Transcript #51. Job Hunting Q&A
Click here to see the episode show notes.
So, like I said, we are going to go through seven questions, but let me start by saying hello from Melbourne. My name is Renata Bernarde. I'm a career coach. I'm specialised in job hunting and strategies to get you to your next job, and I love doing that. I'm the host of The Job Hunting Podcast. And I am here today to answer a few questions that I got over the course of the past two weeks. And I get them via DMs, messages, emails, conversations, LinkedIn messages and so on. So I have seven great questions to share with you, and I'm going to answer them one by one and give tips and advice. And then if you stick around until the end, I have also a tip about job hunting that I want to share with you. But most importantly, now that you're here and you know what I do, if you haven't yet subscribed or followed me, please do so wherever you found me, just click that button, subscribe and follow.
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So let's get going. First question, it’s a good one. Back when I last applied for jobs, resumes were written in, with objective and summary of qualifications. So she's talking or he's talking about the headings, but now I am seeing resumes with profile summary, career summary, skills, competency sections. So again, different headings. Which resume do employers prefer?
Okay. So, uh, as a career coach, I really struggle to talk about resumes because my reach is global and you could be anywhere in the world. And for me, it's really tricky to talk about resumes because each country, each region, has its own best practises. For example, resumes in America are very short, resumes in Australia are very long. And again, as the person asking the question is positioning, which resumes do employers prefer, depending on your sector, employers have different quirks and preferences as well. So when I'm working with a coaching client, I'm usually really tailoring that resume to the sector, the region, the industry, the company, if it's a start-up sort of more modern company or more of a bricks and mortar traditional company, I really tailor even the style and the narrative, the tone of the resume to that as well.
So you need to be very open to receiving that environmental feedback so that you adjust your resume. But here are a few tips from me. So follow your country's best practise for style, length, and formatting. So find a template that is country specific, sometimes recruiters or organisations that do recruitment in your country, they may have a template available. Here in Australia, seek.com, which is a website where you can search for jobs. They have a template, and I know that many recruitment companies have templates on their websites as well. Even some large employers, employers, you know, recruit very regularly, have templates on their websites as well. So see if you can find a template for your country, but again, if you are applying for a job in a different country. So for example, I have a client who's just applied for a job in the US then her, Australian resume, which is five pages long is not really appropriate for the job she's applying for in America.
So you need to kind of make adjustments there. But what I strongly recommend in my second dot point here for you is that, you have a master document one that really is your archival information. And you keep that, you don't change that. I mean, you change that. You update it, but you keep that to yourself. And then every time you applying for a new job, you save that in a different file. Let's say a word doc or a Google doc document. You name it with the job application that you are doing. So let's say you're applying for a job at Amazon. It would be today is 2020.10.09. So I'm doing the session on the 10th of September and Amazon. Okay. So then you will have a new version for you of your resume and you will make sure that you were doing the best possible version of your resume for that job, for that employer, for the country industry. And so on.
It sounds like a lot of work, but you know what, if you have a great a master document, it's super easy you guys, you have to have a great master document to begin with. And that's the trick. If you have a great master document, it becomes really easy to make adjustments for different job applications. So what you do then is you avoid generic language. That's the best thing more important than the headings in all of that, is making sure your sentences have real meaning and they convey what you actually do and how you do it. And not, they're not just a jumble of jargons in generic corporate language. Please avoid that. It's so really frustrating for anybody to read LinkedIn or resumes that are just a jumble of things that means nothing. So to know that you have great transferable skills means nothing, or you have 15 years of executive experience, it means nothing.
You have to find what it is that is your superpower, that you can hit the ground running and help them with. Um, also I have two pieces of, I mean, I have a lot of content, free to you, you know, the podcast episode and the live coaching sessions from previous months that you can scroll back and read and watch. But there are two that I think you should have a look, it's episode 35 of the job hunting podcast, recruitment trends shaping the job market in 2020 that's with Anita Zimmer. She's the managing director of a recruitment company here in Australia, but they have global partners. So she's really talking, you know, very globally about the trends. And then immediately after that episode, I did a live coaching session and it was the three ways to improve your resume tips from a recruiter, Anita, and a career coach myself. So, I will have those two links in the recording of this session later on for you.
Okay, second question. I've outgrown my position and there is so much stress at my workplace now. I hear you. I have decided to look for a new job after working over 10 years. Can you please provide some advice when looking for a job while employed?
Oh yes, yes indeed. I have done an episode on this with The Job Hunting Podcast. It's one of my earliest episodes because I have seen so many people do the bridge, you know, burning situation at work while applying for jobs and being fully employed.
And it's really tricky. It's episode number seven, my friend, ‘How to attend a job interview when you work full time’. So it's kind of a specific about job interviews, but it's broader than that, right? Like you want to change jobs and you're looking for a job, but you have a full-time job. So what do you do? So go and listen to that episode. Number seven, I will put the link on Facebook now because we are live and there are people watching. And I want to make sure that you have what you need to take action ASAP. And, but I'll give you a few tips and ideas now.
First of all, you need to find a time to do good job applications. Usually when you have a job that's, you know, intense and stressful, when you have a position and work to do, you tend to put a lot of effort into it and then you get home and you have stuff to do at home.
You end up being overwhelmed and never having the time to actually look for work. Or when you do it, you do it like a, you don't do a pretty good job, quite frankly. So I know people that come to me for coaching that have been trying to, you know, find a job for many years, you have to apply the 70, 30 rule. You need to step back from your full-time job a little bit and find the time within your day to actually invest in yourself and your career, you know, and when people are coming to me for coaching, I ask them that, are you ready to take a step back from your full time job and not give 150% give 70% of yourself? So you can not only pay me as a coach and invest financially, but also find energy and time within your day to invest in yourself because I'm not a miracle worker, I'm not going to find you a job.
I'm going to give you tools and resources and skills. So you can find the job. And we are a team and I will support you along the way, but you need to have that, and some clients are like, ‘yes, let's do this’. And they step back a little bit, no one notices by the way. They continuously, you know, do a great job at work. They meet all the deadlines. They prioritise everything that is important, but they, they take some time to themselves and they find the time, you know, to apply for jobs, with energy and enthusiasm. And some clients never come back to me and, you know, prospect clients say, ‘Oh, okay, Oh, I can't do that’. You know, I just don't know how to do that. I don't know how to step back. And those are the people who are not going to advance in their careers quite frankly, because it takes you effort.
You have to have the time and the effort. One of the things that people sometimes misunderstand is the mentoring of their managers within the realm of their job and what they need to do within there, that the job and the responsibilities and their charter with the organisation. And sometimes they have a great relationship with their manager because their manager has been mentoring them and coaching them and just really being really supportive of them within that job. And then they tell them that they want another job. And the manager doesn't like that at all gets really upset. And it spoils the relationship. Then you don't get a job and you don't have the support of your manager anymore. And I've seen that happen over and over again. So you don't have to tell your manager. In fact, having been a manager myself, it's really tricky for me when, in the past one, somebody who worked for me told me they were leaving, because if I had an opportunity, if I had to take somebody on a conference overseas with me or interstate, or if I had a project to give that was six months long or eight months long, I wouldn't give that person the project. Would I?
Because I know that that person was looking for work externally and applying for jobs. And I needed somebody I could count on long term. So I, you know, it's really tricky. And again, if that's that said to you in confidence, I cannot tell my boss, right? Like it just puts you in all sorts of pickles. So I prefer that my clients don't share that they are looking for work and that they do that confidentially. And they still meet their targets, still meet their KPIs at work. But instead of giving it 150%, they step back so that they can invest in their careers. I have clients that, you know, this, I'm still working with them. That over-deliver all the time is their thing. You know, it's there, they see it as a strength. You know, if a boss tells them, you have a week to do this, they do it the next day. Right?
Now, if you continuously do that, all you're doing is giving yourself more and more work in within your job and not having ever the time to invest in your career. And, before you apply for work, if that's what you want, if you've outgrown your position, it's too stressful. You're ready for another job. Remember that changing jobs is still stressful in itself. So make the most out of that opportunity, develop a purposeful career plan. Something that really will count if you're making that change, make it count, make that moving count, invest your time in developing a good career plan for yourself. And even if that means, you know, hiring somebody like me for an hour or two, just to help you reflect on that. I mean, people go to doctors when they're sick or when they have issues or mental health issues, they go to a counsellor, when you're making such a big change in your career.
Why not develop that plan with somebody who can support you? I really think it's worth it. That's why I have my one-on-one, you know, hour and hour and a half long bookings that people can come in and just get that support when they need it. Just to bounce back some ideas, workshop some ideas to make sure that they are moving in the right direction. So consider doing that book a consultation with me. It's a good investment. I think it is, you know, if you're changing jobs, make sure that you're doing the best possible future proofing of your career.
Okay. Third question, in your videos, you always look so nice. Oh, thanks. I'll I've read this before, but I forgot. And I don't know what I'm doing wrong with my videos, if any advice.
Okay. Yes, that is true. Okay. Well, I put a lot of effort into this. If you look at my first videos, you will say they weren't as nice, but now it's awesome. Isn't it? I am in Melbourne lockdown. This is our six weeks, sixth week of lockdown there. Two more to go at least if not more. So, everything is about zoom, Skype, WebEx, Google Hangouts, Microsoft meets VMX calls. I'm naming all of the platforms that I have been using. And you have to, first of all, be familiar with all of those platforms. If you're a job hunting, if you're, you know, reconnecting with your network, which is another question that we have here, you have to hit the ground running with those platforms, download them to your, your computer, desktop phone, everything, make sure that you are comfortable using them. One thing that I have,is a tip that I have for you. And it happened to a friend of mine last night, I was sharing a session with rotary.
My friend was emceeing it and she couldn't emcee it. Somebody else had to take her role because her camera didn't work. And one thing that I have done with my cameras because I have three cameras here in my setup, is I disabled two of them, because sometimes you go into a different setup, you know, you're using zoom and you go to, let's say WebEx, which I use a lot with some of my clients. And it doesn’t pick up the, my preferred camera. It picks up a different camera. It happens with Ticker TV as well, a couple of times, cause I do some TV interviews and I've done all the setup with this camera here. And it picks up the camera from my laptop, which is low resolution and terrible. And it really annoys me. So I disabled some of the other cameras so that it always picks up this camera here that I want.
And the other thing that I would recommend is for you to have the lighting behind it. So if I put my glasses on, you can see, I have a ring light. Now that ring light costs you $50 on Amazon. I think you can buy them very cheaply these days. But you don't need, even to have that, you can go to Ikea and buy a light that sits behind your camera. That's all you need. Or if you're lucky with your house, you can put your camera in front of your window and not behind it. So my window is here, unfortunately, and it just wouldn't be a good setup for me. So the ring light, and this is actually quite a dark room normally. The other thing is that background, some backgrounds are not very good and we weren't ready for working from home arrangements.
So we need some time to figure out what we're going to do in the future. But ideally you would find, you know, if you're going to work from home from now on, especially if you're job hunting and you're in between jobs, you have to find a space that you, you know, call your own, you know, move the kids away, you know, ask the dog to move away as well, the cats and all, and, and make it look professional showcasing to your future employers and your network that you can work from home and work remotely in a professional manner and represent the organisation professionally from home is really important. It's really important think about it. If they hire you, you will be KPMG working from home. You will be Amazon working from home. You will be the Victorian government working from home. I kid you not that's what's happening today. So your background is important. Many organisations now are coming out with those screens. So I just received one for rotary and we're not for profit volunteering organisation. And if I'm doing a rotary event, now I have to use the background to the screen, which I personally do not like, I think it's, you know, it's too bland and too vanilla. I don't like that, but some organisations will probably do that because, they need to have that look and feel, and that branding that's consistent throughout.
And I understand it. I understand Rotary's point of view, I'm with it. So I'm using it. But I think if you can showcase your professionalism and have a good background is really important too. And look sometimes if you have a great background, if you have good lighting, if you have good sound and that's crisp, I have a great microphone. That was the cheapest microphone for podcasting, and it's still considered one of the best, it’s the Samsung Q R U. I think it's called. It's very good. But it's super cheap. Before, I had a $12 lapel that I've done, probably my first 20 podcasts with that one it's still very good. As long as you have a great scrip sound, I think you should, you should be fine.
So make sure that you do that. And many times, I'm not even wearing any makeup. And I know women struggle with that, you know, with the zoom calls and interviews and think that they have to put a lot of makeup on, I hardly ever wear any makeup these days, and just the lighting and the setup just does it for me.
Okay. Okay, were going very slowly aren’t we? Let's go question number three now. Okay. In your videos. Oh no. That's that was question number three. Now let's go for question number four. There is not, there are not a lot of jobs in my country. Should I be looking for jobs overseas?
That is a very interesting question. And I'm so glad it came up. Okay. There are many ways to see this question and not knowing the person or what they do is hard for me to give specific advice, but here we go, many countries have border restrictions these days. Okay. So if you are applying for a job in Australia, chances are, the recruiters won't even see your profile or resume because it will be months and months before you're let in. Our work visas have been cancelled. United States is the same, many other countries have done the same. However, it could be that you can work remotely. And if that's the case, then it is likely that those jobs will be advertised in your country as well. And then you can apply for them as re as a remote worker. So if you go to LinkedIn and you search for jobs on LinkedIn, there is now a tick for remote work. Okay. And I would then recommend that you try that. It's kind of new, but try that and see what comes up, because that means if work is remote, theoretically, you can do that anywhere. But having said that there could be HR issues as well. So for example, if you're doing remote work in South Africa and the organisation is based in Australia, there would be no health and safety issues that the organisation in Australia would have to do to make sure that, you know, your workplace stay, that you have everything that you need in your office, that you are covered by insurance.
And frankly, some organisations are not ready yet for that. So ideally look for a job in your home country. But of course, if there aren't many jobs in your home country and you have specific skills that are suitable for a remote work, for work with organisations that are not based in your country based overseas, and they can see the value in having somebody like you on the ground. I think that's the other thing that's interesting. For example, let's say let's use this example that you're based in South Africa and this organisation can't reach South Africa anymore because the borders are shut, right? So you have an advantage because you're based in South Africa, you can help them there.
So why not get in touch with organisations that may have been struggling with reaching your country and see if they need help on the ground? That's another way of looking for work overseas, but actually being their agent on in your country. I think that's the best way of putting it. So we, it's such strange times, and that's the best advice that I can think of for you, but I know good stuff. So, you know, hang in there. And I have lots of clients in the same situation because I have clients overseas. Not all my clients are based in Australia. I am in Australia, if you don't know, but I have clients overseas. And I have Australian clients that have recently gotten jobs overseas. And one of them will be doing her job while she's not a client, she's a friend, she'll be doing her job in Australia for the time being until she's able to move. The other person I can think of was a guest in this podcast, Mo, Mohit Bhargava. You remember him? The CMO top 50 CMO podcast. We had a few months ago, he got a job overseas and he texted me this week to say, I'm at the airport, I'm flying. And finally it took him months and months before he was able to take up the job, you know, go to Malaysia to do the new job. He got a few weeks befor COVID started. But yeah, it's tricky. It's very tricky.
Okay, question number five. How do you network in lockdown? Tricky? Isn't it?
Well, I don’t know where you are, but I am here. Tell me where you are, you know, in comments here on the live on Instagram or Facebook, I'm in Melbourne. And if you don't know, we are on a very strict lockdown in Melbourne. So It's six weeks since I have been able to move away from five kilometres from my house. Right. And I can only go out to go shopping in the supermarket for groceries or go to the chemist or go take a COVID test swab. Or a one hour exercise outside. That is it. I can only go out for one hour. So friends it's been tough. My son lives in Melbourne and I haven't seen him for months. Can you imagine my youngest son lives with us? So I see him more often, but he has a partner on the other side of town. And he's the only exception to the rules, many, many rules. He can actually visit his partner because he's in a long-term relationship.
So yeah, he comes here and goes there. So he's in between the two houses. So he's one of the lucky people that can move around, but he tells me like when he's driving to his partner's place that it's complete, the city is completely empty. There's no one there, all the shops are closed. So having said that life goes on, right? So how do you network, when were you are in shut down and lock down like we are here in the state of Victoria. I do a lot of events. So for example, I'm currently in an incubator programme with Monash University. It's actually a validator. So I'm validating some of my products. And I did this, there are a hundred people doing that programme. I was on the phone with a lovely woman who is doing that program, but she's also interested in coaching, and we were talking and she was explaining to me that she has a side project she's doing, you know, a specific type of ice cream that she wants to then see if it's a viable product. That's why she's doing the validated programme. That's how you network. I also do. When I'm in a zoom meeting with lots of people, I see what they're commenting and I, and how they're positioning themselves. And those that are really interesting. I immediately on my second screen, I go to LinkedIn and I connect with them on Twitter.
If they, you know, if I feel that Twitter is a better connection for them. So this week, I saw a great presentation. I did a conference with the Victorian government as part of the digital innovation festival, which I also presented, I had four live events during that festival. There was a full day conference and one of the presenters and American woman was just fantastic. And I just straight to, LinkedIn and Twitter followed her and thanked her for presentation. And that's how you connect. I have a great email template for job hunters to connect with recruiters who may not have a job advertised, but they are specific recruiters that are great for their sector. So let's say you are in mining and this recruiter just they're specialising mining executives, and they don't have any jobs advertised at the moment, but you think it's a good idea to connect with this person specifically.
And you want to introduce yourself. This email is for that. It serves that purpose, but you can also adjust the language to introduce yourself to people on LinkedIn and ask for connection. You can send it to a hiring manager in an organisation. So I will put the link here so that you can download this document and make use of it. It's the document I've used over and over again for many years. It has for me personally, because I adapted every time and I've tailored it at every time. I always had a hundred percent success rate with it. For me personally, my clients have been using it and they've been very successful with it as well, both adapting it to LinkedIn connections or emails. So, yeah, I'm pretty confident it will help you.
Okay. Another one, number six, I was made redundant and my package included outplacement services. The outplacement service they are advised to us, mostly senior executives is to forget about 2020 and start looking for work in 2021. I've been watching your podcast and reading your posts and it seems to have a different view.
Yes, that was the question. Yes. I do have a different view. Oh boy. I think telling somebody who needs a job. Okay. Redundancies, some people get great packages and that quite a lot of money. If they've been with an organisation for 15, 20 years accumulated leave, they have like, you know, it's, it may be a good time for you to take some time off. Maybe you've been working all your life and you've never taken time off. Right? Take time off. Good. I think, you know, it's wonderful. It's a pity that your time off would be, you know, if you're in Melbourne, staying home and going nowhere, but personally, I think it's not a good time to take time off at all. Not a good time. First of all, because you can't go anywhere. None of those bucket list, things that you could do, you know, go around the world, visit Europe, go on a cruise, skydive, you can't do anything right?
So you're basically stuck at home and we are living in unprecedented times. It's turbulent times, it's VUCA world. It's volatility, uncertainty as a senior executive and a leader that you are if you're in an out placement organisation, and your former employer has invested that in you, you have the responsibility. If you want to keep advancing in your career in, and having an executive leadership role to understand the market, to understand where we're going and to position yourself as the leader for 2021 and beyond, the best way to do that is to keep connected and keep your network and apply for jobs. If you don't get your jobs, that is absolutely fine. But by being with the finger on the pulse of what's going on will be the best way for you to understand what's happening with the world. And it will be the best way for you to quickly pivot and adjust your pitch and your message to make sure that you are positioning yourself as a leader for tomorrow.
Because chances are you're coming with your old habits, bricks and mortar, you know, growth and great certainty and the markets and all of that. And this dynamic situation that we are living in right now requires a different set of skills. Those conversations that you're having with recruiters and head-hunters in your network, will keep you abreast of what's happening.
And you need to be really top of mind of people when they have the budget and they have the right positions and they know exactly what they need to keep their businesses going. And that will happen very soon. And when it happens, if you're a top of mind, you will be the first person that they call. So wait a few more years before you go and do your bucket list with your redundancy package. Right now, take the time and invest in being a thought leader for the future, a thought leader for these turbulent times. Find your connections, reconnect with them, position yourself as somebody who can hit the ground running and support them as a C level or head of, or a senior executive managing tough, challenging projects that will have to start in the next couple of months to get us all out of this mayhem that we find ourselves in the corporate sector, public sector and so on. So no way Jose, no time to rest. The good thing about being in quarantine like I am is that I actually am sleeping better, you know?
You sleep better, you don't have to commute, but you know, once you start working in your home office, make the most out of it. And if you are keen, I dunno, who asked me this question, but if you're following me, book a time to talk to me. If you go to my website contacts, there's a 30 minute call there and I'd be happy to talk to you, it's free. It's my first, uh, 30 minute discovery call, which is available to everyone. All you need to do is go and book your time and talk to me and I'd love to help you. And yeah. See if I can do anything to support your career coaching progress.
All right, what do I do? Number seven, last question. I need my breakfast. What do I do? Not getting a job.
That's why you're here. You're not getting a job. What do you do? You follow Renata Bernarde where you found me and you sign up for my newsletter. I will put the link in the Facebook right now. There are several reasons why you're not getting a job, basically. It's like, if you were a tennis player, you know, if you follow me, you, if you don't follow me, I'll tell you I use tennis analogies all the time. It's almost like you're saying I'm not winning the all American cup. What do I do? Well, I don't know. It could be the backhand. It could be the forehand. It could be that you're not good at the back of the court or the front of the court. It could be that, you know, you're not, you know, your weight's not right. If you're too heavy or too light, you're not exercising enough.
You don't have the mental resiliency or the physical resiliency. I don't know. There's so many different steps to get you to the job. Basically you have consider always you have a hundred people applying for that job and you need to go to the qualifying, the quarterfinals, the semi-finals, the finals, and then you get the job. It's always like that. It is a competition. Each step of the way requires a different type of strength and understanding of the recruitment and selection process. And that's what I try to teach. I teach that freely on the job hunting podcast. And I teach that freely here on social media. And I teach that through my coaching more specifically, and tailored to you. So find me, follow me and see if you want to work with me. I also do link. I do LinkedIn audits, which I think are great because it's your landing page.
It's your website. Your LinkedIn profile is your website. Your LinkedIn activities is what, how you coming across to the world, your leadership presence, your professional presence, that's your LinkedIn activity. And I can audit that for you and give you feedback and recommendations. So go to my website and see that and see if any of that will suit you.
