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Speak Up

In practically every column that I write, I remind readers that job searching is selling, and that you have to pull out all of the stops to sell your worth. It's not a time to be modest and hold back. Sell! Sell! Sell!

But, I also talk about telling the truth, and have cautioned people, at times, to tell only as much truth as necessary. Never lie, but sometimes it helps to hold back information.

How can you pull out all of the stops and still hold back when necessary? The answer is to stay relevant to your objective. There are times when it may be helpful to hold back values that you have that are not relevant to the job you want. Here's an example:

I received a couple of sample resumes from a job seeker who was having problems landing an administrative assistant position. The job seeker could not understand why she was not getting responses after all of the work she put into creating the resumes, and I will tell you that both resumes were incredible - fantastic examples of creativity and skill - but completely off the mark in terms of relevancy.

One was a video resume, complete with musical background and attractive colors and graphics. Each page turned to another listing of skills and accomplishments, ending with education and references. It was beautifully done and would be perfect for a creative position, but not for a clerical administrative assistant.

The second resume was more relevant, but not traditional enough in my opinion. It was formatted as a spread sheet, complete with lines and columns separating each category from the next. It, also, was well done and might have worked for an accounting position, but was too cute for traditional offices.

Yes, you must sell! Sell! Sell! And, there are times to pull out those stops, but think of whom you are tying to sell. What works for them? How will they respond? What are their limits for non-traditional approaches? You do want to attract attention and be remembered, for your relevancy not just your creativity. Keep it relevant to your objective - then, pull out those stops.

If you oversell in areas that don't apply to the position you want, you might invite negative response.

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Marvin Walberg is a job-search consultant based in Birmingham, Ala. He can be contacted at P.O. Box 43056, Birmingham, AL, 35243. E-mail him at mwalberg@bellsouth.net.