Targeted Job Search Success ~ Career Online Blog!

In a recent discussion with a prominent Human Resources Director, the comment was made, "It's really discouraging to see how many applicants don't know how to effectively communicate about themselves in a verbal manner. Tweet about themselves...they can do, but not verbalize about the critical factors that an interviewer needs to hear about in an interview."

We live in changing times. The influx of communications through hand held devices has created a society which has learned how to communicate through abbreviations, and not the old fashioned grammar we still call proper English.

The job market has been highly impacted by those who have lost the art of communicating about themselves in "old fashioned" English. Today it's not uncommon to hear Human Resources Directors complain of receiving an emailed resume attached to a cover letter which was written completely in lower case letters, with no periods, commas, or bullets. The immediate question asked is, "How could a person with such poor personal presentation skills, be an effective presenter of our business?"

There are several key factors a job applicant wants to keep in mind for today's job market.

1. Build an effective cover letter which is professional in appearance. Demonstrate through your cover letter, how future business correspondence from you would appear on your interviewer's letterhead.
2. Learn how to effectively describe yourself in two to three sentences. Short, crisp, clearly definable sentences. This description should contain 6 to 8 descriptive keywords which help an interviewer crystallize an image of who you are in their mind.
3. Don't walk into an interview having memorized a speech. Again, focus on a short list of keywords which best describes you as a person; describe your working experience; and announce where you are going in the future. Clear concise keywords, ingrained in your mind, will allow you to respond more efficiently to "off the cuff" questions.
4. Finally, think of yourself as a marketable product and upon entering an interview embrace the fact that your sole purpose for being there is to sell yourself.

Today's job market is highly competitive. It's not uncommon in some regions to hear of a ratio of available job openings to actively seeking workers being in the range of 1:10. Your job search requires taking advance time and assessing every piece of your presentation, from how you present yourself on paper (resume and cover letter); to how you dress for an interview ( dressed to blend into the work environment you are applying for); to how well you don't smell (shower-use soap and non-perfumed deodorant, avoiding perfumes and after shave lotions as many people are sensitive to these products ); and finally to how you speak about yourself (know your professional sales pitch-not your "slice and dice gadget" sales pitch).

James C. Tanner of http://www.jamesctanner.com is a published writer, business course creator and trainer. He is highly recognized for his writing on matters related to business, marketing, psychology, and the human spirit. James C. Tanner is a listed and recognized author with 84 publishers.

Source: http://www.careeronlineblog.com/2012/07/targeted-job-search-success.html

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