Job Hunting

This is a good blog post from BranchOut.

Here's a link to the original article from Business Insider.

 

There's no way around it. If you want to snag a great job at a hot tech company, you have to be on LinkedIn. But what exactly inspires these companies to call you? How should you spiff up your LinkedIn profile to get their attention?

 

That's what we asked head hiring honchos at six hot tech companies:

• Online game maker Zynga.
• The company that practically invented cloud computing and is No. 27 on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For: Salesforce.
• Mozilla, the non-profit that makes one of the most popular free open-source applications of all time, Firefox.
• The company that revolutionized books, retail and the software industry; Amazon.
• The company that proved open-source and Linux can be big business; RedHat.
• And the ultimate know-er of LinkedIn's secrets ... LinkedIn. 

They gave us some surprising insight into how they judge prospective employees by their profiles, including

... how to fill out your profile

... what they really think about recommendations

... words NOT to use

... how they read between the lines to make judgments about you.

 

Put up a big, fat profile

LJ Brock, Red Hat's vice president of global talent acquisition and infrastructure

Red Hat. Used by permission.

Nearly all the companies agreed that a full profile was, for the most part, the way to go. They wanted the usual things ... a good work history, no large gaps of time left unexplained.

 

But what they really want is to get a sense of you and see that you have "passion" for your career choice.

"We look for candidates with robust profiles that reflect depth and genuine passion for their functional area," explained LJ Brock, Red Hat's vice president of global talent acquisition and infrastructure.

One indication of passion is the list of LinkedIn groups you've joined and how active you are in them, Brock says.

Another is the words you use to talk about yourself and your career.

"An authentic voice in your profile and summary goes a long way. Your personality is unique and should come through clearly and grab our attention," says Brendan Browne, Director of Global Talent Acquisition at LinkedIn.

"A LinkedIn profile is a blank sheet for you to get creative with, and it’s easy for your profile to come across as flat if you’re simply pasting your curriculum vitae," he says.

But PUH-LEASE avoid these words

Woodson Martin, senior vice president of recruiting, for Salesforce.com

Salesforce.com. Used by permission.

A beefy profile might be good, but not if it's filled with buzzwords. Overused words can make you look like an airhead.

 

If you "use tons of irrelevant buzz words, that makes you look like a light and fluffy person. I'm going to think that if I hire you, you're going to produce work that is light and fluffy and not very useful," explains Woodson Martin, senior vice president of recruiting for Salesforce.com. "Substance is what it's all about."

According to LinkedIn, the following ten words were the most overused buzzwords in 2011. If you are using them, time to edit your profile.

1. Creative
2. Organizational
3. Effective
4. Extensive experience
5. Track record
6. Motivated
7. Innovative
8. Problem solving
9. Communication skills
10. Dynamic

Sometimes less is more

A light profile tells HR follks you aren't looking.

LinkedIn

Interestingly, not every profile has to be brimming with text.

"Over the last year we have found that "skeleton" profiles, those that simply display an outline of work history, often make some of the best candidates," says Red Hat's Brock.

Those profiles sometimes indicate "top performers" who are so happy at their current companies that they aren't pounding the pavement looking for work, he explains.

"These are exactly the people we want to connect with and so we have begun to actively target these candidates as part of our recruiting strategy," Brock says.

Beyond words, think keywords

Load your profile up with skills but research them first

LinkeIn

LinkedIn has a beta application it calls "Skills." Skills can act as keywords that gets your profile to surface when the company is searching for prospects.

 

You can load up your LinkedIn profile with as many as 50 skills, but you should first research which skills are hot keywords on LinkedIn (more people adding them) and which are losing favor. Click on the Skills page (under the More menu) to get started.

But skills-as-keywords are not enough. Your profile needs to detail how you acquired these skills and what projects you used them on.

"Providing detail about the relevant skills you use to get your job done is one thing, including context on how you use them is another. Take that extra step and be descriptive and explanatory" explains Colleen McCreary, Zynga's Chief People Officer.

Kristin Kalscheur, a senior recruiter for Amazon, agrees. "Job seekers should ensure that their profiles are keyword-optimized." For instance, she says, software developers should name the specific programming languages they use. Product managers should provide details of "products you’ve built or overhauled, what role you played in the overall strategy and implementation, and how the products you created have improved customer satisfaction."

Backscratching recommendations can be spotted a mile away

Mozilla crew circa 2007

Flickr/fmg2001

Everyone agreed that recommendations are important, but not in the way you might think.

 

"Do recommendations matter? They do, but as with all good things, should be added in moderation," warns Bret Reckard, head of recruiting for Mozilla. "Too many recommendations will usually turn me away from a profile faster than zero. You could be awesome, or you could be trying too hard."

"It’s easy to ask a friend to write you a recommendation," says LinkedIn's Browne. "It’s much more meaningful if they come from executives, managers and clients or suppliers. ‘Scratch my back’ recommendations are easy to spot and don’t carry as much weight,"

Timing is also important, says Salesforce.com's Martin. A whole bunch of new ones indicates you are actively searching. "It is very unlikely you recently solicited a ton of recommendations and are not looking for a job." That sends a signal that you want to hear from hiring companies.

The ugly truth about photos

Colleen McCreary Zynga's Chief People Officer

Zynga. Used by permission.

Hiring professionals were split as to how much the photo mattered.

 

The photo matters "not at all. We hire people for what they can do to make Mozilla better, not for what they add/detract from the corporate phone-directory," says Reckard.

Others said photos can't help but leave an impression. "LinkedIn is a great place to connect employers and future employees. Recruiters use it day in and day out. So be mindful what you use to represent yourself," warns Zynga's McCreary.

While photos can be fun (you can wear your favorite team's baseball cap), beware they don't show poor taste (an offbeat cartoon character).

Show some social genius

Flickr/Fenng(dbanotes)

All tech companies want you to know your way around social media. Syncing your LinkedIn status with your Twitter stream is a good start, but only if the content is relevant to your career.

 

"When your LinkedIn profile has other social handles in it, it lets us know who you are on Twitter or Facebook," says Salesforce's Martin. "If it's there, it is definitely something we'll pay attention to."

"Interesting, insightful and sometimes unusual status updates are always a very good indication that someone is passionate about their field," says LinkedIn's Browne.

One time LinkedIn's CEO noticed a LinkedIn user "sharing some insightful feedback" on a beta product, recounts Browne. HR got in touch with person and heard more great ideas. LinkedIn eventually hired the person.

Zynga's McCreary adds: "It’s a bonus if you’re funny, but it’s usually not part of the job description."

It's not how many you know but who you know

Brendan Browne, Director of Global Talent Acquisition at LinkedIn

LinkedIn. Used by permission.

The number of connections in your network matters less than who those connections are.

 

Salesforce.com uses LinkedIn's recommendation engine to sift through the networks of all the company's employees looking for matches for job openings, says Martin. If your profile is full of the right keywords, you could bubble up from the crowd just by knowing an employee.

"Make meaningful connections," says LinkedIn's Browne. "If we see that someone in a relatively junior role is well connected to influential senior talent, that’s a great indication that they’re potentially a rising star."

Adds Mozilla's Reckard, "Large numbers of connections aren't as important as the quality of the connections. If I know and respect someone you know, it's a definite plus for you as a potential employee."

Be a mensch

Flickr/Bildbunt

Hiring pros are also looking to see what kind of person you are beyond work. Engaging in the conversation on the LinkedIn site about topics of personal interest can be a major plus.

 

"I like to see when candidates link to a personal website/blog from their profile. It's a great place to find a more well-rounded view of how a candidate will fit into our unique culture," says Mozilla's Reckard.

"Mozilla looks for people with strong motivations to contribute to society and these projects don't always make their way onto a traditional resume. LinkedIn is a perfect place to add this detail without sacrificing space normally used for work history," he explains.

LinkedIn's Browne agrees. "Well-rounded profiles including interests and even volunteer fields help give us a fuller picture of you as a person. It is great to see that someone is thoughtful of balancing their personal and professional life."

LinkedIn actually did some research which showed that 41 percent of hiring professionals "consider volunteer work equally as valuable as paid work experience when making recruitment decisions," Browne adds.

 

Our short-term memory is widely believed to have a capacity of seven elements, plus or minus two. This assumption has influenced a number of major decisions — it’s the reason that U.S. phone numbers have seven digits, for example. There are ways to trick your brain into being able to store more than seven (plus or minus two) items, however. One example of a hack around the limit is described in George Miller’s 1956 paper “The Magical Number Seven.“

Most people can only reliably differentiate between six tones on an absolute basis (people with perfect pitch, or roughly 3 percent of the U.S. population, can do so among up to 50-60 pitches, according to Miller), so the rest of us use relative pitch to differentiate amongst a wider range of tones.

Another approach is to connect items through a story. Stories serve as one of mankind’s most efficient compression algorithms, allowing people to dramatically exceed the seven-item limit. If you want to show your boss how hard you’ve worked, pack your presentation with data, charts, and bullet points — but if you want to have an impact, tell a story. The same goes for building great products, effective advertising and selling yourself as a candidate for a job.

What We Can Learn From World Memory Champions

How can someone remember the order of a random deck of cards in 25 seconds? That’s what current World Memory Champion Ben Pridmore has done. The previous champion, Andi Bell, can review 10 packs of cards (520 cards) in 20 minutes and then recall the details of every card by position. They both accomplish these memory feats by turning each card into some unrelated mental image and then linking the images together with a story. For more on Bell’s strategy, go here.

While Pridmore and Bell spend endless hours honing their craft, producers (of any type of content) can deliver value to consumers — be they a boss, customer or interviewer — by packaging content in the form of a story.

Applied Storytelling: The Pitch, the Resume, and the Product

1. The Pitch.

Don’t start your presentation in PowerPoint or Keynote — start with a storyboard. Take a sheet of paper or whiteboard, divide it into a few sections with horizontal and vertical lines, and write the storyline at the top of each slide. After you’ve nailed down your narrative, think about the images, videos and supporting examples that you can use to tell your story. If you do presentations with any frequency, buy “Beyond Bullet Points” or “Presentation Zen.” Your presentations will improve dramatically with a little practice.

2. The Resume.

If you don’t tell a story about your background, the interviewer will invent their own. So think about the story you want to tell about yourself before you craft your resume. You should obviously be honest, but you can craft the text of your resume and your interview pitch in a way that will leave the interviewer with the key points you want to get across rather than just a general impression of you based on what school you went to or how you dress.

And practice telling your story. First to yourself, then to your friends — over and over. No matter how impressive your accomplishments, your audience will have a hard time remembering them if all you do is offer a laundry list of disparate facts.

3. The Product.

Disneyland is an incredible place, but as I noticed, many of the rides are actually very similar to those found in other amusement parks. Yet despite the trek to get there and the crazy long lines, many kids are devout Disneyland fans. The difference is storytelling. The same can be said, albeit more subtlety, for many of the world’s top brands.

Next time you need to convey a complex idea — whether it’s a new product concept to your boss or a new product to a consumer audience — try telling a story. Doing so will help you organize your thoughts while at the same time, making it much more likely that your audience will listen — and remember — what you have to say.

Disclaimer - This is my personal resume format preference from years of giving advice and reading countless resumes. This format works for most people, especially Engineers, Managers, and Senior Executives. It looks basic and it is but hear me out...

First you must RESPECT your audience. Respect their time and get to the point! Do not give me every minute detail. The goal of a resume is to get an interview, resumes will not get you a job. Refer to my blogs on how to interview for interviewing tips. It's also key to know who your audience is when writing a resume. Let's face it, when that resume leaves your hands or your outbox, you don't know how many eyes will lay feast on your profile. 

When tasked with reviewing a lot of resumes, I almost always skim profiles. When someone is referred to me, or if they looked interesting upon initial skim, then I will do a more detailed skim. If the profile still looks good, I will read the resume before calling them. My money says that most people do a version of my skim or detailed skim. What I'm saying is, you have seconds to catch the readers eye. If you fail to capture their attention with something in your resume, there's a very good chance that it goes in the trash. 

I prefer resumes that convey very precisely, what you're looking for, what you've accomplished, and to portray yourself as a performer. Resume should NOT look like a job description, ever.  So here's the basic format --

 

Name and Contacts

john.doe@gmail.com (not sassyjohn@gmail.com)

your preferred phone number that has a professional voice message on it

Objective

You have to able to tell me what you're looking for!

Skills Summary 

This is a good place for an Engineer to list technologies that they are proficient in or an Administrative professional to list the tools they know well. If you are an Executive or a Sales professional, this is a good place for 2-4 well placed bullets that point the reader to your key abilities. This can be a place where you tell me what you're amazing at or what you're know for. Short and brief but if you are drawing a blank, skip this section.

Education

This can be placed here or below experience. If you have excellent education, I say you put it here.  

Experience

Who you worked for, the dates, and in a short paragraph, tell me in one or two sentences what your employer does and if they are a large company, tell me what your group/division does. Two sentences max.

Next paragraph or same depending on your preference. Tell me in paragraph form what you do. Not your job description, tell me what you do, brief details (that's an oxymoron but I hope it makes sense). Give me details but keep it to as few sentences as possible.

 

• Bullets must be strategically used. When skimmers skim, they read bullets. Don't have a resume of all bullets either! I feel proper use of bullets will get you more interviews than anything else on your resume.
• Stick to 2-4 bullet points per job.Tell me what makes you so special, this is a great place for accomplishments, and things that only YOU could have done. This is what sets you apart from the crowd. It's a great place for numbers, percentages, awards, etc.  
• Bullets must be brief and concise. Not multiple sentences like above.
• That's it, simple right!

 

Education (if not placed above Experience, Training, Awards, Patents, etc.  Do not list References or place your picture on your resume and don't tell me Reference Upon Request either!

In summary, you must use strategic bullets to catch your readers attention. Almost everyone reads bullets first. I read the name and quickly work my way to the juice. This is when a resume with all bullets or no bullets lose me, I don't know what to read and unless there's something there to convince me to read the whole resume, I simply move on to the next profile. So bullet points are key. This is where you tell me that you were at 200% of quota, won a CES award, took a product from concept to release in record time, received awards of any kind. 

When working with candidates to refine their resume, this is when I'm told... well, I didn't do anything that important. Listen to me, no matter how minor your accomplishments are in your mind, it will look good on paper. Accomplishments are the only thing that separates you from your competition. If you truly did not accomplish anything then it's time to evaluate your career (:

So now that you've caught my attention with your accomplishments, now I'll take the time to read your resume in detail. This is when I'll take the time to read details of your employer and details of your duties.

It's very strategic but I believe this is the best format. There's many variations to this format but it's a good starting point. I have other resume tips on this website, just click on the Resume tag. If you're already interviewing look for my Interview Strategies tag... to the right of the page.

Before you judge the title, I'm targeting everybody with this post.  We all need an elevator pitch, whether it's for networking, socializing, self employment or passive career marketing.

Have you ever tried to tell someone about your online business, your idea for a business, or your current job - but when you did, their eyes glazed over? You feel stupid or self-conscious because you know they're bored, confused or just don't get it. 

The truth is we’re already so inundated with information and overloaded with work everyday that it’s hard to interest us in anything. In fact, most of us happen to think, say and do the same things everyday. We just do it with slight variations. (That’s why you can’t help wanting to check your emails, tweets and text messages to see what’s fresh coming down the information pipeline. It’s human nature.) 

So how do you talk about what you do in a powerful way that will not only make people stop and listen, but will keep their attention? The answer: You need an elevator pitch - a way for you to instantly spark interest from your audience. 

The first trick is to be specific and focus on the problem you solve. An elevator pitch isn’t about your personal mission to change the world. Focus on the specifics. The critical mistake that most people make when asked “what do you do” is that they either go with a micro-level answer - telling people their daily tasks - or the macro-level answer of describing the industry they’re in. 

The problem? Everyone has a different perception of what a computer programmer does or what it means to be working in sales. In fact, the less specific answer you provide, the more confusing it gets. 

Instead of talking about abstract concepts, focus in on how you help people - specifically, the problem(s) that you solve. It’s should not be your personal mission to change the world, because most people are process-orientated. The ugly truth is nobody really cares about what you do; it’s about how you do it. 

The elevator pitch isn’t about selling or fancy words. It’s a way to effectively wake up people from their daily routines and sparks their curiosity. Don’t try to impress them with jargon. Great pitches make sense to people. Fancy words or phrases require your audience to figure out what you’re talking about - which leads to disconnects and confusion. Use simple words that are easy to understand. It should sound like something that happens in the real world that’s tangible, external, measurable and specific. 

Now that you know the key elements of a compelling elevator pitch, here is a simple template to use when creating yours: Start by saying, “you know how some people have this problem? (which happens to be the problem or challenge you solve) Well, I offer this solution. (which is how you solve it)” Notice how you are not describing your business or the process of what your product does. 

Here is an example – an elevator pitch for eBay. You know some people have stuff they want to get rid off but don’t want to give it all away for free? Well I offer a website that allows them to auction anything off to the highest bidder. To take this even further, you could narrow it down to a specific group of people and their problems. For example… You know how parents after their kids are grown want to get rid of all their baby stuff without giving it all away for nothing? Well, I offer an online auction website that lets them sell their used baby stuff within a week or we’ll offer to buy it from them. Do you know any parents that want to get paid with their used baby stuff? 

Remember, you can tailor the pitch to fit any scenarios or situation depending on your audience. This way you’ll have different versions of your elevator pitch to use when you meet a friend, an investor, a partner or a prospective customer.

This blog is for those that choose to stay with their employer for the long haul. This past decade has been very turbulent and there are many people who wish they had this problem. Despite this, I speak with several people a week that have stayed with their employer for at least 7-10 years, some are even loyal for 10-20 years. This blog is for you.

Years ago, employees were expected to stay with one job for most or all of their career. Now the rules of the job hunt have changed. Employers often seek out candidates who are on the move, honing their skills and seeking out the best opportunities, even if it means collecting employee handbooks in the process.

Should you become the employee with 10 years of experience at one firm or the professional who has worked for three different companies during the last 10 years? Let's look at the pros and cons of long term employment as opposed to being a job hopper.

Pros of a long term employment: 

It shows dependability and stability. Employers want people they can trust; they want personnel who show up regularly, do their work well, and don't make life difficult for their bosses. If an organization is willing to keep you around for a sustained period of time, you must be doing something right.

The longer you stay at a position, the easier it becomes. You learn the ropes, how to "recycle" your knowledge and organize your projects. That means you might have free time to work on a personal project, go back to school or work toward another goal. It might be a good idea to hold onto a job if you want to expand your education or make a career transition. When you learn every nook and cranny of a position, it becomes easier to coast on autopilot, so you can continue earning a steady paycheck while working on Plan B. It's predictable. Use a job's predictability to your advantage--predictability makes it easier to plan your personal life. When you learn the ebb and flow of your work routine, you can better manage your time out of work. This allows you to keep your roots firmly planted with one organization, while nursing the limbs, branches, leaves and flowers of your personal life.

Cons of long term employment:

It may leave you unmotivated. If your title hasn't changed, your paycheck hasn't increased and responsibilities haven't expanded, staying with a company for years may raise a red flag with a future potential employer. Hiring managers want to see professional and personal growth, a person who cares about what they do and looks for opportunities for improvement.

It can lead to complacency. This can sneak up on you like the flu in the summer. One minute you're busting your butt, the next you're settling. Every season, you should reflect on your job and think about how a hiring agent will perceive your tenure. Are you becoming the lifer you promised you'd never be? If the work no longer excites you and the company is not willing to invest in you, it's time to find an organization that will.

You might lose touch. Every industry changes, including yours. When you stay at a job for too long, your network may stop growing. Unless you continue putting conscious effort into meeting new people, staying with an employer for too long can hinder your ability to branch out. It's also difficult to keep your skills sharp when you're dealing with the same group of people for an extended period of time.

The best job candidates find a balance between long term employment and job hopping and it shows on their resume. While you don't want to be a nomad or a hired gun, you may not want to be a lifer either. Every hiring manger looks for something different, so play it safe by showing how your experience has afforded you the best of both worlds.

Person-of-the-Year Worksheet

You are featured on the cover of Time magazine as the "Person of the year."

• What would you want to be recognized for?
• How are your values reflected?
• What items are mentioned as your greatest accomplishment?
• What does it say about your background and experience?
• What credentials are cited in the article?
• What qualities are highlighted?

Formatting Your Biography

In General:

• Limit your biography to one page.
• Include your telephone number and email.
• Do not burden your reader or presenter with too many changes in fonts and formatting.
• Do not italicize when preparing a biography that is to be read before an audience.
• Print your biography on high-quality paper in a neutral color. 

Specific Guidelines

Top of page:

State your full name and title.

First paragraph:

Connect with your reader or audience at once.  This is your first chance to make a lasting impression, so try to link your profile or work to the reader's interest or the audience's subject.

Second paragraph:

Describe your biggest, best, or highest impact effort / accomplishment.  This is the "WOW!" factor that sets you apart from others.  If you use your name again in this paragraph, use your first name only.

Third paragraph:

Briefly outline your general background and emphasize special skills.  This is your opportunity for shameless self-promotion as you connect with your reader or your audience.  Outline who you know, where you are affiliated, and how you are strategically connected to their interests.

Fourth paragraph:

Validate your self-promotion by citing your educational credentials, certifications, professional designations, and business-related awards.

Note: If your biography is being used as an introduction before a speech, consider reversing paragraphs two and four.

Components of a Powerful Biography

Attention, Please...

When someone plans to use your professional biography to introduce you as a speaker, you can take steps to assure that the oral presentation goes well.  Your introduction is important because it cements your image early in the minds of audience members, Set the stage:

• Send your biography to the presenter well in advance of the speaking engagement.
• Offer to rehearse with the presenter to give you both a sense of comfort.

Words on Paper

Words on paper create pictures.  The word-picture you want to paint of yourself is one of a competent, confident, action-oriented professional.  Choose words that add force and direction to your achievements.  Consider looking up some action verbs on Google.

Learning Objectives

You will Learn:

• To use the power of a well-written professional biography to introduce yourself and to achieve certain well-defined communications’ goal.
• To develop a biography that speaks to its intended audience and displays your strengths in a most positive, compelling, and appropriate light.
• To make the most of your background and credentials in a variety of important settings and uses.

Uses of a Professional Biography.
A credible, creative biography can be used in many ways to introduce yourself and to display your credentials. Consider the following applications.

• As a marketing tool for job seekers
• As an internet marketing tool
• As an introductory statement
• As a handout to a publication
• In place of a resume
• To present a speaker
• To confirm credentials
• To add substance to a business proposal
• To favorably influence a request for funding or investment

Guidelines for a Winning Biography

A good biography is a factual document. A great biography is a factual and creative document. An exceptional biography is a factual, creative, and memorable document.
The best biographies are succinct and follow certain guidelines:

1. No two biographies are alike. Your professional career is not like anyone else’s. Be sure to express your qualities and achievements in your own words with your own “take” on what’s important.
2. Serious professionals – Serious biographies.  Consider your audience; do no burden your reader with lengthy sentences about personal matters unless the information applies directly to the subject for which the biography has been prepared.
3. Put yourself in other’s shoes.  Your presentation will always be stronger if you design your biography from the readers’ point of view.
4. Don’t use a boilerplate biography.  Avoid the temptation to send your old biography to the next requester. Update, modify, or otherwise customize it for each occasion or audience.
5. Use powerful business language to showcase yourself.  Your biography is an acceptable opportunity for exuberant self-promotion.
6. Includes a “WOW!” factor.  This factor is the critical connection between you and your reader or audience. Properly written, a unique “WOW!” is the reason people remember you long after the biography has been read or the event concluded.

This is a very basic guide for those that choose to handle their compensation negotiations without the help of a recruiter.  No two negotiations are alike and this article is meant to give you a solid foundation on negotiating the best possible compensation.

Learning Objectives

You will learn:

• How to respond to questions about salary that are posed at different times in the interview process.
• How to acknowledge (but not accept) an offer and request time to consider it.
• How to initiate a discussion that resolves the differences between a job offer and what you need or want.

Handling Salary Questions

At any part of the job search and interviewing process, expect to be asked your salary history, your most recent salary, or your salary expectations.  Try to avoid such disclosures, since they rob you of any opportunity for negotiation.

Naming a number may create any of the following reactions:

• The figure seems too high, and they don't yet see why you might be worth it.
• The figure seems to low, and they may question your qualification for the job.
• The number is in their range, but your bargaining position is made more complicated because they know where you fall in their range, but you don't.

First, you must be convinced yourself that your prior salary has nothing to do with what you should be paid for a potential new job nor what the company is prepared to pay you to do it.

Try to avoid discussing salary until an offer is made.  Until they are convinced you are the one for the job, they have no interest in what you want.

Know your bottom line, your "walk away amount," and research position compensation ranges beforehand.

There are a number of times when you may need to respond to salary inquiries.  Here are some suggestions on how to handle those questions.

State Salary History

Usually requested when replying to job ads and web applications.  This almost always means "salary requirements or expectations."  This is an attempt to screen out applicants with salaries too high and sometimes, too low.  Your salary history is not relevant to the position for which you are applying.  The position responsibilities may be higher or lower than other jobs you have had, or the company may be one which pays more or less for the position.

How to handle - It's your decision to include or not include this information. 

1. If you do not provide this information and you match the job qualifications exactly, you probably will not be screened out.  They will try to obtain salary information from you later.
2. If you feel you must include your salary history, provide an accurate one.  There are too many ways the company can verify this information. 

State Salary Requirements

Usually requested when replying to job ads, web applications, or initial screening by HR Representatives.  Again, it is an attempt to screen you out or in, and provides a starting point for the employer on which to base the offer, without respect to what the employer might have been prepared to pay.

How to handle:

1. Leave the salary information blank.  If the application specifies "Please fill in all information," then write in "Open" or "Negotiable" in the blanks.
2. If you know the employer's salary range for the position and are compelled to write something in the blank, state your requirements as a range, with the top of the employer's range being the midpoint of your range.

Early Interview Process

This is usually asked by an HR Representative conducting the initial screening interview.

How to handle:

1. "I would prefer to learn more about the position and responsibilities before getting into salary discussions."
2. "I would like to come back to discuss that after I am able to provide a better picture of what I have to offer."

Later in the Interview Process

Usually asked by the hiring manager, the person to whom you would report.

How to handle:

1. "I'm most interested in learning about the opportunity at XYZ Company first.  When I more fully understand the scope of responsibility, I'll be able to give you an idea of the compensation I would expect."
2. "Your company has a reputation for fair compensation.  I don't think salary will be a problem.  I would like to ask you some additional questions about what would be expected in this position."
3. "I'm sure that XYZ Company has a fair compensation scale, and if we decide that this match is a good one, I'm confident that we will be able to agree on a salary."
4. "The issue isn't as much what I want, it's what you have budgeted for this position.  Most companies work within salary ranges.  If I knew what the range for this position was, I'd be able to tell you if that fits what I would expect.  What is the salary range for this position?"
5. Most effective if done right is to make a neutral and noncommittal response, then ask another question related to the position.  Deflection doesn't always work but with a little practice, you'll be a pro.

When the Questions Become More Direct

Communicate your desire to fit into their budget or salary structure, not to be compared to your former job or company.

How to handle:

1. "Actually, the responsibilities are different from my previous position, so the salaries are really not comparable.  I would prefer to fit into your salary structure."
2. I would prefer to fit in with your scale for this position, given its level of responsibility."

If the Interviewer is Really Insistent

You do not want to antagonize the interviewer, potentially your next manager.

How to handle:

1. "As I have researched information about salaries for this level position, the market value of the total compensation package is between (give a range)."
2. "If I package together all the factors, I would expect a base compensation package in the (range), competitive (or a percentage range) stock options, plus standard company benefits."
3. "When I consider what my total compensation package would have come to this year, it would have been $xxx, including $xxx for base salary and taking into account that my former company provided a generous benefit package."

After a recent blog about resume tips, I realized there's so much more I could have included and this addendum will cover more areas but there's always more!

More things to Avoid

Before we get to writing content, let's start with more things to avoid when writing your resume.

• Microsoft templates, skip them.  Make your resume pop.  Lose the built-in template everyone else has and come up with something unique.
• Stretching the truth.  You can be called on your bluff. Write what you know instead.
• Attempting One Size Fits All.  Whenever you try to develop a one-size-fits-all resume to send to all employers and recruiters, you almost always end up with something that will end up in the recycle bin.  Recruiters and Employers want you to write a resume specifically for us. We expect you to clearly show how and why you fit the position in a specific organization.
• Going on Too Long or Cutting Things Too Short.  Despite what you may read or hear, there are no rules governing the length of your resume. The one page or two page rule does not exist.  Understand my frame of reference, I deal mainly with Technical Professionals and Executives.  We need details.  The point here is, don't cut your resume short just to keep it under two pages.  Give us all the details necessary while balancing length versus readability.  You don't want to write a novel either.  This also goes back to the point above with writing customized resumes for every job you apply for. 

Quantify Achievements

I can spot bull excrement at 100 yards, just like the rest of the intelligent world.  Statements with quantifiable achievements aren't just easier to read, they make for stronger points.  

For example: Instead of this:I am a talented and popular writer dedicated to writing good documents fast.

Try this:Wrote upwards of eight articles per day and can attract an audience of over 30,000 unique visitors.

Which of these sounds like the better deal to you? Showcase what you can bring to your prospective company.

Keep It Simple

Expect your resume to be skimmed.  Make it as easy as possible for us to see why you are so special.  We tend to read lists and skip over paragraphs. So, when it comes down to a choice between the two, keep the most important information in a bulleted list.  You can scan a list much quicker than a paragraph, this way we will take away more raw information from your neatly listed resume, helping you stand out. 

Keep this in perspective.  Too often I find resumes that are basically a bulleted resume.  Everything is in bullets.  Including boring details that read like job responsibilities.  I don't care about that!  I want to know what make you different, list your accomplishments, not your responsibilities. 

Something else to keep in mind and this goes back to writing a customized resume for every job... you must have pertinent information on the first page of your resume.  You must catch the readers eye with the first page if you have multiple pages.  Otherwise, all the great details will not be read if your initial page is full of fluff.

It's like watching the news and they say red wine is good for your heart and suddenly you switch to a red wine diet.  Common sense rules apply here too!

Include key terms

Increasingly, resumes are entered into systems that scan them for key terms applicable to the job. This is especially true of resumes submitted in soft copy, whether to a recruiting site or directly to a prospective employer. These systems weed out any that don't contain the right trigger words. Employers don't mind if this costs them a few good candidates, since they still have more than they can talk to, but it doesn't have to affect you. Make sure the key terms are in your resume somewhere - and that they're spelled right, especially if they're technojargon or product names that a spell-checker can't check

When you send Perito Eleven your resume, it's read by recruiters, not machines.  It's more important for us to able to see key terms on a skim.  Believe it or not, I actually prefer to work with candidates that will pick up the phone and call!  Let me know you exist so we can get down to business!

Edit Ruthlessly

Keep everything important both on the first page and up high. Don't give us a chance to skip your most important selling points.  Take a very hard line on clutter.  If there's anything that detracts from exactly why you'd be perfect for the job, remove it.