The Expert: Rob Taub, RésuméPro Plus

Well, here's a real treat. Rob Taub, veteran job search consultant and creator of RésuméPro Plus took some time out of his busy schedule for a Q&A on best practices. In addition to his impressive credentials, he's also my uncle and someone I've turned to for expert career advice since entering the work force. Believe me when I say: he's the real deal. Here's the skinny on resume writing, networking, layoffs and more, from a pro!

You started your career as a teacher. What was the catalyst for your transition to career consulting?

Oddly enough I answered an ad in the Boston Globe that read, “Sales Opportunity - “work in a beautiful office, talk with professionals all day, make good money and never make a cold-call”. That was 23 years ago.

What is the most common mistake you see people make on resumes?

(a) Leaving off an objective and (b) putting in a self-serving objective: Let me explain.

I liken the objective on a resume to the title on a book cover. If the title read “Indy 500” you would assume that it has something to do with racing; even if only the backdrop. You wouldn’t have to read through several pages to know. In fact, you may never have picked up that book in the first place; especially when there are so many other books on the shelf with titles, saving you time and guess work. With regard to “self-serving” objectives, such an objective might read like this: “Looking for a growth opportunity in a growth organization that will utilize my skills and experience and provide opportunity for advancement” Duh! … Who isn’t?

Now more than ever, companies need to make smart moves and hire good people. Companies need to see how you can help them advance their agendas not your own. Candidates need to target their assets to the employer’s needs. It begins with “Positioning” the product and that starts at the very top of your resume with the objective.

CV or Resume: what's the difference and does it matter?

CV is a history of where you’ve been and what you’ve done; the Resume is the potential you have for where you are going and what you will be doing. CV’s are mostly used for Federal, Institutional and Academic positions; and all too often mistakenly used for private openings when a Functional resume would be more effective. By the way, there are 10 different resume styles of which Functional is only one; Chronological is another.

When a company asks for applicants to include a salary range on their resume, what's your best move?

Include it. If you don’t you will be automatically disqualified. Most people try to get around because if they’re too low they’ll be disqualified or if too high, too, they’ll be disqualified; nonetheless you have some chance. Leave it out? “Auto-disqualifier” – no chance, nothing…nada…nil…nichts…neit…何も

When writing a cover letter, should you go for the hard sell or stick to the facts?

I would have to settle somewhere in the middle. You do want to “sell”, but not “hard”; and you want to sell using facts – concrete info that positions you as a viable candidate, for example you may say in the middle of your cover letter, “Some of the skills I developed over the years that would be of benefit in a college teaching/administration capacity would include the following:

• Solid professional presence and significant relationship development experience

• Administration, staff development and operations management

• Highly perceptive in ascertaining individual and group needs

• (Etc…)

Is it better to email or snail mail a "thank you" note?

It really depends on who it is that will be receiving it. Similar to resumes … what’s the best resume format to use? Depends on who will be reading it. Also remember that every contact including rejections should receive a “thank you”. You might want to consider as a rule of thumb, to send a hand-written “thank you” (regular mail) to those who reject you. All your other contacts are on going while these are ending. If you respond with something relevant, professional and memorable (which in this digital age may very well be a hand-written “thank you”), you may keep the door open for another day.

How have social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter changed the job hunt?

70% of your time in a job search should be spent networking. (Limit the time you spend applying online to 1 hour a day). Making and staying in touch with networking contacts is a must. Social networking like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc. are great portholes because you can network without drawing attention to the fact that you are looking for a job! To be most effective you must make sure your updates on these sites are full of valuable ideas and resources for the readers.

What's been your best moment as a career consultant?

Everyday is filled with some really great moments. Everyday you help someone; and when they know it, they let YOU know it.

If you could give job seekers one piece of advice, what would it be?Something I read just this morning! “By believing passionately in something that (still) does not exist, we create it. The non-existent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired” –Nikos Kazantzakis

Ok - ok … something less esoteric then: I said it on my blog the other day – When communicating with others, don’t make them plow through jargon. If they understand it they’re unimpressed; if they don’t, they’ll take out a book and read.

Any other advice?

I guess I’d go with the Four P’s I invented back in the day: “Prepare to Practice Patience or P_ _ _off”. The impatient person (a) speaks without thinking and (b) is less likely to listen and consequently will miss all the signals.

And, finally, since this is a blog about layoffs, have you ever been laid off? If so, what were your "lessons learned" from the experience?

Yes, 3 times in 4 years; and the biggest lesson learned, years later, is that you shouldn’t take it personally EVEN IF resultant of personal differences or personality conflict.

Other lessons learned? Unemployment can leave plenty of space on your calendar. I learned that unless you’re careful, free time can be squandered easily, and important momentum will be lost.

A layoff is also the perfect time to assess where you belong (specific industry, job function, company culture); most people never do. Many employed professionals are misaligned in their careers but lack the time or energy to do something about it. Unemployment frees you up to give full attention to defining what it is, clearly, that you CAN and WANT to do, WITH WHOM, for HOW MUCH and to WHAT END.

Finally, there’s a temptation after you’ve been laid-off to take a time off to spend with family or to take on projects or go on vacation. DON’T DO IT! DON’T DO IT! The longer it takes for you to return to the marketplace, the harder it’ll be.

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For expert advice on resumes, interviewing and more visit Rob Taub online at RésuméPro Plus and the blog Job Searching With Rob.

Routines to Savor Time

Both times I've been unemployed it took me three months to find a new job. Three months is both a short and long amount of time. Short enough to live low on unemployment, severance, and savings. Long enough to tackle a dream...that is, if you allow yourself to savor the time.

Savoring time may seem obvious if you've never been unemployed, but it can be a huge mental hurdle to jump. Thoughts run through your mind like a news ticker "Why aren't they calling...How long can I wait to make a payment...What am I doing with my life...Am I ever going to have a paycheck again...Need to write a cover letter...Why aren't they calling?!#$%"

That's why I'm an advocate for developing routines to savor time (RTST). First off, RTST are a much needed distraction from the voices in your head. Second, they introduce a sense of meaning and accomplishment back into your life. Third, they keep you in the present (away from the pain of the past and fear of the future).

When developing your RTST, consider what could improve your life overall. What have you dreamed about doing but always dismissed because you "don't have time"? That's no longer a valid excuse. You have TIME! And if you're going to be unemployed for 3+ months, what could you do with that time that would have a positive impact on your life...even when you start a new job?

My routines included: exercise 3x week; clean house 1x week; walk dog slowly w/ mug of coffee at 8:30am & watch everyone else cram into their cars to go to work 4x week; keep my daughter home from daycare 1x week and go to museums, parks, visit friends; write a poem everyday 7x week, for one month; see a matinee 1x week.

Here's your homework. Make a list of potential RTST. Don't censor yourself. Write the first things that come to mind. You can use the categories below to get started.

• Creative (life long goals & aspirations)

• Practical (cleaning, home repair...)

• Fun (exercise, playdates, day trips, matinees...)

Once you have established a list, select your favorites and assign a weekly or daily "routine" and "goal" for each (example: write 500 words of the great american novel 1x per day; run 3 miles 4x per week). If you still don't think you've got enough "time" here's some inspiration...

Write a Novel in One Month: The National Novel Writing Month website has tools & tips on how thousands of people have written a novel (50,000 words) in the space of one month.

Muscular Body in One Month: Read how Four Hour Work Week author Tim Ferriss went from skinny to muscular in four weeks (plus the pictures to prove it!)

Clean Your Entire Home in One Hour: Great article on Associated Content site with strategy for cleaning your entire house in one hour.

Kill the Future

The company that eliminated my job last year had another round of layoffs yesterday. Hearing from people peeled open the experience like a fresh wound. The confusion, frustration, anger. The sense of instability and fear in what the future might hold.

For me, those first 24 hours moved in slow motion. I can slip into the memory like it was yesterday. That odd sensation of leaving the building at 9:30am. With no place to go, I drove.

My sense of the present moment hightened sensation to everything around me. I could see again, I could smell, I could hear. There was no future. It was just me, alone in my car, living it moment by moment. And I wrote this poem...

I (heart) Balloon
Today, while driving on Route 50, I looked up
and saw a red heart shaped balloon
float over the roadway. Float over
and up. And I said, "Oh!" to no one,

I was alone in the car. The balloon kept
going, out of my sight. Free and bold--
so bright and odd against the baby blue

sky. Its cord cut. Like me, no longer
pregnant. Like me, without a job.
Like me--just stare as I float by, not

knowing where I'll land. And you may
gasp, "No!" thinking what would you do--
but I know that the air exhilarates.

There are things in life that job loss cannot take away. In fact, I realized, that my job had stolen something from me all those years: it had taken my sense of the present and replaced it with "security in the future."

How swiftly the present ran back into my arms like a child that morning. And as we embraced, I knew that things were okay. Not that they were "going to be okay" but that they were "okay" here in the present moment.

So to my friends and countless others who find themselves without a job this morning, I encourage you to take a deep breath, to look around you, to see, smell, taste...to let go of the future, and welcome the present back into your life.

Are You "Mad as Hell"?

Sara Clemence's article "The Just-Laid-Off Checklist" on Recessionwire.com reminded me of one of the best pieces of advice I received the morning of my layoff: "go see a movie." The words came from my job outplacement agent, and for some reason, they are the only ones I remember from that morning (aside from the infamous "...your job has been eliminated").

It just so happened that a layoff classic arrived off my Netflix queue that afternoon: Network. In case you haven't seen it, the movie starts when network news anchor Howard Beale looses his job. With two weeks left as anchor, he announces on live television that he will commit suicide by shooting himself on air. As you can imagine, the plot only gets better. The pinnacle moment being his instruction to all viewers to open their windows and scream out loud "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

Watching Beale's speech again, I saw how strikingly relevant it is today. For starters, the movie takes place during a similar period of economic crisis in America (1976). If it was delivered on air tonight it would still make sense (just substitute "recession" for "depression" and "Iraq" for "Russia").

He not only describes a state of economic depression but individual depression -- the solitude of workers arriving home at night to eat dinner alone in front of the TV. His rally to viewers to stop the cycle and declare their worth, to admit to themselves and the world, "I'm a human being God damn it. My life has value!" is as powerful now as it ever was.

Beale says that nothing's going to change unless people get honest, and that starts with getting "mad as hell." And I think what he's getting at here is "feeling" something, feeling anything passionately again. That's what the experience of job loss is all about. A fresh start. A new horizon. And in particular, the day after you're through being mad, when you start building your life back up again, with a greater sense of who you are and a stronger foundation.

Entrepreneurship and the "Recession Rush"

The launch of Telonu.com's layoff widget yesterday, reminded me of lessons learned from the Gold Rush of 1849: it's more profitable to sell pans & shovels. Those who elected to supply miners reaped the rewards of filling a timely demand. As the notion of a long term recession grows roots in the American psyche, I predict we'll see a bit of a "Recession Rush" to get appropriate products to market.

Here are two of the latest:

Telonu.com
Telonu.com offers visitors a place to rant anonymously about job loss, track layoffs, and rate employers. The comments are a little snarky for my taste, but the site as a whole is a good concept. It meets a need that I felt while unemployed: a sense of community. One can't help but feel less alone by reading the numerous "layoff stories". At the same time, they are ripe with the fresh cut of pain one feels immediately following a job elimination. I found myself looking for an optimistic anchor on this site, a place to be forward looking, and collaborate to make the most of new beginnings.

Recessionwire.com
Another site that's surfaced is recessionwire.com . This site, for me, has a brighter feel to it. It's less snarky and has some really fantastic writers who post useful tips and stories. The postings are original, smart, and take a variety of perspectives into account from spouses of layoff victims to freelancers scraping for work. Plus, they have some regular columns such as "screwed" (news on latest layoff) and Recession Briefing (aggregates the top recession related articles).

Heard of others? About to launch your own "Recession Rush" product? Feel free to post links in the comments below. I'd love to hear what else is out there, or about to arrive on the scene.

And if you've recently been laid off, maybe it's worth considering: are you a layoff entrepreneur? Do you have something valuable to share with others in the same position? Or do you think this recession will make fools of those looking for gold? Only time will tell, but for now it's encouraging to see new products released -- more proof that even in a recession there are opportunities to be found.

Is Happy Hour Still Happy?

On Friday I went to a happy hour organized by fellow alums of Georgetown University's Executive Master's in Leadership program. Our program was a cohort of 40 students and we were (still are) very close. In general, this group is a shot of energy. But the last time I saw everyone was in July and since then just about everyone had...laid people off, been laid off, gone on furlough, and/or seen their life savings evaporate. Walking in, I was curious to see just how "happy" the hour would be...

One classmate had to restructure her department and was preparing to take a furlough. Time off without pay is not exactly ideal, but as mentioned in one of my previous posts (Does 10% Reduced Pay = 10% More Time?) there are some advantages. While on furlough, employees are instructed not to check email, come to the office, or conduct anything that could be perceived as "work related activities." In an age when many employees regularly check email through the night and weekend; take laptops and BlackBerrys to the beach; and generally allow themselves to be available 24/7--a mandatory break sounds pretty good to me. The more my classmate talked about it, the more it seemed things weren't all doom and gloom. Plus, she has a life outside of work: she gardens, teaches, travels. She would be able to do more of the things she loved with her time off...even if it meant less pay.

Another classmate had been hit harder. Her husband's work nearly evaporated with the collapse of the banking industry. Meanwhile, her part time job had been eliminated and she was looking for full time work. The more we talked, the more positive aspects of her life emerged. She was teaching a few classes at a university and told me about her latest course, where she had the freedom to use more creative exercises and simulations. The joy that came forth as she described the impact one such exercise had on her class gave me hope that her layoff would put her in a position to continue creating similar experiences and meaningful work.

And then there was one classmate who had been laid off in December. A true role model for networking and getting this done, she was briefing me on her latest creative endeavors and job prospects, when we were interrupted by a phone call. Ten minutes later she was back in the bar and we were celebrating. A prestigious consulting firm had just offered her a job.

If so much hope and optimism surfaced in the stories of classmates most effected by the recession, how about the rest of our cohort? Well, one classmate had raised record amounts of money for her non-profit and was receiving invitations to participate in exclusive conferences around the world. Another classmate had signed a huge client at his agency. A third classmate snagged the lead in a television documentary. A fourth announced she had fulfilled a childhood dream to publish a children's book.

So, is happy hour still happy? I think it is! While there was a little more gloom than usual, everyone had some level of joy, optimism and hope for the future. Opportunities abound, even in a recession. It's a call for all of us to take a "furlough" from work--if not physical than mental--and ask that question we were so good at answering when we were five: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

COBRA Gets Friendlier

If you were laid off after September 1, 2008, COBRA just got friendlier. The stimulus bill will pay 65% of your premiums for the next 9 months. Even if you took a pass on COBRA at the time of layoff, you have a new opportunity to sign up.

Having been unemployed twice in my life, with the option to take COBRA, I'll say this: it's expensive. The first time I was eligible, I was a young, healthy 23 year old and still had to shell out $500+ a month to stay on the plan. Lucky for me, my parents were willing to chip in. If I was laid off today with the same $500 COBRA payment, the government would chip in $350 and I would only have to pay $175...which is still a lot of money while unemployed, but much more reasonable than the full amount.

Then the question becomes: can I buy an individual health insurance plan that will cost even less than the government subsidized COBRA? A quick search on eHealthInsurance yielded a plan "as low as" $93 per month -- it's a PPO with a well known health insurance provider, but the deductible is $1,200 and the office visit copay is $30. This isn't a bad option if you're healthy and unlikely to need to chip into that $1,200 deductible anytime soon. For comparison sake, it would be $82 less per month than my former COBRA payment with government help.

One thing to consider about online health insurance estimates is that an estimate is all it is. Enter more information for a formal quote, and you could see your price skyrocket. If you're someone who uses medical care frequently, you might be better paying COBRA and staying with your current plan (especially if you've already contributed a significant amount to an annual deductible).

The second time I was eligible for COBRA, I went onto my husband's health insurance plan instead. Joining his plan cost more than what I was paying as an employee, but it was much less than I would have paid on COBRA.

Overall, know your options. There's more than one way to get health insurance. If you decide to use COBRA, make sure you get the government contribution. If your former employer hasn't contacted you about the government program, be proactive and give your HR rep a call.