Avoiding Resume Quick Sand

There's probably nothing more frustrating than getting your resume all "prettied up" to send to a company via an online source, only to realize that when you hit the send button, you don't know where in the world it's going. This can be compared to sending your resume in quick sand. It's being sucked into an unseen, unknown world and you don't know if it will ever return some type of response for you.

So how can you avoid resume quick sand? It's easier than you think. Here is a bit of advice to take advantage of so you won't become the quick sand's next victim.

Tailor Your Resume for Each Employer

Employers recognize generic resumes a mile away. The generic resume is the one that you pull off of a template website then change only a little bit to match your specifics. If you want to let an employer know that you're serious about the job you're applying for, you have to do better than that. It's your job to conduct research on the company and position to learn exactly how you feel you qualify. If you can't do that then you have no business applying. At least that's how the employer will feel as they dump your resume into the pool of quick sand.

Make Your Resume Keyword Heavy

Often times, resumes get lost in the quick sand because they have been run through scanning software meant to catch certain industry-specific keywords. If your resume doesn't include some of these keywords then it may be filtered to the "quick sand" section of the program and be readied for deletion. To avoid this from happening to you, it's a good idea to conduct a good amount of research on the company, as well as the industry as a whole, to learn what words should be included in your resume.

Let Your Cover Letter Say What the Resume Doesn't

Another way to help avoid resume quick sand is to have your cover letter tell the story your resume can't. For instance, if you have a major gap in your employment because you chose to take time to raise the family, you can explain this in your cover letter. Also, you can utilize this tool to highlight any experiences you acquired during your time off that might be relevant to the position you're applying for.

If You're Not Qualified ... Don't Apply

Sometimes we set ourselves up to have our resumes tossed into the quick sand. That's right, if you didn't apply for the job you were grossly under-qualified for, you may not have found yourself in this position. So if you know that you can provide absolutely no proof that you qualify for a position, it's best not to apply. And while you're at it, stop sending resumes to the same recruiters. If they're interested, they'll likely contact you. Repeatedly sending your resume to a recruiter is neither necessary nor appropriate.

The job search world is a tough one, but not an impossible one. If you play your cards right, you can not only avoid the resume quick sand, but actually secure a great position.

- Heather Eagar

Heather Eagar is a former professional resume writer and is passionate about providing working professionals with current, reliable and effective job search tools and information. Compare the top resume writing services in the industry at www.resumelines.com.

Boston Globe printed an article by Michelle Singletary:

Dear sir or madman.

Oops, I meant to write, dear sir or madame (as opposed to the madam who manages a brothel).

If I had made that mistake on my cover letter, should that disqualify me for consideration for a job? Should someone's resume get tossed if he or she mistakenly wrote "Graphic designer seeking no-profit career'' under career objective?

Well, it appears that in this tight job market, those tiny mistakes could leave you jobless, according to a survey by Accountemps, a staffing services firm.

In interviews with 150 senior executives from the nation's 1,000 largest companies, 40 percent of the respondents said that just one typo on a resume would kick a job candidate out of the queue for consideration. Thirty-six percent said it would take just two mistakes before the resume was discarded.

"The way we see it, there's so much competition out there. There's no room for error,'' said Natasha Melgar, branch manager of the Washington, D.C., office of the staffing firm Robert Half International. "The resume is the first opportunity to present yourself.''

Bottom line: in a deluge of revenues, the employer is going to call 3-5 people for phone screens. If your resume has mistakes, you are giving off the impression that you will also make mistakes at work. Think you are going to get that call?

Singletary offers some good advice:

But how do you avoid getting your resume pushed to the side? Accountemps offers the following tips:

■ Find another pair of eyes. Get someone to proofread your resume.

■ Put the resume down and come back to it later with your own fresh eyes.

■ Print a copy. It's easy to overlook errors after staring at a computer monitor for a long time.

■ Read your resume aloud.

There's a website you should visit: www.resumania.com. Robert Half has posted resume and cover letter errors its clients have found and solicits authentic examples. Here are some resume blunders submitted to the site:

■ Education: Studied public rations.

■ Work History: Faxed documents to attorneys over sees.

■ Additional Skills: Computers and off ice machines.

Monster is so far ahead by the number of visitors, it is not even a competition (39 million compared to 15 million for CareerBuilder). Although I fail to understand why my favorite site, Indeed, which indexes and aggregates both Monster and Careerbuilder, is so far down. SimplyHired, another agreegator, is also down. Interestingly, LinkedIn, which uses SimplyHired for external (non-LI) job postings, is ahead of both Indeed and Simplyhired.

Does this just mean people don't know about Indeed and SimplyHired? If so, I certainly hope they would start using Indeed job search

Oh.. I am glad to see TheLadders is trending down. They also pull job postings from other sites (just like Indeed or SimplyHired), sprinkled with some exclusive job postings, and charge people $30/month for it.

You can see the full list on the Daype blog.

As a job seeker, and as your own resume writer, you have probably created what you feel is a masterpiece resume that can be sent anywhere and get you a job. But if you really think about it, if your resume was that fabulous, you would probably have a job by now, right?

Sometimes it's hard to see what needs to be changed when you don't have the advantage of being your own third-party eyes. However, if you follow a resume-critique checklist, you have a better chance of wrapping your mind around some obvious changes that may need to be made to turn your resume into the true masterpiece it can be.

Think about First Impressions

The first item on your checklist which you should consider when looking over your resume is whether it will make a great first impression. Does it look like it is based on a template that other job seekers are using, or is the resume writer, that would be you, original? Is it cluttered with words or does it offer clear sections with ample white space? Does the design have a professional appearance, or does it look like you asked your 10-year-old sibling to type it for you? It's good to consider all of these questions when exploring what type of first impression you're making with your resume.

Are Your Resume Sections Appropriate?

As you continue to critique your resume, it's important to look through your resume sections to ensure they're appropriate. In other words, you want to make sure that they are all clearly labeled. You also want to make sure they are listed in the best order possible to highlight your strongest credentials. When you list work history, you want to ensure it is listed in reverse chronological order so that your most recent job is listed first.

Are Your Career Goals Clearly Defined?

As you review your resume, check your career goals to make sure they are clearly defined. This means you want to make sure your career objective is toward the top of the resume. It's also a good idea to make sure that your objective, as well as the remaining resume content, is targeted to a specific career goal rather than being so general that it would fit a job as a plumber just as easily as that of an insurance underwriter.

Are You Using Action Words and Keyword Phrases?

In order to highlight your accomplishments, it's important that you, as the resume writer, create a resume that is action-driven rather than duty-driven. This means using action words rather than words that focus on the responsibilities you had. So instead of writing that you were responsible for organizing the office, write that you developed an organizational system for the office. Also, you want your resume to be rich with keyword phrases that define your industry, like "trade shows" if you're in marketing.

As you see, it takes a lot of work to create a "masterpiece" resume. But you can do it with ease if you go over it line by line, word by word, and make sure that it includes every element it should contain and, of course, is error-free. If you do, you will find your title changing from "job seeker" to "employee" before you know it.

- Heather Eagar

Heather Eagar is a former professional resume writer and is passionate about providing working professionals with current, reliable and effective job search tools and information. Need a resume writing service? Compare the top ones in the industry at www.resumelines.com.

Resume Keywords Are Necessary

Hiring managers, recruiters, and business owners conduct numerous searches on career sites each day. The words they use to search for possible candidates are known as keywords. If your resume doesn't include these keywords, it can't be found very easily.

The bad news is that there are as many, if not more keywords as there are job openings. You can find many different keyword lists online with possible words that are highly searched for, but that doesn't necessarily mean those particular keywords will match the position for which you are seeking. Just like performing a search on an internet search engine, no one person, or hiring manager, searches for the exact same phase each time.

So, what can you do to increase the chances of getting your resume found? Here are a few suggestions to help you find the right keywords to include in your resume.

Put Yourself in the Hiring Manager's Shoes

When trying to decide what keywords will provoke the best response, think as if you are the one doing the hiring. What would you search for if you wanted to hire someone for the opening you are applying for?

Here's another idea. If you know anyone who works in a hiring or human resources department or someone who owns their own business, ask them what they look for when searching for potential employees. Professional resume writers can also offer a good deal of insight into how employers think.

Pay Attention to the Ad

This is probably the best way to determine what keywords will get you noticed.

Look at the advertisement for the position you are applying for. Chances are the person doing the hiring is the one who wrote the ad and you will find the most important keywords right in the ad. Does the ad list specific qualifications, software knowledge, or experience that is required? If so, add those words to your resume where appropriate. Don't forget about ads for similar positions, even if you are not applying for them. Those ads may highlight other important keywords that might be missing from other ads.

Resume Banks

If you add your resume to resume banks or employer databases with hopes of landing the perfect job, you must include certain keywords to get your resume in front of hiring managers.

No matter how qualified you are, if your resume doesn't pop up in their search list, the hiring company may not even know you exist, let alone that you are interested in a position with their company. Do your research and make sure you have as many of the appropriate keywords included in your resume as possible for each job you apply for.

- Jennifer Anthony

Jennifer Anthony is the Director of ResumeASAP, an Online Resume Service, offering professional and affordable resume writing services. If you have comments about this article, or if you are interested in learning more about professional resume writing, please contact Jennifer Anthony by e-mail (resumeasap@gmail.com).

What separates successful job seekers from those who struggle to get hired?

Two things: clarity and motivation.

You must be clear about the job you seek, the results you've produced before, and the employers you want to work for.

And you need motivation to persist through long hours of research, networking, false hopes, and follow-up that may lie between you and your next job.

Want to know an easy, effective way to get clearer and more motivated in your job search?

It's as easy as taking pen to paper.

In fact, that's what it is: taking pen to paper.

Why does this help?

Writing forces you to clarify your thinking -- it's impossible to be muddle-headed on paper (members of Congress notwithstanding).

Also, writing demystifies worries that may have nagged you for weeks. A problem defined is a problem half-solved, which frees up psychic energy and motivates you to act.

But why write with pen and paper?

After doing it every day for more than 30 years, I've found that physically moving a writing instrument -- as opposed to typing -- has three benefits, which can help you find a job faster:

1. Clarify your goals

   Writing about any concept will crystallize it. But, because writing by hand is often slower than typing, it can force you to be more deliberate in your choice of words, which can improve clarity.

   Tip: Write your job search goal by hand at least once a day, and read it out loud (to further clarify and reinforce it).

   Example goal: It's October 31. I'm an IT manager earning $75,000 salary, at a high-tech business with 50-100 employees, within 20 miles of my home.

    

2. Produce insights

   As a child, you probably played connect-the-dots, drawing lines from dot to dot until a picture appeared on the page, almost as if by magic.

   The following exercise can produce "magical" insights in your job search.

   a. Write down the names of your favorite 5 supervisors, on a sheet of paper. Now, find at least one trait they share that lets you connect two or more names by lines.

   Examples: Where did they go to school? Do they golf? Do they live within 50 miles of you? Are they over 40?

   b. Once you find one or more commonalities between past supervisors, use that data to find more people like them. In fact, names may pop into your head as you write.

   Here are people you can play "connect the traits" with, to find more like them:

   * 5 favorite clients/customers

   * 5 people with the best jobs

   * 5 good companies that are hiring

    

3. Reveal connections

   For this final exercise, divide a sheet of paper into two columns. In the right column, draw 10 circles. In each, write the name of a company you want to work for. These are your Top 10 Employers.

   In the left column, draw 10 circles. In each, write the names of 10 friends or acquaintances who know the most other people in your town or industry. These are your Top 10 Contacts.

   Now, make connections between your Contacts and Employers.

   Do this by drawing lines from Contacts to Employers. You can make more than one connection from each Contact -- in fact, some may have lines to 2, 3, 5 or more Employers.

   Call your 10 Contacts and ask for names of people at Employers where they have connections. You will call those new people later to demonstrate your knowledge of their company, needs, and opportunities, and ask for information that can lead to a business meeting. (Never ask for an "informational interview," which is just a plea for a job.)

   Also, drawing this on paper will reveal companies where you have no contact. So ask your Top 10 Contacts, "Hey, I don't know if you know anyone at Company X, Y, or Z, but who would you call if you were in my shoes?"

   Finally, you may come up with names of more potential employers as you write. That's because you've probably never seen all these company names on one sheet of paper, where they can prompt your mind for ideas.

There's something powerful about your hand moving a pen on paper. It's a motor skill that fuels creativity more than typing alone.

Try these exercises today, to put more clarity and motivation into your job search tomorrow.

- Kevin Donlin

Kevin Donlin is contributing co-author of "Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters 2.0." Since 1996, he has provided job-search help to more than 20,000 people. For a free glimpse, visit Guerrilla Job Search System DVD.

Does your resume stand out? Will employers quickly see you are the one to do the job? Your resume has less than 15 seconds to capture an employer's attention according to our national survey of 600 hiring managers published in the book, Winning Resumes. You must also incorporate effective keywords or the electronic search tools will never put you on the hiring manager's screen. Resume writing is a critical skill to advancing your career so here are some of the top survey results to follow.

1. EMPHASIZE RESULTS! This was #1 with all surveyed employers. Accomplishments get attention, not just job descriptions. State the action you performed and then note the achieved results. Include details about what you increased or decreased. Use numbers to reflect, how much, how many, and percentage of gain or reduction. Stress money earned or time savings. For example: Managed the project implementing a new tracking system that resulted in a 17% decrease in cost overruns, saving $200,000.

    

2. SPECIFICS SELL. Vague, general resumes don't cut it, employers say. Target each resume to the job sought. Incorporate only the information pertinent to doing that specific job title in the resume. This will alleviate the tendency to crowd your resume with too much non-related information, or too much detail on jobs more than ten years in your past. Start each sentence with a descriptive action verb such as directed, organized, established, created, planned, etc. as they add powerful impact to your sentences.

    

3. DO NOT LIE! A USA TODAY survey of executives stated that over 50% tried to exaggerate their skills, which was almost always uncovered during interviews and reference checks. Lying resulted in candidates not getting the job, or worse, being fired once the fraud was revealed. Employers are on the lookout for this misrepresentation so be as positive as possible without exaggerating or misstating the truth.

    

4. BIG MISTAKES MUST BE AVOIDED. The TOP mistake annoying every manager and HR person in our survey was spelling mistakes and typos. Many said: "I stop reading when I find spelling mistakes." Typos scream: "Don't hire me." Proofread -- you cannot trust computer spell checkers. Cramming too much into a resume and using microscopic fonts can result in your resume never being read. Make your resume visually appealing on paper with fonts sizes in 11 or 12 points. Use concise sentences and adequate white space between points. Many online resume-posting programs incorrectly read boxes and graphic designs causing unintentional page breaks, so be sure to avoid using these. Also, many home computers use a mini-word processing program called WORKS, which is not compatible and can't be read by many employers' business computers that use MS WORD. Be certain you only use WORD in any communications you send on to employers.

    

5. THE FINAL TEST -- IS YOUR RESUME GETTING RESULTS? Are employers calling on appropriate jobs you are qualified for (not over or under) to perform? If not, rework your resume, or get professional help to improve it, since a great resume is the prelude to landing a terrific job.

- Robin Ryan

Career Counselor and Best-Selling Author

America's most popular career counselor, Robin Ryan, is the author of four bestselling books: 60 Seconds & You're Hired!, Winning Resumes, Winning Cover Letters, and What to Do with the Rest of Your Life. She's appeared on over a thousand TV & radio shows including Oprah, Dr. Phil, and has been published in most major newspapers and magazines including USA Today & the Wall Street journal. Contact her at 425.226.0414; email: info@robinryan.com.

Copyright 2009 Robin Ryan. All rights reserved.

Let me make clear that I don't think all recruiters play these games, but enough of them are guilty of these to give the rest a bad name. If you, as a candidate, have seen these or similar tricks, or want to defend recruiters, let us know through your comments. If you are a recruiter and think that we are being unfair, add those comments too.

These are excerpts from our book, "The Laidoff Ninja."

1. A recruiter will contact you, tell you about the job, and send you a job description, but won't tell you the name of the company because they are afraid that you will either apply directly or go through another recruiter. Really.

2. Many recruiters will often advertise phantom jobs to build up a candidate pool. This often results in the scenario described above where they would not tell the candidate the name of the employer, because there isn't one.

3. Recruiter will say to a candidate: "I am having lunch with the hiring manager tomorrow." Craig, the co-author of The Laidoff Ninja, called a recruiter to see how his lunch with the hiring manager went. It was obvious that he didn't even remember saying it. He fumbled for recovery by saying, "Oh ... yeah ... that is tomorrow."

The purpose of a recruiter saying "I am having lunch with the hiring manager" is to imply that he or she has a real-life relationship with the hiring manager. This one falls in one of hte plausible but unlikely scenario.

4.Recruiter: "We will only handle you if you come in and interview with us first."

Why? If you have a recruiter who is saying that you have to meet in person, insist on finding out his reasoning.Is it an ego trip? Is it pre-screening? Why can't it be done over the phone?

5. Recruiters will ask one candidate about interview experiences, and then pass on the experience to the next candidate. Is it ethically and morally OK? As I am not a recruiter I don't know, but here is what I do know:

Candidates: Unless you knew the recruiter previously and considered him a friend, remember that he is NOT your friend, and he does NOT have an exclusive with YOU. He gets paid when ANY of his candidates gets hired; he does not particularly care if it's you, Adam, or Eve, as long as he gets paid. So when your recruiter asks you how the interview went, he may actually try to pump you for information. By passing on that information, he improves the chances of the next person, but what he really is trying to do is improving the chances of getting paid himself!

If you have never asked a recruiter what other candidates were asked during their interviews, why should the recruiter get that advantage and pass it on to other candidates who go in after you?

Give him your general opinion or questions about your personal history or resume, but DO NOT share difficult or interesting technical or job-related questions you may have been asked.

If you are within drivable distance of North TV, 93 South Washington Street North Attleborough, MA 02760, come by this Tuesday, June 8 any time between 5-7 PM for a 2-minute video resume. Hopefully this will become a regular program-- we will keep you posted.

There is no cost: the video resume will be free, and it will be broadcast on North TV, North Attleboro's public access channel.

If you are too far away, still read this post for useful tips on making your own video resume.

If you have any questions, contact Karen Ross at 617.417.0886, or email her at NorthJobFocus@aol.com. If you bring a CD, they will also give you the video on the CD.

Things you should do before you arrive:

1. Prepare what you are going to say. 2 minutes may not sound like much, but when you are talking for 2 minutes about yourself in a professional way, it will feel like an eternity. So write a script, practice reading it, make sure it is between 90-110 seconds when spoken in a measured tone
2. When writing the script, remember: a video resume is not your resume read aloud in a video. This is your elevator-pitch, only longer (you do know what an elevator speech is, right?)
3. Include at least the following elements:
   • A greeting. Do not say "good-morning" or "good evening". A "hello" will do nicely
   • State your name and profession: "My name is Joe Smith, and I am an accountant"
   • Follow up by your experience: "I have __ years of experience as ________ at ______________. While there, I (include instances of how you saved them money, or made them money, etc."
   • Remember: Do not embelish your video resume. Once it goes to the Internet, there is no going back, so just the facts, please
     
4. Dress accordingly. Remember: the employer will see you and will develop an impression of how you will be at the workplace. So unless you want to be a bartender in a tropical resort, shorts and flip-flops will be a bad career move. You don't have to wear a suit (unless your profession demands you do) but dress as if you are going to your new job on your first day.
5. You would be surprised what a professional camera and bright lights can do to a face. If you are male, shave (or groom your facial hair). Fix your hair. In short, look presentable, because that's what you want people to think.
   

Of course, if you wish, you can display your video resume right here. We will take care of uploading it to Youtube with the right tags.

Good luck.. I hope the video resume will help you land a job.

Harvey Mackay's latest book, "User your head to get your foot in the door" begins with a dedication to the "dedicated" that encapsulates the message: "Dedicated to exhaustive preparation in advance of any job search step-be it polishing a resume, approaching a recruiter, or appearing for an interview."

Coming from the man who suggested, long before the days of LinkedIn, that you should "dig your well before you're thirsty," you should take that as your marching orders: you have to be dedicated to your job-search process, especially in these dark days.

One word to potential buyers: this book, like most other books of this type, is not for everyone. While the author does not come out and say it, this book is aimed solidly at middle-managers and above at white-collar jobs. If you are a construction supervisor or a machine operator, this book may help you a bit with personal growth, but probably will not help you keep or get a job.

One thing struck me about chapter 5: "12 Herculean labors to keep you on the payroll"-as a manager, these are traits I'd like to see in my employees. I try to follow these every day. It truly is a shame that Mr. Mackay has to remind people that these are things one should do to keep one's job.

Chapter 7, "Yours to Lose" gives an example of highly qualified internal candidate who loses out on a promotion because he did not prepare adequately (the Hare and Tortoise story, illustrated with Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign).

The book has 9 sections:

• Dark Days
• Reconstruct Your Attitude
• Re-employment: Your Extreme Preparation Guide
• Mobilize Your Network
• Fill In the Blanks
• D-Day: Plan the Attack
• Get Hired
• Stay Afloat
• Afterthoughts

Each section consists of bite-size chapters, often 2 pages or less. Mr. Mackay, with his years of experience and lucid writing style, has conveyed the necessary information in those short chapters. But I cannot help but feel conflicted about this. For a busy exec with a demanding schedule, this might be right, but I also feel that this leaves out an important part: the "How." In the aforementioned Chapter 7 and elsewhere, examples are given about the "what", and I am assuming it is left to the reader to convert those to action items. So these left me wanting a bit more. A "Do this:" section at the end of each chapter would have filled that craving nicely.

For someone without a job, "Reconstruct Your Attitude" would be valuable because nothing kills a job-search like being depressed.

Chapter 22, "Getting a job is a job" is the crux of this book, and amplifies the dedication we talked about before. This chapter also delves into specifics a candidate needs to do to succeed at this "job." If you remember one thing from this book, this is it.

Chapter 27, "Expose yourself" contains valuable advice about videotaping a mock interview so you can review them later. This is absolutely critical because I have seen perfectly smart candidates hew and hmm during interviews. A videotaped interview would help one overcome those, and this chapter

The next section, "Mobilize your network" is Mr. Mackay's old stomping ground, and it is no surprise that the advices are to-the-point, and useful.

Chapter 39 is an "Interview Prep Checklist" and all 44 items are worth following.

Rest of the chapters, while not specifically cited in this review, are also extremely useful depending on your situation.

This book, like all of Mr. Mackay's books, was excellent and useful. I would definitely recommend it.

You can buy it on Amazon:

Use Your Head to Get Your Foot in the Door: Job Search Secrets No One Else Will Tell You

Resumes, cover letters, online profiles, "elevator pitches" (I don't like that term), networking meetings and job interviews each provide an opportunity for you to convey the value you deliver to an employer and what is unique about you. It is your uniqueness that makes you memorable, and makes you the one who gets the job offer.

Most career advice stresses the importance of communicating your experience and skills. This focus is important but tells only half of your story.

Your skills and experience will get you an interview, and your uniqueness will get you hired. When companies choose between the best skilled applicant and the person who best fits in the organization, hiring managers consistently choose to hire the candidate that is the best "fit". Fit is an over-used word spoken by interviewers to describe whether or not they feel you'll fit within the team. When they say you'll be a great fit, it means they like you and feel you can do the job. When they say you do not fit it means they don't like you. If they don't like you, they will not hire you. Fit speaks to your personality, work style and work values.

To be memorable you must prepare to convey your unique combination of qualities, and it is your unique qualities that communicate your "fit". Let's discuss your "uniqueness inventory".

Uniqueness Inventory

When asked to describe themselves people use phrases like "results focused", "analytical", "persistent", "creative", "strong attention to detail", and "a good communicator". These are some of the qualities that make you unique and affect the perception of your "fit" with the hiring organization.

First a note about saying you're a "quick learner", don't use this phrase because every applicant says they are a quick learner. Saying this will not differentiate you from the crowd. Now back to your unique qualities.

Prepare to express your uniqueness by first responding to the following statement: "Describe yourself in three words (or three phrases)". Now for each word or phrase, identify a situation when you demonstrate that quality. Your telling of these structured stories makes you memorable. If you are memorable, you get strong consideration and if you get strong consideration, you often get the offer.

For example: you might describe yourself as "results focused". If this is true for you, identify a situation when you demonstrated this quality and prepare to tell this story during the job interview.

Many years ago a new graduate interviewed with eight (8) vice presidents at Fidelity Investments where I was a Director of Staffing. To get to the final interview round this new grad had competed against several hundred highly educated applicants from 14 different schools. Out of the 12 finalists, the interviewers agreed on only one person as their top choice. Their top choice was a young man from Babson College who told them a compelling life-story about his unyielding commitment to doing what he said he would do even when his life was threatened. I heard the story over ten years ago and it is still fresh in my mind. The story was riveting and memorable, but what was most important to the interviewers was what the story indicated about the candidate. The story provided evidence of his commitment, persistence and personal value to do the right thing. These qualities, while they were not listed on the position description as requirements, made all the difference for this candidate. He got the top job offer because he was qualified and communicated some of his unique qualities through the telling of structured stories.

Structured Story Telling

So what is the structure to use when telling these stories? You can use story telling to convey both your skills and unique qualities. Here is a simple structure to telling your stories to interviewers.

To make this easy to remember, use the structure Before, During, After. This sequence refers to what occurred before, during and after you took action. For example, you begin telling your structured story with Before you took action.

Before

You first describe the situation or the problem that existed Before you took action. Highlight the overall context of what you were trying to do or the problem you faced.

During

Second, describe what you specifically did During the time you were trying to achieve the desired results.

After

Third, discuss what happened After you took action. Highlight the results of your actions. Ands one more thing, if you want to make your story really compelling,

Learned

Conclude your story by discussing the things you Learned from this effort.

As described above, make a list of the experiences and qualities you want to present during the interview and for each dimension of you, write down the story you will tell to provide proof of your talents.

Remember, the job interview is the most important moment in your job search and in your career. While your resume may get you to the interview, it is your job interview skills that will secure the job offer. Preparation and practice make all the difference in your performance, because the most qualified person rarely gets the job. It's the person who interviews the best who wins the job offer.

Good luck on your next interview, You're going to be awesome!

- Michael R. Neece, CEO

Interview Mastery is the Internet's most widely used job interview prep program in the world used by job seekers in 70+ countries and 100+ colleges and regional career centers.

www.interviewmastery.com