CAREERS NOW 01-05-11

Create a Memorable E-Mail Signature

DEAR JOYCE: I would like to come up with a distinctive e-mail signature that doesn't look like everyone else's. I'm in the sales field but am repeatedly passed over before I ever get to the interviewing stage. Suggestions? - M.M.

The problem: As a job candidate, you're forgettable. The solution: Become more memorable in a positive way.

Suspect that your resume requires an extreme makeover to be effective. I've spent the past year researching the dramatic differences between the successful 20th century job seeker and the successful 21st century job seeker. To illustrate galloping changes in the job market, remember that just a few years ago, most people didn't use social networks, smart phones or wikis. (The term "wiki" comes from the Hawaiian phrase "wiki wiki," which means "super fast.")

The book I spent the year revising to show how to straddle the old and the new techniques that allow you to become more memorable - "Resumes For Dummies, 6th Edition" - won't be available until February.

In the meantime, here's a no-cost tip to become a memorable job candidate: Create a breakthrough professional e-mail signature. Here are two online resources with both text and visuals that explain and dramatize this 21st century concept:

-- "How to Create a Professional Email Signature for Your Career or Job Search" on the website TheUndercoverRecruiter.com.

-- The video and other content on the website WiseStamp.com.

Not all 21st century job seekers need to amp up the wattage on their professional e-mail signature, but many, especially those in marketing and sales, can use the technique to become less forgettable without spending a dime.

DEAR JOYCE: I am a department manager at a pharmaceutical company. Over the holidays top management advised us to expect to do more with fewer people in 2011. The hits keep coming, it seems. What are some newer ideas to accomplish this challenging task? - R.M.

Most business advice books seem to run in familiar patterns, but take a look at a new one by psychiatrist Edward M. Hallowell, "SHINE: Using Brain Science to Get the Best from Your People" (Harvard Business Review Press). One of the things Dr. Hallowell deals with is the need for managers to address disconnection in the workplace due to heavy reliance on e-mail, texting and working remotely, rather than face-to-face communication.

SHINE is a short book with fewer than 200 pages, so it's an easy read. Dr. Hallowell's "Self-Report Job Fit Scale" illuminates the path to happier and more successful work experiences for job seekers and employees, as well as offers techniques managers can use to pump up their teams. Career changers, take special note of the book's job-fit advice before striking out blindly in unfamiliar directions.

DEAR JOYCE: During an interview by a company manager two weeks ago, I was told that the upper pay limit on a position I was offered was $72,000. I gulped and turned down the offer. Yesterday, the manager called back and said the upper limit had been raised to $85,000. Do you believe that, or was the manager low-balling me to start with? If the latter, what else is the manager lying about? - I.G.

Who knows? Companies often negotiate to get the best prices, just as you do. In this deficient economy, I'd be inclined to take a chance on the manager's veracity and accept the job.

DEAR JOYCE: My daughter is thinking about becoming a doctor. Can you suggest an authoritative resource to help move along her decision? - D.H.

In the free and low-cost guidance materials department, thanks to a professional publication I admire, College Spotlight (collegeandcareerpress.com) for the following suggestion that responds to your question:

"The Road to Becoming a Doctor" (aamc.org/students/considering) is an attractive, 18-page overview of physician specialties, work settings and the medical education process.

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