If you are not getting the results you like in your job hunting and search efforts, it’s time to evaluate your progress. When you take a critical look at what you are or are not doing, you will pinpoint what needs to change. Without that insight, you’ll continue to get the same results.

Today, Kathy Marcus shares her thoughts on why evaluating your progress is so important to job search success.

Day 7 – Evaluate your progress

We’ve all received performance reviews in our careers. And many of us have written them for employees.  If you were to give yourself a mid-year performance review on your job search, how would you rank yourself on a scale of 1 to 5? Try it and you might be surprised at the results!

We have to be very honest with our self-evaluations. Only then can we pat ourselves on the back for those ’5′s’ and come up with a development plan for those 1′s and 2′s. Another option is to find a mentor.

A close friend, colleague or even a family member whose judgment you trust and who you feel can help keep you on track. Share your weekly progress with them, the metrics you have on yourself and have them give you a review.

Job search teams can also fill the mentoring role and are formed upon completion of the Career Navigator and 5 Steps to Rapid Employment classes via RochesterWorks or simply form one with other job seekers who you have connected with.

We job seekers need to continue to hold ourselves to the same high standards we were held to while employed and evaluating our progress is one of the keys to staying on track!

Hopefully math was not your worse subject when you were younger, because job hunting is a numbers game and it requires you to set goals and meet or beat them. In Kathy Marcus’s Day 4 job hunting insights, she talks about why numbers are important to finding a job.

Day 4 – It’s in the numbers

There is math associated with job search activities. More often than not, ‘more is better.’ We job seekers need to have goals for our activities, use our calendaring tools effectively and adjust along the way as needed.

Numbers force us to stick to the plan and not wing it. Think about the metrics you were accountable for meeting while employed. If you had a plan for how to prioritize and meet the goals at your previous position, don’t sell yourself short now when landing your next position is at stake.

So, what do your numbers look like? Are you challenging yourself enough? Are you filling a 40 hour week? Are you tracking your progress? Here are just a few suggestions for what to track each day and week:

• How many hours per week am I putting in for job search activities (this one might surprise you)?
• How many jobs did I apply to online this week?
• How many new contacts do I make each week?
• How many interviews for posted positions did I have this week or month?
• How many informational interviews do I have each day?
• How many hours per week do I dedicate to education and training?

Being a job seeker is the most critical job in your career. Give it the time and dedication it needs!

Attitude is one attribute a job hunter has complete control over. What you do, how you do it, what you say, how you say it – all these things reflect your attitude. In Kathy Marcus’s Day 3 message, she shares some specific examples of what to and not to do in your job hunting process.

Day 3 – Attitude Counts!

It’s a challenge to be positive when you’re in transition but it’s necessary when meeting with connections or potential hiring managers. People gravitate toward those who are forward thinking, energetic and have a plan. You can’t be one of those people if you’re dwelling on the past all day every day.

Attitude Do’s and Don’ts

(The entire list are things I’ve done or witnessed others doing during my job search activities.)

Do respect the job loss grieving process and make certain you’re far enough along in it to be an active job seeker. You’ve got one shot at making great first impressions and a positive attitude is key!

Do sit up tall in your chair during a network group meeting or workshop. No stooped shoulders allowed! You’re there to be seen, not to hide. And when you introduce yourself or give your elevator speech, put some energy in your voice and watch the heads turn your way!

Do smile when speaking on the phone. It’s an old telemarketer trick and it works! You will sound more animated and interesting to the person on the other end, whether it be a hiring manager, recruiter or connection!

Do show enthusiasm for the position during an interview. Remember, you’re excited because you know you’re the best fit for the position. Your enthusiasm will convey confidence but not cockiness.

Don’t be a naysayer during job search workshops or classes. Challenging the instructor is disruptive to the rest of the class (and possible connections). Ask clarifying or probing questions but keep it constructive.

Don’t use a networking event to complain about your former employer and their bad personnel decisions. It’s not the right time and place and certainly not the right audience. We all want empathy and understanding but a better use of networking time is to ask questions and share information, not complain about the past.

Don’t dwell on events and decisions beyond your control. Think about what we are. We’re job seekers. That means we’re moving and looking forward not bogged down in the past. This is also true for interviews that don’t go your way or potential connections who don’t want to meet. Focus on what you could have differently or what you can improve on for the next time and move on.

Job transition can be scary and frustrating. It can also be a turning point in our careers and a transformative time in our lives. How we choose to view it can make all the difference in how fast we land!

If you are new to the job hunting process, you may feel overwhelmed. In Kathy Marcus’s Day 2 of advice, she shares what she did to learn new skills and approaches in her job hunting efforts. Note that some of the resources are local to Rochester NY – don’t discount them! Use her examples of what you should look for in your own community.

Day 2:  Now is the time to learn

Think back to when you first started your last position or the position before that. Did you know everything Day 1? If not, did you fumble your way through on your own or did you ask for guidance and assistance?

We job seekers need to view our transition period as a new position. We have to learn the ropes and need to determine the best and most efficient way to do that.

Fortunately, for those of you reading this email, you’re a part of network which means you are in a group of 1500+ people who understand what you’re going through. Make some meaningful connections with them and learn how to navigate these waters. It was through this network of connections that I learned why a picture is so important for a LinkedIn profile and the importance of a target company list (among numerous other gems).

There are some great local resources we can turn to so we don’t lose time trying to figure this out on our own.  As I’ve mentioned in a previous email, RochesterWorks has terrific FREE classes and workshops (like Career Navigator) that can really give you a jump-start to your job search.  Check out the programs at the Fairport library which are also FREE.

As I mentioned in my Thanksgiving communications, we have talented authors and bloggers in this network who are experts in their field.  Their blogs are filled with helpful insight (and are free) and their books are a tremendous value.  Here are just some of them:

Career Blogs

Elephants At Work  (Lynn Dessert)

Career Sherpa  (Hannah Morgan)

Rob Ewanow’s Weblog (Rob Ewanow)

Staffing Insights  (Eric Derby)

Hell in the Hallway (Deb Mourey)

Arthur Catalanello Consulting (Arthur Catalanello)

Career Books

GETTING there: Volume 2 by Luis Martinez

What To Do After Being Fired by Lynn Dessert

Work a little bit of reading into each day, take some free classes and you’ll gain confidence and insight that only knowledge can give you!

Kathy Marcus is a job seeker that I met about six months ago through a local networking group whose mission is to keep people employed in the Rochester, NY area. It was the first time that Kathy was out of work in a long time and she was up for the challenge to find a new employer.

Over the six months, Kathy has experienced like many job hunters the highs of finding the perfect job to the lows of being beat out for the position by someone else.

Kathy has proactively educated herself about the job hunting process by attending state sponsored events, job networking groups, meeting people one-on-one and being a part of a job support group.

In the holiday spirit of giving, Kathy shares some of the knowledge she gathered over the past several months as an active job seeker and has graciously let me publicize the information to readers at Elephants at Work. You’ll find her own words under each day’s job hunting lesson.

Day 1:  It’s all about Sales

Did you know that we job seekers are in sales each and every day? We are selling ourselves as competent, qualified professionals who are looking for that right opportunity for our experience and skill set.

When we’re at a networking meeting or event, the grocery store or sending an email to our networks, we need to exude confidence and a positive energy that draws people in. Don’t skip right to the hard sell and be the person standing in the doorway passing out your networking cards to strangers that you’ve never spoken to. Be the person who does their research, listens to others and has quality conversations with meaningful connections. There will be plenty of time for your ‘pitch’ once you’ve established rapport with your audience by learning more about them and how you can help.

Remember, the most successful salespeople are great listeners. Fine tuning this skill is as important as your resume and elevator speech and will distinguish you as a good person to know.

If your resume or vitae is ready for an update or you want to tweak it because you are not getting return phone calls or interviews, make sure your resume is ethically sound. In this article, you’ll learn what you should and should not put on a resume or vitae.

One of the questions you might be asking is:  What are the guidelines about what you should or should not say on your resume. It might seem a trivial question, but it is discussed extensively – especially if you have something to hide.

Why is it important to be truthful on your resume or vitae?

Your resume should be an honest and accurate reflection of your work history and career. While your resume is not a legal document such as the job application, it is the first point of contact you have with a recruiter or hiring manager. Rarely is your job application kept outside of Human Resources, but you can bet that your resume will be kept in a file or in an e-mail for future reference.

During the interviewing process, the interviewer will ask questions about your resume content. Interviews end quickly when there are inconsistencies between what you said you did on paper and how you support or prove it verbally. Let’s be clear – during your interviewing you are judged on your ethics, honesty and trustworthiness.

How much resume or vitae “dress up” can you do?

You may have heard that you need to “dress up” your resume – a technique used to market yourself to recruiters and hiring managers better. There are ways to position what you did to look better without crossing the line of lying or misrepresenting your achievements.

For example, you might:

• Use years instead of month/year for each position you held
• Include accomplishments where you were a team member (note your specific role)
• Highlight volunteer leadership positions or significant accomplishments
• Identify specific coursework or continuing education for specialized skill development

Here’s what you don’t want to do:

• Use a different job title than what your ex-employer has on record
• List degrees that you did not earn
• Claim accomplishments that you were not responsible for
• Exaggerate your level of skills

Do you have to include educational information?

It is your option to include whatever you want on your resume. Some job hunters prefer to leave off graduation year and only include the degree information.

It doesn’t make sense to me to leave off all your degree information – often referred to as “dummying down” your resume.  The rationale is that hiring managers may not want to hire someone who is smarter than themselves. In my opinion – why would you want to work for someone like that?

Do you have to include all your employers on your resume or vitae?

Let’s say you worked for an employer for a short period of time and left on negative terms. Do you include that employer on your resume or do you leave them off?

It is better to err on the side of truthfulness and to include the ex-employer on your resume and develop talking points to get through that sticky employment history.

I would not recommend doing either of the following:

• Excluding the ex-employer and show an employment gap.
• Excluding the ex-employer and close the employment gaps with the jobs you held before and after this employer.

The reason you want to include the employer is that your future employer will do an employment history check and they will find out the information. If you have left it off your resume, your new employer will question your ethics, honesty and trustworthiness.

If you need help with interview talking points, refer to these resources:

• Interviewing or Job Applications: What do I say if I was fired?
• eBook: What to Do After Being Fired