One of the best parts of writing resumes for folks; I frequently get to meet extended families. I’ve written for husband and wives and sons and daughters and brothers and sisters, and fraternity and sorority brothers and sisters and many combinations of the above.

Last year, I wrote for a wife; then her husband. They kept in touch and we’ve built an amiable relationship over time. Yesterday, I was working toward a hard deadline for a client. I took a writing break and checked my email. There was a note from the wife. The husband had a job offer.

What they thought would be a lucrative salary, turned out to be a much-lower-than-anticipated or originally-discussed offer. I could feel her disappointment through the email. Right then, I didn’t have time to do justice to salary negation coaching, but couldn’t leave them hanging either.

This is how I responded:

 ”I’m on a hard deadline so don’t have time for a long answer, but will point you here:

www.salarynegotiations.com

Jack Chapman’s book (site above) is (also) usually in the local bookstores WORTH the investment!!

Also dig around on www.asktheheadhunter.com Nick (Corcodilos) has great advice about negotiations there too.”

Throughout her email, she indicated “the company could afford more than they were offering” and “job duties far outweighed compensation.” I empathized with her, but went on to say:

 ”Also, allow me to be bold (like that’s something new, huh? LOL), “how much they can afford” is not your concern. Your concern is to clearly, succinctly define why he is worth the money he expects to be paid. Quantifiable, qualifiable statements of value indicating why the duties of the position require higher compensation will “win”. “I will add ‘this’ to the bottom line and operations will improve in ‘this’ manner, saving ‘this’ amount of money.”

He can also check market value for the area using www.salary.com. Also, Google ‘salary calculators’ and do a few comparisons to get a sound average. Knowing what the market will bear gives you power in the negotiation.”

I wished them luck, knowing I’d at least pointed them in the right direction. I went back to my project.

Today, I got a message from the wife (paraphrasing):

“He called the company today and let them know the offer was conservative. He told them why he was worth more, etc. They raised it 15k!!!!”

There’s power in articulating your value. There’s power in partnering with a career professional with career management knowledge and job search resources. There’s power in keeping your network alive. Had we not maintained casual contact during the past year, chances are I might not have responded so quickly. And the chance might have been lost.

Bottom line: Knowing and articulating value + building networks and maintaining relationships + a little direction from a pro = $15,000 boost in starting salary (for them anyway.)

WOOT!

A few weeks ago I received an invitation to connect on LinkedIn. It read:

“What advice do you have for me as a teacher who is transitioning into technology? Please connect with me on LinkedIn. Touch a life and make a world of difference.
Thank you
[name withheld]“

I did not recognize the name. I belong to several job search and career groups on LinkedIn. The LinkedIn header indicated we were members of the same job search group. I honestly don’t participate in LinkedIn discussion groups like I “should.” I pop in occasionally answer a question and “disappear” until I spot something else I can and have time to answer. To the best of my recollection, I’ve never dropped into this particular group.

Photo by Seafarer via Flickr

So. Let’s take another look at that request from a complete stranger again. There was no “this is how we know each other” introduction. There wasn’t an “I follow you on Twitter” common ground moment. No mention was made of an article or blog post I’d written. None of that; only the “What do you have for me?” opening. If this were an in-person meeting, in essence, this person walked up, extended a hand and said, “Gimme, gimme, gimme.”

I shrugged my shoulders at the lack of “social” in this social media connection and overlooked the me-centric approach to job search and career management. I, sadly, see things like this every day. Rather than delete the inquiry with an eye roll, the business person and coach in me kicked in and I decided to respond. This could be a potential client. And even if this person didn’t end up using my services, I had a little time to offer some insight and help a stranger … in spite of a rather abrupt request.

I spent the next 45 minutes or so crafting a thoughtful response. I looked up and included the link to a blog post I had written about the topic to offer further insight. I put a lot of time into “stranger request” responses because they may be a client prospect and while I want to help; I also want to live indoors and eat regularly. In my eyes, I’m “interviewing” with a potential client every time I respond to one of these requests. I do not take the advice I give or the way I give it lightly.

I hit send on the email. A few hours later, the person responded:

“Love it. Looks like my storage unit of school teacher stuff. I joined _____ & _____’s career beta committee so I can computerize everything and reinvent my future. My future as a microsoft office trainer.
Thank you
[name withheld]“

(The “love it” refers to the picture of clutter in the blog post link I sent.)

The individual commented on the blog picture and went on to tell me about a free site they had joined to facilitate the career change they desired and stated their career goal with conviction. There was a thank you at the end. There was no mention of the information I’d provided – good, bad or indifferent.

Sure, they got the information they needed for right now, but at what cost. Call me an old curmudgeon, but to be quite blunt, after this exchange, I’ll be hard pressed to answer any more of their questions with much more than, “That’s a rather large question. I offer job search coaching at an hourly rate.” Multiply that response by the rest of this person’s network and they’ll see information and connection resources dry up quickly. “I need, I want, give me” message wear thin quickly.

In my heart, I know this person is excited about their career decision and is gathering every known resource to facilitate that change. They meant no harm. They have no clue as to how me-centric their message sounds. However, during this innocuous exchange, from my perspective, all I heard was “me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me.” (Wonder what a hiring authority will hear when they launch their search ….)

Opening the requests with a smidge of flattery or at least some information about why/how we’re connected or why they’re coming to me for help would have been a great ice breaker. And, at the end of it all, taking a moment to offer something back in return would have been nice too.

“Thank you for taking the time to respond. You’ve given me food for thought. Let me know if I can help with your future endeavors.”

I frequently tell resume clients to “step to the other side of the desk” and hear what they’re saying (read what they’re writing) from the perspective of someone who doesn’t know or care about them and doesn’t have intimate details regarding their career. Very often, taking an objective step back, they’re stunned by the tone and tenor of their communication, the assumptive stance they take and the incorrect way things can be perceived without important details.

Hopefully, in future connections, my LinkedIn correspondent will read and think about what they say and how they say it before they hit send. All take and no give does not build a network.

(Note, name and gender omitted to protect identity.)

And what are you getting? And for that matter, what are you giving when asked?

In the past few months, I’ve had two people hand me a product (virtually or in person) with no context or reference to their attachment or affiliation, what I was viewing or why I would be interested. The only guidance I got was the equivalent of a generic, “So. What ‘cha think?”

A few months ago, Karen Swim and I were having an email conversation about feedback. She wisely observed, “When you ask for an opinion, many people will look for something to pick apart just so they feel ‘valued.’”

Guess what I did in both instances when I was asked for feedback? Correct. I found a way to give a negative “pick-apart” initial response. Turns out, both products were near and dear to the asker’s heart. My natural propensity (like it or not) to “offer” value through negative feedback and my perception “we were all picking apart the product” ended up in me doing some back pedaling.

Is it wrong to go to the negative first when asked to give feedback? Probably. But, if we’re honest, we’ve all done it. More than once. Is it wrong to ask for feedback without any information and then be dismayed when what you get is not what you wanted? Probably. But, we all do that too.

Transition this scenario to the job seeker. You’ve recently invested in working with a career professional or invested hours and hours researching, writing and tweaking your resume. You show it to your friends. You excitedly ask, “So. What ‘cha think?”

Let’s keep in mind the people you’re asking, usually:

- Haven’t job searched recently
- Never had a role in the hiring process, ever
- Used to work in HR … 20 years ago
- Read a book about resumes, in college, 8 years ago
- Aren’t quite sure what you do for living … something to do with plastics*
- Have no idea about your career goals
- Don’t know the preferences for your target industry
- Have never worked in the size company or the industry you’re targeting
- Knows you’re changing careers, but not sure of the specifics

I could go on. (And on and on and on …)

Think about it. You’ve asked the simple “What ‘cha think?” question to a group of friends, relatives and acquaintances with widely-varying career and job search backgrounds. Add to that, they may not be up to speed on the specifics of your search. You’ve given no context to what you’re looking for to a group of people who want to feel valued by you.

The input starts:

- I heard you’re supposed to have an objective. Where’s the objective?
- It’s too many words.
- It’s not enough words.
- It’s too detailed.
- It’s not detailed enough.
- I heard bullets are supposed to be round, not square.
- They’ll know what you mean. You don’t have to explain it.
- It should only be one page.
- Shouldn’t it be more than page?
- I’m not sure about the format. It’s different than every other resume I’ve seen.

You’re on top of the world, so proud of your new document. You ask for (unguided) feedback from friends and poof! in a second you’re second guessing everything you know and your confidence is waning. (Multiply that effect for unemployed job seekers.)

Photo by Justin_D_Miller via Flickr

Did anyone intend to burst your bubble? Did you expect everyone you spoke with to find something “wrong” with your career documents? Of course not. On both counts. But it happens. Time and time again.

I worked with a laid-off salesman a while back. He LOVED his resume; was excited to launch the search. He felt on top of the world. Then he showed it to 10 people. Guess what? Ten people had twenty different opinions. It took almost an-hour-and-a-half to explain, validate or debunk what he had been told. What little confidence he had was shot, his head was spinning and he wasn’t sure what to do or where to turn.

This most likely could have been avoided had he asked for feedback differently: “I really like my resume. I engaged with a professional who helped me focus on a specific target using a strategy successful in 2011. (Or I’ve done extensive research … ) “Would you mind reading it over for clarity, please?” Or, “You know my career quite well. I’m trying to spotlight this set of skills as I transition industries. Will you please read my resume and see if you remember anything I did that might be a better example?”  Or, “Would you proofread this for me please? I’m good with the content and format. I just want a second set of eyes to catch any errors I may have missed.”

Each of these examples sets the expectation for the type of input requested. The need for your friend, associate or whoever to figure out what you need and in turn, how to be valued is eliminated. You’ve asked a specific question. You now have the opportunity to receive solid input. If you’re unsure about the input, ask your trusted career professional about it (or spend time doing research to determine validity) and see if what you’ve heard fits with your specific goal.

Going forward, I’ll do a better job of asking clarifying questions before offering off-the-cuff responses. Hopefully my faux pas will help you remember to clarify what was asked or share what you expect in asking. And do remember, everyone has an opinion. Have the confidence to sort through the input and pick and choose what works for you – not try to incorporate everything. (Your head will explode.) As a good friend told me recently, “I might ask for your opinion. It doesn’t mean I’m going to use it.” Have the confidence to ask. Also have the confidence to ignore.

Snark is easy. Thoughtful constructive feedback takes a bit more effort on both parts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PS: Does asking for clarification mean I (or you) won’t give an honest opinion? PUH-lease. In my case, “If you don’t want to know the answer, don’t ask the question.” However, when knowing the goal and context of the question we all can be much more focused on solid feedback than offering misguided answers to questions that weren’t asked. That goes for people attempting to help you in your search too.

I received the following via email a few Fridays ago:

“Good Afternoon,

I am currently unemployed and for the past few months I have been trying to present better ways to get my resume points of view across to recruiters. I have been trying to co-mingle value based information and actual job duties that I have done. When I do that it seems to create sort of a “laundry list” of my duties and I am trying to stay away from that, but I want to at least show some type of duties that i have. Could you please send me some pointers and advice. Thank You.”

It was from an email address I did not recognize. There was no signature; just that paragraph. To find out who was trying to engage me, I had to open the resume, sent along as an attachment.

This looked like a “spam” email. I could tell it probably had been copied, pasted and sent to many, many others.* I hovered over the delete button, but the customer service in my soul kicked in and I responded back to him. I’d venture to guess I was in a minority.

Let’s pretend for a moment I didn’t respond. What could have been done to improve his response rate and build his network the right way?

• Address the email to me.

Nothing is as melodious to someone as the sound of their own name. This individual went to all the trouble to find me. Four more typed letters would have made a big difference in getting my attention. If he’d just added “Dawn” after his “Good Afternoon” salutation, I’d of been less skeptical and more willing to respond.

• Tell me how he found me.

To this day I have no idea how this person found his way to my inbox. Sure. I’ll pop up in a Google search, but was that it? Does he follow me on Twitter? Did he find me on LinkedIn? Had he been to my website? Is there a mutual connection somewhere? A quick, “Here’s how I know/found you.” goes a long way in forming a connection early.

• Tell me why he came to me.

Flattery only works on two types of people: men and women. Had he taken a moment to mention how he enjoyed my tweets, learned from blog, had respect for my credentials, anything “nice”, it would have upped my desire to help a complete stranger.

• Tell me his name and phone number.

He didn’t sign his email. Granted, it was on the attached resume, BUT I was very hesitant to open the attachment. To this day, I’m not sure why I trusted it. He was asking for assistance and “made” me go through extra steps to find: his name, contact information, career history. Don’t ask for help and make it a chore for me to help you.

• Tell me what he wants to do next in his career.

He’s given me no clue as to what he wants to do next. His work history was scattered with diverse jobs from widely varying industries. He did nothing to help me help him. It’s not up to me to figure out what he (a complete stranger) wants to do next with his life. It’s “his job” to tell me. Make helping easy for the giver.

As you can read in his email, his approach is very I-centric. I am, I have, I want, I do – in fact, “I” appears seven times in those four sentences. What have I said about a bajillion times time now? In this job market it’s “all about them – the hiring authority.” (I made the five bullet points “all about me” to illustrate that point.)

If he uses this tact and tone to engage potential employers, it’s no wonder his search is foundering. His message is not what he brings; the focus is on what he needs. That might work with mom, but asking complete strangers for help (or employment) without giving them a reason to want to engage will encourage them to ignore the request completely or move on to someone to else quickly.

Tomorrow, I’ll post my full response to him.

*At least he did one thing right. He sent the email to me and me alone. I’ve gotten request of this nature with a LONG string of other email address included in the “to” box. Didn’t I feel special? I’ve also received BCC emails – to and from the same person. Those individuals had the savvy to protect recipients contact info, but the approach still begs the “Didn’t I feel special?” question. If you’re asking for help, you want the person you’re asking to feel special. We’re human. We like the occasional warm-fuzzy.

Louie

I received a package in the mail a day or so ago. The return address read “Send Out Cards.” Several months ago I received a similar package. That package came from local entrepreneur, Bruce Brown. Bruce and his wife Marge own Fat City Cards, independent distributors of Send Out Cards. I moved to the “natural” assumption this was more of Bruce’s wonderfulness.

Since I “knew” they were brownies and I “knew” they were Christmas greetings from Bruce, I opted not to open the package immediately. (These brownies are GOOD. I have no self control. ).

Yesterday morning, Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter (fellow career professional and dear friend) and I scheduled a catch-up call. We’ve learned, when we start sharing industry information, business tips and girlfriend stuff, we need to block out some serious time. With both our busy practices, it’s a rare and wonderful treat and a two hour phone conversation is not unusual.

After we hung up, I had a little time before a client appointment. The box on the counter beckoned. I opened “Bruce’s brownies” and found the most wonderful card. It started:

Hi Dawn (and Gary!),

And I thought, how wonderful of Bruce to remember my husband’s name. They’d only met once that I could recall. The card went on …

… so happy to have met you online and in-real-life.

I’d met Bruce in-real-life at a local bloggers meeting. We were friends on Facebook, followed each other on Twitter, so this sentence made perfect sense.

Next came,

A spirited, special and spectacular Christmas (*alliteration smile*)

I’m a writer, so thought how sweet of Bruce to personalize the card that level – personalizing it to my profession and passion with my favorite thing alliteration. Gee. Did he put this much time into every card he sent? Wow. I knew he was a dynamo, but goodness that was a lot of work.

It went on to mention “your furry children” and “thoughts to your ‘children’ who have moved on to their pet ‘kingdom’”

Bruce knew I am a dog lover and have several (OK, lots of) companion animals. I’d tweeted about losses; and again I thought how wonderfully detailed.

It was signed,
Jacqui

I thought, gee, that’s funny, Bruce’s wife’s name is Marge.

Rob

Hmmmm. Rob must be someone that works with them.

And Louie (arf arf)

Only then. ONLY then, after reading Louie’s name did the fog clear. This wasn’t from Bruce at all. I’d just spent two hours on the phone with the sender and didn’t even acknowledge the package or the thoughtfulness.

I cracked up at my complete and utter bewilderment as to the origin of the box. Laughing, I dialed Jacqui’s number to THANK HER profusely and apologize for my oversight. As I told her the entire hilarious story, I commented, as any good writer would, there’s a blog post in here somewhere. Know what? There is:

Conclusions:
1. Bruce Brown has an incredible presence and has properly distinguished his affiliation with Send Out cards. Imagine if you were an engineer or purchasing manager, and the only one who came to mind as a leader in your industry was you. Ask Bruce. It takes time, effort and commitment to build that strong a reputation; but look at the power of his reach. He was credited with a gift he didn’t send by virtue of his association of Send Out Cards for two full days. (And it was something Bruce would do. He’s thoughtful like that.)

2. Reader perception “pays the bills.” I was so completely and thoroughly convinced of this package’s origin, I completely rationalized facts to meet my personal belief. The fact that Jacqui and I frequently share alliteration phrases in the Twitter stream and in our correspondence completely escaped me. For goodness sake, the fact that Jacqui signed her and Rob’s name escaped me.

I frequently tell clients, you have to take the reader by the hand and escort them down your career path. Left to their own device, you never know what conclusion they will draw. If you’re an administrative assistant with managerial aspirations set the tone from the beginning of your resume. Walk the reader down the path as a manager, taking them where you want to go; not where you have been. I proved the power of reader belief when left to my own device with this story.

3. Jacqui commented how it took an animal connection to grab my attention. Her reference to my husband, alliteration, my “fur children”, AND finally, signing her and Rob’s names weren’t enough to break my perception of fact. It took Louie’s name at the end of the card before triggering the connection. I glanced (10-15 seconds) at the package and drew my own conclusions before even scratching the surface. Sound familiar?

You don’t know what brings that (subjective) connection for the reader. Jacqui sent a gift she KNEW I would like and filled this beautiful note with references that “should” have revealed the sender almost immediately. Each one flew past me. A generic, non-differentiating return address (like a generic, non-differentiating introduction on a resume) helped me travel down the wrong path. Once there, it took a while to get back on the correct one, even with exquisite detail and multiple connecting items. Make career documents rich and robust and full of attention-grabbing details. Then if your reader strays, you’ll be sure to have a “Louie” bringing to them back.

Thank goodness for Louie. Otherwise Bruce would have been getting a thank you note and wondering, “Who are Jacqui and Rob and why does Dawn want to know when I hired them?”

My husband shaved off his mustache last Wednesday. It took me seeing him twice that morning before I noticed it. The last time he made this dramatic change to his face, he finally pointed it out to me … the following day.

Since he’d been on Thanksgiving break, today was his first day back to work. I called him about three hours after his starting time to see if anyone noticed. He replied, “Only one person so far.” He works at a high school so by this time he’d literally seen hundreds of people. (Yay. I’m not such a bad wife after all!)

I used to work with a man who grew a full beard every winter. He shaved it off every spring. It always took me a little while to realize when he shaved … and this was an annual event.

I stopped coloring my hair about two or three years ago. Last month, I decided to start coloring it again. (Who knows why we girls do what we do.) I went from salt-and-pepper, with MUCH more salt than pepper, to dark brown with blond highlights. (I look like my website and FB photos and Twitter avatar again.)

I walk with my neighbor four or five mornings a week. We’ve been walking together regularly since January. It took her three days to notice I’d changed my hair. I finally pointed out the change to my other neighbor after seeing her four times that week. And I didn’t notice a few months earlier when she changed her hair color either. We’ve known each other for 15+ years. Since my hair change, I’ve been to two events with people I see fairly regularly. Again, no one noticed. (Or at least they didn’t say anything.)

So what could this possibly have to do with job search and your career??? Why did I share these stories of complete and total obliviousness with you? Think about it. If I didn’t notice a major change in the man I’ve lived with for the past 12 years and the rest of the changes listed above went unnoticed, what makes you think a complete stranger or professional associate will notice anything about you without some help from you? I know. That sounds pretty harsh, but it illustrate the importance of tooting your own horn when job searching and reminding superiors of your accomplishments as you move through your career.

Don’t assume people know the skills associated with “opening and closing the store.” Tell them. Don’t count on your boss to remember the major project you spearheaded six months ago. Remind him as it nears review time.  Don’t conclude because you didn’t get a call when applying for a position “they” hate you. Follow-up. (“They” are probably so overwhelmed with the craziness of their own day; they have yet to realize you’re even in their inbox yet.)

Face it. We’re all so wrapped in our own lives, we seldom notice things outside our immediate sphere. Be polite, but be bold in pointing out your wonderfulness. As you can see waiting for someone to notice isn’t going to work.

Career Collective post: Once a month, a group of career professionals blog on a subject topical and timely for a job seeker. We’ll post our thoughts on our own blog and link to the post of our colleagues on the same topic.

This month’s topic: How to avoid scary career/resume mistakes? How to ensure your resume/career “costume” fits you / attracts your target audience?

Responses from others contributors linked at the end. Follow the hashtag #CareerCollective on Twitter.

Photo by patrickcoe via Flickr

I’ve been “writing” this post in my head for months now. When I saw The Collective’s Halloween topic, I knew it was time to get it out of my head and on to my blog. (Gee I wish I had a USB port for that.)

The scariest thing I see people do in a job search and throughout their career is ignore offers of help from people with a smidge more knowledge than them about a specific topic. They ask questions, expecting “easy” no effort answers but when it requires {HORRORS} dialing the telephone, they disappear. Where do they go? What evil force sucks them into a land of no phone access bringing an inability to follow up and gather the information they so desperately needed before “THE PHONE” reared its ugly head?

Example One:
A young man on Twitter sent a public request to an HR follower and me asking for our impression of his LinkedIn page. I try to be gracious when I get requests like this from complete strangers. Depending on my workload / schedule, I’m not always able to help, but I do what can. I had a moment, so I looked at the page. It needed focus and a clearer presentation of value. Rather than attempting to give helpful feedback in 140-characters or multiple tweets, I sent him a Direct Message* (DM).  I told him the profile could be improved and then offered to have a brief conversation with him to give more specific feedback. He sent back a surprised DM, “Really? You’d talk with me about this? Let me check my calendar and get back to you.”

~I never heard from him again.

(*For you non-Twitter people, a DM is a private message sent from one Twitter user to another.)

Example Two:
I got an email from a former client asking the best way to approach a specific company. She gave me minimal information. There were so many unknown variables, I didn’t want to answer the question without more detail. I sent her an email letting her know I needed a bit more information before I could give her a good answer. I told her to call me and we could “hatch a plan” together. I let her know my schedule for the next two days and said call at your convenience.

~I never heard from her again.

Example Three:
A follower on Twitter made me aware of one of their follower’s questions asking if they should let an employer know their salary expectations in the early stages of the interview process. The questioner was a recent college graduate. I replied to her inquiry (NOOO) and said I’d happily share some resources with her; give me a call. True, I didn’t give her my phone number outright, but a quick trip to my Twitter page and on to my website would yield that information in about 20 seconds.

~ I never heard from her.

I have plenty more examples of “spooky” disappearing questioners, but you get the point. I don’t understand why otherwise intelligent people freeze when it comes to picking up and dialing the telephone. Is having a conversation really that scary? I (absolutely) don’t know everything, but I do have wonderful career resources through professional organizations and an extensive Twitter community. Usually, if asked a question and I don’t know the answer, I know of a resource or can tap into my network and at least point the questioner in the right direction.

Originally, these people were hungry for information, but when it meant they had to do something other than type 140-characters on Twitter or click the send button on an email, they disappeared. No matter where you are in your career, given the opportunity to hear a fresh, new perspective, or garner insights from someone who might know, especially given a “free, no obligation, I just want to help” opportunity, JUMP on it. You don’t know what you don’t know until you follow through.

(Lest my phone start ringing off the hook, bear in mind this is my profession. I’ve grown accustomed to living indoors and eating regularly, so have to earn a living. I can’t always accommodate requests for free advice and don’t always time for “quick” calls to “pick my brain.” (Ewwww.) However, if I offer, it’s sincere and I’ll make the time. I’m sure other professionals operate the same way.)

Here’s what my colleagues have to say:

Where Are the Wild Things, Anyway?, @WorkWithIllness

Is Your Job Search Making You Feel Like a Smashed Pumpkin?, @DebraWheatman

Hiding in Plain Sight, @WalterAkana,

Don’t make these frightful resume mistakes, @LaurieBerenson

How Not to Be a Spooky Job Seeker, @heathermundell

A Tombstone Resume:Eulogizing Your Experience, @GayleHoward

The Top Ten Scary Things Job Seekers Do, @barbarasafani

Oh, Job Search Isn’t Like Trick or Treating?, @careersherpa

A Most Unfortunate Resume Mistake No One Will Tell You, @chandlee

Oh no. Not the phone!, @DawnBugni

Halloween Caution: Job Seeker Horror, @resumeservice

Boo! Are you scaring away opportunities or the competition? @MartinBuckland @EliteResumes

Your Career Brand: A Scary Trick or an Appealing Treat?, @KCCareerCoach

How to avoid mistakes on your resume, @Keppie_Careers

Sc-sc-scary Resume Mistakes, @erinkennedycprw

A Flawed Resume is a Scary Prospect, @KatCareerGal

Job Search Angst: Like Clouds Mounting Before a Storm, @ValueIntoWords

Does Your Career Costume Fit You?, @expatcoachmegan

Recently a job seeker shared this story with me:

She’d successfully completed a telephone interview and did the “proper thing” sending a thank you email after the phone interview. (BRAVO!!)  A few days later, she checked her email and found not only did the email bounce back as undeliverable; the message about it bouncing went to spam. (Horrors). She called the company and found out the person with whom she interviewed spelled her name Alyson (with a “y”), not Alison, with an “i”, as she had “assumed.”  The story turned out well. She corrected the spelling and resent the thank you. Alyson responded with a thank you of her own. (See how that works? … but that’s a soapbox for another day.)

This was not a client, so I took a moment to give her a tip about names I share with my own clients. Be sure to get the interviewer’s name and the correct spelling of it – gather business cards or come right out and ask if you have to, but get it right. You “should” have a notepad with you during the interview, so take a moment to focus on your interviewer and get their name. (Nothing is more melodious than the sound of one’s own name.)

While name gathering, take the time to get the correct spelling. Never, ever assume just because it’s a common name, it’s spelled the way you think. (Alyson/Alison/Allison). There’s a caveat here; you don’t want to come across as someone without a clue if the name is common.

I hear you: “OK, Dawn. So how do you THAT?” Don’t come out and ask, “How do you spell Allison?” (See, there’s a third spelling ….) Say something like is that Alyson a “y” or an “i”? Or is that with one or two ll’s? That’ll trigger the person to spell it for you. You come across as intelligent enough to know there is more than one way to spell a name and you’re thoughtful enough to confirm how this person does it. (And look at the message it sends. You’re considering options, presenting solutions, solving problems and you’re not even on the payroll … yet!)

A few more examples:

• Is Brown, with or without an “e”? (Browne)

• Is it Greene, with an “e”? (Green)

• Is that Tom with or without the “h”? I’ve known people who spell it both ways.

• Carol? Do you spell it with or without the “e” at the end? (Carole)

• Scott? I know this is crazy, but I know someone who spells Scot with one “t”. Are you a one or a two “t” Scott?

See. There are a number of different ways to ask for correct spelling without coming out and saying, “How do you spell Brown?” which, can leave the interviewer thinking, “Duh.”

The positive of a well-written thank-you letter (or cover letter) can be negated by leaving the “e” off Carole or the “h” out of Thom. Or an email can end up bouncing back as undeliverable and all that effort and positive after the fact marketing is for naught. Never assume the spelling of anyone’s name. Names are important, and spelling them correctly equally so!!

(Melissa, this one’s for you. Thanks!!)

What do the following acts have in common?

• Hand-crocheted baby blankets as congratulations for new parents.
• Sent information interviewing and interview prep handouts, at no charge, to complete strangers.
• Took pictures, made reprints, burned CDs or created movies and forwarded to friends and family after parties, showers and gatherings.
• Emailed federal resume writer referral information to callers.
• Emailed pet sitting information – 17 forms and contracts, along with website links and book titles – to several individuals wanting to start their own business. (I ran a successful pet sitting business for seven years.)
• Gave birthday and Christmas gifts to friends and family.
• Introduced people who could benefit from knowing each.
• Forwarded links and articles of interest to help with or enhance a specific piece of business or personal life.
• Did minor edits and revisions to documents at no charge for clients, long after project completion.

Do you give up? Here it is: I’ve done all of these things for people at one time or another in my life and the recipients never took the time to express thanks or even acknowledge receipt. No. This is not a diatribe on the state of society today, although it could be … but I digress. And no, this doesn’t mean no one ever says thanks either.

I didn’t do any of those things expecting a thank you. (OK, maybe a little.) But, I also understand the best intentions can get way laid in the busy-ness of life. I’ll continue to help people, and do and create for them with or without a thank you. The joy for me comes in the doing; not in the thanks.

Fine. I won’t lie. Hearing thank you is nice.

This leads me to my point. With the scarcity of thank yous being handed out today, imagine the impact you’ll have by taking a moment to utter those two powerful words – in a thank you letter after a job interview, in an email or a hand-written note when someone in your network gives you a referral, verbally and with a smile when a stranger holds the door for you. (I sometimes throw in a curtsy …Yes. Yes I do.)

And no, I’m not talking insincere, self-serving, useless platitudes. I mean take a moment and truly appreciate the fact that another human being stepped outside themselves for a moment to do something nice for you and recognize it. You’ll be remembered. Chances are they’ll do it again. And you’ll feel good for making someone else feel good, so you’re likely to pass it along … and pretty soon, we’ll be holding hands and singing Kumbaya together.

Wait … I got a little carried away. Seriously though, a big part of a job search is about differentiating yourself from the rest of the candidate pool. One easy way to differentiate is with two simple words –THANK YOU.

A while back, I read an article stating only 20% of job seekers ever send a thank you letter after an interview. (Of course, I can’t find it to cite now.) Quintcareers.com says 5% and eHow.com says 10% – regardless, it’s a small percentage. In the article I read, it also said, of that 20%, 80% received the job offer because of the candidate took the time to send a thank you letter.

Anecdotally, a client told me, early in her career, she was offered a position because of a thank you. The decision was between to her and another candidate. Her after-the-interview thank you note arrived, it tipped the scales and she got the job. Powerful stuff, that thank you!

Oh, and one more thing, if you’re the nice person receiving a thank you, be gracious in receiving it. It wasn’t “nothing”. Say “you’re welcome” and if you want, tell the person how good it felt to be able to help.

Lest I don’t practice what I preach, thank YOU for spending a moment of your day with me.

For more of my thoughts on the power of thank you, you can read this post too.

Today, an “innocent” link floated by in the Twitter stream. I’m normally a “live and let live, you’re entitled to your opinion” kinda gal, but when my entire industry is bashed, I have to take a stand. It doesn’t matter the original post is from April 2009. Broad brush generalizations about ANY industry serve no one.

This is the post: “Resume Writer Ripoff – Why not buy better drugs? (tips for the job search)” (And yes. I realize I’m driving traffic to a negative post, but sometimes you “gotta do what you gotta do” to circumvent that negativity.)

The site is selective about allowing comments, so rather than wait to see if I pass moderation muster, I’ll post “the other side of the story” on my own blog.

Here’s my response:

Painting the resume writing profession with such a negative broad brush is akin to saying all used-car dealers are crooks, all lawyers are sharks and many of the other ridiculous generalizations permeating our society today.

Yes. Absolutely. There are rip-offs out there — as in any other profession on earth.

To say “this is the general process” casts negative aspirations on those of us who poke and prod and cajole and spend hours ferreting out the career stories that differentiate our clients from the rest of the pack. And offer ongoing support during the process — frequently at no additional fee.

“Well, I believe that an excellent resume writer spends a lot of time talking with you and produces very few resumes.” You’re correct in this assertion. A good writer seldom goes back and forth more than once, maybe twice with a document. I don’t have time to tweak a document 15 times. I do the homework and research up front so by the time I deliver, it’s usually a slam dunk.

This line intrigued me:
“…when pressed on ‘what is your resume writing process” I got a lot of hand-waving. I should have stopped right there, but all these people had told me ‘his resume helped me get a job’, so I went forward.”

Personally, I’ve found when I don’t listen to my gut, I usually get burned. Sounds like peer pressure overrode common sense and now an entire industry is being blamed for bad research and decision-making.

I’m not foolish enough to think my CPRW credential gave me mind-reading capabilities. I won’t work with a client that doesn’t understand there is a lot of heavy-lifting and introspection involved in creating effective sales and marketing documents. It’s up to them to provide the career details so I can develop a solid presentation. I also expect them to research their industry so they are aware of what the “buyer is buying” — what the companies are hiring — so the document is focused on easing corporate pain.

As I said, there is “bad” in every profession. But failure to do due-diligence and establish expectations up front is not indicative of a bad industry. It indicates a lazy-job seeker, looking for a panacea without being willing to put forth the effort it takes to find a quality writer that meets their expectations.

Bash the specific provider, if you must, but don’t put true professionals or the entire industry in the same bucket because of a bad decision on the job seekers part.

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PS: My dear friend  and quadruple-certified resume writing colleague Rosa Vargas started to post a comment a here, but ended up with so much to say on the topic, it turned into a full blown post on her own blog. It’s definitely worth the read. Check it out.