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Understanding This 1 Thing Can Change Your Job Search Results

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Finding a job is a lot like dating — it’s about finding a match between two parties (you and the company). It’s not just about money — although that is important. It’s also about helping the company meet a need that it has.

Companies hire because of their needs. This is true for all jobs — from entry-level administrative positions to the CEO’s job.

Understand the emotional motivation behind the job opening. What problem is the company trying to solve? Solving the problem can be about saving time, or building customer relationships. However, it’s crucial that you position yourself to solve their problem.

The question you want to answer for the employer is, “Why should you hire me?” When employers are hiring, they really want to know: “Why should I choose you instead of someone else?” Positioning is an important part of answering this question. You can’t be all things to all employers, so you need to figure out what sets you apart.

Personal positioning is unique to you. Figure out what makes you different. Consistency in this messaging will help you throughout the job search and interview process.

You need to express: “I am this.” Someone who is reading your résumé or LinkedIn profile should be able to recognize you in it.

The most difficult part about positioning is sounding original. Be specific about what distinguishes you. Your positioning is not your job title. Also, if your position could be said about almost anyone with your same job title, it needs work.

It’s important for a job seeker to stand out from the pool of applicants in order to receive serious consideration as a candidate. Personal positioning allows you to establish a clear message of who you are, the experience you have, and how you can be an asset to the employer.

Make sure your personal positioning aligns with your target company’s wants, needs, and/or values. Remember: Employers hire for their reasons, not yours!

You have to get the reader’s attention quickly. Your positioning is often the first impression an employer has of you, so make it count! (And speaking of first impressions, remember that how you dress is also part of your personal positioning.)

If you enjoyed the post, please click the thumbs up icon above and let me know!

Click here to schedule your free strategy session today!  

Jennifer Owenby offers her combined expertise as a recruiter along with training as a professional resume writer. Please visit ONB Professional Resume Services for additional information and scheduling an appointment. Also, visit here for LinkedIn Profile Services.

Important Changes In a Job Search

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When you haven’t looked for a job in a while, a job search can be intimidating. One of the biggest things to consider is how much the job search has changed since the last time you looked for a new job. If it’s been five years, 10 years — or more — since your last job search, there are some things you need to know to conduct a modern job search. Job search methods have changed dramatically, especially in recent years.

Think about how much your life has changed in the past few years. Remember what your life was like the last time you searched for a job. If it was 10 years ago, flip phones were the rage. The iPhone wasn’t even introduced until June 2007. Google started working on the self-driving car in 2009. If you think back to how much has changed in your life since the last time you looked for a new job, it’s no wonder that the job search has changed as well.

Whatever your reason for making a change now, you will find lots of conflicting advice online about résumés and the job search. Some articles will tell you that the résumé is dead and Google or LinkedIn are the “new résumé.” That’s not entirely true. The vast majority of recruiters and hiring managers still rely on résumés in the hiring process.

And from the jobseeker’s perspective, the work you do with a professional résumé writer to develop the résumé is instrumental in identifying the value you have to offer to a prospective employer and coming up with the content that will populate your LinkedIn profile. So you probably need a résumé and a LinkedIn profile or some other type of online presence.

Speaking of LinkedIn, it can be an important job search tool, helping you be found online by recruiters and hiring managers looking for someone with your specific skills and experience. A “complete” LinkedIn profile — that includes a current photo, targeted Headline, succinct Profile, and full content in the Experience, Education, and Skills sections — is important. But it doesn’t replace the résumé.

Résumés themselves have changed. The old “objective” statement at the top of the résumé has been replaced with an “executive summary” or “qualifications profile” that immediately showcases who you are and what you have to offer a prospective employer. Objective statements were about what you wanted; the new summary is about what you can do for the employer.

The days of the “generic” résumé are also gone. Instead, your résumé must be specifically targeted. A résumé that is not tailored towards a specific type of position is a “career obituary” and tells the story of the past — not the potential you have to offer to a prospective employer and how your specific experience, education, and skills can benefit the company or organization.

An interview-winning résumé spells out the specific value that you have to offer the prospective employer without including additional, irrelevant experience. To create such a document, it is important to understand the specific needs of that particular role — and, in many cases, tailoring the résumé for the needs of a specific company.

With this in mind, it is important for you to identify a specific job title that you are pursuing, and even more helpful to collect 3-5 job postings for this type of position, even if these job postings are no longer active and even if you do not wish to apply to this specific company. Being able to incorporate relevant keywords while describing current and past work experience is one way to demonstrate value to a prospective employer. An analysis of relevant job postings helps make this possible.

If you enjoyed the post, please click the thumbs up icon above and let me know!

Download this free EBook and learn how to negotiate your salary!

If you’re located in the U.S. or Canada, click here to schedule your free strategy session today!  

Jennifer Owenby offers her combined expertise as a recruiter along with training as a professional resume writer. Please visit ONB Professional Resumes and LinkedIn Services for additional information and scheduling an appointment.

10 Tips To Help You Identify If It’s Time For A Career Change

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ticking now on check boxes

One area I specialize in─changing careers. Some of my clients’ have worked at the same job for thirty years and want to make a change. If you’re thinking about following your passion, changing professions, or starting over, here are a few things that can help you decide if the time is now.

How to Know When It’s Time to Make a Change
If you find yourself asking if it’s time to make a change, it’s probably time to make a change.
The first step in making a change is identifying the reason or reasons why you are considering a change.
Ask yourself whether the reasons for the change are temporary or something that is likely to permanently impact your current position.
Figure out whether you just need to change companies or if you need to change your entire career.
If you’ve decided it’s time to make a change, make a plan for what you want to do next before you take any action.
Inventory your accomplishments and what you have to offer another company or in a different career path.
Consider if you need additional skills, education, or training in order to make a successful job or career change. Investigate how to acquire what you need before you make the change.
Don’t burn the bridge at your current job. Give ample notice and offer to train your replacement.
Get your financial house in order before you take action on your job or career change. Stockpile cash to help you during the transition.
Make sure you are moving toward something you want, rather than just running away from something you don’t like.
If you’re located in the U.S. or Canada, click here to schedule your strategy session.
Jennifer Owenby offers her combined expertise as a recruiter along with training as a professional resume writer. Please visit ONB Professional Resume and LinkedIn Services for additional information and scheduling an appointment.

Why LinkedIn Is Important In Your Job Search

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Once upon a time, attending networking mixers, industry events, and Chamber of Commerce meetings were the best way to make new connections and build business relationships. Now, many of these activities have moved online within the LinkedIn community. Much like networking in person, professionals interact on LinkedIn with the explicit intention of making business connections.

With LinkedIn, you get all the benefits of networking in person, with less of the hassle. Instead of going from business lunch to business lunch hoping to meet people, LinkedIn provides a platform for you to specifically search for and research individuals who you know will directly add value to your job search.

Employers and recruiters use LinkedIn to locate both active job seekers and those who aren’t necessarily looking (passive candidates). They also use LinkedIn to vet job candidates before making an interview invitation or extending a job offer. LinkedIn also allows candidates to create an online portfolio of their accomplishments — by facilitating embedded video, links to content posted elsewhere on the Internet, and the ability to create highly shareable, long-form content in the form of LinkedIn’s “Publishing” feature.

LinkedIn allows you to identify, research, contact, follow-up, engage, and maintain your contacts in one place. Its ability to facilitate business networking is unmatched by any other social network. Essentially, your LinkedIn profile is a résumé, business card, and elevator speech all rolled up into one.

However, your LinkedIn profile is not your résumé. LinkedIn is a personal branding page. You need both a résumé and a LinkedIn profile, and they should be in sync with one another, but not be exact copies. The information on your résumé should match your profile (in terms of positions you’ve held, your educational credentials, etc.), but the content you include on your LinkedIn profile will be different than what is included on your résumé.

If you enjoyed the post, please click the thumbs up icon above and let me know!

Visit www.onbproresume.com to schedule your free strategy session today!

Jennifer Owenby offers her combined expertise as a recruiter along with training as a professional resume writer. Please visit ONB Professional Resume Services for additional information and scheduling an appointment. Also, visit here for LinkedIn Profile Services.

How to Network Your Way to Hiring Managers

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With multiple changes to LinkedIn, one thing that hasn’t changed is the ability to message fellow Group members directly even if they are 2nd or 3rd-degree contacts. It will also get you around the InMail requirement. This is a great tip for networking your way to hiring managers within your industry.

If you are a member of a LinkedIn Group with the person you’re trying to contact, you can directly send a Message instead of having to send an InMail. But you can only do it from within the Group. When you are within the Group, click on the member’s name and you will see a “Message” button.
If, however, you just search for the same person’s profile (outside the Group), you will see an “InMail” button instead. So if there is someone you want to connect with, first search your Groups and see if you are both members of the same Group.
Speaking of Groups, the link to the Groups page is now harder to find. There used to be an Interests tab on the main menu, and Companies and Groups were under that.
Now, Groups are in the “More” section on the main navigation bar.
The main Search bar is now the “easiest” way to find Companies and Groups, but it’s definitely not as intuitive.
You can also use the direct URL for the Groups page:
Because the “More” tab includes things like “Learning” and “Post a Job,” most casual users are likely to overlook the “Groups” button there.
Have an amazing day.

About Jennifer

Hi, I'm Jennifer Owenby and I'm the founder of ONB Professional Resume Services. A few years ago I was introduced to Dr. Sheri Kay Hoff, a life coach. She continually talked about finding your passion and loving what you do. If you love your work, you're full of passion for life, more energetic and Continue Reading »

F.A.Q.

FAQ's Why do I see a difference in resume prices? Lower cost resume services often outsource your resume and all of your personal information to ghost writers overseas. Unfortunately, the resume results include verbiage that is not consistent with our standard English. The final resumes are cluttered with incorrect words, misspellings, and Continue Reading »

Free Resources

FREE! Get my best-selling EBook concerning salary negotiation FREE! This guide gives you insider information concerning how to answer that pesky salary question "What is your current salary?", how to ask for a raise and get results and much more. Don't back yourself into a corner for lower pay than Continue Reading »