Ways to expand your job search

Dear Sam: I have been laid-off several times over the past three years (due to no fault of my own; companies closing and downsizing) and I'm getting sick of it. I have been working part-time as an administrative/office assistant. I work part-time because I spend the rest of my day volunteering. I want to continue this system. However, I am now at a point where I want a position, still along the lines of administrative assistant, which would offer more responsibility. My last job consisted of handling the daily operations of a business office. This is an acquired skill I now enjoy. I would love a part-time position as an office manager. I also have some experience in human resources, as I was responsible for all aspects of hiring in my last position. For the past two months I have been filling in for someone on maternity leave as a production assistant, where I have acquired some technical computer and web skills. I have been in this line of business for more than 12 years and know what I am doing. I am consistently having trouble finding a company that's not closing or downsizing, in addition to finding a position that allows me some responsibility. Most employment ads want someone to type letters and answer their phones. And while there is nothing wrong with that, I’ve been there and done that! I need to learn how to network and find opportunities that are not always in the want ads. I also probably need to update my resume, which, unfortunately, lists my many jobs, and makes me look like a job-hopper. It is also hard to find a job that pays more than $12.00/hr. I am worth at least $15.00/hr! I have good references and am an excellent, hard-working employee. Help! - Frustrated in Columbus

Dear Frustrated: There are many options you can exercise when sourcing employment opportunities. As networking is a key method to finding unadvertised positions, I’m glad to hear that you are eager to get started. Joining local professional organizations is a great way to expand your network. Look online, in the yellow pages, or peruse the newspaper to find organizations that you might be interest in joining. These could be anything from your local community group, church organization, civic league, etc. Ask around in your peer group to find out what organizations your friends belong to, you won’t believe the variety of organizations there are that can help expand your professional and personal network.

Another effective way to source opportunities not in the want ads is to start reading the business section of the newspaper or other business-oriented publications. By doing so you will begin to gain a better understanding of the trends in the local market, such as who is experiencing high-growth and may need new team members, and what companies may be struggling with layoffs in their future. If the Dispatch for example showcases an executive and their business practices, why not send a personal letter to that company or profiled team member, stating how you enjoyed reading the article and would “fit” with their business methodologies and culture. This allows you to demonstrate your professional writing skills and could spark interest in you as a candidate.

Another of the many ways to find unadvertised positions is to go through agencies or recruiters. I would contact some of the local employment or temp agencies and ask if they have any positions for someone with your skill set. Many agencies recruit for temp-to-perm positions, so there is a chance that you could land a permanent job. You can also communicate your long-term desires to the agency, which will then help you find the right fit for both you and the employer.

As for your resume, which you stated, makes you seem like a job-hopper, make sure you are only presenting 8-10 years of experience. As you have been laid-off several times in recent years, evaluate whether each position needs to be included on your resume. As I say every time I note this option, this doesn’t mean you can omit experiences from an employment application, which must be treated differently than a resume. On your resume however, if you held a position for a very short period of time, including it usually doesn’t make sense and detracts from your candidacy. Also, make sure you are just listing years of employment on your resume and not months and years. By listing only the year or years you were employed, you minimize the appearance of job-hopping and hide gaps that may result from omitting short-term positions.

Lastly, be sure your resume includes a qualifications summary highlighting the breadth of experience you have gained throughout your career. By presenting yourself as a highly qualified candidate with a broad-based skill set, you will be better positioned for the higher paying opportunities you are seeking. All the best!

Strategies to help you stand out from the crowd

Dear Sam: I don’t know what is wrong with my resume! I’ve sent out more than 100 copies to jobs I felt I was fully qualified for, and I’ve had very little interest. I’m a web and graphic designer, have an online portfolio, a degree in visual communications, a strong work history while in college, and have even completed internships in my field. What am I doing wrong? Is there something else I can do to improve my results? Help! – Julia in Chillicothe

Dear Julia: As a graphic designer, you first have to make sure that your resume is touting your talents. By this, I mean use your resume to showcase some of your work, either by designing your resume in a unique manner, or by including a snapshot of your portfolio. It is great to have an online portfolio for review, but unfortunately if the hiring manager does not have time to view your work online they will not get a sense of your creative talents. By including a mini-portfolio on your resume, your work will be seen immediately, and will better prompt the reader to visit your site and view more of your work. This also creates a much more interesting resume and, when coupled with strong content, is sure to make your resume stand out from the crowd.

As the ‘Dear Sam’ mailbox receives so many questions like this from people with very diverse backgrounds, I thought I would take this opportunity to highlight other creative tactics you can use to make a better first impression. Here are just some of the issues that come up time and time again from candidates who are having a hard time differentiating their skills from their competitors’.

For the administrative assistant: The most common complaint I hear from administrative assistants is that they do not have any accomplishments to highlight on their resume. Most feel that they have played a supportive role their entire career, and therefore cannot attribute any achievements solely to their efforts. But I have yet to work with an administrative assistant who didn’t have achievements of some kind — such as increasing organizational effectiveness by revamping the filing system, performing their job despite limited articulation of responsibilities, or even helping others better perform their jobs by seeking out and taking on bigger tasks. By showcasing where you have driven value for an organization, you will really position yourself ahead of the competition.

For the teacher: One of the fields I enjoy writing most about is teaching, because there are a number of ways you can make a resume stand out as a teacher. First, instead of opening your resume with your full name, use your teaching name, such as ‘Miss Charlie’. This unique approach immediately positions you as a teacher and engages the reader. I also find myself using imagery a lot on teaching resumes. Often this will be something as simple as ABC blocks, but I have also created teaching resumes with images of children playing, writing on the blackboard, etc. These images grab the reader’s attention and make a case for the strength of the content in the resume. Lastly, if you have them available, I suggest adding written comments you have received from parents and students. You can even present them in a handwritten-style font to add a personal touch to your resume. These testimonials, particularly if they are from your students, reinforce the claims on your resume and present an outsider’s view of your core competencies.

For the salesperson: One of the biggest mistakes I see in sales resumes is a lack of quantifiers. As a salesperson, your resume has to include quantifiers pertaining to your goals and actual achievements. Of course, if your quotas are small, or if you had trouble meeting your objectives, then quantifiers have to be used sparingly, but there are almost always ways to incorporate numbers into a sales resume. If you worked with a smaller company, try to quantify your successes in percentages as opposed to dollars. Doing so will keep you in the running for those opportunities in which you would handle much higher volumes. I also find that some of my clients in the sales arena have never had solid goals and objectives, and therefore think that they don’t have anything to measure their performance against. If this is the case, try to compare the results you achieved with those of your peers, your competitors, or industry averages. Lastly, if you just can’t use quantifiers, maybe you have some sales-related awards you can showcase at the beginning of your resume, comments from clients, or even pull quotes from your annual reviews.

For the multi-talented job seeker: I work with a lot of clients who tell me that, for a number of reasons, they are open to many different opportunities and can do pretty much anything. While this is wonderful for expanding the client’s prospects, it does make writing an effective resume more difficult. For clients in this situation, I showcase their background in the professional experience section, which will essentially stay the same regardless of the job opportunity. I then incorporate a list of competencies to allow for a very easy and quick way for the client to tailor their resume to each opportunity. I like to place this list down the left side of a resume in its own column or, if I don’t need to be quite as extensive, at the end of the qualifications summary. This competency list can include any type of experiences or skills that represents a person’s notable strengths. It is best if the job seeker develops a general set of these brief noun phases, and simply tailors them to each opportunity, based on the keywords in the job description that are aligned with their experience and education. This is a very simple thing anyone can do to create the tailored feel that hiring managers are looking for.