By Jenna
Goudreau
In this most challenging job market, proven
methods that will land you the job are an absolute must.
In Pictures: Top 10 Tips To Land That
Job
Just ask Kendra Trahan of Winter Garden, Fla. A regional sales
director for four years at Bausch & Lomb until the lens
company's recent reorganization (it has been shedding jobs
globally after moving out of the public sector in 2007), Trahan
says she saw the writing on the wall long before she was officially
laid off in June. She had already been reading up on 2.0
resume-building and job-hunting tactics.
Trahan also hired a
personal marketing service, ITS of Denver, Colo., to develop a
job-search business plan and refresh her resume. Instead of a
chronological listing of her previous positions and
responsibilities, agent Larry Michele advised her to create a new
CV that focused on her skills and accomplishments. He also
suggested she use specific keywords in her resume to optimize
search software on employment Web sites. Trahan uploaded her
revised resume to about a dozen sites and sent it out in targeted
mailings to companies with open sales or training manager
slots.
One hit. An HR manager of
Salix Pharmaceuticals in Orlando, Fla., scheduled
her for an interview for a sales manager position on July 10.
Trahan was one of seven top candidates, and impressed by her
confidence and background, the manager asked her to attend a series
of interviews at the North Carolina headquarters a few days later.
Trahan got the names of the six people she'd be meeting with
and got busy. She researched the company, its products and
the interviewers, wrote up questions for each person and outlined a
business plan for the position.
Trahan performed
brilliantly in the interviews. She got an offer that week to start
the following Monday, leaving her out of a job for less than a
month.
However, Winegardner also
believes that there are still "hundreds of thousands of jobs
in every sector," allowing plenty of chances to find one that
works for you. He suggests approaching the job hunt as a
competitive challenge rather than a losing proposition.
Step 1: Customize
Your Pitch
Winegardner says
the days of sending out hundreds of the same resume with cover
letters addressed "To Whom This May Concern" are past.
Networking will help you discover job openings--and get your
application on the right desk--but it only goes so far.
To catch a recruiter's
eye, a winning resume will highlight your greatest accomplishments
at previous jobs rather than your routine workweek
responsibilities. And a concise cover letter should read like a
carefully crafted marketing pitch, reflecting your knowledge of the
company.
The same research and
precision should be exercised in the interview process.
"Don't go on blind dates," says Nancy Keene, a
director of Stanton Chase International, an executive search firm.
She believes that preparation is the best and easiest way to nail
an interview.
That means learning about
the company and the interviewers so that you can tailor your
message to their needs. It also means knowing yourself.
"Command the statistics of your life," Keene says,
including all of the key facts and numbers about your previous work
experience.
Step 2: Show
Results
"In an
interview, results are the bottom line," says Jill Smart,
chief human resources officer at Accenture, the
management and technology services giant. "Everybody can talk
about experiences and skills. Translate that into an impact."
Added 10 new high-profit clients last year? Mention it. Saved
dollars by recommending a new tech system? Now's the time to
share.
One way to prove that
you're a results-oriented worker is to provide supplemental
materials showcasing hard evidence. Trahan put together a
"brag book" that detailed the solid numbers of her past
performance. She also went one step further, creating a business
plan for Salix that stated her goals 30, 60 and 90 days into the
job. The combination of previous results and a plan for future
impact helped tip the scale in her favor.
Experts agree that
understanding the corporate culture will help you land the job. All
top candidates will fit the job requirements, but interviewers want
to know that they'll fit in.
Trahan recognized this and
sifted through her contacts to find someone who worked at Salix.
She discovered that an acquaintance on LinkedIn was connected to a
Salix employee. Through her contact, she set up a phone call and
asked the employee questions about the corporate atmosphere, style
and value system. She discovered that the company was, in fact,
results-driven. Trahan says she was more confident going into the
interview because she already felt knowledgeable about the internal
environment.
Another key item to
remember about culture, warns Monster's Winegardner, is that
people will talk. Smart candidates realize that the interview
begins the moment you're on the company campus. One off-hand
remark, perhaps grumbling about the pace or traffic of an
unfamiliar city, may get back to the boss and hurt your chances.
View everyone--from drivers to receptionists and executive
assistants--as people you hope to impress and someday work
with.
Step 4: Make a
Winning Impression
Your appearance
and presence contribute to the tone of an interview. Catherine
Kaputa, author of The Female Brand, believes that, in many
respects, women have important business advantages over men, namely
communication and empathy skills. On an interview, women should tap
into these attributes by reading the environment and using
corresponding body language. Kaputa believes a winning first
impression begins with a confident entrance, walk and greeting.
Trahan agrees that women
are generally more adept at mimicking others, which will put an
interviewer at ease and show respect. She made sure to lean
slightly forward in her chair and maintain eye contact to show
engagement in the conversation.
Since Trahan began her new
job about three weeks ago, she's been on the other side of the
desk. She's already hired eight new sales people. She looks for
many of the same things that she's mastered herself: knowledge,
work ethic and confidence. About her latest interviews, she says,
"I ask them to bring their resume to life for me. I'm
looking for them to sell themselves."
It worked for her.
In Pictures: Top 10 Tips To Land That
Job
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From the Community…
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Posted by Wed Aug 19, 2009 6:19pm PDT
Report Abusewow, just like that? So how come we have so many talented, qualified, passionate, capable people looking for work? These are foundational job hunting tips that have been proven true for years...but in this competitive hiring environment, getting from sending a resume to getting an interview is usually not the one hit success as profiled by the subject of this article.
More power to her and kudos to her for being a successful, saavy job hunter. I wish the multitude of unemployed friends and former colleagues i know were as fortunate.
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Posted by Wed Aug 19, 2009 9:04pm PDT
Report Abuseyour ladder dont go to the top its missin a step or three.
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Posted by Wed Aug 19, 2009 9:07pm PDT
Report AbuseI agree with opiniononly. These steps are very basic and I'm sure anyone who is really looking for a professional position is already doing all of this. Getting a chance to interview seems to be the hard part. If everyone looks good on paper, just the same as you do, getting your resume to shine even more can be the hard part. In same cases I've heard of companies taking the top 10 on a stack of super qualified applicants. Sucks if you're unlucky number 11.
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Posted by Thu Aug 20, 2009 4:05pm PDT
Report AbuseDo not use the firm ITS. There was just an article int he NYtimes about how they're a sham headhunting business that rips off their clients:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/17/us/17career.html?_r=1
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Posted by Fri Aug 21, 2009 4:48am PDT
Report AbuseI'm pleased to learn more about these tips that have gone far to empower me with self-confidence and an assurance of certainty.Realyy,I have missed most of my chances due to being short of such techniques.Maybe I can even try them now to be practical enough and wait to see the results.
Thank you.
Siraj
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Posted by Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:33am PDT
Report AbuseEvery time I see a tip about researching the company, I think "duh". Then, I remember that some people are just lazy and don't take the time. Well, you have to. You have to go in and have a conversation with interviewers about their company, and conversations are not one-sided. Also, you can really impress interviewers by coming to the table with solutions that you can only create by knowing their business. Shows your ready to help impact their bottom line.
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Posted by Fri Aug 21, 2009 10:18pm PDT
Report AbuseInterestingly enough. I have been unemployed for five months. I have only gotten two interviews in that time, and have essentially just taken a wait and see approach. Some time last week, I decided that i would give a company one week to follow up on my cover letter and resume applications. In the past week, i have had four phone interviews with potential employers. What i have learned, that i did not know before, was that companies want to see applicants take initiative. My perspective was that I had nothing to lose.
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Posted by Sat Aug 22, 2009 3:14pm PDT
Report Abusesome of these suggestions are very therall and helpful. such as steadying the company your going to work for and the people who will be interviewing you. for some of us that maybe harder to do, so we just go with the best referal that we have to use. it's also good to remind people to be aware of how the act before they get to the interview, because other people can have influence on your job results even if you pass them by in the parking lot. it's also good to shorten your resume and use key words it save you time and eases your job search for you and the employer. it may your resume more memorable and easy on the eyes. i don't like the process of applying for a job online. although some companies post a section of questions to check off. some may see that is fun some may see it as a pet peeve. i think with all this change in employment process with doing things online people should concider some things. what about the safety of your information what about the companies employment record or practices. ask around and other people who've applied at that company about their experience. ask if you can just print a copy of the application off of their website and turn in with writing.
i think that would be safer for the people seeking jobs and the safer for the liability of the employer.
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Posted by Sun Aug 23, 2009 4:17pm PDT
Report AbuseAnonymis: With all due respect, I strongly encourage you to work on your spelling, punctuation, grammer and sentence structure. If your contribution to this blog is an accurate representation of how you communicate in writing, when seeking employment I fear that most people who do first reviews of applications will toss/delete your documents, no matter how capable or talented you may be.
As a hiring manager/administrator for more than 30 years in my opinion only, you are doing yourself a serious disservice to any job search or advancement efforts if this is the best you can do.
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