What Are You Becoming?

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Change is difficult. As people, employees, family members – you name it – we're conditioned to settle into a role and to stay put.

Of course, this can be a recipe for disaster. If a particular role is not authentic, months and months of dissatisfaction can quickly turn into years and years of unhappiness. Then, before you know it, you feel stuck in a role that doesn't fit. Worse yet, it's easy to feel as though it's "too late" to change.

It's never too late.

Your happiness and your life are too important to do something that's not a good fit. Putting you on the back burner is never a good idea. Don't save change for "later" – act now. One step at a time.

Many of the people I work with are not happy in their jobs. Jobs (and careers and companies) that they are often deeply embedded in. In many cases, it seems too overwhelming for them to break away.

I regularly ask these people to ponder one question as they sort out the details and weigh their options:

What are you becoming?

This is an especially powerful question to ask yourself because it shifts your perspective from the here-and-now to the future. It provides the frame for you to put your current situation aside in order for you to assess whether or not you are on the right path. This is crucial because, so often, people will let a current work reality skew their perspective. "My boss needs me right now." "I'm in the middle of a project." "My team is down one person." "I get my pay raise next month."

Ask that question as it relates to all areas of your life. If you find an area where you don't like your response, build a plan for change. You don't have to do it overnight – you simply need to start.

Wishing you satisfaction in all areas of your life. You deserve it.

Come Prepared

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Q. Do I still need to bring a copy of my resume to interviews? 

A. Yes. There are actually two really good reasons why you should be prepared with a hard copy of your resume for interviews. 

First, you should just be prepared to hand a copy over in the case that someone doesn’t have it. Yeah, that’s unlikely, but imagine how awkward and interview-spoiling it would be if you didn’t have one to share. 

Second, even though everyone you meet with will probably have a copy of your resume, they might have a really messed up, formatting-free version that was spit out by the automated screening system. You want to be prepared to provide the beautifully formatted, reader-friendly version of your resume that you intended everyone to see.

The Right Amount of Achievements

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Q. I have been at my most recent job for 12 years. How many bullets are appropriate? 

A. The number of achievements that you should include in your resume varies based on several factors: length of time in position, recency of role, relevance on position, etc. 

Here is something that might surprise you… Even if you’ve been in your position for 12 years, you still want to keep things fairly concise, so no more than your five most compelling achievements. The reason for not providing more is that the resume is meant to pique readers’ interests and provide just enough information to make them want to learn more via an interview. More than five bullet points and things can quickly start to feel overwhelming and unfocused.

Resume vs. LinkedIn

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Q. Can your LinkedIn profile and your resume be different?

A. Absolutely. While the two need to be complimentary and have consistent “branding,” they each serve a unique purpose.  

Your resume is a more agile marketing document, which means it can (and should) be tailored toward each specific position that you apply to. This also means that you may choose to exclude unrelated experience / skills or reframe your experience so that you are highlighting specific attributes.

While your LinkedIn Profile is flexible, it is more static than a resume; you are not going to be targeting it toward specific opportunities. I recommend that clients use LinkedIn to provide a high-level overview of their professional experience and skills. So I suggest that LinkedIn be an entry-point for interested parties, with a resume being a "next step" document that provides more details about areas of your experience and accomplishments.

As I mentioned above, no matter which approach you take, it is important that your resume and your “social” resume be on-brand and consistent. Think about all of the elements of your job search as a comprehensive personal marketing strategy.

Employees' Choice Awards

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I always get positive feedback on "best places to work" posts so, today, want to point you to Glassdoor's Employees' Choice Awards for 2015.

Have a great week!

More on Bad Resumes

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Last week, I talked a bit about what a specific corporate client shared about a specific candidate. I've spent part of this last week consulting with another corporate client on an executive search that their senior team is conducting. Doing so reminded be of an even better answer to the question posed last week.

What do I hear companies complain about (in terms of talent acquisition)?

Resumes that read like a series of job descriptions.

My message this week is short.

Do not submit a resume that reads like a series of mini-job-descriptions outlining your previous work experience.

Recruiters’ Biggest Complaint About Applicant Resumes

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Q: I know you also do HR Consulting. What’s the biggest dissatisfier that you hear about from companies when it comes to recruiting?

A: I was recently speaking with the Head of Talent Acquisition for a major tech company, and she confirmed something that I hear all of the time from my corporate clients and contacts. Recruiters are inundated with resumes that make it perfectly clear the applicant has not researched the role or company. 

In this specific conversation, my colleague was sharing how frustrated she was that a very qualified candidate – someone that her team really had an interest in – had turned in a generic set of job search documents that didn’t even address specific requests outlined in the job posting. She echoed a sentiment that I have shared on this blog before: the application process is a potential employee’s first deliverable and this candidate – because of lack of attention or ego – had not met some basic expectations. As a result, she was not going to pursue this candidate any further; an unfortunate outcome for both parties. 

Target your documents toward each specific position, research the company to which you are applying, and make sure you are addressing the specific requirements outlined in a requisition. If you don’t, you might miss out on a great opportunity even if you are perfectly qualified for the position.

Not Including an Address on Your Resume

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Q: I am not comfortable putting my address on my resume. Is it okay if I leave it off? 

A: Whether or not you list an address on your resume is completely up to you. However, not listing your address could make it more difficult to get considered for positions. Here is why: 

• Not including an address will leave many readers to believe that you are not a local candidate, which – with many positions still receiving a glut of clearly local candidates – could be a big hurdle to overcome. 

• As old-school as it may sound, a physical address adds a level of credibility to your resume. 

• Many screening systems will automatically reject or “red flag” resumes that don’t include an address. That means your resume might not even make it through the system. 

If you can stomach it, include your full physical address. If your simply too uncomfortable with that, consider at least listing your city, state / province, and postal code. This compromise at least lets readers know that you are a local candidate without fully disclosing your address. 

For readers who are omitting an address because your are not a local candidate, check out these tips for communicating to an employer that you are willing to relocate.

Achievements vs. Responsibilities on a Resume

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Q. I get it. I am supposed to only speak to achievements on my resume. The problem is, how does the reader know what my responsibilities were?

A. Given that speaking to achievements is about as close to a "silver bullet" as there is when it comes to creating an effective resume, I am glad to hear that the message is coming through loud and clear. I am also glad that you asked your question, because I think a lot of readers probably share that concern.

Firstly, you don't have to completely eschew speaking to responsibilities. I think it is a great idea to include a brief overview of each position that speaks to your highest level responsibilities in a position.

Having said that, there is a bit of an error in your question because it assumes that achievements do not communicate responsibilities. That could not be further from the case. Let's use the role of Corporate IT Manager as an example. Here is a straight-forward responsibility:

• Manage vendor relationships and negotiate vendor contracts.

Now let's see an associated accomplishment (from a very impressive Corporate IT Manager I recently worked with):

• Achieved 60% cost reduction for wired Internet services across all sites by negotiating more cost effective broadband contracts.

See how that achievement makes it perfectly clear that the candidate was responsible for managing vendor relationships and negotiating vendor contracts. I mean, how could she have achieved that cost reduction if negotiating vendor contracts wasn't part of her role? 

As you develop your resume, keep this is in mind. People hiring for a position will have a pretty good handle on the requirements for that role, so don't waste critical space speaking just to responsibilities. Instead, tell readers specifically how you have performed those duties by speaking to clear, specific achievements.

How Do I Say "I'm the Best" on My Resume?

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Q. I want readers to know that I am the best. I want to tell them I'm awesome and that they would be crazy not to hire me. How do I do that?

A. Short answer: Don't tell, influence.

Long answer: Your question makes it clear that you already understand that you can't simply say "I'm awesome." Readers' eyes would roll so far back in their heads that they'd have to go out on benefits. 

Your only real option is to influence readers to come to their own conclusion that you are awesome. And that is achieved by speaking to clear, specific achievements. Tell readers about the awesome things that you have accomplished and the awesome ways in which you made a positive impact on your past employers, and they will decide for themselves that you are awesome.

This may seem like an over-the-top question, but it's not. Desperation brings people to say a lot of ineffective things on their resumes. Resist the urge to blurt out superlative statements.