Tuesday, February 03, 2004
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: Don’t Sabotage
Your Job Search with Faults Assumptions
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Don’t Sabotage Your Job Search with Faults Assumptions
Most job seekers
understand that the job market has changed radically over the last few
years. Sadly, however, many still hold
to job-search assumptions that do not apply to our current market
conditions. If you believe any of the
following five statements, you could be dragging your job search out longer
than necessary. Cut your job search time
by knowing the truth about the job market and learning how to combat these
assumptions.
1.
“My last job search was a snap. I’m sure this time won’t be
any different.”
Chances are, your last job search was in the mid to late
1990’s when the job market favored job seekers.
Even up to 2001, jobseekers (and even employers) lived under a rosy glow
of unrealistic optimism. In the last few
years, however, most job seekers have noticed a drastic drop in the market
demand for their career skills. Persons
who were once courted by recruiters and headhunters from top firms wonder why
they are no longer receiving calls with enticing opportunities. For many job seekers, frustration and lack of
confidence have replaced optimism.
Action: The
job seeker of 2004 will avoid discouragement by developing a strategic action
plan that involves a high degree of proactive and systematic effort.
2.
“Employers and recruiters take the time to read entire
resumes.”
This
is couldn’t be farther from the truth.
The reality is if the best information isn’t in the top four to five
inches of your resume, it’s doubtful anyone will notice. Try this out for yourself. Open up your current resume on your
computer. Do you see the entire first
page? Probably not. Most likely when your resume is opened, the
reader will see the top four to five inches.
You must sell the reader in those first few inches or he/she is not
going to bother scrolling down to read more.
With the volume of resumes that employers and recruiters receive, who
has the time to hunt out the good material on a resume?
Action: If
your current resume isn’t making best use of the top four to five inches,
consider using a hybrid format that will allow you to place your best assets up
on top where you’ll be noticed and called.
3.
“I don’t want to limit my potential job opportunities, so
I’ll write one resume to apply for all kinds of jobs.”
I learned early in my recruiting days that employers turn
down perfectly qualified candidates because the resume’s focus is too
general. A one-size-fits-all resume
gives the impression that the job seeker is uncertain of his career goal. An employer once told me that if a candidate
is interested in two completely different positions, he must not be very good
at either.
Action: The
most effective resumes leave no doubt as to the job seeker’s career
objective. If you have more than one
career objective, you need more than one resume.
4.
“I’m not going to bother with cover letters. No one really reads them anyway.”
The
truth is the quality of your cover letter often will determine whether your
resume gets read at all. The worst
offense, however, is to send a cover letter that sounds as “cookie-cutter” as
junk mail.
Your cover letters will create a stronger first impression
if you remember the buying motives of each of these major categories of
recipients:
·
Executive decision makers
are most interested in your ability to help them achieve their corporate
bottom-line objectives.
·
HR screeners
look for the best qualifications match.
·
Third-party recruiters
need strong selling points to help present you to their corporate clients.
Action: If
you keep in mind the buying motives of your cover letter recipient, you’ll win
their attention more often than not.
5.
“If I can just get my foot in the door, my interview skills
will get me an offer.”
That
may have been true back when you had less interview competition. But today, employers have the advantage of
choosing from the best talent available, because so much of the best talent IS
available. Since you’ll probably be
interviewing against candidates at least as strong as yourself, you’ll need to
distinguish yourself through superior interview preparation.
Action: Remember that the best way to prepare for an interview is to
think of an interview in three parts:
·
Ask questions
to uncover the interviewer’s hidden buying motives.
·
Answer
questions based on the interviewer’s buying motives.
·
Ask closing
questions to win the job offer.
(To
read a full-length article on the three essential interview skills visit my
article archive at www.AlphaAdvantage.com. Follow the articles link to “Win Your Next
Position with Three Essential Interview Skills”.)
Once you are free of
false assumptions, you’re less likely to fall victim to many of the
disappointments, frustrations and anxieties associated with an extended job
search.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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