What to Use as Professional Reference on Resume

“So I just graduated college and the job that I am applying to asks for three profession reference letters... I have two from an internship I did but was wondering does a manager/owner of the restaurant I currently work at count as a “professional” reference?”

Yes, I think that will work great. While you are earlier in your career, there is nothing wrong with using a neighbor, pastor, coach, etc. as a reference. The standing of that person and what they know about you is more important than the professionalism. A manager/owner will work great.

If you are applying for a CEO position, a Restaurant Owner isn't going to be your top pick. If you are earlier in your career, it's great. Working at a restaurant is hard work (I know, I worked at one through HS, college) and I see it as great experience. Down to the nitty-gritty with customers, physical work, stress, etc. Wear your restaurant experience with pride!

How to Negotiate Severance Package?

What’s the best way to negotiate a severance package? Should I just list the items I’m looking for? Usually in a salary negotiation you tell the company why you’re valued at a higher rate. What would be my best option in terms of getting what I want in this situation?

Severance is really tricky. I'm sorry that you're in a situation that you have to deal with this.

My first question would be, is the company offering severance packages, or are you hoping to get one? I personally love negotiating, but with severance, it's not something that the employer has to do in the first place. So in my view, it's not something that you can push too hard with.

If your employer has offered you a severance package and you aren't happy with it, you can try phrasing such as "To be in line with what my research indicates is industry standard, and to arrive at a place where I believe we can both go separate ways in a healthy, mutually beneficial way, I believe that ____ and ____ best aligns with our shared interests".

I hope that helps. My experience with HR Paperwork/Severance Packages is limited. My strongpoint and focus in the corporate world has been high-growth, fast paced hiring and quickly growing companies.

“I appreciate the template format you provided, that is extremely helpful! I was offered a severance and was hoping to email back with a long list of requests. Do you think sending a list of 15-20 items is a bit much?

If you don't mind my asking, what's your pay range or seniority level? Your time at the company and position will make a difference.

From my perspective, if I saw 15-20 items I might think that someone is trying to drag things out or get as much as possible. Can you combine items/categories and get them down to 5-10?

“I am one of the senior management folks at my location. Pay range is 55k - 65k. I was at the company for 4 years.

Between you and me, I am trying to get as much as possible haha. Just revisiting my list, I can get it down to at least 8-10 items.

f you want my personal opinion, it doesn't hurt to ask, and the worst they can say is "no". Organizing your list down will help - it might reposition you from "pain in the ass" to "this guy wants to play ball and is being reasonable."

Since you are senior management, that will certainly help. I think that positioning your interactions as "you desiring to help make this smooth and easy" helps, along with being as friendly as possible.

I don't blame you for wanting to come out of this as whole and taken care of. Is there anything else I can help with? I apologize that Severance is not my expertise.

Cold Calling to Apply for Positions

“If you have to cold call apply for positions, what can you do to hedge your bets? Are unprompted emails to anyone beneficial? And if yes, to who? (For Software Engineering or Machine Learning positions in the US)”

If you do some research on a company website, you can likely find the right contact email addresses. It doesn't hurt to follow up via email after 2-3 weeks.

I've had people reach out to me via Linkedin after applying and I actually liked that. I could instantly put a face to a name and have another level of reference.

I would recommend that you NOT call anyone on the phone. It's a bit confrontational and asking for an answer to something that's hard to reply to. It's basically putting someone on the spot asking, "why haven't you contacted me yet?". Don't expect anything but a boiler-plate response to that.

If you do email someone or Linkedin message, don't just inquire on your status. Write 1-2 sentences to help sell your candidacy.

Who? You could reach out to whatever HR or Recruiter you find. If you want to take a little more of a risk and get creative, try and find out who you think runs that department/is the manager. You might naturally have more rapport with this person as they share some skillsets/interests with you. Don't put any pressure on this person, just state your skills and how you can help.

How to Format Resume

“I’ve recruited people previously and have found that I actually prefer a very short paragraph that summarises a previous job for me. This is certainly against regular advice which states to put all your experience/work history in dot point format.

What do you prefer and why?”

I like the bullet points, but agree with you that a short paragraph works as well. The nice thing about the resume is that it standardizes the layout/expectations. If everyone could format their short paragraphs the same way, it would probably work just as well.

Like you, I've received a number of emails that lay out a great job history in 1-2 paragraphs. This email is usually sent before a resume. I respect applicants that can pull this off well!

How Much Difference Will Masters Degree Make in My Job Search?

You are AWESOME for offering this - thank you!! I can think of a couple things I’d really like to know right off the bat.

Backstory: I’m 45 but look like I’m in my early 30’s (thank you, genetics!), and live in Southern California. I worked as an Operations Specialist at a small-to-medium-sized firm for approx. 6 years, where I had autonomy and was very good at my job. My manager from that position also supported me in saying that I did have a supervisory role, although it was minimal. Unfortunately, I was laid off during the last recession, and decided to go back to school since I’ve been working all my life but missing the scholastic component.

I’ve received a magna cum laude (3.98 GPA at CSUF - associates brought me down a bit) Bachelors in Business concentrated on Operations and Supply Chain Management, and wanted to continue on to a Masters in Data Analytics. About half the programs wanted a working knowledge in Python and I knew nothing about coding, so I went back and will be finishing the end of this year with an Associates in Computer Science (straight A’s). I will then be looking at Masters programs.

I want to start working while I pursue the Masters degree, but am worried with this new environment that I may not be an attractive candidate. I’d prefer either a job in operations or potentially something in the data analytics field, although I’m willing to start at a lower position and work my way up if necessary.

My questions are:

How much of a difference will a Masters make in my job search?

Will it make much difference which college I go to?

Most importantly: How can I best highlight my recent scholastic accomplishments while also showing my working abilities, as I’ve been out of the workforce for a few years?

Any need for clarification, please let me know. Thank you so much, it’s great to have someone to ask these questions!

You have awesome experience and your drive to improve should be attractive to every company you apply to.

"My questions are:" How much of a difference will a Masters make in my job search? I think it makes a difference. It's deeper knowledge and a deeper commitment to your trade. Emphasize that you pursued additional education because of your love of the industry, and because you knew it would help you contribute more to your next employer. You could say that you think your industry needs more ____ experts, and you stepped up to the plate.

Will it make much difference which college I go to? Well, the ivy leagues do carry some weight at certain companies. As long as you aren't at a school that has a reputation for being subpar or scammy, I don't read much into schools personally. Find a great school that you like and take it from there.

Most importantly: How can I best highlight my recent scholastic accomplishments while also showing my working abilities, as I've been out of the workforce for a few years? I think being out of the workforce to grow professionally will make you stand out in a good way. To use video-game terms (I'm no gamer but we'll give this a try) you took the opportunity to "level-up". The more you learn and gain, the more you have to offer and stand out from other candidates. Also, in my opinion, dedication to education shows a high level of commitment and discipline. "This candidate is all in on his _______ experience"

As far as highlighting, you can put a small note on your resume stating why you went back to school. Put it in small italics in something like that 5-10 words. Prepare for your interview and don’t forget how interview training can make or break your job search. Create talking points for your phone/in person interviews where you can drive this home and express how your deep experience will help the company.

One quick note, make sure that you don't solely rely on the education factor. When you talk about it, drive the point home. But I'd say keep that to 20-30% of your overall "brand". You want to make sure to emphasize your accomplishments in the real world. Someone that only has education is missing a lot of real world experience - so balance the two. Does that make sense?

“Thank you - these are wonderful insights, and I truly appreciate them. I will definitely be looking into the masters with a reputable school, and am glad to hear that it probably won’t hurt me too much if I don’t go to an Ivy League - the costs make it quite prohibitive!

I’m even more relieved to have your suggestions regarding the approach for both my prior experience and schooling. Hee hee, the video game reference was spot-on, and I will apply these suggestions most faithfully!

Thank you so much for making yourself available to those of us who need such help in these times! <3

The Ivy Leagues carry more weight in politics, high-end finance, industries like that.

A benefit of Ivy Leagues is networking. If you are already established in your career I don't believe it would be necessary. A lot of kids that went to the same prep schools...

If you have any other questions I'm happy to give more feedback.