Category Archives: Job-hunting Tips

Differences: Reference Letter and Certificate of Service

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I have always advised students to always requests for a reference letter from every job, project, class, and even volunteer work that they have been involved with.

The reason is that a reference letter is an invaluable job-hunting tool.

Why?

Because every job-hunter will always blow his/her own trumpet. Everyone will sing their own praises and nobody is going to say bad things about themselves when they apply for jobs.

In marketing terms, this is called “puffery.”

With a reference letter, however, you are allowing other professionals (higher level people whom you have worked with or have supervised you) to say good things about you and verify your suitability in the job that you are applying for.

So, which is more powerful?

I rest my case.

Still, while requesting for a reference letter, know that there is a difference between a reference letter and a certificate of service.

A certificate of service from a company is a document that shows that you have worked in the particular company. It usually contains relevant details like period of service, position, job description, and last drawn pay. You can request for this regardless of your performance.

A reference letter, on the other hand, contains an assessment and judgement of your character, personality, skills and abilities exhibited during your service at the company. Clearly, this letter should only be requested if you performed well.

Rachel and her Resume

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Rachel thinks that she’s not getting interviews at consulting firms because her resume and cover-letter are not good enough.

To some extent, that is true. But from the consulting firm standpoint, Rachel’s cover-letter and resume must not only shine, she must have a solid track record to impress them enough.

The least Rachel must do is to prove her value and worth.

Jason Found a Job!

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Job-hunting is a full-time job! And so, even after a positive job interview, don’t just sit around and wait for a reply. 99% of job-hunters will do that simply because they didn’t know better. If you really want the job, it is vital to continue to be proactive in following-up with the potential employer and showing your interest and value in the company and the job.

Before You Take The Job Offer

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This is graduation season and one batch of final year students from universities all over the world has just completed their tour on the education conveyor belt and getting into the “real-world.”

A proportion of this batch would have already landed their first job way before completing their final examination. But a significant remaining proportion will only start looking after their examinations.

This group of fresh graduates will take some time to land their first job. And graduates in this latter group will also be prone to taking the first offer that comes along because of …

Desperation.

One student I know was offered a job recently in an advertising firm.

The job required Monday to Saturday work, at least 10 hours of work and paid significantly below market rate although the pay fulfills minimum hourly wage.

The student was quick to take it the job (In fact, he starts today) because he has been job-hunting for one month without any success.

I joked that he didn’t do “job-hunting” for a month. Instead, he had been “job-waiting” for a month.

You see, for “job-hunting” to be effective, you really do need to go out to hunt the job.

Look at it this way: If you were hunting for a wild boar, would you stay at home or go out into the part of the forest known to have the most wild boars?

My point is that if you really want that particular kind of job, then it is your job as a job-hunter to market yourself to the potential employers. And I don’t mean sending your resume and job-application letter.

Marketing yourself in the job market involves one thing and one thing only:

Making it clear why you are valuable to employers.

Therein lies the problem.

Most fresh graduates have no idea how they can be different and valuable to employers. They have been produced as a standard product in the education factory.

But that doesn’t mean you cannot begin to figure where and what areas you wish to specialize it. You can even specialize in being a generalist!

Whatever it is, it is vitally important to articulate your specialty to employers and in particular, what kind of problems you can solve effectively and the corresponding benefits you can bring as a member of the team.

Don’t go begging for a job and take any one that comes along. Knowing your value and strengths in an area you wish to focus in, continue to build on them throughout your career and find opportunities to profile and highlight them.

This way, you are branding yourself and this will be your first step towards an automatic career progression.

 

 

Use Video to Get Attention

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We are so familiar with video today.

You Tube, You Ku,  U Stream… and a whole host of video hosting and sharing sites abound on the Internet. Even Facebook and Ren Ren allows you to upload and share videos.

There is no doubt we pay attention to video.  It is more interesting compared with pure text or pure audio and it can get the message across in a more succinct way.

So, my question is… how can you make use of video to get attention from potential employers?

If you were a hiring manager, which will you pay more attention to? A job application on paper (i.e. cover-letter and resume) or a job application on video (and followed-up by a cover-letter and resume)?

I rest my case.

Instead of sending in your job application letter (that is, cover-letter) and resume, how about sending in a link to a video clip you made that showcases your qualifications, capabilities, your passion for the industry/job and the value that you can bring as an employee?

With the kind of technology available these days, you have no excuse not knowing how to make a short video clip (read: 5 minutes or less) and uploading it to Youtube or Youku. Although the video need not be professionally produced, you do need to take care not to make it overly casual.

The vital thing to do for your video is this: Make sure you tag the video with the hiring manager’s name or the company name. This will make it easy for them to search on Youtube or Youku.

Once you get their attention, you don’t want to stop there. You want them to go to your blog to read about you and even download your resume.

This is what I call “Pull” job-hunting instead of “Push” job-hunting! : )

You see, getting a job is really a marketing exercise. And marketing is about knowing how to standout from the competition and be branded as different, unique, valuable.

So, what are you going to do to allow employers to see you as a valuable asset?