Tuesday Take Off

Before you think about the robots, one of the most important steps in developing an effective resume is to create a Master Resume that always stays in the cloud or on your computer.

In the master resume, list every significant accomplishment you achieved ( that you can think of) in the right format, under each job. You could have as many bullets as you want under each job in the Master.

When you customize your resume for a job application, you will be mostly deleting bullets that do not match with the qualifications and the principle duties in the job description and editing the remaining bullets to match the language of the qualifications.

Having a master resume cuts the time it takes you to customize by about 50%.

Customizing is tedious but the more you do it, the less tedious it becomes, if you are applying to similar roles.

One tip to get both the robots and the humans to put you in the “Yes'' list for interviews is to specifically match your successes, under each job to each of the qualifications and the most important principle duties.

And...be sure to use their wording (key words) to explain each of your successes. This way you won’t be stuffing the resume with keywords inappropriately and yet your fit will be noticed quickly by a human and the ATS.

There are 14 other criteria in the Career Aviators Resume Analyzer that you can use to determine how you need to make changes to your resume to get in the “yes” list for interviews.

I would be pleased to review your resume with you in a free consultation and/or you could participate in the resume reboot workshop or the Career Landing Programme

Career Zoom In Participants Brainstorm Over 40 Ways To Make Job Search More Productive

Photo by Ray Hennessy on Unsplash

Career “Zoom In” is a Canadian hub for free weekly job search advice,support and empowerment for individuals looking to find new work during this pandemic.  

It is hosted by the Guelph and Tri-cities Career Collective and led by a team of 5 career professionals (see links below), who are volunteering their time to lead the initiative. 

On Thursday June 24, 2021 at noon and 7pm our Career Zoom In feature presentation was “Boosting Productivity in Your Job Search”

Productivity is the balance between resources invested and the volume of output. Loosely speaking, in job search, the goal is to minimize resources used while maximizing output - keeping in mind that time is a resource one can never get back.  

Productivity is important because job search is front-end loaded. This is mainly because networking takes such a long time to execute. For each day you delay in your job search (prior to the interview stage) Wayne Greenway, CEO of Career Aviators estimates that it adds roughly 3 days to the length of  your job search. If you delay 1 month on the front end it might delay your job search by as much as 3 months. 

Over the two sessions Career Zoom In participants came up with over 4o great suggestions for how to be more productive for each stage of job search. 

Overall Productivity Boosters

1. Maintain positivity: Having the right mindset and focus is very important in the success of your job search because if you are “present''. you are far more likely to be more productive. Employers also want to hire applicants who are present, positive and focused, Here are some ways to shift into this way of being

   • Learn to meditate -- even 3 minutes twice a day will help a lot 

   • Plan your activities that bring joy into your life in your calendar first and then build in your job search 

   • Have 5 or 10 min every day just for yourself to do whatever you want to be doing.

2. Treat your job search like a job. Set up a daily routine and dress for work. 

3. If you want to take time off your scheduled hours, then think about how your boss would react (when you were last working) to a request for time off for that kind of purpose, then ask yourself if you really should take the time off or stick to the job search?

4. Have a daily schedule and work it!

5. Learn about yourself, learn about others, learn about work trends, and help someone else -- all on an ongoing basis

6. Set realistic goals for each day and your week 

7. Track your progress in a spreadsheet & sync it with your calendar (colour coding is helpful too) 

8. Leverage free tools 

9. Make time for something physical every day, and do some stretching if you're at your desk a lot 

10. Find an accountability partner

11. Follow up with your network in a scheduled way; 

12. Use LinkedIn Learning (or something similar) to work on a skill you're interested in

13. Keep checking in on tracking sheets often. Find dedicated time and place to focus on tasks. Identify time wasting through the day.  Make sure to take breaks to rest so you are  more productive.

14. Manage your time effectively and be persistent 

15. Be intentional every day: The measure of your day isn't whether you “got a job” but whether you spent the day intentionally the way you wanted to do.-- If you're always focusing on how well you are doing at “finding a job”, as your measure of success, it can be really discouraging.

Self Exploration Productivity Boosters: 

1. Go after 2 roles maximum.Focus on a role that combines your top strengths @ youf deepest values @ what you are most curious about. By defining what you want your informational or field research interviews will be more productive -- your contacts will know how they can best help you,

2. Create a mission/ career statement and review and refocus it as you move forward with the search  

3. Look at ideal places “you’d do your job in” and similar opportunities

4. Make list of people to reach out to as you go

Resume Reboot: 

1. Do a master resume: It can take you 3 or 4 hours to do a customized resume without having a master resume but if you have one you can do it in 90 min 

2. Demonstrate in each role how you: planned, organized, implemented and executed + include your metrics. 

3. Have one master resume for full-time jobs and another for part time jobs.

4. Then it’s just a matter of changing a few pieces of info to customize a resume based on a role.

Strategy & Networking: 

1. Use search features in Indeed, LinkedIn etc effectively to filter most relevant jobs

2. Network, network, network, network, network!

3. Talk to someone everyday  -- aim to talk to 5 highly targeted people a week as part of your networking

4. Set daily networking goals -- take every opportunity to sell yourself; speak with people even if you don’t immediately see value in it

5. Create a tracking sheet (set up a system that works for you) Be as organized as possible to save time

6. If your networking conversation has gone well ask “ Do you know of someone who you think would be good for me to speak with?“  The suggested people that your first contacts suggest are actually your best contacts for job search

7. Have an Excel Spreadsheet with the following columns:

   1. Company Name

   2. Name of person you want to contact

   3. Their LinkedIn or email

   4. Summary of conversation

8. Next steps after the last conversation with the person - Could be sending them your website and resume or a follow up email next Monday, etc. A thank you note, etc. Very important column because it contains your list of tasks right there.

9. Have your tracking sheet include

   1. Times you can regularly book meetings

   2. Notes from each interview in tracking

   3. Things you can send that highlight something about you

10. If you are searching for career change, try to increase your visibility to people outside your targeted industry / roles - connect with people outside your target on LinkedIn, go to networking or industry events outside your industry (once things are back to normal, and within reason)

Application Customization:  

1. Rewrite successes under each job to match as many of the qualifications and principle duties  as possible

2. Have addons of successes to your master resume with more examples

3. Split time - chunking time - to focus on each vertical - job you are applying for - to benefit from division of labour on the job apps by type. 

4. When applying, customize each application to the job post using their language

5. Do a reverse audit of self: If someone looks me up, what do they see? 

6. Auditing yourself online: How you appear to other people online. From this: what can I do to look better online.

Interview Management: 

1. If you have targeted the job carefully then formulate a list of questions and a STAR success story for each question

2. Prepare questions against qualifications and predicted common scenarios and challenging behaviours you think you might encounter in the job

3. Prepare a 10 minute project to talk through [Communications]

Negotiation:  

1. Decide on your target salary, benefits, vacation etc. when you are applying to a targeted job. If the salary range is well below your budget save the time in customizing and interviewing for the job 

2. Do Your Research   Learn “Going” salary range & your personal budget

3. As part of your networking, ask others in similar roles: “if I was to land a similar position , what do you think I could expect in terms of salary range”?

4. Create Financial Decision Criteria 

5. Don’t make any negotiations until they make an offer ( unless it is required) otherwise if the job is way bigger in scope than you gathered from the job description you may have to take a lot of time getting your salary increased 

The groups came up with great advice. Join us for these great learning experiences. If you want to learn more about learn more on our LinkedIn page Career Zoom In

Career Zoom Ins are hosted By The Guelph & Tri-Cities Career Collective

Jan Atkinson, Jan Atkinson Coaching & Consulting, janatkinsoncoaching.com   

Rachel Despres, Career Coach For Rebels, racheldespres.com              

Nicola Edwards, Career Mojo, careermojo.ca

Wayne Greenway, Career Aviators, careeraviators.com         

Laura Hartnell, Laura Hartnell Career Transition Services, laurahartnell.ca 

Nel Slater, Alder Tree Coaching, aldertreecoaching.com

Making Better Use Of Your Time In Your Job Search

Photo by Anastase Maragos on Unsplash

Interested in making better use of your time in your Job Search

John Lees has a very helpful article in The Guardian
https://lnkd.in/eBh4XCg

Job search time can disappear faster than you know it.

Job Search is also front end loaded. Current job searches involve extensive networking.

It is often the most difficult and time consuming part of the process.

The result is that everyday you delay at the beginning of the search, means about 3 days longer at the end of your search before you land a job.

John Lees presents 10 steps to making your job search more productive that focus mostly on the research and preparation of your search.

Some of his best suggestions involve:

Doing a careful self exploration, including a careful review of your successes

Deciding on 3 main messages you want to get across about your experience, ability and personality.

Both of these tactic help you to be more focused and helps those you talk with to be more effective in helping you.

Testing out your CV with industry and HR professionals and practicing your interviews are also two great ways to not only get offers but also speed up the process to get you there.

Transition Blocked! You May Be Your Own Worst Enemy

Photo by Simon English on Unsplash

 Caroline Ceniza-Levine’s article, Five Warning Signs Your Desired Career Change Will Not Happen, published in yesterday’s Forbes Blog has excellent advice for those who feel stuck in their career transition.

If you feel that the barriers to your career transition are external, you should read this article. 

If it is tough to read, it may be because you see yourself in "Jane’s" story. 

Successful transition will require that you begin to notice the specific way in which you are like Jane and take action to avoid becoming a victim and your own worst enemy in your career transition. “You have to see the goal before you can reach it. If you don’t really believe you can make a change, you will find reasons that it won’t work and will give up too easily.” says Levine.

Her message highlights the reason to write “7 to 12 sentences that capture specific criteria you want out of your career and life over the next few years.

Sometimes our “thinking mind” gets in the way of us moving forward in this defined direction. It is often the root of why we get stuck . You can tell if its your “thinking mind” if your reasons are “I am too old”, “I am not experienced enough (when you have the experience)”, “I am not trained enough”, or “I am not good enough” etc. 

The answer lies in letting your thinking mind chatter away while you go forward with your plan to find a postion that meets your established criteria. Act on your strengths in the direction of your deepest values.

Are you considering a career transition? Wayne Greenway is the Chief Executive Officer for Career Aviators. Career Aviators, a Certified B Corporation® helps professionals, managers, and executives find positions in which they will excel, value highly, and love to do. The profits from our work support programs to help vulnerable youth flourish in the face of highly stressful life situations.

Monday’s Getting Unstuck

Monday’s Getting Unstuck

It’s the beginning of the week

Did you have times last week when you became stuck moving ahead with important things in your life?

Did you notice the thoughts like “ I might fail” “This will never work” or ”I am no good at this” or something similar

These self judgements are called “ thinking mind thoughts”

Experts say that just continually noticing these “thinking mind thoughts” is an important step in getting unstuck.

You may be drawn to analyzing where these thoughts come from or trying to stop them from bothering you by pushing them down. Experts tell us that the more you do this, the more entrenched the thoughts become and the harder it is to get unstuck.

Keep noticing and don’t stop, let them pass “like the trail of a bird” and stay tuned for more steps next Monday.

___________________________

Are you considering a career transition? Wayne Greenway is Chief Executive Officer with Career Aviators. Career Aviators is Canada's only career management firm that is a Certified B Corporation. Career Aviators helps professionals, managers, and executives find positions in which they will excel, value highly, and love to do. The profits from our work support programs to help vulnerable youth flourish in the face of highly stressful life situations.