Ask yourself 4 questions while writing your resume (4S-Test)

Posted on February 21, 2011 by peter
Want ads

Follow these tips when writing your resume and your days of browsing the want ads will soon come to an end.

According to our SKEP Model, there are four things that a recruiter looks for when searching for a candidate – Strengths, Knowledge, Experience and Passion. When writing your resume and contemplating your SKEPs, make sure each answer passes the 4S Test:

  1. Say It – say your answer concisely and directly. When asked what your weaknesses are, don’t state a weakness and then turn it into a strength. Be honest and don’t dance around the bush.
  2. Support It – be able to support your answer with some real life examples. If you say that you have experience working in teams, identify one to two personal experiences that you could immediately talk about when asked for an example.
  3. Substantiate It – be able to find someone to substantiate your answer. If you claim that you know how to use Excel, make sure you can quickly identify a reference that can vouch for you and say that you do in fact know how to use excel.
  4. Sell It – be able to explain why your answer is important. If you think that you are passionate about rock-climbing, be able to sell why you think it’s an important character trait for a job candidate to be a rock-climber. Is it because you are willing to take risks? Is it because you are very meticulous and careful? Is it because you are goal-oriented?

Remember, next time you are writing a resume, prepare for an interview or build your LinkedIn profile, don’t forget to ensure that each statement passes the 4S-Test!

For more on the 4S-Test and writing your resume, sign up to receive a free mini-course via email.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

4 Things Recruiters Look for When Searching for a Candidate (SKEP Model)

Posted on February 21, 2011 by peter

Social media and the Internet introduces a vast amount of job candidate information to recruiters. Your twitter handle, personal websites, resumes, facebook profile, cover letters and LinkedIn profile all allow you to sell yourself as the perfect candidate for a job. Unfortunately, the vast amount of information available comes at a price.

Recruiters and hiring managers look to find consistency across all of your information in order to verify that you are who you say you are.

You Can Be Anyone on Paper

It’s very easy for you as a job candidate to submit a customized resume and cover letter to a recruiter which is tailored to a specific job. Recruiters realize this! So it’s necessary for them to verify that the skills and strengths that you propose on your resume are the same skills and strengths that you claim on your website, linked in profile and twitter handle. Consistency of message is key!

Do This First

Before you even start going through the job application process, start defining and thinking about 4 major areas that matter most to recruiters (SKEP Model):

  1. Strengths – what you excel at more so than your average competitor
  2. Knowledge – what you know and what you are educated in
  3. Experience – what you have accomplished in your field and the experiences you have that qualify you
  4. Passion – what you are passionate about and what motivates you to work hard

If you can document and substantiate these four areas and consistently represent them across all your online profiles and social media sites, you are ten times more likely to appear to recruiters as a strong and eligible candidate for a position.

Bottom Line

Know who you are first! Only then should you begin working on your resumes, cover letter, and linked in profiles!

For more on the SKEP Model and gaining the attention of recruiters, sign up to receive a free mini-course via email.

Posted in Job Search, Market Yourself, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

How do I know what job to apply for?

Posted on February 16, 2011 by greg
Classified ads

How do you know what job to apply for? Follow this simple guide!

There are a number of questions that need to be answered before you can decide what job to apply for:

  1. First, understand what you are passionate about and why. Figure out what motivates you to wake up in the morning.
  2. Next, itemize your strengths and weaknesses. Think about how those strengths and weaknesses were reinforced by your choice of major.
  3. Next, look at job postings on the various career websites like monster.com or a company’s career website and see how their expectations align to your strengths and weaknesses. Talk with people who are already working to help you understand what position you want and what job to apply for initially in order to get it. As you do this research, also stay aware of the opportunities that align to your strengths.
  4. Make sure you identify the obstacles that prevent you from getting that job or succeeding in that career choice. Hard to do on your own? Consider a career coach or other paid services that might help you accelerate this exploration process.
  5. If still unsure of what you want, consider temporary jobs. They offer you a great vehicle through which you can safely explore different roles and not become known as the dreaded “job hopper”. That exploration should take the form of not only doing the job well, but also continuing to talk with people in the company about their careers and how they came by them. Ask them what they enjoy about their jobs? Why they chose it? What they don’t like about their jobs?
  6. Once you decide what job to apply for, assemble a resume that shows evidence of that passion. Prepare a story that can be used during the interview that shows how you came to understand that this job is for you. Look for successes in your life you can refer to that assure the company that you are the best person for this job because you posses the passion and experience to succeed.

Now Go Do It!

Once you know what job to apply for, go out and do what it takes to get it! Then, enjoy your career and build yourself up with continued passion.

Posted in Career, College, Interview, Job Search, Market Yourself, Succeeding at Work, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Finding a job you are passionate about!

Posted on February 14, 2011 by greg

finding a job you are passionate aboutFinding a job you are passionate about is the ultimate way to live life to the fullest. Passions are after all what drive us. It’s what makes us wake up in the morning. It’s what drives our decisions about what electives we pick in high school, what majors we pick in college and what career we want to pursue after graduation.

The catch of course is that it’s difficult to find a job you are passionate about if you don’t know exactly what kind of a position supports your passion.

Think of It Like Writing a Paper

Before starting your job search and applying for jobs, the first step is to understand your career goal. In school, when writing term papers, you spent time organizing your thoughts around a topic and developing them to support your conclusion. As you get ready to search for YOUR job, knowing what you are looking for will help you find it that much faster.

Indeed, approach your job search much like you did term papers. Don’t you hate receiving junk mail? Well recruiters and managers hate reading job applications and cover letters that sound like they have been recycled for fifty other job openings!

Don’t Just Apply for Any Job. Apply for a Job You Are Passionate About!

Before writing your resume and shot gunning out job applications, research the topic. Step back and think about what you are looking for. That’s especially true if you are not sure what kind of career you would like. Employers do not want to hear that you will “take any job”.

Employers want to hear that being in the job they have open has been your life’s ambition.

They look for evidence of that ambition in your resume when deciding whether they want to meet you and then look for that same evidence during the interview.

You’ll Be Happier And More Stable in Your Work

Knowing your passion will help you understand if the job being offered is a job you are passionate about. That will stop you from changing jobs every year and help you continue to succeed in the job you do decide to accept.

Posted in Career, College, Interview, Job Search, Market Yourself, Personal Growth, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Why do employers want to know about your passions?

Posted on February 13, 2011 by greg
Christmas tree

Not sure what your passions are? Figure out what makes you feel like a kid on Christmas morning and then you'll know what you're passionate about. Use that knowledge to find the perfect job.

You need passions to enjoy life. My career passion started early in life. I loved science, enjoyed learning about it and visualized myself as a great scientist some day.

Everyone encounters the question, “So what do you want to be when you grow up?” It’s a hard question to answer, but reflecting it in a resume and presenting it during an interview is critical to getting a first career position.

Passions are what drive you. It’s what makes a person wake up in the morning eager to start the day. So why is it so important to understand your passions before applying for a first job?

Employers Don’t Want to Coddle You

Careers today have high expectations. Employers are looking for people who can hit the ground running and not waste too much time training them, since training is such a large investment. As a result, most employers look for evidence of career passion throughout your college career (courses, hobbies, projects, extra-curricular activities, articles published and internships) that convince them you will succeed in their open job, and more importantly, succeed long enough with them to recover their training investment.

Showing Your Passions Makes an Employer More Likely to Hire You

If employers can feel that you are really passionate about the kinds of things you will be doing in the open position, they are more confident that you will do everything in your power to learn more about it, become an expert, and work overtime even when you’re not paid to do it. Employers absolutely realize the power of passion to motivate an individual, and they won’t hire you if you don’t exhibit it.

Decide on Your Passions

Find your passion. Think about what work you do even if you don’t have to. Think about what you look forward to. And then seek to understand why you like it so much. Have you liked it ever since you were a child? What have you done in your past that you are really proud of that align with your passions?

Posted in Career, College, Education, Interview, Job Search, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Work for Free?

Posted on January 13, 2011 by peter

Offering to work for free may sound crazy at first. But it’s really not. Think about it — you often look for a money back guarantee on products you buy. In essence, you are a product as well. Here;s what I mean: As you may know, I’m a bit of an outdoor enthusiast. It should come as no surprise that REI is one of my favorite stores. While their prices could probably be beaten by online shops and although they don’t have many of the highest quality products, they serve me a very unique value – their “no questions money-back guarantee“.

Back in December, I bought a pair of trail running shoes. After five or six weeks of use, I realized that the shoes gave me blisters. So I put their value proposition to the test and came back in to the store to exchange them. It worked!

Employers Are The Same Way

Employers are just like consumers – they’re hesitant to “buy” you as an employee because you are a huge investment! If you get hired and you don’t work out, the employer wasted a heck of alot of time and energy to bring you on board, train you, and money to pay your salary. In today’s economic conditions, small businesses are simply afraid to hire! So what can you do help them take a risk on you?

… Offer to work for free!

Not only can it get your foot in the door, but it also gives you the opportunity to prove your worth! If the employer hires you normally through the interview process, they are assuming you have a certain level of competency which could be undervalued. While economically this makes sense, given that they are taking a risk – they would be willing to spend more on you if they know you are worth it!

So what’s the downside of offering to work for free?

Even in the worst-case scenario where you work for free and they don’t hire you:

  • you gain the understanding and experience of working at that company – something to put on your resume
  • you could potentially get a stipend at the end of the trial period (but don’t let that be your sole motivator)
  • or maybe when the company is doing better and have the ability to hire, you will be first on their list
  • even if they have no openings, maybe they have friends or colleagues in the industry that do
  • and worst-case scenario, you completely fail, get nothing out of it… but you learn some valuable lesson from the experience

How long should you work for free?

Every situation is going to be different. Don’t stop your job search while you work for free. It will show the employer that you do not expect this “free arrangement” to last forever. If you get an offer from somewhere else and you can’t decide between the two jobs, share the offer with your employer and see if they are willing to match it. If not, their loss!

Learn more about the strategy of offering to work for free by signing up for the 5 day mini-course!

Posted in Job Search, Market Yourself, Networking, Personal Growth | Tagged , , | 13 Comments

Market Yourself with a Google-Optimized Resume

Posted on January 4, 2011 by peter

Create a Google optimized resume with SEOThese days, it’s not enough to have a resume. It needs to be a Google optimized resume. Here’s why: A few months ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing two job recruiters on the East Coast. I asked them a number of questions about how they use resumes in searching for the right applicants on the other side. I also attended some college seminars and diligently read through various career websites to see what they are teaching about the importance of a resume. The disparity between the two points of view might surprise you.

Because of the internet, and the ability to have access to countless resumes, it’s no longer a matter of going through resumes and trying to find the right one. It’s all about SEO, or Search Engine Optimization. Every recruiting agency and corporate recruiter uses software searching tools that enable them to search for special keywords for a particular job posting.

Take a minute and think about how many times a day you use Google or Yahoo to find information. If you are in the web business, it’s necessary for you to have some understanding of how various search engines work. You learn the importance of: keywords – the words people are searching; references – the number of people that are linking back to your site based on quality of source; and the quality of your content.

Keywords in your Resume:

A recruiter’s job is to match the right candidates to the right job position. Recruiters use software tools to search through thousands of resumes in their system or on websites such as Monster, CareerBuilder, or HotJobs. The primary goal of your resume when applying for job on the internet is including the right keywords to ensure that your resume is the top ranked resume when a recruiter performs their search. This means creating a Google optimized resume.

Use the “So What” Test

This does not mean you should lie about the experience you have, because a recruiter’s second job is to be able to see through you and make sure you are honest! But if you want a particular job, make sure you back it up with clear and meaningful examples of successful experiences you have which pass the “so what?” test. I will cover ways of answering the “so what?” test in my system in more detail, and this is really one of the most important concepts you can learn in finding a job.

Examples of Keywords in a Google Optimized Resume

Some examples of keywords are technical words that apply to your job: In web development: PHP, MySql, ColdFusion, .Net, etc. In Project Management: SDLC, PMP, DSDM, Waterfall Methodology, etc. Keep in mind that these keywords change over time, so it is very important to stay current with your “career jargon” and keeping your resume up to date.

Job References:

The more high-quality references you have, the better.  The people who will be able to shed positive light on the kind of worker you are, are those you should use as a reference. So quick quiz:

If you are applying for a web developer position, whom should you put as a reference?

1) a highly-regarded college professor with a reputation in the business

2) the director of application development at a place where you were an intern

3) a friend for whom you built a sophisticated and complex website

4) a parents’ friend who is the CEO of a company who watched you grow up

Though all seem like correct answers, there is one that is better than the others! Sure, your college professor can tell them of how you compare to other students and your quality of work. And the CEO has an impressive title, but won’t a recruiter find it suspicious and deem the reference as biased? And your friend can tell them that you did a great job on the website, but does that person have anyone to compare you to? The correct answer is the director.

The director has the information the recruiter is looking for:

1) your abilities

2) your business acumen

3) and the kind of worker you are

Quality of Content

When I asked the president of a recruiting agency about the significance of a person’s resume, he responded that “a resume is just a simple marketing tool… it is intended to hook the recruiter’s attention enough to contact you for more details”.

Your Resume Still Has to Be Human Readable As Well

So make sure that the content in your resume is meaningful content, and not just a Google optimized resume. It should reflect your best qualities, skills, interest, and most importantly, your potential. If you don’t have experience, don’t try to make it up. In some college courses, they tell you not to exceed one page for your resume. The reason why is because if you go more than a page, the information may be useless and the recruiter will be screaming “information overload” and overlook the important parts of your resume.

When you write your sentences about experience, give detailed information that the recruiter can use to understand what you did. For example, instead of saying:

“Created a mine-seeking robot for senior project”, elaborate and put some more skills and qualifications into your sentence. For example:

“Acted as the team leader in a team of 4 people and successfully programmed software and engineered a 3 foot in diameter, heat-seeking robot then presented to 60 person class in a 45 minute presentation and achieved a senior-project vision award for creativity.”

This sentence tells me that you:

  • have programming and engineering skills, pretty complex if it’s heat-seeking
  • tells me you work well in a team environment
  • tells me you are successful
  • and tells me you can make meaningful presentations to various groups of people like teachers, students, potential company bidders

Bottom Line

So combine these three things in your resume: Keywords, Good References, and Quality Content, to create a Google optimized resume and you will surely show up higher on the recruiter’s search!

Posted in Career, Interview, Job Search, Market Yourself | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Leadership… or Lack There Of

Posted on January 4, 2011 by peter

LeadershipEver since I was 6 years old, I have been a member of a scouting organization which promotes leadership in adolescents. Many of the”higher-ups” in the organization have lost touch with what it takes to bring out leadership qualities in youth.

How to Teach Leadership

In my opinion, the only way to teach leadership is to:
a) lead by example & mentoring
b) throw them into leadership roles and let them figure it out themselves

My First Taste of Leadership

When I turned 21, I was the camp director at a 3-week sleep-away camp for 7 to 11 year old boys. I managed a group of 16 to 17 year old counselors who were responsible for carrying out my plan. Because this was the first year they were counselors, they always had questions on how to carry out certain activities and how to solve certain issues. They relied on me as their leader to make any decisions for them.

I also had a camp administration to which I technically reported. Due to a death in the family, I had to leave my camp for a few days and members of the camp administration had to take over leading my camp.

Stepping In to Clean Up The “Upper Echelon” Leadership’s Mess

When I returned, the counselors were unhappy and stressed, the kids felt the counselors frustrations, and I had to clean up the mess. The counselors were frustrated because they felt they were being told what to do and how to lead their group of kids. They felt that they were doing a good job before and did not understand why these higher-ups were forcing decisions down their throats. Instead of trying to solve the problem for them, I encouraged them to discuss their issues and solve the issues themselves.

They Took Leadership Over Themselves

After that, the counselors  started making decisions on their own about how to carry out certain activities and how to lead their group of young scouts. They began creating their own plans and brought their own creative ideas to the table. They even began giving leadership responsibilities to their scouts – they began trusting their kids instead of baby-sitting them. In other words, they began to instill leadership in them.

The children, the counselors, and I learned valuable lessons about leadership from the experience – and we all became better leaders because of the mentoring and trust in each other.

Bottom Line

So before you go to your next job interview, try to think hard about how you are a leader and maybe more importantly, how you feel about leadership.

What are some ways you are a leader? How do you teach leadership to others? Are leaders born or are they made?

Additional Reading:

Posted in Leadership, Market Yourself, Succeeding at Work | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Education vs. Experience

Posted on January 4, 2011 by peter

I have two good friends who constantly argue about education vs. experience and the importance of a Masters of Business and Administration (MBA). Eugene, a web marketing entrepreneur from Rochester, NY, argues that learning how to be a successful businessman is all about experience and learning from your mistakes and that paying for a piece of paper is unnecessary.

Roman, a financial expert with a MBA, argues that a MBA education will teach you the knowledge you need to avoid making mistakes when you’re in business and therefore is a valuable piece of paper to earn. They both recognize and agree that both experience and education are necessary but what does the job market value more?

Think of Getting a Job as Being Like Another College Entrance Interview

Getting a job out of college is just like applying for college, in that you are competing to appear more worthy or qualified than your competition. Just like colleges use SAT or ACT scores to baseline your abilities nationally, hiring managers use education qualifications while searching for prospective applicants. It gives hiring managers a way to measure your ability. Whether or not you feel like your degree is representative of your knowledge or experiences, your degree is one of the best ways to measure you against your competition because our society highly regards education.

On the Other Hand…

On the flip side, a degree could be an extremely costly investment. It can cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans and decades to pay back. Most people learn better from experiencing something first hand anyway. Besides, there are  other ways to educate yourself besides pursuing a degree (Read about other forms of education at 1st Pillar of Success – Education). Unfortunately, it is much harder to prove this to prospective hiring managers, which is why in the education vs. experience equation, education often wins out.

Bottom Line

So what’s the bottom line? As always, it depends. But here are a few factors to consider when making a decision in the question of education vs. experience:

  1. Figure out your career goals
  2. Research the degree to see if it aligns with your goals
  3. Talk to people in your profession that are in your desired positions, and ask them if a degree would help
  4. Ask yourself if you are looking for an education or a degree
  5. Is the degree a good investment?
  6. Will the degree get me the job I want

No one can argue that both education and experience are extremely important in the future of your career. Just make sure you think about all factors that are involved for today and tomorrow if you must decide the question of education vs. experience.

Additional Resources: 1st Pillar of Success – Education

Posted in Market Yourself, Personal Growth, Succeeding at Work | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Accepting Criticism

Posted on January 4, 2011 by peter

Accepting criticismI recently had a an eye opening discussion which reminded me that accepting criticism isn’t always the easiest thing to do. A few days ago, I had a meeting with 2 team leads for a project I’m managing. The meeting was a project issues meeting, where the three of us reviewed how the project was progressing and how we could modify our approach to accomplish our project goals more effectively.

One of the two team leads and I arrived on the subject of delegating more tasks to certain team members who were not as actively involved as the others. We felt that in order to get their dedication to the project, we needed to make them feel like they have a role in the project and to make them want to succeed. The other team lead stayed quiet during this conversation and for the rest of the meeting. I did not think anything of it at the time.

What’s Your Problem With Me?

A few minutes after the meeting, the quiet team lead approached me and asked why I criticized his management style in front of the other team lead. Although it seemed like this comment came out of left field, I quickly asked some clarifying questions to get to the root of the issue. I explained that I realized that there are different management styles that work for different people, but stated that delegating tasks to other team members has helped make my projects successful. This comment was not taken well. Apparently, accepting criticism wasn’t one of his strong suites.

Although I further “sweet-talked” my way through the conversation to make him realize the benefit to my approach, getting so emotionally attached to the criticism the way the quiet team lead did is not an effective way to grow as an individual.

Both Difficult and Rewarding

One of the most difficult and rewarding parts of the learning experience is being accepting criticism. I always try to take criticism lightly, no matter how much it annoys me at the time. I will argue until I’m blue in the face, but when I leave the conversation I think about the other side of the argument critically and see if there is any value. Using this approach, I am able to emotionally segregate myself from the argument and not necessarily lose face to the person I’m arguing with. It’s always good to get other people’s opinions – because who knows, they might teach you something!

It Can Make You a Better Person

My experience shows that the most important lessons I learn which make me a better person, come from people who are not afraid to give me criticism. As soon as you begin getting criticism, take your emotions out of the situation and try to understand what is being said and why its being said. Whether you accept or reject it in the end, you will at least know that it is a possibility and other people might feel the same way as your critiquer.  This goes for your career, education, and even your personal life.

Ask for Criticism

Not only should you take criticism, but you should ask for it! After an interview, feel free to ask how the interviewer felt you did. Ask how you could improve for next time. Although accepting criticism of your interview techniques may be difficult at times, it’s one of the most valuable approaches to personal growth.

Posted in Career, Market Yourself, Personal Growth, Succeeding at Work | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment