Career Musings

Whether we are career coaches, professional resume writers or job seekers, we want to know what’s current and what’s out-of-date when it comes to resumes and interviews. Here is an opportunity for recruiters and hiring managers from across Canada to have their say and let us know what they look for in resumes; whether they bother to read cover letters, and what are their pet peeves.

Please complete this short survey at Canadian Resume & Interview Trends, and pass it along to others in your network.

Hurry, as the deadline is August 31, 2010.

Thanks. I will be sharing the results in the next few weeks.

Whether you are a job seeker, you are in a career transition or you are an entrepreneur, it’s impossible to ignore social media these days. Career and business opportunities are aplenty via Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter, but are you taking advantage of them? If you are not already convinced, read the following stats taken from an email from John Assaraf, of OneCoach:

Did you know that…

• If Facebook were a country, it would be third-largest in the world, and growing faster than #1 and #2 combined?
• YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine in the world. Every minute, 24 hours of video is uploaded to it.
• LinkedIn is the largest network of business professionals in the world, with over 70 million users in 200 countries. 12 million of them visit daily, and a new one joins every second.
• Millennials now outnumber Baby Boomers. 96% of them have joined a social network.
• 78% of consumers trust peer recommendations about products. Only 14% trust ads.
• 93% of all business buyers believe all companies should be on social media platforms.

Although these questions were geared to business owners, it applies equally to job seekers and those in a career transition.  Arm yourself with the tools of the social media revolution. Test the waters and swim in the one that appeals to you. Do something, will you?

Last week I was sourced by Globe and Mail columnist, Wallace Immen, for his article on Job Hoppers Need to Look Before They Leap. Some recruiters or hiring managers will toss a resume if they notice too many short term jobs; others will be realistic and look for contributions made or value added in these positions. Although there’s a stigma attached to those who ‘job hop’, job hopping has its pros and cons.

Pros

• It is not frowned upon as it was in the past, given the upheavals in the economy and the rippling effects on the job market.
• It broadens one’s skill-set and makes the individual more marketable.
• It allows the person to work in different environments and bring different perspectives of how things are done in other companies.
• It gives the individual a wider network of people to tap into when seeking other job opportunities.

Cons

• Because of the cost involved, employers are not going to spend time and money to hire someone they suspect will only be with them for a short time.
• The potential employee could be seen as a bad decision-maker, a bad fit, or uncommitted, if he or she  is unable to give an explanation for the short tenure of these jobs.

It’s unfortunate that a lot of focus is placed on job seekers, because the reality is that more employers are hiring people on short-term contracts, which then contributes to higher incidences of job hopping. This common practice also breeds disloyalty as the employee develops this ‘one foot in, one foot out‘ mentality, because they know they can be laid off at any time without notice.

It is time that recruiters and hiring managers take a different approach to job hopping based on these realities and, instead, look for what each individual has accomplished during these short job stints. Job hoppers, on the other hand, who have a high performance record should ensure their resumes reflect the significant contributions they made at these different jobs. This will certainly help to divert attention from the number of jobs, to the accomplishments. Another strategy, though loathed by recruiters, is to use a functional resume format.

One thing that’s often overlooked is that job hopping is a choice for some individuals who consider themselves ‘free agents’ and who enjoy the flexibility to work from project to project then move on. What are your thoughts?

Imagine this…A team of professional soccer players arriving in South Africa all eager to participate in the 2010 FIFA World Cup series. On reaching the stadium they are told they cannot play because they had never played in South Africa before. In fact, they are told they do not have any “South African Experience”, notwithstanding that many of them previously played for teams such as Man U, Juventus, Ghana, Team Canada and Team USA.  What a shock! What are they to do? Some will quickly pack their bags and head back to their former teams, but others won’t have that option. They cannot return, neither can they tell their family and friends ‘back home’ that they didn’t have South African experience and therefore, could not participate in the games.

They are perplexed and start asking questions among themselves. How different can playing soccer in South Africa be from playing in the UK or Italy? Don’t they kick the ball the same way? Don’t they have goalies at opposing ends? Doesn’t each game last for 90 minutes with a break after 45 minutes? Don’t they hand out yellow and red cards for the same infractions?

The above analogy is played out time and again when many internationally-educated professionals (IEPs) arrive in Canada. Every year, Canada accepts approximately 250,000 new immigrants from all over the world, most of whom tend to settle in the MTV hubs – Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver.  Many of these newcomers are highly-educated and usually gain permanent residency status under the Independent Category, meaning they applied on their own and were not sponsored by family members. Although their educational qualifications and work experience play a huge part in determining whether or not they are approved for residency, once they arrive, these same qualifications appear to play a less significant role in helping them find good jobs. This is when they are likely to hear that they lack Canadian work experience.

Why is there a disconnect between employers and IEPs?  The reasons vary. Some IEPs come with a set of expectations only to discover a different reality. Employers, on the other hand, are not aware of what IEPs bring to the mix. They struggle to understand if a degree from India, Venezuela or Moscow is comparable to the Canadian standard. They are concerned about the inability of some IEPs to converse effectively in one or both of Canada’s two official languages. They are afraid to take a chance with someone they don’t know, and if a resume indicates that the person’s last job was in another country, it’s automatically relegated to the ‘No Canadian experience’ file.

While the discourse is taking place, Toronto is losing billions of dollars because employers are failing to tap into the IEP’s skills. A recent study by the Toronto Board of Trade states, “Economists estimate the Toronto region is losing as much as $2.25-billion annually because people are unable to get jobs in keeping with their training and qualifications, or because they find these jobs, but aren’t getting paid as much as they could be.”

The next post will shed more light on this challenging situation, look at how the needs and expectations of employers and IEPs differ, and offer some strategies to bring them closer together.

As career professionals, we can learn a lot from our clients. They come to us because of their perceived belief that we have all the answers. They believe we have the expertise to help them when they are seeking a professional resume to distinguish themselves from other candidates, or when they are looking for interview coaching to help them tell their stories and get hired.  Little do they know how much they also bring to the coaching relationship and how much we learn from them.

I am coaching a young man who is interviewing for a position in law enforcement. His contact at the agency suggested he retains a Career Coach to help him prepare for the interview. After our first session and I had given him his homework assignment, he sent a note to say someone in his network heard of an E.A.S.Y. way to practice for this particular type of interview. I was intrigued! After all, I had coached other law enforcement clients before and always used the S.T.A.R. or C.A.R. interview technique. Was this something new?

When I reviewed the concept, I found out it operates on the same premise as the C.A.R. technique we had agreed to practice. Now, we wouldn’t have to ditch our original plan, except that we would now be working with a different acronym – E.A.S.Y. – Event, Action, Step taken and Yield (or Outcome). Once we got that straightened out, it was easy to get back on track to prepare for the next session.

If you are a job seeker and would like to ace your next interview, or you are a career coach and would like to incorporate another acronym into your interview coaching toolkit, it’s E.A.S.Y. :

E – Event:                           What event did you face?

A – Action:                         What did you do?

S – Step taken:                  What steps were involved?

Y – Yield:                            What did you get? What was the outcome?

So, Miss or Mr. Job-Seeker, the next time you are preparing for your interview, suggest to your coach that you use the E.A.S.Y. way to tell your success stories and get hired.

What are your thoughts? Please leave your comments below.

The above title reads like a headline from your local newspaper, but this is a classic story of what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

Rick is an IT Project Manager, and has been my client for the past three years. He reconnected with me recently for interview coaching as he was pursuing an opportunity through a recruiter. He met with the recruiter and got a clear idea of the challenges his target company was facing. Using that information he developed a strategic plan, prepared a PowerPoint presentation highlighting the challenges and offering solutions, and sent it to the recruiter for review. The recruiter was so impressed with his approach that he asked all shortlisted candidates to prepare a presentation.

By the time Rick came to me for coaching, he had updated the presentation to include matrices and charts, and was confident he knew what the company needed and the value he could offer them. I reviewed the presentation with him, then we focussed on interview questions he would most likely be asked. To cover all bases, we reviewed other questions that could come up based on the problems he identified and the environment in which he was going to work. He left feeling very confident.

At the interview, all eyes were focused on him and the presentation. When the interview ended he was told that he would hear from them by Friday. In less than two hours, and before he got back to his office, they called to offer him the position. Not only did he get the job, but it came with a $20,000 pay increase and an excellent benefit package.

Here are some things that Rick did right:

• He took his job search very seriously instead of leaving it up to luck.
• He did not wait until a day or two before his interview to seek coaching. Too many people go to the interview ill-prepared and with high expectation that something miraculous will happen.
• He researched  the company, found out what problems they faced and offered strategies for solution.
• He separated himself from his competitors by going the extra mile. He capitalized on his strength and, in so doing, raised the bar by which the other candidates were measured.
• His expertise and enthusiasm shone during the coaching session and because of that we were confident he would do well at the interview.

Rick’s case is not unusual. More and more hiring managers are asking candidates, particularly those at the managerial and executive levels, to prepare to deliver a 10-15 minute presentation. Rick was not asked to do one, but it gave him an edge, and to a large extent, allowed him to set the agenda and control the interview.

I have coached many individuals to do what Rick did.  In one case, it was a corporate lawyer who wanted to apply for an internal position as Corporate Responsibility Officer. A presentation was not a requirement but I suggested she prepared one anyway, as she was competing with three other internal candidates. From her assessment, they appeared to have had the edge, including one who was with the company for 22 years and was acting in the position. The research that she did and the strategy we developed helped her to ace the interview and get the job!

As competition increases, job seekers are being pushed to find creative ways to stand out from the crowd. Not everyone will have the successes mentioned above; not everyone will be vying for positions at those levels, but if you are serious about moving your career forward, it requires an investment of your time.

Some people spend more time planning their vacation than they do their job search, and from my experience, it’s easy to spot these individuals. They call in a panic the day before the interview to ask “Do you guys do interview coaching, and can you see me this weekend?” or they leave a message wanting to know the fee for a ‘general’ or ‘generic’ resume so they can apply for a job that has a deadline the next day. This quick fix, microwave approach won’t work, and that’s the reason some people’s job search go wrong. Don’t let this happen to you.

We have been hearing about the green economy and green careers, but many of us do not really understand what this means, and staying on top of this rapidly developing new economy is time consuming and can be overwhelming.

On Wednesday, April 28, I will be interviewing Carol McClelland, PhD, one of the leading green career experts and founder and executive director of Green Career Central.  We will be discussing the greening of the economy and its impact on one’s career. This is a timely topic, as it was quoted in the Globe and Mail a few days ago that the Government of Ontario will be investing $8 billion in green energy, which is expected to create approximately 20,000 jobs. In addition to the energy jobs, there are a lot of other green career options for technical and non-technical people.

During the show, Carol will talk about the industries and sectors that make up the green economy and this will help you discover where your skills, interests, and education fit in. Carol will also talk about actions you can take to figure out your green career focus and offer practical strategies you can use to transition into your green career.

Want more details? Visit the CareerTips2Go show page, send an email to careercoach@thewrightcareer.com with Green Careers in the subject line, or post your questions in the comments section below.

Be sure to join me on the call with Carol on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 at 2 pm Eastern.

As I listened to the message, the woman’s tone was one of panic and confusion. “I have just been laid off after 20 years at the same job. I received a severance package, but I am in my mid fifties and will need to continue working. I never took any additional training all these years, and I don’t have a clue how to conduct a job search. Can you help me?” My first thoughts were, “Why such a knee-jerk reaction? Didn’t you see it coming? What did you do for yourself and your career during all those years? When last did you update your resume? Do you have a network of people to turn to?” Of course, I banished those thoughts as quickly as they came, and returned her call. She was “still in a daze”, she told me, but I listened to her rants and then gave her the following careertips2go:

1. It’s OK to be angry. Don’t bottle up your feelings. Anger, as long as it’s not misplaced, could have a healing effect, but choose your venue carefully. Do not vent at work or with coworkers or your boss. Such behaviour could be construed as negative and unprofessional; could damage relationships and thwart your chances of getting a good reference.
2. Get support. Find a trustworthy person who will listen to you, and give you some good advice. Stay away from anyone who is inclined to help you bash the company or your boss as this is counter-productive.  Find a lawyer to review the severance package to see if it meets, at least, the minimum employment stand. The Law Society of Upper Canada has a Lawyer Referral Service where you can get up to 30 minutes of free legal advice. Visit www.lsuc.on.ca for additional information.
3. Engage in self-care. For the first time in a long time, put yourself first. This is not the time to beat upon yourself and question your ability or self-worth. Take that long-awaited vacation to clear your head and develop strategies to help you bounce back. Use this time to redirect your energy into something productive.
4. Focus on what you have gained from the experience. Turn this negative experience into something positive. Begin by spotlighting your assets. Keep a journal of your special job achievements, awards and recognitions received, and comments made by your supervisor, coworkers or customers. Write out an inventory of your transferable skills that could benefit another employer. All of these are your assets – documented evidence that validate your capabilities.
5. Find resources within your community. There are many free and fee-based resources within your community. One such resource is the Second Career program introduced by the Ontario Government for individuals who have lost their jobs or been unemployed for a long period of time.  Explore this option, and if you are eligible, you could receive funding assistance to help you find a new career path.
6. Remember that “This too shall pass”. What you are feeling now is real, but it won’t last forever. Sometimes, a layoff is just the prescription you need to propel you to action. Ask yourself some soul-searching questions like, Is it time to go back to school to gain additional skills? Do I have what it takes to start a business? What do I really enjoy doing, and should I be exploring this as one of my career options?
7. Remain positive. The road to a successful job search, especially in such a competitive job market, is paved with disappointments and frustrations, but don’t give up. Join a support group like a Job-finding Club, or social media groups and engage in networking activities that will put in touch with people who can help you, or are willing to share their network of contacts with you.

These seven tips are not all-inclusive, but steps in the right direction. I welcome additional tips that could help others caught in a similar situation, and asking contemplating the thought “I just got laid off…now what?”

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In writing this article, I perused a couple of blogs and extracted some interesting job search and work trends that provide insights and forecasts to help both job seekers and career practitioners stay ahead of the ever-changing world of work. The common thread in these resources is how we get our messages across in this 140-character era and what we do to stay on the radar of recruiters and hiring managers.

Resumes: These will continue to become shorter, tighter and more laser-focused, according to one Career Thought Leader. Individuals who like to detail their entire work history in a resume will now have to make sure to include only information that will entice the hiring manager to contact them for an interview. Therefore, that way-back-when job, that has no relation to your current focus, should not be on your resume.

Personal Contact Information on Resumes: With multiple means of contact – email address, home and cell phones, faxes and pagers – the trend is to limit personal contact information, especially because of identity theft issues. Jobseekers should be careful not to list home address on resumes being posted online. It’s adequate and appropriate to just use an email address and cell phone number.

Career Coaching – Group and Online: With the economy as it is, and people becoming more conscious about their money, group and online coaching are growing in popularity. Career coaches have long offered online or telephone coaching to clients, but now corporations are beginning to do the same for their employees via email, instant messaging, and other web platforms versus the more traditional voice-to-voice and face-to-face coaching methodologies.

Interviews: Because of the proliferation of webcams and companies looking to save time and money, the use of cheap video-chat software is becoming a low hassle way to vet job candidates. That means a growing number of people looking for work are meeting their prospective new bosses not at the office, but in the comfort of their own home. Read the Time.com article: How Skype is Changing the Job Interview.

Social Networks: Social networks like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook (to a lesser degree) are replacing Job Boards as the ‘go-to’ sites for recruiters as they look for talent. Some companies, that haven’t yet started, say they plan to begin using these vehicles very soon.

Latest statistics show that the use of social networking sites to find information about candidates has risen from 22% last year to 45% in 2009, and another 11% of employers have plans in place to use social networking sites for screening. A survey conducted by Head2Head, a recruiting firm in Toronto, revealed that more than 69% of Canadian recruiters are using LinkedIn to source for jobseekers.

Smart professionals are creating and maintaining online profiles, whether they are actively searching for a new job or not. It is imperative, therefore, that jobseekers embrace social networks to raise their visibility and become known by the people who need to know about them. LinkedIn is referred to as the “passive database” allowing recruiters to keep an eye on potential candidates.

Manpower World of Work Trends

In this report, Manpower identified the following megatrends  as critical to navigating the changing world of work: Demographics/Talent Mismatch, Rise of Customer Satisfaction, Individual Choice and Technological Revolutions. Companies will be under pressure to find the right skills in the right place and at the right time, and individuals will have to make sure they are equipped and ready to be found. Below are three takeaways that I would bring to your attention:

1. Because of changing economic conditions, motivations and preferences, individuals with the ability, access and self-motivation will benefit from the shift of power from employer to individual.
2. Individuals with general, mainstream skills, shared by many, will be marginalized unless they improve their skills and workplace relevance.
3. Individuals will need to take more responsibility and ownership for their careers and development.

For survey details click here Manpower Research

Feel free to add your comments on job search trends for 2010.

Sources:

Career Thought Leaders

MANPOWER Research

I was one of seven coaches invited to participate in roundtable discussions on career related matters at Connect 2009 - The Annual Schulich Alumni Forum.   This Personal Coaching session was quite popular, and sold out prior to the event.

Here I am with a captive MBA audience facilitating a discussion on Building Your Presence in the Social Media Era. Gist of the session included:

Why Social Media?

• The traditional approach to job search has changed
• More competition for available jobs
• More touch points for recruiters and job seekers

For those who are not aware of two of the more popular social networks, here’s a summary:

LinkedIn is one of the fastest-growing recruiting tools used by recruiters. It is a great source for finding candidates because it’s free and top professionals can be found there.

Twitter, a free online micro-blogging application is also popular with recruiters, HR professionals, career coaches, resume writers and hiring managers. Therefore, in order to connect with these people, it is important to incorporate social media into your job search mix to enhance your chances of being found by employers.

As a micromessaging service with its 140-character limit, Twitter allows you to build your personal or business brand, develop relationships with people you wouldn’t normally meet, and gives you a chance to expand your network and sphere of influence.

So jump on the social media bandwagon, use it wisely and prioritize your efforts so that you don’t waste time.

My next post will take a look at Manpower’s latest research on Social Networks and the effectiveness of social media.