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Will Automation Threaten Your Job?

Do you believe that automation threatens your job? If so, you share that believe with 37 percent of employees, according to the American Staffing Association.

Is Automation a Real Threat?

Many studies put the likelihood of job loss much lower than employees believe, somewhere around 12 percent. Artificial intelligence is not yet able to think as compassionately and creatively as humans, and fails to reach the same level of dexterity (think of jewelers and dentists). Automation will actually cause some jobs to grow—including information technology and machine repair. In other cases, automation is more likely to change the nature of a job rather than replace it.

Still, the fear of being replaced by a machine is one reason why professional development and training are important to 80 percent of US workers when looking for a job. They want to be able to improve skills, gain new skills, and prepare for the future of work.

What Can You Do?

If you are concerned, there are several steps you can take to prepare for automation in your field:

  • Build your networking muscles to find out about jobs that are a closer match for your skills, but in a position or career less prone to automation.
  • Seek opportunities practice skills that cannot be automated, especially compassion, creativity, and decision making, either at work (for example, by serving on committees) or through volunteering.
  • Teach yourself new skills; the more skills you have, the more opportunities will come your way.
  • Take courses at a community college, trade school, or the adult education department of a four-year college or university.
  • Search for a similar job but at a company that is committed to training and developing their employees.
  • Keep an open mind; you are never too old to learn something new or step into a new role.
  • Update and revise your LinkedIn profile and resume.

The last step is important. Your LinkedIn profile and resume should demonstrate the ways you have prepared for the job you want: a job that feels safer from automation. That means re-thinking your current information to emphasize the experience, education, skills, and interests that would transition to your new job. Robin’s Resumes® has decades of experience in helping job seekers transition to new roles, careers, companies, and industries. Contact us today.

6 Tips for Your LinkedIn Profile

Your LinkedIn profile is often your first opportunity to contact hiring managers and recruiters, even before they see your resume. They search LinkedIn for keywords related to the openings they have available; you want your name to crop up for the positions you are interested in. After they see your resume, recruiters and hiring managers will often refer to your LinkedIn profile for a clearer perspective on your goals and perhaps more information than you could fit on your resume.

Here are 8 tips to make your LinkedIn Profile more attractive:

  1. Write a headline that has meaning to the company. “Open to work” or “looking for an opportunity” has meaning to you but not to the company. Your headline should contain the type of position you want, perhaps the industry or field you are interested in, and a brief statement that shows your individuality. For example, “SVP of Operations for US Geothermal Inc., inspiring the teams and processes that deliver renewable energy and clean electricity across the nation.” Here’s another example for Robin Schlinger of Robin’s Resumes®: “Certified Resume Writer, Career Coach, Empowering YOU to FIND & GET the Job You WANT.”
  2. Concentrate on your value, not on the fact that you are looking. Aside from the fact that employed and engaged candidates are more attractive than unemployed or desperate candidates, what companies want most is someone who will add value. How will your skills, education, and accomplishments benefit a company if they add you to your staff?
  3. Show your passion. Unlike a resume, your LinkedIn profile is a perfect place for “I” statements, such as “I am passionate about developing team members’ talents and creating teams that align with the organization’s values, goals, and vision.”
  4. Highlight your most important contributions/skills. Use a few bullet points in your profile to home in on the accomplishments and combination of skills that set you apart from the competition. Demonstrate how your passion translates into a benefit for the company.
  5. Take advantage of every word count. You are allowed to list 50 skills in LinkedIn—list 50. You are allowed 2,500 characters (including spaces between words) in your profile. You may not need all 2,500 characters, and you do not want to pack your profile with buzz words and nonsense, but you should be able to generate at least three paragraphs. An empty profile, a position description containing no more than a company name and job title, and a skills list with 3 skills are worse than no LinkedIn profile.
  6. Attach a professional photo. Use a photograph that focuses on your face (taking up 60% of the frame) and where you are the only person in the picture. Smile. One study found ditching the sunglasses, smiling, and dressing formally upped scores for likability, competence, and influence. A black and white photo scored about the same as a color photo.

Robin’s Resumes® knows the importance of your LinkedIn profile, and we offer profile as well as resume writing for just that reason. Contact us for more information and a great LinkedIn profile.

“Update Resume” Ranked Most Important to Job Search in Career Survey

Champlain College in Vermont conducted a recent survey of over 1000 US adults. Two-thirds of those adults expressed optimism in viewing their prospects for new careers, jobs, and opportunities. They felt that the two most important actions they could take to improve their employment situation were to update their resume and get career help.

A resume company experimented to determine if having a LinkedIn profile helped a job seeker’s chances of receiving an invitation to interview. A LinkedIn profile increased the chances of an interview by 71%. However, the profile had to be comprehensive; the bare bones of name, position, and contact information actually reduced the applicant’s chances. A full LinkedIn profile was especially important in lower-level positions. Still, even managerial-level applicants saw an improvement in their chances for an interview if they had a good LinkedIn profile.

Resume updates, career advice, and LinkedIn profiles are all offered at Robin’s Resumes®, backed by both certifications and over 20 years of experience.

Robin’s Resumes® offers an impressive combination of key certifications from both professional resume writing organizations and coaching organizations, including:

  • Certified Master Resume Writer (CMRW)
  • Certified Federal Resume Writer (CFRW)
  • Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW)
  • Master Career Director (MCD)
  • Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC)
  • Nationally Certified Online Profile Expert (NCOPE)
  • Digital Branding Strategist.

Those certifications are your assurance that you will receive professional resume and LinkedIn writing services and up-to-date advice and guidance in pursuing your career goals. As a member of the top professional organizations in resume writing and career marketing, Robin’s Resumes® has been a mentor for junior writers, an invited speaker at national organizations, including colleges and professional organizations, and a contractor to several federal agencies in providing career transition coaching and documentation.

Research by TalentWorks has shown that resumes get a massive boost in attention if you write powerful documents. Make sure your bullet points start with action words, you list 15-20 key skills (both hard and soft skills), demonstrate leadership in some form, use numbers in relating your accomplishments, and know how to use industry buzzwords. If you have difficulty meeting any of those criteria, you reduce your chances for a job interview. That is why so many professionals turn to Robin’s Resumes® to write and update resumes, even if they consider themselves good writers: they rely on Robin’s Resumes® to create a professional resume that reflects the most current trends and research.

To find out more about the services and strengths of Robin’s Resumes®, visit our website and contact us today.

Career Coaching: Get Your Job Search on Track

My certifications as a Certified Electronic Career Coach and a Job and Career Transition Coach enable me to help job seekers who may have become stalled in their job hunt or who are finding it hard to define their career goals. If you are frustrated by a job hunt that seems to be going nowhere or if you aren’t even sure where you want your job hunt to go, you may benefit from coaching.

Among other services I offer, I can:

  • Help you create an organized plan for your job search
  • Help you define the jobs and types of companies that fit your areas of expertise and work history
  • Review your job hunt so far and see if there are strategies you might have missed
  • Recommend frequently overlooked sources for job openings
  • Make sure you’re looking for the right job at the right level
  • Fine-tune and strengthen your resume and cover letter
  • Review your online networking—for example, making sure you have a LinkedIn profile and that it reinforces your resume

Whether or not you take advantage of these services, my background as a career coach helps me to create a resume that gives you more confidence. And that confidence helps you move your entire job search along.

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