How to Successfully Apply for a Job on LinkedIn.

I recently went through the hiring process for a new, entry-level marketing position.  It’s a meaty position for a new marketer to gain a breadth of real experience. This is not a gopher position making copies and getting coffee.  Our environment is the stereotype of what the millennials say they are looking for:  entrepreneurial spirit, casual (in wardrobe and atmosphere), freedom to work from home, free lunch twice a month, coffee with all the fixins, sweet and savory snacks, beer and soda fridge, shuffleboard and ping pong. And I also bring my dog to work on occasion!

I was shocked and frustrated by the laziness of the candidates. LinkedIn has an “apply now” button that enables the lazy candidates to fill my inbox.  So, before I share the details, I should say this is solely my opinion as the Gen X hiring manager. I am sure there are other people out there who are willing to accept the lazies.   

In the posting on LinkedIn I stated, “Interested candidates please submit a cover letter and resume.” I think that is clear: a cover letter and resume.  The cover letter shows me a preview of your writing skills and gives you a chance to share things about you that are not on your resume.  It also shows that you can read and follow directions. Here are the results:

No resume

We received over 150 applicants from Linked-In.  More than half did not send a resume.  They immediately went into the virtual ‘no’ pile.

• Some of these were worthy candidates with great experience. A great cover letter would have gotten them a phone interview.
• Some had related skills in non-marketing positions. The cover letter could have sold me on why they were switching fields, why they were interested in marketing and why they were interested in this position.
• Some only had company name and title with no detail.  I don’t know why these people even bothered!  They just showed me they won’t even do the bare minimum!

Resume no cover letter

• Many of these candidates appeared to want to shift careers from HR or Sales to marketing. With no cover letter to explain their goals or transferrable skills, these also quickly go to the 'no' pile.
• Some of these people had 10-20 years of experience. Again, with no cover letter, I don’t understand why they bother. The job posting asks for three years of experience so you can imagine the salary would be in line.  Thanks to LinkedIn, clicking the ‘apply now’ button takes just a second.  So why not?
• Many had typos, misspellings, random underscore and spacing issues. One person said they went to St. Loius University.  Another self-described as a millennial merketer.
• One resume had a bubble design in the background. Another had a floral letterhead.  I found this distracting. If I had been hiring a designer, it might have been more appropriate.

Resume, no cover letter 2^nd chance

• These candidates showed me they will follow some of the directions.  They also made me lower my standards.  I begrudgingly gave them a second chance and asked them via LinkedIn to send a cover letter.
• Several wrote good cover letters and moved on to the phone interview round.
• Over 10 wrote good cover letters and were asked for a phone interview but they never responded. 
• Some never responded with a cover letter. It’s a shame because they all had potential. Maybe they are not interested in the position or company. Maybe they have not checked their Linked-In messaging. Who knows!
• Several wrote horrible cover letters that showed me they have poor writing skills. They were moved to the ‘no’ pile.
• One person must have just reused an old cover letter because they focused on their desire to work in market research, an aspect of marketing not mentioned in the posting.
• One person must have copied and pasted a letter together. In the middle of a paragraph, the font size changed.  If you can’t proof your own marketing materials, I can’t expect you to be successful proofing our materials.
• One candidate declined our request because we had used the word ‘disappointed’ in our message back to them when referring to not receiving the cover letter.  They said it did not reflect well on us.  If I had asked this person to plan social media posts for Twitter and LinkedIn for the next month and this person only finished Twitter, I would be more than disappointed.

Resume and cover letter

• Three people provided both. 3 out of 150+.
• One happened to be someone I had been mentoring for the last few months. This position opened unexpectedly and I thought they were a potential match.  I like to think this candidate would have sent a cover letter before meeting me and on any application, even if it was not requested. They were immediately included in the phone interview round.
• One candidate wrote a poor cover letter and did not have the right skill set.
• The third was included in the phone interview round.

Again, I reiterate, this blog is solely my opinion. I am one hiring manager. Many of these candidates are currently working. They were successful going through the interview process somewhere else.

In answer to my title “How to Successfully Apply for a Job on LinkedIn” I have these tips:

• Create a resume.  Proof it. Have other people proof it. Proof it again. Read it forward for context and backward to find more misspellings.
• Customize your resume to the job description as much as possible. Link your skills to the job post. You don’t need to rewrite the entire thing.
• Write a cover letter.  You can create a template with a standard open and close.  Customize the middle and tie your experience and education to the job description.  It’s ok to show some personality and energy.  Tell me something that is not on your resume that you think might benefit me.  Hiring managers can see through a stock cover letter. That puts you in the ‘bare minimum’ pile but at least you sent a cover letter!
• If you have writer's block, Google it! And then make it your own.
• Proof your cover letter. Proof it again.
• LinkedIn only has the option to upload one Word or PDF document. Make your cover letter page 1 of the document.
• Include a cover letter even if they don’t ask for it.

When you get the phone interview, please prepare and think about your answers ahead of time. My next post will give you my nerdy interview preparation tips.

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8 Reasons Why You Should Use ej4 for Your Employee Training

Yes, this is a blatantly promotional post for my new employer, ej4. I have been here for three months and I love it! I think all employees should have the chance to improve their skills, find new talents and develop new competencies that will help them advance in their career and help their employer be more successful.

Throughout my career I have had many, opportunities for training in a variety of settings:  one-day, instructor led classes, lunch and learns, new manager series and multi-day marketing conferences on brand, lead management, SEO etc. Most of these required at least a full day away from my day-to-day responsibilities and some even required the added expense of travel. I have never worked for a company that had video training available for all employees like ej4 offers. 

So here are the 8 reasons why you should use ej4 or add ej4 to your corporate training program:

On-Demand Videos

Day one all employees have access to the full library of courses.  They don’t have to wait for the quarterly scheduled class or wait until next Thursday.  They can watch and re-watch as needed.  For fun, someone watches a series on ‘presentations.’ Then when they are asked to present at the quarterly meeting they re-watch the series to prepare.  (How often have you ever referred back to the big binder you received from a training class?)

Short-Form, Videos

Our videos average 5-7 minutes so employees can fit them into their schedule individually, not on a schedule determined by a class.  We take a complex topic and break it into 5-6 short videos that are easier to digest than one boring, long video.  In corporate America, many employees spend their days moving from meeting to meeting.  When you have 15 minutes in between, how do you spend your time?  Check email? Chit chat about Survivor?  Now you can watch a quick video on creativity or negotiating or any number of helpful topics! Check out a few free videos on our site.

Creative, Engaging Content

Imaginative graphics, comical sound effects, upbeat music and live hosts make our videos more fun and engaging than the stereotypical corporate training video with local actors in awkward role playing situations! Creative and entertaining videos will keep your employees engaged while the sound instructional design will ensure they are learning the information that will make them more successful and help your company grow.

Fresh, New videos Every Month

We are constantly recording new content to add to our course libraries. (We have studios in St. Louis and Kansas City!) We release new content each month and continue to add value to our clients. From what I’ve seen, we are the only vendor who continuously adds new content at no additional cost.

Videos Accessible on Any Device 24/7/365

Not all your employees sit at a computer all day.  Our platform makes the videos available on any device so your warehouse employees can stay in the warehouse while they watch the safety videos on a tablet or your sales employees can re-watch sales skills videos on their phone in the car before they meet their prospect. Speaking of our platform…

Thinkzoom, our learning management system, is included if you don’t already have one!  This makes the pricing even more appealing.  If you have your own LMS, our videos are Scorm and AICC compliant.

Sales People Who are Not Pushy or Creepy

I sit with the sales reps in an open work environment so I hear them on the phone all the time.  They are patient and persistent in their approach but never cheesy or pushy like timeshare sales people.  We have an awesome product so once you get on the phone with them, they don’t have to be aggressive, they just walk you through the features and benefits and answer your questions. Very often I hear them laughing and joking with prospects, asking for details about their vacation or their kids’ birthday!

Learning Consultants to Hold Your Hand

I sit across the hall from this team so I hear them on the phone sometimes too.  From implementation to daily support you have a dedicated, live human being to email or call with questions as opposed to submitting a ticket to a giant call center and getting a new person each time. They will help you enroll employees, create groups and curriculums, create custom reports etc. They are super nice and have an endless supply of patience.  

Potpourri of Other Reasons

English and Spanish closed-captioning on many videos, comprehensive reporting, video creation tool so you can create your own video content specific to your own needs, training reinforcement quizzes, marketing tool kit to help you promote to your employees and much more!  Sign up for a free trial! (No cc# required)  (Yes, I said this was going to be blatantly promotional1)

So, you can see why I am so happy to be with ej4 and you would be too!  These videos can help employees at all levels including executives. I’ve watched people make a career of not making decisions or managers who are control freaks and don’t know how to empower their employees.  A few simple videos can help them make changes that make a big impact on a company’s bottom line. Your bottom line.

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3 Life Lessons from Louie

This is Louie my five year old shih tzu/Japanese Chin mix rescue.  I have had him for three months and he is ridiculously cute, funny and sweet.  He is so easy and low maintenance. This picture was taken the first night I had him. He is happy and easy and the best company.  Lately I have been observing him with a different perspective so here are the life lessons he has taught me. I doubt he is unique in his behavior and your dog may be teaching you the same lessons!

Greet each day with excitement.

As soon as my feet hit the ground to get dressed Louie is doing his happy dance because he knows he is going for a walk. Every morning I get a kick out of his excited prance down the hall.  It’s easy to smile when he is bouncing around waiting for his harness.  I am not a morning person so this is an important lesson for me.

Don’t eat just because it’s meal time.

I love this about Louie. He is not an urgent eater.  I feed him 1/3 of the cup in the morning and evening and there is usually food leftover in his bowl from the previous meal. He eats his tiny kibble one piece at a time but only on a rug. (This is not part of the lesson. Eating on tile, carpet or hard wood makes sense to me).   He just eats a little here and there and keeps a nice, healthy figure.  This can be a tough one for humans.  We are creatures of habit with meal times and we eat just because.  Recognizing true hunger and not just eating lunch because it is noon is a good lesson.  And eating slowly enough to recognize when you are full and possibly leaving food on the plate is another good lesson.

Don’t poop in your own yard.

Ok, this one is going to be inconvenient in the winter, yes, but it sets up a perfect analogy.  The poop = your thoughts.  And the yard = your head. So don’t fill your head with negative thoughts.  Eg. “I am not smart enough. I am not thin enough. My house isn’t as nice as my friends. What if XX happens. Etc.” I am a natural optimist but this one still takes work.

I am sure there are other great lessons about napping and enjoying car rides with the windows open but that’s enough for now.  and PS, Louie is house-trained now so no more belly-band as seen in the pic.

Murmuration Festival 2016

Murmuration Festival:  What a cool idea and I am so glad I attended last Saturday.  The weather was disappointing and ridiculously hot. They were clearly prepared for many more people so I encourage you to watch for this next year.

Name

“In nature, a murmuration is a flock of starlings that produces intricate patterns during flight.” So the event was designed to be “Convergence of Art, Music, Science & Tech.” Love it!

Venue

All of the stages, tents, foods and exhibits were in several blocks of the Cortex campus. Honestly, this is how I found out about the festival. I was reading about St. Louis being an innovation and technology hub and stumbled upon the event online. I’ve lived in St. Louis most of my life and I am a big fan.  I love when businesses are able to grow and help rejuvenate a lost part of the city.  This campus had great energy, green space and beautiful, new buildings. Everything was easily walkable.

Thought-Leadership Content

The first talk I attended was “The Seduction of Automation, from the CIA to Social Media, and Its Dangers” with Neal Sample, CIO of Express Scripts.  I didn’t expect a CIO to be so entertaining and interesting! Years ago he worked for the CIA before Big Data was a thing.  He spoke about how difficult it was, and is, to process the data to a point where it is clear as to when to intervene with a known terrorist.  Do you make a move and eliminate the known terrorist or do you continue to monitor and collecting data to get to a larger group or a higher leader? (Note, I read a lot of spy thrillers so I really enjoyed this segment)

Murmuration Festival 2016He talked about the algorithmic take-over of everything!  This was a bit mind-blowing.  Something to consider as you choose your career path.  Robots are more efficient and don't make mistakes; they are better, faster and cheaper.  They are better at welding than humans. Think about self-check-out at the store.  How many jobs are going to go away from the middle-class.

He had a whole segment on self-driving cars. How we may need fewer cars in the future, for example; while you are at work, the self-driving car could drive someone else around during the day and come back for you in the evening. (Note, with a major company like Enterprise in town, I would have enjoyed their opinion on this topic.)

The second talk I attended was “Multi-Disciplinary Performance in a Multi-Media World.” Members from the band Sky Pony led this session. This was more of a free-style chat and Q & A,not quite what the title implied but also really interesting.

Music

I should confess that my musical taste is pretty pedestrian and Top 40 with my Broadway Soundtracks mixed in.  I was worried about no knowing any of the acts and of feeling like Nana Grandma in the audience. I saw Sky Pony and Flying Lotus.

Sky Pony’s lead singer is a Tony Award nominated singer and their musical style is indie pop.  Obviously with the Broadway connection I really enjoyed this band.  They dressed as a flock of starlings, had fun costumes and interesting videos on the giant video display at the back of the stage. They played from 4:00 – 5:00 in the blazing sun.  They put on a great show and I would have loved to see them at night with their light show.

The headline act on Saturday night was Flying Lotus. I would describe as a multi-media DJ and rapper and yes I felt really old and nerdy at this show. The show felt like a complicated production with him on stage with his giant DJ table of equipment, a screen in front of him and covering the entire back of the stage along with a crazy light show.  The video took you on a crazy, fun, creepy, carnival journey of illustration and video.

So, again, watch out for this even next year.  Not a typical marketing conference or concert: a fun mix of content to challenge your imagination, routine and thinking.  Thank you Brian Cohen for your creativity.

Don’t Be So Quick to Judge

I was recently at a large fund-raiser and was noticing the poor design on the program booklet and slides.  White block letters with a black outline and drop shadow on a red background; sponsor logos in strange white blocks intruding on the logo exclusion zones; missed light and video cues; rough transitions and poor lighting in the videos.  But then I stopped myself.  I shouldn’t be so quick to judge. I have no idea what parameters they might have had related to budget, personnel or executive requests. Maybe some executive demanded that their kid who just got a Mac design everything.  Who knows!

If someone were to go back and review the creative I have produced, I am sure they might find things to critique.  I’ve always tried to start with a solid creative brief that everyone agrees to but you still can’t eliminate the client or exec coming in at the last minute requesting the random banana.  This is my term for that surprise request that comes late in a timeline when a client or exec finally voices an expectation or new requirement they have about the creative…something they never brought up during the creative brief process. And it’s not the perfectly ripe, yellow banana. It’s the mushy brown banana that should be used for banana bread.

Banana examples:

• Changing the color of the logo to something completely out of the brand standards 
• Removing a logo you thought to be critical
• Involving a committee of non-marketing people to make creative decisions
• Requiring a surprise chart to be included after the piece is designed and near final approval. (This happened on a brochure that took a year to develop and design. It was never printed because my client couldn’t make a decision.)
• Requiring the use of the President’s son’s girlfriend as the photographer. Seriously.

Some of these I push back. Some I call ‘surrender moments’ and you just have surrender to the moment and live to fight another day. Wishing you many ‘banana-free’ creative projects in your future.

Personal Service at Ann Taylor

Over the last year I have lost weight, gained lean muscle and changed my whole body composition. Every few months I have to buy new clothes (yay!) as the current clothes become too baggy and my co-workers scold me to go shopping. I am the girl who hates shopping. I am not really into fashion although I like to look nice. I am not the girl who goes to the mall and just wanders around and buys random things. I go with purpose:  black boots, pants for work, dress for a wedding etc. and then I leave.  If I ever won the lottery I would hire a stylist and personal shopper.

I was looking for some new professional clothes for work so on a day off I ventured out to the St. Louis Galleria, a mall I haven’t been to in years, to go to Ann Taylor. I shop so infrequently I actually arrived at the mall before the stores were open and the mall was busy with mall walkers.  Luckily I only had to wait 10 minutes. It never dawned on me they wouldn’t be open!

Lindsey was the Ann Taylor representative who unlocked the door to let me in.  I felt ridiculous hovering like it was 1982 and Cardinals tickets were going on sale, but she didn’t seem phased at all.  She asked how she could help, I told her what I was looking for and she became my personal shopper and stylist! She toured me around the store highlighting the items I had requested and she explained the differences between the styles and fits.  She found my size, found blouses to match the pants and all I had to do was try it all on.  She was so nice and accommodating and kept bringing other items she thought I would like but not in a pushy, commissioned-sales-person manner, just very helpful.

There was one pair of pants they didn’t have in my size and she helped me order online with free shipping.  She also showed me the style of shoes online that would work with the pants. She made this whole experience so pleasant and positive.  I was out of there in 47 minutes and she had a nice big sale to start the day.

Some of my friends shop online for clothes but I have to try things on.  And I appreciate the opinion and advice of the sales people.  I will pay a little extra for that service.  Online may be crushing brick and mortar but I don’t know how you replace the personal assistance of a live human being looking at the fit of the clothes on your unique body type.  Lindsey listened to me and talked to me about the different styles.  For example, I hated the ruffles on one blouse but I liked the high neck. She found me the perfect blouse with a high neck and no ruffle and I never left the fitting room.

Like I said, I really hate shopping but Lindsey’s kind service really surprised me and I actually enjoyed those 47 minutes.  I will definitely be returning to Ann Taylor.

Broadway Inspiration

I am always trying to find inspiration for my creativity.  One, because it keeps life fun and interesting and two, because I work in marketing. We are constantly challenged to find creative, new solutions to communications and technology challenges.

Since I was a kid I have always been inspired by the soundtracks to Broadway shows. My first experience was in 1976 when my mom and I watched Chorus Line win the Tony Award for Best Musical.  The cast performed the iconic finale number to “One.” I was ten years old and taking dancing lessons so I was mesmerized by the number and wanted to know more about the show.  Every Saturday after gymnastics we would stop by the library.  I started checking out the soundtrack album (on vinyl) and listening to it in my room trying to learn the words and imagining the choreography.  I must have had it checked out for months! I am sure I put on my tap shoes and danced around the basement pretending I was in the show.

I finally got to see the show for my 11^th birthday and it has remained my favorite show ever since.  I should warn you that this is really not a show for 11 year olds: adult story, theme, language and situations. I am sure much went over my head but I have probably seen the show more than 10 times! Every time it give me chills, makes me cheer and cry. 

In college my roommate introduced me to two lesser known Broadway soundtracks “Big River” and “Chess.”  We would blast our three foot speakers and dance and sing around our apartment. It was many years after college before I had the chance to see either one live but I had imagined them so many times both were exhilarating. 

There is something about live musical theater that you cannot replicate with just a live concert or a play.  It’s hard to explain when I feel chills run down my arms or I am brought to tears during a happy song or the curtain call. I think it must trigger different parts of my brain that don’t get exercised as often. And visually the creativity on the stage through the set and lighting design, costumes and make-up can push the limits of your imagination.  The masks, head-pieces, costumes and puppets of Lion King take my breath away every time I see the show.  I love the scene when they make a giant blue textile slowly disappear to represent the drought.  You don’t even notice it at first. Super cool!  I aspire to have an ounce of Julie Taymor’s creativity to infuse into my marketing!

Julie originally had a different plot added to the script that varied from the movie.  Her ideas for the animals in this discarded storyline are what brought her to the mind-blowing puppet systems you see in the show today.  Sometimes you have to go down an odd path exploring a creative concept that ultimately doesn’t work but along the way you find the idea that does work. “Sometimes, she suggests, you have to let your imagination run truly wild to come up with a compelling piece of art. ‘That’s critical in the process,’ Taymor says.”¹

When time allows, I like to give my design team the freedom to explore the fringe ideas. Very often it is hard for management (or a client) to tell you what they want in a creative brief but it’s easier for them to tell you what they don’t want after seeing a few concepts. 

The show I am currently obsessed with is Hamilton.  I have been going online at random times searching for a single ticket for the show in New York to no avail. On the night of the Tony Awards I received a text alert from Ticket Master that new tickets were released! I immediately logged on and somehow found a single ticket to a Saturday in November. I honestly don’t remember the process or how I chose my date because I was so excited and a little freaked out!  I booked my flight, my hotel and ordered the soundtrack so I could start trying to learn the words.  I am self-diagnosed as ‘lyric deficient.’ I am one of those people who always end up singing the wrong words. Thank goodness the CD came with the words! Because seriously, some of these rap lyrics fly ridiculously fast, I have no chance!

I am addicted to the soundtrack. You can see me singing and rapping in my car in my long commute to and from work.  I’m sure the other cars think I am crazy with my wild hand motions and chair dancing but it’s better than a cup of coffee to get me going and firing different parts of my brain before work. I can’t pick a favorite song because they are all amazing, powerful, emotional and awesome!

I truly admire the creativity of Lin-Manuel Miranda to put a potentially boring story line from history to high energy hip-hop and rap lyrics with a color-blind cast. It gets even better when the show receives overwhelming acclaim and financial success. It’s another cool example of how extreme imagination and creative courage can resonant with millions of people, many of which I would guess don’t typically follow Broadway.  To senior management, business people and marketers, that means revenue! How many uber-creative ideas are never approved because some key decision maker didn’t have the creative courage? 

¹ http://time.com/4065287/julie-taymor-creative-process/