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Mastering the Informational Interview

For executives between careers, the daily grind of the job search becomes more stifling every day. Connections go unanswered, interviews becomes stressful and unrewarding, and discouragement always seems just around the corner. But one executive tool not only strengthens connections and increases industry knowledge, it boosts job search verve. If you’re struggling to find a new career, meet your new business partner: the informational interview.

The Importance of Informational Interviews

Informational interviews have many facets, all of which benefit job seekers. They build a connection with someone who may help you land a job, they prepare you for the position (or industry) where you’d like to work, and they give you unique insights into the inner workings of a specific company. Informational interviews help executives approach potential jobs with clear goals and insider information on how to accomplish those goals.

How to Maximize an Informational Interview

Develop a strategy. Like yourself, each interviewer has motives for conducting an informational interview. He may be doing a favor to a mutual friend, he may be screening you for a future with his company, or he may have his own research in mind. If the interview is secured through a mutual contact, prepare a series of questions. Keep the interview casual, but work your skills and job history into the conversation. If the interview is secured directly, approach it as an unofficial interview. Keep a polished resume on hand and come prepared to not only to ask, but also to answer questions.
Take notes. No matter how high on the food chain your interviewer is, he or she will have valuable insights about the current climate of the industry and the inner workings of his or her company. Jot down information that may prepare you for your next career — or help you land it.
Ask the right questions. And no, “Do you have openings available?” is not one of them. Come prepared with 5-10 thought-provoking questions about the industry and the interviewer’s role within it. Only discuss your executive talents in the framework of casual conversation. If your interviewer has questions for you, allow him or her to redirect the conversation at his or her leisure.
Follow up. Informational interviews take just as much time as job interviews. Thank your contact for sacrificing personal time to give you insights into his or her position. Send an email or handwritten note within 48 after your interview.

For more information about building an executive career, contact Colleen at Executive Resumes Atlanta.

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How to Negotiate a Better Salary

A job offer may seem like the solution to executive career woes, but that anticipated phone call is only the beginning. Salary negotiation is a minefield, even for execs experienced in the art of asking for more, and periods of unemployment often put professionals in a “take what I can get” mentality. Stop settling for mediocre pay. Negotiate a salary worthy of your expertise.

4 Tips for Negotiating an Executive Salary

Know market value. What are professionals with your experience, skills, and talent for growth earning from your potential new employer? Google takes most of the guesswork out of researching salaries for specific positions, even within specific companies. Do a quick internet search of your title + “salary” or “compensation.” For more specific information, use the salary estimation feature on almost any job aggregator website.
Negotiate smart bonuses. It doesn’t matter how generous the bonus structure is if the criteria are unattainable. Before accepting a job offer, research how frequently the company pays out bonuses to high level employees. If payouts are low, renegotiate your bonuses before accepting the job.
Be vocal. Many companies are more willing to bend than they lead candidates to believe. Be upfront about your deal breakers, whether those include salary, bonuses, healthcare plans, or paid vacation.
Ask about resource allocation. How well will your employer equip you to succeed? Think beyond base salary and bonuses to the resources you’ll need to excel. Will your company give you a team, financial resources, and an opportunity to promote growth? If not, you’re likely fighting a losing battle, no matter how extraordinary the benefits may be.

For more information on career building and negotiating executive compensation, contact Colleen at Executive Resumes Atlanta.

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How to Exit an Unfulfilling Job

Career transitions present their own challenges, whether you’re leaving because of another job, dissatisfaction at work, or performance issues. The mark of a great leader isn’t finding 100% success, but in knowing how to behave when closing a chapter in your career. If you’re leaving your current career, build your personal brand by making a graceful exit.

Know When to Go

Whether you’re stepping down voluntarily, abdicating for a new position, or simply reading the writing on the wall, how you leave a company can determine job recommendations, career opportunities, and your reputation with your former coworkers. If you’re leaving voluntarily, give your boss sufficient notice to replace you. Be honest about your reasons for leaving, but don’t burden your supervisors with too much information. Thank your team for the experiences, relationships, and skills you cultivated during your tenure at the company. If you’ve been let go, it’s still a good career move to strengthen relationships with your partners in the trenches. Gracefully recognize that one stage of your life is complete, and thank your board for the opportunity.

Make a Smooth Transition

Gain a reputation for competence and class by easing the transition for your executive replacement. Finish incomplete projects, document procedures, and forward any pertinent emails to the new exec in charge. Consider a few days of hands-on training with your replacement if asked.

Network

Just because it didn’t work out with current position doesn’t mean you wasted time. Maintain relationships with coworkers, clients, and supervisors you built connections with along the way. They’ve seen your leadership traits firsthand and may keep you in mind when executive positions become available in the future.

Transitioning jobs? Call Executive Resumes Atlanta to build your executive career.

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5 Ways to Become a More Likable Leader

Leaders often face the challenge of choosing between success and likeability. Unfortunately, choosing corporate effectiveness over office culture can cause a dip in motivation for your subordinates. Learn to increase your likeability without sacrificing the leadership qualities that earned you the job by improving your emotional intelligence.

5 Ways to Connect with Subordinates

Make connections. This isn’t simply an effective networking tip, but also a way to develop kinship with your team. By sacrificing an hour of your time at the next corporate event or team meeting, you’re presenting yourself as a human being who cares about the day-to-day of each employee, regardless of position or tenure.
Stay steady. Want to build confidence with your employees? Practice steadiness during times of trouble. Whether you’re reacting to a workplace dispute or a quarterly failure, people respect leaders who can keep their head in a crisis.
Invest in individuals. If an executive were to spend time encouraging every employee in the company, their own career would fail in no time flat. However, engaging with individual employees proves that a leader has a heart for the company and a team-player mentality. Invest in one or two promising leaders and ask each member of your team to do the same. Over time it will trickle down to entry-level employees as well as aspiring leaders.
Practice integrity. Nothing undermines subordinates’ confidence in their leader faster than getting caught in a gray area. Demonstrate integrity in all aspects of business, whether that means taking responsibility for a failure, treating each team member equally, or praising another leader for proactive thinking.
Keep it in perspective. Likeability helps leaders achieve greater success, but focusing too much on subordinates’ opinions will undermine executive effectiveness. Focus instead on building strong character and good work ethics. The rest will follow.

For assistance building your executive career, contact Colleen at Executive Resumes Atlanta.

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3 Executive Habits that Undermine Career Goals

As top performers in the business world, executives often avoid second-guessing themselves. Lingering over old behaviors can stagnate growth, undermine confidence, and make execs less effective in the C-suite. All professionals learn bad habits, however, and some executive habits can disrupt personal and company growth. Revitalize your career by overcoming these 3 harmful leadership behaviors.

Habits that Could Hurt Your Career

Not asking for help. Far from asking for assistance, many executives have a tendency to micromanage other employees, even if they’re struggling with their own workload. Failing to admit you need help doesn’t just lead to executive burnout; it can also undermine a carefully cultivated culture of community within a company. Delegating responsibility simultaneously relieves stress and allows executives to see how promising employees handle added responsibilities.
Asking for (and promptly ignoring) feedback. Most executives possess a drive for constant improvement, and many realize that the best way to accomplish growth is to hear honest feedback from their employees. What many executives lack, however, is follow-through. Ignoring feedback, whether positive or negative, undermines the trust a company has in its leaders. It also stifles personal growth, leaving leaders unable to see their own shortcomings when the need arises.
Losing sight of the company mission. These days, a job is not simply a job. A career involves professional goals, personal passions, and, ideally, a melding between personal and company vision. When an executive allows the minutia of daily work to overshadow their passion for that work, they lose the ability to think creatively, act decisively, and inspire others to future success.

For professional assistance building an executive career, call Colleen at Executive Resumes Atlanta.

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The Benefits of Executive Mentoring

Mentorship is often presented as a way for executives to do a good deed, paying forward the philanthropic impulse an older, wiser leader once showed them. Mentorship clearly benefits up-and-coming leaders, teaching them to think critically, expand their professional networks, and propel themselves toward further success. What gets less press is how mentorship benefits mentors.

Benefits of Executive Mentorship

Experience shapes companies, allowing them to rise above the mundane and into the innovative world of corporate expansion. But many successful executives become disconnected from their roots. Whether they’re partnering with an C-suite equal or a younger, less experienced employee, executives gain clear advantages from mentorship programs. So much so that many companies encourage reverse mentorship, a practice which pairs experienced company leaders with freshly hired, entry-level employees. Executives mentoring young leaders often find themselves learning and growing in unexpected ways.

Mentorship allows C-suite employees to reconnect with the heart of the company, the common worker
It encourages the development of a strong corporate culture and cohesive company vision
It reengages leaders with fresh business tactics and workplace trends
Mentoring a young leader allows older executives to hone skills they’ve put on the backburner
Mentorship opens new networking avenues for both parties
It allows executives to mold the future of the company by instilling good business practices in younger members of the corporate team
Mentors may cultivate useful skills, such as a better understanding of how to use social media to make a professional impact

To learn more about developing your executive career, call Colleen at Executive Resumes Atlanta.

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Overlooked Aspects of the Executive Job Search

Executives are well-versed in the world of tracking progress. They spend their careers measuring successes, marking failures, and determining how to improve upon mediocrity. So it comes as no surprise that many executives overlook their less quantifiable successes when writing resumes, networking, and preparing for interviews. If your “best of the best” professional persona isn’t cutting it in the job market, try these often-forgotten tips to help you reach new levels of career success.

Stick to Your Area of Expertise

The longer the job search continues, the easier it is to get discouraged. Many executives fall into the trap of broadening their horizons until they’re no longer visible. Although most executives are adaptable, snatching up a job you’re dispassionate about simply because it’s available never pays off. Think carefully about how to expand into a new industry without abandoning the skills and qualifications you’ve earned over the years. If you’re breaking into a new field, extrapolate past experiences to show how your history has made you a viable candidate for a new industry.

Be Specific in Your Job Search

Do most of your networking queries go unanswered? Is your resume failing to impress? Is your LinkedIn account filled with “viewed your profile” alerts with no follow-up connection requests?

Specificity may be your issue. Too many executives generalize their work experience, professional skills, and future goals in the hopes of impressing a broader audience. More often than not, unspecific job searches simply make executives seem inexperienced or unreliable. Craft your LinkedIn profile, resume, and query emails specifically for a single industry or opportunity. When emailing a new contact, always specify the goal of your correspondence, how they can help, and what you can offer in return.

Hire a Professional Resume Writer

If your executive resume lacks the panache to impress hiring directors at your desired firm, it may be time to call in the professionals. Executive Resumes Atlanta has over 15 years of experiencing crafting resumes for C-suite professionals in the Atlanta area. Our professional writers have vision, clarity, and in-depth knowledge of the current job market, allowing them to unfold each professional history in a way that’s crisp, compelling, and wholly unique.

For help writing a professional executive resume or LinkedIn profile, contact Colleen at Executive Resumes Atlanta.

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How Vacations Improve Executive Effectiveness

When career experts discuss the importance of work-life balance, many executives interpret that as cutting back on overtime, turning off business phones after hours, and refocusing on family on the weekends. Work-life balance isn’t just about juggling personal and professional responsibilities, however; a balanced executive devotes time to mental and emotional health, too. High profile professionals habitually keep late hours, running down their drive and decreasing their long-term productivity. As summer approaches, it’s important to remember that vacations are necessary, not just to personal satisfaction, but to creating a successful career.

How Overworking Decreases Effectiveness

Most professionals feel that unconscious urge to work harder, stay longer, and produce more. A competitive drive propels careers forward . . . but it can also burn them out. Consistently working overtime creates a sense of internal chaos, making executives feel like the job is never done. Executives who overwork themselves have decreased creativity, motivation, and problem-solving skills, leading to long term declines in productivity.

The Importance of Taking Time Off

Many executives feel like they’re wasting time when they take PTO with no clear reason. “My child is receiving an award,” may feel like a just cause for leaving the office at 5:30, but, “I’m exhausted” rarely does. Countless studies, however, have shown the benefits of taking vacation time without smartphones or work tablets. Taking a week or two off each year–or even each quarter–allows the mind to rest, the body to rejuvenate, and mental faculties to sharpen. Upon returning home most executives find themselves working at a significantly faster pace and producing higher-caliber work; most of them never even realized their productivity had declined.

Contact Executive Resumes Atlanta for help finding a fulfilling executive career.

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How Social Corporate Responsibility Shapes Businesses

In an age when executives migrate in droves from profit to nonprofit careers, and “sustainability” is the word on everyone’s lips, social corporate responsibility has become a cornerstone of corporate success. Companies seeking validation from shareholders, consumers, and their own boards must prove not only their ability to surpass industry expectations, but also their commitment to cultivating a better world.

3 Ways Social Corporate Responsibility Shapes Businesses

Equality. In a world where gender, racial, and socioeconomic inequality headlines nearly every progressive discussion about business growth, companies are finally taking note. Whether they see a clear need for change or they’re merely swept up in the tide of social responsibility, leadership teams have begun shifting from lip service about minority rights to community outreach for the underprivileged, internal support systems for female executives and people of color, and a greater focus on the environmental impact of their businesses.
Branding. In decades past, business branding meant nothing more than projecting a consistent and compelling image to the company’s target consumer. Developing brand loyalty relied heavily on visuals, marketing, and the development of a strong branding strategy. With the current social climate, however, superficial branding is no longer an option. High- and low-profile companies alike must earn the trust of their customers if they want to succeed in the modern world. Community outreach is an increasingly integral part of building trust for business brands. If current trends continue, businesses will soon founder unless they prove that social corporate responsibility is fundamental to the structure of their business.
Company culture. Social accountability doesn’t simply improve the external image of a successful company. Outreach has become a key tenet of company culture for impactful businesses across the globe. Teams who volunteer at local charities, shrink their ecological footprint, and dedicate time to developing company-sanctioned social outreach programs establish greater pride in their work and a closer connection to their coworkers. A healthy company culture increases productivity, decreases turnover rate, and allows company leaders to push forward to untapped levels of corporate success.

Are you seeking an executive career at a socially responsible Atlanta company? Contact Colleen at Executive Resumes Atlanta for professional resume assistance.

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How STEM Executives Can Grow Their Professional Networks

Despite what most professionals would suppose, HR teams in STEM fields frequently hire talent culled from business networks. This puts many engineers, accountants, and tech gurus at a disadvantage: STEM executives must typically work harder to find networking opportunities because their careers naturally lend themselves to a more individualized mindset. Executives looking for a career in the tech industry must hone their professional networking skills to find a satisfying new position.

Networking Tips for STEM Executives

Plan ahead. Many facts-oriented professionals find networking a challenge, but STEM executives must network if they hope to thrive. To smooth the conversation, plan a short anecdote to break the ice, have a 2-5 minute sales pitch prepared, and pay attention to the conversation to determine an appropriate time to request additional information.
Show some personality. It’s easy to get stuck in business mode, but STEM executives, just like their sales and marketing counterparts, spend enough time being all business. Showing personality at networking events — in addition to making the hiring process less boring — often demonstrates creativity, team building skills, and how well a job candidate would fit into the company culture.
Utilize your existing network. If your network comes up dry for job opportunities, that doesn’t mean your connections are worthless. Broaden your network through the industry professionals you already know and never pass up an introduction at a party, work function, or networking event.
Practice. Whether you’re introverted or extroverted, practice is the key to making an impact at a networking event. Practice your introduction, pitch, and organic conversational skills every week to hone your networking skills.

Find a new executive career by contacting Executive Resumes Atlanta for a professionally written resume.

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