Stand-Out from Other Job Seekers
When you observe what other job seekers are doing, think of unique things you can do to stand-out. Some examples would include:
| COMPETITION | DIFFERENTIATE |
Send resume cold...on your own |
Call THE HUNTER GROUP |
Submit Resume Online |
Send Resumes Directly to Hiring Authorities |
Mass Mail Resumes |
Send Resumes only to Targeted Hiring Authorities |
General Cover Letter |
Customized Cover Letters |
Only Apply to Job Postings |
Send Your Resume to all of Your Targeted Companies |
One Job Target |
Multiple Job Targets |
One Geographic Area |
Multiple Geographic Areas |
One Version of Resume |
Multiple Resumes – Keyword Rich toward Targets |
Other ideas to differentiate:
- Read Trade Publication Articles for job leads
- Read websites of Professional Associations for leads
- Update your LinkedIn Profile with strong recommendations
- Establish a consistent touch and follow up process
- Reconnect companies where you were interviewed
- Personalize your communications
You don’t want to be one of 500 resumes sitting on the desk of someone in HR. Implement some of the ideas mentioned and you will stand out and improve your results.
Do Not Leave Money On The Table
Hiring authorities request salary information for various reasons. If your salary is too high, they will screen you out because you are above their salary requirement and they feel you won't be happy working for less compensation.
If your salary is lower than the company salary range, they may offer you a much lower salary and assume you need additional training. If at all possible, you want the prospective employer to bring up the issue of compensation first and hopefully this will not be requested up front.
Tip #1 Know what your worth in the market and take your past salary history into consideration.
Tip #2 List a range vs. just one number - this offers you the opportunity to negotiate
Tip #3 Realize the employer will NEVER offer you a higher number than you listed.
Tip #4 Consider the cost of living when making your decision
Tip #5 Always include the entire compensation, when discussing your salary. This includes bonuses, incentives, benefits and other perks.
Tip #6 Don't forget to include plus signs (+) after you list the dollar amount
Tip #7 Remember, salaries can be easily verified - so don't embellish.
Follow these tips and you will not leave money on the table
The Interview
Your interview starts the moment you walk into the building; anyone you meet may be connected with the hiring manager or the hiring team.
Be nice to everyone you meet from the receptionist up to the senior-level executives; everyone's opinion counts.
Your elevator pitch is a quick overview of who you are and the value you can bring to an organization.
Craft one pitch you could deliver riding up to the 50th floor of the elevator and another for a ride up to the fifth floor.\
Practice your elevator pitch by calling your voice mail and recording your spiel; play back the message to determine what needs editing.
When asked why you are in job search, say something positive about the current or past employer first, then explain your reason for looking.
If you were downsized, explain the business reason why you were let go. Don't personalize the situation -- it wasn't about you.
If interviewing with several people at the same time, give everyone equal attention; you never know who the real decision maker is.
When participating in a phone interview always use a land line and don't put your phone on speaker.
Answer interview questions by communicating strong stories of success; prove what makes you unique rather than just explaining what you did.
Try to ask questions throughout the interview; it should be a conversation not an interrogation.
Asking questions during the interview helps you uncover key issues and better prepares you to answer questions throughout the interview.
Be sure to ask what the next steps in the interview process are so you can prepare an appropriate follow-up strategy.
Create a brief and visually interesting presentation about your skills and achievements to give to the hiring manager during the interview.
Applying for jobs? Find out what they pay.
When asked questions about mistakes you have made, be authentic, explain what you learned from the experience, and don't get defensive.
If asked about your weaknesses, don't spin weaknesses into strengths; it's not credible and who wants to hire someone they don't trust?
Ask big-picture questions about the company and how the department you are interviewing with fits into the company's long-term goals.
People think they should talk in general terms about career successes, but you build trust with interviewers by talking about specifics.
If recruiters ask you to "walk them through your background," focus on your core message of value, not the five positions you held pre-1985.
Interviewees are a risk to hiring managers because they don't know you. Prove success that can be duplicated in their company to earn trust.
A good interviewee is also a good listener. The questions asked provide clues to what the hiring manager needs and expects.
If you are the No. 2 candidate for a job, stay in contact with the company; many follow their "silver medalists" and recruit them later on.
Hang out in the company lobby the day before your interview to see how people dress; then dress at least one level up from that.
For lunch interviews, pass on the alcohol, garlic, and messy foods; and don't order the most expensive item on the menu.
WebSite Links
Thanks much for visiting us! Here are a few of the sites around the web that we recommend.
A restaurant publication and news site.
General site with relocation info including salary & cool calculator
"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint to keep from meddling with them while they do it."
—Theodore Roosevelt
RESUMES THAT STAND OUT
For any job searcher, there is nothing quite as sweet as landing a job in a tough economy.
For one specific job searcher, Nick Begley, of New York, the sweetness was in how he landed the job.
(Courtesy: Nick Begley)
Begley, 32, used the label of a candy bar to sell himself to potential employers, crafting his resume onto a "Resume Bar."
Using the tagline, "Credentials that will satisfy any organization's appetite," Begley sold himself on the bar as an "experienced marketing professional" with a serving size of "1 career." Instead of calories the bar listed his education level, MBA, and instead of vitamin counts, the bar's label touted Begley's 110% work ethic, 100% communication and 100% versatility, among others.
Begley created 12 of the bars after he completed his MBA at the University of Central Florida in 2009 and was searching for jobs in New York. His unique take on the job search got a second life this week when his friend, Eli Langer, posted a photo of the bar on Reddit, where it has received more than 3,000 comments.
"People are either going to love or hate it," Begley told ABCNews.com today. "My focus was to find an organization that would embrace it because if they weren't open to that kind of out-of-the-box thinking, that wouldn't be a company that I would fit in well with anyways."
Begley had already found an organization, the Orlando Magic basketball franchise, that embraced his creativity while in graduate school. The team hired him for a summer internship after receiving a "ResumeBar," which gave Begley all the confidence he needed to try it again.
The sweet approach worked a second time in 2009 as Begley landed a marketing job less than three months after he began his job search, with LeagueApps, a platform that connects adult recreational athletes.
Begley, who also once had his resume delivered along with a pizza, says his brother, Jeremy, designed the label for him and he had it printed at Kinko's. He put the label atop a standard Nestle Crunch bar, making his resume not-so-ordinary for less than $2.50 per bar, he estimates.
"Of course," Begley said when asked if it was worth it. "It was creative and put me ahead [with potential employers] as far as understanding that I was willing to go the extra mile."
Begley now works for a Toronto-based e-commerce entertainment company, a job he found the old-fashioned way.
"I was recruited by someone I used to work with," he said.
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