A new way to approach your resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile

Hello there! Thanks for reading this newsletter. I share practical career advice about looking for a new job, entering a new industry, or coming back to work after a career pause. Topics include job search tips, personal branding, networking, LinkedIn tips, and building career confidence. Join the party!?

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Hi everyone,

Today I’ve got a tip to rethink the way you write your resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn.?

But first, may I share a brief story to kick off today’s message??

I have a business background, and I was a startup coach before I became a career coach.?

As a startup coach, I helped young businesses double their sales, raise millions of dollars in funding, and appear on ABC’s Shark Tank. I also wrote the book Make, Sell, Repeat: The Ultimate Business Guide for Artists, Crafters, and Makers, based on my own experience as a creative entrepreneur.

The book led to my gig at Boston University teaching Career Development in the Arts, a position I still hold today. And I love talking about business and career development because the two are so intertwined.?

I see “career development” a lot like “business development.” Because there are many parallels between being a job seeker and being an entrepreneur.

?In the end, YOU ARE BOTH SELLING A PRODUCT TO A TARGET CUSTOMER. An entrepreneur sells products.?As a job seeker,?YOU are the product.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE TARGET CUSTOMER

ENTREPRENEURS have target customers - people who will buy their products?

JOB SEEKERS also have target customers - hiring managers (and recruiters)

When ENTREPRENEURS want to reach their target customers, they tailor their message to speak directly to their target customers’ problems, wants, and needs.?

Likewise, when JOB SEEKERS want to reach their target customers, they must tailor their message to speak directly to the hiring managers’ problems, wants, and needs.?

THE MOST IMPORTANT RADIO STATION IN THE WORLD: WII.FM

?? Let me take you back to the mid-2000s when I was a wee MBA student. In my first marketing class, I learned that smart business owners listen to the most important radio station in the world: WII.FM. (SPOILER: It’s not really a radio station, it’s a state of mind.)?

WII.FM stands for “What’s In It For Me?” That is, whenever you are selling something to your target customer, they’re thinking, “What’s in it for me?”

?Here’s the truth: Whether you are an ENTREPRENEUR selling a product or a JOB SEEKER looking to get hired, your target customers are always thinking, “So what? Why should I care? What’s in it for me?”?

It sounds harsh but it’s true. We do it all the time as consumers. We pick up a product, look at the label, read the reviews, and decide if this product will help us with our problem, want, or need.?

WE DON’T BUY PRODUCTS. WE BUY SOLUTIONS.?

Entrepreneurs know that target customers don’t necessarily care about the product itself, they care about what the product can do for them.?

This is a "features vs. benefits" issue. We generally don’t buy products because of the features, we buy products because of the benefits the features will provide.?

For example, which is more appealing to you: “This computer has 64GB of hard drive” or “This computer can store all of your documents, photos, and large files without affecting speed.”?

64GB is the "feature." Ok, so what? Why should I care? Oh, I can store everything in there and my computer will still be fast. That's the "benefit." Great. Sold.??

??In job search terms, a feature is a quality (or skill), but the benefit explains why that quality (or skill) is valuable to a hiring manager.?

Here’s why this is important - too often I see resumes, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles that are somehow filled with a lot of words but say a lot of nothing. People just go on and on talking about their background and skills. Which is all well and good, but you're just giving me the “features.”?

I want to hear about the “benefits” … Great, you’ve got all these talents and skills, but what can your talent and skills do for me, the hiring manager? What’s in it for me??

?And if you apply WII.FM to your job search, it completely changes how you approach your resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile.

CONNECT THE DOTS ("LA LA LA LA")

Did anyone else grow up watching Pee-wee’s Playhouse? Pee-wee had a “Connect the dots” segment where he sang, “Connect the dots, la la la la, connect the dots, la la la la,” and the dots would connect and become a simple image that Pee-wee would jump into and go on a little adventure.?

That’s exactly what you need to do with your resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile. You connect the dots between your background, skills, and experience to create a picture for the hiring manager. You want to paint a picture so clear and so exciting that a hiring manager just wants to jump right into it and call you in for an interview.?

??We talked about features vs. benefits. You can also think of it like show vs. tell.?

So it’s not enough to just talk?about your skills and experience. You have to show how those skills will directly benefit a future employer, based on the results you have achieved in the past. Connect the dots. Tell the story of your career so a hiring manager immediately understands what you offer and how it can help them.?

My newsletter next week will have more tips on how to do that, but here’s a preview of the four steps so you can start thinking about it now:

STEP 1: Understand the hiring manager’s perspective. Who are they and what do they want? What are their problems/wants/needs, based on the job description??

STEP 2: Review your skills - what is the company looking for and how can your skills/experience/background help? How can you share your experience in a way that will appeal to their needs??

STEP 3: Connect the dots - what are the company’s (and hiring manager’s) objectives and how can your background/experience/skills help them achieve those objectives? For example, “They are looking for someone who can communicate well with other stakeholders. I have done that before. How can I frame that in a way that benefits the hiring manager?”?

STEP 4: Keep it simple. Job seekers tend to have too much text and not enough substance. A hiring manager would prefer to see a few bullet points with every word relevant and tuned into WII.FM over long blocks of text which somehow don’t say much at all.?

Next week I’ll talk more about the four steps and how to incorporate them into your resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile.

In the meantime, if you’re working on your resume, cover letter, or LinkedIn profile, look at it through the lens of a hiring manager tuned into WII.FM and saying, “So what? Why should I care? What’s in it for me?”?

? Do you have too many features listed and not enough benefits??

? Are you telling instead of showing??

? Are you letting your resume “speak for itself” or are you clearly connecting the dots between your skills, accomplishments, and how a hiring manager can benefit from hiring you??

See you next week for Part 2 of WII.FM,

- Emily

PS: If you're having trouble connecting the dots between your skills and experience, please make a 30-minute appointment and we can talk about it.?