Ditch the Boring Resume Opener: Write an Intro That Stops the Scroll!

🔥This Week’s Sizzling Job Search Strategy: Update your “Open to Work” LinkedIn Settings

Did you know that LinkedIn has a setting where you can list yourself as “open to work” WITHOUT putting the green-frame around your profile picture? 

I recommend that EVERYONE turn this on - and LEAVE IT ON FOR ALL INFINITY! Why?  Because you are making yourself more visible to recruiters in your industry. 

Why does that matter?  Because, at a senior level, ~85% of jobs are found through networking and recruiter connections, NOT via cold applications (zety).  Turning this feature ON let’s recruiters know they can connect with you. 

How?  Follow instructions here.

Take 10 minutes to do this today and surprise the sugar out of yourself! 

🤩This week’s “Girl, thanks for telling me!” Topic: Stop It with the Jargon-Speak Resume-Opening Paragraphs Already!

Resumes always start the same way: Name, designations, contact info, and an opening paragraph. Aside from the format (layout, length, font etc.) of your document, this paragraph is the first thing people will take-in as they glance at your materials.

Take a look at yours right now. Does it seem like a robot wrote it? All keywords and corporate-speak? If so, yours look like 100 others’.

Some resume writers I have met advise this “implied first person” type of approach. I find this style absolutely BORRRRING! SNORZ! Sorry, not sorry.

Want a Scroll-Stopping Paragraph that reads like no-one elses’?

Try the 20-Minute RPH Exercise: What RESULTS do you help people achieve? What kind of PEOPLE do you help? How do you HELP them?

For example: I help people land the next boss roles they have earned. I work with Executive Women (and cool men). I write scroll-stopping resumes. Altogether: I write scroll-stopping resumes for executive women to land their next boss role.

Then write your paragraph by adding in your top 3 hard-skills, top 3 people-skills, and something about your leadership philosophy. For example:

I write scroll-stopping resumes for executive women (and cool men) to land their next boss role. With a knack for strategy, sharp insights, and powerful writing, I turn your career story into a comprehensive set of career-marketing materials that position you in a category of ONE. My secret sauce? Creativity, inclusion, and a non-judgmental approach that don’t just make you feel valued - they document your greatness as FACTS. As a leader, I am committed to having fun while doing deep and important work, empowering good people and ideas towards unparalleled success. Integrity is my guidepost. Equity is my rally cry.

GIVE IT A TRY!

Send over your new opening paragraph, I’ll give you some feedback!

💪 This Week’s Skill to Build: Negotiating your Salary

This HBR article was brought to my attention today by Sophie Warwick at the Thoughtful Company: “Negotiating is Unlikely to Jeopardize your Job Offer”. Essentially - Job seekers worry about negotiating an offer for many reasons, including the worst-case scenario that the offer will be rescinded. Across a series of seven studies, researchers found that these fears are consistently exaggerated: Candidates think they are much more likely to jeopardize a deal than managers report they are. This fear can lead candidates to avoid negotiating altogether. The authors explore two reasons driving this fear and offer research-backed advice on how anxious candidates can approach job negotiations.

Are you someone who needs to work on their negotiating skills? If so, check out The Thoughtful Company’s resources, as well as: How to Ask for a Raise or Promotion - And Get It (30 minutes) Try for Free! Negotiating your Job Offer and Salary (1 hour, 12 minutes) Free on LinkedIn Learning

❤️ This Week’s Featured Partner: Leonilda Renaldo @ LeoDynamics

Badges won’t get you in the boardroom, but Leonilda will! LeoDynamics is on a mission to eradicate the stigma of imperfect language in the workplace. Learning English is one thing, but using it impactfully is quite another. Leonilda Renaldo coaches on Boardroom English - teaching people to collaborate and speak confidently in the global workplace. Her vision is to create 100K business opportunities for diverse speakers of English in an inclusive workplace. 

If you are in a transitional phase in your career and want to build the confidence to speak English at work, connect with Leonilda to prepare for interviews, presentations, negotiations, company representations, any and all external-facing situations.