January 30, 2010 In Career Change, Tips

How to Write A Great Career Change Resume

Are you on the market for a new job? Looking to switch industries? The most important step in the career planning process is to have a great resume – you won’t get the job if your resume isn’t good enough to get you in the door. Below are five tips that will help you create a dynamic resume:

  1. Emphasize specific accomplishments. With today’s competitive job market, it is not enough to say that you managed 50 people. In addition to listing your title and duties at each job, include your accomplishments. Did you win any awards? Did you land any big clients? What did you do to make your department or organization better? What problems did you help your clients solve? You have many skills … how did you apply those skills to produce results? Be specific!
  2. Utilize an executive profile section. Make your resume stand out by telling the reader, at a glance, about your background and skills. Use this information, often as bullet points, at the top of the resume. Show the talents you have that relate to the needs of the targeted company. Don’t brag … just be factual about your experience and your strongest attributes. Get the reader interested in learning more about you.
  3. Remember, it’s all relative. If you are applying for a writing position, don’t emphasize your courtroom skills. Focus on your accurate, persuasive writing abilities, your ability to produce work under pressure and the range of your writing: motions, briefs, appeals, opinion letters and so on. Keep the experience and accomplishments you list on your resume relative to the job for which you are applying … otherwise, it won’t seem like you are focused.
  4. Formatting is important. The way you design your resume is critical. An effective resume is not just about substance, it is also about form. You want it to be eye catching, as well as easy to read. Leave plenty of white space in the margins. Use headings. Use bullets, but sparingly – too many bullets defeat their  purpose. Also, try to stay away from the standard templates that come with MSWord – everyone uses these templates so all of the resumes tend to look the same. Get your own identity!
  5. Edit, edit, edit! Does your resume have any typos? Are you sure? Don’t trust your “spell-checker” program: “then” and “than” are both spelled correctly, but may be used incorrectly in one of your sentences. Have a friend look your resume  over with a fresh set of eyes, because there may be something that you are missing. Having just one typo on your resume will almost certainly eliminate you as a candidate for a job.

Career planning and job search takes a bit of work; don’t be afraid to tinker with your resume before sending it out.

January 23, 2010 In Career Change, Interview Questions, Tips

Five Common Interview Questions You Should Have Answers Ready For

Since today’s job market is more competitive than ever, you need to be prepared to wow an interviewer as soon as you walk in the door. Differentiating yourself from your competition is crucial, whether you are applying for corporate attorney jobs or fast food fryer positions. A key step to preparing for an interview is having appropriate responses ready for common interview questions. Below are five common interview questions that almost every interviewer asks, as well as suggestions for appropriate responses:

  1. Tell me about yourself. This is more of a statement than a question, but it is a standard request for which you should have a prepared answer. Focus your answer on the aspects of your career that are on point with the job for which you are interviewing. Do not recite your job history … hit them with your best shot!  Don’t ramble, and keep it fairly short

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  2. What is your greatest weakness? This is probably one of the most common interview questions that interviewers ask – and it is kind of a trick. Don’t think  you can fool the interviewer by disguising a positive as a negative, e.g. “I spend a lot of time paying attention to details, but I just like to make sure all of the Ts are crossed and the Is are dotted.” This will be taken as self-serving BS. Instead, cite a real negative but one that you are working to overcome. Example: “I used to be afraid of public speaking but I went to a Toastmasters course and now I am much more comfortable with it.”

     
  3. Why do you want to work for this company? This is a popular one with corporate attorney jobs – you need to know what about the company is different than its competitors, and the only way to do that is to do some homework. Find something unique about the company’s corporate culture or business model, and make sure it is nothing obvious that lots of interviewees will also cite. Again, you want to stand out from the competition, not blend into it.

     
  4. Why did you leave your current position? Whatever you do, do not hint that it had something to do with not getting along with your bosses or co-workers. Try to frame it in a positive way, if you can. Don’t talk poorly of your previous employer, no matter how badly you hated your job.

     
  5. Do you have any questions for me? This is probably the most important out of the common interview questions you’ll be asked. We recommend that you actually ask questions at the beginning stages of the job interview … things like the mission for the position, the immediate challenges and so on. Show that you know a great deal about the company and its competitive environment by the nature of the questions that you ask. Do not ask questions about compensation or benefits … this will come later when you are discussing an offer. The time you invested in researching the company and developing good questions could be what lands you the job.
January 17, 2010 In Career Change, Tips

5 Tips for Using the Internet for Making a Mid Life Career Change

The Internet can be an invaluable asset to somebody looking to make a mid life career change – if you know how to use it to your advantage. Whether you’re looking for attorney jobs or nonprofit jobs, almost anyone can utilize the web to find the job of their dreams. To help you get started, here are five tips for using the Internet for job placement:

  1. Google yourself. These days, almost every employer uses Google before making a final hiring decision. What does Google say about you? You want search engines to find nothing but positive things about you – not a newspaper article about an old DUI or bankruptcy. This is especially important for people looking for high profile positions, like attorney jobs.

     
  2. Update your resume. Before you can get started on the path to a mid life career change, you need to have a career change resume. Update yours to include information specific to the type of job you want. For example, if you want to work for a nonprofit, highlight any volunteer work you’ve done for past organizations.

     
  3. Post your resume online. The more websites you maintain a presence on, the more people will come across your resume. Try Monster, CareerBuilder, Yahoo! Hot Jobs, anything and everything. Go beyond just posting your new career change resume on these websites — use them to actively search out the type of job that you’re looking for. You’ve got nothing to lose by putting yourself out there, and everything to gain.

     
  4. Network your way to the job you want. Websites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter aren’t just for kids. Your future employer is probably on these sites, too – and you could be missing out on opportunities by not having a presence there. Have a specific company that you want to work for? Follow them on Twitter, and you’ll be the first to know when they’re hiring.

     
  5. Don’t give up if you get frustrated. Getting the hang of using the Internet for job placement can be challenging if you’ve never done it before. Don’t give up! Eventually, you’ll become an Internet job hunting expert…but it takes time. Sooner or later, your dream employer will find you!

If you do not have the time to become an internet job search marketing expert, or if you simply want to off-load that function, Career Strategies can do the work for you! We can even apply to posted positions on your behalf. For more information, please contact Bruce Blackwell at 914-683-5330 ext. 15.

January 14, 2010 In Career Change

Predictions For The Legal Industry In 2010

As a nation we have seen our fair share of turmoil in the past two years. It seems like one financial event trumps the previous one. If it was not the Bernard Madoff scandal it was double digit unemployment.  But as our country goes through this roller-coaster of change we also need to adapt and realize that growth and success is possible in any market. As the legal industry downsizes and changes in hiring practices occur, the ones that are aware of the new environment will be able to further their career. So lets look forward to 2010! What are the analysts predicting?

Downsizing coming to a standstill

Firms used the financial crisis to slim down significantly, both out of necessity and as a chance to unload unproductive associates that have been on there payroll for to long. For example in 2009 we saw the headline “Megafirm is cutting 38 attorneys and 86 paralegals and staff in its North American offices”, reported by Above the Law, based on a written statement provided by Baker & McKenzie. They said, “but while we can be confident that the economic outlook will inevitably brighten, it is difficult to know when the upturn will begin.”

Salaries
As we know in 2009 industry leaders predicted that salaries would be frozen and would stay there.  Above the Law reported that certain firms are  giving associates class-appropriate raises that will return them back to a regular scale. Which is not a drastic increase, but it means the industry is back in business.  There is talk in the industry about certain firms moving to a merit based system, but it does not seem that it will take over  industry practices.

Promotions will be conservative but trend upwards

Like in the past law firms will promote lawyers in a conservative manner, but as the economy and markets recover there will be advancements within firms.  These trends will be different from firm to firm due to structural differences.

What method will be used to profit
There seems to be a trend that clients are starting to set there own rules on billing, from hourly contract to a fixed fee rate. It should be interesting to see how this one plays out. For example, the Chicago Tribune reported that “Northfield-based Kraft Foods Inc. chose to do this by holding a bid process this year for its international, day-to-day legal services”.  A very interesting idea.

Those are some of the predictions from our industry leaders…

The trend of optimism is a nice way for the legal industry to start the New Year! There is no better time like the present to find that position that will excite, inspire and impact your over all well being. The first step to starting the year off on the right foot is by looking at your current situation by doing a Job Satisfaction Survey.  Change can be a good thing.

January 11, 2010 In Career Change

Welcome to our new Career Strategies blog

Welcome to our new Career Strategies (CSI) blog! We here at CSI are eager to start 2010 by providing useful information and services that will help you grow in your career. Even though our web presence is getting a facelift, our core business is still state-of-the-art.

Throughout the year we will be talking about everything from industry statistics to tips on how to fix your resume. CSI bloggers will analyze industry trends and talk to peers in their field so we can all better understand the current environment.

We know it can be complicated and a daunting task. That’s why we created this blog — to try to make it a little easier for you to accomplish your goals.

Our goal here is to start a community that will be a vehicle for career advancement within the CSI family.  We hope you’ll find our strategies and opinions helpful, but for this family to grow and prosper we want to hear from you. If any question or idea comes to mind let us know — remember we will not learn from one another if we do not share.

See you online!