“Help! I’ve been Laid Off”
Several months ago, I got a text from an old friend. She had been a manager with a very prominent high-tech company for 30 years and had just been laid off. She wanted to go back to work and was asking me for my thoughts. This happens to me a lot, and I responded in the way I usually did. We set up a time to talk, and I asked her to send me a copy of her résumé.
Upon receiving her resume, I reviewed it and then went online and looked at her LinkedIn profile. When we had our first conversation, I found out a little bit about her current situation and what she wanted in the future. Then, I asked her a couple of questions, and the dialogue went like this:
Our conversation
Me: Marge (not her real name), I’ve gone over both your resumes and your LinkedIn profile. How long have you had your LinkedIn profile?
Marge, I’ve had it for years and years.
Me: What kind of reaction have you had to it?
Marge: What do you mean?
Me: How many headhunters or hiring managers looking for new people have reached out to you based on your profile?
Marge: Well, none. I’ve never really had any response to it.
Me: Why do you think that is?
Marge: I don’t know. I was happy with my job and didn’t pay a lot of attention to it.
This is not an unusual response. During the “Great Recession”, when I was conducting unemployment seminars, I heard remarks like this all the time. Why are some people regularly contacted by headhunters, HR professionals, and hiring managers, while many others can’t even seem to get a response?
What Professional Hiring Managers are seeking
After scanning thousands of resumes and LinkedIn profiles over the years, I continue to be amazed at how few impress me. What I am looking for could be summed up in one word. Does anybody have any thoughts on what that word would be? I have heard all types of things: professionalism, track record, companies they worked for. The list goes on and on. All items are interesting, but not essential. These hiring professionals are looking for one thing: VALUE!
That manager wants to know what value you will bring to her corporation or to her personally. How can she tell that? Clearly, professionally stated facts about the value you brought to your previous situation.
My big “screw up”
Several years ago, I had an applicant who was looking for a role in marketing. Candidly, she wasn’t very qualified, but she was a very nice person, and I wanted to help her. I forwarded her resume to my daughter, a VP of marketing. I should’ve known better, but her answer put me firmly in my place.
“Dad, that résumé doesn’t scream ‘marketing expertise ‘. It doesn’t even whisper it.”
Key Takeaway
If you want your LinkedIn profile and resume to turn heads, put yourself in the role of a hiring manager, and make sure that all the words you put together scream value. Don’t be surprised by how many people begin reaching out to you.
If you’re interested in acquiring a new job, getting a promotion, getting a raise or taking other positive steps in your career, it is essential to thoroughly understand the value that you bring to your organization and to be able to explain that in a clear, professional, interesting manner.
Feel free to reach out for more information.