The stories (we’ve all heard them) range from having to fill out pages of redundant application forms to being overtly disrespected to being offered ridiculously lowball salaries to being completely ignored by a company, even after multiple interview rounds.

In fairness, of course, the more negative stories tend to get circulated a LOT more than the positive ones and you can’t paint every employer with this same broad brush.  There are unquestionably many employers out there who continue to maintain a wonderfully civilized hiring process, treating candidates with courtesy (even if they don’t hire them) and practicing the golden rule at every step along the way.

But as the job market continues to improve (see the latest economic report here) it will be interesting to see if the power differential shifts a bit — and if candidates are able to recapture some of the leverage they’ve lost during recent years.  In fact, I’ve recently come across several articles discussing this notion and proposing some specific ways in which a candidate might push back and demand fair treatment from organizations.

One recent article, posted by Nick Corcodilos in his Ask the Headhunter blog, contemplates the idea of whether employers should actually compensate job applicants for the time they spend interviewing.  Or at least reimburse them for any of their time that gets wasted when the company drags their feet, reschedules interviews at the last minute, and/or doesn’t follow through on their promises.  Wouldn’t that be a turn of events?  Give a quick read to the piece here and see what you think.  I personally don’t think this day will ever come, but it’s an interesting notion to contemplate, regardless.

Along those same lines, the above article also references a “No-Nonsense Interview Agreement” you’ll find here that was written by Conrado Hinojosa, suggesting a specific contract framework that a potential applicant might ask an employer to uphold, prior to moving forward with hiring discussions.  Again, I have to believe that this idea Mr. Hinojosa is proposing is a symbolic one, not a serious suggestion, but it’s still fun to entertain the idea of job hunters regaining this much power in the process.

Lastly, I also came across another intriguing piece here in the terrific Ask the Manager blog, by Alison Green, that discusses the question of whether job applicants should ask for references from their prospective managers — basically along the lines of “Now that you’ve checked MY references and decided I’m good enough to work for you, I’d like some specific proof that you’re a good manager and somebody I’d enjoy working for, in return.”  Personally, I’ve never heard of an interview candidate doing this, at least in the direct manner suggested.  And from my perspective, a candidate would have to have a massive amount of gumption to pull this off, since they’d risk alienating the person across the desk and losing the offer.  But read Alison’s thoughts on the subject in the article and see what you think.

(which reminds me, Alison also published a related article here a few years ago, too, discussing whether it was time for a “Job Hunters Bill of Rights” to be created; also a thought-provoking read on the subject of candidate treatment during the hiring process)

At any rate, just wanted to share some quick thoughts on this topic that seems to be heating up, in parallel with market conditions in general.  So for those of you out there who have been feeling a bit disenfranchised lately, who knows?  Perhaps some relief is on the way…

As unemployment rates remain historically high, and many Americans continue to feel the pain of not receiving a paycheck, a growing chorus of experts are starting to suggest that people need to think more pragmatically about their career options and how they can make a sustainable living — versus holding out for jobs directly in line with their personal interests.

Part of this may simply be a predictable backlash to the overutilization of the word “passion” itself.  In fact, if you’re a fan of satire and/or British humor, I highly encourage you to watch the short video here from comedian David Mitchell.  It’s one of the funniest things I’ve seen in a while and pokes fun at how the word passion has become a virtual caricature of itself.

As for some other voices discussing the role that passion plays in the modern employment scene, try checking out the articles you’ll find here and here.

In the first piece, published in U.S. News & World report, business expert Alison Green emphasizes that “young people, in particular, are often told that they should figure out what career to pursue by building their work around whatever they’re passionate about.  The problem is, it’s terrible advice.”  She goes on to provide an analysis of why she feels this is the case.  If you press on to review some of the hundreds of comments her article inspired, you’ll see a highly polarized response, with many comments praising her bold straight talk on this issue — and others castigating her for providing “shallow advice” or for condemning us all to live in a “boring world” or expressing thoughts like “This article saddens me. It seems to encourage people to settle. I understand the practicality of making a living and support one’s self or a family, but wouldn’t it be nice to make that living doing something that inspires you?”

The second article above, while not quite as broad in scope, explores the theory that pursuing a career doing what you love could actually end up taking all the fun out of what was once an enjoyable activity.  While I’m not sure such developments are inevitable in every situation, I’ve certainly heard many stories where this is the case.  For example, I’ve worked with a number of clients in professions such as teaching, non-profits, counseling, healthcare, and the priesthood who have said that there’s nothing they enjoy more in life than helping other people, but that they’re now suffering from what they call “compassion fatigue” as a result of having to listen constantly to other peoples’ problems, day in and day out.  A similar theme is explored within the best-selling book The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber.  In this classic business text, Mr. Gerber warns would-be entrepreneurs against launching business ventures that relate directly to their personal interests — since this (he argues) will prevent them from managing the business objectively, and wisely, and again could have the byproduct of turning a favorite hobby into a tiresome chore.

Where do I stand on the “passion” debate?  As with most career issues, you’ll find me courageously straddling the fence.  I definitely think there’s some truth on both sides of the argument, as I’ve written about in the past articles you’ll find here and here.  While I think it’s overstating things to suggest that passion is an irrelevant consideration in picking a career path, or to assume everybody will struggle with boundary issues in this regard, I DO tend to agree this single element is played up way too much in conventional career literature.  We don’t live in a perfect world.  Unless you’re an unrepentent idealist, there are many more variables one should consider in picking a career direction than passion alone.  And yes, some of these factors are of a pretty practical, uninspiring nature — such as income potential, job security, and the availability of health benefits.

Regardless, the above articles should give you a good grounding on this increasingly important career issue and where different camps, and experts, stand on it.  As always, feel free to chime in and comment if you have any strong (dare I say passionate?) feelings on the matter!

At this event, I was chatting with around 30 or so job seekers about the topic of resume “best practices” and asking them, many of whom are former hiring managers, to share their particular preferences in terms of what they liked (or didn’t like) to see on a candidate’s resume presentation.  What became instantly clear was that job hunters today can abandon any hope of ever putting together a resume that will universally please everyone.

While we all agreed on a few general guidelines, like guarding against typos and including all the keywords pertinent to one’s field, virtually everything else in terms of resume development — including format, length, tone, punctuation style and such — turned out to be highly subjective in nature, with very little consensus on these issues displayed around the room.  Some people really like short resumes.  Some like long, dense ones packed with information.  Some hiring managers enjoy reading about a person’s hobbies and outside interests.  Others feel such things are unprofessional.  Certain recruiters will tell you that you should explictly explain any gaps in your work history and the reasons you left each of your past organizations.  But ask the next so-called expert, and they’ll tell you this merely draws attention to these issues and positions you as a potential job hopper.

Perhaps most interesting of all was when I pulled up two samples of professionally-written resumes, one that a former client paid a service $150 to have written and another that cost an individual (gulp) $2,500 to have assembled!  Without telling the people at my event which one was which, the entire room voted for resume #1 (the cheap one) as the document they liked best.  So even if you outsource the development of your piece, it seems you can’t even really measure effectiveness from a “you get what you pay for” standpoint!

So what is one to do?  How do you know when your resume is “good enough” and it’s time to move on to all the other essential steps of the job hunting process?

The moment of truth I’ve learned to watch for doesn’t relate all that much to the feedback one gets from other people, but centers instead on the moment in time when a client reports — wait for it — that the resume they’ve put together pleases THEMSELVES!

To me, you, yourself, are the most important audience for your resume.  Since it’s seems bloody well impossible to achieve “universal acclaim” from those around you, and you’ll never know the specific personal preferences of the audience you’re targeting with your submissions, I’d suggest you focus on going to whatever amount of effort it takes to reach the point when YOU can say with confidence:

“You know what?  I’m pretty happy with this document — and feel it does a good job capturing my key career contributions, personal strengths, and professional capabilities.” 

Reach that moment in time and we’re in great shape — since you can then set the resume aside, lose the psychic baggage, and move on to the other parts of the process (e.g. lead generation) that are ultimately far more important to getting hired than the resume itself.

So despite what you may hear out there, don’t let somebody bully you into believing that there are a ton of black-and-white rules about what hiring managers and recruiters might — or might not — want to see in terms of a person’s resume presentation.  Just make sure you pass the agreed-upon basics (which I’ve described here) and then, from there, focus on developing a document that’s consistent with your own tastes and personality.  You’re going to be the most important audience you need to please, in the long run!

P.S.  Another frustrating-slash-comical example related to resume preparation?  One of my clients recently sat through a workshop related to getting hired at Boeing, where she was informed that it’s absolutely critical to make sure you have all the right keywords on your resume if you want to make it through the Boeing scanning system.  But just a few minutes later, the presenter said that if you have TOO many of the terms from the job advertisement listed on your piece, your resume will be flagged for suspected fraud and get booted out of the system!  What’s the magic line between having “too many” and “not enough” of the right keywords?  Unfortunately, the speaker wasn’t able to say.  How’s that for a catch-22?

In regard to this, I’ve recently had a few clients come visit me with their laptops in hand, giving me the chance to witness the “organizational systems” they were using with regard to their job search — particularly in terms of how they were storing their various resume and cover letter versions on their hard drive.  Frankly, I was appalled.  By and large, there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason around how they were naming and storing their documents, an oversight that can create all kinds of confusion over the course of a protracted job search.

So while there are different strokes for different folks, I suppose, let me throw out one idea for consideration that relates to naming your job search documents appropriately.  The simple system I’ve used for many years (which seems corroborated by a number of other articles I’ve read on the subject) works as follows.  You set up one folder on your hard drive for all the resumes you create throughout your job hunt, then another for all the cover letters you send out to specific employers.  Then, as you customize versions of these documents for different opportunities, you save them with a file name consisting of: 1) the date you sent the document out; 2) your name; 3) the word “resume” (or “cover letter”); 4) the job title/focus of the document; and 5) the name of the company to which you sent it.

Examples of this naming convention might be:

2013-04-19 Julie Fernandez Resume – Marketing Manager – Microsoft.doc
2013-05-11 Howard Leighton Resume – Accounting Supervisor – Expedia.doc
2013-06-16 Sally Baxter Cover Letter – Inside Sales Rep – Eddie Bauer.doc

While this is a fairly long naming format, I realize, it tends to accomplish several important objectives.  First, by including the date at the beginning, your documents will automatically stay sorted (in Windows or Mac) by the specific date in which you sent them out — which is normally the most useful way to keep track of things.  Secondly, you’ll be able to tell where each resume and cover letter was sent, at a glance, by reviewing the company name and job title that was targeted.  And lastly, by incorporating your name directly into the file title, you’ll be making the job of employers/recruiters much easier.  Most hiring managers report that they despise receiving attachments with file names like “Resume.com” that are highly ambiguous and not easily searchable, after the fact.

So that’s how I’d go about it, at least.   And my advice seems to be in line with what most other job search experts suggest, aside from the date part at the front, which is my own personal invention — and something I’ve found invaluable in keeping my own massive collection of documents in order.  Note, however, you have to start with the year first, otherwise a date like “04-05-13″ would come before “11-05-12″ when sorted alphabetically.

Is this approach for everybody?  Perhaps not.  But I thought I’d share it, just in case it might be useful to a few folks still struggling with this step of the search process.  Anybody else out there have some practical “job search organization” tips to pass along?

“Matt: Had a weird thing happen to me recently I wanted to pass along. I landed an interview with an HR person at a company I’ve had my eye on for a while. After the meeting, the HR person thanked me for coming in and assured me that I would get a second interview. A few days later I was called in again to meet with the VP of HR and the COO and both of those interviews went well. The company seems really focused on “cultural fit” and on providing excellent customer service, and I spoke to each of these issues during each session. Then, a week later I was invited back and interviewed with the CFO and the CMO, again with lots of warmth and well wishes. I cannot recall stumbling on a single question and all seemed to go well. Then I was invited back yet again to meet with the Founder/CEO and we had what I thought was a very warm conversation. Throughout the process, I diligently sent out thank-you notes after each meeting and consistently followed up with the HR manager who was coordinating things. Then, out of the blue, all communication seemed to break off. After five days with no response, I followed up with the HR manager, who apologized for being out of the office and stated that she would get right back to me. No answer. Four days later, I sent another email and received a very impersonal rejection notice back in response. What’s the deal with employers these days? Why do they seem to have such trouble communicating in a respectful, timely way with candidates?”

Employer ambivalence.  What’s behind it?  On average, I probably hear a dozen complaints like this one each week from job hunters who are exasperated by the lack of clear communication and follow-up by the organizations they’re targeting for employment.  And we’re not just talking about cases where somebody sends in a resume, superficially, and doesn’t hear something back.  We’re talking about situations like the one above where both parties invest hours and hours in the process of getting acquainted, and then suddenly the employer simply stops returning calls or responding to e-mail inquiries.

So what’s the deal?  Are the majority of hiring managers today just disorganized and absent-minded?  Are they callous, cruel individuals who have zero concern for the people seeking to join their organization?  Are the halls of corporate America filled by sadists who enjoy nothing more than getting a candidate’s hopes up and then letting him or her twist in the wind?

These explanations seem highly unlikely, to me.  Despite the fact that respectful treatment from employers seems to have almost almost the exception today, not the norm, I refuse to believe it’s due to outright malicous reasons — and truly hope we’re not just witnessing some unfortunate job market equivalent of the famous Stanford Prison Experiments.  And yet, whatever the reasons might be for companies not doing a better job of communicating with applicants, there’s no denying that the phenomenon is taking a toll on many out-of-work professionals who are already struggling with confidence issues — and who can be quickly plunged into depression or discouragement when an exciting opportunity suddenly devolves into a “black hole” of communication.

So for job hunters who have been consistently encountering this issue, I think it’s important to understand the reasons behind this type of behavior from employers, so that you can adapt to it — even if you can’t necessarily excuse it.  In my experience, the top reasons why a given employer might suddenly become unresponsive include:

• The HR department is understaffed and their representatives are simply swamped trying to fill a great many job openings, simultaneously
• A key person in the process has gone on vacation and the hiring process can’t continue until this individual weighs in or makes themselves available
• The company’s needs have suddenly changed, based on a market or customer development, and the opening has been temporarily put on hold, as a result
• The employer may be waiting to hear back a “yea” or “nay” from another candidate they’ve courted — or an internal team member interested in the job
• Or lastly, and perhaps the most likely scenario, filling the role in question is just simply not a high priority in the big scheme of things, compared to other pressing issues

All of these factors aside, I’ll admit, it seems to me that many HR departments could still do a better job of keeping candidates in the loop and apprising them of their status, even if the hiring process runs into a snag or a decision isn’t likely to be made for a while.  The silent treatment just isn’t an acceptable way of handling things.  Most job hunters, as mature adults, can deal with whatever update or news the HR department might need to share.  A total lapse of communication, however, is much tougher to swallow.  Not only is it extraordinarily impolite — but it might also create some untended blowback.  I’ve had several clients recently, in fact, turn down job offers and/or end their discussions with certain employers, proactively, based on their poor impressions of how the company conducts the hiring process.

Going forward, my hope is that all of this discourteous behavior is simply a consequence of the “great recession” and hopefully not the new normal” we can permanently expect, going forward.  As always, I’d welcome your thoughts on the issue — and you’ll find a related article on the subject here that was recently posted in the Seattle Times NWJobs section.

Guest Post: 10 Job Search Lessons for Graduating College Students
Author: Daniel Hallak, SPU Career Advisor & Founder, Next Step Career Consulting

Looking for a job is an interesting journey. The road is marked with highs and lows, unexpected twists and eventual rewards. For students who are graduating college, the search for that initial big job is the first taste of the challenges and rewards of professional life. Last year, I had the privilege of running a mega job search. In my role running career services for the graduate business programs at Seattle Pacific University, I was given the daunting task of finding jobs for a cohort of students in an 11-month accelerated graduate business program. The months of April through June were a whirlwind of activity as I tested all the strategies and techniques that I had taught to many student and recent graduates. The efforts were a success as 100% of the students landed employment within a month of graduation – with high wages too I might add. As the spring quarter is about to start, I wanted to share the lessons gleaned from last year so that you can pass them on to the student in your life who is about to graduate:

1)      What is your value?

A common concern that I hear from college student’s is they don’t bring any “real-world” skills or experience. The good news is that this is OK! At the end of the day, when a firm is hiring entry-level candidates, they are often looking for three things: interpersonal skills, attitude, and the willingness to learn. Even in a technical position, the employer realizes that the student is not the expert right out of school. They are hiring an entry-level candidate because they can work well with others and can communicate with customers, co-workers, and other relevant individuals. It may seem deceptively simple but people like to work with pleasant individuals – people with a positive, upbeat attitude. Time and again I have seen Eeyor lose to Poo Bear in the job market. Companies also want someone who is hungry. Is the student eager to learn? Is she teachable? Will the manager and team be able to groom him on the technical skills he needs and more importantly the business acumen to be successful? A joyful, willing attitude says, “I am fun to work with, I will be easy to manage and I will grow into a valuable asset for your company”.

2)      Timing is everything

For entry-level candidates, there are two major windows for land a job. Fall quarter and spring quarter. Of course, jobs are posted all year long (around 20%), however, in my experience the bulk of entry-level positions are posted in fall (about 20%) and spring (about 60%). While employers are not usually keen on hiring a student full-time while juggling daytime classes, they will hire students in fall with a May or June start date. The most competitive positions at large corporations, accounting firms, and large consulting firms are filled before Christmas with some spillover into January. Alas, if this window is missed, there is no reason for fear. April is when things start heating up again. Many times, after discovering the perfect job for one of my students I would have an excited conversation with a hiring manager only to be mutually disappointed when we both realized that the position needed to start in March and my students were not available till June. I learned to focus solely on relationship building (networking) from December till April and then switch into aggressive job search mode (yes, that is related to but different than networking – see the next tip).

3)      The phone works!

Recently, I realized that my phone actually takes old fashioned voice exchanges called “phone calls”. This novel concept has been incredible in terms of placing students in jobs. In a day when everyone and their grandmother’s dog applies online, the students with the gumption to pick up the phone and call a manager (it is easy to find their name on LinkedIn and phone number with Google) have more success and stand out. Despite the fact that the majority of correspondence happens via email, I noticed that the response rate to my emails doubled or tripled when accompanied by a voicemail. Of course, reaching the hiring manager directly was also fruitful and usually led to immediate interviews being setup for my students. Picking up the phone is scary – at least for the first 3-5 times. After that, it actually became sort of fun. At the end of the day the fear of picking up the phone can translate to mediocre job opportunities.

4)      Try a broadcast email

After Matt convinced me that a broadcast email was a wonderful, one-time job search tool, I couldn’t wait to try it with my students. Each one crafted a careful message with Matt’s coaching and sent it to their entire networks. The results were awesome! One of my students even received around 60 responses including encouraging words and job leads. To learn more about broadcast emails, read Matt’s article here.

5)      Expect a lot of interviews

The job market is competitive and I knew that my students would need to interview extensively to land jobs. I expected a 5:1 interview to offer ratio for the students based on my experience in recruiting, however, even though they were highly prepared it turned out that each student had an average of eight interviews for each offer. Some students landed an offer after only two interviews and some didn’t obtain a job till as many as 20 interviews. If your student doesn’t land an offer on the first interview, don’t worry. Be patient. A recruiter I know says “never count a new hire till the butt is in the seat”. Job hunting is a massive roller coaster ride. It goes up and down and you might feel like you want to throw up. In the end you just need to hold on.

6)      The job description lies

No matter how well written a job description is, it lies. No document can include every detail about a position. Every job description has a back story. Successful students use their network to learn about a company, a manager, and a position. When students land an interview, they NEED to ask intelligent questions based on their research (assuming they did some) to go deeper than the job description. This is where a good network and a positive, upbeat attitude come in handy. Several of my students landed jobs that “required” 5 years of experience. For grads fresh out of school, they were thrilled. The reality is that personal networks can open doors that appear out of reach and a student can always compete for a position that seems somewhat unattainable. That said, it is the students who use all their resources, dress professionally, network like crazy, and ask really intelligent questions based on solid research that land those jobs.

7)      Don’t be afraid of “contract” positions

Increasingly, the landscape of the workforce is shifting to more contract and temporary workers. Despite this, hordes of students shy away from the instability of temporary contract employment. After college I landed an awesome one-year contract in recruiting at Microsoft that taught me a great deal about the business world and myself. Taking a contract position is sometimes the best way to get a foot in the door at a large firm and it adds tremendous leverage to a resume for the future. Six years later I still get calls for gigs based on that opportunity. A smart student will leverage contract work by timing their job search in such a way that they plan to contact every staffing agency in town three weeks before their personal deadline. They try to land a full-time, “permanent” role first and then switch gears if they still have nothing in hand.

8)      Keep an open mind

Students today have been infiltrated with the philosophy of following their passions. Trust me – there is nothing wrong with the joy of fully using your skills and gifts – I totally dig my job. However, RARELY does this happen in the first role out of school (or grad school if a student went straight through from their undergraduate degree). I encourage students to pursue passions, but to also realize that their first job is just an entry-point into a 40-50 year career. No one will be locked into that same cubicle for life and there will be many exciting opportunities ahead. I have witnessed students acting ambivalent toward an incredible opportunity because they can’t see themselves in the same role in ten years. This unfounded fear can lose an awesome developmental opportunity. One young woman I worked with wasn’t sure about the company she had an offer from but after accepting the position she ended up loving it and realizing that it was an incredible fit. Finding the right company and the right boss is much more important than finding the right position. Dive in!

9)      You CAN negotiate… just be careful

Few things are as scary as negotiating your salary for the first time (or anytime). Despite a tight job market, I have been amazed and please to see that entry-level candidates can negotiate their job offer. I have seen students increase their salary from $3-5k REGULARLY in addition to negotiating a start date or a desired weekly schedule. That said, be cautious. While it is totally possible to gain a high salary, it is also equally possible that nothing will change in the offer. Ironically, I have found that medium and smaller organizations are more flexible with their job offers than larger firms. In the end, if a student approaches the negotiating processs professionally, the worst they hear is “no” and they won’t lose any respect. Hey, it might net another grand or two!

10)   Maintain your connections

Landing that first job is a huge relief. Finally, no more job searching for the rest of my life! Just kidding. The reality is that this is one of perhaps a dozen job searches that students have ahead of them in their careers. I emphasize that students make efforts to follow-up with professors, friends, and professionals who helped them in their search. One student of mine was offered a job six months after she initially interviewed! By this time she had landed a sweet gig but now she has another open door for the future.

Daniel is an expert in job searching, career counseling, and résumé writing for young professionals. Having worked in recruiting at Microsoft and in career advising through several colleges and universities, he practices everything he preaches as he models intentional career management and personal branding. Currently he is the Professional Development Specialist for an innovative 11-month Master’s degree in Management and Social/Sustainable Business that transforms liberal arts graduates into highly polished young professionals. Last year, by building relationships with hundreds of recruiters and hiring managers he placed 100% of his students in jobs (good ones!) within three weeks of graduation. In addition to his role at SPU, Daniel has coached hundreds of students, alumni, and seasoned professionals at local universities and through his firm, Next Step Career Consulting. He is working on his Ph.D. in Industrial / Organizational Psychology at Seattle Pacific University where he previously earned his Master’s degree.

Like most questions related to the modern employment scene, you’ll find passionate arguments on both sides.  For example, within 15 seconds of poking around on Google, I was able to turn up the article here where an expert  advises that cover letters continue to be a critically important part of finding work — and then another article, here, citing the exact opposite opinion from a veteran recruiter.  Keep searching, and you’ll find dozens of additional articles straddling the fence (such as the ones here, here, and here) and suggesting that the truth of the matter, like most things in life, lies somewhere in the middle.

My own opinion on the subject?  In general, I believe job candidates should still submit a cover letter any time they apply to a job, unless a) the job advertisement expressly indicates otherwise; or b) you’re applying through a personal friend where such a letter would be erroneous or unnecessary.  Done properly, including a cover letter with any job application can only help your chances, especially if the hiring manager in question is one of the “quiet minority” who continue to highly value such submissions.

At the same time, however, you don’t want to go crazy and spend hours on this step of the process.  In fact, I’d advise against spending more than 10-15 minutes, on average, working on any individual letter.  Given that a great many employers surveyed indicate that they DON’T bother reading cover letters anymore, you don’t want to be channeling huge chunks of time into this aspect of your search, knowing that the “masterpiece” you spent the whole morning crafting might not even see the light of day!

Why do so many employers apparently ignore cover letters these days?  They claim that they simply don’t have the time, don’t want to deal with the extra attachments, or that such letters rarely add value, given that most job hunters merely end up spouting worthless generalities or rehashing all the exact same information that’s already on their resume.

So let’s give these readers a break.  Or better yet, wake them up a bit.  In the case of most hiring situations, I’d encourage you to take a “less is more” approach and draft a much shorter letter than you’re probably used to submitting, perhaps only 2-3 quick paragraphs in length, centered around one extremely thoughtful, relevant, and/or interesting point you want to share regarding the job lead or organization in question.

For example, as opposed to just dumping in a laundry list of your qualifications or gushing about how this opportunity is your “dream job” or a “perfect fit” with your credentials, get more creative.  Zig while others zag.  Set yourself apart with a pithy statement about the company’s business model, their reputation, a relevant project you’ve completed, or an observation about their job requirements that demonstrates you really know your stuff.

Perhaps something like:

“While my enclosed resume will walk you through the bulk of my qualifications, and how they stack up to your requirements, what really caught my eye about your advertisement was the emphasis you placed on finding somebody with an entrepreneurial mindset.  As my references will attest, I’ve been a self-starter my entire career and couldn’t agree more that this quality is essential to success in today’s workplace.  Nothing drags a project down faster, in my experience, than a team member who is complacent, can’t keep up, and/or tends to require a massive amount of handholding.  So in terms of the ‘fit’ issue with your organization, I can assure you that this item, in particular, really struck a chord with me.”

Worthy of Shakespeare?  By no means.  And this would just be the “guts” of such a note — you’d still want to start the letter with a short paragraph mentioning the job you’re applying for and close it with a paragraph thanking them for the time.  But at least the middle part of your message would have a spark of personality to it, show some reading comprehension skills, and stand out from a stack of 50 other generic documents that all play things totally safe!

Those are my thoughts, at least.  You’ll find even more advice here, if interested…

The problem?  The emperor, as the old saying goes, never had any clothes. As numerous career bloggers and consumer watchdogs have pointed out, TheLadders merely appeared to be “scraping” the same job postings off the web that any savvy individual could easily find for free, via sites like Indeed and SimplyHired — not to mention the fact that there seemed to be little or no quality control taking place to ensure the jobs provided were at the $100K+ level.

And yet, this was the site’s primary value proposition, and the rationale they repeatedly offered for charging hefty subscription fees each month.

Given all this, I was rather pleased to recently learn that the long arm of the law may finally be catching up with the world’s most notorious fee-based employment site.  Thanks in part to the tireless efforts of Nick Corcodilos, author of the Ask the Headhunter blog, The Ladders is now facing a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District court where it will (I hope) be held to account for picking the pockets of thousands of anxious and unwary job hunters over the years.

I’d encourage you to read Nick’s article here for further details about this groundbreaking lawsuit — and again, to keep this cautionary tale in mind as an example of why it’s important to keep your guard up around any site making extravagant claims related to  job hunting success.  At the very least, make sure to conduct a bit of due diligence on Google before signing up for any service, searching on the company’s name along with some additional keywords like “review” or “scam” to see if any red flags turn up.

Again, kudos to Nick for being such a crusader on this issue — and if you’re interested in reviewing some of the historical discussion leading up to this lawsuit, you’ll find several earlier articles on the subject here, here, and here.

Up to this point, I’ve come up with five pieces of advice I feel pretty comfortable with — and passionate about sharing — and I have a number of ideas I’m milling around in my head to see if I think they’d resonate with the type of audience in question.  But if any of you have worked closely with people in this demographic, or can catapult yourself back to the early days of your own career and envision things you’d wish YOU’D known when you were just starting out, I’d certainly love to hear your comments/ideas!

Here are some thoughts I’ve cobbed together thus far:

1)  Drop the entitlement attitude and be willing to pay your dues.  In my experience, and that of many hiring managers I’ve chatted with, twentysomethings can frequently come across as having unrealistic unexpectations about their marketability, titles, and earning potential when just starting out.  In fact, I’ve met a number of new graduates who seem to expect to slide right into the corner office, their very first year on the job, versus fetching coffee or doing whatever needs to be done to get ahead in the organization.  Until Gen Y rules the world, however, this attitude is going to continue to be the bane of many early-career professionals.  While a certain amount of confidence is admirable, most younger candidates will get farther, faster if they drop the attitude and show a willingness to bust their butt for their next potential employer. Language like “I’m willing to pay my dues” or ” I just need a chance to prove myself” tends to strike a major happy chord with many managers over the age of 40.  After all, most of us bet on ourselves in this fashion, back in the day — and this sweat equity ended up paying off with opportunities to quickly advance!

2)  Milk your education for all it’s worth.  If you went to college, you (or your parents) likely spent a LOT of money on your education these past few years.  Make sure you maximize this investment during the course of your job search.  Don’t short-change yourself by simply listing your degree in one-line fashion.  Deck your education section out fully and mention any honors, activities, special projects, or specific courses/classwork you completed that might be relevant to your future target field.  What’s more, go the extra mile by engaging in a concentrated course of self-study related to the jobs you’re trying to get — listing some of the books, blogs, professional associations, and other learning sources you’re consulting regularly to “get smart” on your desired occupation in a hurry.  Oh yeah.  And the career center and/or alumni office of your alma mater?  Leverage the heck out of it to build some bridges into the working world.  Such resources seem to be chronically underutilized.

3)  Skew your efforts toward organizations that hire young professionals.   Simple data mining makes it easy to find companies that routinely hire younger candidates with little or no experience.  Search LinkedIn for people with the title “campus recruiter” in their profile.  Keep your eyes peeled for organizations that host campus job fairs or sponsor promotional events aimed at student populations.  Pay attention (duh) to the places where lots of your classmates get hired.  And scan job sites like SimplyHired.com and Indeed.com for relevant keyword/phrases: e.g. new graduates, entry-level, no experience, willing to train, management training program, and any other terms that might signal an organization willing to hire somebody without a ton of hands-on experience.

4)  Ditch Facebook; learn LinkedIn.  Okay, sure, Facebook can definitely play a role in effective networking and many companies are starting to use the site more in more in a professional capacity.  But at the end of the day, LinkedIn is still light-years ahead in terms of being a viable job-finding resource.  So if you (or your college-age child) still hasn’t learned the difference between these two social media sites, and isn’t leveraging LinkedIn to engender referrals to the right kinds of people around town, this could be a huge area for improvement.  No matter what field a young professional might be seeking to enter, you’ll find thousands of relevant recruiters, executives, and hiring managers on LinkedIn who might be a mere one or two “warm” relationships away — and ripe for referral possibilities.

5)  Do lots of informational interviewing; just don’t call it that!  Others may disagree with me on this one, but after seeing decade after decade of new graduates go through the motions of asking for “informational interviews” with companies — without really following through or having a clear agenda — I think the phrase itself has lost its luster.  Not to mention the fact that the term was invented well before we had the ability to jump on a company’s website and absorb as much “information” as we could ever possibly want about an organization, their products, and how they do business.  So while doing serious career research is still an important part of success for the ambitious new graduate, and a way to acquire invaluable advice from people already established in a given field, don’t go about it lightly.  Do your homework first, formulate some intelligent questions, and then (and only then) approach some appropriate industry veterans to ask for “career advice” and help validating some “career research” you’ve conducted.  Show a little spunk, conduct the meeting successfully, and who knows?  That positive impression might get you on the short list for a potential new role or lead to the perfect job referral!

But the times, they are a-changing.  Over the past year, LinkedIn has embarked on a frustrating (but completely understandable) series of changes to the site, crippling a lot of important functionality that used to be available to all users, free and paid alike.  For example, they used to allow you see the full names of all of your connections, even the 3rd Degree ones, and communicate with these people to your heart’s content.  Now you’re pretty much confined to only dealing with 2nd Degree connections, if you’re a pro bono user.  They also used to allow you to see a much longer list of results when you ran a networking search on the “People Page” of the system.  Free users now, however, only see the first 100 names that come up — you have to pay to play if you want to see names further down the list.

Again, this is all completely understandable when you consider that LinkedIn 1) is a for-profit company; and 2) seems dead-set, at long last, on cashing in on their amazing technology.  These changes, however, are compelling me to revisit the question does the AVERAGE job hunter need to invest $20-30 a month for a paid subscription to the site?

In chatting with many clients about this issue, the general consensus seems to be that yes, unless an investment at this level would be a major hardship, we’ve reached the point where it’s wise to just “pay the piper” and get a paid LinkedIn subscription that will vault you past all the limitations and workarounds.  This tool has become such an indispensable part of networking for most people that it should be easy to justify a small investment in it, at least during the course of an active job search.  Calculate any reasonable number of what you feel your time is worth, and you’ll probably agree that forking over $20 is a lot more economical than spending 5-10 minutes, time and time again, trying to pry some well-guarded information out of the system.  I’m pretty thrifty, and trust me, I’ve reached that point myself!

Assuming you agree with this assessment, another key question arises.  Which subscription is the right one for you?  This issue is more challenging than meets the eye, since LinkedIn now offers at least 12 different types of accounts — geared at different user categories such as sales, recruiting, business, and job hunting — and each package comes with a slightly different mix of bells and whistles.  To compare the features available with each package, simply click on the “Upgrade Your Account” link you’ll find at the bottom of any LinkedIn page.

My own subjective take on the “paid” LinkedIn features most valuable to acquire?

Full Name Visibility: To me, this is hands-down the most USEFUL feature of all, since it allows you to see the full names — and make contact with– millions of people out on the periphery of your network.  Alas, this level of “executve” subscription runs $75/month

Premium Search Filters: If you know your way around “boolean syntax” rules you can replicate most of these search tools, for free, but these special filters also include several exclusive search options like the “Company Size” parameter that can be very useful

Profiles Per Search: As mentioned above, when you’re scouting around for appropriate people to network with (e.g. recruiters, hiring managers, potential customers) it’s very refreshing to not see the results page blocked after the first 100 results turn up

Who’s Viewed My Profile: I’m still not convinced it’s all that useful to know who’s “checked you out” on the system — but many people are dying of curiosity to learn this information, and no question about it, you’ll get a little more data on your visitors if you’re a paid user

Inmail/Company Introductions: While I still prefer the “Get Introduced” contact route whenever possible, I’ve had many clients use the “direct” InMail route to open doors with potential hiring managers, so having a few InMail chits in your quiver isn’t a bad idea

Featured Applicant Status: Theoretically, investing in a LinkedIn “Job Seeker” package is supposed to boost your profile higher up in the results when recruiters search for talent on the system; wish I could verify this for a fact, but if this is true, it’s a very valuable thing!

Job Seeker Badge: Lastly, if you’re looking for work openly, versus being in a confidential situation, the Job Seeker package allows you to display a little brown briefcase icon next to your profile to alert employers to your availability and help your profile catch a recruiter’s eye

Are the above features worth the required $20/month investment, if you’re a job hunter?  Yeah, I think we’re there.  You’ll be happy to have access to them and who knows, perhaps one of the more “passive” features will result in your profile showing up in front of just the right person, at just the right time.  I’ll confess, though, I’m not terribly sold on the bevy of OTHER benefits the site promotes as part of its premium subscriptions — things like the “Profile Organizer” and such, but I’m certainly open to hearing otherwise — if any of you out there wants to vouch for a piece of functionality I neglected to mention, above.

Any other thoughts on the paid vs. free debate?  Any comments, criticism, or observations from those of you out there who have been paid members longer than myself?

P.S.  LinkedIn frequently offers discounts on its subscription packages, too, so watch for special promotions — or possibly even contact the sales department to ask if any special deals are running, if you’re serious about potentially upgrading your account!