Your Career Is The Treasury of Your Life - news! | March 2019
Your Career Treasury
newsletter

"Your career is the treasury of your life" - Joanne Meehl

March begins to give you hope for spring, especially after the tough winter so many are having this year.
New seasons often mean change. What about you: time to take your hopes for a dream job out of the deep freeze?

Keep reading for some ideas that will help you "spring" forward.
Joanne Meehl
Resume expert who hopes you never need to actually use your resume. "The Resume Queen" ®
LinkedIn profile creator if you want yours to be an employer magnet.
Networking guru who coaches you in elegant (not needy, gimme gimme) networking, finding hidden leads.
Interview prep that puts you at ease matching what they need and describing why they need you.

BA, MS, IJCDC and Forbes Coaches Council Member

A resume is not a menu for employers to pick from
It’s really about what YOU want,
but in the employer’s language
Trying to be all things to all employers just doesn't work any more, if it ever did. The candidate whose resume says "Project Manager" AND "Engineer" has to decide which she is. Otherwise, she comes across to potential employers as confused. And unfocused. And, perhaps,  desperate .

Why specialize?

Think about those who specialize and how they become known for their specialty, their “one thing”. Examples: "Google" is synonymous with "search". "Mercedes" means "luxury and performance". "Hershey's" means  chocolate . Because of this focus, those companies are considered experts in those areas – because they deal with their one thing . The narrower your focus, the more you're looked to as  knowledgeable, effective and successful , especially if you can prove it with your success stories. You are the expert.

A job hunter in her 50s contacted me, and her resume was headed by 4 wildly different titles:

Director of Sales – Director of Sales Operations – Project Manager – IT Management

I asked her about this. “I’m really good at all of those” was her answer. I’m sure she is. Those who have been in their career for 20 or more years usually   are good at many things. 

But you are not a menu, and your  resume is not a menu someone else picks from. Instead, it should zero in on  your favorite and best role . Yes, in this way I truly "push" candidates to clarify first for themselves what they really WANT to go after because if you ignore your own wishes and goals, no one else will honor them.

Or, as I like to say to candidates, building a good resume forces you to clarify what YOU want.

Your approach should be “Here’s my favorite thing that I am  super at, and I can prove it.” You’re much more likely to be believed – and thus, to get that interview phone call for that one thing.

Being focused shows a potential employer that you know what you want and what you’re good at, and thus are probably good at it. 

You can certainly add keywords that cover your other areas to use further down your resume. And LinkedIn. But stay focused on your number one priority.

So before you list "Product Manager / Marketing Manager / Project Manager" on your resume, pick one. Cite your success stories in that single area, show your knowledge and enjoyment of it, and you'll see a difference in response for roles you want.

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This month’s Tip:
Making the most of your LinkedIn "headline"
The headline portion of your LinkedIn profile is the line below your name. This is the most powerful line in your profile in that LinkedIn’s technology looks hard at this to see if you have what a hiring manager is looking for.

And what are they looking for? Titles.

So instead of Veronica saying in that line, "In Sales at ABC Company, building opportunities in three regions", she should use the precious 120 characters in that line for a variety of titles that she can fill, that are related to sales.

This way, you will more closely identify your profile as one that an employer will want to see.
Thought for the Month

There is no "try". There is only DO or NOT DO.
- Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back

Joanne Meehl Career Services LLC | 612.216.3855 | Joanne@TheJobSearchQueen.com