My article on TalentZoo's Career Oxygen: "Value Add"

Value Add

You have three seconds to impress me.

You get 30 more if I like what I see at a glance.

It does indeed sound like dating, doesn’t it? And you should think of it that way; it’s in the interests of both parties to feel a little giddy and a lot excited about the prospect of “getting hitched.”

Recruiters want to know what you bring to the table. It’s even more the case these days. When you hear numbers like 2000 people have applied for one job at an institution used to receiving 20 applications per position, you know there is some very fast scanning of resumes going on.

So, what makes you special? Give it to us straight, up front, your 30-second elevator pitch in a neat and tidy summary at the top of your resume. An Objective is well, just alright—many of us tend to ignore those because they are usually rather generic sounding. We much prefer a concise yet explicit Summary.

It’s not enough to simply say you’re “multi-channel” or “multi-media” and leave it at that. What are your specialties? Give me the keywords I might be looking for: interactive, Web, online, digital, print, television, broadcast, direct, radio, video, traditional, packaging, branding, outdoor, out-of-home, guerilla, social media, iphone applications, mobile, technology, financial services, healthcare, beauty, automotive, consumer goods, Flash, Ajax, Javascript, CSS, MS Project, Visio, wireframes, and so on.

If you’ve got too many buzzwords for the summary, you can use “multi-media” or “traditional and digital” in your 30-second summary as long as you elaborate within the Experience section. We like details in the experience section because it helps us determine how many years exposure you have to a particular medium or client vertical. (Include dates for your work history—it only makes us suspicious if you don’t!)

You might think there’s nothing terribly outstanding in your experience, maybe just the usual stuff those roles entail? Look for the details, the golden nuggets. Don’t sell yourself short, *BUT please, please, PLEASE, DON’T say you’re “The Best” or brilliant or exceptional or cutting-edge, or anything that raises expectations so much that the only way is down! (Back to that dating analogy, does anyone like sitting across the table from a braggart? Don’t the self-proclamations frequently prove false? So, don’t set us up for disappointment. Be cool, be honest, be clear.)

Here’s a old trick, let friends and family read your resume and ask them to tell you what you do! If they can’t, ask them if it was too dull of a read or if perhaps they simply found it vague. Either way, it’s valuable feedback and warrants addressing. Now do the exact same thing on Linkedin.com—a missed treasure ship if you aren’t on it and using it to its fullest.

Make the first three seconds great and the next 30 even better. You’ll have a love connection going much sooner.

Stay away from these job seeking faux pas!

Saw this link on twitter today, and it's priceless. Very useful tips to make your way to a recruiter's heart, and things to avoid if you don't want to make your way to recruiters' trash.

Also, for more job posting sightings, tips, recruiting news, follow me on twitter.
https://twitter.com/jspino

Now, this guy REALLY gets it!

Meet Jasen Dickan. Learn from Jasen Dickan.
His Linkedin profile makes me weak in the knees.
His online portfolio has me taking cold showers.
Why? Because he REALLY gets it -- he tells me everything I need to know about him. He is saving in-house and external recruiters probably 2 hours of up-front time that might otherwise be wasted going back and forth with questions about his skills.
Right away, we know EXACTLY what he does, how well he does it, where he's done it and how much of it he's done. Moreover, by noting what's not listed, we can determine the things that he likely DOESN'T do that much of, again saving us time.

So, does Jasen just want to save me valuable time? We do have a good rapport, so I can tell myself that's his aim, however, there's definitely a better reason for it and it's the reason I write this post. He's opening up more of the world to himself. He's getting valuable keywords out there and coming up in more searches. By doing so, he appears more professional and buttoned-up. This in turn ups his stock.

I mention him here with his permission -- I told him my goal is to get more people to follow suit. Everyone from Project Managers to Account Services to IAs to Creatives: give us the juicy details upfront and you'll reap the rewards.

Here are his summary and specialties sections from Linkedin:

Summary

Award-winning leader with 12 years of interactive, marketing, and branding experience. Proven ability to supervise teams and develop design talent in others. Passion for innovative strategy, design, and technology.

Specialties

creative leadership, web design, web sites, intranets, interaction design, usability, branding, business strategy, ecommerce, financial services, pharmaceutical, photoshop, typography, color theory, HTML, CSS, photography, successful new business pitches, inspiration

It's wonderful stuff, very informative. Now check out his portfolio: http://www.jasen.net/
Notice the way he specifies his % of involvement in various capacities AND how he gives credit to the other contributors. Providing the level AND kind of involvement you had on specific projects when you have a breadth of skills, goes a long way in establishing credibilty and setting expectations.

If you're looking for work - or just like to keep yourself current like Jasen - please take some time to enhance your profiles and portfolios. And make sure they all link to one another. Do it not for the sake of us recruiters, but for you.

Jasen, congrats on being this "teacher's pet", and thank you for letting me use you as an example! Keep on truckin'.

Tip for the day #8: Education opens doors

A fantastic video done by a friend of mine and his company and it happens to segue very nicely into today's tip for the day: TFTD #8 = Education!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDfew0YcDTo

So you've been working for a while now in the "I can't believe they pay me to do this" industry we know as Advertising? Then chances are you have a Bachelor's Degree. So now what, you're done? Nope.

If you are out of work, spending day after day putting out feelers, engaging with your network to try to find another job, reading this blog and following all of our advice to the letter, you still probably have time to take a class or two. And you know what? You should.

Schools take credit cards and classes are a tax deduction. You could do a shift at Starbuck's once a week to cover the cost perhaps. Not that all of us would make great Baristas but you could walk dogs or feed cats or look after a neighbor's kid while she gets her nails done... The point is, there are creative ways to make money in any economy and that money can go towards enhancing your "value add."

Examples of Value Add include: Copywriters learning Content Strategy, Art Directors learning Flash or Web Production, Web Developers learning Video Editing, Print Designers learning Web Design, Information Architects learning User Experience, Account Services people learning Strategic Planning... it goes on! Education is king. Those little certificates you get at the end of the course will pay off... IF YOU MENTION THEM on your resume and in any online presence you have for professional networking. (See TFTD #4 for more on keywords and marketing your brand!)