Beginning a new career, or trying to advance in an already well-established career, can sometimes be overwhelming. Even if you are a qualified professional with commendable work skills and experience, it is sometimes difficult to position yourself in the proper place at the right time. Mark Twain was fascinated by the effects that circumstances have on any one person's life. Finding that perfect career is a perfect example of this; even though you may be the most qualified individual for a position, you must rely on the proper circumstances to provide the opportunity.
So how can you affect an exterior influence such as circumstance? When it comes to finding a great professional career, executive headhunters and executive recruiting agencies can be your greatest ally. Working with a professional recruiter or executive search agent can make the job search process much easier, and building a relationship with an executive recruiter can expose you to opportunities you may have otherwise missed.
Executive recruiters sometimes called headhunters, search agents, or professional recruiters, act as a sort of liaison between qualified job seekers and experienced businesses. These are not job-placement agencies, but a much more involved, more long-term service used by companies to enlist qualified professionals for higher-level positions in (most of the time) specialized industries. Job-placement services tend to use a more "blanketed" approach to finding potential hires for a client company, such as "cold-calling". Most often, job placement services have very little or no previous knowledge of a candidate before contact is made.
On the other hand, headhunters are much more involved, and there priority mission is to find the most capable person to fill a position. Executive recruiters usually work more closely with their client companies to find an individual who will not only perform their job well, but one who will fit well in the client company's employment culture and work environment. Their main goal is to strengthen their client companies by introducing high-profile employees. The better the employee they help their client companies find, the greater their repute will be with both their existing clients, as well as any future clients.
If you are serious about finding a long-term, professional career with a successful company that recognizes the value of qualified individuals, a recruiting agent can help you get started. If you can provide the necessary skills to excel in a particular industry, recruiters can provide you with invaluable opportunities. While Mark Twain may consider himself a victim of circumstance, executive search agents may just be the masters of circumstance.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Executive Search Resume Writing
The subject of good resume writing has never become obsolete, and in today's tough job market, it is smart to get the process down to an exact science.
Computers and the Internet have made it a lot easier for the erstwhile job-seeker to craft and distribute a resume.
However, easier doesn't always mean better. In fact, resumes have gotten longer - in some cases, three pages and beyond.
Do PR people have more responsibilities? Or, are word processing programs making it easier, faster and cheaper to write and distribute lengthy resumes? Or, are long-resume writers likely to be long-winded in person?
Good press releases
Follow the basic principles of journalism - who, what, when, where and why. That means, short, substantive sentences that actually convey facts.
The two-page rule still applies.
"Chronological" format (titles, company names, job descriptions listed in date order) is the preferred format. However, people with many years of experience often opt for the more abbreviated "functional" version.
Arial and Times Roman are the recommended fonts. Exotic fonts are distracting and hard to read. Be font consistent throughout.
Keep bolding, italicizing and underscoring to a minimum. They are generally reserved for sub-headings which include company names, titles and dates. Use underscores for references to publication titles, quotations and such.
Use one-inch margins top and bottom, and at least half-inch margins left and right. It's better to have more white space than too many words.
Job and/or career objectives are okay when career direction is not obvious from reading the resume. Career summaries and highlights are also OK.
Avoid the "cutesy" approach. No gifts (like a chunk of Brie with a note inscribed to "The Big Cheese"), stunts (balloon/flower deliveries), teasers (telegrams delivered, saying on it: "I have a great idea for a campaign. Hire me today and I'll tell you what it is").
Resumes on tapes, CDs, disks and high-content rag pages are a nice touch, but expensive to produce and distribute. Keep it simple.
Word processing template resumes are certainly acceptable and useful at keeping the writer within basic format guidelines.
Letters
Keep to one page.
Don't start your letter by saying "If you are looking for a person with, etc. etc. "Well, look no further." Chances are our clients will definitely look further.
As your high school typing teacher warned you - don't sound too chummy when writing a business letter. Maintain professionalism at all times.
And remember, just about all correspondence software has a spell-checker and, in some cases, a grammar-checker. Use them.
If you're sending your letter and resume via fax or the U.S. mail, be sure to sign it. It's a nice personal touch in an otherwise impersonal, digital world. When sending an e-mail letter, close the letter with your name typed out.
Thank-you notes
Nothing in the computerized world can replace a handwritten thank-you note. It's polite, it's personalized, it's professional. Given the overabundance of e-mails that everyone, least of all employers receive, an e-mailed thank-you note can get lost, deleted or overlooked. By sending yours the old-fashioned way, you'll be remembered for your good manners in addition to all you'll bring to their table, should you be hired.
Job-seekers don't need to spend a fortune; a box of simple letterhead and envelopes from the local stationery store will do just fine. Keep your envelopes stamped in advance - this way it's harder to procrastinate about not having gone to the post office! Unless an interview was a complete disaster or you're definitely not interested in the job, taking this extra measure can help a great deal.
Email
In the sender's info area of your e-mail message, your name and the word "resume" in the subject is sufficient.
If possible, send both your letter and resume in the body of the email and also send them as an attachment.
Avoid email "priority" indicators. They are an alarmist tactic and should only be used in an emergency or when conveying classified information.
The beginning of a job search is a good time to change that "really cool" e-mail address to a more professional-sounding identifier. We've received materials from people with e-mail addresses with the words dudes, studs, vixens, gals, buddies, chicks, love machines and the like.
Unless you're auditioning for the next Bond movie or ghost-writing the next Jackie Collins book, leave the personal stuff on a second, personal e-mail address.
For obvious reasons, home or private e-mail addresses are always preferable to that of your employer.
Requesting a "return receipt" is OK; still, follow up within a decent interval.
When in doubt, use a PC platform. Macs are fine, but can display some quirks when being read by a PC.
After putting the finishing touches on your letter and resume, send it to a friend to make sure it can be read and doesn't have any viruses. Have a trusted associate double-proofread it to ensure it reads smoothly.
Lastly, computer address books are very handy. But it is easy to click on the wrong name and send your resume to THAT person - thus risking some serious embarrassment, or worse.
There you have it. When it comes to letter and resume writing, remember the old adage, "The more things change..."
Computers and the Internet have made it a lot easier for the erstwhile job-seeker to craft and distribute a resume.
However, easier doesn't always mean better. In fact, resumes have gotten longer - in some cases, three pages and beyond.
Do PR people have more responsibilities? Or, are word processing programs making it easier, faster and cheaper to write and distribute lengthy resumes? Or, are long-resume writers likely to be long-winded in person?
Good press releases
Follow the basic principles of journalism - who, what, when, where and why. That means, short, substantive sentences that actually convey facts.
The two-page rule still applies.
"Chronological" format (titles, company names, job descriptions listed in date order) is the preferred format. However, people with many years of experience often opt for the more abbreviated "functional" version.
Arial and Times Roman are the recommended fonts. Exotic fonts are distracting and hard to read. Be font consistent throughout.
Keep bolding, italicizing and underscoring to a minimum. They are generally reserved for sub-headings which include company names, titles and dates. Use underscores for references to publication titles, quotations and such.
Use one-inch margins top and bottom, and at least half-inch margins left and right. It's better to have more white space than too many words.
Job and/or career objectives are okay when career direction is not obvious from reading the resume. Career summaries and highlights are also OK.
Avoid the "cutesy" approach. No gifts (like a chunk of Brie with a note inscribed to "The Big Cheese"), stunts (balloon/flower deliveries), teasers (telegrams delivered, saying on it: "I have a great idea for a campaign. Hire me today and I'll tell you what it is").
Resumes on tapes, CDs, disks and high-content rag pages are a nice touch, but expensive to produce and distribute. Keep it simple.
Word processing template resumes are certainly acceptable and useful at keeping the writer within basic format guidelines.
Letters
Keep to one page.
Don't start your letter by saying "If you are looking for a person with, etc. etc. "Well, look no further." Chances are our clients will definitely look further.
As your high school typing teacher warned you - don't sound too chummy when writing a business letter. Maintain professionalism at all times.
And remember, just about all correspondence software has a spell-checker and, in some cases, a grammar-checker. Use them.
If you're sending your letter and resume via fax or the U.S. mail, be sure to sign it. It's a nice personal touch in an otherwise impersonal, digital world. When sending an e-mail letter, close the letter with your name typed out.
Thank-you notes
Nothing in the computerized world can replace a handwritten thank-you note. It's polite, it's personalized, it's professional. Given the overabundance of e-mails that everyone, least of all employers receive, an e-mailed thank-you note can get lost, deleted or overlooked. By sending yours the old-fashioned way, you'll be remembered for your good manners in addition to all you'll bring to their table, should you be hired.
Job-seekers don't need to spend a fortune; a box of simple letterhead and envelopes from the local stationery store will do just fine. Keep your envelopes stamped in advance - this way it's harder to procrastinate about not having gone to the post office! Unless an interview was a complete disaster or you're definitely not interested in the job, taking this extra measure can help a great deal.
In the sender's info area of your e-mail message, your name and the word "resume" in the subject is sufficient.
If possible, send both your letter and resume in the body of the email and also send them as an attachment.
Avoid email "priority" indicators. They are an alarmist tactic and should only be used in an emergency or when conveying classified information.
The beginning of a job search is a good time to change that "really cool" e-mail address to a more professional-sounding identifier. We've received materials from people with e-mail addresses with the words dudes, studs, vixens, gals, buddies, chicks, love machines and the like.
Unless you're auditioning for the next Bond movie or ghost-writing the next Jackie Collins book, leave the personal stuff on a second, personal e-mail address.
For obvious reasons, home or private e-mail addresses are always preferable to that of your employer.
Requesting a "return receipt" is OK; still, follow up within a decent interval.
When in doubt, use a PC platform. Macs are fine, but can display some quirks when being read by a PC.
After putting the finishing touches on your letter and resume, send it to a friend to make sure it can be read and doesn't have any viruses. Have a trusted associate double-proofread it to ensure it reads smoothly.
Lastly, computer address books are very handy. But it is easy to click on the wrong name and send your resume to THAT person - thus risking some serious embarrassment, or worse.
There you have it. When it comes to letter and resume writing, remember the old adage, "The more things change..."
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