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I’ve had a lot of questions lately from professionals with 3-5+ years of experience in the workforce that are either contemplating or have gotten an advanced degree, and how to apply this additional education to a new career.

So here’s the thing: unless you are getting a degree to help you advance in your current profession, when you get out of school unless it is a lateral industry move, most likely you will need to start with an entry or lower level job. People who think that getting an advanced degree guarantees them an immediate increase in responsibility and pay right out of school don’t understand basic business principles.

For example, if you have been a recruiting coordinator and you attain a BA in Human Resources, it is reasonable to believe you can get a better paying job in the HR field. However, if you decide to get your MA in Marketing, chances are you will need to start as a Marketing Coordinator or other support role. Don’t expect to become a Marketing Manager the first year out of school doubling your salary. Theoretical classroom knowledge is not going to substitute for on-the-job experience. It is one of the reasons why internships are so valuable for undergrads. Employers don’t always have the luxury of training new employees in business practices as well developing their theoretical skills into practical business applications.

A couple of years ago there was a question on LinkedIn about whether getting an MBA right out of college was a better option than working for a couple of years first then getting the MBA. My response was (and still is): work first. Gain an understanding of business in general, find out what you like and are good at *in a business setting*, then decide what you want to do with your MBA. It makes you a more valuable candidate and you may be suprised at the results.

Just as reading romance novels does not give you the experience of being in a real relationship, neither does studying the dynamics of business principles make you a keen businessman.

I was working with a resume client last week, and he had brought several job descriptions with him that interested him. Two of them were directly related to his most recent work. But when I looked at the other ones, I asked him why he thought he would be a good fit for them. His response was that he had done things very similar, or had done the same job many years ago in his career.

I hear this a lot. Candidates know they ‘can do it’. Usually it is a job they have done in the past, or something that they have already wanted to get into. Many people don’t understand that right now, in this economy, there are so many skilled candidates with an almost perfect fit to a job description, that just because someone believes they are a perfect fit for a job, doesn’t mean they are.

Let’s say you are looking at a job as an Project Manager for a global telecommunications company. You have been a software architect in a small business that creates business solutions for airline reservation systems. Now, fifteen years ago, you started as a business analyst at a local phone company. You are interested in moving from hands-on coding into a formal Project Management role, and you feel that your exposure to the industry fifteen years ago, coupled with the fact that you’ve been acting as a project lead for the last three years should make you a great candidate to consider for this role.

From a recruiting standpoint, I wouldn’t even look at your resume even if you came up in a keyword search. Why? Because I have over 18 applicants from T-Mobile and AT & T Wireless that have an average of 7-10 years of Project Management experience and all of them have a certification that is listed in the job description.
Let’s say you have been a lab assistant in a local biotech company, and you see that one of the local community hospitals is looking for a shift lead in their lab, and you think this is the perfect opportunity for you to make a forward move. You submit your resume, thinking that you are the perfect candidate for the job. R />

But here’s the thing. A community hospital most likely gets some sort of federal funding, and in the last 3-4 years, the federal government has put some EEOC and Affirmative Action mandates in place that means that the hospital must prove that it is seriously considering all qualified applicants for the job posted. And the job is for a lead, requiring at least 2 years of lead experience in a hospital setting. You work for a biotech company and have never had the lead title, so you aren’t even a ‘qualified candidate’.

So just because you think you *can* do a job, or you really really want to do a job, that isn’t what a recruiter sees when they are evaluating candidates. We are looking for those professionals that can come into a job and have the functional skill set for the position. If you are looking to make a career move, your best bet is to stay with your current employer and get a promotion if at all possible. If there is no further career track, you should be considering lateral moves to similar organizations in your industry with growth potential. With so many ‘picture perfect’ candidates out there, your chances of being noticed for the centerfold photo op are pretty slim.

Yesterday I had lunch with a friend that is an Employment Specialist with WorkSource, part of the WA State Employment Security Department. Her job is to help people learn to help themselves during their job search, including helping them find resources.

We were talking about unrealistic expectations on the part of some candidates. We talked about the laid off executive that expected her to function as his personal headhunter, managing his entire job search including updating his resume and turning up job leads for him and scheduling his interviews. Then there was the recent PhD graduate that could only work 16-20 weeks, wouldn’t commute more than 15 minutes away from home, wanted to make six figures, and had so many restrictions on her availability that she was basically unemployable given the parameters of her profile. (We reached the same conclusion that she would be best served as a consultant where she could set her own hours and fees.)

My friend and I used to work together as recruiters. She made the choice to pursue this career path due to her interests and strengths. As a state worker, she isn’t making nearly the amount of money that she would in the private sector, but she loves her job. When I made the choice to be a very "public" recruiting presence in the local market, we weren’t in a recession with the high unemployment that we have now. I constantly receive referrals (i.e. unsolicited resumes), requests from people to get them a job, and questions ranging from getting a visa to move to the US, to getting an introduction to hiring managers at companies I have worked for, to "hey can you check out my cousin’s resume?". I also have hiring managers or other recruiters send me job descriptions to see if I know anyone that might be a fit, or if I have any resources to pursue that might yield quality candidates. I also have one or two friends that own their own business that occasionally need help devising a job description or posting a job somewhere.

I try and help where I can, but time is a tight commodity for me. And recruiting is my *job*; I get paid for my services. I realize that not everyone can afford to pay for individualized help on their resume or their job search, which is one of the reasons why I keep a blog and answer questions in my weekly column (and refer them to my friend at WorkSource). I know that small businesses without a dedicated HR department might need assistance now finding help on a project. And if I know you well either professionally or personally, chances are I’m more than willing to help out. We’re all in this together. But people reaching out blindly and being unwilling to manage their own career don’t get any points with me or my colleagues. "Recruiters" are generally pretty busy people. Just because we hang out where we are visible or post a job, it’s important for job seekers to understand that we aren’t personal headhunters for anyone. If we aren’t able to help you specifically, please don’t take it personally as a refusal to get involved. And if you ask us for advice, please don’t act badly if that advice doesn’t sound like something you would be interested in. You asked, we answered with our professional opinion. Take it or leave it, but please don’t be ungrateful.

Please remember that we guard our professional networks zealously. If you have a business idea you want to pitch to Microsoft, I’m NOT the person to contact for the name of the VP in X business division. Not only will I refuse to do it, asking me for that name damages your credibility with me if you decide next month to look for a job and I happen to know the hiring manager or recruiter for that dream job you found.

I love what I do. I enjoy meeting people from around the world, exchanging ideas, and helping people find jobs especially in these tough times. Most of my colleagues feel the same way or we wouldn’t be doing what we do. I am just requesting that the workforce at large please respect me/us and to understand our boundaries when it comes to helping out.

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Last week I was at a diversity networking event/job fair. I met some great candidates and invited several people to send me LinkedIn invitations (thus far I have received one). But before things got under way, I met an older gentleman who is frustrated by his career search. As he started telling me what he wants to do, what he has done, and asking me my opinions on how to get the notice of recruiters, I made a few observations and some suggestions. He has had a somewhat non-traditional career path and is passionate about an industry he has a lot of experience in, but his experience isn’t progressive; it’s choppy. He has authored several dozen books, and wants that to stand in for a formal PhD to get into a R & D group. I told him that most technical R & D groups require a PhD, as they are doing theoretical research, not applications. He tried to argue with me (and I told him that I was a recruiter for Microsoft Research a few years ago, and I know what they are looking for) and he finally realized I was probably right. Then I suggested to him that the way to get his name, profile and experience noticed was to start an industry blog, go to the online communities where his (much younger) competition hangs out, and then start making a name for himself by interacting with the community. Start a Twitter account and focus it on industry news and trends; write insightful pieces (they don’t have to be long) about trends, and then we both knew several of the local SME’s (subject matter experts) in this field to reach out to. His response?

He feels that social media is a waste of time; he doesn’t have the time to start and maintain a blog; the local SME’s already know him and haven’t reached out to him.

So, in short, he was moaning about his lot in life but was unwilling to do anything about it. To my community of readers, this is the sort of candidate that recruiters don’t want to have anything to do with. Not only does he have a bad attitude, but he is an example of why many hiring managers are not keen to hire older professionals. This gentleman asked my professional advice, and did nothing but think of reasons to ignore my suggestions. That is his perogative, but I guarantee you that he will remain where he is and I will not lift one finger to help him. I gave him my info to send me a LinkedIn invitation, and he hasn’t taken advantage of it.

So I leave you with this quotation, which is fast becoming a favorite of mine:

‘If you do what you have always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten’ – Anthony Robbins

College students should be thinking about spring internships. If they are going to be graduating seniors, hopefully they already have at least one internship under their belt. Juniors should definitely have this uppermost in their minds.

In case you hadn’t heard, it’s a fiercely competitive job market out there. There is still a recession going on, and unless you are graduating in the top 5% from an ivy league school, or have a job lined up after graduation your chances of landing a paying career in your field of choice are not as plentiful as they were when you started school. And while having a summer job at the local McDonald’s or lifeguarding at the local pool might be a bona fide job, it isn’t going to give you the leg-up over your peers. Internships can do that; they are short term jobs in the real world doing real things. If you are lucky, it is paid. But even an unpaid internship gives you valuable real-life work experience.

Most career centers should have information about internships. There are external sources you can plug into, however. Probably the most visible three that I know of are Lauren Berger, the "Intern Queen" (http://www.internqueen.com/), InternMatch (http://internmatch.com) and Vault.com’s internship board. (They have changed things up a little so now you will need to go to to the job board and type do a search under "internship" as a type of employment; but at least today there were 29 pages.) http://www.vault.com/wps/portal/usa/job-search?headerAction=headerSearch

Most large companies in the US have structured internship programs. The trick is to identify the companies you are interested in working with and then start making connections. Most companies are using LinkedIn these days, but many more are realizing that the place to find top talent in the younger workforce is going to be on Doostang.com. When you are looking for company contacts using filtering, you want to look for "Campus Recruiter" as the title. Most companies that have specific roles dedicated to hiring new graduates or students use that term as opposed to "College Recruiter", to differentiate from the recruiting professionals that work *at* colleges recruiting new *students*.

But let’s say you want something different, you want to structure your own opportunity? Most small businesses can use more help but don’t necessarily have the funds to create an internship, so you may need to offer yourself to them as an unpaid intern. To do this you will need to work with your school to develop the outline that will allow you to receive credit for your work. The US Department of Labor has very strict guidelines for unpaid internships.

1.The training, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to what would be given in a vocational school or academic educational instruction

2.The training is for the benefit of the trainees

3.The trainees do not displace regular employees, but work under their close observation

4.The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the trainees, and on occasion the employer’s operations may actually be impeded

5.The trainees are not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the training period; and

6.The employer and the trainees understand that the trainees are not entitled to wages for the time spent in training.

There are also international opportunities, however you must be able to communicate in a foreign language fluently if you are not going to a primarily English speaking country. If you want an international experience but want to stay in North America, Canada might be a good option. They generally call internships "Co-ops".

An internship (or several!) in your field can help you become a more desirable potential employee. Many employers prefer to hire former interns after they graduate, and some may even structure their internship programs specifically as a recruiting tool. When you are interviewing, it is perfectly appropriate to ask what percentage of interns are hired after graduation, assuming a successful internship. Good luck, and start thinking about your options as early as you have decided on a career.

There is a discussion happening over on LinkedIn (Greater Seattle Career Center) about being overqualified. What it means, how to overcome it, perceptions, experiences, tactics to work around it. It started out as an excellent blog topic on http://blog.jobfully.com and has generated quite a bit of vitriol. Many people equate the term "overqualified" to the nasty, ugly practice of "age discrimination". I will be the first to admit that there is a correlation, but being overqualified isn’t just about how old you are, how long you have been in the working world, or even money. I’m not writing this blog to try and help overcome this hurdle, but I’m trying to give my audience an understanding of the perspective from my side.

Much of it has to do with making sure that a potential employee is going to be the right fit for the opportunities available. For example, someone sent me a job description this week for a "sourcing recruiter" (my recruiting specialty), but in the actual job description, it stated they were looking for a "sourcing recruiter or a recruiting assistant". I actually replied to the person that sent me the mail, because I happen to know a couple of people that might be interested, but not in a junior role. Yes, compensation is part of it. But more than that, most of my colleagues have spent far too much time building up their skills, working with very high level hiring managers on senior positions. There is a more junior version of this role, that of an "internet recruiter", who’s sole job it is to run keyword matches in databases between resumes and jobs. While that is certainly the most basic part of what I can do, it is one very small piece, and if that is what a potential employer is looking for, neither I nor other senior talent sourcing recruiters are going to be interested, even if the pay *is* good *unless* they are out of work or looking to return to the workforce after a hiatus (such as FMLA, or maybe returning from military duty). The job would be boring, repetitious, not challenging, and would make new colleagues uncomfortable finding out how much more experienced we are. And it certainly would put our potential boss on the defensive (imagine hiring someone with ten years more experience than you, that was doing *your* job in the nineties.)

Although the candidate reply is "I’m willing to take a job I’m overqualified for" and "I have no problem taking a pay cut", recruiters and hiring managers have to consider long-term implications of hiring new employees. Our responsibility is first and foremost to the *company*, including existing employees. While someone "overqualified" may be a great investment in the short run, many companies have gone this route and regretted it in the long run for any number of reasons, and are gun shy of hiring them. In more prosperous years, "overqualified" candidates were often those that were trying to power down from a high profile/fast track career, scaling back for work-life balance. The unfortunate reality is that right now, the number of candidates on the *upward* track that are available is quite high, and managers are looking for human capital investments that are going to be an asset to a company over the longer haul.

One of the tracks taken in the discussion I started off with had to do with "creating" opportunities by using a value proposition for a small-midsize company that may have more flexibility with headcount than a larger company with complex formulae determining how many people to hire for any given fiscal year. There is merit to this approach; however what I have seen is that candidates are seeking stability. This brings us back to our original dilemma. Candidates that are fighting the "overqualified" label need to position themselves appropriately to gain the interest of recruiters and hiring managers; and that means your resume is probably what needs to be your #1 marketing tool.

I am a member of many many MANY LinkedIn Groups (the max is 50 and I managed 53 because I moderate a few), and I was shocked to see a post from someone in the "Startup" group lambasting recruiters. All recruiters, all disciplines, all the time.

Wow. Talk about a stupid thing to do. He complained about every facet of recruiting. I posted an answer, trying to explain some of the realities of recruiting, as did several other current and past recruiters. But all he did was blame everyone else but himself for the fact that he couldn’t find a job. Finally, I told him he probably would be better off running his own consulting business and not relying on other people to market and sell his particular "professional brand".

Because that is what recruiters do for candidates. We learn what your brand is, and we help you market and sell it to our clients, in this case hiring managers. Whether you are working with an agency or a corporate recruiter, however the process works, they are your marketing agency.

When a candidate looks good "on paper", the next step is often a phone screen. And when I conduct a phone screen, I’m looking for communication skills and cultural fit. And guess what will land an otherwise qualified candidate in the trash pile? Poor attitude. It could be cocky or overconfident or blase, or it could be someone that is timid or all over the map when it comes to discussing their history. Keep in mind that I expect more aplomb from a senior candidate with years under their belt than a fairly new graduate, but you do need to be able to talk to me and tell my why *you* are the right candidate for the job.

So how does *your* professional brand translate? Like a whiny teenager or a motivated, smart professional that is an asset to any organization?
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In recruiting, I see, hear and (yes) use them all the time. The definition of "buzz words" (courtesy of Wikipedia) is "a term of art or technical jargon that has begun to see use in the wider society outside of its originally narrow technical context by nonspecialists who use the term vaguely or imprecisely." Recruiting is about sales and marketing as much as anything else. Selling my job to the candidate, and my candidate to the hiring manager. I have to be familiar with how to market concepts, skills, projects, company value, relevant experience. So I "get" the use of marketing jargon.

But what I often find is candidates that use "buzz words" on their resumes or in conversations incorrectly, out of context, or as hard factual concepts rather than what they are (and they are NOT key words, for the record). For example, I have been speaking with fairly recent MBA graduates. And one thing almost all of them list as a *must have* for their next opportunity is "mentoring".

Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to be in an environment where you can learn from more experienced co-workers. But when you tell me one of your *top three things that must be present in a job* includes "mentoring", to me that speaks of a structured HR-sponsored program where someone is assigned to you to guide you through your career. And quite honestly, that says to me that you aren’t self-directed and that you are looking to someone else to map out your career development, much as a parent with a child. And in the real world, at the level I am recruiting at, that is not necessarily the impression
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I was discussing this with one of my colleagues and she was the one who pointed out that "mentor" is a new MBA buzz word. Be that as it may, it’s vitally important that young professionals understand the image they portray in how they answer questions. If you tell me in one sentence you want to be a VP or GM, then in the next tell me that you must have someone show you how to map out your career, that doesn’t create a cohesive picture.

When a candidate speaks to a recruiter/HR representative for the first time, the recruiter is gauging their communication skills and if their experience and career goals map to the opportunities available at a company. I’m currently working with a Global 100 company that looks for independent thinking, self-management, and drive in all their candidates. Hopefully you can see how the impressions I’m receiving and the candidate profile I’m seeking don’t necessarily mesh.

So make sure when you are discussing your next opportunity with someone that you don’t turn them off by using "buzz words" and concepts in a way that isn’t going to put you in the best light.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to write a guest blog post for JobMob, an international job search site based out of Israel. It was a contest and I actually captured 4th place. Granted I’m repurposing the post, but I still think it’s a valid insight from me…to you.

A friend of mine in her 40’s is just finishing up her PhD. Her focus is very much on the Digital Native generation (GenY, the Millenials) both in her research and her teaching. She posted a Facebook update that she has noticed that her written communications have become short and abbreviated, due to her heavy use of Twitter, texting her teenage son and her students, and using more shorthand in our connected world.

My comment to her was that her communication skills are degrading, from a business perspective.

I’ve noticed this more and more in the last few years as texting shorthand has become more prevalent and as IM is becoming more of preferred communication tool in the workplace. And I have to say, there is no excuse for poor language skills in any professional setting.

It is one of the red flags that will differentiate a top candidate from a mediocre one.

From a job seeking perspective, most candidates stop at considering resumes/CV’s and cover letters for their communications. But in today’s tight global economy, recruiters and hiring managers are using tools like social media platforms as additional screening opportunities.

For example, if you have a Facebook or LinkedIn profile and you use texting shorthand, that screams that you aren’t really discerning about your external branding. The same with a blog. If you don’t use proper grammar (one of the biggest examples I see of this in English is not capitalizing ‘I’ to indicate the first person) and full, correctly spelled words then it indicates that you are more casual and somewhat sloppy in your work life.

I belong to several groups on LinkedIn for both professional and personal interests. All these groups have discussion boards, and when someone posts a long response to an article or question and doesn’t bother to communicate in formal, business English, I admit to immediately having a negative impression of them, regardless of the content of the response.

So from a recruiting perspective, make sure that all your external written communications are tight, professional and convey a sense of maturity and gravity. Save the shorthand for your actual texting and social interactions

Read more at: http://jobmob.co.il/blog/texting-shorthand-job-search/#ixzz12GFgpaoL

I see a lot of resumes, both solicited and passive. One thing that is a pretty standard misconception is the difference between "education" and "professional development", and what should (or should not) be on your resume.

While it can be argued that "professional development" *is* a form of education, when it comes to your resume your "education" section should be reserved for your formal matriculated education. That is classes, degrees or diplomas from accredited institutions (High School and college/university.)

Some notes on your formal education and how to best portray it on your resume. This is especially germaine to college students, but is applicable to anyone.

GPA: if your GPA is less than a 3.5, don’t put it on your resume *unless a job application asks for it.* I saw a resume from someone that has been in the workforce more than three years earlier this week, and he listed his GPA as 3.001. That is not impressive and actually detracts from his work experience, which should speak for itself. One of my resume clients has her 4.0 GPA on her resume even though she has been in the work world a good 15 years. A high GPA ( and/or "Summa Cum Laude" or "Magna Cum Laude") is a value add, but not necessary.

Unfinished degrees: If you have a BA and are working on an MBA (or PhD), it’s fine to include your MBA *with an expected graduation date*, which should not be more than 1-2 years out. I don’t advise putting a never-ending degree on your resume. If you started your BA in 1999 and still haven’t completed it, the message that sends to me is that you have no intention of finishing it, and (fair or not) I wonder what else you may not complete. Most degrees can be finished in 5 years part-time these days. If a job requires a Bachelor’s, and you don’t have it, telling me you are "most of the way there" isn’t going to change the fact that a full degree is still required. And it’s the *hiring* manager that determines the educational degree, not the recruiter. "Required" means just that: if you don’t have it, you aren’t qualified. Period. This is when "or equivalent experience" can come into play. A general rule of thumb is that if you don’t have the required degree, you need to have at least five years of relevant (as in same type of job, same field), RECENT experience to replace the educational degree.

Classwork listed on your resume.
OK, this seems to confuse people. This is *only* relevant for new grads. Classwork that is related to a job you are applying for can be an indicator for a recruiter or hiring manager that you have some additional skill or knowledge that isn’t necessarily indicated via your degree. For example, let’s say you got a degree in English and a minor in Human Resources and are applying for an administrative assistant job at a temporary agency. Listing out specific HR classes/projects you may have taken could give you an edge.

There is no reason to ever list indivdual high school classes on your resume. If you took some sort of vocational program, list the program, not the classes.

Let’s move on to Professional Development and what is applicable for your resume. As a rule of thumb, if you receive specialized training on tools to help you do your job, and now you are using that tool fairly regularly, the coursework *doesn’t need to be on your resume.* Work experience will always trump workshops. For example, if you took an introduction to Quickbooks five years ago, and you are now using Quickbooks for your company’s general ledger, the class is irrelevant.

Professional development that teaches you general soft skills shouldn’t be on your resume (such as "Effective Communication for Managers" or "Ten Habits of Highly Effective People" or "Time Management For Professionals") . While they may help you become a better person or professional, they aren’t relevant to what a hiring manager is looking for.

Any training that helps you understand legal or compliance-based knowledge in your industry is applicable for your resume. For example, in recruiting there have been major changes in our industry from a compliance standpoint that had a definite implementation date, and before I started working with those changes on a regular basis, my resume had "OFCCP training" on it. Now "OFCCP" is part of my summary of qualifications along with my knowledge of international visa processing because I use it on a daily basis. If you are in a credentialed profession that requires you to take ongoing classes, such as law or dentristry, you don’t need to continually mention those classes as they are intrinsically linked to your licensure.

Likewise, if you are pursuing some sort of a certification, the classes aren’t relevant. For example, if you are going after your PMP or PHR, just tell me that your certification is "in process" or expected to be awarded in December of 2010. (And if you are just studying for the exam and haven’t scheduled it, *it doesn’t count on your resume*.)

Conversely, if you took a compliance class for a job you held eight years ago and you no longer use, take it off your resume. I continually stress *targeted content* on your resume. That means targeted to what is relevant NOW. If you don’t use it, take it off. Don’t confuse your reader.

When all is said and done, it is your work history that is what a recruiter and hiring manager are looking at. Keep the focus of the content of your resume tight and relevant, painting a detailed picture of who you are now.
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