Big Book of Job-Hunting Hacks

TECHNOLOGY & SOCIAL MEDIA

TIP #40:
GOOGLE RESULTS ARE THE NEW “RÉSUMÉ”

A simple résumé just doesn’t cut it anymore. You need to build a strong online presence so you look good when someone punches your name into the Google search bar. Ways to do this:

1. Have a 100% LinkedIn profile that is professional and full of keywords. Learn more in How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn^® Profile.32

2. Clean up your Facebook page. That means no pictures of you within 100 yards of a beer! (Did you know that studies show people are judged as less intelligent when holding an alcoholic beverage?!)

3. Establish a Twitter account and tweet useful information about your field of work.

4. Create a website for yourself! Post your online résumé there and stock it with keywords.

5. Create a PowerPoint-based résumé and upload it to SlideShare. See CareerCloud’s “3 Great PowerPoint Résumés”³³ for some inspiration.

6. Start a blog and write something at least once a week. People with blogs are seen as leaders and doers. The topic is up to you as long as it’s professionally appropriate.

7. Post a professional video on YouTube. YouTube has high search rankings and will have your video show up in Google searches.

8. Search for yourself on Google and see what happens. Is there anything there that looks less than pristine? If so, clean it up. It will keep you from getting hired.

Yes, you still need a résumé. Just about every hiring entity will ask for one in some form or another. But build your Google brand, too. Check out The Essay Expert’s Google results.³⁴ The results change every day!

TIP #41:
POWERPOINT AND VIDEO RÉSUMÉS

Calling all armchair graphic designers and creative people of all sorts!!! I’ve got great news for you: you can create a PowerPoint or video résumé in addition to your standard “vanilla” résumé! How cool is that?

If you read the previous tip, you know that Google results are the new résumé. How can you get your résumé to show up on Google results? That’s where PowerPoint, SlideShare, and YouTube come in.

POWERPOINT

For more samples of PowerPoint résumés, read “4 Steps to Creating a Visual Résumé That Stands Out.”35 These folks have used uniquely creative methods to market themselves by means of their résumé. Through a combination of language and graphics, they have set themselves apart from the competition: they have shown they are willing to go the extra mile to get noticed and produce outstanding results.

Don’t you want to be one of them? If so, don’t wait another second. Open up PowerPoint on your computer and get to work!

NEED HELP PUBLISHING YOUR PPT PRESENTATION TO SLIDESHARE?

Read LinkedIn Help Center’s “SlideShare—Frequently Asked Questions.”³⁶

VIDEO RÉSUMÉS

Video résumés are becoming more and more viable as a way to present yourself to potential employers. Many hiring managers would rather watch a three-minute video than read through yet another résumé. However, according to a September 2015 article by Recruiter.com,³⁷ a stand-alone video résumé will not get you hired on its own. It’s important to present a consistently branded multimedia package to succeed in leveraging the power of video and other technology in your job search.

Branding expert Alex Kecskes states in his article “Video Résumés: Should You Use Them? Do They Work?”³⁸ that “once the CD disk, thumb drive or other media is viewed, your personality, poise, speaking skills and overall demeanor are evident immediately.” This can be both good and bad. Mistakes can be edited out, but if you’re not comfortable in front of a camera, awkward body language could cost you an interview, and although illegal, potential discrimination based on appearance or dialect may also occur.

If you do choose to create a video component to your job search profile, make sure to keep it clear and short (ideally, about two minutes) and point to that video clearly from your résumé and LinkedIn profile. Use consistent imaging and branding: Say or show something that differentiates you. “Multimedia résumés work best when they are part of a broader campaign,” according to the Boston Globe, paraphrasing John Wilpers, founder and chief executive of Degrees2Dreams. This campaign “should include a blog about a niche in your professional field, personal marketing through social media, and a series of informational interviews.”

While you may feel that technology has begun to outclass paper when it comes to résumés, don’t be too hasty: 78 percent of hiring entities still prefer a traditional résumé over any other format—that’s up 8 percent from 2013, according to a 2016 survey of four hundred U.S. advertising and marketing executives.³⁹

So be careful if you jump on the multimedia bandwagon. It’s not for everyone, it takes a lot of work, and it must be done well to pack a punch. Also keep in mind that many large companies won’t accept video résumés, preferring to utilize résumé scanning technology to prefilter the best candidates. For more help on deciding whether to use a video résumé, see Robert Half’s article “Is a Video Résumé Right for You?”⁴⁰

TIP #42:
BEAT THE SCANNERS PART 1—ELEVEN ESSENTIAL RÉSUMÉ KEYWORD TIPS

You’ve probably heard about the importance of keywords in your résumé. Your résumé might go through a scanner and not even make it to a human being unless it has the requisite keywords to match the capricious desires of the hiring manager.

What’s a job seeker to do? Here are my top eleven tips for optimizing keywords in your résumé:

1. Look at the job description (obvious, right?). In the job listing, you will find the secret to what the company is looking for. Just incorporate the important terms into your résumé. For instance, if they want someone with social media experience, you MUST have the words Social Media, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ in your résumé, IF you can honestly say you have expertise in those areas. Don’t lie! Just make sure that if you can put the keywords in with integrity, you do it.

2. Look on the company website where you are applying and use the company’s or organization’s language. You might find keywords in an annual report, as well.

3. Use O*Net 41 to help target your résumé keywords:

• On the website, copy the text in your résumé (CTRL-A) and paste (CTRL-C) into the “job description” box (keep the job title box CLEAR). Click Search. The target job title your résumé codes toward will appear at the top of the result box with a score next to it. Anything above 70 is good. Scores above 70 percent will be recognized as a “positive match” by computer screening technologies.

• To find the O*Net job description for a specific job title, CLEAR the results, type in your target job title, for example, “Compliance Manager,” and you will see the O*Net job title listed. Click on the job title to see the full description. Utilize the words in the O*Net description to better tailor and customize your résumé. You can add appropriate sections to your résumé in order to incorporate these words and phrases.

4. Check keywords for your industry by looking at multiple job descriptions and by looking at the lists in an excellent guide published by The Ladders: Guide to Crafting the Professional’s Résumé.⁴² This book is written by writers at the top of their game and has excellent industry-specific advice for professional résumés.

5. Search for your position on these websites:

• MyNextMove.org⁴³

• Occupational Outlook Handbook⁴⁴

• Dictionary of Occupational Titles⁴⁵

6. Use Wordle.net or Tagul.com. You can cut-and-paste the job description, the home page of your target company, and any other relevant language into Wordle to see what words show up the most often. The words that show up biggest in Wordle give you big hints about what to include in your résumé.

7. Try the Google Keyword Planner.⁴⁶ Type the keywords you’ve identified into the search bar, and you will get a list of similar words and phrases.

8. Don’t stop with the keywords you find. Look for synonyms, too.

9. Put keywords at the TOP of your résumé. The sooner the better. And see #5. 10.

10. If you put keywords in your Core Competencies or Key Strengths section, make sure you ALSO put them in bullets. It will NOT work to claim expertise in a list at the top of your résumé and then fail to support your claims in the body of the résumé. The scanners are sophisticated enough to catch it when you don’t back up your claimed competencies.

11.Don’t put your keywords in text boxes or tables. Some scanners won’t pick them up.

These tips will help you get past the evil scanners (ya ha ha . . .). If you followed all my other tips, you’ll also have a good chance of making it past the human being who will ultimately be your judge.

TIP #43:
BEAT THE SCANNERS PART 2—FORMATTING TIPS

Here are some formats that the ATS software understands. Keep the section headings basic, e.g., Summary, Experience, Education, Certifications. If you diverge from these standards (e.g., Career Progression) or combine section headings (e.g., Certifications & Memberships), the scanners might not recognize the sections at all. The information following the section header could be ignored.

Format #1

First Last

Street Address • City, ST ##### • ###—####: mobile • e-mail@e-mail.com

SUMMARY

Insert summary here

EXPERIENCE

Company name

Location, Dates

Company description

Job Title

SUBHEADER

• Bullet 1

• Bullet 2

• Bullet 3

• Bullet 4

• Bullet 5

Company name Location, Dates Company description

Job Title

SUBHEADER

• Bullet 1

• Bullet 2

• Bullet 3

• Bullet 4

• Bullet 5

EDUCATION

Name of School, City, ST: Degree, Date (optional)

Format #2

First Last

Street Address, City, ST ##### e-mail@e-mail.com (###) ###-#### (Cell) (###) ###-#### (Home)

Insert Summary here.

Company name, City, ST Dates Job Title

• Bullet #1

• Bullet #2

• Bullet #3

Company name, City, ST Dates Job Title

• Bullet #1

• Bullet #2

• Bullet #3

EDUCATION

Degree, University, Date

CERTIFICATIONS

Certification, School, Date

BONUS TIP

You may have heard that people copy the job description into their résumé in white type so that they “secretly” match the keywords in the job description; or that they simply copy and paste the job description as part of the résumé without hiding it at all. I do not recommend either of these strategies. The first is blatantly deceptive, and companies have started to convert text into black to catch this tactic. The second, although there were rumors of its working in the past, is not proven to be effective and could backfire. I always recommend remaining on the up-and-up, writing the best résumé you can with as many keywords as possible, and not trying to “beat the system” in underhanded ways.

TIP #44:
LINKEDIN–SAVVY

DON’T COPY YOUR RÉSUMÉ SUMMARY INTO YOUR LINKEDIN SUMMARY SECTION! DO LINK YOUR RÉSUMÉ TO YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE

Why not to copy your résumé summary into your LinkedIn Summary:

1. Often your résumé summary is laden with overused phrases like “Results-oriented team player with a proven track record . . .” or “Dynamic, motivated self-starter with extensive experience . . .” If your résumé summary looks anything like the above examples, please rewrite it and hire a professional résumé writer if necessary! This type of language belongs neither on your résumé nor in your LinkedIn profile.

2. You have two thousand characters at your disposal for a LinkedIn Summary, vs. three to four lines maximum for your résumé summary. Why not use all that real estate to say something—really say something—about yourself?

3. Your LinkedIn Summary is an essential place for you to insert keywords if you want to be found on LinkedIn. By inserting a three-line summary, you lose out on your chance to build keywords into your profile.

For more on this topic, and for an example of how to write a LinkedIn Summary, see “3 Reasons Not to Copy Your Résumé Summary into Your LinkedIn Summary Section.”47

HOW TO ATTACH YOUR RÉSUMÉ TO YOUR LINKEDIN PROFILE

Recruiters and hiring managers who find you on LinkedIn will likely be interested in viewing your résumé. If you try to upload your résumé into your LinkedIn profile itself using the résumé tool prompted by LinkedIn, you will end up with a mess. Don’t do it!!

In your Summary and Experience sections, you can add files or links to documents or presentations by clicking on the pencil icon in the corner:

Scroll down and you will see the following:

Presto! Your résumé will be attached to your LinkedIn profile.

SPECIAL ISSUE

If you’re targeting two different job types, consider whether it makes sense to attach a résumé that is generalized to qualify for both types of positions, or to attach two versions, or to skip this option entirely.

For a comprehensive tutorial on crafting a KILLER LinkedIn Profile, consider purchasing the #1 Best-Seller How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn^® Profile,⁴⁸ another one of my titles, which is available in PDF, Kindle, and paperback.

TIP #45:
QR CODES ON RÉSUMÉS?

You may have heard about a trend toward putting QR, or “Quick Response,” codes on résumés. QR codes are links to a website, and they look like this:

The scanner on a mobile phone can take a picture of this image and take the viewer to a website.

To create a QR code, go to a free QR creator like QRCode-Generator,49 enter the URL of the site you want the code to link to, and the program will create a QR code for you.

For a QR code to be worthwhile, it must link to a site that is worthwhile. If you are in a technical field, graphic design, or communications AND you have a website with robust information about yourself and your projects, you might want to put a QR code on your résumé. It’s more noticeable than a link, so it might entice more people to scan and click.

Note that if you’re sending your résumé electronically, a QR code won’t be that useful. If someone is already on a computer reading your résumé, they might not scan the code and you might do better by highlighting a URL or inserting another clickable image. If you think about it, the code is only useful for someone who has a hard copy of the résumé and wants to investigate further by scanning the code into their phone.

A Boston Globe article in January 2013⁵⁰ told the story of Igor Kharitonenkov. Igor included a QR code on his résumé that linked to a site with his “work history, letters of recommendations, and samples of his work, including a video about Bootstrap Compost, a Boston recycling firm, that he shot for his blog on sustainable businesses.” He was hired as communications coordinator for the nonprofit City Year Boston out of 200 applicants. It wasn’t the QR code that got Igor his job; it was his website. But the QR code sure helped.

TIP #46:
SEND A HARD COPY!

Even with all the technology available today, and really because of it, it is very unusual for a hiring manager to receive a hard copy of a résumé. If you have the address of the hiring manager or the company you’re applying to, send a hard copy! Online résumé submissions of course are required by many companies. Nevertheless, you can make an impression by sending a cover letter and résumé on nice bond paper. You will have very little company in doing so, and you will stand out by making this extra effort to impress and put care into your application.

Off-white or white paper is acceptable, and white is generally preferred. Don’t use other colored paper, and do not use paper that has an image on it (other than a graph or simple logo that you’ve created). The only reason to have any other image on your résumé is that you are a designer of some sort and are sharing your own artistic design!

Another advantage to printing and sending your résumé and cover letter is that you will be forced to print your résumé and see what it looks like. Many people never print out their résumés, an omission that can lead to an end result with some very strange formatting issues or a font that is so small it is barely legible.

So print your résumé. Make sure it looks good and does not have any errors; and use a good old-fashioned envelope or hand-deliver the document to your target company. You might be surprised by the response you receive.

32 http://theessayexpert.com/how-to-write-a-killer-linkedin-profile-e-book/

33 https://www.careercloud.com/news/2015/7/25/3-great-powerpoint-résumés

34 https://www.google.com/search?q=the+essay+expert

35 http://blog.slideshare.net/2013/10/14/4-steps-to-creating-a-visual-résumé-that-stands-out/

36 https://www.linkedin.com/help/slideshare/suggested/53164

37 https://www.recruiter.com/i/is-a-standard-résumé-enough-to-get-you-an-interview-anymore/

38 http://www.care2.com/greenliving/video-résumés-should-you-use-them-do-they-work.html

39 http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-best-résumés-get-back-to-the-basics-300263320.html

40 https://www.roberthalf.com/blog/writing-a-résumé/current-résumé-styles-and-trends-you-need-to-know

41 http://www.onetsocautocoder.com/plus/onetmatch

42 https://cdn.theladders.net/static/pdfs/
Crafting_The_Professionals_Résumé.pdf

43 http://www.mynextmove.org/