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Michelle A. Riklan
Certified Resume Writer, Career Coach, LinkedIn Profile Writer, Trainer, Facilitator, Author, Columnist, Speaker
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Career Newsletter
Volume II, Issue 3 March 2012
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Riklan Resources, LLC 522 Highway 9 North #290 Manalapan, New Jersey 07726 (800) 540-3609
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Greetings!
Welcome to March's career newsletter!
 Although St. Patrick's day is around the corner, don't rely on the "Luck of the Irish" when it comes to searching for a job. In today's competitive market, people do not often "get lucky" and land a great job. They work for it.They plan, develop strategies, network, and create killer marketing tools. The assertive job-seeker determines his/her own destiny. As Thomas Jefferson once said "I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."
Kind regards,
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Our list is growing! If you would like to advertise in future issues, please send an e-mail to robin@riklanresources.com.
Please feel free to send suggestions for improvement and additional areas that you would like to see covered in future issues to michelle@riklanresources.com.
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Hide and Seek - The Hidden Job Market
by Michelle A. Riklan, ACRW, CPRW, CEIC
Do you spend all of your time scouring the job boards for a job and wonder why you can't find one? Then it's no wonder why you aren't out there interviewing. (Companies hide the jobs, yet you continue seeking and not finding any.) The hidden job market is a term used to describe jobs that aren't posted online or advertised. It can make up to 95% of jobs that are available.
In such a competitive job market, internal hiring managers and HR are challenged to find no-cost and low-cost talent. They may not even have a recruiting budget to work with. They are strategic about how they conduct an applicant search, and if you want to be found and considered, you need to be strategic and pro-active as well.
A few tips:
- Connect directly with the companies where you seek employment. They may not be advertising, but that does not mean they do not have openings, or may not consider you for a future position.
- If you see an advertisement for a position that is above/below your level, don't discount yourself by not sending out the resume. Indicate your interest in the department/company. The position that they originally were looking to be filled may get upgraded or downgraded, and you might then be the right fit.
- Follow companies and be in the know about personnel and business changes. If a company has expanded or acquired a new client, they may be in need of building up their team.
- Make sure you can be found. Complete your LinkedIn profile, join groups, follow companies, and let people know you are looking. If you are an expert in your field, create a blog, create a following. Get your voice out there.
- Make sure your job search marketing materials are in order. There is nothing worse than meeting someone at an event on a Saturday night who knows of a great opportunity for you in their organization and wants to walk your resume into someone on Monday... and you don't have one.
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| Does Your Resume Read Like an Obituary of Your Career?
by Norine Dagliano
 Peter A. Professional's Career, 2000 - 2012
Here lies Peter Professional's career. A victim of the current recession, Peter's career has been on life support since a layoff from a healthcare consulting firm. Prior to its final demise, Peter took his career through a stint as a personal fitness trainer and ended it working as a car salesman with a luxury-car dealership.
Peter was a graduate of a prestigious university where he earned a degree in integrated science and technology. He immediately began employment as a tumor biology lab technician where he worked for 2 years before joining the consulting firm. While there, he "utilized empirical data and statistically significant best practices to influence positive change for client's capital efficiencies."
In addition to the above, Peter was a certified phlebotomist, published numerous medical research papers, and played high school soccer. Peter's career was only seven years old. In lieu of flowers, please send condolences to the guidance counselors and college advisors who failed to help Peter find his best career fit and the writer who created the erratic document referred to as his "resume."
I hope you get the picture. Although the name is obviously fictional, the rest of the information is unfortunately true. I know this because I took it directly from his resume. Like many professionals, Peter never thought of his resume as a marketing document that targeted a specific audience with a promise of adding value. "I'm not really sure yet what I want to do," he told me, "so I figured I'd just put it all in there so an employer could figure out how to use me." And they sure did "use" him!
To write an effective resume, don't begin by looking back over your shoulder to see where you have been.
I suspect that your path, like Peter's, was rarely a straight line. Most careers zig and zag in many directions. Take some time to delve deeply into all of your experience.
Look for common themes:
- What knowledge and skills did you most enjoy using that you want to take to your next job?
- What types of problems do you most enjoy solving?
- What words do others use to describe you?
- What specific details can you pull from your experience to illustrate your answers? If you don't know, you can hire a professional to help you.
Identify your target audience:
- Who are they?
- What do they do?
- Who are their customers and what problems do they specialize in solving?
- Talk to people in the industry. Read business and industry news. Print out job announcements and begin making a list of the knowledge, skills and experience employers seek in candidates.
Look for crossovers:
- Who you are and what do you offer compared to what the employer wants and needs?
- Identify the point where these two paths intersect and begin writing your résumé from there.
- When you look at your past, choose those items that are most relevant to your future and craft the content of your resume around them.
Don't let your career suffer an untimely death - or worse yet, linger on life support for years (maybe even decades). Look ahead, indentify your target, and then assemble and deploy the tools you need to get there. Make sure that one of those tools is a well-crafted, strategically focused, and uniquely branded resume!
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Norine Dagliano is a job search coach and nationally certified resume writer. For more than 25 years, professionals in career transition have relied on Norine for dynamic marketing tools, expert advice, practical insight, inspiration, and support to help them get paid what they deserve doing work that they love. Visit her site at http://www.ekminspirations.com.
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Branding - There's More to it Than Meets the Eye
By Marshall Brown
 Some topics covered in this e-book are:
- Branding Benefits
- Branding Strategies
- Promoting Your Brand
- Marketing Tips
- Your Brand Your Identity
- Personal Branding Basics
- Personnel Brand Identity
- Initial Steps of Branding Yourself
- Personal Branding for Success
...and so much more! Author, Marshall Brown is a career and executive coach with a passion for encouraging individuals and organizations to reach exceptional levels of performance. He is founder and CEO of Marshall Brown & Associates, an international coaching, training and leadership development company. His mantra is simple: Get clear, get focused, get ahead. | |
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If you have a favorite career book to suggest or an article that you'd like to submit for our upcoming issues, please send your information to newsletter@riklanresources.com.
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101 Great Ways to Enhance Your Career
As featured on ABC News--Get your copy today!
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Join our LinkedIn Group!
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Do you have a career related product or service that you would like to promote in our upcoming newsletters? Contact us at robin@riklanresources.com for more information.
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Nothing is really work unless you would rather be doing something else.
---James Matthew Barrie
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| About Riklan Resources
Riklan Resources offers the following services:
- Resumes that land on the top of the pile!
- Coaching that puts you ahead of the competition.
- Training that ensures career advancement.
We want you to reach your top potential!
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