Career Resources and Advice for Experienced Workers

Happy-almost Friday!

We’ve been getting a lot of questions lately from you, our readers, which we absolutely love. The more we can interact with and help you, the better. Going forward, we’ll have a new segment called “Ask PrimeCB!” To ask a question, you can send us an e-mail at info@primecb.com, or you can leave a comment asking a question on this post.

For this week’s question, we heard from Joe, who says:

“My technical position was eliminated from a corporate facility that is close to home. After three weeks of job searching and, a check from the state, I took a temporary position that paid about the same as unemployment. Long story short, since then, I proudly earned a Commercial Drivers License and began training with a national trucking company. After six weeks of student driver training and being unable to maintain my home and financial responsibilities for almost continually being on the road, among many other reasons, I decided over the road trucking wasn’t for me. I’m a better Technician than a Truck Driver.

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Today’s job market has thrown workers of all ages for a loop, but a new CareerBuilder study reveals that mature workers, age 55 and older like yourselves, have been hit particularly hard. Only 28 percent of workers in your demographic have found work within 12 months of being laid off, compared to 71 percent of workers aged 25-34. As a result, older workers are expanding their job search to entry-level positions, internships, relocation and other options to secure gainful employment – and employers are open to it.

“Mature workers offer a wealth of knowledge and experience that has translated into a significant competitive advantage for employers,” said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.  “Employers are considering mature job candidates for a variety of positions ranging from entry-level to senior-level to consultants to leverage their intellectual capital and mentor other workers.  Twenty-nine percent of employers have hired a worker age 50 or older for a permanent position within their organization over the last six months.”

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In the past few months, we’ve talked a lot about social networking and its benefits to the job search. The great news is that PrimeCB has stopped talking the talk, and now we’re walking the walk. (In non-cliche speak, that means we started a Facebook page.)

In becoming a “fan” of our page, you will have immediate access to all of our content, tips/advice and you’ll be able to search for jobs right from the page. In addition, you can write on our wall to ask us any of your burning job-search questions, or start a discussion with your fellow Boomer job seekers.

If you’re new to social networking, follow these tips as you get started:

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By Anthony Balderrama, PrimeCB.com writer

Workplaces are all about trust. It’s one of those buzzwords you can’t escape, along with “synergy,” “teamwork” and “value add.” There are even teambuilding activities based on trust.

The problem with trust is that it’s a loaded concept. How do you know when you trust someone? Are there levels of it or is it a black and white issue? Can you really establish trust by falling backwards and hoping Rick from accounting will, in fact, catch you?

That’s for you to decide, but what isn’t up for much debate is the importance of trust. Whether you work in a huge corporation or on a small team with three people, trust plays a role in your job. You want to know that no one’s stealing your ideas, they’re keeping their promises and you can rely on everyone else to do their jobs.

If you find that you can’t trust a co-worker, you can discuss the issue face-to-face, and if need be, go to the boss to resolve the issue. But what if it’s the boss that’s the problem?

As with any situation, you need to step back and identify the problem, says Holly Green, CEO and managing director of The Human Factor, a consulting firm.

“First and foremost, determine why you don’t trust your boss,” Green recommends. “Is it based on your own assumptions, beliefs and biases, which you have sought to prove true over time or is there some truly tangible data? Are you absolutely sure you are right? If so, you have to then decide whether it is a personal issue — i.e. it is against or outside your own ethics and standards versus it is illegal, clearly against company policy, etc.”

If the boss is operating outside of your personal standards but well within the company’s policies and principles, Green cautions employees to think about their limits.

“You have to make a decision on whether you can live with it,” she says. “Are you going to build up resentment over time that is going to leak out of you and damage your own reputation? What tradeoffs are you willing to make?”

For example, a previous boss told Green she was doing too much high quality work and as a result she was damaging the rest of the team’s images. She knew she couldn’t operate in that kind of environment, but the boss wasn’t violating any company procedures, either. So she chose to leave.

When it’s not a personal issue
Other times, trust isn’t subjective. For instance, if your boss is stealing from the company, there’s not much of a gray area. If a boss can steal, he or she probably won’t have many qualms about crossing into other unethical areas.

Green ecnourages reporting a boss who is undeniably stealing or violating a policy or law.

“Often companies have an ethics hotline you can call or you can go to HR,” she says. “Make sure you have details, including first-hand facts about your claim. Work hard to remove emotions from the story. Speak using first-hand data — what you saw, experienced [and] heard.”

Reporting a criminal boss doesn’t always go as smoothly as you hope, warns Elisabeth Pollaert Smith, photographer and author.

“It depends on how good your HR department is. Some of them have knee-jerk reactions to side with the senior person,” she says. In that case, they can go to your boss and tell them what you’ve said. However, that shouldn’t preclude you from reporting him or her because you don’t want to get in trouble for being silent while you knew what was going on.

“Document as much as you can, then find the person you trust the most to report it to — be it your boss’s boss, HR or legal,” Smith advises. “Then be prepared that this may come back and bite you in the butt, big time, but that’s life.”

The benefit of a paper trail
Documenting interaction with a boss isn’t only necessary if you think he or she is explicitly breaking a law or policy. Documentation can help you with any unscrupulous boss — say one who steals your ideas.

“You’re going to have to realize that you can’t stop all of it,” Smith says. “But you can stop some of it, by telling them ideas at the same time you copy someone else, or telling someone else first and then saying to your boss, ‘Hey, I was talking to Joe about this and he thought you might be interested in hearing it.’ That way they’ll know they risk being caught and embarrassed if they try to steal those ideas.”

And if things are more personal, such as not keeping your confidential conversations private, you need to think before you speak. It might sound counterintuitive to put the onus on you, but it’s true. If the boss spreads information that is legally supposed to be confidential, that’s one thing. But if you offer up fodder for gossip and hear it repeated, then you need to be careful what you say to him or her. Smith advises discretion for all employees, not just for those dealing with a sketchy boss.

When it comes to issues of trust, you need to focus on your well being. It might sound as if you’re going against the concept of teamwork and cooperation, but it’s not. At the end of the day, if the boss can easily damage your career, you need to take your career elsewhere.

“If you’ve seen them betray a colleague, just beware, and start looking for a way to get out, be it a lateral move or a new job,” Smith suggests. “[If] and when push comes to shove, your boss will most likely shove you — under a bus (figuratively, hopefully).”

Anthony Balderrama is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz. He researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/abalderrama.

True tales of the good, the bad and the ugly

There’s a time in most people’s lives when working with their friends seems like a dream come true. Seeing each other all day, every day; exchanging horror stories about the boss you share; multiple lunches, happy hours and company events — what could be better?

For some people, nothing. But for many, nothing could be worse.

What happens when your friend becomes your co-worker? Perhaps a better starting place is asking the question of how your friend became your co-worker. What happens when you recommend a friend for a job?

Recommending a friend or family member for a position at your company is tricky. On one hand, if your friend does a great job, it reflects positively on you. On the other hand, if his or her performance is less than exemplary, that reflects on you, too. Not to mention the effect recommending (or not recommending) an acquaintance could have on your friendship and your reputation at work.

“If your friend does a good job, it can help your reputation at work. You will be seen as having excellent judgment, because this is your friend and you suggested [her] for the job,” says Jan Yager, author of “Who’s That Sitting at My Desk? Workship, Friendship, or Foe?” “If you recommend someone and your analysis is a mismatch with that individual’s abilities or with how he or she fits in with the company, it can negatively impact on the one doing the recommending.”

We asked our readers about a time when they recommended a friend for a job. Here, they share their stories — the good, bad and the ugly.

The good
When I first crossed over into PR, friends from my TV days marveled at how lifestyle-friendly my job is. I decided to share the wealth, getting my good friend Krista hired as a publicist. I knew I was taking a big risk — if it didn’t work, how could our friendship handle her being let go? Would she blame me? I took the risk. It’s been almost two years now and Krista is one of our leading publicists. It’s also been great for our friendship because now that we don’t have TV news in common, we have PR. It’s felt so good to help her get a mom-friendly job and in return, she has wowed our CEO.

–Valery Hodes, vice president, Orca Communications Unlimited

I have an Internet marketing company, Market Conversion. I hired my best friend about a year ago as a consultant. It has been such an amazing experience, that she is now my business partner. I know she is special. She cared about our business as much as I did from the beginning. Because of our close relationship, we are able to talk openly and honestly, even when it’s not pretty. I appreciate that when either of us say or do something, the other is able to offer constructive criticism without emotional backlash. It is truly a great relationship.

– Denalee Bell, Market Conversion

I have a friend who I babysat for several years when I was in high school. After she graduated from college, she decided she wanted to move to the Washington D.C. area, which happens to be my residence. Her father reached out to me and asked that I take care of her if possible, keeping my eye out for any jobs. I reached out to my top client and called in a favor with one of the managers. He looked at her résumé and said “Greg, she really doesn’t fit our position, however if you’re 100 percent confident in her abilities, I’ll sneak her in.” She’s now been with that company for five years, and she’s in a position that takes most people at least 10 years to reach. Recently I had dinner with that manager, and within 20 minutes, he mentioned how thankful he was that he took a chance on her, and said if ever I need another favor, he’d be more than happy to oblige.

– Greg Gary, managing director for Technisource

The bad
One day, at the end of class, a student asked to speak to me privately. As she spoke of her divorce, her children and her low-paying job, tears streamed down her face. Sympathy overtook me and I tried to comfort her by saying that a good friend of mine, in the movie industry, was looking to hire a secretary. Salaries tend to be higher in the industry and my student was thrilled. Unfortunately, she did not perform well during the interview. The experience led my friend to forestall all future referrals.

– Marlene Caroselli, Ed.D., keynoter, corporate trainer, author

I had a friend I’d known for 25 years — someone who’d lived with me for free after she relocated, whose wedding invitations I addressed for her, who I’d traveled with — who I got a job for at the small company where I worked. I was the director of conference management and she ended up as the director of operations, at a company of about 20 employees. After being there for a year, she engineered a “reorganization” that resulted in the elimination of my position. She never said a word leading up to it, and I was given only 24 hours notice that I was being laid off. She never bothered to follow up with me to see how I felt about it. I’ll definitely think twice before I recommend another friend for a job at the same company where I work.

– Michelle J. Taunton, CMP

The ugly
A friend asked me to get her a job in the [modeling] business. Although she had no experience, she was very beautiful and spoke Spanish as well as English, so I thought that with training, she would work well with our Latin accounts. What I did not count on was that she needed no training in sleeping her way to the top. Within months, she had been “promoted” past me and a company vice president was getting a divorce.

– Beverly Solomon, creative director, musee-solomon

I did get a friend a job once and will NEVER do it again. I was a program manager for a defense contracting agency and we needed a new administrative assistant in my department. I was told by a congregation member that our mutual friend was in need of a new job and she was very qualified on paper, so we brought her in for an interview. I agreed that I could be a personal reference for her and based on my reputation, it was enough to get her the job. They never checked her other references.

It was a nightmare from the first day when she showed up two hours late without calling and then left to go to lunch an hour early. Over the next few weeks she got progressively worse. Her supervisor spoke with her to no avail, so I stepped in. I told her that she had two weeks to make noticeable improvements or she would not be kept after her probationary period was up.

She called my Father (yes, she told my daddy on me) and several congregational elders to tell them that I was threatening her because I was jealous, and that she didn’t feel safe. When the time came to let her go, I made sure that I sat in on her exit interview, in which they enumerated the many times that she was late to work, her poor job performance and her general attitude. When asked if she had any questions or wanted to say anything, she looked at me and said, “I thought you were my friend and had my back on this.”

To this day, I will not hire people that I know. The only people who have a personal relationship with me that are in the company are my children — and they know that I will fire them quicker than any other employee.

– Andrea Frayser, founder/CEO, ANDE Cosmetics & Natural Products

I got my sister a job and now we work more closely together (I’m her boss’s boss). I’ve been very careful at work. I never hired her or protected her job. In fact, twice I had to tell her manager I thought they were giving her too generous a raise and lowered it. But it has impacted our personal relationship. Work is always there. And right now is the worst … she is ghost-writing a book that will come out in my name — and she’s the big sister. It also affects family time. At Thanksgiving, she was telling our dad she was worried about job security and hoped “they” didn’t fire her. I, of course, am part of “they.” She also doesn’t take feedback from me like she does from her direct boss or other editors. People do tell me I’m tougher on her than others. I guess I worry too much about favoring her and the pendulum swings the other way. It is tough but we’re both committed to it and we talk about the issues as they come up — and try not to involve anyone else.

– Jenny Thompson, chief operating officer, Health Subsidiaries, Agora Inc

Rachel Zupek is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CBwriterRZ.

From the CEO to the Receptionist

In the sales world, the fabled “elevator pitch” is championed as a business fundamental. If you can’t recite your job description in a 30-second elevator ride, you’re going to miss out on major business opportunities.

That’s great advice for people who have less than a minute to kill and in situations where chitchatting about your job duties is appropriate. Unfortunately not all conversations are as brief. When you and a few colleagues are sitting in a meeting room waiting for everyone to arrive, you have too many minutes of silence to fill. Or ask anyone who’s been at a lunch where most attendees don’t know each other and they’ll tell you that job descriptions don’t take up nearly enough time.

Unless you want to play with your salad for an hour and watch tumbleweeds to roll by, you need to learn how to talk to anyone you might encounter at work.

Think small
If you’re in a situation where you have no choice but to talk to the people you’re with, the first thing you should do is look at it as an opportunity to make new contacts. Don’t view talking to business associates as a chore. Approaching the conversation in this mindset will take the pressure off of you to perform and you can just be yourself.

Talk about what you know, says Sue Thompson, who conducts personality and business etiquette training for Set Free Life Seminars.

“Use a three-month rule: Start with topics on which you can generate conversation having to do with something you’ve done in the past three months or are planning to do in the next three months,” Thompson recommends. This route could lead you to talk about remodeling your home, taking a vacation or picking out a new family pet. Not only are you comfortable talking about these topics, but the other person can offer his or her experience on the subject.

Asking questions and discussing topics that invite dialogue, rather than monologues, are also good steps. You want some give-and-take during the discussion, advises Lynne Eisaguirre, author of “We Need to Talk: Tough Conversatoins With Your Boss.”

“Ask open-ended questions,” Eisaguirre says. “Open-ended questions are those that start with who, what, where, when. If you ask these kinds of questions, it keeps the conversations flowing better than if you ask a question that can be answered yes or no.”

Even if you never get beyond personal anecdotes about a vacation gone wrong or your child’s soccer game, the conversation is worth having. Resist the temptation to sit silently while everyone files into the meeting.

“Always make the effort to start a conversation. Your work relationships are your wealth at work,” Eisaguirre reminds. “Especially in this age of downsizing, you need to maintain your relationships. It’s something that no one can take away from you, even if you leave your current employment. Relationships are built though conversations.”

Think about the amount of people supervisors, C-levels and other executives encounter each day. Even with the best memory and great personal skills, they’re bound to forget names. But if you’re the person that bonded with them over funny stories about your children or had a lengthy conversation about a current event, they’re more likely to remember you. It doesn’t mean a few minutes of chitchat will keep you safe during layoffs, but having a strong network can help you stay on important people’s radars.

Listen, listen, listen
Conversations consist of a dialogue, and for one person to talk, the other one has to listen. (Or at least the other person should be listening.) Otherwise, you have two people waiting to talk and no exchange of ideas — not exactly the experience you want to have with your colleagues. That’s why, in a conversation, listening is just as important as speaking, says Lynne Sarikas, director of the MBA Career Center at Northeastern University’s College of Business Administration.

“Early in my career I heard very sage advice: ‘There is a reason you have one mouth and two ears; you are intended to listen more than you speak,’” she says. “Still true today.” Regardless of your professional rank in relation to the other person, you can just be attentive and respectful during the conversation.

“Show the other person respect by listening to what they have to say,” Sarikas says. “Acknowledge, either verbally or with a nod, as appropriate. Ask questions. Use the person’s name. Do not interrupt when they are speaking.”

Sounds basic, right? That’s the point.

Regardless of whom you’re talking to, the fundamentals of a conversation aren’t all that complicated. Just because someone has a higher job title than you, it doesn’t mean you have to relearn everything you know about having a chat with someone.

Here are some tips to remember:

· Talk about what you know
To kickstart the conversation, mention work, family, hobbies or current events (as long as they’re not controversial). Let the conversation flow from there.

· Listen
Make sure you let other people have their say. Listen for verbal cues to guide the conversation. If they seem disinterested in discussing work but perk up when you mention that you’re looking to adopt a puppy, go down that path.

· Be personal
In the busy business world, you’re often limited to holding conversations with the few same people over and over again. Use these one-off conversations as a chance to learn about new colleagues, find out what they do, remember their names and exchange cards or phone numbers if appropriate.

· Initiate conversation
The temptation will be to sit uncomfortably staring at your blank notepad or checking e-mail on your BlackBerry, but get over the initial discomfort and strike up a conversation. At worst you’re making small talk for a few minutes. But you might end up with a new contact in your network who can help you down the road.

Anthony Balderrama is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz. He researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/abalderrama.

By Anthony Balderrama, PrimeCB.com writer

Right now, “microblogging” is the technological term du jour. Twitter this; Twitter that. For some reason, once somebody created a Web site that told us we couldn’t type more than 140 characters, we couldn’t resist the challenge. It’s as though we were dared to share our most inane thoughts. The birth of the pointless Tweet was born, also known as “I’m eating string cheese and watching reruns of ALF!”

But remember a few years ago, when “blog” was the word you couldn’t escape? Magazine covers were devoted to blogs. What does “blog” mean? Is it going to kill traditional media? Who should be blogging? Why do we care what you’re blogging?

Now, blogs are something more akin to traditional (but still new) media. They’re not on par with The New York Times or CNN in terms of reputation, but each of those news agencies has its own blogs. And over the last few years, especially during the election, blogs played a major role in breaking news stories and motivating groups. Corporations now have them to connect with customers. Blogs are here to stay.

So the question is: Do you have one? If not, you might be missing out on a valuable boost to your career.

Why would you possibly want to blog?
In an already crowded blogosphere, why would you want to be just another small fish in a huge pond? Adrienne Waldo thought the same thing before she started her own marketing blog, Ask a Millennial. But once she started to post, she realized people were reading and interested in what she had to say. It helped her freelance career and she believes it can help others, too.

“Especially for someone just out of school, a blog is an excellent supplement to a résumé,” Waldo says. “It serves as a sort of enhanced writing sample because it allows employers a unique look at your personality in addition to seeing that you can, in fact, write. It also shows that you’re tech-savvy and motivated — both extremely important qualities to have in today’s job market.”

Of course, your blog won’t be an asset to you if it lacks direction and attention. Waldo suggests beginning bloggers set goals for themselves.

“A blog can be useful for countless reasons, so it’s best to decide for yourself what your purpose in starting it is,” she recommends. “It’s certainly fantastic for both visibility and staying current in today’s market, but how you position it is ultimately going to determine how it works for you.”

A good blog can work for you whether or not you’re employed. But a blog written by a job seeker desperately seeking a paycheck will not get you much traction. In fact, blogging is like many other traditional job seeking tools, says Lauren Milligan of ResuMAYDAY, a résumé writing service.

“Just like networking, blogging and developing a following should start when you are employed, rather than when you are in panic-mode,” Milligan cautions.

How do you present a blog to employers?
New media is proving to be a great tool for job seekers, employees and employers. Facebook, Twitter and blogs are increasingly become common ways to find jobs or recruit candidates. But the rules for social media are still mostly unwritten, and you might not know how to prove you’re both technologically proficient and professional. Milligan says you absolutely can do both, it’s just all in the presentation.

For clients, Milligan often inserts their LinkedIn addresses in the contact section of the résumé. She suggests doing the same with your blog address. Another option she recommends is to include a mention of your blog in your career summary statement. But if neither feels right for you, feel free to bring it up in the interview.

“A common interview question is, ‘What makes you unique from other candidates?’” Milligan says. “A great — and unique — answer would be, ‘One thing that may set me apart from your other candidates is my ability to introduce a dedicated and loyal following to your company. For the past eight months, I have authored a blog that has over 2,000 readers on a weekly basis. This blog is dedicated to trends, leaders and advancements in our industry.’”

She also recommends pointing out that you have been and will always be respectful of your past employers and that your goal is about making connections. If you can put the emphasis on your growth and how it will benefit the company, while simultaneously proving it’s not a place for you to vent about annoying co-workers, you’ll make a good impression.

“As an employer myself, I assure all job seekers that this would weigh heavily in a candidate’s favor,” Milligan says.

Both Milligan and Waldo stress the importance of knowing your limits. You don’t have to be an expert to write a good blog — and pretending to be one will only turn off readers. Being humble and showing humanity will pay off for you.

“Anyone can be a good blogger with the right dedication and motivation,” Waldo says. “You absolutely do not have to be an expert, but if you’re not, don’t pretend to be. That will get you in trouble. I recommend writing about something you love. It doesn’t have to be career-related. As long as you are passionate about the subject you cover, that will come through in your writing and people will enjoy your blog.”

Anthony Balderrama is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz. He researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/abalderrama.

By Selena Dehne, JIST Publishing

Questions about salary history and expectations often elicit feelings of anxiety, particularly when times are tough in the job market. Many who have been unemployed for several months worry their power to negotiate has diminished. Others know they are overqualified for the positions they seek and fear their salary history will screen them out of consideration.

Fortunately, there are ways to side-step these obstacles and enhance a job offer — even in this economy, says Laurence Shatkin, a leading occupational expert and author of the recently released book “Your $100,000 Career Plan.” He stresses that the most important thing to remember about salary questions is to delay discussing them until after a job offer has been made.

“Employers often ask for your salary expectations or salary history very early, perhaps even as part of the job application form or letter. This makes it easy for them to screen out a large number of applicants who don’t match the salary figure they have in mind. Don’t screen yourself out by giving this information,” Shatkin warns.

In his book, Shatkin provides a framework for answering such questions and outlines steps that will better prepare candidates to launch verbal negotiations. His tips include the following:

Before an interview
· If there’s a blank on the job application demanding a figure, write “Negotiable.”
· If the employer refuses to interview you unless you indicate your salary expectations, give only a ballpark estimate and make clear that you expect both parties will be flexible as you learn more about each other.

During an interview
· When asked about your salary expectations, shift the conversation back to your qualifications. For example, you might want to respond, “I’m sure you pay your employees fairly, and I expect you to pay me a fair wage for a person with my background. So let’s discuss my background and what I can do for your business.”
· If you feel you must specify your expectations, give a broad range based on research rather than on wishful thinking.
· Inquire about how much competition you’re facing. If you’re the only job candidate remaining, you’ll be able to negotiate from a stronger position.
· Use every opportunity to explain how you can improve the organization’s bottom line, because that is what justifies better pay.

After a job offer
· If the offer is more than you expected, congratulations! But you may get an even better one if you don’t jump at the first offer. Pause long enough to give the employer the impression you may be expecting more. You may even ask for time to think over the offer.
· If another employer has made a better offer, that’s the most powerful argument you can use
· If you have no other offers, but your research tells you the going rate is higher than what they are offering, tell them so. Keep in mind that they probably have also researched the employment market, so be sure you have very good sources to point to.
· If they won’t raise their offer enough to suit your expectations, ask them to agree to review your salary sooner than they normally would
· Employers who won’t budge on salary offers sometimes are willing to make concessions on benefits or perks that you want. Maybe you can get stock options, extra vacation, use of a company car or the ability to work at home part of the week. Sometimes you can argue that you both will gain from the benefit; for example, if the company pays your tuition expenses for night classes, they will profit from your improved skills.
· You may also be able to get concessions on certain work responsibilities you either want or want to avoid. For example, you might ask to be given a managerial task that’s not normally part of the job, and this eventually could lead to a higher-paying position. Any tasks you ask to avoid should be lower-level so that ruling them out would not interfere with your growth in the job.
· If possible, do all your negotiations face-to-face, rather than by telephone, because you can gauge people’s reactions better in person.Sometimes, candidates will say and do everything right during the interview process and during negotiations and still won’t achieve the job offer they were seeking. In these instances, Shatkin suggests telling the employer, “that the job is one you would like if the salary were appropriate, and thank them for their time and consideration. It is possible that they will not find someone else to fill the position and will reconsider hiring you at the salary you asked for.”

Selena Dehne is a career writer for JIST Publishing who shares the latest occupational, career and job search information available with job seekers and career changers. She is also the author of JIST’s Job Search and Career Blog (http://jistjobsearchandcareer.blogspot.com/).

By Rachel Zupek, CareerBuilder.com writer

By now you’ve heard several times that the job market is competitive and it’s more important than ever that you stand out to employers through your cover letter and résumé.

Well, you’re about to hear it again.

“While it is always important to have a remarkable résumé, a bad economy makes it even more important,” says Kathy Sweeney, a certified résumé writer for The Write Résumé. “With this situation in mind, it is more important than ever to communicate the value you bring to a potential employer.”

Here are a few pearls of wisdom: Communicating your value to an employer is not done by crowding your résumé with words like ‘results driven’ or ‘motivated.’ It won’t be done by listing what you think is an impressive list of job duties, and it sure as heck won’t be done by sending out one standard to résumé for every application. No, in fact, none of these mistakes will help pave your way for an interview, but you can bet they will aid in digging your own career grave.

So what is the easiest way to grab an employer’s attention? Simple: Spell things out for them.

“The primary function of a résumé is to get a candidate noticed in an effort to gain interviews,” Sweeney says. “It is a marketing document, in which a candidate sells his or her value to the employer. If the meat of the résumé is simply job duties, it will not do the job.”

If you need help creating your high-definition résumé, here are five common résumé errors you might be making, and how you can make things crystal clear for employers:

1. You aren’t quantifying results
Applicants often don’t know the difference between quantifying results and just stating a job responsibility. A job responsibility is something that you do on a daily basis and a quantified achievement is the result of that responsibility, Sweeney says.

“In this tight economy, employers want to know whether you can make or save them money,” Sweeney says. “By quantifying results, you show the next employer the results you have been able to obtain, either in dollar figures or percentages.”

Try taking anything you do in your position and attaching a number to it where possible. Say you developed a time-saving process or procedure, completed a project 10 days ahead of schedule or recommended a way to cut back costs, Sweeney says. All of these equal saved time and money for an employer.

2. You didn’t include keywords
We hear a lot about using keywords in our résumés and letters, but many job seekers just don’t get it. They don’t know what they are, where to find them or how to include them on their application materials.

Keywords are usually found in the job description for an available position. Keywords are not ‘team player’ or ‘good communication skills,’ Sweeney says. Keywords are specific to the position. For an accountant, for example, keywords might include ‘accounts payable,’ ‘accounts receivable‘ or ‘month-end reporting.’

“The whole goal from an employer’s perspective is to drill down to the least amount of candidates possible for interviewing purposes,” Sweeney says. “Keywords are utilized to trim down applicants to the most qualified candidates.”

3. You buried your achievements
Say you did list some accomplishments on your résumé, but they are mixed in there with your job duties. What good is that going to do you?

“If a candidate buries his achievement in a job description, nothing is going to stand out. A job seeker needs to outline what his duties are, as those are what most often match the job posting,” Sweeney says. “On a job posting, you will see duties, for instance, ‘Candidate will be charged with creating relationships with customers and selling XYZ product line.’ Job postings will never say, ‘Must produce at least $5 million per year in revenue.’ It is implied that if you know how to develop relationships properly, the results will be creating sales revenue.”

In order to make your achievements stand out, Sweeney suggests listing the job duties first and then the area for accomplishments as “key accomplishments.”

4. You didn’t include a summary
Including a summary on your résumé is one of those steps that many job seekers forget to take — and if they do remember, they usually include the wrong information. Your career summary should portray your experience and emphasize how it will help the prospective employer, Sweeney says. It should be very specific and include explicit industry-related functions, quantifiable achievements or your areas of expertise.

“You will lose an employer’s attention if this section is too broad,” Sweeney says. “Know the type of position you are targeting and use the keywords that relate to it based upon your background.”

5. Your résumé isn’t targeted
What better way to make things clear for an employer than by targeting your résumé to its company and open positions? If your résumé is generic, it makes the employer have to guess at the type of position you want.

“Human resources do not have time to figure out what a candidate wants to be when he or she grows up,” Sweeney says. “Let an employer know where you fit into their company.”

You should target all areas of your résumé to match what the employer is asking for — if nothing else, change the summary as it will be the first area read by hiring managers, Sweeney says. “Look at what is important in the position posting. Then, tweak your profile and perhaps some of your position descriptions to match how you qualify for the position,” she adds.

Now what?
Now that you’ve got your HD résumé, you need to put it in front of the right pair of eyes. Don’t just post it to a job board and wait for something to happen. Utilize your networks, post on social and professional networking sites and answer questions on industry forums or blogs in a well thought out manner, Sweeney suggests.

“You might have a great résumé, but if no one can find it, it defeats the purpose,” Sweeney says.

Rachel Zupek is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CBwriterRZ.

By Alaina Love, Co-author of “The Purpose Linked Organization: How Passionate Leaders Inspire Winning Teams and Great Results”

We’ve all heard the bad news about the challenging odds that today’s job seekers are up against. Unemployment rates are high and competing for a position with so many other skilled workers can feel like a bit like being a rookie player on the court with Kobe Bryant. So what can you do to stand out among all of the other candidates competing for positions today? Tap into your passions!

In order to find the right job, it’s essential to understand the kind of worker you are and the internal drivers that provide you with a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. Operating from your passions will not only make you shine during the interview process, it will allow you to soar once you’ve landed the job. Passion is what we can combine with our skills to deliver great results and at the same time find meaning in our work. So, rather than adopting the mindset that you’re looking for a job, and concentrating solely on the title and job description, why not focus instead on whether the position will offer an outlet for your passions? It might open up whole new possibilities in your job search.

Through extensive research and testing, we at Purpose Linked Consulting have identified 10 “Passion Archetypes”, or styles of passion that workers demonstrate. They are specific and measureable personality characteristics described in “The Purpose Linked Organization” (McGraw-Hill, 2009), which offers free access to the customized Passion Profiler™ tool that will help you identify your individual purpose and distinct Passion Archetype:

· The Builder: This is an archetype that welcomes opportunities to construct new business or build a new function on an open landscape. Builders love uncharted territory and work best with an established goal and a clean sheet of paper; they require the freedom to create their own blueprint for achieving objectives. Builders are relentlessly results- oriented drivers of the business and are often natural leaders.

·The Transformer: This archetype thrives in chaos and change. Transformers identify and embrace possibilities for improvement in the business, the environment or in others. They rarely wait for change to happen, but instead seek to orchestrate change and may become bored when things remain the same.

· The Processor: Quality oriented and analytical, Processors enjoy sifting through information and data to see what it reveals. They often anticipate what course corrections are needed based on their interpretation of information, saving themselves or the organization from serious mistakes.

· The Altruist: With a strong passion for doing work that benefits society or contributes to the higher good of the organization, the Altruist often acts as the company’s moral compass. Altruists will challenge the organization to make decisions that positively impact the larger world.

· The Healer: This archetype takes personal responsibility for helping others navigate through their pain to find a better place. Healers can be found working behind the scenes in an organization, offering advice and counsel to co-workers, as well as in traditional healthcare roles. They are likely to be the first to identify dysfunction in the organization and step forward with a remedy.

· The Connector: With a passion for communications, negotiation and building bridges between people and needs or between problems and solutions, the Connector is the architect of relationship. They seek common ground through which issues can be resolved and individuals brought together.

· The Creator: Like the Great Masters, Creators take the concepts in their minds and translate them into a form that others can appreciate. Creators focus intently on the aesthetic, and look for beauty and functionality in whatever they manifest through their work. They are the artisans of the organization.

· The Teacher: These individuals are promoters of learning and avid seekers of knowledge. Teachers can be counted on to help others develop, to translate new information in ways that make it easily understandable, and to share all that they know within their area of expertise.

· The Discoverer: They are the explorers of the organization. Discoverers enjoy designing experiments or approaches that will help uncover a hidden truth. They are often innovators who enjoy solving challenging puzzles.

· The Conceiver: Big-picture intellectual acrobats, Conceivers consistently push the edges of the envelope of thought and are likely to be the ones with the crazy idea that contributes to a breakthrough product, service, process or strategy. Because of their expansive thought patterns, they may resolve challenges while others are still grappling with understanding the question.

It’s a startling fact that most of us spend more 84,000 hours of our lives at work — and in these economic times, organizations are asking employees to deliver even more. So, why not make the most of that time by building a career in which you can thrive? Applying passion and skill at work is the winning formula that can make the difference between a just having a job or a creating a lifestyle.

Alaina Love is a business consultant, writer, speaker and the president of Purpose Linked Consulting, a leadership and organization development firm. She is co-author of the new McGraw-Hill book, “The Purpose Linked Organization: How Passionate Leaders Inspire Winning Teams and Great Results.” Alaina is also the author of “Leading With Purpose,” a monthly column for BusinessWeek.com.