Seven Truths of Career Success by Ford Myers
1. The most qualified candidate does not necessarily get the job offer Many times, candidates with lesser qualifications get job offers simply because they’ve prepared and presented themselves in a more compelling way. They “package” themselves better, with an outstanding portfolio of career documents and oral presentation skills. The winning candidate is the one who knows how to tie his or her achievements, strengths and assets directly to the employer’s needs, problems and challenges. In a difficult employment landscape, strong qualifications and accomplishments are necessary, but not sufficient, to find a job you love and earn what you deserve. Don’t be fooled into believing that the work world is a meritocracy — it’s not. In the end, it’s the best self-marketer who gets the job. 2. The best time to work on [...read more]
10 Mistakes Job Seekers Make and How to Avoid Them
Many people make significant job search mistakes and never even know about it. These blunders are easy to make, and they can cost you the job offer or lose you thousands of dollars. Below, I reveal 10 of the biggest mistakes, and explain how to avoid them. Mistake #1: Relying on Online Job Postings In general, job postings and “want ads” produce little value. However, it is also a mistake to ignore them altogether. Some of the best chances for jobs from ads are in specialty trade publications and web sites of specific industries. I suggest you spend no more than five percent of your valuable time on public job postings. Mistake #2: Mailing Unsolicited Resumes Unsolicited resumes are considered garbage, scrap paper and wasted effort. Secretaries kill them, [...read more]
Your Resume’s Building Blocks
Regardless of format, every resume will be composed of some standard sections. Below is a quick guide to the main elements that should be included in every resume. Personal Information – Always include your full name, street address, phone numbers (home and cell), and e-mail address. If you have your own web site, include the link here too. All this information is placed at the top of page 1 of your resume, in the “header.” Summary – A brief statement of who you are, where you’re “coming from,” and what skills and expertise you have to contribute to an organization. Five or six lines maximum. This will target and focus the reader on where you might fit into the big picture of their organization. Targeted and specific is better than general and [...read more]
10 Tips to Manage Your Career instead of Just Doing Your Job
It’s no surprise that people who are in career transition focus a lot of their time and energy on updating their resume, networking, brushing-up their interviewing skills, compiling accomplishment stories, etc. They know they need to be prepared; to “be at the top of their game” if they hope to land another good position. Reality. But what about those of us who are currently working — in jobs that may even seem quite stable? If you’re like most people, the activities mentioned above get little or no attention — that is, until you get laid- off, fired, or simply become unhappy enough to make a proactive change. It’s human nature to become “career complacent” when you have steady work, focusing all your energy on “doing a good job!” But in [...read more]
You’re Invited: Special Career Seminar – Accomplishment Stories
Accomplishment Stories: Developing Your Most Powerful Tool to Get the Job Offer Remember a time when you heard a friend or colleague tell a memorable story? You can probably still recall some of the details about that story long after it was shared. Good storytelling creates a vivid picture and a positive response in the listener’s mind. Utilizing stories to enhance your job search is a skill that is often overlooked. Yet, without powerful accomplishment stories to tell prospective employers, you have almost nothing to “sell.” When you can effectively tie your accomplishment stories directly to the employer’s needs and problems, you will most likely get a job offer! “Because of the tools I learned, I was able to get a job quickly”. ~ Thomas M. Many of us feel [...read more]
5 Tips to “Spring Clean” Your Resume – Part 2 of 2
3. BE ACTIVE. In your Resume, use strong action verbs at the beginning of every sentence. Words such as “lead, launched, directed, built, managed and generated” have a lot more impact than a passive phrases such as “responsible for” or “handled.” 4. BE SELECTIVE. Focus on information that is truly relevant to your career goal and edit out the rest. There is no need to focus on your high school achievements or volunteer work if they are not relevant to the career you are looking for or if they are in your distant past. 5. BE HONEST. Never, never, never lie on a Resume. If you lie or “stretch the truth,” you will always lose in the long run. Your Resume is a “living document” that will be edited and updated [...read more]
You’re Invited – Seminar: Active interviewing: Win the Interview and Get the Offer!
Join us to learn about Active Interviewing, winning interviews, and landing jobs. Good candidates like you often lose jobs they should be landing due to poor interview performance and bad interviewers. Many candidates try to prepare for interviews, but their preparation is inadequate or they are interviewed by employers who make bad hiring decisions. Even with all the available interview information, candidates continue to commit more mistakes in the interview than in any other stage of the job-search process – and hiring managers continue to make highly subjective and inaccurate selection decisions. Interviews are “broken,” but you can learn to fix your interviews by using the latest Active Interviewing strategies. Active Interviewing is based on an entirely new, tested, and dramatically effective approach to interviews – treating the interview as [...read more]
You’re Invited: Seminar – Networking – The Core of Your Career
You’ll look at your friends, family members, even your dry cleaner in a whole new light after this powerful seminar! One of the keys to managing your career effectively is to build and maintain a strong and varied network. Every job seeker – and even those who are currently employed – should carve time out of their busy schedules for networking! Your network is your most valuable career asset! (Far more important than a résumé). You’ll learn how to cultivate this often-overlooked and underdeveloped resource into a positive and dynamic tool to create long-term career success. Every networking encounter will now be treated like a business meeting, complete with a purpose, an agenda and specific outcomes. By leveraging your network in the proper way, you may never have to look [...read more]
