Jim Martineau's Page

In this business, we get to see our share of resumes, and with that as my perspective, let me offer some additional advice on crafting your resume. Keeping in mind that two of the constants in the hiring process are that most companies want stars, and that a large portion of companies are unwilling to pay for them. So what do they end up hiring most of the time? A rising star, or something relatively close! So how do you convey this in a resume? Two words: Career Progression. Many people (un)i… Continue

Periodically, I receive (either solicited or unsolicited) an e-mail with a resume that also has one or more reference letters attached. I must admit that I find these to be of little to no value to me. While I don’t offer this opinion unsolicited to the individual, once I have a follow up conversation, the candidate will usually ask my opinion about it, or whether they should send them out on their own when they are dealing directly with a company. While reference letters have their place, for t… Continue

The Information Age can be such a wonderful thing. Well, most of the time anyway. With information shared, referenced and linked so quickly via the internet, sometimes the effect can be less than desirable. Whether it’s a major media outlet or a small web site, things slip through the cracks. Other times, the errors are even bigger. Take the recent example of an article I read in a local paper about whether relocating for a job was worth it (original article here). The article was picked up from… Continue

The goal of an interview isn’t just to get the job as some people might believe. The goal of an interview is to obtain a sufficient understanding of the company, the job (i.e., is this a job I even want?), as well as to provide your potential employer with an understanding of your skills relative to their needs (i.e., is this a good fit for my skills?). With that goal in mind, the questions you should ask become absolutely essential to achieving this goal. While everyone has their stock questio… Continue

People look at taking a counter offer in many different ways. Some think it’s unethical and/or unprofessional and of course it can be both, but it also can be neither. Let’s take the scenario of a high profile college coach who isn’t quite on the hot seat, but isn’t able to lock down a raise and a contract extension. Said coach, who may be worried about his job security, interviews with another school, gets an offer, but then turns it down after his current school offers more money and a contra… Continue