The Necessary Components of a Resignation Letter

The following are some suggestions that we can use to help our clients resign effectively and professionally.

Congratulations! You have carried out a successful job search and have accepted a new offer.  Now comes the often-uncomfortable situation of informing your current employer.  Quickly schedule a face-to-face meeting with your supervisor, since ideally you will want them to hear the news from you and not through the office rumor mill.  No matter what the situation surrounding your departure, this meeting needs to set the wheels of motion in place for a positive, smooth transition. Prior to the meeting, prepare an official letter of resignation. 

The first paragraph of the letter will state that you have accepted another position and lists your last day of employment. It is not necessary to disclose your new employer.  A two-week resignation is still considered a minimum courtesy with some employers requesting up to a month.  Keep in mind that in some situations, employers will consider your resignation effective immediately and possibly may require a security escort to the door. Although it is hard not to take this type of treatment personally, it is often simply company or security protocol.

The second paragraph or body of the letter will thank your supervisor. In many situations, this will be easy. In other situations, you will have to stretch, but always find something(s) positive. Examples of things to thank your supervisor for could include: serving as a mentor, giving you leadership, training or skills development opportunities, recommending you for special committees or stretch assignments.  Lastly, reassure them that you will do everything possible to make this a smooth transition offering some specifics. Oftentimes, employers will ask you to train a temporary or replacement, leave explicit notes, or get projects in good standing.

Clients have shared that when they go into the meeting with a resignation in hand, it makes the meeting proceed in a more business-like manner and less emotionally driven. In some cases, the supervisor may beg you to stay, offering more money. Mentally, be prepared if this happens. Remember why you are really leaving. Money is seldom enough to truly rectify a poor fit or less than challenging role. Ideally, if you were unhappy, career management conversations would have already occurred that could have made the job continue to work for you and your career path. The enticement of more money seldom is a cure all.

Before approaching your supervisor with the announcement, here are some additional things to consider: make sure you have contact information of key people that you would like to remain in your network and remove any personal files or materials from your office. If you have your LinkedIn account tied to a work email, change this to a personal email. Work-related email accounts are often turned off at the time of a resignation.

By following these strategies, preparing for your next resignation will be a straightforward process.

Favorite Resources

Each GCDF training class, we take the opportunity to share our favorite resources. Below is the 2012-13 GCDF class favorites. What would you add?

 

Websites

O*NET Online – http://www.onetonline.org/

Occupational Outlook Handbook -http://www.bls.gov/ooh/

Office of Employment Training - http://oet.ky.gov/

Bureau of Labor Statistics - http://www.bls.gov/

http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/ - Occupational Outlook Quarterly (Grab Bag, My Career, You’re a What?,  OO Chart)

Kentucky Labor Market Information – www.workforcekentucky.ky.gov

Career One Stop - http://www.CareerOnestop.org/lmi/lmihome.asp

Education and Career Opportunity System

Indeed - http://www.indeed.com/

Mynextmove.org

LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com/

Focus Career Right Now

http://www.census.gov/eos/www.naics/ - NAICS codes

http://www.bls.gov/soc/home.htm - Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)

Manta – company research

Wetfeet.com – spotlight on career professionals

ResumeBear.com – blog articles and a free phone app to track resume

Glassdoor.com

ReferenceUSA.com

Webinars: Big Marker – Bigmarker.com

Other Resources

www.kimtag.com – for qr code

Assessments: World of Work Assessment (Carla Hunter); Worksmarts(JIST)

 

Successful Job Search Strategies

Job Search Strategies

What advice would I give to clients who have lost their jobs or who may be gearing up for a job search? Through the years, I have observed that clients who make successful career transitions tend to have a few things in common.

·         They network constantly and effectively.

·         They can sell themselves and clearly articulate how they can help a future employer.

·         They use social networking tools (e.g. LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter) to connect with people in their industry and to build their credibility.

·         They read career and professional development books, blogs, and articles. They attend professional development and career related workshops and seminars.

·         They act quickly and with urgency to gain an edge over other candidates.

·         They take care of themselves physically, emotionally, and intellectually so that they can put their best foot forward. Attitude is everything.

·         They revise and improve their job search self-marketing pieces (e.g. resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile).

·         They remain flexible and look at all opportunities.

·         They are conscious of projecting a professional image.

·         They practice interviewing skills.

·         They can confidently answer why they are no longer employed or looking for a new opportunity with a positive spin.

 

Below are some helpful articles and links.

• Job Seekers: Stop Kidding Yourself

http://www.careerhubblog.com/main/2010/07/job-searchers-stop-kidding-yourself.html

• 18 Things Your Mama Never Told You about Looking for Work, According to Those Looking For it

http://www.careerhubblog.com/main/2009/09/18-things-your-mama-never-told-you-about-looking-for-work-according-to-those-looking-for-it.html

• Job Seekers: 10 Questions to Ask Yourself

http://www.careerhubblog.com/main/2010/10/job-seekers-10-questions-to-ask-yourself.html

• Job Seekers: Rituals and Habits to Speed Up Your search

http://www.careerhubblog.com/main/2010/10/job-seekers-rituals-and-habits-to-speed-up-your-search.html

 

Helping Clients Prepare for Telephone Interviews

The initial telephone interview serves great purpose for the employer. Not only does it cut down on the time and expense of bringing a candidate on-site and gathering a selection committee, but it is also a tool to narrow down the pool of applicants. I have had several clients lately who are getting initial telephone interviews. These can be quite intimidating if adequate preparation and role playing has not taken place. This blog will highlight telephone interview tips that we can be utilizing with our clients. First, we want to encourage our clients that during a job search they should never answer a call from an unfamiliar number. There is nothing worse than taking a call from a potential employer and not remembering the job details or having background noise. Ideally, clients should let the call go to voice mail and then quickly respond from a land line once they have reviewed their records of the specific job for which they applied and are in a quiet environment. As for any interview, review common interview questions, know your strengths, relevant skills and experience, and have a copy of your resume handy.


The following are some common telephone interview questions that we can role play with our clients.

• How did you learn about this position and why are you interested?

• What do you know about our company?

• What skills make you particularly qualified for this position?

• What was your most recent salary? What is your salary expectation?

• Why are you leaving your job or are no longer with your last employer?

Additional strategies would be to make sure clients have a glass of water, pen and paper, and a list of their accomplishments close. Encourage clients to speak slowly and smile during the call. Studies show this helps project a more positive voice tone. The goal of any telephone interview is to set up a face-to-face interview. At the close of the interview, clients can certainly ask for a face-to-face meeting to further share their qualifications. Lastly, be sure clients get the name and contact information of the interviewer and send a thank you note. The coaching our clients for telephone interviews, they will be best prepared and more likely to secure face-to-face interviews.

Latest Social Recruiting Survey Results

Sometimes our clients just need some data or statistics to further convince them. This I find true, especially with older clients, when trying to educate them about the importance of using social media as a job search tool. The recent Jobvite's Social Recruiting Survey for 2012, shared some fabulous statistics. They polled more than 1,000 human resource and recruitment professionals regarding their social recruitment activities. Here are some highlights.

-92% of U.S. companies are using social networks and media to recruit talent (up from 78% five years ago)
-LinkedIn is still the most popular recruiting network and is used by 93% of the respondents
-Facebook and Twitter have seen significant growth in the past year
-2/3 of polled companies now use Facebook to recruit
-More than half of polled companies use Twitter to find new talent

As for what employers like to see (or not see).
-Over 75% positively reacted to candidates listing professional organizations and volunteer work
-As could be expected, candidates using profanity in posts and tweets, making reference to drinking and illegal drugs or using poor grammar or misspellings all received negative responses from employers

Recruiters  and HR professionals  say they like social recruiting because it is inexpensive, they receive a better pool of candidates and it takes less time to hire. Interestly, the survey also found that 2/3 of surveyed companies offer referral bonuses to current employees who make a successful referral. In 1/3 of the instances, the reward is more than $1,000.

Resume Padding

Although one can make an innocent typo or mistake when compiling a resume that doesn’t get caught in proofreading, intentionally misrepresenting credentials can get you into serious trouble. Resume padding has been in the news again lately as Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson was recently fired for claiming to have both a computer science and an accounting degree. When people throughout an organization have put their trust in someone who has lied to them, directly or indirectly, it becomes an issue of confidence and credibility.  According to a recent blog Resume Padding: What’s the Problem?, “The judgment and ethics of the individual who has perpetrated the lie are called into serious question, spurring concerns about the reliability and trustworthiness of that individual in other areas of his/her work and life. If an individual can justify lying about something on the resume to get a job, who’s to say he or she wouldn’t decide that other lies are equally justified down the road somewhere? Where does the line get drawn?” 

 Most Human Resource departments have stories of situations where they have to let an employee go due to misrepresentations on their resume or application. As GCDFs, let's educate our clients on the importance of accurate and truthful application materials.

A New Theory and Working With Ex-Offenders

During our recent GCDF CEU training in Lexington, we learned more about Cognitive Information Processing (CIP) Theory of career problem solving and decision making, which was developed out of the Florida State University Career Center. Here is a link to make you more familiar with the theory. (GCDF Competency: Career Theory)


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_Information_Processing



Additionally, we talked quite a bit about the challenges of working with ex-offenders and how this is becoming a real issue in our region. According to an NCDA website article promoting a past Defendant / Offender Workforce Development (DOWD) Conference, “an explosive growth in the number of people on probation or parole has propelled the population of the American corrections system to more than 7.3 million. Recent reports published by the Pew Center on the States indicate that one in every 100 people in this country are confined in prison or jail and one in 31 individuals are behind bars, on probation or parole. Of those released, 67.5% will be rearrested within three years. Having a meaningful job with a livable wage and reducing the barriers to employment have proven to reduce the likelihood of re-offending.” Learn more on working with this population form the following NCDA article links. (GCDF Competencies: Employability Skills, Helping Relationships)



http://associationdatabase.com/aws/NCDA/pt/sd/news_article/5523/_PARENT/layout_details_cc/false

http://associationdatabase.com/aws/NCDA/pt/sd/news_article/32714/_PARENT/layout_details_cc/false

Trends

The white paper from the second annual 2011 Career Thought Leaders Global Brainstorming Day, is now available. As GCDF professionals, I'd place this high on your reading list. The report looks at trends in a variety of areas such as resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn, job search, networking, recruitment and hiring, career planning and career management. In October, 250+ career professionals from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom met in 15 live and virtual events. Their focus was to brainstorm best practices, innovations, trends, new programs, new processes, and other observations that are currently impacting, and projected to impact, global employment, job search, and career management. Page 18 of the report gives mention to "The New" and plugs that "Professionally led job clubs and networking groups provide ongoing support for job seekers. Instead of or in additiuon to a one-on-one relationship with a coach, job seekers are finding increasing opportunities to stay in touch and gain ongoing advice through a job club led by a career professional."

I especially like the layout of the report in that each topic of focus is broken down into “the now”, “the new” and the "the next". You will be sure to come away from reading this report with an edge on where future trends are going and how to better serve our clients.

How Different Generations View and Use Social Media

• Are you feeling anxious about incorporating social media into your job search or work?

Do you think younger workers are at an advantage and feel more comfortable using social media?

Social media has certainly made its mark on each generation. I stumbled upon a recent article (Every Generation Struggles With Social Media by Joshua Waldman) that took a closer look at a 6 step social media acceptance cycle and some of the struggles that each generation (Gen X, Gen Y, and Baby Boomers) face when using social media in their job search. Fortunately, no matter what your generation, for those who are willing to invest in learning new technology, the social media playing field is level.

Social Influence Scores and Your Future Career Path

AOL recently shared that the next wave of employment and hiring trends may have a lot to do with your social influence rating. If you have a Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter account, you are already being scored. Companies such as Klout, PeerIndex and Twitter Grader are also beginning to score people in such areas as influence and how many followers or friends they have accumulated. Did you post something that caused others to respond or act?While employers have been using Google for quite some time to conduct background research on possible candidates, social influence ratings are about to take things to a whole new level. The Federal Trade Commission has recently allowed background check company Social Intelligence to start using information on social networking sites as part of routine background checks. Information that is Federally and State protected is excluded from the reports. Perspective employers will be able to obtain a report that has information on your Facebook likes, photos, LinkedIn special groups, tweets, blog comments etc. This could be cause for concern if employers find digital dirt that may reflect poor judgment, illegal activity, or questionable behavior on your part. On the positive side, employers will also have access to information that would be viewed favorably such as professional recognition and involvement.

So use this as a wake up call to review your social media privacy settings and be even more cautious of anything you would not want an employer to find.

Trends to Watch

As GCDFs, it is part of our job to keep up with the latest trends. Last December, career counselors from around the globe linked up to brainstorm best practices, new programs, and trends that are impacting and projected to impact global employment, job search and career management. A white paper from the first ever Career Thought Leaders 2010 Global Career Brainstorming Day: Trends for the Now, the New, & the Next in Careers was recently published outlining their discussions. A few things I found interesting were the general consent that resumes are quickly going by the wayside. Google searches and LinkedIn will be the new tools. Another resource that was mentioned was Wordle.net. Wordle allows you to paste any text into it and then it creates a word cloud based on the words that occur the most frequently. This will prove to be extremely helpful in branding and making sure that our clients have the most effective industry key words in their resumes and LI profiles. Just last week I spoke to a group and one gentleman said is HR department just started using Wordle.

GCDFs, what are your thoughts on these new trends and how they may emerge in your region?

Non-Desk Jobs

"I don't want to sit at a desk all day."

"I think I would die if I had a job where I was confined to a cubicle all day."

"I need a job that let's me be out and about."

Sometimes clients only have the above criteria for their next job. Wouldn't it be nice if a list of non-desk jobs existed...well now it does. Use the link to 55 Non-Desk Jobs to help your clients brainstorm their next position. What would you and your client add to this list?

From the Master Career Counselor Blog

Found in a recent article:


For every one posting, there were at least 5 to 6 workers that were applying and needed the job.

In essence, according to grim views of the job market, there are more job seekers than there are jobs at a 1 to 5 or 6 ratio. Most of the research data is based on the number of online job postings.

Here's something to consider:

First and foremost, NOT ALL JOBS ARE POSTED!!!!!!!

When a job seeker learns this imperative rule, he or she is on the road to job recovery. I would estimate that at least 70% of all job openings (if not more) are never posted online or in some type of print advertisement.

Job titles are constantly evolving and altering nearly daily due to technology, the global economy and the shifting labor force with diverse and broad needs. Thus, a company may have an opening with a certain job title but within weeks or months, such a title has become obsolete.

Employers are not posting openings online because they are looking for a worker that goes beyond a static job posting or description. They want TALENT, VISION, COMPETENCE and ENERGY. What they are looking for is not found online or posted in bright lights at multiple search engine job boards. Yes, people do find jobs online. It is a tool but not the ONLY tool. It doesn't have the best rate of success.

What does? It is called "getting out and connecting to the world around you more than searching online".

I want to know who is counting the number of people that find jobs that were never posted online? What about the job seekers who got of their behinds and got out of the house and met people? What about the ones who were very intentional in going for a company they wanted to work for even when no opening was officially posted? After all, that is the majority of the authentic pool of employers and those who seek employment.

Yes it may be true that there is one job online for every five to six job seekers. But that is not the full picture.

The more important story is that there are employers who never post such openings and are hiring that never get accounted for in data that makes the job market seem abysmal.

That is a very sad illusion that has disconnected and depressed people from even trying to find a job. Never forget...when one part of the market contracts, there is another part expanding.

The key is whether or not the job seeker knows how to navigate the course to locating that expansion.

BEGIN A JOB CLUB – NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT

If you are like many career development professionals across the country, the current recession and record unemployment rates are causing your calendar to be busier than ever. In an effort to be most efficient and help record numbers of people, Job Clubs should be revisited. In the early 90’s, the poor economy and massive layoffs of mid to late-career professionals brought a new wave of Job Clubs. If you have been in the field for over 15 years, perhaps you led such groups. The following is a review of formats and some ideas for job club logistics.

Consider partnering
In an effort to reach out, career professionals may consider partnering with a church, organization experiencing massive layoffs, or University Alumni club. Partnering not only brings diversity to the group, but different perspectives, contacts, and job leads. Many organizations are willing to offer free meeting space, refreshments, and event advertising.

Basic Formats
Job clubs usually meet on a weekly or biweekly basis for anywhere from one to two hours. At the beginning of each session, it is prudent to discuss some ground keeping rules and confidentiality guidelines. Ground keeping guidelines may include let everyone have the opportunity to speak, disagree respectfully, remain professional and supportive of others in the group etc. As for confidentiality, attendees are asked not to share personal or sensitive information outside of the group etc.

Next, allow time for introductions and to practice 30-second commercials. As simple as they seem, 30-second commercials are still an area where most clients struggle. Regular practice will certainly pay off with networking efforts and in the interview process. Follow with a short job search related speaker or topic of focus. Guest speakers could include members of the community with knowledge of job search strategies, interviewing techniques, and hiring practices. Club participants could even sign-up in advance to research and share tips on an aspect of the job search. At some point in the meeting, allow time for each participant to share a job search highlight or some good news from the previous week and offer any leads to others in the group. This would also be a good time for attendees to ask for specific industry or employer contacts or leads. Lastly each client will publicly state a goal for the week such as number of resumes to submit, contacts to make etc.

As a facilitator, it is important to keep the group environment positive and encouraging. Facilitators should also develop a list of referral resources in case the need arises (i.e. One Stop Job Centers, food banks, financial or psychological counseling services, etc.)

With the dismal economy and so many people out of work, consider using this time as an opportunity to provide a beneficial and much appreciated community service and an opportunity to showcase your relevant knowledge and expertise.

Job Search Strategies

-Trying to find your supervisor from a job ten years ago where you made an outstanding contribution?
-Wish you could find a contact at XYZ company before you submit a resume and cover letter?
-Wanting to learn more about the career background of the person who will be interviewing you next week?

These are some of the reasons job seekers are choosing to utilize social networking job search tools like LinkedIn.com. Although our clients can’t count on simply filling out a profile and waiting for employers to find them, tools such as LinkedIn can help aid their job search in the above ways.

Demographics of Social Networking Tools

Congratulations to our latest GCDF class that graduated last weekend. Way to go! Your colleagues are great sources of information and wonderful contacts with whom you can network.

The past few months in training we have been talking about the rise of Twitter in the job search and wouldn't it be interesting to know more about the user demographics. See the link below for such a study.

http://www.ignitesocialmedia.com/2008-social-network-analysis-report/

LinkedIn & the Job Search

Here's a great article on using LinkedIn for your job search.

http://blog.guykawasaki.com/2009/02/10-ways-to-use.html

Job Search Trends & Technology

Here is a link from a recent NY Times article on various job search methods. There is some confirmation for LinkedIn from the perspective of recruiters.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/business/yourmoney/27shortcuts.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&em&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1222977789-dgl0WtFSCWfqY8duvQoDgg