1. Clearly define your career focus. “Candidates have to be focused,” said Laurie Purcell, Executive Recruiter. “The biggest complaint from employers over the years has been ‘We didn’t hire so-and-so because she or he didn’t know what they wanted.’”

2. Be specific when recounting your achievements. Qualify, quantify or “dollarize” them in some manner that demonstrates what you offer a prospective employer. Use the CAR method to help you recall your achievements: Challenge, Action, Result. Achievements are the most important part of the resume say recruiters and human resource professionals. “Past performance predicts future productivity,” said Lynn Williams, President, Prestige Placements.

3. Use action words and statements. “Responsible for”… is out, “Developed; Directed; Achieved; Coordinated, etc.” is in.

4. For people with 20 or more years of experience: “Do NOT write that into your resume,” said Carol Schneider, CEO of SEEK Careers / Staffing. “Put a BENEFIT STATEMENT into your resume – something that speaks of how you 1) made the company money, 2) saved the company money or 3) streamlined procedures. Years of experience is immaterial and may indicate that you are just ‘old.’ Companies want to know what kind of a contribution you can make to their success – not how many years you’ve been working.

5. Differentiate yourself. When you review your current resume, can you simply put someone else’s name on it? Or does it clearly differentiate you from your competition and brand you as “the one” for the job?

6. Communicate your value and put key points “above the fold.” One recruiter on LinkedIn told me he reads 200 to 300 resumes a DAY, seven days a week. You have GOT to stand out! Address the unspoken question early on: “Why should I hire you?”

7. When responding to any ads, either online or in the newspaper, be sure you clearly read the ad and assess your qualifications. Companies don’t have time to meet with unqualified applicants. According to one finance recruiter, “Candidates must be an exact match before a company looks at them.”

8. Create a Twitter-worthy value statement about yourself. That’s in 140 characters or less. This can become your brand statement used on social networking sites, when networking, and during interviews. Here’s mine: “I help professionals be rock stars at work.” This gets people to say, “Tell me more!” That’s your goal.

9. If you know someone at a company, give them a call. Networking is the No. 1 method used by candidates to get jobs. In CareerXRoads’ 2009 Source of Hire Study, employee referrals were the No. 1 source for external hires at companies.

10. Think creatively in how you distribute your resume. In a 2009 ExecuNet survey, more than 70% of job seekers land jobs through networking. Want more networking tips? Get “Rock Your Network® for Job Seekers.”

© 2003 – 2009 • Wendy J. Terwelp • Opportunity Knocks™ • All Rights Reserved.

Wendy Terwelp has helped thousands of clients get hired faster and be rock stars at work since 1989. A recognized expert on networking, both online and off, Wendy has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Fast Company, The Business Journal, Careerbuilders.com, Monster.com, and more as well as numerous radio shows. She has published hundreds of articles on the web and in print. She literally wrote the book on networking, “Rock Your Network® for Job Seekers.” Get tips, tricks, and strategies to rock your career at www.knocks.com. • Phone: 262.241.4655 • Email: consultant@knocks.com.

I’m excited to be participating in Quintessential Career’s annual Job Action Day – for its second year. To quote Katherine Hansen, PhD, Quintessential Careers, “While the economy is showing signs of recovery, indications that the recovery will continue to be ‘jobless’ casts a pall over hopes for a full bounce-back. Job Action Day … addresses the jobless recovery by spotlighting promising areas in which the unemployed and other job-seekers may find opportunities.”

As entrepreneur and daredevil pilot Amelia Earhart once said, “The woman who can create her own job is the woman who will win fame and fortune.” Think about the time period when this was said: the 1920’s. In fact, Earhart took her first flying lesson on January 3, 1921, and in six months managed to save enough money to buy her first plane. In 1929, the stock market crashed, which led the Great Depression. In 1932, three years into the depression, Earhart became the first woman to fly across the Atlantic and in 1935 she became the first person to fly solo across the Pacific from Honolulu to Oakland, California.

Despite an economic depression, Earhart took risks. You can too. Many of my clients are also taking risks and deciding to pursue entrepreneurship, rather than getting another “job.”

Thomasina Tafur, a former FedEx executive, is one such risk-taker. She told me, “When I got laid off, I heard that small voice telling me, if I really believed in my dreams, now would be the time to take that quantum leap. So I did, [and] I haven’t looked back once!” Tafur has always had a passion to help other women along their journey in life, professionally and personally, and had wanted to do so full time. While still at FedEx, Tafur coached many women along their career paths, including helping them break the glass ceiling. She also helped friends write their business plans for startups and mentored young women from her alumni, the University of Miami.

Like Tafur, Pat Shuler, Sales Trainer, Kickbuttsalestraining.com is passionate about her business. She said “Your business needs to be important to you. It’s a lot of work.”

Tafur agreed, “One surprise was how I’d feel about working so many hours alone. By nature I’m an introvert, but I never realized how much I would miss the constant human interaction. I now make a point of leaving the house at least once a day and participating in networking activities at least three times a week.”

Schuler added, “It’s a double-edged sword, the cool thing is, you get to do everything and be everything. The bad thing is, you get to do everything and be everything.”

But is it worth it in today’s economy? Tafur said, “Absolutely! I’m doing something I love and believe. …. [I] make a greater difference than before. Now that’s a purpose driven life!”

Schuler advises her clients starting out, “Be prepared to work hard, be flexible, and be resilient.” She said that many executives are used to having “minions” to do their administrative work. “You don’t get too many minions when you start your own business. You’ll need to put your capital where you can get the biggest bang, like sales and marketing.”

She said, “You have got to be somebody who can sell and market their business. Not having this skill kills your business.” Or, she recommends, hire a consultant who can advise you in these areas.

Tafur’s advice for start-ups, “Be sure to develop a good business plan, and if possible, keep your day job for as long as you can until you’re fully ready to launch. Hiring an outside person, like me or Wendy [Terwelp], can ensure your plans are objective and that every possible scenario has been considered and thought out thoroughly.”

Are you ready to create your own job and let your dream take wings? Share your lift-off story!

Resources:

www.jobactionday.com
www.knocks.com
www.thomasinatafur.com
www.kickbuttsalestraining.com
www.ameliaearhart.com

Time to update those skills for your next career move – and the government will help you fund it. Here’s the latest courtesy of Joel Dresang of JSOnline.com:

College Notebook: Education money for dislocated worker

By Joel Dresang of the Journal Sentinel

While workforce development agencies are trying to rustle up more retraining assistance for increased numbers of dislocated workers, the U.S. Department of Education has announced $11.25 million in grants to community colleges for unemployed workers and working adults.

Three Wisconsin technical colleges are among the participants:

• Milwaukee Area Technical College is awarded $350,001.
• Gateway Technical College, in Kenosha, receives $497,938.
• Madison Area Technical College gets $453,509.

The grants to 29 projects in 20 states are meant to support innovations in postsecondary education that can be national models.

“These grants give community colleges an opportunity to tailor their activities and instruction to meet the unique needs of adult learners, many of whom must retrain to re-enter the 21st century workforce with newly honed skills,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in announcing the awards.

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More tips from Wendy Terwelp:

It’s mission critical to have updated skills when job hunting. Not knowing how to use email or basic word processing tools like Word can hinder your search, especially when recruiters and employers alike demand the basics – and often require resumes to be emailed rather than “snail mailed.” (Meaning sending a hard copy.) Tech schools like those listed above have solid programs in these areas and they are practical. Other tech school courses are often taught by practicing professionals who have day jobs in their areas of expertise. A great way to make new connections for your next gig – through the instructor. Of course, your fellow classmates can be great networking resources as well.

In today’s JSOnline, Joel Dresang provides details on a special program to help “dress up unemployment.” Here’s the story:

A year ago, a national clothing retailer rounded up 125,000 men’s suits and other apparel to distribute to job seekers who couldn’t afford to dress for success at job interviews.

James Green, career development specialist at YWCA of Greater Milwaukee, recalls outfitting one man with a suit, overcoat, tie and shoes that helped lead the man to a $14-an-hour position after he hadn’t worked in more than two years.

“When a person comes in properly dressed, it goes a long way for them,” Green says.

Next month, the YW again will be a local partner with Men’s Wearhouse on the national clothing drive.

Starting next week through Sept. 30, you can drop off gently used suits, dress shirts, sport coats, slacks, ties, belts and shoes at any Men’s Wearhouse store. The company says it will throw in a tie for every suit donated and offer a discount coupon for each donor.

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Another resource, this one serving women, is Bottomless Closet Milwaukee. Founded in 1997, Bottomless Closet is an affiliate of The Women’s Alliance, a national organization of independent community-based members who provide professional attire and career skills to low-income women and families seeking self sufficiency. Since its inception, Bottomless Closet provided services to approximately 10,000 women. Annually, Bottomless Closet serves nearly 1,000 women at the offices located at 6040 W. Lisbon Ave., Milwaukee.

Job Seekers, are you on Twitter yet? If not, check out these current stats:

• 73% of Executives find jobs through Social Networks.
• Twitter was rated the No. 3 Social Networking site by Bloomberg.
• Twitter has grown from 500,000 to over 19 million users in the last 9 months.

WOW.

With this in mind, have you explored Twitter for your career search? If not, do so now.

Keep in mind some basics when you sign up:

1. Keep your posts short – 140 characters.

2. Be relevant. Do not tweet about how you are still looking for a job, but rather what you can do for an employer; demonstrate your thought leadership.

3. Be current. This does not mean you have to tweet 20 times a day, it does mean to tweet with regularity.

4. Be on brand. What’s your career target? What is relevant to this target? Which companies do you wish to work for? What will they find interesting about you?

5. Be personal – but not TOO personal. I do not care that you are in the bathroom tweeting, drinking coffee, opening a door or other mundane activities. I also don’t want to know about your extreme political views, religion or super negative attitude. Think about it like this, are these statements relevant to your career, job search or current employment? Would your mom like to hear about these things? How about your boss? If you think they’d be in shock, don’t tweet the info. Do tweet: relevant info from a conference, an opinion on a hot topic, interesting RELEVANT hobbies, and so on.

Go ahead! Move forward and try it out. For more ideas on what to tweet, follow people you want to know more about. You can check out my tweets at: http://twitter.com/wendyterwelp.

By Nicole Williams, Works

Twitter, blogs, Facebook have made it easier than ever before to network with people who could help you gain valuable advice, insight and connections. But just because it’s easy to access people, doesn’t mean you should. Or at least it doesn’t mean you should just reach out without at least a nod to some good old fashioned etiquette rules of the pre 2.0 era.

Read on!

I am VERY pleased to share some good news reported by By Joel Dresang of the Journal Sentinel. In this Sunday’s Journal, Dresang highlighted some job search SUCCESS stories – including my pal Robert (Bob) Bachman (read Bob’s story here).

My blog readers may recall Bob – he’s The Likable Engineer who created this tag line using what he learned in my personal branding presentation. As he says in the Journal Sentinel story,  “You make your own luck. If you don’t work at it, you don’t get lucky.”

Thanks to Joel and Bob for spreading the good news!

PS: Common theme throughout the story? NETWORKING. Want more help on how to network like a rock star? Check out “Rock Your Network for Job Seekers.”

Just got this story in my in-box today, courtesy of JSOnline.com: On Milwaukee!

The Wall Street Journal reports that federal employees at some big agencies, including the Department of Agriculture, are being encouraged to host their meetings in what the newspaper called “buttoned-down places” like Milwaukee. »Read Full Blog Post

When: Thursday, July 9th from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (that’s only two days away!)
Where: Potawatomi Conference Center, 1721 W. Canal Street, Milwaukee, WI 53233
Register Here: www.MilwaukeeJobCamp.org

For Milwaukee area residents looking to overhaul, start, change or just improve their careers, Milwaukee JobCamp2 on Thursday, July 9th, at the Potawatomi Conference Center, will offer a wealth of opportunities for career networking and practical education about the job search.

JobCamp2 is a FREE EVENT and will include a day packed with workshops and discussions led by experts on self-branding (that’s me! 11 a.m. – Personal Branding: Stand Out; Get Hired Faster!), local employment outlook, networking, resume critique, social media, interviewing and much more. For job seekers, the cost of admission is a single non-perishable food item that will be donated to the Hunger Task Force.

Make your career outlook bigger, better and brighter in a fun, relaxed, informative and collaborative environment.

This week marked the death of three personal brands, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Ed McMahon.

What do you remember about each? Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” was one of the all-time chart-toppers and had a short resurgence from the movie, “13 Going on 30″ with Jennifer Garner. Farrah ranked No. 1 in TV Guide’s “TV’s All-Time Sexiest Women” – based on her “Charlie’s Angles” series and that 1976 swimsuit poster (12 million sold!). And Ed McMahon, the most famous “second banana” for his long-running role on the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.

What will people remember about you? What would you like them to remember?

When watching the tributes this week, it was sad to see McMahon’s final ending with financial troubles and Jackson’s varied image issues.

Overall though, what do you remember most? All three were big personal brands.

Coaching Challenge: Now, think about what you’d like people to remember most about your legacy. How would you like to be remembered? Make a list of your Top 10.

What action can you take right now to move toward your Top 10? Go for it!

Posted by Wendy Terwelp