Resume Makeover Sharpens Details for IT Director

Resume Makeover Sharpens Details for IT DirectorResume Makeover Sharpens Details for IT DirectorWhen the senior director got laid off after 11 years with his employer, the details of his experience were fuzzy until a certified resume writer helped him discern fluff from fact.It took only 11 years for the eager professional who came in at the ground level to work his way up and become a senior director of global IT infrastructure and operations management.When the senior director, in his 40s, welches laid off a year ago, it welches difficult to look back on his long tenure and succinctly sum up his experience. Like most professionals fresh out of a long-term position, he welches unclear on the details his work history encompassed.As (the company) grew, I had increases in responsibility, said the executive, who requested anonymity. Over time, you sort of lose track of details in terms of your experience.After taking some time off, he got serious about the job hunt and realized the stat e of the economy was in dire straits. He knew hed have problems competing with the legions of unemployed.Details that stand outKnowing he needed a competitive edge, he had his resume appraised by Ladders.My focus was on having a good enough product to send out to someone to convince them I had the right skills. I wasnt highlighting my skills enough (in the original document), he said. Just going through it, I was thinking more of highlights, bulleted comments.Indeed, the primary problem with the original document was that it highlighted responsibilities that were lifted from his job description rather than highlighting how he benefited his former employer.I was focusing more on the resume comments, he said. What I did was grab from my responsibilities that were, well, my job description, but I wasnt highlighting what I actually did and I wasnt using appropriate key terms.Rather than listing vague, pre-written job-description details, his resume now drills down into specifics that co uld apply only to the exemplary job experience he accumulated. It also uses appropriate key terms that jump out at resume readers and are picked up by ATS (applicant tracking system) software. Finally, they state, in hard facts, what he accomplished in terms of increased efficiency and cost savings.Heres an example, taken from the bulleted list of accomplishments that his certified professional resume writer, Carol Anne Braswell, who works with Ladders, compiled to describe his job role as senior director of strategy management and engineeringSaved company $700K in maintenance expenses by upgrading network infrastructure to host subsidiary Internet access, installing Payment Card Industry (PCI) processes for compliance measures, and renegotiating maintenance contracts.Decreased enterprise site-to-site traveling and entertainment expenses by $350K through deployment of Video Conferencing solution throughout subsidiaries.Braswell rendered in bold, exact figures how much the director s aved the company and in what operational areas it realized the savings. In addition, she mentioned relevant details that also make for powerful key terms, such as Payment Card Industry processes and Video Conferencing solution. Companies facing these major technology initiatives are extremely likely to search for candidates with these keywords as a result, the directors revamped resume should shoot to the top of a pile of applications.An investment pays offShoot to the top it did. With the new resume, the director was contacted by three interested companies. The director said he thinks the overhauled resume was absolutely instrumental in his job-hunting success. He went on a number of interviews, and there he always received positive feedback on both the structure of the new document and how comprehensive it was.Presentation was a big theme, he said.Out of 300 applicants, he was offered, and accepted, a position as a data-center manager for a 9,000-employee technology company and st arted work July 13. My current employer was looking for a data-center manager, and they were able to hone in on the skills I offered in terms of my background, he said.The director credits his new resume as well as the advice he read about never to giving up on the search. The reality is, we dont know the processes a lot of companies go through when we send in our resume, the director said. We dont know how many people were competing with, and theres a tendency to get frustrated. Every company has internal processes, and we just have to keep going. I was fortunate. You really have to invest in yourself in terms of putting out a good product, and going through a professional writing program would be a good way to go.

Soft Skills Questions You Might Face in Your Next Interview

Soft Skills Questions You Might Face in Your Next InterviewSoft Skills Questions You Might Face in Your Next InterviewYouve polished your resume, updated your references and picked up your best outfit from the dry cleaners. Youre ready for that big interview. But while your experience and qualifications may match the position perfectly, have you given any thought to your soft skills?Soft skills include a persons attitude, workplace behavior, values and ethics. Increasingly, employers are looking at soft skills as the deciding factor when choosing between two applicants.Harry Weimann, director of education atWyoTech Blairsvilleand a geschftliches miteinander owner since 1986, says he wishes he would have learned to look for the appropriate skills long ago.As a business owner for many years, Ive hired several employees, Weimann says. Some were talented workers, but I never could pinpoint why I rarely got the person I was looking for. Working for WyoTech opened my eyes to what I was mis sing soft skills.He also states that employers view an employee who shows up on time, performs the job correctly and respects others as being more valuable in many cases than an employee who is technically competent but shows up late, is sloppily dressed and has a poor attitude. Because of this, employers are looking harder at soft skills when hiring in the current market.For some reason, organizations seem to expect people to know how to behave on the job or have the right soft skills, says Weimann. The assumption is that everyone knows the importance of being on time, being accountable, having integrity and being a team player, but is that fair to expect without communicating that during the interview process?When you head to that big interview, you should expect to face some soft skills questions. These may includeWhat is your definition of integrity?What does it mean to be accountable?What is your definition of common sense?What is your definition of customer service?What are y our feelings regarding deadlines?How do you handle high-pressure situations?Tell me an example of how youve resolved a conflict in the past.Make sure you are able to answer each of ansicht questions with the same accuracy and confidence you would apply to any question about your resume. As employers continue to search for candidates with the right professional and soft skills, it is up to you to prove that you are qualified in both.

Lean In Study Finds Most Women Face Sexist Racist Workplace Microagressions

Lean In Study Finds Most Women Face Sexist Racist Workplace MicroagressionsLean In Study Finds Most Women Face Sexist Racist Workplace Microagressions A new study out from LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Company reveals that women face a larger uphill battle than once thought.Almost two-thirds of women have dealt with microaggressions, which can be subtle or explicit forms of everyday sexism and racism, reads this years study . For example, women have to provide more evidence of their competence and they are also twice as likely as men to have been mistaken for someone more junior. Black women and lesbian women experience microaggressions at a higher rate than women overall, 69% and 71%, respectively.Women in the Workplace 2018 is a comprehensive study of the experiences women in corporate America face- the largest study of its kind. Since 2015, McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org have published this report annually to give companies and working women and men the insights and information they need to advance womens leadership and gender equality within their organizations. This year, 279 companies employing more than 13 million people shared their pipeline data and completed a survey of their HR practices. More than 64,000 employees participated in a survey of their experiences in the workplace regarding gender, career opportunities, and work-life issues.One of the other key findings of the annual study shows that women remain significantly underrepresented in corporate America. While women of color are the most underrepresented group of all, the study found that women of all backgrounds are continuing to push for promotions at the same rate as men, negotiating salaries at the same rates as men and even earning degrees at a higher rate than men.Despite doing their part, women, the study found, get less of the manager beistand that advances careers. Men are more likely to have managers that give them the resources they need to climb the ladder and ha ve more opportunities to showcase their work.The solution? LeanIn insists that companies must turn good intentions into concrete action in order to achieve equality. While the vast majority of companies say they are committed to gender and racial diversity and equality, many still do not treat diversity as a business imperative.Only 13 percent of companies quantify the impact gender diversity will have on the business, the study reveals. Less than 15 percent set representation targets for gender and race combined and share a majority of diversity metrics with employees. And only 16 percent hold managers and directors accountable for making progress.Companies should take steps to reduce the number of women who feel isolated and vulnerable. Many companies need to change the way they think about adding women to their organization which means moving beyond the mindset of one and done and pushing to add women until they reach true parity. In addition to increasing the representation of women, companies should be thoughtful about how they move women through their organizations. One approach is to hire and promote women in cohorts and cluster women on teams.Employers, to learn more about being a diverse and inclusive workplace, download