Month: September 2016

How to Proofread Your Resume

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You know you have to proofread your resume. What is the best way? In this video, Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses the best way to proofread your resume.

[spp-transcript]

I want to give you some advice about proofreading your resume. Everyone thinks their resume has no spelling or grammar mistakes, no punctuation errors, no misused words. I know that’s true because they would be sending their resume to me if they believe they had any of these mistakes in them.

But I read so many resumes that have mistakes in them – – words that are incorrectly used like “there” and “their.” I know some people can catch the difference but sometimes software jumps the word or letter and no one notices and he gets through.

Here’s my advice for proofreading; I know it’s a lot of quirky but I know it is effective.

I want you to read your resume from the end to the beginning. Start with the last sentence. We did. Is it correct. Is it correct grammatically correct. Is the spelling correct. Good. Go to the next sentence above.

Start of the end and work your way up to the beginning.

I suggest this for a few reasons. The first is that is the exact opposite of what you would expect to you will see things that you wouldn’t otherwise notice. You’ll see things freshly, instead of in the way that was constructed.

Habit says that we tend to skim when we see things in a familiar way. This is not a familiar way of doing things.

The third reason is because I see more errors at the end of the resume that I do at the beginning. It seems that the later you get into the job history, the more likely it is that you make a mistake because you start rushing a bit.

So, start at the end and work your way out. Last sentence to first sentence, look at every sentence of your resume. Make sure there are no spelling or grammatical errors. Make sure there are no misused terms. Look for specific words that might be in your resume that, if misspelled would also be correct.

Let me give you an example using old technology. Often, the term, “Novell” (that’s an IT term) would be misspelled as “novel.” Maybe someone’s keyboard stuck and only one L came out. Whatever the reason was, that was a common misspelling. Spellchecking software wouldn’t recognize it because the word “novel”is a correctly spelt word.

Look for terms like that they might exist in your resume, that if misspelled, might get through the spellchecker (for you accountants, think of the word gap and GAAP).

If you follow this advice your resume won’t have those dumb errors that cause people like me and hiring managers to go, “Huh? What was she thinking?” Or, “what was he thinking?”

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

What Are The Things Recruiters Search Online About Someone Before Recruiting Them (VIDEO)

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[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN1WBNTa2ZA[/svp]
What do recruiters look for? It’s really very simple. Don’t over complicate it.

[spp-transcript]

What are the things recruiters search for online before they try to recruit someone? I think this is a good question and I want to start by saying a lot of people confuse what a recruiter is, a lot of people confuse will recruiter’s work is. Let me distinguish between categories.

Employment agent is someone who responds to resumes that are sent to them. A recruiter is someone who goes out and hunts for talent. They find people who may or may not be actively looking for a job. Let’s work with that definition of a recruiter.

What is a recruiter looking for when they are searching online for someone? What they have is a job description. A client has defined what it is they want to hire. They want someone with a particular background, right?

What does the recruiter do? Well, they start off by trying to find people who fit that particular requirement. They run a very tight search.

If the client starts off saying they need people with these 15 particular skills, they are running a search that specifies these 15 different items. This way, when they contact someone, they have a reasonable probability of success.

When they are looking at the LinkedIn profile, since that’s what I’m sure you’re referring to, they are looking for something that demonstrates congruence with what the client is looking for. Let me repeat that. They are looking for something in your LinkedIn profile that demonstrates congruence with what the client is looking for.

Plus if the information is very old, if the information and skills listed in your profile have not been updated since William Jefferson Clinton was president of the United States, it is less likely that the client or the recruiter is going to be impressed with the background. They want to see recent information.

They are looking for something that demonstrates subject matter expertise. What makes this person stand out from all the other people who they find online or through any other means (like referrals)? What makes this person right for our organization?

Before calling them, they want to feel like they have a reasonable probability that the client will be interested and excited in this person. That’s up to you as the job hunter rest person who is online displaying themselves to others… To provide that value if they are looking at your profile or find you through Google.

Don’t just sit there passively. Think to yourself, “this is what I do. This is what I am exceptional at. What makes me stand out?”

You can use powerpoints using slideshare and connect them to the LinkedIn profile. You can create videos. You can create regular with audios on Anchor.fm where you are talking about something for two minutes or less and then link it to your LinkedIn profile.

There are a lot of things that, if you start thinking creatively, you can promote yourself as an expert. With time w,ith regularity, you will be seen as someone better than the pack.

So, again, we are looking for congruence with what you claim to have expertise in.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you really think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

In addition, they are looking for subject matter expertise – – what makes this person stand out from all the other people who they find online or through any other means (for example, referrals).

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn 

Giving Your Resume To Someone

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Jeff Altman The Big Game Hunter explains why giving your resume to someone who works for a company you want to target may not be the best way to get an interview.

[spp-transcript]

Let’s talk today about approaching the furniture interested in working for. Conventional wisdom says to give your resume to someone who works there and have them bring it to the hiring manager as though this is the magic bullet that can get you the interview and advantage you are getting hired.

It can, but the thing that most people don’t do is find out how close this person is to the hiring manager. I give you an example. Someone contact me and says, “I know this terrific individual. They are phenomenal. They are swell. They are terrific.” The person approaches me as someone I barely had contact with if. As a matter of fact, the last time I heard from them was only asked to connect with me on LinkedIn. How much do I really trust this individual? The same might also be true with the people you’re giving your resume to.

The goal is and just to give it to someone who works for the firm, but to find someone within the firm who is well connected with the hiring manager.

Barring that, you are sending your resume to the black hole because the hiring manager has no reason to trust this individual anymore then I have to trust that person who says, “this person going to refer to you is terrific, colossal and swell,” and they had nothing to do with anything I do recruiting for plus I don’t know this person who was telling me how wonderful their friendliness.

There are times where it is better to work with a friend to send a cover letter that addresses that addresses some of the pain points a firm has in hiring someone for this job. It can also be better to use a third-party recruiter who has had a good relationship with his hiring manager to introduce you. Otherwise, you are giving your resume to a different version of the black hole.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

Finding More People on LinkedIn

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter discusses how to find more people to network with on LinkedIn.

[spp-transcript]

A lot of people take a lazy approach to searching LinkedIn by using the search box in the top of their profile page or homepage. Frankly, it’s a waste. Here’s why.

Instead of using that search box, I want you click on the word, “Advanced,” to the right of that box. You will be taken to a page that has advanced search features.

The default seems to be first and second level connections plus group members for groups that you are part of. Click the, “third and everyone else,” option.

You want to make sure your searching groups, you want to search by keyword… You can search by company, the school the person attended, you can search by location by using the function in the left-hand column, “lives in or near.” Within the US, you can narrow that to ZIP Code.

There are a lot of ways that you can target people using the advanced search features.

What language was the profile written in? It may seem idiotic to you but I will screen out the person from Burma.

Who they currently work for. Industry they are in. There are a whole host of functions that are far more useful if you try to reach out to people on the advanced search function of LinkedIn then there is on the standard search.

So don’t take the shortcut because you will be eliminating a lot of people who you could be networking with by doing so.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

What Are Some Networking Tricks When You Are Job Hunting?

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[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fN0kMwNzhzs[/svp]

[spp-transcript]

What are some networking tricks when your job hunting?

I hate this question and I hate the implication of this question. Let me explain.

The first implication of the question is you only network with the job hunting. The second one is that you have to trick people into helping you.

What are some networking tricks? I know. I know. What are some networking tips that I can use when I am job hunting.

Step number one. Don’t leave network with your job hunting. That’s the real big one.

You have to think of networking has been part of her job at every stop in your career, not just when your job hunting. Your employer may not be paid you for it, but you will employer is – – namely YOU.

You are your own employer.

You are self-employed and every decision you make is looking out for their own interests, you and your career.

Don’t outsource that to your employer otherwise you are screwed. They are looking out for themselves and, although they tell you that they care about you and they think you are wonderful, they are not looking out for you, nor is it their job to look out for you. That is a seduction on your part is not true.

You have to think in terms of being self-employed and doing the things that are needed in order to build a brand for yourself. You want to become known as an expert in your field, as well as your particular level in your field.

So if you are junior developer, you can’t compare yourself to a CIO or a VP of technology. You are different and comparing yourself to them is a mistake.

Learn from those people, but comparing yourself to them is foolhardy.

So I hate this question because it’s just all the bad qualities of job hunting that cause it to become has hated as it is. After all, job hunting shouldn’t be about needing to suddenly network; that’s what career should be about – – building your relationships so that if you need one another at different times you are there to help one another at those times.

It’s a two-way street. It’s about developing relationships over the course of time. After all, if you are suddenly connected to someone on LinkedIn, do you expect them to jump through a hoop for you?

No! You wouldn’t jump through who for them; why would you expect them to jump through hoops for you?

Think smart. You are the chairman of the board of your organization (in my case, it is “The Altman Organization). Get out there, get known and build relationships. Then, people will be more than willing to help you.

[/spp-transcript]
I recently learned that the best way to land a job is to know someone within a company. But I also learned that I don’t know that many people….

I have been messaging people on LinkedIn (people I know, and that I don’t know) and, hopefully, that will get me something.

What do I do to expand my search?

Do you really think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn 

Branding for Blue Collar and Other Workers

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter talks about Job search branding for blue-collar workers.

[spp-transcript]

Today, I’m going to speak about branding. Although the podcast is targeted toward the blue wall collar worker, I think there’s a lot is an adaptable to everyone. Hear me out and try and follow the advice I give.

It doesn’t have to be perfect the first time, but you want to involve these so they are useful to you not just now but for years to come.

The first thing I want to mention is that you need to spend some time figuring out what makes you special? What makes you unique? What makes you then other people who do the kind of work you do? How do you stand out from the pack?

Point number two is that when you look at your online persona, keep the critical comments and snarky remarks and the bad pictures off of your profiles. Firms are going online to find out what they can about people. You don’t want these things standing in your way.

The third thing is, if a recruiter was going to find you, whether that is a corporate recruiter or an agency recruiter, think like them and provide the sort of keywords in your LinkedIn profile and other places that will allow them to find you.

If you are blogging, make sure the SCO for your blog post mentions the appropriate keywords that allow discovery.

Here’s the fourth one. I think maybe the most important one. Start to chronicle your work life with video. With pictures. With things that show you in a great light.

There’s an interesting website and they have a beta of their applicant I’m starting to work with. The site is called Somewhere.

With the app allows you to do is chronicle your professional life with a picture and a description. People are curious. I find the people, other than those who work with the firm of course are starting to follow me regularly. You’ll find it if you start chronicling yourself professionally, with photos and/or video, play them up on LinkedIn, bring them up on Somewhere, putting them up on Facebook, twitter and other places, you will be laying the foundation so that, maybe not in this job search in the future, people start looking out for you and start to look for you.

You’ll start to develop a brand or you are known as a success in the field.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

The Thursday Supplement to No BS Coaching Advice August 18 2016

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The August 18 Edition of The Thursday Supplement to No BS Coaching Advice 

 

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

No BS Coaching Advice Ezine: August 16 2016

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The August 16, 2016 edition of No BS Coaching Advice Ezine

 

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn

Ask This Question on Your Next Job Interview

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Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter suggest that you ask this question on your next job interview in order to get a clear idea of your future manager’s priorities.

[spp-transcript]

 

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. His work involves life coaching, as well as executive job search coaching and business life coaching. He is the host of “Job Search Radio” and “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” both available through iTunes and Stitcher.

Are you interested in 1:1 coaching from me?  Email me at JeffAltman@TheBigGameHunter.us and put the word, “Coaching” in the subject line.

Do you have a quick question you would like me to answer? Pay $50 via PayPal to TheBigGameHunter@gmail.com  

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com offers great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.  

Connect with me on LinkedIn. Like me on Facebook.

You can order a copy of “Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems” for Kindle for $.99 and receive free Kindle versions of “No BS Resume Advice” and “Interview Preparation.”

Don’t forget to give the show 5 stars and a good review in iTunes

If you want to know how to win more interviews, order “Winning Interviews.” You’ll learn how to win phone interviews, in-person interviews, the best question to ask on any interview and more.

Why Do Recruiters Ignore Computer Science Degrees?

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[svp]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDUIflVpZSc[/svp]
Why do they often choose to employ people without degrees? Is it because they can pay them less or because they think they are up to date about latest technologies? Is it fair to say that such recruiters are harming the profession of computer science and the engineering discipline?

[/spp-transcript]

Here’s a fun question I was asked. Why do recruiters often ignore degrees in computer science? Or do they often choose to employ people without CS degrees? Is it because they think they can pay them less or is it because they are up to date with the latest technologies? Is it fair to say that such recruiters are harming the profession of computer science and engineering disciplines?

Let me start by saying you’ve got it all wrong.

I want to divide recruiters into two categories – – agency recruiters and then corporate recruiters.

Agency recruiters make no such decisions. Agency recruiters are hired by organizations to find people with particular types of backgrounds and skills that that firm has determined are appropriate and suitable for the roles that need to be filled.

Let me repeat that. They don’t make the decision. They are hired by an organization that has made a decision about the skills and experience that they need for someone to be successful in a role.

So, if you are talking about how agency recruiters are harming the computer science profession, they are the messenger for an organization that wants to hire people. As long as the requesting organization is making is legal, that is, it is not discriminatory based upon certain classifications, then it is acceptable.

A firm may not want to pay the premium that a computer science grad wants to earn and it may not matter to them that a person has a certain degree. They may just want someone who has experience.

Let’s switch to corporate recruiters.

Corporate recruiters reflect hiring managers. They don’t make decisions. Hiring managers have decided that the CS degree is overvalued or overinflated in terms of its value. As a result, it doesn’t matter to them. They may have their own experience where they don’t have that degree and have done perfectly fine.

Some people may tell you that you should work for a firm that doesn’t value your degree. Okay. That’s your prerogative. You may miss out on some great opportunities from terrific organizations. That is your choice in all this.

You can choose to work for organizations that value to agree to a higher level and others. However, from an organizational standpoint, they have things that need to be done. The smart ones, in my mind, don’t care if the academic is in place.

If the person has a CS degree and can’t do what needs to be done, it’s irrelevant that they have that degree. After all, if you are a recent grad, you don’t have any experience delivering on this except what you had done out of the textbook or a lab.

If you’re an experienced individual, you’ve already transcended what you learned in school and the firm interviewing you may not follow that methodology that you learned in school.

Again, it’s your choice when you go to work but organizations have a responsibility to hire people who can work in their culture and do what needs to be done.

Apparently, are finding some organizations that don’t value your degree the same way that people at the University told you it should be valued.

Remember, what is the University trying to do? They are selling seats. They are selling the value of their program. Perhaps, they inflated its value to you.

[/spp-transcript]

Do you think employers are trying to help you? You already know you can’t trust recruiters—they tell as they think you need to know to take the job they after representing so they collect their payday.

The skills needed to find a job are different yet complement the skills needed to do a job.

Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter has been a career coach and recruiter for what seems like one hundred years.

JobSearchCoachingHQ.com is there to change that with great advice for job hunters—videos, my books and guides to job hunting, podcasts, articles, PLUS a community for you to ask questions of PLUS the ability to ask me questions where I function as your ally with no conflict of interest answering your questions.

Connect with me on LinkedIn