Archive for December, 2011

4 Ways to Edit Your Resume Like a Professional Resume Writer





by Don Goodman

Professional resume writers take on the mindset of the employer and recruiter when crafting and editing resumes. To edit your resume like a professional, you have to develop a fresh mindset. If that means taking a break from your resume for a day or two before going back to it, that’s what you will have to do.
Candidates often spend so much time on their resume they can no longer give it an objective review. Many candidates are also challenged with writing their own resume because they are so involved in their own experiences. They are unable to offer a macro view of their experience and achievements – and rather than focusing on information that is important to a potential employer, they are stuck focusing on mundane daily tasks of the job that are less impactful on a resume.

To tackle your resume like a professional resume writer, have an open mind and think like the employer or recruiter you are applying to. Here are some general rules to follow:

1. Show what you do well.

Identify the top five skill sets that an employer wants in the perfect candidate. Then focus your resume on how you’ve achieved great things leveraging these skills. For instance, if you are applying for a sales position, your focus should be on quota achievement, account penetration, prospecting and closing techniques. Do not sway from focusing on the core skills an employer wants.

2. Remove what’s irrelevant to the job you are applying for.

In most instances, a hiring manager makes a decision of whether you are an appropriate candidate for a call back after reviewing your resume for only a few seconds. Rarely is every line on your resume read in its entirety. The more information on your resume that is relevant, the quicker the hiring manager will come to the conclusion that you are a candidate for call back. However, if your resume includes information that offers some relevance and some things that aren’t, you just increase your chance of being dismissed. So, in the end, the less an employer finds irrelevant on your resume, the more impactful it is. You are better off leaving information that doesn’t offer much to an employer than including it.

3. Don’t be afraid to market yourself.

For a resume to have impact, you have to market yourself. Every aspect of what you put on your resume should sell. Take all of your experiences, skills, and capabilities, and position it in a manner to sell. The information on a resume should present itself in a manner that says, “This is what I have achieved before, and this is what I can do for you.” Many resumes do not sell simply because they are poorly focused For instance, just because your job was to bag groceries does not mean that is the information you put on your resume. You can make it more marketable by indicating how your customer relation skills helped maintain customer satisfaction, resulting in returning customers. Your statement is not a lie. It is simply repositioning information in a way that shows more relevance for the job.

4. Look out for common mistakes.

Minor mistakes such as misspelling, punctuation, grammar, and alignment are avoidable. However, many resumes that are not carefully proofread contain such mistakes that are cause for dismissal by the employer. Of all reasons for a resume to be dismissed, don’t let these easy fixes be one of them. Ask a friend or family member to give it a review. You need another pair of eyes or at the very least, a fresh pair of eyes. Remove yourself from your resume for some time before giving it a good review. When you stare too long at a resume, you lose sight of important matters.

Reviewing and editing your resume like a professional resume writer can make a significant impact. It is often the difference between actually securing interview opportunities for jobs of the quality and spending valuable time continuously searching and applying for new opportunities to only receive no response in return.



6 Networking Tips for Your Job Search





By Lindsay Olson

Networking with other professionals in your industry can be beneficial when you’re looking for work. You might meet the hiring manager for a company and hear about an unadvertised position, find a new consulting opportunity, or get some insight into the best way to apply for a position.

The biggest mistake people make in networking is focusing on what they want, rather than on connecting and listening to others. If you want your networking to be truly effective, the goal should be focused on helping others and making memorable connections.

The Importance of Professional Networking

Anything you can do to stand out against the sea of job-seeking competitors can help you get the job you want. Having the right contacts (made through networking) can get you the inside scoop that can help you tailor your resume for what the company really wants, or can even provide the hiring manager with a good word or two about you. Considering that most jobs come through personal connections, building your network should be a high priority on and off the job search.

Networking for Success

Networking takes work and practice. Here are a few tips to help you make your networking truly successful.

1. Give as much as you get. When you think, “how can this person help me,” you’ll be disappointed. However, when you are offering help to others, you’ll find them far more open to the idea of helping you down the road. Forming relationships built on trust will help you be the person your contacts think of the next time they can find a way to help you.

2. Be proactive. Networking doesn’t just happen. You need to be active in your efforts and make sure you get out and meet people. Start by talking to everyone you meet at business meetups, trade shows, and conferences.

To find upcoming events, pay attention to the newspaper or go online. Sites like meetup.com, Eventful, EventBrite and LinkedIn Events are all very useful when you need to find places to network.

3. Develop your networking strategy. Prepare your elevator speech explaining who you are and what you do, and practice enough that you sound like a natural. Schedule at least two or three events a month, and find groups that you want to join so that you build relationships through the monthly meetings.

Have a stack of business cards ready to hand out. You don’t want to be the person who works the room racing to collect and hand out your cards, though. Save the exchange for when you have a conversation. People can sense greedy networkers who are there to work the room and add as many contacts to their mailing list without permission. Being genuine sells, so be prepared to ask plenty of questions of others, and keep in mind that you’re trying to help them first, not the other way around.

4. Stay positive. It’s easy to let yourself get down and lose self esteem when you’ve been rejected in the job hunt, and this can affect everything, including your networking skills. Staying positive makes you approachable and memorable. Consider each networking event an opportunity to learn something new or meet someone interesting.

5. Take full advantage of opportunities. With networking opportunities abounding, make sure you actually attend them. Networking only works if you put yourself out there and to start talking to people. Let your guard down and be aware of what your body language communicates.

6. Don’t forget social media. While it’s true that in-person meetings solidify relationships, when it comes to networking, many relationships can either start or flourish through social networking. Use sites like Twitter and Facebook to stay in touch with people you’ve met in person, as well as to network with others, such as people who work at the company you’re interested in.

Honing your networking skills will serve you well throughout your professional career, especially when job searching. Networking takes time and relationships won’t develop overnight, so be patient. By making a point of consistently meeting new people, you will learn from others about your industry, profession, and the companies you’re interested in. You might even find your perfect job you would have never known about otherwise!



How to build a great team





By Jeff Haden

A great team is based on great people — but the key is to define “great” correctly, especially where your small business is concerned.

I worked in a manufacturing plant where productivity was, as it should have been, all-important. As you would expect, we constantly worked to improve efficiency, reduce waste, and reduce downtime.

Then one supervisor decided team performance could be predicted and improved by quantifying the attributes of a great operator. He felt that if we determined those attributes, measured candidates against those attributes, and hired the people who best fit, we could build great teams.

The problem was that great operators possess a broad array of attributes. When we brainstormed attributes we filled up 12 easel pad sheets with lists of key skills and attributes.

Many attributes, like “self starter,” and “team player,” were hard to quantify. So we looked for attributes that could be quantified. One quantifiable attribute was mechanical aptitude. A number of tests were available that evaluated and measured mechanical knowledge. And intuitively that approach made sense: Machine operators run machines so mechanical knowledge must be important.

So off that supervisor went, and eventually he created a team of mechanical aptitude superstars.

Yet somehow one of my teams, all of whom had relatively poor mechanical aptitude (as measured by our tests), outperformed his team on a consistent basis.

Why? Because he was faced with too many variables, he decided to focus on mechanical aptitude — an attribute he could measure.

And he missed the point. Our equipment rarely broke down. Skilled machinists could arrive to help if we did break down. Hustle, teamwork, drive, and work ethic could not be measured — at least not ahead of time — and those qualities were much more important than mechanical aptitude.

That’s a common hiring mistake. Here are some tips to avoid making that mistake so you build great teams:
Decide the key attribute employees must possess. If you could only pick one attribute, what would you choose as the most important skill or quality a great employee needs in order to succeed in the position? Possibly that key attribute is attitude, or interpersonal skills, or teamwork, or a specific skill set — whatever it is, your individual employees must possess that attribute. Accept no substitutes.

Decide the (less than) key attribute employees cannot possess. This one is easy; just complete this sentence about a theoretical employee: “I don’t care how great he is, I don’t want him on my team because ________.” The way you complete the sentence indicates your hiring deal-breaker. Often this attribute will be related to a lack of interpersonal skills, or work ethic, or ego. Determine your can’t-have attribute and make sure it stays off your team.

Decide what creates a critical mass. You may not be able to build a team where every member possesses your key attribute. In our case, a line crew was made up of six operators, so we had room for one operator who wasn’t as efficient but was a great leader. The other operators helped bridge his efficiency gap and collectively the team benefited from his leadership skills. The team probably could not have afforded two people like him, but one was okay. Decide how many individuals you must have in your business or on a particular team who possess your key attribute. (If you can find and hire more, by all means do.)

Decide how to put together the pieces. Determining your critical mass allows you to build a team of employees with complementary skills. Once your critical mass is in place you can add a great team player that is technically weak, or a loner who is an outstanding problem solver, or a person with no experience but great hustle and drive.

Never fall prey to the assumption the only important attributes are the attributes that can be measured. In some cases, when individual contributors work alone and largely outside the scope of a team, quantifiable skills may be all-important.

But where teams are concerned, success is almost always the result of qualities that are hard to measure up front but show up where it matters most — in the results.

How to Answer Tough Job Interview Questions Correctly





by Rob Taub

From blatant job interview questions like, “What’s your greatest weakness, weakest attribute, or most significant failure.” To soft, “What might your previous employer say?” Even softer, “You certainly seem to have a lot of strengths, but we understand no one is perfect.” The question will come one way or another, everyone knows it, yet still befuddled by it.

There have been many Rules of Thumb (R.O.T.) developed over the years, from making light of the question with an answer like “Pizza!” to true confessions, putting a cloud over everyone, to developing a response that actually demonstrates a strength, “I tend to be a workaholic,” or “perfectionist.” (Yuk!)

In principle, Rules of Thumb are meant to have very broad application such as, “when in doubt, get out.” Great advice if you are in the middle of an intersection and the light changes. Would it apply in the final seconds of a game, you’re down three points and have the ball? What, you’re going to walk off the floor? I don’t think so. I find many R.O.T. (pun intended) to be off the mark and misleading. What may be good for one may not be for another. That is not to say there are no rules that can be applied; there are. Just choose your medicine carefully.

When answering interview questions, here’s the first rule…

RULE #1 – Stay positive… ALWAYS!

The “what’s your greatest weakness” question is your opportunity to shine. One way is to demonstrate you are a positive person by nature. Everyone likes a person with a positive nature, right? Remember you are in the interview to make yourself desirable for hiring, so you might say, “I rarely sit there and think of myself in those terms, nevertheless, I do want to respond to your question,” or something on those lines. Notice by the way I did not say, “I rarely sit there and think of my weaknesses.” Here’s a rule of thumb that always applies: Do not use or repeat negative terms, even if the interviewer throws it out there.

Here are three other rules I suggest you follow:

RULE #2 – No superlatives!

Keep it singular. Superlatives such as “weakest” or “worst” or “biggest” indicate the greatest degree of whatever is it describing. “Worst weakness” is the weakness of the highest degree implying there are other weaknesses of varying degrees but weaknesses nonetheless. That begs the question, “What are some others?” Likewise, “need most to improve” implies there are others areas for improvement. In any case, try this as an alternative, “If I had to come up with one…” (No negatives; no multiples).

RULE #3 – No absolutes!

The absolute, as in “My weakness is…” states the weakness exists unconditionally: utterly fixed and not likely to change. WOW! Wouldn’t it be better to be a little less restrictive, something more conditional like, “It could be I am…” Conditional responses suggest you yourself are not completely convinced of it. This type of response also accomplishes what the bungling technique of using a “strength” to describe a weakness consistently fails to achieve – your “weakness” may not be a weakness after all.

RULE #4 – Keep it real!

Your “weakness” should be one (singular) that is subjective – of your person. Humanize it!

“If I had to come up with one (singular) it might be (non-absolute) somewhat (qualifier) of a lack of internal patience (human). I seem (unconvinced) to have strong tendencies to expect the same from others I do from myself (human). Not just in terms of results – I’m smart enough to realize not everyone has the same level of skill, abilities and education (real). I do however, expect others to give their best effort, and if that’s not there, then yes, that might (conditional) bother me to some degree.”

Ah! “Bother me to some degree,” is human, non-absolute, qualifier, and conditional. Don’t you love it?! Another tact, similarly keeping it real, could be an incident resultant of some area where improvement was needed (potential weakness) that turned out to be a learning experience and later grew into a personal asset, thus giving you, once more, an opportunity to showcase strength.

In summary…

Do your homework. Think critically and be honest with yourself. Ask friends or colleagues the same: Critically and honestly, what they think may be your one weakness. When you have the answer, internalize it. In other words, take it to heart. If you don’t, your response may come across like a sound bite, no matter how long and hard you practice sounding unpracticed. When you speak from the heart, you won’t sound “rehearsed,” you will sound “aware” – conscious of yourself, a characteristic we all value.


3 Essential Factors to Boost Your Chances of Landing a Job





To get anywhere with your job search you really do have to put it the time and graft. The age-old saying “no pain no gain” – it’s completely true. It’s easy to be lazy when you’re unemployed, but at the end of the day it will get you absolutely nowhere. If you want to get somewhere in life you really do have to put in maximum effort day in and day out with your job search until you eventually find something. Here are three essentials to landing a job:

#1 – Plan what you want to do.

The first step is to sit down for a few hours and just think, think, and think. You need to think about you; forget about what your family wants you to do for the moment (don’t ignore advice), and ask yourself, “What do I want to do? What am I good at?” Draw up mind maps, do whatever you need to do to narrow down your job search into a few career paths. For example, if you’re hobby is photography, look into various photography jobs and career opportunities. Then get on the internet and do some thorough research into those chosen paths, note down any specific qualifications or skills needed, etc. If certain qualifications are required, you need to decide whether you want to steer clear or do what’s necessary to achieve them. You really need to be realistic with yourself here. If you have next to nothing in terms of qualifications, you need to bare that in mind when thinking about what career paths to approach. Don’t put yourself down, just be realistic – it can save you a lot of time.

#2 – Searching for vacancies.

In this day and age the first obvious step for many job seekers is to hop on the internet and browse job search websites. Some of the leading sites are great; over time they’ve developed efficiently and can match you up to suitable vacancies varying from accountancy jobs to tree surgeons. But, it’s not the only way to look for openings.

Another saying that you may hear as a job seeker is, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” This is a very true this statement. You really need to get yourself out there and be as social as possible; having a big group of friends will without doubt increase your chances of finding a job. Being a social person increases you confidence and interpersonal skills, this helps you meet new people and make new friendship bonds. Friends will always want to help you out when you’re unemployed. You need to ask everyone you know, having a big family helps, but not everyone is that fortunate.

Lastly, “get on your bike” and go. Go to job centers and CV posting. Employers will look at you in a new light when they realize you’re making an effort and will brand you as a “get up and go person.” Plan where you want to go and think outside the box. Don’t just go to the shopping center, there are loads of places you can go. Go back to your initial research and look into various companies that are accessible to you. Spend a week going round to these companies and you’ll increase your chances dramatically. By handing a CV over personally you have a much greater chance that someone who’s posted it online; you know they have it and have probably read it, whereas when you post it online you don’t know if they’ve even received it.

#3 – Work on self-improvement.

This is a huge factor. Although it’s wrong to judge someone on appearance, a lot of employers do. Regarding appearance: It’s your ability to brush up and look professional and presentable. Here are some examples:



Work on you vocabulary and interpersonal skills, too (i.e. your conversation ability, telephone manner and e-mail structure). Here are some examples:



Your e-mails are of great importance. It’s important to do some research to ensure you’re e-mails are structured correctly and formal. Always read over you message before you send it to ensure you don’t come across rude and to spot any silly spelling mistakes. With CV’s, take the same approach and get family/friends to check it and suggest improvements.

In recent times, it’s common employers will try and check you out on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google Plus. So keep a clean profile, don’t have any rude or offensive text or imagery, you could be creating a stereotype of yourself.

Follow these tips and you will lay the groundwork for a successful job search.


5 Performance Review Preparation Tips





The performance evaluation. It’s one of those mile markers of the work year – like open enrollment or Girl Scout cookie time.

Anticipation of an upcoming evaluation can be stress-inducing. It can be difficult to sit there as your work record is picked apart. And, especially in this economy, any shortcoming is a potential strike against you if downsizing should come around.

But a performance review also can be a great opportunity to strengthen your position and shape your role within a company – if you take the time to prepare.

Check out our tips for making the most of your next evaluation.

1. Don’t Get Blindsided

Avoid nasty surprises during your performance review by seeking feedback all year long. Don’t assume that no news is good news when it comes to how you’re doing at work. Schedule a few minutes periodically to check in with your boss. Give her a status report and ask if you’re working in the right direction. Use the feedback as a guide to address shortcomings and build on successes.

2. Open Your Mind

Even if you are dutiful about getting feedback throughout the year, chances are you’re still going to hear some criticism during your performance evaluation. Open your mind to criticism. Don’t be defensive. Don’t dismiss it out of hand. Embrace criticism and use it to improve.

3. Be Ready to Prove Your Worth

Before your employee review, put together a summary of goals you met and accomplishments you made over the past year (likely you’ll need this info for a self-evaluation, as well). These are concrete examples of your worth to the company. The point is to show that you have exceeded expectations — gone above and beyond — rather than just satisfactorily completed your required job tasks.

4. Show You Have Grown

Be prepared to show how you have addressed weak spots brought to your attention during performance reviews past. Show that you respond to criticism and improve. If, for instance, your boss last year told you that that you haven’t demonstrated leadership skills, then provide some examples of how you’ve successfully taken on leadership roles since then.

5. Have a Plan for the Future

A performance evaluation is a great opportunity to take part in developing your role in a company. Come prepared with a list of goals you can pursue and skills you’d like to develop over the next year. If you’ve faced legitimate challenges in meeting some performance expectations, be honest about it and have a plan for how you can meet expectations in the future (such as more training in a specific area).



Network During the Holidays



By Mauri Schwartz

The holidays are coming up and many people think they should give their job search a break. While it is true that there is less hiring activity because many people take vacations, it is wrong to assume that nothing gets done. With the economy the way it is, people are not taking as much vacation time as they may have in the past. And that includes hiring managers. While many job seekers are taking this time off, why don’t you use this opportunity to take advantage of a bit less competition?

In addition, this is a good time to engage professional help as most job search expenses are tax deductible (check with the IRS for details). Services you purchase before December 31 will be tax deductible for 2011.

The holiday period is a terrific time for networking…parties, parties, parties. It is a great excuse to contact people you haven’t seen all year. Send out holiday greetings, invite people out or over. If you are invited to parties, GO! Host a party yourself. Being among your friends will lift your spirits and your self confidence.

When contacting friends, be sure to ask about them, how they are and what they are doing. And let them know about you, how you are, and that you are looking for a new job…and be specific about the job you are seeking. You can lighten it up by adding, “I thought I’d let you know just in case you hear of something.”

Send holiday greetings by email to those companies you haven’t heard from in a while. Use this as an excuse to make an additional follow-up connection.

When you attend events, plan ahead. Think about the people you know who will probably be there. Prepare your “elevator speech” but in a lighter more social tone. Again, ask them about themselves, what they have been doing, etc. and let them know about your job search.

Also consider that there may be people whom you don’t know as well and make it a point to meet as many of them as possible. One of my favorite sayings about networking is that whenever there are two or more people, it’s a networking event! Be sure to collect business cards so that you can follow up as soon as possible.

One last word of advice…if you are partying and networking, please be on your best behavior and do not overuse alcohol. (Well, at least I didn’t say not to drink at all!)


About the Author
Mauri Schwartz, President of Career Insiders, is a leading figure in the San Francisco Bay Area career management community. Career Insiders consults with companies and nonprofit organizations in the form of outplacement and hiring assistance, as well as with individual job seekers. In addition to her outstanding success rate in helping clients achieve their career goals, Mauri is a frequent speaker at conferences, job fairs, and career panels. She serves as Adjunct Advisor of Career Services at the Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley. Mauri’s motivational style uses techniques that combine old fashioned interpersonal relationship building skills with the latest technological tools.


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8 Ways to Kick-Start Your Workday



by: Ruth Zive

When December gets into full swing, it gets harder and harder to flip the switch from holiday festivities to emails and spreadsheets. Take it from me: I work from home as a freelance writer. While I love the flexibility and freedom of this arrangement, it can be challenging to get motivated without a team of colleagues and a conventional office environment to show up at every day, especially at this time of year.

But here’s what I’ve found to be one key to my success: a set, regular, step-by-step morning routine. Some parts of the routine are constructive, and others are more ritualistic, but I’ve discovered that my greatest times of productivity occur when I stick to this practice.

So, if you’re having trouble wrapping your head around the workday, try kicking it off with my eight-step plan. Whether you work in your cubicle or your kitchen, these tips will arm you with that extra “oomph” you need to get started on the grind—and stay focused on it all day long.

1. Stretch it Out
My day starts at 6:30 AM with Ashtanga yoga, a moving meditation that grounds me, stretches me out, gives me focus, gets my blood flowing, and puts me in the right frame of mind for work. I can’t imagine my life without yoga, but if it’s not for you, just pick another get-your-heart-pumping activity: a run, a stretch, a Pilates routine, or a spin class are all great ways to start your morning.

2. Gotta Have a Java
Straight from yoga, I race for my coffee (I would probably inject it intravenously if I could). My caffeine addiction notwithstanding, a little extra jolt can be helpful to distinguish between night and day. If you’re not a coffee drinker, you might find that a cold shower, protein shake, or cup of tea can have the same rejuvenating benefits.

3. Feed Your Belly
First the coffee, now the food—remember Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs? If you haven’t satisfied your growling stomach, there’s no way you’ll be able to focus on work. Along the same lines, make sure that you’re rested and hydrated—taking care of yourself is the best way to remain focused throughout the day.

4. Dress the Part
Okay, I admit it: I do sometimes work in my pajamas (it’s one of those work-from-home perks). But I find that I’m much more productive and energized if I take the time to dress professionally—and don’t just throw on something I’ve pulled out of the laundry pile. Something about a crisp white button down and a bright scarf makes me feel ready for work—even if I’m my only company for the day.

5. Put Your Workspace to Work
Whether you’re in a formal office space or you work from your desk at home, it’s important that you’re organized and that you equip yourself with the tools necessary to get the job done.

For example, I like a clean desk, good lighting, a supportive chair, and my coffee within arm’s reach. My computer has to be amply charged, and I need easy access to a notepad and pen. (A sleeping dog snuggling by my feet is an added plus.) Figure out what you need—and then make sure you have it there with you each morning.

6. Deter Distractions
Wherever you are, distractions are hard to manage. Unexpected visitors, noisy co-workers, Facebook alerts, Tweetdeck updates, and a relentlessly ringing phone can all wreak havoc on a good work groove.

But especially with the holidays only weeks away, it can be difficult to ignore our other obligations. So, to avoid compromising your attention to your work, make sure you’ve addressed those distractions—called your mom, sent that Evite, whatever—before you sit down at your desk.

7. Make a List, Check it Twice
Before I initiate any project, I create a skeleton framework of what I need to do. Since I’m a writer, I’ll sometimes develop a detailed roadmap that includes references, bullet points, and a draft intro and summary paragraphs. But no matter what, I’ll begin with a list of notes that I keep near my laptop for reference.

Regardless of what you do for a living, starting with a comprehensive list can help you flesh out your ideas for a project or for the day more thoughtfully, and it’ll keep you on track so that you maintain focus.

8. Set a Timer
Even if I’m not timing a project for invoicing purposes, I like to work with a stopwatch in plain view—I’ve found that I’m much more productive when I know exactly how long I’ve been working. A timer is especially helpful if you preemptively set a work goal (e.g. “I’m not going to take a break until I work on this brief for at least an hour”). You’ll feel much more accountable to that goal—and motivated to get it done—if you track and time your work.

The best part about getting a solid start to the workday? It almost always ensures enhanced productivity and better results all day long. So try these techniques—or develop your own routine that works for you—and you’ll be ready to hit the ground running.



Spotting the Great but Imperfect Resume




by George Anders

Recruiters and senior executives express frustration these days about corporate talent hunts at all levels. The gripe: “We’re pouring tremendous energy into finding the right resumes. But we’re losing the ability to find the right people.”

Directors of summer internship programs, for example, have soured on seemingly “perfect” students with 3.9 grade-point averages from elite schools, who have mastered multiple foreign languages. The reason: these recruits show surprisingly little initiative once they arrive at a big, busy company; they keep waiting to be told what to do. Ultra-rigorous screening of internship candidates has inadvertently eliminated the freewheeling mavericks of previous eras. Those earlier interns might have lacked great transcripts, but they didn’t need anyone’s permission to try something bold.

Small-company chief executive officers voice a similar lament. They are eager to hire lieutenants whose career zigzags have created a burning desire to succeed in a new job. In the boardroom, though, such plans elicit frowns. Directors keep nudging these CEOs to play it safe, filling the management team with steady performers whose work history closely matches the job at hand, even if there’s no sense of “wow!” in the job interviews.

Insist on a perfect resume each time, and it’s impossible to make the most of highly promising candidates with “jagged resumes.” The lost opportunities can be excruciating. Imagine the remorse of a venture capitalist unwilling to back Steve Jobs in 1977, because the personal-computer pioneer never finished college. For that matter, consider Apple’s fate in the 1990s, if the company hadn’t invited Jobs back for a second turn at leading the company, even though his first run ended in dismissal.

As such extreme examples show, it’s essential to get comfortable with a resume that features a puzzling mix of highs and lows. Bring such candidates into play, and suddenly tomorrow’s unexpected stars become visible.

In researching my book The Rare Find, I focused on a small group of world-class organizations that pull ahead of competitors by making the most of jagged-resume candidates. Standout examples can be found everywhere from military special-forces units to some of Silicon Valley’s top tech companies. This willingness to decouple from traditional strict scrutiny of paper credentials may look risky. But when it is pursued in a well-thought-out way, it’s possible to sidestep most of the apparent hazards.

Two insights are crucial. First, organizations that consider jagged resumes have clear ideas of what high points they must see. Teach for America looks for perseverance. The New England Patriots look for a deep-seated desire to play football, not just to be a famous athlete. Linear Technology looks for tinkerers, who have been experimenting with electrical circuits since childhood.

In all these cases, organizations seize on a few central character traits that are well known internally as future markers of likely success. Such enterprises think harder about which candidates might grow the most on the job, rather than which ones already possess all needed competencies for the task at hand. Traits such as resilience, efficiency, curiosity and self-reliance are among the most likely ones to be prized. This bolder hiring philosophy can be summed up by the maxim: “Compromise on experience. Don’t compromise on character.”

Second, connoisseurs of the jagged resume have well-thought-out ideas about which apparent shortcomings don’t matter (and which ones do.) Hopscotch work histories often are viewed leniently. Quirky personalities and inconsistent grades can be forgiven, too. There’s no forbearance, though for lapses in ethics, an inability to work with people, or a lack of motivation. Jagged-resume hiring can succeed only if the cultural fit between candidate and company is unusually good, so warning flags in that area are taken seriously.

One of the most striking examples of jagged-resume hiring took place 40 years ago, at the University of Utah. David Evans, a lifelong explorer himself, took charge of the university’s computer science department in 1965. Some people might have regarded Utah as a backwater. But in his first decade at the school, Evans spotted and attracted an extraordinary group of graduate students, including the later cofounders of Pixar, Netscape and Adobe Systems. For a time, just about every world-changing idea in computer graphics could be traced back to Evans’s students in Utah.

What was Evans’s secret? He looked for restless souls who were trying to get to the frontier. In some cases, they didn’t know yet what frontier they were seeking. They had bounced around in college, switching majors three or four times. They had joined the Navy, or worked for Boeing, or tried a flurry of other false starts. They wanted to be on the forefront of some technical field. Evans celebrated their energy — and then turned them loose on some of the biggest unsolved computing problems of the day.

As Evans’s son, Peter, recalled, “My dad looked at people very differently. He hired a lot of people that happened to fail history, or whatever else. Some of them you might even call scary. It didn’t matter to him that they weren’t polished in some areas that weren’t important to their job performance. What he really cared about was what they liked to do.”

The past three years of economic turmoil have created a lot more jagged resumes in the American labor force. For some employers, that’s distasteful. For the next generation of David Evanses, that’s a rare opportunity. As the U.S. economy starts to revive, the companies that end up hiring the best people will be the ones that evaluate jagged resumes most intelligently.


Why Co-workers Don’t Make Good Facebook Friends




by:Jessica Simko

Do you consciously think about every single thing you put on Facebook taking into consideration exactly who will be reading what you write? Do you have co-workers as Facebook friends? If so, there are many things to consider in regards to your personal and career brand when it comes to Facebook. The lack of considering anything at all can absolutely cause you to lose your job.

Yet so many people are either unaware of them or do not fully understand the ramifications of the content they might share online. For millions of people, this includes sharing their page and their personal lives with their co-workers. Many people feel that co-workers are just “buddies from work” and all is well as long as the bosses aren’t their Facebook friends. If this describes your thoughts about co-workers as Facebook friends, you may be in for a rude awakening.

As a general rule of thumb, I advise people to not invite or accept co-workers as Facebook friends unless their posts, pictures, and videos are not deeply personal and are always clean, upbeat, and in good taste. Some people do choose to invite co-workers, managers, and other professionals because they are intentionally using Facebook to leverage their career brand. This is a great way to use Facebook and I highly encourage it.

However, this general rule applies to those who use Facebook moreso for personal use – which seems to be the majority of people. It is for those who typically friend their co-workers without much thought. I recognize that your best friend and someone you trust with your life might be your co-worker and Facebook friend. I am not necessarily talking about those people but moreso any co-worker who does not fall in that “best friend” category.

Does Your Facebook Content Look Like This?

Consider the Ramifications:

Many employees talk and gossip on a regular basis. They can’t help themselves. Who are they sharing your content with? Your boss? Another co-worker who might share it with your boss? Maybe. How do you know they aren’t?

A co-worker might not intentionally share what you post but it gets out anyway due to frustration on his or her part. Typical scenario: Boss asks your co-worker to stay late to work on a project and to ask for your help. Co-worker inadvertently says, “She won’t help, she’s been posting all over Facebook how she can’t wait to get out of here to go to happy hour.” The boss makes a mental note of it and considers that and other things he might have heard when evaluating your potential for advancement in the company.

If you want to ever advance in a company, you should not be posting statements like that on Facebook! It gives the impression that you don’t really like your job and if you can’t tell your boss about what you just posted, don’t give anyone who can, the ability to read it.

What if a co-worker Facebook friend gets promoted and now is your boss or is a manager elsewhere in the company – a person who might now have a say about your future potential with the company? The facts are, you can be a model employee at work but people typically cannot separate what they learn about on you on Facebook from your great work on the job. Careless postings on Facebook can shatter your strong career brand no matter how great your performance is at work.

What if you take a sick day but you go out to lunch and then check in at the restaurant on Facebook or Foursquare, which subsequently posts on your page? Or maybe you just mention your lunch in an unrelated Facebook conversation that evening. Either way, your integrity is now in question. Situations like this can also cause you to be fired! First of all, you should never call in sick when you are not and then go somewhere. Somehow, people tend to always get caught. But if no one spotted you out there eating and shopping on your sick day, you just confessed to lying about being sick right on Facebook for all your co-worker “friends” to see.

Lastly, let’s say you are at work “doing your job.” But throughout the day, your Facebook page is somehow publishing a stream of updates from various games like Mafia Wars, Cityville or other games. Your co-worker Facebook friend notices this and talks about it at the water cooler. It eventually gets back to your boss. These kinds of things really do happen and this is another example of a situation that can cause you to be terminated from employment.

It’s Time for Damage Control

Regardless of this, I can’t stress enough how important it is to always act with the highest level of integrity when it comes to your work. Then, you don’t even have to read an article such as this because it would not apply to you.

But outside of that, be cautious about adding co-workers to your Facebook page because if you have not yet noticed, what you do on your own time is not your own personal business anymore because when you add co-workers to your friend list, the lines between work and your personal life become blurred. And please make sure that your page is visible to friends “only.” If your page is public, anyone can read it and then it doesn’t even matter if you add co-workers to your page or not.

If you have not been careful about the quality of your content and you have co-workers as Facebook friends, you should start doing a bit of damage repair. Remove controversial content and start posting good quality content on your page so the perception others have of you begins to change. After a month or two of that, I’d remove them all or simply block them from your wall and if asked, just state you want to keep your personal and professional life separate. You can put all your co-workers in a list and try to block them from individual updates as you see fit, but trust me, the time will come when you forget to do it. And, it really is much more important to have your co-workers trust and respect you than to have them as Facebook friends.



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