Death of the Biodata--- May 12, 2004

 

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-------by Anil Mahajan, MBA PGDIT (IIFT), published in Jobnet Magazine in its Jan 2004 issue.  For consultations he can be contacted at 9811150828 (Delhi no.) or e-mail id anilmahajane@yahoo.com   Since the time I left my job and started a placement consultancy, a lot of water has flown under the various Yamuna bridges. I never felt the need for a resume and, at best, I used to give my bio-data ("Resume ? what?s that?") to companies and consultants. So what?s the difference? A Bio-data is just like historical data with maybe, or maybe not, a passport size photograph and absolutely nothing else. What was most important yesterday' The man who is going to interview you (how well you knew him or his Chachiji's behnoi for instance), and how much he thought you were from a decent family (bhadralok - I suppose!). The biodata was also normally carried along for the interview. The biodata contains information in a set parameter: your name, father's name, nationality, father's occupation, date of birth, followed by details of your education in a set tabular form. This table is followed by proofs of your lineage from a decent family elaborating on what your mother is doing and what your brothers, sisters and their spouses are doing or have done, if they have studied in or teaching in Welhams School or St. Stephens College, blah blah... well, that was important yesterday. Today, Competition has set-in in the job market and the biodata is passe?. Today, a resume has become a necessity for getting the job. A resume is a marketing document intended to sell you in the job market, and is designed specifically to highlight your skill-sets for a particular job / career. It is sad that candidates still spin out a bio-data and send it to companies or consultants under the new title of resume. It is all the stinking old bio-data minus emphasis on family lineage. All the rest is the same... the same tables, the same historical data. Nobody reads it and it is simply thrown into the dustbin. Just put yourself in the position of a HRD head of a company that releases an ad for the position of, let?s say, Manager-Accounts. You (as HRD head) get as many as 20,000 applications from candidates all over India. You conduct a first scan and around 95% resumes find the graveyard of the dustbin. And mind you, they are all Bio-datas under the garb of resume. The applicant blames God. Or, if he is less God fearing, the theory of probability, when, all along, the fault is his own. Should you write your own resume? Well! that is a million dollar question.You admire Amitabh Bachhan for his dialogues in Sholay; you still remember Shah Rukh Khan for his great dialogues in Baazigar. But they never wrote their dialogues. Though they are great actors, everything is outsourced to professional scriptwriters or dialogue writers like Salim-Javed etc. Do you go for a haircut with scissors in your hand and cut your own hair? How silly! But isn?t that what you actually do as far as your resume is concerned? If you care a damn for a good resume and your dream job, your dream job cares a damn for you (I think its Newton's Third law. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction). In todays environment, it is very much a good investment to get a professional resume writer to plan out your resume. Of course, in case you do not come across any sound professional resume writer, here are a few tips for writing a great winning resume:  Determine your job search objective prior to writing the resume. Once you have determined your objective, you can structure the content of your resume around that objective. Think of your objective as the bull?s-eye to focus your resume on. If you write your resume without having a clear objective in mind, it will likely come across as unfocussed to those who read it (and the dust bin is always within easy reach). Take the time to form a clear objective. Think of your resume as a marketing tool. Think of yourself as a product, potential employers as your customers, and your resume as a brochure about you. Market yourself through your resume. What are your features and benefits? What makes you unique? Make sure to convey this information in your resume. Use your resume to obtain an interview, not a job. You don?t need to go into detail about every accomplishment. Strive to be clear and concise. The purpose of your resume is to generate enough interest in you to have an employer contact you for an interview. Use the interview to provide a more detailed explanation of your accomplishments and to land a job offer. Use bulleted sentences. In the body of your resume, use bullets with short sentences rather than lengthy paragraphs. Resumes are read quickly. This bulleted sentence format makes it easier for someone to quickly scan your resume and still absorb it. Use action words. Action words cause your resume to pop. To add life to your resume, use bulleted sentences that begin with action words like prepared, developed, monitored, and presented. Accent the positive. Leave off negatives and irrelevant points. If you feel your date of graduation will subject you to age discrimination, leave the date off your resume. If you do some duties in your current job that don?t support your job search objective, leave them off your resume. Focus on the duties that do support your objective. Leave off irrelevant personal information like your height and weight. Show what you know. Rather than going into depth in one area, use your resume to highlight your breadth of knowledge. Use an interview to provide more detail. Show who you know. If you have reported to someone important such as a vice president or department manager, say so in your resume . Having reported to someone important causes the reader to infer that you are important. Construct your resume to read easily. Leave white space. Use a font size no smaller than 10 point. Limit the length of your resume to 1-2 pages. Remember, resumes are reviewed quickly. Help the reader to scan your resume efficiently and effectively. Have someone else review your resume. Since you are so close to your situation, it can be difficult for you to hit all your high points and clearly convey all your accomplishments. Have someone review your job search objective, your resume, and listings of positions that interest you. Encourage them to ask questions. Their questions can help you to discover items you inadvertently left off your resume. Revise your resume to include these items. Their questions can also point to items on your resume that are confusing to the reader. Clarify your resume based on this input. Submit your resume to potential employers. Have the courage to submit your resume. Think of it as a game where your odds of winning increase with every resume you submit. You really do increase your odds with every resume you submit. Use a three-tiered approach. Apply for some jobs that appear to be beneath you. Perhaps they will turn out to be more than they appeared to be once you interview for them. Or perhaps once you have your foot in the door you can learn of other opportunities. Apply for jobs that seem to be just at your level. You will get interviews for some of those jobs. See how each job stacks up. Try for some jobs that seem like a stretch.     Management Laws in a Lighter vein Strive to look tremendously important. Attempt to be seen with important people. If subordinates ask you pertinent questions, look at them as if they have lost their senses. When they look down, paraphrase the question back to them. Always keep the office door closed; this puts visitors on the defensive and also makes it look as if you are always in an important conference. Give all your instructions verbally. When given a choice - Take Both! Start at the top then work your way up. Do it by the book... but make sure you're the author! If you can't beat them, join them; then beat them. If you can't win, change the rules. If you can't change the rules, then ignore them. Everything can be filed under "miscellaneous." Contact The Career Tips Weekly:   Editorial: CareerTipsWeekly@yahoo.com  Advertising: CareerTipsWeekly@yahoo.com  Subscribe: CareerTipsWeekly-subscribe@yahoogroups.com       Getting job was never so easy Contact The Career Tips Weekly: Editorial: CareerTipsWeekly@yahoo.com  Advertising: CareerTipsWeekly@yahoo.com  Subscribe: CareerTipsWeekly-subscribe@yahoogroups.com      Sponsored by  http://www.CVSurgeon.com

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Cover Letter provides Great Cover-------Sep 17, 2004

 

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Letter provides Great Cover -------by Anil Mahajan, MBA PGDIT (IIFT), published in Jobnet Magazine in its Jan 2004 issue.  For consultations he can be contacted at 9811150828 (Delhi no.) or e-mail id anilmahajane@yahoo.com   The Death of Biodata, printed in the last edition of Jobnet made a professional friend quip "the biodata is dead, the fact is well taken. Now what about the cover letter? I hope it is dead, too." I am now constrained to write this article on the cover letter. Like a phoenix, it has risen from the ashes and is very much alive and kicking. Unless you have a PERFECT work background, growing academic qualifications and SOLID GOLD EMPLOYERS then a résumé just won’t work on its own. It is only with an effective cover letter that you can save your butt and get that interview call. With an effective cover letter, you can promote yourself any which way you want. A cover letter is just not an optional add-on. Actually, the resume is an optional add on. During my headhunting days, I have been using this as a "guru mantra". I hunted a man for a company, and, seeing his resume, I found that he’s lacked somewhat in his resume ( for instance, he had 8 years of experience as against the 14 desired by the company. ) and resume will "khol his pol" and not lead to an interview call. I asked the man to write a cover letter showing his prowess in the skills the company wanted with absolutely no mention of the shortcoming! After ten years of working with job seekers in all industries as a placement consultant, the best results and fastest turnaround I’ve EVER SEEN from application to interview has proven time and time again to be sending a cover letter ONLY, and taking the résumé to the interview (where you can answer any concerns in person). I’m always being asked by job seekers "How important is a cover letter?" What they should really be asking is... "How important is my résumé?"   Well! that is a million dollar question. Because of the sheer volume of résumés being submitted for each job (especially jobs posted on the net in naukri, jobsahead, jobstreet etc.,), employers simply don’t have time to read and interpret your past skills and experience; so they simply use your résumé to discriminate against you. In other words, they’re looking for what you don’t have rather than what you do have... Here’s where your cover letter comes in. A resume has to compete with a whole lot of identical clones for standing out of the crowd, whereas a cover letter has virtually no competition. If at all, some candidates use a cover letter, it is virtually a simple, stupid, run of the mill kind and that is "...ref your ad in times of India dated so and so, I am enclosing..." .This kind of cover letter is actually de-marketing you. An effective cover letter can help you in ways that a résumé can’t (and can actually cover-up things that work against you!) Why the Right Kind of Cover Letter Can Improve Your Chances Your résumé perforce has to be a factual statement of your skills and past experience wide open to interpretation by the employer. The cover letter, properly written, shows an employer what you want them to see and tells them what they want to hear.   It’s all about Positioning. Let me give you an example and then apply it to job-seeking. All soaps have similar contents and manufacturing processes. Yet here’s what the soap companies promote – Dettol soap has been positioned as the soap you buy when you want HYGIENE and SAFETY from bacteria Lifebuoy is for those who want "health and vigour" — — Looking for beauty? Lux is for you —   All these soaps are made up of the same basic elements, but the marketing people go to great lengths to talk about these things in terms of the POSITION they want to occupy in the customer’s mind. So if you want beauty, you think Lux. That’s positioning.   A cover letter, written correctly, does EXACTLY the same thing with your résumé. You and all the other applicants applying to the same job will have the roughly the same skills and experience listed in your résumé, but the key is to use your cover letter to POSITION yourself into the solution the employer is looking for. Without a doubt, I can tell you that the ONE SINGLE KEY to unlocking a virtual torrent of interview offers is simply knowing how to read the job post to decipher the key requirements that tell you EXACTLY how to best position yourself and your application.   And for the best positioning to set your self apart from the job-hunting pack, you’ll need to have an effective cover letter. The cover letter is your first opportunity to impress an employer. It is the first thing they read and, if it’s not good, it may be the only thing the employer reads at all.   Nuts and Bolts Writing your cover letter may be easier if you divide it into three sections: The first paragraph states why you are writing. The next explains why you are ideal for the position. And the final paragraph closes by stating how you plan to follow-up.   In the first section, indicate how you learned about the opening and mention the job title. The middle paragraph should relate your skills and abilities to the qualifications listed in the job posting. Address how you meet those qualifications with direct examples from your resume. Be open and clear about what you have to offer the prospective employer.   Throughout the entire letter, use clear and simple sentences so the reader doesn’t have to decipher what you’re trying to say. Keep paragraphs short so they are easy to skim. Proof read. Then proof read again. Even a small typo can look like a glaring error and may reflect on your ability to perform accurate work. Read your letter out loud. Does it make sense? Ask someone else to review it for you. Sometimes it’s hard to catch our own mistakes. Finally, let the employer know how you plan to follow-up. Be direct and indicate that you will call to set up an appointment at a mutually convenient time. If the job ad specifically says not to call, thank the employer for his or her consideration and let them know you look forward to hearing from them.   Looking Good Once you have written the letter, then you will need to make it look good. The visual appearance of your cover letter is just as important as that of your resume. * Consider using bullets or bold fonts to draw attention to the skills you wish to highlight. * Print your cover letter on standard size laser bond paper that matches your resume paper. Use conservative colors like white or beige. Brightly colored paper will not get you the type of attention you want. Use one-inch margins and balance your paragraphs on the page. Most importantly, don’t forget to sign your letter. If you are sending a cover letter via email, cut and paste it into the body of an email message since many people are leery of opening attachments.   A well-written cover letter is worth the time investment. It’s the first tool an employer will use to decide whether to interview you or not. So, make your cover letters count! Appropriate and well positioned cover letter is one important thing you need to get that job. You see, the point of a good cover letter and résumé is to secure the interview. Now here’s the thing — if you get an interview, the job is as good as yours. The employer knows you have the skills to do the job... they wouldn’t call you in if they thought you couldn’t do the job. So now you need marketing tools like the cover letter...     Getting job was never so easy Contact The Career Tips Weekly: Editorial: CareerTipsWeekly@yahoo.com  Advertising: CareerTipsWeekly@yahoo.com  Subscribe: CareerTipsWeekly-subscribe@yahoogroups.com      Sponsored by  http://www.GulfResumeBlaster.com/

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Views on the Interviews--- Jul 16, 2004

 

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Views on the Interviews -------by Anil Mahajan, MBA PGDIT (IIFT), published in Jobnet Magazine in its Jan 2004 issue.  For consultations he can be contacted at 9811150828 (Delhi no.) or e-mail id anilmahajane@yahoo.com   "Hello CVsurgeon! You have been talking about the resume in every issue. I have no resume problem. Every week I am being called for some interview. This week I’m gonna hit half a century of unsuccessful interviews. Why does nobody select me?" This SOS call from one of our readers (I will call him Mr. Disaster for obvious reasons) makes me write on interviews in this issue. Having worked as a placement consultant for the last 9 years has given me valuable insights into this sector of interviews. Your selection in any company is not necessarily dependent upon your talent alone. Sometimes, exhibiting talent becomes a liability. It generates the BEWARE factor in the interviewer & he cannot afford to select you. RELATING is the most important factor that positively determines your success. If you are able to relate well with the interviewer, all other skills & possibly talent or the lack of both become secondary & you get the job because your relating creates the COMFORT factor in the interviewer. The Minus Factor I sent two gentlemen for an interview in an Autopart company in Noida. One of the persons short-listed, a Malayali, was extremely intelligent and, he also had the gift of gab. He was very impressive. At 5 pm, I got a Thank you call from the other candidate that he has collected the offer letter. I was surprised. He was just an ordinary guy. How could he succeed? Maybe the Malayali fellow didn’t go. I checked up on the mobile of malayali. He told me that he has been rejected. Incidentally, the interviewer in this case, a materials manager, was in regular touch with me & had registered his resume with me as he was looking for a better opportunity elsewhere. I spoke to him that night. "Gupte, You have selected the wrong man. Malayali was a much more suitable boy" I said. "You are right, Mr. Mahajan, Malayali is so intelligent & conversant with inventory management that I will lose my job in 3 months flat." This is the BEWARE factor. The hiring manager is not interested in suicide. Another recent incident is of a candidate sitting idle for 17 months. Everytime he was attending an interview he was very positive. But — no offer letters. Last interviewed in the final round by a MD of a 200 crore company. Rejected as Usual! I took the verbatim details. Interviewer: "How much sales you were handling in your last company?" Interviewee: " xxx Lakhs (gives a figure)." Interviewer: "Well, I don’t think this company imports & sells so much of this item. Interviewer: "Sir! this is all number 2." Sir is shocked. He asks & gets the entire details as to how this entire importing & selling all in number 2 operation is carried out. Result? This boy is not dependable at all. He is spilling the company beans everywhere. This is another BEWARE factor. I hire him & probably next month I will have enforcement raids. The Plus Factor His resume was converted into a world class level with a GM level skills despite his having worked as ASM (The person definitely had a few GM level skills). The resume part over. Now his resume was blasted to all the consultants & companies. A company called him for the interview. He met the HRD head. Sufficient research has been done on the company, its mission, MD & HRD head through net & other means. The HRD head starts talking & our man somehow steered the conversation to a friend who had done MBA from the same institute as the HRD head. He talks appreciatively about the institute. HRD fellow is happy & pleased & doesn’t disclose that he is from the same institute. Again, our man turned the discussion to spirituality & talked big about Satya Sai Baba. This is too much for the HRD head. He divulges now to our man about his bhakti icon & institute. Now he is a friend with common interest. No more interview. It is now a friendly discussion. Mentally, the HRD head has decided to hire this newly found brother (long lost 20 years back in Kumbh ka Mela as in a Bollywood tear jerker). Next round with the MD. The MD puts up the same old question about sales which our boy was answering wrongly everytime. Sir, I can’t tell you how this sales figure is correct & the process of operation, as I cannot divulge my company secrets even when I am no longer working there. My morals & unflinching loyalty don’t allow me to talk at all on this subject. MD is ga-ga. Eureka! He has found a loyal trustworthy man. My boy gets the offer letter at RSM level. This is RELATING. So let’s return to Mr. Disaster. He has a resume that creates a stellar first impression. I had to conduct a mock interview to assess him & lot of reasons popped out to reject him. Polished interview skills are required to be present in abundance to secure the job offer. Lengthy & fruitless job search with a great resume means it is time to sharpen the interview skills. Mr.Disaster came to my office 10 minutes late. Well, traffic problem is not my problem. Coming 30 minutes early is also not advisable. It simply shows you are desperate. Always arrive on time, but never more than ten minutes early. If you’re not sure where the company is located do a trial run so you will know exactly how to get to the office. Time the trip and if necessary, allow yourself extra of time to get there. Rushing can cause those pre-interview jitters! Don’t enter the building until 10 to 15 minutes before your interview. I offered my hand for the shake when he came to my office. My God! He reciprocated with a limp handshake. If you are not interested in this interview, why should I be? Go to hell! I said to myself. A Limp handshake certainly speaks of disinterest. Arms pumping too is equally bad as also Shaking with just the tips of your fingers. A firm & full handshake is the in thing. Mr.Disaster was wearing a crimson tie! Probably speaking of a trend in the hey-days of Rajesh Khanna. Who’s interested in this antique man (mis) taking the interview for a marriage party. At least, I’m not. No matter how casual the company, dress to impress & dressing up for the interview should be contemporary & not outlandish, wild and loud. It should be neutral. Be conservative in both attire and presentation. Make sure your hair-style, tie and belts etc., enhance your appearance rather than detract from it. Avoid perfume. Briefcases, purses and shoes should all be conservative in color and in good condition. "Kindly sit down Mr. Disaster" The gentleman sits down & I start off the interview process. "Can I have a copy of your resume?" "Sir, I mailed you one." "Can you kindly check up if you have a spare copy?" I suggest again. He searches his briefcase & is able to bring out the 4 page resume. When I look at the resume I find it disgusting to see all pages as bad photocopies. How I can hire such a man? You must arrive with a business-like portfolio which includes 5- 8 crisp & clear copies of your resume, a pad and a pen. Bring a list of at least three references including name, job title, company, phone number and email address for each reference. Have these reference ready in case the interviewer requests them. The man was not opening up despite my continuous prodding. "How many people report to you?" I asked. "14" he replies. A better reply would be "14 people report to me & we all get along well. We all work together as a great team to market our company products more aggressively to garner a larger market share." Too Little Leaves Interviewers annoyed. I am shocked. The bugger is slouching.Your Posture matters. Stand and sit erect & show some energy and enthusiasm. A slouching posture looks tired and uncaring. I start asking personal questions & lo! I feel I have pressed a never ending play button. He starts off like a rambler & mostly he is talking & I am forced to listen. I have decided again & again to reject him. Taking too long to answer direct questions. The impression: This candidate just can’t get to the point. I succeeded in interrupting him with great difficulty & ask him about his present & past companies & bosses. He is telling me his present company is shit & his less professionally qualified boss steals all the credit for all the work done by him & he is big bullshit. The company doesn’t promote him, doesn’t listen to him & that is why this company is going to dogs. The fastest way to talk yourself out of a new job is to say negative things about your current or past employers. Even if your last boss was Mogambo, the villain, NEVER state your ill feelings about him. No matter how reasonable your complaints, YOU will come out the loser if you show that you disrespect your boss. When faced with the challenge of talking about former employers, make sure you are prepared with a positive spin on your experiences. ..........More on this interview in the next issue     Getting job was never so easy Contact The Career Tips Weekly: Editorial: CareerTipsWeekly@yahoo.com  Advertising: CareerTipsWeekly@yahoo.com  Subscribe: CareerTipsWeekly-subscribe@yahoogroups.com      Sponsored by  http://www.CVSurgeon.com

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