Roadmap to a Winning Resume

Roadmap to a Winning Resume
By Dean Tracy
As published on The Ladders / January 30, 2008

As a recruiter, I have seen thousands of resumes from very qualified and capable candidates across the globe. They have come from nearly every industry and market segment and have represented administrative professionals as well as corporate executives.

While I review each resume, my role is to carefully read between the lines and try to get a sense of who the candidate is and how they are wired. In doing this, I’m associating their skills against my client’s needs. My intent is to determine if the candidate capabilities will drive a degree of success in a particular capacity.

On the other hand, it’s been stated that a typical hiring manager or recruiter will only look at your resume for approximately 10 to 15 seconds! In this brief period of time, that hiring manager or recruiter will decide on how to proceed with your resume. Their decision to file your resume or push it forward in the process will hinge on three attributes – identity, uniqueness and value to the company. These three elements are essential to developing and delivering a winning resume.

Identity – Build Your Brand

This is the only opportunity that you have to make a first impression. The top–third portion of your resume must clearly represent you and your professional identity. The next hiring manager to read your resume must be able to immediately tie you to a department or open position within their company.

The format, conciseness, and clarity of your resume will also reflect many of your professional traits and will demonstrate how well you will fit into the company and its culture. Your resume must be easy to read, captivating, grammatically perfect, and free of spelling errors. It needs to have a sense of continuity, be detailed but not boring, be content rich but not busy, and most of all, it must be organized.

Your resume should not be overstuffed with keywords just for the sake of keywords. If you effectively manage your professional network, then your resume should never see scanning software on the first pass in penetrating your target company. Don’t worry about capitalizing on the hits when a company does a system driven search. Instead, focus on developing your resume as a piece of marketing collateral with you as the product. Remember that everything you send out is a direct reflection of your professional traits.

Uniqueness – Differentiate Yourself

Write an effective yet brief profile of your background and experience, not an objective stating the obvious. For example, every candidate wants to “utilize their skills to engage with a winning company in driving revenue and increasing profits.” This is not unique and does not set you apart from anyone.

In writing a profile, you will briefly encapsulate your background while highlighting your capabilities and accomplishments. This is a great place to capture their attention while demonstrating your overall strengths and value to the company.

Value – Quantify Results

For every position in the workforce, there is always an impact on revenue, profits and productivity. You must author your resume to represent your accomplishments for every task. As you reflect on your roles and responsibilities, think in terms of numbers, and don’t be afraid to toot your own horn! Your next employer is looking for people with confidence and leadership qualities that will drive their company to new heights. You can do it!

If you take the initiative to embrace these three simple elements in defining your background, you will recognize greater results in your search efforts and it will become easy for you to open new doors of opportunity towards landing the job of your dreams!

Dean Tracy is a Professional Recruiter, Public Speaker and Career Coach based in Northern California with an emphasis on Placing and Coaching IT Professionals at a National Level. He also serves on the Leadership Team for Job Connections, which is recognized as one of Northern California’s largest and most reputable Professional Networking Groups.

Must Haves for your Next Interview

Must Haves for your Next Interview
By: Dean Tracy

As I have been recruiting for a number of years, I have learned that candidates often have one basic underlying theme in their career transition or job change… Lack of Preparation!

Here are a six simple, thought provoking ideas that will help you in your search efforts.

1. Your Story
You must be prepared to explain your background to include reasons why you may have left a company. Never bash your co-workers or your previous boss. Explain with confidence the reason that you are making or have made a career change.

Your career change or transition may take several different directions. Be prepared to discuss the reason for which you are taking your career in a certain direction or market segment.

Lack of conversation reflects lack of interest. Be prepared to incorporate the storyline of your background into their organizational challenges.

2. Understanding Compensation
Know the difference between your “Needs” versus “Market Trends” and your “Value” to the company. Your financial “Needs” are of no importance to the hiring manager or the hiring company. They care about your success, but they are not accountable for your financial responsibilities.

You should know what the “Market Trends” are for the position that you are interviewing. This information can be collected from a variety of websites and market research. This dollar amount is usually defined by what the market will bare for your position. Keep in mind that this will also depend on the size of the company, to include revenues, headcount, geographic location etc.

The “Value” that you bring to the company is one that only you can define and present to your prospective employer. This will be based upon your demonstrated experience as determined by contributions that you have made in your previous roles. You will want to capture and reflect revenues that you may have generated, corporate costs and expenses that you may have managed or saved and/or numbers of people or clients that you have supported.

Understand acronyms such as OTE and MBO. OTE = On Target Earnings. This is what your total compensation package is, including annual base salary, bonuses etc. MBO = Management by Objective. This is typically used to identify a percentage of your annual base and may be paid quarterly or once a year.

3. Commute Threshold
How far are you willing to commute to get to work every day? Some candidates will use this threshold to represent “miles” and some will use it to measure total “road time.”

4. Willingness to Travel
This will usually depend on the position that you are applying for. Your previous experience will be a true indicator to consider. You should also carefully consider the impact that this will have on your family and personal lifestyle.

5. Value Proposition
You need to be able to address the “value” that you bring to the company. Be prepared to share your skills and accomplishments and discuss ways that they benefit the company.

Problem – This will reflect the specific problem, challenge or situation that you are faced with. The way you would describe this is in the form of an overview or summary. Action – This represents that activity that you took to address the problem, challenge or situation. Describe your methodology or process that you took to drive results and deliverables. Results – This is where you define the success or accomplishment of your action. Use this as an opportunity to share how you evaluate the end result.

6. Management Style
Be prepared to share and discuss the environment or culture where you can be the most productive. Are you most effective in a chaotic, fast paced, high stressed environment? Do you bring a calming influence in a chaotic setting? Are you detail oriented, driven by reports in a micro-managed matrix driven management structure? Be prepared to describe your typical activity in a normal work day.

If you do your homework well, you will be extraordinarily successful in your interview. It will become easy for you to open new doors of opportunity towards landing the job of your dreams! Go get’em!

Dean Tracy is a Professional Recruiter, Public Speaker and Career Coach based in Northern California with an emphasis on Placing and Coaching IT Professionals at a National Level. He also serves on the Leadership Team for Job Connections, which is recognized as one of Northern California’s largest and most reputable Professional Networking Groups.

Dean@DeanTracyJobs.com // www.DeanTracyJobs.com

© Copyright 2007 ~ DeanTracyJobs.com ~ All rights reserved.

Must Have of a Great Candidate

“Must Haves” of a Great Candidate

• Self-Awareness
  
• What is Your Story?
  
• Complete Compensation Details
  
• What is your Commute Threshold
  
• Willingness to Travel _____ % for Business
  
• List of Target Companies that you would like to work with / Why?
  
• Value Proposition - Understand and KNOW yours
  
• Knowledge of YOUR Management Style
  
• Know what you are looking for in a new position
  
• Understand your Overall Strengths and Weaknesses
  
• Know the Corporate Culture that you Thrive in

Key Qualities / Traits

• Integrity
  
• Depth and Capacity (What’s the Difference?)
  
• Natural Leader / Leadership Skills / Good Team Player
  
• Effective Communicator
  
• Enthusiastic / Motivated / Positive Attitude
  
• Be Confident
  
• Self-Starter / Takes Initiative
  
• Good Interpersonal Skills
  
• Solid Transferable Skills
  
• Demonstrated and Proven Quantitative Results
  
• Good Problem Solving Skills
  
• Looking for a Career, not a Job

Call our office today (925-552-7972) if you have any questions!

Interview Preparation

Once you have secured your next interview, here are a few things that you can do to prepare yourself...

• Review the company website to get to know them and their product.
• If possible, review their Support Page and White Papers at (http://support.[companyname]com)
• Have a copy of your resume in-hand or available so you can discuss any questions that they may have.
• If Possible, have a copy of the email that your Recruiter has sent the Hiring Manager with your resume. This most likely has your availability and compensation posted.
• The hiring company usually likes people who take initiative and are good self-starters. That said, please be ready to discuss any projects that may show your initiative and capability to work with no supervision.
• Your first interview may be very technical, so be ready to address technical issues or questions that they may have.
• Be ready to ask them some questions – This shows that you are interested in them, their product and their success.
• Lack of conversation demonstrates lack of interest. Challenge them or ask difficult questions on their product.
• Relax - The hiring company must feel that you are somewhat qualified, or they wouldn't take the time to interview you. The interview is a conversation.
• Ask the million dollar question that nobody else will likey ask - It's this, "So (name here), let say that in six months from now, you are telling one of your peers how well I'm doing. How will you share my accomplishments with them to that point?"

OK – Now it’s up to you….

Questions that you may face in a job interview

Following are a few of the questions that you may face in a job interview.

• What are your goals?
• Why did you leave your last jobs? (do not be negative)
• Why are you considering a job change?
• What do you know about our company?
• What attracted you to this position?
• What would you and your background bring to this position? What contributions could you make on this specific job?
• What parts of your current job do you find most/least satisfying?
• Do you prefer working by yourself, or with others?
• What would you say has been your proudest accomplishment(s) so far?
• What has been your greatest disappointment?
• What have you learned from some of the jobs you have held?
• What have you learned from your mistakes?
• What do you consider to be your greatest strengths and weaknesses? (Technically and otherwise)
• What qualifications do you have that make you think you will be successful in this position? (Be prepared to mention the qualifications even if not directly asked)
• In what ways do you think you can make a contribution to our company?
• How do you work with deadlines?
• Do you handle stress well?
• What have you done on the job which shows initiative and willingness to work?
• What are your short/long-range goals. Where would you like to be in 5 years?
• Why should we hire you instead of someone else?

Critical Questions to ask in Your Next Interview!

Critical Questions to ask in Your Next Interview!

• What is the company’s mission/vision statement?
• Is your company living this mission/vision now, or is this the direction in which you are heading?
• What is your vision for this department/role? Is it being lived out now within the organization?
• What are some of the difficulties or challenges that you might be facing today as they relate to your Marketing Strategy?
• Why is this position open, and what are you looking for in the person taking the position?
• What is your background? How long have you been with the company?
• What keeps you with this company?
• How do you remain competitive in the marketplace?
• How do you see someone with my background and skills-set fitting within this organization?
• What does your marketing program look like, and how successful is it?
• Has a budget been allocated towards the Marketing efforts?
• Are you meeting your revenue objectives this year? If not, what measures have you put in place to ensure that your revenue objectives are met?
• How quickly do you want to fill this position?
• I have an extensive database, but who is managing the marketing contact information today?
• Through our conversation today, is there anything you see in my background, skills, or impact I can have on this organization that still concerns you?
• When you are talking about me to your peers in the next six months, how will you tell them that I've been successful in this role?

These questions are just a few examples of key interview questions important in establishing your continued interest in an organization (as well as theirs in you).

It is also important to remember that throughout the interview, your primary objective is to ensure the company sees you as the most skilled, most qualified individual who can make the biggest impact on the organization. Therefore, your focus should be on obtaining information through which you can demonstrate the impact you can have on an organization.

Focus On

• Your ability to drive quantifiable results (revenue)
• Clear and articulate communicator (written and verbal)
• Effective and Teaming Professional (information gathering & working with Management)
• Successful Project Management
• Sensitive to Deadlines
• You possess the "Depth" and "Capacity" to do the job.

Don’t forget to

• Allow them to speak
• Listen to their pain
• Repeat what you think you may have heard, so there is no breakdown in communication
• Design your talk around ways that you would address their pain
• Be prepared!