Monday, September 22, 2003
Society of Broadcast Engineers, inc.
Newsletter Article Submittal
Hello
:
If your local or
national members of, Society of Broadcast Engineers, inc., would benefit from the following
career-related article, please feel free to publish in your association’s news
letter, e-zine or website.
Permission to print
intact including ending attribution box.
Category: career and
job-search tips
Title: Three Critical Elements of a Successful Job Search
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three Critical
Elements of a Successful Job Search
Any marketing guru
will tell you, the success of a product launch depends on the quality of its
advertising message, its exposure to a targeted audience and the skill of its
sales presenters. If any one of those critical elements is missing, revenues
fall short of corporate goals. Likewise,
a successful job search requires:
* A clear marketing message (resume and cover
letter)
* Ample exposure to targeted employers
* Polished interview skills to secure the job
offer.
Fall short on either
of the three, and an extended, lengthy job search is the result.
The first step to a
successful job search is a resume that communicates a strong marketing
message. Just like a print ad entices
the reader toward purchase, your resume has one job: to entice employers to
call you for an interview.
How does one
transform a boring, historical document into a marketing message that
sells?
* Focus on benefits rather than features.
* Use accomplishments to illustrate marketable
skills.
* Appeal to management buying motivations with
examples of bottom-line impacting results.
Once you’ve
transformed your work history into a marketing message, you’ll want to give it
as much quality exposure as possible.
Marketing professionals use various media to get their message out. New athletic shoes may be promoted through print
ad, television and online medium.
Likewise, get maximum exposure of your job-search marketing message,
with several strategies, both proactive and reactive.
One of the most
common complaints I hear from job seekers is that they get no response from
their resume. When asked how they use
their resume, it’s usually 100% in response to posted job listings. Securing an interview from a job posting is
like trying to catch a fish in a pond that is ringed elbow-to-elbow
fishermen. To make matters worse, there’s
a sign posted at the pond that reads, “Due to budgetary cuts, the pond wasn’t
stocked this year.”
To get maximum
exposure and more interviews you’ll want to include some of the following
strategies:
* Networking with professionals who may provide
job lead information.
* Conducting your own target-market campaign to
selected employers.
* Resume distribution to a large, yet select
group of qualified headhunters.
All the exposure in
the world will not get you closer to your next career position if your
interview skills are not sharper than your competition. Just like a sales person whose rent money
depends on his/her ability to outsell the competition, so must the job seeker
hone his/her interview skills in order to win the offer. Second choice still means “unemployed.”
Some job-seekers
cringe at the thought of conducting a job interview as a sales
presentation. Natural-born sales people
are rare. The most effective and highly
paid sales professionals had to learn and practice their skills. Job seekers of any background and
personality style can adapt sales skills to perfect their interview
skills. Minimally, those skills should
include:
* Pre-interview research of the prospective
employer.
* Anticipation of and answers to relevant
questions.
* Questions to uncover unstated concerns.
* Closing skills that lead to the next stage or
the offer.
Job seekers in a
lengthy job search may benefit from analyzing which of the three critical
elements is not working for them. Start
by asking these questions:
* Is my resume-send-out to interview ratio
low? Maybe it’s a resume problem.
* Am I finding enough job leads? Maybe it’s time to implement proactive
strategies for better exposure.
* Do I consistently end up “second choice” in
job interviews? Probably time to sharpen
the interview skills.
Making sure your
skills are their sharpest in all three critical elements of the job search will
help you gain your career objective in the shortest amount of time with the
least amount of stress
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deborah Walker, CCMC
Resume Writer ~
Career Coach
For more in-depth
information on resumes, job-search strategy and interview skills, check out the
article archive at my website: www.AlphaAdvantage.com
Email: Deb@AlphaAdvantage.com
Toll-free phone:
888-828-0814
Thank you
Deborah Walker, CCMC
888-828-0814
Deb@AlphaAdvantage.com