Category Archives: Resumes
I’m Overqualified
You were laid off from your executive job by a company that’s now six feet under. You’ve sent out 800 resumes, done one interview, received zero offers. You find yourself looking lower and lower on the totem pole and occasionally eyeing openings for line managers at the competitor that killed your former employer. If you must apply for a position for which you’re clearly overqualified, how do you actually land the job?
Withhold Your Resume
Here’s what not to do: Fire off a volley of resumes to human resources departments. “Sending a resume is simply a way to oblivion,” says Jeffrey Fox, author of Don’t Send a Resume. HR departments must quickly eliminate nearly all of the hundreds of resumes submitted for a single opening. At the first whiff of your extra qualifications, most screeners will stamp “no” on your application. “Resumes are read to be rejected,” Fox says. What’s the workaround for overqualified candidates? Go directly to the hiring manager to pitch your ability to excel in the open position. You can either call or write, but hold back your resume in the first round of communication with the employer.
Sell to the Employer’s Need
Once you’ve found out as much as you can about the company and the position, you’ve got to imagine how your qualifications mesh perfectly with the job requirements. “If you’re overqualified, you need to articulate how a handful of your skills will help that specific employer,” says Nick Corcodilos, author of Ask the Headhunter. At least at first, say nothing about higher-level skills that don’t pertain to the position at hand.
Use Emphasis to Shape Employer Perceptions
Sooner or later, you’ll probably have to send a resume. More than you ever have before, you’ll need to customize your one-page presentation of yourself. To de-emphasize those over-the-top elements of your professional background, “you can make some information more sparse, but you’ve got to be careful about misrepresenting yourself,” says Corcodilos.
How do you tread this fine line? One solution is to create a functional resume where relevant skills are pumped up in detail toward the top of the resume, while overly impressive titles are demoted to the bottom and given little ink. Strategic emphasis is integral to persuasion; omission of recent, important rungs in your career ladder is unethical deception.
Make a Virtue of Your Extra Qualifications
In the interview, if your prospective employer says that your extraordinary qualifications cast doubt on your candidacy, recast your past as an asset to your future at the company. Emphasize that “you’re getting somebody with the potential to move up,” says Frances Haynes, coauthor with Daniel Porot of 101 Toughest Interview Questions.
Draw Out Objections; Don’t Volunteer Them
Employers typically have the following objections to candidates with extra qualifications: You’ll get bored quickly; you won’t be satisfied with the salary; you’ll jump to another company as soon as you get a better offer. “Employers are pretty reticent to hire overqualified people, because they believe when the economy picks up, they’ll lose those people,” says Haynes.
If you raise these issues early in the application process, you risk short-circuiting your candidacy. Instead, see what’s on the minds of your interviewers by asking open-ended questions such as these: “What else do you need to hear to be convinced that I’m the best fit for the job? Do you have any questions about my candidacy that I haven’t yet had the chance to answer?” Just make sure you’ve already ferreted out all the tough questions that your work history could possibly raise — and practiced answering them.
The Ultimate Issue
Finally, be prepared to answer one question that the interviewer may be too embarrassed to ask: Won’t it be humiliating for you to take a job that many people would consider beneath you? You can address this issue indirectly through the positive attitude you convey in everything you say about the available position and your fitness for it. “You have to be perceived as the kind of person who believes there is honor in every job,” says Haynes.
Article found at http://career-advice.monster.com/resumes-cover-letters/resume-writing-tips/resume-dilemma-im-overqualified/article.aspx.
Job Search During the Holidays: 3 Reasons to Start/Continue
Job Search During the Holidays: 3 Reasons to Start/Continue | Crossroads Career Network.
Job Search During the Holidays: 3 Reasons to Start/Continue
Judi Adams · 27. Nov, 2012 · Career Advice, Career Transition, Crossroads Career Network Blog, Job Search
Many job seekers think that the holidays are a bad time to find a job so they back off on their job search efforts. There are actually 3 reasons that the holidays are a great time to start or continue your job search.
Reason 1: Be Ready Before Your Job Opportunity Knocks
The process of searching for a job is actually step 4 of a successful job search. Quoting Coach Wooden, “When opportunity knocks it’s too late to prepare.” Get prepared before your job opportunity knocks. Make sure you have addressed the first 3 steps and have all of your marketing materials ready to go.
Step 1 is Attitude. There are 2 aspects to having the right attitude. The first aspect of attitude is understanding and accepting that the job market has changed. If you thought, “I have found a job before, I can do it again” without understanding what you need to do differently, then you will have a hard time finding a job. Take this time to understand the new job market and revise your job search approach.
The second aspect of having a good attitude is giving yourself time and permission to process the loss or fear so it does not negatively impact your body language, word choice or the energy you need to do the job search. Don’t think you can fake it. Like leftovers in a refrigerator, emotions do not get better with time. Take them out and deal with them.
Step 2 is Aptitude which means knowing your product – YOU. Can you give a powerful, concise answer when the hiring authority asks “Why should we hire you over your competition?” Your search will be less successful and take longer if you have not taken the time to identify and document your prior accomplishments and developed a personal brand. Be sure you know your product and how you are unique from your competition.
Step 3 is Altitude which means identifying the criteria of company that is looking for someone with your skills and experience. Target a list of companies that fit that criterion. Do not take the passive approach, waiting for companies to post positions. Instead identify and go after the companies you want to work for and who are looking for someone just like you.
These 3 steps must be completed before updating your marketing materials of which your resume is the least used. Know what other items of marketing materials you need and how and when to use them.
Reason 2: Planning Ahead for 2013
Companies are ramping up hiring to have people in seats at the beginning of the year.Budgets of many companies and institutes start over at the beginning of the calendar year. Those budgets include additional headcount. Hiring managers want to fill those seats as soon as possible to help with the immense workload. Managers also want to hire before budgets are adjusted down. Use this time to network into the job opportunity before someone else does.
Reason 3: Stand Apart
While others are stepping back in their search, step forward.You have probably seen the skit in cartoons where a troop is standing in a line and the drill sergeant asks for someone to volunteer by stepping forward. All of the members of the troop except one step back making it look like the one guy stepped forward. In this case it is not good to be the one who did not step back. But in the job search you want to be the one who is not only not stepping back but who is still moving forward. When others are missing out on opportunities, be the one who is there when opportunity knocks.
Have a very happy holidays with your family and keep the job search moving forward.
Career Coach @ Central Library November 14, 2012
MOBILE CAREER COACH – (TN Dept. of Labor)
“Building a pathway to careers across Tennessee”
Wednesday, November 14, 2012 10:15am-2:00pm
Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library
3030 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, TN 38111
FREE PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IN JOB SEARCHES
The Career Coach has computers, copy and fax machines available to job seekers. The computers aboard the Career Coach have Internet access and are equipped with Microsoft Office software. The computers have access to jobs available throughout the state. These jobs are categorized by industry.
How to Explain Unemployment on Your Resume
You’d be surprised how many job seekers have gaps in employment. If you’re one of them, you need to know how to explain unemployment on your resume. Why? Because you want the employer or recruiter who’s reading your resume to feel okay about those gaps. Hey, maybe he’ll even be interested in learning more about them (in an interview)!
Click on the below link to read entire article.
http://susanireland.com/resume/how-to-write/work-experience/unemployment/
JobLINC’s New Web Page
The JobLINC webpage has been redesigned with more information to help you with your job search. Topics include: Job Search Websites, Job Readiness, Career Planning and Assessment, Small Business Resources, and much more.
Teen Job Seeker Class-Thursday, June 14, 2012 @ 3:00pm
Learn how to find, apply, and land a job.
Location: Whitehaven Library
Type of Event: Workshops
Audience: Teens
Dress for Success-Going Places Network
Dress for Success Memphis will be holding the first 8-week series of workshops under our Going Places Network Presented by Walmart.
The first series of workshops will begin on Wednesday, April 25th, 2012.
Enrollment is limited. Please call 901.363.3100 for more information. You may also write to Sandra Burke, GPN Coordinator at Sandra@dfsmemphis.org
Dress for Success Memphis
2730 Colony Park Drive
Memphis, TN 38118
10 Words that Ruin a Resume
Is it time to update your resume?
Are you not receiving any responses from employers?
Maybe it is time to review and see if you are including the 10 Words that Ruin a Resume.
Resume Generator
Do you need assistance with writing and formatting your resume? Visit the New York State Department of Labor CareerZone site. This site allows you to fill in the information for your resume and then the site will generate a basic resume for you in the format you choose, Microsoft Word,HTML, or PDF.
http://www.nycareerzone.org/cz/resources/jobseeker/resume.jsp
Tip: Don’t forget to save your resume on a jump/flash drive and email a copy to yourself.
Career Coach @ Central Library 9/27/11 10-2
MOBILE CAREER COACH
“Building a pathway to careers across Tennessee”
Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library
3030 Poplar Ave., Memphis, TN 38111
Tuesday September 27, 2011
10 AM – 2 PM
Job Services
The Career Coach has computers, copy and fax machines available to job seekers. The computers aboard the coach have Internet access and are equipped with Microsoft Office software. The computers have jobs available throughout the state. These jobs are categorized by industry and are available for viewing at https://ecmats.tn.gov/eCMATS. Like the area career centers, referrals are made for qualified applicants.
BRING A RESUME
