Every week, NETSHARE hosts Ask the Coach, a phone-in coaching session with leading career management experts. Here is an excerpt from this week’s session with career transition coach and consultant Randy Block.
In job search, timing is everything. And as Randy Block pointed out in this week’s coaching call, recent activity and experience outranks previous experience. And building fresh connections that can help you is important to success.
For example, the first caller this week wanted to know how to develop solid relationships with recruiters you have never met. When he has contacted recruiters lately, he was greeted with a “nice to meet you” response and asked for information for the database. In other words, don’t call us but we’ll call you. Randy noted that it used to be that recruiters were hunting the candidates. Now they are hunting the job openings. The ranks for recruiters have been decimated over the past year as companies are making due with fewer employees, and it is taking longer to hire for open positions. Korn Ferry, for example, reports a loss of 40 to 50 percent in recruiting assignments in the last year.
As with any contacts, you need to build a relationship that is appropriate. Find recruiters who specialize in your market area. Talk to your network of contacts – your friends and associates – and ask who they have dealt with recently. There are a small number of recruiters who actually place people, and the rest work for corporate clients and fill narrowly defined openings. Be sure that whomever you deal with handles the types of positions you are looking for. Even if you are not a match, if you should prove yourself valuable to them they will remember you.
Another issue was around resume formats. Should you go with a functional resume or a chronological resume?
Randy made it clear that he is not a fan of the functional resume, and he is not alone. If a company is using a scanner, they are going to be looking for company name, dates, and history, which does not emerge from a functional resume. Randy feels that most functional resumes do not help distinguish you from the pack because they are too full of “skills.”
Here is Randy’s list of the 10 words boilerplate skills phrases in resumes. Avoid these at all costs.
· Results-oriented professional
· Cross-functional teams
· More than [x] years of progressively responsible experience
· Superior (or excellent) communication skills
· Strong work ethic
· Met or exceeded expectations
· Proven track record of success
· Works well with all levels of staff
· Team player
· Bottom-line orientation
In general, recruiters are looking for a story, not a dissertation. Your resume should reflect the position you are seeking. If it fails, then it will be discarded because it does not connect the dots for the recruiter or hiring manager. Don’t leave the reader asking more questions. Instead, leave them with a resume full or relevant experience that demonstrates you know how to address their needs.
