resume

Stay the Course … or Pivot?

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You thought I was going to talk politics, right? Another day, perhaps. But I am going to borrow from a current political message.

Disregard people’s responses at your own peril. And while that certainly does apply to companies, government, and CXO’s who set strategy, what about on a much more personal level … your job search.

What responses are you getting to …

Your resume? Interest? Inquiries? Interviews? Or, Silence? Unless your answer is one or all of the first three, what can you do differently to move from silence to activity?

Networking? Is your network providing you with introductions to your target market? Or, are people hiding behind closed doors because you asked them for a job and they can’t deliver? Is it time to hone your message?

Search strategy? Sitting in front of a computer and responding to posted positions is easy and it sure can make a person feel productive. But what is the return on your investment of time and energy? If decision-makers are not responding, the search strategy might need an overhaul.

Online Presence? Do you have one? Is it credible? Is it attracting the kind of opportunities you want? If your message is not resonating with your target market, then perhaps the messaging needs to be refined. 

I know you know this. If you keep on doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll continue to get what you’ve been getting. If you’re getting what you want and need, great! If you aren’t, then it’s time to pivot. Unless you embrace change, it’s unlikely anything will change.

Executive finance positions, and particularly CFO roles, are limited. There are only so many available slots at the top. Move away from the masses (competition) and the same ineffective strategies they all use and craft (no pun intended) a strategy that gets you out in the open where you can be seen and found by those who need to know about you, need what you have, and are willing to pay to get it.

Whose Responsibility Is It?

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I was contacted last week by a CFO expressing great frustration in his job search. Why, he asked, was he the only one who could see how easily he could make the transition back into a private industry leadership role after being out of private industry for the last 10+ years. He was confident those last 10 years only ADDED to his ability to lead a finance department. Looking at his marketing documents, I understood why.

My question to him – and to you – is this …

Whose responsibility is it to connect the dots so your value is obvious? Yours? Or, the prospective company?

There is no question that the job search today is challenging. However, it is made all the more exasperating by, in my opinion, these two things … 

—Not understanding your positioning 

It is not what you did (responsibilities) that a company is buying. It is your ability to solve problems, and particularly their problems, that they will pay good money to get. If you aren’t positioned as a problem solver, your positioning is weak, vulnerable, and suspect and relegates you to commodity status.

Maybe you do understand your value proposition, and you can even clearly articulate it. Do your marketing documents convey the same message? Resume writing is about strategy, which is why templates often fail to make the grade. A one-size-fits-all approach isn’t a good marketing document strategy, nor is it a good candidate strategy.

–Being all things to all people

Being niched … and branded … I am a bit biased in this regard. Still, my belief is that being a subject matter expert trumps being a generalist; knowing a lot about a little is more valued than knowing a little about a lot; and everyone has one or two things at which they excel and would differentiate them from the competition. Most people just haven’t taken the time to figure it out. Rather, they rush into a job search trying to be all things to all people in order to get that next position. 

If you can’t clearly convey why you are the best of the best at solving a company’s financial/operational problems, the prospective company probably won’t take time to figure it out either. That responsibility is yours as the seller of Product You.


The “Spaghetti” Job Search Strategy

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There’s a lot of angst in the LinkedIn CFO group this morning. Not hearing back from recruiters these days is enough to send even the most stable senior finance executive to the edge of the cliff after a period of unemployment. The job search system is already flawed, and the Internet has exacerbated the breakdown … candidates send resumes to a big black hole and never hear back from anyone. If you haven’t read my article “Everybody Lies,” email me and I’ll be happy to send it your way. 

Anyway, the flawed search strategy that almost every job seeker uses is what I call the “spaghetti strategy.” They throw their resume into the black hole hoping it will stick to something. It doesn’t have to be the “right” thing, just, please, let it be “something.”  

When HR has posted a position or a recruiter has been hired to do a specific search, they are in “screen out” mode. If you don’t meet these specific requirements – every one of them – you’re out. And, short of a solid long-term relationship with a recruiter that might sway them, there is nothing you can do about it.

Playing the posted position game elicits this advice from some … “you must modify your resume for every position to which you apply.” That is because when you are throwing your resume into the black hole and hoping it will stick to something, it requires you to be “all things to all people.” You’re like a chameleon constantly changing colors depending on where you’re standing … or in this case, depending on what the job posting says. 

I believe there is a search strategy is that far more effective, much less anxiety-inducing, and focuses on what you want rather than anything that’s available. It is hard work AND it requires you to move away from the job boards and into a position of strength. 

You first need to identify your sweet spot. Business coach Deborah Gallant, in summarizing points from “What Would Google Do,” said this …

“Mass market are irrelevant, it’s all about niches: identifying what you do really well and doing it supremely well.”

The next step is figuring out who needs what you do really well and then how you can get on their radar screen. Whether that company has a position posted is irrelevant because if you can take away their current pain, having a conversation with you is always an option. It’s hard work, certainly more challenging than the spaghetti strategy, and generally much more effective! 

Resume vs. Candidate … Is There Cohesion?

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One of the issues facing candidates is ensuring cohesion between his resume and the person he really is. While the search process is comprised of two parts … marketing documents and the search strategy … they go hand-in-hand. If you look great on paper but bomb in the interview … because who you looked like on paper isn’t really who you are … the process will fail. Conversely, if you wow someone at a networking event but follow up with a less-than-compelling resume, again, the process will fail. The disconnect could be career suicide.

Recruiter Rayanne Thorn talks about this very situation in her blog post, “Looking Good on Paper.” While hers is an extreme example, it is more often the little things that can trip up candidates. Sue Danbom talked about this same issue in her ERE blog post, “Does Your Costume Reveal the Real You?”

My belief is that regardless of the situation, authenticity is key. I am not at all suggesting that any of my readers lie. I am saying that a disconnect, even unintentionally, between who you appear to be on paper and who you are in person, could be derailing your ability to land that next opportunity.

Does your resume speak from your voice? Does it reflect and confirm your in-person executive stature? And conversely, are you the accomplished contributor your resume says you are?

Failing to Plan … Planning to Fail?

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A finance executive called me last week because he knew that his resume was not selling value, he struggled when answering questions about his atypical career track, and he had an important interview coming up in the next couple of weeks. He understood that without a compelling value proposition that mitigated his unusual career progression and which leveraged his market differentiation, he would always be on the defensive while being interviewed.  Smart guy. 

Except, that when his pending interview was postponed indefinitely and the immediacy of the situation gone, he put his strategic planning on hold. Without the urgency driving his steps, he would have had the luxury of time to get his positioning right … while gaining confidence and re-energizing his search. 

The reality in proactively managing one’s career is like anything else … failing to plan could very well be planning to fail. The choice to not be proactive is a decision, by default, to be reactive. 

The High Cost of Taking the Wrong Position

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Brad Remillard, a 25-year executive recruiter, authored a blog post about the high cost of making a bad hire. It is definitely expensive.

It also made me wonder if you, Mr. CFO Search Candidate, have given thought to the high cost of accepting the wrong position. 

Failure is an option

Taking the wrong position or taking the right position at the wrong company is a recipe for failure. A sound reason for making sure you are very clear about what you have to offer and to whom!

That is precisely why I am such a fan of branding. When you understand your authentic value (brand) and the market you serve (target), decision-making is much easier. You attract the “right” opportunities and repel those that are not a good fit.

Sadly, failure …

Sticks like glue, 

And, you have to explain it. 

Do you really want that mess as the lead in under Employment History on your resume? This job market is tough enough without adding a conversation around a bad decision that led to 1) no contributions and/or 2) leaving shortly after you’re hired. 

Dissatisfaction leads to job search mode … again

Job searching is not fun. It’s hard work, filled with rejection, undermining confidence, and can even lead to desperation. Desperation can lead to repeating the same cycle of choosing the wrong position and/or the wrong company, again.

Passive candidates who are open to hearing about new opportunities HOLD THE MOST POWER. It may not be right, especially given the current market, but it is true. Making great decisions about where you go and when is a smart, long-term career management strategy.

It’s a Little Hard to be Taken Seriously When …

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I was reading the link from a tweet this morning regarding SEO for your blog. The author had some interesting information, but, he is a web designer apparently using  a free blog service that was plastered with ads. It’s a little difficult for me to take the guy, or his expertise, seriously. So much so, I can’t even bring myself to provide the link.

Along with those who profess to be experts, yet use free web and blog services allowing advertising, here are some other situations that make it difficult for me to take others seriously.

Tweeps who have no tweets, no bio, and no name recognition.

It’s great to jump into social media with both feet, however, zeal without knowledge can be a brand killer. I also haven’t figured out why anyone who is using Twitter externally would protect their tweets. Maybe someone who’s reading this could explain it to me. And, seriously, I don’t understand.

An incomplete Linked In Profile

Those who choose to have only the most basic of information on Linked In send a couple of messages (at least to me). They don’t really “get” networking, especially social networking; they don’t care about their career; and they aren’t subject matter experts. 

At the other extreme is the poorly-crafted profile filled with sentences that all begin with “I”. Seriously, that is a little too self-promoting. And unbelievable.

Boring resumes and cover letters that shriek C-O-M-M-O-D-I-T-Y

A company isn’t hiring a CFO because they have a corner office with a nice view, currently unoccupied, and they are looking for a body to fill it. Nor are they hiring a person who brings chronology of responsibilities. Rather, a company who is in pain IS hiring the candidate who can take away that pain … and it better show up in your marketing documents if you want to be taken seriously. 

And read your cover letter for the “I” factor. If every sentence begins with “I,” you might have a serious credibility problem.

Your Resume is Your Ad

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Anybody besides me get irritated when I click a link to read (er, well, skim) an article, and my ONLY option is to watch a video. I don’t really care whether it is 2 minutes or 10 minutes, it is a commitment I have to make to watch the entire thing in order to see whether or not it contains anything I’m even remotely interested in knowing. Most times, I elect to simply move on to the next thing.

Which is why, when I read this comment from a recent ERE article  …

According to marketing legend David Ogilvy, five times as many people read a headline as do the entire ad. Therefore, without a strong headline statement, your ad may be skipped entirely. Another source (copyblog.com) says that while 8 out of 10 people will read a headline statement, only 2 in 10 read the entire ad.

… it reinforced my belief that video resumes will never make it on the front end of a job search. It just takes too long to determine if there is any value.

This excerpt also speaks to the importance of … 

— Ensuring the top half of the first page of your resume is powerful enough to evoke action; and

–Letting your resume breathe. The significance of white space and font in a size that can be read without a magnifying glass cannot be overstated.

Your resume is your ad, and the product you’re selling is you. Are you selling a record of value or a long list of responsibilities? Would you buy what you’re selling?

Resume Authenticity

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Cathy Graham authored an informative post entitled “Living Up to Your Resume.”  While it offers a number of good insights, here’s the one I want to key in on today … because it is so critically important.

Resume writing services are out there and many are very good. However, you can end up with a product that really bears little relationship to who you are. Experienced recruiters and employers pick up on this quite quickly. Robert Half International conducted a survey of 100 Canadian senior executives, asking them “How common is it for a job applicant who has a promising resume to not live up to your expectations when you interview him or her?” Sixty-five percent said it was very common. One of the biggest causes of this disconnect stems from inflating your achievements. When you get in an interview situation, with its attendant stress, you are unable to relate your experience to match the way it is conveyed on your resume. 

One of the things I evangelize to my clients is the importance of consistency between who they look like on paper and who they appear to be in person. It is also why my clients work very hard through the marketing document development process. Until they are crystal clear about their marketable value proposition (MVP), the pain they’ve taken away, challenges overcome, problems solved, and situations improved … and they can articulate those points … they simply canNOT compete as A-players.

The Resume Writing Myth

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I was having breakfast with one of my colleagues the other morning, and our conversation circled around to debunking the myths of our industry. For example, you are going to get your next job and stay there until you retire (if retirement is more than 18 months away); or, that networking means asking everyone you know for a job; or, the best way to look for a job is posted positions on the Internet; or, one of my favorites …


I am the only one who can write my own resume. 

There are people, some of my recruiter friends included, and organizations who tell candidates / members that they are the only ones who can write their own resumes. 

Let me ask you a few questions.

Do you cut your own hair? You are the only one who styles it every day, right? You know how it lays the best, which side you prefer to part it on, where every cowlick is, and what styling products you prefer. Why do you not just cut your own hair then?

Did you build your own house? I mean, you envisioned what rooms you wanted and where you wanted them and where it would make the most sense to place every electrical outlet and window, right? Then why did you hand off your vision to someone else to do what you already had in your head?

Do you buy your clothes or do you make them? After all, who knows their body better than you? What styles look/fit the best? Colors that complement your skin tones, hair, and eyes? Why, then, do you go to the store and buy clothes from somebody who is totally unfamiliar with what looks best on you?  

Do you self-diagnose? Get on the Internet when you have aches and pains and decide what’s wrong and then self-medicate. Most of us do. Unless that ache or pain doesn’t go away … then, typically, we seek out a doctor. A professional. Why? Because he is trained to isolate, identify, and fix the problem. 

Many people CAN write their own resumes. Many more can NOT. My experience tells me that identifying their marketable value proposition and writing about their strengths does not come easily to my analytically, numbers-oriented CFOs. To buy into the myth that says  you are the only one who can write your own resume … if you truly can’t … is to do yourself, and your career, a great disservice.