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Develop

A Good Resume is NOT Good Enough

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Hiring managers spend just six seconds looking at a resume and determining a candidate’s worth.

 

In today’s job market, your resume needs to immediately stand out.  With attention spans of hiring managers and recruiters at an all-time low in addition to a bustling market with job seekers facing stiff competition for their dream positions, it is important that not only new grads, but seasoned professionals do these top things to get their resume in shape.

 

  • Enhance Your Contact Information

Hiring managers and recruiters are super busy.  Making their job easier is key.  Doing things like hyperlinking your email address or using active links to your LinkedIn profile makes it that much easier for someone interested in you to learn more or contact you to set up an interview.

 

  • Ditch the Objective Statement & Lead with a Summary

Hiring managers and recruiters are not worried about what you are looking for.  It’s evident that if you are applying for the job, you must be interested.  “Objective statements have truly become obsolete and irrelevant,” says Christina Maley Higley, Director of Leadership Advisory at Cochran, Cochran & Yale and Business Communication Professor at St. John Fisher College.  “Employers are looking for information that is going to capture a hiring manager’s attention such as a short professional synopsis that states years of experience, career achievements, and the things you want someone to know immediately about you that differentiates you from the other applicants vying for the position.”

 

  • Make Your Resume Reflect You

Depending on the industry, you can make your resume stand out by freshening up the design.  For example if you are a graphic artist, you certainly have more leeway to make your resume “pop” with a creative format than say an accountant.  Using color wisely such as making a section header blue or replacing outdated fonts like Times New Roman with more modern fonts such as Cambria, Calibri, or Georgia are a great way for anyone across the industries to update a resume without going overboard.

 

  • Guide the Reader’s Eyes

The idea that people read from top to bottom, left to right may have been scientifically proven years ago, but the Internet and social media has changed the way people look for important information.  With hiring managers or recruiters skimming and looking for different information quicker than ever, it is more about how you structure your resume.  Using bolded text and underlining for example, key information will ensure achievements stand out and get the reader’s attention.

 

  • Maximize Your Space

You don’t need to necessarily limit your resume to one page.  A resume should be as long as it needs to be to convey value.  A new college graduate may have one page max, while someone with 30 years of experience may have two or three pages easily.  If worried about conserving space use bullet points, active verbs, industry specific acronyms, and don’t waste time stating the obvious.

 

Attract

It takes more than money to attract Millennials.

Lisa Kelly

52% of Millennials surveyed value the opportunity for progress above all else.*

College graduates just looking for any job or a first step on the corporate ladder are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Millennials say they want their work to be meaningful and, even more than money, they want to gain new skills that will move them forward in their career. This is a generation with both ambition and optimism for their future.

Balance has always been important, but the scales are shifting further.

Successful business leaders today should focus their recruitment strategies more and more on non-financial rewards. The only way to engage and attract a majority of current graduates is by balancing compensation with sound corporate values, and opportunities to grow and rise in the organization. Highlighting how your company provides new hires with opportunity to develop will attract more Millennial talent and make them feel more valued than salary alone.

Even great benefits don’t match the draw of a positive work environment.

Even though 73% of Millennials surveyed* are attracted to customizable benefit packages, even they don’t consider benefits until their basic pay and work life conditions have been addressed.

* Millennials at work: Reshaping the workplace. PwC 2011

Develop

Development means something different to Millennials.

Lisa Kelly

51% of Millennials surveyed say feedback should be frequent or continual.*

As Millennials make up a growing part of modern workforces, companies have to take a fresh look at leadership development practices. Many companies spend the majority of training and development budgets on the highest layers of their organization. Shifting your development strategy to include more continuous learning at all levels of the organization will be more effective going forward. You’ll create more engaged, motivated, and productive employees today and see greater retention over time.

Yes. Some stereotypes are true.

One of the strongest Millennial traits is that they want regular feedback and praise for achievement on the job. Companies can respond simply by making sure to set clear targets and providing timely, useful feedback.

The opportunity for companies is that Millennials expect to keep learning while they work and spend a lot of their work day and personal time trying new things and absorbing new information. It’s not surprising that 35% say they are attracted to employers who offer excellent training and development programs and consider these a top benefit.

Age does matter.

While younger workers may come to work with more computing and social media skills than their coworkers, they often lack an inherent understanding of workplace diplomacy and etiquette. As millennials begin to make up a larger percentage of the work force, companies are responding with additional focus on training in the areas of workplace behavior and culture for all generations. Younger employees may need education in the importance of prioritization and deadlines, while older generations may need education in the expectations of others when using chat, email, and collaboration software.

* Millennials at work: Reshaping the workplace. PwC 2011

Retain

Retaining Millennials requires both meeting and managing their expectations.

Lisa Kelly

56% of Millennials surveyed felt they could “rise to the top” with their current employer.*

Millennials are filled with optimism and ambition, but they also have high expectations. Is there a path to the top? What help will I get along the way? How will I be measured? How long will it take to get there? Disappointment and frustration is inevitable, but it can be mitigated. Great leaders already know how to manage expectations, reward achievement and provide a clear path forward through their organization for top talent. The value of all these is amplified given today’s workforce.

A vision of their future is key to Millennials.

According to one survey, one in five Millennials said they were already unhappy with the opportunities for advancement at their current organizations* and according to another, two in three Millennials expect to leave their organization by 2020**.  To retain talent, companies must provide a clear path through their organization that employees can easily see and know how to work toward.

Set them free.

One way you can keep Millennials more engaged and committed to your company long term is by giving them opportunities to stretch their skills. Assigning projects that draw on their existing strengths, but require them to reach outside their comfort zone will show you value their development. Allowing them to set their own deadlines and work schedule to get the work done will demonstrate you trust them.

The work environment today is important for retention, too.

A millennial-friendly environment needs to be comfortable and creative. While they work hard, Millennials want to do it in places with engaging and stimulating atmospheres that include room for work and personal life. The good news is that these environments aren’t just good for retaining Millennials, they’re good for everyone — engaged employees are more productive.

* Millennials at work: Reshaping the workplace. PwC 2011

** Millennials continue to rise up the ranks peoplehr.com 2016

Plan

Millennials as part of a multigenerational workforce.

Lisa Kelly

74% of Millennials surveyed say they are as comfortable working with other generations as their own.*

While most millennials are happy working alongside other generations, they do recognize tensions. 38% feel that older senior management does not easily relate to younger workers and 34% feel their personal drive could be intimidating to other generations.

These findings create two clear challenges for business leaders:

First, as mentioned before, Millennials are very willing to move on quickly when they feel that their needs are not being met. This will be particularly challenging as the older generations stay in the workplace longer.

Second, Millennials who do stay and rise will soon be managing workers older than themselves creating even more of the resentment that Millennials may currently be sensing. Different generations have always required different styles and tactics, but the massive size of the Millennial talent pool combined with the increasingly complex job market is presenting fresh challenges. Some of the first steps to addressing them include providing more feedback and recognition, building transparent management systems, and instituting policies and rewards consistent with the organizations values and objectives. Strong and strategic leadership is more essential than ever in today’s multigenerational workplace.

Attract

Why do companies care so much about their employee brand?

Lisa Kelly

Branding isn’t just the latest buzzword. It’s the oldest marketing tactic there is. Creating a feeling or meaning behind a company or product has always been the fastest way to success. In competitive hiring markets, branding is simply being directed towards potential employees at the same time as potential customers. It’s smart business.
Here’s why:

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