DEAR CARRIE: I have sent resumes to various companies that advertised job openings either in a publication or online. I felt I was qualified for the positions, but didn’t receive even a courtesy interview. Is it common practice for prospective employers to post openings they plan to fill internally, but advertise anyway because some labor law forces them to do so? Someone I know who works in human resources said companies routinely advertise jobs they plan to fill with people already on staff. They do it to have a fallback option in case the chosen employee doesn’t want the job. It seems almost unfair or illegal to present a job opportunity where no fair competition exists. – Phantom Jobs

DEAR PHANTOM: To answer your question I turned to Kate Wendleton, president of The Five O’Clock Club, a Manhattan-based career-management and outplacement firm.

Relying on ads is probably one of the least-effective ways to find a job, for the reason you cited. Most jobs are created with a person in mind, Wendleton said. But to make the selection process seem fair or as a matter of company policy, employers might post an opening and even interview a few outsiders, while they have someone already in mind for the job.

“This is not illegal,” said Wendleton, the author of numerous career books, including one she co-wrote, entitled “WorkSmarts: Be a Winner on the Job” (Five O’Clock Books, 2012).

Relying on ads is also an ineffective strategy because just three percent of all jobs are filled through ads, Wendleton said, and in this challenging job market, a lot of people are vying for those few jobs.

“Don’t be surprised if you answer 30, 50, 100 or more ads and get no meetings,” she said. “Many job hunters sit at their computers for hours on end, hitting that ‘send’ button and wondering why no one is responding to them. Everyone else is doing the same thing.”

Given the formidable inside track, you need to think like an insider, Wendleton says.

“You do that by targeting the organizations you’re interested in and by contacting the person in charge of your area — whether or not they have an opening,” she said.

The best way to make that entree is with a cover letter that makes you stand out.

“It’s a rare job hunter who even includes a cover letter in response to an Internet ad,” Wendleton said. “Yet the cover letter is the piece that can most significantly increase the chances you’ll be called in.”

Here’s the Five O’Clock Club’s formula for a successful cover letter:

Paragraph one: Mention the position for which you are applying, as well as where you saw the ad and the date it appeared, Wendleton says.

Paragraph two: Provide a summary of your qualifications, such as, “I have 10 years of international marketing experience in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries,” she says.

Paragraph three: Use the group’s two-column approach when mailing or emailing in your response. The first column is labeled, “You are looking for . . .” or “Your requirements . . . ,” under which you list everything they’ve mentioned in the ad. In column two, you show how you satisfy those requirements. “I have this to offer” or “My experience . . .” You match up what you have to offer to what they’re looking for.

Paragraph four: List any other information about yourself you think might interest the company.

One other point to bear in mind: Hold off on salary.

“Many ads include the words, ‘Please tell us your salary requirements,’ ” Wendleton said. “Yet savvy job hunters decline to mention salary because it increases the chances they’ll be excluded.”

For more job-hunting tips, go to www.fiveoclockclub.com and search for “How to Get a Job,” or go to http://bit.ly/Y0nCqm for tips from the New York State Labor Department.

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 By Kate Wendleton, President, The Five O’Clock Club and author of Mastering the Job Interview and Winning the Money Game

Here’s a quick way to determine where you are in your job search and what might be wrong with the way you are searching. If you’ve been looking for a long time, just ask yourself the questions below. For example, if you don’t have the right answer to the first question, that’s what you need to focus on first.

If you still want to spend most of your job-search time answering ads on the Internet, you are unlikely to get a job within a reasonable time frame. However, if you focus on the steps below, you will increase your chances of getting the job you want.

The LEXICON — to help you talk about your search

The Five O’Clock Club lexicon is a shorthand — a way to quickly analyze your search and to clearly speak about your search to other Five O’Clock Clubbers. We all speak the same language so we can help each other. Our counselors across the country also speak the same language.

Whether you are in a group or working privately with a Five O’Clock Club career counselor, you can learn our language and analyze your search. After you read the summary below, study our books “as if your were in graduate school.” You will learn to better express where you are in your job search, and be better able to figure out what to do next.

The average person who attends The Five O’Clock Club regularly has a new job within just ten weekly sessions–even those who have been unemployed up to two years. Follow our method and you will increase your chances of getting a better job faster.

The following questions will help you to pinpoint what is wrong with your search.

I. Overview and Assessment

How many hours a week are you spending on your search?

Only two or three hours a week, you say? The good news is that you have not yet begun to search. That’s why you’re making so little progress. To develop momentum in your search, spend 35 hours a week on a full-time search; if you are employed, spend 15 hours a week for a solid, part-time search.

What are your job targets?

If your job targets are wrong, everything is wrong. A target includes:

• industry or organization size,
• the position you want in that industry, and
• your targeted geographic area.

For example, let’s say you want to target the health care industry. That’s not a good target. It needs to be better defined. For example, perhaps you would consider hospitals. In the metropolitan New York area, for example, there are 80 hospitals. Let’s say you’re a marketing person, and you would consider doing marketing in a hospital in the NY area. That’s one target: Hospitals is the industry, marketing is the position, and NY area is the geographic area. You could also target HMO’s. Let’s say there are 15 HMO’s that you consider appropriate in the NY area. You could do marketing for them. That’s a second target. You could also work for a consulting firm in the NY area that does health-care consulting. That’s your third target.

But let’s say you and your spouse have always loved Phoenix. You think you may like to investigate all three of those industries in the Phoenix area. That’s three more targets. The reason you divide your search into targets is so you can have control over it, and tell what’s working and what isn’t. You make a list of all of the organizations in each of your targets–we call that your “Personal Marketing Plan.” Then you find out the names of the people you need to contact in each of those targets–the hiring managers of the departments or divisions you are interested in.

That’s the start of an organized search. At the very beginning of your search, you can assess how good your targets are and whether you stand a chance getting a job within a reasonable time frame. Take a look at “Measuring Your Job Targets” in our books.

How does your resume position you?

The average resume is looked at for only ten seconds–regardless of length. When someone looks at your resume, will they pick up the most important information that you want them to know about you? The summary and body should make you look appropriate to your target. We recommend that the first line of your summary tell the reader exactly how they should see you, e.g., as an “Accounting Manager” or whatever. They will want to stereotype you anyway, so why not help them see you the way you want to be seen?

The second line should differentiate you from your competition: How are you different from all of those other Accounting Managers out there? Your second line could say, for example, “Expert in Lotus Notes.”

That is followed by three or four bulleted accomplishments–the most important things you want them to know about you. That way, if they spend only 10 seconds on your resume, they will see what you want them to see. For the complete Five O’Clock Club approach, see our Resume book. It contains summaries related to over 100 industries and professions.

What are your back-up targets?

Decide at the beginning of the search before you start your first campaign. Then you won’t get stuck later when things seem hopeless.

Have you done the Assessment?

If you have no specific targets, you cannot have a targeted search. Do the Assessment exercises in our books. You could see a counselor privately for two or three sessions to determine possible job targets. When a person joins the Club, we want them to do the exercises even if they are perfectly clear about what they want to do next. Doing the assessment helps a person to do better in interviews and helps them to have a better resume. Do not skip the assessment, especially the Seven Stories Exercise and the Forty-Year Vision.

II. Getting Interviews

How large is your target area (e.g., 30 companies)? How many of them have you contacted?

When you know your targets, you can research them and come up with a list of all of the companies in your target areas. Figure out how large your target market is. If you have contacted only a few companies in your target area, contact the rest. If you haven’t contacted any, contact them all. That’s a thorough–and fast–search.

How can you get (more) leads?

You will not get a job through search firms, ads, networking or direct contact. Those are techniques for getting interviews–job leads. Use the right terminology, especially when speaking to someone who has already landed a job. Do not say: how did you get the job, if you really want to know where did you get the lead for that job. In our books, you will find cover letters and approaches for each of these techniques. A good search does not rely on just one technique. We want our members to consider all four techniques for getting interviews in your target markets.

Do you have 6 to 10 things in the works?

When a job hunter is going after only one position–and hoping they will get an offer–that is a weak search. Our research shows that a good job hunter has 6 to 10 things in the works at all times. This is because five will fall away through no fault of your own: Maybe the company decides to hire a finance person instead of a marketing person, or maybe they decide to hire their cousin!

Do not put all of your eggs in one basket. When one offer falls through, you will have lost months in your search because you have to gear up all over again. To avoid losing momentum, make sure you have 6 to 10 things in the works at all times–through search firms, ads, networking or direct contact. It’s not as hard as it sounds. Just follow our approach.

If you have 6 to 10 things going at once, you are more likely to turn the job you want into an offer because you will seem more valuable. Don’t go after only one job.

How’s your Two-Minute Pitch? (Who shall we pretend we are?)

A Two-Minute Pitch is the answer to the question, “So, tell me about yourself.” Practice a tailored Two-Minute Pitch. Tell the group–or a friend–the job title and industry of the pretend hiring manager. You will be surprised how good the group is at critiquing pitches. Do it a few weeks in a row until you have a smooth presentation.

Practice it again after you have been in search a while, or after you change targets. Make sure your pitch separates you from your competition.
You seem to be in Stage One (or Stage Two or Stage Three) of your search.
Know where you are in the process. If you are in Stage One–making initial contacts you will recontact later–make lots of contacts so at least 6 to 10 will move to Stage Two: the right people at the right levels in the right companies. You will get the best job offers in Stage Three–talking to 6 to 10 people on an ongoing basis about real jobs or the possibility of creating a job.

Are you seen as insider or outsider?

Are people saying: “I wish I had an opening for someone like you.” You are doing well in meetings. If your target is good, it’s only a matter of time.

III. Turning Interviews into Offers

Want to go through the Brick Wall ?

The brainiest part of the process is turning your job interview into an offer. First, make sure you want the job. If you do not want the job, perhaps you want an offer, if only for practice. If you are not willing to go for it, the group’s suggestions will not work.

Who are your likely competitors and how can you beat them out?

“Beating them out” does not mean dirty tricks, but reminds you that you have competitors. You will not get a job simply because “they liked you”. The issues are deeper. Ask: Where are you in the hiring process? What kind of person would be your ideal candidate?

What are your next steps?

The “next step” means: what are you planning to do if the hiring manager doesn’t call by a certain date, or what are you planning to do to assure the hiring manager does call you.

Can you prove you can do the job?

Most job hunters take the “Trust Me” approach. Instead, prove to them that you can do the job, often by doing additional research or by writing a “proposal” of how you would handle the job.

Which job positions you best for the long run? Which job is the best fit?

Don’t decide only on salary. Since the average person has been in his or her job only four years, you will have another job after this. See which job looks best on your resume, and makes you a stronger candidate next time. Take the job that positions you best for the long run.

In addition, find a fit for your personality. If you don’t “fit”, it is unlikely you will do well there. The group can give feedback on which job is best for you.

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Looking for a job right now feels overwhelming. But companies are hiring, and, if you do
the right things, one will hire you. The Five O’Clock Club’s Kate Wendleton says it’s time to apply some (proven, research-based) methodology to your job search madness.

Today’s job market is not for the faint of heart. Unemployment seems stuck at just over 8 percent, so whether you’re laid off and looking or simply desperate to get out of a dead end job, you’ve got a lot of competition. And if you’ve just emailed your résumé in response to yet another Craigslist or Monster.com job posting, take a deep breath and back away from the keyboard. The Five O’Clock Club’s Kate Wendleton has some good news and some bad news.

First the bad news: You’re doing it wrong. When you answer a posted ad, you’re competing with hundreds, even thousands, of other job applicants. (Not good odds!)
Now for the good (no, GREAT!) news: People are getting hired, even in this dismal job market. In fact, Five O’Clock Club members who command a $200,000+ pay rate are getting jobs in less than six months. Across the board, Club members are getting multiple offers, and professionals are typically landing a job in only twelve weeks.

“If you’re using the right techniques, you will almost certainly find a job,” says Wendleton, president of The Five O’Clock Club, the nation’s premier career coaching and outplacement network. “But online searches and job posts are a very, very small part of the equation.”

The Five O’Clock Club has developed its own methodology based on twenty-five years of research it’s conducted. And—good news for weary job hunters—you don’t have to be a card-holding member to benefit from the Club’s expertise and experience. Its website provides hundreds of free articles and audio recordings on job searching and career development. There’s even a free weekly newsletter.

“There are so many directions to go in when you start a job search that it often overwhelms people into inaction,” says Wendleton. “Our methodology helps job hunters bring structure to a process that seems random. It’s very comforting—and it works.”
If you’re looking to take that next step, read on for a few suggestions pulled from Five O’Clock Club methodology:

Don’t jump in without a plan. Most job hunters feel like they have to find a new job…yesterday. And while, admittedly, sooner is better than later, Five O’Clock methodology stresses the importance of first taking the time to do the necessary planning. Its job hunters must go through an assessment in which they answer important questions like: What kind of job do you want? Where do you want to work? Where do you see yourself in five, ten, fifteen years? They help people realize exactly what they want and ultimately lead to quicker searches.

“All of our job hunters have to go through the assessment,” says Wendleton. “We don’t accept, ‘I don’t have time for that’ as an excuse. Think of it this way: If you have an important project to complete for work, the project will go more smoothly and have a better result if you do the proper planning ahead of time. The same is true of job hunting.

“Don’t just say, ‘I’ll do anything and everything. Whatever job I can get, I’ll take it,’” she adds. “First of all, nobody wants to hire anyone who is willing to do anything. You won’t be valuable to that employer, and they won’t think you will be truly committed to them. You have to set targets for what you want to do and where you want to work. You set those targets through your assessment. It is a critical step in every job search.”

It’s not about what you can do. It’s about what you really, truly want to do. Many traditional outplacement services analyze the personalities of their job hunters, they analyze their skills, and then they let them start searching. Wendleton says these services are doing their clients a great, well, disservice.

“If you are analyzing only a job hunter’s personality and job skills, then he’ll be stuck in the same accounting job he had before he was fired or before he decided to leave his employer—it will just be at a different company,” explains Wendleton. “People need to envision what they would like to be doing fifteen years from now. They need to think about how their job decisions will affect their spouses and families.

“That’s why we take a whole-person approach at The Five O’Clock Club and make envisioning one’s future a key part of the assessment process,” she adds. “In fact, this step is so useful that 58 percent of the Club members who go through it decide to change careers and target a completely new field or industry than the one they were in before.”

Set targets—and keep them in your sights. You have to set targets for what you want to do and where you want to work. Basically, this means narrowing down the industries you want to work in, the positions you want to hold, the geographic areas you’re willing to move to, and so forth. Five O’Clock Club members set targets as part of their assessments. From then on, they frequently hear the statement, “If your targets are wrong, your search is wrong.”

“Targets are essential because they help drive your search,” says Wendleton. “They take a process that can be overwhelming and give you a course to follow. If you find out that a certain target is not working for you, then you can simply go after the next one. Once you have identified your targets, The Five O’Clock Club urges you to go many places, meet many people, and ask many questions.”

Remember, there’s no DIY in “job search.” The big fad for many outplacement services these days is to do everything online. They use webinars and other e-learning opportunities. They can offer long packages to their clients because they don’t require space or labor. Unfortunately, they leave job hunters without the one-on-one coaching that is necessary to keep them positive and on track.

The Five O’Clock Club, on the other hand, offers its clients both private coaching and small group coaching. In fact, it’s the only career program in which members meet with professional coaches and peers on a weekly basis in a friendly, club-type format.

“Job hunters need feedback,” says Wendleton. “They need to work with people who can get to know them, give them advice on how to improve their résumés and cover letters, set them straight when they’re off track, and hold them accountable. Let’s face it: If you know you’re going to have to report on what you’ve done—and what you haven’t done—you’re much more likely to stay on the straight and narrow.

“People who attend our small groups get jobs faster, at higher rates of pay, and that are more satisfying than those who see only a private coach,” she adds.

Seek out coaching groups that consist of both unemployed and employed job hunters. That’s how Five O’Clock groups operate, says Wendleton. She says the reason is two-fold.

“One, it is depressing for unemployed job hunters to hear only from other unemployed job hunters,” she explains. “They end up sitting around talking about how they were fired, and no one benefits from that. The people who are unemployed get hope from the employed people. They see that Frank or Susan has a job, and know that they will have a job soon too.

“Reason two, the employed members are crunched for time,” adds Wendleton. “They want to come to the group, say, ‘Here’s what I’m doing,’ and get feedback from the group. They keep things moving forward and help everyone get the advice they need efficiently and effectively.”

Don’t fall prey to the “a coach is a coach is a coach” mentality. All career coaches are not created equal, says Wendleton. A coach may have ten or twenty years of career coaching experience, but if he or she is not using a proven methodology, all those years of experience might be a detriment, not an asset. If someone wants to coach for The Five O’Clock Club, he must go through a grueling, four-month certification program to un-learn what he thinks he knows based on his own experience.

“Our coaches can analyze any person’s search in five minutes,” says Wendleton. “First, they want to know how much time a job hunter is spending on her search. Then, they want to know what her targets are. If the person doesn’t have targets that add up to 200 positions—not job openings, but possible positions in her area—then the person hasn’t really started her search.

“They can analyze and improve job hunter résumés and cover letters. They help job hunters identify six to ten search tactics that work for them at any one time. Bottom line, they help job hunters be productive and keep them moving forward in a process that can be extremely tedious and disheartening at times.”

“Card” yourself. Every Five O’Clock Clubber has a special 3×5 index card that holds the personalized keys to their job hunting success. It helps them narrow down and stay focused on their most important “talking points.” You can create one for yourself, too, says Wendleton. First, your card will include the short pitch about yourself to use when you meet a new contact, in interviews, or at other events or meetings.

Here’s an example: I am a marketing manager with twelve years of international experience. In my recent job, I was able to grow revenue by 20 percent in a very bad market. The reason I am looking for a job right now is that the company I work for has decided it doesn’t want to be international anymore. I am talking to you because I can see that you are very interested in growing internationally.

Your card should also include three or four of your personal accomplishments. You want to know these like the back of your hand in case you are ever asked an off-the-wall question in an interview or meeting. Let’s say an interviewer asks you how good your tennis game is. Drawing from your card, you might say: “I don’t know about my tennis game, but at my last job I felt like I was really hitting the ball around. One thing I did was help our sales department increase sales by X percent.”

And finally, your card should include the one question you are most afraid they are going to ask you along with your answer. Let’s say your most dreaded question is Why are you looking? You might say, “I’m looking for a new job because I was caught in a downsizing like so many others in this market.” Or let’s say the question is Why didn’t you finish college? Whatever you do, don’t say, “My mother died and I had to help out,” or, “I couldn’t decide on a major.” The interviewer is not interested in you and your mother. Instead say, “I was eager to work and contribute and that’s the kind of person you would get if you hired me: someone who is eager to work and contribute!”

Shape your own interview. The unfortunate reality is that managers who are hiring don’t always ask the right questions. When this is the case, as the job hunter, you have to figure out a way to get your strengths and accomplishments into the interview. (Remember the tennis game example?) This is when it is a great time to recall all of the great accomplishments you have on your index card and use them to keep the interview moving forward.

“You might expect the person interviewing you to prepare just as much as you did for the interview,” says Wendleton. “But that rarely happens. When this is the case, you don’t have to surrender to her poor preparation. You can revive the situation by creating your own interview. Use the information on your index card to keep the conversation flowing, and keep it flowing in a direction that works to your advantage.”

Network with the big dogs. One of the problems with the way people network is that they just talk to everyone they know. Unfortunately, everyone they know is in the same field or the same age group as them. More often than not, they are peers. They might know about jobs at their companies, but they might not have the authority to recommend you to the hiring manager. Or they might be able to put you only in positions that represent a lateral move and won’t help you advance your career.

“We talk to people all the time who say they’ve been networking for a year and have met a hundred people,” says Wendleton. “Well, unfortunately, they were the wrong hundred people. Networking that counts happens when you are contacting people who are one or two levels higher than you are. You’re not going to get a job until you talk to the right people who are more senior than you and who will think of you when there is an opening at their company.”

If an interviewer doesn’t “bite,” don’t toss him back in the water. In other words, don’t just discard someone who tells you his company has no openings. If a person is at the right level and at the right company, he is just as valuable to you as someone with an opening. That’s because you can ask him this important question: If you were hiring right now, would you hire someone like me?

“Because there is no opening, the contact is more likely to be honest with you,” explains Wendleton. “He might say, ‘Well, no, because you don’t have experience in the X or Y segment of what we do here.’ If you are getting similar feedback from other senior-level contacts, then you will know that you need to adjust your targets or that you aren’t positioning yourself correctly.”

Don’t be afraid to be a “pest.” Follow up, follow up, and follow up again. After you interview with a company or meet with a senior-level contact, that isn’t the end of the road. You need to spend just as much time developing that relationship after you’ve met with her as you did prior to the meeting. You have to follow up…repeatedly.

Think about it this way, says Wendleton. Say there’s a kid who wants to get his first job and he goes to his local grocery store. The first week they tell him they aren’t hiring. So he goes back the next week and then the next. Finally, the manager agrees to hire him. The same general idea holds true for senior-level people and big companies.

“Not only does the follow-up phase keep you in front of them, it also helps you find out where you stand,” explains Wendleton. “You can find out what your competition looks like, how many other people they are talking to, etc. This information will help in the salary negotiation phase if they do decide to hire you. For example, if you know you had a lot of competition for the job, then you will know you can be easily replaced, and you will have little room for salary negotiations. But if they tell you, ‘We want you and no one else’—and yes, this does happen!—that gives you a lot of wiggle room.”

If you get an offer, don’t assume you’re home free. Aim to have three concurrent offers in the works at any one time. These offers don’t have to be jobs that you actually want to take, but having them in the works prevents you from slowing your search when you think you are about to get hired. It also gives you a psychological edge—the fact is, if you have only one thing in the works, the interviewer can tell.

“What usually happens for a job hunter with only one opportunity in the works is he keeps asking the hiring company about progress, and they tell him they haven’t come to a decision,” says Wendleton. “Well, if you have other offers, even if they are offers you know you won’t take, you can tell them that you have three offers on the table, but theirs is the job you really want. If they want you, you can push them to make a decision. Having multiple offers also helps keep you positive. It helps you keep your momentum going.

“By the way: If you don’t have multiple things in the works, don’t lie and say that you do,” she adds. “Nine times out of ten you will not be able to keep up with what you told to whom. You’ll be found out, and it won’t do anything but hurt you in the long run.”

If there’s one overarching piece of advice to remember, says Wendleton, it’s simply this: Don’t sell yourself short.

“You’re not just looking for ‘a job,’” she says. “You’re taking the next step in developing and shaping your career. Your skills are valuable. You do have something to offer. And somewhere out there is a company that wants and needs that something. You owe it to yourself to do what it takes to find them.”

Click here for the process you should follow for getting a job. Listen to the audios. Read the articles. Take the minicourse to find out how you’re doing in your job search.
http://www.fiveoclockclub.com/for-individuals/mini-course/

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The Five O’Clock Club cautions that, just when a job seems to be within your grasp, don’t be surprised if things get derailed. The company is not on your schedule: it may be seeing other terrific candidates. Or the position may be put on hold due to internal politics or budget considerations. At lot can happen that is simply beyond your control.

The Interview is the Beginning, Not the End

Many job hunters seem to assume that the interview is the end of the process. Of course, they dash off the thank-you note, but they think of the job offer as a piece of ripe fruit, and they wait for it to drop. They may even make “status checks”— which don’t add value to their candidacy.

In this complex, booming market the Five O Clock Club reminds clients that the interview is the beginning of the process, not the end. Interview follow-up can be as crucial as the interview itself, and it can be the most demanding and brainiest part of the job search process. Follow-up may require proactive strategies to influence the decision makers and keep your candidacy alive. While avoiding any steps that may appear excessive or pushy, the follow-up stage may be a subtle dance of laying groundwork and nurturing the situation with strategic, value-added activity.

The foundation for successful follow-up is built during in the interview itself.

• Approach the interview as a consultant would, and dig for information. A consultant probes the issues and concerns that have prompted the company to bring someone on board. Focus on the hiring manager’s needs as opposed to dwelling on your own worries.
• Try to find out the hiring timetable, where you stand vis àvis other applicants, and what concerns or reservations they may have about your candidacy. Listen carefully and non-defensively.
• Take notes during the interview—as any expensive per diem consultant would do. You want to gather enough information to write a substantive, high-impact influencing letter. Especially if you are interviewed by several people, detailed notes on each meeting may be crucial for smart follow-up. If appropriate, you may say, “I’d like to take notes if you don’t mind, to make sure I capture all your points.” If you don’t take notes, make sure you write down as much as possible after the interview.

An “Influence” Letter Outclasses a Thank-You Note
The beginning of smart follow-up is usually a letter:

• Write an influencing letter to each person you’ve interviewed with. Address their unique styles, responsibilities and concerns. You might have to look beyond the formal reporting structure to figure out who’s really important in the decision process. In some cases it might be the trusted secretary or a potential colleague that has a big say in who comes on board. So acknowledge everyone with a customized email or letter.
• Remember that this letter goes far beyond the traditional “cookie-cutter” thank-you notes that are so common; it summarizes and expounds on the issues brought up in the interview and may be used to address weakness or respond to concerns about your background. It represents you and the caliber of work that you do.

Three Follow-up Stories
But “smart follow-up” can go well beyond writing a letter. Here’s what three Five O’Clock Clubbers did:

For the rest of this article, click here.
For a dozen articles on salary negotiation, click here.

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So what do job hunters do in response to this new software? They spend endless hours trying to get around those systems hoping their resume can be selected. Give it up! Job hunters’ time would be better spent trying to figure out the name of the person to contact and then contacting them directly. Contact anyone in that organization and get in to see them. We call it “surrounding the hiring manager.”

Surround the Hiring Manager

An ad for a job is as good as a flashing neon sign: The company is telling the world it has an opening! Your strategic thinking should go into high gear—if it’s a company or a job that really interests you. Don’t wait to get in by just responding to the ad. Network into the company or contact someone there directly, but not the person mentioned in the ad. “Surrounding the hiring manager” is a very effective technique. Get in to see someone—almost anyone other than the hiring manager. An insider can become an advocate for you and refer you in to the hiring manager. You’ll have a better chance of standing out from your competitors—because you were referred in and will know more—and you’ll do better in the meeting. You’re no longer one more grubby job hunter who is simply responding to an ad—you’re now someone who is sincerely interested in this company and knows how to go the extra mile. The hiring manager will get to know you in a different way from the other applicants and he or she may consider you even though you don’t have all of the qualifications they listed. For more information on this technique, see the chapter “What to Do When You Know There’s a Job Opening” in our book, Shortcut Your Search: The Best Ways to get Meetings.

Bottom line: If it’s a good ad for you, answer the ad, then forget about the ad and try to get in some other way—without mentioning the ad.

If you meet all the requirements of the job, then make it very clear to the screener that you should not be screened out.

Read the stories of the successful job hunters in this issue. People are starting to get multiple offers. Don’t spend more than 6% of your time answering ads or more than 6% of your time contacting search firms unless you are getting meetings this way. If not, get on with your search: Use direct contact and networking. Good luck.

Kate Wendleton

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Case Study: Carol

Addressing the Employer’s Needs

Carol had been out of work for nearly a year before coming to The Five O’Clock Club. A former administrator at a college on the East Coast, she was very shocked when a restructuring caused her to lose her position of nine years, and says she basically had to go through a period of “mourning” before she could even begin to process everything and figure out what she wanted to do next in her career. She stayed connected to the college by doing some part-time work in the evenings, but she really needed a full-time position again.

After a year of looking around and getting the occasional interview, Carol decided she needed to make a change. “I decided I’m not going to do this on my own,” she says, “I can’t do this on my own—there’s something lacking.” Carol needed assistance in three particular areas: she needed to present herself better when writing a cover letter; she needed to present herself better in front of search committees; and she needed help with writing effective influencing letters to follow up with a potential employer after an interview. Networking was also something that she had been having difficulty with.

After a year of unemployment before coming to the Club, Carol had a new position within just ten weekly small-group sessions.

The first thing that Carol did after coming to The Five O’Clock Club was work on her pitch—how she was promoting herself. “I could list all of my accomplishments,” Carol says, “but it means nothing to the employer unless you can make the connection between what you have to offer and what they need.” Her Five O’Clock Club coach, Nancy Deering, helped her decide what part of her background she wanted to put forward in presenting herself to a potential employer. Nancy also helped her with writing cover letters and influencing letters, and Carol also learned to focus more during interviews, paying close attention to what the interviewer was saying (and not saying).

“When you go on an interview,” Carol notes, “the interviewer does not have to know that you’re following a strategy. Like a good artist, like a good performer, you are able to present well and come across in a very natural way—they don’t know what’s behind it.”

Carol significantly increased her networking activity at the beginning of the summer, and Nancy helped her with writing effective outreach letters. Everyone she contacted agreed to see her, with the exception of one person who gave her a phone interview.

All of her outreach efforts paid off by July. One of her contacts from where she worked previously sent her a blurb about an opening at a nearby college. At the end of the email, there was correspondence between her former colleague and the director of human resources at the college where she was encouraging Carol to put in a job application. The message from the HR director was asking Carol’s former colleague if she knew of anyone who could fill an opening they had at the college. “We really need someone,” the message read. “I’m sure you don’t know anyone, but . . . .”

Carol saw an opportunity. “I figured if they’re that desperate,” she says, “I had a chance.” She reworked her cover letter with her coach, hit all the right points, and got an interview. Carol was very methodical in the interview. She articulated the pitch she had rehearsed about herself, but she didn’t break it all out at once, instead letting it come out in parts in response to different questions that she was asked, giving the interview a very natural flow.

One of the members of the search committee who interviewed her knew one of her references and placed a call to him after the interview. “I don’t know what Carol did,” he said, “but there was something different about the way she presented herself.” Her reference then contacted her to tell her what a great impression she had made during the interview.

Shortly after her interview, Carol was referred to the dean of the college and was offered the position. But she had also just been offered a teaching position at the university where she worked previously. The teaching position would require her to teach three nights a week at the university. Carol explained to the dean that she was very interested in the position that they were offering, but that she would have to leave a little early three days a week in order to fulfill the obligations she had in her other position. Of course, she risked losing the offer as a result of putting this condition on it, but she already had a strong sense that they really wanted her.

She got the job and was tasked with overseeing a significant grant program for the college.

Her coach, Nancy, says that preparation was one of the main factors in Carol’s success. Even during the weekly small-group meetings at the Club, Carol would show up with questions that she had prepared for her next interview, and would share them with the group to get the group’s feedback. “She would always give positive feedback to others in the group,” Nancy notes, “she would always see the good in things, and she stuck to her search.”

Though the new position she took overseeing a grant program has resulted in a much longer commute for her, Carol says that you have to be flexible and be willing to compromise on certain things. Over time, the commute has become easier, and the important thing is that she is happy in the position. After a year of unemployment before coming to The Five O’Clock Club and re-igniting her job search, “I’m very happy to be on this side of the fence,” she says.

Case Study: Stephen

The Path from Estate Tax Lawyer to Language Teacher

After years working as an estate tax lawyer, Stephen realized he needed a major change in his career trajectory. “It was not my thing,” he says of estate tax law. “I like dealing with people. I like speaking with people.” Stephen wanted to transition into teaching English. He had co-authored a book about his father’s experiences in the Second World War, and had also been doing some freelance writing, and now wanted to more fully give way to his passion for writing and books by becoming an English teacher.

Though Stephen believed his verbal skills would make him excel at teaching English, he encountered a number of difficulties when he initially tried finding work in the public school system. “I tried to teach in the public schools,” he says, “and I may still do that, but the competition is fierce in alternative certification programs, and people who have a lot of teaching experience are at a tremendous advantage.”

At one point, he had to turn down some assignments because of scheduling conflicts —a good position to be in.

Stephen came to The Five O’Clock Club to help get focused in his job search. Sharon Small, his coach, worked with him to develop a list of new targets that he could pursue that would specifically help him gain more teaching experience. He also enrolled in a certification program at a local college to get the necessary credentials to teach English to foreign students. The program resulted in good networking opportunities as well, and one of his fellow students in the certification course gave him the names of two language schools where he would have a good chance of finding a position. Both schools offered summer programs, which would be a good stepping-stone to a full-time teaching job throughout the year.

Stephen soon applied at both language schools, went through a grammar test, and convinced the hiring managers that the certification process he was then going through was helping him gain valuable language-teaching experience. During this time Stephen also interviewed at another language institute in the area and was received very favorably by the institute’s director. Though the language institute did not have any immediate openings for a teacher, they referred Stephen to another school close by.

In the end, Stephen was actually finding himself having to turn down some work because of scheduling conflicts at each of the schools that he had begun teaching at—a good position to be in, he considered. Though the hourly rate he was making as a new language instructor wasn’t great, he was finally moving in the direction that he wanted to go in and he was happy with the transition that he had made.

Stephen has been teaching high-school age kids. “I think it’s a good way to get my feet wet,” he says, “because these kids are from overseas and you don’t have some of the discipline problems you have in the New York public schools.”

Sharon says that Stephen was focused on his ESL target for quite some time and, though he experienced some challenges, he kept getting himself out there, kept networking, and kept going on interviews. “He was very persistent,” Sharon emphasizes. He was also very persistent in showing up for his weekly Five O’Clock Club meetings, attending over twenty sessions with his coach since joining the Club. The group meetings helped him focus and stay on track.

A World War II buff, Stephen is somewhat reminded of the classic postwar film, The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), when he thinks about how his job search has progressed. In the film, Dana Andrews plays a displaced veteran who is down on his luck and can’t seem to get a job, until he eventually takes work as a scrap-metal dealer before marrying his sweetheart. “It’s not much, but it’s a start,” he expresses at the end of the film.

“I feel kind of that way,” Stephen says, while admitting he is doing a lot better than working in scrap metal. It’s very easy to find yourself trapped in a career that you are not passionate about, and now Stephen has found new opportunities to begin on a path toward a teaching career that he finds fulfilling. “I’m having a good time, it’s hard work, and it’s tiring,” he says, “but I’m learning a lot and I’m at a place where I want to be.”

Case Study: Audrey

A Former TV Producer and Teacher

Finds Her Dream Career in Marrakesh

Like Stephen, Audrey had wanted to transition out of the career track that she had been on in the hope of finding a new position as a teacher. Audrey had been an associate producer for many years for a prominent national program on a major network, before eventually finding part-time work teaching art in a public high school. It was a fulfilling job that she truly enjoyed. But then budget cuts forced the school district to jettison the arts program that she taught in. “So my great job that I had had for five years was gone,” she says.

Audrey was also going through a divorce at around the same time as losing her teaching position. Things seemed to be falling apart and she realized that she needed another change in her life—something major. “I’d been married for thirty years,” says Audrey. “I lived in the city my whole life. I didn’t want to do the same thing anymore. I didn’t want a conservative lifestyle. I wanted to travel around the world and spend my life having adventures and painting.”

When she came to The Five O’Clock Club for the first time, Audrey already knew that she wanted to teach art at an international school in another part of the world. She had a very clear vision of what she wanted to do next. What she needed help with was in turning that vision into a reality.

Ruth Robbins was her Five O’Clock Club coach. “Audrey is tenacious,” Ruth says. “She had faced so many lows, and there was a lot of emotion there too.” But there was also a palpable drive to move forward into something completely different.

“Coming here and getting the support was very helpful,” Audrey says about joining The Five O’Clock Club. “When I met with Ruth, we wrote many résumés and did a lot of research because I really didn’t know anything about finding a job overseas.” Ruth also helped her come up with a Two-Minute Pitch that Audrey found very valuable to use at the international job fairs she was increasingly attending, often having to sell herself very quickly before a recruiter or potential employer.

Although her life seemed to be falling apart, Audrey developed a clear vision of what she wanted and needed help turning it into a reality.

Audrey came up against a number of obstacles in looking for jobs outside of the United States. Culturally, she noticed that age seemed to be more of a factor in hiring in other countries than it was in America. In order to get a better sense of what she was up against, Audrey called the U.S. Department of State and obtained a report on hiring practices in countries around the world with respect to age limits. These statistics were not as reliable as they seemed, however. For example, when she interviewed for a position in Thailand and cited a statistic that indicated job applicants over the age of 60 were not generally hired in that country, the interviewer told her, “Oh, I’m not too sure about that.” Her response gave Audrey a glimmer of hope that perhaps age would not be as much of a limitation as she thought in applying for jobs overseas.

“So when I went to job fairs,” Audrey says, “I didn’t go too much by what the bottom line said about age.” The fact that one interviewer she met with had been dismissive of age limitations meant that others might have a similar attitude.

Ignoring cautionary advice about age restrictions from recruiters, Audrey pressed forward in her search with the determination to find the teaching position that she dreamed about. She continued attending international job fairs, only to later realize that many other applicants were circumventing the job fairs altogether by setting up interviews directly with recruiters overseas via Skype. Nonetheless, Audrey still had a few possibilities in the works based on the job fairs that she had been attending.

“So I went on the interviews,” Audrey notes, “and at the end of the three days, the first-choice school that I wanted was the international school in Marrakesh.” Audrey was offered a one-year assignment that would allow her to develop a brand new arts curriculum for students in grades K – 12, teaching the basics of figure drawing and painting to younger students, and color theory, drawing style, and art history to upper level students. She had been selected from over forty other teachers that the school had been considering for the position.

Audrey attributes part of her success to coming to The Five O’Clock Club regularly in the beginning stages of her search when she most needed help with taking what was a seemingly far-off ambition that she had and making the first concrete steps toward realizing that ambition.

“So, time passes by and, you know, I’m thrilled,” Audrey says, “because I took what was a fantasy and a dream and made it a reality.”

Case Study: Lauren

Transitioning in an Industry in Transition

When Lauren was laid off from her position at a prominent news magazine, she came up against the same job search obstacle that Audrey had faced: she was “a woman of certain age,” and was concerned that this would make finding a new position that much more difficult in the industry that she was targeting. To add to her difficulties, the industry that she was targeting was publishing—“a moribund industry,” Lauren notes, referring to the extensive losses that have been experienced in publishing since the rise of digital publishing, including the industry’s transition to online newspapers and magazines, as well as e-books. Publishing, however, was the industry that Lauren had built her career in and she wanted to apply the skills that she had developed in a position where they would be utilized effectively.

Lauren attended approximately twenty sessions at The Five O’Clock Club and worked with two of the Club’s senior coaches, Renee Rosenberg and Win Sheffield. One of the first things that she received help with was creating a targeted résumé. She had thought her own résumé was wonderful, but soon realized that it was really a mess. Working with her coach, she made it shorter, including a selected list of her articles and removing portions where she had gone on excessively about the clients she had worked with. “That really helped,” she says, “because I think people go through my résumé quickly.”

Perhaps the most important tool that Lauren picked up from The Five O’Clock Club methodology was the Two-Minute Pitch, which she describes as “invaluable.” The Two-Minute Pitch, she says, allows you to “have in your mind the key points that you want to make. Sometimes I strung out these points throughout the interview, depending on the situation.”

Yes, magazine publishing was retrenching, but Lauren got back in, something that seemed impossible at the beginning of her search.

Lauren was also greatly helped by regularly attending The Five O’Clock Club’s weekly small-group strategy sessions. Particularly during the difficult periods of her job search, being able to discuss the progress of her search with other group members was tremendously helpful both in terms of strategy and in terms of maintaining her confidence. “A couple of times I came to the Club practically in tears,” she admits. “I remember when I didn’t get a second interview for a job that I thought I was going to nail—people were really helpful and I always left feeling better.”

Her coach, Win, helped her organize her search and advised her on strategy, particularly helping her focus on jobs that she could really be passionate about (instead of responding aimlessly to ads, as she had been doing previously).

After much persistence, Lauren landed a new position at another prominent national magazine—something that had seemed almost impossible to her at the beginning of her search. Getting the job wasn’t easy, and negotiations near the end almost broke down, but she stayed connected to her coach throughout the process to help with strategy. “Anytime you can get more information from people, do so,” she says, looking back on a stressful episode in her search. “It really helps you know what the hell you’re doing.”

Having found exactly the kind of job she was targeting, Lauren remains cautiously optimistic. She is happy in her new position, but the future of the industry is uncertain. “My worry is that I could be totally broke next week and back here for my next Five O’Clock Club session,” she says. But she now also has the confidence that, whatever happens, she has the tools that she needs to carry out an effective job search again in the future with The Five O’Clock Club as her guide.

By using the direct contact method, Mark put himself in a prime position to be hired for a job that had not even been advertised yet.

Case Study: Mark

He Embraced the Methodology

Mark also came to The Five O’Clock Club after losing his position at a publishing company, but in book publishing. The upside was that the company was paying for his outplacement as part of his severance package, which allowed him to get started working with a Five O’Clock Club coach right away.

“It’s a difficult market out there,” Mark says, “and my industry is book publishing, which has had a very hard time.”

Mark embraced the Five O’Clock Club methodology from the outset of his search and used a variety of strategies, but networking was probably where he was most effective. “I think I probably had about sixty networking meetings over the course of the year,” he says. “I really did a pretty good job of getting to people, trying to get informational meetings, and seeing who they knew who they would be happy to have me talk with. I don’t think I had a single meeting that wasn’t worthwhile.”

With the unemployment rate still officially over eight percent—and estimated to be much higher—almost everybody knows someone who is out of a job. “So people naturally wanted to help,” Mark notes. “If they can spend twenty minutes sitting down and talking with you, if that’s really going to help you, then people were really happy to do that.”

Mark spoke with his job-search buddy every week at the same time, and that also helped him to keep his search active.

Another strategy that Mark found to be particularly effective was the direct mailing approach. “It wasn’t something I would have done if I hadn’t come to the Club,” he says. One HR manager whom he wrote to in September contacted him two months later saying that they had received his résumé and that Mark was potentially what they were looking for regarding an opening they had. The significant point was that the job itself had never been posted. By opting for the direct-contact method, Mark thereby put himself in a prime position to be hired for a job that had not even been advertised yet. “I’m sure everyone knows people who say, ‘Yeah, there are no jobs, I looked through all the ads’” he notes. “And it just kills me that people say that because there are so many jobs that never get posted.”

The next step after a successful direct-contact approach is the interview stage. The interview method that Mark learned at The Five O’Clock Club helped him to shine during the interview process at the company where he ultimately landed a new position. Mark learned how to use questions as prompts to make certain key points that he wanted to make during his interviews, and how to weave in stories from his background that would leave a favorable impression. “It’s so much better than just sitting down and thinking, ‘Well, I’m just going to answer the questions as best I can,’” he says. Instead, Mark took an active approach that allowed him to maintain his focus and control the interview.

Michele Wood was Mark’s Five O’Clock Club coach. She points out that Mark’s interviews had gone so well because of the strategy he employed in “surrounding the hiring manager.” Prior to an interview, Mark would go through his list of contacts to see if anyone had a connection to someone he was interviewing with. For the publishing position that he eventually obtained, Mark had contacted two people he knew who also knew the hiring manager, including a former colleague in Britain and the HR manager’s next door neighbor. Both of his contacts wrote letters of endorsement on his behalf prior to his second interview with the company.

“I see this second interview as if people were sitting around a fire with hot cocoa waiting for Mark to arrive,” Michele says. Mark had so successfully paved the way for his interview that, by the time he actually arrived for the interview itself, a hiring decision had most likely been all but finalized.

Two other techniques that Mark found helpful during his job search included trying to remain active as a consultant and having a job-search buddy.

A “hard sell” approach was not necessary to find consulting work, he realized; instead, just through various informational meetings, he could talk to people and see what kinds of issues they were dealing with in their companies and offer his experience wherever it might seem like a good fit.

Similarly, Mark discovered that the job-search buddy technique was another way of keeping his search active by being able to regularly compare notes with someone else who was using the Five O’Clock Club methodology and was in the same boat that he was in. “We would have a phone call every week at the same time,” Mark says, “and we would just go through what we were doing and what we were planning for the week.” Getting moral support from his job-search buddy was also important. As much as your friends and family love you and want to help you out, Mark notes, they don’t know exactly what you’re going through the way that your job-search buddy does.

Mark mastered the technique of “surrounding the hiring manager.” By the time he actually arrived for the interview, a hiring decision had most likely been all but finalized.

“Mark was a pleasure to work with because he really invites the methodology,” his coach, Michele, points out. Whether it was the Club’s focus on direct-contact approaches, the importance of networking and getting informational meetings, participating in the weekly group sessions, or having a thought-out, methodical approach to the interview process, Mark used all of these techniques successfully. Though his search took longer than average, the extensive work that Mark put in—particularly in obtaining numerous networking meetings—resulted in another publishing position that at the outset of his search might have seemed out of reach.

Mark reported on his success at a subsequent meeting of The Five O’Clock Club, telling other Club members of the strategies that were most effective for him in his search. “I would just say that you’ve got something very valuable here at The Five O’Clock Club,” he added, “and I would take advantage of it.”

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Developing a resume is fairly easy when you follow our approach. You will get the basic help you need by first looking at the results of your Seven Stories Exercise® and the Fifteen-Year and Forty-Year Visions® (which you will find at the end of this article). They will help you set your long-term direction and also help you discover what it is you have to offer. In order to go somewhere, you must know where you are right now.

In this article, you will become pragmatic. What have you done so far in your life? What do you have to offer the world?

What Do You Have to Offer?
In deciding what you want to offer, first list all you have to offer—a menu to choose from. When you go after a certain kind of position, emphasize those parts that support your case. If you decide, for example, to continue your career in the same direction, you will probably focus on your most recent position and others that support that direction.

If most of your adult satisfactions have occurred outside your job, you may want to change something about your work life. Someday you may decide to change careers—most of us will have to. If you decide to change careers, activities outside your regular job may help you make that change. Our research shows that 58% of those who go through our exercises decide to change careers — change the field or industries they are in. To change careers, you need even more help with your resume so people will see you as appropriate for the kind of job you want to have next.

Take my case: When I was interested in changing from computers to advertising, I offered as proof of my ability the three years I had spent at night promoting nonprofit organizations. My portfolio of press coverage for those organizations was my proof.

Later, when I wanted to work as a career coach, my proof was my many years’ experience in running The Five O’Clock Club at night, the seminars I had given on job hunting and career development, and so on. When I wanted to continue working in business management, I simply offered my on-the-job experience in making companies profitable.

If you have available the entire list of what you have to offer, you can be more flexible about the direction you want to go in.

Process- versus Project-Oriented Accomplishments

Present what you have to offer in terms of accomplishments. Tell your story in a way that will provoke interest in you and let the reader know what you are really like. Accomplishment statements are short, measurable, and results oriented. We each handle the situations in our work lives in different ways. What problems have you faced at work? How did you handle them? What was the effect on the organization?

Some of us are project oriented and others are process oriented. If you are project oriented, you will tend to take whatever is assigned to you, break it into projects in your mind, and then get those projects done. You like to solve problems, and you get bored when there are none. Your accomplishments will state the problems you faced, how you solved them, and the impact you had on the organization.

On the other hand, if you are process oriented, you like to run the day-to-day shop. You can be trusted to keep an existing situation running smoothly, and your accomplishments will reflect that. You like stable situations and systems that work. You will state that you ran a department of so many people for so many years.

A project-oriented accomplishment could look like this:

• Designed and directed a comprehensive and cost-effective advertising and sales promotion program that established the company as a major competitor in the market.

A process-oriented accomplishment could look like this:

• Conducted ongoing reviews of market performance of investor-owned utility securities, using multiple equity valuation techniques. Recommended redirection of portfolio mix to more profitable and higher-quality securities.

Developing Your List of Accomplishments

There are two ways to develop your complete list of accomplishments: You can start with your most recent job and work backward, or you can start with the results of your Seven Stories Exercise. Do whichever is more comfortable for you.

Do not worry right now if you do not like your job title or do not even like your job. Later on, we will change your title to make it reflect what you were actually doing, and we can emphasize or de-emphasize jobs and responsibilities as you see fit. Right now, get down on paper all of your accomplishments. Then we will have something to work with.

Do not wish to go back to your youth. What was challenging then would probably not satisfy you today. Look for the elements of those early jobs that satisfied you. These elements can help to determine your lifelong interests.

You will feel better after you have developed your list of accomplishments. You will see on paper all that you have to offer. And your accomplishments will be stated in a way that will make you proud. Discipline yourself to do this exercise now, and you will not have to do it again.

Starting with Your Most Recent Position

Write down your current or most recent position. State your title and your company name, and list your accomplishments in that position. Rather than ranking them chronologically, rank them in the order of interest to the reader.

After refining the accomplishment statements for your present or most recent position, examine the job before that one. State your title and your company name, and list your accomplishments.

Work on as many accomplishments as make sense to you. Some people cover in depth the past 10 years. If you can, cover your entire career, because you never know what may occur to you, and you never know what may help you later. In doing this exercise, you may remember jobs you had completely forgotten about—and pleasant and satisfying accomplishments. Ask yourself what it was about that job that was so satisfying. Perhaps it is another clue about what you might do in the future.

After you have listed your work experiences, list accomplishments outside work. These, too, should be short, measurable, and results oriented. These outside experiences can help you move into a new field. In fact, that’s how I and many others have made career transitions. By volunteering to do advertising and public relations work at night, I developed a list of accomplishments that helped me move from computers to advertising. In those days, my outside experience included:

Walnut Street Theatre Gallery

• Planned, organized, and promoted month-long holography exhibition. Attendance increased from fewer than 100 visitors per month to over 3,000 visitors during the month of this exhibition.

YMCA

• Handled all publicity for fund-raising campaign. Consulted with fund-raising committee on best techniques for them to use. Received plaque in recognition.

United Way

• Received four United Way awards for editorial work in 1979; two awards the prior year. Spoke at the United Way’s Editors’ Conference.

Starting with Your Seven Stories

When people start with their Seven Stories Exercise, they often find that their accomplishments are stated in a more vital way. Their résumé becomes more interesting to read—it is full of “stories.” If your résumé sounds dull—and perhaps like everyone else’s—try this approach. It will loosen you up.

The exercise below will get you started on this new adventure.

An adventure is the deliberate, volitional movement out of the comfort zone.

James W. Newman, Release Your Brakes

Click here for a sample resume case study – with before and after examples.

For the exercise to help you develop a better resume, click here.

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Those people who allow themselves to get completely sidetracked just to earn a living will have a difficult time getting back on track later. At the very least, keep involved with trade associations and/or do volunteer work that has to do with your career track. Think ahead and don’t become discouraged by your short-term situation.

Consulting work is an important option. Even in good times, 15% of the attendees at The Five O’Clock Club are looking for consulting work as opposed to full-time, on-payroll positions. Remain open to consulting assignments, while you continue to look for full-time employment — if that’s what you want.

Whether you are looking for consulting or full-time work, the techniques are exactly the same:

• develop a target list of organizations to contact—your Personal Marketing Plan.
• Contact them, using the Five O’Clock Club’s four-paragraph cover letter (see our book, “Shortcut Your Search”).
• Tell them you are interested in consulting assignments. (Or you can say, “I’m available for full or part-time assignments.”)
• Follow up with a phone call.

The trick with consulting work if you want to do it for a living as opposed to doing it in-between jobs—is keeping the work coming in while you are spending time delivering your services. Many consultants forget to market until the work dries up.

So to keep the prospects coming, we recommend a quarterly mailing or emailing to approximately 200 to 400 good leads. In this mailing, your cover letter would describe the projects you have been working on, suggesting that people call you if they would like similar help from you. You would also include your brochure, a simple one will do. And you could include a value-added piece, such as a link to or a copy of an article on a topic that would be of interest to your target audience and support the service you are offering. That’s it—do it quarterly.

Of course, Five O’Clock Clubbers have come up with other options. One person worked as the head of marketing for a small company two days a week, and another two days a week did the same thing for another small firm. He charged each of them about half of what he would have charged them full time on payroll including benefits. He ended up with a four-day-a-week lifestyle and more money than he would have earned otherwise. When he lost one of those assignments, he still had one left, and marketed himself to replace the other one.

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Plan your summer campaign now:

• Assess where you are in your job search. What’s working…what do you need to do to keep 6 – 10 things in the works?
• Use your marketing plan to determine how you will meet with people in a position to hire you in each of your target companies. Remember; hiring managers are not on vacation ALL summer. They have to work just like everyone else.
• Network with everyone you can to learn more about your target market.
• Set goals for the number of people you will meet with each week. Being known in your target market is the best way to tap into the “hidden” job market.

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Nancy Karas Certified Five O'Clock Club Career Coach

“Embarking on a job search can feel like skydiving. It seems like such a terrifying endeavor, as you throw yourself into the unknown!” Nancy Karas sometimes says this to her clients who are about to start job search. Nancy is a Senior Career Coach at the Five O’Clock Club, an outplacement and executive coaching firm. “And to extend the metaphor, interviewing without knowing how to turn interviews into job offers is like jumping out of a plane without having your parachute ready.”

“If you’re skydiving, you check your parachute and all the other gear. You practice the optimum positions for correct landing,” says Karas. “In fact, you learn how to position yourself based upon the circumstances of each jump. Each landing can be different from the next. Interviewing requires the same kind of preparation, focus and follow-up.”

“Job hunting doesn’t have to be scary and intimidating and it doesn’t have to be a hopeless journey. I lead my clients through the Five O’ Clock Methodology,” says Karas, “It is a proven, research-based approach that provides my clients with a smart and organized approach to their job searches.”

Nancy reminds her clients to follow the Club’s philosophy for interviewing, which means thinking and acting like a consultant. They must know how to apply their qualifications and skills to the needs of the company and the hiring manager. It is also vital to know how to answer any doubts a hiring manager might have. Remember that a first interview is only the beginning; it rarely results in a job offer.

Here are four fundamentals to keep in mind to ace the interview:

1. Learn as much as you can about the organization and the position.

Before the Interview:

• Research the company in as much depth as you can. What are its goals and mission? Who are its competitors, and how is it faring in the present economy? Is the industry expanding or shrinking?
• What are the primary issues and challenges it may be facing?

During the Interview:

• Be proactive in asking questions based on your research: you want insider insights on the problems, issues and challenges.
• Share examples of how you have handled similar situations, showing how you can apply your experience and talents to address the issues and create viable solutions.
• Let the hiring manager feel that you are there to help and find solutions.
• Keep this in mind: you may often be able to help define the job description, as you show the manager how you can help solve the needs of that department.
• Find out why the desk is empty!
  • Was there someone in this position previously? Is it a newly created position?
  • What happened to that person?  Was he or she promoted or laid off?
  • If the person didn’t work out, what qualities were missing that were needed for this job?
  • What qualities would the ideal candidate bring to the job?

2.   Learn as much as you can about the hiring manager and the HR people who will interview you.

Move heaven and earth to get the names and titles of the people with whom you will be meeting. If you don’t know—and neglected to find this out when the interview was set up—call back to find out. The Internet may be your best friend in this endeavor. You are likely to find a lot of information on LinkedIn, and a Google search may turn up unexpected details. Nancy tells a story about her own experience that sheds light on why it is so important to do this:

“Years ago, I interviewed for a position with a large company in Northern California.  Before the interview, I did my homework, researched the company and the HR Manager I was scheduled to meet with. I looked her up on LinkedIn and learned that she was very involved in a local charity for special needs children. I researched the charity too. When we met, she was not friendly. In fact she was extremely cold to me and seemed really annoyed that she had to meet with me. Somehow I needed to break the ice and find a connection between us—or this interview was going nowhere. I decided to break the ice by talking about the charity. I told her—and this was no lie, said just for flattery—that  I was a big fan of all their efforts and if I were to relocate to this area, I would love to contribute to the organization and become a part of their volunteer staff. I mentioned to her that I had done some volunteer work for similar organizations. This topic provided us with a common bond.  It told her something important about me. She began to warm up and she was far more receptive to me as the interview went on. In this more congenial atmosphere, we were able to discuss the position and the needs of the company—and how I could address those needs and present solutions.”

3.  Ask about Your Competition and Your Weaknesses

You really do want to find out how you stack up again others, and if the hiring manager has reservations about you. And yes, you can ask! Near the end of the interview—if not before—do some probing. Ask the hiring manager or the HR team if they have identified any candidates who are a good fit for the position. You may also ask, “Where do I stand as a candidate in comparison to the other candidates?” You also want to know how close they are to making a decision. How many people have they interviewed, and how many are scheduled after you? But above all, you need to find out if they have any reservations about you: “Is there anything about my background that would make you hesitant to hire me?”  All of this information can help you as you prepare your follow-up.

4.    Send an Influencing Letter

The real work—turning interviews into offer—begins after you have left the interview. The key is brainy, strategic follow-up. This continues the process of building a relationship with the hiring manager. You want to dispel any doubts about your suitability, and influence the decision-makers. It’s up to you to make the case that you are the right candidate for the job.

Most people send a simple thank-you note, but this will have little impact. Karas says, “An influencing letter is one of the most important components of the interviewing process and The Five O’ Clock Club Methodology. You don’t want to ‘leave the decision in their hands.’ In your letter you may be able to smooth over anything that did not go well during the interview, and answer questions that left you tongue-tied.  Demonstrate again that your credentials and your interest in the position make you the right fit for the job. Send a proposal along with your influencing letter to show the manager that you are already thinking about how their needs can be addressed. This will surely set you apart from the competition.”

In your influencing letter:

• Address the hiring manager’s needs.

• Suggest solutions and submit a proposal, based on what you learned during the interview.

• Dispel the concerns and doubts that the hiring manager may have had about you.

• Show more interest and competence than your competitors!

Are you afraid that this all will make you appear too desperate, or that you will be perceived as a pest? Five O’Clock Club research has shown that this is not the case. Most candidates don’t follow up at all. If they do, they send the standard thank-you note and make one phone call to inquire. Such calls are commonly not returned and no real information is gained. Calling the hiring manager’s office to follow up after an interview is not a good idea. It doesn’t provide you with that golden opportunity to further influence and connect with the person. Sending an influencing letter is the right way to go—then make a follow-up call because there is something new to talk about! “Don’t wait for the job offers to come to you,” says Karas. “Follow these The Five O’ Clock Club techniques and go out and get them!”

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It’s all too easy to convince yourself that you will never find another job, a mindset that can turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Here are a few suggestions from Richard Bayer, PhD, Chief Operating Officer of The Five O’Clock Club (www.fiveoclockclub.com) that will help you push through your job-hunt stress:

• It is OK to be “between jobs.” When you don’t have a job, “So what do you do?” becomes a dreaded question. We resort to a euphemism, “I’m between jobs.”

You must learn to ignore the inner voice that in your darkest moments says, “I’ll never get a good job again.” Even if you have just been turned down for three jobs, remind yourself that you got three interviews and you can get three more.

• Stay in touch with colleagues and friends from your former workplace. When you are unemployed, the daily camaraderie of the office is gone. One of the most painful aspects of not going to work every day is missing people who were fun to be around. In addition, they will be able to remind you of your past achievements.
• Treat your job search like a job. The lack of a job-day routine can be disorienting. You can feel that you have been cut loose.

The best way to overcome the loss of your daily routine is to create a new one. Treat your job search as your new job. Providing yourself with the day-to-day structure you are familiar with will help you keep your sanity and get you going in your job search more quickly.

• Exercise regularly and keep a healthy lifestyle. Regular physical exercise and a healthy diet help to reduce tension and stress. If your former routine involved going to the gym and you can still afford it, keep going. If you can’t, a half-hour walk every day will do the trick.

Keep an eye on what you’re eating as well. Healthy foods give you energy.

• Take time to enjoy the change of pace. Being freed from the 9-to-5 grind means you finally have time to take stock of what you really want to achieve in your life. Think about your life and plot course corrections. Some questions to consider as you plan your job search:

1. What matters to me the most?
2. What do I want to do differently?
3. What hasn’t worked for me in the past?
4. What was my own role in my job loss? What can I do better the next time?
5. How am I taking care of myself?

Stay away from negative news and naysayers. Even in good economic times, you don’t have to go far to find negative news about the world situation. During a recession, it’s in your face 24/7, and it’s something you should stay away from if you can. Similarly, stay away from naysayers. Their negativity will only get you down.

• If you need to vent, vent! Getting it all out does have healing power, and there is nothing especially heroic or brave about trying to go it alone. Find support groups at churches and synagogues, libraries and community centers. You will find people who will listen and whose stories will help you to feel less isolated.
• Your unemployment is a business problem. When you had bad days at work, you analyzed whatever problem was plaguing you, marshaled resources and people, and came up with solutions. In the same way, set your objective: To find a satisfying job that pays the bills. And develop your business strategy for achieving it.
• Celebrate short-term successes. When you get up in the morning, set up some achievable goals for the day so that you can end it with a sense of accomplishment. Write five more targeted letters. Identify 10 more companies to contact. Make 10 follow-up phone calls. Set up one or two meetings to network. Just being able to cross these goals off your list at the end of the day is a good feeling. And, of course, they often lead to something even better.
• Keep on top of your game. Not going into the office is no excuse to let your skills and knowledge slip. There’s no better time than a job search to make sure you stay current and sharp. Catch up on reading journals and attending meetings of your professional associations. You might consider taking a course, one that you could never find the time for when you were employed.
• Have fun. In the same way that you get burned out on your job after working nonstop for a month or two, you can get burned out on your job search. You need to stay fresh.

If you stay positive and make, “I will persevere!” your motto, you will land a great job, sooner or later.

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click here for sample Resumes

Recent college graduates, homemakers, or those with very little or very low-level work experience often feel as though they have nothing to offer. They say: “Kate, if I had the experience the people in your examples had, I’d have no trouble writing a resume.”

These people are wrong in a number of ways

1. Even the highest-level executives have a great deal of difficulty figuring out what their accomplishments have been and preparing their own resumes. Resume preparation is a skill, just as marketing or finance is a skill, and it is not something executives need to do every day on their jobs.
2. You are not competing with high-powered executives. Therefore, it doesn’t matter that you haven’t run a division of 600 people. If you had run that division, you’d have other problems in preparing your resume.
3. It’s better for each of us, no matter what our experiences, to cultivate a positive outlook: to assure ourselves that we have done okay, despite mistakes and wrong turns. Our experiences have made us what we are today, and that’s not so bad. We should be proud of who- ever we are and make the most of it. We should each strive – executive, young person, homemaker—to uncover our special gifts and contributions and let the world know.

On a national TV program, I was once asked to work with an “ordinary housewife” and develop a resume for her. It was promoted as something akin to magic. Can Kate make this nothing into a something? The producers picked someone who had been at home for 20 years. That would be a good one! Without even seeing her (which increased the illusion of magic), I interviewed the woman and developed a great resume for her.

Afterward, the people who worked in the studio said it wasn’t fair: We should have picked someone who really had nothing to offer. They were convinced that a typical “ordinary house- wife” could not possibly have an interesting resume. These studio executives were voicing a prejudice that reinforces the way many people feel about themselves.

I was successful with the “ordinary house- wife” because, in real life, most homemakers are not sitting home doing nothing for 20 years. A career counselor can help find the things anyone has to offer. Every homemaker and every young person has done things. With an open mind and the right help, these can be presented well in a resume.

The Process

Prior to showtime, I spent one hour on the phone with Maria, with no preparation on her part. You, however, would be wise to prepare by doing some of the exercises listed below. If you have trouble doing them, don’t worry. You can do them with your counselor.

1. List the fields you think you would like to go into. If you have a clear idea about what you want to do in the future, that’s great. Even if you don’t, you can still have a fine résumé.
2. List all the work you have ever done before your marriage (or school) or during it. It does not matter whether you earned money doing this work. For example, Maria “helped out” in her daughter’s store. She didn’t get paid for it, but it added a lot to her resume.
3. List all the volunteer work you have ever done for your place of worship, school, neighbors, and friends. What are the things you find yourself doing again and again? For example, do you find you are always baking cakes for parties, babysitting, or volunteering to tutor? List these things.
4. List any organizations you have belonged to and any courses you have taken.
5. List your most important personality traits. Are your detail-oriented? Are you able to motivate others? Do you follow through on everything you tackle?
6. List your favorite hobbies, pastimes, or interests. Perhaps, for example, you enjoy needlepoint. I had one client whose passion was bowling—she not only bowled but she also scheduled tournaments. We were able to make a resume out of it, and she got a job with a bowling association!

Try to list everything, no matter how silly it seems. Then set up an appointment with your counselor.

These are essentially the same exercises top executives do. Again, the Seven Stories Exercise is the key to uncovering those things you enjoyed doing and also did well—and would like to do again. And the exercise is helpful in uncovering other things as well. Through the exercise, you will find out:

• what you have done that you are proud of. In the sample resumes that follow, each person has found something to be proud of, whether it’s earning money to go through school or helping a daughter in her shop.
• personality traits that will separate you from the competition, such as the ones noted in the summary statement of Larry’s resume, which follows: productive, self-motivated, and so on.
• how to look at your work, school, and volunteer experience objectively. In Larry’s example, he spent a great deal of time analyzing the job he had. This analysis gave his resume a lot of substance.

Even young people with no “real” work experience, or housewives who have been out of the workforce a long while can develop strong resumes—if they can think about their experiences objectively.

And, as with executives, the experiences have to be “repositioned” to fit the target market. For example, Maria said she had helped her daughter in the store. The fact is, Maria was alone in the store a lot of the time. Therefore, she was “managing the store.” And when she went shopping with her daughter for things to sell in the store, they were not “shopping” but “buying.”

Give it a try. With a little help and an open mind, you too can develop a resume that truly reflects you.

There’s always a struggle, a striving for something bigger than yourself in all forms of art. And even if you don’t achieve greatness—even if you fail, which we all must—everything you do in your work is somehow connected with your attitude toward life, your deepest secret feelings. Rex Harrison, as quoted in The New York Times

Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Those job hunters are putting some work into it and not just relying on answering ads. Direct contact and networking are the keys, as most Five O’Clock Clubbers know. Here’s a variation from our book, “Shortcut Your Job Search: The Best Way to Get Meetings:”

Surround the Hiring Manager

An ad for a job is as good as a flashing neon sign: The company is telling the world it has an opening! Your strategic thinking should go into high gear—if it’s a company or a job that really interests you. Don’t wait to get in by just responding to the ad. Network into the company or contact someone there directly, but not the person mentioned in the ad. “Surrounding the hiring manager” is a very effective technique. Get in to see someone—almost anyone other than the hiring manager. An insider can become an advocate for you and refer you in to the hiring manager. You’ll have a better chance of standing out from your competitors—because you were referred in and will know more—and you’ll do better in the meeting. You’re no longer one more grubby job hunter who is simply responding to an ad—you’re now someone who is sincerely interested in this company and knows how to go the extra mile. The hiring manager will get to know you in a different way from the other applicants and he or she may consider you even though you don’t have all of the qualifications they listed. For more information on this technique, see the chapter “What to Do When You Know There’s a Job Opening.”

Bottom line: If it’s a good ad for you, answer the ad, then forget about the ad and try to get in some other way—without mentioning the ad.

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Do you wish you had someone to talk to—fairly often and informally—about the little things? “Here’s what I’m planning to do today in my search? What are

Make that call, send out those letters, write that follow-up proposal, focus on the most important things that should be done—rather than (for example) spending endless hours responding to job postings on the Web.

With your buddy, practice your Two-Minute Pitch, get ready for interviews, bounce ideas off each other. Some job-search buddies talk every day. Some talk a few times a week. Most of the conversation is by phone and e-mail.

Sometimes, people match themselves up as buddies. Just pick someone you get along with in your small group. Sometimes, your coach can match you up. However you do it, stay away from negative people who talk about how bad it is out there. They will drag you down.

The small group changes over time: people get jobs; new people come in. If you lose one buddy who got a job, get another buddy.

Your buddy does not have to be in your field or industry. In fact, being in the same field or industry could keep you focused on the industry rather than on the process. But you do have to get along! The relationship may last only a month or two, or go on for years. Some buddies become friends.

Of course, you should see your Five O’Clock Club career coach privately for resume review, target development, salary negotiation, and job interview follow-up. It’s usually best to get professional coaching advice for these areas.

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Ten years ago, the prediction was that computer-scanned resumes would be the driving force in the selection process of the future. The career press talked of nothing else. As of this writing, however, electronic resumes have had little impact on the job searches of Five O’Clock Clubbers. Let’s put electronic resumes in perspective. In our book Shortcut Your Search, you will read that there are four basic ways to get interviews in your target market: through search firms, ads, networking, and direct contact. Five O’Clock Clubbers learn to consider all four techniques for getting interviews and then to assess which approach produces the most meetings for them. You should consider using search firms and ads in your job-search mix. In your particular field, they may be an important source of meetings. However, these approaches are passive: you have little control over the process. The search firm or the company that placed the ad must call you in. The use of electronic resumes is also a passive approach to job search. You must wait for someone to call you in.

On the other hand, networking and directly contacting companies are proactive approaches: you decide whom to contact and you contact them. While we encourage job hunters to consider every technique for getting interviews in their target markets, we want them to measure which techniques result in meetings with hiring managers. Those are the techniques you should use more. If electronic resumes result in meetings for you, then use them.

What is an electronic resume?

In this article, we are no longer talking only about the resumes that get scanned into a company’s database. Here we will cover everything from the way you attach your resume to an email to the way you upload your resume in company websites.

In spite of an online application, you are more likely to get the interview because of your resume and your initiative in contacting the hiring manager.

Making Your Resume Scannable

Every time an online application asks you to cut and paste your resume, a scannable version of your resume is required. The guidelines that follow will help you to create a powerful scannable resume.

“Sorry, Ralph, but I’m replacing you with Johnson here. I got him off eBay.”

If you have been using The Five O’Clock Club approach to developing your resume, you are almost there. First of all, you have gotten rid of company jargon so the outside world can understand what you have done. You have also changed your job titles to reflect what you actually did, rather than using company-dictated titles that may not be as accurate. And you have made your resume accomplishment oriented (a good approach no matter what kind of resume you have).

Electronic resumes are scanned into a database. They do not need to look pretty. In fact, you cannot have any hard tabs, underlining, bolding, bullets (use “*” or dashes instead of bullets), or other characters that may confuse the scanner: just use plain, straight text. In Word, save the resume as plain text format, then edit it that way.

In addition to having a plain text format, your resume must contain keywords that the hiring manager is most likely to search for regarding the kind of work you want to do.

Therefore, at the top of your resume, where you may have put Operations Manager, for example, add a string of words that would also be appropriate for you, such as: operations manager, administrative manager, accounting manager, general manager, strategic planner, inventory control manager, materials manager, customer service manager, management consultant.

The Five O’Clock Club Career Coaches whom we interviewed for this article on the Electronic Resume.

Important nouns should be included and repeated in various contexts. One recruiter whom we consulted uses only 34 keyword sorts; most use far more. She advises that an analysis of the ad will let the astute applicant know what the important keywords are for the resume.

If you have prepared your resume The Five O’Clock Club way, the body of your resume should be fine. Again, choose words they are likely to look for. If you are adept at computers, list the hardware and software you know. Only list software that is generally available, not the company-specific systems you

may have used. For example, you may list IBM, MAC, Lotus 123, or Word Perfect. But don’t list ACS, your company’s Accounting Control System.

That’s a name that would not be recognized in the outside world. The rest of your resume would be the same as what you have already prepared, but without any highlighting. But remember that only 3 to 6 percent of all jobs are found through recruiters, so please don’t go crazy. One coach noted that all these bells and whistles don’t mean that recruiters are more successful in getting the right person into the right job. In fact, they may be less successful because they are not figuring out the human element from the onset and are missing out on terrific candidates

Some companies have equipment that scan thousands of resumes. A large company may get a million resumes a year! Theoretically, when someone in that company wants to hire a new employee, the manager asks to see only those resumes that fit the experience he or she is looking for. In real life, Five O’Clock Clubbers are getting jobs with companies that happen to use scanning equipment, but they are not getting many interviews through this technology. Instead, Five O’Clock Clubbers are getting in to see the hiring managers through networking, direct contact, search firms, or even answering ads. When you contact a company through its resume-scanning technology, it is usually a dead end. If a company asks for a scannable resume, provide one, but be proactive: find some other way in. That’s what Five O’Clock Clubbers do. The interview is most likely to come from the “other way,” not from an uploaded resume.

Use the one-two punch: apply online, then contact the hiring manager or someone who works closely with that person. That’s the Five O’Clock Club way.

Online Company Applications

Companies commonly ask you to fill out an online application. However, as one coach warned, “Company applications are unforgiving. One online application disallowed any words in the ‘salary required’ box. So, my client could not write ‘negotiable.’ Of course, she researched her market value in her area and figured out a range. Then it wouldn’t take a range, and only a 5- digit number!”

Another coach suggests that you avoid the questions involving references or income. If the application requires an income figure to proceed, try to select $1 or $100, etc. We’re teaching you to play the odds here: you are more likely to be screened out when you state your actual salary than if you provide no salary number. On the application, keep referring back to your resume so you don’t need to be repetitive on the application. Leave references blank or “available upon strong mutual interest” (which is the Five O’Clock Club approach to references). The application is often a bureaucratic formality. You are more likely to get the interview because of your resume and your initiative in contacting the hiring manager.

Another coach, who also works as a Human Resources executive, gave this example:

example:

This whole trend toward electronic resumes and online applications reminds me of a few years ago when we first did a beta test on our new online application system at the company where I work. I pretended to be applying for an administrative assistant position and for each of the questions regarding my background experience and qualifications I doubled or tripled those required.

For example, when asked if I had a minimum two years college, I replied I had a graduate degree, and asked if I had a minimum five years related work experience, I replied I had 20 plus years.

However, one question asked in a multiple-choice fashion what would be the correct steps in sending out a merged mailing. Now, although I’m pretty good with computers, I had never performed a merged mailing, so I basically guessed at the answer.

Well, I guessed wrong on that one question and never made the first cut of having my application move forward or further review. The moral of the story is that no matter how qualified a person may be, and even if that person is the best possible fit for a job, answering applications online is all about acing the application, not the job.

A much more successful approach is what I call the one-two punch: a job hunter goes through the online application process because most companies will not even consider a person’s candidacy unless they do so. But then network your way into the company. This is what The Five O’Clock Club suggests in general: answer the ad or fill out the application, then forget about it and find some other way in.

Some of our members are able to identify someone in their network (such as through their LinkedIn contacts) who then refers them to someone in the hiring department of the company with whom they had also applied online. In turn, hiring managers can quickly move their applications and resumes to the top of the pile, and generate an interview once they have more information on someone. Some will even go to the mat with HR if they want to see someone badly enough.

Remember that companies have specific ways that resumes need to be submitted (often as uploads onto their web portal for applications). As one coach notes, oftentimes an ad will state the preferred way of sending the resume, so do what is required, but also network your way in or contact someone directly! And another coach notes:

“It is quite clear that we coaches are all on the same page (after all, it’s part of the methodology!) regarding the huge advantage an individual has by contacting the right person at the right level vs. online submission. All of our stats back that up.”

Most coaches agree about the effectiveness of the one-two punch: apply online, then contact the hiring manager or someone who works closely with that person. That’s the Five O’Clock Club way.

A majority of positions are filled without the outside world ever knowing about the opening. For example, the hiring manager could run into someone at the health club who talks about a neighbor’s dog that bit a guy whose brother turned out to be a great candidate for that job.

The Recruiter’s Point-of-View

Executive search consultants prefer Word documents because they often do

some light editing, perhaps tweaking the format to fit what their client companies expect and removing your contact information and adding their letterhead. But don’t forget that the executive recruiter is a go-between.

One coach, who has been an executive recruiter for the past twenty+ years, says this:

I can safely attest to the ebb and flow over the years of how companies source their candidates, and yet the overriding truth remains that networking and direct contact get the job done far better and more efficiently for an individual job seeker than any other mode, including recruiters! Now that I have stated the obvious . . .

From my experience as an executive recruiter dealing directly with HR and internal recruiters, there are inefficiencies involved with the online application process, and these often restrict pulling in those candidates that would make the best fit for the role. As other coaches have noted, companies will ask specific multiple choice questions that are meant to pre-screen candidates before their résumés are seen. Data from the online application is assessed, and the search criteria are prioritized, which again may knock out qualified candidates who may match up quite well otherwise.

In their defense, most of my client companies insist that they eyeball many résumés of candidates who may not make it through the initial filter, or they simply read all of them, time permitting. Yes, you should attach a Word document or insert additional information in the space provided to help justify your candidacy if you lack the experience or skills for a specific job. However, do not rely on the online submission as the way into a company.

I agree 100% with the one-two punch recommendation, as I always suggest the same when coaching. A majority of positions are filled without the outside world ever being alerted about the opening. Typically, an unsolicited résumé arrives on the manager’s desk and happens to be at the top of the pile, or the person who the hiring manager ran into at the health club talks about a neighbor’s dog that bit a guy whose brother turned out to be a great candidate for that job.

Most of the HR professionals with whom I work often regard the online application process as a necessary evil, and they tell me to make sure my candidates apply online. But at the same time I email their résumés directly to the hiring manager and HR, as a failsafe to make sure they get in front of the right eyes.

Another coach noted that Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) have moved from scanning to “parsing” content from a résumé into a standard format based on the employer’s preferences. But he warns that this technology merely reinforces the “screen out” mentality, instead of creating any kind of a meaningful platform to really find the best fit for any given position.

One of our coaches, who works with clients earning $200,000 and above, said:

I have had only two or three clients in the last two years who have had to

deal with requests for an electronic resume and they just removed the bolding and changed the bullets to asterisks. In terms of applying online, most corporate sites either have their own format or just ask you to attach your Word Doc resume. I have not had a single client who has ever had trouble answering an online ad.

In most cases an online resume is not worth it.

So, use your judgment about relying too heavily on electronic resumes. We all would like something magical to save us from the grueling work of searching for a job, but many of the ideas you may come across are not effective.

And a friendly reminder from yet another coach: “The downside of relying too much on company websites and online postings is that only 10 to 12% of jobs are found this way. Increasingly these postings are consuming more time to complete. Since 80% of jobs are found though networking and direct contact, job hunters will realize a far greater payoff if they spend 80% of their job search time on these activities.

Most jobs are not posted. In fact, to avoid job postings, many companies are now offering monetary rewards to employees who refer a person who is selected for the job. Several clients have been told they would not have been hired if someone within the company had not recommended them.”

Online and Multimedia Resumes for Creative and Technical Positions

Depending on your profession, you may want the hiring manager to see examples of your work. Some job hunters create a multimedia resume, with extensive background information; it may include video clips or samples of work, all packaged to be transmitted electronically. This method may be appropriate for creative and technical positions because it demonstrates use and understanding of the technology.

Then, there is the Web-Resume, which is done in HTML formats and benefits a viewer who needs to see a broader, visually-oriented portfolio.  Web pages can include photographs, links to other websites, design/layout graphics, streaming video, and other high-tech features. The benefit of having an HTML resume is its presence on the Web 24/7, its universal compatibility, and its appealing appearance. At present, there is still a site called VisualCV that allows you to do a Webtype resume. For a while it was the gold-standard for web portfolios, but technology changes so quickly, there may be a better site by the time this article is published!

VisualCV and other resume websites help people to create their own resume pages and video resumes. The issue with all of these is that resumes generally need to be positioned for a specific job target, so you need multiple versions–one for each target. This is a limitation with LinkedIn as well: you are allowed to have only one profile. In addition, Web-Resumes may be hard to update in some cases, particularly where video is involved. Remember, people are able to constantly make small revisions to their résumés, but changing a video requires real work. So most coaches agree that the conventional resume is not going away.

One coach noted that posting using Box.net appears to be a useful tool since it integrates with LinkedIn:

“VisualCV is fine for a static resume, and has worked well as a simple static website for me. They have many samples to show you how it might look: www.visualcv.com. And if anyone is interested, here’s mine: http://www.visualcv.  com/phiconsulting .”

The consensus of our coaches is that you should have an online resume if you have only one job target or a consulting practice (and it therefore requires very little in the way of changes). Or, if you want to be a web developer and don’t have any work yet to show online, developing your own website / resume could showcase your work. Or, if you are in the visual arts or graphic design, having a website / resume showing your designs is more powerful and can strongly complement, or even a substitute for, your resume.

Other than those special cases, if you want to have an online resume, consider using LinkedIn instead. As one coach said, “Sure your own personal resume/website can be impressive –but is it worth the time – and the lack of flexibility in being able to have multiple resumes for each target? I would say in most cases an online resume is not worth it.”

Your Positioning on LinkedIn

Be sure to read the article in the Members Only section of our website (www.fiveoclockclub.com), “Social Media: Using LinkedIn to Advance Your Career.” Below is additional information from our coaches, specifically regarding how LinkedIn relates to your resume.

In general, our coaches suggest that job hunters put their efforts into LinkedIn instead of other outlets for their resume, making their LinkedIn profile top notch. As one said: “I am among the many coaches who believe that Linkedin is currently a ‘must have’ for anyone seriously job hunting at a professional or managerial level and above.”

Another shares a similar opinion:

“LinkedIn is the number 1 professional networking site. The summary section, which is limited in the number of characters that can be used, needs to be compelling and should differentiate you from others in your field. After completing your resume in The Five O’Clock Club style, it’s time to update your LinkedIn profile.”

One coach notes says that “‘Profile’ is a misleading word because on LinkedIn your profile should be your full-blown resume. Both internal and external recruiters have told me they often ignore candidates when they see just a profile. They want to see the companies you have worked for, your results, and your key skills.”

Another coach warns of the com – plexities: “On Linkedin, there are opposing views. But, to differentiate yourself from the now 100 million Linkedin users, you need to add some personality, humor, and stories to your profile, and give it a different feel than you give your résumé. The jury is still out on whether you should write your profile in 3rd or 1st person, but recently Linkedin (the company) gave celebrity blogger Guy Kawasaki’s profile – an extreme makeover and put it in the 1st person.

[www.linkedin.com/in/guykawasaki] You can see that Linkedin endorsed it. This fits his irreverent personality and it is highly readable and engaging.”

One coach had these details to add:

LinkedIn is definitely the big gorilla in the room. I am of a school of thought that a LinkedIn profile should not be just a “cut-and-paste” of a resume in its entirety. I see LinkedIn profiles as a bit of a teaser to hook an employer or recruiter with just enough information to contact the individual, who can then send the full résumé later. Attention spans online tend to be very, very limited, so I advocate the following strategy to my clients, which has been working quite well:

1. The SUMMARY section is written in the first person in conversational tone. This is by design as it personalizes this portion of the profile.  I typically aim for one to three paragraphs, each containing one to three sentences.
2. The WORK EXPERIENCE & GOALS section is written in resume language. Again, this is by design. A good formula here is one (maybe two) pithy sentences about responsibilities, and two or three very brief bullet-ed accomplishments for each entry. This gives the readers a snapshot of the most important things you want them to know about each experience. The further back you go in your employment chronology, the less information needs to be included.

Of course, keywords should be included for search engine optimization.

Since fewer people are using snail mail, it is more likely to get the hiring manager’s attention, especially for more senior-level positions.

Most coaches recommend that job hunters consider including a LinkedIn profile URL in the contact section of their resume, and also on business cards they can hand out at networking events. You could include other links on your resume as well, if it helps to sell yourself. These would include links to websites you designed, a video you created, and so on.

Just another reminder from yet another coach to bring us all back to real life: “Direct contact and networking still seem to be the best way to reach people, as stated in the current books. My clients reply to ads and never hear anything (and then they come to me for help!). But when reaching out directly to the hiring managers via networking or direct contact, everything changes, and they get meetings.

This is what we’ve been saying in our books, and it’s true.”

This coach also notes that while LinkedIn profiles are essential, they are not a substitute for resumes in many (or most) cases, because:

You can have only one profile, so that requires that you position yourself more generally than you would like if you have multiple targets.

• If you are currently employed, you have to be careful what you put on your profile in terms of what you are going for. If it is very different from your current job, your boss might get suspicious.
• You might have to make your profile less accomplishment-oriented because it is so public. Actual numbers might work on a resume that will be seen by a very targeted audience, but might not be appropriate for a

LinkedIn profile. Be sure to discuss this with your coach or small group.

In sending your resume via email, should you include your resume in the body of the email or as an attachment?

The prevailing opinion seems to be that resumes should always be attached because formatting can really help in delivering your pitch/message. The cover letter, however, should always be in the body of the email, so it’s more likely to be read. A good cover letter/email will stimulate enough interest so that the resume will be opened.

Most coaches agree that the attached resume should be in PDF format so that all recipients will see the same thing you see (different versions of Word, or Mac vs. PC, display resumes differently, such as inserting strange page breaks). You can even attach PDFs to online applications.

These days, most job hunters are contacting hiring managers via email. The reasons for using email are these:

• It works. Email is the language of business these days: everyone reads email.
• It’s much easier on the job seeker to send an email–important from a time management perspective and psychologically.
• It’s easy for the recipient to just hit reply.
• You may look outdated by sending a letter.

That said, you will need a compelling/ relevant subject line to get people to open it, so it doesn’t go into spam (e.g., “referred by…”, “saw your article…”, etc.). You also need an email address that has your name in it–it’s a marketing opportunity and makes it less likely to go into spam. And you generally need to follow up with a phone call – unless you really are spamming people.

Snail mail letters do have an advantage in that they can stand out (if they are read in a timely way, not always the case these days), show care and effort, and may appeal to “old school” hiring managers who don’t consider this spam. What’s more, since fewer people are doing it, it is more likely to get the hiring manager’s attention, especially for more senior-level positions.

One person who coaches only the most senior executives said, “Whenever there is a chance that the firewall may knock the email into junk mail, my clients send it by both email and snail mail.”

How much time should a job hunter spend on posting resumes online or answering ads?

This is a trick question in case you’ve missed our warnings throughout this article! As one coach said, “Very, very little time should be spent on this: less than 10 percent of a job hunter’s time, for all the reasons we know as

Five O’Clock Club coaches. This channel is more competitive, passive, and very time consuming. It is the ‘passive’ element that bothers me the most: I am a huge advocate of clients taking control of their searches – and maintaining control. The big downside of relying too much on company websites and online postings is that opportunities will be lost if job hunters are not doing more productive things such as networking and direct contact.”

A final warning. We have written this article only because job hunters

want to know about the subject and waste too much time posting their resumes online, developing their own websites (that no one will see), and filling out online company applications. Spend only ten percent of your job-search time that way. Become more pro-active in your search through networking and direct contact. However, be sure to read the articles in the Members Only area of our website on Using Social Media in Your Search (especially LinkedIn).

Good luck. Be wise. Follow the methodology. And thanks to all of our coaches who contributed to this article.

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