LISTENING SKILLS

Speaking is only one part of effective communications. Listening well is a sign that you are engaged and interested. Here are a few tips for being a good listener.

Improve Your Listening Skills
Most people think a great communicator is a person with excellent speaking skills. This is true to some extent, but speaking is only one part of effective communications. Listening is equally important. In fact, listening can be more valuable of the two skills.

Obviously, you can learn more from what other people say than from what you say. With this in mind, it is important to be a good listener. And contrary to what some people think, you’ll be a more interesting person if you listen intently when others are talking rather than trying to dominate the conversation.

Listening skills:

• Make eye contact and focus on the other person.
• Concentrate on what the other person is saying.
• Be willing to learn from the conversation.
• Listen with the intent of gathering information and building rapport.
• No matter how much restraint it takes, never interrupt. After someone has spoken, pause a moment before taking your turn to speak.
• Acknowledge that you are listening or engaged by nodding your head periodically.
• Engage – ask questions in the interview. One of the key things you can do is to engage and ask the interviewer in a curious and respectful manner. A great question like “tell me something out the company that I wouldn’t find through research, web site or may not know.” Another great question is “what do you think is unique about the company or gives it the edge in the market place?”

RESUMES

We review resumes every day. Your resume is the first opportunity to introduce yourself to potential recruiters and employers. Content and context are critical.

Resume review and assistance
We have candidates who have been in a position for 10+ years and never looked at making a change until now. We offer resume review and assistance to help put your best information forward to secure a position, whether it’s through our firm or another. We help our candidates connect in the market place and excel in their career.

Errors
Your resume can’t afford to contain fatal errors. Errors can be viewed as lack of attention and care. Don’t let an error cost you an interview or a job. Some of the most common include: Grammar, typos, misspellings, etc. A sloppy resume says you’re careless.

Number of pages
An average resume is typically 2 – 4 pages. If you career spans more than 20 years, consider listing earlier employment as “available upon request”.

Resume standards
Avoid patterning your resume after the same examples everyone else uses. Hiring authorities get bored with look-alike resumes. Be creative, but concise.

Fonts, sizes and photos
Make your resume easier to read. Keep the size of the font and color legible. If you are submitting a photo use a professional photo. If you are mailing an actual resume use white paper only.

Details
If you’re well into your career, anything prior to 15 years ago, list the company and position held, and skip those college summer jobs. As you advance in age and up the corporate ladder, pare down your resume.

Honesty
First, don’t lie because it’s wrong. Second, don’t lie because if you get caught, you won’t get the job or will lose the job.

What to include:

Accomplishments
List your accomplishments “Managed the marketing department, increasing revenues by more than 50% in a four-year period.”

Employment
List the most current employment first including the company, location, position held as well as dates of employment; start and end (or current). If you have moved on and are no longer employment by the firm, list the end date. Include a description of your job function and accomplishments.

Account for all dates – if you have gaps in employment, list it and give a brief description. Example: Time off to care for aging parent.

Gender
With certain names use Mr. or Ms. as a prefix. If you are a Pat let them know it’s Mr. or Ms.

Objective
State clearly what you’re looking for. Ambiguity indicates you lack direction and focus.

Listing your job objective
Research in advance to be sure your objective coincides with an open position before including it in the resume. If there are several positions that interest you, do not include your objective.

What not to include:
We recommend you omit your actual street address as it is not necessary until you are completing an application for employment with a company.
We also recommend you do not include personal information such as; social security number, family details and date of birth.

Maintenance
Once you have uploaded your resume, review it. Make certain the content is correct and displays properly. Confirm information is correct, such as email and phone number for contact.

Maintain your resume – keep it current. Refresh so it remains current and viewable. If you accept a job, remove your resume from the job board.