A MAHER ASSOCIATES PROCESS... By following this M.A.P., you will find the "journey" to your destination, successful career transition, to be smooth sailing. Trust "a local pilot", in this case the Careerpilot, to assist you through challenging waters.
Preparing to Draft a GREAT Resume
All three keys of effective career transition are the basis of this "chart".
1) Plan and act "outside of the box" created by traditional thinking. Many professional people look back on their careers-to-date and discover that following their company's direction of "next steps" has led them to a place they don't "fit" in any more. Professionals at all levels often wonder "what they want to do for the rest of their careers". Clearly, personal growth requires change... Your choice!
2) Always communicate yourself in a positive, future-oriented manner. Put your best foot forward !!! In order to do this effectively, you must at least be aware of your key strengths and attributes that form your communication strategy, supportive of your career objectives. This often calls for concentrated self-assessment, directed self-assessment or, at times, even some assistance from a certified counselor.
Your "story" or communication strategy, should be built on accurate and solid key words and strengths that "fit" your career objectives. I encourage you to consider both "hard" and "soft" measures: Remember, you will be screened for experience, but hired for your potential.
3) Always have a next contact to make... ALWAYS, for the rest of your career!
STARTING POINT
If you have been through a career transition workshop: At the very least, a group workshop should serve as your first/ next networking event. Your workshop manual probably includes some excellent content and exercises that will help you identify your appropriate career objectives. You may have even spent considerable time in the workshop with this preparation step, before working on your resume or getting on to other issues.
If you have the benefit of personalized, 1-on-1 attention: You may hear the terms counseling, consulting, teaching and coaching used almost interchangeably... but they're NOT! Expect the personalization of being put through some awareness and assessment conversation or exercises, profiles or actual "tests" to prepare you to identify your career objectives, before working on your resume or getting on to other issues.
If you are still uncertain about your career objectives: Consider using the marketplace, itself, to help you become aware of and access your strengths relative to available employment or rewarding work. See yourself as others see you. This is one of the greatest benefits of effective networking.
While employed, you have access to performance reviews, internal networking and personal research to help determine your strengths, reputation and image issues, development needs and career objectives.
While unemployed, you can take your rough draft resume (or most simply, your open mind will do) to your references and other trusted colleagues and friends for help and guidance in this component of preparation. Among other tangible results, you should realize the "comfort zone" of kicking off your personal market plan implementation with people that you know and trust...a great foundation for your next contact.
A traditional resume communicates what you have already done... sort of a historical epitaph of your past. This chart encourages you to communicate what you are capable of and motivated to do in the future, using your past as supportive evidence. Its easy to make a resume look and read well... but does YOUR resume truly "FIT" your career objectives? A "GREAT" Resume is a dynamic documentation of your communication strategy, the vital epicenter of your Personal Market Plan. Your resume is the most used of your written collaterals. It can be kept current throughout your career with annual (or more frequent) Career "FITness Tests.
Companies spend millions of dollars creating and communicating just the right message to ensure that customers will recall, respond favorably to, and buy their products. Your message, continuously delivered to contacts and hiring managers, can be broken down into two parts:
First, a statement of your functional identity (I am a corporate trainer…), followed by several marketable core competencies that you are "selling" (…with substantial experience in leadership development, performance management and team building.) This is referred to as POSITIONING. It comes directly from…
1. Assessment and Research…
A Candidate who is truly managing their own career is constantly aware of their own best "next steps." They research the marketplace, target appropriate opportunity, network effectively to both create personal "visibility" and create avenues to those opportunities that are right for them. Take the time necessary to determine your next right employment opportunity.2. Setting Your Career Objectives… Knowledge of the process and self-awareness allow you to effectively set your career transition objectives. In order to implement an effective Personal Market Plan, your objectives must be defined by positioning (functional and personal strengths) and targeting (informed industry and geographic goals) your candidacy. Of course the best "FIT" occurs when your objectives are aligned with the needs of the marketplace.
Pre-determination of offer criteria and career objectives are essential cornerstones to the development of a high quality resume, part of the written collaterals of your Personal Market Plan. As your highly personalized, marketing collateral, your resume positions you in the marketplace… qualifies you with your experience, knowledge, skills and credentials… and can target your efforts with appropriate word selection relative to your industries of choice. Take the time necessary to determine your career objectives, and how they best FIT what the market has offer you.
At the core of your preparation, the evolution of your communication strategy, is assessment and awareness of those characteristics by which you are measured by others. Your characteristics should be viewed in two categories...
|
Hard Measures |
Soft Measures |
| 1) Skills... "What can you do for me?"
What are those functional tasks that you do well in the performance of your
work?
2) Knowledge... What bodies of knowledge are you familiar and confident with that allow you to perform at high levels of competency? 3) Experience... How long have you been doing "it". This assumes that you know and understand what IT is. Note: These are your competencies by which you are "screened" in the traditional job market. |
Note: Beyond the
confirmation of your professional competencies, you are selected due
to the "fit" created by your... 1) Personality traits 2) Work habits 3) Values... Work habits + Values = Work Ethic 4) Interests and other issues of personal motivation Career FIT + TEAM Fit = Satisfaction |
Time for a reality check...
You will tend to be satisfied with your next employment only when...
- Both your hard and soft characteristics are utilized and challenged to grow;
- You feel adequately compensated for your efforts, both in salary (A note from the Careerpilot: You will never be paid "enough".) and other rewards.
- Working conditions are "good" for you.
Now, before you head off in the direction of that "fantasy fit" employment out there, remember that the work you seek must be available or needed within the marketplace.
Recruitment is a seductive process, Don't be mislead by false advertising. Create a communication strategy, your template of your career objectives, and use it as the core of your personal market plan. Preparation in self awareness and assessment is the same as "product analysis". You, the product, doesn't get sold by featuring negative characteristics. So remember, put your best foot forward !!!
Before taking your next step...
Without well defined career objectives, or at least "working models" or employment goals that you can live with, you are dooming yourself to a random search for the next step along your career path, a very futile journey. If you are "in this boat" (gosh, these nautical references get deep at times...sorry! - the careerpilot), do not hesitate to contact your local careerpilot for some "navigation aid" and assistance.
The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore.
Vincent
van Gogh (1853-1890), Dutch painter
first career: art salesman
Waypoints...
Understanding Career FIT| Creating a GREAT Resume | Components of a GREAT Resume
Preparation: awareness and assessment | | Drafting YOUR Resume
For MORE INFO e-mail your thoughts and questions to the careerpilot.
Bob Maher, CMF... The Careerpilot
Bob created his online presence, www.careerpilot.com, in 1994. He has over twenty years of successful experience in Corporate Recruitment, performance management and Career Management Services. He is an entrepreneur and innovator in the use of information technology in the recruitment and employment process. On the Founder's Council of the Association of Career Professionals - International and quite active in their Professional Development, Technology and Chapter Growth initiatives--a frequent speaker at industry conferences and seminars. Received The Association's prestigious LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD in 2006.