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February 2008 :: Resume Action Newsletter

A newsletter brought to you by Aussie Résumés http://www.aussieresumes.com

Aussie Résumés offer résumé writing services, a résumé critiquing service, cover letter editing and writing, job seeker software products and career coaching.

February 2008: Issue 49

Editor: Tara West

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In This Issue

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> Welcome
> Launch of new website
> Article: Gaining a salary increase / promotion: market your true worth via a job performance chart
> Positive Quote
> Article: The Broccoli Principle by Craig Harper
> Positive Quote
> Subscribe / Unsubscribe Information
> Contact Information

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New Look Website!

We are excited to announce that in January 2008 we launched a new-look website... check it out at www.aussieresumes.com

ARTICLE:

Gaining a salary increase / promotion: market your true worth via a job performance chart.

by Tara West of Aussie Résumés

Have you been in the same position for awhile? Feel it’s time to boost your salary and / or career prospects? Ever been overlooked for a salary increase / promotion?

A résumé and cover letter is a great tool in your job hunting toolbox, but there are times when you need to go outside of the box and market yourself in a totally different light.

Since 1992 I have been stating that a job seeker needs to market their services to an employer, just like an employer markets their services / products to a consumer. This is still true. However, what if you took it one step further?

Have you ever been prospected by a sales rep who whipped out a chart full of wonderful statistics to prove that what they were saying was the real deal? This is an interesting point and one you can use to your advantage, assuming that you have exceeded your own workplace targets or outstripped your peers.

A job performance chart is a new tool for your job hunting toolbox that you can utilise, irrespective of whether you are seeking an internal salary increase / promotion, or whether you are attending an interview at a new company.

How do you put it together and how does it work?

First, you need to collect as much data as possible on your key performance indicators (KPIs) or targets – whether they be personal or team orientated or both.

As an example: one of your KPIs may be a target of acquiring 20 new sales per month with total revenue of $100,000.

Next step is to document all of your KPIs and achievements on a worksheet so you can quantify the results. Quantifying with numbers is something managers relate to – so use it to your advantage.

As an example:

· In January you may have acquired 22 new sales for the month with a total revenue of $125,000; or

· You may have acquired 15 new sales for the month but achieved total revenue of $155,000 (so even though your total sales did not meet the new sales target you exceeded the revenue target).

In quantifiable terms this would equate to (respectively):

· 10% above target for new sales and 25% above target for revenue.

· 55% above target for revenue.

If you don’t know how to arrive at a percentage between the two figures (i.e. quantifying), then follow this simple formula:

· Figure subtracted by Figure

· Divided by the first Figure

· Multiplied by 100 = %

For example: target = 20 new sales; achieved 22.

· 20 subtracted by 22

· Divided by 20

· Multiplied by 100 = 10%.

If you want further clarification on this there are some great mathematical sites on the Internet which explain it in further detail in layman terms.

Once you have quantified your achievements, next step is to produce a job performance chart or graph of your accomplishments – this is a powerful tool you can use at a meeting and / or interview.

It clearly outlines what you have personally contributed to your organisation, thus demonstrating your true worth to the company and what you have added to the bottom line. This is a great bargaining tool when requesting a salary increase / internal promotion, as well as something you can use at an interview. Consider it as your own personal marketing document. There is no right or wrong way in putting together your chart – present it in a way which works for you. There are numerous charts you can utilise to display your data.

For every achievement that you cite, you could also include the team’s “average” achievement, or indeed, a colleague’s underperformance (excluding names of course!).

Here is a simple example:

Sample job performance chart

Of course, to make this work really well you should be diligently documenting all of your achievements – don’t leave it to memory (can you recall your achievements from a year ago?). Every week or month (whatever works for you), jot down your achievements so you have a ready access of information at your fingertips when you need it.

Be bold in your approach when demonstrating your true worth and take the time to present yourself in a positive light. It could mean the difference between getting a new position in 2 weeks as opposed to 6 months, or indeed the difference between a $50k salary or a $65k salary. Have a think about what you are potentially costing yourself in monetary terms.

Good luck and happy job hunting! :-)

PS:

Is the idea of putting together a job performance chart too difficult, too detailed, or too time consuming? Contact Aussie Résumés for a quote!

QUOTE

“The way of the superior person is threefold; virtuous, they are free from anxieties; wise they are free from perplexities; and bold they are free from fear.”
--- Confucius

ARTICLE:

The Broccoli Principle
by Craig Harper

Even as a teenager I learned that, as a rule, the stuff which tasted great was bad for me, and the stuff which tasted like complete crap, was gonna do me the most good. What a ridiculous notion. What kinda weird-ass, nasty prank is that to play on a fat food-loving kid? So not fair. So not a lesson that I wanted to learn.

"Whaddaya mean, donuts don't have the same nutritional value as vegetables? Let me see that research paper."

As a somewhat resourceful (code for smart-ass) chubby thirteen year-old, I actually could have run workshops for the masses:

* Vegetable Evasion 101.
* 50 creative things to do with vegetables at the dinner table, other than eat them.
* How to create the 'illusion' of vegetable eating.
* Managing your fear of vegetables through cognitive disassociation.
* Developing your own vegetable allergy.

If the entire range of vegetables started and finished with potato, I would have been a vegetable-a-holic. I could, on occasion, stretch myself to carrots, but only to keep the Vegetable Police off my back momentarily. Peas were mushy crap, the asparagus smell was worse than my school bag (that's saying something), brussel sprouts totally creeped me out, and I had re-occurring nightmares about broccoli; it reminded me of teeny, weeny trees. Didn't look like food to me. Disgusting.

For the majority of my teenage years, my mother and I actually engaged in vegetable warfare.

Gotta say, in her thirties, she was quite the tactician. She needed to be; I could spot a hidden vegetable at thirty feet. Mothers do that you know; the vegetable 'hiding' thing. They're trained in it by their mothers. And their mothers, mothers before them. We poor, simple men live in the dark when it comes to this stuff. I'll write an article on that one day.
As I got older, she became more and more skilled and increasingly cunning. Not fair really, I was just a dumb kid. You grow up thinking that mothers are all 'love and light'; they're not. They are sneaky, resourceful, creative and extremely strategic adversaries. Sure, they look all cutesy and caring; it's a complete scam. They are hard-core. They are simply vegetable pushers in frocks. Yep, many significant battles were fought at the Harper dinner table.

"I don't care how long you sit there Mister, you're not moving until you eat every last vegetable on that plate!"
"Cow" (in a feeble-under-my-breath whisper).
"What did you say to me?"
"Nothing."
"I'll give you some 'cow' around the ears in a minute, Mister backchat"

That's another thing nobody tells you - Mothers having super-human hearing; it's like some in-built, special survival mechanism, chick thing. It puts us kids at a biological disadvantage. What kinda lame-ass 'level' playing field is that? I wish I learned about the hearing trick earlier. Coulda saved myself a lot of heartache. It's amazing how scary a tiny little woman, with cooking utensils can be.

Did I mention their unique propensity to bend the truth?
"Mum, does this have broccoli in it...?"
"Hmm, don't think so.."
LIAR!
Your pants are SO on fire Mary Harper.

When it came to vegetables, she had absolutely no morals. She would lie, cheat and coerce those horrible things into my mouth. She would look at me with that innocent, 'but-I'm-your-mother-why-would-I-mislead-you' face and then proceed to lie her ass off. Even when I'd find the offending vegetable in my meal (hidden cleverly under the good stuff), she'd come out with "I don't remember putting that in there!!"

No wonder I have trust issues.

It wasn't until I hit my twenties, that I actually began to understand and appreciate the psychology and the motivation behind my mother's sneaky little habits. And yes, I did reluctantly discover that broccoli is amazingly good for me. Even though it doesn't come close to cheesecake, I consume it on a regular basis because it's good for me. Now, if only someone could only create a cheesecake with the nutritional values and benefits of broccoli! Or conversely, maybe grow some broccoli that tastes like cheesecake. Now there's a business idea.

I now use the 'Broccoli Principle' when I am working with people in the areas of personal and professional development. Even as adults, we are addicted to the 'yummy' stuff (metaphorically speaking). The stuff that's easy, the stuff that 'tastes' good, the stuff that doesn't challenge us, get us out of our comfort zone or cause us to become stronger and more capable. It's also usually the stuff that doesn't allow us to grow and be 'healthy' (psychologically, emotionally, developmentally). We 'eat' what we want, rather than what we need. We're adults behaving like spoiled brats. And what we end up with, is stunted emotional growth and personal development scurvy. In order to 'grow' properly, develop our potential and create our own version of 'amazing', we need to eat the broccoli that life serves up.

Okay, I'm off to investigate that cheesecake flavoured broccoli thing...

About The Author

Craig Harper (B.Ex.Sci.) is the #1 ranked Motivational Speaker by Google. He is a qualified exercise scientist, author, columnist, radio presenter, television host and owner of one of the largest personal training centres in the world.

Motivational Speaker & Conference Speaker - Craig Harper
http://www.craigharper.com.au

QUOTE

"One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time."

--- Andre Gide

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