Most clients I work with are looking for a more rewarding and satisfying position, at a higher level, while working toward their career goal. When I first work with a new client I ask standard questions to assess the basic facts, such as:
- What are you doing now and why do you want to seek another position?
- Are you open to a relocation? Where or where not?
- What’s the total compensation you’re looking for in a new position?
- What are your “must haves”, “nice to have”, and “avoids” in your next job?
The next requested information sets the tone and direction of the job search strategy:
- Provide a list of the top 5 accomplishments you achieved over your entire career.
- These will be the achievements that you are most proud of, where the results were outstanding in the eyes of the organization.
Usually these are the items most prominently positioned on the resume. Why? Our goal is to match high performance results from the past, that match the key needs of the hiring manager required for success in the future. The value of a resume is to match these accomplishments with the items on the position description of an organization that is looking for someone like you. You need to show that you can achieve similar results for them, only at a higher organizational level. Those performance levels gain the attention of upper management and accelerates your career to higher positions.
My experience is if you love what you’re doing, you’ll achieve high performance. On the other hand, if you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, your performance will show it and others will move ahead of you when promotions are handed out. That’s why it’s critical that you be in the right position, for the right reason, and be able to be a high performer in the right organization.
Other than high performance, the second characteristic for which a hiring manager is looking is someone who will integrate or “fit” nicely into their organization. If you don’t fit the culture of the new organization, both you and the hiring manager will regret the hiring decision. A highly participative individual who expects to be involved in a team effort may find themselves with a bureaucracy and autocratic management that prevents working together. You will be unhappy and significantly less productive. Being out of synch with the organizational culture forces you to either change your most effective operating style or fight the system. Fight or flight.
Pride in your work requires a number of factors: Results that are noteworthy within a compatible culture to achieve success. The two primary keys to reach your career goal are past results and finding the right culture that supports high performance
For a FREE critique of your resume, send it to: wkaufmann44@gmail.com