Seven things you don’t know I know from reading your resume

by K B , updated on November 11, 2020

OK, I’m quite prepared to be shot down in flames from all sides for writing this. Shoot me down anyway for starting this blog with a cliché, but here’s what I (as a former recruiter) and other recruiters can work out while we are reading your resume.

1. English is your second language.

Your English could be text book for the most part, but I can still work out whether it’s your second language, just from a quick read of your resume. You may leave off an “es.” or you use words in the wrong context. Here’s some strange expression I’ve seen lately: “Providing delightful customer service” ,”Maintain and strengthen customers” ,”Organizing equipments” ,”Good skills in”

If you are new to Australia, one of the major concerns local employers have about employing you, is how well you communicate. Behind this concern is another concern about how well you’ll fit in. Any incorrect choice of words will fuel any negative stereotypes a recruiter may have about your communication skills. Have a “local” speaker read over your resume before you send it. (Good practice for anyone, really)I receive enough emails from recent arrivals to know cultural stereotyping is a major problem.

2. You want your experience to sound more impressive than it is.

I have often seen people describe a stint of counter service at McDonalds as: “providing high levels of client service.” While this statement is not incorrect, it is misleading. A client is generally someone whom you deal with more than once. A customer is someone who comes to the counter. Most recruiters know what people do at McDonalds, so this statement just sounds silly. The person who wrote the above has oversold what they actually did and not mentioned what is really challenging or interesting about a job at Maccas. Anyone who works there for any length of time can generally work well under pressure and serve people in a fast paced and highly measured environment. That’s the interesting part.

3. You lack confidence or have not done much self-reflection before sending in your resume.

Nowhere on your resume can I read anything about you personally. If you do not tell me your strengths or achievements, I am either going to assume you don’t have any, or do not think they are important enough to list. Most of the employers whom we interviewed for the book, want their employees to be “self aware.” They want people to understand their strengths, so they can apply them to the job at hand. Read what they say here on self awareness. I am not talking about a laundry list that sounds like any other person. That’s almost as bad as no strengths at all.

4. You don’t want to tell me how old you are.

I know this because you have not put dates on your study. And fair enough too. Many of the emails I receive are from people worried that they are 40, 50 or above. While I have not seen any out and out age discrimination in my time in recruiting, I receive enough questions and heard enough horror stories about this to know it exists.

5. You don’t know how to market yourself.

You haven’t sent me a cover letter or written a career objective on the top of your resume. Reading your resume I have to guess what it is that you want to do.

6. You are not that serious about wanting this job.

Read point five.

7. You do not write very often, or well.

You have too many redundant words on your resume. If you have a list headed “responsibilities”, then I do not need to read that you are “responsible for” on the very next line. Other examples are where you say “in order to” instead of just “to” or “planning and strategizing” which are pretty much the same thing.

For more information on resumes read:

Why a career objective on your resume is important
Watch out for these resume red flags
How long should a resume be?
Don’t make these top 10 resume mistakes
Even if you’re gorgeous you shouldn’t put your photo on your resume

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Don’t make these top ten resume mistakes

by K B , updated on November 11, 2020

I’ve seen hundreds of resumes. However I’ve rarely read one that I haven’t itched to start editing. With resumes, you only get one chance to make a good impression. Here are the top ten most common resume mistakes I see and, because I am nice, I present some tips to overcome them.

It’s difficult to write a decent resume. You need to speak to many audiences. You need instant impact. Yet you also need attention to detail. You need to capture your unique skills and strengths. But if you’ve been retrenched, dismissed or are just plain fed up with your current role, it’s a challenge to find the confidence to claim your achievements, without feeling like a fraud.

1 Your resume is too long or too short

How long should a resume be? You will see so much written on resume length you have to wonder if anyone knows what they are talking about. Last count there were 179,000,000 references on Google to this.

The only tips I have on length are these:

Think about the audience and what you’ll need to present on your resume to have any credibility. Think about why someone will read it. Think about the time they’ll have to spend.

Here are some random examples to show you what I mean:

A one page resume for a senior academic position will not work. In the world of academia being published and referenced counts. So you need to list all your publications to have credibility. That can be a page in itself.

For a marketing role you may only need just a one page list of achievements and a snappy career objective type statement that sells you.

If you’re applying to an airline role as a flight attendant, you can bet your bottom trolley tray that hundreds of people will apply. So you’ll need to have a huge impact on the first page.

Keep in mind that the purpose of a resume is simply to secure you an interview. See my article on  who’s reading your resume for ideas.

2. Your resume is confusing and does not market you

I’ve never found the source of the research that says a recruiter will only scan your resume for 20 seconds or so, but I have seen it happen. What this really means is that you need to spell out what you want, why you want it and what makes you suitable for the job at hand.

Start with a clear career objective, not one that reads like this:

“To maintain job satisfaction by utilising my transferable skills and increasing my knowledge to reach senior management and executive levels.”

Many of us want this. This says a lot but tells me very little about the person.

A career objective can be very simple. You can just state the role that you are after and the type of organization you would like to work within.

It sounds obvious but you do need to tailor it to each role.  (This should be one of my biggest tips) I’ve seen plenty of career objectives on resumes that state a different role to the one advertised. If you do not make your objective current you will miss out, even if everything else on your resume screams hire you.

The career objective above could be better written as:

“To contribute my six years business development experience to a senior account management role within the telecommunications industry; my longer term ambition is to progress to a team management role.”

From a clear career objective, everything on your resume should build an argument for the recruiter to consider you for that role. So in the case above, the writer could then list their achievements and strengths that relate to success in a sales role.

To write a resume that really spells out your suitability, bullet point the top 4 to 5 attributes, skills, experience and knowledge in a career summary or profile under your career objective.

3. Your resume confuses achievements with responsibilities

So many people confuse these two things. Yet it’s critical to understand the difference. A list of achievements above a list of responsibilities will win the battle against blandness, and make your average resume powerful.

Responsibilities are tasks you are required to perform in your role. Achievements are things that you have done above or beyond this. Your achievements can include ideas you have contributed and executed, goals you have exceeded or awards you have won.

To list an achievement you need to state the impact you had. Examples of impact are: where you have increased sales, saved money, improved efficiency, saved customers, improved the customers’ experience, improved the brand or reputation of the company or retained customers.

The example below shows the difference between an achievement and a responsibility on a resume. The role is for a web administrator.

Responsibility

Update the product website with sales and marketing offers

Achievement

Designed new product page layout with new graphics, content and live feeds to improve user experience; received many customer compliments and significantly increased the number of page views

Another thing to think about when you list your achievements is that you need to be specific. The achievement below appeared on the resume of a marketing specialist. This is too general and reads as a responsibility:

“Developed tailored business solutions for global companies to measure the success of marketing and communications initiatives.”

To be more powerful the writer needs to be more specific with which client, which solution and state the impact of the activity. For example:

“Developed new tailored global CRM solution for a major multi million dollar IT client; Solution measured the success of email and e-news campaigns and increased sales results by 12.5%”

One word of warning with achievements. You do not have to list them for every job. If you have a job that doesn’t lend itself to doing anything above the ordinary, then making up an achievement for the sake of listing something, makes you look silly.

4. Your resume oversells your responsibilities

This happens when you are trying to make a job sound more impressive than it actually is.  I saw this statement describe the responsibility of a counter hand role at McDonalds:

“providing high levels of client service.”

While this statement is not incorrect, it is misleading. A client is generally someone whom you deal with more than once. A customer is someone who comes to the counter. Most recruiters know what people do at McDonalds, so this statement just sounds odd.

The person who wrote the above has oversold what they actually did and not mentioned what is really challenging or interesting about their job. Anyone who works at McDonalds for any length of time can generally work well under pressure and serve people in a fast paced and highly measured environment. That’s the interesting part.

When the role is routine (like counter service at McDonalds) the challenges of the environment, or where you perform that role, could be the interesting part to talk about on your resume.  For example:

January 2006 – July 2008 McDonalds – Sydney CBD Counter Attendant

Open 24/7 in the centre of Sydney’s CBD, this store served customers who could often be impatient, intoxicated or aggressive about any delays in service. Starting this role to support my university studies, I needed to consistently meet strict time, sales and service targets.

5. Your resume sets you up to be discriminated against on the basis of your age

Discrimination in many forms does exist. We all have prejudices. You will have no idea about the prejudices of the person who reads your resume. So the best thing to do is to remove the opportunity for anything that you think could be a problem.

You’d be surprised about how many people complain about age discrimination yet still have their date of birth or a high school qualification. My rule of thumb for most resumes for people in the private sector is to go back 15 years, no longer. I also leave the dates off older qualifications, and present these only if they are needed for the role.

This is not avoiding the issue of whether you should proudly proclaim your age and therefore challenge recruiters’ stereotypes and prejudices. I’m suggesting you consider whether your age is relevant to the role at hand. That’s the only thing you need to think about on your resume.

Besides, the best way to challenge prejudices is face to face. You want your resume to give you the opportunity to do that.

6. Your resume sets you up to be discriminated against on the basis of your culture

Many of my clients are from overseas. One of the biggest barriers they face is how to find a job with “no local experience”.  In many cases their resumes let them down. The easy things to fix are spelling and grammar. The harder thing to fix is appropriate expression. Here are some examples of strange things I’ve seen:

“Providing delightful customer service”
“Maintain and strengthen customers”
“Organizing equipments”
“Good skills in…”

Technically there is nothing wrong with the above. However the context is wrong.

If you are new to Australia, one of the major concerns local employers have about employing you, is how well you communicate. Behind this is another concern about how well you’ll fit in. Any incorrect choice of words will fuel any negative stereotypes a recruiter may have about your communication skills.

I receive enough emails from recent arrivals to know cultural stereotyping is a major problem.  If you are new to Australia, the very least you need to do is to have a local professional look over your resume.

7. Your resume has too many words, and the wrong type of words

The biggest enemies of a resume are space and time.

You only have one page to make an impact. So you need to choose the one word that represents what you want to say. Even people who write professionally find this difficult to do when it comes to talking about themselves. Here are some examples of what I mean:

– If you have a list headed: “Responsibilities” then do not write “responsible for” on the very next line
– “in order to” instead of: “to”
– “planning and strategizing” instead of: “planning” or “strategizing”
– “the supply of references will be facilitated upon request” instead of: “references available on request”

Once you’ve written your resume, leave it for a day or so. Then review it and ask yourself if you could say the same thing with a different or fewer words.

Action words are instantly more powerful, not like this example I read recently:

“Daily liaison with senior management, staff and Agencies”

This person liaises, however the purpose of the liaison is unclear.

8. Your resume does not show that you have read the advertisement

The focus of your resume should reflect the focus of the advertised position. You can do this in many ways as I have described in point one. One other small but important thing is to use the key words in the advertisement. This is important for three reasons:

1. It shows you have read the advertisement
2. Your resume will be picked up in any software that scans resumes
3. If the recruiter has given careful thought to the people they would like to attract, then they will be careful about their choice of words in any advertisement. You will stand out if you show the same amount of thought with the words on your resume.

9. You neglect small, but important detail on your resume

Your resume needs to be consistent in grammar, style, expression and format. My pet hate is random capitalization of words. The worst part of this is that it instantly draws attention to the mistake. Here are examples of common incorrect capitalizations:

“Daily liaison with senior management, staff and Agencies”

The agencies should only be capitalized if they are listed by name

“Management of the Corporate Communications marketing and vendor budgets”

Corporate communications is not the title of an organization.

I really loathe ampersands on resumes unless they are necessary for space purposes.

“Coordinate & educate HRMS trainer”

This person had the space to write “and” and expand on how what coordinate and train actually mean.

10. You have used a standard template for your resume

By all means look at the standard templates you’ll find on employment websites, but realize that many other people are doing exactly the same thing. So if you want to look like them, use the template.

There is no cookie cutter approach to presenting a resume. It’s also easy to pick when someone has downloaded and copied words and phrases that are not their own. If you struggle with how to explain a gap, your unique experience or how to present your experience as a strength, then it’s worthwhile investigating what a professional can do.

Should you hire a professional? Yes. For at least the first resume you write. Why? I have met few people who are self aware enough to understand both their unique strengths, and their marketable strengths. A professional resume writer, who sits down with you, and who has industry experience, can help you identify what you should put on your resume, and what you should leave off.

If the last thing you feel like is talking about is what you are good at – a professional writer can help you feel good about yourself again.

For more information on resumes read:

Why a career objective on your resume is important
Watch out for these resume red flags
How long should a resume be?
Seven things you don’t know I know from reading your resume
Even if you’re gorgeous, a photo on your resume may not take you far

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How to behave in behavioural interviews and improve your interview skills

by K B , updated on November 11, 2020

Behavioural interview tips and techniques

Do you want to improve your interview skills?

If so, you’ll you need to be able to answer the question – what is a behavioural interview?

Hopefully this post will help.

Behavioural interview questions often start with:  “tell me about a time,”  “describe a time” or “provide me with an example.”

The idea behind behavioural interviews is based on well founded research that past behaviour is a reliable predictor of future behaviour. So what you’ve done in the past, will predict what you do in the future.

If the behavioural interview is well constructed, the questions you are asked will come from some solid on the job research.

A recruiter may “benchmark” top performers in a role, isolate in detail the competencies required to perform that role, then writes questions to allow the interviewee to demonstrate those competencies.

That is best practice, but mostly not always the case.

However, it is safe to assume that the competencies you will see listed in an advert, you will be asked to address in a behavioural interview.

How are you assessed in a behavioural interview?

You are judged on the “quality” of the example you provide.

In general under each competency is a set of behaviours that the recruiter will physically or mentally tick off as you answer each question.

You may be asked the same question in different ways to check that your skills are well developed and that you’ve used them consistently.

You’ll be assessed highly if you demonstrate all the behaviours required in each competency.

Recruiters like this method of assessing people because it’s structured and clear and a good answer is obvious to all.

The challenge for interviewers in this scenario is for them to elicit the best answer out of you to enable you to demonstrate your skills.

Your challenge is to understand and clarify the intent of the question properly – and to present as many answers as possible relevant to the role that the interviewer can connect with.

STAR interviewing technique

You’ve probably seen this term many times before.

This is an easy to remember structure to help guide your answers.

So, how do you answer STAR questions: “tell me about a time” or “describe a time” in a behavioural interview?

    1. Describe the situation you faced (S)
    2. Describe the task that was presented to you (T)
    3. Describe how you handled that situation, eg: the action you took (A)
    4. Describe the result of your actions, eg: the result (R)

Think of it like a story where the interviewer wants you to give an introduction, describe what you did and what happened in the end.

You need to be specific in answering these questions.

Don’t say what you would do.

Don’t say what you usually do.

Don’t say “I do this every day.”

You need to describe something you have actually done, and preferably an example from your work environment.

Why am I being so pedantic about this?

Well, truthfully as an interviewer, it used to drive me bonkers when I had to prompt people more than twice for a real life actual specific example.

via GIPHY

But seriously.

If you can provide recent examples you can easily recall, you are actually demonstrating, rather than just claiming, you have the skills the interviewer is looking for.

The more easily you recall these examples the more convincing you’ll be.

Ninja STAR interviewing technique

Ok, so nailing the STAR technique is going to help put you ahead of many people.

But what I often find is while people understand the idea of the STAR technique, they still do a few things:

a) They skimp on one section. So, for example, they do not provide enough detail on the how they did something.

b) They forget one section. Typically I see people forgetting to say the result, or the benefit of that result to the organisation.

c) They assume the interviewer will know why the example they present is important.

Beyond giving complete answers, to really nail the interview you need to help the interviewer understand why the example you present is an important demonstration of your skills.

You can do this by being explicit in how you describe the situation you faced. By this I mean, really think about and discuss the challenges you faced in the example.

You also want to outline at the end, how the skills you are showing in the example you use, relate to the job you’re applying for.

How much detail should you give in a behavioural interview?

As you tell the story you need to provide detail about how you achieved something, but don’t provide so much detail that you lose track of what you are talking about.

Give enough to be credible which will reassure the interviewer you have the skills they are looking for.

If you are confused, remember interviewing does not need to be a one way interaction.

You can always ask the interviewer if they need more detail or how much detail they need.

If you think you are providing too much detail, check with the interviewer. Or use your cue from the body language of the interviewer.

If they stop writing, then it’s a good idea for you to stop talking, and check back in.

What if you can’t think of an example in a behavioural interview?

It’s not a great idea to pass on too many questions.

However it is easy to freeze up under the stare of an interviewer.

Don’t put pressure on yourself by trying to think of your best scenario.

If you can’t think of your best example, then think of your most recent – the one that is freshest in your mind.

Many people take for granted the skills they use every day, yet if you are doing these things every day, you may under rate your competency.

Can you use a general example in a behavioural interview if you can’t think of a specific example?

For a behavioural interview the short answer is no.

Try not to.

It’s too text book, and just not convincing.

You could have made it all up and you will sound just like the next person in line.

What if you can’t provide examples based on a similar role to the job you’re being interviewed for?

If you’re struggling too much to do so, it’s probably a sign that:

a) You need to do more preparation to understand the job, or:

b) You’re not a great fit for the role.

Here’s how to tackle this if you’ve been thrown a curve ball.

You may have developed the skills you’re being asked to demonstrate in a role unrelated to the position for which you are applying.

So listen carefully to the question and provide an example that answers that question, regardless of where you have gained that experience.

When you do this, you will need to explain how your answer relates to the role. So, what skills does this demonstrate that would be useful to the job?

If you are not sure whether you can present an answer from another context, ask the interviewer.

So, these are my top tips.

Putting these into practice is a completely different thing, and starts with great preparation.

If you want more help nailing your next interview, then download the free e-book below.

Or get in touch with me: karalyn@interviewiq.com.au.

Need to get ahead of the pack for your next interview?

Get our free e-book The 7 Deadly Sins to Avoid at Job Interview!

Deborah Barit wrote this book. She is one of Australia’s leading interview coaches.

To get your free e-book and some of our best interview tips direct to your inbox, simply click on this link.

Here’s what happy readers said about the e-book and interview tips:

“Deborah Barit is a very smart lady…She is good at figuring out what an employer is looking for. It’s like she has ESP, with her help in preparing, I found no surprises in a recent interview and I was prepared for every question….” Cathy, Leichhardt, NSW

“Because I read so many of your posts, I feel as if you were my personal employment coach. I start my new position in two weeks. I had so many obstacles to overcome and each day you posted a solution to my dilemma and how to improve my search. Thank you so much for your input and PLEASE continue to do what you do!”

Click here to get access to the e-book.

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Be a good target…how to get yourself headhunted

by K B , updated on November 11, 2020

Headhunters’ secrets on how to get headhunted!

“Where did you get my name?” If you receive a call from nowhere from a head-hunter, you’ll always ask this question. But you won’t get any real answer, from a professional head-hunter at least. They’ll never reveal their sources, or even discuss the job with you on the first phone call.

So what’s with all the mystery? Keeping things secret to make you feel specially selected is part of head-hunters tool box of techniques to lure you out from your office to meet them for an informal first coffee or chat.

So how do people get headhunted? Is there anything you can do to hit the radar? The good news is, yes indeed. The better news is here are a few ideas on how.

Be visible

A former colleague of mine has been head-hunted twice. He made an effort to be visible and social. He’d go to forums, lunchtime seminars or conferences in his industry and simply talk to people. When he wanted to be serious about his job search, he’d target the seminars that recruitment consultants had sponsored. His favourite tactic was to make sure his name, title and organisation were on all of the attendance lists of events. Many head-hunters scan these for contacts.

Give out your card freely

This same friend also swapped his cards freely at functions. Like any good networker he followed the networking maxim, if you give something out it may come back in a different way. When he received calls from one head-hunter about a role, if he wasn’t interested, he’d try to provide another person’s name. (Some from the cards he’d collected at events). That way he’d made a future ally of someone professionally useful in the long term.

Be well a well rounded professional

There is more to it than just being out there. Head-hunters will target you if you are well rounded in your career. The head-hunters I know seek people who have developed themselves and contributed to their industry. As starting points they may search the web for people who’ve published, spoken at conferences , perhaps volunteered their professional skills or even set up a blog.

Work

This one’s cruel I know and particularly unfair if you are out of a job. But I do know for a fact that you are a far more attractive target for a head-hunter if you are working. It’s partly psychological, from a sense that if you’re not working, there’s a reason for it, even though everyone knows good people out of work from time to time. It’s also partly a suspicion that you may be desperate, you’ll take anything. You are therefore not as desirable as someone who wouldn’t. Think of it as a bit like dating!

Put yourself online, but be aware of your presence

Whatever you put online is in the public domain. Many employers routinely check Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and the like. They know it’s wrong. They know there’s a legal minefield attached to potential discrimination issues, but they do it. What this means for you is that you need to manage your professional persona even on social networking sites. If you want to be searchable, keep your profile open. But keep it clean and keep it interesting.

Also be aware that many of the comments you put on these sites, go further than the sites themselves. Your comments can end up in Google searches, so do a vanity search and keep a regular eye on your profile and what your friends may post.

Many of the head-hunters I’ve spoken to say to Google your name and keep Googling. Put yourself in the mind of an employer who is digging for dirt.

Say yes

If a head-hunter asks you out for coffee say yes, even if you are not really interested. You’ll gather useful information about salaries and information in your industry and you’ll stay on their radar for other likely roles.

Don’t get too carried away with all the excitement

Again like dating there’s a dynamic here that starts with you being pursued. You feel desirable. You feel flattered. You forget to ask questions. But this is the stage that you should be asking all the questions you need to help you decide on the job.

You’re in a secure position in these early stages. You don’t have to move. So you can afford to be a little relaxed. Your part in this chase is actually to be “difficult to move.” You are instantly better at negotiation when you don’t have anything to lose.

Remember who’s paying

The client is paying the head-hunter to get you across the line.

The more professional head-hunter is making sure you’re the right fit and will answer all your questions. But there is still a lot of money at stake for the head-hunter. So that has to cloud any true objectivity. The fees they charge the client are enormous. And even though they may be paid a retainer for the search (which is supposed to eliminate the “sales” aspect), they will receive a hefty success fee at the end.

Some of the better head-hunters I’ve had dealings with, suggest you do your own due diligence on the role and the company, separate of what they say. Take notice of this. That’s a warning, directly from them, about them.

Act in good faith

I know I’ve said be aware of your value in this process. You need to. But don’t be unprofessional. Good head-hunters will start asking questions early about your salary expectations, package content and super. They will keep confirming this along the way. They are trying to present a realistic position to their client. While they are doing this, you should be doing your own research on the role, so you can establish all its worth to you.

Once you have agreement on salary and all the perks, unless something dramatically changes in the role, then that’s it. You’ll do yourself no favours if you suddenly up a salary demand at the last minute when an offer is on the table. Many people up the ante when they know that they’re wanted and the last in the race. However you will make the head-hunter look unprofessional to the client and you’ll look manipulative to the employer. If you’re still fortunate enough to be offered the role despite this, you start a role on the wrong note.

What’s the difference between a head-hunter and a recruitment consultant?

Professional head-hunters say they’re different from someone who’ll call you at your desk and launch into a conversation.  A professional head-hunter will arrange to meet you at a time of your convenience. They will answer all your questions readily and if they don’t know the answer, they’ll quickly find out.

You can tell the professionalism of a head-hunter by the quality of the questions they ask you, the closeness of their relationship with their client and that they will always make themselves available to talk through your concerns.

They will be discreet, interested in you, establish mutual interest before divulging the name of the client and not just talk to you about the job over the phone

And as I said at the start, a professional head-hunter will never tell you how they first found your name. One other reason is this. It could be too bizarre. I once helped a head-hunter source a senior manager for an accounting firm. He was listed on a website as the captain of the company’s touch football team. There was absolutely no way this manager would have agreed to a coffee with the head-hunter, if he knew how he we found his name!

If you’d like to be head-huntable, you may need to ramp up your online profile. Email karalyn@interviewiq.com.au or call Karalyn on 0439 595 687 to find out how.

For more information on resumes, read this:

Why a career objective on your resume is important
Watch out for these resume red flags
How long should a resume be?
Seven things you don’t know I know from reading your resume
Don’t make these top 10 resume mistakes

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