Please note: On a somewhat infrequent basis, Quintessential Careers asks noted
career experts five questions related to their expertise and publishes the interview
in the current issue of QuintZine,
our biweekly newsletter. Here is one such interview.
Jan Melnik is an author, Master Resume Writer, Credentialed Career
Master, and Certified Professional Resume Writer.
Q:
How can people determine which, if any, of the home-based career
opportunities we see advertised on the Internet are legitimate? Are
ANY of them legitimate? If not, what's the best way to identify a viable
home-based opportunity?
A:
Ah, this is a difficult question. I guess I'm from the old school
and would tend to be leery of anything I saw that required an
individual to invest money to start a legitimate business. The
majority of home-based businesses that I know to be successful (and
legit) were built the old-fashioned way -- through hard work,
perseverance, and due diligence. To investigate any opportunity,
though, the rules would appear to me to be the same. Talk to those
who are doing what you think you want to do. If it's a local contact,
offer to take that person out for breakfast -- or come directly to
his or her office with coffee/bagels in hand to spend an hour picking
his or her brain for details about how he or she got started, secured
clients/business, affixed fees, etc. Definitely check references. If
it's an individual already operating, ask if there are several
clients with whom you can speak.
It clearly makes sense, in my opinion, to begin a business in an area
where one has expertise. I have been very successful operating a
home-based resume service for the past 20 years, and when I wrote the
book, How
to Start a Home-Based Resume Service,
it drew on not only my actual experience of being in the business but
the experiences of colleagues from around the country (as opposed to
being a start-up business book written by a panel of professional
business writers who've never operated the businesses they're writing
about!).
Q:
How can the home-based worker discipline himself or herself to
work outside the organizational structure of a typical workplace?
A:
It's important to identify appropriate work patterns based on (a)
client needs and (b) individual personality lifestyle type. Take
advantage of whether you're a morning person or a night owl, and map
your workday accordingly. Take heavily into account the needs/wishes
of those who may share the same domicile; if you live alone, you have
the greatest luxury of cultivating precisely the type of working
schedule that suits you. If you have a significant other/spouse
and/or children and/or elder parents, your work schedule will
probably require greater flexibility. Commit to working while at work
and playing when not. In other words, when you turn it off at the end
of the day, be available to family/friends and not compelled to check
"one more e-mail." When you ARE at work, discipline family members
and friends to your schedule and let them know "it's just as if I
were in a real office working -- I can speak occasionally on the
phone for a few minutes, but I'm not free to go out to lunch and take
a two-hour shopping trip every other day!"
Build intrinsic measurements into your day -- whether you're first
starting out and you want to track number of new prospective client contacts made or
you're well on your way and you are measuring billable hours per day
-- make it something that will serve to define progress and success.
Successful entrepreneurship is among the most satisfying and
gratifying accomplishments there is!
Q:
What's the biggest mistake job-seekers make that your advice could
correct or prevent?
A:
The most common mistake that I see clients making at virtually all
levels -- from new graduate to CEOs with 30+ years of experience --
is relying solely on the Internet and believing that spending 6-8
hours a day doing nothing but e-mailing and posting online is
"productive."
Q:
Along those lines, we are hearing increasingly from job-seekers
about frustrations with Internet job-hunting. Are the old rules of
job-seeking and follow-up changing? How will job-seekers need to
adapt to the new rules of Internet job-hunting?
A:
First and foremost, I believe it's imperative that job-seekers in
all professions recognize that the Internet is but ONE tool in their
toolbag -- and to rely exclusively on the Internet is to make the
biggest mistake there is in professional job search. It is important
to use the Internet for the variety of ways that it can be incredibly
useful -- resume distribution, immediacy of forwarding information to
an already "warmed" contact, online posting to a corporate job site,
research of specific companies or industries, online "talks" with
recruitment professionals at select sites (e.g., SpencerStuart), and
rapid communications between networked contacts. However, these
activities should complement "traditional" job search tasks --
networking, trade journal classifieds, networking, major paper
classifieds, networking, recruiter contacts, networking, research
interviewing, oh -- and did I mention -- networking!
For those opportunities sourced through the Internet, some useful
strategies for rising to the top of the pile include:
Ensure that your e-mail subject line reflects a soundbite for
yourself as a candidate (i.e., M&A CFO w/ops and supply chain mgmt.
experience);
Create a brief "cover letter" that is the body of the e-mail
message. Convey a few relevant success stories/accomplishments and a
succinct overview of candidate background/experience PLUS provide
contact info, and all phone numbers, at end of the e-mail paragraph;
Do three things with your resume: Paste it into the body of your
e-mail as a text file, attach as an MS Word file, and provide a URL
for Web resume.
Never hesitate to follow-up by e-mail (if that's the only contact
point) after an e-mail resume has been sent -- a few days to a week
-- make the follow-up short, succinct, AND attach only the MS Word
resume to the follow-up e-mail as a convenience.
Q:
What's one job-hunting secret you share with clients but may not
be widely known?
A:
Appropriate follow-up that is professional, consistent and
persistent can pay off. What do I mean? I always recommend that after
forwarding a resume and cover letter (whether electronically or "the
old-fashioned way" -- through the mail and/or fax), a follow-up phone
call is appropriate within a few days "to ensure receipt." My
strategy for conquering the voicemail trap (once you've reached the
voicemail box of the actual person with whom you wish to speak), is
to professionally leave your name, number, purpose of your call
("following up to materials sent earlier this week ... would like
five minutes of your time"), and the promise that you'll call back in
24 hours. Then do it (call back 24 hours later and leave an
identical, professional message). Allow NO hint of frustration to
creep into voice. Ensure you are leaving multiple contact numbers for
ease of call-back. Always state your name clearly and fully. And
leave this message for as many days as it takes to get through. Even
the most resistant contacts will eventually break down -- and
typically be impressed by your professionalism and consistency --
plus this type of persistence pays off especially well for those in
marketing and sales professions.
Jan Melnik is a Master Resume Writer, Credentialed Career Master, and
Certified Professional Resume Writer. She has operated a private
practice, Absolute
Advantage, for 20 years and works with middle and
upper-tier executive clients across the country in all aspects of job
search and resume development. She is the author of several
extrepreneurial start-up books and a contributing editor to more than
a dozen professional career books. Her practice has been profiled by
the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Woman's Day, and Country Living, as
well as featured on "Oprah." She is the careers and at-home
entrepreneurial expert on "Money Watch" radio, a nationally
syndicated program and does guest appearances on local television and
radio shows. She recently completed a three-part career/job-search
series for NBC. Melnik divides her time among her busy practice, an
active family that includes three sons, and work on several new
books, including two novels and a new careers series.
