career DEVELOPMENT
Five Things Every Technology Professional Must Know Before Looking For A Job
Job Prospects for Q1 2011 Look Excellent
With the doors to employment oppor-
tunities for technology and quant analysis positions within the financial services sec- tor about to burst open in the middle of the first quarter, those job seekers need to fo- cus on their “personal branding” and em- phasize their responsibilities, and not just their roles, as they begin to prepare to make a job move in 2011. “Marketing oneself
- or personal
branding - is generally not a strong suit for many technology professionals serv- ing the financial services industry because they enter the job market so infrequently,” said Kathy Harris, managing director at Harris Allied. “They tend to focus more on their individual roles, project successes or the operational aspects of their last po- sition rather than their responsibilities to- ward contributing to the larger organiza- tion,” she added. “Instead, they need to correlate their skills with the concrete value those skills can add to an organiza- tion as a whole and bring those accom- plishments to light during the search pro- cess.”
Harris believes job prospects for the
first quarter of 2011 appear excellent and advises that now is the time for technolo- gy professionals to do the following five things as they rethink their personal brand- ing before embarking on a job search:
1. Think ‘Personal Brand’: A personal brand can best be described as your public image and should focus on:
Knowledge - your unique skills, edu- cation, business and industry expertise. Reputation - whom you know, who knows you, and what they say about you Packaging - your entire presentation,
36 PROFESSIONALWOMAN’S MULTICULTURAL MAGAZINE
2. Supercharge Your Resume
A bulleted resume is easier to scan for
key skills and industry experience. List accomplishments and projects on the re- sume to give the hiring manager context to your position, responsibilities and skill set.
Make sure your resume reflects accom- plishments that you are most proud of – what you’ve made, saved, or achieved in a position. Include a bullet point on your resume
if you’ve been responsible for an impact- ful project- maybe enterprise architecture design, a data center move or restructur- ing - that’s created efficiencies for the firm.
Include key words relevant to the role.
If a job description requires a specific skill, candidates should make sure it ap- pears prominently in both the body of the resume as well as in the technical sum- mary. If your resume is submitted to a da- tabase it will likely be retrieved through a search function that is keyword-focused. Resume length should correlate to your
years of professional experience - 3 pages for an experienced candidate, 2 pages for a more junior candidate; for an entry level job seeker, 1 page is perfectly acceptable.
3. Prepare for Your Interview Perform research on the company and
their technical initiatives so you can pro- vide context for the interview and explain how you can most effectively add value to the business. Image and presentation is key to a suc- cessful personal brand. Make sure you
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including resume; interpersonal, commu- nication and listening skills, and interview style.
find out about the corporate culture and wear what you would on your “best day.” Your suit doesn’t have to be expensive,
but it does need to fit well. You should feel comfortable and confident walking into an interview. Personal grooming – make sure your
shoes are polished, hair is cut and brief case or portfolio containing your resume is neat and professional.
4. Promote Your Accomplishments
in Your Interview When discussing your involvement in
a project include the original problem, so- lution and results. If you’re discussing a project with a non-technical hiring man- ager it’s perfectly acceptable to ask them to please let you know if they’d like more technical details. Offer specifics about your project in- volvements and your role as a team mem- ber. Give a brief description of the project, including name/location/scale, and the phases in which you contributed and de- liverables you produced or to which you contributed. Remember to put your accomplish-
ments in a broader context and speak to how they apply to the organization or de- partment as a whole.
5. Perform Social Media Search
Make sure your Linked In profile is current and complete. Review your Facebook profile and de- lete unflattering (or worse) pictures. Google yourself - look for images, vid-
eos, quotes, etc. Assume that at some point in your job search or screening pro- cess a company will do this as part of their due diligence process. Source: Harris Allied
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