Ask the Career Coach

Question:

In the last month, I have sent out over 200 résumés. I have applied to every company in every field I can think of that might have room for someone like me. Very few companies have responded at all, and the ones that have don’t have a job for me. Where am I going wrong?

Answer:

You’re working way too hard. And you’re also missing a very important element of your job search.

Before you click “send” to distribute one more résumé, stop and think about the kind of place you thrive in. Do you like to work for large companies? Small companies? Start-ups? Do you like a boss who micromanages you? Or do you prefer one who says, “Make it so,” and checks back with you in a couple of months? What has worked out well for you in the past? What do you want to avoid in the future? Write it down.

Now, find out what companies have those characteristics that help you to be your best you. You don’t need 200 of them; you only need a few, and in the end one will do it. The way to do this includes reading the company’s website. It also includes activating your network. Who do you know who works in that company? Who has a relative there? A friend? A contact of any sort?

When you find that person on the inside, invite him or her for coffee. Find out everything you can about the company and the industry. What problems do they have that you could solve? What events are coming up in the next six months? What does the person love and hate about his/her job? How can you spin your résumé to win the boss’s approval?

The best thing of all is to have someone in the company who could recommend you for the job you want. If you can start your cover letter with “Our mutual acquaintance (name) recommend I apply for your job opening …” then you are approximately 14 times more likely to be hired than someone without a personal recommendation.

One job seeker did her homework. As she read numerous levels of her target company’s website, she learned that their security guard was a cat. At the interview, one of the first questions was, “What’s the name of our security guard?”  The job seeker was able to say, “Oh, you mean Fluffy?”  She got the job because she had researched the company.

You want to target one company, or just a few, that you’d like to work for. Then you can focus on learning all you can about them, making sure they are places you’ll be comfortable. You’ll be able to demonstrate what a benefit you’ll be to them, the many things you have in common with them, and the solutions you’ll bring to fix their problems.

Go for quality, not quantity. And do your research!
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This may be a year to focus on things that you can’t buy. Things like your family. Your friends. Your community. This is a good thing.

It will be a great time to get creative. Have you been in a dollar store lately? What do you know how to make? Can you offer services rather than objects; for instance, would your mom rather have an expensive trinket, or would she prefer that you come clean her house?

It will be a year to make some cutbacks that you may have wanted to make for a while. Do you really need to get your least-favorite brother-in-law the obligatory scarf and gloves again this year? Do you really want to send Christmas cards, at two dollars a pop plus postage, to everyone you’ve ever known? Now you have an excuse not to.

Take advantage of the many free things going on this time of year. There are lots of free concerts and dramatic productions in churches and the mall. The City of Frederick puts on many events that cost little or nothing. Check out the C. Burr Artz Library’s calendar too. (These are also great places to network your way into that next job.)

There is also a spiritual component to Christmas, of course. Focus on that, and see what inspiration lies there. The job search equivalent is to take some time to think about what you really want to do for a living. You might want to use some of Frederick County Workforce Services seminars, including Career Exploration Assessment, in that effort.

Christmas will come, whatever you decide to do. Will you choose to focus on what you don’t have, or all the things you do have?

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Question:

I want to apply for a federal government job, but I have to write KSAs. What is a KSA? And what should I say?

Answer:

KSA is short for “Knowledge, Skills and Abilities.” Many federal job leads require them, but not all.

KSAs are an exercise in storytelling (nonfiction.) The KSA asks you to describe a situation from your career that shows you have the quality they are seeking. A very common one is “Ability to communicate orally and in writing.” This is your cue to tell a story about a time when you solved a problem using your oral and written communication skills.

The formula for success in KSA writing, according to federal résumé guru Kathryn Troutman, is this: CCAR. Context, challenge, action, results.
Context: What was the situation like at the beginning?
Challenge: What was the problem you wanted to solve?
Action: What actions did you take to resolve the problem?
Results: What was the successful outcome of your actions?

Write one page or less on the topic, including the question at the top of the page. Answer the questions that are asked; don’t make up your own. Never leave a KSA blank; if you do, you will not be considered. Take all the credit you deserve. Don’t be humble.

Writing style counts. Spelling and grammar count. Your KSA will be proofread and graded. Be sure to proofread your work, and get someone else to proofread too.

Unlike résumés, KSAs usually include the word “I.” Write simply; “I created a program to promote world peace” is better than “The job required that I be tasked with the creation of a program to encourage countries to interact peacefully.” Use the active voice (“I created the program,” not “The program was created by me.”) Write in short paragraphs, about five to ten lines long, that are easy to see and read.

Emphasize the outcomes of your actions. If you were promoted, be sure to mention it, along with any awards or honors your success brought you.

For more information on KSAs, check out www.résumé-place.com. It has a KSA Builder, and more information than you’ll ever want about how to get a job with the federal government.

Is this a lot of work? You bet! Getting a federal job is a long process. It requires a lot of reading and writing, but so do most federal jobs. If you don’t enjoy reading and writing, maybe you don’t really want to be a federal employee. The good news is that everything you need to know to get that federal job is on the vacancy announcement. Read everything, and follow the directions to the letter.

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This is one of those questions résumé experts can argue about for days. The Career Coach says “yes, you should.” However, you want an objective that will serve you well.

There are two ways to write objectives. The more common way is the “blue sky objective” and goes something like this: “I want a job where I can learn and grow and use all my skills and make lots of money and be happy all the day long.”

Of course you want a job like that. Who doesn’t? But it doesn’t tell the employer anything about what you can do for him, or even what job you’re applying for.

A better way is to use the job title you’re applying for, e.g., “Objective: Lion Tamer.” It’s short, it’s sweet, and it tells the employer which job you want. There may be several available with the company you’ve targeted, and the employer wants to know right away which one interests you. He isn’t going to spend any time trying to figure out how to fit you in. He’s going to go straight to the next résumé; there are plenty more, in this down economy, for him to choose from.

You might also want to have a summary section right after your objective. In this part, you list your most important accomplishments (by the employer’s ideas, which may be different from yours.) It can be a bulleted list or a brief paragraph (three to five lines) of your best stuff. If at all possible, link your strengths to the needs you know the employer has.

Question:

I’d like to get a job with the federal government. I hear they have great benefits, good work-life balance, and best of all, great job security. Do you know what sorts of jobs are available?

Answer:

Good for you! Everything you said is (for the most part) true about the federal government. In addition, the federal government includes almost any type of job you can think of; there’s tremendous variety. And when you have a federal job, you can make a difference in the world, in a way you just can’t anywhere else.

Even better news: the government is hiring! Over 200,000 mission-critical hires must be made in the next fiscal year, which starts on October 1. And you don’t need to move away; federal jobs are everywhere in the US, and even overseas. Locally we have Fort Detrick, with hundreds of federal jobs.

A new report is just out, called “Where the Jobs Are 2009.” You can find it for free online at http://wherethejobsare.org/WTJA/about/WTJA09.pdf.  The top areas, according to this report, include: Medical and Public Health (54,000 + jobs); Security and Protection (52,000 jobs); Compliance and Enforcement (31,000 jobs); Legal (more than 23,000 jobs); and Administration/Program Management (over 17,000 jobs.) Hopefully one of them has your name on it.

You can see actual job openings for most agencies at www.usajobs.gov. There is a ton of information for each vacancy announcement (Fedspeak for “job opening”), everything you could possibly want to know. The vacancy announcement tells you, in great detail, exactly what the requirements are for each job, and what information they want from you.

There is one downside to all this. Getting a federal job can take a great deal of time and effort. You’ll want to read everything, and follow the directions to the letter. But you can do it!

Question:

It’s been a long time since I’ve had to write a résumé. Do we still put our marital status, number of children and Social Security number in a résumé?

Answer:

Wow, it really has been a long time since you’ve had to write a résumé.

There are fashions in résumés, just like there are in hemlines and tie widths. None of the things you mentioned above go in résumés nowadays. (The exception is that if you are writing a résumé for a federal job, it must include your Social Security number.)

Once upon a time, in the 1960s and ‘70s, we put all that information in our résumés, along with our salary history, health status, and previous supervisors’ contact information. Some of us even used colored paper, on the theory that the DayGlo Orange résumé would stand out in a large pile of plain white ones. (It still does, but not the way you want it to.)

To get the full story on current résumé writing, do come to our Résumés and Applications seminar. It features cover letters and reference lists too. Résumés and Applications is taught by one of our seven staff who are Certified Professional Résumé Writers (CPRW.)  After this class, you’re welcome to attend a Résumé Clinic; it’s also led by a CPRW staff member. You and up to four of your classmates will critique the résumés of everyone who comes to the class. This is even better than having just the staff member review it. Any one person might miss a typo or two; in a group of six, someone will certainly catch it. Also, often there is more than one person in the same industry, and they can give a different angle from someone who has never worked in your field.

Once you get your new résumé written, keep it up to date. Look it over every six months or so and add your latest accomplishments. That way, you’re ready if the perfect job presents itself on a short deadline.

Oh, and throw out the DayGlo Orange paper too, will you?