Using Crowd-Sourcing For Your Job Hunt

Let’s begin with a definition. That way, I know that you know, and we all know. From Wikipedia:

“Crowdsourcing is a distributed problem-solving and production model. Problems are broadcast to an unknown group of solvers in the form of an open call for solutions. Users—also known as the crowd—typically form into online communities, and the crowd submits solutions. The crowd also sorts through the solutions, finding the best ones. These best solutions are then owned by the entity that broadcast the problem in the first place—the crowdsourcer—and the winning individuals in the crowd are sometimes rewarded.” … “Crowdsourcing may produce solutions from amateurs or volunteers working in their spare time, or from experts or small businesses which were unknown to the initiating organization.”

How do you use crowdsourcing to get a job? You use it by letting everyone know that you need a job lead or information about companies that are hiring. Any and all suggestions will be welcomed. Then you personally track down each and every suggestion to see if it does lead to an interview. You use the name of the person who gave you the information when contacting the company.

Your neighbor, Sheldon, said his company was hiring. You asked whom you should talk to at his company. You call that person and say that Sheldon told you to call about the recent job openings. Here are some questions to ask:

• “What openings do you have right now?”
• “Do you have any openings in ______ (your area of expertise)?”
• “When do you expect openings in ______ (your area of expertise)?”
• “Who would you recommend I talk you at your company about ______ (your area of expertise)?”

Résumé Crowdsourcing

Another way to use crowdsourcing is to ask everyone to read your résumé and cover letter. Don’t just people whose opinion you trust. Ask everyone, amateurs, professionals and your teenager. All will have an idea or two. Accept all the information provided. Especially pay attention to the ones that say they don’t understand why you put some information in or left some information out. If they have to ask clarifying questions to understand your résumé, you need to do some résumé work so that it is clear what you want to say.

If someone asks you, “so what?” about something on your résumé, it is not clear what point you are trying to make. That is your opportunity to rewrite your résumé so that it more clearly communicates your accomplishments, skills, experience and knowledge.

The More the Merrier

Crowdsourcing is a technique for anyone to suggest a solution, in the belief that more ideas are more likely to produce a workable idea. The more people you talk to and solicit suggestions from, the more actual workable solutions you will receive.

I had a three-year period of unemployment. The person that helped me the most to create a clear résumé was a person without a fancy college degree. In fact, he was developmentally challenged. He kept asking me “Why?” until I thought I’d go crazy. When I told him that he was making me crazy, Randy said, “Well, if you wrote it more clearly I wouldn’t have to keep asking you what you mean.” Doh!

Let the crowd help you. You may be too smart for your own good. Humble pie tastes so good, NOT!

Caveat Emptor

Be aware that not everyone will produce workable suggestions or be helpful. Some you will know are wrong as soon as you hear them. Crowdsourcing is a quantity game. The more suggestions you get, the more usable ones you will receive. So ask EVERYONE.

A crowdsourcing business called InnoCentive has found solutions to a third of its posted problems. It lists problems online and offers monetary rewards for solutions. Interestingly, a large percentage of solutions come from people, usually scientists, who work in fields outside or on the fringe of the problem field. Like Randy, sometimes people who know a little less, will provide your best help.

In response to receiving many “innovative” ideas from the public, California Department of Fish and Game spokesperson, Alexia Retallack, said, “We get calls whenever there's a spill. We're not going to turn away an idea just because it's new.”

“You never know where that spark of genius is going to come from,” Retallack said. After Randy could understand my résumé, on the next job I had applied for, I got the interview. Clear is always good.

This Week’s Coaching

1. Ask everyone, and I mean everyone, for job leads and companies that are hiring.
2. Follow up on all those leads and submit resumes and cover letters.
3. Ask everyone (EVERYONE) to critique your résumé and cover letter. Incorporate those that make sense for your situation.
4. For bonus points: Incorporate some changes to your résumé that you aren’t a 100% sure about. Ask for another review. Well… ?

Let me know via the comments section below or by sending me an email if this approach helps you. I’d love to know.

A dream with a plan is a goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream.

All things are possible,

Elisabeth

Elisabeth Adler-Lund

Executive and Life Coaching

Telephone: 916 • 803•1494

E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com

HOW TO GET HIRED

When you apply for a job, there are some simple ways to ensure your résumé is read. With a greater number of applicants than ever before, you want, no, you need, every advantage. The economic downturn seems to have changed how employers hire. They seem to be making do with fewer employees. The employees they do hire, need to be able to fit in with the existing team. The unity of the workplace is very important. The solution to ensure your résumé is read AND fitting in with the existing work team is the same. You start with the job posting or want ad. Highlight all the keywords. Put all of those keywords into your application materials (résumé, cover letter and application). Yes, you will be rewriting your application materials for each and every job you apply for. A computer makes this a simple process. Let’s run through a sample:

The Mid-Level Staff Geologist/Hydrogeologist will work on a variety of projects including Phase I and Phase II environmental assessments, geologic and hydro-geologic characterizations, and soil and groundwater remediation. Field activities may require working independently on smaller projects or as a team player on larger projects. In addition, the Mid-Level Staff Geologist/Hydrogeologist will be responsible for directing and coordinating activities relating to projects, supervising and controlling the work and progress of a field team and subcontractors. This position will be responsible for developing plans, specifications, creating representative maps and figures of project sites, and preparing final reports. Excellent understanding of the principles of groundwater movement and hydrogeology and experience in the collection of defensible environmental data as well as assist with interpretation/evaluation of scientific data.

I have used orange text to indicate the keywords. Some of these words are industry or job specific. An environmental assessment is a specific process. If this is you, you want to describe when and where you have used “environmental assessments.” This is straight forward so far, yes? The key is to also use the company’s words from the job posting for the non-industry or job specific requirements. Those are:

• Working independently
• Team player
• Directing and coordinating activities
• Supervising and controlling
• Work and progress
• Field team
• Defensible environmental data

Let’s use the first two as examples, working independently and team player. You may have something in your résumé or cover letter stating, “I work well independently or in a team environment.” Does this cover what the job posting states? No, it does not. To “fit in” and to match the company, you need to use their word choices and phrases; not something close or something more creative from a thesaurus or something more useful. All you need to do is tweak your sentence to say, “I work well independently and as a team player.” Subtle? A meaningless change? Not to the employer. To the employer this demonstrates how you already fit in to their corporate culture, because you already SPEAK THEIR LANGUAGE. Look at the last item in the above list: defensible environmental data. As a geologist, you know you collect data all day long when you are drilling. That is not what this company is looking for, however. They want to know if you have had your data sample rechecked by a laboratory. Your résumé before: Prepared Phase I/II Environmental Site Assessment, site closure, soil and groundwater investigation and well installation reports. Your résumé after: Using defensible environmental data, prepared Phase I/II Environmental Site Assessment, site closure, soil and groundwater investigation and well installation reports.

In my example above, the "defensible environmental data" was previously implied, now explicitly stated. The employer has to know you realize what defensible environmental data is, they will not assume that. So tell them what they need to know.

Here are some more application tips:

• Post your résumé without your home address or other sensitive contact information. Use an e-mail address and cell phone number. If they exist for your job search only, even better. This will protect your privacy and you will know the call on that phone is employment related only. So you will know to answer the call professionally. Check that your voice mail greeting is aslo appropriate.
• For your privacy and protection, when applying to a job online: Never give your social security number to a prospective employer, provide credit card or bank account information, or perform any sort of monetary transaction. (a CareerBuilder online warning worth repeating.)
• Update the résumé you post on the Internet on a DAILY basis, even if you only change one word. Recruiters avoid résumés that are dated and search regularly for the latest talent.
• Write a résumé with a clear direction. Be as specific as possible. Determine the specific industry and function you want to pursue and write a résumé showing how your accomplishments match the market's requirements.
• Remember that there is no such thing as a perfect job candidate. Apply for jobs even if you do not meet every requirement. If you match 60% to 80% of the requirements, apply. Let the recruiters decide if they want to interview you. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
• Write a cover letter that lists the exact requirements of the position (spelled and listed exactly as it is in the job announcement) and then list your related capabilities. See my previous post on this subject for more guidance. This will ensure that you capture every key word in your application and shoot to the top of the list.

Use these tips in combination with your networking plan. The Internet is only one tool of the many you need to get hired. You can do this. There are jobs out there. You just have to demonstrate that YOU are the perfect fit. One way to do that is to consistently use the company’s language and word choices. Now - Go get hired!

Let me know how your job hunt is going. What are your particular challenges. Share your experiences in the comments section. Or, send me an email to eal@EALCoaching.com . I’d love to know how you are doing and what strategies you are using. A dream with a plan is a goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream. Warmly, Elisabeth Elisabeth Adler-Lund Executive And Life Coaching Telephone: 916 • 803•1494 E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com

Cover Letters – the Secret to Getting an Interview

What is more important – the résumé or the cover letter? For many hiring managers, it is the cover letter. Here’s why. People often hire professionals to write their résumé, but they write their own cover letter. Some hiring managers do just glance at cover letters, but others study them, looking for reasons to read your résumé ... or to toss it in the trash. What do you include? You have created a great résumé that highlights your skills, knowledge, abilities and experience in the best possible light. What do you have left to give to the hiring manager? Remember, a résumé and a cover letter have different jobs. A résumé demonstrates that you can do the job. It is all about what you have done and your past accomplishments. A résumé is all about you. A cover letter matches you to the stated job requirements of a specific company and how you will fit into that company. The cover letter is all about the hiring manager’s needs. Assume every hiring manager will read your cover letter. Here are some ways to write an effective cover letter, following a tried and true advertising formula. After all, you are marketing yourself to the hiring manager. GET THEIR ATTENTION Your cover letter should have an opening paragraph makes them want to read more. Here are some ways to accomplish that:

• Drop the name of a mutual acquaintance in your first sentence: “Pat Smith in IT suggested I contact you about your need for a Project Manager.”
• Begin with an intriguing question: “How often have breakdowns in your customer service resulted in lost business and costly headaches? I can help you.”
• Be high energy: “I am very enthusiastic about your need for a HR professional in your Benefits department.”

Notice how “you” or “your” appeared a couple of times? The cover letter is all about the hiring manager and what you can do for THEM. This is your opening statement that tells the hiring manager what to expect from you when hired. DEVELOP INTEREST Next, tell the hiring manager what's in it for them by hiring you. Remember; focus on the hiring manager, instead of on yourself. What do you know about this kind of work that isn’t in the job advertisement? For one, you know types of challenges that are particular to this kind of work. Mention how you have resolved or neutralized these challenges in prior jobs. This presents you as a knowledgeable insider.

• “One of the challenges of great customer service is the varieties of people and situations. Coming up with a “best practices” for common events, helps to take the anxiety off the customer service desk.”

DEMONSTRATION TIME Take the top 3-5 key requirements for the job and match them to your specific experiences and accomplishments. This is particularly great if you can present your accomplishment in the Problem-Action taken-Results format and state the results in a quantifiable way. An example of this is:

• “Instituted a Customer Log of customer service issues. Was able to see repeat problems, came up with “best practices” for most events and quickly return mechanical problems to the manufacturer. This resulted in a 25% reduction in repair service time and $50,000 savings from the manufacturer.”

If your job is not “quantifiable” then tell a passionate story. For a social worker, tell how you helped turn someone’s life around. Go for the heart. Be specific about your accomplishments. The more specific, the better. A PERFECT MATCH Using the job ad, list the needs of the position you are applying for and match those needs to your experience and accomplishments. It is as simple as it sounds. This should not just be a restatement of your résumé. Here’s an example: Your Needs: Marketing experience My Qualifications:

• Five plus years as a successful marketing consultant.
• Significant consumer-oriented technology marketing in the retail industry.

Your Needs: Product Management experience My Qualifications:

• Led product-marketing efforts for an online store, resulting in a 12% sales increase.
• Spearheaded product management efforts for major retail chain as a product manager. This resulted in a 17% cost saving by streamlining the product line.

Your Needs: Leadership Skills My Qualifications:

• Leading by example, led projects and teams to highly successful outcomes.
• Ability to communicate through presentations to all levels of management. Strong ability to influence others.

A word of caution: For some of the more technically able among us, you may create a table and put needs/qualifications side by side. Or, for the more creative, you can use boxes or columns. If you copy this over into an email, be aware if the reader uses a plain text email viewer, it will hopelessly scramble your columns or table. Use the above, admittedly less elegant, design to ensure your intended information is received as conceived. Even if you decide not to use this type of document, this exercise will help you familiarize yourself with how close a match you are for the position to which you are applying. A few steps now will make it an easy task that can serve you well in the long run. THE CLOSING Ask for an interview. In the last paragraph tell the hiring manage that you want to interview for the job. Tell them that you will be contacting them to setup a meeting time. This is not the time for shyness. The interview is the next step in the application process, so go for it. “Thank you for taking the time to read my letter. I am sure I can be an asset to (the Company). I would like to get together to talk in person. I'm available mornings until 12:00 noon. You name the time and date and I'll be there. I look forward to hearing from you soon.” You can send this as an attachment or as the email with your résumé as the only attachment. What is right for you? If it is an attachment, ensure your email is professional, with complete sentences. More than just, “See attached” in other words. FOLLOW UP! You have poured heart and soul into your résumé and cover letter. However, nothing happens! Send a follow-up email two weeks after your first résumé and cover letter, attaching your cover letter and resume. This will give you a second chance to get noticed. A two-week time frame means you aren’t pestering, just following up. In this letter, you inquire on the status of the recruitment, restate your enthusiastic interest, restate that you are qualified and acknowledge how busy they must be. Depending on the company, a hiring manger is conducting the recruitment in addition to all their other duties. So cut them some slack, but not so much you fall off their radar. That is why you wait two weeks to follow up. They are busy. A cover letter is more than just a business letter; it is a sales letter. Is your cover letter selling you to the hiring manager? Need help? I can help you! We will sort through your skills, experiences and your dreams to get the right job for you. Don’t wait, contact me now. A dream with a plan is a goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream. Warmly, Elisabeth Elisabeth Adler-Lund Executive And Life Coaching Telephone: 916 • 803•1494 E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com

Is Your Résumé Current?

Is your résumé reflecting current trends? Even though we have covered résumés previously, since this is one of your main job search tools, another look is in order. THE RÉSUMÉ – REVISITED There have been a number of articles lately about résumés. The résumé is being updated for the 21st century. Are you current? There is no such thing as the perfect résumé. Sad but true. If there were, it would make life so much easier. You could just use that format; plug in your information, and voilá! You’d be done. Instead, you are faced with having to create the perfect résumé for the particular job you are applying for, for the particular person who will be reading it. You often can do research on the job and company to target your information for that particular job. You can use the company’s buzzwords; you can highlight your experience and accomplishments so that you will be the perfect fit. You will very rarely know who will be reading your résumé and what their preferred style is however. What to do? Keeping current on the styles and society’s lingo will get you far. What do I mean? Glad you asked. Remember back in the 1990’s and the TQM craze? Everything was about tying your accomplishments to Total Quality Management. If not directly, then you referred to how TQM informed your work, policies, etc. It was nauseating to read. The human resources professional will read a lot of … creative writing. They become cynical about accomplishments, they tire of reading the same trite words and clichés, they tire of the same old, same old on every résumé. THE OBJECTIVE Unless you are the seeking only one job, delete this tired old dinosaur from your résumé. What is the point of a résumé? The point is to tell the hiring manager what is in it for them (WIIFM) to hire you. This is YOU in your absence. This is a representation of you, who you are, and what you can do for the hiring manager. The point is to pique the hiring manager’s interest, to have them want to meet you. The function of a résumé is to get your foot in the door and get you an interview. An objective is all about what you want. The hiring manager doesn’t care about you at this point. They want an answer to their vacancy. Be the answer with your targeted résumé. Instead of The Objective, put in a Summary or Profile. This will summarize your key attributes, accomplishments and skills. Think of this as your written elevator speech or Brand You Sound bite. Résumé real estate is too valuable to waste with what you want. Everyone knows you want the job. That’s why you applied. Don’t waste space with the obvious, or as Homer Simpson would say, “Doh!” CLICHÉS Résumés that have clichés may prevent you from being hired. You know the ones:

• Results-oriented professional
• Team player
• Excellent communication skills
• Strong work ethic

These are trite phrases that won’t get you a second look from a hiring If you’re looking for a job as a communicator (sales, writer, HR, manager, etc.) saying you have “excellent communication skills,” won’t get you noticed. Demonstrating excellent communication skills will. Be clear and specific. Describe how you are a team player. Use a thesaurus for better word choices that are dynamic and action-oriented. Results will make you stand out. That’s how to move your résumé to the top of the pile. When everyone uses the same words and sound alike, employers can’t get a good read on who you are. It sounds cookie cutter or as if you all used the same résumé writing service. That is deadly. Provide specific terms and concrete examples to show you are a “goal-oriented” person. We are now living in a fast-paced, dynamic world. Demonstrate that in your résumé. Provide a bulleted list of your import skills (important to the specific job you are applying for). Make it easy to see who you are and what you can do for the employer. A résumé should be a branding document. It should be the best version of YOU that it can be. FIRST IMPRESSIONS Have your most cynical friend or family member read your résumé. If it won’t convince them, it won’t convince an employer. Employers look for skills, knowledge, abilities and experience. Make your results stand out. Ask yourself the following questions as you critique your résumé.

• Is it clear? Is it concise? Does it make you look good?
• Is it inviting to read, with clear sections and ample white space?
• Is the design professional? Does it contain bullets, boldface and lines to help the reader?
• Are your sections clearly labeled and placed to highlight your strongest credentials?
• Is the work history in reverse chronological order (most recent job first)?
• Are your accomplishments quantified with numbers, percentages, dollar amounts or other concrete measures of success?
• Do your accomplishment statements begin with strong, varied “action” verbs?
• Are your grammatical tenses consistent?
• Is it free of typos, spelling, grammar and syntax errors?

Start your computer, get set and start writing! Is your résumé is selling you to the hiring manager? Need help? I can help you sort through your skills, experiences and your dreams to get the right job for you. Don’t wait, contact me now. A dream with a plan is a goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream. Warmly, Elisabeth Elisabeth Adler-Lund Executive And Life Coaching Telephone: 916 • 803•1494 E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com

The Inside Scoop on Hiring Managers

“Know your enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated. When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal. If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are sure to be defeated in every battle.” — Sun Tzu (The Art of War) I am not suggesting the hiring manager is your enemy. I am saying that if you understand some of the pressures and concerns of the people in the hiring chain of the company you are applying for a job, you will have a better chance of success. In large and mid-sized companies, you will have a Human Resources (HR) department. That is where you will send your résumé. If it is a large company, there may a person (or more) who does mainly recruiting for the company. That is good for you. They are practiced at seeing the people who will be successful at their companies. They have lots of experience reading résumés and interpreting what makes for a successful employee. They can read the résumé and cover letter faster and separate out those who will go on for interviews and who won’t. If it is a smaller HR department, the HR professional may do recruiting as part of other duties. Some of these other duties are sexual harassment claims investigation, salary surveys, new employee orientations, payroll, benefits, employee relations issues, and on and on. Not every person likes to do recruiting. Some people thrive on it. You won’t know whom you will get at HR. At least in HR, there has been some training in recruiting, reading résumés and doing interviews. That is good for you. From HR, your résumé will go to a hiring manager. Alternatively, HR might also do a first “screening” interview, before passing you on to the hiring manager. In some companies, your résumé will go straight to the hiring manager. Depending on how long they have been a manager, there may be no experience to lots of experience doing hiring. In either case, this is just one more thing that is keeping them from doing their job. They will probably have to work more hours to get it all done. While they are looking at your résumé (do they know what to look for?) the work is piling up around them. In today’s economy, it is an employers’ market. That means there are many more applicants than there are jobs. Therefore, for one job, a hundred applications (or more) may come in. That means whoever is looking at the résumés, only has 15 – 30 seconds to spend on each résumé before making the decision: “Keep or toss?”

• How do you stand out?
• How do you get the person looking at your application materials to spend more than 15 seconds looking at your résumé?

YOU have to make it very easy for them to decide to keep you. How? Tell them you are the right candidate. Be passionate about the company or the job (or both) you chose to send your résumé. Use sentences in your cover letter like, “I am passionate about helping people become healthy and that is the business of Healthy Company.” Similarly, be passionate about the job with statements that demonstrate that passion. “I enjoy being a geologist because it exercises my educational skills and it’s an ever-changing environment as I manage projects out in the field or in the office.” Do some research about the company and let them know it with, “I have always admired the way ABC gives back to the community and I want to be part of that.” It is up to you to demonstrate that you are the right candidate in your application materials. HR or the hiring manager does not have the time to research you. That is your job. You have to set it out plainly, obviously for them. Do that, and you are more likely to get the job. If you aren’t getting any calls for an interview, it may be that your cover letter or résumé is not connecting you to the hiring manager. Need help? Email me and we can put together a relevant résumé and a cover letter that will demonstrate you are the right candidate for the job. Don’t wait, contact me now. A dream with a plan is a goal. A goal without a plan is just a dream. Warmly, Elisabeth Elisabeth Adler-Lund Executive And Life Coaching Telephone: 916 • 803•1494 E-mail: eal@EALCoaching.com