Mark Anthony Dyson, Author at The Voice of Job Seekers

Job Search advice from a Dental Hygienist Career Coach with Doug Perry

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Through any profession understanding, your audience is essential to market yourself in a way that keeps you in the mind of employers. Doug Perry’s wife is a dental hygienist who had a hard time marketing herself. Since marketing and communication is what Doug does, he helped his wife and many other dental hygienists find opportunities. Through his research, he found most dental hygienists do not know how to market themselves. Hopefully, through our conversation, you will implement some of Doug’s successful strategies and thinking. Understand this: Conventional and traditional does not catch the eyes and ears of most employers.

Or, as I would say, employers will not hear you.

Which of Doug’s strategies will you try? Have you tried any of these strategies before? Did they work? Why do you think they didn’t work? Ask yourself these questions during this conversation.

I would love to hear about your experiences in one of three ways:

Blog: TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com (Use the send voicemail feature)

Email: [email protected]

Voicemail: 708.365.9822

Doug Perry (@GetHiredRDH) is the founder of GetHiredRDH.com and author of Landing a Great Dental Hygiene Job. He is a Dental Hygienist Career Coach, who serves that community through coaching and resume writing services (and other media). He gets his client’s name out in front of hundreds of potential clients through marketing strategies that keep their names in front of employers. You should know that Doug’s day job is a Communications Director of the state Association. Anyone could apply the strategies Doug uses.
Here are some highlights from our conversation:

Doug started his career coaching venture because his wife had a difficult time finding a job as a dental hygienist. He noticed that most dental hygienists don’t know how to market themselves.
Doug’s background in marketing and communications is useful in helping his clients standout. Dental hygienist are not trained in those areas so most of them don’t know what to do
The crux of marketing for dental hygienists is the soft skills in treating patients, rapport with staff, and understanding and communicating with the dentist. It is something that is learned over time as you earn trust
Doug said that one of the challenges in marketing is getting his clients away from the “…this is the way it has always done.” When you Google “dental hygienist resume,” it is likely you get a boring resume that doesn’t stand out. It looks more like anyone else’s resume
Doug’s stated that you had to look at the cosmetic side: Different font sizes, adding color, format, and even adding a picture. It is challenging to get hygienist to focus more on accomplishments and results
He understood that it was not widely accepted to add a picture on a resume. He suggests and implements as people feel comfortable doing it. The picture helps the candidate stand out and elicit trust–a critical attribute with dental clientele
Doug wrote a book based on strategies that helped his wife find a job so fast. One of the strategies he shared was sending a postcard. What tends to happen with postcards–people saved them until they needed someone in a pinch. They also created a dedicated website and video resume produced by his son

You don’t want to miss next week’s “Veteran’s Day” special episode. I will be publishing that show first thing Tuesday morning, November 11. If you have friends or relatives who served our country, all of who served valiantly and job searching, please plan to recommend and share next Tuesday’s episode.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

by Mark Anthony Dyson

Resume Writing Strategies for LGBTQ Students

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College students from 18-25 are very impressionable, but when they discover their identity as Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ) students their world becomes complicated, not by choice. The lack of resources for LGBTQ students and the people who will provide unbiased counseling, depending where they live, are few. Rayna Anderson found that out when she decided to write her graduate paper last year, “Assessing the Readiness to Reveal: Resume Writing Strategies for LGBTQ Students.”

Let’s be clear: Rayna’s paper has more to do with LGBTQ students finding opportunities where he or she can be open and authentic within their profession. Not how or when to employ traditional advice that discourages lifestyle disclosure. Today’s topic is related to the conversation with Tonie Snell a few weeks back.

Rayna’s advice is not only useful for career service professionals, but also for all career professionals such as recruiters, resume writers and career counselors. LGBT job seekers would be interested in her paper and her thoughts as she experienced what some would say apathy in meeting the unique needs of this community. Feel free to add your thoughts on the blog, or review this episode in iTunes. I always invite your feedback by one of three ways:

Blog: TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com (Use the send voicemail feature)

Email: [email protected]

Voicemail: 708.365.9822

Rayna Anderson, CPCC, is a certified Career Coach, and founder of sucsass.com. Rayna completed her Masters of Arts in Education last year at Louisiana State University in 2013. She currently works as a career services professional at the University of Houston. The subject of our conversation is Rayna’s graduate paper where she discovered that antiquated advice attitudes were predominant among her peers and the lack of overall resources elsewhere. She decided that she would be one of the few available resources by writing the paper.

Rayna understands no cookie cutter methods are available to advise or coach anyone, and there needed to be places where LGBTQ students can go to for sound advice and an empathetic ear.

Here are some highlights from our discussion:

The idea came through casually counseling another student. She was looking for resources outside of what career services had available and didn’t find any
None of her colleagues was able to provide a straight answer because it was considered a “touchy” subject. She saw that many of her professional colleagues personal beliefs transferred into their professional practices. Many of them suggested that an LGBTQ student leave their orientation off his or her resume until “a fair shot at an interview” was presented
Rayna said that career services across the country are fighting against the idea that they are these parental figures, 85 and older, and look the same giving similar advice as a parent would
Rayna stated that the culture and climate of colleges were changing so quickly that career professionals need to keep up in spite of traditional beliefs
She said that LGBTQ community members respond openly and willingly once they that the adviser is an advocate. Career professionals will need to balance the information given: The “ugly reality” that discrimination shouldn’t happen, the fact that LGBTQ population is unprotected in every state, and groups and companies that are advocates
Rayna referenced the Human Rights Campaign and the Corporate Equality Index as great places for LGBTQ members could go for companies that are “LGBTQ friendly.” Larger corporations tend to promote inclusion efforts locally so students can target for internships
She stated that it was important that career professionals be willing to lead them to resources, encouraging them to research, and come to conclusions on their own. College students are very impressionable, and it’s important not to make the conversation a bigger deal than it should be

I would love your thoughts on this topic. If you are a member of the LGBTQ community, do you feel that career advice is hard to find. Are career professionals giving you the company line? Have you found that career advisors are helpful when you want to be authentic and open? Please, go to the blog at The Voice of Job Seekers and leave your comment, or just use the contact info at the beginning of the show notes.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

by Mark Anthony Dyson

The Elements of Resume Style with Scott Bennett

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As hard as resumes are to write, the most effective ones are written plainly, clearly, and briefly. The struggle for most people is to capture reader’s attention through failing to communicate all three elements. One of the best guides in my opinion is The Elements of Resume Style. It is one of the books I reference serving my clients, and one I regularly recommend. Scott is my guest on today’s show.

If you struggle with presenting a clear, brief, accomplishment-focused resume, then you will exceedingly receive much value from this conversation. What is your greatest challenge in writing a resume? We would love to get your feedback.

I’d love your feedback in these three ways:

Blog: TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com (Use the send voicemail feature)

Email: [email protected]

Voicemail: 708.365.9822

Scott Bennett is the author of The Elements of Resume Style: Essential Rules for Writing Resumes and Cover Letters That Work and founder of WriteResumesRight.com. The first edition was first published in 2005 (I thought it was 2001. I’ve had this book seemingly longer, but I digress), and the second last month. The first edition of The Elements of Resume Style was translated into Chinese and distribute in India in an English language edition.

Scott has reviewed more than 100,000 resumes and hired hundreds of employees at all levels. At one time he was the President and Chief Operating Public Service Computer Software, but in 1996 transitioned into career coaching. Since then, he has influenced thousands through coaching, workshops, and seminars.

Highlights from our conversation:

What has changed about the way we look at resumes has changed since 2005, “The more paths, the more mechanisms, and delivery systems…the more rules for writing resumes stay the same.” Clarity and brevity are just as important today if not more than ever
Hiring managers typically have many other critical responsibilities, and job candidates succeed in being noticed when they write a resume that respects the hiring managers time. Brevity and error-free resumes and cover letters attract attention in a pile that contains hundreds of resumes, and is quite rare
I loved it when Scott said not to “…play fun with fonts…” and not too many font sizes
He discourages readers from rewriting the job description, but with clear examples of their experiences. Instead of writing, “Excellent written skills,” write, “Wrote guide for 11,000 users,” displaying a clear evidence of your skills
Scott believes that the resume will not go away, just the way that it is delivered. The content remains critical and important
I asked Scott what he thought about infographic resumes (Shout out to Hannah Morgan as we discussed this two weeks ago). He stated that he thought it was a great idea, especially if the candidate is keeping his or her audience in mind. If a hiring manager’s secretary prints out resumes, then the impact will go unnoticed. But a computer/digital savvy hiring manager who views resumes online will more than likely note that this candidate stands out
Hear what Scott says about the “Summary” section (the first paragraph after the heading) and how to use it. His perspective is quite different than most of the advice you read these days. Let me know what you think.

Thanks again to AMACOMbooks for our three-year partnership and coordinating this conversation with Scott Bennett.

Resume help is featured through several recent episodes with some of the most knowledgeable resume writers and experts anywhere:

Personal SEO for Your Online Resume with Susan P Joyce

How to Proofread and Edit Your Resume with Lauren Milligan

Resume Keywords vs. Buzzwords with Erin Kennedy

Let me hear your resume struggles. What’s keeping you up at night? No responses from your resume? Let me help you. Call 708.365.9822 or email me at [email protected] and leave me feedback and contact information!