The Dysfunctional "Functional" Resume

I received yet another executive resume for review today that for reasons that are completely a mystery to me was prepared using a functional format. The candidate is a highly experienced CFO with a solid work history showing increasingly challenging and responsible positions. His current resume falls so short of doing his career justice that I was shocked to learn that he had paid a professional resume writer to develop it.

As you may know, a functional resume allows you to highlight major accomplishments up front regardless of where in your work history they occurred, categorizes accomplishments from different positions, and eliminates repetitiveness in a work history consisting of very similar positions. It also permits de-emphasizing current or recent positions not related to your career objective, frequent job changes or gaps, or apparent demotions in responsibility. These last characteristics of the functional resume are, of course, the very reason that employers and recruiters almost universally do not like them!

Generally I recommend preparing a chronological resume unless there is an extremely compelling reason to do otherwise. If a functional format is used, you will want at the very least to include a brief employment chronology after your functional presentation of experience and accomplishments.

There is another option which allows you to have the best of both worlds: the combination or hybrid style resume. In this style, you create a powerful profile or overview section which states up front your skills, knowledge, and capabilities in such a way that you make a "business case" for why an employer should consider hiring you. It can also be very effective to highlight a small handful of accomplishments you are particularly proud of and which exemplify the potential value you bring to the table. Then your work history backs up the claims made in the opening section of the resume, providing specific examples of when, where, and how you have applied your skills, knowledge, and capabilities to benefit your employers.

Check out this article that provides further reasons from the recruiter/hiring manager's side of the table for why you really want to avoid a functional resume if at all possible:

http://www.fistfuloftalent.com/2010/01/in-memoriam-obituary-of-the-dys-functional-resume.html

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What is YOUR Perfect Job?

In a job market where it can be hard to keep a positive attitude, a little detour to the lighter side is good for the soul. It can bring a some much-needed cheer to your day and give you renewed enthusiasm for your job search.

So I couldn't resist passing along this clever list that an executive client forwarded to me today. (Whoever wrote this enjoys working creatively with words as much as I do.)

My readers can expect amusing job search and career-related anecdotes and jokes periodically from now on.


MY JOB HUNT

1. My first job was working in an Orange Juice factory, but I got canned. Couldn't concentrate.

2. Then I worked in the woods as a Lumberjack, but just couldn't hack it, so they gave me the axe.

3. After that, I tried being a Tailor, but wasn't suited for it -- mainly because it was a sew-sew job.

4. Next, I tried working in a Muffler Factory, but that was too exhausting.

5. Then, tried being a Chef - figured it would add a little spice to my life, but just didn't have the thyme.

6. Next, I attempted being a Deli Worker, but any way I sliced it...couldn't cut the mustard.

7. My best job was a Musician, but eventually found I wasn't noteworthy.

8. I studied a long time to become a Doctor, but didn't have any patience.

9. Next, was a job in a Shoe Factory. Tried hard but just didn't fit in.

10. I became a Professional Fisherman, but discovered I couldn't live on my net income.

11. Managed to get a good job working for a Pool Maintenance Company, but the work was just too draining

12. So then I got a job in a Workout Center, but they said I wasn't fit for the job.

13. After many years of trying to find steady work, I finally got a job as an Historian - until I realized there was no future in it.

14. My last job was working in Starbucks, but had to quit because it was the same old grind.

15. SO, I TRIED Retirement AND FOUND I'M PERFECT FOR THE JOB



(This was one of those anonymous "viral" e-mails. If anyone can identify the author, I'll be happy to provide appropriate credit.)


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First Interviewee/Last Interviewee - Who Has the Advantage?

An interesting discussion has been underway among members of the Career Management Alliance's e-list/forum this week. The question surrounds whether, given the chance to choose, one is better off scheduling a job interview at the beginning, middle, or end of the screening process.

One member who is a former recruiter observes that the first and sometimes the second candidate interviewed rarely receives an offer. He suggests to his clients that they want to be at least third or fourth in the interview order to maximize their chances.

It is also a consideration that many times hiring managers will modify the position specifications as the interviewing process progresses. This is because they are better able to crystallize the company's needs based on what is learned through conducting several interviews. This, of course, places the early interviewee at a competitive disadvantage.

Another factor is that the competition is so high in today's job market that it is extremely difficult to get hiring managers to make a decision. The prevailing attitude seems to be that they have the luxury of reviewing numerous candidates until they find the "perfect" match. So eliciting an offer if you interview early in a slate of potential candidates can be tough.

Then again, there is some logic to what another member recalls a professor/mentor telling her: If yours is the best candidacy and fit, and you eclipse everyone else in your interview, the order will not matter.

The overwhelming consensus seems to be that your odds improve if you interview last or near last among your competitors. This dovetails with what I have advised my clients who were wondering if it was worthwhile to submit their executive resume for a position well into the candidate screening process. The company may well have worked its way through a collection of disappointing or "not quite right" candidates, and maybe even re-thought their position requirements based on interviews to date. Then along comes the answer to their prayers--YOU!

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Out of Work? Chin Up! All It Takes is One 'Yes'

I find my work helping clients put their best foot forward with compelling executive resumes very rewarding in general, but it can also be distressing to see people suffering from the stressful, confidence-crashing effects of job loss, especially when unemployment has continued for an extended period. This is why Nick Corcodilos' Ask the Headhunter column this morning especially struck a chord.

He encourages us, especially in this holiday season, to reach out to someone we know who is distressed, feeling alone or depressed due to the trials of unemployment in today's economic climate. He relates the tragic story of his correspondence with a woman whose husband had been long-term unemployed and was sinking ever deeper into despair and seemingly paralyzed to continue his job search. One day he walked out and disappeared, to be found weeks later on a mountain trail--an apparent suicide.

As Nick reminds us in his article, though the job market circumstances are bad, this is no reflection on your worth--you are still good at your work. This down economy can produce successes, too--with perseverance. "You will hear 'No' a thousand times. You need just one 'Yes,' but you also need the perseverance to get to it."

In this season in which we remember and are thankful for the unparalleled gift mankind received a little over 2000 years ago, give a friend or neighbor who is unemployed your gift of love in the form of encouragement. Help them to remember that there are other blessings in their lives such as their loved ones, and that this time of trial will pass.

P.S. You can view Nick's full article at: http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/newsletter/OE20091222.htm

Are Cover Letters Obsolete?

As a member of the Career Thought Leaders Consortium, I have been following and participating in an ongoing discussion of the obsolescence or continuing relevance of cover letters. The overwhelming consensus has been that they are necessary and in no way obsolete, and to pay no attention to career counselors who say they are not worth the bother because HR doesn't read them. Of course, if you are properly pursuing your executive job search, your primary contact is not HR anyway, but that is a topic for another post.

One colleague indicated that she had recently conducted an informal survey of hiring managers regarding this question and received an overwhelming response of ABSOLUTELY YES! Do include a cover letter. Many of these hiring managers indicated that an effective cover letter can make the difference in whether a candidate is called in for an interview, particularly at executive level.

I wonder why anyone would NOT want to include a cover letter! Firstly, it is simply business courtesy to introduce yourself when you make a new business contact, as you are doing when you send your resume in application for a position. Secondly, the cover letter can be used to express things that do not lend themselves well to or may even be inappropriate for inclusion in the resume itself. Thirdly, it gives you an opportunity to reinforce the business case made in the resume. Fourthly, along with some possible tweaking to the executive resume, sending a cover letter allows you to effectively customize your presentation to the particular audience and opportunity.

So, when I am asked by my executive clients whether a cover letter is needed, my answer is always an emphatic "Yes!" The worst that can happen if you include one is that the recipient skims it or even tosses it. The worst that can happen if you do not include one is that your recipient is like me--I would be completely put off by someone who lacked the business courtesy to tell me why they were sending me their resume! One of my pet peeves and something that always gives me an initial poor impression of a potential executive resume client is to receive their resume in an e-mail, with no message and sometimes even without a subject line!

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The Purpose and Value of an Executive Resume

A recent article in the PARWCC (Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches) monthly newsletter discussed the definition of a resume, and some of the key benefits of creating a powerful one in today's job market. My colleague, Jay Block, put forth some excellent observations in that article, to which I have added my thoughts.

Firstly, what exactly IS an executive resume? As I constantly tell my clients and prospective clients, your resume is a self-marketing tool. It is designed to effectively communicate to potential employers or recruiters your proven ability to deliver substantial business results and meet performance targets, and do both of these things in a manner that surpasses the ability of your competitors in the job market.

As the article's author points out, there are 5 major benefits to be gained by putting together a powerful resume:

1) Market Value Communication
An effective executive resume is not a career obituary. Rather, it communicates your potential VALUE to prospective employers, your ability to deliver bottom line results superior to what other qualified candidates can deliver.

2) Market Differentiation
A powerful resume differentiates you from your competition in terms of skills, qualifications, and other "assets" that set you apart from the pack. A differential factor that can tip the hiring scale in your favor might be an industry-wide reputation, a high-level certification or degree, etc.

3) Confidence Building
Seeing your market value "pop" on your resume is a tremendous confidence builder, enhancing your ability to promote yourself, keep a positive attitude throughout your employment search, and proudly submit your resume.

4) Opening Doors
An executive resume with what I like to call "sizzle" can open doors by trumpeting your value in a manner that brings it to the top of the pile, versus the typical bland, cookie-cutter document that blends in with the hundreds of other resumes received.

5) More Effective Interviewing
The executive resume preparation process actually does double duty: It delivers a powerful presentation of your value on paper, and prepares you well to shine in the interview. By examining and articulating your value proposition for the resume, you are also equipping yourself to communicate your value more effectively in the interview and win the job offer.

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Recruiters and Job Boards: Are They Worth an Executive's Time?

I had yet another client ask me this question today. Here are my thoughts:

Regarding the efficacy of contacting recruiters or using recruiter sites and job boards in general, I do not think these activities are a waste of time and would not recommend them if I did. I can think of no more efficient way of getting yourself “on the radar” of a large number of recruiters and companies. However, I must point out that realistically, only a relatively small proportion of positions are found through recruiters OR job boards, with personal and professional networking accounting for 60 to 70% of hires.

This is why I encourage my clients to access either or both of these resources, but to do it in the most efficient way possible. Send your executive resume to a select, targeted group of recruiters. Upload your executive resume to executive-appropriate job sites. Set up automated job posting notifications to be sent to your e-mail inbox. Then you are free to devote the majority of your time to two activities:

a) Leverage and build your network by interacting with your personal contacts, participating in professional organizations, utilizing LinkedIn and other online networking resources (and establishing yourself as an expert there by asking and responding to questions), and perhaps joining executive networking organizations such as ExecuNet or Netshare.

b) Research companies that interest you and work to get your foot in the door by finding contacts who either work within those companies or know someone who works within those companies. You then initiate contact via online networking resources, phone or e-mail, or mailing them a customized letter expressing interest in their organization. (This works best if you can identify areas that may be of concern to them and offer your thoughts on suggested ways to address them, establishing yourself as an expert offering valuable advice.)

So although a relatively small proportion of positions are found through job sites and recruiters, positions ARE found through them every day. Why leave a possible source of job leads out of your strategy? However, take care that you do not find yourself devoting a large portion of your time to this. Get out there and network!

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Executives Plan to Delay Retirement

According to a Society for Human Resource Management report, The U.S. Recession and Its Impact on Employee Retirement, 68% of human resource professionals have observed an increase in employees extending their planned retirement date due to the current economic conditions. This agrees with ExecuNet observations from their research, indicating that executives as of 2008 planned to retire at an average age of 76.9 (if health allows them to work that long, and finances allow for retirement even then). This is in contrast to 2006, when the average targeted age was 65.8.


Combining the above statistics with the fact that executive tenure in each job has been shrinking to as little as 1.5-2 years, an executive at 50 could easily have another 25 years of career left (nearly as much as he or she has accumulated thus far) and multiple remaining job changes.


I write executive resumes every day for clients who come to me at age 50 or 55 with the attitude that this next career move will probably be their last, and many express fears even at age 45 that they are losing their luster as a candidate due to age. The mindset that you are over the hill as far as your appeal in the job market at age 50 to 55 obviously needs to change. Continue to polish your skills and increase your knowledge, and shine up that executive resume for an extended stay in the world of work--and possibly several more challenging job experiences at different companies!

Tips for Executives Looking to Serve on Boards

A new book by Jim Brown entitled The Imperfect Board Member is getting raves from a variety of reviewers, including Ken Blanchard (co-author of the classic, The One-Minute Manager). The book talks about the principles of effective governance in our current business environment, where Sarbanes-Oxley has made it necessary for boards to become more active. Brown describes 7 keys to effective boardroom leadership:

DIRECT the organization in the best interests of its owners
PROTECT the interests of the organization's owners
RESPECT the owners by listening, communicating, and understanding their interests
REFLECT on the organization's performance
SELECT talented people to lead the organization as Officers and Directors
EXPECT top performance from each director
INSPECT the CEO's performance

Many of my executive resume clients serve on boards as part of their employment. (As an executive still actively engaged in corporate employment, serving on boards can add greatly to your reputation and credibility, and enrich your experience.) Others have retired from active employment and seek to occupy their time with board service.

For executives in either of these categories, I recommend taking a look at this book, since it appears it would be helpful in your quest to be a highly effective, productive, and sought-after board member. I checked on Amazon.com, and they do carry it, at an excellent price.

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CEOs: VC-backed Tech Firm Sector on Road to Recovery

Business Week's CEO Guide to the Tech-Job Outlook raises hopes for an industry turnaround by 2010, with senior executives reporting that hiring at small, VC-funded firms is increasing.

According to the article, these are the 10 best and 10 worst cities for salaries in the Tech Sector (averaged across at least 15 reports from each company surveyed).

BEST CITIES: (1 being the highest average salary)
1 San Jose
2 San Francisco
3 Seattle
4 San Diego
5 New York City
6 Washington, DC
7 Boston
8 Raleigh
9 Los Angeles
10 Austin

WORST CITIES: (1 being the lowest average salary)
1 Kansas City
2 Cleveland
3 Pittsburgh
4 Madison (WI)
5 Orlando
6 St. Louis
7 Columbus
8 Cincinnati
9 Minneapolis
10 Philadelphia

This has been the worst tech sector recession since the dot.com bubble burst. Among the first fields to begin job recovery are cloud computing, computer security, business analytics, and IT services for government and health care. CEOs indicate that they are gradually and carefully lifting hiring freezes in an effort to bring in the best-of-the-best employees before the economy recovers and the competition for talent heats up.

A piece of good news is that after elimination of more than 118,000 tech jobs in the first half of 2009 (the highest number in 7 years), "two-thirds of senior technology executives recently surveyed by audit, tax, and advisory firm KPMG said they thought their industry would fully recover from the current economic crisis ahead of the overall U.S. economy."

After a long and dismal dry spell, this may be the time for technology executives to polish up their executive resumes and begin testing the waters.

Read the full article at: http://tinyurl.com/lsm5kr. You can also view a slide show with details about Glassdoor's salary survey of more than 28,000 companies.

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Should an Executive Write His or Her Own Resume?

I wrote the following as part of a Career Thought Leaders Consortium discussion that is ongoing regarding "Can You/Must You Write Your Own Resume." Hopefully my observations will provide some perspective on the subject for any of you wrestling with whether to write your own executive resume or delegate that process to a professional.


Consider the scenario of a brilliant inventor who has developed a fantastic, groundbreaking product that will change the world as we know it. He is also a savvy businessman, and has built a top-notch team around him to ensure efficient and timely production and delivery of the product, unparalleled customer service, and strong financial management. However, despite the fact he has no specialized marketing training or aptitude for writing marketing copy, he decides to develop all the marketing literature himself. He figures he knows best the features and advantages of his product and the difference it can make to those who buy it, and wants to pinch a few pennies. The marketing initiative falls completely flat, no one buys the product, and the company fails.

This situation is closely analogous to that of a high-caliber job candidate who thinks or has been told that "You can and must write your own resume." Even a casual observer could tell you that the man with the groundbreaking product in the above scenario was a fool to represent himself and his product to the market, and that he was "penny-wise and pound foolish." Anyone who has reached management or executive level knows that to be effective you must identify experts in key areas and delegate responsibility to them. Certainly a wise executive provides input and remains involved with the various functional areas of the organization, but does not personally execute.

A quality marketing department would have worked extensively gathering market intelligence and input from all departments regarding this man's groundbreaking product, ensuring production of powerful and compelling marketing copy. Any reputable and truly professional resume writer will work in a similar fashion, involving a client substantially in the information-gathering process and drawing out those aspects of his or her experience, education, management style, and achievements that distinguish this "product" from the competition. The candidate has engaged in extensive introspection and reflection regarding his or her past experiences and potential value in the marketplace, while at the same time ensuring that those things learned are reflected powerfully and articulately on paper.

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Should I Be Using Twitter in My Executive Job Search?

If you're not a "Tweeple" yet (someone who posts "tweets" on Twitter.com), you may wish consider becoming one. As you probably know, Twitter is one of the many social networking tools available online today (examples of other major sites that are relevant for executive job search are LinkedIn and Facebook).

Twitter was designed initially for personal socializing and a stream-of-consciousness type of communication based on the question "What are you doing?" However, it has quickly evolved far beyond that to become a place where professionals and business people "tweet" advice, opinions, and links to resources they have found on the web. Don't expect to post your executive resume there; you will need to show just how succinct you can be by posting a profile that is limited to just 160 characters. That's right, 160 CHARACTERS, not WORDS. And your posts will be even shorter--a maximum of 140 characters.

A major use for Twitter that has emerged is in job search. As a member, you will be able to "follow" numerous people who post valuable advice, including executive resume writers, coaches, and other careers professionals, recruiters, and other job seekers. There is even a Twitter job board.

Since recruiters DO search Twitter for potential candidates, an emerging Twitter job search strategy is to "pitch" yourself with a brief description of the skills you bring to the table and the kind of job you are seeking, to which you add what are called "hash tags" that will ensure your post is read by all who monitor or search those hash tags. Examples of hash tags are "#jobangels" (you'll get responses from this organization with advice, job leads, etc.), and #jobseeker, #ITjobs, #jobs, #careers, etc.

When using this strategy, be sure that your post is specific (not just "Help me! I need a job!), and that you spell out the important keywords and phrases in your post to ensure they are found in a search (e.g., "business development" instead of "bus.dev."). Here's one I found with a quick search on #jobseeker:

"Business Systems Analyst in Central FL (Orlando Area) w/10 yrs of IT, requirements, process & svc delivery exp. #jobangels #job #jobseeker"

As you build your "following" and "followers" lists, it can become a bit unwieldy to monitor them with the basic Twitter interface. Many have found it helpful to use third party apps such as Tweetdeck to make the process more efficient and manageable.

To fully leverage the advantages of social networking sites, work to drive connections among them. When you post to Twitter, occasionally include a link to your most recent blog entry (You DO have a blog, don't you?), work in a link to your LinkedIn profile or website, or to articles you may have published or that have mentioned you on the Web.

At this point in time, it seems that Twitter may be most effective as a direct job search tool for entry level to mid-management candidates. However, by creating a name for yourself as a subject matter expert with a substantial following, the indirect benefits to your executive career and job search could be substantial. I encourage you to join Twitter and see what it's all about. You can follow me at LSmithResumePro.

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Costly Executive Job Search Mistakes

A survey conducted recently for The Ladders job site of 500 executive recruiters reveals what recruiters consider to be the three greatest mistakes made by job seekers in these tough economic times:

1. They are too desperate and willing to take anything.
(Even if you feel desperate, make sure others cannot see it! And think twice before you take a job that does not seem right for you.)

2. They are poorly prepared for the interview.
(No excuse for this one! See my previous post: http://www.executive-resumes.com/2009/08/do-your-homework-before-that-executive.html

3. They provide a weak resume.
(Your executive resume is your ambassador--it represents you on paper. It must effectively make a business case for hiring you and vividly portray and exude your distinctive brand from start to finish!)

Avoid these costly mistakes to avoid sabotaging your executive job search. And if you want a shorter, more successful search, incorporate a well-thought-out search strategy that includes extensive networking among colleagues, former bosses and clients, and recruiters.

Do Your Homework Before that Executive Job Interview!

Consider the following executive interview disaster scenario:

Jack submitted his carefully crafted executive resume as a candidate for his dream position and, to his delight, won an interview.

Sitting in the hiring executive's office, he is congratulating himself that this job interview has been going really well, and observes to the hiring manager on the other side of the desk: "I don't know what products your company makes or what markets it serves, but with my 15 years of award-winning sales and marketing management performance I'm positive that I can dramatically boost your revenues and profit margin."

Suddenly the air in the room seems to chill and Jack is baffled. From here on things go downhill. Jack is soon dismissed with a rather perfunctory "Don't call us, we'll call you."

What went wrong here?

Jack has made a cardinal job search mistake. He did not prepare for the interview by learning everything he reasonably could about the company, its industry, vision, products, markets, customers, issues and challenges, financial health, etc. Displaying this lack of knowledge to the interviewer, he was immediately eliminated from consideration. "After all," the interviewer thinks, "If he has that little interest in us, why should we be interested in him?"

Jack has committed a major faux pas and offended the potential employer. He has also put himself at a disadvantage in terms of his ability to sell his skills and the bottom line benefit he might bring to the company. He was totally unequipped to paint a picture of how what he has to offer is specifically matched to that company's needs.

Looking at this from another angle, why would Jack have interviewed with a company that he knew almost nothing about in the first place? None of us would make a major consumer purchase without researching different brands and their features and benefits. Choosing an employer is much more important than buying a car or refrigerator! The employer/employee relationship is a critical one in Jack's life: His current livelihood and future earnings, success, personal satisfaction, and ultimate career path will be greatly affected by the job choices he makes along the way. How does he know that this company is right for him if he hasn't taken the time to learn all he can about it?

How to Avoid the Disappointment Jack Experienced

We all shudder at what happened to Jack . It vividly illustrates the importance of gathering considerable knowledge about companies before interviewing with them. Yet one might wonder, "How can I best gather this information and avoid a scenario like the one above?"

The short answer is: Do your homework. Below you will find a sampling of the easiest and fastest ways to find the information needed to both evaluate a company's fit with your career needs and prepare yourself to ace that interview.

Leverage the Power of Search Engines

With the power of today's Internet search engines you have literally at your fingertips just about everything you could possibly want to know about any company you are considering.

Submit queries about the company to all three major search engines-Google, MSN, and Yahoo. Each will come up with different results to help you round out your picture. Though I would not categorize it strictly as a search engine, About.com can also be a great primary resource for research sites. Type in the phrase "Company Research" in the search box and you'll get over 9,600 results. "Company Information" brings up over 31,000.

A primary resource you will be looking for is of course the company's own commercial website. Plan to spend significant time reviewing it thoroughly, but don't stop there. Look at articles where the company has been mentioned and blog entries where it is discussed. (This is often a good way to learn less favorable facts about the company's dealings with its employees and also to gain insights into its corporate culture.) Review summaries about the company contained on the websites of Wall Street analysts, business periodicals, etc. Read analyses of their industries and markets to gain a perspective of the company's current and emerging challenges and opportunities.

* Access Web-Based Clearinghouses of Company Information

There are quite a variety of these sites, some free, some at fairly nominal cost, and others involving a hefty fee. You will find many by querying any search engine with phrases like "company information," "company profiles," etc. Here are a few of my favorites:

Hoovers has long been known as an excellent source for extensive company information, but be aware that a very limited portion of the information there is free.

Corporate Information provides free snapshot reports on all companies, and expanded information for a fee.

Vault provides basic company information for free, and expanded information with membership. The site also spotlights employers, features employee surveys, and provides ranking lists.

Forbes provides a variety of lists such as the 400 Best Big Companies, 200 Best Small Companies, Fastest-Growing Techs, Largest Private Companies, Global High Performers, and others.

Fortune/CNN similarly provides lists of the Fortune 500, Global 500, Best Companies to Work For, etc., with reports on them as well a s links to News, Analyses, Blogs, and Press Releases about them.

The Inc. 500 lists and briefly describes the nation's fastest-growing privately held companies.

Wetfeet supplies basic company profiles covering company history, business, profitability, and jobs, and offers expanded profiles with a subscription.

AnnualReports offers free and easy access to companies' annual reports.

* Use Your Library Card

Nowadays many larger library systems allow card holders remote access via the Internet, or you can find information the old -fashioned way by visiting the library in person and enlisting the assistance of the usually amazingly helpf ul research librarian.

Valuable resources to be found in the library include databases of periodical articles such as Onefile and Proquest, Standard and Poor's Industry Surveys, Mergent's company overviews, and a variety of business directories.

The New York Public Library has kindly published an online, printable guide to searching for company information that is available either in print or on the Web. You can access a copy at the NYPL website.

* Talk With People In The Know

Ask your family, friends, and acquaintances if they know anyone who works at the company. If you are lucky enough to identify one or more such treasure troves of information, interview them thoroughly to get an insider's perspective.

* Use Social Networking Sites to Learn About the Company

In the process of leveraging all of the above techniques, you will identify names of people who work for the company. With this information in hand, search for them on social networking sites such as ZoomInfo and LinkedIn, and read their profiles carefully. You will likely find there links to articles by or about them, their personal or business blogs, etc. You may even be able to strike up an acquaintance with one or more employees through such sites. Wouldn't it be great to arrive at the interview able to drop the names of a few people in the company?

Don't Be Like Jack

The bottom line is that it is so easy nowadays to find a wealth of information about a company you are considering or one that you are scheduled to interview with that there is just no good excuse not to do so! Shame on the candidate who shows up at the interview without substantial knowledge about the company whose representative is sitting on the other side of the desk!





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What is the Best Executive Resume Style?

This is one of the most contentious topics regarding resume writing (second only to the "How many pages?" question). I have received an unusual number of inquiries lately regarding the pros and cons of chronological versus functional executive resumes, so I have updated and reprinted one of my previously published articles here.



How Recruiters and Hiring Executives View Functional and Chronological Executive Resumes

• Human Resource professionals and recruiters generally do not like functional resumes, are suspicious of them, and do not have the time or patience to ferret out your qualifications.
• Chronological resumes are the most commonly used and generally accepted style.
• Functional resumes tend to raise a red flag: This individual may be trying to hide career gaps, age, or job hopping.

Features, Uses, and Advantages of Chronological and Functional Executive Resumes

• A chronological resume highlights progressive advancement in responsibility, provides a clear picture of employment history, and enables you to tie your responsibilities and accomplishments together in a logical fashion that makes hiring authorities most comfortable.
• A functional resume allows you to highlight major accomplishments up front regardless of where in your work history they occurred, categorizes accomplishments from different positions, and eliminates repetitiveness in a work history consisting of very similar positions. It also permits de-emphasizing current or recent positions not related to your career objective, frequent job changes or gaps, or apparent demotions in responsibility.
  
  (These last characteristics of the functional resume are, of course, the very reason that employers and recruiters generally do not like them!)

Conclusions

It is my view that it is not to your advantage to use a functional resume unless there is a compelling reason to do so. Between the two choices, a chronological resume would be the preferred style, but I generally recommend a third option which gives you the best of both worlds: a hybrid or combination resume.

The hybrid or combination executive resume starts out with a profile or summary section that gives the reader a succinct overview of the skills and experience you bring to the table, and highlights a few examples of noteworthy accomplishments that are demonstrative of the results you can potentially deliver to the prospective employer's organization.

It's all about making a "business case" up front for your value as a potential hire. However, beware of getting carried away with this opening section and losing your reader. You want it to be readily scanned in a very short period of time, and it should not comprise more than 1/3 to 1/2 of the first page of your resume.



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Executive Job Market Trends

Most executive search firms report that they have experienced a double-digit decline in search assignments during the first half of 2009 in comparison to the same period for 2008. According to a recent ExecuNet poll cited in their RecruitSmart Today newsletter, more than 33% say that they received 50% fewer assignments during the first 2 quarters, with the average dip being 27.4%.

On the other hand, demand appears to be increasing for CEOs, executives, and board of directors members with one important qualification: They can skillfully balance risk management while meeting revenue targets. If you can integrate the latest techniques and standards in risk management and deliver sales and growth at the same time, your talent is sought at a high premium. The need for executives and directors with financial acumen is also high. Recruitment of directors is expected to accelerate as the end of 2009 approaches, so that new board members are in place for annual meetings as 2010 opens.

Ironically, with the possibility of government and court intervention in executive employment contracts, the performance-based compensation contracts that are most common to those executives responsible for P&L or revenue generation are most in the crosshairs. Search firm Michael D. Zinn & Associates recently polled executives and found, not surprisingly, that twice as many who held responsibility in these areas were opposed to government involvement, and thus reluctant to change employers based on the concern their compensation agreements could be changed after the fact.

What does this mean for you when writing your executive resume or interviewing for a position? Be sure to emphasize any expertise and experience you have in risk management, driving sales and revenue growth, and financial control.





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Executives' Top 5 Career Search Tactics

A recent article in myResumeAgent's e-newsletter for job seekers explores the tactics used by today's executives in conducting a job search during the current steep global recession. Lauryn Franzoni of ExecuNet quotes statistics from ExecuNet's 2009 Executive Job Market Intelligence Report indicating that 71% of executives have updated their online networking profiles in the last 3 months, versus 60% who have updated their resume.

However, when asked about the most effective strategies, uploading resumes to online databases and maintaining online profiles trailed networking activities by a wide margin:

1. Networking (70%)
2. Responding to online job postings (14%)
3. Posting resume in online database (5%)
4. Maintaining an online profile (4%)
5. Researching target companies/cold calling (3%)

Ms. Franzoni wisely points out: "While it is clearly important to establish a positive Internet presence in this Digital Age, relying solely on an online profile to build mutual trust--a critical component in developing and maintaining an effective network online and off--is not a productive strategy. To be effective, online networking should be focused, targeted and coupled with in-person interactions designed to strengthen the connections with new and existing contacts."

Social networking sites offer a tremendous opportunity to showcase your accomplishments and expertise, build credibility, and to store and track your contacts. However, don't forget that it's still all about building and maintaining personal and professional relationships. Don't let "high tech" replace "high touch"!

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A Little Perspective Helps When Life Throws You a Punch

I've seen this story in a number of variations over the years, and it always helps to bring me some perspective when times are tough. Running across it again in the PARW Spotlight (one of my executive resume writing professional association newsletters) this morning, it really struck a chord as I witness my executive clients and potential clients in distress every day with the realities of the economy and job market. So, I reprint this story for you:

The Mayonnaise Jar and the Beers

Students began to file into the classroom. A physics professor stood before his class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, without saying a word, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He held up the mayonnaise jar filled to the top with golf balls and asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He then shook the jar lightly and the pebbles rolled into the open spaces between the golf balls. He once again asked the students if the jar was full. Tentatively, they agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else and he again asked if the jar was full. This time the students responded with a unanimous “yes.”

The professor then, unexpectedly, produced two cans of beer from under the lectern and poured the entire contents into the jar - effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. “Now,” said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - your faith, your family, your children, your health, your friends and your dreams… things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

“The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else - the small stuff. You see, if you were to put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there would be no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are most important to you.

“So my message today is this: Identify and focus on the golf balls of your life – those few things that are most important to you; those few things that truly make you happy. Play with your children and don’t take their good health for granted. In fact, take time to get medical checkups and don’t neglect your own health. Take your partner out to dinner, snuggle, take a walk and hold hands. Don’t take for granted those things you actually take for granted – like your eyesight, your hearing and the fact that you can walk. Use these gifts of appreciation – the golf balls – to address and overcome life’s other adversities – the pebbles. Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter. Set your priorities. Then with your values and priorities firmly established, you will better be able to address the challenges you have with the pebbles.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem or what adversities you might face - there’s always room for a couple of beers.”

Maybe Obama was thinking of this story when he scheduled his "Beer Summit"? Who knows? But you'll be happier and reduce the stress of hard economic times and an uncertain employment future if you focus first on the golf balls. Then sit down with your family and discuss how to best handle the pebbles. Develop a plan to manage your finances (or what's left of them) in this economy. Next, if a new job is required, get together a knock 'em dead executive resume and search strategy and launch your campaign with the confidence and peace of mind that having the golf balls in place will give you.

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Where the Executive Jobs Are

A recent ExecuNet poll of executive recruiters and search consultants reveals that they believe healthcare and green technology will be the industry sectors with the highest growth in executive and management jobs over the next six months. Other fields that are expected to afford significant opportunities are the life sciences, energy, and environmental. Hiring in retail, distribution, media, advertising, publishing, and entertainment is expected to be slow.

For more details, see ExecuNet's RecruitSmart newsletter.

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Should You List Your Street Address on Your Executive Resume?

An interesting topic has been under discussion on the NRWA's professional resume writers forum this week: Is it advisable to list or to exclude your street address on a resume, particularly one that is going to be posted to the Web on job or recruiter sites?

With the increasing incidence of identity theft nowadays, omitting at least part of your contact information would seem to be a wise move. Since e-mail and telephone are going to be the route taken by most recruiters or hiring executives to initiate contact with you, the street address becomes the obvious candidate for omission.

If you provide your city and state, or perhaps city, state, and zip, that should be sufficient to indicate your general geographic location. Some opt to omit only the actual street or box number, and still include the street name. It would seem that the danger of identity theft would increase as the level of detail given increases, so omitting even a small portion of the information is preferable to publishing all of your contact information in full for anyone to see.

One of my colleagues pointed out that if you include your full street address, an employer can look it up and find out the value of your home through zillow.com or the local tax assessor. They'll know when you bought your home, the annual taxes on it, and whether it's for sale. This info could easily be used in determining the amount of any salary offer to be made.

I see more and more resumes every day that list only city and state in an effort to safeguard privacy. Some list either a cell number or an e-mail address, but not both. However, I have also seen a fair number of executive resumes that include neither an e-mail address nor a phone number. This is not a wise move! Even if your resume is going to be circulated in an extremely limited fashion, at least some contact information is necessary in order for someone to interact easily with you regarding an opportunity.

To protect your privacy and avoid the annoyance of spam e-mail, you can obtain a special e-mail address that is exclusively for your job search from one of several free Internet providers (e.g., gmail, ymail, hotmail). You can also forward all e-mails to your primary address, avoiding the inconvenience of checking multiple e-mail accounts several times daily. (Speaking of e-mail addresses: Be sure your e-mail address is dignified, not frivolous, vulgar, or silly! Also that it does not indicate your political views or a non-traditional lifestyle!)

I do routinely recommend that work phone numbers be excluded from the resume, due to privacy considerations and the fact that including them can be considered poor business etiquette by both your current employer (risking your job!) and potential employers. Privacy considerations and the fact that you do not want your 3-year-old taking important job search messages also make it a good practice not to use your home phone number in your employment search materials.

This leaves your cell phone number. If you are greatly concerned about telemarketing calls on your cell, you could set up a separate cell phone number for your search. However, the question then arises of when or if to disconnect this number, since resumes often remain on file with recruiters and corporations for months or years.

The level of interest in this topic has been high. One member did note that she had asked the chief HR officer for a very large company about it, and he responded that they do like to know the candidate's city, state, and zip, but do not care at all about the street address. A survey of employers' views on the subject is contemplated in the near future. Once that is completed, I'll post a summary of the results here.

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Executive Job Interview Landmines

I've been reading a series of articles based on research a colleague Katherine Hansen has been conducting with great interest. The data she gathered regarding executive interview peeves of hiring decision-makers for her upcoming book Top Notch Executive Interviews is fascinating, and I am sure the book will be an excellent resource for executive job candidates.

I find it particularly amazing that anyone would actually DO pet peeve #11: "Candidate trashes former employers." Finger pointing, playing the victim, expressing anger or dislike of your previous employer -- no matter how justified -- is obviously going to be an immediate turnoff in an executive job interview! One would think that this is not rocket science, but it is apparently something of which even some very accomplished and seasoned executives seem to be unaware.

Among other turnoffs cited were lack of enthusiasm, a weak handshake, reeking of cigarettes, scripted responses that sound like they came from a book, and failure to provide good examples of skills and experience. One that is particularly disastrous for any executive candidate is inadequate knowledge of the prospective employer's history, mission, business practices, and industry challenges.

I'll be watching for the book to come out in October.

Don't Date Yourself by Using Two Spaces after a Period in Your Resume!

I received the following question from an executive resume client today:

"I notice the spacing after a period is one space...is that standard for resumes?"

The answer to this question is an emphatic "Yes!" A single space after a period is standard in resumes, as well as most other documents today.

Most typeset text, both before and after the typewriter, used a single space at the end of sentences. The only reason that two spaces were used after a period during the 'typewriter' age was because typewriters originally had monospaced fonts. (With monospaced typefaces, every character takes up the same amount of space on the page. ‘M’ uses the same amount of space as ‘I’.) It was a readability issue--the extra space was needed for the eye to pick up on the beginning of a new sentence.

The current typographic standard for a single space after the period is a reflection of the power of proportionally spaced fonts, which even typewriters (what few there are left) have nowadays. Not only is the need for an extra space negated w/proportional space type, using two spaces creates 'holes' in the middle of a block of text that invariably annoy graphic designers, typographers, and publishers. The extra spacing makes the body text both unattractive as a visual element and distracting to read.

For those of us (including me) who learned to type on a monospaced typewriter, spacing twice after a period was a hard habit to break! But be sure you do, because this seemingly small thing will date you, give the impression that you are not someone who keeps up with the times, and detract from the appearance of your carefully crafted executive resume!

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Still Not on the Social Media Bandwagon? Could Be a Big Mistake!

Up to now, I've frankly been exerting a somewhat half-hearted effort to use LinkedIn, and only just in the past week started to explore the potential of Facebook and Twitter. I intend to change that, and after what I've heard today, would encourage executives, professionals, and managers who want to proactively manage their careers to do the same.

For some highlights from a seminar I attended today exploring how you can leverage social media effectively in managing your career, see my post over at CareerHub.

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Video Resumes Not a Great Idea - Part Deux

As a followup to my recent post on video resumes, some information I just received today confirmed my growing conviction that they are an idea whose time has not yet come, and maybe never will.

A colleague and Certification Chair at the National Resume Writers Association Cliff Framer noted in his article in today's newsletter entitled "Video Resumes. Yea or Nay?" that when this question was recently asked on LinkedIn, the response was unanimous. Recruiters and HR respondents without exception replied with answers that could be summarized as "no way in Web 2.0 h**ell!" Issues noted included some of those I noted in my previous blog post, including slowness of viewing time, vulnerability to discrimination or the appearance thereof, and storage difficulties.

Then Cliff made another observation that I consider astute: Perhaps the biggest problem with this idea is that video resumes force the reader into a passive role, forcing information down the viewer's throat rather than allowing them to do what recruiters typically do--scan the resume quickly to find needed information and read between the lines. All the flashy thingies and interactive features that technies can come up with in a video or multimedia resume will never replace articulate and succinct expression of your value as a job candidate in a printable executive resume.

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Network, Network, Network to Uncover Job Opportunities!!

Nearly 40% of all positions filled within a company result from internal transfers or promotions, according to the latest Source of Hire Study from CareerXRoads. The study (8th in a series) also affirms once again that for the remaining hires originating from external sources, referrals from current and previous employees, customers, and vendors are the number one external source, accounting for 27.3%. Notably, job boards (excluding company sites) produce just 12.3% of external hires and seem to have reached their peak. The big boards such as Monster and Career Builder also seem to be losing ground to niche boards.

These facts make cultivating “insider” connections one of your best sources for job leads. With the implied endorsement from a trusted source that you have when referred to a company, you gain a great advantage over your competition. Not only are you most likely going to get an interview ahead of the pack, you are also an attractive candidate due to the fact payment to a recruiter may be partially or totally removed from the equation, substantially reducing the employer’s cost of hiring.

In a tough job market, proactively building your network is arguably your best strategy to identify and pursue a new job before hundreds or even thousands of others have beat you to the door.

What Does Your Resume File Name Say About You?

I received yet another executive resume for evaluation from a prospective client today with a filename that was not only nondescript--it consisted of jibberish characters! I routinely counsel my clients to make sure that they include their full name (last, first) in their resume file name, and to avoid cryptic language or information that is meaningless to a prospective employer or recruiter, or worse yet, could make an unfavorable impression.


With today's incident in mind, I encourage my readers to see my recent blog entry over at the CareerHub blog about the importance of Resume Filenames.

Recent Executive Job Trends by Industry and Position

Indeed.com has some really useful and informative features, not the least of which is their tool that tracks job trends by industry. Here are some recent stats from their site:

Industry -- Job Postings (Annual Change)
Accounting -- 123,813 (-34%)
Construction -- 59,571 (-35%)
Education -- 55,300 (+ 22%)
Financial Services and Banking -- 122,187 (-30%)
Healthcare -- 599,186 ( +4%)
Hospitality -- 56,128 (-25%)
Information Technology -- 405,057 (-29%)
Manufacturing -- 67,470 (-31%)
Media and Newspaper -- 19,044 (-38%)
Real Estate -- 19,590 (-52%)
Retail -- 310,241 (-26%)
Transportation -- 52,231 (-34%)

As far as employment prospects for executives by field of expertise are concerned, a recent ExecuNet Recruiter Confidence poll shows that the following are fields where recruiters see the greatest possibility for growth in executive hiring over the next six months:

Business Development -- 17.3%
Sales -- 15.0%
Engineering -- 10.4%
Operations Management (incl. supply chain, logistics, quality) -- 8.7%
Marketing -- 8.7%
Consulting -- 8.2%
Finance -- 7.9%
Research and Development -- 7.7%

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Are You a Detail-Oriented and Quality-Focused ‘Manger’?

I was amused to visit a couple of blogs recently that spotlight real resume blunders that not only are real but also no doubt really ruined many job candidates’ chances before their qualifications could be given due consideration. To add a little levity to your day, you may wish to check these sites out:

http://resumehell.blogspot.com/
http://nothired.com/

(From a cover letter on this site: “I will get the job done, and I will get bitter each day.”)

While we can all derive some entertainment from this, the fact of the matter is sobering: Most hiring executives and recruiters when asked how they react to typos and mistakes on the resumes they receive indicated that the resume would immediately find its way to the circular file.

A survey by OfficeTeam.com found that even a single resume typo could ruin your job prospects. The survey was conducted for OfficeTeam by an independent research firm and includes responses from 150 senior executives at the nation’s 1,000 largest companies.

Executives were asked, “How many typos in a resume does it take for you to decide not to consider a job candidate for a position with your company?” Their responses:

One typo-----47%
Two typos -----37%
Three typos-----7%
Four or more typos-----6%
Don’t know/no answer-----3% Total: 100%

The title of my blog entry today showcases a blunder that I see at least once a week in resumes submitted by executives for my evaluation: the substitution of ‘manger’ for the word ‘manager’. Be very careful of this one, as it will slip right by your spell checker. A good strategy to use is to make a habit of doing a “search and replace” for common errors such as this in your document to be absolutely sure they do not slip past you and into the hands of the recruiter or hiring executive who stands between you and that dream position.

And just in case your face has been red at some point in your job search due to a misspelled word or other mistake, you can gain some comfort from the fact that those on the other side of the hiring table are not immune. A recent discussion among my colleagues in the Career Management Alliance spotlighted just a couple of blunders in position announcements. One colleague encountered this gem:

“Must be detailed oriented.”

Another resume writer pointed out her favorite from a sample posting provided to her by a client. The ad stated that since the organization was a non-profit, “salary will be commiserate with…” She observed, “Now maybe they really did mean ‘commiserate’, but somehow I doubt it .”

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ZOOM Your Way to Visibility with Recruiters

In addition to active participation on business/social networking sites such as LinkedIn as part of their online identity strategy, savvy executives will wish to ensure that the informal "resume" compiled for them on the ZoomInfo site represents them well. Employers are increasingly sourcing candidates through this online information resource that compiles data on millions of individuals and companies. For more information on this, see my CareerHub blog post: "Can You Zoom Your Way to a New Job?"

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Are Video Resumes the Next Must-Have for Executives?

There has been a lot of talk recently in newsletters I follow and among my colleagues in various career professional associations regarding the pros and cons of video resumes. It also seems that at least every few weeks I receive an advertisement from some firm that offers video resume development services, touting them as the next must-have for employment candidates. But what is the reality?

In answer to a subscriber question, Nick Corcodilos of Ask the Headhunter recently responded regarding whether he thinks video resumes are a good idea. In addition to giving several sound reasons why they may not be, he also observes that those who are promoting them, including the media, are generally doing it because they see the phenomenon as something that could potentially yield them substantial revenues. They are not publishing genuine news articles, but most often what could be called “advertorials.”

Nick’s conclusion? “Should you submit a video resume? I promised you two reasons why not. Managers hate reading resumes. Do you think they're going to settle in for the afternoon to watch you and 200 other 'with it' applicants on video? And what about the human resources department? Video resumes create a trail of potential discrimination based on how you look. If you’re going job hunting, don’t put yourself on camera.”

Despite all the hype in the media, there is little convincing evidence that video resumes work. MSNBC.com observed, “Experts point out that video resumes rarely play a big role in the hiring process. Some hiring managers don't even care to watch them." And we all remember the story of Aleksey Vayner, whose video resume made him a laughingstock on Wall Street and YouTube. A year after his video resume made its big splash, he was still searching for a job.

Vault.com conducted an online survey last year of 300 employer members, which indicated that 58% of respondents would view a video resume from mere curiosity, while 31 percent thought it would be valuable in considering job applicants. The legal ramifications made 15% nervous, with the biggest concern of legal departments being the potential for discrimination (or the appearance of discrimination).

Recognizing this issue, the EEOC developed and launched E-RACE (Eradicating Racism and Colorism from Employment), in February 2007. Advice for employers includes taking into account that not all of us perform well on camera, and that this does not necessarily correspond to job performance. It was also recommended to install filters prior to viewing—enumerating objective criteria associated with the job opening to be evaluated. Thirdly, the video resume should be viewed only after careful evaluation of all other documents received in connection with the application.

A recent Career Management Alliance E-Bridge points out that less than 25% of employers are willing to accept video resumes, according to a July survey by staffing services firm Robert Half International. A whopping 58 percent assert that they definitely do not want them. The remaining 18 percent are unsure what they would do with a video submission.

Complaints about video resumes include:

> They take too much time to view, while a standard resume requires only seconds to scan.

> There is a great risk of problems regarding legal compliance in the area of employment discrimination, due to seeing the appearance of a candidate before even thoroughly reviewing their qualifications.

> The record-keeping required could be extremely burdensome. Since all information considered in the hiring process can be asked for by the EEOC, recruiters and companies would have to archive all of the video resumes they received, consuming a tremendous amount of electronic data storage space.

Overall, the consensus seems to be that there is lukewarm response to video resumes, and that they are long, long way from either substituting for a traditional resume or becoming a must-have accessory.

That being said, there are situations where it may be appropriate to create a video profile, not as a rehash of what appears in your print/electronic document resume but as an adjunct to it that absolutely shines with personality, trumpets your brand, and puts forth a clear value proposition – a business case – for why your audience needs to get in touch with you personally.

It would also appear that it may be a good idea to get used to the idea of being on camera when you are looking for a job. The use of video in recruiting is becoming popular among HR professionals and recruiters. Video-on-demand interviewing requires the candidate to record answers to interview questions and e-mail the resulting file to those making the hiring decisions to be viewed at their convenience. There is great appeal for this method, as it saves on travel expenses and time, and expands the potential candidate pool to essentially anywhere in the world that a video can be recorded.

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Don't Be a Victim of the Executive Marketing Rackets

Around once a year I have seen enough additional examples of executive marketing firm rip-offs that I find myself compelled to write another article on the subject.

Over more than 30 years in the career services profession, I have spoken with numerous executives and senior managers who have fallen prey to unscrupulous career marketing firms making outlandish promises about how, for a substantial fee, they will provide them with access to the hidden job market and unadvertised job listings. They promise to do this by using their exclusive network of contacts in hiring companies or by blanketing the corporate world with their resume in a completely untargeted fashion. I have spoken with executives who paid large sums--often $10,000 to even $25,000 or more--and received essentially nothing, except in most cases a very poorly written resume. In just the past several weeks, I have spoken with several very unhappy executives who had been ripped off in this fashion.

These scam artists are constantly reinventing themselves when the consumer outrage mounts, the authorities begin to take notice, and legal action begins. They will often reappear down the street or in a new city city under a different name, many times with the same owners. In fact, one way to quickly eliminate such a firm from consideration is to Google the owners' names and look at all the bad press they have left in their wake. Some names that have generated considerable notoriety in this regard are Bernard Haldane, McKenzie Scott, and WSA Corporation.

You may ask: How can I distinguish a legitimate career services/career marketing firm from a racketeer? After all, most resume writing firms (including mine) offer additional job search services to help their clients maximize the effectiveness of the self-marketing documents they have created. Here are a few characteristics of a legitimate firm:

* Fees charged are reasonable compensation for actual services rendered.

* The firm is willing to provide legitimate, verifiable references from its clients.

* If they "place" candidates (function as recruiters), they will also provide names and contact information for companies where they have done so.

* You as the job seeker remain the owner and architect of your job search; no claims are made that the firm will find you a job. If they do make such a claim, there is a money-back guarantee effective within a specified period of time that does not require you to meet virtually impossible requirements to qualify for it.

* No representations are made of exclusive access to executive opportunities or hiring decision makers; rather advice about effective strategies and tactical assistance are offered to help you identify and access those opportunities and decision makers.

The characteristics of the executive career marketing racketeer will of course be the exact opposite of the above.

I also wanted to mention a a new breed of career services firm that has emerged in the last several years that call themselves "executive agents" or "career agents." Where a headhunter works on the demand side for talent (filling companies' orders), the career or executive agent works on the supply side, representing the candidate. These agents attempt to determine the marketable value of the executive, to define a campaign strategy, and to position the executive to the market. Once they have "packaged" the client, the presentations to companies and headhunters begin. These firms are few in number, and typically represent only high-profile CEOs, senior executives on the CEO fast track, turnaround experts, high-power attorneys and consultants, and cutting-edge technology experts.

Executive agency could develop into a viable model, but the field is so new and there are no standards, track record, established ethics, etc., to point to. Just as would be the case with a movie star, athlete, or recording artist, you will be 100% dependent on the skills and ethics of your agent. You will have relinquished responsibility for your own career management, generally an inadvisable thing to do, in my opinion. Fees are usually substantial, and often involve a percentage of salary and bonuses--on an ongoing basis. So if you are considering hiring an executive agent, thorough due diligence would be imperative.

What actually prompted me to write this today was an article by Nick Corcodilos, entitled "How Much Would You Pay for a Job?" As with all of his columns that expose the executive marketing rackets, he is right on target. Dave Opton of ExecuNet also provides some valuable tips in his article on executive marketing firms featured on CIOUpdate.com. Execcareer.com used to be an excellent resource for sorting out the scams, but the site was long ago taken down under threat of multi-million dollar lawsuits from the same executive career firms who are constantly cited by job seekers as fraudulent and/or unethical. You can still view how the site appeared in previous years through the Wayback Machine, a site that archives everything that appears on the Web. Mark Swarz also has some excellent observations in his article at Workopolis.com.

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24-Hour Job Search Advice: JobRadio.fm

I was alerted to a great new career and job search resource this morning by a recruiter in my network, Chris Russell. Recently launched by veteran podcasters Chris Russell and Peter Clayton, it is an Internet-based radio station devoted exclusively to job search and career-related topics—JobRadio.fm.

They stream live 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. After just an hour or so of listening in, I can say I would recommend it for executives and professionals actively seeking a new job and also for anyone looking to keep up to date on what’s going on in the employment market. In just a short period of time, I heard tips about how to leverage the Internet in your executive job search, use networking to find your next job, find greater satisfaction in your career, and more. In addition to being a resource for ideas, the upbeat programming could help to mitigate the inherent loneliness of job search and provide encouragement when your search has you frustrated.

I’ve already gleaned ideas and reference material for several blog posts, which I’ll be putting up in the near future. In the meantime, I encourage you to check it out.

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Tips for Optimizing Your Online Resume

At the National Resume Writers’ Association annual conference in San Diego last week, one of the speakers was Paul Forster, Co-founder and CEO of Indeed.com. For those unfamiliar with Indeed, it is one of the new breed of mega-job search engines that according to their About page “gives job seekers free access to millions of employment opportunities from thousands of websites.” It is ranked by Time magazine as one of the top 10 websites and described by the Wall Street Journal as “Simply a one-stop shop for job seekers.” I can personally highly recommend it, both as a search engine and for its many other valuable features such as job trend analyses and salary information.

Mr. Forster’s presentation entitled “Resume Optimization in the New World of Search” provided some insights into factors you will want to consider in developing your resume for online posting purposes. A key consideration is now “ROSE,” “Resume Optimization for Search Engines,” and it comes into play both in the massive online resume databases of job sites as well as in the internal resume databases of individual companies that use software such as Taleo (an Applicant Tracking System) to manage and search the resumes they keep on file.

Here are a few valuable suggestions I gleaned from Mr. Forster’s presentation:

• Leverage Indeed’s capability to search for equivalent job titles to zero in on variations on your job title. Work these into the text of your resume to make it more likely to pop up in a search.

• Search sites like LinkedIn for relevant keywords related to your relevant job titles and make sure to work those into your resume text as well.

• Mine the job boards, LinkedIn, and other resources to identify synonyms for your key skills and include them.

• Look for variants in how names of companies and terms are spelled or abbreviated (e.g., EBay, E-bay; ETrade, E-Trade; IT, Information Technology; SEO, Search Engine Optimization) and include them (possibly in parentheses) to help ensure someone searching for that company or term will find your resume.

• Consider “stemming” as you craft your resume's content – using varying endings of words. For example, someone searching for a marketer may actually search for the word ‘marketing’ or for accounting may key in ‘accountant’.

• Make your resume Web friendly, avoiding tables and indentions, etc. that will translate poorly online no matter how carefully you manually insert your spaces.

Looking forward, Mr. Forster sees the future of the resume as being in the virtual world, with increasingly rich media. He also sees it as boundary-less--with many links going into and out of the document. Examples might be a link to a book you wrote that is for sale on Amazon, your websites, your LinkedIn profile, articles that mention you, etc. Also on the horizon are “Open Standards” which are currently under discussion but have a good way to go before finalization and widespread adoption. Open standards will one day result in a single resume that will be acceptable everywhere in applying for jobs, eliminating the necessity to fill out widely varying forms on each job board or company’s website.

I have saved for last a "to do" that I strongly concur with and feel is probably the most important piece of advice in his presentation: Once you have posted your resume, REFRESH it periodically, as a recent post/edit date is a critical factor in ranking your resume, superseding all other criteria.

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Virtual versus Real World Job Search: Which is Better?

Recent Weddles research has found that more than 25% of all jobs are now filled over the Internet (and they speculate that far more could be found that way if targeted online search techniques were used).Their recent survey generated more than 17,000 responses that identified these top 5 strategies in order of how the respondent actually found their last job:

- Searching listings on job boards and/or archiving their resume on those sites;
- A tip from a friend (or what most of us call networking in the real world - can occur online or off);
- Reading ads published in a print newspaper;
- A call from a headhunter; and
- Being referred by an employee of the company (also a form of networking).

Notice that 3.5 of these are actually are offline strategies and account for most of the jobs found.

Notice also that at least 3 of these can involve some sort of networking.

Recent research conducted on behalf of Risesmart by Kelton Research shows that the majority of job seekers are spending massive amounts of time in online job search--upwards of 50 hours per month, to be exact. However, all of those hours invested do not necessarily translate into job search success.

In discussing online job search, a recent Weddles newsletter article stated, "You can visit the first job boards that come to mind and that step will certainly give you a check mark in the box labeled "Use Job Boards." It will not, however, ensure you see the best employment opportunities for you. To achieve that outcome, you must do your homework and determine which job boards typically post the greatest number of the kinds of jobs you want at the salary level you can command. Invest your time and effort at those sites, and you are much more likely to reap a real and significant return in job opportunities for which you are qualified."

In other words, activity alone does not mean success; it's the quality of that activity that counts.

On the other side of the recruitment table, executive recruiters are increasingly using online networks (social and professional) to connect with candidates. LinkedIn in particular is actively pursuing affinity relationships with talent management professionals, and the list of sites seeking to develop these relationships is growing rapidly. A recent ExecuNet survey showed that 45.7% of recruiters use online networks to generate referrals to potential candidates and 39.1% to actually engage with those candidates.

My takeaway on this is that job boards and online networking are definitely tools you want in your job search toolkit, but be careful not to let online activities dominate your search strategy to the exclusion of other traditional and proven methods. As the Weddles site points out, "The Internet is a very seductive place. Its vast array of resources and very engaging format can be hard to turn off. But turn it off, you must. As capable as the virtual world is, it is not the one and only answer to employment. It cannot be your one stop shop for finding a job."

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Ways That Recruiters Leverage Online Networks to Source Candidates

A recent ExecuNet newsletter discussed the results of recent research that indicates executive recruiters are making more extensive use every day of both social and professional online networks such as LinkedIn to expand their networks and open new avenues for sourcing candidates. There are a number of groups on LinkedIn that cater to recruiters and human resource professionals, and the list is growing rapidly.

ExecuNet's research provides some interesting insights into how specifically recruiters are using these networks:

45.7% use their online network connections to generate referrals to potential candidates.
39.1% use them to engage potential candidates.
15.2% use them for purposes of business development.

The take home? Nearly half of recruiters are actively using online networks to source candidates. If you are an executive who strives to proactively manage your career, it's definitely time for you to make your presence known in the online community.

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Executives Finding Jobs Faster

ExecuNet recently released research indicating that the average time for an executive job search has been declining steadily since 2004. For executives at director level and above, candidates reported that it is taking approximately 9.5 months on average to obtain a new position, versus the high mark of 12.8 months in 2004.

On a related note, ExecuNet's 2008 Executive Job Market Intelligence Report found that for the third year in a row the South/Southeast and West Coast regions of the country have produced the most senior management jobs. The Mid-Atlantic region (especially Washington, DC), which had placed third as recently as 2006 now does not even appear in the top 5 regions. Following the South/Southeast and West Coast are the Southwest (including Texas), Midwest, and Northeast/New England.

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What to Expect from Recruiters

When you forward your resume to recruiters you know or send it via e-mail to a targeted group of recruiters you have identified, you may get one or more calls immediately, or you may experience total silence--at first. A former internal recruiter in a professional forum that I participate in indicates that she held on to resumes of quality candidates for one or two years or even longer, waiting for a job requisition to come up that was a match. I have personally had numerous clients and friends who received calls months or years later from a recruiter, many times resulting in an exciting career move. So liberally plant those seeds; you never know when one will sprout.

On a related note, while statistics generally quoted say that recruiters fill just one to three percent of jobs, when you restrict the universe to high-level management and executive jobs, that picture changes. Think about it: If you were to suddenly vacate your current position, what would be one of the first steps your company would likely take to start the search for a replacement? More than likely, they would retain a recruiting firm.

Social Networking Sites Are "In" with Those "In the Money"

A recent ExecuNet newsletter cites results from a Luxury Institute Wealth Survey revealing that "60 percent of wealthy Americans with an average income of $287,000/year and net worth of $2.1 million participate in online social networks, compared to just 27 percent a year ago." It was found that on average they had joined about 2.8 networks. Affluent individuals with $300,000 or more in annual income were even more avid participants, belonging to 3.4 social sites. If successful people are this enamored with online networking, it bears our attention.

There are 100 or more social networking sites, some purely for recreation and personal socializing, and others dedicated to professional or business interaction. (For a list of notable sites, visit Wikipedia.)

Computer World did an analysis recently comparing the features and advantages of the two most prominent sites, LinkedIn and Facebook. They formulated 6 business scenarios to solve, and assigned writers to compare results on Facebook and LinkedIn. As might be expected, each site excelled in different areas, and neither was the clear overall winner. Scenarios tested include Looking for a Job Without Your Boss Knowing, Finding Information about a Job You're Interviewing For (LinkedIn was the winner in both of these), Solicit Ideas and Discussion from Team Members (Facebook won this one hands-down), and Keeping Track of Former Associates (yielded a tie).

So which site is best, and should you join more than one? There are so many, but for professional and business purposes, LinkedIn seems to be winning the war for members right now. I encourage my executive clients to maintain a LinkedIn profile as part of their ongoing professional networking as well as for building a digital signature. A web presence is becoming increasingly important in job search, as candidates are commonly googled--often before a recruiter or hiring manager initiates the first contact.

In executive circles, it seems to be almost an assumption now that you maintain a profile on LinkedIn. Adding to its utility for career management and job search is its recent integration into the Simply Hired job search engine, as pointed out by Louise Fletcher in a recent Career Hub blog post. What could possibly be more convenient? You search for a job, and then click on a button to find out who in your LinkedIn network may have an "in" at that company. Although Facebook has recently moved from being strictly a social tool to a business tool as well, it seems to be the preferred platform for social interation with family and friends. Its wider range of services and third party applications concern employers as a likely distraction for their workers.

While online networking is an increasingly important part of an overall career management strategy, one thing to watch for is devoting too much time to joining every "hot" new site with a flashy interface, maintaining your profiles, building your contact lists, and interacting with your networks. As with most things in life, there is a danger of "too much of a good thing." The ExecuNet article highlighted a Global Secure Systems estimate that employers in the UK lose 3 weeks per year of work time on employees' social networking activities during business hours.

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Are You Over the Job Market Hill?

A concern frequently expressed by my executive clients and prospects is regarding the age factor. Many fear that they are going to be subject to age discrimination as early as age 40, and either be let go by a current employer in favor of a younger hire or passed over by potential employers who want fresh, young talent that they can mold in the company’s approach and methods. Just this afternoon, I spoke with a dynamic young executive who was concerned that his age at 45 was going to close the doors to many opportunities.

A recent Herman Trend Alert explores the age issue, with news that I think should provide some encouragement to job seekers who fear they may be “over the hill.”

Approximately one million people reach age 60 each month, and as the baby boomer generation ages, it is estimated that the number of workers in the U.S. between the ages of 55 and 64 will increase by more than 50% by 2010. With life expectancy now at 77 and many enjoying better health during their increased longevity, many more people are staying in the workforce long past the traditional retirement age of 65. This is driven in good part by boomers’ realization of the potentially high health care costs they face as they age and the fact that many have insufficient savings to fund a lengthy retirement.

Both government and industry do appear to be waking up to this reality, with AARP observing that an increasing number of major employers and government agencies are actively seeking to hire candidates 50 years plus. The wealth of experience and skills that older workers can bring to a workplace are seen as increasingly valuable, as well as their maturity of judgment, stability, and turnover rates lower than typical of younger workers.

It would seem that employers' increasing interest in and appreciation of these older workers combined with the smaller pool of talent in the “baby bust” generation cannot help but benefit those workers in their 40s and 50s by altering perceptions of exactly when one makes that trek “over the hill.” According to an AARP-commissioned report from last year cited by Workforce Management, "Replacing an experienced worker of any age can cost 50 percent or more of the individual's annual salary in turnover-related costs, with increased costs for jobs requiring specialized skills, advanced training or extensive experience--qualifications often possessed by 50-plus workers." That’s a powerful financial incentive to keep aging workers on the payroll.

Unless You're a Purple Squirrel, Update Your Online Resume!

"Purple squirrel" is recruiter-speak for a candidate whose qualifications are rare and for which a recruiter can charge a higher fee to the company due to the difficulty of the search. When sourcing candidates, recruiters will look first at resumes posted in the last 1 to 2 weeks and will generally not look at older resumes, unless they are searching for that elusive purple squirrel.

Looking at it from the recruiter's perspective, you can understand why this is so. Recruiters are playing the odds, and they cannot afford to waste time contacting candidates who have already found a job or for some other reason are no longer in the job market. Time is money, and this is particularly so in the recruiting profession.

The take home on this? If you have posted your resume online, be sure to tweak or otherwise refresh it at least once a month, preferably every two weeks. Otherwise it will effectively become invisible to most recruiters, like those billboards you see on the highway that have become blocked by overgrown trees.

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How to Sabotage Your Job Search with Your Resume

An article entitled "25 Things You Should Never Include on a Resume" published a few days ago over on HR World's blog made me chuckle. Not because most of the items on the list seemed so unbelievably obvious and stupid for a job candidate to include in a resume, but because of the fact that I have actually seen most of them at one time or another in the thousands of executive resumes I have reviewed over the years. I notice that HR World's blog writers took some flack in a few of the comments on that blog entry because of the common sense nature of their advice. It's unfortunate, but I think that most of the "don'ts" mentioned seem to somehow escape the "common sense radar" of a fair number of folks out there.

About the only category I would disagree on is hobbies. Certainly you do not want to clutter your resume with irrelevant or frivolous interests. But many a door has been opened and many an interview set on the right track, prompted by the interviewer's noticing that the candidate has a similar interest to theirs (for example, avid amateur golfer) or particularly unusual or outstanding hobby or skill that is a good conversation starter (such as climbing Mt. Everest, circumnavigating the globe in your own sailboat, competing and placing in triathalon events, etc.).

The only one out of the 25 that I cannot recall having seen in a resume is blatant expression of a prejudice. So, while the items on this list may be obvious to most, clearly there are some folks out there who would do well to pay them heed. You can view the full list at HR World.

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Beware of "Career Marketing" Predators

Recently the topic of career marketing firms came up as I was talking with one of my executive clients, who indicated he had been contacted by several and wasn't sure what to think. He said, "I was contacted by Bernard-Haldane, McKenzie-Scott, and Montgomery-Gray Associates. They all have the exact same tactic. Fear. They build fear about the career situation, tell you the resume is horrible and then they have the answer."

After I e-mailed him my thoughts on the subject, he observed, "I did my research on ExecuNet and the horror stories were in parallel to what you have said. You must publish [this], because it is exactly how I felt." So reprinted below are some things executive candidates will want to consider before engaging a career marketing firm:

"It's important to realize that these firms are NOT recruiters. They are retail outtplacement or direct mail firms. I receive inquiries from many clients about this type of firm and have always advised them to be very cautious and make sure exactly what you are getting for your money before signing any contracts. I've accumulated a number of horror stories over the years. I have yet to work with a client who felt the $5,000, $10,000, or more spent for one of these types of marketing services was well spent.

60 minutes and other news outlets have done multiple exposés over the years. I have had clients come to me defeated and depressed after having spent as much as $25,000 (yes, that's 3 zeroes) on "marketing campaigns" with not a single response. The quality of the delivery of the services is highly variable from firm to firm and market to market.

You may want to consider the following fact: A recruiter will get from 20 to 33% of a candidate's first year salary as a commission for placement. This is industry standard. If a candidate is worth say $100K a year, then he's worth a potential $20,000 to $33,000 in commission. If he or she is worth $200K, that’s a $40K to $66K commission. So why don't these firms just go after the real cash for placement? I mean, if they know where the jobs are, then they should know where the money is.

Some very savvy clients have asked me about these services, flattered at being contacted and mistakenly thinking these were high caliber recruiting firms eager to represent and place them. I have also had clients for whom I've prepared excellent resumes meet with them, only to have their professionally prepared resume ripped to shreds. Fortunately, they have enough confidence in what I've done for them to see through this tactic. I've also re-written many resumes for clients who had inferior, boilerplate 1-page resumes or "marketing letters" prepared by such firms and then spent well into 4 or even 5 figures having themselves "marketed" (mass mailing), for little or no response.

Career marketing scams are not new, but the number of complaints against these companies has increased dramatically in recent years. A quick search on Google will verify this fact. If anyone promises you that they have access to "the hidden job market" and to "hiring decision-makers" that will allow you to bypass normal job interviewing processes, run, do not walk away. It is well known that any legitimate recruiter will be paid by the company, not the candidate.

The Web has info and resources for people who have been burned by career marketing firms and executive marketing firms, also called retail outplacement or advance-fee placement firms. There are discussion groups for well-known firms such as Bernard Haldane, McKenzie Scott, and ProSavvy. Complicating the issue is that the most aggressive of the career marketing firm scammers continually morph into new companies and change their names to escape the bad press and law enforcement interest they have generated.

The appeal of a firm that tells you they will do all the marketing for you and find you a fantastic new job is obvious. However, the reality of job search is that it is work, takes time, and that there are no guarantees even for the most qualified person with the best resume in the world. For higher level positions, the standard formula for many years has been that it takes approximately one month per $10K of expected salary for the search, and although that has thankfully decreased somewhat in the current market, it is still not far off the mark.

Candidates who actively build and heavily leverage a professional network in their search are generally the ones who land a new position most quickly, as well as those who pursue a variety of approaches to the search (traditional and e-networking, cultivating recruiter contacts, efficient use of job boards, researching and individually contacting a selected group companies of interest to them, etc.), rather than depending on one avenue.

You'd think I don't have a very good opinion of career marketing firms, wouldn't you ;-)? All of this is certainly not to say that there are no reputable firms out there. I would just be very circumspect before agreeing to work with one. If you decide to go with one of these services, I strongly urge you to get in writing exactly what they will provide for the money, and especially the terms for a refund. You should have a contact assigned to you and should deal with that person exclusively. That person should be reasonably accessible. You should inquire about their contacts and track record in your career field. And ask if they will prorate the fee if you find a job quickly on your own."

Following are just a few articles and resources that provide further information on career marketing scammers. (Beware that there are some pretty unhappy consumers commenting on some of these sites, and their language may be offensive.) If you do a quick Google search, you will find much more information.

http://www.rileyguide.com/scams.html http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/teeth20031013.htm http://www.asktheheadhunter.com/gv010822.htm http://www.pissedconsumer.com/consumer-reviews/employment-agencies/mckenzie-scott-complaint--employment-services-2007040196582.html

There is also quite a bit of commentary and discussion in the blogosphere, such as the following: http://randomconvergence.blogspot.com/2006/03/rest-of-mckenzie-scott-saga.html

Please understand that I do not personally endorse what is said on any of these sites and that I have not personally had a bad experience with any of these firms. However, I feel that the consistent negative experiences related to me by clients and prospective clients over many years, input from numerous career transition professionals in my network, along with articles written by career experts whom I consider reputable and reliable make it incumbent on me to make sure my executive clients are aware of the potential dangers out there.

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Free Career Networking E-Book

CareerHub, a group careers blog I co-author, has released a series of free eBooks featuring advice from some of the country's top career experts.

The latest is on networking--which is a valuable skill whether you are currently in the job market or happily employed. As one of several co-authors of this eBook, I know that it contains valuable information from the first page to the last.

If you'd like to grab your copy of this or one or more of the other free titles, just click below and download the PDF--no sign-up required.

LINK: http://careerhub.typepad.com/main/2007/04/free_job_search.html

Happy reading!

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Is the Online Networking Craze All It's Cracked Up to Be?

All the buzz in career professional circles these days seems to be around the emergence of online or virtual networking through social and professional networking sites such as LinkedIn and Ryze. I've attended several seminars on the subject, and read new articles almost daily about the phenomenon.

Is online networking something that you as an executive need to be involved in as part of your career management strategy? All the statistics seem to show that career transition and advancement for the executive is most likely going to occur through networking or referral, so taking advantage of the ability to network in cyberspace seems like a "no brainer."

For more on this topic, see my recent post on the CareerHub blog: Virtual Networking: Does It Live Up to the Hype?

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Executive Job Search Length Shrinking

According to ExecuNet, now may be the best time in the last 15 years for executives to launch a search for a new position. Their 1992 survey results showed that on average 13 months were required to land a new job, and the situation seemed to be approximately the same as of 2004. For quite some time it has been the conventional wisdom that an executive could expect to wait at minimum one month for every $10,000 of annual compensation, which of course for the $120K executive meant a long year of searching and for the $300K+ executive painted a pretty discouraging picture.

Executives can take heart, because the trend appears to be on a downswing. According to ExecuNet research, “it now takes under 10 months to find comparable positions” for high earners at director level and above. With a tightening employment market where the candidate seems to have taken the driver’s seat and companies seem to be losing their fascination with young hotshots and waking up to the value of baby boomers, your prospects appear brighter than they have in some time. Now may be the time to start working that network and circulating your executive resume.

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Many Employers CANNOT View Your Windows Vista or Word 2007 Resume!

I was alerted this morning in one of my association newsletters to an issue that could have very serious consequences for executives sending their resumes to recruiters and employers as a document file, which has largely replaced physical delivery via a "hard" (printed) copy. Do you use Word 2007? Have you recently purchased a new laptop or PC? It probably came with the recently released Windows Vista operating system and Word 2007 on it. Or you may be one of those on the leading edge who has already updated your existing PC to Word 2007 and Vista. New technology is wonderful, but there is a very real caveat pointed out by one of my colleagues at The Career Management Alliance.

Be aware that any documents you may be forwarding in connection with an employment opportunity (executive resume, cover letter, etc.) that were created on Word 2007 software (which is the version bundled with Windows Vista Operating Systems) CANNOT be opened on another computer that does not have Word 2007. So, any employer that has an earlier version of Word on their systems will not be able to open them! This probably means most employers, since companies are generally reluctant to jump too quickly on the bandwagon of new software versions and also because upgrading an entire company to a new operating system or application version is no small task.

With the high volume of resume submissions received on most openings, it would not seem likely that an employer or recruiter would take the trouble to notify you of the issue and request your documents in a compatible format. Far more likely is that they will just discard your e-mail.

The solution is simple. Apparently the problem is not Vista itself but the version of Word (2007) that is used on it. If you select the Word compatibility feature in Word 2007, you can create and save your documents in Word 1997-2003 compatible format, which I would recommend until Word 2007 and Vista are more prevalent. I do not have Word 2007 on my PC, but a colleague tells me that you can address the problem similarly to how it is done on earlier versions of Word: When you save your files, do a "Save As" instead of "Save," and select Word 2003 from the dropdown menu.

Microsoft is working on the compatibility issue, and they do offer a free download of a product called Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 to address it. You may wish to visit the following page on Microsoft's site: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/virtualpc/default.mspx

There is a demo you can view to tour the Virtual PC 2007 product. If desired, you can then download the product and install a version of Word (1998, 2000, 2003 or 2007) that will allow you to create compatible versions of your resume, cover letters, and other documents you are using in connection with your career transition.

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Monster.com Site Hacked: Be Alert for Phishing Scam!

Hackers successfully breached security at Monster.com this week in one of the largest such online incidents in recent history, stealing personal information on more than 100,000 job candidates who had posted their resumes on the site. This breach was followed by phishing attacks via e-mail designed to compromise users' online financial institution security and/or infect their PC's with a disabling virus.

For more information, see my article "ALERT: More than 100,000 Monster.com Users' Personal Information Plundered" on the CareerHub career experts blog.

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Scammers, Spammers, Spoofers, and Phishers: Dangers in the Online Job Search Jungle

Online job search has truly revolutionized career transition in many ways, and I have personally witnessed many success stories of those who have leveraged job sites to identify leads, win interviews, and land great positions. However, in the past several weeks, I have been disheartened to hear the sad tales of several prospective clients whose employment search efforts using the Web had resulted in financial and personal identity damages.

It is truly a jungle out there on the World Wide Web, and if you are an executive who plans to use the Internet in your job search, you will want to be very, very cautious. Before you post your executive resume online, I recommend you read my article published this week on the CareerHub career advice site.

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Top 10 Online Job Sites

Are you using the Web as just one item (I hope) in your comprehensive executive job search toolkit? If so, the following rankings of the most popular websites gathered by Weddles will interest you. These are the sites gaining the most user votes as of July 15, 2007, the halfway mark for the upcoming 2008 list. Note that they are in alphabetical order, not rank order:

Absolutely Health Care
AllHealthcareJobs.com
craigslist
Dice
ExecuNet
Monster
6FigureJobs.com
TheLadders.com
VetJobs
Yahoo! HotJobs

For the complete list of the Top 30 from the previous survey, see Weddles 2007 User's Choice Awards.

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How Recruiters Treat the Resume You Send

Wondering what happens to your resume when you e-mail it to an executive recruiter as part of a job search campaign?

Contrary to long-standing conventional wisdom, many recruiters are actually more receptive to receiving unsolicited resumes than used to be the case, and they do generate some good responses. Most will at least give your message a quick look and decide whether it holds potential immediate interest for them or at least may be something they'll want to keep in their files for possible future reference. Of course, there are still many who will ignore any resume received in this manner, preferring to source their candidates through networking or their own research.

ExecuNet's 15th Annual Job Market Intelligence Report offers the following statistics showing the shift in recruiter attitudes in the past 15 years:

Then/Now:

Selectively Respond: 45%/75%
Answer All: 24%/8%
Do Not Respond: 21%/3%
Other (such as postcard) 10%/15%

You can see that a large proportion do selectively respond, which tells me that (1) You want to make sure your e-mail message and resume are attention-getters, (2) Since most do at least briefly review the resume, lack of an immediate response does not mean all is lost--yours may be in the reserve-for-future-consideration pile, (3) It is to your advantage to actively network with recruiters when you DON'T need them for your own job search, so your name will be familiar and your resume welcome when you send it.

Don't Expect an Executive Recruiter to "Market" You

One of the most misunderstood aspects of executive job search among executive candidates seems to be the nature of recruiting firms and how they operate. I have addressed this topic on several occasions, but the fact that I continue to encounter clients who have major misconceptions regarding the recruiter community tells me that this is a message worth repeating:

"Do not expect an executive recruiter to 'market' you!"

A recent thread on the Career Masters Institute e-mail forum examined the fact that most companies and recruiters do not even acknowledge resumes they receive, let alone have any interest in actively working to place any individual candidate. They are very task oriented toward fulfilling current job orders, and if a candidate's qualifications are not a very close match for the requirements, they have no interest.

One member mentioned that a speaker at the recent Kennedy Conference in Las Vegas pointed out that 90% of job seekers will not receive a response of any kind when they submit their resume--whether they send it to a recruiting firm or directly to a company. Even among companies that rank high on "best places to work" rankings, 30% do not acknowledge resumes or applications submitted online through their websites.

Another colleague had a recent client who had done a large e-mail campaign to more than 800 recruiters who specialized in his area of expertise and received a measly 40 auto-responses. A former recruiter pointed out that in his experience there will be no response unless an unsolicited resume is an exact match for a current assignment. He also said that recruiters do not try to "place" candidates because there is simply no money in it.

So definitely do contact recruiters who recruit at your level and in your specialty areas. But do not expect them to "market" you or in most cases to even acknowledge your contact. An additional caveat: It is best NOT to follow up by phone. This is an annoyance and pet peeve of recruiters.

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A New Resource for Company Research

According to Weddles.com, there is a new and free online resource that can be of help in researching companies during your job search. Of course, traditional resources such as Vault, Wetfeet, Brint, and Hoover's Online offer a great deal of valuable information, some of it free, but much of it fee-based.

The new resource is ZoomInfo. They have introduced a feature that enables you to find detailed information regarding more than 3.5 million companies through their proprietary business information search engine. Using this tool, you will be able to find companies by name, products or industry, market niche and a variety of other variables. Available for review are detailed descriptions which may include specifics regarding revenues, acquisitions and recent news, bios of key employees, etc.

Be sure to include this tool in your research efforts before going in to interview with a prospective employer. Displaying your knowledge of the information to be found there may be just what's needed to position you above your competition! It could also be put to good use in writing a cover letter to accompany that dynamic executive resume you are submitting. Nothing makes a hiring executive sit up and take notice more than a candidate who shows far more than cursory knowledge of the company, its competitors, its challenges and opportunities.

Recruiters Finding Candidates in Unlikely Place

I received some interesting intelligence through the Career Masters Institute in an e-newsletter on Friday. Recruiters are finding good talent in a place that most executives would probably not even think about: Craigs List.

Many of you are likely familiar with Craigs List as an online community site where classified ads for furniture and housing, personal ads, and discussion forums are to be found. There are also jobs listings, but the surprise is that recruiters are using it as a primary resource for candidates. According to a presenter at a Northwest Recruiting Association meeting where the best tools and sourcing strategies were under discussion, the following was revealed at a recent ERE recruiting conference:

"Craigs List - not Monster - is now the best place and most often used place to find good talent."

ERE should be "in the know" about this. Initially conceived as an email discussion list for recruiting professionals over 9 years ago, ERE.net is a popular source of information and networking opportunities for recruiters and HR professionals on the Web.

A fellow CMI member who is seeking a recruiting position validates this, as she has found her listing on Craigs List to draw far more interest than on any other venue, including Monster and Career Builder. Coincidentally, while interviewing one of my clients today who is a general management/operations executive, he mentioned that his company has used Craigs List extensively in its recruiting efforts.

So if you are leveraging the Internet in your employment search, you may want to consider perusing the listings and/or posting your resume on your local Craigs List, as well as those for other geographic locations of particular interest to you.

Craigs List's forums that span 450 cities worldwide draw more than 7 billion page views and 20 million users per month, placing it at #7 ranking, behind only Yahoo, AOL, Microsoft, Google, eBay, and Newscorp. More than one million new job listings are posted per month. If any doubt remains, I encourage you to view this page with statistics comparing Craigs List with Monster and Career Builder:

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/about/job.boards.html

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Does Your Cover Letter Come Across as Pompous?

An article in an E-Newsletter from NRWA (one of the professional associations I belong to as an executive resume writer) really struck a chord with me today. The fact that many job seekers compose cover letters (and resumes, for that matter) that come across as pretentious and verbose is something that I witness every single day.

Certainly a cover letter for an executive will have a more sophisticated tone than one for an entry level worker, but neither should be flowery or seem to be obviously trying to impress the reader with multi-syllable words where simple ones will do just fine. I cannot tell you how many times I've read letters and resumes that use formal HR or government-ese, with such phrases as "Responsible for such and such, to include: ..."

Good wordsmithing strives to move from the complex to the simple, rather than the reverse. Don't use 5 words where 2 will do the job. This has the added benefits of making your letter or resume a quicker read and reducing the length.

The recruiter or hiring executive reading your executive resume or cover letter will react to their overall tone. Keep it conversational and appropriately cordial, rather than stilted, pretentious, or wordy and you will likely see an immediate improvement in response. Read it aloud to see how it sounds and ensure you have not created a tongue-twisting exercise! Do you come across as an attorney droning on to make a case in court, or as a consummate salesperson enthusing your audience about the features and benefits of your product (you)?

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Free Advice for Your Job Search ... Interviewing, Resume Writing, etc.

This simply cannot be beat! If you would like some free pointers on how to write your executive resume, how to ace that interview, or just general job search techniques, you will want to visit the CareerHub blog. With a click of your mouse you may download any one or all of the free PDF eBooks authored thus far by the group of leading career experts who are contributors to this blog. More are expected to be published at intervals, so you'll want to check back frequently.

I also recommend browsing the site as a regular part of your career development research. It is brimming with insightful commentary and strategic advice you will find invaluable in your employment search.

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Job Functions with Best Prospects for Executives in 2007

ExecuNet's projections for job functions that will be in most demand at the executive level for 2007 are out. According to their 15th annual Executive Job Market Intelligence Report, results from 121 employers indicate that demand will be high for executives with strong operations, business development, and finance experience and will most likely outstrip supply.

This is good news for executives with strengths in these areas and is a wake-up call to make sure your executive resume effectively highlights them. Functional expertise in sales, marketing, and general management is also expected to comprise a large share of management hires made in the coming year.

Here are the details regarding job functions that will drive the most growth in executive hiring this year, as cited by ExecuNet:

Operations: 16.4%
Business Development: 13.6%
Finance: 10.5%
Marketing: 9.8%
Sales: 9.4%
General Management: 9.1%
MIS/IT: 7.7%
Engineering Management: 6.3%
Research and Development: 5.9%
Consulting: 5.2%

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Clean Up Your Digital Dirt!

To all my executive resume writing clients: The problem of digital dirt (unfavorable information about you on the Internet) is not something to be ignored if you want to ensure the long-term health of your career.

You may want to check out this site where you can verify your online reputation and also clean it up: www.reputationdefender.com. The site points out that according to a study conducted by Purdue University counselors, one third of employers screen job candidates using Google, MSN, and Yahoo, and 11.5% search social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and Xanga. It was recently mentioned favorably on Good Morning America as a provider that helps people to clean up their digital dirt to help ensure no negative effects are exerted on their "hireability."

Since the majority of companies and recruiters do "Google" prospective candidates' names, proactive action to ensure what they find is not damaging is only prudent. If you do not wish to use a paid service such as the one mentioned here, I strongly encourage you to search on your own and remove any items you have placed on the Web yourself that you would not want a potential employer to read (entries on a personal blog, for example). You'll also want to contact sites that may have inaccurate or unflattering information about you and request that it be removed or modified.

In What File Format Should I Send My Resume?

As I discussed strategy for his employment search with one of my executive clients today, he posed a question I frequently hear: Should I send my resume to recruiters and companies as a Word file, text document, or PDF? Coincidentally, this was also the subject of a recent thread in a career professionals forum in which I participate.

From my research on the subject, my colleagues' opinions, and surveys of hiring professionals, I would say that both text and Word formats win out over PDF files, despite the clear advantage that PDF's have in terms of WYSIWYG (What You See is What You Get). A colleague in Maryland indicates that his survey of HR professionals at a recent SHRM meeting indicated a nearly unanimous opinion: 90% did not accept PDF files.

Several of my colleagues indicated that recruiters seem to prefer Word format for ease of editing and tweaking for the particular job order they are working on, which confirms my experience. A neatly formatted text document is also welcomed by most recruiters, but this does not mean doing a "save as" of your Word document to text and sending it as is! Your format will be a terrible mess and, besides making a bad impression, will be very difficult for the recruiter to manipulate. Typically, I recommend sending your executive resume in both text and Word formats when dispatching an e-mail. The text version can be placed inline (in the body of the e-mail below your message) or attached as a .txt file.

If you are sending your resume in Word format, beware that word processor files are notoriously subject to format damage when brought up on a system other than the originating one, due to differences in word processor settings, fonts, etc. That resume you so carefully and nicely fit into two pages may now carry over an awkward 2 or 3 lines on a third page. Or a comical or difficult-to-read font may be substituted for the attractive, conservative font you used.

So take care to use relatively simple but attractive formatting that will tend to translate smoothly on other systems, avoiding complex tables, columns, etc. Use fonts that are fairly universal on Windows systems (some are Verdana, Tahoma, Garamond, Futura, Palatino, New Century Schoolbook, Times New Roman, Arial). I personally balk at using Times and Arial because they are so "ho-hum," but sometimes it is necessary in order to have reasonable assurance that your resume is going to look anything like you intended it to when your recipient views it.

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Executive Level Turnover Slowing a Bit

An article this month in eWeek indicates that this year shows a slowing of turnover at "C-Level" compared to 2006, based on statistics compiled by a New York-based management research firm called Liberum on February 6. Compared to 12 months ago, overall executive level turnover declined 16% in January of this year, and for CEO's the drop was 20%. Boards of directors experienced less churn as well, at a 14% decrease. However, The report maintains that overall change at the top levels is still high. This is believed to be due to domestic and international companies competing for a limited talent pool, Sarbanes-Oxley impacts, and shareholder activism. Overall, 2,240 C-level moves occurred in the first month of this year.

So, while turnover is down a bit, there certainly seems to be plenty of potential for top executives to make major career moves this year. This is corroborated by continued increases in overall payroll employment of 1.8 million in 2006 (Bureau of Labor Statistics) and the fact that employers are expected to become more competitive in both recruitment and retention this year according to statistics from a survey by Harris Interactive reported by Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder.com.

I continue to advise my executive resume clients to keep their documents polished and ready to respond at a moment's notice. You never know when that phone call with once-in-a-lifetime opportunity may come in!

IT Executive Gender Gap Reversal

An article featured on eWeek.com for January 24 reports some interesting findings on salaries in the IT field, particularly with relation to Information Technology executives.

The long-standing gender gap favoring male workers in the IT field, similar to across-the-board differences in the work force, continues. However, it seems that the pendulum is swinging in the other direction among executive-level IT professionals, according to a results of survey conducted by DICE.com, a well-known IT and engineering careers website.

While women IT workers on average earned 9.7% less than men in 2006, female IT executives including CEOs, CIOs, CTOs, vice presidents, and directors earned on average 1.4% more than their male counterparts, at an average salary of $109,912. In particular demand (based on the higher salaries reported) seem to be those with expert knowledge in ERP (enterprise resource planning), Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and CRM (customer relationship management).

The highest salaries for IT professionals from entry level to executive (male or female) were reported in Silicon Valley, Boston, New York, and Baltimore/Washington, D.C., with San Diego, Los Angeles, and Seattle also showing strength.

Employers Competing for Executive Talent and Compensation is Rising

Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) is an economic indicator that looks at job expectations, vacancies, compensation of new hires, and competition for recruits. Featured recently on the SHRM.org site and quoted by ExecuNet in its latest executive compensation survey, the latest figures seem to bode well for executives in career transition.

As the supply for talent tightens and demand increases, more and more organizations are using employment contracts, guaranteed bonuses and severance, and stock options to recruit candidates. Forty-five percent of packages offered in 2006 included a guaranteed first-year bonus, versus 27% in 2005. Thirty-nine percent included signing bonuses in 2006, versus 34% in the previous year. Stock options and equity were included in 50% of offers for 2006, in contrast to 42% in 2005.

Clearly companies are finding that they must raise the stakes in order to attract talent in an increasingly hot executive job market in which recruiter activity has increased for ExecuNet's network by more than 20% this past year. During 2006, most executives held expectations of a 15% or more increase in compensation should they change jobs.

Insider Tips on Working with Executive Recruiters

I recently attended a seminar sponsored by Career Masters Institute and presented by Shelly Goldman (a published recruiter and career coach) providing insights into how to work with recruiters in your executive job search.

I came away with confirmation of much of the knowledge I have about recruiters, and some things that were startling revelations. Here are some points that executives in career transition will want to keep in mind:

• A retained recruiter typically will NOT recommend a candidate for interview for several positions at a time, whereas a contingency recruiter will.
  
  
• Retained recruiters normally work at executive level exclusively, while in general contingency recruiters also work extensively with more junior level candidates.
  
  
• Contract-based firms and staffing services may be a good solution for a candidate with a great deal of movement in the career background, but they do not work extensively with senior level positions.
  
  
• Internal recruiters have a thankless job and are overwhelmed with candidates to interview and screen for referral to the next level in the process. It is important when talking with an internal company recruiter not to give away your salary requirements and defer this discussion until an offer has been extended. There is only one reason these internal recruiters ask for salary requirements--to screen candidates OUT.
  
  
• Conversely, you MUST reveal the salary range you are looking for to a contingency or retained recruiter. They do not want to waste their time with a candidate who is going to turn down the best offer a company is willing to make and will drop you from consideration if you are stubborn on this point.
  
  
• The best ways to find a recruiter to work with are through referral or by contacting one with whom you have worked before, perhaps for filling positions on your staff or in a previous career move.
  
  
• Before speaking with a recruiter, prepare a list of questions for them to see if they really understand your market, industry, and function, as well as to see if there is rapport and you feel you can trust them.
  
  
• Determine if the recruiter is networked well. If they have strong relationships with their hiring companies, they may actually "market" your resume even when there is no specific position available at the moment.
  
  
• You must have prepared a 30-90 second response to the "Tell me about yourself" question, and you must NAIL it when the recruiter asks it.
  
  
• Do not expect loyalty or follow-up from recruiters. It is not unusual to hear from an enthusiastic recruiter and then never hear from him or her again (especially true with contingency firms).
  
  
• Sometimes recruiters will throw your resume into a mix of ones referring to the hiring company, not because you are the strongest candidate but just to have enough candidates to refer. Both retained and contingency firms will do this.
  
  
• It is an absolute MUST to build ongoing relationships with recruiters, even when you are not actively engaged in executive job search. If you are not right for a position proposed, think about passing along referrals.
  
  
• It is ABSOLUTELY OK and even necessary to work with more than one firm.
  
  
• If contacted by a recruiter scanning job boards, before answering any questions about salary, find out if they are retainer, contract, contingency, or internal. Your answer is dependent on what type of recruiter you are talking with.
  
  
• There is no such thing as guaranteed confidentiality. Reputable recruiters and firms will attempt to keep your search confidential, BUT, see the first sentence in this bullet.

Turnoffs and Show Stoppers:

• The candidate refuses to share his or her compensation requirements with a retained or contingency recruiter.
  
  
• LYING to the recruiter. Just don't do it.
  
  
• Circumventing the recruiter and going directly to the hiring company to handle things that should be handled by the recruiter. For example, do not talk compensation requirements with the hiring company or increase the requirements you had told the recruiter. Also, scheduling of the next interview should be handled by the recruiter.
  
  
• Sending your resume to a recruiter and following up with a phone call (unless you obtained that recruiter's name through a referral). Imagine how many calls a recruiter would get when they receive dozens to hundreds of resumes A DAY!
  Exception: It is okay to follow up with recruiters who are internal to a company, but not too frequently. One follow up after sending a resume is fine.
  
  
• Accepting jobs and then deciding not to start... leveraging one offer against another.
  
  
• Poorly written executive resume or other documentation.
  
  
• Failure to send a strong and targeted cover letter.
  
  
• Inability to verbalize precisely what want.
  
  
• Negativity.
  
  
• Contact information that is not up-to-date and accurate. Must include e-mail address and phone numbers, and check e-mail and voice mail frequently throughout the day.

A Valuable and Free Online Job Resource

As an executive you are most likely familiar with The Ladders, a premiere $100K+ employment search website. (If not, I encourage you to check it out!) You may not be aware that The Ladders offers a series of free webinars annually that feature the latest in online recruiting, job search best practices, and contemporary perspectives on recruiting by top recruiting experts. The good news is that if you missed this year's "Seek Week," you can still listen to the archives at this link:

The Ladders Seek Week Archives

The line-up for 2007 is:

Making Passion-Driven Career Decisions: How to Achieve Success On Your Own Terms
Speaker: Richard Chang, CEO, Richard Chang Associates; author: "The Passion Plan" and "The Passion Plan at Work"

The Resiliency Factor: 4 Foundations for a No-Fail Search
Speaker: Susan Britton Whitcomb, Executive Director, Career Masters Institute and President, Career Coach Academy; author: "Job Search Magic"

A Simple Click Is Never Enough
Speakers: Gerry Crispin, CareerXroads and Mark Mehler, CareerXroads

Getting What You Want at Work: How to Incorporate Your Personal Needs in Your Professional Career
Speaker: Tory Johnson, CEO, Women For Hire; workplace contributor, ABC's Good Morning America

Ask a Recruiter (Almost) Anything
Q&A Panel Discussion with top recruiters
Speakers: Wendy Dembin, National Sales Recruiter, Talent Management COE, Pitney Bowes; Russell Murphy, PHR, Recruiter, Circuit City Stores, Inc.; Brian Toland, Executive Recruiter, Microsoft Corporation; Lisa Anderson, Director, Strategic Staffing, Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Archives from the 2006 Webinar series are also available at:
http://www.theladders.com/seekweek

Get insider tips on executive job search strategies, executive resumes, working with recruiters, building and leveraging your network, etc. You won't want to miss out on the invaluable advice of executive recruiters, hiring executives, career professionals and others that is free for the asking through this website!

Is Age Discrimination a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?

A December 28 article in eWeek.com reported that almost 40% of those in the employment market believe that their age rather than economic forces is keeping them from landing a new position. Another 6% feel that other forms of discrimination are presenting obstacles in their search. But as John A. Challenger of Challenger, Gray & Christmas (a global outplacement consulting firm in New York) points out: "Age is typically a self-made obstacle. There is no doubt that age discrimination still exists, but the rate at which people over 45 are finding jobs is not consistent with a widespread problem. The problem we find with many older job seekers is that they enter the process with preconceived, negative notions about their age and employers' reaction to it, and it seriously affects the way they perform in an interview."

I agree with Mr. Challenger, and believe that drastic measures used by some to disguise age in executive resumes is counterproductive. Is age discrimination in executive employment real? To a certain extent, but assuredly not at the level imagined by some executives. For accomplished and capable individuals, any minuses in the prospective employer's perception that could be attributed to the age factor are generally counterbalanced by the pluses of maturity, experience, and leadership skills that are not to be found in younger candidates.

Worker Exodus in Progress

The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Wall Street Journal's CareerJournal.com recently published results of a poll indicating that in excess of 75% of employees are currently actively engaged in job search. HR professionals responding to the survey indicated that on average 12% of their work forces had voluntarily resigned during 2006. It appears that employees sense that the employment market is now healthy enough that they need not remain resigned to indefinite employment that is not to their liking.

Reasons cited by employees for wanting to move on included salary/compensation (30%), better opportunity elsewhere (27%), dissatisfaction with the career development potential at their current job (21%). Is it time to polish up your executive resume and test the waters?

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Online Networking - Are You Missing the Boat?

Savvy executives in job search mode use the Internet extensively as they submit their resumes to executive-level boards, upload them to recruiting firms' sites, and research companies to learn more about potential employers. It is amazing what you can find out about a company on a variety of websites, newsletters, recruiting sites, and on blogs - some of it simply basic information and some of it very revealing - positive and negative.

A new wave that is increasingly gathering momentum is the use of networking sites, both purely professional and social, in recruiting. Recruiters and employers actively use them to identify potential candidates, as well as to learn more about executive candidates that are under consideration. A recent Herman Trend Alert notes that referrals do still rank as the most valuable recruiting resource. However, it also notes that social networking sites have surpassed employment websites, ranking now as the #2 recruiting resource. This is based on hard numbers: The number of new hires recruited as well as the budget allocations of employers (results from a Direct Employers/Booz Allen Hamilton study).

Some of the major players in terms of third party search tools are:

Zoominfo - aggregates data found on the web to create a "picture" of people and companies, and claims to have profiles of over 33 million individuals and 2.6 million companies.

Ziggs - exclusively features profiles of professionals.

Blue Chip Expert - focuses on top echelon talent, invitation-only site.

Spock - this start-up site targets 100 million profiles as of its go-live date 4th quarter 2006.

Linked In - social networking site that allows you to create a profile, collect endorsements, and build your network online. In a recent study, LinkedIn was shown to be one of the fastest-growing Web 2.0 sites. ("Web 2.0" simply refers to a new breed of websites that allow users to create their own content.)

The Trend Alert article also echoes a caveat I have put forth previously: Watch what you say on the Web and realize that your words could come back to haunt you. Recruiters are known to consider candidates' own statements about themselves and controversial topics in weeding out their candidate pool. "According to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, one in four employers uses social networking web sites such as Facebook.com or MySpace.com to screen out applicants based on the information they post there. A CareerBuilder.com survey found that about 63 percent of employers decided against hiring someone after seeing content the person had posted online."

Posting your executive resume on reputable and discreet executive level sites and maintaining your own blog and/or executive portfolio on the web are good first steps in creating an online presence. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that to stay ahead in the executive employment search and career management game, it behooves executives to actively maintain profiles on social and professional networking sites, and to leverage the networking and visibility building capabilities of those sites.

Are Executives Suffering from Job Search Reality Disconnect?

These fascinating statistics were passed on to me through a recent Career Masters Institute member newletter:

WEDDLE's continuously conducts both primary and secondary research on Best Practices in employment excellence and HR leadership. They recently asked the visitors to the WEDDLE's Web site to tell where they expect to find their next job. A total of 1,270 people participated in the survey. Here's how they think they'll be successful in future job search campaigns:

57.6% Responding to an ad posted on an Internet job board
16.8% Networking at business and social events
7.2% Responding to an ad posted on an employer's Web-site
7.6% Sending a resume to an employer by mail
3.9% Receiving a call from a headhunter
1.9% Receiving a call from a staffing firm
1.9% Attending a career fair
1.6% Responding to a newspaper ad
0.7% Joining a social networking site

You can learn more about this survey at the Weddles site.

Since it is accepted wisdom that most executive level jobs are found via some form of networking, this points to a major disconnect in the minds of employment seekers and the real world. Most statistics point to networking as the most lucrative source of job leads! While Web posting of your executive resume and job board/recruiter site searching are worthwhile activities, one would certainly want to use them only to supplement rigorous pursuit of networking (which, by the way, can also be done to great effect via the Web).

Why Do CEO's Get Fired?

Top executives will want to know the reasons why CEO's get fired, and employ best practices for CEO and board survival. A recent Career Masters Institute E-Bridge (internal association newsletter) cited an article that discusses this question and revealed a primary reason: because their relationship with their boss sours. When your relationship with the Board becomes unhealthy, you are in the danger zone. If this describes your situation, the good news is that there are specific steps you can take to help ensure the safety of your position.

I encourage my CEO clients to download Mark Murphy's article that was published recently in Directorship Magazine (magazine catering to Fortune 500 Boards and CEOs). Mr. Murphy is CEO of Leadership IQ and has conducted research and worked with hundreds of CEOs and Boards. In this article, he provides critical survival tips for maintaining a healthy CEO-Board relationship.

Download the article:

http://www.leadershipiq.com/LeadershipIQ-DirectorshipArticle.pdf

Is Your Executive Resume Keyword Optimized?

As an executive I am sure you wisely put substantial effort into ensuring your resume powerfully articulates your value proposition to potential employers. But do you realize how critical it is that your executive resume properly leverages the power of keywords to ensure that the document you so carefully crafted is actually seen by those potential employers?

I recently attended a seminar on "Unlocking the Mystery of Employer Keyword Searches" sponsored by the National Resume Writers Association for its executive resume writer membership. Offered in that seminar was a wealth of information and insights into how employers search for candidates, the proper use of keywords in the executive resume, the importance of the candidate "relevancy factor," and what things look like from the "back-end" of an employer search.

Firstly, it was discussed that the primary ways employers search for candidates through back-end systems are via their own website, job boards, and resume databases. It was revealed that 85% of companies use technology in candidate search now, up from 20% in 1997. Smaller companies with less than 100 employees typically cannot afford memberships on the mega-boards like monster.com, careerbuilder.com, etc.where annual fees can run upwards of $5,000, so they opt to use the lower-volume, niche boards. Hint: Posting your resume on industry-specific or job-function-based job boards can be a good strategy to reach the universe of smaller companies.

Adding to the importance of keyword relevancy is the fact that with the advent of job boards as a resource for candidates, executive recruiters began a mad dash to post their job assignments on these boards. They soon found they needed an efficient way to sort, catalog, and store the hundreds of resumes that flooded in as a result. So automated systems such as early pioneer ResuMix began to scan resumes, many of which went directly into databases without human intervention. And what did those scans look for? Keywords, of course. Usually nouns, sometimes verbs, and rarely soft words or phrases such as "proactive," "team builder," "results-oriented" that may be important for a human reader later but NOT to the automated system.

What are some of the parameters on which an automated search is based?

* The date the resume was submitted. The search will usually go back 90 days AT MOST. It's considered best to tweak and replace your resume on each site every 30 to 60 days.

* Recent employers... It is not surprising that companies would have an interest in recruiting candidates from their competitors.

* Job titles... but only if fairly generic, since the exact title can differ so much from one company to the next.

* Geographic location of the candidate.

The search typically scans the actual resume a person submitted, NOT the information on a filled-out online form with a few exceptions:

* Salary ... When an online form has requested this, people who have listed their salary and salary requirements will come up first.

* Career level... again, if included on online form.

Here's how the "relevancy factor" comes into play. The sheer number of keywords your resume contains and their frequency is key. The executive resume needs to be "rich" in keywords, while taking care not to overdo it.

The keywords must be relevant to the text in which they occur, and there is no value in seeding the document with keyword lists that are obviously not supported by the content of the resume. Some newer systems actually "read" in context to determine relevancy. For instance, if the keyword occurs in the middle of a sentence it is considered better than in a list. Core Competencies sections are fine for emphasis, but you'll also want to weave these words and phrases into the body of your text. Keyword lists are not necessary if the resume is written correctly.

Once ranked by keyword richness, how recently that resume was posted or updated is the next ranking criterion.

If there are "required" qualifications like a certain degree that you do not possess, your resume will still generally come up, but it will be listed after those that do show that qualification. Note: Many systems search for the full names of degrees rather than their abbreviations, so it may be best to write it out (e.g., Bachelor of Science versus BS degree).

Finally, a couple of important DO's:

* Pay attention to how the employer or recruiter states he or she wants to receive the resume -- follow directions! You may be eliminated if you do not.

* Include your name on the file name of the resume document! You do not want yours to be one of 500 resumes with the title of "myresume.doc" in your recipient's inbox!

Typos Hazardous for Your Career Health

Typos in your executive resume could be fatal to your candidacy for a position, according to a recent survey cited in the newsletter of the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals. Here are the sobering statistics:

Nearly half (47%) of executives polled by online job search firm OfficeTeam say that just one typo in a resume is cause to not consider a candidate for a position with their company.

Another 37% said that two typos would automatically send the resume to the trash can.

Only 6% would consider job candidates with 4 or more typos in their resumes.

Enough said.

Made in America?

Now I am not a fan of isolationism or the buy only products "Made in America" philosophy. We are increasingly a global economy, and we better all get used to it and figure out how to live in this new reality. That being said, this e-mail I received today does provide food for thought:

"AIN'T IT THE TRUTH!!?

Joe Smith started the day early, having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6:00 AM.

While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG).

He put on a dress shirt (MADE IN SRI LANKA), designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE), and tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA).

After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA), he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO) to see how much he could spend today.

After setting his watch (MADE IN TAIWAN) to the radio (MADE IN INDIA), he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY), filled it with gas (FROM SAUDI ARABIA OR VENEZUELA), and continued his search for a good-paying AMERICAN JOB.

At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day and after checking his computer (MADE IN MALAYSIA), Joe decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL), poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE -- France!!), and turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA), and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in... AMERICA..... "

P.S. to "How to Damage a Hard-Won Reputation in 2 Minutes"

After a firestorm of negative publicity about the mean trick Fox Sports played on a loyal Panthers football fan (see blog entry for 9/6), Fox has apparently reluctantly done the right thing and awarded him the prize promised. Mr. Good will be receiving a 2007 Ford F-150 truck.

Fox' CEO and Chairman received more than 2,000 e-mails and phone calls in a single day about the humiliating stunt pulled at the expense of Greg ("Catman") Good on August 24 at the Panthers-Dolphins pre-season game. While I'm happy for Mr. Good, for Fox I'm afraid the damage done to the company's public image will not be repaired by this "come lately" gesture.

It's much harder to restore trust and good will than it is to damage it in the first place. Again, something to think about for anyone in a setting where relationships with their customers, clients, patients, viewers, users, readers, etc. are the lifeblood of their business.

How to Damage a Hard-Won Reputation with Your Customers in 2 Minutes

OK, so this is not strictly related to executive job search or to executive resume writing. But what happened on national TV on August 24 to an ardent fan of Carolina Panthers' football contains a lesson for anyone whose customers are the lifeblood of their business (and for whom are they not?).

As today's Charlotte Observer reports, Fox Sports played a really MEAN trick on one of the Panthers' long-time, most loyal fans, and stirred up the ire of countless viewers. "Catman" (Greg Good) sits in a front-row end zone seat at every Panthers home game wearing an electric blue wig and a black-and-blue cape.

With less than 2 minutes remaining in the Panthers-Miami Dolphins exhibition game, the announcer Daryl Johnston said: "Now all you fans out there, you might be thinking, well, the starting units are out, we might change the channel. ... We're going to do something special to try and keep you here tonight. We're giving a car away tonight." He continued with the teasers until sideline reporter Tony Siragusa walked up and introduced Good, asked him to scream for the Panthers and then said: "The car is coming in right now. Here it comes. Beautiful. It's white. It's a Porsche." Then Siragusa handed a small toy car to Good.

Good naturally assumed that the toy car was a symbol of the real car he had won.

Wrong. It was all a joke, and a cruel one at that. Fox Sports had tried to trick viewers into staying tuned with its fake "car giveaway."

Fox Sports only comment has been that "We would welcome an opportunity to speak to him and offer an apology for any misunderstanding." Who WOULDN'T have misunderstood?

The joke was particularly egregious due to the fact that Good needed a new car badly. He is a college graduate with three children who works with troubled kids for a mental health agency. He drives a 1991 Chevrolet Astro van with 130,000 miles on it.

In the mere span of a few minutes Fox Sports managed to leave a sour taste in the mouths of millions of viewers, erasing the benefits of millions of promotion and advertising dollars and many hours of good sports broadcasting. Something to think about, isn't it?

Tech Execs: Wondering Where the Next Technology Hub Will Be?

A recent article in eWeek discussed the lively debate going on in the corporate world and in major business, technology, and local government publications regarding where the nation's next major technology hub will emerge. Google and Microsoft have both bought massive properties in the Midwest, but there are a number of cities that show strong potential to be the place where you technology execs may next hang your hat.

Silicon Valley has a long way to go before it fades from prominence, but it has unfortunately become a victim of its own success, driving the cost of living to almost unimaginable levels in the region and the cost base for companies located there through the roof. With the employment market shifting more in favor of the candidate, employee retention and quality of life are becoming primary factors in locating technology enterprises.

So where will the next hub be? No one can say for sure, but eWeek analyzed the information out there to come up with a top ten list:

1. Seattle
2. Atlanta
3. Boston
4. Washington, D.C.
5. Dallas
6. Philadelphia
7. Chicago
8. Orlando
9. Los Angeles
10. Charlotte

Some areas in Florida, Central New Jersey, the Maryland suburbs, and even Las Vegas and Reno show potential. But the bottom line as the article points out is that "In the end, the skills are going to be where the people want to relocate because there's a good quality of life."

Angling Around HR - Good or Bad Tactic?

Nick Corcodilos, author of the popular (and free) Ask the Headhunter newsletter/ezine, routinely advises readers who write in to his column to go directly to hiring decision makers and either bypass HR completely or go around them after an initial rejection. His advice to that effect in a recent column entitled "Should I accept HR’s rejection letter?" certainly raised the hackles on a number of HR professionals. His answer began, "The company didn’t turn you down; the screener did. When a human resources person rejects you, it's like having the gardener tell you not to bother coming around a girl's house. What does that tell you about whether the girl wants to date you? Nothing."

Among the outraged responses were the following comments from an HR worker: "Wow, Nick! If I looked at your response to the reader as though it were your resume, I would have determined that you have little to no integrity, demonstrate poor judgment, are disrespectful, and are unable to follow the rules. Hopefully, the reader you advised won’t heed your advice because you have more than likely destroyed their chance to ever get into the organization now or in the future."

Nick respectfully disagreed, and his opinion was supported by responses from other headhunters. These included observations such as, "In my 16 years of headhunting, not once has an HR rep ever been the ultimate decision maker for any hiring outside of the HR department."

The bottom line in my view is the following: Where is the benefit to anyone on either side of the hiring equation—especially management and executive-level candidates—in meekly accepting the verdict of HR and quietly slinking away? There would appear to be only an upside and no downside to taking your case directly to the hiring decision maker. As headhunter Tony Pannagl, Managing Partner of IS&T puts it, "Candidates should work the referral and introduction angles and only give up when the hiring manager rejects them. I'm sorry if your HR friends find this offensive, but it's true."

Of course, the best answer to this issue is to leave HR out of the loop in the first place: Do your homework, find out who the decision maker is, and take your knock-'em-dead executive resume and well-prepared business case presentation directly to them.

New Federal Regulations Affect Your Online Job Hunt

Federal regulations regarding diversity that went into effect this Spring will have an effect on your job search when using a job board or other online channel such as corporate websites. The regulations are designed to standardize tracking of diversity in the candidate pool. They currently apply to federal contractors but later this year will kick in to cover all employers with more than 50 employees.

The trick is in the new definition of "applicant." You must directly express interest in the job while showing that you have ALL of the requirements listed in the job description (using the exact words they use), must not remove yourself from consideration by specifying a particular location (other than the location of the job currently advertised), and must follow the company's instructions for submitting your resume or application to the letter - whether that be via their website, email, etc. (The day is looming when it may actually be necessary to create a new resume for each application.)

The new rules allow a company to search the job boards for recent qualified applicants, which in many cases means they will not look at your resume if it has not been updated in the past 2 or 3 weeks!

The net result of all of this is that employers will want to limit as much as possible the number of resumes gathered so they can maintain a relatively small, random pool of applicants to help ensure the diversity the regulations require. As often is the case, it is likely that all these regulations will do is make more work for everyone, without actually impacting diversity. But in any case, these new regulations are something executive candidates cannot afford to ignore.

Dangers of Posting on Big Job Boards

The World Privacy Forum acknowledges that while it is important to circulate your executive resume when looking for work, in the information economy, "your resume has 'street value.'" They recommend taking measures to protect your privacy while using online resources in your employment search.

A key recommendation is posting your resume anonymously or privately, an action which conventional wisdom and job seekers' experiences seem to indicate does somewhat degrade the response rate, as employers have to take an extra step to make that first contact. Yet they are unequivocal in their opinion: "Unfortunately, few job seekers take advantage of this option. Most job seekers are concerned that they are hurting their chances with legitimate employers by making them take an extra step. But at this point, it is simply not a good idea to post your resume openly -- there are known risks at this point. If you are going to post a resume online, private posting should be the only way you post it." If you still want to post openly, they suggest that you at least use a P.O. Box instead of your street address and a disposable email address.

Other traps to be aware of are that often jobs offered are just scams. It is also true that while most sites do restrict access and try to limit it to legitimate recruiters, they cannot possibly police this adequately. And once your resume has been downloaded, all control of that resume is lost.

"Fluff" Words Are Needed in Your Executive Resume - Judiciously Used

An article appeared recently on CNN.com listing "25 words that hurt your resume." Included were such words and phrases as:

Aggressive, Ambitious, Competent, Creative, Detail-oriented, Determined, Efficient, Experienced, Flexible, Goal-oriented, Hard-working, Independent, Innovative, Knowledgeable, Logical, Motivated, Meticulous, People person, Professional, Reliable, Resourceful, Self-motivated, Successful, Team player, Well-organized

I have upon many occasions reviewed ineffective executive resumes replete with such phrases, to the virtual exclusion of any substantial accomplishments or "hard skills." While certainly it is important to avoid over-use of such phrases (especially in lieu of accomplishments), it is important to bear in mind that most employers and many job listings actually include such phrases, so they are obviously of importance to potential employers.

The key is to match the employers' terminology and demonstrate concretely how you have shown these qualities. And remember that key word searches may well be conducted based on some of these "fluff" terms as well. Thrown into a resume on their own without supporting evidence, these are indeed "empty" words. Matched with actual accomplishments showing that the candidate truly does have these qualities, they can become very powerful indeed.

Honeymoon Over with Outsourcing?

eWeek recently published a study proclaiming that the outsourcing boom is over, as companies grow more savvy about working with outsourcing providers and look beyond the cost savings to the quality and timeliness of service they are receiving. This applies to both offshore and onshore outsourcing, as there is a growing wave of disappointment in performance and a flood of premature contract terminations.

There also seems to be a definite shift in outsourcing in favor of offshore versus onshore, as offshore providers increasingly pair high level certifications such as CMMI with their lower cost structures. Favorite offshore destinations seem to be Canada, China, and Eastern Europe.

At the same time, outsourcing seems to be morphing from a contracting strategy for distinct IT tasks to a corporate-wide strategy. U.S.-based outsourcing companies would do well to take heed of these facts and adjust strategy to ensure a strong focus on "underpromising and overdelivering."

Are Plain Text Resumes Still Necessary?

My clients sometimes ask if it is any longer necessary to have a text, ASCII, or "e-resume" version, considering the continued advancements in Internet and computer technology.

While the sites to which we submit resumes sport fancy input forms, the underlying technology has as a rule remained unchanged when it comes to submitting information via those forms. In other words, if you were to copy and paste your nicely formatted Word resume into the form, it is highly unlikely that your format would be reasonably preserved, and characters such as bullets, graphics, and other special characters would not be converted correctly. Without embedding a very complex application into the blank or box, anything put into it will automatically be simplified to plain text.

So my answer for now is: Yes, you still need a text version of your executive resume for use when you visit executive job boards and recruiting firm sites.

How Many Employers Acknowledge Resumes They Receive?

Workforce Week Newsletter recently published the results of a survey of employers regarding their practices in responding to resumes they receive. Regarding the question, "What is your company's practice for acknowledging resumes?" these were the responses:

35%: We acknowledge all the resumes that we receive

13%: We acknowledge resumes that we believe come from serious applicants

39%: We can't possibly acknowledge all the resumes we receive--we are inundated with resumes

14%: None of the above

Total respondents: 672

So now you know that all other things being equal, a candidate's chances are far less than 50/50 that they will receive any kind of response at all when they submit a resume to a potential employer. Of course, "all other things being equal" is the operative phrase here. What if you have researched and determined that this opening is a great match for your capabilities and/or that you have expertise and insights that the company badly needs? What if you have developed a powerful executive resume and cover letter that so strongly make your case that they virtually compel your recipient to contact you? Odds are high that you will be one of the lucky few who DO receive that acknowledgment as well as an interview.

Forbes Cites Top Executive Job and Recruiter Sites

My senior executive resume clients and blog visitors will want to review Forbes' annual review of the top executive job and recruiter sites. In a competitive job market, knowledge of the most effective online resources and recruiter contacts is essential to speed your search. Some of the better job sites not only include a plethora of listings but also feature salary trackers, networking bulletin boards, and other valuable tools.

Highlighted sites include Netshare, which they describe as a "great place to search national listings for the $100,000-plus executive, and Spencer Stuart, extolled for using "its uncommonly thorough Web site to recruit execs making $100,000-plus a year. At last glance, nearly 90 top-dog jobs were listed. But that's not all: intelligent content abounds."

While leveraging your personal network remains the top essential tool in executive-level job search, you are surely missing out on potential opportunities if you do not get your executive resume in the hands of top recruiting firms via the better online job and recruiter sites.

Angel Investing Dollars on the Rise

If you have a great business idea or are looking for additional funds for an existing business, you will be glad to hear that the Puget Sound Business Examiner Daily reported on March 29 that the angel investor market grew moderately in 2005. Investments totaled $23.1 billion, an increase of 2.7 percent over 2004, according to a report released by the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire Whittemore School of Business and Economics.

A total of 49,500 entrepreneurial ventures received angel funding in 2005, a 3.1 percent increase from 2004. The number of active investors in 2005 was 227,000 individuals.
Healthcare and medical devices garnered 20 percent of total angel investments in 2005, followed by software at 18 percent and biotech at 12 percent.

Angel investments created an average of four jobs per investment in the United States in 2005.

Is Big Brother Watching YOU?

Today we are all familiar with the innumerable threats to our privacy and the safety of our personal identities from theft or other misuse. Enter a potential solution: RFID's or Radio Frequency Identification Devices. These are tiny devices the size of a grain of rice that can be inserted under the skin and store a variety of types of information. Many of us are already using them as a way of identifying our pets in case of loss or theft. Companies such as plumbing and electrical service providers already use them to track their technicians using GPS.

Well, now some employers have begun using the devices in the workplace as a means for employees to access restricted or secure areas. While the devices are currently used only like keycards for access, the potential is there for use to track employee movements, and as the technology advances for others such as the government to track citizens' movements. Keep your eyes open as RFID devices and biometric ID's become increasingly the norm. George Orwell may have had his timing a bit off, but it seems to be becoming more true daily that "Big Brother is Watching You."

On a related note, try doing a Google search on your street address or phone number. Then click on Google Maps to pinpoint your address. Then click on satellite in the upper right to view a satellite picture of your location. For some locations you can zoom in REALLY close and see if your child left his or her bicycle in the driveway.

Wary of Age-ism in the Executive Job Market?

Manyof my executive clients express concern about their longevity in the workplace as is generally apparent at least to a degree in their executive resume. A recent article on Weddles.com discusses how to best work around the issue of age discrimination. It would seem that the trend is favorable for older workers, in that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics observes that the participation of older workers in the workforce is increasing (unemployment among those 55 and older decreased to 3.4% in 2005, from 4.1% in 1985). However, many still find themselves passed over when the final cut is made. This is because, as we all know, statistics can be deceiving. While the strict percentage unemployed went down, the number of candidates looking for work in that age category went up, way up: by nearly 40%!

It's not a lack of jobs that is the source of the problem. There's a virtual war for talent going on out there. So what gives? It would seem that age discrimination is alive and well, despite legislation outlawing it and the fact that many enlightened employers have come to realize the true value of seasoning and experience in employees, especially those at higher level, strategic positions. Yet research shows that age bias often begins as early as 45 years of age!

The article suggests 4 excellent strategies to position yourself as strongly as possible to combat age bias. To paraphrase their suggestions in brief:

1) Keep your skills at the forefront of your profession. Dedicate yourself to state-of-the-art knowledge acquisition as a way of life.

2) Market yourself based on the ROI you can offer the employer, results you can deliver, not "X" number of years of experience. Make sure your executive resume writer forcefully describes the contributions you have made and can make going forward.

3) Position yourself as invaluable by working above and beyond the call of duty... step outside the parameters of your job description.

4) Keep physically fit and look as youthful as you can. Exude vitality, stamina, and a "can-do" attitude.

When you think about it, these should be steps EVERY employment candidate should take, not only those fearing potential age discrimination!

New College Grad in Your Family? Good News...

According to an article in the May 1st Christian Science Monitor, "The lean job market college graduates faced in the first half of the decade is gone, and companies are upping the ante to obtain the best talent." Some of my executive clients in recent years have been rather appalled at the apparent ROI obtained on the many thousands of dollars they had invested in their sons' and daughters' educations. Many were graduating only to find it nearly impossible to find a job using their new degree, and some would end up flipping burgers.

Apparently that situation is now changing. It's now a buyer's market for graduates seeking jobs, with hiring growth in many sectors of the economy and employers expecting to hire 13.8% more new graduates overall this year than last. This is particularly true for graduates who have been savvy enough to gain some experience through internships, with engineering and financial services being especially "hot" categories this year.

Starting salaries are on the rise, too.

NACE reports these majors with the highest average starting salary and these fastest growing occupations:

Majors with highest average starting salary:
Chemical engineering: $55,900
Computer engineering: $54,877
Electrical engineering and communications engineering: $52,899
Mechanical engineering: $50,672
Computer science: $50,046

Fastest growing occupations:
Home health aides: $8.81 per hour
Network systems and data communications analysts: $60,000
Medical assistants: $24,610
Physician assistants: $69,410
Computer applications software engineers: $74,980

Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE)

Of course, none of this means that grads can afford to be lazy in their job search. Make sure your new grad leverages all of the online and traditional job search methods, with particular attention to networking. As Pat Garrott, Associate Director of Purdue University's career center says, "In order to actually get the job, you have to use your network."

A Downside to IT Certification?

eWeek.com published an astounding article today that flies in the face of conventional wisdom that the more certifications an IT professional can accumulate, the greater will be their career prospects and potential salary. The article leads off with this statement, "Long seen as a method to maximize employment opportunities and salaries in the post-dot-com-bust era, a study released today finds that pay for certified IT skills falls short of the pay for non-certified skills."

The statement is backed up by extensive statistics gathered for the Q1 2006 Hot Technical Skills and Certifications Pay Index, released April 25 by Foote Partners, a New Canaan, Conn., IT compensation and workforce management firm. Premium pay grew 300% faster for "non-certified" IT skills than for certified skills over a 6-month period. This suggests a shift in valuation by potential employers of the two types of skills reflected in competitive pay levels.

David Foote, President and Chief Research Officer for the firm stated, "This is the first time skills have trumped certifications since our firm began surveying tech skills pay in 2000." While emerging from the economic recession and precipitous crash of the IT job market, those engaged in job search found success to be all about IT certifications. Employers are now shifting their focus to qualities in potential hires that will help to move their businesses ahead, particularly skills in Applications Development/Programming Languages, Project Management, Training, Webmaster and Security.

One certification that is not specifically mentioned is the "PMP" or Project Management Professional certification, which I would guess is still advantageous in view of the fact that project management skills are highly valued at present. See the complete article for a detailed listing of certifications that have decreased or increased in value, and those that remain "hottest."

More on Headhunters... Are Retained Firms the Way to Go?

Many of my clients initially indicate that they would prefer to have their resume put in front of retained recruiting firms only, as they are under the impression that it is only these firms that handle senior executive and C-level recruiting assignments.

While it is true that many companies do retain these firms for their important high-level candidate searches, contingency firms, properly used, can be of great value as well. Nick Corcodilos in a recent Ask the Headhunter e-newsletter addresses just this question. He points out that it is a fact that more $100K+ level searches are done by contingency firms than by retained firms. He cites some of the reasons for this, which include the flexibility that a contingency firm enjoys, their lower internal costs, and the resulting reduced cost to the employer. The savings derived by using a contingency instead of a retained firm for the average $100K position range from $15-20K, or between 29%-60%!

The upshot of all of this is that, as in most things, the quality and reputation of the recruiter - whether retained or contingent - is your primary concern. It is also wise to determine whether there is more than one firm working on the assignment and whether the position has been advertised, as your odds decrease rapidly as the number of competitors and headhunters involved increases.

Straight Scoop on Headhunters

Many of my executive clients have a very limited understanding of how executive recruiters (aka headhunters) work, and how they wind up on the radar screens of recruiters that they do not personally know.

The truth is that a high-caliber executive recruiter will learn about you through your reputation in your industry, previous and current peers, supervisors and subordinates, and from publications that quote or talk about you. They actively and conscientiously research and source potential candidates, while maintaining an in-depth knowledge of the industries in which they specialize and the key players in those industries.

Those are the high-caliber executive recruiters. Unfortunately the majority are not nearly so professional. They will get your name from databases they purchase such as magazine subscriber lists, or through job boards. While there is nothing wrong with a candidate found on a public job board, you could hardly describe this method of finding candidates as providing added value for the employer whose job order they are attempting to fill. You or I or even the employer could have done just what they did.

A key point that I reiterate nearly every day to my clients is this: It is very important to realize that an executive recruiter is NOT working for you. He is NOT going to go out and pound the pavement and find that next wonderful job for you. He works for the company that is looking to fill a position, and he is paid by that client.

This makes it all the more important that, if you should garner the attention of a quality recruiter, you need to be sure that you do everything you can to start and maintain a good relationship with him or her, even if the position discussed turns out not to be right for you. Do your best to provide suggestions for alternative candidates, and demonstrate your knowledge of who's who in your industry. You want to position yourself as an industry insider and valuable contact, helping to also ensure you will come quickly to mind when the right opportunity should present itself.

Most Popular Executive Job Boards

Thanks to Mark Hovind at JobBait.com for these interesting stats on job boards.

As of December 1, the most popular executive-level and six-figure job boards are:

Executive Site/Web Traffic Rank

TheLadders 4,933
CareerJournal 12,689
ExecutivesOnTheWeb 18,571
SixFigureJobs 19,260
exec-appointments 29,571
Execunet 30,953
MBA-exchange 72,676
eKornFerry 87,025
execSearches 90,933
Heidrick 96,742
RiteSite 102,529
Futurestep 112,852
Netshare 115,210
MBAJungle 123,697
SpencerStuart 125,734
ExecutivesOnly 161,484
ExecutiveRegistry 201,795

He also notes that RiteSite and SixFigureJobs are the only two "six-figure" job boards where you can access the listings for free. Some fee-based boards will post teaser ads on sites such as Monster.com that lead back to their site where you must pay a fee to view the job.

He also points out that executives must beware of fake job listings that lure executives into submitting their executive resumes. Their personal information is then used for mailing lists or other unauthorized purposes. Also some sites will have reassuring-sounding privacy policies that contain loopholes that essentially negate the promised safety of your personal information.

While I still believe that use of job boards is a tool for the job search arsenal, it is important to realize that a statistically small number of jobs are filled this way. It is important to leverage your network heavily, as a large proportion of executive opportunities are found in this manner.

Powerful New Career Website Partnership

Two of the premier online resources for executives have announced a two-year partnership agreement that executives who are in career transition or who simply want to keep up to date on trends and executive job market opportunities will want to look into. CareerJournal.com and TheLadders have joined forces in an alliance that has created a customized product called "CareerJournal Plus."

Through this site, CareerJournal readers can subscribe via a special offer to access TheLadders' exclusive $100K+ job openings and career content, as well as put themselves on the radar screens of 10,000+ recruiters. In turn, TheLadders will feature information and links to relevant content on CareerJournal.com. Check it out!

Unbelievable: There's a Published Guide to Lying on Your Resume

I thought I'd seen just about everything and that nothing could shock me anymore about the deteriorating morals in our society, but I was wrong. I was outraged upon receiving an alert this week regarding a press release put out by a former recruiter who not only openly advocates lying on your resume, but has published a book and a website to show you how to do it.

This blatantly unethical person seems to think that "everyone else is doing it" (that sounds like the typical child's argument, doesn't it?) and since employers are not completely up front in all aspects of hiring, lying about your qualifications on your resume is OK. I quote from his website (his grammatical errors and typos have not been corrected):

"Can this be considered lying? Perhaps, but don't you deserve a shot a job you know you can do.... What about your prospective employer’s honesty? How open and honest are they to their employees and future employees? Anyone who’s read the newspaper or watched the evening news has witnessed the lack of integrity that runs rampant in today’s corporate world. In my experience very few employers will fully reveal any unpleasant details affecting the positions they advertise... It seems very hypocritical for a prospective employer to insist on applicants being entirely honest while they regularly conceal relevant job details."

The fact that this person is a former executive recruiter really does take the cake. One wonders how many unqualified LIARS he placed with unwitting employers! I can't imagine WHY he's no longer a recruiter. Could it be because he got booted out of the profession?

Much as I would love to publicly name and put this unsavory person up for condemnation, I will not dignify or aid him in any way, certainly not by linking to or naming his website or publicizing his name. If you have an interest in what he is purveying, you are welcome to do a search engine inquiry on the subject. Any executives doing so need not contact me regarding assistance with their employment search. If you'd like a powerful, HONEST executive resume that will effectively market your qualifications, I will be happy to assist.

Recruiters Optimistic About Executive Employment Market

“After a two month lull that followed the hurricanes and soaring energy prices, confidence in the executive employment market is once again approaching all time highs,” says Mark Anderson, President of ExecuNet. Execunet has seen an increasing demand for executive talent over the past 6 months, so much so that it has made it necessary for 56% of all search firms to make plans for recruitment of additional staff over the next 3 months.

Assignments seem to be literally pouring in, creating a "bullish" market stance for executive recruiters. Expectations are for a near-record level surge in hiring at executive level as we begin 2006. What a great Christmas gift and jump-start to the New Year! It may be time to polish up that executive resume and test the waters.

Dwindling Perks and Benefits to Return?

The November 22 edition of the Herman Trend Alert indicates that a reversal of the recent trend toward elimination of benefits is underway.

With an increasingly competitive employment market developing that requires employers to vie for the best talent, some of those perks have already begun to return. Even unusual benefits such as concierge services and pet care programs have begun a resurgence.

With many executives ready to jump ship as reported by ExecuNet, the threat of rising attrition rates will drive employers to sweeten their compensation and benefits packages in order to retain key executives and avoid the exorbitant costs of replacement. This attrition threat is not to be taken lightly, as according to ExecuNet's recent survey of 147 employed executives, 67% are not satisfied with their jobs and of those 78% plan to change companies in the next 6 months.

Dave Opton, CEO and founder of ExecuNet phased it well: "“Companies have neglected retention for too long and now that the competition for talent is heating up, many are responding with too little, too late. When you consider the costs of recruiting, hiring, and training a new executive, it’s no surprise that the most successful companies never lose sight of the importance of rewarding their top talent with more than just compensation.”

Does Your Resume Reveal More About You Than You Thought?

Would you be comfortable knowing that companies and recruiters who receive your resume are viewing your previous markups and comments on the document? All those comments and redlines/markups that you thought you'd removed from your Word document are very likely still there for viewing by anyone who cares to, with the execution of a simple menu command.

In a recent article published on CNet entitled "Beware Your Trail of Digital Fingerprints" by Tom Zeller, he states, "It pays to mind your metadata... According to some technologists, including Dennis M. Kennedy, a lawyer and consultant based in St. Louis, (denniskennedy.com), metadata might include other bits of information like notes and questions rendered as "comments" within a document ("need to be more specific here," for example, or in the case of my editors, "eh??"), or the deletions and insertions logged by such features as "track changes" in Microsoft Word."

A high-profile example of hidden document information gaffes is the recent release of the U.N.'s long-awaited report on Syria's suspected involvement in the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister. Recipients could track editing changes that included deletion of names of several high-ranking officials allegedly involved in the plot.

In Microsoft Word, you can set your document view to "final showing markup," but you also need to set Word's Security options to "Warn before printing, saving, or sending a file that contains tracked changes or comments." On your reviewing tool bar, be sure your dropdown menu for "show" has all boxes checked (comments, insertions/deletions, formatting) and then "accept all changes." (Just telling Word to not show these items and create a Final document still leaves these items easily available.) Then go to the next drop-down menu to the right of the "Accept Change" menu on your Reviewing tool bar and click "Delete All Comments in Document." Don't forget to check "Properties" of your document to make sure that info about authorship etc. contained there is something you wouldn't mind your recipient seeing. To do this, go to the "File" menu, "Properties," and edit the information found there.

Microsoft Word's Help menu states the following: "Hidden text, revised text, comments, or field codes can remain in a document even though you don’t see such information or expect it to be in the final version. If you entered personal information, such as your name or e-mail address, when you registered your software, some Microsoft Office documents store that information as part of the document. Information contained in custom fields that you add to the document, such as an "author" or "owner" field, is not automatically removed. You must edit or remove the custom field to remove that information."

Information security concerns with Word documents are why to be extra safe (and also for quality/editing control) I hand-enter all client changes to an executive resume on the original document I created that has no comments or track changes added. But regardless of whether you think there are no comments or tracked changes, I strongly recommend following the above procedures before sending your document file out.

You may wish to check out another option I have heard good things about from colleagues, a free program called Doc Scrubber by Javacool software. It will automatically scrub the document of all and save the file in a different name (ending scrubbed) so you know it's clean.

Executive Salaries Moving Up

Just a quick news flash:

After an extended period of decreases and stagnation in executive compensation, salaries appear to be on the rise!

ExecuNet's Director of Recruiting Services Jeff Peduto recently reviewed September's job statistics, and observed that salaries have suddenly taken a major leap forward. He noted specifically that those jobs in the $100K-$150K range are up 53% from the same time last year, and those between $250K and $300K are up a whopping 54% from last year.

In addition, job posts overall are up 27%, with leading categories being Finance (+57%), Marketing (+39%), and Information Technology (66%). Other industries with major increases include Healthcare +55%, High Tech +49%, Financial Services +46% and Manufacturing +13%.

Regionally, New York fared best with a 46% increase, but the Southwest did well at 42%. The MidAtlantic posted a substantial 37% increase.

I don't know about you, but those stats made my day! If you've been hunkered down in a less-than-ideal employment situation for fear there was nothing else out there, maybe it's time for you to polish up that executive resume and test the market?

Holding the Salary Card Close to the Vest

Executives conducting an employment search frequently run into a situation like this. You see a posting for a position that sounds as if it may be right for you, and the advertisement asks for your salary requirements up front. Or you get that coveted first interview either via phone or in person, and the interviewer presses you for specific salary requirements. What do you do?

Career and compensation experts en masse advise against revealing your salary requirements too early in the game, despite veiled (or not so veiled) threats that candidates will be disqualified from consideration if they do not comply. (Surveys have shown that this is rarely if ever actually the case.) By divulging this information early in the game, you are virtually guaranteeing that the employer's view of you will be prejudiced and the hiring executive or committee will see you as either too expensive or not expensive enough.

The key issue here is: How do you want to be evaluated for this opportunity? Someone who is relying on your salary history is basing their evaluation on how someone else (another company) valued you. Does this make sense?

By withholding your salary history (diplomatically, of course) you are not being uncooperative. Rather you are shifting the focus to demonstrating your potential present and future value to the employer, rather than either defending what your last employer paid you or trying to explain why you were not paid more.

If executed properly, this tactic will earn the respect of the hiring executive and make it far more likely that you will ultimately receive an offer commensurate with your worth.

Free Job Search Help for Katrina Victims

In the wake of the unprecedented disaster that Katrina has wrought throughout Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi, career professionals nationwide have stepped up to the plate to help. Many hundreds of us are offering our time and talents to help those displaced to regain employment as one step on their way to recovery. I have reprinted in its entirety a Press Release from our Volunteers for Careers organization. If you are one of those directly affected, visit www.volunteersforcareers.com to learn more.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FREE JOB SEARCH HELP FOR KATRINA VICTIMS

Individuals whose jobs were swept away as a result of Hurricane Katrina can obtain free job search help from professional career consultants across the country. Volunteers For Careers is offering no-charge assistance with resume writing, job search strategy, and career transition advice to evacuees from the Gulf Coast and others who experienced job loss as a direct result of Katrina.

"People lost much more than their homes in this tragedy," says Volunteers for Careers director Susan Whitcomb. "They lost their entire means of livelihood. Helping evacuees find new jobs quickly is essential to getting the Gulf Coast region, and the country, back on its feet."

Volunteers For Careers was initially formed in response to the September 11th, 2001 tragedy. Their volunteers helped thousands of job seekers in the regions and industries affected. The initiative has now been re-launched and expanded to help those in need from the Gulf Coast.

Hurricane Katrina victims can register to obtain free services at www.VolunteersForCareers.com or by calling 800-513-7439 toll free. They will then be matched with a volunteer career practitioner who will contact them directly, working with them via phone, e-mail and/or in person as each situation requires. It is the objective of all Volunteers For Careers workers to help these displaced individuals return to the workforce as soon as possible.

Career services practitioners — counselors, coaches, consultants, resume writers and others — who wish to volunteer their time and expertise can also register at the organization's web site.

Volunteers For Careers is a collaborative effort of leading career associations nationwide, coordinated by Career Masters Institute (CMI) in collaboration with the Association of Career Professionals International (ACP), Association of Online Resume and Career Professionals (AORCP), National Career Development Association (NCDA), National Resume Writers' Association (NRWA), Parachute Associates, and Professional Resume Writing & Research Association (PRWRA), with the support of technology companies Databasepro.net and AcornCreative.com.

For more information, contact:

Susan Whitcomb, Director
888-449-7474 (Pacific Time)
swhitcomb@cminstitute.com

Wendy Enelow, Associate Director
800-881-9972 (Eastern Time)
wendy@wendyenelow.com

C.J. Hayden, Media Chair
877-946-4722 (Pacific Time)
cj@gethirednow.com

www.volunteersforcareers.com

Beware of Digital Dirt

With recruiters, hiring executives, and selection committees using the Internet to research candidates in ever increasing numbers, executives are beginning to see the impact - and the results can sometimes be distressing. ExecuNet recently revealed a disturbing statistic in their Insider Newsletter. In that newsletter, they stated that a recent survey of recruiters revealed that 75% of respondents use search engines to uncover information about candidates. The disturbing part is that 26% indicated that information on the Internet has caused them to eliminate a candidate from consideration!

Reasons cited by recruiters for dropping candidates were diverse. They include inaccurate academic qualifications on their executive resume, omission of facts regarding publicly available information on an ethics investigation, strange personal habits, misrepresentation of job titles or company information, suspended driver's or professional licenses, and litigation against former employers.

So while you want to work to ensure that there is plenty of positive information about you out there in cyberspace, it is also important to monitor what is out there and its possible negative effect on your candidacy for a position, as well as your overall reputation in the employment marketplace.

I highly recommend that my executive clients do a little detective work and Google themselves to see what is being said about them. If you do find something potentially negative, do what you can to counteract it by commenting on blogs that contain the information, covering it honestly but as favorably as possible in your own blog and/or web portfolio, and taking care to disclose to the recruiter anything that you ascertain can and will easily be revealed about you in an Internet search. It goes without saying that you will also want to correct any inaccurate information on your executive resume.

Executive Recruiter Optimism Grows

Recent surveys of executive recruiter outlook on the executive job market indicate near-record highs in confidence. ExecuNet's August survey reveals a generally bullish attitude regarding ongoing market growth, with 71% being confident or very confident of improvement in the next 6 months. Expectations are for a 17% increase in assignment volume from corporate clients over the next 6 months.

With continuing good news of profit growth and solid economic indicators, businesses have felt the confidence to expand payrolls, leading to plans by 48% of search firms to hire additional professional staff in the near term.

With regard to the industry-specific job picture, recruiters expect the greatest growth in Pharmaceutical/Biotech, Healthcare, Financial Services, High Tech, and Business Services. However, there appears to be solid growth in virtually all market segments, raising the specter of high executive turnover as a concern for employers.