Ultimate Career
Career Worth Living For!
Death by Cover-letter
Mar 5th
How have you been writing your job application letters (or “cover-letters” as most of us know it)?
A lot of job hunters do not think that a cover-letter is necessary unless it is specifically asked for in the job advertisement.
WRONG.
Even if the job advertisement asks only for your resume, it is a given that your resume will be accompanied by a cover-letter.
Well, of course, unless you are applying for a job that does not require a degree.
A cover-letter is an excellent platform to pitch and sell your value and why you are different. It also allows you to demonstrate your written communication skills.
(Now, if your writing and language skills need improvement, you better find professionals to help you write the cover-letter!)
Most of all, it shows that you are really interested in the job and would spare no effort to get in the door.
Look at it another way: 95% of job-hunters will not be writing cover-letters and so, if your application has a cover-letter, it will immediately stand out.
Now, auto generated cover-letters (like those generated by JobsDB.com) don’t count as cover-letters!! Don’t ever use them!!
Now, here’s the outdated way of structuring your cover-letter content:
Paragraph 1: How you heard about the job
Paragraph 2: Why you want the job
Paragraph 3: Your qualifications for the job
Paragraph 4: How you will follow up on the job
Hiring managers are busy people. Very busy, in fact, as with most executives. And your cover-letter and resumes will only get 3-5 seconds of initial attention.
Get this: If you can’t capture their attention within 3-5 seconds of them reading your application (i.e. your very first sentence!), you can say, “Bye Bye” to the company and “Hello” to the trash bin!
Who cares about how and where you heard about the job? And who cares about why you want the job?
As an employer, what I want to know is how you can help me solve problems, in what ways can you contribute and add value.
If you truly want the job, here’s how you must structure your cover-letter:
1. Gain and retain the reader’s Attention
You must draw the reader’s attention enough for them to continue reading your letter and resume.
This is the “hook,” if you like.
Try making a personal connection, start with how you got interested in the field, why you like the job or company, special skills or experience that you have, or a great opportunity you had which triggered your passion.
For example, applying for a teaching job, the first sentence can be,
“Inspired and motivated students. Would this be what you want to achieve for your school?”
2. Generate Interest in you
Go on to talk about the problems or issues you know of in the industry, company, or job. This will show that you have done your homework in researching the relevant information and that you know what you are in for.
Only people who are truly interested in the job will put in such effort and go the extra mile.
Guess what? It is never crowded on the extra mile.
Continuing from the example above,
“There are no lazy or incapable students. Only unmotivated ones. As such, the best thing that a school can do to encourage students to learn (and thus, towards better results and achievements) is to find ways to motivate them.”
3. Create Desire to meet you
This is where you show yourself as a solution to the problem. Here you present your features (qualifications, experience, attributes, passion and interest) and clearly outline how they will benefit the job and the company.
“With over 7 years of learner-centred learning experience couple with 5 years of education administration, I have an excellent grasp of the tertiary education sector and have mastered the art of motivating students.
“These are the reasons why I have been able to consistently achieve high levels of teaching evaluation as well as produce students who are high achievers.”
4. Call for the reader to take Action
As the reader goes on, you want him/her to do something, right?
So, get them to do it: Refer to specific highlights in your resume or your reference letters, read your blog, watch your video clip online, etc.
Remember to close strongly where you affirm your strong interest and ask for an interview. You can either ask them to call you or, more boldly, tell them you will call them to follow-up (if you have the number or email, of course!)
“I am anxious to tell you more about my qualifications and how, together, we can truly inspire students in your school towards greater heights. I plan to follow-up in a week’s time. In the mean time, feel free to contact me at 1234-5678 or abc@gmail.com
I want an iPhone 3GS
Dec 17th
My sister-in-law and her family visited my family over a weekend last month and we had a good time catching up. Her son, Ryan, is 11 years-old this year and although I have known him since his birth and have even taken care of him for a short spell 4 years ago, he is growing up to be his own man and, entering his teenage years, he now tends not to enjoy adult conversation nor company.
Ryan spent most of the entire visit glued to my laptop computer that was in the living room where everyone was. I would peek at what he was doing occasionally (mainly to ensure he was not messing up my files) and found him on the Apple Computer website.
Specifically, he was on the iPhone pages of the Apple website.
Before I knew it, he interrupted the adults who were happily chatting away over coffee.
“Mom, look! The iPhone 3GS is so thin and it’s so cool!”
Three minutes later, he shouted again, “Mom, the 3GS can take videos and upload them to YouTube! Isn’t that something?”
Another 5 minutes later, he exclaimed, “Mom, there is voice command for the 3GS! Wow!”
This time, his mother responded, “Ryan, you don’t need an iPhone. I’m not buying one for you. You already have a mobile phone.”
It turned out that Ryan had been bugging his mother over the past week to get him the latest iPhone 3GS. And when I asked him why he needed an iPhone, he said, “Everyone in school has one and it’s really cool” to which I responsed, “Ryan, the iPhone cannot make you cool. Only you can.”
Of course, Ryan didn’t understand what I meant and he also didn’t get the iPhone 3GS he coveted.
From this little episode, it reminded me of the way most of us try to persuade, influence and convince others of something – in other words, our “selling” strategy.
And guess what? Job-hunting is a “selling” process whether you like it or not.
Most people think that the best way to sell is to do what Ryan did – promote the features of the product or service: The iPhone is thin, it can take videos, access the internet, and issue commands via voice, etc.
In job-hunting terms, most people promote ONLY their features thinking that those will sell: Their degree(s), work experience, internship experience, special skills, awards, extra-curricular activities, community service, professional memberships, etc.
Just like Ryan’s mother, the features of the iPhone 3GS meant nothing to her. They may be cool to Ryan but they do not appeal to his mother at all. In fact, an iPhone is expensive to buy and to maintain, especially for an 11 year-old.
Remember: To an employer, you are always on the right-hand end of this simple equation:
Profit = Revenue – Cost
To make business sense, you will only be hired IF:
1. You are affordable (i.e. low cost), and
2. You can generate sufficient value (or revenue) to cover the cost of employing you (i.e. high benefits).
And so, your features may be cool to you, but they will only be cool to the employer IF and ONLY IF they can generate benefits to the employer.
In order to sell successfully to employers, you must approach from the BENEFIT angle: How exactly will the employer benefit from having you on the team? What value can you bring.
No doubt, features can be part of the selling process to provide support for the benefits but features should never be the main focus.
Remember: We don’t buy features. We buy only benefits.
When Ryan understands this, he will be in time to get an iPhone 3GS for Christmas.
My Basil and me
Nov 23rd
While preparing for a personality assessment workshop 2 weeks ago, I was reminded of Basil plant I grew some 7 years ago.
You see, cooking is a hobby of mine and one of the key influences on my cooking style is my having lived in Thailand for 3 years.Of course, it also helps that I once owned and operated a cafe that served great food. ; )
Thai cooking uses a fair amount of Basil leaves and instead of buying them from the grocery store each time I want to cook, I decided to grow them in home.
Growing them was easy. I bought the seeds, got some soil in a pot and within a week or so, I saw the shoots emerging from the soil and before long, I got a full grown Basil plant from which I harvest the fragrant leaves for some of my favourite dishes.
The Basil plant was placed just inside my apartment next to a large ceiling-to-floor window with good exposure to sunlight and was given sufficient water each day.
However, all of a sudden, I noticed that the leaves started to wilt. And the Basil plant became rather frail although it wasn’t totally gone. I thought it might be lacking soil nutrients and began to supply it with fertilizers.
Still, the situation didn’t improve and I became increasing puzzled. My Basil plant had all the resources it needed (or so I thought). What else was the problem??
One day while shopping at IKEA, I noticed that some window hooks for potted plants were on sale and I bought a few with the intent of hanging the Basil plant outside of the window.
Guess what?
Within 3 days of putting the Basil plant out, its leaves grew plum and it blossomed into quite a bush!
It appeared that although the Basil was exposed to sunlight previously, it was indoors and the light was filtered by the window. It couldn’t thrive under that environment. Being outside the window, the Basil plant received direct, unfiltered sunlight and this made all the difference. It seemed like a small difference to me but it was a matter of life and death for the Basil.
The lesson I drew from this little episode is that the same principle applies to each of us.
We each have a preferred type of environment that is most conducive for us to grow and develop. Without such an environment that fits our personality, we can be given all the resources and motivation yet we will find ourselves struggling and wilting away, energy drained from us instead of being energized.
Before you jump into a job, it is vital for you to gain a keen awareness of who you are (passion, values, beliefs, skills) and what your dominant personality types might be.
With these, it is then possible to identify jobs and work environments that are most suitable for YOU which will enable you to thrive. It is with such a compatible match that you are more likely to be successful in your career.
There are several prominent personality assessment tools available which you should consider – examples are Myer-Briggs Type Indicators (MBTI), Holland’s Codes, and DiSC.
If you are studying, your university career centre may have some of these tools which you can take for free (mind you, some of these can be expensive!).
If you’d like to take a quick and accurate (and cheap too!) assessment online, here’s one on our website.
Tell Me About Yourself
Oct 22nd
When an interviewer ask the question, “Tell me about yourself,” they are not really asking you to tell them about yourself. Recruiters don’t give a hoot where you were born, what interest you have, why you selected your university or how and where you got your first and subsequent jobs. They may listen to these responses from you appropriately just to be nice but they really don’t care.
Instead, an employer only wants to know about you in relation to themselves and the job. If where you were born and bred means that you have a good network of contact in the location that vital to an open position, then they care about where you grew up. If your first job is a direct parallel to a role they may have for you, then they want to know about it. Their interest is not about you, but rather the link between you and the job you are applying for. Therefore, your primary objective isn’t to talk about yourself in general but rather to make the relevant connection between you and the position.
Also, your answer to “Tell me about yourself” can and should be different depending on who is asking the question. Afterall, you want to establish rapport with the interviewer. There are many facts about you so you can still be truthful and at the same time being selective with presenting relevant and valuable information. Select those facts that highlight and strengthen the connection between you and the interviewer. This of course implies that you know something about the interviewer and the position (yes, you must do your homework before appearing at the interview). Then you can pick specific stories and examples that parallel the skills and experience you are expected to have. You can and should also highlight the interests that demonstrates that you are motivated for the right reasons. You should never be there to talk about yourself. What you must do is to reveal the various compelling reasons why you are exactly what they need.
Here’s a question parallel for you to unravel the question disguise:
“Tell me about yourself” = “Tell me why I should hire you instead of the 50 waiting outside”
“Tell me about your interests” = “Why did you apply for THIS job?”
“Walk through your background with me” = “Convince me that you are relevant and will be an asset for me”
Everything you say must promote and further your suitability for the job.
Always keep in mind that the interview is about filling a position and as such, no question is asked that is separate from the job.
Interview Who?
Oct 13th
My wife and I just applied for a place in a kindergarten next year for my son who is just over 2 years old.
After submitting all the necessary documents, we were handed an acknowledgement slip which stated an interview date for my son 3 months from now.
Interview? A two year-old?
Interesting enough, just last month, I heard from a friend who brought her son to be interviewed at a kindergarten about her “ordeal.”
It was her son (2+ years old) who was supposed to be interviewed but it was her who was completely stressed out.
In fact, she got so upset with the interviewer she almost cried when he said, “Most children at this age should be able to follow my instructions without problems. But it seems that your son couldn’t.”
Such experiences are very real today. Competition is so keen that schools, even kindergartens, must institute a selection process.
But they beg the question, “What are schools for?”
In my mind, the mission of schools is to educate. This means that the a school would best serve its reason for existence when it manages to turn an “uneducated” student into one who is “educated.”
However, with all these selection and filtering processes, schools are taking in only “the best.” These are already the better lot and so, how much more education do they need to be excellent?
Look at it this way: It is a matter of “INPUT > PROCESS > OUTPUT.”
If a school can produce excellent output no matter what input it is given, then that is THE ONLY VALID indicator of the quality of the school.
Just like many parents are busy trying to impress the schools just so that their children can get in, most job-hunters will go to interviews thinking it is a one-way street – That is, employers are choosing them.
I beg to differ.
As I have always taught, an interview is a two-way street. They choose you and you choose them. There are so many employers out there, why should you work for this particular one?
My point is this: You should not be there to beg for a job. If you are, then you are putting control into their hands.
Remember that an interview is a business meeting to discuss a business problem. No business will hire if they don’t have a problem.
As such, you are there to provide value to help solve a business problem. Thus, employment, when it occurs, is a fair exchange.
This is one key reason why you MUST have questions to ask in any interview.
Coming back to the school topic, I’m sending my son to a school to be educated, not to be judged.
You can be sure that when I bring my son for his interview, I will have loads of questions for the teachers as well.
Recession-proof Yourself – Part 2
Sep 10th
Continuing from where I left off last week… Free Work.
Now, for a fresh graduate with nothing (much) to show for, doing
free work will most definitely build your portfolio. This is one of
the key items in your resume that employers are looking for – what
you have done and what you are capable of doing.
You may have earned your degree, but you haven’t earned the right
to be paid a lot of money yet. And so, you have to proof your worth.
3. If you have really decided on what you really want (even if it
may not be the major that you have studied), then it is time to
build some skills in that area.
Look at what skills your most desired industry needs and wants,
then start learning them. Read books, sign up for courses, do
whatever it takes and stop giving yourself excuses to not pursue
your dream!
4. Start your own personal blog.
Yes, you will be googled. And what better way to let a potential
employer know you before interviewing you?
Of course, your blog content should be about your passion and
interest that has to do with the kind of job that you want. And
yes, put out GOOD content.
There are so many blogging websites out there like Wordpress and
Blogger which you can sign up for free and start blogging
immediately. So, no excuses again!
5. Research your target.
If you are truly interested with an industry or company, make sure
you research them thoroughly. This is such that when you approach
them to propose doing free work, you know exactly what you are
talking about. This way, you won’t sound like an idiot.
Doing free work is about building trust with your potential
employer. So, approach it that way. Remember to highlight the
benefits of such a working arrangement FOR THE EMPLOYER such that
what you are proposing becomes valuable.
6. Switch to paid work at an appropriate time.
Your objective is not to do free work indefinitely. So, you have to
lay out for yourself the time frame for your free work to progress
into paid work.
If it is 1 month, then let the company know by then that you’d like
to transit to paid work (of course, based on your performance) or
move on to something more challenging or can be paid work (get
contacts through their network).
Being recession-proof means that YOU can choose what you want to
work on when you want to do so without being dictated by the
economic environment or by the people around. This means that you
have greater control doing the things you love and at the end, you
will be able to create a lifestyle that you really want.
Why wouldn’t they hire me? (Part 1)
Sep 3rd
Universities are such: They put a lot of people into the job-market
every year.
Recessions are such: They put EVEN more people into the job-market
and make sure they stay that way and take a lower pay.
The issue for fresh graduates in a recession is that all the good
jobs seemed to be snatched up by recently laid-off 35-year olds who
are desperate and willing to take a huge paycut. And many fresh
graduates are forced to take jobs that doesn’t even need high
school education.
I have heard this many times, “Well, this is how it is. You just
have to take what you can get in this market.”
Does your degree count for nothing??!
If you only know how to look for a job using OLD conventional,
outdated ways in this knowledge economy (or would only take jobs
based on your conventional outdated mindset), the answer is, “Yes,
your degree really counts for nothing.”
To start with, most people are looking for jobs at the wrong
places… places like Monster, JobsDB, Career Times, Job Market…
Now, here’s what you can do to recession-proof yourself:
1. Decide on what you REALLY want and the kind of work you are
interested in (Yes, work that you’ll care about) and TELL people
about it.
Yes, this means NETWORKING!
2. Do free work for the industry, company, project that you are
interested in.
No, free work is not an internship.
Free work is done remotely (i.e. off-site). This means that you can
work for people in any part of the world. To the employer, it is
called “outsourcing.”
Employers usually worry about wasting time and money when they
hire. These are the two big risks. With free work, you remove the
risks altogether. They don’t have to set up a desk for you, they
don’t have to spend too much time to train you, they don’t even
have to care that much about you.
They’d also have really low expectations of you. And that’s where
you can over-deliver!
Yes, no salary now but the objective is to secure trust with the
employer and prove your worth so that you will earn much more later
when you secure the job. BTW, having a degree does not mean you are
entitled to a job an pay-cheque.
What you need to do is this:
“I’d like to work on project ABC for you. I’ll work on it for the
next 2 weeks and give you an update on my progress every 2 days.
“What I need is some direction about the project and what
outcome/result you’d like to get with some feedback on my regular
email updates. This will make sure that I am on the right track.
“If you don’t like my work at the end of the 2 weeks, you can trash
it and we’ll move on. No lost for you and no hard feelings from me.
“But if you do like my work, I’d like to discuss doing more work
for you.”
When you do get the free work, do it professionally and speedily.
And always appreciate the opportunity that you have been given.
And by the way, you don’t have to do free work alone – Gather up a
few friends and work together!
Get a job in ANY company
Aug 25th
What kind of person does any employer want to hire?
Answer: People who can solve problems and get the job done.
But…how can they know if you can get the job done before even
hiring you?
The fact is: They can’t. They can only make an educated guess.
And how do they educate themselves about you?
Answer: Through your resume, cover-letter, reference letters,
portfolio, personality tests, psychometric tests, assessment
centres, group interviews, phone interviews, individual interviews,
meal interviews, etc.
You see, none of these methods of screening and selection is
perfect. So, at the end of the day, the employer is still making a
guess and taking a gamble when they decide who to hire.
So, how you can make yourself a COMPELLING hire?
Take their guessing and gambling out of the equation and…
Act as if you’re already working for the company!
When you can show tangible completed work BEFORE THEY’VE EVEN HIRED
YOU, you have instantly become 100 times more employable than every
other applicant. It doesn’t matter who you are up against in the
job competition. The person who shows up at the interview table and
says, “I’ve already found a few ways that you can improve the
company’s website, double the online traffic, and increase the
sales” or whatever… “and here is what I have done to demonstrate
one.”
By doing so, you prove that you CAN do the work and are immediately
providing VALUE to the company.
Here’s an example:
Jason Zimdars tried to get hired by 37signals (37signals.com they
are extremely picky about who they hire — much like Microsoft,
Google and Yahoo!) and he created this:
http://jasonzimdars.com/svn/highrise.html
The way Jason stood out from the rest was that he looked at the
design in Highrise, one of 37signals’ products and created several
different variations of the site with improved usability and look
of the tags. And one of his designs was so good that 37signals
implemented it straightaway! And of course, Jason was hired.
I can already hear some of you thinking in your head, “What? You
are suggesting that I spend all the time and do the work for free??
And I don’t even know if they’ll hire me?”
Yes, I am suggesting that.
Sure, you won’t know if they’ll hire you but if you are reluctant
to give value first to a job that you are applying for, then you
are not really interested in the job. If you are not really
interested in the job, then employers won’t be interested in you.
It’s a two-way street.
Besides, you want the job right?
I mean if this is the job that you want and have decided that it is
going to be your ideal job and that you really want to develop your
career in this industry, then what’s holding you back? Your time
and effort is TOO important to be spent this way?
In any case, you will surely learn something and understand more
doing the work. This will make you even better prepared for the job
interview and the industry. So, I would call the time and effort an
“investment.”
Such a Time as This
Jul 13th
Have you just graduated?
If so, you may have firsthand experience of what the job market is
like currently.
Since October last year, we have been hearing in the news about
where the world economy is heading. We continue to hear of company
bankruptcies, budget cuts, headcount freezes, massive layoffs,
social unrests, declining economic growth, reduced consumer
spending and rising unemployment.
In May this year, it seemed like there was a glimpse of
stabilization and that triggered a fair amount of activities in the
stock markets and real estate markets. But that looked
unsustainable right now and the fundamentals have not changed even
though there was much euphoria. It sure looks like things will get
worst before it gets any better.
What is very real, however, to many of you at this moment is that
you have graduated from being students to being unemployed. Some of
you may even be starting this next stage of life with a whole load
of debt.
Many students I meet are actually considering going straight back
to studying. Yup, get another degree, spend more money (or take on
more debt), get shelter from the crisis for one more year, and,
hopefully,emerge next June with a Master’s degree.
Indeed, going back to school will allow you to be sheltered from
unemployment and be “upgraded” at the same time. However, if you
think that prospects will be better with a Master’s degree, let me
help you with an answer from employers:
If you do not have professional experience, you will still be
regarded as a fresh graduate even if you’ve got a Master’s degree.
At the end of the day, employers do not hire degrees. They hire the
ability to solve problems. They are paying a monthly sum in
exchange for value. A degree says that you can do the academic work
(usually given by professors who do not have real-world
experience). But mark this: Work experience is the only solid proof
of your capabilities.
OK, the bottom-line is that you want to land a job (at least start
gaining some real-world experience). And very soon. Here are some
tips to up your chances:
1. Draw up an employment strategy plan and set up goals to help
youself track progress.
2. Brush up your job-hunting skills. At least ensure that your
resume and job application (i.e. cover-letter)is in tip-top
condition. You are only doing yourself a BIG disfavour by sending
out mediocre resumes during such a time as this.
3. Adapt a flexible approach. Other than targeting the
industry/company/work that you would usually target, look also at
their vertical as well as horizontal market.
For example, to look at the vertical market, if you have always
wanted to work in a commercial bank, look also at which other
industries the bank serves and which other industries serve the
bank. The commercial bank may serve the real estate developers in a
huge way and be served by IT firms which provide their computing
systems.
Horizontally, other than look at being an analyst in the bank,
consider HR, marketing, business development, accounting, project
management, front office, back office, etc.
4. Many companies have implemented hiring-freezes as well as
pay-freezes. Taking on another full-time staff can be an added
burden especially for an SME. But as long as they still exist,
there’s work to be done. So, consider freelance, internships and
part-time employment. Do well in these and you will get a much
better chance of being converted to full-time later.
5. Job-hunting means you should get out there to do the hunting. If
you are hunting for pigs, you’ve got to go where the pigs are. So,
start finding out where you can meet people from the industry of
your choice, get out there and start networking!
6. Consider starting your own business or offering professional
services. This will stir up your creativity, give you priceless
experiences and mark you as an entrepreneur which will provide you
with a huge stepping stone into the corporate career. Starting your
own business need not be a costly affair. Take a look at
www.elance.com and www.guru.com and you’ll know what I mean.
Are you crazy??
Jul 7th
Alright! Here’s the deal.
If you did a quick search on the Internet, you will find that
professional resume-writers in Hong Kong, Singapore and the USA
charge the following fee range for students and freshgraduates
(i.e. 0 to 1 year experience):
1. Resume Review US$129 (HK$1,000) onwards.
2. Resume Writing US$128 (HK$1,000) onwards.
3. Cover-letter Writing US$79 (HK616) onwards.
4. Interview Preparation US$179 (HK1,400) onwards.
And these fees do not include “express” (within 48 hours) and
“rush” (within 36 hours) service.
I think this is the reason why I received several emails after
sending out our resume-writing Summer Special over the past 2 weeks
all of which said something to the effect of:
“Are you crazy??!”
“Don’t you have to eat?!?”
I guess I am crazy to be offering such a low rate. But I do want to
help as many students as we can get a good start in their
job-hunting and career. This is our mission.
Incidentally, I did get emails from one lady repeatedly asking me
WHY do we charge for our resume-writing service.
Well, my answer is simple: If my team and I are dead (no fee = no
income = no pay = no food = dead), we can no longer provide any
benefit to you or anyone!
We do need to survive in order to continue with our work and that’s
why we charge. Much like why you pay school fees, doctor’s fees,
bus fare, hostel fees, etc.
So, here it is (with more stuff)!
“Resume + Interview Coaching” Special!
To upgrade your resume, simply email your current resume (with the
industries and jobs that you are interested in as well as your
strengths and interests/hobbies) to the Career Architects resume
dropbox resume@careerarchitects.com.
It will be reviewed and we will revert to you within 36 hours.
Using the Career Architects resume-writing service, your resume
will be RE-WRITTEN by one of our Certified Professional Career
Coaches or Certified Employment Professionals.
Our usual fee for students is HK$250.
Summer special HK$150 (i.e. 40% off)
Our usual fee for freshgraduates is HK$300.
Summer special HK$150 (i.e. 50% off)
Our usual fee for Interview Coaching: HK$880.
Summer Resume + Interview Coaching package HK$680
Send in your resume to resume@careerarchitects.com. Indicate
“resume + interview” in the email if you’d like to be receive
personal coaching on job interview preparation.
Offer ends 31 July 2009.