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In this issue

Greetings

Connections: Career Communiqué Radio & TV:
What’s Your WOW Factor?

Coach's Corner:
Is your résumé interview worthy?

Ace that Interview:
How to successfully tackle the “What is your current salary” question

Your question answered:
Interviews: How do I tackle Illegal Interview Questions?

Resources & Tools to Catapult Your Career
New JibberJobber Career Web 2.0 – Career Management Tool

Friday 10, April 2009
ISSN:1835-8551
Volume XXXIV, Issue 51

Published every fortnight on Friday. To change your subscription, see link at the end of the email.

Career Communiqué x-Press supports people in accelerating their level of success in the job market and the workplace; and businesses in boosting their staff performance and profitability!

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Personal note from Annemarie Cross

Hi,

Welcome to another issue of Career Communiqué x-Press, and especially a warm ‘hello’ to all of our new subscribers. We consider it a real privilege to have you join us! Please drop me an email to let me know how we can continue supporting you.

success In last fortnight’s newsletter I hinted that there were a number of exciting things happening here at AEC that would allow us to bring you even more resources, information and inspiration to support you in accelerating your level of success in the job market.

I’m very excited to announce our first webinar, scheduled for the 22nd April at 1.00pm AEST. The topic will be: Taking your job search to the next level with Social Networking.

It’s a fact - the number of printed job advertisements is decreasing. However, despite this decline there are still many great job opportunities out there, with recruiters and employers turning to online mediums to search for potential hires. So, if you can’t be found online, you won’t be found - period!

This webinar will teach you how to begin building your professional online profile. Take your search to the next level with social networking sites, such as Twitter, blogs, Linked In, Facebook and other online mediums. To book, sign up here: http://www.career-coach.com.au/seminars.htm Entry fee: Free! Spread the word and invite your friends and colleagues as this is going to be a great webinar.

Have a wonderful fortnight everyone, and of course a relaxing Easter break!

Is your résumé ‘interview worthy’?

The increasing competitiveness of today’s job market now requires a job seeker to be far more assertive in their overall job search, particularly when it comes to developing their career-marketing document – the résumé. This fortnight’s article presents some strategic ‘must-do’ résumé writing tips.

Hope you enjoy this fortnight’s article!

Connect with me on Facebook Are we friends yet? If not just click on the photo and send me a friend request. Come and join our Career Success Network too! Or become a fan! Until next time, to your success! Remember: If you can dream it...you can achieve it! Annemarie Cross Career Management & Personal Branding Strategist
	Name: Annemarie Cross

Connections: Career Communiqué Radio

Bringing you empowering career related topics every week to support you in accelerating your level of success in the job market and the workplace. Co-hosted by Annemarie Cross and Keith Keller.
When: Every Monday Where: www.careercommuniqueradio.com Dial In: 0011 1 914 338 0714 [Calls only 1 cent per minute if using a calling card] Time: 8.00-8.30am AEST [Note: All shows are recorded and downloadable]
What's coming up on our next show – Monday 20th April 2009 Topic: What’s Your WOW Factor? Would you like to: Gain recognition in your company or industry? Showcase your accomplishments in an interview? Present yourself with confidence at professional networking events? Join Annemarie Cross and Keith Keller as they interview Colette D. Ellis from InStep Consulting LLC. Colette will show you how to leverage your strengths and "create a buzz" about your accomplishments, and how you can position yourself for new opportunities to achieve your career goals. If you have any questions you would like answered during the show, send them through at: http://www.askadvancedemploymentconcepts.com Remember to pop across to join the Career Communiqué Facebook Fan page. Previous Show: Standing out online: Take your job search to the next level with social networking sites

Coach's Corner: Feature Article

Prefer to listen to this article? Click here

Is your résumé ‘interview worthy’?

The increasing competitiveness of today’s job market now requires a job seeker to be far more assertive in their overall job search, particularly when it comes to developing their career-marketing document – the résumé.

With a window of opportunity often as little as 10 seconds for the résumé to spark the reader’s attention, this demands a well-written document that outlines the candidate’s expertise and overall value offered. Gone are the days of a tasked-based résumé with an inventory of a position’s responsibilities, coupled with a standard list of personal aptitudes. This has been replaced with a results driven document that highlights solid results through examples of achievements and contributions for which you were responsible.

Your résumé is your initial handshake so must be developed carefully and strategically in order to demonstrate your ability to fulfil the company’s requirements while building interest in the benefits and value you bring to the organisation.

So what strategies can be followed to create a professional marketing document that promotes your overall value and that demands an invitation to interview?

Here are some tips to inspire your writing:

Replace the career objective [which concentrates on what you want] with a career profile that summarises your expertise. Your profile could also include a few accomplishment highlights which are bound to impress the reader as it concentrates on what you can deliver for them, rather than on what you want.
Incorporate industry-related key words as well as action words that will grab the reader’s attention. For instance:

Orchestrated, devised, instructed, spearheaded, maximised, led, directed, streamlined, oversaw, managed, motivated, controlled, delegated, consolidated, generated, implemented, proposed, specified … and the list goes on.

Identify challenges you overcame; the action or solution you undertook to alleviate the challenge; and the (quantifiable) result, and script this into a powerfully written statement. For instance:

Challenge: Staff turnover high, performance levels extremely poor, with overall costs to recruit and train new staff high.

Action: Developed staff monitoring and incentive programs; implemented staff training programs.

Result: Increased staff knowledge base; decreased staff turnover by 66.7%; increased staff morale and collaboration; increased productivity levels by 77%.

Then by incorporating a number of action words, the above can be written as:

Enhanced staff morale; optimised productivity by 77%; and reduced staff turnover by 66.7% through implementation of strategic monitoring and incentive programs.

Notice the deliberate placement of the quantifiable results at the front of the statement, followed by the method by which this accomplishment was obtained.

Ensure your document is consistent in its formatting; if you bold a position title, bold all job titles throughout your document. Make certain your overall document is well structured (plenty of white space), and aesthetically pleasing (professional headings and layout).
Refrain from providing details of every single position you have ever had. As a guide, generally the last 10 years is appropriate (if the position being applied for is relevant to what you have been doing), with a maximum of about 15 years.
For far greater impact when identifying your professional experience, create a strategically written paragraph outlining your main accountabilities (remembering to incorporate attention grabbing action words), followed by a bulleted list of achievements.

Here is an example of a recent graduate’s impressive achievement gained through the part-time job she held while completing her studies:

COMPANY NAME, Suburb Dates

Sales Assistant (Second in Charge)

Pivotal leadership role in one of the 10 busiest stores in the chain, using strong staff management and sales talent to continually exceed competitive sales budgets by ensuring professionalism and quality service is extended to a diverse and continually-expanding client base.

Notable Achievements:

Outstripped sales budget by 285% with many products selling out following relocation of stock to prominent store positioning and through developing eye-catching displays to capture and elicit client spend.

Lastly, edit, edit, and edit again. Then ask a family member or friend to read through the document to ensure your career-marketing document is error free.

All the very best!

Till next fortnight!

To your success!

Annemarie

Ace that Interview!

How to successfully tackle the “What is your current salary” question.

Providing dishonest information during any stage of the interview should be avoided and this holds true when it comes to salary negotiations. It is not acceptable to lie about your current (or previous) salary/wage, and if you get caught out in a lie this could seriously tarnish your image and undermine your future credibility and standing with the company.

Consider incorporating bonuses, training opportunities, health benefits, expense accounts, and any other allowances and benefits that are included in your package. For instance you may be on a $50,000 salary, but be expecting a bonus of $10,000; have a company car (valued at $15,000); and a travel/client allowance of $5,000 – which grosses $80,000. Rather than saying “I am on $50,000”, you could say, “My current salary package with bonuses and other allowances topped $80,000.”

Want to learn more about negotiating your salary? You can. Grab your copy of 10 key steps to Ace that Interview! Today! Send me Ace that Interview today!

Need to get your hands on 10 key steps to Ace that Interview! immediately for an unexpected interview? Get a copy of our new e-Book version delivered to your inbox today! Send me Ace that Interview today!

Note: Want to drastically improve your interview performance? Click here to find out how.

Subscriber Spotlight: Your questions answered

Interviews: How do I tackle Illegal Interview Questions?

Dear Annemarie

During a few recent interviews, I have been asked ‘inappropriate’ questions by interviewers about children and my age. I thought these types of questions were illegal?

-- Sharon.

Dear Sharon,

Unfortunately, I'd have to say that quite a few of our subscribers have been asked inappropriate questions, namely women, around age and children.

Funnily enough, the 'age' question stretches from younger women through to more mature aged women. I had one woman contact me a few weeks ago, furious that a recruitment agent had contacted her and after the initial introductions etc, one of the first questions was about her age. The recruiter sounded extremely young on the telephone and the candidate was quite shocked by the question and asked the recruiter what relevance her age had to her being able to perform the functions of the role properly. Of course the recruiter couldn't answer the question and as you can guess, the candidate had no further contact.

As you may be aware, here in Australia you cannot discriminate against so many things, including religion, age, gender, political affiliation - and the list goes on. A company/recruiter needs to be extremely careful about what they state in advertising the role right through to interviewing the candidate. So if a company needs to find out pertinent information from a candidate, it's how they frame and structure the question that can make a huge difference.

Several months ago I was working with a client who worked in the construction industry as a Workcare/OH&S Safety Inspector. Now that industry is a male dominated industry to say the least, however she had far more experience and qualifications than many of her male counterparts. So we put together a strong case right from the outset. We knew that the interview panel would probably have concerns about her working within this industry (which can get pretty rough and tough) so rather than leaving this potential concern unspoken and leaving any doubts and concerns in the minds of the interviewers, she brought this discussion to the table herself and presented examples and situations of how she (as a woman) had handled herself, even in the thick of confrontations with angry construction workers etc, and how she had continued to make significant contributions in the industry. Bringing this out openly was a strategic move on her behalf and the fact that she was a woman no longer was an issue.

Perhaps her story may provide some insights on how you could approach this situation?

All the very best Sharon. Drop me a line at info@a-e-c.com.au and let me know how you go.

Annemarie

Resources & Tools to Catapult Your Career

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Sign up for your free account and begin to accelerate your career success and significance through this innovative and powerful personal career management tool.

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Want to use this article in your ezine or website?

You can as long as you include this complete copy with it:

Annemarie Cross is a Career Management & Personal Branding Strategist, Speaker, Consultant, Radio Broadcaster, and Author of ’10 key steps to Ace also the founder/principal of Advanced Employment Concepts – Career Management and Personal Branding Specialists offering powerful programs for people striving for career success and fulfilment, as well as savvy companies committed to building and retaining their most important asset – their staff.

A champion for her clients, Annemarie’s motto ‘Your catalyst to success’ perfectly encapsulates what she desires for everyone she and her team at AEC works with. To learn more about her book, 10 Key Steps to Ace that Interview! and sign up for more F*REE tips and solutions like these, visit the AEC site at www.a-e-c.com.au

Have a question you'd like answered in this ezine? Contact: enquiry@a-e-c.com.au

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