Career Planning

Get Professional Endorsements Before you Need Them

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We have talked about the importance of documenting your experience on your resume and through your cover letter. In addition to documenting your experience through achievements and metrics, another way to demonstrate your expertise and effectiveness is through third party endorsements. There are several ways to approach this:

  • Consider featuring a quotation from a recent performance evaluation or award recommendation on your resume. On a USAJOBS resume, you could call it a Supervisory Endorsement and put it in the Additional Information Section of USAJOBS. Be sure to identify where the quote came from (e.g., Recent Performance Evaluation) and identify the source, either by name or title. Here’s an example:

“Branch Chief Smith is keenly versed on all laws, regulations and policies relevant to the program. He is working diligently to transform the operational paradigm from solely security to a frontline/investigative methodology…and to retool training…He is an expert on the science that distinguishes DHS’s program from all others, particularly in the area of guarding against cross contamination.” 2016 Performance Review.

This concept also works on private sector resumes; if you are creating a private sector resume, you may want to feature the quotation in a text box or something similar.

  • Ask your LinkedIn Connections to prepare a Recommendation for you so when prospective employers look at your LinkedIn Profile, they will see your endorsements. Authentic, genuine Recommendations are powerful. Instead of sending out those presumptuous LinkedIn “Can You Endorse Me?” emails, select a handful of people in your network and write Recommendations for them, without asking for one in return. You will be surprised at how many people will reciprocate. You can also ask people if they would be willing to Recommend you and, if so, whether it would be helpful for you to do the first draft to get them started. If they take you up on your offer to do the first draft, make sure you let them know that they should feel free to edit what you have drafted. When drafting for someone, be specific and detailed. The reader should be able to tell exactly who it was written about. Quantify accomplishments (with percentages, numbers, and dollar amounts) as much as possible.
  • Select and prepare your references. References should be professional, not personal. You will want to select 3-5 individuals to be your preferred references. These individuals may be current or former managers or supervisors, co-workers, peers, or team members, current or former customers of the company, vendors or suppliers, and people you have supervised. The best references can talk about your day-to-day job performance — so choose someone who supervised you or someone who worked with you closely. Select someone who knows your work well. You want someone who has seen you in action and can speak to your abilities. It’s better to have someone who can speak to your skills and accomplishments than a “big name” on your list of professional references. If someone seems hesitant to serve as your reference, ask someone else.

Once you’ve decided who you would like to be your references, always contact these individuals and ask their permission to use them as a reference. Call your references directly (don’t just email them). Not all potential references will be able to provide this kind of stellar recommendation. But some of your references may be hesitant to say no to you directly if you ask.

So you can give them a way to let themselves off the hook, without turning you down directly. Instead of asking, “Will you be a reference for me?” Ask them, “Do you feel you know me well enough to serve as a reference for me?” Or ask, “Will you be a great reference for me? (If the answer is anything less than enthusiastic, you can collect their information, but not list them on your reference list. It’s perfectly fine to ask a reference to support you, but then not use them when applying to certain jobs, or not at all.) Verify each reference’s contact information, including the preferred phone numbers (cell, home, work) to list.

Do NOT ask your references to pre-prepare written recommendations for you; most employers do not value these. Instead, let your references know that they may be contacted over the phone or via email. Immediately send a letter or email thanking them for serving as a reference, and provide a current copy of your resume (or let them know you will be sending them a copy of your resume soon, if it is not yet completed).

Once someone has agreed to be a reference for you, prepare a references page that you can provide to a prospective when asked. Do not put a section on your resume that says, “References Available Upon Request.” This is old fashioned and considered self-evident. Instead, you should have a reference page in the same format, font style, and font size of your resume. If you are using USAJOBS, it is not necessary to fill out the reference section unless the job posting requires that you provide references. Your Reference Page will work for both private sector and federal resume searches.

Using third party endorsements is a great way to differentiate you from other applicants. Each of these approaches add value to your job search.

I know I could do the job…if only they’d give me a chance!

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I wish I had a dollar for every time a client made the above comment. While I have no doubt that the comment is true, we are currently in a buyer’s market—where hiring managers have lots of choices to make among candidates. While it is certainly possible for a hiring manager to pick someone based on their potential (especially for jobs above the entry level), in my view, it is unrealistic to expect hiring managers to do this. Let’s think about this for a moment…

Most job postings specify the criteria the hiring organization is looking for—whether through specialized experience and the occupational questionnaires in the federal government, or in a section in a private section posting that says something along the lines of, “The ideal candidate will have…” All applicants should carefully review the qualifications required. If the posting asks for 10 years of experience and you have 6, you are not likely well qualified. Or, if your experience is in a different area all together, while again, you may the basic qualifications (like a degree), you are not likely to have the specialized experience required.

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Be Sure To Document Temporary Federal Assignments

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It is not uncommon for federal employees to be detailed to a higher grade or different position and then want to use that detail or temporary assignment as creditable experience when applying for a new position or a promotion, but you must document it properly in order to include in your application.

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) assumes that employees gain experience by performing duties and responsibilities appropriate to their official position description, occupational series, and grade. If you want to be credited for experience outside your official position description, whether at a higher grade or in a different job series, your temporary work must be appropriately documented.

Such documentation could include a SF-52 or SF-50 that documents an official detail or assignment. It could also include a signed letter from the employee’s supervisor.

That letter must state the nature and length of the temporary assignment / detail, whether the duties performed were full- or part-time, and the percentage of time other duties were performed. The documentation should be included in an employee’s Official Personnel Folder (OPF).

Employees should submit the official documentation, along with their resume, when applying for positions where the temporary experience may be needed to support their application.

Start a Career Portfolio to Track your Achievements

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What is a Career Portfolio? In essence, a career portfolio is your personal record of achievements—specific examples of when you have demonstrated your knowledge, skills, and abilities; these can include work samples, copies of your annual self-assessments or accomplishment reports, your resume, professional bio, and references you may have with up-to-date contact information, and copies of your performance evaluations. Other things you may want to keep in your portfolio might be copies of certifications / licenses you have received, publications, award write-ups, a professional headshot, and assessments you have taken (Myers-Briggs Type Instrument, DiSC, etc.). And, if you are involved in volunteer or related activities, don’t forget to keep relevant information about those as well.

Why Should I Create a Career Portfolio?

Getting in the habit of collecting this information is important; this way, when updating your resume or preparing for an interview, you’ll have everything you need in one place. And, it will keep you from forgetting some of the important contributions you have made. Finally, your portfolio provides that actual proof of your achievements.

How Should I Maintain My Career Portfolio?

Depending upon your job, you may want to keep your portfolio in hard-copy and offer to share it in person. You may also want to consider whether you want to create a personal website; obviously, if you do this, many people will have access to your information so be sure to remove Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and of course, nothing proprietary or classified should be posted. Another idea is to maintain your portfolio using Dropbox or Google Drive. Using these tools will allow you to control access to your information.

LinkedIn is another way to share carefully curated parts of your portfolio. The more you use LinkedIn, the more likely you are to come up in the site’s algorithms. And if you are pursuing private sector opportunities, LinkedIn is essential. It is a professional way to establish an online presence, create your brand, and establish yourself as an expert. Again, be sure scrub your documents of any PII or other inappropriate information before posting.

Updating Your Career Portfolio

Your career portfolio should not be a “one and done;” instead, you want to keep your portfolio up-to-date, weed out the old and no longer relevant, and focus on those items that will help you further your career. Only publicly share that information that is relevant and supports your career goals.

When applying for a federal job, think like a hiring manager

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Federal government hiring is based on hiring the best qualified, which makes it difficult to justify hiring people without all of the qualifications required and/or those whose experience is quite dated. For a successful job search, you need to be strategic about what you apply for. Do not waste your time applying for “everything;” instead, focus your efforts on those opportunities where you are a perfect (or nearly perfect) match for the stated criteria.

I wish I had a dollar for every time a client who complained: “If only they gave me a chance, I could prove I can do the job!” While I have no doubt that the comment is true, we are currently in a buyer’s market—where hiring managers have lots of choices to make among candidates. While it is certainly possible for a hiring manager to pick someone based on their potential (especially for jobs above the entry level), in my view, it is unrealistic to expect hiring managers to do this. Let’s think about this for a moment…

Most job postings specify the criteria the hiring organization is looking for—whether through specialized experience and the occupational questionnaires in the federal government, or in a section in a private section posting that says something along the lines of, “The ideal candidate will have…” All applicants should carefully review the qualifications required. If the posting asks for 10 years of experience and you have 6, you are not likely well qualified. Or, if your experience is in a different area all together, while again, you may the basic qualifications (like a degree), you are not likely to have the specialized experience required.

In most job sectors, organizations receive hundreds, if not thousands of applications. The first screen is of those who do not meet even most the basic qualifications (like the 10 years’ experience mentioned above). The next screen is for those who are a match for all of the criteria. While you may match half the criteria desired, from a hiring manager’s perspective, why should they pick YOU, when they can have someone who (at least on paper) is a 100% match? And from a fairness perspective, if they considered your application with only half the qualifications, they should also consider everyone else who has only half the qualifications…

A related question I receive is along the lines of, “I did exactly what they’re looking for 15 [or 20 or more] years ago, how come I’m not been called for an interview?” While in this circumstance you may have all of the qualifications, your experience is dated. And again, from a hiring manager’s perspective, would you want to talk to someone who is doing the job now, or someone who hasn’t done it in 15 or more years? Think like a hiring manager next time you apply for a federal job and increase your chances for an interview!

Develop a Social Media Plan for your Career, Part 1

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Our last two articles were about auditing your existing social media.

This article is focused on developing your online presence and social media plan so that it helps your chances of employment. This includes online reputation management, privacy settings, and using your social media accounts (LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter) to assist in your job search.

STEP ONE: Delete any accounts you’ve not going to commit to keeping up.

This might be a hard one for you! What? Delete a social media account? (Or more than one?) Yes. Is your blog a ghost town, populated with intermittent posts from a year ago? Do you have 10 Twitter followers and 15 tweets? (Did you only set up your Twitter account because someone told you that you need one?) Do you still have a Myspace account, but the last time you were on it, NSYNC was still together?

When it comes to your job search, it’s better not to have dormant accounts. Cast-off accounts make it look like you’re not committed. It’s better to have one or two active platforms you’re involved with than 5-6 platforms with content you don’t keep up with regularly.

Can’t bear the thought of permanently deleting your stuff? Check and see if you can temporarily deactivate your account. If that’s an option, you can do that instead of deleting the account entirely, at least while you’re searching for a new job.

Also, make sure you’ve deleted any inappropriate content, if you haven’t already. Remember, once something is posted on the Internet, it can potentially exist forever. However, deleting the content does make it harder for a prospective employer to find.

STEP TWO: Check your privacy settings on any accounts you’re keeping. Be mindful about what you’re doing.

First, make a list of the social media platforms you’re involved in. (There should be fewer of them, now that you’ve completed Step One!) Next, review the privacy settings for each platform. Not sure how to check the privacy settings? The easiest way is to Google “privacy settings + (social media platform).” For example, a search for Facebook privacy settings will take you to this help page: https://www.facebook.com/help/325807937506242/

You can also use Facebook’s “View As” feature to see how your profile appears to others. To use this feature, make sure you’re logged into your Facebook account. Then go to your profile and click .

Click “View as” in the dropdown menu. You’ll be able to see what your profile looks like to the general public. At the top of the page, just under the Facebook search box, if you choose “View as Specific Person,” you can enter an individual’s name, and Facebook will show you what your profile looks like to that person, based on your privacy settings. (You must be friends with the person to use this feature.)

Check the privacy settings for each of the social media platforms you’re using.

STEP THREE: Make sure your LinkedIn profile is complete.

LinkedIn is likely your most visible employment-related social media profile, so spend some time working to make sure it is up-to-date. The first thing to do is to make sure your LinkedIn profile is “complete” by LinkedIn’s standards.

To be considered “complete” by LinkedIn’s standards, you need these items in your LinkedIn profile:
-Your industry and location
-An up-to-date current position (with a description)
-Two past positions
-Your education
-At least three skills
-A profile photo
-At least 50 connections

Profiles that meet all of these criteria are 40 times more likely to “receive opportunities,” according to LinkedIn.

Once your profile is “complete,” there are still several other tasks to complete on LinkedIn to make yourself more “findable” by prospective employers and recruiters.

Review the content of your LinkedIn profile. Make sure the content of your LinkedIn profile matches up with the information on your résumé. However, there is one important distinction between your résumé and LinkedIn profile: You can create multiple, customized versions of your résumé to target different types of positions. However, you can only have one LinkedIn profile. So make sure your Headline and Summary represent you for the type of position you’re seeking.

If you haven’t already, set up your personalized URL for your LinkedIn profile.

By default, LinkedIn assigns you a URL with random numbers and letters. For branding purposes, you will want to customize the link.

You should always create a unique URL. An easy-to-read website address increases the chance of people being able to remember and find you on LinkedIn. You can also promote your custom signature link on your blog, Facebook page, and through email signatures.

You can use between 5-30 letters or numbers to build your custom URL. (You cannot use spaces, symbols, or special characters in your profile URL.) It may seem obvious, but make sure you use your name in your profile URL. If you have a common name, you may not be able to use just your name, so consider including a keyword related to your job or industry — for example, “BobSmithAccounting.”

Customize your URL on the “Edit Your Public Profile” page, underneath the “Customize Your Public Profile” section.

Click the “Create your custom URL” link.

All LinkedIn website addresses begin with http://www.linkedin.com/in

*Choose a professional photo for your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn profiles with pictures attract 50-70 percent more inquires than profiles without a photo.

Here are some tips for your profile photo:
• Choose an up-to-date photo. Your profile photo should be a recent photo of you — within the last 12-18 months.
• At a minimum, your photo should include your head and shoulders, not just a close-up of your face. You may also consider using a full body shot of you sitting or standing.
• Make sure you are the only person in your photo. Don’t crop other people out of your photo.
• Be sure to look at the background in the photo to make sure there is nothing distracting in it.
• If you have multiple photos to choose from, you can use the PhotoFeeler website (https://www.photofeeler.com/) to find the most effective profile photo.

Ensure your contact information is available on the profile.

Make it easy for a prospective employer to connect with you. Include your phone number(s), email addresses, and other contact information in the “Advice for Contacting” section.

Click “Edit Profile” from the “Profile” menu, and it’s one of the sections you can add.

Depending on your privacy settings, this information can be visible to the public, so adjust your settings accordingly.

Remember, people who aren’t connected to you can’t email you, so including your contact information here can help your job search by giving them a way to reach you outside of LinkedIn. (You should also consider including a home or cell number in this section.)

Other things to include on your LinkedIn profile:
-Make sure you’ve included all the languages you speak.
-Include all the courses you’ve taken.
-Detail the key projects you’ve worked on (using the Project section).

Also, build up the number of Recommendations you have on your profile. Ideally, you want 1-2 Recommendations for every 100 contacts. Because the date the Recommendation was received will show up on your profile, aim to build your Recommendations slowly, over time. The best way to receive Recommendations is to give them. Commit to writing one Recommendation for people you’re connected to at least once a month.

Finally, one of the most important things you can do is to continue to build your network of connections. While LinkedIn only requires 50 connections for your profile to be “complete,” you need to grow your network beyond this. You should have a minimum of 100 connections. If you’re in an active job search, aim for making 10-25 new connections each month. The more connections you have, the better LinkedIn will work for you.