THE PUBLISHED JOB MARKET

The published job market includes newspapers, the Internet (general job boards, company websites and professional organizations and niche job boards), professional publications, and on in-house job boards. The published market, while a good place to identify single opportunities, is also a great place to learn more about other job titles, how those positions are defined, which companies appear to be growing and expanding and what is happening in the market or in a particular geographic area. Remember that statistically speaking, the published job market represents only about 66% of the total jobs filled on a monthly basis. Therefore you should only spend about 2/3 of your time and efforts pursuing that market. See the latest JOLT Report to understand more about the unpublished market.

Maximize your efforts in the published job market with these strategies.

1. Target a published ad.
2. Research the company’s / organization’s website, if possible, for additional position information and other general information that can increase your knowledge and improve your perspective.
3. Examine the ad carefully and make a list of the specific requirements presented, then list in brief yet focused form your qualifications to meet each of them and tailor your resume to fit the position.
4. Understand that a resume, no matter how well written, cannot express the true spirit and character of whom you are and what you can bring to an organization. Can you make a connection through a Social Networking site like Linkedin? If so, use the following to help you learn more about the position, department, and company.
5. First of all be open to all the possibilities you never know who might have opportunities (published or unpublished).
   • Build rapport (be outgoing, enthusiastic, professional, and polite) read their Linkedin profile, learn about the groups they associate with, join the groups if possible. Follow the discussions as they will help you to learn more about current issues and topics.
   • Make positive contributions to the discussions, as questions, start your own discussions – in other words get noticed in a positive light.
   • Ask if they know anything about the position, or department that might help you to determine if it is a right fit for you?
   • If this person knows little or nothing about the position, ask if they could find out more, guide you to another person who might have the information you are looking for.
   • Highlight your skills and achievements in relation to their apparent needs.
6. If you have made a connection inside the company ask if it would be alright for you to forward a resume to them to determine if they think you might be considered for the position. Include a cover letter analyzing the position and how you fit. Make sure your resume focuses only on the requirements for the position and nothing more. Get rid of any extraneous information that might give the impression that you are not the right fit.
7. Never Discuss Salary information in the initial dating phases.

Cover Letters

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics approximately 1 in 6 people, in the labor force, are either looking for work or better work. This does not include all of the people who are no longer in the work force because they have “given up” or have “dropped off” the unemployment rolls because they have been unemployed for “too-long.”

So, how important is a cover letter?

Given two people with equal qualifications (according to the resume) which one will move on to the next step in the screening process? The one with the cover letter. It shows a more polished look.

A cover letter is supposed to be the first impression someone in the on-boarding process has of you. The supposed part of this is that in many cases your cover letter is read after your resume, if you have qualified for the next read. Your cover letter if often the second thing that read. However, there are a few tricks you can use to help it move up in the pile.

One of the first realizations a job seeker must make is that the reader of your materials will only take between 8 and 30 seconds to decide if you are qualified to pass on to the next reader. As a whole, cover letters are generally fairly plain, predictable, and seen over and over and over. A cover letter that states the candidate is applying for the position and that they can do a good job and not much more. Setting yourself apart from your competition by telling the employer exactly how you can solve the employer’s problem.

Here are tips and tricks that you can really use to help raise your materials toward the top of the keep pile.

• Analyze the position. What exactly is the employer looking for? If you cannot figure out what the employer is looking for how can you answer their call? Make a list of the knowledge, abilities, and skills the posting is looking for, then rate each one to its importance based on the posting. The Tailored, Job Specific Resume
• Your opening paragraph should be a single sentence to indicate the “position title, where you found the posting, and to please consider the following.” Your last paragraph should include your “belief in yourself to do the job and that you are looking forward to a meeting to discuss your qualifications soon. You can be reached at the above telephone numbers.” In other words, set the expectations and live up to them.
• Limit your cover letter to one page. Pick the top 4 or 5 characteristics the employer is looking for, based on your analysis. List their qualification and then your accomplishment fulfilling that requirement. Use the same formatting in your heading as your resume (Name, contact information, etc).
• Between the first and last paragraph, use your accomplishments to demonstrate your ability to be successful in the job, include results (qualitative and/or quantitative). Similar to showing a house for sale, you have to take out all of the personal items to let potential buyers see themselves and their new home. Avoid company or field specific acronyms and lingo, the first and probably second person to see your materials will be from HR. It is up to you, to help the reader of your materials see you in the job and doing it successfully. Don’t just tell them you can do the job; show them how you can do the job and do it successfully.
  If you are an experienced word processor, organize the middle of your cover letter in a left/right format. A table is often the easiest way to do this. List their requirements in each of the left cells and your accomplishments in the right cells.
  Your resume should contain your primary example as well as 1 or 2 other examples of each requirement to demonstrate the depth of your knowledge, skills and abilities as demonstrated in other jobs. Don’t forget your qualified or quantified results on your resume. The Tailored, Job Specific Resume
• Since most marketing material is passed through an employer or recruiter’s website, use the content of your cover letter to copy and paste into it. Sometimes it can be difficult to find out who exactly to send the email or letter to (HR types tend to be enigmatic about releasing names). If you can find the name, use it. Otherwise, when you have a telephone screening, ask if you can email your cover letter and resume to the telephone screener, since internet sites don’t keep the formatting. Address your email to that person. Copy the content of your cover letter to the body of the email and attach your resume. When you have your face to face interviews change the addressee to the person or persons you will be meeting with. This information can be found out during the scheduling of those meetings.
  When you print your letter and resume to take with you to the meetings, use a higher quality paper than regular copy/printer paper. Standard copy/printer paper is 20 pound paper, go to your local office supply store and get 22 or 24 pound extra or bright white paper. Ask the copy desk to show you white samples, if you are not sure. The color and weight of the paper will help you to stand out from your competition.
• Unfortunately, the rules that apply to candidates do not apply to HR. The accuracy of descriptions in postings and spelling/grammatical errors in those postings aside, there is zero tolerance for these kinds of errors on your materials. Check, Re-Check, and Triple Check your documents. Have someone else read them. Read them backwards (this is an old trick used by editors and copy writers in order to avoid spelling mistakes).
• Plan your follow-up strategy. For some reason, HR (as a whole) doesn’t believe it is important for them to confirm receipt of your resume or to respect you as a person and let you know the schedule of interviews or your disqualification from the on-boarding process. You must instigate the contact; you must call/write to them to get your status in the process. Since they do have many resumes to go through, give them at least one week but no more than two before you attempt contact (Whatever Happened to General Courtesy).

Email me and I will share with you a specific exercise to help analyze the job. The Professional’s Edge