Remove these 7 things from your resume ASAP

 

 

 

 

 

Peter Yang, Contributor@ThePeterYang

We constantly hear about what you should put on your resume, but we rarely talk about what to leave off.

As the CEO of a resume writing service, I’ve read more than a thousand resumes this year so far, and I’ve seen a lot of “junk” that doesn’t belong — things that can hurt your chances of landing an interview.

If you want to write a resume that says “Hire me,” then every word, number, line and achievement must be carefully considered. So let’s hit the backspace button on seven commonly overlooked things you should remove from your resume ASAP — and why:

1. Irrelevant hobbies and interests

Love esports? Camping? Coin collecting? Gardening? Everyone has a hobby, and most people think that the more unique it is, the more it will make them stand out from other candidates.

But hiring managers don’t care about how you spend your free time — at least not immediately. They have deadlines and large piles of resumes to review, and right now, they’re just focused on finding candidates who meet the requirements.

Of course, it’s okay to include your hobby if it’s related to the position you’re applying for. If it’s a finance job, for example, mentioning that you like to dabble in cryptocurrency investing can be seen as a plus. But if you’re trying to land a medical research assistant role, don’t bother.

4. Personal pronouns

Surprisingly, many candidates still make the mistake of using personal pronouns — “I,” “me,” “we” — on their resume.

Why leave out personal pronouns? Because it’s your resume, so it’s already implied that everything on it is about you. Instead of writing, “I managed 5 employees,” just put “managed 5 employees.”

5. The wrong kind of email

Hiring managers want candidates who are at least somewhat tech-savvy ... and that means not having an email address from an outdated account like AOL or Hotmail.

When in doubt, just stick with a Gmail or Outlook address.

See all 7 things to remove and the complete CNBC article

 

 

How to answer those bizarre riddle questions in a job interview

 By Stephanie Vozza

My niece Marley recently had a job interview for a quirky Michigan-based retailer. Towards the end of the interview, the manager asked her: “If Batman and Lobster Boy got into a fight, who would win?”

Her response? “Is the fight above or below water?”

She was hired on the spot.

I admit, I would have folded under that type of question and probably chosen Batman for no other reason than he’s Batman. But questions like this are more commonplace as companies try to screen for culture add.

In his book, How Do You Fight a Horse-Sized Duck? Secrets to Succeeding at Interview Mind Games and Getting the Job You Want, author William Poundstone offers insight and help. Poundstone admits he’s always been good at puzzles. After receiving several emails from friends who were going on job interviews and getting these riddle-like questions, he decided to write a book on the topic, collecting the unusual questions and offering advice on how to answer them.

“There are a lot of reasons companies ask these questions,” he says. “In tech, it’s almost a tradition to ask off-the-wall questions. This is also the case with startups that have a unique culture. For example, [eyeglass retailer] Warby Parker [managers] asks, ‘What’s the last costume you wore?’ They’re assuming you go to costume parties, which, in their opinion, means you’re hip.”

Why Creative Questions Are Effective

Candidates sometimes assume that creative questions are there to trick them, but the goal is to get the person out of the traditional interview mode. Everyone walks in with standard prepackaged answers to questions like, “Talk about a time when you disagreed your supervisor.” Or “What’s one of your biggest weaknesses?”

When the interviewer asks something out of left field, they can see how well the candidate handles a challenge. The added benefit is that these questions can help remove unconscious bias.

“There is an awful lot of subjectivity in interviewing,” says Poundstone. “It’s an exercise in confirmation bias. Interviewers make snap judgement about applicants when they come in, and they ask softball questions to confirm what they already think.”

The advantage to asking creative questions is they don’t always have a right or wrong answer, and they can provide a reality check when properly used, says Poundstone.

“The questions should deal with intangibles that are not on a résumé,” he says. “It’s checking to see if the person can think on their feet, which can indicate how well they learn on the job. The best way to use them is to make them standardized, asking the same question to each person so you have some baseline for evaluating. If you ask a different question, you’re in danger of giving an easier question to someone you like.”

How to Answer Them.....  Read how to answer the questions and the full Fast Company article

 

 

6 ways to avoid getting ignored when applying for jobs

Lambeth Hochwald

If you keep getting ghosted when you apply for jobs, there may be several reasons the hiring manager at the other end of your email correspondence isn’t getting back to you. 

For starters, consider the sheer volume of people who might be applying for the same job. Depending on your industry, HR might be overwhelmed with candidates, the position might have been filled internally or, even, eliminated for cost-cutting reasons.

“In certain markets, like engineering, there’s a high demand for your talents right now,” says Dave Fano, CEO of Teal, an online job search platform based in Miami. “A few months ago, the same was true for nurses and, right now, hospitality workers are in demand. These market dynamics are ever-shifting.”

Second, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have experienced a significant reset and may have made major changes within their hiring team.

“Talent acquisition teams have been reduced at a lot of organizations,” says Annie Glassman, talent director at Atrium, a woman-owned staffing and workforce solutions firm based in New York City. “What this means is that there may not be a specialist available to take on the burden of hiring.”

So what’s the best way to cut through the noise and make sure your candidacy gets acknowledged by a potential employer? Read on for six expert-driven tweaks you can make—now—to help ensure a callback:

1) Tap into your inner salesperson

When you’re looking for a job, you’re selling a product—and that product is you—so make it a goal to adhere to this mindset throughout the job search, even when you’re being ignored.

“It’s important to remember that an employer isn’t doing you a favor by employing you,” Fano says. “So, like a salesperson, you can’t let anything stop you—even when you get no reply. Every great salesperson knows that you have to keep going no matter what.”

2) Customize your cover letter

If you keep sending out the same generic cover letters over and over again, you may have tapped into the reason why you’re not getting any replies. Instead, make your case as high up in the letter as possible so no hiring manager can miss what you bring to the table.

“To do this, formulate a response to the issue at hand for each company you’re replying to,” Fano says. “Just because a company posts an opening for a product manager doesn’t mean that the challenges for the person who is hired for that position will be the same across the board.”

Ultimately, you want to present the one thing you think the company should do to solve a current issue. “Package that action plan in a well-written letter and you’ll hopefully get more traction,” Fano says.

4) Cast a wide net and be relentless

Job hunting is a numbers game and the more you apply, the better your chances of hearing from a potential hiring manager, Glassman says.

“We like to talk about job searches as a top of a funnel,” she says. “The goal is to keep applying, keep getting your name out there, and filling the top of that funnel with the hope that a reply comes out the other side.”

See all 6 ways and the complete The Ladders article

 

Hiring Experts Say These Are The Three Most Revealing Interview Questions They Ask

By

Monica Torres 

 

Prepping for a job interview means knowing how to handle curveball questions about your past jobs, boss and projects. Impressing an interviewer means not just having great career stories to tell, but also thinking two steps ahead to the kind of questions hiring managers like to ask.

So here’s a peek behind the curtain: We talked with recruiters and human resources experts about the go-to interview questions they ask when they want to know how a candidate really thinks. Take notes, job seekers! 

1. “If I went to one of your former managers, what would they say is their favorite part of working with you, and what would they say is challenging about working with you?”

Daniel Space is a human resources consultant with business partners in strategic staffing. For roles that are manager level and above, he likes to ask this question to see if the candidate’s leadership style is aligned with the company’s. 

“That shows me, one, their ability to self-reflect, to self-analyze, to take accountability for growth,” he said, “as well as to find that middle ground in being confident in who you are or being overly braggadocious. I find that it really allows the candidate to open up about what’s a potentially challenging trait they have or something that they discovered that is a developmental flaw that they wanted to work on.“

When answering this question, take ownership of where you fall short in your performance, and what you are working on about yourself. Space said every once in a while, he sees candidates who blame a company and boss for their developmental challenges, and that raises his suspicions.

“It just shows that very one-sided approach of ‘I was perfect and nobody else was wrong,’” he said.

2. “Tell me about a time you failed.”

Tejal Wagadia, a senior talent acquisition specialist at MST Solutions, said asking about a time someone made a mistake, failed or had a conflict with a co-worker is her go-to question for getting a revealing answer.

“We all have failures, we all have conflicts, we all make mistakes,” she said, noting that what she is looking for in the answer is whether a candidate is being honest and if they learned from the situation. 

Don’t claim to be perfect. Wagadia said not remembering the last time you made a mistake is a red flag for her.

“That tells me they either don’t know that they have made a mistake ― they are oblivious or cannot introspect ― or they know, and are intentionally lying to make themselves look good. Which tells me they could potentially lie in the future about something else,” she said.

To show self-awareness, Wagadia recommends picking a job-related story about a career mistake through which you can show that you learned from the experience and have moved forward from it.

“It’s only a mistake if you don’t learn from it,” she said. 

Read the 3rd question and how to craft an answer to these type of questions

 

 

 

 

UFC Fighter Israel Adesanya Just Delivered Brilliant Career Advice

Mark Murphy

On Saturday night, in UFC 263's main event, Israel Adesanya successfully defended his UFC middleweight title, defeating Marvin Vettori in a unanimous decision. Adesanya delivered a clinic in mixed martial arts, but the lesson he gave in his post-fight interview may be even more powerful.

According to Adesanya, immediately after the fight, Vettori said that he believed he actually won the fight. But in the post-fight interview, Adesanya outlined exactly why an unwillingness to embrace a loss is a recipe for failure in life.

After his last loss, Adesanya said, "Certain people in my camp thought I won that fight, but I was just like, nah, it was close, but I'll take the 'L' from that one and I will grow. I will learn."

He continued, "How you grow is you learn from your mistakes. You go back to the drawing board and you improve. You become better from them. Loss is a part of life. Losses make you better. Just, I don't know where this whole mentality comes from that, oh, you took a loss and oh, that's it, you're over. But nah, it's part of life. Take it and let it improve you."

While Adesanya is clearly a physically gifted fighter, he also displays a remarkably growth-oriented and resilient mindset. Rather than shirking from his defeat, he embraced it head-on, seeing it as an impetus for improvement. And not only did he embrace the loss, he actually pushed back against his inner circle to ensure that they knew he was leaning into his defeat.

Read the rest of the Forbes article for more insights.

Pick One of These 7 Ways to Quit a Job

Dominique Rodgers

If you're wondering how to quit a job, think of it like dating. Quitting your job is like breaking up with a partner. Sometimes you feel terrible about it; other times you feel pretty darn elated to be moving on. Alternately, you could feel overwhelmingly neutral.

Do you find yourself contemplating jumping ship? Listen up. Harvard Business Review outlined seven different methods of quitting that employees use. Monster took a look at the quitting methods and is here to help you understand when it's appropriate to use each one—and when it's not. (For the record, going out in a blaze of swear words is never a good idea.)

How to Quit a Job: Your Options

1. The By-the-Book Quit

What HBR says it is: You meet with your manager to explain why you're leaving, and you give them a standard notice period.

What it might sound like coming out of your mouth: "I've accepted a position with XYZ. It's a step up for me, and I'm looking forward to a new challenge. My final day will be two weeks from now."

When you should use it: Consider this your default approach. It ticks all the boxes: It's respectful, professional, and gives your employer time to prepare for your grand exit. Choose this route when your workplace relationships are generally positive and when you have respect for your job.

When you should not use it: Avoid this method if your time at the company was filled with negative experiences or if you fear retribution from your supervisors. (If that's the case, see further down this list.)

2) The Grateful Quit

What HBR says it is: Similar to a by-the-book quit, giving notice by this method focuses more on how grateful you are for the opportunity to have worked at the company, and sometimes includes an offer to train a new person.

What it might sound like coming out of your mouth: "I can't believe I'm saying this, because I've loved every second of my time here and I'm so grateful for the opportunities I've been given...but I've accepted a position elsewhere. I will happily help train my replacement."

When you should use it: Use this approach when you want to end your job on a positive note and acknowledge that your supervisor or co-workers have gone above and beyond to make your time at your job really excellent. Offering to train your successor lessens the disruption and makes your manager's life easier. Not to mention, it makes you look super-professional—you don't necessarily have to be this nice, but it sure doesn't hurt your reputation.

When you should not use it: Skip this option if there's any negative vibes between you and your boss. You don't want your show of appreciation to be perceived as disingenuous. That could make your exit more tense than it needs to be.

See all 7 ways to quit and the complete Monster article

 

A self-made millionaire and CEO shares 5 ‘quick tests’ he always uses during job interviews to decide when to hire

Robert Reffkin

I never did that well on tests in school. But there are a number of simple tests that I’ve found helpful throughout my journey as the founder and CEO of a billion-dollar real estate technology company.

Having these quick tests in your back pocket helps you make smarter business decisions. Why? Because the more we think about something, the more our minds will try to play tricks on us. We second-guess, we let doubt and fear creep in, we hesitate, we overthink. The purpose of the five tests below is to get past all of that and get back to the truth that you’ve known deep down all along.

This is especially true regarding two of the most important decisions that managers at my company, Compass, make: When to hire someone, and when to pass on them.

1. The ‘good person’ test

Is this a good person?

If you have to take a long pause and struggle to answer this question, then they shouldn’t be on your team. Lots of people think goodness doesn’t matter at work — and some even think it’s a liability in business. Not me.

I always want to know: Do they live by the Golden Rule? Is their heart in the right place? Are they kind? Do they genuinely care about others? Do they want to give back? If everyone we work with is a good person, we’ll all be better off.

3. The ‘another offer’ test

If this person came to me tomorrow and told me they had a great offer from another company, would I fight to keep/win them over?

This test helps you admit that someone isn’t excellent, and it originated from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. He believes that excellent people are much better than “pretty good” people.

As the motivational speaker Jim Rohn once said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” So if you want to be better — like I know all of us do — one of the best ways is to do that is to make sure you’re surrounding yourself with exceptional people.

Read all 5 quick tests and the complete CNBC article