Arenas says that entrepreneurs must “choose a target market.” Similarly, job seekers must zero in on their target reader, and then laser-focus their words and actions on attracting that audience.

As a resume writer, I only write for careerists who are targeted! And by this, I mean, you know what position you wish to attract with your resume, cover letter, biography, social media profile and the like.  Ideally, the position upon which you are concentrating is one that can be articulated with a title such as, “Marketing Director” or “Accounting Manager” or  “Information Architect,” or some combination thereto.

This position must be a genuine role that companies are, or should, be filling with YOUR type of credentials. Companies must have a present need to invest in folks like YOU who uniquely are qualified to step into vacant shoes–and create traction.

How you begin shaping your value story to appeal to that audience is this:

• First, think about and get quite familiar with your target audience’s areas of pain – write those down. In an earlier blog post, I listed multiple Internet resources you may access to research companies; you can click HERE to access those. For your assistance, a few of those sites include Hoovers.com, Manta.com and ZoomInfo.com.
• Second, craft a compelling message that shows how you can heal those pain points. Identify performance stories that prove you’ve been there and done that and include not only the basic, “I built a product plan, then built the product, then rolled it into the market in 8 months,” but also illustrate ‘the how’ including your thought processes, leadership idiosyncrasies, and creative way of developing and executing your plan that led to a profitable outcome. Describe your initiatives in great detail initially so that a glistening facet of what makes you UNIQUELY you doesn’t get dulled by ruthless initial self-editing.
• Edit later, polishing and shining a spotlight on the most interesting and relevant story points that will entice your reader.
• Next, reread your stories and ensure you are demonstrating business savvy and sensitivity as if you already were working at your desired company. Do this by connecting the dots to show how what you did at your past company helped not only your immediate team reach their goals but also aided the organization as a whole do bigger and better things and ultimately, grew the bottom line.

Funneling these career stories through a filter based on your target market’s (e.g., company’s / industry’s) needs is the only way to clear the clutter and create clarity that captures attention! Otherwise, if you try to build a resume that is all things to all audiences, you will, as Alicia says, “sink your business,” which in this case is, “You, Inc.”

Where do you start? What pieces of the career portfolio puzzle matter most? How do you begin the career gold ‘unearthing’ process, and then where do you display the polished gems to attract the right audience’s attention?

During initial consultations with prospective resume clients, I always zero in on what I call the foundational aspect of their executive message.

Although the gloriously muddied career marketing waters include initiatives like building a Personal Brand, managing your Social Media Footprint, crafting a compelling Profile for a multiplicity of social networking sites such as LinkedIn, VisualCV, BranchOut or BeKnown, or designing your Personal Career Website, the foundational message in all of these venues will appear ‘cracked’ and imperfect if you do not undergo an initial introspective assessment of You Inc.

In my 14 years as a Career Writing Strategist, I have honed a word-wrangling process that starts with your career ‘brain dump’ in order to assemble intimate career details of the goals you have met, the obstacles you have surmounted or avoided and the concrete, verifiable results you can claim. As well, these story details are extended to include the leadership traits you applied and career leadership muscle you bulked up throughout your corporate exercises. This process is the answer to ‘where do you start?’ and ‘how do you begin the career message unearthing process?’

I believe anyone with a desire to take the reins of their career should undergo this unearthing course of action. The reality is, not everyone will feel suited or willing to complete such highly introspective, collaborative methods, but for those who do, they realize substantial gains in their career movement. Clarity of career value and specificity in their target goals becomes a beacon that leads them through career tunnels, doors and across the intimidating abyss of executive career change. Without the movement of change, we start feeling stuck.

In response to ‘what pieces of the career portfolio puzzle matter most?’ and to help you better hone in on the executive communication documents you will need in your arsenal to compete with, and ultimately, out-compete your competitors, I’ll provide a brief overview, below.

Executive Resume (aka, the Foundation): In creating a 2- or 3-page career story, you do want to be succinct, but don’t forget to add depth and breadth. Though the focus in many social media ‘expert’ conversations asserts, be short and cater to the attention-deficit-defined personalities, I defy that assertion when, time over time, a richer, more robust resume message works to differentiate my clients, and their opportunities soar.

Particularly at the executive level, a more layered story is not only important, but also required in order to move to the next level of conversation with C-level executives and board members. They want to know more about you than the bottom-line facts; they yearn for the why and the how you did what you did. Your shades of gray—your personality, values, ethics, integrity and strategic insights—should leap off the page.

Targeted Cover Letter: Although templated letters will fail you, if you are targeted in your approach to your next role, you can craft a highly focused letter that will serve as the foundation for future messages. In addition, a second page of powerful statements at your disposal will add value as you tailor your letter for specific audiences, easing the from-scratch writing process.

Executive Summary: This 1- to 2-page career glimpse should contain the critical highlights of a 2- to 3-page resume and will serve as a briefer version of your more robust story to distribute for particular networking purposes, as a companion to a cover letter, as an introduction piece for a resume or leadership addendum or as part of a media kit.

Robust Leadership Chronicle / Leadership Addendum: This 1- to 3-page standalone document showcases your top career stories or projects in a deep-slice case study format. It is comprised of pithy snapshots focused on achievements stories (challenge, actions, short- and long-term results and your business / leadership strength).  This Chronicle may accompany the resume or the executive summary or may be used as a standalone for a follow-up conversation.

The Chronicle/Addendum is particularly useful in networking venues as it provides a broad, yet specific sense of ability without the complexity of the resume. Some executive recruiters value these ‘deep-slice achievements stories’ to offer client companies.

Executive Biography: This 1- to 2-page narrative story blends nuances of your personal values with career contributions to underscore your value. A plethora of uses include distributing to corporate board members / executives, networking during your job search, leaving behind following an interview … and more.

This conversational document is a business-casual, polished tool that extends your resume value, or, when appropriate, may be used in the place of the resume.

LinkedIn Profile: Your LinkedIn profile isn’t just a mini-me resume (although, achievements from the resume should punctuate your LinkedIn profile to grab hiring decision-makers’ attention!).

Handled effectively, the nuances of the LinkedIn profile vs. Resume content may help catapult your job search to a new level. Many experienced managers, senior managers and executives prowl the LinkedIn network, actively engaging with others to expand their network, to hunt for new talent and to simply build and expand upon professional relationships. Do not miss out on this opportunity to be found!

In today’s economically and integrity-challenged business climate, the vetting process of executive candidates has become fierce. Recruiters, Board Members, Chief Executive Officers and others who will be reviewing your career chronicle need convincing that you not only can get the job done, but you will do so in an ethical way, with attention to corporate culture, sustainability and repeatable performance promises.

Communicate yourself well, and you will fortify your chances of a career search win!

IMAGE VIA luanluantan

Planting words on my MacBook Pro stimulates me emotionally and intellectually as I sow client career stories from bud to blossom.  This focused, brain-powered activity, though invigorating, is physically sedentary and potentially unsustainable if not combined with the appropriate amount of physical activity.

In Joe Lavelle’s recent post, “Exercise Like a CEO,” he underscores the importance of exercising your body. He asks, “What do you do routinely to exercise your body … to maintain mental acuity?” For many, the addition of a new or enhancement of an existing exercise routine will work wonders to add muscle to a soft career or even jump-start a stalled career.

A selection of other energy- and focus-boosting activities that will both propel your productivity and strengthen your career muscle follows:

Simplify Your Space: Simplifying your space may mean unwrapping yourself from a visual security blanket of ‘clutter.’ Doing so can free your mind and emotional energy to concentrate on individual projects and goals – the task at hand, if you will, versus the distractions all around you.

You may consider de-cluttering your primary work area into a clean, open, airy space that includes soothing paintings, memorabilia and perhaps even a desk-top water fountain to cultivate calm and inspiration. If you must express your clutter, identify a behind-closed-doors nook and, within these boundaries, go wild!

Big-Picture Your Schedule: Though your talent in creating calendars, check lists and project action steps shines, you also may find that you feel yourself drowning in a sea of details and deadlines, particularly as your career and business initiatives grow. If this describes you, consider big-picturing your schedule.

White-boarding your projects-in-progress as well as crafting a two- to three-month running whiteboard calendar of meetings and deadlines may quickly quell calendar chaos by creating a bird’s-eye view snapshot of your overarching initiatives.

Remember, project ‘detail-collecting’ within the associated project lists and files will provide the information you need to deep-dive into the specifics of your big-picture initiatives when needed. By maintaining this glimpse-able overview, you can better manage existing tasks and respond to new requests to which you commit your time and energy. With a quick glance at your calendar/project whiteboards, you can quickly accept or decline new projects.

The Little Choices Matter: Choosing a glass of water instead of sweet tea may be the linchpin to stay within you daily caloric intake parameters. As well, with business communications, that latest email, Tweet, Facebook message or LinkedIn invitation typically does not require your immediate absorption.  If you must, take a five-minute break every couple of hours to simply confirm receipt of new communications without fully partaking of a communications swap until a later, scheduled time.

And when faced with that emotionally-wrought virtual request for you to “drop everything and help me now,” remind yourself of the adage, “Lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.”

Make Peace With Perfectionism: Though your next project for your boss or your customer may mean the difference between a promotion or a career-defining sales deal, most of the time this is not the case. When you single out and assess your initiatives, you likely will find that the results of your next deliverable, though important to the recipient, will not require you overextend and go that extra 10 miles to prove you are the #1 Sales Producer, Human Resources Leader, Marketing Manager or <fill-in-the-blank>.  Stop placing so much pressure and importance on yourself at every given moment of the work day.

Instead, allot yourself a reasonable number of minutes, hours or days to achieve the project goal, and then deliver!  You likely will be reminded of how sometimes the extra-mile projects fall flat while the, “I did my best and infused this project with my years of value and experience without over-analyzing” projects often net the most kudos and bottom-line results.

Align Yourself With Complementary Others: Finding colleagues, mentors, friends and cohorts who think a bit differently than you do may be a key to unlocking doors to new ways of thinking. Seeking to explore outside your comfort zone is an admirable trait and one we all must be reminded to tap into from time to time.

By connecting with individuals or groups of folks whose intellectual capital, like the arteries of a road map, shepherd you through unexplored and sometimes uncomfortable highways and byways, you may find new direction toward achieving the destination goal that you have been struggling to reach.

IMAGE VIA: RightIndex

Developing Good Career Habits Early on Will Serve the Rest of Your Career.

Even the most mundane, front-line roles – whether doling out room keys as a front-desk motel clerk or dishing up burritos and serving beer at your local Mexican restaurant – are of value, not just to the customer, but to you, in developing your career reputation.

You may perceive your early roles as mainly a means to an end; e.g., for college students, jobs often tie directly to paying for textbooks, entertainment and basic living expenses while you prepare for your ‘real’ job. Therefore, you miss prime opportunities to create shiny, bankable career coins. By making regular deposits, you can nurture a positive reputation and network of career advocates that will help shepherd you to more meaningful roles.

I encourage all early careerists to realize that, whether you are 18, 25 or 45, each job in your career arsenal is potentially bankable and, if you attend to it with enthusiasm and as a problem-solving, customer-focused contributor, you can build a career-propelling resume, and as a result, the career to which you aspire.

March Madness, a Motel and a Mexican Meal

In a recent trip to Lake Texoma (Texas), my husband, Rob, and I played the role of customer in a series of initiatives that reinforced for us the value and impact of early-career, front-line staff members.

In one example, 30 minutes outside of Durant, Oklahoma, we vetted pet-friendly motels and dialed the Comfort Inn.

“We have no rooms for the night, Mr. Poindexter,” explained the youthful motel clerk. “In fact,” she asserted excitedly, “It’s March Madness, so you won’t find a room from here to Atoka!”

Frustrated by her sweeping response, but undeterred, we called the Days Inn, which was just across the street, and were met with a prompt and amenable, “Yes, we have rooms available!”

We instantly booked an overnight for two adults and one pet.

Rob and I were curious that the first motel clerk snapped to a conclusion that, essentially, we were out of luck in finding a room for the night in her city, or the neighboring town. Rather than take a moment of her time and suggest a possible alternative solution (such as the name of another motel in the area), in effect, she waved us off.

Checked into the Days Inn, we ambled over to a Mexican restaurant. This was a clean, calm venue that was underwhelmed by customers and appeared to have more than a sufficient ratio of wait staff to diners. A friendly young server approached us, and, though sweet, she was a bit sluggish in tending to our needs. It was as if she was on ‘island time;’ yet, there was no island, no ocean, no pleasant sea breeze to distract while we awaited our orders.

The first issue occurred when my dinner order was misinterpreted. After we alerted the server, she swept away the dish, along with all silverware, and the new meal perfunctorily was placed before me. We scrambled to locate replacement utensils.

Next, we ordered a Corona Light, which they had run out of; rather than being proactive and presenting us an alternative option, the server reflexively returned to our table empty-handed.

Moreover, throughout the dining experience, we were met with casual regard, and whether seeking out a missing set of silverware, a replacement for a wrongly delivered dinner or a substitute beverage, the minutes ticked by, and the onus, therefore, was on us, to direct our server to fulfill our needs.

In both of these instances, these young ladies overlooked opportunities to build value with us, and possibly expand their career reputation that could benefit them down the road.

Leveraging Your Ordinary Job to Create Extraordinary Career Value

No matter how lowly or ordinary the job may seem, it’s important to create your career culture early. Even though Rob and I realized the people serving us were probably not earning a lot of money, we were still the customer and were expecting good service.

Rest assured, careerists, though your simple gestures of problem-solving and customer care may seem small, in and of themselves, cumulatively they will sell your future value, and you never know whom you may meet who not only cares about how much you care, but who will also care enough to extend your message beyond the four walls of your diner, motel or other service arena and help lift your career goals to a new level. The impact, therefore, of your simple gestures, can be exponentially valuable to your overall career goals, and help you to be the culture you desire to attract.

So, your reputation builds and customer advocates multiply while your strategic problem-solving, customer service, leadership skills and talents also become more honed. Ultimately, your resume story becomes robust and compelling, advancing your career satisfaction and culture!

IMAGE VIA Flickr

– To go before or with to show the way; conduct or escort.
– To conduct by holding and guiding.
– To influence or induce.

Scrolling down a bit, the definition of ‘lead’ also includes:

• to command or direct.
• To go at the head of in advance of (a procession, list, body, etc.). Proceed first in.

I’ve been struggling a bit with the whole ‘leadership’ terminology for a while now. Possibly, it is because individuals anointed as leaders sometimes are perceived by non-leaders to be ego-driven, and that can be untenable and unattractive.

Or, perhaps it has more to do with the fact most of us don’t want to consider ourselves followers – most folks want to be important, in their own right. Whether we are considered a ‘leader’ in our field, ‘leader’ of a specific subject matter or, leader of our own self, most of us want to be independent and impactful, independently of others’ telling us how to be so.

Gripped by Inspiration, Not Dictated to by a Boss

Mike Henry, Sr., Leadership Developer and President, Lead Change Group, invited me into a radio conversation last year. During that interview, he used the term, self-leader. According to Mike, “No one wants to grow up to be a follower.” I agree!

In the best of situations, individuals never feel like they are following, but instead are inspired and compelled to engage their limited amount of energy into an initiative, event, project, program, etc.  The feeling of inspiration is so gripping, therefore, it seems that there just ‘happens’ to be a leader at the ‘helm’ who is doing the coaxing, inspiring and orchestrating of the collective energy to come together for a harmonic outcome.

I collaborate with leadership folks every day – they are my professional and executive clients who are either in the throes of career transition, wish to make a vertical or lateral move, and/or wish to propel their careers to new heights. Whatever the case, many of these folks have been bestowed the leadership moniker: Finance Manager, Senior Marketing Manager, Engineering Director, Vice President of Technology, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Executive Officer … and the list goes on.  Most of these leaders earned those titles through progressive career advancement and continual proof of leadership results, measured ultimately by corporate revenue and profit growth.

However, without an innate and well-honed ability to guide their teams through obstacles, challenges, change and other improvement and growth activities, these leaders would not be where they are today, at the helms of their own ships, steaming forward.

The Best Leaders Are Beacons of Light

The best of these leaders are both directors of initiatives and beacons of light to which their individual contributors, managers and teams aspire to reach. They are not ‘in charge’ of others, bossing them around; they do not wield their authority to ensure their plebes simply heed their commands, without question.

No, in fact, most successful leaders I have interviewed over the past 13+ years possess a unique combination of attributes including confidence and humility and a focus on individual and team needs equal to, and sometimes, above their own.

As one recent client divulged, during a merger and acquisition initiative, he selectively ‘took bullets’ for his managers so that they could better foster relationships with members of an acquired company. In other words, he didn’t put his own agenda over the company’s or individual contributors’ and managers’ needs. At the end of the day, in fact, he sacrificed his own position for the betterment of the company and the individuals thereto.

Moreover, the best of the best leaders identify the strengths of their staff and leverage those to create a win-win for both the company and the individual talent contributors. A focus on people’s talent strengths, versus exerting undue energy on what is someone’s weakness, therefore, propels an organization forward.

#TChat contributor J. Keith Dunbar, Fearless Transformational Global Leader, underscores this idea well, by saying:

“I leverage people’s strengths and put them in a position to be successful. By taking this approach, it positions the team, and ultimately the organization, for increased opportunities for success.”

Finally, strong, effective leaders lead by example. As Felix P. Nater, CSC, President of Nater Associates, Ltd., recently said on Twitter:

Leading by example empowers adults.

Sometimes We Must Simply Follow

That said, from time to time, we all put on our follower hats, and I believe there is a good reason to do so.

For those of you on Twitter, think about reasons you ‘follow’ others. Perhaps it is to learn from them as they fuel their Tweets with nourishing information, including thoughtful data, insights and blog post links that further drill down to the why, how, when, where and what of the matter. In other words, you look to that person for guidance, experience and lessons that you may incorporate in your own knowledge bank and day-to-day activity.

Or, maybe those you follow are more experienced in the job or industry with which you aspire to connect. In addition to wanting to learn from them, you may also want to model their behaviors, get to know them personally and network with them – perhaps tapping into their intellectual knowledge base and wealth of relationships to further your own career and business needs.

Our Roles, Regardless of Title, Assume Traits of Influence and Leadership

At the end of the day, though, each of us, as individuals, wants to assume a position of independence, specifically and uniquely contributing to individual and group goals. As well, we all, from time to time, regardless of our titles, switch from leading to following, then back to leading and then to following  … and (you get the drift). It’s a continuum and the roles of leading and following are not clearly distinguished by titles and job descriptions. In fact, the leadership ideal is one that we all carry around and exude in our individual and group, personal and work lives.

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After reading a recent US News article, “6 Steps to Polish Up Your Resume,” my vision of a staid, buzzword-rich resume with your top 10 accomplishments waxed.  Though the bones of the article were solid, and the emphasis on translating your work history into achievements respectable, I couldn’t help being consumed by a certain dull roar of the same-old, same-old resume advice.

Unfortunately, the focus on the tactical aspects of resume construction seem to command the most media air-time, undermining, it seems the depth and breadth of a meaningful, meaty and strategically written marketing message.

Having collaborated and consulted with, cajoled and coached 100s of career-transitioning and career-climbing clients over the past 13+ years, I can quickly glean the nuanced differences between a strategically written resume and one that meticulously (and sheepishly) follows the tactical rules of “keyword smattering and front-loading accomplishments.”

Keep in mind that a majority of companies (especially the mid-sized and smaller organizations) still do not use key-word-screening software to ferret resumes, and that your resume will ultimately be absorbed by a human being. In fact, ideal job search, research and relationship practices would have your resume being read by a real-live person from the outset. In other words, depending solely upon job-search boards and other online job-attracting initiatives will certainly limit your results.

Metrics and properly spelled words are essential, basic resume ingredients. Extending the message beyond the basics, however, whets hiring decision-makers’ appetites, spurs calls for interviews and encourages the conversations beyond the interviews. In this way, your resume stands apart from the pack. Here’s how:

• BEFORE writing your resume, be introspective. Simply put, take the time to perform career brain dump through an exercise comprised of challenge/action/results (C-A-R) stories enhanced via problem-stomping, product building, idea-inducing initiatives you took to spur business improvement. Then, dive deeper (beyond the C-A-R) and weave in the leadership, team-building, relationship-leveraging talents you leveraged to battle through armies of naysayers or climb to the summit of mountainous challenges.
• Did what you do help your department, division, region or overall company do something bigger and better — save money, reduce time to market, boost revenues, attract new customers, build a better reputation, expand the profit margin, etc.? Command attention for the little things you did and how they helped the organization do something larger. The bottom line is that you must bottom-line it!
• Of course, command attention for the BIG things you personally achieved, as well. Taking credit for your individual role in business that has skyrocketed, sustained and survived (especially during these lean economic times) is crucial for marketing yourself. If you can take singular credit for a larger, business-transforming initiative, DO it!
• While bottom-lining is essential resume nourishment, the story around the bottom-line should be equally rich.  Simmer your nuances with the finest of career messaging juices to establish you as a unique individual focused on target companies’ needs.

Rather than churning out a canned resume recipe with career vocabulary inserts across your Summary and Experience sections, blend together a custom recipe of your finest career enterprises that meld forethought, vision, creativity, bottom-line savvy and customer relationship management insights. Warm up the decision-making reader with words that wrap around their needs.

Position your career expertise by writing with passion, tempered with pragmatism. Show flair–be personable and enticing and assert your culture fit that will attract the culture you desire. People hire people who express ideas and show HOW their ideas and execution talent build corporate value. People hire people who are turned on and tuned into the company’s needs (the it’s-all-about-THEM-resume-concept). And people hire people who evoke emotion and show confidence in their contribution and culture-enhancing initiative.

Rather than scrubbing, polishing and tweaking your resume, consider how you can differentiate your candidacy in the interviewing process! Wile them with your words!

What I want to encourage job seekers to realize is that once your resume HAS reached the short-stack, your opportunity for further qualifying yourself and closing the job deal skyrockets. So rather than feeling at the mercy of what sometimes feels like a merciless job interview process, once you have inched your way past the excruciating screening, exploit the opportunity!

In the worst-case scenario, an interview is a stress environment where the interviewer assumes and maintains charge, relentlessly hammering the candidate with questions with nary an opportunity for the interviewing job seeker to interject his value. However, in many cases, a consultative sales environment ensues, and the job seeker who is prepared for a more proactive, collaborative conversation gains an advantage.

Preparing oneself for this conversational process is necessary to ensure you are equipped with the right words to influence, connect, cajole and even disarm the hiring decision-maker and influence them that YOU are the best-fit candidate.

In a recent exchange on Twitter, Mike Haberman (@MikeHaberman) said, “The consultative sales call approach works for both parties in the interview, but may be interchangeable based on interest.” As such, when you are afforded the opportunity to perform in this consultative role, be prepared to maximize every word, every communication nuance.  Moreover, in some instances, with an unprepared or inexperienced interviewer, you may even be in the driver’s seat, steering the conversation. In any of these instances, you must be equipped with an arsenal of easily retrievable, memorable scripts and talk points.

A few tips to prepare for and act upon this opportunity:

1. First, realize that being consultative means that before proffering your solution to what ails your client (the hiring manager, the human resource pro, the recruiter), you must be equipped with ample research and a few smart questions.

2. Though sometimes a job interview situation may arise without much advance notice, performing a laser-strike study of the target company and/or target hiring manager for which you will be working is needed to position yourself apart from the pack of interviewees. Even with a fairly short preparation window, you can, and must, investigate.

3. Dip your research ladle into the endless well of Internet resources:

• Hoovers.com: to search people and companies (limited “free” information); e.g., for company information, you’ll find address, phone numbers, rankings in FT Global, Fortune 500 and S&P 500.
• ZoomInfo.com: a business information search engine that provides company search, people search and job search. It constructs profiles on people and companies.
• Manta.com: the largest free source of information on small companies. This is a very cool site that has key information on over 60M companies, allowing you to drill down by industry, by location, by size, etc., and then find a profile (address, phone, website, company contacts) as well as reports; map; and web results (i.e., they do a Google search for you, providing a quick snapshot of search results!).
• Forbes.com: home page for information on the world’s business leaders and includes nine editorial channels on business, technology, markets, personal finance, entrepreneurs, leadership, ForbesLife, opinions and lists.
• Business articles at Bizjournals.com or Wall Street Journal (online.wsj.com).
• LinkedIn: Follow companies and read their profiles and goings-on.

4. Prepare your challenge-action-results (CAR) stories that align with the target company’s pain points. Consider how you have solved problems related to the types of problems this company is and will be facing.  Write those stories out (note: if you’ve already navigated the introspective resume writing process, which involves ferreting out the most critical stories and areas of value you offer your target audience, then use your resume as a launch-pad.

• Beyond the challenge, action and result, describe the strategic impact of the initiative. Outside feathering your career cap, how did the result reverberate into the company’s greater goals? Some call this answering the “So what?” by adding relevance to your achievement.
• Consider what leadership or other problem-solving and solution-building talent you leveraged to move through this C-A-R. Write those out. For example, negotiation and influence, analysis, forecasting future market needs, etc.

5. Prepare responses to some of the most typical interview questions. Here are a few to get you started:

• Tell me about yourself.
• What is the greatest value you can bring to us?
• How long do you intend to stay?
• Why do you want to leave your present position?
• What is the most stressful situation you have experienced at work within the past year, and how did you handle it?
• What would your current (or past) employer say about your work?

6. And here’s where the consultative process really takes flight: YOU get to ask THEM questions, not only to display your interest in the company, but also to garner information by which you can further wrap your value proposition around their needs. Further, as your mind intuitively weaves your story to align with their responses, you are drawing upon the research notes you discovered during the company research prep phase (step 3) and weaving that information into the interview fabric. And as they respond to your questions, you also have a chance to knit in your C-A-R stories (step 4) to fortify that you can meet their impending needs. A sampling of questions YOU may ask THEM:

• What are the greatest challenges you’re facing in your industry?
• Is your industry/business growing?
• What main factors do you attribute to your growth?
• What do you attribute to the success of your company?
• What makes you better than your nearest competitor?
• Can you tell my why this position is open?

7. AFTER the interview is an opportunity to mine for gold. Think: What went well at the interview, what didn’t go so well, and what areas were left untapped? Address those in a sales letter that not only expresses appreciation for the interview (the “thank-you”), but also squarely addresses and overcomes potential weaknesses that were spotted and/or bridges gaps in presenting your value that you simply did not have time to address during the interview.

8. Moreover, after you have undergone a second (and perhaps, third, fourth) interview, with key influencers in senior management, executives or board members, consider writing a powerful influence letter. In this sales market document, headline your message with, “Why I should by Hired by ABC Company” and then assertively, confidently and passionately sell your VALUE to them. At this point, your humility should be set aside, and you should be laser focused on closing the deal.

In parting, interviewing is a consultative sales call and sometimes requires multiple contacts and conversations to “close” the sale. As humans, though we don’t always want to be “sold,” per se, we want to be convinced that we are making the right buying decision. It is YOUR job as the job candidate to influence the hiring management that THEY would be making the BEST decision for them, for their department and for their company by investing in YOUR talent.

Photo by Abrimboan

A bit like a visit to the dentist, my encounters with clients often occur when their job search pain outweighs the resistance to the medicinal salve and career healing that our collaboration will provide. Similar to how a person bears a toothache via self-service workarounds—chewing on the opposite side of the mouth where the cracked molar resides or tempering an infected tooth’s pain with daily Ibuprofen doses—these short-term fixes eventually give way to deeper dive procedures to meaningfully stem the pain and to prevent further, more damaging infection and loss.

Understandably, individuals who contact me for career services initially indulge in anxiety-filled, self-absorbed conversations that evoke their throbbing career search pain. Like a temporary crown or a prescription drug to reduce the swelling, our initial conversations and targeted homework act as an initial salve to calm frayed nerves and lessen the most dominating hurt.

Helping steer a more direct route: repairing tattered listening skills and settling scattered thoughts, bringing about the realization they are no longer alone on this wilderness journey, a tumultuous voyage filled with roadblocks, potholes and danger signs, one unlike which they may have EVER encountered in their corporate climb up the career ladder, is just part of the journey we undertake.

Bottom line: Calming one’s nerves and regaining positivity and forward-momentum are fundamental to an optimistically focused job search. Though assuaged nerves and a focus on positivity are essential to a job search in a sea of opportunity, many people remain landlocked, shackled by negativity and with no intention of changing.

In a recent article by TalentCulture Founder Meghan M. Biro, she discusses “finding your intent” and making “every action resonate with the intent to do something positive to improve your workplace.” I would like to extend this idea further to individuals in career transition (who are often dealing with the emotional ache of job search), to encourage them to make every action resonate with the intent to improve not only their unemployed situation but also to elevate their energy and attitude. This intention knits so intimately into the job search process and impacts the results.

Having personally experienced the storms of loss in the past 10 years, I can tell you there are MANY ways to empower oneself following a major blow to one’s ego and financial-sustaining foundation.

1.  Adjust and then manage your expectations: Job search often requires hours of mind-stumping retooling. Don’t give up! Like a persnickety motor on your automobile (or in my husband’s and my experience, our sailboat), you may find yourself investing energy and finances into a variety of resources, only to find that when you turn the key, ‘kerplunk,’ your job search engine fails to start.

2.  Adjust your plan: Current action steps not working? Search for NEW ways to achieve traction, one feat at a time.

• If this means deep-sixing non-traction-inducing action steps that you had etched firmly into your 15-page job-search success plan, do it!  You can always return to your well-thought-out and expertly drawn up action plan later, but in the meantime, do not become so attached to it that you cannot adjust.
• In the case of the non-functioning sailboat motor, my husband and I relented control (and perceived expense) and invested in a new motor and an expert to install this new engine. As a result, we have been sailing into the sunset for nearly a year following our outlay! Job seekers, perhaps there are outside resources into which you may invest both intellectual and financial resources that will help restart your job search motor. Shift your thinking from “cost” to “investment” in yourself!

3.  Identify one new actionable item to try, then just DO. Reach out to others who’ve been there/done that, and ask THEM what worked in THEIR job search. Try to avoid feeling overwhelmed, since they may espouse a list of 10+ must-try action steps that delivered their job-landing miracle. Instead, really listen to their suggestions, brainstorm with them, and then pluck just one suggestion that resonates. Then DO IT; implement the idea, even if it means moving outside of your comfort zone. You will be surprised at the impact of just ONE new to-do item may have!

4.  Transform yourself and your career value. Yes, you already may have five, 10, perhaps even 20 years of value dripping from your career arsenal. This is GREAT! Now think: what more can I learn? Where might I boost my learning, expand my credentials and grow my experience to add value to my target audience (hiring decision-maker)?

• Enroll in a class (in-person or Internet-based) that will develop your mind in subjects attractive to your focus audience. If your target audience is technical, take a computer course. Are you vying for healthcare-related roles? Find a class centered on medical issues. You get the drift. Identify relevant class work that will nourish your mind while expanding your worth to your target audience.
• Volunteer your talent with an organization that intrinsically requires that you learn as you contribute. When I began my career in career management, I joined the local Society of Human Resources Management chapter and immediately volunteered to join a committee. Within weeks, I was committed to attending monthly Marketing Committee meetings.
• Volunteer your talent, plus assume a leadership role! After a couple of years contributing as a SHRM chapter committee member, I was tapped as Marketing Committee Chair. For about six years, I invested intellectual capital into this human-resources-focused endeavor as a way to learn with and from like-minded professionals, individuals who reciprocally harbored intellectual capital that was of value to my clients and me. At the same time, I was able to give back, leveraging my writing and creative marketing talent. In this way (and of value to me), I nurtured my leadership skills.

5.  Invest in yourself and your career management. I would be remiss not to mention (based on my passion and belief in the absolute value of the written word) that career reinvention begins with your own introspection and precision-focused career positioning documents. A well-articulated story is the springboard from which all career conversations emanate. Placing value on yourself, your career and the investment in building meaningful, quality-centered communications is integral in a successful and smooth job search process.

Unplugging from negativity and intending to create and surround oneself with positivity will inevitably improve your job search and career advancement efforts and will ultimately elevate the corporate community and culture within which you contribute. With an eye on what can be instead of the obstacles, most of us can create new opportunity arteries instead of letting economic and social blockages impede us. Many how-to paths are available for us to explore; go exploring today!

Photo by Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter

Akin to career building, my husband Rob’s and my foray into the sailing lifestyle just three sailing seasons ago has been a community- and skill-building experience that is at times confidence building and euphoric, and other times, discouraging, back-breaking and frustrating. Brick by sailing brick, we accrue relationships and skills, unfurl latent talents and work toward strengthening our sea legs.

Like someone launching a brand-new career in an unfamiliar work-place landscape, we initially offered our enthusiasm, energy and inexperience in jumping aboard the sea-loving community as entry-level sailors. Now, three years in, we are entrenched into a community involving dozens of sailors, many with global, ocean-going experience and all with a love of the art and science called sailing.

Researching and Interviewing

With a bit of online and in-person research and interviewing, we chose and purchased our first sailboat, a 28-foot Columbia; it offered a sturdy framework and thick hull with a weathered exterior well suited for novices who would be inexpertly entering and exiting ports, occasionally bumping and scratching the sides.

If we’d invested in the largest, fanciest sailboat from day one, it would have been akin to an entry-level accountant aspiring to a controller role or a production assistant applying for a chief operating officer role. We had neither the skills, training nor sailing sophistication to navigate the intricacies of the sea with a more complex, pristine and overwhelmingly large vessel.

Likewise, if you are new to the sea of job search, fresh out of school, offering little or no real-world experience, bear in mind that sailing master is a role to aspire to, but your internship as swabby will help you get acclimated into the basics without too much disrepair. Research and submit your resume for opportunities that would benefit from the value your entry-level skill sets and zeal offer, while also ensuring those opportunities offer prospects for future career advancement and propulsion.

The excitement and discovery of learning the job ropes will be the wind that moves your career ship from beginner to more advanced and ultimately to expert contributor who one day will be mastering the wind and exuberantly commanding your shipmates.

Selecting a Culture

Not only was investing in the appropriate sailboat a critical step toward our new sport/hobby, but locating the harbor in which to dock her was key. Geographically speaking, we researched our options and narrowed them down to three locations, basing our decision primarily on reputation among other sailors: where the ‘wind’ was most suitable and where the culture accommodated the best experience and value-laden sailing lifestyle.

The actual financial investment to house our vessel was, quite honestly, low on our list. If the other needs were met, then their value-add justified the investment for something so integral in our lives.

Likewise, in researching and interviewing for your new career company, wrap your mind around the company with a reputation for a culture that fits your needs and values versus focusing purely on salary and job specifications. These other fulfillments are fluid and will expand and evolve over time as you prove your value and impact on the company’s bottom-line.

Integrating Into the Community and Adding Value

As we settled into our new Lake Perry, Kansas, home, the culture we’d entered into not only met, but exceeded our goals. Within a matter of one or two visits, the community around us, mostly seasoned sailors curious as to the novices who’d entered their port, began introducing themselves to us and including us in their tightly-knit, respectful and collaborative group.

One sail, one weekend, one season at a time we embraced, engaged in and were honored by the acceptance of a community of sailors who as easily could have kept us at arm’s length or put us in a position to prove ourselves worthy of their engagement. In fact, just six months after deploying our little ship in this Midwest lake, Rob and I not only promoted to a nicer, larger (34-foot) and more challenging sailboat, we exchanged our wedding vows on our sailboat, amongst our sailing pals and family members.

Perhaps we emanated our sincere desire to become sail-worthy, along with our respect for, and interest in, learning the mechanics and savvy required to sail well, safely and with joy, thus encouraging the collegial warmth of our dock-mates. Perhaps, as well, we got a bit lucky to have found such a lovely community to call our second home!

Likewise, job seekers, if your career goals extend beyond a singular focus to earn a salary and achieve your individual goals to include contributing value to your colleagues, managers and company with whom you collaborate, your likelihood for career success and propulsion increases. Your career resume will blossom as the roots within your community deepen; the culture of which you now are a part is enhanced and the probability of your long-lasting impact and career success soars!

Photo by amandabhslater

As a Master Resume Writer, my passion lies in the value of a muscular resume that lifts careers to new heights.

Moreover, the fast-moving and intricately laced digital highway is quickly becoming clogged with an assortment of career messaging vehicles, only some of which provide value. Ensuring a stronger voice on behalf of quality, focused resume and career messaging content streams is vital to maintain communications integrity.

To help kick-off my blogging relationship with TalentCulture, I’d like to introduce thoughts on two topics: Clear Resume Messaging and Resume Length:

1. Clear Resume Messaging is the result of a complex process of career introspection (unearthing your nuggets of career gold / value) in conjunction with a process of extrospection (researching and absorbing your target audience’s needs). As such, the results you ferret out from your introspective process should be clearly tied to the needs of the audience that you discovered through extrospection.

By doing so, you produce a compelling and ‘them-focused resume message.’ In creating a crisp, yet meaty message, you ease the hiring decision-maker’s mind by selling them on YOU as the solution to what ails them.

1. Resume Length: Often perceived as a black/white issue with no shades of gray, the answer to the resume length question truly is customized on a ‘case by case scenario.’ As a general rule of thumb, early career resumes, including resumes for recent graduates and those with five or fewer years’ experience may consider a one-page format; however, that rule of thumb easily is amended when the experience showcased is replete with meaty, relevant achievements stories (in the case of new grads, this often means stories acquired via internships and/or on-campus leadership roles).

Meaningful stories that illustrate the problem-solving and influence skills that led to the results and which address the pressing needs of the buyer (hiring manager) = strong, relevant and engaging resume content.

As one’s career advances to 10 years, 15 years, 20 years and beyond, the resume generally expands to two, and even three pages. My rule of thumb is three pages maximum (and an occasional four pager for senior-level executives). Additional information that may require a deeper-dive story can be fleshed out in additional, addenda documents, as needed.

Simply put, when I think of TalentCulture, I think of my client job seekers (Talent) and the business environs within which they seek to apply their talent (Culture).

Initially, I envision two goals for my participation:

1. Extend mine (Career Trend’s) and the TalentCulture’s reach, pragmatically, yet inspiringly articulating the value of how a targeted and compelling marketing / communications campaign (i.e., resume and beyond) fuels a stimulating and forward-moving career.
2. Join forces with and extend the communication messages from other partners and contributors who focus on diverse topics that my readership and customers are interested in, yet which don’t comprise my career niche; e.g., employer branding, general workplace/HR, employee engagement, green jobs, sustainability, digital media… and more.