Cover letters are not dead yet! And they can be an effective way to help the recruiter or hiring manager identify your talents and capabilities as a viable candidate for a job opening. A well-written cover letter can also help you stand out among your peers.Your cover letter should exude enthusiasm, motivation, and drive. The reader should be able to see at a glance how well you communicate, and what emotional intelligence...
The New York Times has run a regular Sunday feature column in which the CEOs of various companies talk about their hiring procedures. Their comments raise interesting points about resumes.For example, David Politis, CEO of BetterCloud, has advised new college graduates, “The first thing I tell people is, try to go where you can be a big fish in a small pond…where you can actually have a real impact on the business. That giv...
The Career Advisory Board that I established by DeVry University recently released the fifth annual Job Preparedness Indicator survey. This year’s findings indicate hiring managers are receptive to candidates changing careers, especially if their previous experience can be applied to the new position; but above all else, integrity is the No. 1 trait that candidates should possess.
Our annual research surveys 500 hiring m...
As we head into graduation season, most grads-to-be are feeling a mixture of anticipation and anxiety as they prepare to launch into the real world. But there’s a percentage who likely have another emotion blended in: panic.If you are graduating this spring and still job hunting, it can seem as though everyone else has their future lined up, and it’s hard not to panic and be jealous of those who have already snagged a posit...
Unfortunately, many career experts and bloggers wield a powerful sword that pokes holes in job search strategy and touts sweeping simplicity.While the ultimate goal of a job search plan is one that you can use to smoothly navigate transition, plotting that map requires meaningful effort and thought work.Imbibe the latest article on job search, and you’ll read phrases dripping in adjectives like “simple” and “quick” and dire...
Congratulations! You’ve made it past the first few hurdles of getting your resume in front of a recruiter or hiring manager. They may have vetted you through LinkedIn and Google, and possibly you’ve passed the pre-screen interview. Now they are requesting references before moving you through the hiring process.1. Prepare the people on your reference list. First and foremost, get their permission. It is very important that y...
If you took a chance on starting your own company or moving to a different industry or handling a project outside your normal skill set—and failed or were fired—you have to focus on recovery, both in life and in your resume. In the course of my own career, I have found myself working at incompatible companies and I have made major changes in career goals. I know failure is hard.How do you handle failure on your resume?First...
There are many unknowns we come across when searching for a new role. This fact underlies feelings of both the anxiety associated with change and the excitement of a new adventure. With every change there is an element of risk and potential for growth.To lessen the anxiety and risk, while optimizing growth potential and reward, it's a good idea to gain control of perspective by managing our job hunt expectations. Consider t...
A Japanese proverb tells us that ‘the bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists,’ for when the monsoon strikes the oak breaks, while the bamboo bends but quickly recovers.Do you, like the bamboo, tend to bend when disasters strike, or do you stay where you've been thrown?We all have the innate capacity to manage life’s challenges, whether everyday disappointments or extraordinary disasters. Research in brain s...
In a previous article I provided six must-do tips for a stand-out job interview that gets you an offer. Here's the rest of the story!
1. Give lots of specific examples. Use the SOAR format: Situation, Obstacles, Actions, Results. Quantify results where possible. How well, how fast, how inexpensively did you get the work done? Offer 'evidence' of the quality of your work, naming specific impacts. Were your methods ado...