Is Your Messaging Resonating

Is Your Messaging Resonating What you did in your past is often not directly related to what you will be doing in the future.   It is your responsibility to make sure you connect the dots and ensure that your message (on LinkedIn, on your resume and in your cover letter) makes sense and is relevant to your reader! Recently a job seeker confessed that he wasnt considered for a job and he feared it was because his messaging might have had too much emphasis on teaching/training and not enough emphasis on graphic design (the job title he had applied to).   Did he confuse the company he was applying to? I went and looked at his LinkedIn profile and yes, it was very heavy on the teaching stuff rather than how he knew how to develop creative visual images and messages. This is a fixable problem and one that should have been addressed before the materials were submitted, not after. In this example, the cover letter was the perfect opportunity to emphasize the graphic design skills he possessed and used daily.   It would have also been a great opportunity to highlight specific graphic design accomplishments and a link to his online portfolio! However, the real point here is- did he want to be a graphic designer or was his true love in teaching it?! If the answer is both, I would encourage him (and you) to re-evaluate the answer. Sure, you could be happy doing either, but really, honestly, which is best suited?   This is the tougher question to answer, I understand. This job seeker was drawn to teaching.   He enjoyed it.   If he goes back into the graphic design world, will he be as happy?   Can he fit in?   Does he WANT to fit in? If he decided both, then his LinkedIn profile would need to be an even balance of teaching skills and hands on graphic design skills.   The resume would need to be specifically targeted and adapted based on the specific needs for each of those jobs.   And he would absolutely have to have links to examples of his work, both classroom and creative work created/portfolio. Why does this happen? Why is it that job seekers dont customize their messaging based on the different jobs and employers they are applying to? It take time It is hard work They may think the reader can read between the lines and figure it out They dont want to track different versions of their resume and where it was submitted They dont want it to look like they are lying because they have different versions of their resume No More Excuses Go back and remove company specific lingo from your messaging (LinkedIn profile and resume) Add key words related to the types of jobs you are seeking (wordle.net is a fun tool to identify key words) Make sure the industry experience you mention is appropriate for the companies you are targeting If you dont have the right industry experience, your cover letter will have to explain why what you have is related Ask other people to read your materials and ask them what they think you are good at doing. Is this what you want to convey? It is up to you to make sure that the right message is coming through.   What have you done to fine tune your messaging? For more posts on this topic, please see the related posts below!