By Bill Broderick, President, emailresume.com

Back in the 1950’s, a Time magazine reporter interviewed a world-famous pianist about his work. The reporter asked: “What’s most challenging about playing the piano?” The pianist thought for a moment and replied: “I do OK with the notes, but the spaces between the notes give me lots of trouble.”

What he meant, of course, was that he was very competent at the mechanics of playing the piano, but found the subtlety and nuance of making music, getting the “spaces between the notes” right, a continual life-long challenge.

Job seekers are getting great advice today from a variety of sources about pursuing career opportunities. The total job search process is well-documented in terms of how to perform discrete steps such as drafting a resume, preparing and using cover letters, using job boards on the internet, etc.. While mastering each of the steps is important, it doesn’t necessarily enable a job seeker to address the “spaces between the notes” of the Job Search process. Good mechanics may not be enough to get to the job offer.

Here’s a summary of some key issues to address to be effective in working on those “spaces between the notes.”

Understanding the first steps taken by the employer is vital for the job seeker, so let’s begin there.

Job Specifications: what the company wants
When a position becomes available in a company, the HR function and hiring manager review and reach agreement upon the criteria for selecting the right person. Job specifications define requirements such as education, work experiences, industry background, skill sets and technical proficiencies, which may result in eight to ten criteria for the hiring decision. The specifications, in turn, drive all phases of the selection process, such as resume screenings, evaluation of job fair candidates, interview assessments, etc., through to hiring of the final candidate.

The job specifications are readily available to job seekers in ads, postings on company web sites and other sources. The order of presentation of the specifications also demonstrates what is most to least important and may suggest possible tradeoffs and areas of flexibility as well.

The challenge of the job seeker is to get at the “spaces between the notes” by effectively addressing the job specifications at every stage of the selection process: the resume design, the phone screening interview and the job interview. Consider the following:

Resume Design: send a clear message
A resume screener searches for candidates who match the specifications. A strong, focused resume that captures three or four core competencies plus related accomplishments allows the screener to make multiple connections with the job specifications. The resume screener doesn’t need to know all that the job seeker has ever done; instead, he/she is looking for the match between the specs and the background outlined in the resume. Some key points:

* Core competencies are the key skills of the job seeker, those skills that are performed well, with subject matter expertise, supported by solid accomplishments.
* Core competencies should be evident throughout the two-page resume.
* Every job seeker has one set of core competencies, so one resume should be used, mixing and matching the presentation of the core competencies to improve the correlation with job specs as needed.

If the core competencies match up well with the specs, then the process moves forward.

Phone Screening Interview: get “on message”
Recruiters contact those prospects that appear to match up well with the specs to determine if they are viable candidates. Like resume preparation, there are abundant resources available for how to handle this step as well, but some key points to improve performance are:

* Recruiters ask questions because they don’t know what the answers are. Respond to the questions asked, avoid using questions to segue into other areas.
* Comments about career, job roles and responsibilities are most effective if the job specs are used to drive the details.
* Core competencies should be presented using the priorities of the job specifications as script direction. Any shortcomings versus the specs should be addressed by citing other, comparable achievements.
* Finally, close the call with a summary of core competencies and state a strong interest in a meeting to discuss the opportunity.

All other considerations being equal, the job seeker who stays “on message” by presenting his/her core competencies in terms of the job specifications will get the opportunity to interview for the position.

Interview: talk about the specifications
Interviewing job seekers enables a company to evaluate the candidates, test their own expectations and find the “best fit” to effectively meet their hiring goals. Consider some key points about job interviewing:

* The job specs provide a “road map” for content. Use the specs to share details about career, job roles and responsibilities that connect to the specs.
* Listen to the Interviewer and answer the questions asked.
* Be prepared to ask a few solid questions that demonstrate knowledge and comfort level with the job specifications, which will illustrate that you “walk the talk” when it comes to the company requirements.
* A final point: ask for the job!

Summary

Today’s job seeker is on a steep learning curve to successfully launch and sustain a career search process. But focusing upon one’s career, skills, abilities and goals is not enough. The key issue to address is the company goals and job specs. At each step of the resume/phone screen/interview process, the job seeker is challenged to integrate the job specifications with his/her core competencies, fully demonstrating the connectivity between their skills and company needs. Doing so effectively enables the job seeker to get the “spaces between the notes” right and greatly increase the potential for success in the interview/selection process.

Source: www.careerbuilder.com

I remember a story back in college about an employee doing satisfactorily and unsatisfactorily in his job. Satisfactorily and unsatisfactorily. He does what is required of him — doing proposals, his papers, meeting his deadlines — the problem is, he doesn’t seem to be doing more when he can. It was like he didn’t really care about the job, and it seemed like he wasn’t happy. His manager knew he could go up the ranks if only he’d give in more effort in his job and interact more with the others.

This employee was well off, so he could just easily resign from the job… but he didn’t. He had the abilities to go into other types of work… but he didn’t. In fact, there was no reason reason for him to stay on the job. But he did. And he did his job indifferently.

His manager all but watched him. He was confused at how someone could be so unresponsive at his job. If the employee had voiced complaints and or had shown any signs of boredom, the manager would have just thought that the man was just like any other employee.

After months of working with the employee, the manager finally understood what the employee needed: recognition and motivation. The manager wasn’t quite sure yet, so he put it to the test. He started by complimenting the employee on his work and always urging him to do his best. He would also put in how the employee can be promoted if he keeps doing a great job with his duties. The manager then monitored the employee’s work thereafter and found out that the employee put in more effort than before. The employee, once bleak and dull, was also becoming more involved within the personnel.

It’s really amazing how recognizing an employee’s work and motivating him to do more can increase a person’s productiveness. There are many business managements that think that giving benefits and providing a set of structured rules are enough . But in reality, when you’re dealing with human beings, emotional and personal growth counts, too, and the two things that can help build these are (1)recognizing the employees’ achievements and correcting their mistakes, and (2)motivating them to do more because you know they can!

Have you ever noticed how your perceptions and those of others often don’t match?
How do you respond to someone who is so attached to being right that they pay little attention to the possibility that you could also be right?

Self-confident people drift into right-wrong thinking occasionally. Perhaps it springs from our human need for acceptance, validation and understanding…to maintain self-respect and dignity in the face of make-wrong attacks. It probably gets augmented in the workplace by pressure to be decisive, or from the intense desire to succeed. However, the root cause is not pursuing these interests but rather in the belief that in order to be right, someone else has to be wrong.

Teamwork helps deal with differences. It is necessary and usually advantageous at work. Teamwork provides the most tactful way of building accountability, trust and safety.

But what makes Teamwork possible in the first place?

Some people have a habit of making up much of what they “know”, which can lead to communication breakdowns or patterns of conflict and tension. It invites conflict and quickly blocks effective dialogue, stifles creativity, dampens enthusiasm—killing the will to cooperate. Despite the best of intentions, a conversion that assumes someone must be proven wrong automatically prevents us from getting results we most want: to be understood, to learn something new, or get something done.

Communication is based on the response we get from the other person. It is pointless to insist on something that is lost on the listener, especially when the response you get is entirely separate from your intent. Wouldn’t it be useful to find out where you both stand rather than being lost in interpretation?

Integrity implies knowing if your communication is based in objective fact, your opinion, or blending of both. You show integrity when you assert what you know, and by daring to admit what you don’t know. Have the nerve to say what must be said, and you temper it with consideration for the listener, so the communication remains two-way.

Consideration, as a sign of respect, is taking into account the other person’s needs and wants, their present situation, and you step in their shoes. The more considerate you are, the more tough-minded and courageous you can be without breaking rapport. Considerate also means listening so carefully that you can make requests and offers in ways the fit for the other person.

Consistency is the basis for being seen as reliable, dependable, and trustworthy. Treat everyone the same. Be consistent, not arbitrary or biased in your business relations.

Rapport is the condition of being in sync, in tune, on the same wavelength. It is needed to coordinate action and exchange information. Working with others produces the desired results only when we move at the right speed, at the right times.