It is human nature to form snap judgments—to size up situations and objects in a matter of split seconds. That goes back to prehistoric times, when that capability often was critical to survival.

Granted, the human species has long been evolving. Normally, present-day humans give one another a little more time of day before passing judgment. Even so, you don’t have an infinite amount of time to keep someone’s interest beyond the initial “Hi, I’m Jay.”

It is not by accident that the general recommendation is to keep your brand message (a.k.a. elevator pitch, a.k.a. personal infomercial) so contained as to be delivered in 30 seconds or so. Of course you want to have more “ammo” in your “arsenal,” but you want to conserve it until you can inject it into the conversation, speaking turn by speaking turn.

So, in that 30 seconds your interlocutor is open to your spiel after graciously saying, “Tell me about yourself,” here’s what you might want to get across—meaning, what they are probably really asking:

1. What are you intrigued by?
2. What are you passionate about?
3. What type of challenge do you enjoy?
4. What type of result do people seek you out for?
5. Who benefits from what you do?
6. And, what makes you unique about the way you do what you do?

Consider the following example. First, here’s this version:

I majored in psychology, and my first job out of school was as a research associate. Later I pursued a career in publishing. To that end, I took a Certificate in Publishing program at Boston University. That career didn’t really get off the ground, but I did get a job as a workshop specialist at a One Stop Career Center. Soon I also became a Certified Professional Résumé Writer.

And now this version:

I help professionals connect the dots of where they have been so they can get faster where they are going in their careers. I elicit from clients how they have been contributing, how those contributions have benefited people and organizations, and what the assets are they want to be seen for. What I find particularly striking is when clients see new opportunities where they didn’t even realize they had something to offer. My own career path used to be somewhat meandering; that’s how I get where a wide variety of different professionals are coming from.

Judge for yourself: Which version offers more “hooks”? Which version is more likely to hold your interest past that first 30 seconds?

Right. The first version revolves all around some bullets in that person’s biography. They may even happen to strike a chord here and there, where people may see common denominators, but all in all, the first version takes the “Tell me about yourself” prompt a little too literally.

Now the second version ties in key clientele right away. It gives the listener an idea how this person approaches clients, and what they get out of our professional interaction. The part about clients discovering how some of their assets are marketable is particularly illustrative of the way they benefit from this person’s services. Finally, the mention of a “somewhat meandering” career path goes to show this person has a broad professional history he or she can apply working with many different types of professionals.

So what was your story again?

​Here’s a photo I took this past weekend in York, Maine. It shows the Cape Neddick “Nubble” Lighthouse at sunrise. Now you may think: Well, this is sublimely beautiful, but what in the world does it have to do with career services?

The hot summer weather makes many of us slow down. What many don’t realize is that this slowdown also includes cognitive performance. A recent NPR story reported this, referencing a Harvard University study: As the mercury rises, our cognitive faculties may plummet.
 
You may be alarmed by this news, especially if you have been staying in work mode this summer, keeping up your career efforts. No reason to despair, though: As long as you manage to be in air-conditioned places, you stay sharp.
 
Then again, is that really always for the best? I don’t even mean your electric bill soaring as you keep the AC running. What I mean is: Could there be a benefit to the natural slowdown that comes with the summer—some benefit to have you emerge all the more recharged?
 
Perhaps it is no accident that summer is a typical time for vacations. People hit the pause button, switch channels—feed their minds something of a completely different quality.
 
Give your career a rest…add to that just one letter, and “rest” becomes “reset.”
 
That may have been the effect it had when I took in that sunrise that morning. A sunrise is a slow, deliberate event; to me it carries compatibility with the notion of things slowing down in the summer. (And there was novelty to the sunrise in this case, because I had never been to Maine before.)
 
So there came the dawn—literally, for one, but maybe not just literally: I had been struggling for fresh ideas in a project I was working on. Stepping away from it all may have helped me get unstuck: It allowed the dust to settle, and as I approached the project again with a fresh set of eyes, I saw not only the trees but also the forest.
 
If you are in a place where your professional world won’t come crashing down if you take a week (or just a day, whatever) to give it a res[e]t, then my question for you is: Got any plans for the rest of the summer?
 
The “Nubble” Lighthouse sunrise seems to have done it for me. Actually, it was not just me—there were at least five more photographers there that morning!

In the movie American Beauty, the main character—Lester Burnham—quits his lucrative-ish but antagonizing inside-sales position, and sets out to apply for the entry-level job of all entry-level jobs: flipping burgers. Of course the burger-joint manager is baffled, and tells Lester he doesn't see this as a good fit. Unfazed, Lester points out how the manager’s judgment is misguided.

Granted, this scenario is hyperbole, like so much in American Beauty. Even so, the reality is: people do pursue jobs they are overqualified for, all the time.
 
How about you? Have you laid eyes on a job opening but not applied in the end because you thought you would be passed over for being overqualified? Are you at that kind of crossroads right now? Or have you perhaps already gone through the frustration of being rejected specifically for being overqualified?
 
First, put yourself in the hiring manager’s shoes.
 
The concerns on an employer’s part are understandable, whether they are based on common sense or on preconceived notions. That, too, is the reality of the situation. At the same time, there are various ways to neutralize the “overqualified” label, or even turn it around to work in your favor.
 
Your résumé may be the place to start.
 
Talk about an ounce of prevention being worth a pound of cure! Of course you are proud of your accomplishments, but it may be better to hold back so you look like a good fit. Much as this may feel like severing your own limbs, it might be a good idea to leave some things off your résumé.
 
A Certified Professional Résumé Writer will work with you on what to emphasize, what to deemphasize, and how to shuffle your assets. You will still be “found out” eventually, but a strategically designed résumé is more likely to get you an interview, and when that happens, it will be much easier to address the “overqualified” concern.
 
“Hm hm, I am overqualified…and that is a problem because…?”
 
Take the bull by the horns. Of course you are overqualified. Why is that a bad thing, though? Let the interviewer point out specific concerns; get them to put their finger on something beyond the vague negative connotation of “overqualified.” The interviewer will probably come up with one or more of the following.
 
—You will certainly get bored, and not last long.
 
“Oh, I see what you mean. Let me put your mind at ease: I understand there are a lot of new things to learn for me here. As long as I can keep learning something new, I won’t get bored.”
 
—It could be a problem that you know more than your supervisor does.
 
“How so? I imagine my supervisor would rather have a resourceful new hire; someone who gets where management is coming from, who will have their back, who won’t require constant supervision, and who is regarded as competent by clients. Been there, done that.
 
“What is certainly true is that I bring the potential for growing with your company. I will be there when the right opportunity for advancement comes along, so I can take my contributions to the next level.”
 
—The salary we can offer probably won’t be enough for you.
 
That one is a bit trickier, but your answer might go something like this:
 
“Oh, I am not too worried about that. I have done my research on what this type of position realistically pays. If that were an issue, I wouldn’t have applied. I appreciate you for bringing that up, though. What is the salary range you have budgeted for this position?”
 
What else?

Oh, yes—Lester Burnham. He did get that job flipping burgers. And if you have seen American Beauty, then you know that job was the one Lester would have for the rest of his life.

As with all things related to job search, applications, and interviewing, there are always subtle “tectonic shifts” that see trends come and go. A fad enters the scene, it seems to work for a while, until it wears itself out after everybody and their brother has jumped on it.

One such trend was injecting “oddball questions” into the interview, such as: “How many Ping-Pong balls can you fit in a jet airliner?” Of course no interviewer in their right mind expected you to come up with a definitive answer. The idea behind those oddball questions was something like this:

In every job, there will be oddball situations coming at you every once in a while. How do you deal with that: Do you get defensive (“What the &*$# does that have to do with anything??”) or do you acknowledge, even welcome the oddball question as an opportunity to show your capacity for outlining the path to a solvable problem: “First of all, are we taking the seats out? Are we filling the kerosene tanks as well? (…)”

You get the idea. And while those typical oddball questions have been on the wane, the underlying premise remains: Every so often, we all are faced with something we don’t know, and have to find out about. In the above example of the Ping-Pong balls, it is quite obvious you wouldn’t really have to know that. But what if the interview question does have bearing on the job you are interviewing for, such as: “How would you go about in developing this niche market in our new sales territory?”

I wouldn’t have a definitive answer to that one. For starters, I would need more information—read up on the demographics of that new territory, consult with existing area sales directors and field sales reps about what has been working thus far, etc. I would relate all that in my answer to that question, so the interviewer would know I was capable of defining and framing the problem, and resourceful enough to formulate steps to tackle the challenge.

Another way of looking at it: If any interview candidate were able to hand the interviewer a definitive answer on a silver platter, then the interviewer might respond (or at least think): “Great! Now we can do it ourselves!”

Really, it is okay not to know something (as long as it’s not like you don’t know anything—duh!). When you don’t know something, what matters is you show the interviewer how excited you are to put your nose to the grindstone. Maybe you can inject a story about how you have handled a similar learning curve before.

I have made some choices in my life that I now second-guess. Please don’t ask about specifics; sharing them would still be—to put it charitably—too embarrassing for me. I will say, though, that (fortunately) none of those choices has ever gotten me into trouble with the law. There are no laws against just being immature, unwise, or naïve. Lucky me.

Past choices are…well, in the past.

Choices I have made in the past don’t define the type of person I am today, or will be tomorrow. (And that includes the choices that turned out to be good ones; good choices in the past only mean so much with regard to choices now or in the future.)

In my daytime job at the North Shore Career Center, last week saw the graduation of a cohort of reentrants from a series of custom-tailored workshops. In case you are not familiar with the designation “reentrants,” it denotes people also known as “court-involved individuals” or “persons with criminal records.” Until recently, common designations have also included “ex-cons” and “ex-felons.”

Those would be people who, like me, have made some choices in their lives that they now second-guess. On top of that, however, they have had the added misfortune of breaking the law somewhere along the line. The consequences of that misfortune include public exposure (in court, and oftentimes also in the media) and a public record that is going to stay with them.

So what if your past affects the quality of your brand?

What applies to me applies to reentrants just the same: Choices they have made in the past don’t define the type of person they are today, or will be tomorrow. Not-so-good choices in the past only mean so much with regard to choices now or in the future.

That’s where specially designed workshops come in.

Understandably, reentrants often feel labeled—dare we say: “branded”?—by their criminal record and incarceration. When they come to the Career Center, it often is with a feeling of a sticky note on their foreheads saying something like “ex-offender.”

But that’s not even what cuts to the quick at times. Over the years, several participants have confided in us that our series of workshops for reentrants was the first thing they had ever “completed” in their lives. One participant went a step further and said she “found hope again.” That stuck with me; she had already lost hope—that which supposedly dies last.

We address these participants as the professionals they are. We probe—with the help of appropriate assessment tools, and through individual counseling—where strengths and inclinations may lie, and what positions or career paths seem like good ones to explore further. (That includes info about your record on application forms, and employers open to candidates with a record.)

We collaboratively design a job-search campaign emphasizing relevant assets.

A central, recurring theme in our workshops for reentrants is resilience. It involves acknowledging what happened in the past, and devising a strategy to move on.

Once a line of work to zero in on is identified, I am one of the main contributors in creating a fresh, new résumé. That new résumé is going to emphasize qualities that present the individual as a capable, reliable professional. And when I look at the résumé once it’s done, it strikes me time and time again how the criminal record in a person’s past is completely absent from the presentation of his or her qualifications for a future job.

Things don’t end at the résumé, of course. Plenty of practice time is given to discussing your record in the interview conversation, where the subject might come up following the interviewer’s mention of how the company routinely does background checks. At that point, it is important for the candidate to be able to tell his or her story and sound natural, so as to convince the interviewer that was an episode in the past that has been dealt with and moved on from.

And it takes a big person to open up about those darker facets of one’s past. Remember I alluded to choices of mine that I now second-guess? I have the option to remain comfortable in choosing not to discuss details. People with a criminal record must step outside their comfort zone, and address unpleasant details. If that doesn’t say something about their readiness for new challenges, then I don’t know what does.

Imagine you are at a massive networking function at some large venue, where over time the people in attendance form clusters of sorts, depending on factors such as industry, location, and what they are looking for (clients; talent; business partners; investors; etc.). So far, so good.

Now imagine there are some “Me! Me! Me!” networkers among the people in attendance: people who ricochet in and out of small-group conversations, talking about nothing but themselves and what they do—in fact, doing pretty much all the talking. Those people approach everyone in exactly the same way, regardless of the other person’s need or background. Finally, those people throw business cards around touting what they want everyone to buy from them.

Do those “Me! Me! Me!” networkers sound like grotesque caricatures? Well, in brick-and-mortar networking, the only environment where I have come across anything close to that was car sales. The sales trainer in my group of trainees suggested you get yourself known in the neighborhood by placing business-card dispensers at every imaginable local business from the dry cleaner’s to the hairdresser’s to the dentist’s.

I never acted on that “sage advice” (I wouldn’t have, even if I had lasted any longer than three months in that line of work), and I can’t think of too many car salespeople who do. They, too, generally have more common sense than that.

How certain online “networking” goes really bad

Content management in the digital sphere is fascinating, even wondrous. Today content can be posted and sent out to practically unlimited numbers of recipients, at speeds and volumes that would have been unheard of just a generation ago.

And some people take that as license to hound down unsuspecting targets anywhere and everywhere. I don’t do a lot besides LinkedIn and Twitter in the social-media arena, but I have enough presence to find myself antagonized by obnoxious self-promotion every so often.

There is certainly nothing wrong with the kind of networking that gets people to think of you when they have a need for your product or service. What makes networking good is when it also includes offering something for free. (I wrote about that in detail in another blog post.)

Where things become obnoxious is when they approach you by making a faux personal “connection” (such as a generic compliment on your website or LinkedIn profile), and when you do connect with them, they message you on LinkedIn to pitch their product or service, and flood you with “newsletters” and “special promotions” you never signed up for.

And that’s where these online networkers are just like the caricature “Me! Me! Me!” brick-and-mortar networkers I made up above: all talk, no listen. As for online networking, much of it may not happen in the form of live, real-time conversations, but there certainly remains the need to “listen.” And if they don’t get that, then it’s “unsubscribe” and “unfollow”!

“Effective and efficient business planner.”
“Open-minded and flexible team player.”
“Motivated, top-notch self-starter.”
 
These are examples of what I call fluff bubbles. Other examples can be found in those self-presentations of having a “high level of energy” and an “optimistic attitude.”
 
The problem with phrases like these is not even the fact they have long been overused, like worn-out Velcro. The problem is they are lacking in substance; when the fluff bubble bursts, there is nothing left.
 
I can’t even blame garden-variety job seekers and networkers (and those new to the game at that) for using phrases like these as they try to position themselves. After all, plenty of job descriptions out there have phrases like these included, supposedly describing the desired soft skills for the job.
 
But echoing these phrases back at employers doesn’t make them sound any more convincing. Moreover, even though job descriptions seem to include these candidate “qualities” as a matter of routine, employers like to regard these things as a given in any new hire.
 
The “litmus test” for spotting fluff bubbles
 
1.  Is the phrase something most people could apply to most jobs?
 
Would you know from any of the above examples what that person’s line of work or industry is? Of course not! It could be a dental hygienist, a paralegal, a K–12 administrator…or, for that matter, a sanitation worker! That’s precious space wasted to proclaim how you work, rather than using it to showcase key qualifications.
 
Or think of what a job seeker might say in a cover letter: “I believe I have potential.” Chances are that will make the reader go like: “Duh! You want the job! Of course you say you ‘believe you have potential.’”
 
2.  Is the phrase something nobody would claim the opposite of?
 
Joe put on his résumé that he is a “hard worker.” What will the hiring manager make of that? “Well, finally, here is a hard worker! I knew it—all the others are slackers! Hey, didn’t that other résumé even say it outright?”
 
Sound absurd? Of course; it is absurd. Nobody would claim to have anything other than desirable qualities.
 
Take “excellent communication skills” as another example. I think it unlikely that anyone would say, “Oh, no, I don’t have ‘excellent communication skills’—I head for my cubicle first thing in the morning and hope to be left the &@%# alone all day.”
 
Better alternatives to fluff bubbles
 
You are trying to speak to the needs of your target audience. When you are a job seeker, trumpeting broad, random qualities is not the most promising approach. Rather, start by putting yourself in the employer’s shoes, and then show your capacity for generating results.
 
As I discussed in an earlier blog post, job openings exist because employers are in need of results in some of the following categories:
 

1. Make (more) money
2. Seize an opportunity (or solve a problem)
3. Save money, time, or both
4. Recruit, train, and develop staff
5. Develop relationships with other organizations or the general public
6. Retain existing markets and customers
7. Develop new markets and customers

 
Your past employers kept you around for as long as they did because you were capable of producing the results they needed, perhaps without you even realizing it. A Certified Professional Résumé Writer can help you “unearth” your capabilities to be front and center on your résumé or in your LinkedIn profile.
 
Moreover, talking about results will allow your audience to infer the competencies you must have. For example, if you masterminded a grand opening of a new store location, and went on to boost revenue by 200% from the first to the second year, you probably couldn’t have done it without some kind of effective and efficient business planning!

As one year is about to end and another about to begin, let me take a moment and talk about—no, not New Year’s resolutions! (I am not a big fan of those, as I have discussed in another blog post.)
 
Rather, I want to talk about informational campaigning for your professional persona. If you haven’t tried that before, why not let the New Year be the trigger to do so! For consistency, the following is based on the example of job search, but much of it can be equally applied to targeting new clients, vendors, or other business partners.
 
The operative word here is “informational.” You are not the candidate begging for a job; you want to think of yourself as the long-awaited silver bullet for of their challenges. Showcase your assets; drive home your capabilities relevant to their needs. Help them cut through the fog between job seekers and talent seekers.
 
Seize the control you have, beginning with your timing.
 
Have you heard it said: Opportunity is not waiting for your ship to come in; it’s swimming out to meet it. So the company of your dreams doesn’t have any jobs posted right now? That might just be the best time to let them know you are out there, and what you are all about—speaking to their perceived needs.
 
Do some detective work to find the name of an individual who is a likely decision influencer, possibly a mover and shaker. Then send an informational letter along with your résumé. And yes, make that a letter—printed out, in an envelope, and sent in the regular mail. E‑mails are better for follow-up than for first contact.
 
A proactive informational campaign has a better chance of standing out.
 
When companies post jobs, they are inundated with résumés, and it depends on a host of factors whether yours will be noticed. On the other hand, when you send a letter when there is no job posted, you won’t be competing with countless others for the reader’s attention.
 
You may be catching them at the time a need is beginning to emerge. And even if that is not the case, they will be more likely to get back to you later if they already know who you are. Remember, most jobs (65–80%) are never advertised but filled through networking of one type or another. That goes to show how critical it is to be proactive about making a connection.
 
While on a proactive roll, announce your next proactive move.
 
Don’t leave them under the impression you will be sitting by the phone, holding your breath for them to call you. Instead, say what you will do next, and when, and how. Usually, that will boil down to a variation on the theme “I will call/e‑mail you within two weeks of this letter.” I have discussed this in more detail in my blog post How to Follow Up After Making First Contact.
 
Speaking from experience: This does work!
 
When I was a job seeker, I executed the above steps quite a few times. Although I was met with “radio silence” here and there, and even some outright rejection, I was able to generate some phone interviews.
 
In the case of one company, the day after my follow-up e-mail, I heard from another branch of the same company, saying they were just starting to interview for such-and-such job, and whether I was interested. Two days later, I interviewed for that job.
 
As far as employers are concerned, the way you job-hunt is the way you work. And when they can see you are proactive about your job hunt, it will work in your favor not just for the proactive quality of it but because you are making their hunt easier.

On that note: Let the New Year be your best year yet! ​🍾

On this Veterans’ Day, I want to kick a few ideas around on helping military veterans move their careers along.

Some of the veterans I work with are baby boomers whose service dates back several decades. Others are millennials who got out of the service recently and are now working on re-claiming their civilian lives and careers. And yet others are somewhere in between.

Although I myself haven’t had the honor, there are various ways the Certified Professional Résumé Writer in me rejoices at the chance of marketing the assets of job seekers who have served in the military.

Military service always belongs on your résumé.

Hiring managers worth their salt realize military service is not something you do just for the paycheck. Rather, it shows a person’s capacity for dedication and commitment. It doesn’t matter if you were drafted; you answered Uncle Sam’s call, and for the purpose of résumé writing, that comes down to the same as if you had volunteered.

Good hiring managers will also assume you came away from military service with certain transferable capabilities—such as clear, efficient communication, and level-headed performance under pressure.

The amount of military-service detail that should go on your résumé will vary.

Usually, the minimum info of military service on a résumé includes: the branch served in; any commendations received; and, as long as there was an honorable discharge, the mention of that. (I am not trying to sound patronizing; I know the honorable-discharge part can be an issue for the most absurd-sounding reasons.)

If you are concerned about dating yourself because your military service goes back several decades, rest easy; your Certified Professional Résumé Writer will discuss ways around that with you. (For starters, you will notice the dates of your service aren’t necessarily part of the minimum info.)

How much more detail you go into beyond that minimum info depends on factors such as the marketability of your service to your civilian ambitions and aspirations. For example, if you served in an IT-specialist capacity, you might elaborate on that if you are now looking to build intranet solutions for businesses. Or if you were a communications officer and regularly put out press releases, that might certainly be helpful to market you to a public-relations role.

As I mentioned on another page on this site, veterans have always been part of my particular clientele focus, besides mid-level professionals and career changers. In that sense, let every day be Veterans’ Day.