Here’s a bit about the free teleseminar I’m doing with Chris Perry of Career Rocketeer, tomorrow night, Wednesday – July 27 at 8:00 pm.  Join us and learn a new ways of getting some action and results in your search!  http://www.eventbrite.com/event/1956781787/facebook

Most job seekers are operating at about 25% efficiency.  That’s because finding a job is a skill.  Your skill is what you’ve made your career out of.  It’s what you are looking for a new job in.  It’s not actually finding that job. 

Part of the problem is no one ever tells you how to do things.  They tell you what to do, but not how to do it.  And if a strategy is going to work, you need to know how to implement it.  Otherwise it isn’t effective, you don’t get results, and then you become even more frustrated. 

Conventional wisdom says networking is the most effective.  Well yes……….and no.  I say it wins by default.  In other words, not knowing how to read a job ad leads to excess optimism (and no results) and being overly discerning (and no results).  The more resumes you send to ads – especially the online black hole – the worse your ratio of sent:response rate is, the more dejected you become.  Improve your skill in understanding job ads and how to deal with the black hole and you up your response rate. 

Here’s some advice:  Contact companies you want to work for!  See if they have open positions!  Okay….how?  A few out there advocate sending out hundreds or thousands of letters.  Something is bound to hit, right?  Not really.  That’s the worst and most ineffective strategy possible.  Not to mention it wastes both your time and energy and again……….results in frustration.  But what if you knew how to do it?  How to select the companies that make sense for you, write a custom letter than will get read, follow up and get results?  

Over 50% of my unemployed clients have found new jobs this way.  What’s more, often the position has been created specifically for them. 

And what about recruiters?  Do you hate them?  Do you understand them?  Probably yes, and no respectively.  That’s okay – there are some very bad ones out there.  But do you know how to spot them?  Do you know how to screen them?  Develop a relationship with one?  Get them excited about working with and for you?  I’m always amazed at the number of people who are either not working with recruiters when they could and should be, or aren’t utilizing this resource as fully as they could. 

 I was one for 22 years.  I’ve seen over half a million resumes, developed relationships with exclusive clients, set and followed up on about 15,000 interviews and placed all levels of management.  Do you want to peek behind this curtain and know the reality of how they work and can help you? 

And lastly, networking.  Got your one-sheet?  Throw it out.  Bringing your resumes to networking meetings?  Leave them at home.  Got business cards?  Good – but I’ll bet you’re missing what really amps those up and makes them ultra effective for you.  How about your elevator speech?  I’ve yet to hear or read one that really fulfills the true purpose of it, despite having been written in a class or with another coach.  What are you doing for LinkedIn?  Do you have previous contacts?  How are you reaching out to them?  What if you have no network???? 

Odds are you’re not only not using all four avenues but the ones you are you’re using ineffectively and inefficiently.  Four Ways to Jump Start Your Job Search will do exactly what it says – amp up your search and start getting you results.  And that’s the point of your job hunt, isn’t it?  To find a job? 

My clients are finding jobs in 8 – 12 weeks and what’s more, they’re finding a job they love.  Not just any job, not a job taken out of desperation, and not a job that is just okay and finally a paycheck.  It’s a job they love.  What’s more, they’re often getting more than one offer at a time. 

Do you want to know how to achieve this yourself?  Join us for a free teleseminar on Wednesday, July 27, at 8:00 pm Eastern (5:00 pm Pacific) to learn how to implement effective strategies that will not only change the results of your search, but will also change how you view the process.  Both will significantly increase the action you’re seeing. 

It won’t be recorded so to gain the benefit of this information – you’ll need to be on the call live!  Register here now so you don’t miss it  becuase it won’t be recorded!: 
 4 Ways to Jump Start Your Job Search

A  job  seeker sought me out for a consultation last week.  She was feeling lost (not uncommon) about what direction she should go in.  She’d not had any luck turning anything up; her resume hadn’t gotten her any response and she was wondering if she should get another degree or a certification in something and if that would help.  She wanted feedback on her resume.

No response to the resume is a common problem  But the solution isn’t the same from person to person -  aside from probably needing their resume fixed.  Fortunately for her she sought some answers to her questions instead of just running pell mell off into some solution that seemed sensible. to her

The first problem was her resume (which she’d had done professionally.) And after all my questions, part of my solution to her was to refer her to the two people I consider very good at what they do (and I endorse very few professional resume writers).  Despite having seen over half a million of them and the results people have achieved with ones I’ve done, I’ve chosen to no longer do them. 

Her resume was functional rather than chronological – a good choice for her though it was poorly done.  It was hard to read.  The bullet points had no bullets.  They were job description statements instead of ones that really highlighted what she could do and had achieved.  Her jobs were concurrent but only the years were listed, not the months.

She had a hodge podge of job titles, although a steady employment record, and an advanced degree and the result was that you couldn’t tell what she’d done, you couldn’t tell what she wanted, and the degree said “expensive” so the result was that after about 3 seconds, her resume went in the “no” pile.

It was clear to me that her strengths were leading things behind the scenes; making sense out of chaos; pulling a hodgepodge of details together into one organized, cohesive grouping and establishing a prioritized timeline; talking to the different parties and making sure that all groups were represented in a manner that was equitable, agreeable, and satisfying to those involved, etc.

The resume conveyed none of that.  Nada. Zip. Zilch.  So my first piece of advice was to tell her to make sure the new resume writer knew that’s what needed to be conveyed on her resume.  So that handled the resume problem for now.

But an extra degree or certification, such as a PMP, wasn’t necessary – at least not now.  She was more a project manager in theory rather than in an industry requiring that certification and using that title, and not every industry does.  Sometimes project manager is a functional part of another title rather than a formal title and formal job description.   People with this skill (and I’m not one of them) are always in demand – but you have to know that it’s your “thing” and be able to convey that.

So rather than running off to school, I counseled her on how to use Indeed.com for research to pull things up to research titles, industries, requirements etc in searching for opportunities that had those skills as the essence, but in which the industry or company or context varied.  That’s considered looking horizontally rather than vertically.

The purpose of this exercise was to see what the varied titles were – and as I was doing this on Indeed while talking with her, the titles varied greatly – and if there were any trends.

Project Management positions that require PMP certifications are usually vertical – IT; setting up a complex, company-wide safety program (usually manufacturing, nuclear technology, oil & gas, etc); things like that vs a more horizontal focus, that is, companies looking for someone with project manager skills – event planning, marketing communications liason, student development coordinator – all of which pulled up and necessitated a closer look.

I showed her what steps to take, how to asses each result, etc.  Based on her results, then she’d know if she needed to go back to school and  she could decide if she wanted to do that. 

As for the advanced degree and the random assortment of companies and titles – that was easy to pull into one coherent sentence for her to utilize by means of an explanation, but it put a great deal of emphasis on the cover letter, which is where it needs to be handled, and not through a generic one.

I see this problem with so many job seekers and I’m always thankful that the ones who seek me out for a consultation do so.  I applaud them for it too because it means they’re thinking things through clearly enough to not just run knee jerk into the night in some random – but seemingly plausible – way to solve whatever they perceive to be the problem.

But if all she’d done was had her resume redone, her strengths still might not have been uncovered and highlighted.  Or if she’d gone and gotten a degree or certification in something, it could have been unnecessary – especially as she didn’t even know what she wanted to do in the first place. 

If she’d done that and started all over again, she still wouldn’t have had the primary questions resolved and furthermore, the hiring authorities would still be rejecting her resume, not the least because of the advanced degree and how it was interfering with their perception of her because she wasn’t shaping the perception she wanted them to have.

Finding a new job is a skill – and it’s really not a skill many job seekers have, which is why so many of them are operating at about 25%.  Issues they think are one problem are actually an entirely different problem.  If you haven’t properly defined the issue, whatever action you take isn’t going to provide a satisfying resolution or put you any closer to your goal.

One of my recent retained clients who,  while working with me found his perfect job in 8 weeks, is working with a recruiter to hire some people.  Let’s call my previous client……Don.  Here’s his email to me:

I read your “Honesty on your Resume” article. I immediately thought of my current situation in which I’m working with a recruiter (”Lou”) to fill an open position with my new company. After discussing a few reasons that I hadn’t received any qualified resumes, Lou mentioned, almost in passing ” … and of course I’m not sending you anybody who’s currently unemployed.” My jaw dropped. We never discussed this as a selection criterion and he simply assumed I wouldn’t consider anyone who’s out of work.

• can’t do the job
• has bad work ethics
• can’t learn new things
• isn’t current in knowledge
• is a second-class person
• isn’t worth considering

We all know massive numbers of companies have laid off massive numbers of people.  That means some very good people are unemployed.

I know what your question is.  It’s, “Well, if they’re so good then why haven’t they found a job?”

If you’re asking that question either a) you haven’t been unemployed in the last 3 years or b) you completely forgot what it felt like when you were  c) you lack compassion and common sense.

First of all, sheer numbers make the situation daunting.  It takes a toll on even the most confident person’s self esteem.  Secondly, most job seekers don’t have a clue about how to find a job (overly optimistic on the ads, overly discerning on the ads, not effectively using cold companies, ignoring recruiters, not understanding recruiters, generic cover letters, lousy resume, non-existant interview skills..) so they’re operating at about 25% effectiveness.  And the longer they’re unemployed, the more dejected they become, the more they’re not hired. 

Once it begins it’s a vicious cycle.

I was a third party recruiter for 22 years and in the 90s when the unemployment rate was lower, it was often true that the “good” ones were employed and the “bad” ones had been fired or were, for some reason, unhirable.  But that’s archaic thinking.

Nothing is black or white….employed/good and unemployed/bad.  There are a lot of tremendously talented people with excellent capabilities and work ethics and motivation and track records that are unemployed……….and they’re also running around in circles, frustrated, hitting walls with no clue as to how to fix the problem other than throwing their bad resumes at things like people throw pasta on a wall to see if it’s done.

You want that position filled?  Do yourself a favor.  Look at who’s qualified regardless of their employment status.  If they look solid but have been unemployed a while, do a phone interview and ask them their story, keeping in mind they’ll be extremely nervous about how their period of unemployment reflects on them from your view.

Look at them as a person, rather than as an unemployed loser not fit to work for your company.  Why?  There but for the grace of God go you.  The Universe has a funny way of working things and I’d hate to see you forced to learn compassion the hard way. 
____________
I like to put pics at the beginning of each post.   In the process of that, I found this article, which is excellent and is on the same topic, more or less.  I like her suggestion to report it when you find it (she tells you how), but I also think it’s virtually impossible to spot if you’re one of the ones who was affected.
http://www.vibrantnation.com/our-blog-circle/disturbing-trend-if-youre-not-working-youre-not-worth-hiring/

In GQ this month there’s an article titled “Your Boss Actually is a Psycho.”  My suspicion is that as soon as some of you read this post and perhaps investigate the links below, you’ll experience an  ephiphany.

The article is an interview with Al Dunlop (aka “Chainsaw Al” and “Rambo in Pinstripes”) excerpted from The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry, a book about an  influential psychologist who is convinced that many important CEOs and politicians are  psychopaths.

The author of the book, Jon Ronson, notes that Dunlop has  “a lot of gold”  in his foyer and an “unusually large number of ferocious sculptures of predatory animals” on his “lavish, manicured” lawns.  After a brief visit, the author notes “Item 5: Conning/manipulative,” a trait all psychopaths share.

I’ve known a few myself, and while none of them have been my boss (fortunately) I can share a few observations on them, although I choose not to share the details.  Since I’m a career coach – and that’s the point of this blog, to talk about career stuff – I will.  Like….how to spot one on an interview.

This can be tough because if you’re not paying attention, you’ll like them.  Psychopaths can be very charming when they want to.  Let me rephrase that:  when they choose to turn it on.   If you’re not watching for some other factors you might find yourself thinking this person would be great to work for.  They also think they’re terrifically funny – and often are.

So if your interviewer happens to speak with someone else in the office – receptionist, admin, anyone not a superior or a peer – what’s the language, attitude and tonality?  Polite?  Or brusque, quick and dismissive?  If you have a lunch interview, you can check this out by watching the interaction with the wait staff too.   Then again, maybe they’re turning on the charm for them, because they’ve got the charm on for you.  In any case, watch closely – that charm can disappear in a flash.

How much do they talk about the need for leadership?  Specifically, their leadership and its benefits?  Ask for a story or two.  Just how is this leadership being manifested?  Do they go on at length about their feats and exploits and leadership skills?  If so, that’s a clue, along with the charm.  The stories will be noble, forceful and lacking humility.  Don’t be so impressed you fail to note this. 

You can’t ask how many times they’ve been married, or if they are faithful, or even if, when they were young, they  bludgeoned frogs and consistently tried to see what they could get away with.  The former is too personal  and the latter is evidenced in ways you can niether ask nor see unless you know the person well.  Besides, it’s not always true. 

In any case, we’re back to the charming thing again, which I assure you, is by far the most insidious trait because it’s manufactured to manipulate and thus appears very sincere.

So what about their sense of self worth?  Hand in hand with leadership, it tends to be a bit grandiose.  Over the top.  What you might see as a tale of strength guiding a troubled company, and what might be presented to you as a chance to make a difference and reap the rewards could well be a masquerade for “you’re either with me, or agin me” and if it’s the latter, woe unto you.

There are tales that those who have worked for a company for a long time have met with interviewers who aren’t appreciative of that fact.  That doesn’t necessarily mean the person is a psychopath, but it is a difference in philosophy.  If he views your stability as a negative, he may get bored easily.  If you like to stick to the same task until it’s done and done well, you can guess what it will be like working for a person who’s a control freak and needs constant stimulation. 

So having said all that, how can you tell a potentially psychopathic boss?  You can’t.  Not really.  Because even though this psychologist came up wtih a list of 18 points, even he said not every psychopath exhibits each point.  And from my experience, this is true. 

So then are there are degrees of psychopath?  Of course, because nothing is black and white.  There are always grays.  So in facing a person who’s charming, funny, dynamic, and a successful leader you have to be especially aware of inconsistencies. 

You have to be aware of your own body cues, which will invariably pick up warning signals unconsciously first.  You need to ask many questions about the company and position overall to see if there’s congruency, and you need to have interviews with others and ask them what it’s like to work for or with this person.  You need to pay attention when they answer.  You need to know about company turnover in any area directly – or indirectly – influenced or controlled by this person.

Of course there’s always the possibility that you’re a psychopath and so perhaps you’ll set about outcharming the other, niether of you realizing what you’re doing, and then if you work together the lower ranking one will have a very short piece on their resume.    

Two links - each of which will open in a new window:

• A book excerpt which includes the list: http://bit.ly/mthRBq  
• An equally good article which discusses the “normal” ones who walk among us (a quote from it is below):   http://www.cassiopaea.com/cassiopaea/psychopath.htm

Being very efficient machines, like a computer, they are able to execute very complex routines designed to elicit from others support for what they want. In this way, many psychopaths are able to reach very high positions in life. It is only over time that their associates become aware of the fact that their climb up the ladder of success is predicated on violating the rights of others.“Even when they are indifferent to the rights of their associates, they are often able to inspire feelings of trust and confidence.”

I was on a  radio talk show out of Minnesota this morning and one of the hosts, Patty, told a story about a lady she knew that quit her job because she hated it, and then turned  down two other jobs, took the third offer, and is now in a job she loves.   Patty wanted to know what I thought about doing that.

I think that’s exactly what someone should do!

The woman in Patty’s story, becuase she hated her job and quit it, obviously gave a lot of thought to what she was looking for next – the environment, management style, chemistry, etc, which was exactly what resulted in her turning down those two offers.  They weren’t what she was looking for.

In today’s market, that doesn’t happen often.  People are so desperate they want any job and will take any job.  I get a lot of people saying to me “Well, I knew I shouldn’t have taken it – hindsight being 20/20 vision and all…..”  Some people don’t even hear their instinct in order to ignore it – they just go blundering blindly into disaster.

But just like in Patty’s story, a funny thing happens when you push away what you don’t want – what you want shows up.  It’s happened to several of my clients, too.

I have a little trick I know from recruiting that cuts through any doubt or confusion and makes the answer of yes or no quite clear in about 3 minutes.  So when I go through that with a client, they’re not very comfortable to come full on, face to face with the realization they won’t like it at that company.

One that comes to mind is Jane T who lives in CT and was a student in my Perfect Job University class.  Jane was an architectural consultant and  sort of a liason between clients and contractors.  Prior to that she’d worked with an in-house design firm on salary.  What she wanted was sales for a building supply distributor or wholesaler.

Despite having no experience in sales, she was getting interest from a number of companies and one of them made her an offer.  Some things were good, some not so good.  I supported her decision to decline the offer.  She was unsure and nervous, but she trusted me.  And then about a week later, two offers came through, both exactly what she was looking for and now she had a difficult time deciding which one to take! 

You have to know what you want and be willing not to settle.  When you refuse to settle, your intention becomes that much clearer and paves the way for what you want to arrive.  Settling happens out of nervousness and desperation and usually does nothing more than perpetuate the existing circumstances – only now you’re miserable with a paycheck. 

If you’re looking for a new job, set your intention, know what you want it to look like, and keep going until it shows up.  That’s what it means to take control of your career.  That’s how you end up in your Perfect Job. 

PS -  in looking for a pic to put at the beginning, I came across the one I’ve used.  It’s for this website www.DontSettle.org and you should go there right now, read the blog posts, and subscribe to the newsletter!

I was reading an article from US News about the 50 best careers for 2011 (http://yhoo.it/dFKPVF) and I came across this quote, which I love, because not only have I said it for years, but it’s the antithesis of what you’ll read and find people believing these days:

Of course, no one job is best for everyone, and everyone has their own ideas about what makes a job great. “You have to like what you’re doing or you’re not going to be successful at it,” says Emily Bennington, who helps college graduates transition into careers through her company, Professional Studio 365. At the same time, “if you’re not getting paid to do it, you’re not going to love it for very long.”

I have an exercise I put clients through that asks them to rank certain points.  The sheer number of people who place money as the first point (most important) is indicative of the pervasiveness of people still desperate, still willing to take any job, even though the market is loosening up.

Let me tell you something – picking a job for money will cause more problems than it solves.  If you don’t like what you do  or you don’t like your boss or there are other problems there, sooner or later whatever you’re getting paid isn’t enough to compensate you for how much you hate going to work.

The 13th century poet, Rumi, said “Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.”  That means that if you love what you do, you’re going to be good at it because you connect yourself with it.  Anything imbued with the energy of love is going to trump that performed with distaste. 

“That’s all fine and well, ” you say, “but I can’t really afford to be picky, can I?”  Yes, you can.  That’s exactly what I’m saying.    Desperation isn’t an attractive feature to anyone – including employers, who are being careful to select someone who fits the role and the company so they don’t have to go through the whole hiring process again in the near future. 

Desperation doesn’t smell good to them anymore than it did to you back when you were in 5th grade and that one kid followed you around on the playground everywhere you went trying to be your friend.  Or that person in college who said they’d do anything if you’d just go out on one date with them.  Appealing?  No.

Beyond that, doing a job you hate creates tension and the duality of tension (tension is at odds with the body’s natural state of being – health and happiness)  inevitably leads to illness and problems in other areas of your life.

In the process of working with me on their search, some of my clients get an offer for something they aren’t too crazy about but would take, and when we go through a few simple Q&As, the answer is clear that it would be a mistake to take that job.  So they turn it down.  Guess what?  About a week or two later exactly what they’re looking for comes through.

It takes a lot of guts to quit a job you hate and to be picky when you’re looking for a new job.  But ironically, that’s exactly what will get you where you want to go.

Here’s the second story – and I don’t remember if someone told me this or if I read it:

A guy’s company wanted to transfer him, but he didn’t want to move.  The guy’s boss said “Well, we need you in Chicago, so that’s where you’re being transferred to.” 
The guy said “I don’t want to go to Chicago.  I’m happy in Atlanta.”
And the boss said “We need you in Chicago.  So that’s where you’re going.”
And the guy said “Watch me not go to Chicago.”
And he quit his job.

Everyone who said “In this economy?????  I’d have gone to Chicago!” raise your hand!

I, for one, applaud him for quitting.  If you think it was a rash reaction, my assessment is that the  situation was the straw that broke the camel’s back.   The company had been acting behaving like that for a while and this guy finally said, “Enough!”  Because if they did that to him once, they did that to him more than once.  And if they did it to him, they did it to others. 

When I say “Choose how you view it,” I mean who’s dictating the circumstances?   Who says you have to put up with these kinds of things just because it’s a bad economy?  In example 1, the guy regretted the job with a rude company not coming through.  In example 2, the guy walked away rather than do something he didn’t want to do just because the company told him to.

It may be a bad economy, but it’s not impossible to find a job that you really like and are suited for.  For starters, you’ll be employed faster if you’re picky.  Extreme optimism and a willingness to jump through hoops isn’t something that works in your favor.

In a recession, companies have the upper hand and take job seekers for granted.  Job seekers throw away their power left and right with every step they take, willingly handing it over to the companies, meekly afraid to protest lest they be cut from consideration.

But as long as you’re not rude, arrogant, or unrealistic, walking away is a smart thing to do at times.  That means being glad you didn’t get the job when you see evidence of an inconsiderate attitude.  It means leaving the company when they act like you’re nothing more than a chess piece.  It means withdrawing yourself from the interview process when you learn something that doesn’t sit well with you.  It means walking out of an interview if you discover something non-negotiable.

There’s always more than one perspective and more than one choice.  Whether you want to ponder the situation, examine your options and choose how you view it is your first choice.

Here’s how a job search usually takes place:  You put together a resume, which probably won’t be given much attention because it’s not put together very well.  You send it with a generic cover letter which gets less attention than your resume. 

You post it on job boards, email it to companies with ads, and you wait.  You may opt to blast it to thousands of employers, because it doesn’t cost much, and think of the odds!  Nothing happens.  Time passes.

When the chance to interview finally arrives, although they want the job, the majority go to an interview unprepared, and yet hope they’re the one that’s hired.  When nothing happens, the frustration grows.  You feel helpless, as if the decision is everyone’s but yours.

And that’s where the danger begins.

• “The interviewer is from Chicago, and so am I so that might be good.  I didn’t like the city, so maybe he didn’t either.”
• “I worked at Billions Banking Corporation, and she did too.  Though it was a while back and in a different department, I bet she was as frustrated as I was. Everyone hated working there.”
• “His last name is German, and he’s an older, so he’s probably very conservative and serious.  Maybe I should wear a suit and not smile.” 

Suppositions are an attempt to feel in control when you don’t. You’re going on an interview, you’re nervous, you have no idea what to expect, so you try to pin some of it down.  The danger is because you’re making things up, because you can make a grave mistake based on your assumptions.  Illusions and reality aren’t synonymous.  Millions of job seekers every day confuse the two. 

Let’s take one of the above examples.   You’re interviewing in Houston, and you assume the interviewer left Chicago, because he didn’t like the winter.  Anticipating a shared viewpoint and an immediate camaraderie, you say, “Get tired of those mean Chicago winters?  I bet you like Houston much better.”

 “No,” he says.  “Actually, my company transferred me down here.  My wife’s and my immediate family are still in Chicago.  I was raised there, and I miss the snow.” 

You’re thrown off track.  You were counting on shared joviality from bashing Chicago winters, and suddenly, not only is that non-existent; it’s not likely to develop.  Now what?  Do you recover and express sympathy for his position (meanwhile noting that this company transfers people, and if you’re a company guy, you’re expected to go)? 

Do you try to make him agree with you by continuing to make negative comments, because you’re seeking validation?  Or do you shut your mouth and maybe – or maybe not – notice that you’re more nervous than you were when you sat down, simply because he didn’t agree with you? 

People who buy into the illusion of control aren’t generally cognizant of what they’re doing.  Consequently, this lack of awareness can perpetuate itself, and either one of the last two reactions, or something similar, takes place.  And because the whole process passed quickly and unconsciously, all you know is something has gone amiss.    

Pay attention to your thoughts.  If you catch yourself making assumptive statements, recognize that you’re moving into a danger zone.  If you’re hanging on to illusory beliefs, you’re not likely to make a sound decision, because sound decisions are based on reality. 

You’re already setting yourself up for a defensive interview position and the need to be approved of.  And instead of participating in the interview to determine if you wanted to pursue it, you gave the power to the interviewer, hoping he’d like you and it would increase your chances of being hired. 

Understand that it doesn’t put you in control at all, it’s an illusion that makes you feel better. What puts you in control is preparation based on facts about the company and yourself. Spend your time on that instead.
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It’s a myth that no one hires during the holidays.  As a recruiter, mid-December through year end was one of my busiest times.  I started doing search in 1985 waaaaaaaaay before cell phones and often spent the day shopping with my sister and running from one pay phone to the next, and on the phone at my parents house at night.

If you think hiring doesn’t happen during the holidays, you’re rationalizing a reason to do nothing.  So another good reason to do something is because most other people aren’t.

Employers often have year-end deadlines, budgets, and tax-write offs that mean they hire you now, but perhaps you begin in January.  One of my clients was offered a job last week.  And today I got this nice email from a guy in Boston named Mike:

Just dropping you a quick note to thank you for the extremely helpful article on Body Language. I received it yesterday in the Net-Temps newsletter which was perfect timing for my second interview at my ideal company. I took your advice, was confident, and visualized success. It was so successful the hiring manager originally was going to get back to me in a few days but I received an offer (and accepted) last night!  So thank you again for your spot-on insight. I know I’m far from alone in whom you’ve helped.

If you must persist in your belief that nothing happens until January 1^st at least don’t wait to fine tune or update your resume.  If you consider this to be the calm before the storm, now’s the time to batten down the hatches and prepare. 

When January first arrives, every job seeker who has taken a vacation from searching will be fighting for the time of career coaches and resume writers.   Not only will turn around time will be longer than it is now, but in the spirit of economics, prices may be higher as well. 

Your resume isn’t something you want to do under duress.  As the primary agent that determines whether you’re contacted by a prospective hiring company or not, it’s not a document that should be slapped together.  

A well done resume tells the story of your unique accomplishments.  It is not simply a list of job descriptions and companies.  It takes time to craft a resume that will bring results to its owner. 

Waiting may mean you’ll miss the submission date for the perfect ad you see on January 3^rd.  Or it may sour the opinion of a hiring authority referred to you by a networking contact, who wonders why you didn’t update your resume over the holidays while it was quiet.   

While it might seem wise to ask your family’s opinion during the holidays, banish this thought.  Some of the worst resumes I’ve seen have been defended by “I had my friends look at it, and they said it was fine.”  

As a third-part recruiter, I participated in more hirings in six months than most hiring managers did in their entire career.  For the same reason, a professional resume writer, even the bad ones, will generally create a better product than you can.  

How do you know if your resume needs work?  If your ratio of responses to send-outs is more than 1:3, it needs work, and indeed may be only one of several problems contributing to an abysmal ratio.  

To make sure your resume is the best it can be by January 1, send it to several resume writers for a quick critique and a quote.   They’ll always find problems for two reasons.  One, they want your business, and two, there always is at least one problem.  Don’t select by price because you get what you pay for.  Yet some professional writers are exorbitant, which doesn’t imply they know what they’re doing. 

Lest you think I’m angling for you to hire me, I don’t do resumes.  I advise, teach, and critique, but I don’t write them.  I can, and have, earlier in my career, and they received praise from hiring authorities, but as a recruiter and now career coach, I’ve seen over 500K resumes in my career. 

I do, however, give away a free resume report against which you can measure yours, and see where it falls short – and it will, in at least one, probably more, areas.  Then you can submit yours to various professionals and have a baseline measurement for their responses, gauging if their knowledge justifies their price and works with your budget. 

Your resume is the most important document in your job search.  “Good enough” doesn’t suffice.  It’s your brochure against which people measure you, just as you use brochures when you buy a car, select a service, or choose a college for your child.  An excellent resume doesn’t guarantee a “yes,” but a bad one guarantees a “no.”

Get the free report by signing up for my free newsletter – the form is over there on the top right (scroll up)  –>  see?  Easy!

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