Resume Writing & Career Marketing Insider

Personal Branding Tips for Your Job Search

Q. You always talk about personal branding and how important it is in my job search. Do you have any tips about how personal branding can be promoted in my resume?

A. Sure! Branding provides your resume and other career marketing documents with instant, precision-like focus that positions you as the ideal candidate for the specific type of opportunity that interests you. An unfocused resume is boring and ineffective. An unfocused resume wastes your readers' time and will land in the circular file. A properly branded resume is, by definition, focused, and addresses not only your unique value proposition, but it does so in a way that addresses the concerns of your target audience.

You can use your personal brand profile and personal brand statement to project a cohesive brand image and value proposition across your resume, cover letters, and all your documents. In my work, I have the opportunity to review a lot of resumes, letters, biographies and other documents that my clients and prospective clients have tried to write for themselves. This tip relates to one of the most common mistakes that I see. Too many people try to be too many things to too many people. Their career marketing portfolios (resumes, cover letters, biographies, etc.) are a hodge-podge of documents written over a number of years and added onto randomly whenever the need arises for an updated resume. Certainly across the portfolio, and sometimes even within the same document, I find multiple design and content styles, as well as disconnected and outdated messages. When you brand your job search documents you immediately correct this problem.

To Get Hired in 2009: Networking More Important Than Ever

Networking has always been important during a job search, and when clients ask me what I recommend, I've always suggested that networking should be the activity that they devote the most time to.

But, for months now, I've been telling my clients that networking is becoming more and more crucial, and that to get hired fast, they MUST make networking their #1 priority. Just through simple observation of what has been working for my clients and what has not been working, I've clearly identified a real shift in hiring trends. In this current job search climate, I've explained, companies are seeking to reduce costs associated with hiring through third parties, and make necessary hires through referral sources instead.

Recently Gary Crispin and Mark Mehler of  CareerXRoads published their Annual Sources of Hire Study, and their findings confirm the trends I have been observing.

Here are just a few of those relevant findings, summarized directly from their report:

-- Referrals (employee, alumni, vendor, etc.) make up 27.3% of all external hires and is
arguably the number one external source.

-- Hires attributed to Job Boards (not including the company site) represent 12.3% of
external hires. We believe this SOH has indeed peaked and predict it will diminish in
the future.

-- The most visible trend in 2008 is the pressure to reduce hires (and associated costs)
attributed to third-party recruiters, newspapers and traditional job boards. A steady
growth of sourcing tactics especially social networks and search engine marketing is
also evident.

-- Company employees remain the most likely source for filling open positions. Of the
309,600 positions that were filled and could be identified as either Internal or External
fills, nearly four out of every ten positions (38.8%) were filled as a result of internal
mobility.

There is much more detail and interesting observations in the study. It is definitely worth the read if you are looking for a job now or expect to be in the near future.

Quick Tips to Get Started Using Twitter for Your Job Search

Do you Tweet? If not, maybe you should.

Perhaps it would be misleading to say that as a job searcher you MUST be on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or other social and business networking sites. But, assuming that you use social media in appropriate and professional ways, being connected and networking in these ways can only help. And, few people would argue that you shouldn't seize on any edge that you can give yourself in a job market that is widely being called the most competitive in a quarter-century.

Twitter, for those unfamiliar, is a service that allows you to communicate and stay connected with your colleagues, current and former co-workers, friends, family, and other contacts through the exchange of quick, simple answers (140 characters or less) to the question, "What are you doing now?" While the premise is simple-so simple that you might at first question how "Tweeting" (Twitter-speak for posting an update to Twitter) could be helpful in your job search-I would urge you to take another look. Twitter has become vastly popular and you might be surprised at how many of your colleagues, friends, and even top experts in your field or profession are on Twitter.

If you are actively involved with managing your career or conducting a job search, here are just a few benefits that will justify the time you spend setting up your free Twitter account and learning how to use it:

1) Twitter can be a great tool to help you build, enhance, and promote your personal brand. Briefly, your personal brand (as it relates to your career) is what differentiates you and makes you and your contributions uniquely valuable in the workplace. As a job searcher, you can use Twitter to make your followers aware of your expertise, post links to interesting news stories about your industry, or post tips related to your profession. All of these are brand-building activities that will make you memorable to your contacts, boost your credibility, and help set you apart as a leader in your field.

2) Twitter is an extraordinary networking tool. Remember that networking is all about building relationships. Twitter helps you stay in contact with people in your network in a quick and easy way that was never before possible. It will allow you to keep your contacts up-to-date on your job search, it is a great way to learn about unadvertised job openings, and it is often an easy way to get referrals to people you should talk to. Of course, it is important to remember that networking is also about providing reciprocal help, and Twitter allows you a fast, easy way to let people in your network know about job openings you've heard about, or give other help or advice to your contacts when they need it.

3) Twitter provides you with a way to connect almost instantly with recruiters and other hiring authorities in your field. More and more recruiters are using Twitter and other social media tools to find candidates for job postings. Some companies are actively encouraging their employees to Tweet about (or discuss on LinkedIn or Facebook) job openings that they are trying to fill. If you are regularly Tweeting about your job search and posting other on-brand Twitter posts, it is just a matter of time before you start uncovering and being referred for attractive job or business opportunities.

Are you convinced? Even for the time-challenged professional (does that describe nearly all of us?), Twitter is easy to use. You don't even need to be sitting at your computer as Twitter is mobile and can easily be used on your iPhone, Blackberry, or cell phone.

When you are ready to get started, here are some quick tips:

1. Sign up for your free Twitter account and fill out your profile. Remember that you will be using your account for networking and professional purposes, so use discretion and only include information or a photo that you would be comfortable sharing with recruiters, your colleagues, and the world. If you have a reason to keep your business and personal life separate, you should create separate accounts.

2. Search for and "follow" people that you know. Twitter provides easy tools and instructions for doing this. Consider friends, family, current and former co-workers, industry contacts, people you went to college with, etc. Once you are following these people, look through their contacts and selectively follow some of their contacts. Even if you don't know someone, if you have a reason to do so, follow them. This is a way to build new relationships.

3. As you begin to build your list of people you are following, many will begin to follow you. When you are getting started, try to post Tweets daily-perhaps twice daily. Besides just answering the basic question "What are you doing now?" (always keeping in mind that your Tweets should be appropriate and follow basic rules of etiquette) try to regularly post useful, on-brand information and links.

4. When your contacts Tweet, respond if you can answer a question or have useful information or tips for them. Twitter gives you two ways to do this: direct messages and replies. Be selective about which method you use. A direct message will only be seen by the person you are responding to. A reply will go to everyone that follows you.

5. Search Twitter for keywords. This is a good way to find out what is going on and being discussed on topics of interest to you among people that you aren't already following. You may also find interesting people that you will want to follow. The place to do that is search.twitter.com

5. Do you have a Facebook account, a LinkedIn profile, a blog, or another website? There are options to link them all and post status updates simultaneously to all of them. This can be a great timesaver, so it is worth taking the time to learn how to link them. You could also consider including your Twitter user name in your email signature files or on business cards. Doing so will quickly build your following, and the larger your following, the more beneficial Twitter will be to your job search and career.

Most important of all, good luck and have fun! If you are already on Twitter or set up a new Twitter account as a result of this article, I'd love a follow. You can connect with me on Twitter at @michelledumas

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Nationally certified resume writer, personal branding, and career marketing expert, Michelle Dumas is the founder and executive director of Distinctive Career Services LLC. Through Distinctive Documents http://www.distinctiveweb.com and her $100k+ Executive VIP Services delivered through http://www.100kcareermarketing.com  Michelle has empowered thousands of executives, professionals, and managers all across the U.S. and worldwide with powerful, results-generating resumes, career portfolios, and job search campaigns.

Social Media and Job Searching

Are you on Twitter? As of a couple of weeks ago, I am! It has been a bit of a learning curve, but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it, and the lists of people that I am following and that are following me are growing! If you are on Twitter, consider following me @michelledumas Besides sending out updates on what I'm doing, I've been sending daily tips to my followers on job searching and resume writing.

How about Facebook? I have to admit that I am a complete Facebook newbie, but at the urging of some colleagues, I have created a Facebook account and am slowing exploring it as I have had time. If you are on Facebook, I'd love to connect with you there as well. http://www.facebook.com/people/Michelle-Dumas/700379993

Finally, there is LinkedIn. I've been building my LinkedIn connections for some months now, so I'm more familiar with it. If you are on LinkedIn (and if you are a professional, there is no excuse not to be!), I'd love to connect with you there too! You can find me at http://www.linkedin.com/in/michelledumas 

I've been conducting business on the web since 1996, and have always considered myself to be fairly web-savvy. But, I have to admit that if you blink it is easy to miss the latest, and engrossed in business development issues the past couple of years, this whole social media "thing" was threatening to leave me in the dust. But no longer!

More than ever before, social media and online networking have become essential tools in the job search toolbox. As I will mention in tomorrow's blog post, with a job market that is becoming increasingly competitive, people who are concerned with actively managing their careers and conducting fast, successful job searches need to seize on every available edge that they can grasp.

Have you every "Googled" your name? What comes up? Do you know that nearly all recruiters will Google the names of candidates before contacting them? If for no other reason than that (and there are many other reasons!), building an online presence that reflects the personal brand that you want to promote to the "world" is more important than ever. Personal blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn help you to do that.

Personally, I already have a well-established online presence, but I'm committed to increasing my knowledge of social media tools as a way to broaden my audience. However, my primary goal is to increase my ability to help you--my clients--better use social media and online networking for your own career management and to speed your job searches.

Will you join me? I'd love to connect on any of the sites, and I'd also love to hear any tips or advice that you might have regarding ways social media has been helpful in your own career.

A Simple But Crucial First Step For Your Job Search

You are facing some stiff competition in the job market now. But, the jobs are still out there and the candidates who know how to differentiate themselves from the competition are still landing them and getting hired.

One key tip for differentiating yourself and landing a job even in a competitive market sounds simple and like common sense, but it is crucial, and you might be surprised to hear how many job seekers simply overlook the point.

Know what you want and go after it.

Starting a job search without knowing what you want will almost certainly end in frustration.

Think about it: If you don't know what you want and what your job target is, how will you know who to contact and how to conduct your search? If you are uncertain about your career goals, it is critical that you spend some time and energy now - before launching your search - on self-introspection and analysis. Knowing what YOU want, what YOU are passionate about, and what YOU bring to the table will provide you with a confidence that simply can't and won't be matched by many of your competitors in the job market.

This is the crucial first step to any job search and is essential for long-term career success as well.

Interesting Site to Check Out Salaries at Companies

I just came across a potentially valuable site allowing the ability to get insider reviews and view salaries at more than 21,000 companies in the U.S. It is completely free to use, but they do use a "give-to-get" model. In other words, to be able to view salaries, you'll have to anonymously share a review or salary for your current or past employer. That seems fair, though.

You can check it out at http://www.glassdoor.com/

Whether you are currently conducting a job search or want to use the site for ongoing career management, this looks like it could be a really valuable resource!

How Many Years of Experience to Show On a Resume

One of the most common questions that I am asked in my professional resume writing practice, has to do with how many years of experience a candidate should to show on the resume. Just how far should you go back on your resume?

I wish I could give you a definitive answer. It would certainly make my job easier! But, the truth is that the answer is different for every person. Remember that a resume is NOT an autobiography, it is a marketing piece. Every data point and element that you include in your resume should be pertinent in relation to your current career goal. The data in your resume should be included because it directly illustrates and supports your qualifications and candidacy for your current career focus. If it does not serve that purpose, it should not be included.

For example, if you have been working for 20 years but changed careers five years ago, you may only need to show the past five years. Everything beyond that may be irrelevant. If you are an executive who has been progressing on the corporate ladder for the past 30 years, you may decide (based on the "flow" of jobs in your career history) that your best cut-off point is 17 years or 21 years, and that there would be no advantage in showing work history further back than that. Or, you may be a "techie" with 20 years of experience. But, for the first eight years of your career you worked with a technology that is now obsolete, so you choose your cut-off point as 12 years.

As you can see, the answer to your question is as unique as your circumstances. So, my best advice is to take a good look at your situation and make your decision strategically, selecting the cut-off point for your resume that makes the most strategic sense for you in your unique situation.

Rewrite Your Executive Resume to Generate Top Results Even in a Recession

Are you struggling to get your resume up to par? You aren't alone. With such a shaky economy and uncertain business future, managers and executives everywhere are scrambling to update and strengthen their resumes. Whether you are looking for a job now or expect you will be in the near future, a powerful and up-to-date executive resume is a necessity.

It is the rare executive who is fully versed in resume trends and expectations, and when it comes time to update, many turn first to trying to use a resume template. Unfortunately, this is a huge mistake--one that could cost you many, many wasted months in a job search.

Besides the fact that a template will do absolutely nothing to differentiate you from your competition--ensuring that your resume blends in rather than standing out--another major problem with resume templates are that they simply aren't adaptable to the unique backgrounds of individual executives. Using a template to create an executive resume will almost always place the emphasis somewhere other than where you would like it to be, or highlight matters that you would prefer to downplay.

For example, despite the fact that your accomplishments and proven delivery of results are the most important elements on an executive resume, many templates place the emphasis on your job responsibilities. Other templates will place undue emphasis on education or will unnecessarily highlight a minor element such as the actual chronology of your work experience--the years you have worked at each company. You may have a master's degree in library science and fifteen years experience as director of human resources, but if you are seeking an executive position as a chief statistician of a major conglomerate, neither your college degree nor your work history will help you acquire the job you desire.

In such a situation, you should spotlight neither your education nor your chronological work experience on your resume. You need a customized resume that reframes your accomplishments and plays up your special analytical skills. Using someone else's one-size-for-all, cookie-cutter resume template won't give you the foot up you need to demonstrate your abilities.

Obviously, this is only one of hundreds of problems you could encounter when trying to create the perfect executive resume. Problems may range from finding just the right word to describe an accomplishment to explaining a gap in your work history. Learn to look at such problems as mere obstacles that can be overcome with creative solutions. They don't have to turn into impassable barriers. Don't be afraid to think outside the box and strategically in promoting your value proposition.

There are many resources to help you update your resume and further your executive career. If you are determined to write your own resume, you can find help in books, videotapes, seminars, websites, and many other resources. But there is another choice. A professional resume writer may be your best option for creating an effective executive resume.

If you want to find someone to help you write your resume, you should seek a credentialed professional resume writer with experience working with executives. A professional resume writer can help you create a powerful and results-generating executive resume. Such assistance will often shorten your job search dramatically, will help position you for promotions, and will be invaluable to you during salary negotiations. However, just as you wouldn't ask a medical student to perform brain surgery, asking a novice writer to create your executive resume may not be your best choice. Hire a pro-someone who is deeply familiar with the executive job market and resume trends and has the training, credentials, and certifications to illustrate her expertise. Unlike many other investments these days, investing in a professional resume writer's assistance is an investment that will pay excellent returns!

Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. May be reprinted with the following credit.

Nationally certified resume writer, personal branding, and career marketing expert, Michelle Dumas is the founder and executive director of Distinctive Career Services LLC. Through Distinctive Documents http://www.distinctiveweb.com and her $100k+ Executive VIP Services delivered through http://www.100kcareermarketing.com  Michelle has empowered thousands of executives, professionals, and managers all across the U.S. and worldwide with powerful, results-generating resumes, career portfolios, and job search campaigns.