Executive & Professional Resume Writing Services

Halloween Caution: Job Seeker Horror

Part of the Career Collective monthly posts series, please see end of this post….

 

Yes, it is Halloween and although it is much fun to dress up in spooky costumes —It is no time to become creepy and scare your job opportunities away! So, consider yourself cautioned and do everything you can to not transform into one of these frightful of job seekers….Muahahahahaha!

 

Vampire

Trick: Sucking the life out of your contacts (networking leads, hiring managers, recruiters) with excessive follow up (stalking) is a huge NO! While you may perceive this as persistence, your “prey” will not.  You will become a nightmare and will find yourself in the darkness of an endless job search for a long time…

Treat: Follow up with an unthreatening Thank You Letter to recruiters and hiring managers; stay connected with your network by being present in a conversation or by offering assistance.

 

 

Zombie

Trick: A two-way and intellectual conversation is imperative during the job interview. Don’t just show up, nod in agreement, answer briefly, and fail to offer intelligent insights, or to display enthusiasm over the company’s needs and direction. Do this and a “coffin” will be your permanent cubicle. 

Treat: Research the corporation before you get there. Learn something about them and ask questions, positioning yourself to impress with great and other-candidate-distancing answers.

 

 

 

Mummy

Trick: Don’t preserve your old self! Some job seekers are stuck in their old patterns of job searching and technology skills; they think their MS-Dos skills are still attractive. No way!

Treat: Perusing job ads, reading qualifications, matching requirements, and taking steps to ensure your computer skills, leadership, and overall competencies are up to date is crucial. Learn social media branding; your online image matters. Unwrap those linens and circle to 2010, would you?

 
 

Now , Go Have Some FUN with your Job Search. Here is another treat for you this HALLOWEEN!

 www.careersteering.com

 

 

 

Part of the Career Collective monthly post. Please follow the links below for more career advice from top career professionals.

 

Where Are the Wild Things, Anyway?, @WorkWithIllness

Is Your Job Search Making You Feel Like a Smashed Pumpkin?, @DebraWheatman

Hiding in Plain Sight, @WalterAkana,

Don't make these frightful resume mistakes, @LaurieBerenson

How Not to Be a Spooky Job Seeker, @heathermundell

A Tombstone Resume:Eulogizing Your Experience, @GayleHoward

The Top Ten Scary Things Job Seekers Do, @barbarasafani

Oh, Job Search Isn't Like Trick or Treating?, @careersherpa

A Most Unfortunate Resume Mistake No One Will Tell You, @chandlee

Oh no. Not the phone!, @DawnBugni

Halloween Caution: Job Seeker Horror, @resumeservice

Boo! Are you scaring away opportunities or the competition? @MartinBuckland @EliteResumes

Your Career Brand: A Scary Trick or an Appealing Treat?, @KCCareerCoach

How to avoid mistakes on your resume, @Keppie_Careers

Sc-sc-scary Resume Mistakes, @erinkennedycprw

A Flawed Resume is a Scary Prospect, @KatCareerGal

Job Search Angst: Like Clouds Mounting Before a Storm, @ValueIntoWords

Does Your Career Costume Fit You?, @expatcoachmegan

 

 

Rosa Elizabeth Vargas
Master Resume Writer

How Much Education Should Be Listed on Resume?

This is one of the questions that is posed to me again and again…and it is a good question! Here is the answer: IT DEPENDS. I know. You would like a clear-cut answer.

But the reality is that when you set out to prepare a favorable candidacy via your resume you will use discernment and scrutinize your resume line-by-line, outweighing, repositioning, questioning, and editing so you influence and gain an interview.

The following question came to me via Twitter. Because Twitter limits your answer to 140 characters, you will find my reply below. (Great question!)

 

Question:

 

@artdeal

 

@resumeservice Hello I have a resume question. Should I list both my Associates and Bachelor Degrees?

 

Answer:

@resumeservice

You would always list your Associate’s Degree and your Bachelor’s Degree so as long as listing both is favorable to your candidacy. Now you may wonder, “how can multiple degrees not be favorable to my candidacy?”

Here are a few examples of when you would opt to not include your Associate’s degree if you have a Bachelor’s degree:

 

1. Your Bachelor’s degree major is in line with your career path but your Associate’s degree is not related in the very least. At this point, no need to divulge that you have taken up a different path before unless it can somehow add another favorable dimension to your candidacy. Remember, resume writing is about listing information that would be influential and about keeping content to the minimum necessary to persuade.

 

2. Your Associate’s degree is from a community college while your Bachelor’s degree is from a more impressive institution or a an Ivy league. I applaud those with a community college degree, so no hate mail please. My point is that you are shaping the most favorable and impressive image, so discard the unnecessary.

 

3. Your Associate’s degree was more than 10 years ago. Remember that this advice is if you have additional degrees. If your only degree is the Associate’s degree, list it no matter how long ago, but don’t include graduation date.

 

4. You never finished your Associate’s degree but transferred to a four-year college and completed your Bachelor’s Degree. No need to go there.

 

5. Your GPA was very low for your Associate’s degree but your performance was excellent during your Bachelor’s preparation.

 

Those are the ones that come to mind now. Feel free to add your own commentary.

 

As always, if any questions leave a comment below or at [email protected]

 

Rosa Elizabeth Vargas
Master Resume Writer

Save Your Job Search: Change Your Negative Internal Dialogue

Lack of Confidence Can Hinder Your Job Search

If you are feeling defeated because you have done all you can do, have interviewed, and a new job has not  manifested for you, examine your internal dialogue. Yes, put down the resume, halt the job searching, and join me in this deep-dive exercise of exploring your thoughts…

What are your beliefs about your candidacy? What "vibe" are you transmitting during your phone interview, exuding through your body language, projecting with your attire selection, and reinforcing via your marketing documents?

 

Others Can Sense Your Lack of Self-Assurance

Lack of confidence can be 'smelled' a mile away. Negativity, cynicism, and a 'poor-me' attitude is not attractive at all--no matter how you try to mask it.

   

Open the Floodgates of Interview Offers

While it may seem too simple and bordering on just "self-help" talk, the beliefs we hold about ourselves are fundamental in our success. The concept of reversing negative internal narrative not just during a job search but also in your everyday life, yes, seems simple. However, actually changing what you are thinking, feeling, and exuding is not—but it can absolutely be done (more on this later). I guarantee that if you have lost the job offer, perhaps even during a second interview, the person who got hired sold their qualifications with more confidence, was more persuasiveness in promoting their value, and closed the deal (job) by assertively reassuring the employer that they were the best choice!

   

Possible Reasons for Your (sometimes) Hard-To-Detect Negative Self-Talk

The following could fuel consistent negative beliefs about your value, your opportunities, and your expectations:

   

1. Shame in losing your job. No need to be ashamed, it happens to everyone at least once. We cannot control what happens in the world and often we cannot control events in our lives. Nevertheless, we CAN control our reaction to what happens to us and we can DECIDE to take action.

   

 2. Internalizing past failures. "Success builds character, failure reveals it" ~Dave Checkett. Enough said? Well, just in case: judging yourself for past failures builds a false self-image. Understanding that failure is part of trying and that while owning up to your failures nurtures intellectual and emotional growth--defining yourself by your failures, does not.

 

 3. Desperation. Understandably, if you have been out of work for a very long time, creditors are calling you, and your funds are now very limited, you can easily find yourself in a desperate-feeling place. Yet, I encourage you to adopt a new attitude. Employers need you. So, while you are out there distributing resumes and interviewing--interview them! Mmm hmm, that's right. You interview them. Turning the tables around (tactfully) will position you in a 'power' place and not a 'victim' place. (After all, you are bringing this corporation into your life for more than 40 hours a week.)

 

4. Habit. This is probably the #1 reason we all do a little self-berating on a daily basis. Pretty much, we experience disappointment, become frustrated, angry, and sometimes need to justify what has occurred. Make a conscious choice to be kind to yourself, coach yourself, and pay attention to what you could be saying to yourself; because negative beliefs can make their way onto the visible aspects of your job search.

   

Begin Today to Change the Direction of Your Thoughts and Job Search

No matter what strategic job search plan or marketing pitch you have in place, if you cannot convince your prospective employer to hire you, your self-marketing tools are pointless. Know this: You cannot sell what you do not believe in and you cannot energize others to believe in you when YOU lack that type of enthusiasm in your own services. (Moreover, it feels good to recognize how good you really are.)

So, begin to take notice, write down all the reasons why you believe your job search is not fruitful, what your weaknesses are, why you think you are NOT the best candidate and then eradicate that thinking. Replace it with positive self-talk and substantiate it with achievements. Ironically, exploring your negative dialogue and reversing it can lead you to your UVP (unique value proposition).

 

   

Rosa Elizabeth Vargas
Master Executive Resume Writer
Quadruple-Certified Resume Writer

www.careersteering.com