Business Communication

1
Business Communication

• Preparing Resumes and Applications
• Chapter 13

2
Finding a Job

• Youll spend at least 70,000 hours of
  at-the-office time on your business career --
  more than you will on any other activity in your
  life.
• Its very important to find an occupation and a
  company you like!
• Finding the right fit requires self-analysis,
  job market research, corporate research, and
  finally -- persuasive communication of your
  strengths to your chosen employer.

3
Preparing for a Job Search

• The right job is fun, not work. The wrong one
  can be living hell.
• Finding the right one is a process, not an event.
• To be right, a job should satisfy every tier of
  your personal Maslows Hierarchy of needs --
  particularly the top tier.

4
Job Search

• Self-assessment What are your strengths,
  experiences, qualifications , skills, likes and
  dislikes?
• Environment assessment In view of your
  self-assessment, what type of industry and role
  might be the right fit for you?
• Company assessment What companies might need you
  and which of them are looking for employees?
• Personal specifics What specifically can you
  offer that might interest one of your target
  companies? How can you communicate your
  strengths in a way that will match the profile of
  the job the company wants to fill? Feature these
  characteristics in your resume and during the job
  interview,

5
The Job Search

• Be meticulous and organized. Keep an
  alphabetical list of your corporate targets by
  name, address, phone number, and website address.
  Research the companies (website, recent news
  media coverage, conversations with current
  employees, etc.). Financials, culture,
  competitive position, etc.
• Keep a list recording the date of each job call
  made or received, including the name and title of
  who you talked with, key points of the
  conversation, and the date you sent your resume.
• Job Search Templates For example, Monster.com

6
Job Search Sources

• Employment advertisements in newspapers from
  cities where target companies are located
  (www.careerbuilder.com).
• www.usenext.com will give you access to jobs by
  geographic location and job category.
• Go to www.aol.com and key career for job search
  sites and services
• www.monster.com provides useful information and
  organizational services
• Industry directories or trade publications (e.g.,
  Automotive News)
• Professional networking (student societies,
  friends from an intern stint)
• The employment office of the company
• University career service centers

7
The Search

• Use electronic sources to sort, sift, narrow and
  prioritize your list of target companies. Then
  find out everything you can about them before
  beginning your approach.
• Identify the specific skills and experience they
  are seeking and structure your resume
  accordingly.
• Examine the employment section of their web pages
  to see if they are advertising job openings.

8
Planning a Targeted Resume

• Employers scan resumes for reasons to exclude
  applicants!
• Among other things, your resume will tell them
  whether you can communicate if not, youre
  toast!
• To make the cut, it must be short, concise,
  descriptive, well-written, easily digested, and
  usually -- targeted at a specific job.
• The goal is to get your foot in the door for an
  interview. Any information not supporting this
  goal should be excluded.

9
Standard Resume Parts

• Identification, objective, career summary,
  qualifications, personal information, references
• But its flexible and should be adapted to target
  the job you want!
• Warning be simple, direct and honest, dont
  inflate your qualifications 96 percent of
  companies do background checks (Source Society
  of Human Resource Management)
• Note and be prepared to explain employment gaps
  Yes, I was laid off and looking for a job.

10
PartsIdentification and Objective

• Identification Name, current address, telephone
  number and email address. Box it or otherwise
  make it easy to locate (top-center). Note pay
  attention to the impression made by the message
  on your answering machine.
• Job and/or Career Objective Specific, but also
  general enough to encompass a variety of jobs
  (unless resume is targeted)
• gt General a position offering challenge and
  opportunity for growth
• gt Targeted a managerial position in commercial
  lending

11
PartsCareer Summary

• Resume reviewers have the shortest attention span
  you will ever encounter -- about 40 seconds per
  resume. What statement in your Career Summary is
  most likely to cause a reviewer to pause, think,
  and put it in the possible pile instead of the
  round file? Hone, polish and perfect this
  statement!!!
• Link it to your job/career objective
• gt Objective position in sales
• gt Summary sold this, this and that during my
  three-year part-time job to pay my way through
  Winthrop
• Target the summary to what the reviewer wants.

12
PartsQualifications

• Education Degree/major/school/graduation date
  most recent first. Dont bother with high school
  unless some activity was special include GPA
  both overall and major if B or better. List
  honors or special/unusual college activities and
  accomplishments What did you learn that makes
  you different or might be relevant to the
  reviewer?
• Work Experience Job title/company/dates of
  employment/primary responsibilities/key
  accomplishments most recent first unless an
  earlier one better relates to the job you seek
• Which of these two sections goes first depends on
  your life-stage and the opportunity you seek.

13
Work Experience (cont.)

• What does my work experience qualify me to
  contribute to this company?
• gt What are the success criteria for the job I am
  applying for?
• gt What is the employers bottom line and how can
  I contribute to it?
• gt What problems or projects did I
  solve/complete? How did I do it? What were the
  specific results? What useful skills did I
  learn. How can I convey this succinctly?

14
Whats Left?

• Write down anything about you and your
  accomplishments that did not fit in the foregoing
  categories. If any of it relates to the job you
  are seeking or it reflects a relevant personal
  strength, assemble it under titles such as
  Honors and Activities, Memberships,
  Leadership Activities, Civic Activities, etc.

15
Personal Information

• Under the 1964 Civil Rights and the Americans
  with Disabilities (ADA) acts, employers cannot
  base hiring decisions on gender, age, marital
  status, religion, national origin, or disability.
  So dont include any of this information or data
  such as height, weight, eye/hair color, a
  photograph that might reveal it.
• But, if some item of personal information such as
  ethnicity is part of the job qualifications, you
  can include it.
• Include personal information that will portray
  you as a well-rounded individual.

16
References

• References Say available upon request or list
  them (name, title, address, phone number and
  relationship). Often, they are not required
  until you reach the interview stage, so why
  bother your reference sources until needed?
• References Dont use friends, relatives or
  neighbors they may be perceived as biased.
  Current and former employers and instructors are
  good references. Talk with them first to
  determine their willingness.

17
ReviewKey Questions

• What does the employer need/desire?
• What specific skills have you learned from your
  academic and work experience that meets those
  needs and desires?

18
Style What will make my resume different?

• Dont use a standard resume format! Develop your
  own.
• gt Crisp
• gt Tight
• gt Digestible
• gt Substantial (24-pound, 100-cotton paper,
  laser printer)
• gt Customized/targeted
• gt Eye candy

19
Style

• Use bullets, boxes, borders, varying fonts/points
  and white space to make the contents visually
  interesting and digestible while calling
  attention to specific information.
• Avoid mouse type (use 12-point or higher).
• Begin sentences with action verbs.
• Identify each page with your name and a number.
• If resume is to be added to an electronic
  (scannable) data base, try to obtain the key
  words the computer uses to count hits and rank
  candidates.

20
Formatting a Scannable Resume

• Use non-decorative typefaces such as Helvetica,
  Univers, Times New Roman, and New Century
  Schoolbook.
• Use 12 or 14-point font.
• Avoid all the graphic techniques that help the
  human eye (boxes, underlining, open bullets,
  lines) that might confuse the computer.
• Use ample white space.
• Use a traditional format.
• Maximize likely hits with key words,
  industry-related nouns and other buzz words you
  can link to your experience.
• Do not fold or staple.

21
Online Resumes

• Online resumes are not confidential. All your
  information is now public and may make you a
  target for many things, including identity theft
• If you post your resume online, dont include
  references that is their information!
• How long active how to update how to delete.
• Try to control and target your information.
• Send it to a friend to see how the format
  transmits.

22
Resume Supplements

• Professional portfolios an electronic collection
  of good stuff that demonstrates your
  communication, people and technical skills
  (awards, performance appraisals, writing,
  positive customer letters, etc.) offer them on a
  website or burn a CD, but target it to the
  specific job (Text page 492).
• Employment videos captures you live make sure
  its very professional
• Obviously, dont do these if they wont help sell
  you if you do, mention them in your resume.

23
Application Messages

• When submitting a resume (either cold or
  requested), accompany it with an application
  letter or email.
• The letter should
• gt identify the job sought and thumbnail your
  qualifications
• gt introduce and arouse interest in the resume
• gt interpret it in terms of employer benefit
• gt sell, sell, sell like hell (but subtly)
• gt Organize in SSS format ? activate action (an
  interview)
• gt Fallback get into the retain for future
  file
• gt Good example (Text page 496)

24
Cold (unsolicited) Submissions

• Show them right away that you know their company
  and the market segment in which it competes then
  demonstrate your enthusiasm and desire to work
  for them.
• Eloquently describe your qualifications (What
  relevant skills have you learned at school and
  work? How did you learn them? SPECIFICS!)
• Tell a story suck them in.

25
Encourage Action

• Try to generate an interview appointment, but
  dont press or plead. If your resume is strong,
  you dont have to do either. If it isnt, you
  likely wont get an appointment anyway.
• Take this businesslike approach At your
  convenience, I would appreciate an opportunity to
  discuss this job with you.

26
Separating Yourself from the PackFinal Tips

• Dont boast be modest and factual.
• Show what you have learned and done with specific
  details.
• Demonstrate that you have done your homework on
  them.
• Make certain you understand their needs and
  desires, then target them. What can you do for
  them?
• Focus on your strengths.
• If submitting via email, follow with a snail-mail
  copy.
• Zero errors proofread everything carefully!!