Managing Your Brand While Looking For A Job

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Becky Pearce

Executives looking for a job should always be mindful of protecting their career brand.

From the minor errors in the resume or cover letter, to applying for jobs they do not qualify for, or stumbling badly in the interview process, there is ample opportunity for executives to damage their brand in the job search process.

Here are five guide points to help executives navigate these potentially troublesome waters.

1. Do Not Apply For A Job You Do Not Qualify For – If the job advertisement, internet posting or networking email specifically mentions in the first sentence “We are searching for a physician executive” and you are not a doctor, then why waste your time? The mentality that something might work out is not only wrongheaded but it will diminish you in the eyes of recruiters who are overwhelmed with resumes.

Here is an interesting factoid: “Job seekers self-report spending up to 10 minutes viewing a job,” according to a recent study conducted by internet recruiting site, The Ladders. On average they actually spend between 39.7 to 76.7 seconds. So look before you leap. Clicking the “submit resume” button on every ad that contains the words “leadership” or “executive” is a fool’s errand. Slow down and actually read the job requirements. Submitting a resume for a job that you do not qualify for is a red flag: Beware!! This candidate does not pay attention to details.

2. Resumes Are Preferred For Executive Searches – In an executive search, send a resume that chronicles your executive progression and value-based accomplishments, not a curriculum vitae that focuses on endless listings of appointments, committees, research and articles. The only time you use a CV is when you are applying to an academic or affiliated organization, or a research firm. A 46-page history of your research articles with no clear career path is a great way to be excluded in a competitive executive search. The only people who speed read faster than candidates are recruiting researchers who spend, on average, between 20 and 30 seconds reviewing a resume or CV.

3. Do Not Send The Same Resume For Every Job – No two jobs are alike. Pay attention to the client’s selection criteria and preferred characteristics. Use a career summary paragraph at the top of a resume to emphasize your strengths and accomplishments that match the needs of the client. The one-size-fits-all jobs resume is a thing of the past. Target your audience.

4. Proof Your Documents – We all have submitted documents in our career—resumes, letters, proposals, contracts…heck, even blogs, that contain errors. While regrettable, one or two errors will probably not change the rotation of the earth. However, if, over the course of a search, the number of minor errors increases, you are only reaffirming that you do not pay attention to details.

5. Be Prepared, Be Smart – If you have a career glitch – and I am not talking about the candidate with five felonies (that is another story), or if you fall short with one or two elements of the selection criteria, prepare in advance how you will address these issues. Only a foolish candidate will be cocky enough to devise an answer on the fly when asked. Think these issues through. Draft responses. Practice and revise. Then practice in front of a mirror. When asked, smile, and then hit the ball out of the park.

Regardless of the industry, competition for the best jobs will only intensify in this new economy. Faced with an avalanche of resumes, recruiters must eliminate candidates to get the number down to a manageable level.

Do not make it easy for them to eject you from the game.

Hints for Job Interviewing: How To Maximize Your Performance

Posted on March 27, 2013 by John G. Self

This post was originally written for the blog in March of 2010, but the topic and recommendations are still very relevant even three years later.

While the economy is showing some signs of improvement, there are still millions of people who are out of work. For executives who need the fulfillment of daily accomplishment, the job of finding a job can be enormously frustrating.

When you add in the fact that the best qualified candidate is selected only 35 to 40 percent of the time, according to our observations, that can make the job hunting process all the more defeating.

When you consider that the odds are against the typical out-of-work executive — hundreds of applicants for each position — it is a wonder so many keep looking. Rejection is a bitter pill that can corrupt the spirit. Therefore, executives in the job market need to be at their best at each stage of the interview process.

Question: If the best qualified person is not being hired most of the time, which executives are getting the jobs and how does a candidate work their way into that group?

Answer: Qualified candidates who do the best job of interviewing. If you are tired of rejection, here are some hints that will help you compete in the crowded, noisy marketplace of job hunting.

The resume is the first interview. If the resume does not present a compelling story of the candidate’s experience, skills, and accomplishments that are supported by metrics, that is a weakness that must be overcome. There is no limit on the length of a candidate’s resume; it should be proportional to years of experience and relevant accomplishments.
Perfect the elevator speech. When asked to describe themselves, or worse, when asked to share information about growing up, far too many candidates stumble, mumble and frequently fumble, to borrow a phrase from ESPN’s Chris Berman. This is the answer that a candidate should nail. Surprisingly, however, it does not occur to many candidates to rehearse several answers to these or similar types of questions.
Be prepared. It is not uncommon for recruiters to zero in on resume gaps and short tenures, especially if there appears to be a pattern of multiple jobs in a relatively short time frame. The candidate must realize that these events cannot be hidden or ignored. Develop a response for all or each event and then practice the response. Stand in front of a mirror and learn the answer(s). Tweak the response if you feel it can be improved. However, be honest and be authentic. These events are not necessarily a ticket to rejection. This “practice principle” applies to the entire interview. The book Topgrading provides a list of challenging questions that were used by successful corporations like GE. It is worth the price of the book to get those questions. Stand in front of a mirror and practice .
Be authentic. One question that many candidates seem to hate — and flub — is: Tell me about your weaknesses? Or, “What will your references say are your weaknesses?” The worst response is, “I work too much.” Or, you see the candidate flinch and then the stumbling answer begins. Stop. There is a better way. Talk to your references and ask them about your weaknesses. Then incorporate their feedback into an answer that shows you are aware of these issues and that you have a system to monitor yourself. Your answer will be more authentic.

Who Gets Hired

Posted on February 6, 2013 by John G. Self

The most qualified candidates get the job only about 35 percent of the time.

That statement, based on research from more than 18 years of conducting executive retained searches, always surprises aspiring candidates. So who is getting the jobs, if not the best qualified?

The answer is simple: Qualified people who do a better job of interviewing.

A significant number of candidates shoot themselves in the foot – both feet, actually – because of poor interview performance. Aside from the resume, which IS the first interview, more candidates fall from grace because they have not educated themselves about the issues facing the client. Their answers reflect an attitude that winging it is good enough, and then they are surprised, disappointed and go out and make the same mistakes again.

Competitive interviewing is not a skill set that most executives think about or attempt to perfect.

If you look at the questions posed in 50 different searches you will find that at least 40-45 percent are the same or similar in theme or subject matter. There are numerous books on this specialized subject of interview questions and no shortage of coaches and career brand management experts who have written on this subject.

If an executive is spot-on qualified for a job, but doesn’t get a call for even a screening interview, they should go back to their resume and make changes because clearly there is a problem.

Executives who make it to the face-to-face interview with the client but are the perennial bridesmaid should also pause, take a deep breath and ask themselves why they keep doing the same thing over and over, hoping for a better outcome.

If you have made it to the finals more than three times and you were not selected, it is time to admit you have a problem and you need help.

It is true that there are a lot of factors in a search that shape the outcome. The candidate’s performance in the face-to-face interviews is the biggest and most critical.