The Case for Calling
Every year, the use of e-mail, texting, chat apps, and other electronic communication increases, and the rate of phone communication decreases. Companies are moving to evaluating people by computer analysis of keywords, auto-responders, recorded audio and even video interviews by robo-interviewers, and other impersonal methods. Does the trend toward impersonal, electronic communication help or […]
Should Today’s Job Seekers Be Using Cover Letters?
Communication for job seekers has changed. For most job opportunities, all communication is electronic, and you are either e-mailing the hiring manager or directly applying on line. There is little opportunity for original communication. Job seekers unfortunately often respond poorly to the changing communications atmosphere. Most job seekers have acquiesced in this area, and rarely […]
What’s Wrong With Your Resume?
The trend is moving positive, with many people actually “getting it” that a resume needs to be a promotional flyer that accurately represents who you are in a selective, exciting, compelling manner. BUT, too many people still have really bad resumes! A bad resume contains: Opening paragraphs about Objectives (too general OR too specific – save for […]
Getting the Real Truth from Candidates
Top Five Lies Told by Job Candidates, as reported by HireRight, is an article that focuses on some obvious, but superficial issues: Exaggerating dates of employment, falsifying education, inflating salary or title, hiding a criminal record, and hiding a drug habit. Most of these can be easily caught by a decent background check. You can […]
Vital Job Hunting Tips #3 – Reference Letters
Many job seekers wonder about the value of getting letters of reference from current and past employers. I am a strong advocate of accumulating these as your career progresses. You might lose touch with many of your most important contacts, and preserving a record of their impressions about you could be very valuable down the […]
“So, What do you do?” – How to Nail Your Next Networking Opportunity
“So, what do you do?” An often used icebreaker when meeting someone for the first time, and a question that is exchanged at every networking event, is both reliable and expected. However, the correct answer could make your career. An elevator pitch is a brief statement that defines you, your business, or your ambitions for […]
The Best Way to Reverse Engineer Your Job Search
Manufacturers of replacement parts use the principle of reverse engineering to take a finished product and figure out how it is made. Then, they can make the same part from scratch. If you are hunting for a new job, use this concept to help get the right job for yourself. See yourself in the new […]
How to Answer Angry E-mails
What do you do when you get an angry, rude e-mail? If you respond in-kind, and “yell” back, it just escalates and becomes a lose/lose communication transaction. E-mails can sometimes be confusing about the intent of the writer – you might not always be able to tell their mood or frame of mind, but you […]
