Are you sleeping through your Job Search?

Over the past year, we’ve worked with a number of clients who, to their surprise and dismay, are experiencing hyper-extended (12 months or more) unemployment.

Stated one new client: “I just assumed I’d land a new job in 4 or 5 months.  I was sending hundreds of resumes and no one was calling. I’m working part-time at a grocery store in the evenings now, and never expected to be in this position. It’s been 14 months.”

While we spotted some fundamental issues with the resume that have helped our client start to see activity, the resume is but one branch of the entire personal marketing campaign of job search.  We’ve outlined the 2 key misconceptions of what a resume does below.

2 Things Your Resume Won’t Do

1: Get you a job.

A resume gets you an appointment with someone to discuss a job.  We have never heard of anyone who received a call from a valid employer saying,” We saw your resume, you start tomorrow.”

Think of your resume as a shortened marketing brochure, or expanded calling card.  Outline your skills, your history of practical and quantifiable application of those skills, pertinent information that defines your abilities and cultural fit, key achievements, publications, patents – work-related value added information - and that’s it.

This is not to say that the resume is not a highly personalized document; it allows you to manage the interview and articulate more effectively by pointing to those topics on which you are an expert, however, the key here is “interview more effectively.”  The resume gets you an interview, not a job.

2: Make up for a poorly written cover letter or lack of employer research

Excerpt from an interview with Senor Recruiter Paula Goodman of Columbia University (from SixFigureStart)

“…Cover letters are important here.  They need not be long, but they need to be specifically tailored to the job.”

No matter how well-prepared your resume, a generic, “Dear Sir or Madam” cover letter just doesn’t cut it.

If you are mass emailing generic cover letters and resumes, stop it.  It doesn't work.

If you are responding only to Job Boards, and while job posting boards are a good part of your overall campaign, this approach should be only a part of your search strategy, and you must still customize your introductory letter and resume to the position.

87% of new positions are found through a combination of deep research and networking; this is “active” job search as opposed to “passive”.  A passive approach is when you put your information out there and hope for a call - it's a deceptive time-eater, and there is little ROI in passive approaches to search.

If you focus on very specific companies where you know you are a fit, and watch those companies for career creation events - recent employees who have left, top management changes, new product releases, new facility or leased space transactions, new funding, new contracts, etc.- and then approach with a highly customized letter and resume defining your skills, accomplishments, value proposition and cultural fit, you will not be competing against 500 other people. You may not be competing with anyone at all.

If you don't have access to a research database, start with LinkedIn Company information, Yahoo Finance and Google. Dig deep - don't just read the company's website. Study their competitors and approach them too.

At RescueResumes.com, we do offer an affordable subscription research service, but these types of full research/CRM databases may not fit in everyone's budget, so if your budget is tight, use the free services and dig.

Research the people, participate in a positive and professional way in the groups (face-to-face if possible and web-based) they participate in. Follow them on LinkedIn, Twitter & Facebook, and read what they are reading, understand their pain points and need.

Demonstrate your expertise, and watch for an event that signals new opportunities. Then make your case to the most senior level person you can in your functional area with a highly customized cover letter and resume.

While doing the above, certainly keep an eye on job boards, and keep in mind that there is often enough information posted for you to take the next step and not only highly customize your response, but do more thorough research on the target as well.

Please don't hesitate to ask if you have a question here in the comments section, or want us to write a blog article on a specific question - we love to provide helpful information. Invite us to connect on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook too.

How to Avoid the dreaded typo (whether you are job searching or not):

1. Start your document, blog post, LinkedIn profile, Google profile etc. in Word or a like application. Check your Document Review settings - make sure you do not have options set to ignore words in Caps or other terms. Spell- and Grammar-check.
2. Do not automatically accept word processor suggestions: Somewhere, out there today, is a major proposal that has the word "seamy" where "seamlessly" should have been. Really changed the meaning of the paragraph.
3. Copy your text into Notepad to strip underlying formatting & HTML that may create issues if you are pasting into a CMS.
4. Copy and paste using a Browser that has a spell-check option.
5. Used web-based resources if you are in doubt of spelling or meaning of a word. http://www.wordcentral.com/ from Miriam-Webster is a good, free tool. There are many others.
6. Have an objective party review whenever possible, or set the work aside for at least a couple of hours so you may review it with "fresh" eyes.
7. Hire the great folks at RescueResumes and be done with it!

We've been watching Erik Proulx and the folks from Lemonade the Movie since Winter of last year, and find their vision, project, and achievement extraordinary and inspiring.  Their next project is Lemonade the Book and they may be looking for you!

"Lemonade (The Book) Lemonade, the book will assemble a collection of essays from people telling stories of reinvention in their own words. Only this time, it won't be limited to the advertising industry.

Imagine all the inspirational personal triumphs that arose after the auto industry crash. Think of all the school teachers, engineers, and finance professionals who have found their life’s work thanks to being downsized. Those of us in advertising provide just one, very sheltered viewpoint of what’s possible in unemployment.

If you lost your job but found your calling, they want to hear from you.

Movie Synopsis

What do people who were once paid to be creative for a living do when they’re laid off? They get creative with their own lives. Lemonade is an inspirational film about 16 advertising professionals who lost their jobs and found their calling, encouraging people to listen to that little voice inside their head that asks, “What if?”

All resources for Lemonade were donated. From cameras to lights to flights, this is a project by and for those who have been affected by unemployment.

About The Cast

Michelle Pfennighaus
After being laid off from an ad agency, Michelle became a health counselor and yoga instructor and would not change a thing. 

Kevin Kearns
When freelance work in NYC dried up post 9/11, Kevin decided to pursue his passion for painting. His work is now hanging in the Stricoff Gallery in SoHo and he sells 40-50 paintings a year.

Steve Hall
After Steve lost his job he created one of the most successful ad blogs in the business called Adrants.com.

David Cohen
David Cohen lost his job and made the most profound change a guy can make -- he became a woman. He changed his name to Dana Morrigan, and is now the managing editor of Genderfork.com. 

Kurtis Glade
After losing his job, Kurtis shot a documentary film about surf camps in California that provide free, therapeutic surf lessons to kids with cystic fibrosis. His daughter has CF.

Jeanne Schad
Jeanne was laid off from a large ad agency in Texas. Today she owns a global business consulting firm with over 150 coaches in her network.

Mark Radcliffe
After losing his job, Mark rode the entire Tour de France behind Lance Armstrong and started a site called "Chasing Lance." Mark also just released his second album called "The Sea Before Us."

Erik Proulx
After losing his job as a senior copywriter, Erik started a blog called Please Feed The Animals to help others in transition to navigate unemployment and reinvent themselves.

Jonathan Halitsky
After getting laid off from a media company, Jonathan volunteered to help those even less fortunate and also appeared in a Truth commercial done by a large agency.

Tom Van Daele
When Tom was laid off from his job as a creative director, he started his own agency. His first project was a website called cardsofchange.com, which gives those who have been laid off a place to state one positive change that resulted from losing their jobs.

Lisa Hickey
Lisa lost her job as a principal of a Boston ad agency. She has since become a leader in the world of Social Media and consults clients all over the world.

Hank Leber
Hank couldnʼt find a job in advertising so he started his own agency with a unique concept – do work for a client, and after the project is complete, the client pays what they think the work is worth.

Bob Weeks
After losing his job, Bob became a professional coffee roaster and sells his coffee all over New England and direct to consumer.

Lawson Clarke
After being laid off, Lawson took his clothes off, posed on a bearskin rug and started malecopywriter.com. He hasn't stopped freelancing since.

Ronan Doyle & Todd Gallentine
After getting laid off from different companies at different times, Ronan and Todd met and and started their own advertising agency together.

About the Filmmakers

Erik Proulx - Creator, Executive Producer, Writer
Erik has spent nearly 15 years in advertising agencies across the country, including Madison Avenue conglomerates, Main Street boutiques, and everything in between. Then on October 15, 2008, one week after a having a conversation with his boss about a raise and promotion, Erik lost his job at one of the biggest and most respected advertising agencies in the country. It was then he realized that no matter how good you are or how hard you work, being on another company’s payroll will always carry a risk of being let go -- something Erik experienced three times in his relatively short career.

Erik created Lemonade to help people see that losing their jobs doesn’t have to be the end of the world. As Lisa Hickey said in the film, “Don’t be the person looking for a job. Be the person doing something interesting.” Lemonade is Erik’s something interesting.


Marc Colucci - Director
Marc Colucci is a director at Picture Park, splitting his work between documentary-style and comedic spots for clients such as ESPN, Staples and Dunkin’ Donuts. Enjoying versatile opportunities to work with talent, Marc has also directed several short films including the “October” segment of the feature film Twelve, premiering at Boston’s IFFB before touring the national festival circuit. His music video for the Dropkick Murphys’ “State of Massachusetts” is featured weekly on MTV as part of the show Nitro Circus. Most recently, Marc is finishing his first feature film, Slip & Fall, slated for an early 2010 release.


Peter Nelson - Director of Photography
Peter Nelson has photographed a wide variety of feature films, commercials and documentaries in a multitude of film and video formats. His signature naturalistic style has taken him around the world to capture life as it happens for fiction and non-fiction films. Feature credits include SICKO, A TALE OF TWO PIZZAS, PIPE DREAM, SUITS and the cult New York romance ED'S NEXT MOVE which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. He has done domestic and international documentary work for PBS, HBO, BBC (often with their flagship arts program Arena), and Granada Television. Recent commercial work includes campaigns for ESPN, PBS, American Family Insurance, Stop and Shop, Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs. Other commercial credits include spots for Lifetime, Coca-Cola, Champion, and Calvin Klein. Peter received a BFA in Film and Television from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.


Will Van Hazel - Director of Photography
Will got his start in the film business when he skipped high school to watch the filming of "Deathtrap" in his hometown of East Hampton, NY. By ten o'clock that morning, he was dragging feeder cable threw his neighbors yards in exchange for the promise of a catered lunch. He went home with fifty dollars in his pocket pooled together from the electricians. After the third day when the school principal called his home, he had his first experience with a layoff/retirement.

He went on to attend Emerson College in Boston, MA. where he received his B.F.A. in Film. Will now lives in Los Angeles where he works as a commercial cinematographer and enjoys shooting anything and everything.


Andre Betz - Editor
Andre began editing in 1984 at the age of 19 (you do the math). Then In 1998, Andre started Bug Editorial, Inc. in the Soho area of New York, which also served as the NYC location for filming.

In addition to winning AICP, Cannes Gold, Silver and Bronze Lions, Emmy, and A.C.E awards for his commercial work, Andre's work on "Looking for Richard" by Al Pacino won the A.C.E award for best editing in a feature documentary. Several of Andre's commercials have been made part of the permanent exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in NY. His most notable commercials include Volkswagen's "Synchronicity," "MilkyWay," and "Sunday Afternoon" (a.k.a., "da, da, da"). Other clients include Nike, Monster.com, Microsoft, Volvo, Coca Cola, Reebok, Converse, ESPN, Burger King, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche, Revlon, Dunkin Donuts, Vonage, Chase, Citibank, Mastercard, Guinness, Gatorade, Timberland, Anheuser Busch, and many others.

Andre lives in NY with his three daughters and wife. During the summer months, Andre lives and edits in Maine.


Jennifer McKenzie - Producer & Executive Producer
Jennifer McKenzie had early aspirations of becoming a farmer. When the expected green thumb failed to develop, she turned tail and became a Producer instead.

Jennifer cultivated her producer-ly tricks during her nine years at Boston-based ad agency Mullen. She produced numerous television and integrated campaigns, and picked up some helpful firefighting and tap dancing skills along the way.

As of late, she has been freelancing at various agencies and post-production houses, as well as building her voiceover reel. Jennifer was an Executive Producer of the short documentary, “Lemonade.” She has an impressive shoe collection and an excellent vocabulary.


Carrie Jacobson - Producer
Carrie Jacobson started in the middle, faked to the right, then went left, and wound up on the right again. Born and raised in Omaha and educated in Boston, she spent seven years in Los Angeles at TBWA\Chiat\Day where, arguably, she was also reared.

After a stint as a professional hand model, she moved back to Boston where she freelanced for the city's brightest ad agencies before landing at Arnold as a Senior Producer. Then she went over to the post-production side as the Executive Producer of a talented post boutique.

Carrie is available for hand modeling, and as a freelance broadcast producer.

Probably not all at once.

Over the years she’s produced documentaries and mockumentaries, dabbled in her own short film projects, and generally tries to use her powers for good over evil.

She lives with her husband in Boston.


Scott Burtnett - Producer
Scott Burtnett has been working in the Boston film community since 1988. Over the years he has worked in a variety of on-set roles including Location Scout, Assistant Director and Producer. He is currently an Executive Producer with Picture Park. Scott enjoys working with a wide range of clients including TaylorMade, Comcast, Bank of America, and McDonald's. He enjoys photography, sledding and using the Google. Scott lives in Melrose. MA with his wife, three children and a rabbit.