Getting Outside

How often do you walk outside during your workday? The apparel industry can be demanding and often people immerse themselves in work. I am guilty. I realized at 7pm the other day that I hadn’t been outside since I walked into the office that morning. The next day, I promised myself I would at least walk outside for ten minutes. If that meant I was ten minutes late for my next meeting, so be it. Even a short break can change your perspective and refresh your thinking. The next day, I stayed true to my self-promise and made my way outside. I felt focused, positive and recharged. Every meeting I had was more productive as a result. My coworkers got a better person.

What can you do to stay focused during the day? When are you at your best? How have you taken care of yourself so that you can be at your best? What differences have you seen in yourself when you are recharged?

To learn more about career coaching, go to www.katekibler.com

What goes on a resume?

A lot of clients are unsure of their resume. I often hear “Should it be one page? How do I know if this is strong? Will this stand out enough to make it through the black hole of online resume submission? How will a recruiter interpret my resume?”

So, how can you know if your resume is what an employer is looking for? The quick answer: you don’t. The good news: there are a few things you can do to cover the basics. Below is a checklist for some common questions and mistakes:

• Number of pages- it is best to stick with one page, but ok to overflow on a second if necessary. I argue that few resumes need two pages. When I first challenged myself with this task on my own resume, I was in the workforce for about 10 years. I thought- there is no way I can get my education, accomplishments, and experience down to one page. After a painful week, I did it. I edited to the important points. I realized it wasn’t important to list all of the tasks I was responsible for 10 years ago in an assistant level job.

• Less is more- it is estimated that the average recruiter looks at your resume for 6 seconds. The more words you use, the less you emphasize your key accomplishments.

• Fancy fonts and fancy formatting- avoid it. It will help your resume stand out, but not in a good way. Often the intent is good but the outcome is bad. Fancy resumes are harder to read and are more prone to jumbled formatting.

• Be honest- do not lie on your resume. Don’t “stretch the truth”. Eventually you will get caught. There’s a very good chance a job offer will be rescinded or you will be fired once your lie is discovered. Lies do not help you.

• Power words- use them as lead words for your accomplishments. Words like: “lead, drive, initiate” are power words. Words such as: “responsible for, received, maintained” are passive. Using those words makes it sound like you are checking a box rather than an engaged employee.

• Accomplishments not responsibilities- for the most part, your job title conveys your responsibilities. Tell the prospective employer what you are proud of. What did you do to make a difference at this company?

• Use numbers- if you say you grew a business, give a percentage. I hear from clients who are designers that their jobs don’t have numbers, so they can’t add to their resume. That is not true. Designers have an impact on cost, revenue and liabilities. If you are a designer and struggling, find a sales or merchant partner to help you get at some relevant numbers.

• Personality- what is your passion and how does it connect with the company for which you are applying? For example, if you have a fashion blog and are applying at a high fashion house, maybe add “fashion blogger” to your interests. If you are an avid yogi and are applying to a fitness company, think about adding “avid yogi” to your interests.

• Proof read- hit spell check. Have a friend or someone you trust read your resume. I once had a client tell me she had a great resume. When I read through, I found the word “ass” on her resume. Clearly a typo, but why would an employer want to hire someone who can’t even get this one very important piece of paper right?

Hopefully this quick checklist will help you polish your resume. Having a great resume is the first step to getting you in the door!

To learn more about career consulting or coaching, go to www.katekibler.com

Are you up to the test?

 

Many employers use testing a part of the pre-employment evaluation process. 

These tests come in many different forms but are usually focused on: 

• Personality
• Motivation

• Aptitude

• IQ

Tests range from ones that are as widely used as Wonderlic, to a Gallup 90 minute phone interview, to tests that are written by a psychologist specifically for a company and their culture. 

There can be significant cost to employers who utilize testing.  If an employer has invested in using a test as a means of evaluating a candidate you can be sure that the test results will impact their decision to hire.

If you are faced with an aptitude or IQ test you can do some preparation and studying.  If it is a personality based test, most advise that there is no preparation.  They are just looking for candid answers to determine culture fit.

Some companies share the results of these tests and some do not.  We advise candidates to inquire ahead of time whether they will get feedback on the results so they know what to expect. 

Have you ever taken a pre-employment test?  As an employer do you utilize testing? Do you feel these tests improve the outcome of hiring decision?  Which tests do you feel are best suited for our industry?

The pendulum swing

Fashion is famous for going to extremes. One season, a style (sold in one color only) sells out. A relatively small quantity was purchased of that style and the retailer now thinks this will be a great style in a larger way. So the brand makes this style in 10 colors for a future season and buys a huge quantity. The style hits the selling floor with no support or marketing and it fails. We are now calling this style an epic failure. How could it be so successful one season and such a bad style the next? This is a classic fashion example of “swinging the pendulum”.

Finding a reasonable balance can be challenging in an industry with so many passionate people. It’s easy to get carried away and swept up in a moment. Hardly ever do these extreme shifts lead to success. It is important to take risks in an ever changing industry, but there are ways to handle where you can increase your chances of success. First, how far do you really need to move from your current position? After dipping your toe in the water, think through your next step. Maybe you don’t need to dive in the deep end, but rather swim swiftly to the deep end.

Risk is important, but a calculated risk has a better chance of success. In the style expansion example above, think about how a company could handle this differently. How could a marketing plan help turn this expanded style into a product launch versus expansion? What if the company carried this style in 10 colors and but bought a moderate amount. To cover the upside, the company could position fabric with a vendor and replenish the style if the expansion was successful- it protects you from the downside, but creates the opportunity for upside.

How many times have you seen your company swing the pendulum? How many times has it led to a successful outcome? What can you do in your position to create calculated risk rather than swinging the pendulum? Who can you work with in your role to ensure success for your company and the product you deliver? How can finding balance help you advance in your career? 

To learn more about career coaching, go to www.katekibler.com

Cost of Living

“In spite of the cost of living, it's still popular”  Kathleen Norris

Cost of living is a factor that can have a great impact on relocating for a new career opportunity.  New York City and a few cities in California are some of the most expensive places to live in the United States.  These cities are home to many employers in our industry.

There are also great fashion industry employers in smaller cities in Wisconsin and Texas.  There are big employers in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Columbus, Ohio is home to some major brands/retailers as is Boston, Massachusetts; Portland, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; Baltimore, Maryland and Freeport, Maine.

It is a positive financial factor if you are leaving one of the expensive cities and moving to another region where housing and cost of living are less.  The employers in smaller regions pay very competitive salaries and you get to add the lower cost of living factor for a much greater discretionary income.

The challenge is if you want to head to New York City, San Francisco or Hermosa Beach, CA from a less expensive city.  Employers in the largest cities have similar salary bands and in some cases lower than the more remote regions because the talent in their local market is in abundance.  They are not able to make up the 105% increase in cost of living from Columbus, Ohio to New York City in their compensation packages. 

If your desire is to move to one of these hub cities it is best to do research and understand what it will cost you to live there.  Know ahead of time if you are coming from a remote region initially you will likely experience a reduced discretionary income.  It is up to you to weigh the options and decide what is most important. 

As a boutique search agency we hear candidates weigh in on this from opposite perspectives.  Candidates that make $110K in NYC say they would never leave the city.    They are completely satisfied and love their lives.  When someone from an area with a lower cost of living making a similar salary looks at moving to NYC for $110 they tell me they can’t imagine how they will survive.

Here are some resources to evaluate cost of living comparisons:

http://www.bestplaces.net/cost-of-living/

http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/

http://swz.salary.com/costoflivingwizard/layoutscripts/coll_start.aspx

What are some factors that would motivate you consider taking a lower immediate discretionary income to move to a larger city?  Or...would you consider leaving the big city if it meant you could gain significant ground financially? 

Contact me at kari@apparel-resource.com to see what cities we have career opportunities in.

Compromise or collaborate

I often hear people complain about compromises they have made. They find themselves in situations where think they have to compromise with someone in order to get something done. In some cases, it is true that compromising may be the only solution. Often however collaborating may lead to a better solution. Most people easily interchange the two words, but don’t be fooled. Compromise and collaborate are not synonyms.  

In a compromise, people give something up. There is a loss. In a compromise, each person negotiating starts from what they see as the optimal position and begins to give in until they meet somewhere in the middle. Neither party gets what they truly want.

Alternatively, in a collaboration each negotiator works together to arrive at a solution. In true collaborations, the pie (so to speak) can get bigger. Each party can get what they originally intended and maybe more. There is opportunity to look at the problem from various angles and think about solutions in a new way. Understanding each other’s goals will help you discover an optimal resolution.

When have you had the opportunity to ‘expand the pie’ through collaboration? How often do you compromise when collaboration may be an opportunity? Who collaborates really well? What can you do to lead through collaboration rather than compromise?

Work Hard or Work Smart

I once had a leader that I respect say something to me that will stick forever.  I was an internal corporate recruiter.  It was just before the boom of electronic resume databases.  Resumes came in the mail on paper.  Applicants called to inquire about jobs.  We only used email to communicate internally corporately. (I know I sound like a dinosaur.)  We would post an ad in the paper, wait for the resumes to come, review EVERY one of them and follow up accordingly…with EVERY one. 

This employer was in the top 100 companies to work for in the United States.  When we would post a job there was more work than you could get through, even in an extended day. 

I have always been a “hard worker” it is a value my father had and I am proud of it.  I would work very late until all of the resumes were processed and I had a plan put together for the next day.  It was manual and I did it as “hard” as I could.  I wanted my boss to value it too.  I wanted him to appreciate the “hard work” I was doing.  He saw the late emails coming from me in the office on a regular basis. 

One morning he came to my desk and said, “Kari, I appreciate how hard you are working but I would prefer to see you work smart and get out of here at a reasonable hour than work hard and burn out.”   At first I was crushed.  But it was truly one of them most valuable things that someone has said to me in my career.  I started to think about it.  How could I work smart?  There were lots of things about what we did that didn’t really make sense to me.  How could I make that better?  I had just picked up what I was shown how to do and never questioned if there might be a smarter way.  Maybe finding shortcuts wasn’t lazy, maybe it was smart.

I was free to try brand new things with the process of recruiting.  The next job opening I decided we would engage the hiring managers.  We were tasked with hiring a large group of IT people all at one time.  I decided to advertise for an open house.  Candidates were to come with their resumes and be prepared to meet with the hiring managers.  We had food and beverages for the candidates. We provided areas where they could learn about the company and the jobs we were filling.  Candidates had the opportunity to meet with the hiring managers.  We hammered out a week’s worth of work by the old “process” in a 4 hour evening event.  We made multiple hires from this first event and it was a process that we continued to use successfully for several years.

This position on working smart is a principle I try to use to this day.  Are there things in your job that could be done more effectively?  Were you trained on processes that you have followed but they don’t really make sense to you?  See what happens if you spend some time thinking about how you could be smarter about what you do every day.  We would love to hear what happens.