Great article by a business acquaintance of mine, Fiona Hunter. Fiona captures a lot of what job hunting should be today, but few execute their search like this!
How long is it since you last started a job search? Have you considered whether your job search skills are still current? I meet people who have not looked for a job in many years and others who last searched in the depth of the recession. The unexpected happened, and they are unprepared for today’s challenges. It would be wonderful if Plan A works for you, and you never need to look for another job, but do you have a Plan B? Are you prepared?
Not only does the current economic climate influence what skills and knowledge you need to succeed, but also the job search tools you may have learned earlier in your career have been redesigned with the impact of social media and technology. Are you approaching your job search by looking through the lens of the "hiring manager", their needs and their preferred methods of communication?
Your toolkit used to include a resume, business card, cover letter, letters of reference, marketing/networking profile - all hard copy, beautifully laid out and printed on quality paper, or, if emailed, then it would be ready for printing - in black and white. How the world has changed.
A resume is no longer "a piece of paper." Do you still design it as though it is? The information it contains is accessed electronically either as data in an ATS or as a word document in an email. It is rarely printed by the recipient for the first initial scan, as it will be viewed on a screen - and in color. Not only are we saving trees, we are saving time by cutting out this step. A few years ago, the screen may have been almost square - a 17" or 19” monitor. Today information is retrieved on elongated screens that perhaps show only the top third of the page, or it may be viewed on an iPad, tablet or mobile device - considerably smaller. So how will this change impact the way you present information and market yourself? Consider replacing the long summary paragraph with an eye catching, easy to read, short value add statement. This may be the only thing the person sees when they open your file. Look at it in the same way as the reader would - what do you see? Why would you read more? What other changes will you make?
Is the business card obsolete? Not quite yet, but every now and then someone wants to scan my QR code. It is instantaneous electronic transfer of contact info (similar to reading a barcode) - no business card necessary. How many HR leaders have the time to transfer the information manually from a business card into their contacts manager? Consider leading the pack with this – show you embrace technology and change,…. and keep a handful of business cards handy for those of us still catching up.
How quickly the information on a business card can become out-of-date – the phone number and email are associated with the company. How will you contact the HR leader who moved companies? How will someone contact you? LinkedIn is a valuable tool for reconnecting with people you know or have met. Is your LinkedIn profile up-to-date?
Cover letters…. Yes, we all know recruiters rarely read them. However, the recruiter is the gate keeper, and you should instead focus on what the hiring manager will want to see, especially if you are contacting them directly. The cover letter is often now replaced by an email. The content is essentially the same – a compelling reason to open the attached resume – but it is shorter, concise, high impact. A hiring manager is unlikely to look at a cover letter if it is in a separate attachment – in a separate file to your resume. However nicely you format it in your system before you press the send key, it will look different on the iPhone or smart phone it may be read on. How much of the message will be visible? That 7 second scan may have just gone down to 2 seconds. What is the chance that the reader will open the email again later? If so, is the header compelling and relevant making it easy to find again? How much information did you include in the letter? Less is more.
Letters of reference have been replaced by recommendations on your LinkedIn profile. Do you have any? It is one of the things a recruiter will check in your profile.
The one page networking profile – the summary or mini synopsis of your skills, target roles, target companies, etc. – is now replaced by the LinkedIn profile. You should still complete your personal marketing plan, but the opportunities to pass a person this as a sheet of paper are limited. Information is now stored electronically and paper copies are likely to be recycled. Rather than a push strategy, LinkedIn is more effective as a pull strategy. Marketing is less about sending info to a person, and more about making interesting information about you visible, accessible and easy to find.
The use of technology is also impacting interviewing. Not only prepare for the interview, but be prepared for a video live or recorded interview. Skype and other web based video tools are becoming more common for recruiter screening calls and for interviews where the candidate and interviewer are in different cities. Standing while you take the call or referring to notes may no longer be the best advice.
As new vocabulary is added to the toolbox and tools evolve, we will continue to see the job search landscape change and we should change with it. We live in a world of sound bites. The challenge of making your message compelling in 140 characters or less reflects the time you have to grab someone’s attention. “Do you want to hire the best? Contact me."
What is your job search marketing strategy? What is in your toolbox? Embrace change and position for success.
Fiona Hunter
http://fionah.posterous.com/plan-b-are-you-ready-for-your-next-job-search
Plan B – Are You Ready For Your Next Job Search?
Not only does the current economic climate influence what skills and knowledge you need to succeed, but also the job search tools you may have learned earlier in your career have been redesigned with the impact of social media and technology. Are you approaching your job search by looking through the lens of the "hiring manager", their needs and their preferred methods of communication?
Your toolkit used to include a resume, business card, cover letter, letters of reference, marketing/networking profile - all hard copy, beautifully laid out and printed on quality paper, or, if emailed, then it would be ready for printing - in black and white. How the world has changed.
A resume is no longer "a piece of paper." Do you still design it as though it is? The information it contains is accessed electronically either as data in an ATS or as a word document in an email. It is rarely printed by the recipient for the first initial scan, as it will be viewed on a screen - and in color. Not only are we saving trees, we are saving time by cutting out this step. A few years ago, the screen may have been almost square - a 17" or 19” monitor. Today information is retrieved on elongated screens that perhaps show only the top third of the page, or it may be viewed on an iPad, tablet or mobile device - considerably smaller. So how will this change impact the way you present information and market yourself? Consider replacing the long summary paragraph with an eye catching, easy to read, short value add statement. This may be the only thing the person sees when they open your file. Look at it in the same way as the reader would - what do you see? Why would you read more? What other changes will you make?
Is the business card obsolete? Not quite yet, but every now and then someone wants to scan my QR code. It is instantaneous electronic transfer of contact info (similar to reading a barcode) - no business card necessary. How many HR leaders have the time to transfer the information manually from a business card into their contacts manager? Consider leading the pack with this – show you embrace technology and change,…. and keep a handful of business cards handy for those of us still catching up.
How quickly the information on a business card can become out-of-date – the phone number and email are associated with the company. How will you contact the HR leader who moved companies? How will someone contact you? LinkedIn is a valuable tool for reconnecting with people you know or have met. Is your LinkedIn profile up-to-date?
Cover letters…. Yes, we all know recruiters rarely read them. However, the recruiter is the gate keeper, and you should instead focus on what the hiring manager will want to see, especially if you are contacting them directly. The cover letter is often now replaced by an email. The content is essentially the same – a compelling reason to open the attached resume – but it is shorter, concise, high impact. A hiring manager is unlikely to look at a cover letter if it is in a separate attachment – in a separate file to your resume. However nicely you format it in your system before you press the send key, it will look different on the iPhone or smart phone it may be read on. How much of the message will be visible? That 7 second scan may have just gone down to 2 seconds. What is the chance that the reader will open the email again later? If so, is the header compelling and relevant making it easy to find again? How much information did you include in the letter? Less is more.
Letters of reference have been replaced by recommendations on your LinkedIn profile. Do you have any? It is one of the things a recruiter will check in your profile.
The one page networking profile – the summary or mini synopsis of your skills, target roles, target companies, etc. – is now replaced by the LinkedIn profile. You should still complete your personal marketing plan, but the opportunities to pass a person this as a sheet of paper are limited. Information is now stored electronically and paper copies are likely to be recycled. Rather than a push strategy, LinkedIn is more effective as a pull strategy. Marketing is less about sending info to a person, and more about making interesting information about you visible, accessible and easy to find.
The use of technology is also impacting interviewing. Not only prepare for the interview, but be prepared for a video live or recorded interview. Skype and other web based video tools are becoming more common for recruiter screening calls and for interviews where the candidate and interviewer are in different cities. Standing while you take the call or referring to notes may no longer be the best advice.
As new vocabulary is added to the toolbox and tools evolve, we will continue to see the job search landscape change and we should change with it. We live in a world of sound bites. The challenge of making your message compelling in 140 characters or less reflects the time you have to grab someone’s attention. “Do you want to hire the best? Contact me."
What is your job search marketing strategy? What is in your toolbox? Embrace change and position for success.
Fiona Hunter
http://fionah.posterous.com/plan-b-are-you-ready-for-your-next-job-search
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