Stand Out From the Crowd with Simple Marketing Methods
Although today's job market can be very competitive, many job seekers overlook simple techniques that will catch potential employers' attention. Apply these eight ideas to stay ahead of your competitors and get hired now! 1. BRAND YOURSELF. Target, Macy's, and Neiman Marcus are all retailers. But you can easily tell them apart because of their effective branding. Apply the concept of branding to your job search. How are you unique or different? What makes you a star? 2. CREATE SOLID MARKETING MATERIALS AND PACKAGE THEM WELL. Does your résumé present specific accomplishments, complete with results that demonstrate what you can do for a potential employer? If not, why not? Is it clean, neat, and easy to read? Do you have a personal business card? Does it convey quality? 3. WRITE POWERFUL COVER LETTERS that communicate your achievements, demonstrate you professionalism, and excite perspective employers. Use short sentences and short paragraphs. Keep them to one page! 4. HAVE YOUR 10-SECOND COMMERCIAL READY TO GO. Make it snappy and compelling! Use it to describe your skills or a recent accomplishment. 5. THINK ABOUT THE EMPLOYER'S NEEDS, NOT YOUR AGENDA. Never mind your agenda (getting a job), think about the employer's agenda (solving a problem). What problem are they trying to solve? Describe how you can help. Then follow up, follow up, follow up. 6. PREPARE YOUR TELEPHONE SCRIPTS. Write one to use when you get a live person on the line, a second when leaving your first voice mail message, and a third one for your follow-up voice mail message. Practice it in front of a mirror until you can deliver it naturally. Stand, smile, and speak into a mirror when delivering it. 7. EXPECT REJECTIONS AND OJBECTIONS. Handle them without getting flustered. "I can understand your concern about (their objection or concern), and because of my (skills, experience with, and so on) that has never been an issue." 8. LOOK FOR OPPORTUNITIES TO ADD TO YOUR SKILLS. Take a class, accept a volunteer assignment, or join a professional association. Learn, grow, and interact with the potential movers and shakers in your industry. Give them a preview of what you will deliver when they hire you. Mary Jeanne Vincent is the author of Acing the Interview tip cards featuring answers to the top 20 "killer" interview questions. Also included are tips for interviewing in the new economy, ideas for responding to illegal and trick questions, and suggestions for avoiding 10 deadly interview mistakes. Go to http://www.2bworkwise.com for free job search articles and to sign up for the free WorkWise e-zine. For information on individual job and career coaching or to find out about other practical, easy-to-use career tools call Mary Jeanne at 831.657.9151.
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The thought of writing a resume intimidates almost anyone. It's difficult to know where to start or what to include. It can seem like an insurmountable task. Here are 15 tips to help you not only tackle the task, but also write a winning resume.
1. Determine your job search objective prior to writing the resume. Once you have determined your objective, you can structure the content of your resume around that objective. Think of your objective as the bull's-eye to focus your resume on hitting. If you write your resume without having a clear objective in mind, it will likely come across as unfocused to those that read it. Take the time before you start your resume to form a clear objective.
2. Think of your resume as a marketing tool. Think of yourself as a product, potential employers as your customers, and your resume as a brochure about you. Market yourself through your resume. What are your features and benefits? What makes you unique? Make sure to convey this information in your resume.
3. Use your resume to obtain an interview, not a job. You don't need to go into detail about every accomplishment. Strive to be clear and concise. The purpose of your resume is to generate enough interest in you to have an employer contact you for an interview. Use the interview to provide a more detailed explanation of your accomplishments and to land a job offer.
4. Use bulleted sentences. In the body of your resume, use bullets with short sentences rather than lengthy paragraphs. Resumes are read quickly. This bulleted sentence format makes it easier for someone to quickly scan your resume and still absorb it.
5. Use action words. Action words cause your resume to pop. To add life to your resume, use bulleted sentences that begin with action words like prepared, developed, monitored, and presented.
6. Use #'s, $'s and %'s. Numbers, dollars, and percentages stand out in the body of a resume. Use them. Here are two examples:
Managed a department of 10 with a budget of $1,000,000.
Increased sales by 25% in a 15-state territory.
7. Lead with your strengths. Since resumes are typically reviewed in 30 seconds, take the time to determine which bullets most strongly support your job search objective. Put those strong points first where they are more apt to be read.
8. Play Match Game. Review want ads for positions that interest you. Use the key words listed in these ads to match them to bullets in your resume. If you have missed any key words, add them to your resume.
9. Use buzzwords. If there are terms that show your competence in a particular field, use them in your resume. For marketing people, use "competitive analysis." For accounting types, use "reconciled accounts."
10. Accent the positive. Leave off negatives and irrelevant points. If you feel your date of graduation will subject you to age discrimination, leave the date off your resume. If you do some duties in your current job that don't support your job search objective, leave them off your resume. Focus on the duties that do support your objective. Leave off irrelevant personal information like your height and weight.
11. Show what you know. Rather than going into depth in one area, use your resume to highlight your breadth of knowledge. Use an interview to provide more detail.
12. Show who you know. If you have reported to someone important such as a vice president or department manager, say so in your resume. Having reported to someone important causes the reader to infer that you are important.
13. Construct your resume to read easily. Leave white space. Use a font size no smaller than 10 point. Limit the length of your resume to 1-2 pages. Remember, resumes are reviewed quickly. Help the reader to scan your resume efficiently and effectively.
14. Have someone else review your resume. Since you are so close to your situation, it can be difficult for you to hit all your high points and clearly convey all your accomplishments. Have someone review your job search objective, your resume, and listings of positions that interest you. Encourage them to ask questions. Their questions can help you to discover items you inadvertently left off your resume. Revise your resume to include these items. Their questions can also point to items on your resume that are confusing to the reader. Clarify your resume based on this input.
15. Submit your resume to potential employers. Have the courage to submit your resume. Think of it as a game where your odds of winning increase with every resume you submit. You really do increase your odds with every resume you submit. Use a three-tiered approach. Apply for some jobs that appear to be beneath you. Perhaps they will turn out to be more than they appeared to be once you interview for them. Or perhaps once you have your foot in the door you can learn of other opportunities. Apply for jobs that seem to be just at your level. You will get interviews for some of those jobs. See how each job stacks up. Try for some jobs that seem like a stretch. That's how you grow -- by taking risks. Don't rule yourself out. Trust the process. Good luck in your job search!
Copyright 1999 - 2004 Quest Career Services, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Cover letters are an essential ingredient to your complete résumé package. This is the best opportunity for you to demonstrate your personal character, knowledge of the company and your business writing skills.
The following is a relatively generic format for creating your cover letter. Note that most cover letters are designed to target a specific company or at least a specific industry.
First Paragraph
You must spark the employer's interest. Focus on your unique characteristics, whether they are based on experience or personal traits that will benefit the company. Don't simply restate your résumé objective statement. You must command attention, not simply alert the employer that you are applying for a position (they already know that!).
Second Paragraph
Provide more detail about your professional qualifications or relevant educational background. Highlight your professional accomplishments and/or achievements, not responsibilities. Use active verbs when describing things that you have done and back it up with a statistic or concrete fact when possible. Tailor this paragraph to the position that you are applying for.
Third Paragraph
Demonstrate knowledge of the company, their industry, and the challenges that they may be facing. This is where you connect what the company needs in an employee and the skills that you bring to the table. You want to implicitly show your knowledge of the company without regurgitating something you read on the company's website. Alluding to general industry trends that are affecting the company will let the employer know that you can see the big picture and how your position affects the company's strategy.
Fourth Paragraph
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