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Preparing your Job Search Package

Sue CouperExecutive Coach

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“Action without vision is only passing time, vision

without action is merely day dreaming, but vision with

action can change the world.” Nelson Mandela

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About me

Sue Couper, Executive Coach for Archer & Associates an

Executive Coaching and Search company.

A brief history

Why I decided to become a coach

Certifications: Accredited Certified Coach (ACC) designation by

the International Coaching Federation, Certified Public

Accountant (CPA), and holds a Masters in Business

Administration (MBA) degree.

A little about Archer & Associates

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Our Roadmap

Where to start?

What can’t you live without?

What tools do you need?

Clear, Concise, Inspiring Pitch

Cover Letter

Resume

LinkedIn Profile

Job Search Plan

Job Search Tracker

Interview Prep Questions

Etiquette

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Where to Start?

Creating a Vision….What’s next for you?

Glance back at the Past.

What hasn’t worked or isn’t working in your current

situation? Be specific.

What am I willing to change?

How to complete the parts you want to leave behind.

Allow yourself a transition period…going back and forth

is okay.

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What can’t you live without?

What do I want more of in the future? What lights me

up?

What am I doing when time stands still?

What do you do better than anyone else in the room?

Core Values…the “I Believe” Statements.

Building Blocks: what must be present in your next

role?

Know your numbers.

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What tools do you need?

Clear, Concise, Inspiring Pitch

Cover Letter

Resume

LinkedIn Profile

Job Search Plan

Job Search Tracker

Interview Prep Questions

Etiquette

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Talking about yourself is not rude.

An engaging starting point…no baseball game starts without a pitch.

This is where your Vision gets concrete.

Start with the “You know how….” question.

Short, sweet and inspiring.

Change it to appeal to multiple audiences.

A Clear, Concise, Inspiring Pitch

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Cover Letter

Tailor it to the job

Talk about what interests you in the job or company

Highlight how your skills map to the job

Don’t rehash your resume. Make a connection that they may

not see on your resume.

Keep it short…3 paragraphs or bullets detailing how you fit

the role

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Resume

Tailor it to the job

Highlight how your skills map to the job

Use power/action words

Format it so it’s easy to scan and read

Use tag words so your resume is easily found

No pictures or gimmicks

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Resume Do’s

Contact Information

Include phone & email

Include the City & State of your address

Objective

Use “Objective” vs. “Summary”

Kick things off with a couple of concise sentences that say what you want to do

and why you’re amazing

List relevant professional certifications & technical knowledge, core

competencies, & career highlights

Experience

List your experience chronologically. Start with most recent.

Briefly explain what the company does

Include your title, dates & briefly what you were responsible for

Education & Certification

List your Degrees & Schools. You don’t have to list your graduation date.

You didn’t complete your degree?

List your certifications

Personal Highlights

Include personal accomplishments and volunteering.

Final Notes

Spellcheck, spellcheck, spellcheck

Keep your formatting clean

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Resume Don’ts

Contact Information

Don’t add your photo

Don’t include your date of birth or family information

Objective

Don’t go on and on about why you’re perfect for the job. That’s what

a cover letter is for

Experience

Don’t overinflate your experience

Don’t list the minutia. Keep the bullet points high level

Don’t ignore gaps in your history

Don’t use company specific jargon

Education & Certifications

Don’t lie about your education. It is easily verified.

Personal Highlights

Consider biases

Final Notes

Don’t write a novel. Aim for 2 pages max.

Don’t use text boxes or save your resume as a pdf

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Resume Power Words

A: Accelerated, Accomplished, Achieved, Adapted, Administered, Advised, Analyzed, Assumed responsibility

B: Balanced, Blazed, Built

C: Communicated, Completed, Conceived, Conducted, Controlled, Coordinated, Counseled, Crafted

D: Delegated, Delivered, Demonstrated, Designed, Determined, Developed, Directed, Distributed,

E: Earned, Edited, Effected, Eliminated, Enabled, Energized, Established, Evaluated

F: Facilitated, Found

G: Gained, Gathered, Generated, Graduated

H: Handled, Hired

I: Increased, Influenced, Implemented, Improved, Initiated, Innovated, Installed, Instructed, Invented

L: Launched, Lectured, Led

M: Maintained, Managed, Mastered, Motivated

O: Operated, Optimized, Originated, Orchestrated, Ordered, Organized, Oversaw

P: Participated, Performed, Pinpointed, Planned, Prepared, Presented, Produced, Programmed, Proved

R: Recommended, Recorded, Recruited, Reduced, Reinforced, Researched, Revamped, Revitalized

S: Saved, Simplified, Sold, Solved, Spearheaded, Standardized, Steered, Structured, Supervised, Surpassed

T: Taught, Tested, Trained, Tripled

U: Updated, Used

W: Won, Wrote

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LinkedIn Profile

Fill out each section

Customize your URL (ideally linkedin.com/yourname)

Choose a great photo

Supercharge your Headline

Use Wordle

Make your Objective targeted (don’t use a Summary)

Numbers speak louder than words

Inject some personality

Avoid buzzwords

Treat your profile like your resume

Use the First Person narrative

Brag

Include a current job entry, even when unemployed

Add projects, volunteer experiences, or languages

Request LinkedIn Recommendations

Manage your endorsements

Be a groupie

Have at least 50 connections

Keep your job search under wraps

Include your contact info

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Job Search Plan

Create a list of Target Companies

What are the attributes of the companies that interest

you? Think about industry, size, location, etc.

List specific companies

Network

Have intro conversations with relevant people in your

network

Plan implementation

Make goals

Follow through

Gather marketplace information

Get your message out

Talk with hiring managers

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Job Search Tracker

Company

Website

Position

Who you know there

Date you applied, interviewed

Notes

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Interview Prep Questions

What’s your leadership style?

Who was your favorite boss and why?

What is your biggest accomplishment?

What company do you admire and why?

Tell me why you chose the career path you did?

What part of your job brings you the most joy?

If you could do anything what would it be?

What would you say was a monumental mistake and what did you

learn from it?

What would you like me to know about you? What is unique about

you? What are you better at than most people?

What do teams rely on you for?

What do most people know about you and would say about you?

Why do people like to work for you? or not?

Describe a difficult situation and how you dealt with it?

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Etiquette

Remember to thank your interviewer

If you promised something in the interview, follow through…

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Q & A

Ann-Marie Archer

Archer & Associates

www.archer-associates.com

aarcher@archer-associates.com

425.869.6350