Business Development - 14.8%
Sales - 12.9%
Operations Management (including Quality, Supply Chain and Logistics) - 12.9%
General Management - 10.3%
Finance - 9.1%
Engineering - 9.1%
Marketing - 8.7%
MIS/Information Technology - 6.2%
Consulting - 6.1%
Research & Development - 5.7%
Human Resources - 3.5%
Source: ExecuNet 2008
Holy cow! Do I see some bad resumes. Smart people, with great experience, but horrible resumes. Here are a couple of my pet peeves:
- An objective that makes no sense. “A position with a fast-growing company that will allow me to utilize my skills and talents.” Whoa Nelly. If I’m looking at 10 résumés per day (recruiters are looking at many, many more) do you know how frustrating it is not to have a summary at the top of the resume that helps me to put the rest of your experience in context? Makes me not want to read the rest of it, honestly.
- Cutesy job title: Subway calls their sandwich makers, “Sandwich artists”. How do I know this? I’ve seen it on a resume. In the 1990s these sorts of titles were all the rage. A more conventional title will actually help your cause, not hurt it.
- Functional resume. All I want to do is go to the bottom of the resume to see where they’ve worked. I can’t help it. It annoys me to have to try and figure out what you did at each of your jobs. If I have to work too hard at reading a resume… well, you know.
- Not explaining what a company does or what your job entailed, just through a one or two sentence summary. I don’t know every company out there, so if you help me by providing me with a bit of information, I’ll have a much easier time putting your experience into context. This is particularly true if your experience isn’t at companies that have instant name recognition. But, there are lots of smaller, niche companies out there that dominant their industry or segment. How would I know this unless you tell me?
Personal information: Everything from a non-professional email address, to a hobbies or interest section. I can’t trust myself not to use this information against you… Be very, very, very careful.
I recently met with a creative team doing some research for a client. They wanted a career coach’s perspective about why people hate their jobs. As odd as it might sound, I found it really difficult to answer this question.
If I look back on all the reasons clients have sought out career coaching, there are some themes, but lots and lots of variances. So when the creatives asked, I was a little embarrassed that I couldn’t definitely give them a “top 10″ list of why people are dissatisfied with their careers. I guess it’s the expectation that I make a living helping dissatisfied people, therefore I should an expert on this topic. I wanted to reassure them, I really do know what I’m talking about!
What it still surprising to me is that it’s rarely THE JOB behind the dissatisfaction. It’s usually something else. Difficult boss. Conniving coworkers. Ineffective leadership. A bad fit with the organizational culture. Lack of confidence. A feeling that your talents aren’t being used. A nagging sense that there’s something else out there for you.
What I’ve come to appreciate about career dissatisfaction is that it’s complex. It’s not just about one thing, and truly, each and every person’s story is unique. I guess that’s why I find it so fascinating and why I still love, after six years, this work.
Someone asked me how long to wait before following up with a contact he was trying to reach. He had already sent two emails.
It depends on the situation. In this case, he was trying to reach someone whose name he had received as a potential networking contact. It wasn’t a simple confirmation conversation that the contact could answer via a return voice mail message. They didn’t know each other at all. I suggested that he try calling - at a time when he was more likely to get him on the phone. I find I can often catch people right before business hours or right at the end of the day. Or, try and reach the receptionist (the “0″ phone key is a fairly universal way of by-passing most voice mail systems to reach the operator) and ask if he or she has any suggestions about how to reach your target, opps I mean, contact.
Don’t leave more than three messages - either by email or voice mail. Wait a couple of days in between. If you’re asking them for more than five minutes of their time - don’t get annoyed or impatient. Keep in mind that it’s their time schedule you’re fitting into, not yours.
Here’s something to help put the nation’s economic cycle in perspective:
Accordingly to DDI, Inc. one-fifth of this county’s large, established companies will be losing 40% or more of their top-level talent in the next five years as senior executives retire.
Bottom line: High performance talent will always be in demand.
Think the interview is all about impressing them with your skills and experience? Think again.
More and more companies are hiring with “the likeability factor” in mind - the right credentials and the right personality.
In an Associated Press article in November 2007, one company admitted to putting candidates through a full-day of interviews. Their goal: To weed out “fake pleasantness”.
As a candidate, it’s a reminder that your goal of finding a job should also be balanced with finding the right fit for YOU. If your personality and the personality of the company don’t fit, you’ll be looking for a new job all too soon.
If you haven’t looked for a job in the past five years, you’re probably unaware of some of the subtle changes that now define the job market. What defines the overall job market, also defines a successful job search. Jobs are constantly being re-structured, which means an inherent lack of job security.
This article in Time sums it up nicely:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1689208,00.html
This question has come up a couple of times during the past few weeks. Clients often ask me whether it’s a good career move to work with a recruiter. Several of them have been approached by a recruiter directly, which I predict will be a growing trend as the talent shortage increases (I’ll write more about this later).
Let’s take it from the top, and start with the basics. If you’re approached by a recruiter, what should you do? The method of contact is actually a clue for you about the quality of the recruiter. Was it by email only (this really isn’t the sign of a quality recruiter), or did they call you and have a conversation with you? I’m not saying that legitimate recruiters always call, but it can be a sign of the quality of the recruiter. First point.
Second point to consider: Is it a big firm or a smaller, more “boutique” firm? If it’s a smaller, specialized firm, you’ll have more personal contact with the recruiter - who, hopefully, will have more personal contact with the hiring manager. This is a good thing. The more time the recruiter spends screening candidates, the better experience it will be for you, and whatever company you end up working with.
Third point: How did they get your information? Was it through a personal contact, or were they simply trolling through a professional directory looking for people? Find out how they found you.
Fourth point: If you’re looking to work with a recruiter, ask around to find someone who specializes in your industry or field. Choosing a recruiter can be like choosing a doctor… you have to shop around sometimes.
Labor Day is a great holiday for career coaches. The press, looking for interesting article angles, profile workers, job trends and all things labor-related. Nothing better than enjoying a cup of coffee with an interesting array of career-related articles on hand.
This Labor Day (oh, how I naturally want to spell it “labour”) I’ve been reflecting on the job market. According to national labor statistics, this is the best the job market has been since 2000. I think it’s better too, but I’ve been seeing this shift for the past 18 months or so.
What I’ve noticed with my own clients are multiple job offers, more and more companies stepping up their recruiting efforts, companies having a harder time finding experienced recruiters for their team, and other signs that the job market is looking brighter.
Don’t wait for the ”perfect” time to find a new job. Now is as good a time as any. Take the improved job climate as a sign of encouragement… today’s the perfect day.
I just read an interesting article about how Sprint, ING Direct, and Best Buy (and others), have fired customers for being “difficult” or consuming too many company resources because of the number of complaints they’ve made, needing too much support, or habitually returning merchandise.
Can you imagine being one of those customers? Well, I’m guessing that those companies don’t actually say “you’re fired” to these customers - they probably have some artfully written communications piece that conveys a message that the company can no longer support them, or that they aren’t a good fit for the organization, or the like. I bet none of their customers feel the same harsh sting as those who have been fired from a job! But it’s really the exact same situation.
A writer contacted me a few months ago about an article she was writing about getting fired. It really made me stop and reflect on what I’ve noticed with clients who’ve found themselves fired - suddenly or not-so-suddenly.
If you’re interested - here’s the article:
http://www.annabellemagazine.com/annabelle%20issue%2013/W02.html