What a customized cover letter and resume can do for a candidate!

Cover letters are mostly ignored by recruiters, mainly because they're templates and don't tell you anything interesting or useful about the candidate.  It takes about 5 seconds to recognize a template, in my experience.

This is also the reason why recruiters scan through resumes.  You can scan  (but not discern much from) a templated resume in 10 seconds, but you can't read and discern much from a customized resume or cover letter, without reading it attentively.  Templates resumes and cover letters don't tell you much about the candidate, other than they know (hopefully) how to copy and paste.

The main benefit of a covering letter is that you can link your strengths to the job vacancy.  The resume can't do this well enough, because, hey, we have done a lot of different stuff in our career and we want to showcase our all our versatility.  Unfortunately this makes it difficult for the recruiter to decide.  This is where a well thought-out cover letter helps.  When the recruiter scans the cover letter and realizes that it is not a template, he /she tends to pay more attention and will likely read the resume in more focus.  

If the cover letter is well written and draws relevance to the vacancy, then the recruiter is sufficiently interested to read about other areas of the candidate mentioned in the resume.  If that is also interesting and bears relevance to the vacancy, there are great chances of the candidate receiving a call for the interview.

Among other services, I also help my clients write their cover letters, resumes and prepare for interviews,  based on their strengths.  This allows them to showcase their uniqueness from other candidates who use templates, as well as stand a better chance of landing an offer for a job that will satisfy and engage them, while benefiting their employer.  

Watch my video "Why you need a Strengths-based Resume" here.

Write to me on ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com if you want to prepare for your next job like this.

Please vote on this Emotional Intelligence Poll

The work problems due to low Emotional Intelligence occur much more than we like to admit.

In the poll below, please share what you think will be most effective solution for both the individual and organization's growth.

Please comment if there is a course of action that isn't mentioned in the poll. The number 5 is just an assuumption, and could be any number of times that you prefer.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/barrettoryan_selfawareness-selfmanagement-strengthsdecoder-activity-6925750616937902080-AIRd?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web

Who are you, really?

I came across this superb song on YouTube some years ago.  It made me reflect a lot on what I was doing, why, for whom, and so on. 

Recently, it showed up again on my playlist.  The reflection started again.  These lines made me rethink what I am focusing on in my life and my work.  I gave some focused thought to my strengths and whether I was actually using them at work and at home. How am I being perceived when I do this? Am I fully aware of myself? Is there something for me to let go? Add on? Continue doing? 

What next for me? Perhaps a little more clarity on who I am, what I do....

You can listen to it here.

Leave a comment and let me know what you came up for you after you heard the song, or maybe just read these words on the picture.

Don’t bother working on weaknesses. Success lies in playing to strengths

This article is why I use Strengths in my work as a career transition coach and as a trainer / facilitator. 

Here's a line from that article:

"Encouraging a focus on knowing and building strengths is the route to a vibrant, happy workforce giving their best."

On a personal note:

Too often I have seen talented people stuck in roles that are not aligned with their strengths.  They are in their current career / job, because they were guided by someone who had their best interests and safety at hear. They are not at their most liveliest during the interview.  They seem to be going through the motions at work.  They're reluctant to make a transition to the career that is better aligned with their strengths, perhaps because of loans to pay, fear of the unknown, or fear of what people will say.

You might say - but we all have weaknesses, and we can't really say no if our work involves that.  

That's true.  What you can do is understand the weaknesses they have that matter in relation to the job in hand, and see how it can be complemented by a colleague's strengths - AND vice-versa.

Read the details in article here.

To know more how to leverage your strengths, please view my articles:

Strengths-based Career Conversations

Setting Your Goalsetting Conversation

9 Critical Aspects to consider when setting goals

How do I develop my Strengths?

And I am NOT! - How to leverage your strengths for Resilience?

Why 'Any Job' will not be appropriate for you?

Easter Greetings 2022

 

Addressing Severe Uncertainty

Making decisions gets more difficult every day, thanks to increasingly huge amount of available information, and the rapid pace of change.  How do leaders or anyone else make effective decisions.

Here's an interesting read about #decisionmaking during times of #uncertainty.

This provoking line from the article: "People crave certainties and so tend to invent knowledge that doesn’t exist."

Read the article here

Leadership expectations - 2022 and beyond

Here is another list of #expectations of #skills and capabilities that a #leader should have / develop. Read the article here.

I don't personally see anything new in this list (Read the book "How Did They Manage?" for more about leadership management). Here's what I know: The Strategically Smart leader knows that he cannot know and do it all, so he hires a team that complements his weaknesses with their #strengths and hires a Strengths coach to support them all.

The positive side of "What you don't know"

 Human nature - we fear what we don't know, particularly when we've never tried it before.

Solution if you want to grow :

- Invest in developing more #selfawareness , and

- Get a #mentor or Strengths Coach for support

What do you think?

PS- Check out the clock

Interview Prep - The Jobseeker's Search for Green Flags

If you are going to look for green flags when applying for roles, you need to do some critical prework before you research the company - on YOURSELF.

The prework is that you have to get:

1. A clear understanding of your strengths & weaknesses.
2. Clarity on what kind of work is aligned with your strengths.
3. Clarity on what kind of work environment will suit your strengths

Info on point one you can get by introspecting on feedback given to you by colleagues, peers, bosses, customers, vendors (for freshers - classmates, teachers), or through a validated psychometric assessment like the PRISM Professional report (Ask me about it, I'm a Licensed Practitioner) because:

• It's validated at 0.9 on the Crombach scale
• It is based on neuroscience and identifies our preferences without labeling us
• It covers points two & three mentioned above in vivid detail.

Thereafter, your research from GlassDoor, social networks, customer forums, industry trends. past employees if you can contact them, current employees too if possible.

Once you have all this information, create a list of top five questions that cover your key non-negotiable points.  

Practice asking these questions, instead of reading them out, since you will come across as more prepared and professional.

To know yourself through the PRISM professional and to download a sample PRISM Professional Report, please visit www.prismbrainmapping.com

Employer Branding and the war for Talent.

A super read on the escalating need for #employerbranding in today's ever increasing #warfortalent

For me, #employerbrand is something that I spend time on during my #behaviouralinterviewing Workshop #selectiondiscussion

I cannot emphasize it's importance for short-term and long-term #hiring needs.

Click here to read the article.

Write to me on ryanbbarretto@hotmail.com or call me on +919820155778 to know how to do this for your organization.

#hiringstrategy #recruitment #strengthsdecoder