This article, by Parmelee Eastman, Job-Hunt's Research
Pro, appeared in Job-Hunt's free twice-a-month e-mailed newsletter,
the Online
Job Search Guide. For more articles in this series, go to
the Company
Research Pro page on www.job-hunt.org.
Every job seeker today knows that employers have many potential
candidates for every position and getting past a series of gatekeepers
to speak with the hiring manager is difficult. How can you maximize
your chances of passing the hurdles to the brass ring: a job
offer?
Use VIBES: Value-added Information
using Benefits, Experience,
and Synthesis. To deliver
a winning image to potential employers, follow these five key
principles:
- Value-added
Point out instances where you have added value in prior jobs
or volunteer experience.
- Information
Highlight significant data in written and verbal communications.
- Benefits
Relate the benefits of your achievements to the needs and requirements
of prospective employers.
- Experience
Emphasize relevant industry or practical experience that is
essential for performing the job.
- Synthesis
Make it easy to understand your good points. Summarize the
key points for the recipient of your communications.
Successful communicators adhere to these principles irrespective
of the method of communication. Use VIBES in cover letters, thank
you notes, and follow-up written communications. Also think VIBES
when preparing your elevator pitch and answers to anticipated
interview questions.
Value-Added
Think about how you added value in previous positions. If you
have a tangible example, put it in. For example, did you increase
sales in your territory 30%, lower costs in your office by 15%,
or process 5 orders per week? While numerical achievements are
easy to highlight, other achievements can be qualitative and
still be tangible. Were you ever named employee of the month?
Be sure to include relevant examples from volunteer work. Balancing
a budget for a non-profit organization is still balancing a budget.
Coordinating a group of volunteers to accomplish a goal can even
more difficult than managing paid employees!
Information
Carefully consider the way that you are presenting information
about yourself. Put yourself in the position of the reader of
your resume and letters, or the interviewer, and think about
how they view your communications. Find a technique that helps
you to examine your communications with fresh eyes. Do what I
do, which is write one day, and review the next day. Or set up
a buddy system with a friend to review each other’s material.
Errors and inconsistencies will be caught and corrected. The
writing will be crisper and salient points clearer.
Benefits
Show how your value-added accomplishments or experience could
benefit the prospective employer. Start with the requirements
of the open position and then tie your achievements to those
requirements. If you have lowered expenses in a previous job,
then state that you can do it in the new position. Or if you
have the educational level or certificates needed for a particular
job, emphasize them. Make it easy for the reader/interviewer
to understand how you can help his/her organization in the new
job. Impressions are formed in seconds when a stack of cover
letters and resumes arrives for an opportunity.
Experience
Emphasize your relevant industry, functional, or practical
experience that is important for the open position. Some positions
such as marketing often require industry experience while financial
and information technology may be easily transferred across industries.
Even if you do not have exact industry experience, think about
the actual tasks involved in performing the job and pull from
your job or volunteer work the relevant experience. For example,
does the job fundamentally need good project management skills
and you have managed projects before in a different industry?
While moving into a new industry can be difficult, thousands
of job hunters do it every month.
Synthesis
Always make it easy for the recipient of your communications
to see why you are a good fit with the open position. Summarize
your key points in your cover letters, thank you notes and other
written communications. Briefly review the job requirements and
your qualifications at the end of an interview. Ask the interviewer
how he or she views your fitness for the job and what the next
step in the process is. The feedback will be useful in your follow-up
letter and subsequent interviews.
Following the VIBES principles does not change your basic qualifications
for a job. Using the VIBES principles helps you present your
qualifications in the best light possible and increases your
chances of getting in the door, through the interviews, and getting
an offer.
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Parmelee Eastman is president of EastSight
Consulting (www.eastsightconsulting.com) which helps provide
more effective utilization of external information in internal
decision-making processes. EastSight Consulting clients range
from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Prior to founding
EastSight, Parmelee was the vice president of the global technology
and communications practice at Fuld & Company and employed
for 16 years at Digital Equipment Corporation. Parmelee holds
a B.A. from Wellesley College and an M.B.A. from the Harvard
Business School. She can be reached at peastman@eastsightconsulting.com or at 781/416-3686.
