“No I haven’t had time yet” is never the right answer to “have you looked at the Web site?” As matter of fact, it’s the wrong answer to any interview question.

Fashion counts or so says my “post grad in the office” blogging assistant. Latest commentary (under her breath of course): “Honey, your bag is not fierce. Your bag is the love child of Pepto Bismol and a drugstore.”

If you’ve been working for five years, no one really cares about your sophomore year summer internship. Lose it on the resume.

Unless a man is here for something other than job advice, leave the cologne at home.

Read more: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/139486/dear-bevs-career-bytes.html#ixzz1fxkvgb7x

By Beverly Weinstein

Dear Bev: What Are Your Top 10 Resume Do’s and Don’ts?

Job opportunities in the media business are looking up. The Internet is booming, the TV upfront is on fire, and the slump seems to be over for magazines, radio and local TV. If you’ve been thinking about a job change, this is a great time to start searching. But while you may be ready, is your resume?

Here are my top 10 resume do’s and don’ts.

1. DO focus on accomplishments and achievements, not just job responsibilities.

2. DO include numbers and brand names. Specifics always catch a reader’s eye faster than general statements.

3. DON’T just add on to an old resume. Edit your previous positions. A job you had 10 years ago shouldn’t command the same amount of space as your current role.

4. DO check out resume formats. There are lots of examples online, including at career sites, that show you how to format in order to highlight important key words.

5. DO make sure your resume is easy to read. There should be ample white space, bolding where applicable and bullet points.

6. DON’T go past two pages. And if you’re more junior, keep it to one.

7. DO indicate the total number of years you’ve been at a company — even if you’ve had several jobs there. One way to handle this is to list dates in parentheses beside each different title/role at the same company. The full employment time should be listed adjacent to the company name.

8. DON’T sacrifice appearance and readability by cramming in too much information. Consider editing down information rather than opening the margins. This is especially true when it comes to early job experience.

9. DON’T list “References provided upon request.” Everyone knows that already.

10. DO list any additional training and interesting or offbeat extracurricular activities or hobbies. While you may not want to list a regular Friday night poker game, you do want to note you ran and completed a 10k race.

Read more articles like this on MediaPost.com.

Unfortunately we’ve been hearing that this holiday season brought more than good tidings and mirth. For many it also brought the unwanted gift of unemployment. (WSJ) A great way to put a damper on the holidays, but don’t let it ruin the new year! While everyone has had big hopes for 2010 to be a better year for media and a better year for employment in general, the end of the fiscal calendar always leaves companies trimming and reorganizing for a new year. You’re not alone and don’t lose hope, because with the new year comes, of course, resolutions!

There are the typical resolutions we all make…read more, exercise regularly, take up a new hobby, maybe lose a few pounds. We’re all concerned with bettering ourselves for a brighter future. So why not look at your job search as an extension of yourself? After all finding that new job is all about a new future. If you resolve to go for a run every day to take better care of your body, why not resolve to take better care of those job search tools too and put your best foot forward both literally and figuratively?

Phyllis Korkki at The New York Times had this same spirit of renewal in mind when she wrote a guide to re-energizing your job search. Here are some highlights and tips:

Your Resume: Korkki says, “When was the last time you took a word-by-word, letter-by-letter look at your résumé? Make sure it’s completely up to date and tailored to the types of jobs you are seeking. (After all, your situation might have changed since you started looking.) Now is also the time to create alternate versions, to reflect different types of positions.”

You may also want to look into hiring a resume writer if the document needs a lot of attention and you haven’t created one in years.

Your References: “If you have not talked to your references lately, call or e-mail them. Make sure they are still in the same jobs, and tell them you’re still looking. This helps expand your network, because references may know of job openings. It’s also a good time to consider whether to add or remove some people as references,” she wrote.

Digital Presence: And we can’t stress this one enough! “Check and update your LinkedIn profile and make sure that it’s consistent with the information in your résumé and any other online presence you have… Hiring managers look at LinkedIn, and any discrepancies could be red flags..Review your contacts on LinkedIn and reach out to new ones. Check whether anyone new can write a recommendation for you on the site. And, while you’re at it, Google yourself and check Facebook or other social networks to make sure that nothing embarrassing shows up.”

These are just a few ways to get serious about your future. Stay tuned for more advice in the coming posts!

Read the rest of Korkki’s tips at the New York Times.

By Beverly Weinstein

A well thought-out communication with or without a gimmick should be effective. But just a gimmick? Not so much.

There’s the taxi cab driver with his resume in full view of his passengers, the sandwich-board-wearing Wall Street job hunter, the college grad with a billboard, and even the anxious wife with a “hire my husband” Web site. They all succeeded in getting media attention, but none have managed to snag a job, according to a recent check. Why? Their messages announced that they needed a job, but didn’t convey why someone should give them one.

There is one gimmick, or let’s call it a unique, well-targeted communication, that a newly minted college grad with a marketing major tried that’s working: a music video cover letter. His name is Alec Biedrzycki, and I talked to him about his strategy. At 22, his approach was better thought-out than older and more experienced candidates I’ve interviewed.

Alec figured out pretty quickly that in a competitive job market, resumes sent to blind P.O. boxes rarely get responses. He also understood that a personal referral or connection provides the best job chances, but he just have many. So he put what he learned in his marketing classes and his musical talent to work.

In mid-July, he wrote and recorded a musical cover letter one Sunday, then posted it to YouTube and Facebook. So far, he’s had over 14,000 YouTube hits and has been interviewed by CNN, Headline News and Fox Philadelphia. He was also featured in an Italian newspaper. The gimmick part got him press coverage. But what about a pay check?

The targeted communication has netted him six solid job prospects and 10 freelance opportunities. He’s also been able to develop a more effective written cover letter. Here are excerpts from cover letters he sent before and after creating the music video:

Before Music Video

As a recent graduate of Bentley University with a degree in marketing, I’ve had much experience working with several different Corporate Businesses that specialize in Social Media utilization. Throughout these positions, I’ve:

• Worked …to develop marketing strategies for a new social media platform that enables consumers to promote, distribute and support brands and charities via social networks.

• Worked …. to create new Facebook application for job search and career advice

Also, being an avid Social Media user, I also have a Twitter account (@albiedrzycki) and blog (http://alecdotes.blogspot.com/), both of which I contribute to frequently.

After

“So that’s the basic work I’ve done throughout my academic and work career. But what about the innovative aspect of marketing? I said that I’m creative and naturally, I like to think outside the box. As an example of this claim, check out the “Musical Cover Letter” that I created to aid me in my job search. (I was interviewed on CNN and Headline News because of it.) You can view it below.

Also, be sure to check out my Web site, too (www.albiedrzycki.com), as it showcases my skills in a more concrete way. So please take a look at what I’ve done and consider what I can do for you. I hope to hear back from you soon!” Here’s some good advice from a 22-year-old that a much-older job recruiter seconds. Know your audience! “I did a music video to relate to what I’m applying for — if I was an accountant, it wouldn’t fly,” he said. “I marketed myself to a marketing job. You have to stay true to what you want to do. Be relevant, and get yourself out there.”

Read the article on Media Daily News.

This is a question most  job seekers are asking these days. Even with professionally written resumes, taking in coverletter and resume writing seminars, designing an online CV and portfolio, and all of the other resources and strategies available to make an application stand out, the majority of job seekers who apply to jobs online never hear back, not even a rejection letter. It’s frustrating, some might say rude, and ultimately deflating to never hear boo from a hiring manager. This weekend’s New York Times featured an article on this topic with a few reminders about what those hiring managers are facing  (i.e. thousands of applications for a single job, many of which are unqualified) and some tips on how to go above and beyond the application process to try and get some response or at least get noticed.

“First, the Internet has made it absurdly easy to apply for jobs. This means that unqualified people are clogging the system with their wing-and-a-prayer applications,” writes Phyllis Korkki, the author of the article.

“Then add rising numbers of unemployed people. More job seekers — qualified, unqualified and desperate — are hitting the send button. Acknowledgments are going by the wayside as recruiters confront hundreds of applications for a single job.

In fact, organizations received 75 percent more applications, on average, in the first half of 2009, compared with the same period in 2008, according to a survey by the Corporate Executive Board, a network of executives and a research company. Todd Safferstone, managing director of the company’s Recruiting Roundtable, said that one business advertised for a lawyer and received responses from 1,000 applicants — half of whom did not even have law degrees.”

The question remains, “But how do you make your highly qualified presence known without looking like a pest?”

“The best job seekers “take control of their application’s destiny,” said Kelly Renz, vice president for client services and human resources at Pinstripe, a recruitment outsourcing firm.

That means working hard to find a contact at the company who can be your advocate — or at least a conduit to the hiring manager. If you know someone at the company personally, ask him or her to forward your application to the right person.

If you don’t know anyone at the company, ask your friends and relatives if they do. If you have a Facebook page, post a polite plea there.

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, the hiring manager’s name is not readily available. Often that is a corporate ploy — a way to prevent an avalanche of follow-up inquiries about online job postings.

But do some research. Look on the company’s Web site or do an Internet search for a name. Call the human resources department and ask the receptionist if he or she knows who is in charge of hiring.

Ms. Renz suggested another way to get a name: Go on LinkedIn and look for someone who works in the same department as the posted job. Contact that person: ask whether he or she knows who is hiring, and how that individual can be reached. You might also ask for more information about the job, Ms. Renz said.

Don’t ask new contacts to vouch for you; that’s not fair. Just make use of the information they can give you. If it’s the e-mail address of a hiring manager, resend your application and state that you remain very interested in the position and briefly reiterate your qualifications.

Obtaining an employee referral is a good move, as far as it goes. There is just one problem: Nowadays “the referral channel is jammed in the same way that other channels are jammed,” Mr. Safferstone said.

To break through, you may need to leave the online world behind and make an old-fashioned direct phone call to whomever is doing the hiring. But wield this call wisely.

Some managers may be annoyed if you call them, though others will see it as a sign of initiative. Daryl Pigat, manager of the Manhattan branch of OfficeTeam, the administrative division of Robert Half International, says that when he receives a phone call, it often causes him to pluck the person’s résumé out of the multitudes, because it’s a sign of a serious applicant. But wait at least a few days to give the company time to review applications, Mr. Pigat said.

When you do call, ask if you can take any further steps. But after that conversation, don’t call back unless you are told to do so. That would be venturing into pest territory.”

Korkki’s advice implies striking a delicate balance between enthusiastic and annoying is the way to make yourself seen. Bottom line, the squeaky wheel gets the grease, right? Just don’t squeak too much!

Art by Chris Reed via the New York Times.

Read the article at the New York Times online.

Dumbing Down your Resume: A Do or a Don’t?