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Greetings!
This month we look at how Buzzwords can blur the value of your web page or resume, and we report on the recent NDIA West Coast Dinner and keynote speech. |
| BUZZWORDS BLUR VALUE | | |
We read a lot of web pages (while sourcing candidates), and we read a lot of resumes. We have noticed more and more the homogenization and commoditization of language - company web pages are looking more and more like each other, and so are resumes. It is getting harder to get through the corporate jargon to differentiate what makes a company or a person different. The excessive use of buzzwords - words and phrases all too commonly used by companies and people to sound more polished, more erudite, more businesslike - sometimes obscures the true value proposition. Experts often advise companies and job seekers to include buzzword language, so that Search Engine Optimization improves, causing your company to appear higher on Google results, or in the case of resumes, so that electronic scanning by employers selects you to be interviewed.
But, you know, when LinkedIn publishes an annual list of Overused Buzzwords, there must really be a problem!
What do we mean by excessive use of buzzwords? This may be an exaggeration of course, but maybe your company's web page describes you as something like a Global Solutions Provider Leveraging Core Competencies to Establish a Competitive Advantage, Optimize Deliverables, Create a Vertical Market Paradigm Shift and Ensure Customer Delight. If your description focuses on generalities, how can anyone tell you apart from your competitors? Fewer companies are being direct, and just describing what they make or what they do.
Resumes are even worse offenders on the use of buzzwords. Resume books, online guides and professional resume writers may suggest to you that you seed your resume with words and phrases that will be better appreciated by the people potentially reading your resume. There are actually websites that give you preselected buzzwords to include on your resume that are geared for the industry segment and position you are seeking.
However, although you might be "uniquely qualified" for the role, everyone claims that. Everyone is also claiming to be a "self-starter" that is "driven to results". Hopefully you are not a "seasoned professional". Resumes often have a whole page of platitudes that are completely interchangeable from one resume to the next. Just because you start a line with an action word (Implemented, Developed, Spearheaded, Formulated, Assessed) doesn't make what comes next meaningful. And, some things are a given. If you are an experienced executive we take for granted that you create strategic plans, manage budgets, supervise people, negotiate deals, etc., etc.
As "seasoned" resume readers, we just roll our eyes, and skip to the first indication of your career, the reverse chronological listing of your job titles and companies. We hope that you will at least put your bulleted accomplishments within the context of each job, but many resumes now bundle these in groups of competencies that further obscures their meaning. Then, we don't know what you did where, or when you did it. The info becomes less useful.
Companies and job seekers both could be more direct. Companies: please describe your products and services, your mission, your history, your applications, industries served, etc. in an easy to find manner. Candidates: please just tell us what is valuable to know about you in real terms.
Buzzwords make you look the same as everyone else. The only way to establish your value proposition is through differentiation: What makes you truly unique, special, different or better than the competition? That will cause customers and employers to sit up and take notice. |
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NDIA WEST COAST DINNER | | |
The 63rd Annual West Coast Dinner of the Greater Los Angeles Chapter of the National Defense Industrial Association was held Friday, 2/22/13 at the Ritz Carlton in Marina Del Rey, CA. 400+ people attended the elegant black tie event which brings together military leaders and defense industry executives, who are capping a day of seminars and talks.
This event is a "love fest" where military leaders praise industry leaders for all they do to provide the products and services that the defense sector needs, and industry leaders appreciate the outstanding military leaders who keep us safe and secure.
The mood was clearly uncertainty, with the sequester looming this week. Yet, there was optimism, for here in southern CA, the industry is characterized by some of the higher tech aspects of defense, which are perhaps more likely to survive budget cuts.
Among several awards given out, the Bob Hope Distinguished Citizen Award, usually given to an individual, was presented to the USO of Greater Los Angeles. This group serves over 100,000 uniformed personnel (plus their families, and retirees) a year, in its 24/7 facility at LAX and other local area facilities. It was heartwarming to hear all that the USO does to help our armed forces feel supported.
A real highlight of the evening was the keynote address by General Bob Kehler, Commander of the US Strategic Command. Some of the key points that General Kehler made include:
- To remain the world leader the US military needs to excel in recruiting, staffing and training.
- Military success depends strongly on industry being able to give the military the tools it needs defend against threats.
- Time for response has compressed to milliseconds, and we need better situational awareness, and much better cyber protection for both the military and industry. Critical infrastructure is at risk in cyberspace, and General Kehler said that cyberspace is like "walking down the street" - the public has access to you and what can happen to you.
- General Kehler advocated better "rules of the road" for space - to let us know when the bad guys are misbehaving. He added that we need a warfighter approach to managing assets in space, and strong coalitions and cooperation among friendly allies.
The NDIA dinner also offered several VIP receptions for more networking with industry execs, and the warm feelings were readily apparent. Southern California defense industry leaders are patriotic, positively focused, and genuinely appreciative of the relationships they have with military leadership.
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| UPCOMING EVENTS | | | INCOSE Mini-Conference - Los Angeles
Mark Bregman will be speaking on "The Headhunter's Secret Guide to Getting a Great Job" 3/16/13 at the upcoming INCOSE Mini-Conference in Los Angeles. For more info Click Here.
Volunteer with the Orangewood Foundation
BOB Search is a proud sponsor of the Orangewood Foundation's "Independent City" which helps youth who are "aging out" of foster care to gain life skills. 4/27/13. To volunteer or donate, Click Here.
Women in Defense- Greater Los Angeles Chapter (WID-GLAC), Speaker Presentation at Oakley Inc.
Women In Defense, A National Security Organization is pleased to host a presentation at Oakley Inc. on April 24th. The event will be hosted on the Oakley campus from 5:30-9pm, with speaker Nate Smith, Oakley Director International Military Sales. RSVP to Amanda Smith at amanda@bobsearch.com. |
| Who is BOB Search? | |
Watch our video to find out!
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