The Much Maligned Cover Letter – to write or not to write?

I read a lot of career pundits every week and many claim the cover letter is dead.   

I emphatically disagree!

The cover letter has been my best friend when it came to getting to not so certain interviews and I know, for a fact, that my ability to write a persuasive, descriptive and requirements-aligned letter (sometimes 2 pages long – I like to break the rules!) has won me interviews for jobs which I may have had no business getting, but I was able to ‘pitch my case’ as to why I was a good fit for the job.

For a Career Change job they are ESSENTIAL!  And, for a regular “I can do this job with my hands tied behind my back” posting, they are still a very wise move to make.

THE BIG PROBLEM WITH COVER LETTERS:

Most employers don’t read them! 

Why?  Because they don’t say anything new about you.  Most are just a blah blah rehash of the resume and BOTTOMLINE:  for busy HR and Recruiter types, they’re just not worth the time to read them.   

So, here are 4 distinctive ways YOU can make your cover letter worth reading…

1)      THINK LIKE AN EMPLOYER!   If you were reading that cover letter, what would impress YOU about that person?  What would make you want to hire them?  One of the biggest complaints about cover letters is that applicants often use the space to tell the employer how the job will enhance their careers. 

·         REALITY CHECK:  The employer doesn’t really care about your career.  They might, once they know you and have worked with you for a while, but this is a huge turn-off for most employers and can often get your whole application quickly deposited into the dreaded 3^rd pile of applications (also known as the round file!).

2)      PERSONALIZE IT!  What differentiates my cover letter approach from others is that I make it PERSONAL.  I spell out why I’m a great fit for their job and I use examples that are directly aligned to the job requirements.

·         Use examples that DEMONSTRATE TRAITS & QUALITIES THEY ARE LOOKING FOR!  Even some they may not have realized they needed!

Here are a couple of sample excerpts from a few I’ve written:

This was for a client (she got the interview):

“Hopefully, both my resume and cover letter will demonstrate that I have often stepped beyond assigned roles to fill gaps and needs whenever necessary.  I’ve also developed financial and other counselling acumen on the job, by consistently volunteering to assist personnel (and occasionally their families) from all ages/backgrounds with issues requiring both research and the development of in-depth knowledge on various key subjects.  Over time, I have become recognized as the local Subject Matter Expert and go-to person for any concerns/questions related to pensions, financial and budget planning, severance pay and numerous other related topics.  Interestingly, one of my previous EMPLOYER’s ORGANIZATION NAME financial counsellors, CONTACT NAME, even used to call me for information on the NAME OF process and policies.”

And one of my own (I got the interview):

“I feel so many people have amazing transferrable skills, and yet they have no idea how to coherently describe that transferability either through personal networking or via their resume.  This is one of the specialties I bring to the table which could be a great asset for your clients and I would be happy to send you a few samples, if you are interested.  The way I write resumes with clients has proven to be very helpful in that it 1) helps the client prepare for job interviews, especially if a career change or various career options are involved, 2) builds the client’s self esteem and confidence as they learn how to promote themselves more effectively and 3) learn how to retool/adjust their own resumes for future opportunities/changes.”

3)      READ BETWEEN THE LINES:  Do your homework!  Analyze the job posting – think about what it takes to do the job and then write something that aligns seamlessly to that need. 

o   You can use a few bulleted Accomplishment Statements in your cover letter. 

o   You can use great quotes about you that others have written from your Personnel Evaluations or from people you have asked for Testimonials.  Keep them short but also long enough to showcase something that stands out about you.  Something that other employers would be interested to find out about. 

·         Research the company/organization on the internet (dig in and look at ALL the pages, not just the homepage) and through any other means available and “SHOW” them -- through examples --  why you would be a fantastic addition to their organization.  

·         Use LinkedIn to research the company and see if you have any connections to an insider.  Then reach out and ask for an information interview with that person!

4)      SELL YOU!  (this is your chance to have one more page to sell yourself for the specific job … make good use of it!)

·         Not in some smarmy salesy way but in a real and authentic way.  Figure out what about the job makes you excited or intrigued and “pitch” to that.  If you feel excited about an aspect of the job it will translate into your writing.

·         This is also a good place to SHARE your PERSONAL PHILOSOPHIES & BELIEFS about what you do and how you  do it.

Here’s another example from my personal stockpile.  I often use the cover letter to “explain” why I’m applying to a job that isn’t an obvious fit from my resume (Again, I got the interview – one of 10 out of 100 applicants).  I’m convinced this is an essential piece when seeking a minor or major CAREER CHANGE. 

“So, you might ask: if you’re doing this kind of work, which you obviously enjoy, why would you want to switch gears to sell pet food?  Well, as someone who is interested in working more with my own gifts and loves, I have been hoping to find a way in which I might work more closely with animals and animal health.  Victoria – and BC, in general –is extremely pet-friendly. We have tons of off-leash parks, pet events and rescue organizations.  In other words, we LOVE our pets here and spend lots of money keeping them healthy and happy.  Just last week, our rescue group, NAME, met with our local SPCA to discuss partnering to bring in even more dogs from the US.  We want to help with the huge foreclosure problem in the States and we have many more homes wanting small-medium sized dogs than we actually have dogs for.”

FINALLY, to sum up:  Imagine your cover letter is the back cover blurb on a book about you!

If you read it, would you buy it?   

_______________________________________________________________

Interested in writing a kick-ass Cover Letter, I can help!  www.resumecoach.ca

Three Easy Ways to Research Different Jobs

Looking for a Career Change or Shift?  Overwhelmed by all the options when you start looking into jobs and sectors?  Don’t worry…. you’re not alone! 

Too often we think we’d like to change jobs or career paths yet once we start looking at all the choices, we quickly get overwhelmed and give up.  It’s hard to know where to start and it can take a lot of time to do this essential part of figuring out what you’d like to do and then how to go about getting there. 

So often, high school career counselling falls short in truly explaining all the different fields of work.  And a really important piece of the puzzle to help make sound career choices early (and later) on in our lives is often overlooked.  Primarily because people don’t know how to research.  And where to look to find the key pieces of info that will help them make a considered and informed decision.

As a Coach who specializes in Career Change Strategizing, I can narrow that research down significantly.  It still requires time and energy on your part, but these “go to” places for finding key information will help you avoid the often daunting task of networking (if I had a nickel for every time I’ve had a client say they HATE networking, I wouldn’t need to work!). So this is the easiest networking you’ll ever do… and some of it doesn’t even require you to talk to another human being.

First, you need to put on your Investigative Reporter Hat!  And leave the job seeker at home.  All the resources I’ve laid out here require you to be seeking information, not jobs.  Because, if you approach with a hidden agenda, you may find your reception becomes less than warm.   
Here are 3 resources through which you can access valuable, career-specific information easily and quickly without feeling like you’re imposing on someone’s time or to find people in the field to talk to.

1)      The disciplines/career paths’ designated Professional Association. This is always your first stop on your investigative process for the least biased information. Many associations will provide you oodles of excellent information about their profession and what courses/schools are required.  And, if you screw up your courage and call them after reviewing their website in depth, they will often provide members who are ready and willing to chat with you about the specifics of the industry and their personal experiences in the field.  They often also run conferences, workshops and regular networking events that you can attend (often for free for at least a couple of times).

2)      Training/educational institutions that are teaching the skill/discipline also are great resources for finding out important information about the industry/sector/career pathway.  They should know what (and if) companies are hiring and what salaries one might expect at various milestones down the road.  Some, of course, even offer co-op and internship opportunities as part of the training and this can be invaluable for getting much needed first-time experience with the profession.

FYI: Both Professional Associations and Educational Institutions “should” have and freely offer names/ contact info for past students who have taken their training and are currently working in the field.  These are people who have agreed to talk to people like you who want to know more details about what the courses are all about, how useful they were and what the credential will get them once completed.

3)      Read job postings related to that field.  You can learn a heckofalot from job postings as to what different job areas/sectors and actual positions will require of you.  You can also find people who are in that field of work on LinkedIn and, through joining Groups they are in, you can research their work history online through their profiles, then, if you see a match, reach out to them via email and ask them if they’re willing to share some of their knowledge with you.  They’ll also give you lots of valuable clues for preparing resumes for those types of positions!

These activities all fall under the heading of what we, in the career coaching biz, call Informational Interviews. Like job interviews they require preparation and professionalism.  And a polite awareness that these folks you’re asking questions of are busy people and probably can’t spend more than 20-30 minutes with you, max.  So be clear and direct and, when that time has passed, double check with them as to whether it’s okay to continue.  Also ask them for another referral so you can keep the ball rolling and dig deeper into your chosen career environment.   More information is good… one person’s job love can be another’s hate.  So take all info with a grain of salt and find a few more people in the field to make sure you’re not throwing out the idea after one less than stimulating interview.

Cardinal Rule #1:  DO NOT take your resume with you.  (This way if they ask to see it, it gives you an opening to send it after the fact, and get their email address, if you don’t already have it.)  And again, you’re doing RESEARCH here, not JOB search!

And always – always – send a thank you email. 

Hopefully, if you found their assistance helpful, and you’d like to keep in touch as you proceed forward, it’s always a nice idea to let them know when you’ve followed through with a suggestion/idea they gave you.  This way you start developing a very useful career support group, for now and the future.

If you’d like a copy of a really great e-workbook on how to conduct Informational Interviews, which includes a few scripts and a list of questions you might consider asking, email me, mention this blogpost and I’ll send it to you.

5 Phases of Career Exploration & Change

Phase 1 – Assessment:  helps you learn about you in a quick way so you can move forward with aligning yourself to applicable jobs/career paths/educational avenues. 

• Bonus:  Builds your self-awareness and confidence so you are better equipped to make your own decisions about your future path, in addition to helping you communicate your strengths more specifically and accurately.

Phase 2 – Narrow the options down and start researching/networking to gather deeper information about the career path and/or companies you are interested in investigating.

·         1) Informational Interviewing:  This is where you get to play Investigative Reporter or Detective to develop research skills which will serve you well now and in the future in discovering more about and then narrowing your chosen fields of interest. 

·         2) Networking is a key piece of the puzzle and, for many, it is often the most difficult aspect of the job revisioning process.

o     Find more useful networking contacts and start to develop this skill as it is the 2nd key component for this step of your career but also in any subsequent steps you might want to make in your work and life moving forward.

Phase 3 – Hopefully, you have now narrowed your path(s) to pursue and are ready to really start retooling the resume to match your new direction/goals.

·       The way you rewrite the resume also prepares you for the interviewing process.

·       Suggestion:  do an inventory of ALL your skills at this point so your new MASTER resume will be very flexible and adjustable, since career change can require a few different yet similar approaches to a variety of job sub-categories.

·      Often using a Functional Resume is the best way to create a document that will showcase the skills you want for a position in your new career zone.   Try to use headings related to hard skills not soft skills as most employers will prefer to know what you can do, not what qualities you have.  A well-developed resume will provide subtext which will fill in the soft skills angles anyway.

·      Hit them with your best stuff in the first half of the first page.  Consolidate and use a hard-hitting, eye-catching format.  Think:  blurb on the back cover of a book.  Make it impossible for them not to want to buy!

·      Use Accomplishment Statements that align seamlessly to the needs of the new job. Use the job posting as your Bible.  Echo keywords, demonstrate transferrable skills using examples and make a strong pitch using experience you’ve done in and outside of work. 

·      Put it all together and your resume will light up with possibilities and professionalism!

·       Don’t get frustrated.  This is an ongoing process and, each time you review/adjust your resume for different postings, you’ll edit and rewrite and make it a nice tight document that really sings your praises!

 Phase 4 – Strategize your shift.

·       The Step Approach:  consider staying in your current line of work, but changing the environment you work in – ie. the company, industry or sector!

o   This can work when you….

§  Make a step into a new work environment that is more open to you developing new skills and showing them off to your best advantage and where you can be recognized and create new pathways of development moving forward.  This is an excellent way to maintain salary and status while making a significant change in career direction.  Only drawback, it usually takes more time.

§  Learn while you Earn!  Get/take additional training (either self-directed, through volunteering, or by online or traditional schooling methods of learning) while still enjoying what you’re doing.  Proven plus: distracting yourself with a new project of any kind that stimulates you outside of work can help you feel as if you’re moving forward and take the sting out of a humdrum job. 

Ongoing:  Keep applying for jobs or reconnecting to the network you developed during your Investigation process.  Write down the questions you get in interviews and develop/practice your answers until they flow off your tongue like butter.  There will always be questions you hadn’t expected in just about any interview.  The key to being poised is being prepared.

Phase 5 –  Once you’ve landed a new gig, keep QUESTING.  Keep broadening your network.  Dig deeper.  Investigate career pathways that intersect your own.  This process is critical to maintain for the life of your career, and can prove useful in many other areas of your life, as well.  The people who do this never have to look for jobs – jobs come and find them! 

And, if you’re the type who needs to regularly learn new things and grow beyond, well then his next step on your career trajectory likely isn’t the last you’ll ever take.  So enjoy the journey and expand your horizons!  It’s amazing how serendipity steps in and pulls it all together when you least expect it.  Just believe it’s possible and make it so!

Making a Memorable Impression!

Personal branding!  In a world where there are so many products and choices, it’s not uncommon to feel overwhelmed!  Now job candidates strive to be remembered in much the same way you hum those catchy jingles for your favourite car or candy bar. 

So take some time to figure out what makes YOU stand out!  Get clear about what your values are and why you are the best possible match for the company or industry you are aligning yourself to.    

From the Experts:  how to leave an indelible impression in any chance meeting, networking event, conference or interview!

·         Personal Branding: 5 Secrets of Success from Guy Kawasaki

·         Fast Company Magazine:  The Brand Called YOU 

And all of this comes together in that good old Elevator Speech (or 60 Second Sell).

VIDEO/Article:   5 Real People Giving … 5 Truly Adequate Elevator Pitches  (with commentary by author.)  Non-intimidating!  You, too, can do this!!!

·         Prepare a 60 Second Commercial for Networking, Job Search and Interviews

How to Compose a Stand-Out LinkedIn Profile

Part 1:  Put on the EMPLOYER’s GLASSES and read other people’s profiles. 

There are many ways to write effective, job-catching profiles.  And it’s always good to put your own spin/flavor on it.  If you’re a fun, light-hearted person, you can find ways to inject that energy into a profile, carefully, of course, as this is a Business/Professional site and you don’t want to sound too flippant or irreverent.

But read with another purpose, as well.  Read it fast; assess for impact and memorability.    Was it densely written or easy for your eye to move over and pick out important information?

Read it quickly – just the Profile section and Specialties, not the “resume” part.

Then ask yourself:

1)      Was it easy to scan?  Did you pick get a clear sense of this person’s skillsets and talents in a 5-10 second scan of the profile section?   If not, why not?   

2)      Was it densely written… with not enough white space?  In this world of computers and calculated content writing, we won’t read wordy text sections.  So keep it targeted and concise, otherwise people just won’t read it. 

3)      Which profile was the most memorable?  Break it down and figure out why.

Once you’ve done this exercise, you’ll get a lot more ideas about how you want to write your profile and what you want to say about yourself.

Next: Using your LinkedIn Header to Make a Standout Impression

Avoid looking like an A**.... just ASK!

Was inspired by a Charles Adler radio show discussion earlier this week about older workers and the difficulty many are having finding good jobs. I wrote this in response:

As a self-proclaimed Career Matchmaker, my favourite work revolves around helping people reinvent themselves and, ideally, find really enjoyable and rewarding work (whatever that means for them!  Everyone is different).  As luck would have it, I developed a very strong speciality working with transitioning workers when I became the first civilian Career Transition Counsellor at CFB Esquimalt, where I worked for 8+ years with retiring (40-50 something) military members.  Many of those folks created their own beliefs around why it would be hard for them to find jobs when they left the military, but most of those beliefs could often be banished with the right information and an open mind.   

As a result, I have many stories of clients who thought they were experiencing age discrimination.  And, often, with some perspective shifting and by pro-actively seeking feedback after (or before) their interviews, this misconception could also be turned on its ear.     

·         One of my newly IT-certified career changers tried and tried to get a job but to no avail and he was feeling pretty hopeless.  He was certain it was because of his age (and he was all of 45!).  Not that he’d ever actually asked anyone but, still, he was convinced.   I encouraged him to check out this assumption during his next interview (with a little coaching as to how to ask a possibly delicate question).  As it turned out, there was another unchecked assumption happening in the busy HR manager’s mind.  And, indirectly, it did have something to do with age.  Or more correctly, my client’s numerous years of experience.  The interviewer assumed he would be bored because their job was an entry level position.  Once he knew this, he was able to address the unspoken question and quickly got a job which was exactly what he’d been looking for. 

·         Another client had applied to Canadian Tire for a bookkeeping job that he felt he could easily fulfill.   After he received no reply to his application, he did go and ask why he hadn’t been shortlisted, as he was certain he had the skillsets required.  He was told that they didn’t bother calling him because they took it from his resume that they wouldn’t be able to pay him what he was used to.  Again... assumption city!   

Communication and clarification of expectations is a critical piece that is often left on the curb by both the job seeker and the interviewer.  Therefore, I teach my clients how to ask these types of questions and I attempt, whenever possible, to anticipate objections before the interview.  Cover letters can also go a long way to heading assumptions off at the pass.     

A resume overhaul is often a worthwhile endeavour, as well... because job seekers can get kicked off the top candidate pile merely because they haven’t downshifted their resume to match the career requirements of a lower-levelled job.  Many feel they have to include EVERY job they’ve ever had.  And they show levels of expertise far and above what is being asked for.  This doesn’t always work in their favour, and leads to many disappointments.   

Just to add another perspective, many older workers lack certain modern workforce skills and, sadly, some tend to resist updating those skills.  Often, the company they were employed by for many years neglected to offer them upgrading, too, which is unfortunate.  I encourage all my clients to invest in themselves and keep their skills ‘pumped up’ so they can compete with the more techno-savvy younger generation.  You don’t have to Tweet every hour of the day, but you should be conversant enough with the concept of social media to ‘sound’ like you understand it.  There are oodles of free online tutorials on the web that you can teach yourself everything you need to show you’re ‘in the know!’   

Attitude is everything!  And keeping abreast of the times (ie. in technology and a few other basic modern workplace skills) is also really critical for older workers to be seen as viable candidates for more jobs.   

In closing, here are a few of my favourite news stories on people working happily and well into their  ...

·         80’s  http://journalstar.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_f1ad188e-a4cf-11df-8740-001cc4c002e0.html

·         90’s    http://money.cnn.com/video/news/2010/04/12/n_cmr_92_year_old_yoga.cnnmoney/  

·         and even 100’s  http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2010/news/1004/gallery.america_s_oldest_workers/4.html  

A year or so ago, I spoke at a conference on this subject.  Here’s an abridged version of the PowerPoint presentation I gave in case you want to delve into it deeper. 

Stay tuned for more specifics on how to find work by thinking “outside the box”!

How to Figure Out What Job You Want!

For Career Seekers, Changers & ReInventioneers … but these tips work for any job researcher!

5 Ways to Catapult Your Job Choice Research to the Next Level!

1)   The obvious but not always overly effective method – National Occupational Classifications (NOC)… it’s a starting place but it’s not the be all and end all of career and job research.  For every one of the 40, 000 jobs listed in the NOC (and goodness knows how many in the US version:  Occupational Outlook Handbook), I’m convinced there are another 40+% more jobs that are not listed or for which the titles can convey a dozen different job descriptions.  And I think I’m underestimating there, it’s just we’ve never really had anyone do the stats on it so it’s anyone’s guess.   

a.    Alberta’s Learning Information Service (ALIS) is a great resource for occupational research and many other fantastic career reinvention information.  Sure, it has some specific Alberta only related info, but tons of it is universal to any career development question.  Check it out!

2)   Use job search sites to find out about jobs!   Read job descriptions in your area of interest, current industry and all around the edges of anything else you’d like to align your talents to.   Monster, Workopolis, Indeed/Wowjobs or any other targeted sites you like.  And, what better place to go look for the requirements of any number of jobs than the job posting, itself.

a.    Don’t forget that companies you’re interested in may NOT post on job search sites;   many of the biggies don’t feel they need to or they may have a longer job posting on their own site, so always check those out, as well.  And create a bookmarked/favorites list to monitor them and track their jobs, even if the job doesn’t seem to be a fit for you… you can gain valuable insights from watching similar, not just exact job matches.

3)   Ask!  For every job you see advertised, when they have a contact listed, follow up and ask them for a more detailed job description.  Any client that I’ve ever encouraged to do that has met with an easy way to really tailor their resume to match the job.

4)   Read Resume Writing books!  Yes, Virginia… that’s what I said.  You’d be shocked (well, I am!) at how many people never think to go read a How to Write Resumes kind of book.  There are usually dozens in most public libraries.  Amazon and all the other usual suspects have oodles to choose from.  And they can be delivered right to your door!  Re-sellers like Abebooks and the amazing Powell’s in Portland, Oregon (one of my favourite spots to pick up my own career related resource books) have them in great shape at greatly reduced prices! 

a.    Proviso:  not all resume books are created equal: IE. have excellent well-developed, “give you a hope in h-e-double toothpicks of getting an interview” samples.  And career change resumes are really hard to find viable samples of because the chance of you finding one that is similar to what you want to do is around slim and none.  That’s why I recommend hitting the library.  You can photocopy the ones you want and take them home. 

b.    Remember, most Career Changers have more to prove than someone who is already in the chosen profession!  I haven’t written a career change resume yet that wasn’t more densely packed with details and specifics and accomplishments than one I wrote for someone already on that career path.

5)   The Horse’s Mouth … a tried and true approach for finding jobs, but it’s also amazingly helpful for figuring out what kinds of jobs might be out there for you and how to make the switch. Since many folks decide on a career change while they’re still ‘in’ a job, that old “networking” thang is still one of the best methods of doing research. As much as we all know we should network regularly, few of us do.  So, to find out about actual jobs, this is a necessary evil.  But do the other homework above first, so that you aren’t wasting time.  And then, once you’ve shortlisted your career path research down to 3-4, plug into your network to get an information interview so you can find dig down deeper.

Of course, there’s more involved in this process (It’s such a hub and spoke kind of thing, career development and change.  You do a few things over here in research, then you play with your resume, then you do some informational interviews, then back to research again, and so and an so forth.  It’s like lifting weights.  You do some reps on one machine, then switch to another and another and then start the circuit all over again, but maybe in a different order.)

Another great resource for finding out about jobs and their specific requirements is good ol’ LinkedIn (LI).  Stay tuned in later posts for more effective ways to do Passive Networking (yes, it means you don’t have to cold call!) with people you find in cool jobs on LI.

If anyone you know needs help with any of the aspects of ReInventing themselves, please check out my website!  I look forward to helping you find a more rewarding life at WORK!