There’s No Business Like Show Business…
Here’s a useful site for those of you looking to work in “The Biz.” Variety’s The Biz bills itself as the first job and networking site for entertainment professionals.
You don’t have to be a star, baby, to be in show business. The current most popular tags on their site are Sales, Marketing, Production, Director, Research, and Writers. And the most popular job searches are (as of this writing) Film Jobs, TV Jobs, Music Jobs, Production Jobs, and Finance Jobs.
Granted, a lot of these jobs are going to be in California and New York, but a quick search for jobs in Alabama yielded 105 results, and Georgia had 368 results. The jobs were across the board, ranging from system analyst positions to assignment editors, from recruiting jobs to associate producers. Companies posting jobs ranged from TV stations and Movie studios to Cable companies and even Google.
To your success,
David B. Wright
Author, Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves
www.thegetajobbook.com
Sometimes You Get What You Pay For
OK, I admit it. I can be a bit on the frugal side sometimes. In fact, I’ve gotten pretty good at finding great deals. But sometimes you get what you pay for, too. I check the site FreeAfterRebate.info (which often has some fantastic deals, by the way!) and found a listing they had for free resume templates.
So I clicked through, and it took me to another site where, frankly, I was more than a little disappointed. Of the “10 most popular resume templates” there wasn’t a single one I would recommend using. The closest one would be the “Professional Resume” but even that one would have to be modified significantly to pass muster.
The biggest beef I have with those free resumes is that they use too much fancy formatting and colors that distract from the content of the resume. Some of them would be OK if they just removed either the unnecessary colors or the lines or tables.
Why would anyone use purple, green, orange, hot pink, or red on a resume? It’s like wearing a clown suit to an interview - you might grab their attention but it’s not likely you’ll get the job offer.
I was listening to Earl Nightinggale’s excellent program “Lead The Field”
Face it, people make snap judgments all the time, and this is especially true when it comes to sorting through resumes. Your resume might get an 8-20 second scan before being either discarded or kept for closer review later. So do you want the recruiter to actually read through your resume, where your accomplishments and qualifications have a chance to speak for you, or do you want your resume to be thrown away before the recruiter even reads it?
So my advice is to stick with a black & white resume, with little formatting (bullets, bold text, and underlining are all fine). Get rid of the text boxes, tables, borders, lines, and so on. For more you can buy my book, in either the paperback version or the e-book version, and/or get a free special report on the top 7 resume mistakes.
To your success,
David B. Wright
Author, Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves
www.thegetajobbook.com
Organizing Your Workspace
Here’s a very useful article by David Allen, author of the extremely useful book, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
I stumbled across his website about 7 years ago, and spent about an hour reading various tips, many of which I implemented immediately - and more importantly, still use today. He offers a collection of free articles in addition to various books, supplies, and more.
Getting and staying organized can definitely reduce the stress involved in a job search - having everything you need easily accessible and where it should be can save you time when you need to reply quickly or want to accomplish those 2 or 3 extra things each day that can make a huge difference.
“The workspace should function like a cockpit – all the controls easily accessible as required, allowing for maximum focus on the work at hand, quick over-viewing of work to be done, and easy ad hoc processing of all forms of input (from email, paper mail, phone, and live conversation).
BASIC HARDWARE
Here’s a basic toolkit:
- In-basket (top basket)
- Work-in-progress basket
- Standing wire racks for file folders (work-in-progress support)
- Out-basket
- Computer
- Printer (have one right at hand – it’ll save you hours!)
- Clock
- Phone/answering machine
- Capture/communication tools – writing pad, stapler, tape; desk tray and holders for pens, post-its, paper clips, scissors, stamps
- Labeller (for files)
- New file folders (lots, at hand!)
- Filing cabinets (within reach)
- Telephone/address database
- Calendar
- Personal supplies (best in at-hand drawers): pharmaceuticals, refills for writing instruments, batteries, business cards, stationery, envelopes, headphones, blank CDs, small tools, and the like.”
For the rest of article go here.
To your success,
David B. Wright
Author, Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves
www.thegetajobbook.com
The Slight Edge
I read an interesting article about The Slight Edge Philosophy - it’s not a new concept, but one that can have a huge impact on your career, your salary, your productivity, and in fact your overall quality of life as a whole.
Here’s a brief excerpt from the article:
“WINNING IS ALWAYS A MATTER OF SLIGHT EDGE. Who can forget that moving moment of triumph in the ‘94 Olympics when American speed-skater Dan Jansen at last overcame years of discouragement, disappointment, and frustration to finally win the gold medal in the 1000 meters, setting a world record of one minute, 12.43 seconds?
Do you know by how much of a margin Jansen won? Do you know what the difference was between the winning world record gold medal and the virtual oblivion of second place?
Twenty-nine hundredths of a second! That’s a very Slight Edge!
No matter where you look, no matter in what area of accomplishment, life, work, or play-the difference between winning and losing, between going down in the record books as first and best…or not at all-the gap that separates success and failure is always measured as … THE SLIGHT EDGE.
And the best news of all is that it’s not just the winning goal that’s THE SLIGHT EDGE. The Slight Edge is the process itself that all winners use to achieve their goals. ”
In your job search, how much faster would you get hired if you took the few minutes each day it would take to send your resume to one extra (targeted) company? Or making that one extra phone call to someone who may know someone at a company you’d love to work for?
In your daily work, how much more effective would you be if you did one extra thing each day? What if, instead of taking that trip to Starbucks, you got coffee from the breakroom and used the “extra” time to work towards something that would help your career? (Tip: work on one of those things in Steven Covey’s Quadrant of “Important and not urgent” during this time) from his classic book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
How about your finances - instead of that $4.00 daily trip to Starbucks, if you got your coffee from the breakroom for free, you’d save $1,000 per year (based on a 50-week work year, 5 days per week at $4.00 per day), not counting whatever return you’d get by investing that money instead of drinking it. That’s like getting a $1500/year raise (since you’d be spending post-tax dollars) just by changing one simple habit!
Or knowledge - how much more would you know if you just spent an extra 15 minutes a day (or only 1/96th of a day) reading something that would help you get that extra edge over your competition?
For more, there is a book called The Slight Edge: Secret to a Successful Life
To your success,
David B. Wright
Author, Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves
www.thegetajobbook.com
Tim Ferris Shares 5 Tips for E-mailing Busy People
Many of you have read Tim Ferris’ outstanding book, The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich
If you’re at all familiar with his book, you’re probably wondering why in the world I’m even mentioning it in a blog geared towards job seekers. Well, here’s why: Tim also runs a useful blog, and in a recent post he shares tips for emailing busy (read: important) people. This can be tremendously helpful in your job search, particularly with the large percentage of jobs being found through personal connections and connections of your personal connections.
Tim writes:
“Even after outsourcing my e-mail to a virtual assistant, there are still a few messages that come over the transom.
Since the success of the book, I’ve been able to see some of the worst e-mail pitches out there. Here is an example of how to do it properly, with 5 tips and good template phrases bolded:”
(see his blog post for the email example)
Now for the real value: his dissection of the email and explanation of why it’s far more likely to get a response than most of the email that clogs up the old inbox…
“Here are a few notes on this e-mail and what makes it more likely to get a response:
1. It’s short and what he’s requesting is clear. No “let’s jump on the phone for 10 minutes; it’ll be worth your time.”
2. He made an impression in our initial meeting, and he hasn’t irritated me with zero-content “keeping in touch” e-mails. He hasn’t worn out his inbox welcome.
3. He makes it clear that he’s doing his part and has explored other avenues before asking for my help. It’s amazing how many would-be mentees or beneficiaries ask busier people for answers Google could provide in 20 seconds. That puts you on the banned list. Explicitly state what you’ve done to get answers or help yourself.
4. He used the executive recruiter referral trick. Seldom will a headhunter call a gainfully employed CXO-level executive and ask them to take another position. They’ll instead ask the exec if they know anyone who might be interested in position X. The intention is clear (might you consider this job over your current employer?), but it gives the executive a comfortable decline option.
5. He makes it clear that it’s OK if I can’t help or if I’m too committed elsewhere. This — paradoxically — makes it much more likely he’ll get a response, which he did.
The above 5 tenets should be considered for any e-mail to someone who probably deletes more e-mail in a day than you read in a week. If they appear in media regularly, assume that you are competing against at least 100 similar requests.”
As a job seeker, or someone at any stage in their career, this information should be of tremendous use to you. For example, take point #3. As a job seeker, after a brief elevator pitch on your relevant background, you could mention how you’ve researched the company on Hoovers, read their annual report and the press releases they issued over the past 6 months (which are usually available on their company website and also on investor websites), and searched on LinkedIn for contacts and information.
Keep it short and simple, though, so that your well-prepared request doesn’t come across as an annoying imposition.
To your success,
David B. Wright
Author, Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves
www.thegetajobbook.com
P.S. In case you’re curious, the other two most powerful books I read last year are The Think and Grow Rich Action Pack
Can you get hired in 1/30th of a second?
1/30th of a second… that’s all it was. But that 1/30th of a second has raised a bit of a ruckus thanks to a post on YouTube, where a video posted has already been viewed over 750,000 times and another similar video being viewed over 990,000 times! It happened on the widely watched cook-off “The Iron Chef” and in case you haven’t heard, it’s about subliminal advertising. McDonald’s denies it, the show’s producers say it was a technical error, but many think it was a form of subliminal advertising being tested.
As marketer and “subliminal persuasion” guru Dave Lakhani writes in his blog,
“…the real question is does short exposure to messages have an impact. It would appear that in the case of video it does. This research from University College London ‘found the first physiological evidence that invisible subliminal images do attract the brain’s attention on a subconscious level.’”
So what does this matter to you, as a job seeker? Would you like to super-size your Iron-Chef-prepared gourmet meal? Or how about subliminally super-sizing the chances that your video resume stands out above the rest?
(Hire me)
Now this isn’t a recommendation, nor have I tried this, but I wonder what impact subliminal advertising would have in the form of, say, a video resume?
With video editing software, it would be quite easy to pop in a frame that says “Hire Me” into an otherwise ordinary (or hopefully, extraordinary) video resume. Anyone game? Among the recruiters reading this, do you even look at video resumes?
Or in a traditional resume, what about using the first letters of your bullet points to make a subliminal statement such as:
-Have managed teams of up to 20 people with project budgets over $5 Million
-In-depth knowledge of industry issues, best practices, and emerging trends
-Reduced delivery costs by 32.4% through effective workforce utilization
-Effectively utilized technology to streamline processes and reporting
-Managed projects to budget, timeline, and business requirements
-Executed in-depth cost savings analysis to save clients $1.2 Billion over 3 years
Do you see that “subliminal” message? ;o)
Perhaps instead of a text blog, I should have done a video post….Maybe I should pop in a quick frame that says “Buy My Book!”?
To your success,
David B. Wright
Author, Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves
www.thegetajobbook.com
I was spreading the love at Re:Focus on Careers
This was originally posted on The Recruiters Lounge, but I thought that the readers here might receive some benefit as well. (Hope so - Smile.)
Jim Stroud
***
I don’t get out as often as I could (or as I should) I suppose, so when I do venture my head out of my laptop, I like to make a show of it. (I think those who attended SourceCon2007 know what I am talking about.) Well, I was invited by Debbie Rodkin to chat to a group of jobseekers and offer them tips on how to better position themselves online so recruiters (and sourcers) can find them. Well, I gave a few tips that I thought were common knowledge. Judging by the reaction of the crowd not everyone was hip to my jive, which made for a most interesting session.
The biggest takeaways from my session were:
- If you want Recruiters to find you online, placing your resume on Monster is a good start, but not the finish. Use free web hosting sites (like Geocities, plus I gave them a list) to put your resume online for free. (And if you can get a domain name related to what you do, that would be even better.) Here are a few people that took my advice and did just that: Atlanta Brand Consultant, Ellen Miller and Landa Flowers
- Use Google Adwords to promote your resume online. Its cheap to join, you set your own budget and its HIGHLY effective.
- If you have your resume in Monster, Careerbuilder, HotJobs and others, edit your resume once a week (or more). It does not matter if you change a comma or a paragraph; editing it will convince the system that your resume is “fresh” and as a result, it will bring your resume higher in the search results. (wink)
Debbie “paid” me for my time with a delicious cake that I took great pleasure in. (Smile) Yummy! Below are a few pictures from the event. Please ignore my growing gut, I will be working out more this week. (Especially since Debbie’s cake is gone.)
This is Debbie and I flexing our muscles.
And these are our “Supermodel” poses. (I think they need work.)
This is me explaining the Google AdWords thing and how it could benefit them.
Here is another one of me saying… something. (I don’t know.)
This is me smiling for the camera. (I’m such a ham sometimes.) You would think I was running for office.
Oh! Almost forgot (embarrassed face), I want to give a shout-out to my friend David Wright who was also there. David has written a VERY good book called - “The Get A Job Book” and was gracious enough to give a copy away as a door prize. Although I created a blog called - The Job Search Strategist, David does most (pretty much all) of the writing for it. Click here to check it out!
Hope my pics did not scare you too much.
E’ you later!
Jim
.
Useful resource - the Occupational Outlook Handbook
Here’s a useful resource for your career and your job search. The US Government Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics compiles information on job markets, job types, job titles, salary information, job outlook, and more. They make this information available to anyone who wants it. It can be a great way to get an overview of current statistics for nearly any career, as well as what is expected for the future trends of employment in a large number of fields.
The Government’s premier career reference book on occupations and tomorrow’s job market. For nearly 60 years, this versatile volume has proven useful to both career counselors, students, and other job seekers. Completely revised every 2 years, the Occupational Outlook Handbook is a comprehensive, up-to-date, and reliable source of career information. Useful for looking up information on particular occupations, or just browsing through possible careers, the Handbook discusses hundreds of occupations that in 2006 accounted for about 7 out of every 8 jobs in the United States. For each career, it describes work activities and environment, earnings, number of jobs and their location, and types of education, training, and personal qualifications needed to have the best prospects. BLS projections of employment to the year 2016 are used to assess what kind of job opportunities future entrants to each occupation should encounter. Available in paper, hard cover, and CD-ROM.
You can order a copy by clicking on the image above, this link, or you can most likely find a copy at your local library that you can access for free!
To your success,
David B. Wright
Author, Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves
www.thegetajobbook.com
Addressing Career Gaps on Your Resume
Nearly everyone has some sort of gap in employment at some point in their career. The days of “lifetime employment” are all but extinct. While most gaps are relatively short, up to a few months, sometimes they end up being much longer. Or perhaps it’s not really an employment gap but a career gap - what do you do if you’re seeking to re-enter a career after an extended time doing something else?
Susan Ireland addresses this question well here:
Career Gap on Resume
Question
I was a Landscape Architect with over a 15 years experience, licensed and educated with a degree in the field. (It is a fairly narrow profession). I faded out of that career in 2001 and became a self-employed, on-line bookseller with every intention of not going back into L/arch.
However, I have changed my mind! I am eager to re-enter the profession because I miss the challenge, the people and working on creative projects.
My question is: Do you think I should “expose my gap” in L/arch in the cover letter, in my resume or at the interview?? There is no way I can hide this fact, nor do I want to… In the architectural field we usually show a portfolio at the interview and I have nothing to show after 2001… Being a bookseller does not mean I was unemployed, it’s just that most of these firms will want to know who I am presently working for and what projects I am working on. Personally, I do not consider it a working gap, but a career gap. What do you think? — Cliff
Answer
Cliff, you are right to consider this a career gap, not an employment gap. Here’s what I suggest you do:
Use the chronological resume format. As the first entry at the top of your Experience section put:
2001 - present, Freelance Landscape Architect (concurrent with online sales venture)
- Mention a few landscape projects that you’ve done during this time (I’m sure you didn’t keep you hands out of the soil or off the drawing board!) The projects can be ones at your own home or ones you volunteered for in the community. Don’t forget to include interesting projects you consulted on like that hillside landscaping in your neighbor’s backyard, the redeign of your aunt’s rock garden, and other projects you gave advice for.
- Briefly refer to administrative aspects of your online business that are relevant to working for a landscape company. Maybe you designed marketing pages, used your database skills, or your customer service talents to enhance business.
- If your online book business specialized in selling landscape-related books, include something about that.
For the rest of the article, go here
To your success,
David B. Wright
Author, Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves
www.thegetajobbook.com
What is Your Greatest Weakness?
Here’s a useful post from Lavie Margolin’s blog, Lavie’s Job Advisement
How do I answer the question, “What is your greatest weakness?”
“Remember an interview is your chance to continue to ‘sell’ an employer on your appropriateness for their job opening. Every answer that you give should make your candidacy stronger.
“I suggest explaining a challenge/problem that you may have had, what you went about doing to solve it and what the end result was.
“Try to keep it in the realm of the industry for which you are applying.
“Here is an example:
“ ‘Most of my computer skills were strong but I knew my Excel knowledge needed some work. I have been working diligently to practice in the evenings and learn all the unique features about the program. I now feel much more confident in my knowledge of the program and I continue to learn more everyday.’ ”
“An interviewer wants to get insight into how you will deal with challenges on the job. Show them how you approach a situation and can be successful no matter what the challenge.”
Good post, Lavie!
To your success,
David B. Wright
Author, Get A Job! Your Guide to Making Successful Career Moves
www.thegetajobbook.com
