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6 Job Search Facts That’ll Make You Rethink How You’re Applying

Wednesday, December 9th, 2015

You’ve made up your mind: It’s time for a career change. If only applying for jobs were as easy as making that decision.

The job search process can be confusing and intimidating, to say the least. But the good news is that there are some little-known facts that can actually clear up a lot of that confusion and make the process a little more approachable.

So, check these out—they just might make a big difference in your next search:

1. Most Jobs Are A Secret

OK, they’re not a secret, per se, but 80% of jobs never get posted and are only found through networking.

Which means, scouring the web is not enough. It works great for seeing what’s out there, but for all those other jobs, you’ll need to talk to other humans.

So, make sure to supplement your online research with real-world activities. As a first step, map out who you know. You can start by creating a list of former co-workers, classmates, teammates and more. Then, reach out to friends and acquaintances for informal advice and to learn more about their roles.

Take some time crafting your message:

Weak: “Hey, I noticed you have an open job at your company. Can you help me?”

Strong: “Hi, I’m really interested in exploring different ways to grow my career and enhance my learning. I’d love to learn more about your experiences.”

2. Knowing Someone On The Inside Can Get You Hired

Maybe the job you’re looking for is posted online, but that doesn’t mean you should keep your interest to yourself. With so many applicants, more and more companies rely on the networks of their existing employees. Especially because companies want to hire people who “get it” and who’ll click with the current staff.

Here’s the thing: Only 7% of job applicants get an employee referral, yet referrals account for 40% of all hires! So, basically, having someone put in a good word will give you a serious leg up on the competition. Luckily, asking is easier than you think.

3. Recruiters Don’t Really Read Your Resume

Well, they do, but they don’t. Recruiters spend, on average, six seconds reviewing your resume. Translation: A resume alone won’t get you a job, but a bad one can ruin your chances.

So, you need to make it as user-friendly as possible. Include relevant experience, keep it to one page and whatever you do, don’t forget to run spell check. A quick scan might not capture all of your awesomeness, but it will catch any glaring errors that will send your application right to the trash bin.

4. Hundreds Of People Are Applying For The Same Job

Did you know that a typical corporate job posting will attract 250 resumes on average? With this in mind, you might want to think twice before just throwing your resume in with the other 249 again and again. I know, that number’s scary. But it’s a good reminder of why you do need to tailor your application and put in that extra energy.

So, the first thing to do before you submit any applications is make sure you really want this position. Because if you don’t, you won’t be motivated enough to do what it takes to stand out. (Or you’ll burn out spending hours applying to jobs you don’t actually want.)

5. The Job Search Drags On (For Everyone)

On average, it takes about 52 days to fill a job opening. In other words, this won’t be a fast process. And that’s something to keep in mind when you see an opening that looks amazing. It’s better to take a few days to submit the perfect application than it is to fire off your materials right away without customizing them at all.

It’s also something to remember when you’re waiting to hear back after an interview. While “having patience” is easier said than done, it’s certainly key.

6. Your Embarrassing Email Address Will Disqualify You

Hey, hotstuff12345@hotmail.com, unfortunately you and your friend Ih8work@aol.com, will fall into the group of 76% of resumes that are thrown out simply because your email addresses were unprofessional. I know that seems like an unbelievably high number, but the good news is, it should cut down on the competition from the 249 applying to the same job as you!

Please, please don’t be the person to use your email from middle school. And don’t overlook less obvious things—like if your email address is “engineersteve@yourdomainename.com” and you’re trying to land a job in a completely new field.

It’s easy to get discouraged during your job search, but knowledge is power. Hopefully these facts will motivate you to switch up your process and land that job you deserve.

Original from the Daily Muse

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Resume Fraud: How Lying On Your Resume Will Get You In Trouble

Wednesday, September 16th, 2015

Today’s job market is competitive. Those who are in need of work undoubtedly know how difficult it can be to compete for the top jobs. This competitive environment has led some unscrupulous job seekers to embellish or exaggerate their experience in order to improve their chances of obtaining jobs.

So what are some of the most common lies from professionals and what are the consequences for the employee who has embellished on his or her resume if he or she gets caught?

What Constitutes a Lie
A lie doesn’t necessarily have to be an outright false statement. Omissions can be just as dishonest as an out-and-out lie. It’s suggested that the education section of the resume is where embellishments are most frequent. This often comes in the form of an individual claiming that he or she has completed an educational program that he or she may have only started. Embellished titles, exaggerated job duties, altered dates of employment and even false references are also common. Job seekers have also provided fictitious information during the recruitment process, such as reasons for leaving previous positions. Though it may be tempting to assume that only a small amount of the population would be guilty of this sort of unscrupulous behavior, some studies have suggested that up to 50% of the population has at least a small amount of misleading or inflated content in their resumes.

Lies to Cover Lies
As almost everyone learns at some point, lies can get out of hand quickly. You have to create more lies to cover the initial lie. Just think of how one lie on a resume can balloon in the workplace as coworkers ask questions about your background and you have to perpetuate the false information.

Inability to Complete Job Duties
If someone were to make a false statement on his or her resume regarding his or her job duties or skills in past positions, there is a chance he or she would have difficulty in meeting the expectations set out in the new position. As suspicions arise from the inability to complete job duties, employers have been known to seek out more information and dig deeper into their employees’ job histories. Even if this information was not discovered in the initial employment references, this doesn’t mean that employers won’t seek out more information at a later date, especially if an employer feels that its employee is not meeting expectations.

Goodbye Job
Once an employee has been found to have lied on his or her resume, the employer has the right to terminate the employment contract. The employee/employer relationship is one that’s built upon trust. Finding out that the job was granted based on fictitious information causes this trust to be breached. It may seem like a little white lie when someone covers up the reason he or she left a previous job, or says he or she graduated from college even though he or she left a semester shy of graduating. From an employer’s point of view, however, this lie is seen as a serious character flaw. If an employee lied about something small, what else is he or she willing to lie about?

Damage to Your Reputation
You can pretty much kiss your employment references goodbye if you’re found to have provided false information on your resume. Even if your employer doesn’t terminate the employment relationship for the fraudulent information, you’ll still have to suffer the embarrassment of having your employer know you lied. Additionally, our digital-age lives make it easier and easier for us to network with other professionals in similar industries. In fields that are small or specialized, word can travel pretty quickly. If someone lost a job due to dishonesty, there’s a good chance the word will get out. Some recruiters have even been known to flag candidates who have been found to have fraudulent information on their resumes. A simple lie could have career-long consequences.

Possible Legal Action
Generally speaking, employees who have lied on their resumes have no legal recourse against their former employers. This can also impact a former employee’s ability to seek legal recourse for an employer’s actions which may have been legitimately illegal. This is known as the “after-acquired evidence” theory. If the employment relationship was found to be based upon fraudulent information to start with, illegal acts which occurred during the employment relationship may not be actionable by law. It’s sad to think that employees could lose what limited rights they do have in employment relationships as a result of unethical decisions made during recruitment.

The Bottom Line
Given the relative ease of digging up the truth, and the unpleasant potential outcomes of lying to a new employer, it’s hard to believe that anyone would risk putting false information in a resume. However, we’ve all heard the phrase “desperate times call for desperate measures.” It’s true that tough economic times make some people resort to risky behavior. However, this creates an unfair advantage over honest, legitimate candidates who aren’t lying on their resumes. For those who are considering providing false information to a potential employer, consider how much an employer might appreciate the honest approach. There are honest ways to deal with absences from the workplace, incomplete degrees or even dismissals from previous jobs that won’t hurt your chances of getting a new job.

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6 Secrets of Great Resumes, Backed By Psychology

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015

After reviewing, analyzing, and writing many resumes over the years, I’ve come to the realization that most people don’t think like psychologists. And in doing so, they sell themselves short.

Here are six ways to change that:

1. Quantify Your Impact

Tip: Show your accomplishments in numbers, not just words. It’s such an easy way to standout since few people do this. Answer questions such as: how much money did you manage? How many people attended your last event? How many views did your promotional video have?

Examples:

  • Weak: Managed a budget to plan large-scale events for students
  • Strong: Managed $12,000 budget to plan large-scale events for 2,500 students
  • Weak: Compiled a pitch deck for buyout of automotive company
  • Strong: Compiled a 44-page pitch deck for buyout of $53 million automotive company
  • Weak: Wrote articles on entrepreneurship and technology
  • Strong: Wrote 8 articles on entrepreneurship and technology, generating 107,000 page views, 8,003 likes, and 3,723 tweets

Reason: Greek philosopher Aristotle taught three pillars of effective persuasion: ethos, pathos, and logos. He believed most in the power of logos, which means persuading others using logic, evidence, and facts. By quantifying your impact, you’re doing exactly that. You’re providing evidence to underscore the significance of your accomplishments.

2. Make Your Interests As Quirky As Possible

Tip: To quote Drake (another great philosopher), you need to “start from the bottom.” The last line of your resume is where many people list their interests, but don’t actually say anything interesting. You like movies, sports, and traveling? How original! If you’re going to use this section at all (and it’s becoming less common), say something that could strike an emotional chord or spark a memorable conversation mid-interview. At the very least, be highly specific.

Examples: Settlers of Catan, Quentin Tarantino films, Mediterranean cooking, Lego Star Wars collections.

Reason: In Give and Take, Wharton professor Adam Grant emphasizes that similarities matter most when they’re rare. “We bond when we share uncommon commonalities, which allow us to feel that we fit in and stand out at the same time,” he says. Your interests are a huge bonding opportunity with your resume reader. Don’t waste it.

3. Show The Competition

Tip: This one gets me every time. So many people win awards, get into selective programs, and do other impressive things but don’t convey the full amazingness of those accomplishments. It’s because they don’t show the competition; they don’t reveal how many other people were gunning for that very same spot.

Examples:

  • Weak: Won Granny Smith University’s Innovation Competition
  • Strong: Won $1,000 for Granny Smith University’s Innovation Competition (80+ entrepreneurs competed)
  • Weak: Accepted into Johnny Appleseed Management Program
  • Strong: Accepted into Johnny Appleseed Management Program (9% admit rate, Granny Smith University selects 50 students per year)

Reason: Social proof is one of the most powerful principles of influence, according to psychologist Robert Cialdini. By showing your competition, you emphasize how coveted your accomplishments are. Many people tried, but only you succeeded. By doing this, you safeguard yourself in case the recruiter hasn’t heard of your program, award, or honor – which they most likely haven’t and won’t bother looking up.

4. Ask An Employee For Feedback

Tip: Relationships are more important than resumes. Before applying to any company, always connect with an employee – whether through information sessions, introductions, or alumni outreach. If the conversation goes well, kindly ask for feedback on your resume before applying.

This accomplishes two things. First, it’s an extremely efficient way to customize your resume to different companies. Employees offer highly specific edits (“hey try using this buzz word, we love that”). Secondly, this is an awesome way to internally pass along your resume without even asking. If an employee finds you impressive, kind, and sincere, there’s a good chance they’ll put in a word with recruiters.

Example:

Hey Jeff,
Great chatting yesterday! I really enjoyed hearing about your experiences at [Company X] and I’m excited to apply for [Position Y].
I know you’re super busy, but could you spare 2 minutes to share any feedback on my resume before I submit? Even a quick gut reaction would mean a lot.
Best,
Jon

Reason: The Foot-In-The-Door Phenomenon refers to people’s tendency to more readily complete larger requests after they’ve already agreed to smaller ones. By asking for feedback, you’re doing just that. Requesting two minutes of their time is an easy starting point, especially if you’ve built rapport beforehand. Before you know it, they may help out in bigger ways by making referrals, brokering introductions, and more.

5. Associate Yourself With Big Brands

Tip: Build instant credibility by associating yourself with trusted institutions, even if you’ve never directly worked for one. Did any of your clients include Fortune 500 companies? If you worked at a startup, was it backed by notable venture capitalists? Were you featured in any major publications? Well-known brands shine when recruiters scan resumes so find a way to include them.

Examples:

  • Strengthened relationships with 7 strategic partners (including Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble & Facebook) through follow-up meetings with senior leadership
  • Hired and managed 6 students from Penn and Yale including programmers, engineers, and graphic designers
  • Collaborated with Zagat’s “Restaurateur of the Year” Stephen Starr to run a Philadelphia-wide Restaurant Week at 8 different venues

Reason: Authority is another one of Cialdini’s principles of influence. If you don’t have it, the best way to convey authority is by associating yourself with those who do.

Bonus Tip: for college students, an easy way to do this is by becoming a campus ambassador for a notable company.

6. Follow The “Rule of Seven”

Tip: Great resumes send a consistent message. They convey a personal brand. They make recruiters think, “this kid has done this before. If we hire him, he’ll fit right in.” To accomplish this, follow the Rule of Seven. Find buzzwords (and their derivatives) on the company’s website and repeat them seven times in your resume. For instance, when applying for marketing jobs, use verbs like “marketed,” “advertised” and “promoted” to describe your accomplishments. When applying to a startup, use verbs like “built,” “created,” and “initiated.” And so forth. If you’re really crafty, you don’t have to change much when tailoring to different jobs.

Example:

  • For Marketing Job: “Marketed YouTube Campaign Video featuring CNN’s Larry King (9,400 views)”
  • For Startup Job: “Created YouTube Campaign Video featuring CNN’s Larry King (9,400 views)”

(by the way, notice the mention of CNN in there? Everyone knows Larry King but CNN is another recognized brand that recruiters gravitate towards. Tip 5 in action.)

Reason: The old adage says customers must see an advertisement seven times before they take action. Apply the same thinking here. After all, your resume is the ultimate personal marketing tool. Make sure you position yourself properly so recruiters know you’re a fit.

Bonus Tip: One of the biggest missed opportunities is when people write “summer intern” on resumes. Stop doing that! Specify your role (ex: “marketing intern”). It’s another branding opportunity. Another way to fulfill the Rule of Seven is through your “relevant coursework” section (if you have one). When applying for a finance job, for example, list statistics and quantitative classes first.

Original from Forbes

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The Most Memorable Stunts Job Seekers Have Pulled To Get Noticed

Wednesday, August 5th, 2015

Advice to job applicants always emphasizes the importance of standing out from the crowd. But some job seekers, it seem, take this suggestion to the extreme.

A survey conducted on behalf of CareerBuilder by Harris Poll of more than 2,000 full-time U.S. hiring and human resource managers revealed some of the most outlandish stunts job seekers have pulled make a lasting impression on hiring managers. And though these tricks definitely got applicants noticed, they didn’t always get them the job.

One show off tried to wow the hiring manager with their knowledge of the company’s history. The catch? Their facts were less than historically sound. Another candidate learned where the hiring manager would be having dinner that evening and arranged to pay the check. Still another had a cake delivered, frosted with the words, “Congratulations! [Candidate’s name] got the job!”

Creative–and totally inappropriate.

Other highlights include the candidate that lit their resume on fire during an interview to demonstrate they had a “burning desire” for the job. (Unwise. Also, dangerous.) One candidate behaved like a game show host (“I’ll take ‘Jobs’ for $1,000, please!”), still another brought props to the interview, using them when they felt an answer required further illustration.

Perhaps the most desperate–if not diabolical–move involved a candidate who had his daughter call the hiring manager before the job interview to express how grateful she was that her dad got the job.

Beyond the antics, CareerBuilder chief HR officer Rosemary Haefner cautions job seekers that any sort of attention-seeking should be focused on showcasing one’s skills and suitability for the role.

“Job seekers know they’re competing with a lot of other candidates, so they’re trying more unusual tactics to stand out from the crowd,” said Haefner. “For example, one candidate made a ‘Top Ten’ list of reasons to hire him. But while these tactics may succeed in impressing hiring managers, what ultimately determines if they get the job is having the necessary skills and experience hiring managers are looking for.”

Haefner suggests that while creative thinking is fine, job seekers need to remember the objective: Demonstrating that they’re the person with the relevant skills and experience for the job, not just the person most capable of grabbing attention.

Original from Forbes

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Fixing the Five Worst Job-Search Mistakes

Wednesday, June 10th, 2015

When you’re frustrated on a job search it’s tempting to punch the sofa cushions and get mad at recruiters and employers. You will find plenty of job-seekers doing those things, because the traditional corporate and institutional recruiting process is as broken as it can be.

Still, you have to get a job, so after you get finished beating up on the sofa cushions and using your most colorful curses to describe recruiters and hiring managers, it’s time to spring into action! Yes, the recruiting process is broken, but even if it were perfectly designed and executed, the Five Worst Job-Search Mistakes listed here could still get in your way.

Most job-seekers find that their job search suffers from at least one of these issues. Does yours?

The Five Worst Job Search Mistakes

No Direction

Your job search won’t go the way you want it to until you know your career direction very clearly. You have to know what you want in order to get it! Many people hedge their career-direction bets. They say “I do Marketing, PR and Sales.” Very seldom if ever does a hiring manager need someone to do those three very different things.

Your job is to figure out what you want to do in your life and career first, then apply that “Aha!” to answering the question “What kind of Business Pain do I solve better than most people?”

When you can do work you enjoy and are good at and also solve someone else’s pain, you can earn what you’re worth and grow your flame in your job. That’s why the first step in your job search is to figure out what kind of job you want next, and then to brand yourself for those positions — not every single position you could conceivably fill.

No Brand

Most job-seekers don’t brand themselves in their resume or their profile. They merely list the jobs they’ve held already. You have a story that no one else has. Why not tell your story? Your story is your brand. Tell us where you came from and how you grew as a person and a professional over time. The more clearly you know where you’ve come from and where you’re headed, the more powerful your job search will be.

No Stories

Once you have a bead on the specific kinds of Business Pain you specialize in solving, begin collecting Dragon-Slaying Stories. What’s a Dragon-Slaying Story? It’s a story about a time you saved the day or made a positive difference at work. Your stories give punch and power to your resume and your LinkedIn profile, and when you share your best stories on a job interview it’s often your stories that get you the job.

Bad Process

Like I said, the traditional corporate and institutional recruiting process is horrible. It’s designed to weed people out of the pipeline, not to keep them in it! job-seekers don’t pitch resumes and applications into Black Hole recruiting portals any more, because that doesn’t work. They figure out who their direct hiring manager is in each of their target organizations, and they reach out to that person directly. Try it!

Stuck in the Full-time Employment Box

Full-time jobs are fewer and fewer, while contract and consulting opportunities are everywhere. You can’t stay stuck in the full-time employment box if you want to keep working! You’ve got to get a consulting business card and start giving it out to people you know and new people you meet. Nothing is permanent, anyway, so why not explore your consulting persona and see where it can take you?

Original from Forbes

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Resume Tips for Healthcare Professionals

Wednesday, May 27th, 2015

Healthcare has undergone significant changes in the past 20 years, and healthcare organizations are increasingly sensitive to cost control and productivity. Funding sources for both public and private healthcare organizations have cut back reimbursement and allowable expenses. Your healthcare resume must reflect an understanding of these changes. It must show evidence of healthcare skills, experience and a commitment to quality, as well as an ability to evaluate yourself, your peers and your department. There are different ways to reflect your key selling points in your healthcare resume. What is important is creating the right document, written in the right way to get you in that interview room.

Which Resume Format Is Right for You?

Resume: A resume is preferred for healthcare professionals seeking positions in administrative or back-office operations. When seeking a management position, reverse-chronological resumes are preferred, as your experience and skills can be evaluated vis-a-vis the organization’s own needs. Hospitals and healthcare agencies need qualified people in accounting, purchasing, plant operations and MIS; these departments are usually open to qualified applicants from fields other than healthcare.

Curriculum Vitae (“Course of One’s Life”): CVs are used primarily by people in medical, academic and scientific professions. CVs should have a tone of understated modesty. The professional should list all credentials but not necessarily boast (as in a resume) about the achievements. Typical headings include education/degrees, internships, professional experience, awards and honors, publications (books, articles, reports, journals), speaking engagements, conferences and professional affiliations. The length depends on the level of experience — a CV for a new grad might be one page, whereas someone at the top of his profession might have multiple pages.

Getting Job Interviews

When describing your work history and accomplishments, use an abundance of buzzwords to get noticed:

  • Caseload: If you wish to stay in a similar healthcare field, elaborate on the type of caseload you’ve managed, including the number of patients/clients served and the specific challenges your caseload presented.

  • Computer/Tech Skills: Include software and program expertise, especially if it is related to healthcare. Your technical skills can be listed in a separate Technical Summary section or within the context of another achievement. For example, “developed and implemented patient status/tracking system using MS Access.”

  • Continuous Quality Initiatives (CQI): Quality improvement initiatives that highlight an understanding of systems and process analysis, problem identification and qualitative oversight. Keep in mind that generic QI oversight is a normal and expected component of any healthcare professional’s background.

  • Grant Writing/Fundraising: Money talks, and if you know the language well enough to develop new funding streams, recruiters notice.

  • Operating Revenue: Whether you are a clinician, line staffer or administrator, the size of your budget influences the prestige and significance of your past work experiences. Be aware that an organization’s budgets are often available in the public record and can be verified.

  • Program/Service Development and Expansion: In today’s healthcare environment, you expand services, or you don’t succeed. Speak to costs, revenue, patients served and other quantifiable information on your healthcare resume.

  • Research/Publications: Are you keeping up on your industry’s cutting edge? Healthcare employers are normally impressed by a distinguished list of publications. Avoid obscure or unrelated publishing credits.

  • Regulatory/Government Agencies: Include expertise in regulatory compliance and successes with city, state and federal agencies and programs, such as HCFA, JCAHO, Medicare and Medicaid.

  • Training: Confident public speaking and presence count. Have you developed and/or implemented a training curriculum on subject matter in your profession?

  • Transdisciplinary/Interdisciplinary Teams: No man (or woman) is an island. Note your ability to work with different groups of professionals. Ideally, indicate a successful outcome that resulted from collaboration with others.

Origin from Monster

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Jump-Start Your Career Change

Thursday, May 14th, 2015

The prospect of changing careers is both exhilarating and daunting. If you know exactly what you want to pursue, don’t become stymied by the enormous challenges the career-change process presents. Employ these powerful strategies to make that career change a reality.

Determine Your Leverage Points

Inventory the skills and experiences you can leverage in your career switch. Examples include:

  • Company Type: Leverage your knowledge about the kinds of companies you’ve worked for. Nonprofit organizations have certain similarities. So do family-owned or owner-operated businesses and, to a certain degree, public companies.

  • Transferable Skills: In most cases, skills you’ve honed in one career will be relevant in the next. Project management, team leadership, sales, customer service, analytical capabilities, problem solving, hiring, training and numerous other abilities are all common transferable skills.

  • Experience: Use any startup, shutdown, merger, product launch or corporate crisis you’ve lived through as leverage when you talk to companies dealing with similar issues.

  • Job Environment: If you’ve ever worked in a pressure-cooker environment, you’ll be no stranger to a similar environment in another industry. The same will be true if you’ve ever dealt with unions, worked for an entrepreneur or worked without supervision.

  • Networks: Leverage your current relationships to find entry points into your new field. All it takes is a different type of conversation to get started. Ask contacts what they know and whom they know related to the field you want to enter. Follow up on their leads, and you’ll make progress quickly.

State Your Case Effectively

Be sure you have strong, valid reasons to change careers. If you know why you want to make the change and what you stand to gain from it, you’ll increase your odds of success considerably. Also, be sure you can articulate those reasons to potential employers and explain what’s in it for them. Employers don’t want to feel like you’re running away from something.

Find the Logical Entry Point

Often, a certain role or company will serve as a natural transition into your new field. Bolster your chances of getting hired by using your leverage points to identify where you best fit.

Avoid Overanalysis

Developing a strong understanding of yourself is imperative to managing your career change, but avoid analysis paralysis. You cannot think your way to a career change; eventually, you must act.

Connect with People in Your Target Field

When you’re changing careers, your resume is less useful as a marketing tool. For that reason, building your network becomes even more critical. Connect with people in your target field to validate your interest and learn about opportunities.

Make an Impression

On interviews, be the standout candidate by talking up the actions you’ve taken that prove your commitment to the field. Reveal your industry knowledge, and mention industry events you’ve attended or industry associations where you volunteer. If you write an industry-related blog, reference that as well. You could even present a white paper on an industry issue you’ve researched or a business plan that demonstrates the value you could bring to the organization.

Your goal is to make potential employers see you as someone already in their industry and in it to stay, regardless of whether they hire you. Don’t leave the impression that if they don’t hire you, you will do something else.

Moonlight

One tangible way to start your career change is through freelance or part-time jobs. Such work builds your resume and lets you test the waters in your new field.

Concrete steps such as these create momentum for your career change, demonstrate your commitment to potential employers and validate your plan.

Original from Monster

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How Your Profile Picture is Sabotaging Your Job Search

Thursday, September 18th, 2014

Something a bit on the odd side this time around, as we investigate some fine-tuning you might need for your online profile (LinkedIn or otherwise) to enhance your passive job search:

Your head shot should add value to your profile. Fix these common mistakes to get it on the right track.

In today’s marketplace, it’s not enough to have a well-written resume and a list of great referrals; it’s essential for every job seeker to develop and actively monitor their online professional brand.

While a photo on your resume is still considered taboo, recruiters have come to expect a picture to accompany your online professional profiles. In fact, your LinkedIn profile is 40 percent more likely to get clicked on if it contains an image.

However, not just any image will do. Choose your picture strategically so that it enhances, rather than damages, your professional brand.

Below are nine profile picture pitfalls to avoid:

1. Blurry or Too Small

Ideally your photo should be 200 x 200 pixels or larger. Anything smaller and you’re guaranteed to end up with a fuzzy or teeny tiny image that just screams unprofessional. I recommend choosing a square head shot, as it’s sure to work with all your professional social media accounts.

2. Too Close or Too Far Away

Stick with a standard head shot for your profile pic. Prospective employers and those in your professional network have no desire to examine your dental work, and a shot from far away won’t help them identify you at an event or interview.

3. The Group Shot

Remember, this picture is supposed to represent your professional brand – no one else’s. Don’t make recruiters guess which person you are in the photo. Use an image that shows you and only you.

4. The Crop

Cropping yourself out of the group shot doesn’t work either. While it may be your favorite picture, no one wants to see half of your loved one’s face or your best friend’s hair on your shoulder. Stick to a solo shot that doesn’t require Photoshop.

5. Bad Lighting

Not only do these pictures look creepy, but they are certainly not providing employers with a positive, professional first impression.

6. Too Serious

Opt for photos where you’re looking at the camera and smiling. You don’t necessarily need a cheesy grin on your face, but you want to appear friendly and approachable. The “glamor shots” aren’t doing you any favors.

7. Goofy Expressions

Remember, this image is supposed to represent your professional brand. When you look at your profile photo, does it send the same message as your resume?

8. Pet or Baby Pic

Yes, your puppy is adorable and your family is beautiful. However, that’s not what your professional network or a prospective employer needs to know about you. Save these cute pics for your personal social-media channels such as Facebook or Instagram. Stick to a photo of yourself for your professional profiles.

9. No Photo

As mentioned earlier, recruiters today expect to find a head shot with your professional profile. The first thing recruiters and hiring managers notice is your photo… or lack of one. If you have no photo, their initial thought might be, “What is this person trying to hide?”

If you’re concerned that including your photo could cause people to discriminate against you, I urge you to carefully weigh the benefits and drawbacks of the profile photo before making a final decision. The right image can reinforce your brand and help viewers connect more easily with your profile.

Overall Best Practices

Use a recent head shot that meets the file type and size and pixel size recommended by each site. Consider your outfit, the background of the shot, and the lighting to ensure it reflects your current professional brand and career goals.

Having no photo is better than uploading one that doesn’t project the right image, so put some thought into the picture you choose to represent your professional brand.

Original from the Ladders.

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Ten Job Search Rules To Break

Thursday, August 21st, 2014

We’re not advised to tell the truth when we’re job-hunting — just the opposite. We’re coached to contort ourselves into pretzel shapes, to be whoever we think the employer wants us to be. We’re encouraged to play a role on a job search, to fawn and grovel and hope the hiring manager falls in love with us. What horrible advice! If you wanted to go into the theatre, you’d be in Hollywood by now.

We say that if people don’t get you, they don’t deserve you. Better to let them see who you really are at the earliest opportunity, right? Job-seekers are often surprised that more honesty doesn’t hurt them on a job search. If the people they’re interviewing with have any self-esteem and confidence at all, your human honesty helps you.

And if managers are so fearful that they can’t handle a dose of honesty, do you really want to work for them?

Here are ten traditional job search rules to start breaking on your job search.

Ten Job Search Rules to Break

1. Follow the defined process.

The defined recruiting process is broken. Black Holes are great in space, and horrible on a job search. Many job-seekers have trouble stepping out of the Good Little Rule-Following Job Seeker persona. If they can do that, they’ll be unstoppable!

We’ve been trained since childhood to do what we’re told to do. The Black Hole will eat your resume and shred its atoms, but people keep pitching resumes into gaping recruiting portals anyway. Don’t do it! Reach your hiring manager directly.

2. If you know someone in the company, give that person your resume and tell them to give it to the hiring manager.

A job search, like any marketing campaign, makes use of channels. Your friend inside the company might be a tremendous channel for your job search, or a horrible one. The question is “How well does your friend know the hiring manager?” If your friend does know him or her, you’re in great shape. Otherwise, your friend carrying your resume in the door is just a side entrance to the same Black Hole you were trying to avoid.

Choose the strongest channel for your job search: an intermediary friend, the direct approach, or a third-party recruiter. Don’t assume that your in-house friend is your best job-search conduit.

3. Use a traditional zombie-style resume and cover letter.

You’re not a zombie. You’re a human, switched-on and ready for action, so don’t brand yourself using zombie language like “Results-oriented professional with a bottom line orientation!” (Ropwablo for short.)

You can write a resume that sounds like you, and you’ll make a stronger impression if you do. Forget the old-fashioned cover letter and write a compelling letter instead.

4. In your overture to employers, emphasize the way your background matches the job spec.

You know that a written job spec has as much in common with the actual job as I have in common with Genghis Khan. Forget the tedious and delusional job-spec bullets and focus on the pain behind the job ad.

5. Spend most of your energy applying for posted jobs, and do so online.

If you want to destroy your mojo in the first two weeks of your job search, spend all your time online hunting for positions to apply to. Then, toss resumes into Black Holes and pretend that someone is going to get back to you. You’d be better off putting a stack of paper resumes on the passenger seat in your car and driving down the freeway with the window open. In that case, one of your resumes might land on a hiring manager’s desk by chance.

If you want a job rather than a boring daytime activity, step away from the Black Hole and take a more active role in your job search.

Split your job-search time three ways into three equal parts: one-third of your available time and energy will go to responding to posted job ads, one-third of it will be spent reaching out to target employers whether or not they have jobs posted, and the final one-third of your time and energy will go to networking.

6. Use your networking time and energy letting people know about your job search, your specific skills and how each friend can help you.

Your job-search networking is not a hunt for jobs to apply to. It’s a mojo-building, introduction-generating exercise instead. Use your networking to coach your friends on the issues they’re dealing with (nothing grows mojo better than coaching someone else) and to get their moral support in return.

When people get unadvertised jobs through networking – and people do that every day – it’s because they focused on the relationship, not the transaction.

7. If you’re asked to report your salary history, share every detail going back as far as the employer asks you to.

Are you ready to go work for people who don’t trust you? If the employer asks you to verify every salary you’ve ever earned, the relationship is not off to an auspicious start. Keep your salary history to yourself.

8. When the employer asks you to jump, do it.

No employer is ever going to love you more than they do just before they make you a job offer. Don’t be a doormat on your job search. A new job is essentially an extended consulting gig, so manage the process the same way you would if you were proposing a consulting assignment to a new client. Don’t climb over every pile of broken glass they put in front of you. If you show up as the most compliant, docile candidate in the bunch, don’t expect to be able to argue for your strategic value later in the process.

9. Don’t bring up the topic of salary – let the employer bring it up.

It is suspicious to me that the awful, conventional wisdom “Don’t mention salary – let the employer bring it up first. Whoever speaks first, loses” fits so nicely with many job-seekers’ natural aversion to broaching sticky topics like money.

That advice is repeated everywhere, and it couldn’t be more mistaken. In a job search, you have to price yourself like a house. You have to let employers know what it will take you get you on board. If you wait for the job offer to finally learn what an organization is planning to pay you, you’re in the world’s worst negotiating position.

After all, it was your obligation to show (not tell) these folks what you’re worth, during the interview process. If you’ve been through two or three interviews with a gang of people and they subsequently decide collectively — maybe delusionally as well, but that’s a different topic — that you are worth $X, then in their eyes you are worth $X, and you’ve already missed your prime opportunity to show them differently.

10. Do whatever you need to do and say whatever you need to say to get the job.

When you agree to play a part to get a job, you’ve made a deal with the devil. As tempted as you may be to bite your lip when you’re frustrated with a hiring process, don’t do it. If you have to take a survival job to pay the bills, take it! Don’t swap your integrity for a paycheck from people who don’t even see, much less value, the real you.

Remember that only the people who get you deserve you. The faster you say “No thanks” to the wrong opportunities, the faster the right ones will roll in.

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Job Goals That Are Destined to Fail

Thursday, August 8th, 2013

Reevaluate your job goals to ensure career success.

Goal-setting is an essential component to long-term success, whether you want to improve your public speaking skills, ask for a raise or promotion at work, or find a new job. However, many people struggle to set the right objectives and see them through to the end. If you find yourself struggling to achieve a job goal, the goal may need to be reevaluated. Here are several types of goals the will work against your job search – and what you can do to get back on track.

1. The vague goal

A clear set of job goals is the foundation of a solid job-search strategy. All your job-search efforts – from how you position your resume and online presence to how you find job leads – will depend on the goals you choose. A big obstacle to your career aspirations is a goal that’s too vague or unclear. For example, if someone asks you, “so what’s your career objective?” and your reply is simply, “I want a job” or the now familiar refrain, “I’ll take anything I can get”, you’re setting yourself up for lifelong job disappointment. Would you take a tour to somewhere without a trip itinerary? Probably not.

Solution: Evaluate your work history to identify underlying skills, core values and working environment that are best for you. The more targeted your goals, the easier it will be to develop the right plan.

2. The overly ambitious or unrealistic goal

It’s unrealistic to assume you can advance from a marketing associate to chief marketing officer in 12 months’ time. Similarly, it’s naïve to think you can transition from a product manager to an HR generalist overnight. While there’s nothing wrong with wanting to accelerate your career or make a functional change, it’s impractical to think you’ll accomplish either of these objectives in the short-term.

Solution: Create a job-search strategy targeting roles that will help you acquire the skills and experience necessary to achieve these more ambitious, long-term goals.

3. The undocumented goal

Did you know that just by writing down your goal you’re more likely to follow through with it? Once you’ve decided on your job goal, document it. If you successfully complete your goal, what would that look like? What would be the outcome? When you define success, you’re creating parameters that will help you stay on track.

Solution: Post your goal near your home computer so you don’t lose focus.

4. The imposed goal

Many times, your career goals aren’t even your own. How often do well-meaning parents, teachers, good friends, and family members aspire for you to become this or that (sometimes, with more than just encouragement)? Regardless of their good intentions, if you find you are living out someone else’s life (e.g., being what your father had hoped to be but was prevented from becoming), then you are guaranteed to never be happy with your circumstances.

Solution: Don’t let “others” derail your aspirations just to fulfill their whims and fancies. Remember that while others have a role to play in motivating you, guiding you, and helping you to succeed, their desires and aspirations should not be the sole force in determining the direction of your life, including your career.

5. The goal without a plan

As Napoleon Hill once said, “a goal is a dream with a deadline.” Your job goals are only as effective as the plan you create to accomplish them.

Solution: Break your goal into smaller, more digestible milestones. Make a list of the activities, tasks, and deadlines associated with each milestone. By dividing your goal into more manageable chunks of work, you’re less likely to get overwhelmed and discouraged. This can be the difference between giving up and remaining committed to your goal.

6. The “baby” goal

Just as some professionals set their dreams too big and unrealistic that they will suffer continual disappointment in not achieving them, there are others who set goals that are so small that even success is a failure. If you make it your life’s ambition, with MBA in hand and $100,000 in school debt, to become a librarian, even if you succeed, the accomplishment will itself be a disappointment.

Solution: Hopefully early in your career (or even while still in school), evaluate your long-term goals and ensure that you not only have realistic goals but also goals that best suit your background, that will support your desired and/or needed lifestyle, and that point forward rather than keeping you standing in place. It’s all right to dream big; don’t let mediocrity become your most frequently achieved career goal.

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