JOB SEEKERS

Job Seekers, the best story is sold, not told.

Meaning it’s up to you to:

• Find or be found by a prospective employer
• Convey your information in an easy to follow structure
• Uncover and understand the motivation for your hiring
• Communicate in a way your decision-maker relates and understands
• Negotiate a win-win situation for all parties

Steps for Getting a Job 

1. Resume, Cover Letter/Email/Intro Message, Portfolio Links Creation (update to speak to the position)
2. Interview Consideration (Be recruited, apply, referred, apply & be referred)
3. Interviewing – Initial Interview (phone/video, in-person), SME/technical interview(s), Final Interview
4. Contract Offer, Negotiation, Acceptance
5. Give notice to current employer
6. Job Contingencies – Background Check, Relocation (if applicable)
7. Start (Add value, Make a difference, Ascend in your career)

This is comprised of:

(click the link to jump to the section)

RESUME

Goal

The goal of your resume is to provide enough information to your reader that they decide to schedule an interview without turning them off.

Therefore make it:

• Engaging and friendly
• Easy to read format (good spacing, font formatting, concise)
• Easy to understand (What you do, what was the goal and the result, what tools or SME did you utilize, who did you work with, what was the reporting structure)
• Concise
• Length can vary (it’s not necessary to limit to 1 page, but 5+ pages may be excessive.  Sweet spot is 1-3, unless you have significant experience that may want to be seen)

You Only Need 1

• Although getting a job is thought to be a numbers game (the more you apply, the greater your chance of consideration), you only need 1 company to say yes, so each resume needs to speak to the Reader.

Resume Errors

There are many reasons why people are not considered for a job on paper:

• Resume Inconsistencies: Spelling errors, Grammatical inconsistencies (verb tenses), Inconsistent spacing and formatting
• Font is too small to reader
• Too many font types, styles, colors
• Not enough space between Job Experiences
• Your resume is difficult to read or skim and the Reader is bored or doesn’t want to put forth the effort (i.e. Listing all job description sentences together vs. using bullet points and lists)
• Your resume is too long
• Your resume is vague, lacks details and depth, and doesn’t fully articulate your capabilities and accomplishments
• Your resume’s vocabulary and verbiage don’t match the Employer’s job descriptions
• Information is omitted, causing suspicion and assumptions about your character

Resume Length

There’s a debate on how long a resume should be.  Some say 1 page, others say 2 pages, and there’s the other school of thought that you should include everything and let the reader choose.

At BR, our opinion is that as long as the reader is engaged and can easily find the information they’re looking for, the length is secondary (although less than 3 pages is preferred, unless your listing Recognition, Awards, Publications, Speaking Engagements, etc.).

Ultimately it comes down to the number of jobs you’ve held and how can you concisely articulate your experience, responsibilities, tasks, and accomplishments.

• If you have 1-3 years of experience, you’ll typically have a 1 page resume
• 4-6 years of experience, 1-2 pages, but 3 may be ok
• 7-10 years (1-3)
• 10+ years (up to 3-5 pages)

Resume Content

If your goal is to get the reader to read your resume, highlight what’s most important and list it in order. (more below)

Resume Layout

The resume layout depends if you are an: Experience Hire, Executive Hire, First-Time Hire, Experienced individual looking for a new field or function.

• There’s no right way to format a format, so below is a suggestion of how to order your resume
• If you don’t have a section like portfolio links, publications, achievements, etc. just omit

Resume Order of Information

Experienced Hire

1. Summary Overview – Overview, SME, type of company/position you want to apply your SME
2. Professional Experience
3. Education
4. Certifications
5. Skills/Core Skills/Areas of Knowledge
6. Portfolio Links
7. Publications/Speaking Engagements
8. Volunteering
9. Achievements/Recognition

Experience Hire – New Function or Subject Matter

1. Summary Overview – Overview, SME, type of company/position you want to apply your SME
2. Core Skills/Areas of Knowledge/Areas of Expertise
3. Professional Experience
4. Education
5. Certifications
6. Skills/Core Skills/Areas of Knowledge
7. Portfolio Links
8. Publications/Speaking Engagements
9. Committees/Board of Directors
10. Volunteering
11. Achievements/Recognition

Executive Hire

1. Summary Overview – Overview, SME, type of company/position you want to apply your SME
2. Professional Experience
3. Education
4. Certifications
5. Skills/Core Skills/Areas of Knowledge
6. Portfolio Links
7. Publications/Speaking Engagements
8. Committees/Board of Directors
9. Volunteering
10. Achievements/Recognition

Inexperienced Hires (1st or 2nd professional job)

1. Summary Overview – Summary of education, internship/experience, industry/functional passion/interest, type of company/position/opportunity you are interested in
2. Education – Degree, GPA if the reader will think it’s good, scholarships, activities/contributions, coursework as it relates to the job)
3. Professional Experience or internships
4. Projects as it relates
5. Certifications
6. Skills/Core Skills/Areas of Knowledge
7. Portfolio Links
8. Publications/Speaking Engagements
9. Volunteering
10. Achievements/Recognition

Formatting

Font Size

• Make your font type readable (not too big or small, 10, 10.5, 11, font size 12 is ok for individuals with less experience)

Font Type

• Readable and desirable for your reader

Unify your formatting

• Make your font type the same throughout
• Make your font size the same throughout (Possible exceptions – Your Name, The resume section Summary, Professional Experience, Education, Skills, Recognition, …)
• Make sure vertical spacing the same between jobs
• Make sure you Job Description Heading has the same Vertical Spacing (i.e. Single Spacing OR Multiple 1.1)
• Make the bullet points (lists) spacing the same (i.e. .25″ left, .25″ hanging)
• If you use periods in your bullet points, make sure each job description has a period.  If you don’t use periods, make sure there are no periods.
• Make sure your Degree and School of where you got your degree match the formatting for your Job Company and Title

Make your Job Experience Heading the same for each job:

• Company
• Job Title
• Dates of Employment
• Location

If a company may not be known, put a description giving the reader the context of:

• What the company does and who their clients are
• Type of company – Public or Private
• Size of company, # of employees and geographies
• Revenue (if known)

Job Description

Verb Tenses

• Verb Tense (Current role in current verb tense, Previous roles in past verb tense)
• For roles with projects or deliverables that have already been met and isn’t continuously done, past tense is ok.

Job Description Details

• What you do? What you are responsible for?
• What’s your main and secondary goals and the results
• What tools do you use and what is your subject matter expertise?
• What’s the size of the team/LOB?
• What’s the reporting structure?  – Who did you manage directly and indirectly? who did you report to?

YOUR PROFILE

Your profile is only as good as you can be found.

Keywords

• Recruiters rely on keyword search and search by location, so make sure that you have the keywords listed and variations of how recruiters would search.

• i.e. Project Management, PM, Project Manager; Certified Public Account (CPA); Financial Planning & Analysis, FP&A, Financial Analyst; etc.

• In LinkedIn, you can list up to 50 skills and you can type them in, so fill them up.

• Also, fill in your job descriptions with keywords of skills and job titles that recruiters are looking for.  This includes variations when titles vary at different companies.

• i.e. DevOps, Cloud Automation Engineer, Site Reliability Engineer, SRE (I realize that SREs focus on infrastructure automation and DevOps focuses on App and Infrastructure automation), but many recruiters might not be technical and your goal is to be found.

Open to New Opportunities

• Most are aware that you can turn on new opportunities in LinkedIn, but if not, go into settings and turn it on (google for how-to)

Make it easy to Read

• Make your profile easy to read for the reader or they will go to the next person.  We make decisions very quickly from scanning profiles and resumes.
• I would use a dash or bullet point symbol (copy and paste from Word)

INTERVIEWING COMPONENTS & STRATEGIES

Remember that when you are interviewing, it’s not a one-way street. 

It’s equally important that you are interviewing them as well for your consideration of companies to help grow and contribute your energy to.

Question Methodology

(Feel free to ask any questions you like.  Below are just a sample of questions)

• Uncover Why they are hiring?
• When they need to hire?
• What (skills, experience, mindset) are they looking for?
• Who will you be working with and what will you be working on?
• What is their decision-making process and timeline?
• What action they will take if both sides agree the role is a fit?

Interviewing Strategy/Framework

1. A little small talk
2. Thank them for taking the time to speak with you and ask them to tell you about the company, the group, and why they are hiring

OR

1. If they ask you about yourself
   1. Provide them with an overview and
   2. Let them that you are happy to provide specific information as it relates to role, responsibilities, and expectations.
2. Tailor sharing your experience as it relates
3. When the end of the interview is in 3-5 minutes, thank them for their time, let them know you this is a great fit/are interested/can immediately add value & ask if they feel comfortable recommending you move forward (i.e. Call with the team, final interview, in-person, start date & offer, etc.)
4. Then find out Next Steps and Time Frame.  “Great, what are the next steps and time frame”

Sharing About Yourself in a Structured, Linear & Easy-to-Follow Format

Interviewer: “Hi, please tell me about yourself”

You: “Sure. Please feel free to stop me at any point or ask any additional questions.”

Give the table of contents

• Education, (GPA, scholarships if of interest)
• Years of experience
• Progressive experience
• Number of years in current role
• Title and Position
• Managing/Reporting Relationships
• Accomplishments/Results
• Job Responsibilities
• Experience as it relates to the role or attributes that match the role
• Certifications
• SME Thought-leadership (Published, Speaker, Author, etc.) – That is interest
• Reason seeking a new role (always say growth, the experience you are seeking, or working with a thought-leader, never say compensation as that’s commensurate on the responsibilities and results)

Tell what makes your story unique and interesting with giving the information asked:

• I grew up in ____
• I went to school at ____ where I majored in ____.
• I have ____ amount of years of progressive experience.
• I am passionate about _____ (as it relates to the role)
• My experience and expertise is in _______, ______, ______.
• I’ve worked at for X amount of years and months.
• I’ve directly managed X number of employees, indirectly X, and mentored X employees
• I currently report to X.
• I am responsible for X, Y, Z
• I support this amount of people, X number of application
• On a regular basis I use these technologies/platforms/programming languages/methodologies/am responsible for X, I am also familiar with X, and have a strong knowledge base of Y from Y.
• I’ve had to learn a lot of new industry information, do self-learning, and get caught up to speed on _______.
• Other pertinent information includes ________.
• Lastly, my motivation for a new opportunity is _______.

You: “That’s a pretty comprehensive overview, if you share with me area more about the company, the opportunity, and what you need this person to do, I can speak to those points.”

END OF INTERVIEW CLOSING STRATEGY

• Below is a strategy for sharing with the interviewer that you are interested in the job, finding out where you stand, and asking to move forward.
• Feel free to use your own words or modify.

With a few minutes left in the interview:

• Once you have asked your last question or the end or your time deadline is near, I would ask if they feel comfortable recommending you move forward in the interviewing process.

• If the interviewer isn’t winding down the interview, read the situation, thank them for their time, let them know you are interested and confident you can add value to the team, and ask if they feel comfortable recommending you move forward.

Interviewer:

Do you have any more questions?

Candidate:

“At this time I do not have any more questions, but would like to thank you for your time.

This role sounds like a great fit and I am confident I can my experience to add value the team.

In making your decision, do you feel comfortable recommending I move forward OR

what additional information can I provide you with and to help make that decision?”

Interviewer:

If they say “Yes”

(they feels comfortable recommending you move forward)

Candidate:

“Great!  What are the next steps and what’s the timeline?

Interviewer:

The next steps are X, the next interview is with the hiring manager and we’ll reach out to you by X.

Candidate:

Great!  I look forward to the opportunity of working together (or at the company) and have a great day!

Interviewer:

Thank you, you too.

—

Interviewer (Alternate):

If they says “No”

Candidate (No Alternative):

Where can I provide you additional information about to help you make this decision?

(Address it and then ask if they now feel comfortable recommending you move forward)

Character Building

It’s equally important to share your character traits so the company knows WHO YOU ARE and HOW YOU BEHAVE in addition to being a Subject Matter Expertise (SME).

Therefore, it’s recommended to make subtle statements that tells the interviewer:

• You directly add value to their function and can do the work
• You take into consideration the bigger picture and micro when making decisions
• You are a self-starter without supervision
• Also can also interact well with a team, make a positive impact, lead and mentor (if applicable)
• Remain calm under pressure
• Fit the personality and ideals of the company

7 points to directly mention or subtly state:

1)

I am familiar with the company, what the company does, and have a real interest in this space (or doing this function)

(i.e. I was looking at your website, I googled x and read your read the white paper on x, I saw in the news x )

2)

I am energetic and have a positive attitude

(i.e. Tell me about yourself – “I am positive person, have a strong work ethic, was raised to see things through to completion, etc.”)

3)

I am an SME in x and have a great deal of experience (share specifics) OR I have these core strengths, am a quick learner, and am interested in industry x

This will you share in the interview

4)

I am a self-starter and also a team player

i.e. “I am a self-starter who can work independently, research and find answers without hand-holding, while also being a team player.”

5)

I am organized and adaptable to change (as changes in consulting and this industry can occur quickly)

i.e. “I am organized, methodical, and adaptable”

6)

I am very interested in this space and am striving to become an expert in this field

i.e. “I am passionate about the x space, know how integral it is for x.  I continuously monitor blogs and the latest industry and standard developments, etc.”

7)

I am highly motivated and dependable

i.e. Tell me about yourself – “I am motivated and dependable”

NEGOTIATING:

• Compensation.  Do not mention compensation unless asked.  

• • If asked about it, I would say that you are very interested in the opportunity.  Before answering this questions, you’ll need to know more details about the job.
  • Inquire about the structure of the compensation (is there a bonus, equity with cliff and vesting period)
  • If asked about compensation prior to learning about the role, I would say that you would need to learn more information about the role, responsibilities, expectations, room for advancement, learning, tools/resources, however a similar role at a (Name a Competitor) would offer between X-Y (x is what you are aiming for, but offer a range to allow for a greater upside).
  • Where is that within the range that you are offering?
  • It’s always better to provide a range than a number, with the amount you want at the bottom or the range

Final Interviewing Tips:

• Communicate at a similar pace as you’re your interviewer (this is how they understand)
  • If they speak quickly, speak quickly.
  • If they speak slowwwly with lengthy pauses, speak slowwwly with lengthy pauses

• Match their tonality – Most of your inflections will be neutral and matter of fact
  • Inflect up (indicates a question)
  • no inflection (indicates a statement)
  • inflection down (indicates a command)

• Shake their hands firmly, look them in the eye, and smile when introducing yourself (in-person)

• Maintain a pleasant eye contact during your interview (in-person)

• Have your resume, write up, talking points/notes in front of you (phone interview)

• No filler words. If you are using filler words – “Um,” “you know,” “like,” slow your rate of speaking down.  Take your time.

• For closing, practice it out loud at least 5 times because it isn’t natural at first.
  • The key is to say to casually and as a matter of fact.

Hopefully this insight will save you time, enhance your communication and interviewing skills, and help land you your next job to provide the life you envision!

Good luck!