Does Your Resume Contain the Right Keywords?

These days, many recruiters and hiring managers use a filtering software that picks out resumes with specific keywords.  For example, a sales professional may want to include things like "account management," "sales goals," "profit," "customer relations" and others.

Quintessential Careers is a free resource for college students and grads. They provide some great strategies for writing a keyword rich resume and cover letter that will get through filters and catch the eye of the manager looking over your credentials. Click the link to read their article.

Not sure what to include? First, scan the advertisement or job posting. Your resume should include some of the phrases uses in the ad, so if the post asks for someone with "territory management skills" that term or something very similar should be in your resume. If you're still stumped, check out Keyword Directory to look for the most searched for terms and their related keywords. I put in a query for "sales manager" and got a list of some of the most commonly-used keywords associated with this term:

Search Term	Total
sales manager	3567
engineer manager designer project sales	2246
regional sales manager	2200
sales account manager	1203
engineer manager designer supervisor project sales	1038
sales retail manager	469
engineer manager designer project supervisor sales	369
national sales manager	346
sales sales manager marketing	326
sales manager account plastic chemical industrial color	310
account manager sales	263

Good luck with your resumes, and let me know if you see an increase in calls as a result!

"I know you wanted to work full-time, but...

...we can only offer you a part-time position right now."

Don't panic. In fact, but happy. If you hear this statement, that means you are good enough to be offered a part-time position. Celebrate. Even if you don't take the position, its a positive step.

Here's my take:

Obviously, most of us want full-time jobs. The 40 hour work week is something we were programmed to do back in college. We geared ourselves up for the commitment and have already made the sacrifices necessary to make that happen.


However, having worked three part-time jobs simultaneously myself, there are some upsides to having several work projects going on at the same time. Here are a few:

1. Stability- if you lose one of your jobs, you won't lose all of your income
2. Variety- if you like having a lot of variety in your work week, you'll see plenty if you have two or more jobs and will avoid the grind of a monotonous job
3. Steep learning curve- you'll pick up a lot of different skills, especially if your jobs are in different industries and have different daily requirements
4. Networking- meet more people, learn from different role models and come in contact with a variety of vendors, suppliers and potential mentors
5. A foot in the door- taking a part-time position at a company puts one foot forward towards your goal of a full-time job, so take the opportunity to show your managers how great you are and what you can provide for the company and they may consider creating a full-time position (make yourself indispensable!)
6. Time to start a business? This might be a good time to start writing a business plan for a venture you've always wanted to launch
7. You're a Bad Ass!- Take pride in the fact that you work hard, even if you don't have a full-time job- chances are, you'll be respected for being someone who can make ends meet in a volatile economy

 Of course, there's always a flip side. Here are a few downsides:

1. Balance- Your work-life balance may be in jeopardy, especially if you work fifty hours a week or more between your jobs
2. Scheduling- You might be able to manage if your employers are strict about when you should be in the office, but what happens when you have to stay longer at Job A and you're late for Job B? What happens when Job A and Job B both want you to work all day on Friday? Communicate with your employers and let them know you have a schedule to keep on someone else's watch (Pro tip: here's where you suggest these problems would go away if you are hired full-time)
3. Benefits- Part-time employees typically don't enjoy the same benefits their full-time counterparts do, (that's why many employers hire several part-time people instead of one full-time employee) so  things like health insurance, paid vacations and tuition reimbursement won't be offered by your employers
4. Traffic Sucks!- You may find yourself driving a lot more in between jobs, so make sure you've got a semi-reliable mode of transportation (your mom doesn't count) and make sure you give yourself enough time to get in between jobs, even if there's heavy traffic or you stop to fuel up on black coffee
5. Frustration- I'll admit it- there's some frustration involved in working several jobs, especially if Job A emails you and expects a response back while you're at Job B, or there's an emergency at Job B and they need you to come in right now, even though you're currently working Job A

With that in my mind, here are my recommendations:

1. Take the part time job, especially if you think there's the potential to grow your role within the company or you think you'll learn a lot during your time there
2. Keep looking for a full-time job when you aren't in the office if your heart is set on it, or take a second part-time job to fill in your hours
3. If you have two part-time jobs, set boundaries with each employer and let them know when you can and cannot be in the office, when you aren't on email, when its okay to call you, etc. Also try to set up a static schedule every week, so you know when you're expected at each job and how many hours you'll be putting in at each
4. Keep up the good work! Outshine your full-time counterparts and hold no resentment over them or your employer. Be thankful you got some kind of paying position and demonstrate your attitude by giving it your all
5. If you end up working at home to catch up on assignments, don't lord this over other people, but do mention it to your managers so they know you're putting in overtime (they'll be impressed with your work ethic and will hopefully realize they need to put you in a full-time position- but don't expect to get paid for your extra time especially if you're salaried)
6. Keep networking! Talk to everyone you come in contact with, you never know when you'll impress a higher up, find a new position at another company or be given the opportunity to take on an expanded role full-time

Cookie Cutter Sales

So far as I can tell, "Cookie Cutter" sales companies aren't a scam, but it is very difficult to make a living.

Typically, one will find advertisements and job postings for these types of jobs on Monster, CareerBuilder and others asking for "sports minded people" for entry-level marketing. No experience necessary. This sounds okay to you, so you turn in your resume and apply.

The next morning, you get a call. They ask you three questions.

"Are you still looking for a job?"

"This job is located in ______. Is that a suitable commute for you?"

"Do you have a valid drivers license and reliable transportation."

If you answered yes to these three questions, they'll get you in for an interview ASAP. Like, today or tomorrow. The person on the phone may mention management positions opening up soon or a new office being opened in a few months that is close to home.

You go in for the interview. They told you to wear a suit, so you're dressed to the nines and you've got extra resumes tucked in your portfolio. You sit in a waiting room with a few other nervous looking youngsters like yourself. The receptionist gives you a form to fill out that asks for previous work experience and your academic achievements.

You make small talk with the receptionist as she sizes you up. You strike up conversations with the other people as they get called in, one by one, to be interviewed. You notice this place has a lot of chairs in the reception and wonder how many people have already sat in these chairs. You also notice there's one large conference room and one or two rooms in the office, nothing more. Finally, fifteen minutes late, you're called in.

The guy on the other side of the desk doesn't look terribly interested. He or she asks you a few half-hearted questions and gives you a sales pitch about what the company does that sounds strangely rehearsed (it is!)

You are asked to come back in for a second interview. You are told this may take 4 hours, or it may take all day. Ladies are instructed to wear comfortable shoes.

The second round interview is actually walking around with a sales rep going door to door, business to business, or walking around a store soliciting conversations. You'll see the person you're with get some pretty negative responses. You find out that the position requires weekend work, thick skin and you're paid on comission.

Here are the downsides:

• Inconsistent paycheck
• It is possible to work really really hard for no money
• As an independent contractor, you will pay all social security contributions and taxes to the government, whereas employees share this expense with their employers
• Come April, you'll owe the government taxes, probably $1,000 or more depending on how much you made

There's a hierarchy to these kinds of jobs.  You work at the entry level for 6-18 months selling AT&T, DirectTV or tickets to sporting events, then you'll become a team leader. From there, you get a coordinator role. Finally, you'll be able to start your own satellite sales office.

As far as I can tell, this is not a scam, but it takes a pretty tenacious person to succeed in this type of role. You must be able to take criticism and hear a lot of "no" before you make a sale. You have to to comfortable with driving to different locations up to 80 miles away from where you live. You need to eat lightening and crap sales on comission to make a living at this. There's a reason sales has the second-highest turnover rate behind restaurants.

I also suggest googling any company before applying, especially if you see that they've got ads for jobs posted all over the internet (this shows that they lose people left and right). They may have a website that is flashy but doesn't tell you much about the job. You may see a few words that stick out, like "telecommunications" (selling for AT&T), "management training program," or "events management."

So, all you Young, Educated & Broke people out there considering a position in one of these firms should think carefully. You went to school to earn your education, and you'll be working alongside people who never went to college- they may even be better salesmen than you. You won't get a steady paycheck, but in theory you could make a pretty decent living if you work really, really, really, really, really hard at it.

Money Management Tips from Better TV

After my previous post about the BIG LIE and guidance, or lack thereof, counselors, here's a video from Better TV. This is fairly common sense financial advice, but some great ideas are given here, including thinking outside the box (cliche I know) to find the job you want and get the income you deserve.