Resumes Archives - The Voice of Job Seekers

Modern Job Search Trends for 2020 Part 1

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I love doing annual job search trend shows because the changes are constant in this industry. Our conversation about job search trends offers people a chance to reset their mindset and take action at the beginning of the year. This year, I decided to go with a panel so everyone can hear how different views are often the same for a proactive job search.

My guests:

Sarah Johnston, founder of the Briefcase Coach, a company is helping many job seekers with their resume writing, LinkedIn strategy, job search strategy, and interview preparation. She recently was elected by LinkedIn editors as “LinkedIn Top Voice” for careers and job search.

Nii Ato Bentsi-Enchill is the founder of AvenirCareers.com. Before going full-time as a business owner, he was Ivy Exec’s Senior Content Manager & Career Adviser. In addition to networking/job search strategy, LinkedIn and resume writing, he uses his Psychology and Mental Health education as part of a holistic approach to career coaching.

Hannah Morgan is a return guest (this is number five, I think). She is the founder of CareerSherpa.net and loves helping people understand what actions they need to take to find a job faster. Her popular site and her US News and World Report column is a large part of being a nationally recognized expert.

Got comments about the show? Here’s how:

– Call and leave a voicemail at 708-365-9822, or text your comments to the same number

– Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com, press the “Send Voicemail” button on the right side of your screen and leave a message

– Send email feedback to mark@thevoiceofjobseekers.com

Here are highlights from our conversation

Outdated resume advice and how to strategically position your resume and yourself to reach the right people.
Career professionals – giving outdated resume advice – “Cut and Paste” keywords in resumes as white fonts.
Expecting results from non-targeted job searches and the importance of keyword accuracy and usage.
Mentioned Jobscan tool and its usefulness of matching keywords.
Sarah said none of her successful clients had a 100% keyword match.
Understanding the difference in writing a resume vs Linkedin profile creation.
All of us agree the Linkedin profile must showcase authenticity – Nii Ato says, “…it’s a chance to show who YOU are.”
We discuss common job search mistakes.

Sign up for my weekly newsletter at the top right of my page to receive free e-Guide, “320 Modern Job Search Tips for 2020!” This year, it will be free for a limited time.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers," career consultant, job seeker advocate, career writer, and founder of this award-winning blog. I help the employed, unemployed, underemployed, and under-appreciated find jobs using job search strategies to navigate the new job market. I aim to give a safe place online to those with different needs, cultures, and ethnicities to find their voice in the job market. Thousands have read my career advice throughout the web as I write about everything from job search strategies to the mobile job search. I have published more than 400 articles on this blog and some of the largest career sites such as Recruiter.com, YouTern, and Come Recommended. I've been quoted in major online publications such as Monster, TIME/Money, Fortune, Business Insider and MSN. FlexJobs, JobMonkey, Aerotek, Career Pivot, and CareerSherpa listed my podcast as one of the top podcasts to help your job search. Love for you to sign up for the weekly newsletter. I share the latest articles I've written, new podcast episodes, and answer any questions you may have. The new job search is scary and if you need help, I am here for it!

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Have the Handbill in Tow Going to Job Fairs and Networking Events

I talk to job seekers regularly who only depend on a few methods to find jobs. I find it interesting they prefer to rely on processes that could exclude them (uploading a resume without the right keywords, for example) rather than differentiate themselves based on their unique experience (in person). Networking still works, or people wouldn’t hold the events. Networking will take your career to the next phase faster and it’s better to get the attention of hiring managers, influencers, or employees of the company you want to work for when you can meet them in person.

What’s this handbill thing, again?

You should know more about using a handbill to put in the hands of people you meet at networking events and job fairs. The handbill is an old school document used as a snapshot to market your career accomplishments. The reader will not have to sort through history, but his or her attention is drawn to what’s important: Your career contributions amplified!

Jessica Dillard is the founder of Dillard and Associates, a national staffing firm and resumes writing service. She says, “We’re noticing three particular areas we’re getting success results from—sales, marketing, and advertising.” She has been adding a handbill to her clients’ portfolios since the first quarter of 2016 and explained the keys to using them. Even if you don’t have design skills, there are easy ways to create a handbill that looks good and reads well.

Some pro tips:

You want your handbill (or what Jessica calls a “summary”) to be a high-level document that can be quickly scanned in seconds. People have short attention spans, especially at networking events. Think of a handbill as the paper version of an elevator pitch.
Strive for an eye-catching, relevant, and brief document aligning your experience and competency to the interests of a hiring manager. It doesn’t hurt to have an aesthetically pleasing design to emphasize critical areas. Understand this document will not be scanned through an applicant tracking system (ATS) and disrupt the hiring flow. You want to encourage further conversation and to be memorable, so draw attention to what is important.
Use a catchy headline such as “20+ years of sales experience” or “Award-winning marketer and speaker.”
Remember you’re competing for time and attention, so the face-to-face is the best opportunity for connection. If it’s short, then it’s shareable. Dillard says it’s referable if it is “a high-level, one-page view capturing the most relevant information.” Numbers, percentages, data, and graphs will drive interest faster than cliches and generalizations.
List your skills and knowledge with data and results but make it brief. Consider looking at this sample on Dillard’s business website as a framework for your own.
Dillard also states, “You can include a QR code to take the reader to your LinkedIn profile or biography.” If you have an active blog, you can have it go to an article you wrote. Again, don’t be afraid to stand out in ways others won’t.
Most resume experts will say a picture on a resume is a no-no, but Dillard says you can on a handbill as it is appropriate for your industry.
Keeping a copy on your mobile phone is an excellent way to post to Instagram or Facebook. If someone doesn’t want paper, then send the image via text to the person. It’s easier for them to access it on their phone than email (If they’re hiring, they have loads of emails to sift through of candidates who are competing for attention). You stand out because you’ve made it easier for them to forward it to decision makers.
Speaking of Instagram, when I posted a copy of it on my feed, my friend and purveyor of all things career, Hannah Morgan, saw it as an infographic. If it’s in many different forms for people to scan it and pass it on easier, then we could be talking about this for years to come.

Dillard says, “Don’t be afraid to leave the computer to go where people are. Don’t be afraid to go shake hands again.” Job fairs and networking events are two places where you are expected to promote yourself. Standing out is critical in the job search today. The modern job seeker must learn to grab the attention of people who are directly or indirectly connected to the job you’re pursuing and show you’re good enough to hire or the right person to refer.

This article was originally published on Jobs2Careers blog!

About Mark Anthony Dyson

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Grammarly is Useful for Your Job Search and Career Management

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Note: I have an affiliate account with Grammarly and benefit when you click on the ads on the right panel of TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com. This is a small way for you to support the show if you wish to do so.

Grammarly is the best grammar checker software on the planet. There are more than 250 grammar rule checks it makes in its search for errors. It’s hard for those of us who write for a living to create an edit to perfection. I receive help from editors from time to time for client documents and blog posts. I also find the software from Grammarly helpful and useful on a regular basis (I still use an editor to help me with writing for clients and articles from time to time).

I have reviewed other grammar and spellcheckers on these articles:

https://thevoiceofjobseekers.com/five-resources-to-help-correct-resume-grammar-errors/

https://thevoiceofjobseekers.com/3-more-resources-to-help-proofread-your-resume/

https://thevoiceofjobseekers.com/three-more-resources-to-help-correct-resume-grammar-errors-part-2/

My friend and colleague Lauren Milligan and I also walk through some editing and proofreading techniques in episode 49 specifically for writing resumes.

My guest is Shanik Patel of Grammarly. He makes a compelling case for you to get help with writing error-free documents by using Grammarly.

When you visit the blog, you will notice that a Grammarly affiliate ad is one of two that I have on the blog. It is a product I use and don’t mind selling because I benefit far more for the quality of writing I produce than the link itself. I recommend that if you are struggling to create a quality business related document for work, job search, and/or business to invest at minimum the premium version.

How do you proofread documents? What methods do you use? I would love your feedback in one of three ways:

1) Leave a voice mail or text message at 708-365-9822. Let me know if I can share it on future shows
2) Email me: mark@thevoiceofjobseekers.com
3) Go to TheVoiceofJobSeekers.com and press the “Send Voicemail” button to leave a message online

The “writing problem” begins in school.

In September 2012, the National Assessment of Educational Progress released the results of its annual writing test, The Nation’s Report Card: Writing 2012, suggesting that 75 percent of 8th and 12th grade students are unable to present their ideas in a clear, grammatically correct manner despite being given access to word processing tools for the first time in the test’s history.
Only 43 percent of all students who took the SAT in 2013 met the SAT College & Career Readiness Benchmark (which indicates a student’s likelihood of achieving a B- average or higher during the first year of study at a four-year college).
Student writing scores on the SAT have declined five points since 2011 and consistently represent the lowest student outcomes of any section of the test.

Poor writing skills continue in the workplace.

More than two thirds of salaried jobs require a significant amount of written work, making written communication a key consideration in hiring.
Experts estimate that low literacy costs the American economy $225 billion a year in lost productivity. Improved workplace literacy can increase employees’ efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity on the job. As a result, employers experience greater customer satisfaction and process improvement, a lower incidence of accidents, reduced waste, and fewer errors.
Business Roundtable’s member companies are still forced to spend more than $3 Billion on remedial writing courses each year, for both hourly workers and salaried workers.

Better writers tend to be more successful in the workplace.

Grammarly’sElance Study

Professionals are judged every day by the quality of their writing — and paid accordingly.Grammarly reviewed nearly 500 freelance professionals’ profileson Elance whose work was rated by employers.
We then reviewed the freelance profiles for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors. Our goal was to determine whether accurate writing related to the freelancers’ credibility,hireability, or pay.

The best-reviewed freelancers across all categories were those with the fewest writing errors.

Better writers earn more money per job.

Grammarly’s Linkedin Study

Professionals with fewer grammar errors in their profiles achieved higher positions. Those who failed to progress to a director-level position within the first 10 years of their careers made 2.5 times as many grammar mistakes as their director-level colleagues.

We found that:

Fewer grammar errors correlate with more promotions. Professionals with one to four promotions over their 10-year careers made 45 percent more grammar errors than those with six to nine promotions in the same time frame.
Fewer grammar errors associate with frequent job changes. Those who remained at the same company for more than 10 years made 20 percent more grammar mistakes than those who held six jobs during the same period.

You need to proofread to be a better writer!
- Top mistakes you’re probably making in your resumes, cover letters, professional emails
- Options for obtaining a proofreader — human being, Microsoft Word’s spelling and grammar checker, Grammarly

I encourage you to follow them on their Facebook page that has five million members and growing!

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Do you need help with resume writing or career direction? Do you need coaching or instruction? I can help.

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My guests:

Got comments about the show? Here’s how:

Here are highlights from our conversation

About Mark Anthony Dyson

What’s this handbill thing, again?

Some pro tips:

About Mark Anthony Dyson

About Mark Anthony Dyson