Get Written References

Before you leave a job, always ask your supervisors for written references. You can add your letters of reference to your career portfolio, and they may come in handy during your job search. You can even add letter excerpts to your resume to show how much your previous employers valued your performance.

Obey the Rule of Three

Have three points to drive home and an anecdote to support each one. If you’re applying for a sales position, maybe the points are: “I’ve sold before,” “I have great contacts,” and “I understand this business.” “This may seem obvious,” says the former McKinsey recruiter, “but you’d be surprised how many people come in with zero structure to what they’re saying. If you’ve thought ahead … [ Read more ]

Blind Ads

Some ads are “blind”–the employer’s name isn’t given. To find out what company is behind a blind ad, copy and paste the firm’s description from the ad into a search engine, such as Google, suggests Randy Cyr, a vice president in the Wellesley, Mass., office of Gilbert Tweed Associates Inc., a New York-based recruiter. (At most search engines, you can put quotation marks around a … [ Read more ]