“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.

You know that, ultimately, your résumé isn’t written to please the ATS. Behind every ATS, there are humans who look over your résumé once it “passes” the electronic pre-screen.
 
The other week, at our local networking group, we looked to empower each group member to make his or her résumé more of a “human magnet” by trading on-the-spot feedback with other group members. We had them pair up over multiple rounds, each round with a different partner, putting notes for feedback on each other’s résumé. That way, everybody came away with multiple copies of his or her résumé with spontaneous written feedback on them.
 
In the concluding discussion, it became apparent that the “rules” job seekers often worry about really fall short. Whether it’s about how far to go back with dates, how many pages to give it, or where to list awards: there isn’t any “quick fix” where you just flip the switch, and your résumé hits it out of the ballpark henceforth.
 
So what are some things to bear in mind?
 
All readers of your résumé—recruiters, HR pros, hiring managers—are people. As people, they will have a gut response to your résumé.
 
Do you think anyone will be blown away by a cliché-laden “objective” that reads: “To utilize my skills in a new full-time opportunity with potential for growth that speaks to my ambitions while benefiting the team”?
 
The fact that there even is an objective is the least of problems with it. Hopefully it will garner some feedback to the effect that none of the “information” in this phrase distinguishes you. Which leads to the next point:
 
If several people give you the same feedback on something about your résumé, there probably is something to it.
 
If there is fair consistency among people in pointing out what they thought worked well, what caught their attention, or what they might have done differently, that is something to be taken under advisement.
 
Interacting with human persons about your résumé can help develop your résumé to be more like that of a human person.
 
Discussing your assets in your own words—spoken words, not writing—makes it easier to put it in words that sound like they come to you naturally…like the natural you.
 
Look at it this way: You will be sending some variation of your résumé out to many different people. Wouldn’t it seem like the smart thing to do to get insights on your résumé from many different people first?