Recently, I interviewed for the permanent position that I have been working at for the last 9 months in a temporary capacity. Thought this would be a good time to do an overview of the journey that I have been through to this time. This was written before I found out that I was selected for the position. This is part 2 of a three part post.
Write your resume for three audiences. First audience is the computer. Match the words in the Job requisition to the words in your resume. The more matches the higher your score only the top ones make it past the computer screening. Second audience is an HR person. Generally, this person is not qualified to judge the technical merits of your submission, but understands the business, has a pretty good bullshit monitor for people trying to game the system, (like putting the entire job requisition in invisible type to get by the computer screen). The HR representative does not read your whole resume. They read less than 7 seconds. A good test…
… is to give someone else you resume and time them for 7 seconds and see how far they get. This is the area that you must write in a way that will appeal to the HR representative who may not understand the deep technical jargon of your field. The third and most is the hiring manager. The hiring manager is the person who understands whether or not you are qualified for the position based on your resume. If it get read, the hiring manager is the person that would read it. They will also throw it out if you don’t quickly get to the point and win them over.
I stopped writing cover letters unless they were required. This is open to debate, but the best argument against them is that cover letters are used as a way to disqualify you. They can only hurt you. If you don’t submit one then they can’t be used in this manner. Also by not spending the time on a cover letter you have more time to spend on the resume.
Writing an elevator speak helped, because I had to wrestle with what my most saleable points are. Writing this and practicing this is a powerful exercise. After this was completed, I found myself better prepared for interviews and better prepared to answer questions I received in more informal settings.
Networking is of great importance, and this is an area that I don’t feel that I really excelled in, and that I continue to want to work on. Though, in the climate I was looking for work in it may be that increasing my networking may not have made huge difference. The time it took me to find my position was right at the average for my area and pay; so maybe, I could have shaved a month or two off this with better networking.
Don’t take this in anyway to imply that networking isn’t important, it is. I should have spent more time networking before I every received the warn notice. I should have been keeping in better contact with people and letting them know that I thought of them and considered them friends or acquaintances.
Networking plays another important role. Losing your job removes you from your comfort zone, where the people you knew and interfaced with for years had being an important part of your life. This is lost, you are now at home, usually alone, to deal with your worries and fears. Networking plays an important role in helping you get up, get dressed, and get out of the house. I had a Monday morning networking meeting at the job service office. Getting my butt in there each week helped me. Opportunities to interact with living breathing humans, is important.
Treat any interaction with a company as important. Dress right, cross all the T’s and dot all the I’s. I received my temporary position, after interviewing for a whole different job. Many job interviews that you participate in already have a known outcome, and that outcome is not you. This means that you are participating for two reasons. First reason is to master your interviewing techniques. And the second reason, to get your foot in the door for some unadvertised position. So always put your best foot forward.
It is hard for companies to get rid of people that are not a good fit for the job, so getting a temporary position with a company is a great way to show what you can do. So seriously consider any temporary position offered. Also, understand that you are under the microscope and being looked at closely for fit in your job, with your work group, and with the organization as a whole. I was offered a 6 month temporary position with full benefits and then this was extended to 10 months, while they approved the permanent position. They I had to go through the legal routine of interviewing for the position. This is becoming more and more the norm.
Related Blog Posts
- Day 268 Networking VI Remaining Active
- Day 254 - Transition -Keeping my Network Informed (other-dribblings.blogSpot.com)
- Day 236- Transition - Networking Part IV (other-dribblings.blogspot.com)
- Day 192 – Transition – Networking Part I (other-dribblings)
- Day 195 – Transition – Networking Part II (other-dribblings)
- Day 195-Transition-Networking Part III (Other-dribblings)
- Day 186 - Transition – Additional Elevator Speech Resources
- Day 168 - Transition - Third ProLango class (other-dribblings)
- Day 170 - Transition- ProLango Resources (other-dribblings)
- Day 153 - Good Courses to Take (other-dribblings)
- Day 136 - Transition - Life by a thousand pats on the back (other-dribblings)
- Day 89 - transition - Back in the groove (other-dribblings)
- Day 114 - Transition - Hanging In (other-dribblings.blogspot.com)
Congratulations on getting this position Chris. You deserve it and have worked so hard throughout the last year to achieve it. There were certainly a number of rough spots but I hope you will take an evening with your family and truely celebrate the end of this chapter. Getting a good job in the current economy is quite a feat. Many are falling by the wayside in despair. There are people who have believed in you and watched how you gave of yourself with this blog, shared information generously and wished only the best for you!
ReplyDeleteCheers!