Meet Tom Hannemann, an expert career strategist, and the driving force behind Advance Yourself Career Services. With 25 years of experience, Tom has been at the forefront of guiding executives, managers, and professionals toward achieving their career goals. Since the inception of Advance Yourself in 1997, Tom has been instrumental in transforming ordinary job applications by turning position descriptions into compelling marketing collateral and by helping people craft meticulous resumes, captivating LinkedIn Profiles, and persuasive cover letters.
We sat down with Tom to learn more about his expertise and gain insight into his work as a career strategist. Here’s what we learned:
Q. As someone who has been helping executives, managers, and professionals advance their careers since 1997, could you share a particularly challenging case and how you succeeded?
Tom: Absolutely. A Human Resources executive who had been with an organisation for only 12 months was finding it difficult to articulate their achievements because the connection between tangible results and their efforts was not always linear or direct and the lead times between benefits and the actions they took were usually quite long.
The challenge was to make a tangible connection between the strategies they formulated and the benefits to an organisation that had not invested in collecting data about the impact of HR initiatives.
To help me understand their achievements, I asked them to obtain feedback from key internal clients – line managers, operational managers, and senior executives – to obtain first-hand information about the difference they made from the perspective of their clients. As a result, we were able to demonstrate the value of their efforts and the difference their work had made directly from the “horses’ mouths”.
Q. Can you give us an example of how you differentiated a client in a highly competitive job market?
Tom: I once worked with a senior finance executive who needed to demonstrate how they were different from other people with similar experience, expertise, and qualifications. The key differentiating theme throughout their career was their ability to consistently turn around the financial performance of companies and business units that had become ‘basket cases’, usually through ill-informed, premature, or, in some cases, highly questionable decisions by the executive management group.
I positioned them as a ‘fixer’ (in the nicest possible way) and as someone prepared to make the tough decisions, ask the difficult questions, and who had the personal presence required to command respect. By targeting companies that needed exactly that, he became highly sought after by employers and executive search consultants.
Q. What specific strategies do you employ to tailor resumes, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles for different industries or job roles?
Tom: The main thing to understand here is that recruiters and hiring managers want to understand how your experience and expertise are linked to the requirements of the role and the organisation. So, they are positively influenced when candidates take the time and make the effort to align their resumes with the job.
This means that the Career Summary and Expertise sections of a person’s resume should be adjusted and fine-tuned to demonstrate that they have the experience and skills needed in that role and how they can make a substantive difference to the organisation. I also make sure that their main achievements are relevant to the important criteria and scrap irrelevant items.
Q. You mentioned a unique process for helping clients prepare for interviews. Could you walk us through the key components of this process?
Tom: One of the key success factors in interviews is ensuring that you are in the right state of mind, just like success in sports or making presentations or in negotiations is heavily influenced by your mental state. I teach my clients how to get into the right state of mind so they are at the top of their game as soon as the interview starts.
Because the ability to manage the interview process is also critical, I coach clients in applying techniques to keep them on track, dig themselves out of a hole before it gets too deep, provide just the right level of detail, and give succinct examples of their achievements and how they can add value.
Q. Could you provide an example of impactful phrases or language you’ve used to effectively highlight achievements without coming across as boastful?
Tom: I have many examples of this, but one of them would be:
“Partnered with the CEO to deliver 7% average annual sales growth, increasing annual turnover from $111M to $150M. Strategies included:
- opening greenfield branches
- strengthening relationships with the company’s most important customers
- reactivating trading relationships with inactive customers
- negotiating with suppliers to offer customers more competitive prices
- increasing sales staff bonuses”
This highlights not only the accomplishments but also how they were achieved, which, in turn, reflects your expertise. This is all purposeful language, so there are no embellishments or meaningless words, which is one of the essential elements of an effective resume.
Q. What are some of the most common misconceptions you’ve encountered, and how do you dispel them with your clients?
Tom: Some common misconceptions are that a single generic resume can be used for all job applications, that resumes should include every job a person has ever had, that accomplishments or achievements should be revealed in the interview, that ‘soft’ skills are not that important, that a perfect resume will lead to an interview for every job and that cover letters are not needed these days. Some people even think that recruitment consultants will help them or provide feedback about their applications.
My role is to educate clients about these misconceptions and provide personalised guidance and advice using logic and my understanding of what does and doesn’t work as a result of my conversations with recruiters and hiring executives.
Q. In your experience, what are some often-overlooked elements in a resume, cover letter, or LinkedIn profile that can be surprisingly significant?
Tom: People often underestimate the benefits of tailoring their resumes and cover letters to the requirements of each job, and the impact of incorporating relevant keywords and phrases. They also overlook the effectiveness of articulating concrete achievements, the power of action words, and the value of a consistent brand across their resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn Profile.
Some don’t think that typos, grammatical errors, or formatting inconsistencies are important. Because a resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn Profile are the only ways job seekers can showcase their expertise and experience and demonstrate their value, paying attention to these often-overlooked elements can provide a competitive edge.
Q. Networking is an essential aspect of career growth. How do you advise your clients to leverage their LinkedIn Profiles to build connections and create new opportunities?
Tom: Starting with the basics, ensure that your LinkedIn is complete and up to date. Use a high-quality profile (head and shoulders) picture, craft a relevant headline, prepare an “About” section that incorporates your unique value proposition, and make sure that your “Experience” section contains selected examples of your achievements and contributions.
Then, connect with people you know personally and professionally, people you meet at events or through mutual connections, and personalise your connection requests to make them authentic.
Engage with content produced by others by liking, commenting, and sharing posts, participate in discussions to increase your visibility, share your own content, participate in LinkedIn groups, and reach out to recruiters seeking candidates with your background and experience. When people reach out to you, strive to be responsive, courteous, and have meaningful conversations.
Q. As someone with a passion for making a difference in people’s lives, can you share a touching success story?
Tom: One of my clients had left their role after only seven months as a result of continuous bullying, belittling, and harassment from their manager leading to the erosion of their confidence and self-esteem. They didn’t know how to explain the short stint in that role.
Together, we created a carefully worded and authentic statement to explain their reasons for resigning without casting blame, positioning them as a ‘victim’, or trying to engender pity. We also focused attention on their achievements and contributions in previous roles where they were proud of what they had accomplished, where they made a valued difference, and where they would receive the endorsement of their managers.
To keep up with Tom Hannemann and Advance Yourself Career Services, visit his website or connect with him on LinkedIn.
