When Opportunity Knocks, Will You Be Ready?

Barrie Berquist

My husband, Nate, wasn’t looking for a new job.  He loved his job and the company that he worked for.  One day, a representative from one of his company’s vendors came in to service some lab equipment.  Nate and the rep chatted for awhile and the rep mentioned that his company had an open position for a Field Engineer and thought my husband would be great for the position.  He asked if Nate was interested and told him to email his resume to him ASAP so he could pass it along to his supervisor, who was the hiring manager for the position.  Nate went home that night and discovered that:

1) He didn’t know where his resume was.

2) Once he found it, he realized that it had not been updated with his most recent position (which he had been in for 5 years).

3) The rest of the resume would need to be drastically reworked. 

We spent two days reworking my husband’s resume.  Fortunately, the hiring manager was still accepting resumes when Nate finally sent his in.  Nate was contacted a few days later for an interview and after 3 rounds of interviews, he got the job.

A few weeks ago, I decided that I wanted to move up within my company but discovered that the current team that I was working on was not going to provide the opportunity for that to happen.  I made an appointment to meet with my Human Resources Manager, Chuck, to discuss career options.  During our discussion, Chuck mentioned an open position that was exactly what I was looking for.  Chuck asked me to go back to my cube and immediately apply for the position.  I told him that I didn’t have my current resume with me but I could do it when I got home that evening.  Chuck told me that he needed to get my application in that very day since they were at the very end of the hiring process for the position.  He ended up using the resume that I had used when I applied for my current role. The following day, I interviewed for the position and the day after that, I was offered the job.

My husband, Nate, hadn’t been looking for a new position but was presented with an opportunity that he couldn’t ignore.  He wasn’t prepared and lost valuable time trying to get his resume in order so that he could pursue the golden opportunity before him.  He knew that he should keep his resume updated but hadn’t made it a priority since he hadn’t been actively searching for a new job.  On the contrary, I was actively seeking a new opportunity and had an updated resume ready to go.  However, I did not have it easily accessible at the moment it was requested of me so an older, outdated version had to be used.  In both our situations, the hiring process moved extremely fast.  For my husband, the elapsed time from learning about the job to receiving an offer was 10 days.  For me, it was 2 days.  Whether or not you are looking for a new and exciting job opportunity, make sure you are prepared so that when opportunity knocks, you are ready.

·       Is your resume ready to go?  Are you sure?

·       Do you keep an updated electronic version of your resume at work that you could access if you were asked to do so immediately? 

·       Do you keep paper versions of your resume on hand? If so, do you ever distribute them? 

·       Have you ever been presented with an unexpected opportunity where you needed to send out a resume within a short period of time?  If so, were you prepared?

·       What tips or advice do you have regarding this issue?

Barrie Berquist is a Category Development Manager at Acosta Sales and Marketing.  She has been a member of the MN AMA since 2007 and is a member of the MarCom Committee where she serves as the Career Insider Blog Project Manager.  She can be reached at barrieberquist@yahoo.com.  You can follow Barrie on Twitter @BEBERQUIST. 

Creativity or Desperation: It’s in the Eye of the Beholder

By Barrie Berquist

With the recession still looming, jobs are still scarce and job candidates are almost as numerous as mosquitoes in Minnesota. It is not uncommon for several hundred people to apply for 1 opening at a particular company. With so many applicants, recruiters rely heavily on computers to help sift through the applications and make the first cuts. If your application does make it in front of a human, it usually gets only a few seconds of attention before either being tossed into the pile for further consideration or the pile to be recycled.

Some candidates are altering their job search strategies to include using creative methods to grab the attention of the hiring managers. I heard of a candidate who mailed a shoe to a hiring manager with a note reading, “I just want to get my foot in the door at XYZ Company.” Another sent a coffee mug with a request to take the hiring manager out for a cup of coffee. I have heard of candidates posting video resumes on YouTube, placing commercials on cable TV, and standing on street corners holding signs advertising their skills.

As marketers, many see this as an opportunity to showcase creativity and “out-of-the-box” thinking. Others see it as a desperate attempt to stand out from the crowd. What do you think?

• Considering the current economic climate, are these types of efforts creative or desperate?
• Have you or anyone you know used creative methods such as these? If so, what did you (or someone else) do? What was the result?
• If you were a hiring manager, how would you respond to tactics such as these?

Share your thoughts. We’d love to hear them!

Barrie Berquist is a Retail Analyst on the ConAgra Foods Team at Acosta Sales and Marketing. She has been a member of the MN AMA since 2007 and is a member of the MarCom Committee where she serves as the Career Insider Blog Project Manager. She can be reached at barrieberquist@yahoo.com. You can follow Barrie on Twitter @BEBERQUIST.

Job-Seeking during “The Great Recession”

By Barrie Berquist

Career Insider is a quarterly newsletter and is one of many benefits to MN AMA members. Each month, a dedicated blog submission will feature the current job market, employment trends and professional training opportunities. This is the first blog post to kickoff the conversation. Join us!

As we all know, we are still in the midst of The Great Recession and although we hear that things seem to be getting better, it is still tough out there. Jobs are still hard to come by. If you didn’t lose your job during the past 2 years, chances are pretty good that you know someone who did. Unfortunately, I was one of the unlucky few who was laid off and spent 14 months searching for employment before landing my current position. I know first-hand the amount of time, energy and stress associated with job-seeking. I also know the joy and relief of landing a job in my desired field and the satisfaction of having work-related successes once again.

For those of you who are currently seeking employment (whether or not you are currently employed), I’m curious to know the following:
• What has worked?
• What has NOT worked?
• What various methods are you using (i.e. job boards, career fairs, recruiters, networking, volunteering, etc.) and what has been your “hit-rate” with each?
• What advice do you wish you would have received when beginning your job search?
• What advice would you like to give others?


Barrie Berquist is a Retail Analyst on the ConAgra Foods Team at Acosta Sales and Marketing. She has been a member of the MN AMA since 2007 and is a member of the MarCom Committee where she serves as the Career Insider Blog Project Manager. She can be reached at barrieberquist@yahoo.com.  You can follow Barrie on Twitter @BEBERQUIST.