Sharpen your writing and speaking skills folks, because the lights are on and they’re shining on you. With every resume, cover letter, telephone call, networking meeting and interview, you’re presenting your skills and abilities in the two ways most of us have learned to communicate; you’re either writing or talking. You better be good at both.
A worried reader comments that, “Introverts like me don’t have a chance against extraverted competition.”
Instead of focusing on your fear, level the playing field by focusing on your performance. Your performance will improve when you practice speaking clearly, succinctly, and energetically about what you want, why you want it, and how you can make a difference to the company that hires you.
A female caller recently called me and whispered, “I’ve been told that I speak with a little girl voice. I need to be taken seriously, particularly when I’m at work and speaking to people I don’t know or don’t know well. What can I do?”
If you’ve received feedback that your pitch, tone or voice quality has gotten in the way of your success get the help you need from a voice coach. If performance anxiety is your problem get additional help from a career coach or psychologist. If it’s a distraction that you want to manage yourself then name it and get it out of the way. For example, if you have a telephone interview, acknowledge early in the conversation that your voice may not be strong but your track record is and you want to describe it. Then do it. Put your energy into the content of what you say and how you respond. The listener will quickly adjust to your tone and hone in on your message.
Let’s move from the subject of pitch and tone to that of accent and pace and the difficulties that sounding “different” can present. If you’ve recently moved here and English is your second language you’ll benefit from learning how to sound as American as you are or soon will be. Get help from articulate native speakers who are willing to take their time to coach you. Ask for their assistance and feedback with your word choices, sentence structure, grammar, pace and tempo; role play networking and interviewing conversations. And in exchange for all these favors, ask how you can be of assistance to them.
Take advantage of the resources available to you in your local community. In some communities, the Public Library offers ESL classes and hosts ‘conversation clubs’ that enable you to practice new English speaking skills. Community colleges often offer classes through their continuing education programs. In addition to public resources there are professional counselors, therapists, and voice coaches in private practice who provide these and related programs and offerings.
Now, let’s get real about writing a resume: It’s your work product and you’re accountable for its contents. Be sure that you tell the truth, that your spelling and grammar are correct, that it’s as well edited as it is well organized. Writing a well- crafted resume takes time, care, and at minimum another set of eyes to check and double check that it’s error free.
Format: Write an objective that states the job you want and how you benefit the company that hires you. Follow that with a reverse chronology of your experience. Write your accomplishments as bullet-points; make them fact based, specific and quantifiable. Lead with words that project energy and action. Get it all on one page, one and one half at most, and use wide margins, easy to read font, 12- point type, and no hype.
