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3 Thanksgiving Thoughts for your Resume and the Job Search

We are now entering the front-end of that season when we reflect on what we are grateful for and how we can give to others. It is good to take a moment and review all the positives we still enjoy. No doubt, there can be many negatives in our lives – a lot of people are in rough job searches and feeling very vulnerable at the tender mercies of our economy. Here are some thoughts that may prove to be helpful and get you through this holiday period with a better perspective on what you can still bring to your situation. 1. Capacity: Keep in mind that you really do have the energy, skills and talents to do the job you want to get. You do have a positive record of achievements and contributions to your current and former employers. This should be fully manifest in your resume. If it isn’t, or you don’t feel confident in the way you are packaged, contact me for a free phone analysis. Do you really want your career transition to be de-railed by a low-impact, unfocused resume? 2. Focus: When circumstances change every day, even every hour, you have to keep your eye on your job search map. Sure, you may take a wrong turn or chase a “bunny trail,” but you always get back on track. This is a critical quality I see in my successful clients. It is what you actually do with the pieces of your particular situation that makes the difference. Does your resume distort who you are professionally and mislead the potential employer? 3. Generosity: You always have the chance to be a light in these dark economic times by showing how you [...]

By Steve Burdan|2020-10-29T14:02:21+00:00November 26th, 2010|Home|0 Comments

Job Search Commandment 3 – Keep Moving!

Many times when people are dropped into a new search after being let go from their jobs, a natural first reaction to the shock is to freeze and not move. And that’s OK - it can take some time to adjust and adapt to the new situation. Typically, it is good to take a week off and play, clear your head a bit and get your bearings. Much more important though is to get moving again and avoid the inevitable inertia that is sure to tempt you into inaction. Make sure you have an excellent resume, create a solid job search campaign and activate your network. Don’t worry about picking the exact target for your next job – most likely, you will figure out what position will best fit once you re-launch into the stream. Moving with a purpose will give you confidence, momentum and traction in the job search. Plus it is critical for keeping peak morale. However, on the other side, to set arbitrary expectations or to think the next opportunity will simply drop in out of the blue is really to walk right in front of the 18-wheeler of Disappointment. Manage your expectations and work the process! Each day your goal should be to keep forward motion. As the saying goes, it is easier to steer a moving car than a parked car, so don’t be afraid to make some mistakes! You may have to go down a few “bunny trails,” but that’s OK as it is part of the process. It is part of the larger processing of learning to live. The key to getting the job you want lies in being convinced that you will get it, and then doing [...]

By Steve Burdan|2020-10-29T14:02:21+00:00November 13th, 2010|Home|0 Comments

JOB SEARCH COMMANDMENT 2 – WORK THE PROCESS!

99.99% of my clients over the years have been hard-working, resourceful people who want to get through the job transition as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, when they enter the job search, things seem to slow down for a variety of reasons. One can be that they are not familiar with the stress and strain of looking for a job – who is? Who should be? No one, but we all have to go through it at least once in our lives. Another is that their expectations are too high or misplaced – they assume it will be a matter of a few weeks, or months at the most. One more could be that, while they are organized at work, they are not so focused when involved in something that requires the same type of attention but not in the same environment. For instance, when I do resumes for people in sales, I have to stress that the same skills that made them a success at their job must also be applied to the job search – selling a product, themselves. Actually, sales executives have a leg up, sort of, over the rest in that they understand those sales dynamics already. They just need to “retool” their thinking and attitude. Most people feel the job search will never end, but it will – it only seems like you will never get a job. Actually, I have found that everyone eventually gets a position, sooner or later. The trick is in not letting your circumstances dictate what job you have to take. And this means that you have to work the process: get a better resume, build a job search campaign, sketch out your contact tree, activate [...]

By Steve Burdan|2020-10-29T14:02:21+00:00October 29th, 2010|Home|1 Comment

The Dynamics of the Job Search I – Dating

Writing resumes and interacting with a diverse clientele over the years, I get to see some patterns and dynamics at play in career transitions. It is a natural tendency to try and understand why things happen as they do. This is very true with the job search process itself. One analogy I like is that the job search is like dating, or even Internet dating. Everyone, employees and employers, are looking to make the right connection and feel that positive chemistry. Nobody likes to spend time following up on something that just doesn’t feel right – it is a waste of time and a “bunny trail.” If a job searcher looks at finding a new position as finding the right person, then they must see that it means not marrying the first person who treats them nice. This is a bad reason to get married and a bad reason to take a particular job. What ends up happening too often is a “rebound” situation – someone accepts what looks like a great offer, only to find after a few months that the job was nothing like what was advertised. So they are back to square one and back into the search process. Better to take your time and identify what are your must-haves and do-withouts, and go on as many “dates” as it takes to get what you want and is best for you. It may seem to lengthen the job search, but actually saves you time in the long run because you are not jumping at the first half-good-looking opportunity. Like the dating game, the job search process requires you to do your due diligence. The transition may seem to be crazy and unpredictable, [...]

By Steve Burdan|2020-10-29T14:02:21+00:00October 25th, 2010|Home|0 Comments

AVOID THE “ONE SIZE FITS ALL RESUME” IDEA

As I mentioned in an earlier blog posting, there is no such thing as a single resume version that a job searcher can use for any position. Sometimes people have the idea that the resume should be like those “Have you seen me?” posters put up on telephone poles and memo boards everywhere to help find a lost dog or cat. The idea is: Create one message and then get as many as possible out there and, eventually, the right person will see it and respond. This cannot be further from the reality of today’s job search! Companies have different specifications for each position they look to fill, even if it is for a similar position title. This means that your resume must be flexible enough to modify and customize for each one, without having to rewrite the entire resume at the same time. To have this option, your resume must have the type of Objective Title, Profile and Areas of Expertise sections at the top of your Combination format resume that allows you to swap in or out the high-impact language, key concepts or buzz words you need to make your case. The goal is to “mirror” the actual job opportunity as much as possible with the relevant skill sets you already have. This pulls the potential employer/reader along to see and understand how you would be the optimal match for their position opening. As easy as you make it for the employer to figure out what you offer and who you are professionally, the faster you sell yourself. Spell it out and connect the dots for the reader, and it will pay off. However, if you make it harder or less clear, then [...]

By Steve Burdan|2020-10-29T14:02:22+00:00October 15th, 2010|Home|0 Comments

JOB SEARCH COMMANDMENTS – MANAGE YOUR EXPECTATIONS

One of the first pieces of advice I pass on to my clients is – Manage your Expectations! This is great advice for life in general, but particularly for the job search. Why? If you don’t control your expectations, they will overwhelm you in a flood of fears. Clients frequently ask me such questions as – What do you think of the market? How long will it take to get a job? How many resumes should I send out – 50, 100, 500? What do you think an employer will think if I (fill in blank here)? All good questions, but no single or final answers. Or some clients will want for a “perfect” resume that will guarantee a certain outcome. They expect the resume is the “magic bullet” will get them the job they want. They stake all their hopes and fears on the resume itself. But there is no perfect resume or magic bullet – there is what works. The reality is that people come to the job search with a whole bag full of expectations, some realistic, most not. But another reality is that in the job search, as in life overall, there are more moving parts outside of a person’s control than within it. Keeping this in mind will help you avoid an ulcer and keep you focused on what you can actually control – how hard you work the process and how well use your resume. As the saying goes – “Chance favors the prepared mind.” Remember – keep your expectations on a “short leash” and get as much exposure for your resume as possible.

By Steve Burdan|2020-10-29T14:02:22+00:00October 8th, 2010|Home|0 Comments

3 BASIC RESUME FORMATS

Believe it or not, every single resume can be traced back to 1 of only 3 resume formats. When or how this happened, who knows – probably back somewhere in the misty past of job search history. Even if you write your own resume and put a personal spin on it, you will still create a document that is easily recognizable as 1 of these 3. Let me outline them a bit and give you my professional opinion. 1. Functional: This approach front-loads the vast mass of your skills and achievements right up front – sort of a data burst that tries to cover all the bases right away. So you may have separate skills categories – 4 to 6 of them, each with bullet points. Then you simply list the companies, titles and dates with no other details, and then the education and training sections. Functional resumes tend to look top-heavy and unbalanced with information with no chronological context for any of the quantifiables at each position. So an award could have occurred last week or last millennium. 2. Chronological: This format is at the other end of the spectrum, where there is an over-focus on the names, dates and places, but no initial orientation for the reader about what you offer the potential employer. This actually is the easiest and most common type of resume that is circulating out in the vast sea of the job search. Again, this is not the route to go because the reader has to work harder to figure out what you are capable of. And that is not good – you have to connect the dots for the reader and not assume everyone can figure out what [...]

By Steve Burdan|2020-10-29T14:02:22+00:00October 1st, 2010|Home|1 Comment

5 COMPONENTS OF A SUCCESSFUL JOB SEARCH

To get a job and complete your search successfully, you have to put together an actual plan, a campaign, that consists of 5 separate components. This will, at the very least, give you a sense of traction in a process that typically has so few "road markers" to let you know how you are doing or what you can do next. 1. Personal Networking: Identify and build a contact tree of people you know professionally, and even personally, who could be helpful in getting wider distribution of your resume and putting you in front of the people you need to connect with. Never let a contact line go cold! 2. Recruiters: Research and contact professional recruiters who may have leads to great opportunities and can act as the “middle man” with corporations that need someone like yourself. Keep in mind, though, that recruiters are only as good as the openings they have available. Check out the Directory of Executive Recruiters for specific info. 3. Online Posting/Surfing: Go online and sift through all the services available for posting your resume, such as TheLadders.com, Careerbuilder.com and others. This option is particularly attractive if you don’t care who knows you are looking; it is also sort of like online dating – lots of smoke and some fire. However, you are looking for only 1 job! 4. National Newspaper Want-Ads: Scan through the job opening in such resources as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, National Business Employment Weekly, Crain’s Business and other national publications. You never know where you will dig up that “golden contact” that leads to your new position. 5. Community Networking Groups: Check out what is available as a job search network through your [...]

By Steve Burdan|2020-10-29T14:02:22+00:00September 24th, 2010|Home|1 Comment

RESUME TIPS

Here are 3 basic tips for keeping your head on straight and staying focused, while pursuing that job for which you are fully qualified. Tip #1 – Focus on what is within your control in the job search and not on what is outside your control. The biggest things you can control is the actual resume you are using and how hard you are working the job search process. The biggest thing outside your control is Timing – you cannot control the mood of the potential employer, when they read your resume or whether they feel “chemistry” with your background. Tip #2 – Avoid the temptation to be “Marvin the Mind Reader” with potential employers. Do not waste your time trying to guess what may or may not be in the mind of your resume’s reader. There is no way you will ever be able to do this. Rather, concentrate on how well you are packaged and what kind of message you are sending. You will forego an ulcer by not worrying about things beyond your control. Tip #3 – Keep in mind that resumes by their very nature are polarizing. You cannot expect everyone to love your resume. Every employer has their own, slightly different “spec-list” and you want to “mirror” what they are looking for as much as possible. Bottom line, you want to talk to employers who want to talk to you. Keep in mind that you are only going after one job, however many prospects and interviews you have.

By Steve Burdan|2020-10-29T14:02:22+00:00September 17th, 2010|Home|0 Comments

WELCOME TO REAL CLEAR RESUMES

Welcome to RealClearResumes – a site devoted to helping people get through their job search with a much better resume than they ever had before. Getting a new job can be one of the great sources of stress and strain for even the most qualified candidate. Why take your chances with a sub-par resume and miss the opportunity to move into the position you want? With 20 years combined of professional resume writing and executive search, we can give you that edge, make your resume that much better and smooth the typically rough path of the job transition. We have worked with demanding customers in pretty much every industry and at every level, including Sales, Marketing, IT, Operations, Logistics, Finance, HR/OD, Customer Service, Legal, Manufacturing, Engineering, Military and others.

By Steve Burdan|2020-10-29T14:02:22+00:00August 23rd, 2010|Home|0 Comments