help you develop new and valuable career ideas and solutions for Winning Performance.

8. Set Goals

Continue to set goals. Goal setting can have a subconscious power to drive your actions even when you are not working directly from a daily plan. Additionally, having goals can give you a sense of purpose and a feeling of a richer quality of life.  Rather than focusing on the ruts of your life, you can focus on your goals and how to move toward them.  Goals lead to Winning Performance.

Recruiters: If you are in a job search, you may find it helpful to understand the relationships of recruiters, hiring companies, and job seekers.

As a recruiter, I contracted with over a hundred companies to fill their vacancies. I have friends who are recruiters.  My broader understanding of the types of firms started when I began my career with a company that had two departments: one for search and one for applicant placements. This article will help you understand recruiters and perhaps the best way to work with recruiters effectively.

Recruiters

Hiring companies contract with recruiters to find applicants that are often not on the market. If you are a working with recruiter, you are valuable to that recruiter.  The recruiter will not charge you a fee. The hiring company pays the recruiter.

This distinction over fee payments is one of the differences between recruiters and some placement agencies.

A recruiter does not find jobs for people. Instead they find people for jobs. Some people call recruiters “headhunters,” because they hunt for people to fill positions for the hiring companies.

Placement Agencies

These agencies often work to find jobs for job seekers. In some cases, employment agencies may charge the applicant a fee. The successful employment agencies have a strong network in a local market. Although employment agencies may recruit candidates for a specific job, these agencies are typically working with job seekers who have come to the agency’s office and completed an application.

Contingency Recruiter or Retained Recruiter

Both contingency recruiters and retained recruiters have a contract with the hiring company.  Also, both seek to find people for jobs.  The difference is that a contingency recruiter makes no money until a hire is made. On the other hand, retained recruiters receive scheduled payments as they work on the search.  Additionally, both types, myself included, are listed in national directories of professional recruiters.

You and the Recruiter

Recruiters get on phones and call people. They may publish job listings on their websites. My initial use of this website was to promote my recruiting efforts. Most recruiters specialize in searching for specific types of jobs.

If you have the skills that match a recruiter’s specialty, you might find this recruiter a valuable asset, because he or she will often have a number of jobs that fit your background.

The Limitations of Recruiters

I have a separate article on why you might not want to work with a recruiter.  You should be aware that recruiters are working to serve their own interests to fill jobs quickly.  These recruiters may not refer you to companies where they already have successful candidates in progress.

Is your resume a success story? Have you included job information in a way that makes your job history stand out against the competition?

Even employers who do not know what they are looking for are going to get more excited when they read a resume that reads like a success story than a mere list of job specs.
~ www.jaywren.com

My Experience

The following information is based on the feedback I have received from hiring managers, staffing managers, other recruiters, about that they look for in a resume and from talking with thousands of applicants about their resumes.

Accomplishments

Most people use bullet points in their resume.  A way to make the bullet points count is to list the things that you did to make things better, not simply list the things you did.

For example, instead of saying things like “Managed seven-person sales team,” you might consider saying things like “Lead a seven-person sales team to double-digit growth in a declining market.”

What Staffing Executives Want to See

A staffing executive from a major consumer company once said to me that his company is looking for people who are going to make the castle larger and not someone who just wants to hold the keys. When you are writing your resume or in an interview or on any other occasion that requires self-reference, a few facts about your success weaved into your list of experiences will increase your opportunities to get a job offer.

Resume Musts

Your resume must show at least four things:

1. How your experience and skills match the job requirements
2. The ways your accomplishments set you above the competition
3. That you want to do the type of job the hiring company is trying to fill
4. How your background shows that you want to do the type of job the hiring company is trying to fill

Resumes
Resume Suggestions That Can Get You a Job
Is a List of Core Responsibilities a Resume?
Resume – Management Level

Job Change Success:  In this article you will find powerful tools that others have found helpful in making an effective career move.

Career Change Success: 5 Essential Elements

1. Resume
2. Resume Cover Letter
3. Interview and Interview Preparation
4. Thank You Letter
5. Extra Tools and Tips

You don’t have to do everything for success. But you do have to do the right things. ~ www.jaywren.com

First, a Resume is Basic to a Career Change

Here is what you put into a resume and the order in which you put this information.  If you replace this information with your information, you will have written a resume.

Your name
Street address
City, State Zip
Phone
Email address

Rule 1: Never refer to yourself in the third person in the body of the resume.
Rule 2: Use factual accomplishments and not subjective opinions of yourself.

• Example of a fact:  exceeded assigned sales goal by 30%
• Examples of opinion; goal-oriented, creative, tenacious, strategic, honest, loyal:  For a person to
  use adjectives about themselves puts human resource people to sleep

Objective:  This is optional and often redundant.  Your resume has the objective of getting you interviews with an employer who sees a match in your location, your compensation, and your experience and that employer’s needs.  It is conventional to state an objective here but you can probably find a better use for the space.

Employment History (Most recent job first)

Company Name, Location, and Period of Employment (From to)
Most recent title:

• Use bullet format.
• List things you have accomplished.
• Do not waste space on your just giving a job description.
• List things that showed you made a difference.
• Include increasing sales, reducing costs, promoting people, saving time, increasing productivity,
  etc.
• Employers and recruiters search their databases for specific words.
• List successes with specific industry words or functions.
• Include the actual name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e. g, Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market Insights, Innovation), etc.

Next List Previous Titles at this company and again bullets on successes:

• List your accomplishments.
• Do not waste space on your just giving a job description.
• List things that showed you made a difference.
• Things you have accomplished include increasing sales, reducing costs, promoting people, saving time, increasing productivity, etc.
• Companies and recruiters search their databases for specific words.
• Include the actual name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e.g., Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market Insights, Innovation), etc.

Then include Previous Companies going back in time from most recent.

Education goes next after you have listed the first job you held after college or in your career:  Part-time or vacation jobs held while in school are sometimes not listed except as a bullet to the education experience.

Do not put references or salary information on your resume.

Second, Resume Cover Letter

Suggestions on writing a cover letter

Your Name
Street Address
City, State Zip
Phone Number
Email Address

Date

Name of person receiving your letter
Company Name
Street Address
City, State Zip

Dear First Name:

(If you come recommended by someone, list that person’s name here).  Name of person referred me to you.  I am writing to apply for as position as a (fill in name of position) with your company.  My resume is attached.

In my resume, you will find a record of success in (list competencies)

When may I interview with you?

Best regards,
Your Name

Third, Interview and Interview Preparation

Here is what you can do to have a better interview.

1) Prepare an agenda for the interview, things you want to cover.
2) Research the company.  Find articles on the company and use information from these articles in your interview presentation.
3) Research the job and be prepared to talk about how your skills fit the job.
4) Review your skills and the information in your resume.
5) Be upbeat and positive about the world, the way you might be on a Friday afternoon.
6) Take with you extra copies of your resume, a typed list of questions, and paper and pen for notes.
7) Bring examples of your work that show your skills and successes.
8) Be factual about the work you did and the work others did to make you a success.
9) In the interview, listen to the questions you are asked and be sure that you understand the question before answering.  If the question is too broad to enable you to give a good answer, ask the interviewing to help you understand better what he or she is trying to learn.
10) Be positive when you talk about your current company, your boss, and your job.  Emphasize that you are looking to make a change to get more of what the company interviewing you has to offer.
11) Write stories of your successes as preparation to discuss how you can contribute to a company’s business.

Outline for an Interview Agenda

Candidates have found that the following outline is effective in getting the job.

In using this type of outline to prepare for an interview, a person will have anticipated and practiced how
to handle many of the questions and contingencies that may arise in a job interview.

1. Why I am Interested in Working for Your Company
2. What I Bring to a Company in Your Industry
3. My Plans for Developing Your Business
4. Ways that I Will Implement This Plan

WHY I AM INTERESTED IN WORKING FOR YOUR COMPANY

•        The reputation of the company
•        The long history of success of the company
•        The appeal of the industry
•        The opportunity to work in an environment that enables me to use my skills
•        The company commitment to respecting and honoring their employees with programs
•        The opportunity to work in the field of my choice

WHAT I BRING TO A THIS INDUSTRY

•        Creatively and enthusiastically use the knowledge I gained in college to make the organization
  more successful
•        Have a range of appropriate skills
•        Have developed marketing strategies to include customer service, pricing, and product selection

Fifth, Thank You Letter

Your name
Street address
City, State Zip
Phone
Email address

Date

Mr. /Ms. Interviewer
Name of company
Street address, City, State Zip

Dear Mr. /Ms. Interviewer:

Thank the person for meeting with you.

Express your impression of the company.

Express your interest in the job.

Best regards,

Your name

Extra Tools and Tips

1. Reference material
2.  Work your network by making a list of every possible contact you have ever made in business and contact these people for ideas and opportunities.
3. Ask for referrals of every person you contact.
4. Lay out your goals as specifically as you can, but be aware that the more flexible you are in terms of money, location, and opportunity the more opportunities you will have available to you.
5. Contingency recruiter or retained recruiter?  In practice, how a recruiter is compensated is not nearly as important as what contacts the recruiter has.  Typically, retained recruiters are conducting searches where the salary is above $750,000 and involve “C” level managers.
6. Be organized.  Make a list daily of your contacts, what you discussed what action you have taken and what action needs to be taken.
7. Read the want ads in the local newspaper, national publications, and especially trade journals. Become an expert on what is in the job market.
8. Before approaching a company directly, research it thoroughly.  How is it structured?  Bottler, distributor, direct, or broker sales?  Public or private?  Do you have a referral to get your foot in the door, etc.?  Who are the key managers for the job you are seeking? To whom do these people report?
9. Prepare for an interview the same way you would prepare for a major sales call, business review, or planning session where you are the key presenter.
10. Follow up on contacts you have made.

Overqualified: Are you frustrated, because hiring companies will not see you for jobs you can do easily?  You are not alone.  Here are the reasons why you are not getting interviews and what you can do about it.

The Risks to Employers of Hiring Overqualified People

Speaking as a recruiter, I can tell you that my clients focus on specific skills.  These clients want to hire qualified candidates. However, they avoid overqualified applicants.

Why? Overqualified people are a risk of leaving as soon as they find a job at their skill level.   Vacancies are a burden.  They damage morale and productivity.  Filling vacancies takes time away from other company efforts. Furthermore, staffing fees are costly, especially when searching for highly qualified candidates.

The Risks to You for Interviewing Job Below You Qualifications

Taking a job below your qualifications damages your career.  You risk creating a picture of yourself as backslider.  You raise questions about your ability to continue to grow.  Furthermore, you may raise questions about what happened to push you back in your career.

How to Get Great Interviews with Companies Who Need Your Experience

Case Study:

Bob (not the real name): “How I should format my resume for the greatest success?”

Me: “As a person with advanced degrees and advanced qualifications, you should consider two formats for you resume: A Curriculum Vitae (CV) format or a resume format. Here are two articles that may help.

• Curriculum Vitae (CV) or Resume?
• Resumes Must Close the Sale on Getting a Job Interview“

Bob:” How should I list my skills in a resume?”

Me: “Be specific. List your qualifications listed in the job description. For example, I once had a search for a company that sold perishable products (products types are different from this example). I had a resume for a general manager who was perfect for the job. His resume showed that he had canned goods experience.  However, his resume did not show is that he also had the required perishable foods experience at the same company.

After I filled the job, I learned that he was qualified for the job.

Bob: “How do I select companies?”

Me: “My recommendation is that you target specific jobs, not just every job opening. Identify roles that match your skills and get to know people who work at places that hire people for those roles.

Professional and Personal Network

Use your current close professional and personal network more frequently than you use a broad network of people on LinkedIn.

When introducing yourself via a referral, first ask for permission to use the person as a reference.

Where you have friends, who want to help you, ask them to forward your resume to a professional at a place where you want to work. Additionally, ask them to copy you on the resume.  Then you follow up directly with the new contact.”

Career Planning:  Just because you are unhappy with your current job does not mean that you should get a new one.  There are reasons to stay where you are even though you believe you might be happier somewhere else.

Are You in the Wrong Job?

If you feel unappreciated, are you in the wrong job?  By unappreciated, I mean that you experience these things.

1. Your turn has come up for promotion, but the promotion goes to less qualified peers.
2. Your company brings in management from the outside for jobs that should have.
3. Your peers repeatedly get credit for the work you are doing.
4. Your boss takes credit for your work.
5. Your pay raise is smaller than the pay raises everyone else gets.
6. Everything people say about you is negative.
7. No one asks you to join in at breaks or after work.
8. You believe that nothing you do makes a difference.
9. You feel like an outsider.

Reasons Not to Change

Lost benefits: Companies increase vacation time and other benefits with the length of time people stay at a company.  time.

Marketability: Companies become concerned about hiring people who lack stability in their employment history.  The best employers lower the risk of investing time and money in hiring, onboarding, and training employees who don’t have the ability to stay and grow with a company.

Stress: A job search is stressful.  Furthermore, the first three months you are in a new job, employers are forming an opinion of you. The pressure to perform at once is stressful.

No Guarantees: Changing jobs does not guarantee that you will be happier.  You may find that the next job solves no problems.  You may be rushing from rut to move to another rut.

Additionally, changing jobs often means leaving friends and familiar routines to go to a place where you do not know anyone and where the people, the ways of working, and the culture are completely different.

Career Planning: Weighing the Decision to Change Jobs

Changing jobs might be the best option for you.  You can go to a place where you find greater satisfaction, increased pay, and increased career opportunity.  Nonetheless, weigh the benefits and risk to changing jobs.

Job Search Tools: Are stuck in your job search?  Perhaps the list of tools in the article will help you land the job you deserve.

Powerful Resume

Powerful Resumes: Are you sending out dozens of resumes and not getting job interviews. You might find the suggestions in my article “Powerful Resumes: The Critical Details for Getting Job Interviews” helpful.

In my “See All Posts” archives, you will find close to thirty articles on how to write a resume that will get you interviews.

Research Tools

Research gives you a critical advantage over people who don’t research companies, contacts, and job opportunities.

Before approaching a company directly, research it thoroughly. How is it structured? Bottler, distributor, direct, or broker sales? Public or private? Do you have a referral to help you get your foot in the door? Who are the key managers for the job you are seeking? To whom do these people report?

I remember driving to the main library in Houston.  This library had the information I needed to identify companies to pursue. With further research, I could learn what types of jobs these company offered and the products and services they produced. I could learn information about the key officers in the company. Often, I could find the addresses to send resumes.

With the Internet, I can get so much more information without leaving my desk.

I can still use the library.  I signed up for a library card. Now I can read library books on line.

With a little bit of effort, I can uncover information about companies to show the recruiter why I am the most qualified person for a job.

Job Search Tools

Read the want ads in the local newspaper, national publications, and especially trade journals. Job search engines and job boards will have job opportunities all over the country.  Become an expert on what is in the job market.

Lay out your goals as specifically as you can but be aware that the more flexible you are in terms of money, location, and opportunity the more opportunities you will have available to you. Understanding your goals will make you more effective in identifying job opportunities.

Recruiters

Types of recruiters: Contingency recruiter or retained recruiter?  Contingency recruiters work under contract for payment and successfully filling a job. A retained recruiter works under a contract that pays the recruiter a retainer fee to initiate a search and complete payment after the new hire starts to work.

Typically, contingency recruiters work on middle management searches.  On the other hand, retained recruiters are conducting searches where the compensation is above $250,000.

In practice, how a recruiter is compensated is not important.  The key information for you to know is whether the recruiter has contracts (contingency or retained) for conducting a search assignment.

Before you call a recruiter, be aware of the limitations that working with a recruiter might place on you. On the other hand, you should know the services that recruiters offer job applicants.

Do reference checks on recruiters. Recruiters are humans. Some you will like. Others you may not like.

Network Building Tools

Start with a list of all the people you believe can help you. These are people you know well enough that they will need no reminder of who you are. From there, make a list of everyone you have met since beginning your career.

In creating your list, include the phone number, email address, and mailing address of each of these people.

Ask for referrals of every person you contact.

From there, begin to use social media to identify people who can help you.

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Facebook 
• Create a Free Blog on WordPress.com or Google Blogger

Be Organized

Make a list daily of your contacts, what you discussed what action you have taken and what action needs to be taken.  You might create a status board similar to the one in my article titled “Status Board.”

Interview killers:  How well you interview will decide whether you get the job. Here are thirteen things that can undermine your interview.

Avoiding Interview Killers

An interview is a critical step to getting a job.  Preparing for your interview and making good choices in handling your interview can turn your interview into a job offer.  Here are thirteen things you should not do and suggestions for the correct things to do in a job interview.

Arrive Late

You should plan for traffic delays.  Arrive thirty minutes early. Wait nearby to enter the building. Go into the interview five minutes early. Introduce yourself and say that you are there a bit early for your interview.

Wear the wrong clothes

Appropriate clothing will vary from job to job.  If you need to be dressed to go to work that day, wear work clothes.  If you are interviewing for a job for which you will have to wait for an offer, consider wearing clothes that are one level above the job.  For example, if the job requires jeans, consider wearing khakis.  If the job requires khakis, consider wearing dress slacks or a skirt.  If the job requires slacks or a skirt, wear a suit.

Leave Your Cell Phone Active

Turn your cell phone off before you entering the building for your interview.  Do note mute your cell phone.  Turn the power off on your cell phone.  For the short time you have in the interview, you do not need distractions from your cell phone.  If you even check your phone during the interview, you have lost the job offer.

Act Rude

Be courteous.  Know and say the interviewer’s name. Give the person a firm, but not strong handshake. Introduce yourself.   Thank the interviewer for meeting with you.

Bring up Subjects that are Not About the Interview

Help the interviewer focus on the interview.  Offer the interviewer a copy of your resume before you sit down.

Fidget or Act Restless

There are simple ways to relieve your tension.  Use the best body language.  Take a couple of breaths before entering the interview.  Make eye contact.  If direct eye contact makes you uncomfortable, look at the person’s face.  Focus on what you are saying and not what you are seeing.  Smile.   Sit up straight.  Gently hold in your stomach.  Keep your shoulders comfortably level.  Practice sitting this way daily.  It is good for your back, neck, and core, and will help you interview more successfully.  Speak loudly enough that the interviewer can hear you.  Keep your arms open.  Make occasional gestures as you are speaking.  As you behave relaxed, you will become relaxed.

Talk About Yourself and Not About Your Qualifications

Focus on your qualifications for the job.  Talk about what you can do and not about who you are.   Be specific when discussing how your experience fits the job requirements.

Go to the Interview Without Preparing

Show that you are ready for the meeting.  Refer to the things you have read about the company and about the job.

Act as Though You are Not Interested in the Job

Ask questions about the company and the job based on the information you found through your research and through reading the job description. Write a list of questions as part of your preparation before going to the interview.

Say Negative Things about Anyone

Talk positively about your present employer and your past employers. The way to keep things positive is to focus on your interest in the company that is interviewing you.

Dominate the Conversation

Allow the interviewer to lead the discussion.  Answer the questions not the things that the questions bring to your mind.

Leave Without Understanding What You Should Expect Next

If the interviewer has not told you what to expect next, ask the person when you will be getting information on the company’s interest in meeting with you again or making you an offer.  Express you interest in the job and say that you look forward to meeting again.  If the interviewer has a card on the desk, ask for one.

Fail to Follow Up

Successful applicants send a thank-note. The note shows that your interest in the job. Furthermore, the note shows that you appreciate the time hiring managers spent with you.  Equally, in the thank-you note you can request feedback on how well you performed in the interview.

Interview Killers

In conclusion, these things are interview killers.

1. Arrive Late
2. Wear the Wrong Clothes
3. Leave Your Cell Phone Active
4. Act Rude
5. Bring Up Subjects that are Not About the Interview
6. Fidget or Act Restless
7. Talk About Yourself and not About the Your Qualifications
8. Go to the Interview Without Preparing
9. Act as Though You are Not Interested in the Job
10. Say Negative Things about Anyone
11. Dominate the Conversation
12. Leave Without Understanding What You Should Expect Next
13. Fail to Follow Up

More Powerful Career Articles
The Best Time to Change Jobs
The 30-60-90-Day Plan for Jobs and Job Interviews

Business Meeting Tools:  Meeting preparation is important.  Equally important is having the right tools.  What should you bring to a meeting?

Cutting a diamond starts with having the right skills and the right tools. Likewise, for business meeting success we need the right tools to support our skills. ~ www.jaywren.com

Business Meeting Tools

What you bring to a business meeting is as important as the things you say or do in a business meeting.  Getting to a business meeting to discover that you do not have the things you need is not only embarrassing, it is often a business-meeting killer.  I recommend that you buy a portfolio case or a briefcase that you use just for meetings.  Keep the case stocked with the materials that you will take to every meeting.

When organizing your meeting case, make sure you bring the following items.

Bring several copies of presentations.

You should have a copy for your own use and a copy for each person on the meeting schedule.  Take extra copies for people who are not on the schedule but who might come into the meeting unannounced.  Sometimes having unexpected people join the meeting is a sign that the people are interested in what you have to say or show.

Bring a list of the attendees.

Having this list will help you organize your notes about questions people have.  The list can also help you remember people’s names and the role of the people in the meeting.

Bring a list of recommendations.

Having a list of recommendations adds power to your professional credibility and creates excitement about the quality of your work.

A Word of Caution: In an interview, be careful about leaving a copy of your recommendations with the hiring company.  Companies should not be contacting your references without your approval.

Bring a brag book or portfolio.

This book has samples of your work so that people can see the range of your success.

Bring your laptop.

If you have powerhouse presentations that you can show more examples of your work, you can use your laptop as a dynamic tool.

Bring business cards.

Some people see business cards to verify employment and job title.  The cards show people that you are who you say you are.

Bring a notepad.

You need to keep track of contact and company information that you learn during your meetings.  A notepad is an effective way to make notes without distracting people the way using a smartphone or laptop might distract people when you are taking notes.

Bring three or four pens.

The extra pens help you relax that you have a pen that works.  In addition, it is wise to make sure you can help an attendee who does not have a pen for taking notes.

Purpose: Why is it to some companies and people fail to achieve their goals. How can they define their goals better with an understanding of why they want to achieve those goals?

The benefits of knowing the purpose of a business or a career include increased understanding and greater engagement.

Goals and  Purpose

Goals are the things we hope to accomplish.  Purpose is the reason that we want to accomplish them.

I once heard a sales executive say that the only way to measure a company’s success are sales and earnings.  Pressed with the goal of increasing sales profitably, his view of the purpose a company was to make money for the owners and shareholders.

His focus on sales and profits as the purpose of the company was short sighted.  This company later failed, because the leadership didn’t understand that company’s purpose was to serve their customers with products their customers demanded.

So, Why Does It Matter?

Successful companies start with an idea of whom they will serve and what these people want.

Most companies set goals for what, when, how, and where they will deliver to meet consumer demand.

However, only the best companies focus on the purpose of the company, that is, consumer demand.  And, these companies beat competitors who focus strictly on goals but fail to remember the needs of the customer.

Illustration

Two peanut companies (not real companies) compete.  The goal of each company is to meet consumer demand for peanuts.  However, Company A realizes that consumer satisfaction is the purpose that will create demand for the company’s peanuts. Company A focuses on taste, price, and availability to exceed consumer perfection. In doing so, they create their purpose as a company.  As a result, Company A, also, excels above its competitors.

The less successful companies set and succeed in the achieving the same goal of meeting consumer demand for peanuts. However, they fail in some way to achieve customer satisfaction.

Career

In creating and updating your career plan, take a different view.  If it is your goal to make a lot of money, ask yourself, “What purpose can I serve to earn money?”

Another example is your long-term goal. Your career goal may be to become the president of a company. To achieve that goal, ask yourself, “What is the purpose of my company and how can I help my company achieve that purpose?”

Your answer might be, “I want to achieve the purpose of creating the largest and, in time, most profitable customer base in my company’s industry.” The goals you accomplish are the steps in achieving the company’s purpose.

On this basis, you will understand why your company needs you.  You will become engaged and purpose driven.

Case Study

I knew an hourly employee who hated having to redo work.  This person couldn’t grasp and an understanding of the purpose of the work.  That is, completing the work was not the purpose.  Completing the work was a goal in the process.  Delivering successful results was the purpose.

This person became unable of engaging in work and left the company to find another job.

Job-Listing Websites:  Everything is easier to find when you know where to look. ~ www.jaywren.com.  Job Boards and Job Search Engines, how they work and what to expect from both of them.

Job-Listing Websites: Everything is easier to find when you know where to look. ~ www.jaywren.com

Are job boards useful?  In some industries, job boards and job search engines are helpful.  I have spoken with people conducting a job search who found job boards and job search engines a waste of time.  However, in some industries, great companies rely heavily on job-listing websites.

The Types of Job-Listing Websites

There are two types of job-listing websites.

• #1 Job Boards
• #2 Job Search Engines

Job Boards post jobs listed with their company.  When you enter job search criteria into these website, the results return only the website’s listing.

Job search engines also list jobs posted with their company.   Plus, job search engines return results for jobs posted elsewhere on the Internet.

Because of their ability to scour the Internet for jobs, jobs search engines have gained tremendous popularity.  However, these job search engines naturally list their own job-listings first.

Google – The All-Inclusive Job Search Engine

A third option for finding jobs is Google job searches.  To find jobs on Google search, simply list the job title, the location, and the word ‘jobs.’  Google will return results for jobs under that job title.  Similar to job search engines, Google will list Jobs based on your search parameters and your location.

For example, I entered “district manager jobs” into Google search and got this statement “About 8,890,000 results.”

In these results, I got job listing from job search engines and job boards. In other words, I found listing wherever Google found them on the Internet.

Additionally, I found these search results refinements.

• District Manager
• Past 3 Days
• Fulltime
• Region Manager
• And other search refinements

Google Custom Search

I built a custom Google job search engine Jobs.JayWren.com for maximum effectiveness in Google search.

On this site, I have customized a Google search engine to scour the Internet for jobs listed on job boards, job search engines, and websites for hiring companies.

Google is far more effective than job search engines and job boards at finding jobs on any website from anyplace on the web.  By using Google search to find jobs, you can work more quickly to find jobs that fit your skills.

Browser Tip

A helpful tip is to open the job listing links on Google in a separate tab or separate window.  By using that technique, you will be able to work your way through the Google search results without having to re-enter you search.

Interview Practice: What can you do to prepare and practice for your job interview? Here are some ideas that will help you.

What good are your talent and skills if no one can see them? ~ www.jaywren.com .com

How You Benefit from Interview Practice

No one can know with any certainty what questions to expect in an interview. However, interview questions tend to fit into categories.  For the most part, these questions fit into a range of questions.

Essentially, interview preparation come under four categories:

• Everything about you
• Everything about the hiring company

These points will become clearer in the discussion below. Here are examples of questions under these two categories.

Everything About You

Workplace Relationships: Keep your answers positive.  The interviewer is trying to understand how well you work with others.

• How would you describe your workplace relationships?
• Who was the best supervisor you have ever had?
• Tell me about the worst supervisor you ever had?
•  How would your peers describe you?
• Tell me about a conflict you faced at work and how you dealt with it.
• What do you expect out of your team/co-workers?
• describe your expectations of your future manager?
• What qualities to you seek in building a team?

Your Character and Emotional Intelligence: These questions help the interviewer understand your individual professional and personal qualities.

• What is your management style?
• Have you ever told a lie?
• What motivates you? Whom do you most admire?
• Tell me about yourself?
• How do you deal with stress?
• To what do you attribute your success?
• How do you describe your perfect day?

Qualifications:  In asking questions about your qualifications, the interviewer is looking for specifically skills and experience that qualify you for their job opening and your potential for long-term success with their company. Here are some sample questions.

• What is your greatest strength?
• Describe your greatest achievement?
• How do your qualifications make you the best fit for our job?

Your Growth Potential:  In this case, the interviewer is examining how well you can grow short-term and create long-term value to the company.

• What are your long-term goals?
•  Describe the things you do you do to grow professionally?
• What are your career passions?
•  When you were a growing up, what did you want to become?
•  Can you describe your typical day?
• Tell me about your greatest weakness?
• Where do you see yourself in five years?
• Are you willing to relocate?

Questions about Why You are Making a Job Change:

• Why are you leaving your current job?
• Were you laid off?
• What are you looking for in your next job?

Everything about the Hiring Company

Taking all of the questions above, you should direct your preparation on how your answers to those questions show why the company should hire.  You must show that understand the opportunity.  Additionally, you must know the company’s products, distribution channels,

Putting your knowledge of the opportunity together with your knowledge of company, you must show how you fit the company’s short-term and long-term goals and needs.

The answers should show, based on your knowledge of the job opportunity and the conditions at the company, that you are the companies best possible hire.

Here are some sample questions.

• Why do you want to work for [insert company name]?
• What is your dream job? Should indicate why you the hiring company is the place where you want to work?
• Could you describe your plan for the first 90 days on the job at our company?

Mental Attitude and Interview Practice

Interview practice will help you think more clearly.  Furthermore, the practice will strengthen your ability to think on your feet.  Interview role playing with another person and in front of a mirror will help you feel more poised.

Going to the Interview

Interviews are like batting in baseball. Who knows what pitch is coming next? Often the pitcher does not know where the next pitch is going until it gets there.   As professional baseball players do, take a deep breath. Stay loose. Trust yourself.

Resigning Gracefully: When Leaving a Company, knowing how to say goodbye gracefully is important. What are the do’s and don’ts of an exit interview?

When Leaving a Company, there are things to do and things not to do.

One of help you resign gracefully. The other with burn bridges you may need later.

Using these techniques will reduce the stress for you and avoid burning bridges with the company you are leaving.  First, here are some things to do when you leaving a company.

Do prepare for the things to do in an exit interview.

Despite what some headhunters will tell when they are preparing you to leave your current company, there are benefits to attending and even excelling in the way you handle your exit interview.

Before resigning, weigh the pros and cons of leaving your current company.

Once you are committed to leaving, give the company two weeks’ notice.  Two weeks’ notice is common courtesy.  You owe your company no more.

Also, before you resign, remove your personal property from your workplace and download or delete your personal files from the company computers.  You do not want to run into your company holding your property until someone gets around to doing an inventory of what belongs to you and what belong to your employer.

Do prepare to return company property.

When you go into an exit interview, bring the company property to the interview: e.g., keys to a company car, company laptop, mobile phone, etc.  Since you have already recovered all your property, put the burden on your employer to give you an inventory of any other property they believe that you need to return.  You may not have to offer to turn over the property during the exit interview.  However, having it on hand will make things simpler if your company decides to walk you out the door.

Do prepare for questions that you have about compensation and benefits you receive when leaving.

Prepare for to discuss compensation due you upon leaving the company: unpaid vacation time, unpaid bonuses, and unpaid salary.  Your company should explain to you what money you have coming and when they will pay you.

Know the questions you need answering in transitioning or continuing your health benefits after you leave the company.

As you will discover from the DOL website, your employer owes you information on the way that your benefits extend beyond your employment.

Using these techniques will reduce the stress for you and avoid burning bridges with the company you are leaving.  First, here are some things to do when you leaving a company.

Do be positive but firm in your resignation.

Politely explain that it is time for you to move on.  Thank your employers for the support they have given you.  Ask for your employer’s’ direction about how you can transition your material and responsibilities smoothly and promptly.

When Leaving a Company, avoid some things.

There are things not to do in an exit interview to make sure that you leave on good terms.  Somewhere down the road, you may find that the company you are leaving will help you with a strong reference in seeking another job.  Avoiding these things will make you exit go more smoothly.

Don’t discuss counter offers.

One of the purposes of an exit interview is to prevent losing employees who are critical to the company at the time.  I emphasize “at the time,” because people known for disloyalty have a mark against them in future evaluations and layoffs.  Counter offers can drag out the length of the exit interview, perhaps into days.  Counter offers just increase the stress in your exit interview.  As I have written elsewhere, they are offers that are too good to accept.

Don’t make the exit interview a gripe session.

If you are unhappy with the people or practices of the company you are leaving, an exit interview is not the time to express them.  The time to express your concerns is before you start looking for another job and you can still make a difference at your current employer.

Don’t discuss your new job.

Don’t say where you are going to work or how much money your new employer is paying.  Avoid giving any details about the function of the new job or your capacity in the new job.  The information about your new job is confidential information between you and your new employer.

Resigning Gracefully: Don’t be rude or disrespectful.

Whether you are going through an exit interview with your supervisor or an HR person does not matter.  Remember that the person who is conducting the interview is simply doing a job.  They are not your whipping child.  They are human beings you may or may not like.  However, being rude or disrespectful will not help you garner respect from people who may read or hear about the interviewer’s experience with you.

As I said in the first paragraph, somewhere down the road, you may need the people involved in your exit interview to help you find your next job.

Career Change:  Below are powerful tools and suggestions others have found helpful in making an effective career move.

4 Essential Steps to a Highly Successful Career Change

• Resume
• Resume Cover Letter
• Interview Preparation
• Thank You Letter

You don’t have to do everything for success. But you do have to do the right things. ~ www.jaywren.com

First, a Resume is Basic to a Career Change

Here is what you put into a resume and the order in which you put this information.  If you replace this information with your information, you will have written a resume.

Your name
Street address
City, State Zip
Phone
Email address

Rule 1: Never refer to yourself in the third person in the body of the resume.
Rule 2: Use factual accomplishments and not subjective opinions of yourself.

• Example of a fact:  exceeded assigned sales goal by 30%
• Examples of opinion; goal-oriented, creative, tenacious, strategic, honest, loyal:  For a person to
  use adjectives about themselves puts human resource people to sleep

Objective:  This is optional and often redundant.  Your resume has the objective of getting you interviews with an employer who sees a match in your location, your compensation, and your experience and that employer’s needs.  It is conventional to state an objective here but you can probably find a better use for the space.

Employment History (Most recent job first)

Company Name, Location, and Period of Employment (From to)
Most recent title:

• Use bullet format.
• List things you have accomplished.
• Do not waste space on your just giving a job description.
• List things that showed you made a difference.
• Include increasing sales, reducing costs, promoting people, saving time, increasing productivity,
  etc.
• Employers and recruiters search their databases for specific words.
• List successes with specific industry words or functions.
• Include the actual name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e. g, Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market Insights, Innovation), etc.

Next List Previous Titles at this company and again bullets on successes:

• List your accomplishments.
• Do not waste space on your just giving a job description.
• List things that showed you made a difference.
• Things you have accomplished include increasing sales, reducing costs, promoting people, saving time, increasing productivity, etc.
• Companies and recruiters search their databases for specific words.
• Include the actual name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e.g., Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market Insights, Innovation), etc.

Then include Previous Companies going back in time from most recent.

Education goes next after you have listed the first job you held after college or in your career:  Part-time or vacation jobs held while in school are sometimes not listed except as a bullet to the education experience.

Do not put references or salary information on your resume.

Second, Resume Cover Letter

Suggestions on writing a cover letter

Your Name
Street Address
City, State Zip
Phone Number
Email Address

Date

Name of person receiving your letter
Company Name
Street Address
City, State Zip

Dear First Name:

(If you come recommended by someone, list that person’s name here).  Name of person referred me to you.  I am writing to apply for as position as a (fill in name of position) with your company.  My resume is attached.

In my resume, you will find a record of success in (list competencies)

When may I interview with you?

Best regards,
Your Name

Third, Interview preparation

Here is what you can do to have a better interview.

1) Prepare an agenda for the interview, things you want to cover.
2) Research the company.  Find articles on the company and use information from these articles in your interview presentation.
3) Research the job and be prepared to talk about how your skills fit the job.
4) Review your skills and the information in your resume.
5) Be upbeat and positive about the world, the way you might be on a Friday afternoon.
6) Take with you extra copies of your resume, a typed list of questions, and paper and pen for notes.
7) Bring examples of your work that show your skills and successes.
8) Be factual about the work you did and the work others did to make you a success.
9) In the interview, listen to the questions you are asked and be sure that you understand the question before answering.  If the question is too broad to enable you to give a good answer, ask the interviewing to help you understand better what he or she is trying to learn.
10) Be positive when you talk about your current company, your boss, and your job.  Emphasize that you are looking to make a change to get more of what the company interviewing you has to offer.
11) Write stories of your successes as preparation to discuss how you can contribute to a company’s business.

Outline for an Interview Agenda

Candidates have found that the following outline is effective in getting the job.

In using this type of outline to prepare for an interview, a person will have anticipated and practiced how
to handle many of the questions and contingencies that may arise in a job interview.

WHY I AM INTERESTED IN WORKING FOR YOUR COMPANY

WHAT I BRING TO A COMPANY IN YOUR INDUSTRY

MY PLANS FOR DEVELOPING YOUR BUSINESS

WAYS THAT I CAN ENSURE THAT THIS HAPPENS

WHY I AM INTERESTED IN WORKING FOR YOUR COMPANY

•        The reputation of the company
•        The long history of success of the company
•        The appeal of the industry
•        The opportunity to work in an environment that enables me to use my skills
•        The company commitment to respecting and honoring their employees with programs
•        The opportunity to work in the field of my choice

WHAT I BRING TO A THIS INDUSTRY

•        Creatively and enthusiastically use the knowledge I gained in college to make the organization
  more successful
•        Have a range of appropriate skills
•        Have developed marketing strategies to include customer service, pricing, and product selection

Fourth, Thank You Letter

Your name
Street address
City, State Zip
Phone
Email address

Date

Mr. /Ms. Interviewer
Name of company
Street address, City, State Zip

Dear Mr. /Ms. Interviewer:

Thank the person for meeting with you.

Express your impression of the company.

Express your interest in the job.

Best regards,

Your name

Extra Tools and Tips Summary

1. Reference material
2.  Work your network by making a list of every possible contact you have ever made in business and contact these people for ideas and opportunities.
3. Ask for referrals of every person you contact.
4. Lay out your goals as specifically as you can, but be aware that the more flexible you are in terms of money, location, and opportunity the more opportunities you will have available to you.
5. Contingency recruiter or retained recruiter?  In practice, how a recruiter is compensated is not nearly as important as what contacts the recruiter has.  Typically, retained recruiters are conducting searches where the salary is above $750,000 and involve “C” level managers.
6. Be organized.  Make a list daily of your contacts, what you discussed what action you have taken and what action needs to be taken.
7. Read the want ads in the local newspaper, national publications, and especially trade journals. Become an expert on what is in the job market.
8. Before approaching a company directly, research it thoroughly.  How is it structured?  Bottler, distributor, direct, or broker sales?  Public or private?  Do you have a referral to get your foot in the door, etc.?  Who are the key managers for the job you are seeking? To whom do these people report?
9. Prepare for an interview the same way you would prepare for a major sales call, business review, or planning session where you are the key presenter.
10. Follow up on contacts you have made.

ob search timing. Is this the right time in your career to make a job change? What are the things you must know to answer this question?

Success is greatest when timing meets necessity. ~ www.jaywren.com

Are You in the Wrong Job?

Here are some questions that will help you know that it’s time to consider a job search.

1. Is every day a crisis?
2. Do you feel burned out and can no longer do your job?
3. Is the culture toxic?
4. Have you outgrown your job and cannot get greater responsibility?
5. Is your company in financial or performance trouble?
6. Does your company fire people unexpectedly and seemingly without cause?
7. Is your commute too far or too expensive?
8. Are underpaid?

Are Your Problems Temporary?

Notice that in the last paragraph that I said “consider a job search.”

Some of these problems can change over time.   If you spend the time making your current job better instead of spending that time on a job search, you may find staying in your current job helps you several ways.

Here are some ideas on ways to improve you working conditions.

1. Take more breaks.
2. Do not work during coffee breaks or lunch.
3. Leave your work at your workplace.
4. Do not work around the clock or seven days a week.
5. Take vacations.
6. Learn methods to relieve stress and develop a positive attitude.
7. Ask for a pay raise.
8. Avoid toxic people.

Job Search Timing and Risk

There are risks of going to a new workplace.

First, you may find that the problems at one workplace exist at the next work place.  You are only moving from one rut to another rut.  Changing jobs in this case would be a huge mistake, especially if you are walking away from accumulated benefits and tenure.

Second, you may find that the new job solves one problem but brings on other problems.  For example, you leave your current job and get more money.  However, you find that the culture or workload are a disaster.

Third, the offer that you negotiate may be an increase.  However, you find that there are hidden expenses at your new job.

• Commuting costs
• Clothing costs
• Insurance Costs
• Increased taxes
• Lost vacation
• Unrealistic bonus expectations

Is Your Job Search Timing the Best for You Mentally and Financially?

A job search is certainly a lot of work. It takes planning, time, effort, and money.   There are risks of losing your current job while you are looking for a new job. Furthermore, a job search is a numbers game.  Contacting more people will increase the likelihood that you get a job.  However, as more people who learn that you are in a job search, you will increase the risk of your employer learning that you are looking around.

These factors are stressful.  You must ask yourself if you are in a position to conduct a job search.

Do You Even Want a New Job?

Starting a new job is full of changes.

For example, you will meet new people and must build new relationships.  Second, you may find the new culture is a complete shock.  Furthermore, you may find that your current skills don’t align as well as you had hoped in your new job.  Additionally, you will have a new boss to impress and to understand.

Conclusion

With job search timing, you increase your success in landing the job you deserve.  Before you launch a job search, look at all the factors to decide whether the timing is the best for your efforts to find a new job.

Become discovered: You have all the skills, the talent, intelligence, charisma, and emotional intelligence for success.  But what does it matter if no one knows?

To Become Discovered, Spread the Word.

Retailers, manufacturers, and service providers have resources for putting their name out there.  They run ads in print, radio, television, social media, and billboards.

Furthermore, they sponsor public events.  They take part in community service projects with volunteers and donations.  Their executives do interviews on mass media.

Additionally, these companies have the money and the professional support to engage shoppers and spread the word.  The know how to become discovered.

To Become Discovered in a Confidential Job Search

You can use the same principles of putting your name out here as companies use.

Furthermore, you can promote your job search with nominal expense and minimal exposure.

Here are some suggestions.

Headhunters

There are pluses and minuses to using headhunters.  The top recruiters represent companies that offer more than a job.  They offer great opportunities for a career with long-term professional and financial growth.

Furthermore, unlike some employment agencies, headhunters don’t charge the job seeker a fee for helping them find a job.  The hiring companies pay the fee.

If you are uncertain about the terms of working with headhunter, ask the recruiter directly who pays the placement fee or any other recruiting costs.

• Should I Call the Recruiter?
• 12 Reasons Why Junior Military Officers (JMO) Should Avoid Recruiters
• The Types of Recruiters and Agencies
• Should You Work with a Recruiter?
• Working with Recruiters; The Different Types and What They Do

Applying for a Job In-Person

When you apply for a job in person, bring the information with you that you need to complete an application.  Some examples include your salary history, job history, and references.

Resumes

Sending recruiters and hiring managers your resume is an essential step to become discovered in a professional career.

Important point:  you don’t need permission to send your resume.  All you need is a postal address, email address, or a website upload link.

Recruiters on LinkedIn, often have their email address on their LinkedIn profile.

Volunteering

Volunteering for activities where you can use your professional skills is a way to expand your network and become discovered.  These volunteering opportunities can help you meet employers and meet people who know employers.

Internet Profiles

You can post your profile in multiple places on the Internet. The best places include LinkedIn, Facebook, Google Plus, and Twitter.

Speaking Opportunities

If you have the skills and the contacts to speak in front of audiences, you can become discovered for your skills and experience at events where employers will see you.

Based on your skills and education, your opportunities to speak or do interviews can vary from mass media to trade shows or college programs.

When I worked for Polaroid, I would contact local television stations to give interviews and discuss new cameras.

Conclusion

Just as retailers, manufacturers, and service providers do, you can become discovered by putting your name out there where the best people will find it.

ob Change: What are the things you must know to conduct a successful job search? These four tips might help you launch the career you deserve.

Making a Job Change

Scott Wallace is a CPG executive officer and a long-time client.  Recently, he asked me to help two undergrads launch their career.  Here is the note that he sent me for the subjects he wanted me to cover:

“As discussed, interview skills, LinkedIn profile help, social media watch outs, resume pointers, business grammar and anything else you can think is helpful.”

I appreciated his direction.  Furthermore, taking his points one at a time, I was able to examine the approach that successful professionals use in launching or relaunching their career.

Interview Skills

Fifty percent of the effort for the best interviews is in the preparation. ~ www.jaywren.com

Interview Preparation: Are you frustrated with rejection when you have the qualifications for the job? These three steps will help.

Prepare to discuss these three subjects:

1. The details of your career challenges and success
2. Everything you can learn about the hiring company
3. The match between your skills and the job qualifications

You can read more on interview preparation on this blog post:

Interview Preparation: Three Steps That Will Land You the Job

LinkedIn Profile and Social Media Watch Outs

LinkedIn is the leading professional social media website.  It is the best website for networking.  Furthermore, it is one of the best websites for creating an Internet Profile.

However, there are principles that apply for creating a powerful Internet profile across all social media.  These principles include the things that you should do and the things that you should not do.

In the following article, I detail how to create a powerful and engaging social media presence.

Internet Profile: Creating Your Internet Brand

Resumes

“Resumes must close the sale on getting a job interview.” ~ www.jaywren.com

Do you have all the qualifications and are not getting job interviews?  Look at your resume.  Additionally, look to see whether your resume shows how your skills match the job qualifications.

From there, compare your resume to the example in the following blog post.

Resumes Must Close the Sale on Getting a Job Interview

Business Grammar

Business writing is a broader view of business grammar.  Additionally, the essential skill of business writing is vital to career success.

In the following article, I discuss 4 steps to writing clearly and effectively.

Business Writing: A Skill that Successful People Master

Job counter offers are ways companies avoid the annoyances of losing employees at the wrong time.
~ www.jaywren.com

Should you stay or should you go?

Job counter offers are risky.

If you stay, the reasons you resigned seldom go away.  In addition, when you met with your boss to turn in your resignation, you showed your boss that you have been disloyal by interviewing with another company.

As for the value of a counter offer, be aware that companies prefer to lose people based on the company’s timing.  The reasons are easy to understand.  Your company is in the middle of a work project that could fail if people leave.   You are one of those people.  You find yourself in a counter offer that has more to do with completing the project than your value to the company.

So, what happens during a counter offer?

You go through a standard process to keep people aboard until the company can throw them overboard.

• Your boss asks you the reasons that you are leaving.
• Then your boss shows understanding about your frustrations.
• Your boss promises to make changes to keep you on the job.
• You may receive a pay raise or a promise of a pay raise.  Remember that you forced the pay raise by trying to resign.
• Your boss may even may promises to improve things as time goes on.
• Your boss gets the details of your job offer and shows you the flaws in going to the new company.
• You feel pressure from the counter offer process.  You become indecisive.  Even if your company does not offer you a pay raise or change any of the conditions that have made you unhappy, the company pressures you to stay.
• You begin to waver in your decision.

The Stress of Job Counter Offers

If you are feeling the stress of a job counter offer, you are not alone.

As a recruiter, I have had applicants go through so much stress that they have cried.  I had one manager who was going through a counter offer that was so stressful he called me at 2:00 AM.  He was in tears.  He was still in tears later that day when he called me to say that he had accepted his company’s counter offer.

The company convinced him to stay.

Seven month later, he was out again interviewing with another company.  Nothing changed after he accepted the counter offer.  He still hated where he worked.  He needed to get another job.

Unfortunately, another employee saw him interviewing at the airport.   The job searcher turned in a daily report that showed that he was making sales calls.  The report was false.  His boss knew that the report was false.   At this point, his current employer no longer needed him.  The same boss who had talked him into staying seven months before fired him.

He was unemployed without a job offer in hand.

How to Reduce the Pressure of Job Counter Offers

You can reduce the pressure.

When you resign, make the discussion short and to the point.  Just be polite.  Say that you are leaving.  Don’t share any information about your future employer or the amount of the offer.

When you think you are reasoning with your employer by sharing information about your new job, you are just engaging in a discussion that will increase the pressure.

Just give your resignation and listen but don’t speak.

Interview Feedback: Have you had interviews and have no idea how well the interview went? A thank you letter can help you land the job.

“If you need interview feedback, sometimes all you need to do is ask for it.” www.jaywren.com

Interview Feedback: How A Thank You Letter Can Land You a Job

After an interview, you should always send a thank you letter to your interviewer. You are in competition with other candidates.  Therefore, setting yourself apart from those candidates is important in getting a job offer.

A Thank-You Letter Can Help You Do Several Things.

You can reinforce your interest in the job.  Additionally, you can reinforce your qualifications for the job.

Also, the thank you letter gives you an opportunity to ask for interview feedback and to ask for another meeting.

Who Gets an Interview Thank You Letter?

Send a thank you letter to everyone who met you.  If you are working with a recruiter, send the letter to the hiring managers and a blind copy the recruiter.  Recruiters have an interesting role between you and the company.  They can help reinforce your interests and your qualifications for the job.  Keeping the recruiters informed is important to enabling them to help you.

Note that both letters have a call to action: that is, you ask for a time to meet again.

Email or Postal Letter?

A thank you email helps you respond promptly.

A thank you letter is more formal and more impressive.

These formats will help you write a post-interview thank you letter in either format.

Sample Email Thank-You Letter

Name of Recipient:

The purpose of this email is to thank you for meeting with me to discuss my qualifications for the [name of position].

I am excited about your opportunity.

When may I meet with you again to discuss your opportunity further?

Thank you,

Your Name
Phone Number
Email address

Postal Thank-You Letter

I created a lengthier, more detailed discussion that might help you remind the hiring manager of your qualifications and your interest.  You can add a discussion like the one in the postal cover letter to the email cover letter as well.

Your information

Street address
City, state, zip
Phone number
Email address

Date

Contact’s information

Name, titles
Company name
Street address
City, state, zip
Phone number
Email address

Dear [Name of Hiring Manager]:

Thank you for meeting with me this morning.  After our meeting, I am even more excited about the possibility of working for your company.

I believe that I can contribute at once to your business.  Furthermore, I have accomplishments in the following areas that crossover to the job you have available:

Increased administrative efficiency 20%
Reduced 3rd-party contract costs 30%
Trained 6 new hires, all of whom have been promoted
Four-year member of the President Sales Club.

Your description of the responsibilities, the team environment, and the growth plan for your company tell me that your job is the job I want and that your company is the place where I want to work.

I look forward to being invited back for another meeting.

When may I speak with you again?

Thank you again for your time.

Sincerely,

Your Signature

Your Name Typed

In Conclusion

In these examples, I created two bodies of content.  The shorter you make your letter the better. However, if you believe that making the letter more detailed, and therefore, longer to read will help you get to a job offer.

The best job applicants do things that land them job offers. Furthermore, they set themselves apart from other job applicants to be the person companies want to hire.

“In a job interview, it is far better to get a job offer than to have to learn from your mistakes.” ~ www.JayWren.com

The Best Job Applicants Do These Seven Things.

#1 Show they are interested in the job.

The best job applicants come prepared with information on the job.  Furthermore, they may come prepared with information on the people who are interviewing job applicants.

Research on companies is easy.  Additionally, when the best job applicants know the names of the people they will be meeting, they research the profile of these people on Facebook and LinkedIn.

#2 Thoroughly understand the job description.

Additionally, they know the requirements of the job and how they have the qualification for the job.  They prepare to how their qualifications are a match for the job.

#3 Bring the right tools to the interview.

What you bring to any business meeting will make or bring your success in that meeting.  Getting to a business meeting to discover that you do not have the things you need is not only embarrassing, it is often a business-meeting killer.  I recommend that you buy a portfolio case or a briefcase that you use just for meetings.  Keep the case stocked with the materials that you will take to every meeting.

#4 Listen to the interview questions.

Some of the feedback I got on candidates is that they do not answer the questions the interviewer asked.  They gave answers about the subject in the question.  However, the best job applicants listen to the interviewer and answer their questions.

#5 Ask for the job.

I have had countless applicants fail to get a job offer, because they left the hiring manager uncertain about whether they had an interest in the job.

You are not the only applicant in the interview process. If three equally qualified applicants compete for a job and only one is expressing an interest in getting the job, the hiring managers have an easy decision. They will offer the job to the person who wants the job.

They simply say that they want the job and state why they want it.

#6 The best job applicants send a thank you note.

A thank you note can remind the interviewer of your ability to do the job.  Furthermore, a thank you note shows interest in the job and respect for the interviewer’s time.

#7 Arrive Early.

Arriving early is an infinite amount of time.  Arriving after the time of your appointment means you are late.  The best job applicants arrive early.

For me, building a successful business never ends. It is a continual process of expanding my skills and expanding my network, of adapting and innovating to win business.

Jay Wren Partial Client List of Companies I Have Served

Building a business or a career is a continual process of expanding your goods, services, skills, and network. The day I sat down to start my career as a recruiter; I had a telephone, an empty legal pad, and a box of blank 5 x 8 index cards. My contact management systems today holds tens of thousands of contacts. These are people I have personally tracked and for whom I created files. Most of them I have reached out to by phone, email, or professional networks. I still make new connections every day. Little has changed except that my file system has gone from paper to a computer.

I have continually added clients.

Here is a partial list of companies that I served.

1. PepsiCo
2. Pepsi Bottling Group
3. Frito-Lay
4. Coca Cola, USA
5. Coca Cola Foods
6. Mobil Oil Company
7. Soft Soap
8. Pillsbury Green Giant
9. International Playtex
10. Quaker Oats
11. Dannon Corporation
12. No Nonsense Fashions
13. Coca-Cola Foods
14. Del Monte Foods
15. The Clorox Company
16. Nestle
17. Brach & Brock
18. Catalina Marketing
19. Health Resource Corporation
20. Majers Corporation
21. Welch Foods
22. Softsoap
23. E & J Gallo
24. Sunny Delight
25. M & M Mars
26. Tambrands
27. Nabisco
28. News America Marketing
29. El Dorado Marketing
30. Imagitas
31. ConAgra Foods
32. ConAgra Armour Swift-Eckrich
33. Polaroid Corporation
34. Dial Corporation
35. Dep Corporation
36. United Vintners
37. 7-Up
38. Miller Brewing Company
39. 13-30 Corporation
40. Hain Celestial Group
41. Q-Interactive
42. Label Dollars
43. Promo Edge
44. Centiv
45. The Sunflower Group
46. PromoWorks
47. The Wine Spectrum of Coca Cola
48. Kaiser-Roth
49. DSD Communications
50. Black & Decker
51. ActMedia
52. Linkewell Health
53. Bush Brothers Beans
54. Marketing Technology Solutions
55. Sunny D
56. Twenty-Ten Corporation
57. InStore Broadcasting Network
58. Insignia Pops
59. The Beecham Group
60. GlaxoSmithKline – GSK
61. Jacobs Suchard
62. Cody Kramer
63. SVP Worldwide
64. Mauna Loa
65. Garden Burger
66. EAS
67. New World Pasta Company
68. Vacation Connections
69. Lala USA
70. Continental Promotion Group
71. Kayser Roth
72. Morningstar Farms
73. Duracell
74. Kiss Products
75. Phillips Food Brokerage
76. Unicous Marketing
77. Kelley Clarke Food Brokerage
78. Wizards of the Coast
79. Oberto Sausage
80. Fanfare Media
81. Linkwell Communications
82. Lindt
83. Nurserymen’s Exchange
84. Maybelline
85. Advantage 360
86. American Italian Pasta
87. Warner Lambert
88. Fuel Rewards/Centego
89. First Flavor
90. Potlatch Corporation
91. Crossmark Food Brokerage
92. RB (Reckitt Benckiser)
93. Marketing Force
94. J&J Snack Foods Corporation
95. Cartera Commerce Inc.
96. Alcon Laboratories
97. Ray-O-Vac
98. Naterra
99. ICOM
100. Slim Fast (Unilever)
101. Potlatch Corporation
102. Dean Foods
103. …and others

Jay Wren Client List: Building a Successful Business or Career Never Ends.

Resume Cover Letters: How important is your resume cover letter?  It is as important as your resume for getting an interview.

Resume Cover Letters: Do You Have the Perfect Resume and No Job Interviews?

Do you have the perfect resume and not getting interviews?  The reason could be your cover letter.

If your cover letter does not compel the reader to read your resume, either you are applying for the wrong job or, quite simply, your cover letter failed.

There are some simple steps to writing an effective resume cover letter.

The first sentence must state the purpose of the cover letter.  For example, your opening sentence might read like this: “The purpose of the cover letter is to submit my resume for [name of position].”

Second, the letter should be short.  Recruiters do little more than glance at a resume.  They are sorting out the resumes of people who are not a fit for the job.  Therefore, recruiters should be able to glance at your cover letter and feel compelled to read your resume.

Third, you need to show enthusiasm for the job.  Your enthusiasm sends positives signals to recruiters that your application is worth their time.

Lastly, your cover letter should have a call to action.  Ask when you can speak or meet with the recruiter.

Sample Email Cover Letter

Name of Recipient:

The purpose of this email is to submit my resume for [name of position].

I am excited about your opportunity.

Are you available in the next week for a phone call?

Your Name
Your Phone Number
Your email address

Postal Cover Letter

Your Name
Address, City, ST ZIP Code [Optional: Add if your address shows you are local]
Telephone
Email

Date

Recipient Name
Title [if you know it]
Company
Address
City, State ZIP Code

Dear Recipient Name:

The purpose of this email is to submit my resume for [name of position].

I am excited about your opportunity.

Are you available in the next week for a phone call?

[Signature]
Your Name

Wrong company: What should you look for when you are interviewing for a job? Are you wasting your time when you could be making better progress in your job search?

As the owner of a recruiting firm, I coached applicants who dealt with troubling issues during the interview process. Here are things I learned from my experience in helping these applicants.

Wrong Company:  The company location is unsafe.

In major metropolitan areas, office and factory spaces are expensive. To save money, companies locate their offices in inexpensive locations. In major metropolitan areas, the less expensive locations are often in high crime locations. I have had three clients whose offices were inside chain link fences that had barbed wire on the top.

If you do not believe that the location is safe, you need to ask yourself whether you are interviewing with the wrong company.

Wrong Company: The interviewers fail to keep their commitments.

Interviewers may have valid reasons for cancelling an appointment, and they explain those reasons to you. An effortless way to manage the situation is to show understanding and simply reschedule.

However, interviewers raise red flags when they fail to keep commitments.

• The interviewers cancel appointments without attempting to reschedule.
• They cancel appointments more than once.
• Worth of all, the interviewers completely fail to call you or to meet with you without calling to cancel or reschedule.

If interviewers can’t keep their commitments, you should see that as a sign that you are interviewing with the wrong company.

Wrong Company:  Interviewers make calls during your interview, or they allow people to come into their office to interrupt your interview.

This type of behavior is a sign that the interviewer is not interested in you or simply does not respect your time.

Remember that the way an interviewer manages an interview is a sign of how a company deals with its employees. This behavior is uncommon, but when it has happened, applicants have often complained to me about it and rightfully so.

The interviewer is the face of the company. If the interviewer does not respect your time, how well will you be able to do at a company that may not respect your time? This type of company is the wrong company.

Wrong Company:  The company withholds details on benefits and salary range during the interview process.

The company benefits and compensation are confidential information. For competitive security issues, companies must protect the details of their operations. However, to avoid wasting their own time and the applicant’s time, the best interviewers provide general information on benefits and compensation. Often, companies include information on benefits and compensation in the job description.

You need to work for companies that put the information out front. Companies that play games during the interview may be companies that bait and switch on commitments. This type of company is the wrong company.

Some cities and states offer more than a place to work.  They offer high job growth rate and long-term career security. What are the top states and cities?

Studies from the Arizona State University W. P. Carey School of Business give interesting information that helps us find answers to those questions.

ASU’s Top 10 Cities for Job Growth Rate

ASU’s Top 10 States for Job Growth Rate

Maps based on Arizona State University W. P. Carey School of Business studies.

The Consumer-Packaged Goods Industry: Is It for You?

Are you just beginning your career?  Or perhaps, are you considering switching industries?   The Consumer-Packaged goods industry might offer the career you are seeking.

The Consumer-Packaged Goods Industry Defined:

What is the Consumer-Packaged goods industry?

Consumer-Packaged goods companies sell products essential consumers.  These products they make are ones that consumers buy a frequent basis.  Another term for Consumer-Packaged goods is fast-moving consumer goods.  Consumer-Packaged goods companies stand in contrast to the durable goods industry.  Durable goods companies make products like cars, computers, and appliances.

Categories in the Consumer-Packaged Goods Industry

• Fresh meat
• Fresh produce
• Frozen foods
• Dairy and deli
• Shelf-stable canned or bottled foods
• Health and beauty aids
• Candy
• Pet Food Products
• Home products: batteries, matches, clothes pins
• Household cleaning products
• Paper products

Some people do not include fresh products as Consumer-Packaged goods companies.  However, people with experience in other categories of Consumer-Packaged goods crossover to fresh food products companies.

Consumer-Packaged Goods Points of Distribution.

• Grocery stores
• Convenience stores
• Mass merchants
• Deep discount stores or dollar stores
• Club stores
• Drug stores
• Internet

Fastest growing Sector

The fastest growing sector of the Consumer-Packaged goods company is the natural or organic sector.

Jobs in the Consumer-Packaged Goods Industry

• Category Analysts
• Marketing, Brand, Product Management
• Initiative Specialization to include Innovation and Consumer Insight
• Custom Research
• Team Leader and Account Managers
• Distributor and Broker Managers
• Directors and Executives
• Business Development
• Category Management
• Trade Marketing
• Sales Analysts
• Product Managers
• Sales Planners
• Logistics Analysts and Managers
• Market Research and Analytics

Services and Support Companies for the Consumer-Packaged Goods Industry

• Free-standing Inserts (FSI)
• Instant-Redeemable Coupons (IRC)
• Direct Mail Coupons
• In-store Coupons
• Data and analytics support
• Advertising
• In-Store Marketing Products
• Product Demonstrations
• Shelf Signs or Shelf Talkers
• Floor Signs
• Shopping Cart Signs
• In-Store Radio

Categories in Data Support for Consumer-Packaged Goods Companies

The data industry is a growth industry.  You might want to focus on this sector of the Consumer-Packaged goods industry.

• Category Management
• Syndicated Data
• Panel Data
• Custom Research
• Shopper Insights Research

List of Consumer Products Packaged Goods Companies

Top 100 Consumer-Packaged Goods Companies

Job References:  Can You Trust Them?

“Believe none of what you hear, and only half of what you see.” ― Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson

Most hiring companies do reference checks on potential employees.  How reliable are these references?  How risky are they to the job seeker and to the people who are acting as references?

Intelligent people are not going to give references who will say bad things about them.  They make of list of people who will say positive things.  Before giving the name of the reference to a prospective employer, intelligent people call the reference.  They reach an understanding that the reference is willing and supportive.

The Set Up

One of the worst placements I made had references from two former clients who gushed about the qualities of the person.  Once the person got the job, his performance was the exact opposite of what the job references said it would be.  The references, both of whom held solid positions with solid companies, were clearly in on a set up.

Smart hiring managers know that job references are a set up.  In a way, reference checks are a test of a person’s ability to find people who can say good things about them.

At best, these references are confirmations of employment dates.

The Risks

Reference checks are risky to the job seeker and to the people serving as references.

The people speaking as references put themselves at risk and their company at risk.  If they say something that hurts the job seeker, a job seeker can (and job seekers have) come back and sued past employers.

The intelligent company policy is to prohibit reference checks.  These companies only give prospective employers the employment dates for past employees.

In a confidential job search, a job seeker puts their current employment at risk by allowing hiring companies to call people about the job seeker’s efforts to find new employment.  Nearly everyone says they can keep a secret.  But do they?  To quote Benjamin Franklin again, “Three can keep a secret, if two of them are dead.”

Nonetheless, companies continue to check job references, and job seekers continue to give references.

So Be Smart.

There are a few simple things to consider about job references.  None of these things takes all the risks out of reference checks but these are ideas that are worth considering.

• Save the references checks until all the details of the offer have been ironed out.  This step reduces the risk to the job seeker of getting exposed without actually getting a job offer.
• On the other hand, if the hiring company withdraws the offer after the reference check, job seekers might very well believe that their references have wronged them.
• Focus on facts: dates of employment, copies of degrees, college transcripts, or letters of certification.
• Consider a background check instead of reference checks.
• If you choose an agency to do a background check, make certain that they are compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).  In other words, do a background check of the company doing the background check.

hone Interviews: Are they a waste of time?

The Essential Phone Interview Handbook by Paul Bailo

Do you really need to bother preparing for phone interviews?  It is just a phone call.  It is not as though the person on the phone can see you.  Can you accomplish anything at all?

You’ve already invested time applying for the job.  You have filled out and application.  You may have completed a web-based questionnaire.

Now you are ready to get face-to-face with people at the hiring company.

But you can’t meet face-to-face, because you must speak with some screener on the phone.

Assume Nothing.

The person on the phone plays a real role in your getting a job with the company.  Even if you never speak with that person again, you cannot get a face-to-face meeting without their recommendation.  Furthermore, the person on the phone may be someone who will be involved with you throughout your career with the hiring company.  Getting off on the right foot may pay huge dividends down the line.

Make it Real.

Prepare as though you are going to a real interview.

Have these things on your desk:

• Your resume
• The job description
• A list of key points you wish to make about how your experience qualifies you for this specific job
• A list of questions

Select your interview place carefully.

• Pick a quiet room.
• Have a glass of water handy.
• Pick a comfortable chair.
• Don’t drive! 

Even though you are on the phone, let your personality shine.

• Smile.  You will project warmth even though the interview cannot see you.
• Listen to the interviewer’s questions.  Answer the questions. Do not just a reply to the question.
• Remember to take a silent deep breath from time to time.
• Say positive things about yourself and about your employer.
• The reason you are interviewing with the new company is that they offer things you cannot get from your current company.
• Make sure you understand the question before you answer it.

Remember to focus.

• Make your answers detailed but to the point.
• Allow the interviewer a chance to speak.
• Ask trial close questions: for example, ask the interviewer when the company will decide.
• Emphasize that you are interested in going forward for with the opportunity.

Do Not:

• Interrupt the call to take another call.
• Allow people to disturb you.
• Certainly, do not multitask.
• Interrupt the interviewer.
• No jokes! Do not try to tell a joke.
• Do not fake your answers. If you do not know that answer to a random question, just say so.
• Again, Do Not Drive!

Remember to close on an upbeat.

Thank the interviewer for taking time to speak with you.  Emphasize that you hope to have a chance to speak again.

How you negotiate salary depends on many things.

Here are three of the things that affect how you negotiate salary.

The size of the company:  Larger companies have structured compensation plans.  The plans have pay grades.  The pay grades have three levels: entry range, mid-range, upper range.  Smart hiring managers don’t hire people into the upper range of the pay grade.  If they did, they could not give the person a pay raise without promoting the person.

The level of the job:  For entry-level jobs, companies pay at or slightly above the market minimum, or entry range, for inexperienced people.  Companies pay all inexperienced people closely the same amount.  As a person gains experience, their compensation package becomes more complex and varies more greatly.  Job seekers have greater differences in their compensation based on their time in industry, their performance, and generosity of the hiring company.

The type of compensation plan:  Some companies pay based on performance.  People who perform better receive higher bonuses or commissions.  I have seen medical sales jobs and marketing service sales jobs where the base salary was half what a person had made in base salary at their previous company.  However, the performance compensation was three to four times their compensation at their previous job.

You can do many things to have a successful salary negotiation.

Here are three things to do to win when you negotiate salary.

Know the numbers: It is easy to know the value of a job in the marketplace.  There are pay range calculators online.  The top sites are Salary.com and Payscale.com.  Use these calculators.

Save everyone’s time.  Put compensation on the table before you start.  Ask the recruiter or hiring manager what the salary range is before you go to the interview.  During the first interview, ask the interviewer what the salary range of the job is.  You are not asking what they plan to offer you.  You are just clarifying whether your interviewing for the job is worth their time and yours.

Show the benefits.  Have solid reasons why you need the compensation you expect.  Show how your reasons benefit the needs of the hiring company.  

Related articles.

• What Not to Say in a Job Interview
• How to Negotiate Anything
• What Not to Say in a Job Interview
• Why You Should Never Accept A Counter Offer When You Resign
• The Things to Understand About a Job Offer
• 5 Interview Tips for Getting a Job Offer
• How To Turn Down A Job Offer
• 6 Things To Know Before Accepting A Job Offer
• Jobs: How to Negotiate Anything from Pay Raises and Promotions to Job Offers
• Counter Offers: The Reason That You Resigned Seldom Goes Away If You Stay.
• Counter Offers: The Stress of Trying to Leave a Company
• What to Say in a Job Interview

Good luck with your interviews and negotiations.

Business Meeting:  Meeting preparation is important.  Equally important is having the right tools.  What should you bring to a meeting?

No One is Competitive Without the Right Equipment. www.jaywren.com

Business Meeting

What you bring to a business meeting is as important as the things you say or do in a business meeting.  Getting to a business meeting to discover that you do not have the things you need is not only embarrassing, it is often a business-meeting killer.  I recommend that you buy a portfolio case or a briefcase that you use just for meetings.  Keep the case stocked with the materials that you will take to every meeting.

When organizing your meeting case, make sure you bring the following items.

Bring several copies of presentations.

You should have a copy for your own use and a copy for each person on the meeting schedule.  Take extra copies for people who are not on the schedule but who might come into the meeting unannounced.  Sometimes having unexpected people join the meeting is a sign that the people are interested in what you have to say or show.

Bring a list of the attendees.

Having this list will help you organize your notes about questions people have.  The list can also help you remember people’s names and the role of the people in the meeting.

Bring a list of recommendations.

Having a list of recommendations adds power to your professional credibility and creates excitement about the quality of your work.

A Word of Caution: In an interview, be careful about leaving a copy of your recommendations with the hiring company.  Companies should not be contacting your references without your approval.

Bring a brag book or portfolio.

This book has samples of your work so that people can see the range of your success.

Bring your laptop.

If you have powerhouse presentations that you can show more examples of your work, you can use your laptop as a dynamic tool.

Bring business cards.

Some people see business cards as a way to verify your employment and verify your job title.  They show people that you are who you say you are.

Bring a notepad.

You need to keep track of contact and company information that you learn during your meetings.  A notepad is an effective way to make notes without distracting people the way using a smartphone or laptop might distract people when you are taking notes.

Bring three or four pens.

The extra pens help you relax that you have a pen that works.  In addition, it is wise to make sure you can help an attendee who does not have a pen for taking notes.

There are 4 job search myths that can prevent you from finding the perfect job.

Myth #1 Interview Skills

Let’s debunk the myth that interview skills are not important.  If you believe that you only need to show that you are qualified to get a job offer, you are going to lose job offers to the competitive field of qualified applicants who also have job interview skills.

Interview skills are similar to negotiation skills.  Effective negotiators know how to present their material.  They know how to listen to and understand questions and objections from the buyer or hiring manager.  They know how to ask for the order or the job offer.

Developing and practicing interview skills can help you get jobs offers that more qualified applicants may miss out on.

I have additional articles on developing interview skills under the topic heading Interviewing.

Developing and strengthening skills is important to becoming more effective at doing nearly anything.  Developing mental skills strengthens the effectiveness of a person to learn and perform mental tasks (Scholarly Journals on Skills Development).

Myth #2 Job Boards and Job Search Websites

The belief that job boards and job search websites are useless is a myth.  It is intuitively obvious that job boards and job search engines work.  If they did not work, hiring companies would stop using them.  If they did not work, job boards and search engines would have disappeared.

Some Statistics: People who say that there are no statistics to support the value of job website are not looking very hard.

• Indeed.com gets 150 million unique visitors a month, Alexa traffic rank: U.S. 80th, 23, 128 sites linking in.
• Monster.com gets 100 million unique visitors a month, Alexa traffic rank: U.S.  319th, 18669 sites linking in.
• CareerBuilding.com gets 100 million unique visitors a month, Alexa traffic rank: U.S. 458th, 15,003 sites linking in.

Myth #3 Resumes

The myth that resumes are no longer necessary is simply not true.

There is a popular notion that you can replace your resume with a case study of the business of each company for which you apply.  A case study of a company’s business is terrific for a presentation at a job interview.  However, if you want to get an interview, you need a resume.  Hiring managers and recruiters do not want to deal with a nonconformist when they are trying to tie job experience and employment qualification.

Myth #4 Income

The myth that you should never disclose your income can ensure that you never get a job interview.  Nearly every hiring manager in any company in the country has a pay range in mind before the manager posts a job.  People who are going to try to be clever and not share their income are going to reduce the number of companies that will read their resume.

Does your company have a policy about your keeping your income private?  That same company required that you disclose your income before they granted you an interview.

Employment references are an important part of the job-seeking process.

Generally, companies will ask for professional references.  These are people with whom and for whom you have worked.  They often include former employers, co-workers, vendors, buyers, and people you know through business associations.  In addition, companies may ask for personal references.  These people are your neighbors, friends, professors, college, volunteer groups, and other relationships outside business.

Always ask a person’s permission before listing that person as a reference.

By doing so, you are treating your references with respect.  You are creating a positive relationship your references.  You are helping your references prepare to represent you when employers call to learn about their experience with you.  You help your references help you in a positive and supportive way.

Provide the references when the employer requests them.

Do not include your references with your resume.  Your list of references is confidential business information.  Only give the list of references to employers where you have an interest of employment and where you have a likelihood of employment.  Typically, job seekers give references through email.

The following format for a list of references is simple.

This format makes it easy for you to create a list of references.  The format is also easy for the hiring company to follow when checking your references.

References
Your Name
Your Street Address, City, ST ZIP Code
Your phone
Your Email

1. Reference name
   Relationship with reference
   Location of relationship (company name, volunteer group, etc.)
   Reference title
   Dates of relationship
   Street Address
   City, ST ZIP Code
   phone
   email
2. Reference name
   Relationship with reference
   Location of relationship (company name, volunteer group, etc.)
   Reference title
   Dates of relationship
   Street Address
   City, ST ZIP Code
   phone
   email
3. Reference name
   Relationship with reference
   Location of relationship (company name, volunteer group, etc.)
   Reference title
   Dates of employment
   Street Address
   City, ST ZIP Code
   phone
   email
4. Reference name
   Relationship with reference
   Location of relationship (company name, volunteer group, etc.)
   Reference title
   Dates of relationship
   Street Address
   City, ST ZIP Code
   phone
   email
5. Reference name
   Relationship with reference
   Location of relationship (company name, volunteer group, etc.)
   Reference title
   Dates of relationship
   Street Address
   City, ST ZIP Code
   phone
   email

Why Do You Want to Work for Our Company?  This question is helpful for you to know before you go to the interview.

1. Preparing to answer this question will help you prepare to discuss the opportunity with the company. 

If you know enough about a company to explain why you want to work for the company, you will have a much more meaningful conversation during the interview.  You should never go to an interview without first knowing the job description.  Other things that you should know include the company products, as much as possible about the company culture, and the history of the company.

2. The question will help you prepare to discuss how your skills match the job.

By knowing why you want to work for a company, you can explain why the company should want to hire you.  The information that you put together in preparing for this answer help you understand what ways your skills and experience match the requirements of the job.

3.  It will help you show that you have an interest in the hiring company and not just any job at just any company.

To the hiring manager, interviewing an applicant who has a genuine interest a company raises the level of interest that the hiring manager has in an applicant.  It reflects positively that you have evaluated other companies.  The fact that you show that you are interested in the specific company, you are showing the hiring manager that you are a candidate worth the time it takes to interview you.

4. It will help you show hiring managers and interviewers that you appreciate their time by taking your time to research the opportunity and prepare for your interview.

In researching your answer to the question, you will be able to show how much you value the opportunity to interview for the job.

“Why were you fired?” is one of the most difficult questions in interviewing.  How do you prepare your answer?  How do you deliver it?

Write down and rehearse your answer.

Do not let a bad case of the nerves and poor interview preparation allow you to trip over your words.  Rehearse your answer so that you can give a short, clear reply.  Test your answer with people you trust.  Get comfortable with your answer so that it makes you look confident in your ability to go forward with success in your next job.

Discuss your answer with your references.

Discussing your answer with your references is helpful in at least two ways.  First, you want your references to give an answer that is consistently with your answer to this question.  Second, your references may help you prepare an answer that is honest, unemotional, and make your firing nothing that should prevent you from getting a new job.

Stick to the truth.

Telling lies can catch up with you through reference checks and backgrounds checks.  Even worse, if the hiring company does not discover that you lied until after you have started to work for the new company, you might find that you are being fired again.

Structure your answer to show how you will be a great hire at you next company.

Being fired from a job does not mean that you do not deserve to get a job where you are interviewing.  If you were fired, because your last company was laying people off, you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Understandable the reasons you are being fired

• A new boss came in and replaced everyone with people from his or her previous company.
• The company shifted its business model and eliminated jobs for your skills.
• Your boss was highly skilled but had high turnover, because he or she is a micromanager.

How to write a resume: having a resume is an essential part of getting a job for most people.  I based the information in this article on two sources.  The first source is the hundreds of resumes I have read as a corporate recruiter.  The second source is the feedback I have received from hiring managers, staffing managers, other recruiters, and from interviewing hundreds of applicants.  These are suggestions only, but the layout is a working format.  If you replace the information below with your information, you will have written a resume.

A resume is similar to a job application.  When you complete a job application, you will need to list the jobs you have had, where you performed those jobs, and when you had those jobs.  Therefore, you will find it useful to have your resume with you as you complete job applications.

Related Articles
Resumes for Managers
Resumes for Recent College Graduates

CONTACT INFORMATION
Your name
Street address
City, State Zip
Home phone
Cell phone
Email address

OBJECTIVE AND SUMMARY
Stating an objective or a giving a summary at the beginning of the resume is common practice.  Stating an objective or providing a summary is optional.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY 
There is no sentence structure in a resume.  The wording in a resume is simply a series of statements of actions and accomplishments.

For example, this is a sentence: I doubled the company’s sales in 6 months.
This is resume wording: Doubled company’s sales in 6 months.

The history in a resume is just a list that includes employment periods, performance, skills, responsibilities, accomplishments, and education.

(Most recent job first)
Company Name; company Location,   From –to
Most recent title, Location, From – to

Use bullet format.
•        List things you have accomplished.  Do not waste space on your just giving a job description.  List things that showed that you made a difference in the positions you held.
•        Use facts—for example, exceeded assigned sales goal by 30%, reduced costs, promoted people, saved time, increased productivity, etc.
•        Employers and recruiters search their databases for specific words, so list successes with specific industry words or functions.  Include the real name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e.g., Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market Insights, Innovation), etc.

Then include Previous Companies going back in time from most recent.

More Career Article
Building Professional Relationships Everywhere
Are you a card collector?

EDUCATION
Normally, education goes at the bottom of the resume.  People who have recently received an educational degree or credential that alters their employability might consider putting education at the top of the resume.

Other items that might go at the bottom of the resume are awards, extra skills, volunteer work, or perhaps some relevant college employment.

HOW TO SHORTEN YOUR RESUME FOR READABILITY
Hiring managers only spend seconds looking at each resume.  They are going through stacks of resumes, often in documents that they have to open one at a time.

Avoiding the following items might make the difference as to whether a hiring manager reads your resume.

Objective
Summary
Hobbies
References
References available on request
Compensation
Long paragraph formats
Long-winded discussions of core responsibilities
Too many details on jobs with well-known functions
Details on jobs that date back in time
Paragraph formatting
Third person reference

Why Did You Quit Your Last Job?

If you are unemployed, a common job interview question is why did you quit your last job.  The answer has value to the interviewer for several reasons.

Your answer can help the interviewer know whether the type of job you are seeking is available at the interviewer’s company.  Your answer can also help the interviewer evaluate your integrity when the time comes to conduct reference checks and background checks.  The way you answer the question can help the interviewer draw conclusions about the way you view work and view your role in the workplace.

There are a number a valid reasons people quit their job.

• Safety issues can make jobs undesirable.
• Commute costs or commute distance are sometimes overwhelming.
• Job stress can create the necessity for finding a different job.
• A change in a person’s home life can force a person to have to find a new job.
• A challenging work relationship with your supervisor or co-workers can make you want to find a new place to work.

Quite often people lose a job for reasons beyond their control.

• Companies run into difficulty and lay off people.
• Automation can create changes in the numbers and types of employees a company has.
• Companies move offices, retail locations, or manufacturing facilities to new locations, cutting local jobs.

Prepare thoroughly on how you want to answer the question on why you left your job.

Write out a solid, brief answer.

Try your answer out on several different people.  Of course, different people will have different views on how to answer the question.  Based on the discussions you have with other people, you will find that these people ask you questions about your reason for quitting your job.  Include these questions and your answers to these questions in your thinking about why you quit your job or lost you job.

In the end, you will need to select an answer that works best for you.  Thoroughly rehearse your answer.   How you answer why you quit your job can help you move on to getting an offer for your next job.

How to Cancel and Reschedule a Job Interview

Knowing how to cancel and reschedule a job interview is an important part of the job interview process.

Having to cancel a job interview can cost you the opportunity itself.  Before you can return for a rescheduled interview, another applicant might fill the job.  Additionally, frustrated hiring managers who now have a hole in their schedule may not even grant you the opportunity to reschedule.

Cancel Immediately

Failing to cancel until the last minute will only make you appear flakey or disinterested. The more lead-time you provide when you cancel an interview and reschedule it, the better is your opportunity of rescheduling another interview. Certainly, call to reschedule as soon as you know you have a problem making the appointment.

Cancel and Reschedule in the Same Call

When you call to cancel an interview, ask to reschedule during the same call.  You may not have another opportunity to speak directly with someone to reschedule the appointment.

Emphasize your continued interest in the job. Remember to state how much you still want to have the opportunity to interview for the position.  Ask the hiring manager or recruiter what time would be another good time for them.

Valid Reasons

There are valid reasons to cancel and reschedule an interview.

1. Work conflicts with your current employer can create a need to reschedule an interview. When rescheduling an interview because of a work conflict, you don’t need to be specific about the details of the work conflict.
2. Health is certainly a valid reason to cancel and reschedule. Some interviewers will not be happy to greet a person who has symptoms of a cold. If you have a cold, you might call to let the interviewers know.  You can offer to come to the interview, but say that you felt you should let the interviewers know about your condition.
3. Personal conflicts do arise. Let the person know that you regret having to reschedule. Sharing details of the situation are not always necessary and perhaps better avoided.  For example, a death in your family or among your close friends is certainly valid reasons for rescheduling. However, you don’t need to say who died.

Landing a job with your elevator pitch takes preparation.  Before you go to an interview, you should script and practice a brief presentation to discuss why the company should hire you.

Your elevator pitch should cover three points.

1. State the objective of the job.

Before you go to an interview, study the job description.  Learn as much as you can about the company.  Script how you understand the job based on the business of the hiring company.  Practice presenting a short statement of the hiring need of the company.

2. Explain how your experience shows that you can achieve the objective of the job.

Compare your experience with the job objective specifically within your understanding of the goals of the company.  Have a three or four point summary of the ways your experience benefits the company.  Tailor your pitch directly to the company and to the specific job.  Anticipate questions and objections.  You do not need to include every possible thought in your elevator pitch.  However, you do want to have answers to likely questions.

Use simple plain English.  Avoid jargon that your current employer uses and that might not be common usage outside of your company.

3. Ask when you can start to work.

Let the person know that you want the job and that you will make yourself available to fit the needs of the hiring company.  Do not mention income.  Your goal is to get a job offer.  Once you get the offer, you can fine-tune the details of salary, bonus, and benefits.

Practice your speech so that you can give it flawlessly.

When you have the opportunity to give your elevator pitch, take a breath before you start.  Don’t let the adrenaline drive your pitch.  Remember to smile.  Look at the person’s face.  Remember that you are dealing with a human being.  Allow a comfortable three feet of space between yourself and your contact.  Remember you speaking with the person to offer solutions and opportunities to the person and the person’s company.  You want to join their team.

Why should we hire you and not one of the other candidates?

This interview question is one of the many scripted interview questions that challenge your ability to think on the spot.

You do not know anything about the other candidates.  Therefore, you need to focus the answer on yourself.  Some people focus on the three E’s:  Experience, Enthusiasm, and Education.

This type of answer is weak if your experience and education do not qualify you to do the job.  In addition, you not only want to show that you have the experience and education for the job.  You want to show that you have a record of accomplishment and successful performance in this type of job.

Therefore, you should have a short pitch on how your experience shows that you have successfully performed the same job.

2. State that you do not know the other people the company is interviewing.
3. Say that they should hire the most qualified person for the job.
4. State the objective of the job.
5. State a list of successful things you have done to achieve and exceed this type of objective.
6. State that the reason that you are interviewing for the job is that you enjoy performing the type of tasks the job requires.
7. Close by saying that whomever the company hires, the person will be lucky to get the job.
8. Say that you hope that the company hires you.

Preparing for the question “Why should we hire you and not the other people we are interviewing “is an excellent way to prepare to interview for any job interview.  This type of question challenges you to think about your qualifications.  In your preparation, you can practice giving answers that show that you are an outstanding applicant for the job.  Answering the question with a positive enthusiastic statement about how much you want the job will help seal your opportunity in getting a job offer.

A great way to get a job is through a friend.  This approach gives you an inside track on a job.  You start with a personal connection.

Another excellent source of finding jobs is through former supervisors and coworkers.  These people know your skills and your work history.  They can recommend you base on their knowledge of your work experience.

Should you contact recruiters?  Well, that depends on whether you can find a recruiter who has valuable contacts in your specialty.  Before you contact recruiters, check out their profile on LinkedIn.  Go to the recruiter’s website.  Most recruiters list their website on LinkedIn.  You can very likely find a recruiters profile and website through an Internet search.

Find the name and contact information on hiring managers.  Contact these people directly.  You will have better success through direct contact through direct contact than you will have through sending your resume through the company Internet resume bin.

Are job boards useful?  In some industries, job boards and job search engines are very helpful.  I have spoken with people conducting a job search who found job boards job search engines a waste of time.  However, in some industries, great companies rely heavily on job boards.

Keep your job search fresh through these simple but effective steps.

1. Constantly review your goals.

As you go through your job search, you will learn more about the opportunities you have set as goals for your career search.  You will learn which companies offer opportunity and which companies are a waste of time.  You will discover new opportunities that you will want to pursue.  Stay flexible and adjust your goals.

2. Adjust your marketing plan to fit your goals.

You will get feedback on your resume, emails, and follow-up process.  You will learn when and where to use telephone marketing.  You will learn better ways to get interviews with companies.  Follow up on resumes and interviews to keep the communications flowing between you and the hiring company.  Stay flexible and respond to the new things that you learn.

3. Schedule and track you activity on a calendar.

Always list appointments and the things you need to do on a calendar.  Review your calendar every day.  Move the things that you did not complete forward on your calendar.  Urgently act on the things you have put on your calendar.  These things are the steps that will help you reach your career goals.  Do note delete completed activities.  Mark them as completed.  This method will enable you to analyze what things that work and what things do not work.  Your analysis can help you make your strategies more effective.  Summarize results.  Add new activities as you go forward in your search.4. Dig deeply into opportunities.

Once you learn about a promising opportunity, dig deeply into what you need to do to get an interview.  Find out the name and contact information of the key managers in the company.  Network with those people or with people who can help you connect with those people.

5. Ask questions as you speak with people.

Your direct contacts are often your best source of information.  Ask them who is hiring.  Ask them for names of contacts.  Ask them for the contact information of the people and companies.  Ask them if they can get you an interview with a company.  If a person has effective relationships in a company, ask the person to give you recommendations and introductions.  Work your network to connect with anyone in a company who might you help you understand the company and what it is like to work for the company.

6. Practice life-work balance to keep your job search fresh.

A job search certainly takes weeks.  It may take months.  Schedule breaks, entertainment, family time, and exercise.  Taking care of yourself physically and mentally is as important part of your job search.  This type of in-depth management will help you become more effective in your career and your personal life.

Post-Interview Letter: Follow up the interview with a letter that will get you the job.

Often people pay little attention to sending a thank you note to the person who interview them.  If you are not sending thank you notes and not getting invited back for an interview, there may be a connection between the two.

It is courteous to send a follow-up note to anyone who has spent time helping you with your career or with your career change. I have seen instances in which hiring managers have decided to pass on an applicant who had not followed up with any type of post-interview correspondence.

Some people recommend sending a handwritten letter. I have not seen a handwritten note in a few years. The problem with using paper to send your note is that most hiring managers are set up to use electronic mail and filing.

I see people attaching a letter to an email. Sending a letter as an attachment is kind of like gift-wrapping a gift-wrapped box of fancy candies. The extra gift-wrap is somewhat redundant and a bit inconvenient, since the candy is already in a gift-wrapped box. So trying to create more attractive formatting by using an email attachment for a follow-up letter may just in fact just be inconveniencing the recipient: an email is mail.

Attachments do have their purpose, but I see them more commonly for resumes, contracts, and presentations. The email content serves as the cover letter for the attachments. You might want to consider sending examples of your work as attachments to your thank-you note.

Whatever method you choose for your post-interview correspondence, you want to make four points.

Express your appreciation for the time and interest the person has shown you.
Express your desire to get the job.
Summarize the skills that you have which will enable you to contribute right away.
Create a call to action:  for example, ask when you can reconnect.

SAMPLE FOLLOW-UP LETTER

Your information

Street address
City, state, zip
Phone number
Email address

Date

Contact’s information

Name, titles
Company name
Street address
City, state, zip
Phone number
Email address

Dear Mr., Mrs., Ms., Miss

Subject: (optional)

It was fantastic to speak with you on Tuesday about the Name of the Position at Name of the Company.

I really want this job.

You did a great job explaining the responsibilities of Name of Position.  I have attached examples of work that I have done that show my experience in these areas of responsibility.

1. A presentation I gave to XYZ Company from raw data
2. A presentation that I created and have tailored for team members to present to their clients
3. A presentation featuring tables and graphs that show my graphic presentation skills and my ability to give attention to detail

For the past six years I have taken raw data based on product categories and consumer demographics, consumer conversions, repeat sales, new product-introductions, and even raw data from shipments and used the facts to create executive-level presentations for multiple teams in different departments.

As you and I discussed, I will call on Thursday.

Best regards,

Handwritten signature

Typed signature

5 Elements of a Career Change: Below are common tools and suggestions others have found helpful in making an effective career move.

Suggestions on writing a resume

Here is what you put into a resume and the order in which you put this information.  If you replace this
information with your information, you will have written a resume.

Your name
Street address
City, State Zip
Phone
Email address

Rule 1: Never refer to yourself in the third person in the body of the resume.
Rule 2: Use factual accomplishments and not subjective opinions of yourself.

• Example of a fact:  exceeded assigned sales goal by 30%
• Examples of opinion; goal-oriented, creative, tenacious, strategic, honest, loyal:  For a person to
  use adjectives about themselves puts human resource people to sleep

Objective:  This is optional and often redundant.  Your resume has the objective of
getting you interviews with an employer who sees a match in your location, your compensation, and your
experience and that employer’s needs.  It is conventional to state an objective here but you can probably
find a better use for the space.

Employment History (Most recent job first)

Company Name, Location, and Period of Employment (From to)
Most recent title:

• Use bullet format.
• List things you have accomplished.
• Do not waste space on your just giving a job description.
• List things that showed you made a difference.
• Include increasing sales, reducing costs, promoting people, saving time, increasing productivity,
  etc.
• Employers and recruiters search their databases for specific words.
• List successes with specific industry words or functions.
• Include the actual name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e.
  g, Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market
  Insights, Innovation), etc.

Next List Previous Titles at this company and again bullets on successes:

• List your have accomplishments.
• Do not waste space on your just giving a job description.
• List things that showed you made a difference.
• Things you have accomplished include increasing sales, reducing costs, promoting people, saving time, increasing productivity, etc.
• Companies and recruiters search their databases for specific words.
• Include the actual name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e.g., Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market
  Insights, Innovation), etc.

Then include Previous Companies going back in time from most recent.

Education goes next after you have listed the first job you held after college or in your career:  Part-time or vacation jobs held while in school are sometimes not listed except as a bullet to the education experience.

Do not put references or salary information on your resume.

When you have completed your resume, please send Jay Wren a copy.

Suggestions on writing a cover letter

Your Name
Street Address
City, State Zip
Phone Number
Email Address

Date

Name of person receiving your letter
Company Name
Street Address
City, State Zip

Dear First Name:

(If you come recommended by someone, list that person’s name here).  Name of person referred me to you.  I am writing to apply for as position as a (fill in name of position) with your company.  My resume is attached.

In my resume, you will find a record of success in (list competencies)

When may I interview with you?

Best regards,
Your Name

Suggestions on interview preparation

Here is what you can do to have a better interview.

1) Prepare an agenda for the interview, things you want to cover.
2) Research the company.  Find articles on the company and use information from these articles in your interview presentation.
3) Research the job and be prepared to talk about how your skills fit the job.
4) Review your skills and the information in your resume.
5) Be upbeat and positive about the world, the way you might be on a Friday afternoon.
6) Take with you extra copies of your resume, a typed list of questions, and paper and pen for notes.
7) Bring examples of your work that show your skills and successes.
8) Be factual about the work you did and the work others did to make you a success.
9) In the interview, listen to the questions you are asked and be sure that you understand the question before answering.  If the question is too broad to enable you to give a good answer, ask the interviewing to help you understand better what he or she is trying to learn.
10) Be positive when you talk about your current company, your boss, and your job.  Emphasize that you are looking to make a change to get more of what the company interviewing you has to offer.
11) Write stories of your successes as preparation to discuss how you can contribute to a company’s business.

12) Interview Preparation Outline:

Candidates have found that the following outline is effective in getting the job.

In using this type of outline to prepare for an interview, a person will have anticipated and practiced how
to handle many of the questions and contingencies that may arise in a job interview.

1.        WHY I AM INTERESTED IN WORKING FOR YOUR COMPANY
2.        WHAT I BRING TO A COMPANY IN YOUR INDUSTRY

III.        MY PLANS FOR DEVELOPING YOUR BUSINESS

1.        WAYS THAT I CAN ENSURE THAT THIS HAPPENS
2. WHY I AM INTERESTED IN WORKING FOR YOUR COMPANY

•        The reputation of the company as customer-based marketers
•        The long history of success of the company
•        The glamour of sports entertainment
•        The opportunity to work in an environment that enables me to use the promotional and marketing
  tools I have developed for my career
•        The commitment to respecting and honoring their employees with programs
•        The opportunity to work in the field of my choice:

1. WHAT I BRING TO A THIS INDUSTRY

•        Creatively and enthusiastically use the knowledge I gained in college to make the organization
  more successful
•        Have a range of appropriate skills
•        Have developed marketing strategies to include customer service, pricing, and product selection

III. MY THOUGHTS ON SALES OR MARKETING PLANS

•        Does it present value to the customer?
•        Does it create the correct brand image?
•        Does it reach your target customer base?
•        Does it make a buyer out of your customer?
•        Does it create repeat customers?

1. WAYS THAT I CAN ENSURE THAT THIS HAPPENS

•        Identify target customer
•        Identify the image that my company wants to project
•        Create that image
•        Create promotion to reach target customers
•        Tell them why they want to spend their money
•        Create an impression to make them want to come again

Suggestions for a thank you letter:

Your name
Street address
City, State Zip
Phone
Email address

Date

Mr. /Ms. Interviewer
Name of company
Street address, City, State Zip

Dear Mr. /Ms. Interviewer:

Thank the person for meeting with you.

Express your impression of the company.

Express your interest in the job.

Best regards,

Your name

Tools and Tips Summary

1. Reference material
2.  Work your network by making a list of every possible contact you have ever made in business and
   contact these people for ideas and opportunities.
   3.  Ask for referrals of every person you contact.
   4.  Lay out your goals as specifically as you can, but be aware that the more flexible you are in terms of
   money, location, and opportunity the more opportunities you will have available to you.
   5. Contingency recruiter or retained recruiter?  In practice, how a recruiter is compensated is not nearly
   as important as what contacts he may have.  Typically, retained recruiters are conducting searches where the salary is above $750,000 and involve “C” level managers.
   6.  Be organized.  Make a list daily of your contacts, what you discussed what action you have taken and what action needs to be taken.
   7.  Read the want ads in the local newspaper, national publications, and especially trade journals. Become an expert on what is in the job market.
   8.  Before approaching a company directly, research it thoroughly.  How is it structured?  Bottler, distributor, direct, or broker sales?  Public or private?  Do you have a referral to get your foot in the door, etc.?  Who are the key managers for the job you are seeking? To whom do these people report?
   9.  Prepare for an interview the same way you would prepare for a major sales call, business review, or planning session where you are the key presenter.
   10.  Follow up on contacts you have made.

• LinkedIn
• Manta.com
• Trade Journals
• Cost of living and compensation information

There is more than One Way to Get a Job.

I read a great deal about getting a job through direct referrals.

However, some career coaches recommend that you limit yourself to a dozen companies where you really want to work and use a direct referral to get into those companies.  Companies still use several sources for finding job applicants.

• Recruiters
• Job boards
• Company websites
• Newspapers
• Trade journals
• Internet want ads including newspapers and Craigslist
• Social Media
• Press releases and other methods

There are many opportunities that you will never find through your network alone.

I do recommend that you pick companies that really interest you.  I also recommend that you try to network into those companies directly.  Companies use direct referrals.  As a contract recruiter, I have recruited for companies that also paid a referral fee to their employees for direct referrals.  Direct referrals come into the company with a solid reference from a person the company knows.  A company can evaluate the value of the referral based on the company’s knowledge of the person making the referral.

I do not recommend that you have exhaust your network resources before you to turn to other resources for a job.  If you really need a job, contact and build your network daily.  However, also use the other resources on a daily basis.

One way to search for jobs is to use Google or Bing.  These search engines will pick up opportunities that are on job boards, company sites, recruiters’ websites, or many other places on the Internet.  You will only need to spend a few minutes a day searching through job search engines to find opportunities.

I created the website Jay Wren Jobs.  The website has a job board.  In addition, I built a custom search engine that will help you find a job.

If you really need a job, use all your resources.  Make your job search as much of a full-time job as you can.  Good luck with your search.  Finding a job is not easy for everyone.  However, as you use more resources, you will find more opportunities.

One of the tools for organizing a job search is a status board.

Using a status board is a great way to track on-going projects.  Status boards come in all types of formats to fit the purpose.  When I was a Navy officer, there were at least four status boards on the bridge of the ship.  Each one was different and served different purposes.  Some were on Plexiglas®.  Some were printed.

I have used a basic status board throughout my career as a corporate recruiter.  For me, using a spreadsheet makes the process easy.  The mock-up below is a brief illustration of what a basic spreadsheet status board might look like.  In this case, the example is an illustration of using a status board to manage a job search.

As you can see, a status board is different from a calendar.  The purpose is to give you an overall view of what you are doing across all activities.

This tool becomes even more useful when people are working on teams.  Each team member has a copy.  When the team meets to discuss the activities for the day, the members add notes to update their status board.  Literally, all the team members are on the same page.  In my search firm, team members used a simple form similar to the one above to manage dozens of activities.

As team members go through the workday, they update their copy of the status board to prepare for the next day’s meeting.  With the sharing features of online documents, it is now possible for teams to work on the status board from different locations.  What you will see is another person changing the status board as that person works.

There are apps for status boards. Many of these digital status boards are more really organizers than status boards. For example, Google Now for Android and Morning for iPad give you updates on news, weather, sports, commute, traffic, shopping, events nearby, and reminders, and not effective for project management.

5 Interview Tips for Getting a Job Offer

Use these 5 interview tips to cross the maze to getting a job offer.  Hiring managers want to hire you when they invite you to an interview.  Make their job easy.

Say that you want the job.

This tip for getting a job offer sounds obvious.  However, I have had countless applicants fail to get a job offer, because they left the interview with the hiring manager uncertain about whether the applicants had an interest in the job.

You are not the only applicant in the interview process. If three equally qualified applicants compete for a job and only one is expressing an interest in getting the job, the hiring managers have an easy decision. They will offer the job to the person who wants the job.

Simply say that they you want the job and why you want it.

Be humble.

Don’t make the interview about you.  Have the good manners to ask hiring managers about themselves and their career.

Certainly ask questions about the company.

Say some good things about the hiring manager’s comments and about the company.  Humility is a valuable trait for getting a job offer.  Hiring managers want to hire people who fit in with other people as well as people they like.  Show the humility to show an interest in the hiring manager and the company.

Use facts about your qualifications.

Don’t use a list of adjective about yourself.  Avoid describing yourself as outstanding, motivated, organized, etc.  These words have no value.

Use the facts of your success.  You doubled the business.  You reduced costs.  You hired people who got promoted.  These facts show the hiring managers you can do a great job at their company.

Show how your skills match the job description.

Before you go to the interview, study the job description.  List your skills with each qualification the hiring company requires.

Prepare a presentation either on paper or on your laptop to show hiring managers how your skills match what their company is looking for in the person they are hiring.

Use words that are common to any company.

Every company has its jargon.  The people in the company fall into using these words as part of the workday.

If you are transitioning from the military or interviewing for a job that is in a different industry, be especially careful about using words or expression unique to the place where you are working.

5 Interview Tips for Getting a Job Offer

Good luck with your interview.  You will do a great job.  You will find that using these 5 interview tips will help you get a job offer.

Is Making a Job Change Your Best Choice? Are you in the wrong job?  Here are some signs that you might be.

1. Every day is a bad day.
2. You feel that you cannot do your job.
3. You do not like your boss.
4. You work around people you do not like.
5. Have you outgrown your job and cannot get greater responsibility to match your increased skills.
6. Your company in trouble or your company is firing people.
7. Your commute is too far or too expensive.
8. You are underpaid.

Some of these problems you can work around or try to ignore.  Some of these problems can change over time.   If you spend the time making your current job better instead of spending that time on a job change, you may find staying in your current job helps you several ways.
Changing jobs is often a case of jumping from one rut to another.  You find the same problems in your new workplace that you tried to escape in your previous job. Changing jobs in this case would be a huge mistake, especially if you are walking away from accumulated benefits and tenure.

Are you mentally prepared to search for a new job? A job change is certainly a lot of work. It takes planning, time, effort, and money.   There are risks of losing your current job while you are looking for a new job. All these factors are stressful.

Once you get a new job, are you mentally ready to commit 100% to doing a great job at your next company? Starting a new job is full of changes.  You will face new routines. You will meet new people.  You will develop new relationships.  You will find a new culture. You will need to adapt to a new routine and culture.  You may need to learn new skills.  You will have a new boss to impress and understand.

Here are some things you can do to help you turn your current job better.

If ever day seems like a bad day and you feel that you cannot do your job, you may have job burnout.

1. Change your routine.
2. Take more breaks.
3. Do not take your work with you to coffee or lunch.
4. Leave your work at your workplace.
5. Do not work on your weekends.
6. Take vacations.
7. Learn methods to relieve stress and develop a positive attitude.

If you do not like your boss or your coworkers, you are not alone.  During college jobs, the military, and my career in consumer products, I had 12 bosses.  I would like to work for only two of these bosses again.  I never quit a job over my boss.  When I did change jobs, I left for a better job
If you have outgrown your job and cannot get greater responsibility to match your increased skills, you may want to consider a job change.  You should work where the things you do are meaningful and fulfilling.  In looking for a new job, look for opportunities that will enable you to use your skills and allow you to continue to grow greater skills.

If your company is firing people, your commute is too far or too expensive, or if you cannot make enough money, you should consider looking for jobs that will help you become financially secure.  As you begin your search, bear in mind the benefits that you have in your current job.  Make sure that you are not gaining in salary and going down in total compensation.

Image: Mic445, Mic445

10 Tips to Keep Your Job Search a Secret

If you have a job, you can protect your current job and conduct a secret job search.  This process takes time and planning.   Here are tips that will help you reach the people who can help you and avoid the people who can cost you your current job.

1. Do your homework.  Identify the type of job you want.  Make a list of your skills and qualifications.  Be specific and honest with yourself.  As you read job descriptions, think whether your skills and qualifications will get you that job.  Think about whether the job is one that you want.  Limit applications to companies where you know there is a job opening for a person with your qualifications.  Every time you apply for a job, you are letting people at a hiring company know that you are looking for a job.  No one should know about your job search except people who can help you get a job.  Therefore, be careful and selective about when and where you apply for a job.

2. Limit discussing your job search with people who need to know and who can help you.  If you have friends at your current company, be careful about telling them about your job search.  Even though you trust these people, do not discuss your job search with other people at your workplace.  People often speak without thinking.

3. Avoid posting your resume on job boards. Anyone can buy access job board resumes. There is nothing binding people to secrecy.  Someone from your company or someone who knows someone at your company can see your resume on job boards. Corporate recruiters can download your resume from a job board and broadcast your resume to other recruiters.

You can post your resume as a “confidential candidate” on a job board.  You can also hide your contact information and use general terms for the name of your company and your responsibilities.  However, as a recruiter, I never bothered following up on this type of resume on job boards.   Therefore, I do not see the reason in your putting your resume on a job board in any fashion.

4. Reduce your activity on social media. Do not mention your job search.  It is never a good idea to post social media updates on any travel. Certainly avoid posting anything about activity that creates suspicion about your job search.

5. Polish and update your online profile.   Add a current picture. However, consider adjusting your privacy settings to block people from getting emails on your updates.  This step will reduce the risk that people in your company will see the social media activity about your career.

6. Use your personal cell phone for your job search.  Put that number on your resume.  Tell recruiters and hiring companies not to call you on your company office phone.

7. Label your search “confidential.”  When you send your resume to a hiring company, include a cover letter or email that states that you are conducting a confidential search.  Put the word confidential on your resume.  When you speak with hiring managers and recruiters, ask them for their commitment to keep your search to themselves. Ask recruiters for their assurance that they will not send your resume to anyone without your permission.

8. Do your job search on your own time.  Take vacation days to interview.  Conduct phone interviews before you go to work or after work. If you have job interviews during your workweek, attend those interviews before work, during lunch, or after work.

9. Carefully select and manage references.  When you give references to a hiring company, get permission from each person who agrees to be a reference.  Only give references you know you can trust.  Ask each person to keep your search confidential.  Do not give references until the hiring company is making you a job offer.

10. Think carefully before you tell your boss.  If you can tell your boss that you are making a job change, you do not need to conduct a secret job search.  The time to tell your boss that you are looking for another job in a secret job search is after you have a written offer and you ready to resign.  Your supervisor is the last person you tell that you are leaving your job.

“Should I call the recruiter?”

This question is a common among applicants.

Occasionally I read career advice columns in which career coaches write, “Do not to call recruiters.  They will call you.”

Well, no, recruiters may never call you.  Here is how recruiters conduct searches.  First recruiters contact the qualified applicants they already have in their database, especially those people who are most recently active.  When recruiters have contacted the qualified candidates in their database, they get on the phone and call other people who are already in their database and ask these people for referrals to qualified applicants.

Recruiters do use job boards and membership sites.  The most successful recruiters use these sites as a last resort to find people for a search.  The reason is that hiring companies are using job boards and membership sites as well.  The likelihood for recruiters to find people the hiring companies have not already found on the Internet is small.  Therefore, the best recruiters are not using membership sites and job boards as their sources of finding applicants.

Of course, nearly every recruiter is a member of LinkedIn.  The main resource LinkedIn gives a recruiter is to develop a larger database of people the recruiter can use for ongoing business development.  For a recruiter, LinkedIn is similar to a blood drive for a blood bank. The resources recruiters develop on LinkedIn come into use for the long-term development of their business. Hospitals must continually replace and add to their sources of blood.  Recruiters must continually create new relationships as people come and go over a career.

A piece of bad advice is to email recruiters instead of calling recruiters.

The reason that every search firm in the country has a phone number on the company website is so that job seekers and hiring managers can call the firm’s recruiters. Check out the company websites for firms that do every level of search from entry-level to c-level and boardroom search. You will find a phone number.

The advice from career coaches about not calling recruiters is bad advice, especially if you need a job fast.  In the job market, you are like a patient in the hospital.  If you need blood, you go to a hospital.  If you need to work with recruiters, pick up the phone and call them.  Find out which ones you like and trust.  Build relationships that you can use your entire career.

Is it important for you to get a job fast? Then you will want to do the things that will help you get a job and avoid the things that are a waste of time.

Use a job board to find jobs.  The job board at JayWren.com has thousands of job listings.

Use a real search engine like Google or Bing to find jobs fast.  Some job boards do work as search engines, but they list the jobs posted on their site first and bury the other jobs on the back pages of the search results.  Why waste your time with a job search engine so biased against your need to find a job fast?

To use a search engine like Google or Bing to find jobs, enter phrases that include the word “jobs,” the type of job, and the location: jobs for mechanics Chicago or jobs for accountants New York City.

Try changing the wording to get slightly different results.  For example, instead of “jobs for mechanics Chicago,” add the word “in” to create a search that reads “jobs for mechanics in Chicago.”  Varying the wording will help you find more jobs fast.

Some other results, you might try these formats: nurses Dallas jobs or computer programmers Sunnyvale.

You can try using job categories instead of titles:  Nursing, accounting, computer programming, etc.

Contact people you know.  Another way to find jobs fast is to contact the people you already know. As I discussed in the article, “Your Know Network,” online resources are so powerful, so compelling, so easy, and so addictive that I take for granted the value of the network of people I know.

Contacting people I already know is so much more effective than contacting new people.  I have an established relationship with the people I know.  The people I already know will more likely trust me.  They are more likely to be helpful. The bond is already established.

Therefore, to find a job fast, make a list of people you already know.  Go Beyond LinkedIn.

Ask for referrals.  Every time you speak with person, ask them to help you with names of other people who can help you.  Add these names to your database of contacts and schedule a call to those people.

Ask for help.  If the people you are contacting work for companies where you want to work, ask them for help in getting a job at that company.  If the person is willing to be helpful, ask for an introduction or even an endorsement.

Announce your job search online.  If you want to find a job fast and confidentiality is not important, list your current position with your job title and add, “Seeking a new opportunity.”

Do not publish your phone number or your address on your public profile.  Identity thieves can use that information to harm you.

Publish an email address on your public profile.  Consider creating an email address specifically for your job change.  Include your name in your email address.  That way, when people see your email, they will know that it is from you.  In addition, the address will be easier for people to find in the email address book.

Put your phone number on all letters and emails.  One of the most annoying things for hiring managers and recruiters is to get an email from an applicant they need to call and have to go open a database file or resume to find the phone number.  If you want to find a job fast, do not waste people’s time by not giving them information they need in the place where they need it.

 To find a job fast, subscribe to my newsletter.  I write about finding a job and building your career.  I have placed 100’s of people with dozens of companies.  The information I give you will help you become successful in getting a job and getting promoted.

As a junior military officer, I progressed from pay grade O1 to O3 in thirty-six months.  As a recruiter, I have placed 100’s of men and women.  I made a fee for these placements.  I have helped many more people network their careers and got no fee for my help.  The best recruiters want to help people first and make money second.  The best recruiters also make the most money.  For a partial list of my clients, click here.

12 Reasons Why Junior Military Officers (JMO) Should Avoid Recruiters

Based on my experience, I recommend that junior military officers transitioning from military service to civilian careers avoid recruiters.

The information in this article will help anyone decide whether to use a recruiter.  The point of this article is to help job seekers avoid trading their marketability for the sake of a potential connection with a recruiter’s client.

There are great recruiters in all types of industries.  There are also incompetent recruiters, unscrupulous recruiters, dishonest recruiters, and any other negative type of recruiter you can imagine.

I have no intention of praising or condemning recruiters.  In this article, I take a critical position to look at the value and lack of value of recruiters.  I have focused this topic on junior military officers as the basis for taxonomy.  I want to examine where recruiters help job seekers and companies and where recruiters are more self-serving than they are a service to job seekers and hiring companies.  Junior military officers make an ideal classification of job seeker as a basis to create taxonomy for employment service companies.

Countless recruiting firms place military officers. These firms make a lot of money putting military officers into civilian jobs.  What is the harm in junior military officers working with third-party recruiters when making a career transition to civilian life?  I will let you decide.  I list twelve things to think about in this article.  You will find other things discussed in articles on the Internet.

Junior military officers do not need recruiters

Google search.  You will see articles from Forbes, Harvard Business Review, CNN/Money, Business Insider, and others explaining why so many leaders have gone from the battlefield to the boardroom.

The second issue is the nature of applicant pooling.

If highly marketable applicants go to a job fair and everyone at the job fair has equally strong credentials, the applicants have eliminated any advantages they have in the talent pool.  If junior military officers engage recruiters who specialize in placing junior military officers, these JMOs have gone from sharks to shiners.  They become one in schools of fish that mesh together with little personal identity.  Do you want to lose your identity in the job market?

Recruiters do not find jobs for people.

Recruiters find people for jobs.  The difference is that hiring companies pay recruiters 20-30% of the first year’s salary.  The job seeker pays the recruiter nothing.  If a job seeker paid a recruiter $10,000 to $30,000 or more to find the job seeker a job, the relationship would be very different.

Working with recruiters takes time.

Members of the military and job seekers in general have other, sometimes better resources that take less time.

For example, junior military officers and other veterans have job search help that is not available to nonmilitary job seekers.  Using Google search and enter the phrase “government programs for jobs for veterans” or other similar wording in Google search.

On LinkedIn, job seekers can search the phrase “junior military officer” or search the names of branches of the service.  In the results of the search, the profiles of former military officers include the name of the companies where these people work today.  Using that information, job seekers can search job boards for job listings with those companies.  Even better, job seekers can make direct application to the companies where the former military people work.

Nearly every company has job listings on their website.  Sometimes companies list jobs under a tab on the website menu.  Other companies list their jobs in the “About” section of the website.

Recruiters charge the hiring company a fee.

Job seekers who connect with hiring companies through a recruiter cost 20-30% more than job seekers who come to the company directly.

The extra cost is in the recruiter’s fee.  When the hiring company has two equally strong applicants and one costs 20-30% more the first year of employment, the hiring company will hire the less expensive, equally qualified applicant.

Recruiters present the jobs that they want you to take.

You need to look for jobs that are in your best interest.  Most recruiters do have your interest in mind when they refer you to a job.  They do not want you to take the job and then quit.  However, recruiters can only show you the jobs they have to fill.  Some will put a persuasive hard sell on you to push you into taking one of those jobs.  These recruiters behave like cattle herders.  Their real interest is just getting the cattle to market.

The better approach is to plan your career.  Make a list of the answers to these questions.

What do you want to do?
What companies have those types of jobs?
Who are the contacts you need to make at those companies to get the job you want?
What are the best ways to contact those people?

With this approach, you will end up with a job that you want and enjoy.

Confucius:  “Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life”

The seventh issue is employer perception.

If you find a hiring company and show that you offer solutions and opportunities that the company needs and may not have without you, you become a different person from the person who came in with the rest of the herd in the recruiter cattle drive.  I had one client who hired two-dozen people from me.  The best person she hired was a person who came to her directly and presented a business plan to improve her company’s customer loyalty programs.  She hired this person for a job that did not exist before he came to her company.

Recruiters who specialize in placing junior military officers have no special industry-specific value.

For example, I have close to 40,000 connections in my database.  Some of my connections are CEO’s and business owners I have known for over a decade.  These people are all in the consumer products industry.

Occasionally, highly marketable people contact me who cannot get where they want to go through my network.  I let them know that my network just does not offer the value they need for their career.

Junior military officers have distinctions similar to the distinctions of graduates from the top ten universities.  The JMOs have credentials that are not industry specific.  A recruiter in this process adds no value.

However, once junior military officers gain industry experience, working with a recruiter with dynamic connections in that industry offers real benefits to the JMO and any other job seeker.

Recruiters cut applicants from the process based on the recruiters’ perception and convenience.

In the process of referring applicants, recruiters base decisions on their perception of what the hiring company will hire.  Recruiters also stop referring applicants when they believe they have the job filled with the applicants they have already sent to the hiring company.

Recruiters contribute little value as career coaches to junior military officers.

I have 100’s of articles on this website on how to write a resume, how to dress for an interview, how to interview, how to negotiate job offers, and other job-seeker topics.  I add more articles weekly.  To find a helpful article, just enter any subject in the search field at the top of this page.

You can also find information on these subjects on other great websites.

When you interview, you should prepare by researching the company and the people you will meet.  That information is on the Internet.

Rather than spend your time over at the corral with the recruiter, take a few minutes a day to research the things you need to know for your job search.

Working with a recruiter guarantees the job seeker nothing.

Recruiters have contracts with hiring companies.  The terms and conditions of these contracts guarantee certain conditions to the hiring company.  When applicants use a great deal of time in emails, phone calls, and perhaps personal interviews with a recruiter, the applicants expect to get interviews through their effort.  However, the recruiter guarantees applicants nothing.

If you have plenty of time to do the things that will really get you a job and still want to work with a recruiter, certainly contact a recruiter.  However, do not expect any guarantees of anything.

Recruiters work with your competitors too.

Recruiters will ask you for referrals.  They will ask you for information about the companies where you are interviewing.  Giving recruiters this information hurts your chances of getting interviews.   Because the recruiter is working with your competitors in your job search, any information they ask from you about your connections or your job search efforts is a conflict of interest.

If a member of the United States military gives information about our military to a foreign nation, even an ally, the person compromises our national security.  If a member of the military of a foreign nation even asks a member of our military a question about United States military operations without a need and clearance to know that information, the foreign military person is behaving suspiciously.  Yet some recruiters will probe for competitive information that benefits them and works against the job seeker.

In conclusion, there are great recruiters in all types of industries.

There are times when some people just will not find a job without the help of a recruiter.  There are some circumstances where recruiters serve themselves and not the job seeker.  Junior military officers are mature, intelligent, and marketable.  They can find a job by applying directly to hiring companies.  It is in their best interest to do so.  However, once junior military officers gain industry experience, working with a recruiter with dynamic connections in that industry offers real benefits.

“The World’s Noblest Headhunter” in San Diego, CA.

The Power of Social Media for Employment Vetting: Vetting means to investigate a person’s background thoroughly to decide if the person is a right fit for a job.

Yes, vetting goes two ways.  Employers can research applicants on social media.  Applicants can research employers and their companies on social media.

Some of the places to learn more about people include these websites:

• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Pinterest
• Twitter
• Flickr
• Tumblr
• WordPress
• Blogger
• Quora
• YouTube
• Reddit

1. Stay positive in your comments.
2. Stay away from subjects like race, religion, politics, or sex.
3. Avoid the social sites when you are tired, grumpy, drinking, or any condition that might lead you to say things that can create controversy.
4. Stay away from online discussions that are argumentative.

Social media is a real asset for promoting your career and your business.  Plan what you are gong to write.  Use good spelling and grammar.  Have a purpose to what you are writing.  Ask yourself, “What do I hope to do by saying this?”  Polish your personal profile to create the reputation you want to have.

When you are vetting other people, look at what you are reading in context.  If a person makes a joke on Facebook, the context might be right.  It is less appropriate for a person to make a joke on a LinkedIn profile.

Before you go to a job interview, put together a 30-60-90-day plan.

You can write the presentation in Word or PowerPoint.

Some people use Excel.   If you can keep the presentation to two or three columns, you might use Excel.  From what I have seen, people load Excel with so many columns and rows that the audience has trouble understanding the presentation.

With a 30-60-90-day plan, you can do three things.

When interviewing, you can use your plan to see whether your plans fit the company and whether the company fits you as a person.

You can show the hiring company that you are right for the job.

When you start, you can begin with a head start at your new job.

In the first thirty days, you need to learn the job.

If you have experience, you might be able to assume full responsibility in 90 minutes.   If you are a trainee in an entry-level job, your first week to thirty days is training.

Even if you are able to step right into a job, you will need to learn a great deal.  Get to know the other employees.  Immerse yourself in the company culture.  You will find new systems and that the new company does things differently.  A good way to start your new job is to become a sponge.

1. Ask questions.
2. Listen to what everyone has to say.
3. Read all the company material on your responsibility.
4. Keep all the material you receive.  You may need it later.
5. Ask your supervisor how you can work together.
6. Discuss with your supervisor how the company fits together as a culture and as an organization.

A dangerous pitfall for experienced people is to do things the way they did them at their former employer.

Treat each task as though it is new. Ask yourself whether you know how to do your new job or whether you are doing what you did at your old company.  If the two are different, you can fail to do your new job well.

After the first thirty days, you should work with more freedom.

Your confidence and comfort are higher.  When you speak with your supervisor, discuss your activities and plans.  Ask your supervisor for feedback on your priorities.  If there are things that you need to have finished during your first thirty days on the job, add those things to your daily schedule to get them done as quickly as possible.  Show your supervisor how you are tracking on the things you are doing.

After sixty days on the job, you are working independently.

Your work is up-to-date.  You have successes you can show your supervisor.  You have scheduled your activities into the weeks and months ahead.

In your 30-60-90-day job interview presentation, you can show a list of things you will have completed during the first ninety days.

After ninety days, your skills and knowledge are high.  You can add a matrix to your presentation to show how you will manage your job and future projects beyond the first ninety days.

SWOT SUCCESS ANALYSIS

If plan with this amount of detail, you will learn whether the job is correct for you. You will show the hiring company that you are right for the job. When you start to work at the new company, you have a head start.

19 Top Job Interview Questions

You can never know what questions an interviewer will ask you. However, here are some of the more popular questions.

1. Why are you leaving your current job?
2. What is your greatest achievement?
3. Who was the best supervisor you have ever had?
4. Who was the worst supervisor you ever had.
5. What makes you the best person for the job?
6. What is your greatest strength?
7. What is your greatest weakness?
8. What are your long-term goals?
9. What do you plan to do the first 90 days on the job?
10. What do you do to grow professionally?
11. What qualities to you seek in building a team?
12. What are your career passions?
13. What did you want to become when you were a kid?
14. What is your typical day?
15. What is your greatest failure and what did it teach you?
16. Have you ever told a lie?
17. Whom do you most admire?
18. What is the most difficult problem you ever had to handle and what did you do handle to the problem?
19. Where did your parents work?

Add to these questions some other questions to ask yourself some questions before you go to the interview.
The first questions are the things you will do for the hiring company.

1. What five things you will do for the company the first 30 days on the job?
2. What five things you will do for the company the first 60 days on the job?
3. What five things you will do for the company the first 90 days on the job?

The next questions are how your professional goals will do for the company.

1. What are your short-term professional goals that match the short-term company goals?
2. What are your long-term professional goals that match the long-term company goals?
3. What goals do you have that can create innovation at the hiring company?
4. What professional development goals do you have that will make you more effective for the company over time?

The next questions are what you want to work for this company.

1. What do you think of the company’s products?
2. What do you think of the job place?
3. What do you think of the company’s mission statement?
4. What do you think of the company’s business sector?

Writing out these questions and writing out your answers will help you be ready to show the hiring manager how you are the best person for the job.

What to wear to a job interview:  this situation causes a bit of confusion.

Many companies have a casual dress code. People wear slacks, skirts, button shirts or blouses. A lot of workers wear boots, sneakers, athletic shoes, sandals, flats, loafers, or boat shoes. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, wears a t-shirt to work.

If you are interviewing with any company for an office job, dress like the women and men on ESPN SportsCenter.  Some of them wear plaid or striped shirts or blouses. You might even dress more conservatively than these broadcast professionals and wear a white shirt or blouse.

What strikes me about the broadcasting team at ESPN is that they dress up for work in a field where many of the athlete stars  dress down by wearing warm-up suits and sweats on the way to work.  The broadcast team at ESPN present themselves as professionals and authorities at a level equal to or above other professionals in broadcast news.

I have seen people go to a job interview and wear what current employees were wearing on the job.  However incongruous or unfair, I have seen these job applicants fail to the job for not wearing a suit.  I remember one instance in which an applicant interviewed at a sales meeting where everyone was in casual attire.  The meeting was over a weekend.  The applicant wore a Hawaiian shirt.  The business manager who interviewed the applicant wore suits and white shirts to work, but dressed casually the day of the meeting.  That manager passed on the applicant for wearing what the manager considered a vacation shirt to a job interview.

Once you get the job, dress like the boss. If all your coworkers are wearing jeans and the boss is wearing khakis or a skirt, dress like the boss. Always dress for the role that you want, not the role that you have. If you dress like the senior managers in the company, you will be more confident when you meet these people. Give senior managers the chance to see your potential through your performance and your appearance.

Skilled workers need to dress one level above the level of what they wear in their trade.  If their trade workers wear coveralls or  jeans, skilled workers should wear khakis to an interview.  If a skilled worker is more comfortable wearing a suit to an interview, there is certainly no harm in their wearing a suit   However,  a suit is just not necessary.  Skilled workers should dress comfortably in neatly pressed pants, skirts, shirts or blouses, and shoes.

11 Ways to Turn Job Interview Jitters into Poise

People often get the jitters when going into an interview.  There are things you can do to relax and develop.

Remember that the interviewer wants to speak with you.  The person believes that your experience makes you qualified for the job.  Since you are there to discuss your experience, there is no one more qualified than you are to discuss your experience.  You are the expert on your work.

Rehearse before you go to the interview.  The night before the interview, read your resume.  Write notes about your accomplishments.  Write specific titles of the people with whom you have worked.  Write the specific skills you have used to create your accomplishments.  Read your scripted notes to another person.

Try to expect questions that the interviewer might ask.  You never know what questions might come out of an interviewer’s mouth, but you can look at your experience for possible questions or objections the interviewer may have.  Focus on situations in your background that might make you feel uncertain about your skills and employment history.  Write those situations in the form of questions and write your answers.

Review the job spec and do an overlay of your job experience and the requirements of the job.  In areas where you lack experience, do not try to lower in your mind or in the mind of the interviewer that your lack of experience is not important.  Instead, think of ways that your experience specifically crosses over job requirements and think of things that you have done outside of your jobs that give you the skills that the job requires.

Research the company thoroughly.  List five reasons why you want to work for this company.  List five reasons why this company should hire you.  Tell the interviewer that your purpose in making the interview is to show the benefits for the company and for you in your working for the company.

Research the interviewer.  Tell the interviewer positive things you know about their background.  Use their name throughout the interview.  The most important word you will say throughout the entire interview is the interviewer’s name.

Remember to take a deep breath and relax.  Take a deep breath before walking through the door of each interview.  Closing your eyes and meditating before the interview can help you relax.  However, if you are waiting in a lobby with other people, closing your eyes is not the best idea.  Some people might find that behavior a bit odd.  What you can do is focus on slowly relaxing each muscle in your body.

Clear your schedule to arrive early and have time if the interview runs late.  Take time pressure off yourself.  Allow yourself the time to enjoy your interview.  Create poise through focusing on the people and the interview subjects.

These 25 questions to help you find and land a job will put you in front of hiring managers and prepare you to answer their questions.

Before the Internet, employers and recruiters had a more difficult time listing jobs and finding applicants. Today, employers list jobs on the Internet and find applicants through Internet profiles and applications.

Now that the job opportunities are online, job seekers need to know how to use the Internet to attract employers and to find jobs on the Internet.

Additionally, many of the things that a job applicant needed to do are still necessary today:  writing a resume and cover letter, contacting companies and making applications, preparing for the interview, and so forth.

To get started building your Internet profile, finding job openings, getting job interviews that lead to job offers, ask yourself these questions.

1. 1. Who is hiring?
   2. What kinds of jobs are available?
   3. How do I apply for the jobs?
   4. How do I contact hiring companies?
   5. Do I complete applications online?  Do I contact hiring companies directly?
   6. Should I work with a recruiter?
   7. How do I write a resume?
   8. Do I use a cover letter with a resume?
   9. How do I write a cover letter?
   10. Do I send a cover letter as an attachment to an email or is the email a cover letter?
   11. Should I pay someone to write my résumé?
   12. What do I wear to the interview?
   13. What do I need to know before going to the interview?
   14. What do I discuss during the interview?
   15. How do I follow-up after the interview?
   16. Do I discuss salary during the interview?
   17. How do I find references?
   18. What type of person is a good reference?
   19. Do I use membership sites to get a job?
   20. How do I create a profile on membership sites?
   21. How do I use groups on membership sites for my job search?
   22. How do I build a network for my job search?
   23. When should I start looking for a job?
   24. How do I protect my privacy when I am looking for a job?
   25. What information should I share about compensation?

   The answers to these questions are part of what I discuss in the articles on this website

It seems that most people think of creating a reference list when a hiring manager requests to see one.

Another approach is simply to mention to people with whom you seem to bond that at some point you, should you need a reference, you would appreciate the person helping you.  At the same time, let the person know that you are available to assist them whenever needed.  Then, when the time comes, you can feel very confident in having people who will speak very positively about your character and your work.  Building a reference list becomes simply an element of building your professional network.

Since different hiring managers have different ideas as to the types of people they want to contact, you can find that you feel real pressure to tailor your list to a hiring manager’s request.  Instead of being pressed and struggling to build out a list of references at the time that the hiring manager requests the list, you might have dozens of people you can easily contact through your established agreements.

When the time comes to submit your references, you simply open up the directory of professional network and select the people who will work best. Before submitting the reference’s name, simply draw from the contact information in your directory to contact that person, get up to speed with them and ways that you might be able to help them, and let them know that they may likely receive a call from a hiring company.
Do not send references (or a cover letter as an attachment) with your resume.  You are burdening potential employers with the stress of managing extra documents they may feel they will never need.

Life is easy.  A little planning can help make it even easier.  Build your reference list as you make new connections.

Great Grammar is So Easy to Practice and So Rewarding for Those Who Do.

Little grammatical mistakes are so easy to make and can be so costly to the speaker or writer when those mistakes come to represent a person’s professional profile.

The purpose of this article is to highlight words that mask speaking and writing errors.

When speaking, there is no technology to aid us. We either choose the correct words, or we do not.

With today’s technology, writers have help in proofreading documents before publishing or emailing them. On the other side, writers have the disadvantage of having their grammatical errors highlighted in the document when the reader opens it. Using technology to proofread and improve the quality of your writing is so easy to do. Failing to use that technology can make you look sloppy, uneducated, unintelligent, and your document may disappear into the reader’s deleted folder.

Easy Steps to Great Grammar

All skills take initial development to acquire and regular practice to maintain. To acquire and strengthen your grammar is easy with the free online resources like this very website and others that provide ideas on becoming more successful in business or any other public setting today.

Developing great grammar does not have to be complicated. I have avoided using grammatical terminology in this article. I want the focus to be on words that mask errors.

Using the same process of simply becoming familiar with words that mask mistakes can help you keep the development of your grammatical skills simple. Unless you plan to teach grammar or find intrinsic value in developing a broader vocabulary in grammar, you might just ignore the grammatical terms in any article or textbook and focus on the examples that you find in the resources you are using.

Speaking with Grammatical Accuracy

To use accurate grammar in speaking, there is just one area of development: word selection. The speaker simply needs to know which words are correct to express an idea.

Again, the most effective and fastest way to develop accurate word selection is to highlight mistakes that occur most often. I am going to label this frequently made grammatical error “the ESPN Too©.”  Half the American sports commentators on live broadcasts make this simple grammatical error during on a regular basis. Just putting them in the situation of having to choose the correct use of the words “between” or “among” as well as the words that follow those two words, and the sports commentators will make the incorrect choices. Frankly, these sportscasters are not alone.

The words “between” and “among” are doubly confusing in terms of which words follow them and which of the two words to use in which situation.

The word “between” indicates that the matter is between two people. The word “among” indicates that the matter is among three or more people.

Try to remember that the words that follow the word “between” are the words “him, her, and me.”

The words that follow the word “among” are the words “him,” “her,” “me,” “themselves,” and “ourselves”

As awkward and as subliterate as the following statements may appear, these statements are grammatically correct:

1. “This matter is between him and her.”
2. “This matter is among her, him, and me.”
3. “The team members want to keep the secret among themselves.”

Comparisons: Words with two Syllables

To create comparisons with one-syllable and two-syllable-words, add “er” or “est to the end of the word. Here are examples.

1. This car is fast. This second car is faster. The third car is fastest.
2. This flower is pretty. These flowers are prettier. Of all the flowers, these flowers are the prettiest.

Comparisons Words with Three or More Syllables

To create comparisons with words with three or more syllables, use the words “more” and “most” in front of the word used for comparison. This English professor is intelligent. The math professor is more intelligent. The music professor is the most intelligent of the three professors.

Writing with Grammatical Accuracy

Developing writing skills that contain great grammar is different from developing speaking skills that contain great grammar. However, writing complicates word selection with the issue of similar sounding words: Affect / Effect, Break / Brake, Capital / Capitol, Compliment / Complement, Desert / Dessert, Guest / Guessed
Heard / Herd, Illusion / Allusion, New / Knew, Principle / Principal, Rain / Reign, and so forth.

Rather than trying to learn every set of similar sounding words you can find in English (English language is redundant.), you might just become aware of your own tendencies in word selection. For reason, I developed the habit of adding a syllable to the spelling the of word “athlete.” I intuitively tend to type the word “ath-e-lete.” So, I try to watch for that type of error in my writing.

Avoiding Apostrophes

Writers enjoy using an informal style and will use apostrophes to replace letters as part of that style of writing. However, this practice can mask writing mistakes.
One of the most common instances of apostrophes creating confusion and masking writing errors comes when a writer is trying to choose whether to use “its” or “it’s.”

Forget about learning the grammar as to which words to choose. Just try to stay away from using apostrophes to replace letters. Business writing is not informal anyway.

So, try this method. Just type, “It is.” If the two words “it is” do not express what you are trying to express, then the word “its” is the correct word to use between the choices of “its” or “it’s”. Does that make sense?

Having to focus on whether you should type “there, their, or they’re,” you can reduce the risk of errors creeping into your writing with the statement, “They are.”

Your quick wit indicates that you are smart.

Learning as a Lifestyle

I continue to read articles on basic grammar and watch for my own mental blocks that can mask errors in grammar. Speaking and writing correctly is critical to the success of anyone’s career. Practicing great grammar is so easy to do and so rewarding.

“You Are Hired!”

Start the interview by showing an interest in the job.

Why? Because you are sending out buying signals which are attractive to the hiring manager. Why even go to an interview for an opportunity that you have not researched enough to know whether you are interested. If you are out kicking tires, stay home. You might burn a great opportunity.  Do not walk through the company doors of any company until you know where you will be working, approximately what you will be making, and what you will be doing if you are hired. There is so much information out there on the Internet alone that most high school sophomores can pin down job details from a web search on a smartphone.

Prepare to be believable and let likeability take care of itself.

Do not focus on whether people like you.  Focus on whether the interviewer believes and trusts you.  Know your facts about yourself and your qualifications for the job for which you are applying.

Ironically, even entertainers do not focus on being liked.  The successful ones focus on the act.

People will like you just fine.  Just give your most sincere presentation of the match between you and the job, and hiring managers will be happy if not excited to find what they are seeking.

Don’t rely on stock questions.

Develop your questions from you research. As you gather information about a company, you will find that your curiosity begins to rise.  There is always more to know.  Build your question list from the things that truly have raised your curiosity.  Many questions people ask are contained right in the job description: the title of the person to whom you will report, the scope of the position, even whether there are other people on the team.  Taking the research a small step further, you can find out information about the supervisor for this position and information about the people on the team. Mention their names during the interview and ask questions from your curiosity about these people.

Know your interviewer.

Before you walk in the door, you should try to know the name, career history, and title of the person you are meeting. By knowing these things, you can put yourself on a more even footing against other applicants who may be coming in with a personal referral from a friend.

Layout a map to show the interviewer as to how you will produce results, save the company money, and become a member of the team for the good of the company However, you are not in an interview to be popular. You are in an interview to get a job.  Be personable, assertive, confident, but do not act like you want to be someone’s pal.  Companies need doers not back-slapper who are there to  glad-hand.  Within the first thirty seconds of the interview, the hiring managers should know if they have invited the right person to the interview.

Always trial close.

Ask for the date when you should follow up with the company.

Send a thank you note.

You can send a letter if you like.  But send an email before the end of the day of the interview.

Post-Interview Letter: Follow Up the Interview With a Letter That Will Get You the Job.

Some people are great lists makers.  Whether shopping, going to a business meeting, planning an event, tracking their expenses, setting priorities for the day, these people are intuitively organized about the way they live their lives through lists making.

Other people, myself included, are less likely to structure their lives around lists, but go along through the day as things come up.  I want to be more of a list maker.

I believe that lists makers are more productive, experience less stress, have a more clear mind, and work shorter days than those of us who just take care of things as these things pop in front of us.  At least, I seem to have a more productive, less stressful day, and can focus better on my work when I have a plan laid out for the things I need to do.

I remember reading a book called The Book of Lists.  I really enjoyed the book and as it turns out, according to Wikipedia.org/The Books of Lists, authors Irving Wallace, David Wallechinsky, and Amy Wallace, collaborating and working separately, produced a series of books of lists on odd and curiously interesting topics: world’s greatest libel suits, worst places to hitchhike, people suspected of being Jack the Ripper, and so forth

So some of you may want to save your daily activity lists.  You may find they produce a book  someday.

I sometimes find that if I make a list, I am more likely to actually use it when it is a short list of things of genuine importance.  I might have a list of the three most important people for me to call today.  I might have a list that only has one thing on it, such as a long tedious task that will take several hours and may involve taking breaks and returning to for the entire day.

I also find that lists can become outlines with categories and subcategories.  For example, I may have on my list three people to call and under each person’s name, I may have a list of things to cover with that person.

Common sense seems to be to limit your lists to things that you really need to get done.  With this approach you are more likely to actually use your list and more likely to get to the things done that have genuine importance.

To me, the really important lists are those lists that involve things I want to discuss in meetings or on the phone.   Putting these lists together may take a little preparation and review and can become really  important in getting cooperation.  In these cases, I write down what I want to cover.  I may need to review or research my activities with the people who will be in this meeting so that I am be mentally fresh on the material to be covered.

I may try to anticipate questions that a person might have so that I can do some research in preparation for answering those questions.   This preparation can create a list of material in itself.

Conventional practice and advice is that discussing compensation on the first interview is in bad form and can cost an applicant future interviews.

If you are a hiring manager and make it your practice not to discuss income at all on the first interview or if you are an applicant and plan not to bring up the subject of compensation on the first interview, my experience has been that you are making a mistake.

If a hiring manager makes an offer to a candidate, the hiring manager is now only halfway to making a hire.  For the first time, the applicant has the 100% power over yes or no in the process.  Also, from my experience, if an interview process goes to the point of that an offer is extended and the offer is rejected, it is intuitively obvious why the offer is turned down:  compensation.
Think about it.  The applicant is very likely sold on the company, the people, and the responsibilities.  Why else would the applicant have invested so much time to prepare for the interviews and make the trips to interviews if everything is not positive, and then turn down the offer when it is extended?  The answer is compensation.

Do you need to discuss the details of an offer on a first interview?  I do not think so.

However, I think that both the hiring manager and the applicant need to get some framework around the subject of compensation (salary, bonus, benefits) from both what the hiring company pays and what the applicant is making to know that the two are at least in the same range of expectation.  So save yourself some time.

If you are a hiring manager, save yourself some time and let the applicant know that if he or she is chosen for the role, the person can expect the position to pay approximately a certain amount.

Have you ever had someone toss a ball your way and let you know it was inbound after the person had thrown it?

If you have good reflections and a clear mind, a surprise ball toss can be easy to handle.   Personally, I need to know the ball is coming and preferably have a bucket to catch it in.

I have found that thinking on my feet in business can  be similar.  In my basic training at Procter & Gamble, the instruction booklet on persuasive selling included the recommendation of anticipating objections and preparing for these objections before entering for my presentation.

The Sacramento Kings  had a point guard named Jason Williams, who was a real gym rat, street ball, highly gifted athlete.   He was a lot of fun to watch and so unorthodox that the other players on the team had to maintain total mental presence lest they catch one of Williams’ no-look passes on the nose.  Obviously, the players on the Kings team had an advantage in knowing what was coming next from Williams.  They spent hours practicing with him and playing on the same team.

Giving a persuasive presentation in any situation, whether it is a job interview, a sales call, a meeting with peers, I find that I am more comfortable if I take a minute, write a few notes, research material I think might come up even if I believe that I know the answer, and try to think of information that might add value to the presentation and offer solutions where needed.

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Another thing that I have learned to do is position material so I show I am interested in the point of view of the other person or people in the meeting.  For example, without even agreeing with another person’s position, I have found that it sometimes helps to say something such as if I were in your shoes I am sure that I would feel the same way.  I also try to make sure that the other person or people in the meeting have an opportunity to speaking through to the conclusion of what they have on their mind.

Some people find it helpful to call other people before a meeting and in that call, present what they plan to share in meeting, especially when the stakes are high or on occasions where there might be a lot of resistance to his or her position.

In closing, I am reminded of the famous statement regarding directions:  “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? The answer:  practice, practice, practice. ”

The World’s Noblest Headhunter!  

The Power of an Agenda for Your Job Interview

During lunch with a field sales manager of a major consumer goods company, I heard again the importance of preparing an agenda before each call.  He told me about a day in the field he had recently spent with the Chairman and CEO of his company.  At the end of the day, the Chairman pointed out to the field sales manager that throughout the day the Chairman had maintained control of the discussions. The reason he said is that sales manager had not prepared an agenda for the day.

The first sales call I made with my supervisor’s supervisor at Procter & Gamble, he asked me, “What is your objective for this call?”  Fortunately, perhaps out of nervous anticipation, I had made scripted a call sheet for each place I planned to go that day.

When I entered the recruiting industry, I went to work for a search firm that had a former Pfizer executive for a CEO.  The only thing that the CEO asked of us recruiters is that we sit down at the beginning of every day and go over a single sheet that contained a list of search assignments and prospects and that we update that sheet every day.

So began a practice of having a plan written out on a sheet of paper, reviewed daily, updated as the day progressed and then created anew or further updated as the passed into the next day.  Managing my business became a process of following an agenda.

The same practices can apply to any business, including the business of managing your career. The following outline is the agenda that my daughter Heather used for her interviews with a National Basketball Team (NBA).  She got the job. Using this type of outline to prepare for an interview, helps a person anticipate and practice how to manage many of the questions and the direction of the discussions in a job interview.

Interview Agenda Summary

Why I am interested in working for your company?

1. The reputation of the company as a customer-based marketer
2. The long history of success of your company
3. The opportunity to work in an environment that enables me to use the promotional and marketing tools I have developed for my career
4. The commitment to respecting and honoring all employees for their service
5. The opportunity to work in the field of my choice: sports promotion and marketing

What I bring to your company

1. Team skills with work with other people in all departments
2. Experience in creating promotional marketing programs to target community customers
3. A successful history of developing marketing strategies that include customer service, pricing, product choice, graphic design, and product presentation at retail and in the media

My thoughts on marketing and sales promotion

1. Does it present value to the customer?
2. Does it create the correct brand image?
3. Does it reach your target customer base?
4. Does it make a buyer out of your customer?
5. Does it create repeat customers?

Ways that I can make sure that you reach your goals.

1. Identify the target customer
2. Identify the message that will reach and draw that customer
3. Create a consistent brand image that will build customer loyalty

Create your own agenda.  Prepare for the interview with research and outline your research results in an agenda that you take the interview.  Show interviewers that you have an interest in their company through the agenda you bring to the interview.

What is the consumer packaged goods industry? I do get ask that question from time to time. The consumer-packaged goods industry is comprised of those companies that manufacture, advertise, and distribute products that are in a package and readily consumable. Examples of consumer-packaged goods are canned soup, laundry soap, beverages, paper towels, candy, and so forth.  The points of distribution for the CPG industry are grocery stores, convenience stores, mass merchants, deep discounts or dollar stores, club stores, and drug stores. The CPG sector is sometimes divided in fresh, frozen, refrigerated, shelf stable foods, health and beauty aids, confection, and more recently and rapidly growing, natural or organic categories.

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