I get asked this question all the time - just who uses JibberJobber? Here’s a user who has given me permission to share her profile with you.

Bridgette Hinchman is:

… a mid to senior level General Manager/Director of Operations (at a medium to large company) or a VP of Ops/COO at a small company. I have my MBA and over 12 years of progressive sales and operational experience at the GM level. My experience has focused on getting small businesses to the next level (from start up and shortly after) or fixing troubled sites within a 90 day window (for existing companies). In essence, people pay me to fix their broken or struggling business as a career employee and from there I have gotten promoted upward.

Sounds pretty cool, right? Bridgette is in the Dallas area, and is hoping to stay in that area if possible.

Bridgette is a corporate rockstar. By no fault of her own* she is a self-proclaimed “VERY assertive job seeker.” She is the type of professional who “gets” JibberJobber. Does she understand networking and nurturing relationships? I’m sure she does. Is she a competent subject matter expert? Undoubtedly (I’ve seen her resume and her work history). I’d be happy to put you in touch with Bridgette - just leave a comment in the box below or hit me via e-mail.

How many of you are prepared to be a “VERY assertive job seeker” right now? How many of you would benefit from doing stuff that you do in JibberJobber for a full 6 - 12 months before you become a VERY assertive job seeker? Whether you are in a job search or not, I encourage you to seriously consider the benefit of preparing now by nurturing network relationships, targeting companies you are interested in, preparing your master resume, preparing multiple elevator pitches (or, Me in 30 Second pitches, or whatever you want to call them), and more.

* By no fault of her own. Bridgette found herself in this VERY assertive state the same way that thousands of people this year will find themselves. This is what happened to me two years ago… corporate decisions, economy, fickle management, bad management decisions, loss of a contract… the list goes on and on.

This year there will be hundreds of thousands of people who’s jobs and careers are affected by forces they have no control over. Check out these recent headlines:

• CNN: 80,000 job losses unemployment spikes (April 4, 2008) Just in March!
• The New York Times: CBS Moves Ahead With Layoffs in News (April 2, 2008). This affects just one percent of their workforce. Only 1,200 people. Only 1,200 breadwinners, contributors, neighbors, friends, family… 1,200 people who are likely up against on of he hardest things in their life - long-term unemployment.
• California Department of Education website: State Schools Chief Jack O’Connell, Teachers, Support Staff,
  Administrators Announce More Than 20,000 Teachers and Support
  Staff Getting Layoff Notices Due to Budget Crisis (March 14, 2008) great - keep teachers underpaid for a long time and then cut 20,000 jobs across the state. Hope you have a favorable private and/or homeschool policy.
• CNET NEWS: Dell: Layoffs bigger than expected (April 3, 2008) it already announced 8,800 layoffs… but that isn’t enough. This is going to have a huge impact on Austin, TX.
• MSNBC: Analysts see 200,000 banking industry layoffs (April 1, 2008) I doubt this was an April Fools joke. But seriously, 200,000 banking jobs slashed over the next 18 months? How will this be absorbed?
• Paul Kedrosky’s blog: Google Announces Layoffs (March 11, 2008) quoting directly from Google’s blog post, I thought the same thing that Paul did (”Translation: We’re letting people go. And a bunch of ‘em, at that.”). I also thought “Google? The place where everyone wants to work?? They are downsizing?”
• CNN: Motorola cuts another 2,600 jobs (April 3, 2008)… “as total employee cuts rise above 10,000″ That’s a lot of engineers out in the market. I wonder how many of them have created “pull marketing” strategies with their personal branding?
• CNN: Home Depot could cut jobs (April 4, 2008) no one announces this if they “could,” only if they will. Reading further: “about 2,200 employees who will be affected by the changes, which will be completed by May 1.” and “there no longer will be a human resources manager in each of the company’s 1,970 U.S. stores.” One more HR professional on the market in just about every city.

What makes you more immune to the unemployment line than any of these hundreds of thousands of people?

Is it your degree, or your MBA? Mine didn’t keep me off of unemployment.

Is it the tight relationship you have with your boss or the CEO? Trust me, I’ve seen how it works, and that relationship won’t keep you from getting a pink slip.

It’s time to be CEO of You, Inc. What are you going to do TODAY to take charge? I have a few ideas, but would like to hear yours

More on the branding contest tomorrow! You can read the first five posts here (Introduction, Q&A, Brand Issues, Education Factor and Tag Lines), and if you want to participate, submit your entries here!

You can see Part I here. Next week I’m going to meet Heather Gardner in person. I’m really excited - I’ve gotten to know her on the MLPF Group and have found her to be genuine and helpful. All of her responses in this interview sound different than most recruiters that I communicate with, but I can say, she is the real deal. Enjoy this the second half of our interview!

We are told to network into our next job. How can I network with you? I mean, you are super busy… is that just going to offend you, or is there a way that I can actually have a healthy recruiter/candidate relationship?

Yes, let’s network together into your next position!

Yes, I am super busy, but never too busy to communicate with you, the candidate. If I do my job, I will set up expectations with you. Since the positions I recruit for change continuously, I may not be the best resource for every candidate all the time. For example, I don’t recruit for Bio-tech positions. I may refer the Bio-tech engineer to a more appropriate career search recruiter. There is generally one recruiter in our employ that I can refer a candidate to if I’m not the best resource.

As a professional recruiter, I am always open to candidates sending me emails or calling me. It doesn’t mean I will have your “perfect” job each time we chat, but it is nice to hear about changes in your job status, receive a revised resume, or discuss an interview you just went on. Sometimes you may want to call for career advice or share with me a few target companies you’d like to work for in the future that I didn’t already know about. Keeping this professional line of communication is important.

As I mentioned earlier, it’s always nice to stay in touch throughout your career. I had a candidate recently contact me after 8+ years. She saw me on LinkedIn and wanted to reconnect. This amazing sales professional was working at the same company I had originally placed her at and doing quite well. Excellent match 8+ years ago!

How many communications (e-mails, phone calls, voice mails, etc.) do you deal with on a daily basis?

How many is endless? Sometimes I am surprised at the sheer volume of communication I deal with on a daily basis.

To be quite honest with you, it’s like Christmas to me every time I log in to my email or listen to my voicemail! I am not kidding you… all those emails and voicemails are like getting a ton of wonderful gifts. I never know what to expect. I make so many recruiting calls and when the responses start coming back in, it’s always surprising to me what the results turn into. Christmas every time! I love it!

As a recruiter, I am constantly working, even during my off hours. When I attend a birthday party, BBQ or other social event, I am always networking. I never know when I will meet the candidate of a lifetime or a contact at a target company. Whether the communication is face to face, telephone or email – it’s 24/7. I like to think of it as the “recruiter lifestyle.”

What is your opinion about the resume … what makes a good one? What is a common mistake that turns you off?

The resume is really just the first impression. It’s to get you the interview.

I keep an open mind when it comes to resumes. I will learn more about you and what it is you are looking for in your next position by speaking with you directly, not by your resume. Some of the worst resumes came to produce the best candidates. I use it as merely a “working document.”

If I’m doing my job well as a recruiter, I will pre-screen you so well that I can introduce you more effectively to the hiring manager than your resume ever will.

A good resume is generally one that is written specific to the open position. If you aren’t working with a recruiter, it’s best to tailor the resume to your background that matches the job description – NOT word verbatim. It’s so difficult to list every task or accomplishment in your resume without turning it into a novel, but making sure to select things you know are important to the hiring manger is always a good choice.

The most common mistake that people make on their resume is not using spell check. I have received countless resumes that have incorrectly spelled words or incomplete punctuation. Again, it’s such a simple fix, most people just don’t think to print and proof their resume before sending it off.

Do you ever Google candidates, or look at their blogs, or social profiles?

I have never done a Google search on a specific candidate before, but good idea! I have looked at LinkedIn profiles. It would be a great way to get to know your candidates prior to an introduction call and give you a better snap shot of their professional background before talking.

I am still trying to better understand how social networking can work for me as a recruiter. Let’s talk a year from now when I figure all this new social networking technology and read your new book “I’m on Facebook — Now What???”

My experience with the local branch of an international recruiting firm was lame. It continues to be lame, two years later! Getting these types of responses from Heather, who works at Volt Workforce Solutions is really cool - instead of forcing them to focus on numbers, she is given the latitude to focus on people. And I like that

Note - we are having a branding contest. And it’s exciting! You can read the first five posts here (Introduction, Q&A, Brand Issues, Education Factor and Tag Lines), and if you want to participate, submit your entries here!

I met Heather Gardner online, at the MyLinkedInPowerForum Yahoo! Group. We picked up a discussion outside of MLPF and have begun networking and nurturing a professional relationship. I’ll warn you now, Heather is different. She is not the typical headhunter that you hear about (the one that everyone complains about). I’m not sure how many recruiters would respond the way she has, but this is clearly an example of the type of recruiter you want in your corner.

What bugs you about candidates?

As a professional recruiter, I am nothing without my candidates. Candidates NEVER bug me. I would not be successful in my job without good solid candidates.

What do you wish candidates knew about your job?

Recently I’ve had a few candidates say to me “just send my resume over and see what happens.” I am not in the business of resume pushing. My primary focus is to develop a professional relationship with my candidate so that I know more about their career ambitions, job requirements and what will motivate then in their next position.

The flip side of this is making sure that I send the “perfect’” candidate to my client for their open position, not just a resume. Sometimes candidates may not realize that it’s my job to keep in contact with them over the life of their career. Even if I was not the recruiter to place them at their current company. Just because their job search is over for now, doesn’t mean my job as their recruiter is. I always want to be able to contact you with a great career opportunity in the future regardless of where you are. Building long term professional relationships is my focus.

What do you wish candidates understood better about the job search process?

Searching for that “perfect” job can be time consuming. An active job search is a full time job in itself! Depending on the candidate’s working status, it can be a frustrating experience for them. It’s far too easy to get discouraged and impatient at times.

For the unemployed job seeker it can be an anxious process of finding that needed job. Working with a full service staffing company actually expands a candidate’s search efforts, without having to do much more than they are already doing in their job search process, giving their resume more visibility. With locations throughout the US. I can refer such candidates to a local branch to better assist with ready opportunities while they continue to search for the right long term position. I have had several candidates start on a contract assignment through a branch for one of our clients and then end up getting hired on by the company. It’s a win for everyone!

I also want to encourage job seekers to have patience with the job search process. There are so many new job search tools. JibberJobber is one of the latest tools out there that can really help out the active job seeker.

I understand your client is the company that has a position open. Can you help me, as a candidate, understand where I fit in?

As the candidate you are also my client. Just as I would qualify the needs of the company with the open position, I need to qualify you as the candidate. I need to know what you are looking for in your next position and see if it’s in line with what the hiring manager is looking for. I’m like a professional match maker.

Often times, you as my former candidate, become the hiring manager with an open position for me to fill. I can’t tell you how many times it cycles like that. As long as I’ve done my job well as a recruiter, you will call me first with your open headcount needs.

I’ve heard tons of horror stories about recruiters who forget their customer service manners and mistreat the candidate. That’s a foolish, short sighted approach. I would not be nearly as successful if I didn’t treat my candidates as clients and provide you with the same level of good customer service.

Different, right? Part II is tomorrow… stay tuned!

Jacob Share, Israel’s most popular job/career blogger, had a good post a few weeks back about showing compassion to job seekers. I’ve talked about this a number of times, in the depression post and the “religion’s role in a job search” post, in another post that I can’t find, and in passing in a bunch of other posts. But his list (you can find it here) inspired me to create my own list.

This post might come across as a little sappy, which is not my intention. But the idea of showing compassion indicates that there is something wrong, at a personal level. Here we go:

1. Take the person to lunch. Buy the lunch. And make good use of this time. DO NOT preach. DO NOT dig. Don’t try and find out why the person is in transition - it just doesn’t matter. I would even suggest that you don’t have to help “solve the problem” with your tactics and techniques.
   

   One of the first lunches I went to was with a wealthy friend. I didn’t know what I was doing, and it turned out that he didn’t know anything about a job search. But I left that meeting rejuvenated. This turned into a one-meeting mentoring session - after lunch we never touched bases again (even though I tried). It was just what I needed, helpful, non-judgmental, and with a big-picture perspective. I would suggest that the job seeker would either need that or tactical help. Best thing to do? Open up your little black book, figure out five professionals that you could introduce the job seeker to, and then do it that day.

2. Be honest and helpful. Too many people have that nice smile with a look of pity in their eyes. The job seeker is already going through enough emotions to fill a room, and they’ll probably read more into it than you intend. But there is a feeling of “everyone’s talking about me.” Sometimes it even feels like man’s best friend, the family dog, will walk away when you (the job seeker) come in the room.
   

   I remember one of the most important phone calls I had was with Ed Ekstrom, partner at vSpring Capital. Surprisingly, Ed spent about 30 minutes with me on the phone. There was no role for me there, and my school wasn’t ivy league, which meant he wasn’t interested in me as an employee. But in that 30 minutes the honesty and guidance that he gave me was critical to help me understand how I (with my credentials and experience) was perceived.

3. Don’t try to replace Monster.com. I’ve had people send me job leads they found online. The thing is, I was already spending 10 hours a day online, and knew about all the leads that were posted. The hidden job market includes all the jobs NOT posted, supposedly with 85% of the opportunities. If you have a way to help me bust into that hidden job market, please help!
4. Cash helps, too. I always feel weird writing about this, as I’m not asking for money, and your job seeking buddy probably won’t either.
   

   My family was the recipient of two very generous gifts. The first gift was three gift cards for the local grocery store, maxed at $200 each. The second we found out about when we got a utility bill and found that someone paid it in advance… for a few months. I can’t even tell you how amazing those gifts were. When you get into a situation where no money comes in, and plenty has to go out, it’s very, very scary. How many months can we survive? Being on the receiving end of those gifts changed me as a person, and helped give a little bit of piece of mind to my family.

5. A special note for the spouse. The problem, as the spouse, is that you are TOO CLOSE. Normally a spouse knows the personal weaknesses, doesn’t understand the strengths, and is closer than anyone to the emotion. That’s why they say that a spouse cannot be the job search coach.
   

   I didn’t realize this at the time but my wife and I did not talk for about the first month. We were trying to be strong for one another, and there wasn’t really much to say that month. Realize that this is a very difficult time, but there are things you can do. One of the best things my wife did for my job search was to network with her friends. It was very cool to have her friends husbands get in touch with me, as that helped jump-start my networking.

6. A special note for family (brothers, sisters, parents, etc.). This is tough because some of you are in a position to help, or family relationships have been strained for years. I won’t even pretend to know the right answer for you, but I can share one experience. This is not the time for tough love.
   

   I was talking to my dad one night and he said “I will expect you to be unemployed for at least six months.” No way, I thought, I’d have a job much earlier… but just knowing that he was supportive, and helping, and not expecting results immediately was very, very comforting. As a side note, if you can help financially, now’s a great time to help with car payments, house payments or some other significant bill.

7. A special note for religious leaders and congregation members. Go read religion’s role in a job search. Additionally, realize that this is no time to judge or shun. No matter how good or bad the job seeker has been in your congregation, now is not the time to teach a lesson or turn your back. This is a very humbling time, and it can be hard for the person to drag himself to church, just to feel judged by all those people with a job. My religious leaders were awesome but after my religion’s role post I got a number of e-mails from people who had been shunned. Don’t ignore this, if you are a church leader, ask the person to meet with you, seek to understand, and figure out how you can help. This is a great time to really love that person.

So there you go. Again, Jacob has some other ideas, as do his commentors. That post was inspired by a group writing project by Wade of The Middle Way, Kenton of Zen-Inspired Self Development, and Albert of Urban Monk.Net. I haven’t checked yet but he asked a few others to participate, including Vivien, Pearl, Isabella, Miriam, Ronald, Vivian, Kate, Shelly, Robert, Pete, Carolyn, Jennifer, Yvonne, Etienne and Simonne.

I’m sure I missed stuff - how can you show compassion to someone in a job search? Or, when you were in your own transition, how has someone shown compassion to you?

A bit of a ramble about a serious topic… something that I’ve been wanting to write about for a while… but not quite sure how to write about it.

I don’t consider myself emotionally unhealthy. In fact, with the exception of dealing with a big car accident when I was 17, I feel like I’ve either been in control of my life, or very comfortable with what has happening. I don’t think that I have suffered from anxiety or depression or similar things, although I’m close to people who have and know that it’s real and serious.

I have a high locus of control, which means I believe I have a significant impact on things that happen to me (career success, family success, etc.).

But, when I started my job search there were two major things going on.

First, I was managing and coordinating all of the logistics that go into a job search. There are a ton… from getting a resume together to getting it out, prepping for interviews, dressing right, networking, researching, etc. These are all mechanical things, things that you can get coached on from the “do these 10 things and you’ll land a job” lists.

In fact, they are so mechanical that you can easily define what needs to be done, how to do it, and figure out what tweaks are required because of your needs. You can come up with checklists and plans, and it’s all good… or it would seem to be all good.

This is all good news for someone with a high locus of control.

The second thing that was happening all of the emotional stuff happening. You see, I was on top of the world… I was the general manager of my company, on the board of directors, accomplished in school and feeling pretty good about myself.

And then I became a “job seeker.” This is the person that won’t get a call back, or an e-mail reply, from anyone. The job seeker is the person who tries to get interviews so that you can see just how great they are, and what value they’ll bring to your company… but they get nowhere. The job seeker is the guy who lost an income, but still has bills to pay.

When I first lost my job I remember reading an article on MSN - it was about a guy in Korea that lost his job, went to the zoo, entered an animal’s area, and climbed a tree and wouldn’t come down. Can you imagine what it takes for a professional to end up in a tree at the zoo, and then on international news? “At least,” I thought, “I’m not there.”

But day after day, the rejection, the self-doubt, all the bad stuff that happens when your world is turned upside down, the emotions where clouding things. Judgment was clouded, because I was desperate. Performance was clouded because I was scared. I certainly wasn’t used to dealing with these emotions, especially week after week.

It was also somewhat depressing to go to network meetings with professionals in transition who were going through similar things. I was pretty amazed that I met people who were in the same laid-off boat I was, who were much more accomplished than me. Would this never end?? I didn’t want to be in this situation regularly!

I dealt with it (by ignoring it). But I knew that others weren’t dealing with it there.

A few weeks ago I was at lunch with a good friend that I met during my job search. He had a very similar story to mine, a fast-paced career, good money, big titles and responsibility, and then he got cut out because of lame corporate politics. We got on the subject of emotions, and I said that this was the most surprising aspect of a job search for me, and I asked him if he dealt with negative emotions.

Since I had met him I knew him to be composed… I didn’t imagine that he dealt with them.

His reply was shocking: “Jason, it got to the point where I asked myself if it was the wrists or the neck.“

For those of you who haven’t been jobless yet, thinking that you give 110% to your company and they’ll take care of you, mark my words, the emotional aspect of a job search, no matter what your locus of control is, may be the most surprising, derailing thing you have to deal with in your job search.

I’m not sure if I’ll get comments on this post or not… but it is a serious issue. If you have anything you feel comfortable sharing, leave a comment.

Getting a cheap insurance is far better than borrowing cheap loans. Individuals on creditcard tend to forget this and actually end up in loans to their neck. They don’t know the concept of life insurance and do not realize the value of jobs.

I just found out about a teleseminar that is featuring someone that I’ve been “tracking” for a while… here are the details (I just took this from the Reach Branding Club website - I’m guessing the link will have different stuff on it once they have their next teleseminar):

Life’s a Bitch and then You Change Careers

Date: March 21, 2007 that’s tomorrow!

Registration: Free

Register Now - Space is limited to 100 participants, so reserve your spot now.

In our 1-2-3 Success! Personal Branding Process, we advocate pursuing work that is congruent with your vision, purpose, values, passions and goals. For many, this means making a career change. That’s why in March, William Arruda will be interviewing Andrea Kay, Author of Life’s a Bitch and then you Change Careers: 9 Steps to Get Out of Your Funk & On to Your Future.

Andrea is a syndicated columnist, speaker, and career consultant who has helped thousands of job hunters and employees cut to the heart of their frustration and dissatisfaction and take control of their careers. She’s was named “Best Career Counselor” by Cincinnati Magazine and Money magazine wrote, “Every word out of Andrea Kay’s mouth is gold.” Don’t miss this opportunity to benefit from hearing Andrea’s fresh perspective on career change.

To get the most out of this call, we highly recommend that you order and read Life’s a Bitch and Then You Change Careers.

If have been thinking of joining the Reach Branding Club, do so on the day of the call, and we will buy you a copy of Life’s a Bitch and Then You Change Careers.

Register Now - Space is limited to 100 participants, so reserve your spot now.

I’m trying to figure out how to wrap something like this up! I feel there are so many things that are either unsaid or ignored since we are focusing on one tiny little aspect of career management. So I’ll include some brief thoughts here and then see where the comments go.

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Formatting is important. But don’t waste a ton of time on getting it “just right.” I see that Carl and Louise agree that formatting is not the silver bullet. And my previous comment was, just make sure that it isn’t a distraction. Dan Johnson wrote to me yesterday: I think so highly of my finished work - my resume - and often fail to think of it from a recruiter’s perspective.
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Content is critical. How do you wordsmith your resume just right so that it gets the point across in just a few seconds? Most people think they are either (a) really good at describing themselves and their acheivements, or (b) not into the self-promotion fluff stuff.

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First impressions are unavoidable. Play by “the rules.” Or don’t. I didn’t… and I didn’t get the interviews I needed! So because I chose to not learn what I should have I sacrificed weeks months of income. And the stress built. And the self-doubt built. And the discouragement built.

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Should you get a resume writer? Obviously it depends on your personal situation. If I could turn back time I would have engaged a writer right away. Here are some thoughts on the subject:

In all fairness, the responses from the resume experts were based on bare-bones information. In fact, I had one reply back and say that she couldn’t even respond without having an interview with John Doe! And Louise Kursmark sent me a worksheet for John Doe to fill out, which she would follow up with a consultation. Note that the process involved is deeper than pulling out a list of action words and then going to town:

Barbara Safani - priceless from her most recent post: If you would like to have your own resume critiqued, without having the content on full view to everyone, email me for a free resume assessment (my style is much more like Paula Abdul and I will tell you what is working in your current resume as well as what can be improved).

Most people don’t understand the value of hiring a writer… many think that all the writer does is edit the document, fix the grammar, and make it look pretty. Having the recruiter’s “seal of approval” will bring credibility to the writer’s strategy. But if you have 5 different resumes for the same person and 5 different recruiters reviewing them, you might get 6 different opinions…This is the fuzziness of resume writing and this is where things might get confusing. Your readers will be left asking…so which way is “right”…the better message is that there’s no right on wrong way per say, but there are different strategies job seekers can use to gain the attention of the hiring manager.

Brad Attig

I’m going to try to help you cut though all the fog and give you some guidelines that I would recommend you consider. Remember that every time someone tells you to turn right, someone else will be there to tell you to turn left, or worse, stop, go, backup…..

Wendy Terwelp

Writing a resume is more than filling in blanks on a template. The way I write a resume includes an in-depth interview (a minimum of 60 minutes) with the job seeker, a prep guide, then the rewrite (or completely new from scratch) with usually 2 drafts. Our process for resume development and strategy takes many hours to produce. We don’t just “type up a resume” based on the original as often the original document is missing tons of information. That’s why the interview process with the job seeker is crucial. We help candidates see their rock star qualities, what they bring to the table for a potential employer by asking lots of questions. Why? A résumé’s first goal is to help a candidate get in the door for an interview. As a former recruiter and current member of staffing associations, I know what employers look for in top candidates – and I know how to interview a candidate to get the achievements, skills, and qualities necessary for a great resume. Templates just don’t cut it.

Deb Dib

Thing is, it is so NOT about the resume. The resume is the least important deliverable you get with a great resume pro. But it’s the only tangible you get, and it’s the only thing most people know.

What Deb? The resume is not what its about? I can’t find a reference to this (I saw it sometime this week) but I read somewhere about the value of your resume writer (go ahead and disagree). The value is in the process. The value is in what you learn about yourself - as you go through the process you will be more prepared for the interview. You will be able to sum up your skills better. You’ll realize you thought things are important but really aren’t - and shouldn’t be a focus in your interview. The resume creation process could be - should be - a therapeutic process that gives you much more value than the written document.
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What if you want to do it yourself? No problem - do it yourself. There are lots of resources to help. If you don’t get the results you need with your resume then prepare to spend time figuring out why. And make sure to ask “where does a resume fits into my job search?”

I asked John Doe yesterday how he thought the Experiment was going. He replied:

It’s been interesting. The feedback is welcomed. However, I get a feeling that a lot of the resume writers are giving some pretty standard feedback. It definitely seems “templated.”

I told him I’d respond on the blog today, and after sleeping on it here’s my response.

It does seem templated. Its all stuff you can get out of books, from blogs, from the CareerHub eBook. Its all stuff that we hear time and again. realizing that they didn’t really get a chance (or have time) to do in-depth interviews and the normal exercises that they do with their clients, this is what I expected. Notice that thier responses are consistent. And they generally agree with “the customer” - the person who gets the resume - the recruiters (and Pete Johnson, who is a hiring manager of techies (he commented on the formatting post)).

The funny thing about principles is they always seem like common sense. Like templated, canned answers. But they are true, and violating them will have adverse results.

And… if the results do seem templated, and they are common sense, then why do people continue to violate the basics? The principles?

Good resume writers are experts - they know the tricks, the pitfalls, the lingo, what’s effective and what’s not. I won’t do my kitchen sink plumbing (lots of DIY books on that), I won’t cut my own hair (many people do)… I’ll leave that to the experts. Calling in a resume expert, in my opinion, is worth the money.

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A huge thanks to John Doe for allowing these people to give feedback on his resume.

A HUGE thanks to those that commented to challenge ideas, or ask for clarification. The beauty of a blog is that its a discussion, and you have added to the discussion in a meaningful way.

A HUGER thanks for the experts that participated, the time they spent on their original input and the comments they left throughout the week.

Hopefully this was a meaningful experiment for you, that it helps you now or in the future. Feel free to pass this along to anyone that may be struggling with a job search, underemployment or whatever.

Sponsored by JibberJobber - what’s this about? Click here!

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The Resume Experiment Series

Post I - Introduction
Post II - First Impressions/Reactions
Post III - Formatting
Post IV - Content
Post V - Wrap-Up (that’s today folks)

Branding your company is extremely important. Consider getting your company’s name out there and buy great promotional items such as custom coolers and personalized stress relievers here!

Branding your company is extremely important.  Consider getting your company’s name out there and buy great logo items such as personalized coolers and personalized koozies here!

So far we’ve discussed first impressions and formatting issues. Today we focus on content. Carl Chapman wrote a follow-up blog post today where he says:

…it is the content of the resume that is important. Just so long is the resume isn’t so drab, dull, boring, or ugly that it goes right in the trash can, you’ll be fine with almost any format if you have content that illustrates that you have skills and experience that the prospective employer needs.

So let’s see what our experts have to say about John Doe’s content:

Part I - The Recruiters

Carl Chapman - don’t feel like you are getting enough of Carl’s feedback? Here’s his original post about the resume.

…there seems to be a battle going on between whether this particular person wants to be an employee or work for him/herself.

I notice that there are almost NO quantifiable achievements that are expressed in terms of dollars or percentages. Every employer must justify the expense of an employee.

Use real titles from your jobs or translate real titles that companies use that are strange and non-conforming to the most meaningful truthful title that describes your actual position. To do otherwise may terminate your candidacy ended before it has really begun.

Professional resume writers and career coaches like Barbara Safani of CareerSolvers and Liz Handlin of Ultimate Resumes, and Billie Sucher of CareerHub will also have a larger repertoire of adjectives and adverbs that make your resume scintillating and sizzling rather than just average.

Daniel Sweet - There is a lot left out from my summary here, especially in the bullets - Daniel also has a great, comprehensive post with feedback where he fleshes out his thoughts on his FRACAT blog.

There are a lot of things I’d change about this resume (as you’ll read below), but there is one paramount, supreme, glaring problem with this resume, as there are with 90% of the resumes that I read:

You don’t tell me why I should hire you!

As far as this resume is concerned, there is absolutely nothing special about this candidate, nothing that he excels at, no skill that he is particularly wonderful at, and no single area of experience that he’s been building up for years; any of which would be a reason for me to hire this person.

That alone would get you calls. So, before you do the easy, small stuff, do this one, big, humongous, stupendously important thing: TELL PEOPLE WHY THEY SHOULD HIRE YOU!

How do I know they [the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th jobs] are jobs and not hobbies? Because they are listed as such on your resume. And, together, they’re going to take up a chunk of your time.

Other miscellaneous advice (if it doesn’t make sense, hope over to his original post):

• Tell People What You Do
• Have Your Jobs Tell People What You Do (Fix Job Titles)
• Have Your Companies Tell What You Do
• Don’t Tell About What I Don’t Care About
• Don’t make me figure out your results
• Kill The Fluff

Steve Levy - once again, more info in Steve’s original post… this is just stuff I’m picking out as it relates to content.

Everything in a resume needs to pass the “So what? tes” if someone in your target audience reads it, will their response be “so what?” If so, it either needs more seasoning or needs to be eliminated.

The resume is entirely depauperate of measures of performance.

You have room so give the reader the article titles; Did articles generate comment fodder – how much? Did the press releases you wrote generate “interest” or sales?

Do you think you’re E.E. Cummings and your goal is to write the longest sentence in resume history? Break it up!

Tell the reader what it means to go “from very poor state into a successful and profitable enterprise.

I’m not so sure that the titles listed accurately portray what the real job was – this too needs to be assessed.

Most important, you have to explain the dates… I’m an engineer so I naturally had to draw a Gantt chart of John’s career. I used the order presented in the resume and came to the conclusion that John needs help that even Dr. Phil can’t offer. So there has to be a better way to present John’s experience on a resume – and there is.

Naturally, without any details about the companies, this order is based more upon my feel than for actual facts. [Jason: I don't hink you want to be in the position of allowing a recruiter to maked decisions based on feelings, or assumptions. And who would have thought that your recruiter is an analytical type that's going to make a gantt chart! Want to chance it? Or do you want the phone call for an interview??]

Another item we don’t know is what type of position are you targeting … this too can change the advice given.

Part II - The Resume Writers

Alison Doyle

… the candidate is interested in customer service management. The position description should correlate - his customer service skills should be listed first and highlighted, rather than the web design, etc.

I’d suggest completing re-writing the resume to focus on customer service (and the highest level skills he had - strategic planning, management, etc.) and limiting some of other non-related responsibilities.

If there’s a way to work in some stragetic level responsibilities and up it a notch, that would help - billing support, copy writing, etc. sound like a lower level position.

Also, I’m wondering if there is a way to merge the company Y/Z lists to address the perspective (at first glance) that he’s job hopping.

… if the blog, web site, writing are related to the type of jobs he’s looking for, he may want to work them into the first experience section.

I’m a believer in targeting resumes (along with cover letters) so I’d need to know more about what his goals are…

Barbara Safani

For the most part, the candidate is communicating tasks rather than accomplishments.

The candidate’s current resume does nothing to distinguish him from his competition. Lots of people have skill sets similar to this candidate. What makes him different?

Imagine you are buying a new product…let’s say it’s a dishwasher…every brand has its own pitch…some dishwashers save water, some are better for the environment, some are faster, some are quieter…you get the picture. The consumer buys one of the dishwashers based on the product benefits, not its features…they all wash the dishes…the consumer needs to decide which dishwasher provides the most benefits to them. With a resume, accomplishment statements with key metrics best showcase a candidate’s benefits. Task statements merely convey features of the candidate’s experience.

This candidate has a lot of great information on page two that needs to be incorporated into page one to give the reader a more comprehensive view of his competencies.

I have no doubt that this candidate is great at what he does. But he needs to find ways to showcase his value over and over again throughout the document in order to get the phone to ring.

[Barbara had a lot of pointed questions to try and quantify the achievements ... here is an example - her questions are bolded (I'll post the document tomorrow)]

Oversaw web site redesign and implementation; aided in copy writing and content revision for new web site; how did this benefit the site? Did traffic increase; if so, by how much? creation and implementation of affiliate program; redesign and restructuring of forums; implemented new features and services for clients; assisted in implementation of company wiki; what was the benefit of this? more traffic, better page ranking, increased PR, increased sales, more cross-selling, or something else? assisted with hiring and training; how many did you hire and train? customer service management; oversaw sales department; assisted with billing and technical support.

Billie Sucher

Use your resume as a powerful teaching, educational tool and make it easy for the employer to experience you, see you, get you, your story, and pick you!

Think through your options and always remember to think like the employer thinks.

A FOCUS is really, really helpful on a resume if you are applying directly to a prospective employer. It sets the tone for all else to follow. If you’re applying directly to a company in response to an opening, use their job title.

Identify your strongest / best / most powerful, unique, and effective credentials to support your efforts in getting to your target goal. Think in terms of what are my best, most relevant, and powerful knowledge, skills, and abilities, experience, and education to help me “win my case” on paper.

I would encourage you to come up with 5 to 7 of your best, strongest, most credible, supportive, relevant, essential one-liners that proves, shows, (convinces) & teaches your reader you can do so & so job (target goal/focus) because you have such & such credentials. (Voila — alignment - things connect). And the employer “gets it” / gets you and “gets in touch” with you!

Key functional areas are numerous and many - the trick is to pick ones that are right & relevant for YOU now! If you need help in figuring out some skills, go visit O*net online

Think: if you only had 30 seconds to tell a prospective employer about Web Site Design (for example) or Project Management (for example)….what are the most essential, relevant, vital, and effective pieces of information you would want them to know about you & your wonderful product?

Testimonial - Find someone who thinks you rock, will sing your praises, who thinks you’re astounding (or at least decent) and get a quote from them. The “other voice” (from someone beyond self) is always better than your own for credibility, believability purposes. (Example: I can tell you I’m one of the best resume writers in the country, right? Well, don’t believe me! If you hear it from someone else, well then, pay attention!)

Brad Attig - want to see what Brad really thought? Check out my comments at the end of this post for a letter he writes to John Doe… for now some content-related comments:

You have a lot of “stuff” going on at the same time. I assume WORK EXPERIENCE you get paid for and WORK EXPERIENCE (OTHER) you hope to get paid for? [Jason: do you want the decision-maker making assumptions?]

Now let’s try to get some meat into your accomplishments. “A” players at “A” companies look for people that can positively impact the business. Meaning: Make money, save money.

Just for a minute, pretend you are your own client. Step out of the box. John is coming to John and needs a marketing presentation and strategy. What brand are you and how do you sell it? Think of the key works that align with “YOU” the brand.

Deb Dib - the following is taken/borrowed/stolen from Deb’s really cool post called The Five Golden Rules of Resume Writing for 2007:

(from #1) There are only five things you must have in your resume: Value Proposition - Differentiation - Proof - Brand - Passion! Hit these five areas if you truly want to get that resume read, get interviews, and get on the short list.

#2. Know your VALUE - Compose a one-sentence value proposition that will not just capture the interest of a recruiter or decision maker, but absolutely compel them to action. Without this, you cannot write a great resume. In fact, you should be able to put this in the middle of a blank piece of paper and get your targeted decision-maker interested in you.

Liz Handlin - CEO of Ultimate Resumes and VP of Marketing at Broadpeak.

[in the SKILLS section] Don’t list basic applications like Microsoft Office…if you don’t know Office you probably don’t belong in an office! List applications that the reader might not know that you are an expert in.

[new section: MEDIA/AWARDS] If you have received recognition for any projects, work, or just for being yourself list them here. Indicating that references are available is not necessary – of couse they are!.

[new section: AFFILIATIONS] List memberships in any professional societies with particular emphasis on those in which you hold an office. No need to list controversial (example: if you are a member of the KKK you shouldn’t put it on your resume) or purely recreational (example: Homeowners Assn. Bridge Club) groups

Louise Kursmark - these comments are taken directly out of the original resume with Louise’s comments in various sections. She then rewrote the resume completely, based on some assumption (will be posted on tomorrow’s post).

[at the very beginning/intro, Louise asks] WHO ARE YOU? — Needs introduction – who you are, what you do well, what kinds of problems you solve, where you might fit into my organization. Professional profile/personal brand information to “set the stage” for the rest of the resume.

[along with comments from yesterday, Louise wants this company put into perspective] What does this company do? How large is it?

[Right after the company John Doe states what he did there... um, kind of] This is a recitation of tasks/job description – this tells me nothing about what YOU contributed to the success of this company; why you were hired; what challenges you faced. This could be written about ANYONE with this job title.

[the next two companies were a little better ... he got into acheivements (almost)]Nice strong intro – at last, something YOU did! However, it then deteriorates into, again, a job description.

Where are the numbers that make these statements credible?

As General Manager, you probably had a lot to do with the company being acquired… this resume does not make this clear.

“Responsible for” is not a strong introduction. No evidence of how well you did your job or, specifically, how you helped your clients or your company.

[regarding "Work Experience (Other)"] Not sure this entire section is presented in the most beneficial way.

Your writing and blogging experiences seem to be a pivotal part of your customer service experience – and instrumental in establishing you as an expert in your field. Thus I suggest including these positions as primary rather than “other” work experience.

[Regarding SKILLS towards the end of the resume] Key information should be included as part of introduction.

“references upon request” is an outdated inclusion.

and finally, one last thought in an e-mail to me:

His resume is completely lacking in the details and specific accomplishments that are essential to attract attention.

Jason’s Thoughts

This is already a really long post - I don’t have much to add. I think Carl’s quote at the top starts it off well, and I’ll end with a letter from Brad to John Doe:

Dear John,

I received your resume today and we have to break up already. I can’t figure out who you are, what you’ve done or what you want. There is no way we can have a relationship based on that, plus you’re just plain boring. Sorry John, I want excitement, I want a resume that grabs me. Just because you’re in black and white doesn’t mean you can’t be colorful.

Do you have any idea how many resumes try to get my attention? I only gave you a second glance because your friend Jason asked me to. I have to wonder what he sees in you. I know, down under all the plainness, there must be some accomplishments. Oh, and you seem to be kind of scattered too (never mind my rambling, kind of hard to follow, huh? Like your resume). I’ll pass you along to my friend Brad, perhaps he can give you some suggestions.

Sorry John

Signed - Some Recruiter

The Resume Experiment Series

Post I - Introduction
Post II - First Impressions/Reactions
Post III - Formatting
Post IV - Content (today’s post)
Post V - Wrap-Up (Friday)

Branding your company is extremely important. Consider getting your company’s name out there and buy great promotional items such as personalized coolers and personalized koozies here!

One of the reasons I wanted to have the two groups participate is because one group prepares resumes for a living, and the other group is a resume gatekeeper. It was interesting to see how the recruiter responses differed from resume writers.

Recruiters, the gatekeepers, are accustomed to seeing lots of resumes. How many? I’ve had recruiters tell me they get hundreds of resumes a day. Unsolicited resumes. Resumes that don’t have anything to do with their niche specialty, or current opportunities. To them this is noise. Wonder why you don’t get a reply back? Or the phone call you are waiting for? Because they already have a full-time job … where are they going to fit in the time to personally respond to 200+ unsolicited non-matches each day?? (I know, its harsh, and I don’t like it either. Maybe there is another way. But its the reality - and I first experienced it last year in my job search when I was “working with” 30 recruiters.)

Part I - Recruiters

So these three recruiters that participated are playing the “nice guy” friend. That is, they see a resume that needs work and they actually help our John Doe. Reactions where similar by each of them:

Carl Chapman’s reaction can be read in full on his blog (its quite comprehensive). The title of his post tells you what his initial impression was: “Ripping up the most important resume in the world - your own” … from his blog:

The first thing that catches me is how dull and unattractive to the eye the resume is. It is just too, too plain. No one is going to spend much time looking at the meat of the resume if the initial presentation doesn’t grab the reader’s attention. I would have filed the thing in the circular file and fired off a “can’t help” email to the potential candidate. – You must make your resume visually appealing enough that the reader will take time to dig in enough to see if you have a skill set that they need.

Daniel Sweet of FRACAT (Free Resume And Career Toolbox) had a similar first impression - his title is “The Red Ink Flows Like Blood: JibberJobber Resume Massacre” … regarding how he looks at a new resume:

When I first get a resume, I do what I like to call an “HR Glance” at it. That is, I assume that I don’t know much about the position that I’m recruiting for….

Some of you may think that this observation is unkind. And you may be right. However, having my livelihood dependent on HR people from time to time, I also know that it is accurate.

So, let me tell you what is going through the average, low-end, not very long out of school, corporate HR type when they look at this resume: “Uhhhhhhh…..dunno” followed by the “delete” key and the next resume.

A more astute HR person or recruiter will see a generic resume that says: “I Don’t Know What I Want To Do With My Life. Would You Please Figure It Out For Me?”

Steve Levy of The Recruiting Edge has similar initial impressions. His post is titled The Great Resume Massacre (Dr. Evil laugh). What I like about Steve’s feedback is that he walks us through his thought process, and its a little different. Can you assume that all processes are the same? You have one chance to get past the first test - do everything “right” so that you make it through to the next step! From Steve’s post:

Don’t know why but I always read resumes from back to front. Don’t assume they follow a “how to read resumes” book. Your customer may be quirky, but he is still your customer.

Contact info at the end? [Jason: I'll talk about formatting in a later post, but this is a good catch - you can be creative and break whatever rules you want, but if you aren't getting results (aka, interviews) then fall back in line with "best practices"]

The phrases strategic business partner and available upon request do the same thing to me – I wonder if the person uttering these really can walk and chew gum at the same time. Uh oh. I’ve had the opportunity to deliver a first impression, and that impression is going to put me right into the garbage can

Why are the skills at the end of the resume? Why isn’t there a summary at the top, a place where you highlight your skills and accomplishments in 1-2 short paragraphs? [Jason: Again, I'll talk about formatting later but this is first-impression time... and John Doe is blowing it.]

Why do I share the recruiter perspective here? Because this is who you send your resume to. I imagine the HR response would be pretty much the same. Know your audience. Write to your audience. Dazzle your audience. DO NOT forget that there is a person on the other end of the e-mail, and part of their routine is to decide what to do with each of the 200+ resumes they get each day. What are you going to do to have your resume pass the smell test?

One parting thought… One of these three recruiters wrote this to me:

By the end of the post, I felt like I had beat up on the guy so much that it was inappropriate.

We’re not here to tease, or make John Doe feel like crap. Its not about beating you up. Its about helping you understand what the guy on the other end of the e-mail is thinking so that you can move forward.

Part II - Resume Writers (here’s a current post by Louise Fletcher on hiring a professional)

Here are Alison Doyle’s initial thoughts:

What type of job is he looking for? That’s my first question, because his experience is a little scattered.

As far as the resume, from my perspective it needs a total overhaul.

If there’s a way to work in some strategic level responsibilities and up it a notch, that would help - billing support, copy writing, etc. sound like a lower level position.

Also, I’m wondering if there is a way to merge the company Y/Z lists to address the perspective (at first glance) that he’s job hopping.

What he needs to do is focus on customer service i.e. in his position descriptions.

My first thought in looking at the resume, was that it wasn’t clear to me what type of position the resume writer was seeking. He has lots of good experience, but it’s in a lot of different areas. The resume needs to be targeted and focused on the career field/positions that he is interested.

From Barbara Safani:

The candidate is communicating tasks rather than accomplishments.

The candidate’s current resume does nothing to distinguish him from his competition. Lots of people have skill sets similar to this candidate. What makes him different? Imagine you are buying a new product…let’s say it’s a dishwasher…every brand has its own pitch…some dishwashers save water, some are better for the environment, some are faster, some are quieter…you get the picture. The consumer buys one of the dishwashers based on the product benefits, not its features…they all wash the dishes…the consumer needs to decide which dishwasher provides the most benefits to them.

It’s hard for the audience to get a quick read on all this candidate has to offer. Most people look at the top third of the first page of the resume. This candidate has a lot of great information on page two that needs to be incorporated into page one to give the reader a more comprehensive view of his competencies.

I have no doubt that this candidate is great at what he does. But he needs to find ways to showcase his value over and over again throughout the document in order to get the phone to ring.

From Billie Sucher:

This resume does not need a tune-up; it needs a major overhaul. I would not be doing your friend / contact any favors by saying his resume was great; the workplace will teach him differently. I am all about helping someone get what they want, need, etc. in a fair, reasonable, professional, and caring manner…

From Louise Kursmark:

His resume is completely lacking in the details and specific accomplishments that are essential to attract attention.

From Jason, regarding professional resume writers. The comments from the last post were interesting, including those that have absolutely no faith in resume writers. I understand… I’ve heard this from recruiters, regular people, etc. I think a real, qualified resume expert is worth their weight in gold - especially considering their entire focus is to develop a professional document that helps you get into interviews. I’ve said it before, if I had professional resume help I would have had a job a long time ago (alas, JibberJobber would not have gotten this far, so thank goodness my resume sucked)!

—

Jason’s Final Thoughts

You can ignore the first impressions, but I’ve heard the person looking at your resume will spend less than 10 seconds before they make a decision (save/toss).

Please think about what 10-second impression your resume is giving the decision-maker - if you don’t get past them you don’t get to see the hiring manager (yes, there are exceptions to this - that’s for another series!).

—

The Resume Experiment Series

Post I - Introduction
Post II - First Impressions/Reactions (today’s post)
Post III - Formatting (Wednesday)
Post IV - Content (Thursday)
Post V - Wrap-Up (Friday)

Checkout the job searchJobCentral.

A couple of months ago I met a guy who heard that my resume stunk, and was keeping me out of interviews. He asked me if I could check out his resume and let him know what I thought. I was happy to do it but realized that I was not the best person to help him out. And that two-month journey has led us to The Resume Experiment.

I have asked various experts to weigh in on his resume. Some responded with a complete resume rewrite, others responded with questions and concerns. Everyone had similar concerns, and everyone noted that they really couldn’t do this job justice without more information (I only sent them an introductory paragraph and the “current” resume). There are various reasons for the differening results/feedback.

While the end-result is interesting, I was fascinated by the process. I have heard comments about resume writers - just recently I read an e-mail post on a forum that said that resume writers turn out canned resumes from templates, and aren’t worth it. I would have let that opinion sway me 100% a year ago - I didn’t want to spend the money to get my resume professionally done. You know where that got me?

A few months down the road, with interviews at only two companies. And no job offers (I got the the third interview with each company).

The problem was evident - my resume was keeping me out of interviews. The math is simple - 3 months * $5,000/month (could be more, could be less, put in your own number to see what its worth) … not having a resume that got me interviews cost me at least $15,000. So you tell me how much I should have paid to get my resume fixed and start getting interviews!

Over this week I’m going to explore what I’ve learned from the experts. I will pick apart the thought processes and procedures. I want to help you understand how this resume thing works, and empower you with more knowledge about how to move forward (in other words, if you are wondering how to choose a resume writer, hopefully you’ll walk away with some ideas on how to proceed).

To get started, read the real resume. This is a Word document that has some of the information changed to protect the innocent - but almost all of the descriptive stuff is original. The formatting is original. This resume was not getting results (interviews). Can you guess how the experts are going to react?

Finally, I’d like to introduce you to the people that have participated (there may be more as the week progresses). I’ll introduce them in alphabetical order so you can’t try and determine my bias (if I have one ;))

Alison Doyle - the About.com Job Search expert. I had lunch with Alison last week in Park City (Utah) and it was just too fun. Alison has many years