When the question comes to marketing themselves, the most common refrain is that their resume does not get any attention or responses from their targets where they have sent it for consideration. When I ask them how they have constructed their message, I get puzzled looks and many sheepishly admit that they have merely documented what they have done in their jobs that they held to create a chronology of their past. By doing so, they have resigned themselves to continuing their past, albeit perhaps in a new role.

Herein lies the problem!

When the job market gets tighter hiring managers are looking for someone who can bring a new set of eyes and skills to the open jobs. Sometimes, the jobs do not even have to be open for you to be considered for a position. How? Not all jobs are identified in any company and many do not even know how they could structure new positions in a dynamic and uncertain economy to position themselves better. Here, you can define something that a company may be interested in and present it as an opportunity that the company can pursue to its advantage!

To be able to get such attention you MUST craft a message that is more than merely documenting your past and compiling an inventory of your chronological assignments in the past jobs. In fact, sometimes what you have merely done in the past can get in the way of your advancing yourself in a beneficial way.

How?

Unless you can show that you are much more than your past assignments you are consigned to the fate of all those who treat their resumes as merely a vehicle to document your past. This means that you want your future to be an extension of your past.

If you are lucky!

Why not command your own future with a message that is forward looking and that excites the reader to consider you as someone who is positioned differently from everyone else?

How is this possible?

The most dramatic example of this possibility is what Barrack Obama has done in his campaign. Here is a person who has barely got into his first Senate term, with little or no political experience, someone who has never drafted any significant legislation, who is from a minority community, who has admitted to using drugs, who has never served in armed forces, whose name raises doubts in some people’s minds about his origins and loyalties, and who has never had any executive experience. He systematically starts his campaign to run for the highest office in the country. With his current momentum I would not be surprised if he becomes our next president.

How did he do it?

1. By focusing on the future and capturing people’s imagination. If he had relied merely on his resume (his past) he would not have got even to the first base!
2. He told his story through his books and speeches. You can do that, too! Instead of writing dry bullets on your resume about what you boss told you to do and how you did it, tell your reader why you did what you did and how well you did it (a story of your leadership)
3. Be persistent. Keep your message on target and do not waver from it. Capture the readers’ imagination by telling stories about your leadership and by showing what you can do that others cannot
4. Separate your resume from your message (Barrack is the best example of this) and separate what you did from who you are. The resume is not about what you did but it is about the message that you want to send as to who you are!
5. Be authentic in all that you convey and project. Without that authenticity all you have is a “campaign promise.”
6. Keep tinkering. Keep your message fresh and relevant. Keep trying to gather feedback and update your message.
7. Synchronize your message: your resume, your cover letter, your campaign, and your actions must all be in synch for others to believe in you!

No matter how tough the job market is there are always jobs and there are always opportunities that companies are trying to exploit. In fact, in tough times there are more opportunities than most realize!

Now go and conquer them!

It is better to sleep on things beforehand than to lie awake about them

afterwards. -Baltasar Gracian, philosopher and writer (1601-1658)

As a career coach I routinely work with clients to make their resumes more presentable. In the process I am often surprised by the number of clients who want to misstate facts or who want to present an outright lie.

Having worked with over 3,500 clients I can say with some experience that those who are tempted to misstate facts are tempted by their desire to match what the job descriptions asks for that they cannot provide. Most common temptations are previous job titles, accomplishments, and oh, the mother of them all, college degrees!

What most do not realize is that checking facts is easy in this Googlized world! Also, people you do not even suspect as possibly fact providers can be working at your prospect employer and they can quickly spot a phony. What most do not realize is that telling truth in ways that serves a situation is far more valuable to you than lying about it in ways that can be a gottcha later! Despite this, nearly 40% of applicants lie on their resumes. And, this goes all the way up to the CEO resumes. Who can forget how Radio Shack had to fire its CEO a few years back because he had lied on his resume. Stories of high-level cheats abound in the corporate world!

It is much easier to state the facts and get in for an interview than to spend sleepless nights wondering about when you are going to get caught in your new job for having lied on your resume, as the quote at the head of this blog admonishes.

In one case, a client of mine brought me a job opening at a major defense contractor. The job required a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and at least 10 years’ experience. My client had a stellar record in all the areas that they had listed in the job description, except that he only had the Master’s degree (from Stanford!). So, he sheepishly told me that he was going to put that he had a Ph.D. from Stanford and send his response, despite my admonition that such things could be easily checked.

He came back the next day and agreed that it would be wrong to do this and that if he were caught (I guaranteed it!) that would be a black mark against him or worse! So, he asked how he could get through the computerized screening process without meeting the job requirements. I suggested to him that the computer was going to look for a “Ph.D. in the resume under “Education,” so why not state the degree he already had and write “no Ph.D.” He liked the idea and we submitted his response with the truthful resume and a cover letter that highlighted why he would be a great candidate!

Viola!

He got a call for a telephone interview and soon he was invited to a round of interviews. Not once was he asked about his not having a Ph.D. during the interviews. He ended up not getting the job, not because he was not qualified, but because he was not able to qualify for the rigors of the screening process for his security clearance, which this job required.

The moral of the story: Avoid any lies on your resume. It is easy to catch them. Instead, tell the truth in ways that positions you favorably and sleep well at night!

But, here are some strategies that you can adopt regardless of how secure you feel at your current job:

1. Become more visible, not less, to upper management, customers, and others whose opinion counts in how they see your creating value for the company.
2. Find out what initiatives will alleviate the pain your company is in. Suggest some ideas after trying what works and lead the charge to make the change. During difficult times everyone hunkers down, even your managers! Change the mindset and charge ahead.
3. Identify what bullets on your current resume will strengthen your value proposition. Seek those assignments and get those accomplishments to claim them on your résumé. Even if you do not get to finish them (you get laid-off) it shows you think differently than the rest.
4. Burnish your LinkedIn Profile and get Recommendations from customers and others who pay the bills.
5. Target a company (preferably your competitor) and discover what their pain is. Write a one page prospect letter to the CEO and communicate how you can help them get rid of that pain.
6. Do not waste time looking busy, instead, invest meaningful time in getting your campaign ready with a great message, strong network, and a highly targeted company list.
7. Don’t look glum, instead smile and look confident! A positive attitude may not get you what you want, but it will annoy enough people around you to make it worth the effort!
8. Start a blog in your area of expertise and become visible to outsiders in your space. Sign-up to participate in your company’s marketing shows.
9. Explore where the hiring is and transform your message to align with the opportunities using your transferable skills (your genius!)
10. Do not wait for the layoff, exit before it happens if you do what is said above (#1-9)

Good luck!!

As the job losses mount and as the economy gets tougher, those left with having to do multiple jobs because of the cutbacks often have to face both, the survivors’ guilt and having to do the jobs of those who no longer work there, but whose tasks devolve down to the survivors! Under these conditions it is often the survivors who seek out other opportunities to start afresh and make a break from their past where they feel stuck.

This very approach breeds a vicious cycle for those seeking change, spiraling down their career momentum, often ending up having to face a lay-off themselves.

In tough times there is an alternate way to get what you want with some planning, patience, and a different outlook!

Contrary to what is apparent, an organization in tough times faces many challenges that need addressing. Normally, these challenges will not be visible to most and will not be addressed even by aggressive managers because nothing warrants addressing them. But, in tough times they can make a difference between survival and a company’s demise! With abundance of such opportunities the right approach is to initiate a change based on where the leverage is and to propose to your manager what must be done to remedy the situation. In tough times managers are willing to take greater risks to alleviate a situation than they would otherwise.

Seeking tough assignments and executing on them provides a great “laboratory” for employees to go beyond what they are normally expected to do. In tough times it is much easier to assume a license to do what it takes to make things better, much more than when everyone is doing well and spending their time politicking. Ironically, in tough time players who rely on such tactics hunker down and even disappear!

Seeking assignments that reflect your next level of responsibilities will automatically allow you to bolster your resume and, as a side benefit, protect your job because of the additional value you are creating and delivering in your otherwise routine—even mundane—job! Just two or three bullets on your current resume with such initiatives can greatly increase your prospects for a promotion outside (even inside) the company as the economy improves and as the hiring begins to ease. Most underestimate the power of this strategy because they are too busy surviving and staying under the “radar” to protect their jobs. I suggest the exact opposite, not only to protect your job but to come out ahead when you are seeking a change on your terms, moving out!

So, what are the steps to changing your perspective and to getting yourself ready even before the good times roll? Well, here is a summary:

1. Identify the pain points for the company, not just in your own department, but anywhere there is an opportunity. Collaborate cross-functionally if you must and propose a solution to your manager or someone higher up.
2. Clearly identify for yourself how this change will help you capture the experience needed to show your qualifications for a job at a higher level of responsibility.
3. Show leadership in how you go about solving the problem and showing how you alleviate the company’s pain. Make sure that there are clear measurements “before” and “after,” so that you can put these on your resume without any reservations.
4. Update your profile to reflect your new responsibilities and if you use LinkedIn (you must) get Recommendations from those who matter. A sudden surge of Recommendations in your LinkedIn Profile can raise some flags, but if you do this as a matter of practice it is less likely to raise suspicion.
5. Remember, that even in tough times companies hire; it is just that they hire only those who create substantial value for them. So, do not be shy about approaching companies that you wish to pursue even prospectively by highlighting what you have done at your own company and what you can do for them. Generally, if you are courting a competitor this makes it even easier to make your case.
6. Review job descriptions for position that you wish to seek and make sure that you have enough ammunition in your message (resume) to overcome possible objections for a higher-level job even without the experience of that job. Often, qualifications carry more weight that experience.
7. Actively network and seek help from outside to meet your objectives. Develop contacts in competitor companies.
8. Do not be shy to trumpet your success, not just your new assignments. Send success emails with copies to your chain of command to increase your visibility.
9. Send emails thanking all those who cooperated with you on your initiatives to acknowledge their help. In so doing, you become visible yourself!
10. Be confident, smile a lot, and do not let anyone stop you. It is amazing how well this works, especially when everyone else is worried and is wondering about if their name on the next lay-off list

Good luck!

Whenever I mention to my clients, who are going after open jobs, to write cover letters in their response I get incredulous looks and an insinuation that I am hopelessly out of date and impractical. Why? They have heard from many recruiters that cover letters are a waste of time because no one reads them!

Wrong!

Yes, recruiters see thousands of resumes and their job is to winnow the stack to a few and present them to the hiring manager for further action. Typically, recruiters spend from three to 20 seconds scanning a resume and then making a decision about the resume. A cover letter takes time away from this. Beside, most (90% of the applicants) do not know the real function of a cover letter and how much impact it can make in the hiring manager’s mind about your candidacy.

In all my writings about resume design I categorically state that a resume is not about you, rather, it is about how what you have to offer aligns with the job that you are pursuing. If the resume is about the job, then the cover letter must be about the company and the hiring manager’s pain!

Right on!

Most applicants, typically, summarize their credentials in the top part of the cover letter and in the bottom, they copy and paste the key attributes from the job description. The final line in the letter is typically a claim of how well-matched the two narratives are and hence their qualifications for the job!

Only a fool would fall for this trick. To make a cover letter mean anything to the reader (the hiring manager) it must have the following elements:

1. A clear statement of what you bring to the job and why that is going to be important to the hiring manager
2. A clear understanding of the state of the industry, the company, and the specific pain points of the department where you would be hired. How can one get all this information? If you are on top of what is going on in your own area of expertise the first two items are not that difficult to glean from the research that you can do. Now, for the specific hiring manager’s pain you must make some inferences from the available information and by talking to your network embedded in the company. All you need to make is a plausibility argument, not a forensic one!
3. In your letter you must clearly show that you understand these three vital elements and that you will deliver on your promise to eliminate the hiring manager’s pain if they hired you. It is that simple.
4. The entire package must be delivered to the hiring manager by some unusual means, in addition to the regular channels (responding on the company’s Website). Sending a package by US Mail or by overnight courier usually does the trick.
5. You MUST follow-up in a week by calling the hiring manager!

A Cover letter is much like a closing argument a lawyer makes to the court before his case goes to the jury. It is the message that goes with each juror into the jury room and the one that carries most impact because of its freshness and the conviction it presents about your take on the case. Without that passion and conviction any closing argument will ring hollow!

If you are serious about a job opportunity you must send a great resume with an equally worthy cover letter and rest your case!

Good luck!

“Your reach should be greater than your grasp.”—Ralph Waldo Emerson

You do not have to go far to realize that the job market today is really tough these days! What makes it even tougher for those who are already out and looking and for those who are on the verge of a layoff is that they see no hope for them to overcome their plight because there are fewer and fewer jobs of the kind that they did before. They are scared to try something else, either because they do not know how to create a message that allows them to launch a credible campaign in a new direction, or that they are simply out of ideas!

Traditional résumés are constructed using deductive reasoning. It is iron-clad by virtue of its logical power. It is also historical, so no one can doubt your veracity, unless you chose to overtly lie to get away with something just to claim what you do not deserve. In my experience with nearly 4,000 clients across the globe in a variety of situations is that most underestimate their worth and overestimate their value! This statement looks like a contradiction, but let me explain:

Our worth is what we are capable of doing (“reach” in the Emerson quote, above). Whereas our value is what we can transactionally extract when engaged in what we typically do (our “grasp.”). For example, working in our jobs we often believe (and feel) that we can do a much better job than what our boss is doing. We also believe that we deserve a much bigger raise for our contributions at work. This is our dented sense of proprioception about ourselves that prompts us to believe that our value is much greater than it is as perceived by others or than how it is rewarded. Emerson also wrote: We judge ourselves by what we are capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done! This is normal and many of us spend agonizing hours brooding over how undervalued we are because of this very fact! We go through all kinds of contortions to get a measly one percent higher raise than the next guy!

Worth, on the other hand is something that is intrinsic to us and it reflects what we can be if we reach out and apply ourselves in different and unusual ways. In the context of your transactional engagement (such as you current or previous job) it requires a different mindset for you to leap into a position that allows you to apply yourself in a new direction. Such a campaign requires a message that is different from what your typical résumé conveys.

How can one do this?

Well, you do not have to go far to see how this is done. Candidate Barack Obama successfully overcame his résumé to craft a message that got him the job he was after. To develop a message that is different from your résumé requires an inductive résumé (my phrase). An inductive résumé creates a forward looking message that takes you from the known to the unknown; quite a change from the linear, deductive résumé that everyone is used to and knows how to do well!

An inductive résumé is what can propel you in a new direction in this market. Despite its gloom and doom the current job market is rife with interesting, even exciting, possibilities. All you have to do is show a target employer (of your choosing) what is not happening for them in the realm that you have interest in and how you can make it happen for them. This requires some research, some fortitude and enormous self-confidence to pull it off. As a career coach I have done this myself five times (this is my fifth career) and have done this for my clients nearly 4,000 times across the globe. These are my proof points. If you do not believe these, go to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, DC and have a session with Barack himself!

Making an inductive leap requires the following elements:

A clear vision of what you want to do

Owning your genius that allows you to craft a verbal message that translates what you have done into what you can do

A few compelling stories that link your genius (Unique Skills) to your achievements in a direction that makes your claim of value creation in a new direction credible

A campaign that is highly targeted and moxy that is second to none!

Good luck!

Dictionary defines etiquette as conduct or procedure required by good breeding or prescribed by authority in social or official life. With this definition as a guiding principle, etiquette is even more important in a job-search situation than in others because most who are in the “taking” end do not even realize that their behaviors– and even attitudes — are making it hard for those at the “giving” end to be gracious about being considerate. This consideration can range from returning a repeated phone message left on their voice mail, to explaining something that puzzles a potential candidate. Why? Etiquette are the lubrication that makes things move smoothly. Ignoring them can create unnecessary friction and hurt. The reason that knowing the right etiquette is even more important in a job situation is because the state of mind most job seekers are or get into somehow makes them think that being in that state should exempt them from this courtesy. It does not matter if you are out of work looking for a job or if you already have one and looking for another. The level of stress is the same; it may just have a different level of urgency!

Practicing the right etiquette will not only get what you want it will help you position yourself in a differentiated way in the eyes of those who are at the “giving” end! The converse is that if you are clumsy in the etiquette department you may not only lose an opportunity that is yours to claim, you may permanently alienate the potential employer beyond the immediate context! If you are a talented person otherwise, fully qualified to handle the opportunity the company presented, you will always wonder what went sour in your landing the job you so wanted and were so fit for! Ironically, etiquette demands that those who see your boorish behavior in the process keep mum about it!

In a limited space it is impossible to provide a complete guide to job-search etiquette. The flavor of the tips provided here can be used to understand the basic behavioral principles that you can leverage in similar situations. When in doubt, think of the other person, not yourself!

The etiquette varies from situation to situation in the job-search process; however, within a certain situation the etiquette can be considered a norm. The following discussion is presented for many of the steps typical in the job search process:

Responding to Posted Jobs

Posted jobs can be either published in the print media or on the job boards. Jobs posted on company bulletin boards and Websites have the same etiquette considerations:

1. Respond to a posting only if you are a strong candidate. Marginal match of your skill to the competencies posted on the open position is a disservice to the process, even if the résumé is sent electronically. In the era of the Internet, where it costs nothing to post your résumé and takes a few seconds to respond to a position, it is all the more important that you follow this discipline. Merely flooding a Website with a marginal résumé is a best way to ensure that you are making the process difficult to others who may be more qualified than you are!
2. Sending a FedEx package to someone, whose name you found out through research in response to a posted opening and not having the clout in the résumé and the letter to warrant that recipient to compel some action for you. As more and more find out that sending a FedEx — or other courier — package in the hands of a decision maker, can get you an audience, the more and more vigilant the recipients are going to become. If this mode of sending your response is just to hector the recipient with the same trite message that might as well have been sent by the other cheaper means, the impact of the FedEx approach diminishes quickly for all those who rely on it. Ergo, use an appropriate method of sending your package to create an impact commensurate with your message. Do not use a sledgehammer to kill a fly!
3. Do not send a response to a posted opening to everyone in sight. Send it to the recipient named in the posting unless you have a compelling case for sending it to someone higher up for an impact and action that the response deserves. Use your judgment.
4. Do not call immediately to verify receipt of what you sent. Remember the more common the approach to sending what is asked the less your “right” to follow-up. You should not even bother to follow-up a conventional email response to a job posting in a tough market where there is potentially a large number of respondents.
5. Even if the target employer is nearby do not go personally to hand the résumé to someone there. You may be able to leave it in the in-basket at the lobby at best. Unless your response has something compelling, do not waste someone’s time by having them come down to the lobby just so that they have your résumé!
6. Comply with all the requirements of the posted position. Employers do not like it when respondents do not comply with clearly spelled out requirements.
7. Do not send your response in a format, color, or package that may appear to the recipient as off-the-wall, presented just to get their attention. The message must have the same attention-getting power.

Following-up

After sending the response to an opportunity, following up depends on how you responded and what the original opportunity was. If you responded to a job with a résumé and cover letter in a routine way to generic address, you have no recourse to any specific follow up. This is why sending such responses put you at a disadvantage. The following list summarizes etiquettes for following up on what you already sent:

1. If you know the name of the person to whom the response was sent leave a message with details so that the person can easily track your response without having to research it further. For example if you are David Smith– or a similarly common name — don’t just say, “Sally this Dave Smith and I am calling about the résumé I sent about a month ago. Could you please call me and tell me what is the status of that job is?” A more actionable message might be: Hi Sally this is David Smith. About a month back I sent my résumé in connection with your posting for a shipping clerk, job # 22342. I would really appreciate your calling me on 123-555-2212 and leaving me a message about the status of that job. Once again, that number is 123-555-22121 and Thank you!”  Preferably this telephone number should be the same that you used on the résumé! Do not expect to hear if your original response was a routine one and do not keep calling if you did not hear back the first time!
2. If you are calling to follow-up on a courier package you sent in response to a job opening to a person not specified in the posting but to a researched name, or the one sent unsolicited with your own point of view, do not assume that the package is with that person or that the person actually received your package. Look at the delivery signature commonly available for courier deliveries and start with that person. Then sequentially trace the package and see where it might be in the chain. Then call that person.
3. Once you connect with the person who has your package gently explore whether they had a chance to read it. Give them a reason to open the package by saying something intriguing and suggest that you talk later.  Be brief and diplomatic and assess where you need to begin so that the person is obliged to open it and take the next steps¾your original intent behind sending such a message!
4. If the person with whom you connected asks you to call back or suggests that they would call you back at a certain time, give some additional time to reconnect if they fail to call you, so that you do not look overly anxious.
5. If you are navigating through a battery of administrators to get to someone higher up in an organization, treat them with courtesy and respect. They may decide to “disconnect” you if they see you as a pest!
6. Always be thankful for any information you get and any courtesy you are accorded, no matter who that person is at the other end, where you are trying to get in!

Networking

Networking etiquettes are flouted most frequently with unwitting consequences! How? It is perhaps because people are not even aware of the simple slipups that can cascade into a full-blown avoidance by the person at the other end of the network; amity can turn into enmity with a simple oversight, especially if you are looking to the other person to do you a favor! The following tips are a good starting point to adopt proper “netiquettes”:

1. Your successful networking is based on giving more than you take. Always keep track of what is coming your way from your network and make sure that you maintain the balance with the network owing you not the other way around. For example if you get two leads from your network in a week, give three or more back to the same network. Always manage to give in kind!
2. If you want to contact someone based on a tip you got from within your network, make sure that you tell the person you contacted what your relationship is with the one who gave you the contact information. You are not likely to get very far with the person you contacted anyway, if, how you got the name remains a mystery to the person and later on if that person finds out the source, you may have compromised their relationship. Always reveal the source of the referral when making new contact!
3. Make sure you keep the boundaries of your expectations with each person within your network. Do not push these boundaries. Your desperation in getting what you want does not constitute an emergency on the part of the person who is trying to help you! This is why it is a good idea to keep networking a habit in times, good and bad.
4. If your source gives you the name of a hiring manager, do not assume that you can directly contact that manager. Some companies have strict rules about keeping the hiring managers away from the flux of inquiries and persistent calls from interested candidates. Ask the person if it would be appropriate for you to contact the manager or if they are able to present your response to that manager. All things being equal you should prefer the former, as, then, it lets you keep track of what is going on and you eliminate a third person from getting in the way of your future interactions with that manager! If this were to materialize your way, always keep your contact apprised of what is going on by sending a courtesy copy of your exchanges with the manager.
5. In addition to saying ‘thank you’ every time you get help, call once in a while just to thank that person and for no other reason! Also send a thank you note in the Mail. Many consider receiving this a special gesture much more meaningful than just receiving a ‘thank you’ email.
6. Make sure that you keep the boundaries of when and where to call your network contact to get what you are looking for. The only contacts you should consider calling at home and off hours are the Nuclear Contacts of the Networking Hierarchy, Figure 3, Key-4: Networking.
7. If you are using the Internet as a channel of communication within your networking group do not use emails to solicit petitions, send spam, and other messages of commercial import or the ones that promote your personal agenda.
8. Do not assume that those within your networking group share your religious, political, or social beliefs. If you foist them on the group it may retaliate by alienation!
9. Do not assume that if you subscribe to an email group, such as a Yahoo! Group, that your message posted on such a board will be read and heeded by all who receive it. Many routinely ignore such group messages. If you want someone’s’ attention then send at least a personal message to each one!
10. Keep your email messages brief and with a subject line carefully phrased to pique curiosity and get action!

Telephone Calls

Telephone calls are the mainstay of networking communication. And yet, few follow the etiquettes to make this a pleasant experience! The following etiquettes are a summary of some of the key telephone etiquettes:

Incoming calls:

1. Have a businesslike greeting on your voice mail.  Identify yourself and your telephone number in the greeting.
2. With the caller ID a standard feature now, do not install security screens on incoming calls. These filters can be a barrier to callers trying to reach you, including your potential employers. Use voice screening instead, available on most recorded messaging machines.
3. Have a separate line for all your Internet activity. An Internet connection on a line can block it for hours and frustrate those who are trying to reach you, including your potential employers.
4. If a call comes at a time when it is inconvenient for you to take it, explain why and ask if you can call them back at a time that is best for them.
5. If you are angry, upset, or feel that you are not in balance, let the machine take the incoming call.
6. Do not betray your emotions or state of mind to the caller. Telephone calls are notoriously sensitive to the way your tone comes across to the other party. Be very aware of this and manage your emotional state for all calls, incoming and outgoing!

Outgoing calls:

Make outgoing calls at a time that does not impose on the called party. Typically these times are on a weekday: 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM (9:00 PM is preferred) for calls made to a home, and during regular business hours for all business calls; weekends 10 AM to 6 PM for all home calls. Avoid dinner or lunch hours even for home calling. The only exceptions may be those within your Nuclear Contact list (See Figure-3, Networking Universe, Key-4)

1. If you are calling someone on their cell phone, ask if they can talk or politely ask where they are so that if they are driving you may want to ask them for a more convenient time to for that call.
2. When the called person answers your call, immediately identify yourself fully–and not by merely saying “Hi this is Dave–so that you can engage in a conversation without the called person having to wonder “which Dave is this?” and losing time in engaging with you right away. Also do not assume that even though they have answered the call that they are free to talk to you then; they may be in the middle of something important.
3. If you called someone and the line gets disconnected, no matter what the reason, caller reinitiates the call. The called person waits for the phone to ring again for a few minutes otherwise they will go about their business.
4. Do not discuss sensitive, gossipy, or personally offensive, or insinuating information on the phone. If you want to give some adverse feedback to the person over the phone ask them to meet you and do it in person. Likewise, do not leave messages of similar nature on someone’s voicemail.
5. Keep your calls brief and to the point.

Interviews

Interview etiquettes range from how you appear for the interview to what to do with your briefcase when you are ready to sit down prior to the interview, to how you leave the lobby on your way out! The following is a suggested listing of etiquette that govern these behaviors:

1. Be on time for the interview. In fact the guideline is to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the interview and get settled. The details are in Key-5: At the Interview.
2. Dress appropriately for the interview: dress up and not down. You can always remove on or more pieces of your clothing and carry with you if you suddenly feel that you’re overdressed!
3. Dress conservatively. If you need help visit a clothing store that specializes in business attire and seek advice of floor personnel. Do not plan to make a statement with your clothes; you may not get past it. Do not let your clothes enter the door before you do!
4. Introduce yourself to the receptionist and state why you are there, whom you are going to see and when. Mention that you are early and not to announce you quite yet. Make friends with this person by holding a casual conversation. Do not demand a beverage or any other service from this person. They have job to do¾typically answering phone calls, and greeting visitors.
5. Do not make any adverse comments about the parking facilities, temperature in the room, coffee (too strong!) or any thing else to the receptionist (Lobby Ambassador). You really do not know how this person is connected. In one instance a candidate made an off the cuff disparaging comment about the person who might be running the company at which he was interviewing, not realizing that the receptionist was CEO’s daughter doing a summer internship there!
6. When your time comes to have you be announced to the host or the interviewer do not assume that the receptionist would remember this since the time you checked in. A variety of duties in which they are engaged can easily distract them from your needs. If that person is on the phone for a while, wait patiently even though your time to be calling your contact is well past and you cannot get this person’s attention. If appropriate hand the person a note politely and unobtrusively.
7. If you spill something in the lobby as you wait for your time, clean up, even if the receptionist does not see the spill. Often, these people and others who causally come in contact with you are asked to report their impressions of you for critical positions.
8. When the interviewer or their representative comes to greet you, be cordial even if they have kept you waiting. Do not suggest their lateness by looking at your wristwatch. Smile and shake hands. Let them lead you to the place where the interview is going to take place. Practice some icebreakers with this person on the way to the interview.
9. At the place of the interview, asked to be seated and then sit down comfortably where you can put your briefcase or other interview paraphernalia. Place it down on the floor and not on the desk or table in front of you!
10. Do not interrupt the interviewer. Do not argue even if you know that the interviewer is wrong!
11. Take notes on a note pad and not on a laptop or a handheld device close to your face!
12. Do not ask any questions about the company’s woes to the interviewer, the answers to which may put that person in a compromising light. You are also likely to compromise your chances of getting in. Once a client, while being interviewed by a company’s CEO asked him about the SEC investigation that was announced in the media the morning of her interview. After several rounds of successful interviews she was a shoo-in. This question put off the CEO and the process died in its tracks!
13. When the interview is over get up, organize your belongings and quickly get ready to leave the area with the person escorting you out. Do not stretch their patience as you carefully organize your many belongings if they became disheveled during the interview. Do that later on your own
14. Shake hands and thank the person for their time and ask for what the next steps are and a timeline. Do not get overly obsessive about timelines, accountability about the follow-up. Do this somewhat naturally by practicing it before the interview.
15. On the way out thank the receptionist for taking good care of you and ask the person their name!

Thank-you! Notes

Thank you! notes following an interview are critical to making them remember you. They can also be used to recover from something that might have gone wrong during the interview. Mailed Thank You notes are more formal and memorable than emails. Do both for interviews that matter. Samples of Thank you email and notes are shown in Key-5.

References

Etiquettes where references are concerned vary depending on the level of the reference. Although they all deserve to be treated with consideration and courtesy, those who offer to give you high-level reference need to be treated with special care and you should let them know that!

The following etiquette guide may help you finesse your references well:

1. Identify your references early in the process. Let them know that you are planning to include them in the reference process. Remind them about the aspect of your reference you expect them to provide.
2. Some companies have a policy of not providing a reference. Many managers, however, are willing to provide a personal reference. This is why asking early in the process can help you position your references so that there are no surprise.
3. Occasionally some will agree to give you a written reference. If this happens while you are in the job associated with this person it is that much more convenient. In any case if the person agrees to a written reference, write the reference letter yourself and pass it by the person. This way you can decide what is appropriate from that reference in the context of your needs. Do not assume that that person will reference you the way you need it. Usually, it is much easier for anyone to merely edit a letter and sign it than having the need to draft it first. Use this advantage to modulate the message the way you want it written–within some constraints.
4. Carry these letters of reference in your interview portfolio and when the time comes for the reference discussion show the person asking the question. Sometimes this may obviate the need to calling your reference and hasten the process to your advantage.
5. When the potential employer asks for them, call your references, even though you had put them on notice earlier. The reason is that for final referencing, you may need to remind them again and it also gives you a chance to prepare them to respond in line with what the needs are to bolster your case. Request the reference to highlight that aspect of the discussion that you think is relevant.
6. If appropriate, request that they call you upon being contacted by the potential employer. This is a courtesy to you and this helps you confirm that the process is underway. Do not expect this courtesy from all references.
7. Once you know that the process is complete, either through the offer made, or rejection, or any other means, promptly call each of the references or send a note (email acceptable) of thanks. If the offer is made, going the extra distance–a Thank you! Card, flowers, or a gift as appropriate, can protect your references for your future needs.
8. During the referencing process check with the contact to whom you gave the reference list to see if there are any problems contacting the references. It is appropriate for the references to call that person as well, if you so chose.
9. It is not appropriate to call and ask the potential employer what the references said about you, especially if you are turned down for the job.
10. If you are turned down, it a good idea to ask for a debrief from the company that was interested in you. This, again, is a courtesy that the company is extending to you. If the debrief mentions any items related to a reference that surprises you do not probe for details unless they are volunteered as a part of the debrief.
11. After you confirm that the process is completed, call all your references and inform them that the process is complete. Tell them the outcome if you already know it and thank them for being your reference. Some of them may not have been called and they should know that they are now off the hook! You must promptly communicate with all your references and thank them even if you did not get the job!

Negotiating Offers

Much of the process during this step is outlined in the section on negotiations. The following is a summary of etiquettes during this step:

1. Do not assume that you can negotiate what is being offered. Ask.
2. Always go back to last person who made the offer and not necessarily your hiring manager.
3. Do not assume that just because you are in negotiations that you will get what you are seeking. The offer can be withdrawn if he employer so decides.
4. Tread lightly. You should decide before entering into negotiations the down side. You should be willing to walk away if the negotiations take that route.
5. After you have been turned down and your offer is withdrawn, do not go back begging for the same or lesser job for a lower pay!
6. Decide on which items you want to negotiate, lay them out as you enter the discussions and then stop after the process is completed. If the outcome is not favorable, do not plan to move on to other items of your offer.
7. Above all be pleasant, flexible, and courteous throughout the process. Always remind them that you are excited about the job.

Acknowledging Help

During your job search many provide help, even unbeknownst to you or some even unexpectedly and pleasantly! Keep a list of all those who have helped you, going all the way back to the original lead that got you the first interview. The following etiquette lists what you can do after the process is completed:

1. Depending upon the significance of the help you received from a person thank them appropriately. Those who provided help above and beyond acknowledge it commensurately: a gift, lunch, Thank you! Card can be some suggestions in this department.
2. Acknowledge your gratitude in a timely way. The times following a job offer can be hectic. Within the first month of your being offered the job is a good time.
3. Be specific about acknowledging the help that got you the job. Merely stating a vacant “Thanks for your help” is not as impactful and proper as saying “John your lead and the insight you gave me about where the company was and what I could present them during my interviews was instrumental in my landing this job. Thank you very much!” is far more appropriate. The person who went out of their way to help you likes to know that you acknowledged correctly what that person did to help you in the process. Do not skip this detail because you feel that the person already should know. It is not what they know it is how you acknowledge it that makes for the proper etiquette!
4. Do not forget to thank all those with whom you came in contact during the interview process at the company where you would be working. They are now your colleagues and associates. Even the person in the lobby who greeted you on the first interview is worth sending a thank you to! If you do that it would be much easier to make them your friends once you start working there!

Starting your New Job

Starting a new job can be exciting, especially if you are coming out of being jobless. The following etiquette is suggested at this step of the process of your transition:

1. On the first day show up on time. Dressed a bit more formally than you would normally at that company. You may be taken around and introduced to others that day; your photo might be taken. If you are senior staff (Director and above), you might even be introduced to important clients and dignitaries!
2. During the initial stages of employment be patient with all the administrative work that has to be done properly. Do not show your impatience with those who are trying to get this done. Let them do their job!
3. Express to your manager that you are glad to be on board and that you are looking forward to teaming with this person.
4. Many companies have initiation traditions that can be as benign as going out to lunches or bars at the end of the day. Accommodate these rituals, even if they seem odd, and enjoy them.
5. If you have some habits that define how you do your job, be open to seeing how things are done at your new place.
6. Do not criticize something just because it looks odd or different to you. Wait to offer your opinion. Go with the flow, at least initially.
7. Do not to gossip and talk behind someone’s back. Understand the power structure in the new place before you decide which camp you want to belong to! This can portend your future there!
8. One week after you have started in your new job, visit all the job boards and Websites where you had originally posted your résumé and delete it!

During the Holidays

Holidays are a great time to be showing appreciation to others and showing it in a memorable way. It is also a good time to reconnect or otherwise show that you care about the relationships. Recruiters, references, counselors, network contacts are among those who need to be shown gratitude in a fit way. This ranges from sending Holiday cards to special gift baskets and mementos with notes that express your gratitude for what they have done and what they might do for you. Use the following guidelines:

1. Make a list and segment it by how much each person in a category has done to advance your cause. Even though someone has not yet helped you much, but who might help in an impending opportunity, list them in the correct category so that the person remembers you.
2. Send a personal note or greetings with a specific message of gratitude and not a generic one. The more specific you craft a message and the more specifically you acknowledge the person, the more impact the note carries.
3. If you are on a budget as those out-of-work might be, create your own gifts as baskets of goodies or a work of art that is presentable. Wrap it nicely and present it elegantly so that it looks thoughtful and expensive.
4. If you do not receive an acknowledgement do not call to find out if they received your gift. Send a subsequent note and mention that you hope that they received the gift you had sent them. A note or email wishing them a Happy New Year is a good opportunity to do this. If they still do not acknowledge, move on.
5. If convenient and appropriate, take those who have done things for you to lunch during the Holiday period. This is yet another way to make them remember you.

Where possible hand-carry your gift, present it in person, and show your gratitude.

“How you leave a job can say more about you than all the work you ever did–particularly if leave badly.”–A CTO

Few people realize that there comes a time in their job when work is no longer fun, but a drag. Sometimes, this happens suddenly, when they get a new boss who does not like them, or that working conditions suddenly change due to a variety of reasons. In most cases, though, reaching this state of no fun happens over time for most and that is why most even do not recognize it. Their pent-up stress eventually become unbearable.

The following list of warning signs is a good check to assess if you are ready to make a transition to a different job (inside or out):

1. You do not get energized to go to work on Mondays. Mondays are good barometers of how much you like your job. If you dread going to work on Mondays this is a good sign that you have run the course with your job and that you must move on or make a change. Yet another symptom: once the week gets going, you cannot wait for the weekend and you start planning for that from the first day of the week. Mondays, especially seem to drag on, right from the first hour on the job. For some, this feeling is not just limited to Mondays but every day that they have to go to work. Many seek respite by frequent visits to the restroom, reading material in their hands! Some even take up smoking so that they get to go out to have a puff or two, away from their desk.
2. You have a lot on your mind, just not work. The work doesn’t challenge you and time hangs. In meetings you day dream and do not participate. You dread going to meetings to which you are invited and wonder about those where you are not.
3. In meetings your inputs get ignored. This is another sign that you are no longer an important part of the team. Even if you suggest something great, it is looked upon with furrowed brow, ignored, or worse, attributed to someone else for credit a bit later.
4. You do not get important memos/emails. This is yet another sign that you are on your way out—or should be—and that your existence is tantamount to that of a “parasite.”
5. You get no-win assignments. If you see yourself being set up for a series of no-win assignments, then you can assume that your boss is setting you up for a “special review” that documents how you have flubbed a series of assignments in a row.
6. Nearly completed assignments get yanked. You are about to complete an important project. The project is a bit late for no fault of yours and your boss knows that. Just before you are about to put the final piece of the puzzle in place to complete the project, your boss yanks you from the project and gives it to someone else, who then finishes “on schedule,” taking full credit for it.
7. Someone more junior acts as the boss’s proxy. Someone you regarded as your junior will bring a message from the boss telling you to do something on their behalf.
8. Things change, not to your advantage. The boss you got along with so well leaves, or worse, takes on a new favorite employee. Eventually, that person gets layered in above you on the corporate ladder, intercepting your access to the boss, taking over plum projects and moving you out of the decision-making loop. The change is subtle at first, but your loss of status compounds over time.Yet another unmistakable sign that you are superfluous is that when your company merges or acquires other companies, those less experienced than you, come to your organization with titles higher than yours.
9. Your boss takes you for granted. You do something well and you get pigeonholed as the company expert in that area. Or you’re no longer seen as having potential for new projects. Or, just as bad, you’re known as the good corporate citizen who’ll do whatever you’re asked – including relocating multiple times. Another unmistakable sign of your redundancy is that your boss does not include you on a committee that is set up to review something in your area of expertise. When you confront them, a typical rationalization is “I did not want to distract you from what you were doing.”
10. You pigeonhole yourself. Some top performers stay at their jobs because they don’t believe they could succeed elsewhere. The longer you’re at a place, the more you think that success depends on your environment, or you lose confidence that you can do anything else. This is particularly true of senior professionals in their mid 40s who are otherwise ready for a promotion (Director, VP)
11. Your mood ranges from angry to angrier. No matter how well-regarded your work is, or once was, if you develop a reputation as a querulous crank, colleagues will distance themselves. And that isolation can make you more vulnerable in a layoff.
12. You feel like hell. Unhappiness can undermine your health. Early signs of excess stress: stomachaches, headaches and insomnia.
13. Everyone looks like they’re having fun. You sulk and isolate yourself because no one comes to you for advice.

Hiring may be sparse in your field. You may be supporting a family and need the money—to say nothing of the health insurance. You only have a few years before fully vesting in your stock options. Or you’re retiring in less than 15 years and want to maximize the pension you get.

If that’s the case and you plan to stay, do more than just sucking it up.

Don’t see yourself as a wage slave. See your job as a funding source for what you want to do next. Do what’s required and do it as quickly as you can, then network with those who can give you the growth you need for the next job.

And try to develop new skills that will serve you well when you do leave.

Because the trouble with waiting–to vest, to retire, to get promoted–is that it doesn’t always pay off. There’s nothing stopping employers from letting you go five minutes before you reach your goal. And the terms of your exit will be theirs, not yours.

Sticky Wickets

In any working environment it is not uncommon to encounter situations where important relationships are compromised and you become vulnerable. Your dream job becomes your nightmare and you are suddenly exposed to the threat of termination or that you can no longer perform effectively or in a dignified manner. Let’s look at some typical circumstances where such a possibility can arise:

1. The CEO or someone in the chain of command assigns their family member (child, wife, brother/sister) to work under you; the person does not deliver and they do their own thing.
2. An important customer inveigles the CEO to hire one of their family members reporting to you
3. Your boss hits on you
4. Your colleagues/associates hit on you
5. Your colleagues/associates make ongoing attempts to hijack your project
6. Your initiative that has helped the company in a major way is hijacked away from you; you are “reassigned.”
7. Your colleagues treat you in a demeaning way
8. You have a fleeting affair with your boss or someone in the direct chain of command
9. You catch a higher-up in a compromising situation (fraud, sexual encounter)
10. You see shenanigans going on that is hurting the company
11. Your boss (or someone higher up) is engaged in a repugnant–even illegal–activity

Although this is not an inclusive list of misfortunes that can cross your career path or even derail your plans, if not your career, they are representative of today’s workplace. They, actually, go back to prehistoric times as their existence stems from the basic human condition. The incidence of aberrant behaviors in the corporate world is no different than what you’d see in the world as a whole. If you are morally centered and have a good sense of balance between “right” and “wrong,” you will be outraged by such encounters. Somehow, people think that inside the walls of the corporate world, you should be insulated from anything aberrant. But, when you see this within the confines of the hallowed walls of your own company, all your enthusiasm about your work and about making a difference will be sucked out from you and you may find it difficult getting up and going to work.

This, however, is an emotional reaction to what is happening and the best strategy is to drain the emotion and to deal with it rationally–a very difficult thing to do when you are in the middle of an experience. The following suggestions my help in moving ahead:

1. Do not react in ways that can put you at a disadvantage as far as how others perceive you in your reaction to what has happened to you. You have witnessed what happened to you first hand, but others are merely a party to your reaction to it. Your emotional reaction alone may vitiate the injustice and the outrage you feel. You must keep it bottled up and deal with it in a coolly calculated and rational way. An indignant or even hysterical response may seem appropriate, but it can diminish your power to pursue the correct course of action. Often, as time passes, people merely remember only the affect of your hysteria; the event that triggered it may by undermined by it.
2. Before going to someone within your own organization and giving them an earful, be mindful that everyone has their own agenda. Someone may use this opportunity to further their own agenda by making your situation worse for you. Even if they act with an altruistic motive to help, you do not know how they are going to do it and how that is going to affect your situation. In an emotionally charged situation what is said and what is communicated are often in disagreement.
3. Talk it over immediately with someone you trust–preferably from the outside–so that you can get an objective assessment of what is happening. Be truthful so that you can get an honest assessment of what is happening. Do not embellish or hide parts of what you did if they were less than honorable.
4. If you are going to react to an episode in a continuing saga, pick your battles and use your judgment to take appropriate action. Do not cry wolf!
5. If the person causing you grief is a peer or is at a level below you, dealing with them is easier. Either go to them directly, their immediate superior, or to the HR representative.
6. Some companies have ombudsman function that is assigned to a high-level executive, often off-site. If you trust this process, make an appointment. It is not uncommon, though, to not have the kind of secrecy or even privacy you expect from such meetings. After all, everyone is somehow connected in a company.
7. If you assess that you are fighting an uphill battle, chose a path that allows you to stay for a while, but make your résumé and start looking outside.
8. While you are there, placate those who can help you — especially if they happen to be your boss or superior — and pretend like nothing is wrong, even if you are seething with outrage from within. Interestingly, those who are morally corrupt, expect others to be like them!
9. Get out at the first chance and do not raise a stink.
10. Just in case the entire matter suddenly takes on a legal turn, keep all your ‘evidence” in a safe and accessible place (not the company computer) and write your own notes to document what is happening. If you maintain a calendar make entries of appointments with peoples’ names and topics of the meeting.
11. Do not threaten legal action unless you have an attorney first. Assay the merits of the case first with your attorney.

Some Exit Strategies

Nearly everyone goes through phases in their jobs and careers where they doubt their future and value to their organization. If this feeling becomes chronic there is a time to reflect and act. Of course, your response to what is happening to you depends on the level at which you participate. For example a fresh graduate receiving an occasional heave-ho from their teammates or even their boss every now and then may not be a cause of concern. But, if a senior manager receives a series of signals, despite their ongoing and great contributions, must weigh their situation against the options and act on them with some studied reflection.

The following list is provided as a preparation to getting ready when a combination of circumstances, outlined in the 13 warning signs presented previously, become everyday part of your job:

1. Always have your résumé up to date. Find what assignments you can get in your current job that will enhance your résumé if you were to move on. On an ongoing basis look for such assignments and ask your boss before anyone else gets them.
2. Go above and beyond what is expected: provide the exceptional! This will give you a great avenue to write your leadership stories in the résumé and make you marketable on an ongoing basis.
3. Work quietly and stay in the background. Visible employees tend to get into trouble when things shift. Always focus on your work and not on your politics.
4. Do not speak ill of anyone. In an organization rumor mill is the main means of communication. Do not become a part of rumormongers.
5. Always stay positive. Even if you do not agree with a decision, carry out the assignment without complaining and to the best of your abilities.
6. Always make yourself dispensable by sharing what you do with others and leaving a trail of “what to do in case of…,” so that the organization does not suffer because you become unavailable. Share this with others so they know where to find the trail. Acting this way shows confidence in your own worth. Those who keep secrets about how they do things often get booted out, contrary to what they expect.
7. Always stay positive and optimistic, smiling often. It may not make you successful and let you get what you want, but how it annoys others might alone make it worthwhile to act this way!
8. If someone is undermining your efforts, observe carefully and then confront the person. Practice straight talk and see if you can understand their motives. Do not reciprocate by doing the same to them. Always be in your element. If undermining others and engaging in subterfuge is not your game, do not learn it just to survive in the changed circumstances; you will do poorly and get exposed.
9. If you do not believe in your boss’s leadership you must answer the question: can I live with this person as my manager? As we discussed in Chapter-3 leadership and being a manger are two entirely different relationships. Leaders inspire and make you forget that you are working. Instead they create an environment where their followers spontaneously do their best in ways they cannot explain. True leadership is a magical force. Is this happening in your everyday existence? If the answer is no, then you must ask yourself the next obvious question of being able to tolerate your manager.
10. The best way to really understand the relationship you have with your boss is to have a heart-to-heart talk where you discuss the deeper issues of your relationship with them in a non-confrontational way. Having a “straight talk” and seeking responses to your issues is the best way to understand the relationship between you and your boss. After all, leadership is about relationship, inspiration, and trust. If you do not see a flow of that energy then your boss is not a leader. It is difficult to sustain and be creative in such an environment. You must decide what your real options are from then on. Going in denial over what is happening merely prolongs the agony.
11. In some cases, a boss will sense your unhappiness after such a meeting (# 10 above) and may try to placate you by giving you a “promotion” and a title to go with it. But, in terms of real authority you may have little or none. Once the allure of the fancy title is vitiated by the lack of commensurate authority and power, you may start feeling worse than you did before your change of status. Now, if you are sidelined, you gradually lose your career momentum and paint yourself in a corner, with no place to go. The best strategy in such cases is to confront such situations early and keep your career momentum by either looking for other opportunities inside or going out aggressively after what you really want.
12. If the CEO or someone at or near the top ostracizes you because of a personal grudge and that you cannot repair that damage, do not expect even your most loyal colleagues to go to bat for you. They may feign that loyalty, but their own loyalty is to their job. Do not be misled by a misplaced sense of false loyalty.
13. If the source of the wrath is from really high place (s), but your boss likes you and your work, see if they will shield you and let you continue in a diminished role.
14. If, in spite of your good work and behavior, you start seeing the 13 warning signs listed at the beginning of this Appendix, prepare to leave.
15. Leave with dignity and grace.

Leaving with Dignity

Regardless of what prompts your departure you must remain unemotional about the whole process of leaving your employer (see Emotional Intelligence in Appendix-IV). The following tips are offered to make your departure not a liability on your career balance sheet:

1. Meet with your boss and state that you need to move on. Do not complain do not explain.
2. If you have something in hand already lined up that is great. If not do not lie. It is always a good idea to look for a job when you have one. Looking for a job when out of work often puts you at a disadvantage, but sometimes this becomes an inevitable reality. In such a case see if you can work out an arrangement with your boss, so that you can “park” yourself looking for work, inside or out, and get reassigned for a reasonable period.
3. Make oral presentation of your departure plans, the status of projects, etc. and explain that you plan to provide details when you present your letter of resignation. This is generally done in a day or so after the initial meeting.
4. Give at least two weeks’ notice
5. Ask whom you should brief on your pending assignments so that they can continue as you leave your job.
6. Give details of how your boss may be able to reach you in case something crops up after you depart. Set the parameters of your availability.
7. Thank your boss for the opportunities and their support. This may be difficult if the situation is causing a forced departure. Mention that for the most part you enjoyed working at the place. Do not let your immediate experience taint your entire tenure at the company.
8. Do not take parting shots at any one or any thing.
9. Do not expect a bon voyage party.
10. Do not loan your items to anyone with the excuse of coming back to visit and retrieving them once you leave. Most loaned items ¾ especially books ¾ are usually never returned.

Take all your personal files, belongings, and items with you on your way out. Do not expect them to be available later for you to retrieve.

As up-and-coming managers seek increasingly higher titles and responsibilities in their ongoing career growth, how they present their value proposition to the prospect employer becomes increasingly important. A resume is your proxy in a job search, and, regardless of how your connections help you get in to see the decision makers, it is your resume that establishes your credentials. True, a senior executive can bring you in because someone has recommended you or that they know you personally. Nevertheless, once you walk away from that encounter your resume that you leave behind is what is circulated for further review and actions. If it does not project the right message, you may not be able to sustain the welcome that was accorded by those whom you knew!

So, what makes the message on an executive resume stand out and what projects that je ne sais quoi that everyone is looking for? Well, the answer is simple, and, yet, it is elusive for most.

One thing for sure that is a “maker” in an executive resume is the progression of responsibilities and accomplishments in the specific area of your expertise. For example, if you want to be a senior executive at a retail conglomerate, you must show progressively greater span of responsibilities and accomplishments in the retail space. At very senior levels, e.g., CEO, this matters less. But, for most senor executives specific vertical experience in an industry is central to moving ahead.

The “breaker,” then, is the inability to build consensus and relationships across broad constituencies. A single ‘breaker” can negate many “makers’ for moving ahead in an executive selection process. One major breaker for senior executives is their “soft skills.”

So, what are soft skills?

Soft skills is a phrase that some HR person concocted in the late ‘70s to describe attributes that round out leadership skills of those who are otherwise technically very proficient (It is probably the same person who came up with the word empowerment, a little later!). Most leaders (managers and executives) grow in their careers by parlaying their technical expertise in an area into becoming a people manager. Here, technical implies the subject matter in which they are an expert (SME). SMEs can be in any field, not just in  technology, as is often mistakenly perceived. You can be an SME in corporate law, forensic testing, or a language, etc. As they grow in this role as an SME, they realize that the skills that they practiced to be a top technical contributor are very different from the ones that make them a top manager. To be a good leader and a manager of resources you must learn how to inspire others to achieve results. In its original framing, whoever conceived the idea of soft skills envisioned them as a disparate layer of attributes that round out one’s leadership capabilities. Although this may be true to certain extent, a true leader accomplishes what they set out to do by integrating their technical and soft skills in an intertwined way. They are not separable. If you try too hard to portray your soft skills (through affect), especially during the screening process, you can undermine your leadership force and come across as a weak leader.

What are some of the soft skills that are important in a leader’s role and as a manager? The following list may provide a glimpse:

1. Quickly grasping the gravity of a situation (also known as lateral thinking)
2. Being a visionary
3. Leading/Inspiring teams
4. Crisis management
5. Public speaking
6. Being approachable
7. Having composure
8. Ethics and values
9. Respect for other
10. Empathy
11. Integrity
12. Listening skills
13. Conflict management
14. Morale building
15. Decision-making
16. Critical thinking

Although this is not an exhaustive list of soft skills, they represent a good sampling.

In a resume it may be fatuous for you to present yourself as a “Highly ethical and moral leader with great conflict-management and decision-making skills who respects others and treats them as true equals regardless of their age, sex, race, and accent.” However, it may be entirely apt to tell several stories that reflect leadership achievements, which would not be possible without these soft skills and which are anchored to your Unique Skills.

For example, this resume bullet tells a great deal about a leader who can deliver: Was recruited to turn around a foundering project with key team members leaving and the customer threatening legal action. Discovered that the original project was ill conceived, without specific deliverables. Met with the customer and redefined project, re-scoped entire effort, regrouped team, and led the new effort to completion, exceeding customer expectations.

Such a bullet, although a bit longer than its traditional counterpart, (Delivered a critical project on time), speaks volumes about a leader’s true capabilities: hard skills, soft skills, political skills, and each of the 16 listed items above and then some, when anchored to a Unique Skill(s) and placed on a resume! Traditional resume writers exhort their clients to write about their soft skills because they do not know how to present their clients’ leadership stories that embody their entire suite of valuable skills. In such cases, a listing of mere “soft skills” looks almost gratuitous and inapt.

To continue the above illustration, a relevant Unique Skill can be Inspire Teams: Re-ignite demoralized and dysfunctional teams by providing hands-on leadership and establishing accountabilities. Build new teams from the ground-up and inspire them to achieve unprecedented outcomes.

So, what is the take away from this article? If you are positioning yourself as an executive through your resume, make sure that you have a good assortment of stories that provide a glimpse into your leadership window from different perspectives and that capture different aspects of your hard and soft skills. Writing such stories in a concise, compelling, and intriguing way, of course, requires a skill that is worth developing.

1. Be very clear about what your innate gifts are (your genius) and how they translate into marketable skills. A dream job resides at the intersection of what you love to do and what the market wants and is willing to pay for.
2. Identify a job that you consider a dream. In searching for such a job (and yes, it may not even exist), look for what comes closest. You can always fashion a job after you start the interview process. A recent Harvard University study showed that almost 70 percent of higher-level jobs were filled to accommodate the best candidate and not the other way around. Ditto titles and salaries.
3. If the dream job does not exist, send a prospect letter to the company’s executive with an intriguing idea without your résumé. Follow-up relentlessly but do not stalk.
4. Once you have zeroed in on the right job, develop your résumé to showcase your genius (Unique Skills) and to show how it links to the job requirements. Fortify your genius claim with compelling leadership stories presented as succinct bullets in the Professional Experience
5. Research the target company by talking to its customers, suppliers, and with others. Translate that discovery into a highly focused cover letter that addresses the pain points and your change plan. This approach works at all levels, even for hands-on contributors.
6. During the interview go fully prepared and ask tough questions. Use your discovery. Tell them how you will make their pain go away. Get excited and show how you will make a difference. This is a maker. Do not tell each interviewer how they should be doing their job. This is a breaker. Send well thought-out thank- you notes. Be specific.
7. Do not work your campaign with one target company at a time. The best strategy is to have multiple targets in various stages of gestation. You can hasten an offer if you show that others are interested in your joining them. Do not lie.
8. When you get the offer, listen; do not jump on it and start negotiating. Evaluate your options and carefully navigate through the negotiating process. You have more power than you think that you have.
9. Once you accept the negotiated offer promptly start and show your excitement.
10. After about two weeks, prepare a 100-Day Plan and present it to your manager.Make  sure that it serves both you and the manager.
11. Set up a mid-year review and carefully evaluate how things are going.

section of your two-page résumé.

Good luck!