One of my closest friends is in the midst of a job search. His story is no different that the scores out there who are great people, doing good work, who were motivated to find work elsewhere.
So he sends me an email with the title “What do you think ?” with his resume attached.
An hour later, I send back a reply with an edited word document that had more track changes than Obama’s health care plan.
In the body of the email I shared that as I read his resume through the eyes of an potential employer I had to work hard to find key points and there was too much text that either added no value or decreased the value of the person I was trying to “see” in the resume.
For example, the points that I flagged for removal included:
- Who he was married to and what church he attended (Important if he were applying to seminary, no where else)
- Listing the mundane task that anyone with a pulse would do in a job, ex. “Answered Phone, Prepared Proposals, Talked with Clients”
- The extraordinary details of a job he did 10 years ago that had no significant impact or relevance on the position for which he was applying
To drive home the point, I called my friend and shared the story on how my dog Annabell, after years of trying, actually caught a bird in our backyard last month. While a satisfying snack, once the consumed bird hit the dog’s digestive tract, extraordinary events started to occur on a scale so impressive that my cousins from Sodom and Gomorrah were like “Dude, that’s just scary”.
In response, we crated the dog for a few days.
I shared how the paper at the bottom of Annabell’s crate, even after acting as the recipient of nature’s fury, contained more white space than my friend’s resume.
I then had to remind him that my parents where indeed married at the time of my conception, so the word he just called me was technically incorrect.
When it comes to our resume’s it is our natural tendency to data dump, take the long road, to use 3 words when we know that 1 will work just fine.
Having just completed a job search, I know how important it is to manage how you work the job boards and how much care you need to take in manage the information out there.
There is one site for sales professionals that I found quite compelling www.salesprofile.com.
You basically have the opportunity to upload an elevator pitch about yourself. What better way to demo your pitching ability and as a sales manager it is a great screening tool. The 30 second time frame will force you to write a script with only your most succinct, relevant, and important attributes. Its an exercise that every job seeker should do.
Here’s the press release on it’s launch. Give it a try.
SalesProfile is a new job search site that will allow users to upload a 30-second “elevator speech”. This groundbreaking feature will give the user an opportunity to display his or her skills to potential employers through video. Employers will be able to view candidates from anywhere in the country or even the world with a simple click of a button. SalesProfile’s multimedia feature promises users efficiency and ease to every candidate and employer.
Candidates will also have the chance to complete a behavioral assessment with an option to display the assessment on his or her profile. The assessment will help candidates stand out among the competition, as employers will see it on a candidate’s profile.
The site also has a job-matching wizard where job seekers answer a series of questions regarding the type of sales job they are looking for. The wizard will also display your compatibility with available job opportunities.
By visiting SalesProfile.com and uploading a 30-second “elevator speech” to your profile you will be entered to win a $1,000 cash prize or $100 gift card. Prizes will be given out monthly to random winners who upload their videos between July 15 and October 15.
For more information visit www.salesprofile.com
Sasser
