KQED called me up to be the San Francisco Bay Area career hero on the California Report with Scott Shafer. Scott let me use his own career as an example for how to find a strength in seemingly irrelevant work experience. We also discussed taking a different approach to networking, and some things that employers look for in job candidates.

Check out the podcast; they even included the original take which has plenty more advice for people looking to beat this tough job market.

Comments welcome. Also, let me know what you’re looking to hear more about. In other words, what should Scott and I have been talking about?

This is a great way to see what kind of keywords show up most in resumes, and therefore, what keywords you should think about having in your resume and what skills you should have in your repertoire!

Enjoy! And remember to take your search for a career counselor seriously!

More than half the people I know who got degrees right after high school (now, ages 35-45) started their successful careers as a temp, admin, assistant, or some other kind of lackey making peanuts and drowning in loan debt.

Graduating these days is a dismal event when you consider what’s out there waiting for you after putting in so much time and money to blow up your mind. I’m still trying to figure out how to get college students to stay in school, accrue debt, be okay with not knowing their career path, AND embrace the low-level job that’s waiting for them.

Having gone through this right of passage myself, I can say It’s worth it….DEFINITELY worth it….but I can only say that *with confidence* now, a whole 15 years later, long after throwing off my mortar board hat in the air with sweaty palms and a feigned smile.

One client, upon receipt of her resume, wanted to forgo the revision process, wanted a partial refund, and asked to “end this relationship” with no further explanation. Wow.

Another resume client refused to do career counseling despite her being completely at a loss for where to go next.

One job-seeker sent us a list of demands and concerns a mile long, and hadn’t even placed an order yet!

A valued former client threatened to stop making referrals if we didn’t get her in our already tight project queue.

Sheesh.

It’s enough to make a business owner want to throw in the towel and go pick Pink Lady apples for a living. What’s going on? Let me make sure we’re doing our job right, here.

Is it our product?

We’ve put together the most talented resume team out there; Seriously, our writers are word wizards; they’ve won awards; they’re nationally certified, even multi-credentialed with certifications, degrees, and relevant career paths. More than that, they take the whole client into account to design a personalized document that addresses every single stated challenge and concern. People would be amazed at how much thought we put into a 1-3 page document.

Is it our process?

We have the most comprehensive information gathering process I’ve seen, comprised of an hour of coaching/consulting and a very well crafted questionnaire to both help clients generate resume content and prepare them for their interview process.

What about customer service?

We’re responsive as all get-out. When I can’t answer the phone personally, our administrative manager certainly does, if only to get back to customers with a real live voice to say “we’re super busy, how can I help”.

Maybe we’re slacking on followup?

Our infrastructure is technologically rich, making it possible to track projects through every step and get back to existing clients immediately to address their needs. At any given time, 3 people are paying attention to a single client.

Am I ranting?

That’s not the goal here (well, not the primary goal). The point is we’re doing all we can to keep customers happy. We’re staying relatively small, offering a high-touch service, and bringing clients into the process all along the way. Put another way, we’ve set up a system to control our extensive resume development process so that nothing and nobody gets overlooked or under-serviced.

But I guess there is one thing that we can’t control:

The economy.

In following up with all of the aforementioned aggrieved clients, this what they had to say

“Things are tight right now.”
“I was really counting on this resume to change everything.”
“I just don’t have the money.”
“It’s hard to justify paying for anything.”
“I need help now, not in a month.”
“No one will hire me no matter what I do.”

The pain is real and it flows amongst anyone involved in the job search process, directly or indirectly. I suppose I need to buck up with my self-absorbed complaints of “difficult months” and instead relish the fact that I’m employed and in a position to help. And although my intentions with BrightSide are honest, simply offering or even successfully delivering, such help may not be enough to make the pain disappear.

Only getting a job can do that.

If I’m truly open to criticism (which I try to be), it hurts a little. And I suppose we’re all hurting at least a little in this economy. If it’s not us, someone we know is out of work and not getting the recognition they deserve–sometimes for no other reason than there are just too many applicants for each job available.

After several months of non-response, anyone–even the most seasoned, well-established career professional–will get discouraged. It’s a lonely, frustrating feeling and it seems to be inextricably linked to looking for work.

At the base of the issue, it just hurts.

And I guess one way to offer support to anyone in this position is to hurt a little bit with them.

Recessions tend to push hardworking people into two groups. On the one hand is the layoff survivor handling the load of multiple former employees. On the other is the hyperqualified job seeker who nevertheless remains overlooked. Both types of people often need to write a new résumé, and neither can afford to do it the same way they might have in the previous millennium. Here are some tips:

Laid off? Tell the truth. Otherwise you risk the job-hopper label. And in fact, there’s no shame in being laid off. During downturns in the economy, organizations shrink, morph, or disappear. So include a one-liner that details the company’s cutbacks. That will keep the “blame” for your departure on your employer, not you. Give the percentage of people that were let go along with you; mention that your boss was laid off, too; brag about surviving previous rounds of downsizing. If appropriate, divulge that the company may have made a poor strategic decision.

Acquired? Clarify the gobbling order. It’s common nowadays for a company to have changed hands (and names) several times. For a single acquisition, state the current name of the organization with the name of the acquired firm in parentheses. This way, a potential employer can research your company without hitting dead-ends. For multiple acquisitions, lead in with a short paragraph that describes the evolution of the organization and how your position has fluctuated as a result. Remember, being retained through a series of restructurings implies that you’re deeply valued.

Overextended? Categorize your achievements. Hanging on after layoffs usually means that your workload has doubled or tripled—great for your career but often difficult to present on a résumé, because too many bullet points is the kiss of death. So include only the information that’s relevant to your career objective. Then, if necessary, use bold subheads under your official position title to delineate the different genres of your accomplishments. Consider alluding to increases in responsibility, noting when and why you were selected to handle mission-critical projects.

Stay on the BrightSide.

San Francisco, CA — Cliff Flamer, résumé expert and career counselor, was just deemed The World’s Best Résumé Writer” after winning the public vote for the first-ever worldwide résumé-writing contest sponsored by Career Director’s International (CDI).

So what makes his résumés the world’s best?

“The story,” says Flamer, who’s been writing résumés since 2001 via BrightSide Résumés (www.brightsideresumes.com). “Every person has a unique story to tell—the twists and turns in their work history, the timing and pattern of their achievements, the emergence of new credentials, even the time off with their kids—it all comes through on the résumé. And when presented right, you create a compelling, real, and always flattering story.”

The contest was open to 14 countries but the majority of entrants came from the US as well as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Scotland.

“We wanted to find out who the best résumé writer was,” says CDI President Laura DeCarlo, the mastermind behind the competition. “Not just among our members, not just among certified résumé writers, but across the entire English-speaking world. Who really is the best?”

Contestants were given a standardized candidate profile and matching fictional job listing from which to draft a targeted résumé. Their work was then judged by a cross-functional panel of human resources directors, organizational development consultants, senior recruiters, career association directors, job board founders, and a couple of senior résumé writers.

“There’s never been a contest like this before,” says DeCarlo. “This time the judges are actual résumé evaluators—the same discerning executives who’ve screened thousands of résumés to fill real-world jobs.”

Following a 2-month submission period, the panel selected the 3 most outstanding résumés in appearance, content, and strategy. These top 3 résumés were then posted anonymously online, inviting the general public to have the final say in the public-vote portion of the competition—much like the hit reality show, “American Idol”.

Over the next 2 weeks, votes poured in via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other online community forums and professional organizations. Flamer took a sizeable lead halfway through the competition and finished the race with a 60-point buffer. His artfully crafted résumé inspired blog comments that were unanimously in his favor:

“The only writer I’d consider hiring to write my résumé… the best to quickly skim and get the idea of what the person has accomplished…. by far the best…easy to read, succinct, and most notably [putting] the individual’s best foot forward…It had flow and easily allowed you to see accomplishments while giving you the option of reviewing them in more depth… hands-down the best!”

In addition to his trophy, certificate, and coveted logo (now posted proudly at his website), world-leading résumé writer, Cliff Flamer, treasures this unsolicited commentary, which seemed almost tailor-made to his victory.

“I’m honored to have been selected by such an elite panel of judges, but what better landmark for success than reading the unbiased praise from the very people who make up my client base. When it comes to résumés, I write for three people,” muses Flamer. “My client, the employer, and myself. Winning this competition means I’ve satisfied the needs of all three audiences.”

###

An effective résumé for will balance your strengths (i.e. what you can teach) with your areas for growth (i.e. what you can learn). In regards to the latter, I’m certainly not suggesting you claim ignorance. Rather, consider showing a recently developed interest in a new industry or field.

This is best done by illustrating how you’ve already begun exploring said interest and uprgrading your skills related to this area. Some quick methods to achieve this are as follows:

• weekend or short-term certification course
• self-study (visit a bookstore)
• subscription to trade journals
• membership with a professional organization
• online group affiliations such as with LinkedIn
• internships or apprenticeships
• guided tours (say of an alternative energy plant).

By showing on your resume that you’re enthusiastic about injesting a new flavor of work/life, you’ll present yourself as a hungry, invigorated job candidate who’s not even close to peaking in her career.

Stay on the BrightSide.

Here’s a snippet from the article, and my subsequent retort as to why we should redefine the criteria for a job gap:

“Let’s say you left one job, and then had 3-6 months of down time before securing your next job. In this situation, your primary concern is that the employer will have a suspicion that you were fired from the previous position. The conventional logic is that good people get recruited to their next position; therefore they don’t have gaps in their work history.”

Before you’re scared into thinking you’re a “bad candidate”, let’s challenge the definition of a job gap by this author’s standards.

In my world as both a job seeker and career counselor, a time period of 3-6 months of unemployment should not be considered a job gap. Perhaps 10-15 years ago this was true when we could rely on our company to stick around for a while, give us a pension, promote us consistently, and send a turkey at Thanksgiving. But nowadays, so-called job gaps of 3-6 months are on everyone’s resume. And, quite frankly, they should be.

Job searches, even conducted by “good candidates” with the help of a seasoned career coach take 6 months or more. Especially when we’re waiting to find a job that actually fits us. Just because we’re not working for 3-6 months doesn’t mean we didn’t get any offers for work or that we didn’t get approached by enthusiastic recruiters.

In fact, an employer should look at 3-6 months of in-between time as a good thing–a sign that a job candidate has taken the time to reassess their goals and value offering to come up with the next step in their career. This is the type of employee that has staying power, one who will stick around….even if the company doesn’t reciprocate such loyalty.

That said, when your career moratorium exceeds a year, you probably have some explaining to do–explaining you can do on your resume and of course in the interview.

Let’s cut us all a break and admit that work is no longer a linear process where one job leads to the next in a logical and predictable sequence. We’re constantly having to reinvent ourselves, even if we’re staying with the same career. Again, this type of behavior should be applauded, not condemned. Introspective, patient, future-focused job candidates make the best employees but to foster these attributes in ourselves, we need some time between jobs, to do research, redo some self-assessments, network with new and old contacts, and complete formal and informal training.

Put another way, these job gaps that appear on our resumes are most often NOT OUR FAULT as employees, and yet we’re still put on the defensive in the interview to explain them. Perhaps hiring staff need our help in reminding them of this: Time off is not necessarily time squandered.

Stay on the BrightSide.

These groups are rebelling against the traditional mode of getting guest speakers and spewing off elevator speeches to one another over Triscuits and coffee. Instead, they’re looking to collaborate as entrepreneurs and visionaries to come up with the next best thing. As reported by CBS, these “unconferences” are completely spontaneous and require no prep before hand. Just show up at a nightclub, have a rum and coke and share your ideas.

It’s not about networking to find the right employer; it’s about mind-melding to create the next life-changing startup.

Try it out. It’s your chance to make history with a total stranger.

Stay on the BrightSide.

According to a 2008 focus group of 150 senior recruiters*:

• only 23% said a cover letter was absolutely mandatory;
• 63% said they could go either way; and
• 14% gave an emphatic “nay” to this age-old document.

These findings are right in line with my conversations with hiring professionals.

I know screeners who delete the cover letter immediately, some who forward it on to others but never read it themselves, and others who print it out only to staple it behind the resume.

But you know what else they tell me?

If they find a candidate who looks strong in the resume but leaves some questions unanswered (say, about a gap between jobs or a demotion in job responsibilities), they go back and find the cover letter… in their physical or virtual garbage can presumably.

So what’s this mean to you, as a job seeker?

It depends…

To those with a flawless, linear employment record where one job seamlessly flows into the next, staying within the same line of work and same type of company, it means you’re off the hook. Use a template. Have a friend write your letter. Copy a sample from a book or website… maybe this website. (Actually, we include cover letter and thank you letter templates for free with all of our resume services.) Point being, as long as it’s grammatically correct and doesn’t read like a 5th grader, you’ll be fine.

But for the rest of us with some explaining to do, the cover letter is our BEST chance to gain some leverage. It’s a rare opportunity to EXPLAIN something unusual, unfavorable, or just plain complicated about your work history.

I’m sure you’ve read somewhere that, with resumes, you never have a second chance to make that first impression. Well now you do. And ironically your second chance resides in the document that’s supposed to introduce your résumé: The Cover Letter.

In their prosy, letter-like format, cover letters afford you the ability to literally explain the topics you most fear in the interview: your demotion, that year of unemployment, the scuffle with your office manager, the quick demise of your startup due to someone’s gambling habit, your lack of education…

In my experience, there’s always a way to present such information without saying too much. And there’s no better time to get it all out in the open than in the cover letter, before you get to the interview where you can prove your ability to put both feet in your mouth.

In short, embrace the challenge you’re facing, then find a way to present this information to your next employer. In writing.

If that seems like a tall order, we can help you find the words.

Stay on the BrightSide.

—–
*Survey data taken from Louise Kursmark’s “The Evolution of the Cover Letter” (workshop) at the National Resume Writers’ Conference in San Diego, CA (2008).

But even the most gregarious sales person can grow weary of all the face time a job search requires. A new mantra develops with the onset of a shift towards introversion and comfort: “surf the web, not the streets”.

Fortunately, the experts at Indeed.com, today’s leading job board, have provided us with some advice on how to optimize your online job search. Many thanks to the job board in the sky!

Stay on the BrightSide.

State your objective.
You needn’t have an “objective” section per se but HR reps agree that they want to know right off the bat that you’re well aware of the position for which you’re applying. This may seem like common sense to you but to someone with a stack of 100 resumes, it’s an important distinction.

Avoid functional resumes.
Whenever possible, use a reverse chronological format and make sure to highlight the last five years of your work/life experience. The panel agreed, it’s fine if your recent work is irrelevant; you should still discuss it.

Consider combination and hybrid formats.
If your most impressive work accomplishments are earlier in your work history, add a highlights section to the front of your resume but make sure to limit it to the top 1/3 of the page at the most. Another option is subtitling your bullet points with headings that are relevant to the reviewers’ needs.

Don’t stress over job titles.
Titles mean different things at different companies, depending on size, industry, and location. For this reason, resume screeners pay less attention to job titles and more attention to job responsibilities.

Compensate for a missing degree.
Not having a degree is NOT a deal breaker. Some advice to those without degrees is to play up personality traits and soft skills. Degrees denote commitment, follow-through, and organizational ability (to name a few). If you illustrate your talents in these area, you’ll hit an emotional chord with your reader, and they’ll want to interview you.

Keep fonts traditional.
Unless you’re in an unconventional field, use Georgia, Times, Courier, or Arial (10-12 point) font.

Remain sincere.
Verbosity, excessive confidence, hyperbole, and over-inflated language were all greatly looked down upon. Stick to the point and you’ll win every time. Better to explain a shortcoming than try to cover it up.

Lose the keyword section.
Running lists of keywords are so 1990s. A successful resume will integrate keywords throughout all of the sections, not try to lump them all together in a desperate attempt to attract as many different job opportunities as possible.

Include links to your online profile.
Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other networking sites provide valuable information to complement your resume. Panelists agreed that recommendations and comments from these sites prove helpful in evaluating candidates.

Keep links “hot”.
Some resume reviewers enjoy moving from the resume to your online profile to your employer’s bio. Supply these links to make surfing easier for them. The more time they spend learning about you and your work history, the better off your are.

The above information was taken from a 2-hour seminar as part of the National Resume Writers’ Association annual conference in San Diego, CA, 2008. There were 6 panelists comprised of recruiters and HR reps, representing a broad range of multi-national corporations and small businesses.

So how do you know when to stop writing?

Understanding your position as a jobseeker will help to determine whether a one-page résumé will be sufficient. For example, if you fall into any of the following categories, you might want to think twice about reaching for that stapler, since a one-page résumé will probably keep you in better standing:

1. Entry-level Candidates. Keep in mind that when hiring managers advertise for a “self-starter who works well independently as well as in a team environment” they really mean they want someone with the potential to learn the industry from their perspective and complete assignments in the preferred manner of the company. It’s assumed that candidates with one-page résumés have less industry experience and therefore less formalized methodologies, positioning them for training, mentoring, and skill development.
2. Career Transitioners. Career transition résumés succeed when a job candidate draws parallels between the job functions of their existing career and the requirements of their newly discovered career. This tactic works best when done in a direct and concise manner. For this reason, whether you’re going with a functional, chronological, or hybrid format to highlight all of those transferable skills, you should try to minimize the page count. Short résumés create an image of modesty—acknowledgement that you have much to learn in your new field.
3. Moms and Dads Re-entering the Workforce. Job candidates in this category are akin to career transitioners. In a sense, you’re shifting from a full-time stay-at-home parenting role (requiring 80+ hours a week!) to a salaried position that’s perhaps much less demanding. Nonetheless you still have the challenge of impressing your prospective employer. As a general rule, emphasizing experience that’s over 10 years old is dangerous. You’re better off highlighting skills you’ve used recently even outside of the working world. For example, discuss your expertise in coaching your daughter’s softball team, contributing to local community events, multi-tasking family responsibilities, or building membership for the Salsa club. The bottom line is this: recent, relevant experience trumps all else. So stick with what you’ve been up to lately and truncate your older career accomplishments.
4. Employees with One Job in Their Work History. Regardless of how many positions you’ve held or how long you’ve stayed with the company, there’s usually no need to use two pages. Try to show the progression of your responsibilities while emphasizing only those skills/positions relevant to the job for which you’re applying. In other words, you needn’t wax philosophic about the “foot-in-the-door” gig if you’re applying for a management position.
5. Overqualified Candidates Looking for Less Responsibility. If you want less, say less. It’s not a bad idea to “dumb down” your résumé in order to reinvent yourself for another position in the same line of work. For example, a VP of Engineering who’s tired of the management stress should focus on her ability to develop systems, applications, networks, etc. and downplay (or omit) her people-management skills. By reducing her page count, this VP will lessen her chances of being screened out due to her age, seniority, and (gasp!) ambition.
6. Sales and Marketing Professionals. When numbers are your game, let the numbers speak for you. Illustrate how you’ve affected the bottom line and move on to the next job record. More than any other job family (except perhaps executive management), you need to show the monetary results of your achievements. Limit yourself to 1-line bullet points with as many digits and dollar signs as you can muster. Everything else is fluff.
7. Career Professionals Looking to Pay the Bills by Any Means Necessary. When things get rough, it’s sometimes necessary to find a job—any job—that will pay the bills. Examples of these types of positions, also known as “stop-gap” jobs, include server, bartender, clerk, cashier, salesperson, customer service agent, and administrative assistant. So if you’re an out-of-work Business Analyst looking to moonlight as a Radio Shack sales clerk to pay your mortgage, your current résumé isn’t going to get you an interview. You’ll need to create a simple one-page résumé geared for your new, albeit temporary, sales job.
8. Administrative/Support Personnel. As someone supporting another person or group of people, it’s dangerous to appear overqualified because your boss-to-be may worry that you’ll want his job, somewhere down the road. Sadly, ambition can work against you. To lessen this possibility, submit a one-page résumé.

Okay, so maybe you and your job search don’t fall under any of these categories. Then what?

Trim it down. Place your résumé next to a target job description (or several) and read through your accomplishments line-by-line, highlighting any statements that fail to directly address one or more of the requirements in the targeted job description(s). If you’re not comfortable omitting such statements, make sure that they’re presented as succinctly as possible, so as to not take up much of your résumé real estate.

If you’re still spilling over onto two (or three) pages, print out the first page only and scan it as if you’re hiring yourself. Is your candidacy strong enough without the second page? It needs to be, because the second page often gets skimmed over (if that!), and usually just to locate evidence of a college degree or industry training.

There are plenty of ways to incorporate second-page experience on the first page. For example, you can fold certain accomplishments into your objective/summary section, create a brand new introductory section, tighten your formatting, or build a functional resume to replace your chronological one. Another option is to develop what’s called a networking résumé which is a 1-page shortened version of your extended résumé that you can pass out in place of, or alongside, your business card.

Still, if you feel all of the accomplishments stated on your resume are relevant to your current job objective, having a 2-page (or even 3-page) résumé isn’t going to knock you out of the race; just make sure your first page is strong enough by itself to get you the interview.

Whatever the length of your résumé, make sure it tells a compelling story. Make sure it reflects the real you. Honestly and completely.

Stay on the BrightSide.

Lying on the resume isn’t the issue here.

From listening to you say you’ve applied to 1000+ jobs and are willing to take any job from a director to a security guard, you’ve got me thinking you’re not sure what you want to do next.

This lack of commitment to a defined career is most likely coming through as a symptom on your resume and perhaps in the interview. Hiring managers hate having to figure out what it is you’d like to do with your life and career. They want you to tell them, flat out from the beginning. And they want you to have the evidence (i.e. your past accomplishments) to back up your proposal.

It’s not going to matter if you lie or not on the resume if it’s unclear what type of position you want to obtain in the first place. And simply changing the “objective” is not enough. Your entire resume needs to be focused on one (or a handful at most) job goal(s).

And, by the way, it’s fine to desire a job just for the paycheck. We all have responsibilities to take care of. But if this is the case, are the jobs for which you’re applying addressing your other values such as a shorter commute, flex time for family, working with like-minded people, securing benefits, or teaching you a new skill?

If not, the employer knows something you don’t: You’ll be leaving your new job within a few months. Or worse, you’ll stay at your job and just be going through the motions with very little, if any, enthusiasm for the work. In either case, the employer will regret hiring you and you’ll regret taking the position.

So, in light of this information, I’m asking: When was the last time that you applied for a job you really wanted?

As luck would have it, I’m currently helping a developer transition into management–and he came to me because I helped his friend do the same thing (successfully) just a few months ago. Here’s what we did:

First off, at the top of the resume, we came up with a title with which my client identified, that was directly related to his new objective. In his case, we chose “Director of Development”. Following this, we summarized his expertise in terms of planning and strategy and then mentioned he had a “strong technical background”. Subtle tricks like using the word “background” implies that the individual contributor stuff is behind you.

Now, in order to emphasize his leadership skills over his technical ones, we used a chron-functional hybrid resume which is a cutesy way of saying we incorporated category headings under each job record. Also, we were careful to “bury” his job titles by placing them after his company name and location (that way they don’t stick out as much).

In my client’s case we used the category headings of “Business Strategy & Leadership” and “Development Initiatives” to further call out his prowess in planning and strategy.

Leading into the category headings and subsequent bullets, we drew up a 3-line paragraph detailing his record of promotions within the company, paying particularly attention to how he was frequently given management responsibilities.

To complement his strategic vision and stay true to his function as a technologist, we added a section entitled “Enterprise Software Development Projects” and then listed and described key technical projects. Additionally, we added a “Technical Repertoire” section comprised of a laundry list of his technical skills. This is still important to appease scanning software and show the depth of his technical aptitude. Both of these sections were purposefully placed after his accomplishments as a leader and manager to deemphasize their impact.

These tactics worked extremely well for my client. Perhaps they’ll have the same effect on your job search, particularly since you’re in the same line of work. You can check out some chron-functional hybrid resumes on my “quick-view” resume samples page, if you’re curious to see this format in action. It works and works well if executed correctly.

To that end, I’ve created a special management resume package designed specifically for individual contributors seeking transition into a management role.

Stay on the BrightSide.