Operations Recruiter.com | Executive Search for Operations, Sales, Marketing

So That's What You Do!

As you may or may not know, I'm a HUGE advocate of hiring a professional to write your resume. 

It only makes sense, considering the fact that your resume is one of the most important documents you'll ever own (somewhere between winning lottery ticket and driver's license).

Most savvy business professionals already know this; yet week after week I still get asked, "Why should I spend $500 - $1,500 for something I can do myself?  Hell, I just re-shingled my own roof last weekend!"

For the level of candidates that I work with the total cost of having a resume professionally written is 1%, maybe 2%, of their annual income expectation--and that's just for the first year.  If a well-constructed resume opens up an opportunity for you that pays $100k a year and you stay on that job for 3 years, the ROI is ridiculously huge.  It's a no-brainer.

I'm almost to the point to where I will NOT consider a candidate for a position if it's blatantly obvious they've written their own resume (the exception is when I come across a candidate that's been at the same job for a number of years and is not actively looking).

Scott M. from my Career Makeover Series is an Information Technology Manager who worked for one company from 2001 until July of this year.  When he got word that he was being downsized, he dusted off his old resume from 2000 and went about updating it to reflect his responsibilities from the previous 7 years.  He wrote the following summary paragraph for his most recent position:

Entrepreneurial team player for this start up company built on a patented product that utilizes bar code scanning and digital imaging to recognize, monitor and document the administration of injected drugs while concurrently creating a digital anesthesia record. During the first six years I was tasked in building the technical services division which consisted of Software QA, Customer Services, Technical Support, and Information Systems. In addition I performed the duties of Project Manager, Project Manager Software Developer, BETA release manager, and Technical Sales Engineer.

He also included a handful of bullet points such as:

• Hired, trained and managed a team of support engineers, software engineers, customer service representatives, and IT staff
• Continually developed avenues to support, mentor and improve each individual
• Worked with account managers to provide high level customer services to ensure client satisfaction

...and so on...

Having gotten to know Scott over the past couple weeks, I can assure you he is a knowledgeable, capable, and dedicated professional; but you'd never know it based on his current resume.

As an exercise, I asked Scott to provide me with a list of his most significant professional accomplishments from the previous 2 years.  This is an excerpt of what he came up with:

• We moved our offices 3 times in the past 9 months. I was responsible for the move of our data network and phone system to each new facility. This included wireless infrastructure and recovery planning for co-location to a local CLEC. The data network was successfully moved each time with limited down time.
• VOIP implementation. I managed the migration of our phone system from an older digital system to a VOIP in order to reduce costs, increase integration with our computer systems, and allow for expansion. Overall monthly savings were $800 - $1,000.
• Microsoft CRM installation and implementation.  I was responsible for the conversion from our existing sales and support systems to an enterprise customer relationship management system that the sales, support and implementations departments could utilize without maintaining separate systems.
• Establishing our company as a Microsoft Certified Partner. This partnership was of great benefit to our Marketing, Development, and IT departments. Marketing benefited from the addition exposure gained by being a Microsoft partner, Development was able to garner additional support/consulting time with Microsoft, and IT was able to access the latest software to test and work with, resulting in an annual savings of approximately $25,000.

Hey, now this is the resume of a guy that knows how to get stuff done!

By documenting his accomplishments as opposed to generic descriptions of his positions, Scott's resume now projects a significantly more favorable impression of him as a professional.  In addition, it helps open up specific dialogs once he's able to secure an interview with a potential employer ("So, tell me about this phone migration you did. We've been thinking about doing that for the past year or so.")

Employers generally evaluate management-level candidates based on their perceived abilities to accomplish certain objectives. If you leave them wondering as to what you're capable of when they read your resume, you'll never get the opportunity to show them  what you can do. 

Fool Me Once, Shame on You; Fool Me Twice, I'm an Idiot

I got a call earlier today from Robert, one of the two candidates I'm working with on the Career Makeover Series.  "A recruiter out of L.A. called me about a Director of Marketing position and I have a phone interview scheduled this afternoon with their Human Resources Manager," he said.  "The recruiter told me to be prepared to discuss my work history because she'll want to go over it with a fine tooth comb.  How should I address the fact that I've changed jobs several times over past few years, because I know it's going to come up."

Looking at Robert's resume, he has worked in 5 different positions (and companies) since 1998, which would not be that bad had he averaged 2 years at each position. But, alas, the last 5 years goes something like this: 6 months at his most recent position, preceded by 3 years of independent consulting, and before that a 1 year and 3 year stint. Not exactly a model of stability.

Depending on how this HR Manager he's interviewing with views self-employment, the 3 years he spent working for himself could be viewed as a positive or a negative.  The fact that he only lasted 6 months at the position he accepted immediately after working for himself is definitely an obstacle he'll need to explain away.  The first thing any good recruiter or hiring manager worth their salt should ask themselves when they see this on his resume is, "Is this a guy that got comfortable making his own hours while answering to no one, and then balked as soon as he was thrown back into a structured environment?"   

Having gotten the low down on the situation from Robert, I do not believe that was the case.  I think the company's president, to whom Robert reported, had an unrealistic expectations as to what Robert alone could accomplish.  However, Robert definitely shares in the responsibility.  He did a poor job of determining whether or not the appropriate resources required to accomplish the goals of the position would be made available to him.  He made false assumptions as to the capabilities of the individuals that would be reporting to him as well as the level of flexibility he would have to either outsource specific tasks or hire additional personnel.

"And that's exactly what I would tell the HR Manager or anyone who asks," I advised him.

Employers have very specific (and generally high!) expectations of the positions they hire for, and unless you've got a work history that jumps up off the resume and kisses them on the mouth they're going to question some of the career decisions you've made.  Get used to it.   

Let's say a hiring manager's expectation is to bring a candidate on board, wind them up and let them perform in a particular role for at least 5 years.  If the last 10 years of your work history is comprised of multiple 18 to 24 month tours of duty, then you're going to have to come up with a helluva good story as to why you think you'll be with their company for the long haul.

Why do we study history?  So we're not doomed to repeat it!

For those of you that feel your most recent work history might be your Achilles' heel when it comes to interviewing is, my advice is:

1.  Take responsibility for bad career decisions.

I get tired of hearing: "I was misled!" or "The job was misrepresented to me!" Were you lied to? Or did you misrepresent your capabilities?  I mean, come on, even if the hiring manager blatantly lied directly to your face regarding every single facet of the position, there would be some signs that you were being conned.  If you think a sales manager is exaggerating the amount of money you can make in commissions, ask to speak with a couple of their reps regarding the position, then ask them a couple questions "off the record."  It's called due diligence and it's your responsibility.

 2. Quit blaming other people for your failures or lack of judgment.

"I just didn't have the team in place to support our goals," does not get you off the hook.  If you're applying for a management position, ask to meet some of the employees that will be working under you before accepting the position.  Find out what level of flexibility you'll have when it comes to hiring, firing, outsourcing, etc.   After all, it's your job to manage the team and make the right personnel decisions in order to meet your responsibilities.  And if you plan on discussing how diabolical the office politics were at your last company during the interview, you might also want to plan on bursting into tears for dramatic effect.  You might as well--you're not getting the job anyway.

3. Convince them you have learned your lesson(s).

Hey, we all make mistakes. I guarantee you the same HR manager that's grilling you on why you left some joe-job 10 years ago has a couple of 6-month jaunts in her closet as well. Sometimes we take a job simply because we need a job.  No, it's not a strategy for long-term career success, but it keeps the lights on and the mortgage man at bay for a while.  Employers just want to know that you're not going to bide your time on their job until you find the one your really want, or that you're taking the position because you're desperate for money.

It's important that you recognize and understand why certain job decisions were mistakes and what you could have done differently, either by qualifying the position further or by not taking it in the first place.  Show them that you are going to do your due diligence when it comes to their position and then most importantly, DO IT!

...and the winners are...

I'm thrilled to finally announce with winners of the Career Makeover Series, Q4-2007!  Having received and reviewed hundreds of entries over the past few weeks, I can assure you that every application was given careful consideration before I arrived at my final selections.

My goal was to choose two candidates with distinctly different backgrounds, goals, circumstances and job search challenges. And the winners are...Scott Martin of Mobile, Alabama and Robert Cameron of Weston, Florida!

Congratulations Scott and Robert! I will be working with both Scott and Robert one-on-one over the next 6 weeks to help them put together a comprehensive strategy for landing a new job. You can track our progress each week right here at www.operationsrecruiter.com.

Here is a little background on our winners:

Scott Martin: After graduating with a BS in Information Systems from the University of Alabama in 1992, Scott has worked in a variety of technical support and development roles; most recently serving as the Director of Technical Services with a company that develops clinical information systems. Scott's job search challenges are:

• Scott hasn't had to conduct a job search in over 6 years (which, BTW, is a lifetime in the technology industry!), so he's a little rusty on the most effective ways to market himself to potential employers.
• With a population of around 400,000, Scott's hometown of Mobile, AL probably would not be included in a top 10 list of "technology hubs" in the U.S. To give you an example, a job search on Monster.com returned a grand TOTAL of 11 jobs under the category of "Information Technology.
• Scott feels that since he was part of a management-downsizing initiative with his last employer, it may put him at a disadvantage when meeting with potentially new employers.

Robert Cameron: Robert has been in multi-channel marketing for the last 20 years--with his primary area of expertise being direct-mail marketing (catalogs). Since 2003, he has been working for himself as an independent marketing consultant and has made the decision to get back into the corporate world. Robert's job search challenges are:

• After spending 10+ years with one employer from 1987-1997, Robert has switched jobs 5 times since then, averaging less than 18 months on each position.
• Robert suspects that many hiring managers might view his age (early 50's) as a negative factor when weighing his candidacy for a new position.
• Robert is open to the idea of relocation, however, he would prefer to find a position and employer that would be willing to pay for his moving expenses (a rariety these days).

As I mentioned, you can keep up with our progress as well as learn valuable job search tips and tricks over the next 6 weeks. The job search strategies we'll be using during the Career Makeover Series can be found in my latest book, The Executive Rules: A Complete Guide to Landing an Executive Job.

Leading Executive Recruiter Uncovers Today's Most Effective Job Search Strategies

(PRWEB) September 12, 2007 — Author and Executive Recruiter Thad Greer announces the release of his new book, “The Executive Rules: A Complete Guide to Landing an Executive Job™.”

The comprehensive, easy-to-read book arrives at a time when landing a high-paying executive position is as hard as it has ever been.

“I’m convinced that most people do not have a clue as to how to go about finding the job that’s right for them,” Greer said. “The online job boards have instilled what I refer to as a ‘false sense of accomplishment’ in today’s job seeker: they think that by applying to one job after another on sites like Monster or CareerBuilder they are somehow accelerating their job search. The Internet boards have made applying to jobs so easy that the number of applicants for any given executive-level position is basically off the charts these days,” said Greer, who is also the managing partner of a nationwide search firm. “Candidates think they are being proactive, but they’re not doing anything different than the millions of other job seekers sitting at their computers clicking away.

The modern job search strategy is to blanket anybody and everybody that has an email address with your resume: a ‘if I throw enough stuff up against the wall something is bound to stick’ mentality,” Greer said. “But all this approach does is muddy the waters. Not only has this made it more difficult for companies to find the best candidates for their open positions and but it’s made it tougher for good candidates to stand out. Job seekers need guidance on how to differentiate themselves from their competition, which was my primary motivation for writing this book. Not only do they need know how to reach out to and put their resume in front of the right person, but then what to do and say once that person shows an interest in them. I wanted to reveal everything you need to know to land a great job in as little time as possible. Whether your motivation is to find a new job immediately or you need long-term career guidance, this book can be a great resource.”

In “The Executive Rules,” Greer draws upon his vast recruiting experience to reveal how executive job seekers can best identify and effectively market themselves to the key individuals within companies to land the job that’s best suited for their skill sets and experience. The book covers such important topics as: The Seven Key Career Questions Everyone; Why Your Resume May Be Holding You Back; How to Blog Your Way to a New Job; How Social Networking Can Make or Kill a Career; The Truth About Headhunters and Search Firms; Why Going Small Can Pay Off Big; Why Only 2% of Job Seekers Find Work Using Job Boards; 3 Steps to Nailing the Interview; Career Survival - When to Stick It Out and When to Move On, and much more.

Greer’s book explains to readers what most companies are looking for when they hire for executive positions and also provides them with the necessary knowledge, strategy and motivation to go out and forge the career path that is best for them.

To learn more about “The Executive Rules: A Complete Guide to Landing an Executive Job” or to purchase a copy of the book at a special promotional price, please visit www.theexecutiverules.com.

ABOUT THAD GREER Thad is an Executive Recruiter and the Managing Partner with Priority Recruiting Solutions, Inc. a nationwide search firm headquartered in Hollywood, Florida that predominantly handles C-level (CEO, CFO, CIO), vice president and executive-level management positions. Priority Recruiting Solutions has successfully placed candidates across a wide range of industries, including: manufacturing, technology, insurance, financial services, distribution and consumer goods. Thad has been personally responsible for conducting management-level searches with clients ranging from the Fortune 1000 to start-ups. He can be reached at 954-929-1811.

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