Tweak Your Biz » Management » Job Hunting (or Sales) – Hvae I grbabed yuor atnettoin?

Job Hunting (or Sales) – Hvae I grbabed yuor atnettoin?

by Paul Mullan on November 26th, 2009
10 Comments



Did I grab your attention? Perhaps you didn’t get the headline and are just curious like the cat. Either way I achieved my goal. I wanted to draw you in to read my article. Some time ago I noted that words with jumbled letters are easily read and thought this was a quirky way to furnish some New Business Development emails. Some might think this is insanity but as long as Albert Einstein has my back I don’t mind. Anyone who has sent canvass emails will know there are times when you need to lighten this project up! One important point though – if you grab the attention you must be able to deliver. For jobseekers this means your skills, experience or education and for businesses this means your product or service.

Many jobseekers struggle to stand out in the crowd of job applications. The frustrating thing for some jobseekers is that although they meet the job criteria they still don’t get called for interview. There are a number of key marketing platforms from which you can inject creativity in a bid to get read and get to interview. I am purposely leaving out Mr CV as I think we are obsessed with him.

Linkedin Profile – (aka Marketing Brochure) Jobseekers are waking up to the value of Linkedin. A Linkedin profile has some similarities with a CV but should not be treated like a CV. You have the opportunity to give “some of you” to the reader. Jobseekers miss out here as most rewrite their profile like their CV without differentiating or getting any personality across. Two important areas to do this are your headline and your summary. View my attempt – Paul Mullan Linkedin Profile. By the way my next article is titled “How to get your Linkedin Profile read by potential customers/employers” :-)

Cover Letter (aka Business Development Letter) – For years this little fellow has been treated like the poorer relation to the CV. As with fashion I can see the cover letter making a bit of a come back.
The cover letter can be a blank canvass to let your personality run wild BUT unfortunately we all write boring solicitor letters. Try to get a bit of you across or try to get a bit more creative. If you think your cover letter is generic, impersonal and uninspiring so will the reader.

I would love to hear your comments below whether they are positive or negative. I would like to point out that I am very sensitive to criticism :-)



Category: HR and recruitment

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The Author:

Paul Mullan is an experienced career and outplacement professional with 14 years experience working within careers, outplacement and recruitment in the UK & Ireland. He is a former owner of Eden Recruitment and founder of career firm Measurability in 2006. Paul has delivered outplacement programmes for many leading organisations and ran graduate career workshops for leading third level institutions. He has worked with many individuals helping them define and achieve career goals through creative approaches to personal marketing and job hunting. Paul integrates traditional strategies with new Web 2.0 strategies to deliver optimum results. He is known for his up to date, creative and friendly approach to delivering career solutions. Paul is a recognised career professional regularly commenting on career related topics in the national media. He has acted as Career Doctor with Irish Independent and he is currently an online career expert with RecruitIreland. http://www.measurability.ie

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  • http://twitter.com/aileen456 aileen456

    Agree on the cover letter. a really good cover letter can get across your personality, and can gloss over lack of experience in the CV.

    ps Can you fix your link Paul?

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  • Anonymous

    Aileen

    Well spotted – I owe you a christmas present for that!! Thanks a million!!

    P

  • http://www.jobsblog.ie/Jobs/does-your-cv-and-linkedin-profile-match/521 Ivan

    Great one Paul! But you really spell almost as bad as me! :)

    Here is a related one: Comparing the LinkedIn Profile and a CV:
    http://www.jobsblog.ie/Jobs/does-your-cv-and-linkedin-profile-match/521

  • Anonymous

    You were the inspiration for the post Ivan :-)

  • http://blog.myprojecttracker.com Barney Austen

    Hi Paul. Agree 100% on the power of linkedin, it’s a real way of differentiating yourself and being seen. As you point out, job seekers are waking up to it so job seekers should ensure that their linkedin profile stands out to others being reviewed. It’s great – between yourself and Greg posting http://tweakyourbiz.com/peoplematters/2009/11/25/see-me”-–-is-your-cv-getting-you-interviews/ , job hunters have no excuse!

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the comments Barney.

    Yes LI is certainly a powerful tool – huge uptake in Ireland from biz/jobseekers but when you dig beneath the surface very few actually using it effectively — you might remember this post http://tweakyourbiz.com/peoplematters/2009/10/22/linkedin-for-jobseekers-do-you-dance/

    P

  • Orla O’Sullivan

    Using jumbled up letters may be good for business promotion, but I would say the bottom of the the bin would be where a CV or cover letter would be headed for an inundated employer or recruitment agency.

    I also work with young people in disadvantaged areas. The level of literacy can leave a lot (lot!) to be desired. Keeping the CV and cover letter without misspellings is a big part of that work, so forgive me if I appear critical. But I will be looking at your various sites for more information on CV and interview tips as you seem to have a lot of experience. How about a young man 18, with a conviction pending who is desperately trying to stay out of trouble by getting a job and having his own earned money? He says he will sweep the streets if that is what it takes. Any advice?

  • http://www.jobsblog.ie/Jobs/does-your-cv-and-linkedin-profile-match/521 Ivan

    @ PauI feel flattered! :)

    Then again, my CV, my LinkedIn: http://ie.linkedin.com/in/ivanstojanovic , and what I really do,… really has very little in common…

  • Anonymous

    Orla

    Thanks for the comments. The article was not intended to cause offence to anyone so I apologise if it was received in that way. I do some work with adults returning to education so I can totally see where you are coming from.

    You are 100% correct when you state that poor spelling and grammar on a CV will land it in the bin. My article is more about grabbing attention and standing out rather than promoting (or mocking) misspelling and bad grammar. There is a wrong way to do CVs/cover letters and there is a right way. Unfortunately in this market place the right way is quite often not enough and many jobseekers tick all the boxes for jobs but still don’t get called for interview. Jobseekers then have a choice – keep doing what they are doing or try something different.

    This article is about trying to inspire creativity. I was demonstrating a tactic – trying to catch the eye and draw people in to read the article. I would point out that I would have no problem using the outlined tactic on the header of a cover letter BUT only if I was not having any joy with applications. In this case I am not getting interviews so I have nothing to lose. There are many other creative ways to catch the eye other than the one used.

    In relation to your final query – feel free to email me at paul@measurability.ie. Perhaps I can help you out with the outlined situation.

    Again thanks for your honest comments.

    Paul

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