Memory
You know you’re crazy busy when, not one, but two British career sites (one of which offered to pay me!) send you content to post on your blog and you can’t even take the time to compose a short introductory paragraph to accompany said posts. The good news is that I survived a busy eight weeks of work and school, specifically six papers, six quizzes, three homework assignments, two final exams, and a whole slew of reading – not to mention weekly and sometimes bi-weekly career events on the campus where I work (in between serving an average of 50 students per week), several new clients, and a job club catering to transitioning job seekers. I also barely observed to major Jewish holidays and missed two friends’ 30th birthdays, a baby shower, a wedding shower, and a lot of social gatherings. Needless to say, I am happy to have my life back and happy to be writing to you! Thanks to those of you who kept me in your memory during my hiatus.
Now on to the post…Position Ignition, a U.K.-based career-coaching firm graciously provided the following entry related to resumes and getting yours noticed by an employer’s Applicant Tracking System (ATS). I think you will find that the advice is not all that different from what you might hear on this side of the pond. Speaking of sides of the pond, I am excited that the founders of Position Ignition offered to meet me when I’m in London next month. Career coaches uniting across the globe – how cool!
Post by Nisa Chitakasem of Position Ignition
The way that hiring companies and recruiters are storing, evaluating and shortlisting new graduates’ resumes is already drastically different than to when I was a new graduate. Before, a recruitment agent or an employer’s in-house HR professional would go through a whole pile of resumes that had been submitted to them for just one graduate position. As you can imagine, the individual sorting through these documents only had time to quickly scan each submission for the type of keywords they were looking for. The keywords they were looking for were those words and phrases that indicated a particular candidate was right for the position.
Manually skim-reading each application was never going to be the most scientific or sophisticated way of identifying these all-important keywords, so it’s little wonder that recruiters and employers have embraced new I.T. technology with open arms in order to digitize the process. Nowadays, anyone in the business of hiring and with sufficient resources uses a computerized Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to rank resumes in terms of how pertinent they are to the position they were submitted for. Whilst this is good news for the employer, it’s potentially bad news for you, the graduate job seeker, if you don’t know how to tailor your resume to get you the highest ranking possible. Help is at hand though, with these tips on ensuring your resume impresses any ATS.
- Start your resume with a concise summary that’s rich with keywords pertaining to the job you’re applying to.
- Follow up the summary with short, bulleted points detailing your qualifications and accomplishments, again including keywords that match up with the advertised position.
- If you’re not sure exactly what keywords are relevant to the role on offer, look at the job specification and candidate criteria and identify the words that seem the most integral to the text.
- Be warned that the most advanced ATS technology will take into account the context in which the keywords are used, not merely the actual keywords themselves. Surround keywords with content that actually describes your relevant experience and expertise.
- Don’t misspell words. Misspellings are bad, not because the ATS will pick up on them, but because it won’t. If you misspell a keyword, the ATS won’t notice that word and the word won’t contribute to your resume’s ranking.
- Similarly, it’s wise to avoid using abbreviations, because the ATS may not recognize them. For example, when talking about your degree, type out ‘honors’ instead of using the abbreviation ‘hons.’
- An ATS can also be confused by complicated formatting, so keep the format of your resume as clean and clear as possible.
- Including logos or, in fact, any kind of graphic on the resume is a big no-no for the same reason.
- How you send your resume is almost as important as what you put on it. Before your resume even gets stored on a company’s ATS, it still has to get pass the organization’s email security screening. Attachments may automatically be marked as suspicious so copy and paste the contents of your resume into the body of the email message instead of setting it as an attachment.
- Because of belligerent spam filters, it’s also important to watch what characters and letter-strings you include in the email. Do not, for example, include any exclamation marks or potentially spammy words/letter-strings in either the text of the resume or the rest of the email. For example, if you went to high school in Penistone, England it’s perhaps better to just say that you went to high school near Barnsley in England.
- If you have the option of uploading your resume directly to the company ATS through the employer’s website instead of emailing it, do so.
- Submitting your resume via the website may require you to fill in additional fields as part of the online submission. Fill these fields in even if they are optional. Recruiters often use these optional fields to initially filter out a percentage of the original applications. Make sure you survive this first cut by putting the relevant information into all the fields.
- As the resumes may get sorted out according to these optional fields before they are even opened and read, it’s worth including relevant information in the fields even if you’ve already put it in the actual body of the resume.
So what do you do once you’ve emailed or uploaded your resume to an ATS? Of course, it’s a case of playing the waiting game to some extent but don’t forget to keep an eye on your spam folders when you’re waiting for that email reply to come through. Often, an ATS will automatically generate an email reply to your submission and such an automated email may well end up being recognized by your email filter as spam, even if it’s legit. If you check your spam folder and find that there is indeed an email marked as coming from the organization but you’re not sure if it really has or if it’s a phishing scam, it’s always best to check before opening it. Call up the company to see if its ATS would have started automating replies by now.
Once you receive the email reply, attentively follow any instructions it gives you. If the company wants you to contact it to take your application further, contact the company using the method it has indicated and within the time frame it gives. You will not only be guaranteed a response by doing so; you’ll be guaranteed the fastest possible response.
By following these best practices from start to finish, you have the best chance of negotiating a recruiter’s or employer’s email screening system, spam filters and ATS with optimal success. With the ATS in particular, it’s important for first time job seekers to know that there really is no mystery to it. It’s as simple as giving the ATS what it wants and pushing its buttons—and if you’re applying for jobs you’re actually suited to, pushing all the right buttons is not that difficult at all.
About the author:
Nisa Chitakasem, created Position Ignition to help support professionals through their career challenges. She has co-authored a range of ebooks to help people through various career challenges including: How to Get the Job You Want, How to Ace the Interview, 125 Twitter Job Search Tips, 125 LinkedIn Job Search Tips and 135 Networking Career Tips.
You can also find more career articles from Nisa on their Job Search and Career Advice Blog.
When I GROW Up
I had started writing this blog entry yesterday by expressing my true feelings about the textbook we are using in my coaching class. My husband happened to notice original paragraph number one and astutely advised me to avoid publishing said paragraph for two reasons – 1.) The author happens to be from the U.K. (where I hope to live and work someday) and 2.) his name is preceded by “Sir” thus making him critically important on the other side of the pond. In spite of my skepticism about the parallels he tries to draw between athletics and business, he introduces a particularly useful framework to approach a coaching assignment called the GROW model (Goals, Reality, Options, and Will). Our instructor even gave us a handy little card to keep it top of mind. Try it out the next time a friend, family member, colleague, or client asks you for advice or guidance. I hope you find it helpful!
What are your GOALS?
The first step is to help the client (I’m using this this term loosely) identify his or her short and long-term goals. For sake of time in class, we usually encourage the client to think of one goal he or she needs targeted and focused assistance with achieving and we set realistic expectations around what is feasible to accomplish in the time provided. I like to ask the question, “Holding everything else constant, what would the ideal future scenario look like once you’ve achieved this goal?” Hypothetically, let’s say that the client decided her goal was to transition out of a role in event coordination to a role in creative marketing. She might describe her desired future state as one in which she is responsible for designing the social media strategy for a cutting edge organization.
What is the REALITY?
Next, it’s important to get a sense of where the client is currently with regard to the progress he or she has already made toward achieving the goal. As her coach I would need to know what tangible action steps she has already taken to move herself in the direction of a marketing opportunity – and what her skills and qualifications are. I would ask probing questions like “how has your education prepared you to take on a role like this?” and “What informal and formal training have you already had in your previous experience related to social networking?” and perhaps “Could you describe your existing network of contacts who either work in this capacity now or can connect you to others who do?” Notice how all were open-ended questions to get the client thinking about where she is now and to start to think about where to go next. This is also the time to intervene if the client needs a serious reality check. For instance, if my client told me she didn’t know what Twitter was, I would ask her for permission to share some specific advice – namely that she might want to consider another vocational direction or get up to speed on social media in a hurry.
What are your OPTIONS?
One of the primary objectives of coaching is to help the client understand that he or she has the answers within him or herself. The coach should be the enabler – helping the client to uncover numerous possible options/next steps he or she could consider with regard to achieving their goal. The text advised us to let the client brainstorm as many options as possible (probing when necessary) and when he or she has provided the “last” option, the coach should ask the client to think of one more. Twice, during my coaching sessions in class – this new option turned out to be the best (and most realistic) option for my classmate. In the case with my hypothetical client, she might offer options including: joining relevant professional associations, pursuing a Marketing certification, and researching related opportunities at her current organization.
What WILL you do?
In this stage, the client should choose the best and most realistic options and commit to action, i.e. what WILL they do? Each action item should be structured like a S.M.A.R.T. goal (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-sensitive) – the same goes for the actual goal itself. The client should also identify any obstacles that could stand in the way and any resources he or she might need, as this could lead to a better defined goal and new action items. As with the students I see, I would ask this client what she thought she could realistically commit to before we meet again, and she might say, “return next week with a list of at least five local professional marketing organizations/on-line social networking communities and ten job postings for social media roles.” These action items meet the S.M.A.R.T. objective and they get her in both a networking and job search mindset. Before the conversation concludes it is important to provide a recap of the discussion, action items, and any follow-up required on the part of the coach or client.
Does this work? you may be asking. Well, it worked splendidly in class, but not so well when I tried to coach a friend who called me for advice this week. We got to the option stage and I flat out said, “friend, I was trying to be a good coach by asking you good probing questions, but now I have to intervene. Do you really think [insert client option] is a good idea? I made three mistakes according to what I’ve learned in class and from our readings, a.) I asked a closed question with a Yes/No response b.) I expressed judgment, which contradicts the perspective that the coach should “hold the coachee as naturally creative, resourceful, and whole” (kumbaya, I know), and c.) I veered us away from her coaching agenda. When coaching, it’s all about the client and not about the coach – not something easy for a talker like me! Moral of the Story: Keep trying…as with anything else, practice makes you better.
Resources:
Coaching for Performance, GROWing Human Potential and Purpose , John Whitmore
Performance Consultants International - The GROW Model
These Boots were Made for “Working”
I had a mini-meltdown this week after surrounding myself with a group of mommy-minded girlfriends at dinner. I was so excited to have a night off from studying to get caught up with the ladies, but by the time I got home I was a wreck. Talk of daycare, part-time vs. full-time employment, and limited mobility was making my head spin. I felt like I was Sarah Jessica Parker in that episode of Sex and the City where she lost her Manolo Blahnik’s at a baby shower and was overwhelmed by baby mania (with the exception of the shoe stealing part – please, my friends and I are too practical to wear shoes that expensive!). I’m sure my husband was thrilled that he came home a day early from business travel only to be greeted by a teary-eyed wife up in arms about how to manage life, work, and family in the future.
The exciting silver lining here (well, actually there are several, but since I have been neglecting decision trees and depreciation all day I must attempt to stay focused) is that I received approval this week to engage in an independent study project focused on women's initiatives in the workplace as part of my MBA curriculum and personal mission to arrive at some answers of my own related to work-life balance. [As an aside, my Accounting professor recently emailed me to say, “I enjoyed your blog. You are a very talented writer!” which hopefully gives me some leeway with regard to my lack of quantitative focus in my current state].
Now, back to the project… For now, I’ll refer to my fabulous Organizational Behavior Prof. as “M” since he is unfamiliar with the blogosphere and also my use of his identity. Thanks to M, (who will be mentoring me over the course of the project) we arrived at a hybrid title, i.e. a combo of his structured PhD take and my “why do things move so slowly in this country? take:
Progressive Workplace Practices for Women: a Cross-Cultural Perspective
I had plenty of inspiration for this topic beyond my girlfriends. The fuel for the fire really erupted a few months ago at a low-key bachelorette party. The (now U.K.-based) maid of honor, Rachel, was kind enough to answer all of my questions about what it’s like to reside across the pond…in life, in work, and perhaps most relevant here, in motherhood. I think the other partygoers were really annoyed by my interrogation, but how often does one get the chance to hear about this stuff directly from the expat’s mouth! Rachel enlightened me about the stark differences in flexibility and culture she encountered between her U.S. and U.K. experiences while employed by the same professional services firm.
From that point on, I was hooked on learning more about how women and primary caregivers seem to get a better deal overseas. Although my good friend Frank commented, “I’m not sure you could have selected a city with a more dismal climate and higher cost of living, Joy”, I still stand by my infatuation with all things British. If the opportunity presents itself for me to live there someday, I’ll slap a Union Flag on my suitcase and be on the first flight to Heathrow before you can say “tea and crumpets”.
If You Build It, They Will Come…
Although my deliverable for this project is still undefined, I am hoping to identify organizations abroad that currently offer both top-down and bottom-up programs for women and primary caregivers. I’d like to produce something of a roadmap for organizations to use in order to customize and implement programs like these in the American workplace without incurring a bureaucratic nightmare or a major shift in policy.
We know these programs exist, but we rarely hear about them unless an organization or industry has the resources to employ a massive PR campaign: case in point, Flex Time Flourishes in Accounting Industry, an article, which appeared in the business section of last week’s New York Times. Perhaps I’m a cynical millennial who can’t appreciate the progress of the past twenty years, but I worked for one of those firms and I know the reality. We have a LONG way to go.
Friends, Europeans, Countrymen(and women), Lend me your Contacts!
This is where you as my readers and friends come in. Until I get my head around the women’s initiatives already out there and develop a powerful survey with M, I’d like to start building a network of contacts both here in the U.S. and in Europe who may be able to help me with my research. My focus will be London, since I am headed there in November to conduct live interviews.
If you know anyone in the U.K. [and now I am thinking about a day trip to Paris] who may have a story to tell or know someone with a network of contacts in Europe, please let me know. For example, a number of the students I work with at my university have interned abroad and are connecting me to their former supervisors! I even have a friend who connected me to a rabbi in London – spiritual leaders have HUGE networks. Everyone knows someone over there and those contacts know many others!
Before this turns into a LinkedIn advertisement, I will mention that I’d also appreciate your forwarding my blog entry (or excerpts from it, as this one has become quite long) to anyone you know domestically who has benefitted from a flexibility initiative, or better yet, someone who runs these sorts of programs in his or her workplace. I will take all the contacts I can get, but please remind them that full-time job + part-time MBA student = limited free time for immediate follow up!
Thank you in advance for reading and for your help with my assignment. I look forward to providing you with updates along the way and perhaps arriving at some of my own answers in the process!