Queen Schmooze

First published on Career Rocketeer as a Guest Blog article.

Recently, I discovered Wordle (http://www.wordle.net).  Wordle is a toy for generating word clouds from text that a user provides.  It can help you figure out your brand and is fun to use.

  http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/1923904/queen_schmooze_blog_wordle

 The point of the Wordle for me was to verify whether or not I am profiled or branded properly.  This picture above was created from my blog.  It says a lot about the way that I think, what is important to me and shows that I AM branded properly!

Job seekers can use Wordle to see if their word cloud says the right thing about their resume. Most job seekers put together a document that is actually a C.V. or curriculum vitae (vital statistics of every place that they have ever worked). Instead they should be using a resume that talks about specific experience and education. (See Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9sum%C3%A9). 

The biggest mistake that most job seekers make is the dump of everything, especially the non-relevant stuff into the document.  They hope that the recruiter or potential employer (usually HR or the hiring manager) will sift through the mess to find out what they can possibly do. Guess what happens?  When the hiring manager cannot see immediately what you can do for them or what position you are applying for, you resume ends up in the great recycling box called Resume Hell!

I was talking to a new client the other day with his resume.  He had just been laid-off after 24 years with one of the large telecoms.  Although he had some great qualifications, nowhere on the “resume” did I see a profile or what it is that he can really do.  Was he really expecting to get some traction from a potential employer with that document?  Another client thought that because he had been a consultant for the past 10 years, he was well known and did not need to use a profile.

The first cardinal rule of thumb on a resume is to create a killer profile.  The profile tells an employer:

a)    Who you are i.e. Senior Technical Manager.  I always advise using the description from the job application.

b)    What you can do i.e. Implemented complex desktop deployments for 100 users and internal customers.  Tell the hiring manager what you are good at and can do for them.

c)    What makes you that good at what you did or can do i.e. Created quick and painless cutover by doing 3-shift per day implementation over four days.  Customer had no down time which means you can save them time, money and resources.

d)    Why the potential employer wants to hire you i.e. Cost saving measures of the 3-shift implementation created under budget surplus to the satisfaction of the customer, thus netting each member of the team $5,000 bonus. Pure accomplishment statements.

See Part 2 for the continuation…

It begins with an idea, and then somewhere along the line, we end up feeding and weeding the idea until eventually it breaks grounds and shoots up for the sun.  All good ideas start somewhere and need a goal in order for them to flourish and reach their destination.  For every successful entrepreneur out there, an idea was cultivated, but it started with a seed. 

Imagine an oyster with a single grain of sand in its gullet.  The sand is irritating and the oyster needs to do something about it in order survive.  The oyster puts on layer after layer of nacre to protect itself from the irritation of the sand.  Eventually, we end up harvesting a beautiful pearl from the oyster.  This is what happens when an idea is mulled over for some time.  Finally, the entrepreneur needs to do something about it and creates the layers on top of the idea that will eventually become the finished product.

For someone to have a successful idea that grows and flourishes, thus spawning other ideas, they have to start with a need.  The need is the problem for which they create a solution.  Somewhere along the way they discover that their need just happens to be the same as other people’s needs, thus creating a customer base with which to sell the product, service, concept or solution.

A true ideas person realizes that is not all about them.  The true need is not what the entrepreneur or job seeker has but what solution they can bring to satisfy the needs of others.  When you have a problem you ask for help to fulfill your need.  The job seeker wants a job and that is their need.  However, the craft and successful job seekers realize that they can provide a solution to someone else’s need.

It is not what you want, but what you can provide to others to make their lives better in the long run.  Here in Ottawa where I live, there are a few players that make things happen economically in this city.  They create, build, network and facilitate, not just to suit themselves, but to produce an atmosphere where others desires and wants are met.  These few are the true entrepreneurs and ideas people.