Job Archives - Page 16 of 16 - The Voice of Job Seekers

Have you noticed the chasm between your proven track record and excellent communication skills that your résumé proudly touts yet does not stand out? Since your responsibilities do not include measurable, identifiable, or understandable skills, your résumé says everything, but “Hire Me!”

Sure you possess outstanding oral communication and writing skills. People may have told you that you can write, but you spelled communication with one “m!” The potential employer that is screening hundreds of potential candidates can attempt to talk to everyone that says you can write. Then again, the proof is right in front of him. Don’t worry, UPS is hiring for Christmas.

Perhaps you provide exceptional customer service, and everyone loves you so much that they don’t write you letters of appreciation, and never tell your boss how impressive your service was. How would an employer know other than to take you at your word?

A résumé that has typos like everyone else among 1000 resumes for 1, 2, or 3 positions would just be a lottery pick. Great for the state lottery, and the NBA draft, and for a job, right? Of course, the HR manager would rather file through lame resumes than circle the Bermuda Triangle or remain entangled between the Scylla and Charybdis.

Just to pick anyone who is generally qualified, your possible, potential, and dream employer will pick the résumé that had a clear focus combined with begging, pleading, and whining. The mixture of nonchalant-desperado-attitude-kind-of-employee would be a perfect fit.

I am impressed that you are the boss when the boss is gone! Tell me, how hard is it to decide to pass all difficult customers to…your boss. Or your boss’s boss? Or your boss’s, boss’s, boss? After all, all the those calls are appropriately transferred to upper management, and we can only guess they were 10, 100, 1000 a day.

All of this sounds good. Will employers pay you enough money since you can change water to wine? That is gleaned, guessed, and extracted from the vagueness provided from your document.

No other words on a resume fit better than provide, manage, handle, ensure. How many keywords can really fit for the career that you want?

Don’t worry, numbers don’t matter. Quantity, quality, cost/time results or measures are only for those CEO positions. When you write on your résumé you were a leader, or a manager, and neglect to mention who you led or how many, a hiring manager see that you have done the job already. If you were a little more misleading and vague, applying for Czar, Pope, or King of the Jungle would be a great idea.

Resumes that trigger more questions than answers will get you that interview. Hiring managers supposedly have a high tolerance for ambiguity. That’s how they earn the enormous bucks, by their proven track record of circular filing your excellently communicated resume.

Got an opinion? Comment below.

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.

Is Your Job Search the Best Drama Not On TV?

Potential employers do not want your drama you bring during your job search. They want nothing to do with the stories, the characters, nor the ending. They want to know, are you an asset to the team.

Bringing drama does not add value, nor does it make anyone an attractive candidate. Nor does it make for an effective job search.

Your adventure in job search is compelling drama for all of the wrong reasons:

1. It’s like Law and Order

There is a story for everything. Instead of calling my boss to meet you, I want to call the police. The “my-brush-with-the-cop” stories are funny to your friends, not to potential employers. You do not have to mention “cop” or “police” in your little ditty for anyone to know that you were arrested a few times.

2. CSI (Can’t Stand Idiots) New York, Miami, or Where You Are

Mark was making small talk about exquisite dining and the research he conducted online about all of the restaurants he has visited. The interviewer asked, “So what did you find out about our company as a result of your research?” The morrow: Talking too much could be the beginning of an implosion. Oh yeah, the interview lasted 10 minutes.

3. The Mentalist

Don’t act like you know everything. Networking works when you are in learning mode. Button your expertise, but wear your perpetual learning suit in a job pursuit conversation.

4. Burn Notice

Telling stories of being treated unfairly, or how unrewarded you have been is career suicide. Nothing worse than burning yourself during the job hunt process.

5. Brothers and Sisters

Leave family drama out of any part of the job search process. It is never positive to talk about family problems at a networking event, interview, or just meeting a potential contact for the first time. Even if the story is funny, it could be perceived as negative.

The most engaging conversations anyone could have when the focus is on skill, contributions, and solutions. Familiarity and small talk is great if its your strength. Otherwise, leave the drama to television, movies, and your friends.