Minto Roy - Career - Recruitment Blog

1. Make a commitment to really go after that great career!

Don’t grab the first low hanging offer that waves a few dollars at you. A committed job search requires focus, strategy and unrelenting dedication until the objective is achieved.

2. Drastically increase your career options by targeting opportunities in the SME Market.

Small to Medium Size Enterprises represent approx. 95% of companies in the economy, therefore, they do 95% of the hiring, but these companies are often ignored or unknown to most job seekers.

3. Create powerful skills and achievement narratives.

Narratives are exciting short-burst descriptions of your skills and achievements used in your resume and overall marketing campaign. Narratives must be compelling and unique to showcase your value to employers. Stay away from cliché’s and vague statements like, “I’m a people person, team player, honest and hardworking, loyal and looking for a challenge.”

4. Showcase your future not your past

Send hiring managers future-focused resumes not past-focused documents. Hiring managers are far more interested in what you can do for them in the future than what you have done in the past. But the only thing typical resumes talk about is…hmm, your past.

5. Work your job search strategy from the top down, not bottom up

Try networking or securing interviews two levels up from your income level. If you’re looking for a job at 50K, you better interview with people who make 80-100K. They are the ones who make the final decision to hire you. If you are looking for a job at 100K, it’s hard to believe the person in HR earning 50 K can make the decision to hire you.

6. Prepare for your interviews with the same intensity as you did for your University finals.

On average, most jobseekers spend 1-2 hours preparing for an interview that may change their lives, yet most spent days studying for their University final exams.

7. Network consistently and with sincere engagement

Never ask a company if they are hiring! Only by taking a sincere interest in a company’s goals and challenges will they then take a sincere interest in your career objectives.

8. Negotiate the entire package when you get an offer.

Salary, benefits, performance bonuses, stock options, paid vacations, review assessments, training allowances, flex hours, ++ Most jobseekers are either too scared to counter offer or don’t know all the perks available in this red-hot job market by employers hungry for talent.

9. Your career is where you spend the majority of your day! Hire a professional to help you land that great career.

Your friends and family may have the very best intentions but do they really have the time, market insight and resources to ensure that you get that great career? The right career expert will provide years of expertise, market insight and resources AND hold you accountable to help you land that great career. So, have a beer with your buddies, but do not rely on them to be your primary source of job search advice.

10. Finally, Just do it! What have you got to lose?

If you’re not happy with your current job, then take the chance to go after something better. If it doesn’t work out, you won’t have any problem finding a job that you don’t want, the market is full of them. In-fact, you don’t even need any of the last nine tips to get a job you don’t like!

Minto Roy
President
Careerstoday Canada
www.careerstodaycanada.com

Posted by minto at 06:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Employment World doesn’t need another boring resume.

Here are Top 5 Things Not to Do when creating a competitive resume to set yourself apart from your competition. But first a quick ‘Marketing 101 lesson for jobseekers,

“If you are trying to set yourself apart from other jobseekers in the marketplace, don’t market yourself with the exact same methodology as the rest of your competition and hope to stand out.”

Most jobseekers traditionally use a resume to showcase their value. The resume showcases their past accomplishments, past experiences and past education. However, after speaking with hundreds of hiring managers, I am reminded that these managers are far more interested in what a candidate can do for them in the future, not what they have done in the past.

However, only a fraction of the resume focuses on the jobseeker’s future. The “objective section”, usually the lead paragraph, is the only part of the resume that contains any information about the jobseeker’s future objective. But most objective statements are vague and contain never ending clichés.

Objective: “seasoned professional looking for a dynamic and challenging position with a growth oriented company. A great team player, willing to work hard, flexible, loyal, etc…”

In hopes of being unique most job seekers provide employers with identically formatted marketing documents and statements hoping to set themselves apart as being unique. So here are 5 Things Not to Do when trying to create a unique resume

Number One

Don’t be too general and say the same things as every other job seeker.
Employers assume that you are honest, loyal and a team player. No employer disqualifies you right away and says, “Hey, this guy didn’t say he was honest, hardworking and loyal in his resume, he’s out!”

Number Two

Don’t assume that your resume has to showcase every one of your experiences and accomplishments.

Including everything you’ve done in your career doesn’t increase your odds of getting the job or another job at the company. Don’t hope that employers might look deeper at your qualification and figure out that you are qualified for another opportunity within the company.

Number Three

Don’t use words that are long term or process oriented words when describing your achievements. Use a short term, action oriented bursts. Write dialogue to attract the reader’s interest and emotions.

Number Four

Don’t go back more than a decade with your experiences and achievements. Even that’s a long time. Respectfully, not many people care about what you did ten years ago…It’s over. Remember, keep the focus of your resume on what you can do in the future.

Number Five

Make the end of the resume count. Remember, most people remember what they read at the beginning and at the end. End uniquely, by creating an exciting explanation of your passions and interests outside of work.

The end of your resume should provide employers insight into your competitive drive, your creativity, your commitment to charity, volunteer work, how you might save the world!

Be bold, be creative, use the final part of your resume to compel the hiring manager to want to meet the professional and the personality behind the document.

Minto Roy
President
CareersToday Canada
www.careerstodaycanada.com
www.mintoroy.net

Listen to Minto on Careers Today Radio. Every week on The Buzz 1410 am Saturdays from 3-4 pm. Past shows available can be downloaded on the Careers Today website.

Posted by minto at 06:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I assume, by your visit to this site and this article that you have a commitment or at least curiosity about positions over 100K. One thing you should know that’s an irrefutable fact.

Very few people make six figures and very few people will ever make six figures consistently.
It’s not because very few people have a talent to earn six figures. In fact, I have met thousands of professionals with the talent, education, experience that exceed those that earn six figures consistently. Most talented professionals simply don’t know how to enter this income bracket and remain consistently there year after year.

One hundred thousand dollars a year seems to represent the holy grail of income levels for most professionals. A validation to themselves, their peers and their families. A badge of recognition in the competitive workforce that you are successful and at the top of your game.
However, this income bracket symbolizes more just money. Personally it represents a level of lifestyle coveted by most people. A chance to live beyond the monthly bills and live a life full of options for you and your family.

Professionally it is viewed as validation by an employer that you are crucial to their organization. Within the company there is enhanced recognition your peers, exciting and important responsibilities are a daily part of your role, there is management opportunities and decision making capacity.

These perks remain elusive to the majority of professionals unless more people learn how to market themselves effectively. Having the right talent, experience and education alone is only part of the battle. An effective and competitive marketing campaign is crucial.
Competing for six figure position comes with an initial realization that this compensation represents the top 2 % of the paying jobs within an employment market. Therefore, looking to get into this market requires a different job search strategy as those being utilized by others making less than six figures. The other 98% of people conducting a job search.
Think about it. Would you market a Lada with the same methodology as Mercedes? Does Starbucks market its five dollar coffee with the same methodology as cafe that sells coffee for a dollar? How a product is marketed is immensely important to the perceived value by the consumer.

So if you are professional looking to secure at six figure position, then remember your the product in a very competitive and complex market. Appreciate that you are competing against other talented products for those 2% of higher bracket jobs. So what’s your marketing strategy? How are you going to differentiate yourself from the other quality products competing against you for the employer?

Most professionals market themselves with a document called a resume, typically a few pieces of paper that outline a jobseekers skills, experiences, achievements and education. A resume is most common form of marketing communications used by job seekers. A document filled with history about a candidates past. However, in speaking with thousands of hiring managers, I’ve come to realize that most are interested in what an employee can do for them in the future, not in the past.

A past history and accomplishments are of course important, but in reality candidates competing at this level are all very good and most great past work histories. A past focused resumes is a very ineffective way to set anyone apart and we know why people use resumes.
Everyone does it and no-one knows what else to do when job hunting.

Mercedes does not rely on marketing their automobile as only fast and with a good warranty. Simply because almost every car over 100K is fast and has a good warranty. Mercedes like all premium products recognizes that marketing given variables and common product features rarely help the consumer select their product.

Consider a simple marketing concept to your job search. If you are trying to divide yourself out from the rest of the market why use the exact same marketing strategy as the rest of the market and hope to be seen as unique? How can the end consumer (the employer), set you apart?

Hiring at six figures has also become extremely difficult for both sides of the hiring desk. Executive Managers have limited time to review resumes and don’t have months to screen candidates, they have hours. Managers are at the mercy of screening candidates through past focused resumes speaking very little about what they bring to their companies future.
It’s crucial that higher bracket professionals initially engage employers with future focused documents and dialogue. Marketing focused on the future. Do not rely on a resume of what has been done in the past. Market the vision of your future and you gain a definitive edge against their competition below and above six figures.

I will follow up with upcoming articles that will hopefully provide insights into getting in and staying in the higher bracket income. Articles related to constructing a value proposition, negotiating six figure salary packages, interviewing questions and answers and the mindset of what executive managers look for when they are hiring their next six figure employee.

The six figure world is truly a world of abundance, not merely about money, but about am abundant belief. A belief to share ideas and information to help others reach their professional and personal goals. I hope this insight propels your career and motivates you to achieve your next level.

There is plenty of room at the top.

Minto Roy
President & CEO
Careers Today Canada
www.careerstodaycanada.com

Posted by minto at 06:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you are fortunate enough to get in-the-door of the right company looking to hire someone with your professional skills and qualifications then you will have to deal with some difficult interview questions.

The typical job interview takes about one hour; Sixty minutes of time that determines where you will spend at least 8 hours of a day, a crucial meeting that solidifies your professional identity and future lifestyle for you and your family in Canada.

With my experience of assisting thousands of professional immigrants with their job search, the questions that cause most anxiety relate to the lack of Canadian work experience. It’s extremely important that new professionals handle this question with a solid response.
Most professional immigrants arrive in Canada with a great education, years of work experience, lots of talent and a commitment to hard work. Yet lack the understanding of how to effectively communicate their value during a job interview. It’s vital that newcomers showcase that they DO HAVE the drive, skills and experience to take on a professional job similar to that of their home country.

Forget Interview strategies for this column. Here are some real interview answers to get you through the number one toughest question your will face. Practice these answers, memorize them and use them. This type of professional language will help you understand and respond effectively to the dreaded Canadian experience question:

Employer Question:

Why should we hire you, over other candidates with greater Canadian experience?
To answer this question you will need a plan or a rehearsed script. Think about famous actors when they perform in a play or a movie. They do so only after massive preparation. Every word, every pause, every facial gesture has been practiced. In fact, professionals in every field recognize when called to perform at a competitive level they must be ready. They practice until their responses to an important situation becomes second nature.

Treat your response to questions or concerns related to your lack of Canadian experience with the same degree of practice and performance. Rather than taking a defensive position with your answer, go on the offense. Turn the question into an opportunity that mirrors commonly held business concepts.

Here’s a script to rehearse.

Answer:

“We’re in a dynamic global economy, I understand you are (or want to be) a global company. A company that thinks and acts beyond Canada’s borders. My work experience has many common traits that you are looking for.” (Give a clear example at this point that matches their requirements.) Write down your own experience example and rehearse it before the interview. Practice over and over again, memorize and make sure you provide examples of experiences that match the criteria for their job description.

Here’s more dialogue for you to memorize.

“I also hope to assist with your companies initiatives locally and globally. Many Canadian businesses are realizing that more than half of their products and services are being bought by new immigrants. I hope with my multi-language skills and cultural understanding that I can help service and grow your customer base in new markets that are growing each year with the increase in Canadian immigration.

These responses will be extremely attractive to companies that are targeting their products into immigrant market segments. Your competition will not be able to compete with your language and cultural insights that match social demographic changes to Canada’s population. If you’re interviewing with a progressive company, there may already be plans underway to move their products and services global or at least local plans to reach growing immigrant communities in Canada.

I know most of your realize that you must commit to improving your English skills and practice every day. But go beyond practice and pretend you are an actor in a movie learning a foreign accent. You’re not trying to be fake when job interviewing, your simply trying to present full value of your potential.

You shouldn’t be relegated to low level entry jobs in Canada. If you’re a professional take responsibility for preparing and presenting yourself until you can answer well enough to present your skills and experience. Practice interview answers until you can quote them perfectly. Memorize, practice and face questions about your lack of Canadian experience with confidence. Become dedicated to your interview performance, like actors in-front of paying audiences. Because when your interviewing for a job, you are performing in-front of a paying audience, your future employer.

Minto Roy
President / CEO
Careers Today Canada/RevGen
Vancouver, British Columbia
www.careerstodaycanada.com
www.revenuegeneration.ca
www.mintoroy.net

Posted by minto at 06:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In our politically correct world with its sanitized seasonally adjusted messages and 400 page risk management-inspired policy manuals, sometimes it’s hard for people to get the career advice they need to get out of their own way and get on the fast track. Minto and Alanna brave the dangerous and murky waters of workplace sexual politics this month and each takes a turn giving tips to the opposite sex.

Minto Roy 's Views for Women:

I have a lot of time for people who work hard, sweat the details, and consistently execute the behaviours that lead to success. That typically means that I have a lot of time for women. Women very often outwork men in business – like immigrant and other populations who weren’t always given the same advantages as others, they’ve had to work hard to get anywhere at all and the habitual work ethic they develop tends to get results.

To my women colleagues I also need to say, however: sometimes you work harder than you need to, and you work on the wrong things. Take on the projects which most drive bottom line and leave the rest to whoever is less suited for the tough stuff than you are – without fussing and worrying about whether it will get done. Keep your eyes on the prize. Big picture. Coach, mentor, develop people, yes. But rescue and mother them? NO.

When you chair a meeting, don’t bake a coffee cake and clean up after everyone else leaves. Don’t volunteer for every subcommittee and charity fundraiser. Don’t hang out with the other women in the office if the other women are not working at your level – hang out with your colleagues. Take your seat at the big table. And that means you have to stop ghettoizing yourselves in low-paying tactical and operational jobs – go where the money is. Work at a strategic level. (What is the deal with the 90% of women who make up the HR professionals in North America setting pay scales which reward other departments as investments and treat themselves as a cost to be reduced? Times have got to change!)

You’re as smart as men are and we know it. We just also know that a lot of you don’t know it. And we can’t respect you if you don’t respect yourself.

Alanna’s Views for Men:

I’ll start by saying that I often enjoy working with male leaders – the operative word, of course, being leaders. I think a lot of us women have been socialized in a scarcity mentality which tells us that only so many women can make it so we have to compete instead of collaborate, and that sometimes turns into a cattiness I find hard to tolerate. I also think that many women missed out on the important socialization for the business world that can be found in team sports: men are more likely to know how to fight tooth and nail “on the field” and then let it go when the game is over. It’s not about taking things personally.

Yet I want to say to men that there is a lot that is personal about work and business, and today’s consumers are demanding a more values-based approach to the goods and services they buy. Women tend to be way ahead of you on this. You need to listen more, question more, and put yourself out there more. It matters how you make the profit you make.

Women know that the overwhelming majority of you men are good, decent people who want to be respectful of everyone. Most of the PC police have gone into retirement so you can relax a little. If you want to know if you are on the right side of the line, just ask. Directly. Don’t make a wisecrack. And don’t start out making a point with “I probably shouldn’t be saying this but…” and then say it anyway. I’d personally take open disrespect over hypocritical passive aggression – at least it’s honest.

Expand your vernacular of metaphors and inspirational stories beyond the realm of professional sports. Expand your knowledge of networking and client-entertaining venues beyond places which can be described as “rinkside,” “courtside” or on some sort of yard line. Stop hanging out with “the guys” at the office and invest in relationships with the best performers, men and women. We all learned in grade seven Health class that girls mature faster than boys. That was only barely funny by grade ten and it’s way old by the time we’re sharing responsibility for a client presentation, so skip the boyish charm thing and just get your work done.

Women know you care as much about a job well done as we do. We just can’t respect you when you don’t act like it.

Posted by minto at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

ATTRACTION, COMMITMENT & MATCHMAKING AREN’T JUST FOR DATING ANYMORE: WORKPLACE FIT

Top employers now have “Attractions” specialists in their HR divisions. “Engagement” specialists, too. And quality professionals know career advancement comes with “building relationships,” and “catching the eye” of a company on the upswing. It’s not about job descriptions and curricula vitae exhaustively documenting qualifications. The best people on both sides of any hiring equation are looking for that most elusive thing, the professional equivalent of love at first sight: CULTURAL FIT.

Minto Roy Says:

A good plan for choosing an employer match is to select companies whose products and services sincerely interest you. By that I mean, regardless of where you work, you would be using their products or services and interested in business news about their organization. Think about activities you enjoy and subjects you love to talk about. Most of them probably have a few companies behind them – in research and development, manufacturing or production, sales, marketing, distribution, service… And the leaders of those companies covet employees who share their interests and values and sincerely believe in their products and services.

For instance, if you love sports, invest time in learning about sports and fitness-related companies. With a little research, you can develop a list of 20-30 companies that directly match your interest. Personal identity linked to your professional identity provides the perfect foundation for an exciting career. Your career shouldn't be about what you do for your job; it should be a reflection of who you are as a person.

It's also critical to feel you have a match with the people who populate these companies. Remember you will be spending 8-10 hours of day with them. A popular metaphor asserts that we become the average of the 5 people with whom we spend the most time. If that’s even partly true, you need to be very careful about who those people are as they will directly influence who you become. If you don't know people at the company, do some research. Check news articles about their community activity. Pick-up the phone and call a department manager and ask him/her for 15 minutes of their time based on your interest in their products and services.

Invest in research and relationships and the right match for you is out there.

Alanna Says:

Making a good match also means making yourself attractive to the employer. You want the company you choose to choose you – and in the best case scenario, they should feel like it’s their idea. I’m not suggesting that you be manipulative – on the contrary, I think the most attractive qualities are virtually always the most genuine. But sometimes we have to take time to reflect and reconnect with what is genuine in ourselves, and also to do a bit of a polish to make sure we are seen by others in the best possible light.

Minto nailed the most attractive quality when he suggested you focus on employers in which you are genuinely interested. Companies are run by people, and people are subject to human nature. And we humans like nothing better than to know someone likes us. Don’t flatter or gush. Just take care to display the knowledge, experience, passions and values you have in common with decision-makers in the organizations to which you are drawn.

Another attractive quality is generosity, even selflessness. That doesn’t mean you have no needs or interests, but it does mean that you are willing to first consider the company’s interests before communicating your own. In the employment dance as much as on a blind date, there is nothing appealing about, “What’s in it for me?” and everything appealing about “What can I do for you?” Take time to learn what the company’s needs are and to communicate how you will add value to meet those needs.

Also pay attention to the finer details of appearance and speech: understand the culture and etiquette of the organization and present yourself in how you dress, act and speak as one of them. Don’t tell them you are a fit or even “act” like who you think they want you to be. A connection which will bring you career satisfaction for years to come requires authenticity. BE the fit. Make it real or don’t play.

Posted by minto at 01:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)