Career Change for Academics

“Assessment” Tools for Discovering and Articulating Strengths

http://www.reachcc.com/360reach   360 Reach Personal Branding assessment tool (Basic tool is free)

http://www.dependablestrengths.org/   Dependable Strengths (self-assessments)

http://www.strengthsfinder.com/home.aspx  Clifton StrengthsFinder  (1.0 and 2.0)  Code accessed through several books by  Marcus Buckingham, Douglas Clifton and/or Tom Rath (Gallup organization)

http://www.cappeu.com/Realise2.aspx  Realise2 (Marketed as a strengths assessment AND development tool)

http://viacharacter.org/www/   http://www.viacharacter.org/SURVEYS.aspx  VIA Classification and Inventory of Strengths (Billed as the scientific study of character, and the “backbone” of the science of positive psychology”

Articles on (and Definitions of) Social Media and Job Search Techniques

http://mashable.com/follow/search?q=job+search+and+social+media+2012&commit=Search   (a search on Mashable for job search and social media 2012)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites  (pretty current)

http://www.job-hunt.org/social-networking/social-media.shtml  Social Media and Job Search

http://socialmediatoday.com/jorgen-sundberg/358886/how-social-media-will-help-your-job-search

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/05/09/social-media-helps-hinders-job-search-for-grads

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/onlinecareernetworking/a/socialrecruiting.htm   Social recruiting and your job search,  by Alison Doyle
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/networking/a/socialmedia.htm  How to use social media in your job search,  by Alison Doyle

http://windmillnetworking.com/2011/02/25/tips-integrating-social-media-linkedin-job-search-2011/

http://www.recareered.com/blog/2012/04/05/get-the-strongest-impact-from-your-weak-linkedin-connections/

http://www.fastcompany.com/1818177/the-unexpected-way-to-use-your-social-network-strategically

Top Social Networking Sites (and Articles, Reviews and Comparisons)

http://social-networking-websites-review.toptenreviews.com/

http://jobmob.co.il/blog/gigantic-linkedin-job-search-tips/

http://www.cio.com/article/508121/Facebook_Bible_Everything_You_Need_to_Know_About_Facebook

http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/social-networking-websites    (April 2012)

http://social-networking-websites-review.toptenreviews.com/  2012 Social networking Website Comparisons

http://jobsearch.about.com/b/2011/07/11/companies-using-social-media-for-hiring.htm

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/onlinecareernetworking/a/socialrecruiting.htm

http://www.fastcompany.com/1818177/the-unexpected-way-to-use-your-social-network-strategically article by Don Peppers

For more current, and very lively, discussions of job search, resume techniques, cover letters and anything job-search related, look at LinkedIn’s  Career Central Group – managed by Phil Rosenberg (an uber-connector, recruiter and prolific writer of inflammatory articles on related topics)

http://www.preptel.com/resources/   company has developed an ATS-look-alike computer process (called Resumeter) to “grade” resumes for “Fit” with a job description – claims that ATS determines the keywords and phrases used (for Resumeter™, sign up for 7 days free – normally $25/month after that)
…Articles of particular interest on the resources part of the site  “Technology: Foe or Friend?”
Information cited:
…At most companies, computers read your resume, not humans.
…About 75% of resumes are discarded for low word match..
…More than 20% of resumes have formatting issues (per machines).
…Only 1% of total applicants get an interview.
…worthy of a news flash: Today, most employers no longer share your résumé with hiring managers. Hiring managers receive a summary report generated by Applicant Tracking System (ATS) software that removes bias-causing problems, tracks EEOC compliance and performance, and supposedly levels the playing field across the applicant pool. Regardless of how your clients are getting into the company – friend, job board, recruiter, or online application – everyone goes through these ATS systems
….A survey of more than 300 biotech and health care job seekers showed only 20% knew the importance of keywords and the correct way to use them strategically in a résumé. About 80% knew the importance of doing pre-interview company research, but none of them thought about using that research to devise and derive keywords to use in their résumé.
— Quotes above from http://www.preptel.com/resources/   by Jon Ciampi

Also see  http://wordle.net   Word Cloud tool

For continuing information on the topic later, see Seattle Career Trainer   ( http://seattlecareertrainer.com/blog/ )

Outline of talk to the grad students of the UW School of Pharmacy PORPP, May 6, 2011.  (Note: two additional pages of good information sources have been added, and if you were there and have further questions, please do feel free to call.)

Basics of Job Search, Resumes&CVs, Interviewing&Negotiating

NCEEA-Trends in Resumes & Cov lts

This was actually a presentation for the NCEEA Conference in Seattle, WA, in April of 2010.

It may sound trite to say that resumes are changing because technology is changing, but here we are in 2008, and, daily, I still see resumes built for the 1980s.

Resumes changed significantly in the 90s, when online applications became common, but now, with Web 2.0, thousands of firmly established online job boards are out there and super-efficient resume-screening software are being used even by small companies. The need for resumes based on relevant content has never been greater, because you may now be competing with thousands of applicants around the globe.

Resumes used to be most acceptable when you described each job you had held, in reverse chronology, starting with your current work. One resume was enough and it could be broadcast widely, because your work history never changed, and hiring managers would guess whether you could do the job they had open, based on your previous work duties.

Naturally, that tended to keep people from changing careers, because the next job was supposed to be a continuation (and maybe an expansion) of the current job. So, what is an academic supposed to do when he/she decides to leave academics for another line of work?

Consider a functional resume, or at least, add elements of function. (Warning, it does make a resume more difficult, because you have to analyze your own strengths and organize them into a coherent statement of what you can do, AND it has to be related strongly to the job you’re applying to.)

I’ll assume that you’re applying for a job that 1) you know you could do and 2) you want to do because you have the skills and strengths to demonstrate that. “Demonstrate?” you say. “How can I demonstrate what I’ve never done?”

Begin with a thorough analysis of the job description. You may have to “read between the lines” to find the significant tasks, and list them along with the defined duties on one side of a 2-column page. “Job requirements” may be in a different section, but list all of them, too. Opposite each task, duty or requirement, list what you have to offer that answers or parallels that item. (For example, if the job requires managing employees, consider whether the way you managed a class or individuals doing projects or teams has parallels.)

The parallels that you see are very important. Even though you may see a parallel as obvious, you’ll probably have to translate it into their terminology before hiring managers can “see” it, to understand that you can “do” that task. To them, the fact that you have written a dozen research papers does not mean that you could write a marketing analysis, when in fact, you probably could.

It may take research on your part to find out what elements within the kind of research papers you’ve done has in common with marketing analyses, but it is vital for you to find out and make that parallel evident. It is your responsibility to demonstrate (i.e., explain sufficiently) that you have the skills and strengths to do that job, and to do it well. The hiring manager doesn’t have to do it, because that person has hundreds or thousands or resumes to pick from – it’s easier to just go to the next one.

For your own sake, demonstrate that you understand how resumes have changed.