Tuesday, September 28, 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: What’s YOUR
Weakest Link? Building a Strong Job-Search Chain
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What’s YOUR Weakest Link? Building a Strong Job-Search Chain
A chain is only as
effective as its weakest link—and you don’t know which link is weak
until the chain is tested. If your job
search is falling short, one of your job-search skills may be the weak
link. By analyzing your chain of job
search skills, you can build a stronger chain, one that can stand up to any
test.
There are three
critical links in your job search chain.
Consider each of them carefully to determine your weakest link, then
work to strengthen that link.
·
Sell your best
transferable skills
·
Support those
skills with bottom-line impacts and achievements
·
Be easy to
understand at a glance, without dense reading
·
Have an
easy-to-read format with a clear outline
·
Not typecast
you into an industry or job you are trying to leave
·
Focus on only
one career objective
An
effective cover letter should:
·
Support—but
not repeat—the resume
·
Not sound like
a form letter
·
Not start
every sentence with “I,” “Me,” or “My”
·
Focus on the
hiring motives of the reader
If
your weakest link is your resume and cover letter, you may want to consider
investing in a professional resume writer.
Many of them have experience in Human Resources and recruiting, so they
know what hiring managers are looking for and the best way to present that
information.
Link #2: Resume
Exposure
Even the best resume
will fail to generate interviews if it doesn’t reach a wide enough target
audience. To a certain degree,
generating interviews is a numbers game.
If the resume is effective to begin with, then the more resumes you send
out, the more interviews you will win.
How much exposure is
enough for your resume? The answer is
subjective, but you’ll definitely increase your exposure by using the following
methods and online tools:
·
Post your
resume on numerous job boards (i.e., more than two or three)
·
Distribute
your resumes using a reputable online resume distribution service
·
Proactively
mass-target your resume to prospective employers
·
Proactively send
your resume to a wide audience of recruiters
·
Identify
numerous job boards that target your specific industry or occupation (again,
more than two or three)
·
Use job board
profile options to have job postings emailed to you on a regular basis
·
Utilize your
existing network or build a stronger network of industry and occupational
contacts to uncover job leads
If resume exposure is
your weakest link, then you might benefit from the expertise of a career coach
to help guide you in better job search strategies. A career coach can assist you in building a
campaign to gain maximum exposure for your resume.
Link #3: Interview Skills
If your resume is
fine and you are getting plenty of first interviews—but no second ones—then
your interview skills may be your weakest link.
To analyze the
strength of your interview skills, ask yourself the following:
·
Have I
adequately researched this company prior to the interview?
·
Am I prepared
to answer tough questions?
·
Do I know what
questions they might ask, or do I find myself stumped by questions I didn’t
expect?
·
Do I know what
kinds of questions to ask in order to gain insight into important hiring
motives?
·
Do I know how
to uncover any concerns that might prevent a job offer?
·
Am I a good
interview “closer”?
If interview skills
are your weakest link, you’ll receive more job offers by investing in interview
coaching with a career expert.
By strengthening each
link of your job-search chain, you’ll avoid months of frustrating, ineffective
effort. With each link strong enough to
support your career objective you’ll win your dream job with confidence.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deborah Walker, CCMC
Resume Writer ~
Career Coach
To see resume samples
and read more job-search tips visit www.AlphaAdvantage.com
Email: Deb@AlphaAdvantage.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you
Deborah Walker, CCMC
888-828-0814
Deb@AlphaAdvantage.com