Job Title: Diesel Mechanic

Location: Upper North Shore

Reference No:DM2080

Job Description:
Our client is a prominent transport company on Sydney’s Upper North Shore.  Part of a major international company, and solidly established for several decades, this company is a vital provider of a significant transport network in Sydney.   This company offers many advantages to discerning mechanics, including stable employment,  steady and manageable workflow,  and a relatively modern fleet to service.  As a result, a chance to join this team is not often available and this position represents a rare opportunity.

This role would suit an experienced bus mechanic or a truck mechanic who is looking for cleaner and more modern vehicles to work with.

This opening is offered for a level headed, mature minded and experienced diesel mechanic.  Industry experience and measurable success are essential requirements for this role.   Any successful diesel mechanic who is looking for a better work environment, better conditions, strong management support, and long term stability is encouraged to apply.
Team motivation and harmony is very important to the success of this business, therefore you must be a team player. Your abilities to prioritise, organise your time and work, and remain focused on providing a strong work ethic will pave your way to success in this role.

Essential experience/qualifications/skills:

• Previous diesel mechanic experience
• Relevant trade Qualifications
• Good diagnostic and communication skills
• Methodical approach
• Ability to follow established processes, policies and procedures.
• Ability to work to schedule in a busy workshop
• Able to work flexible hours including early mornings and late nights

Desirable experience/qualifications/skills:

• Time Management
• Organised
• Attention to detail
• Ability to prioritise quickly
• Confident decision-making skills
• Teamwork
• Ability to work with minimal supervision

What Benefits are offered/included:

• Experienced small sized team for support.
• Constant reliable workflow
• Stable team and company
• Reputable company
• On site/Off site training to help you achieve more
• Strength and stability of a large international group of companies (Funded by parent Company and Government)

Click here to contact us regarding this Diesel Mechanic’s Job

Wanted - Good diesel mechanics

I am often approached by people in automotive sales asking for advice on their career development.  To address their request, I usually invite them to sit down with me and we pull out a pen and a notepad and document their career so far.

The alarming part of this for me is what happens next.  When I document these salespeople’s careers, more often than not, they have undertaken no professional career development at all.  Many of them have been in the industry more than a few years and in that time they have not attended a single sales training, read a single book on sales or joined a single organisation (such as Auto Professionals Australia) to help in their career development.

In career terms, they have been treading water (or worse, drifting backwards) and now all of a sudden they want to to swim a 100m sprint race in world record time.   With such unrealistic expectations, they have set themselves up to be frustrated and disappointed.

The task is by no means impossible, but it usually involves a change of priorities and mindset.  Salespeople who want to progress in their careers must accumulate knowledge.  Not just passive knowledge of facts and figures and relationships, etc. but active knowledge which translates as skill.

If you are reading this it is likely that you are in one of two categories:

1. You know this and already regularly develop yourself professionally with training, reading and/or professional association membership and are smiling and nodding that you know this secret to career advancement.

2. You feel like you’ve just found this out and need to catch up!

Automotive Recruitment is a competitive business and although some recruiters want to promote ANY candidates to ANY employers, we want to promote the BEST candidates to the BEST employers.  One of the great things about this is that the BEST employers are in such demand, that they don’t need to employ anyone but the BEST salespeople.  The BEST salespeople are also in such demand in this industry that they don’t want to work for anyone but the BEST employers.

So to get into this elite group, you have to ensure that you are not one of the crowd – not an average (or below average) salesperson who is lazy and does not take any responsibility for his / her own learning and development.

Even if you haven’t done this before, NOW is the time to start.  Make and follow a plan to continue to develop your knowledge and skills.  Even if you have no budget for this, get to you local public library and read one book on sales per month.  Keep a list of the books you have read and keep some bullet-points on what you learned from each book you read.   This list is helpful for you to review your knowledge but even more important to show a prospective employer in an interview to PROVE that you are one of the elite, not a loser who expects the employer to do everything for you.

If you want to get really crazy, sign up for a few sales courses every year and join a Professional Association.

These will add to the PROOF that you can offer a prospective employer that you are a growing salesperson or manager, not a shrivelling one.  By doing so, you increase your desirability and value in a competitive market, you become better at your job and you become a prime candidate for opportunities that you previously never knew existed.

Talk with us about your automotive sales career development!

Develop your sales career!

Job Success – How do I Get The Right Job?

One of the first things that we see with people who really want job success is that they have had one or more jobs where they were not happy/successful.  They’ve experienced that enough to know that they do not want it again and are prepared to take action to ensure that they are satisfied in their next job.

What is job success?

The great thing about job success is that it is open to interpretation and for each person it really depends on that persons values, priorities, experiences, mindset and some other criteria.  For someone who has had an aggressive, overbearing boss who stifled their work responsibilities and productivities, thie current definition of job success could be working with an encouraging and supportive boss who let’s them flourish at work.

It’s important to notice, too, that our definitions of job success are likely to change as we change, so what we define as job success today is unlikely to be the exact same definition in five years’ time.

What Do You Want?

Just like any goal setting process, you have a greater chance of success if you are very clear about what you want (and perhaps what you don’t want).  The focus should be on what you want, but knowing what you don’t want will also be very handy so that you are aware enough to avoid work environments that you have clearly identified do not benefit you and you can steer clear of them.

Your Boss

I’ve lost count of how many HR surveys I have read that say that the No. 1 reason people leave a job is the boss.  In starting the search for your next job, make a list of the qualities you like in a boss (perhaps even thinking of the best bosses you have worked with).  If need be, also make a list of what is unacceptable to you in a boss.  Examine this list and assess how much of it is you (if your bosses are always ‘nagging you to keep working’ then maybe you have the problem, not the bosses!).  Honesty with yourself here is paramount.

If,  however you have had manipulative bosses who take the credit for everyone else’s work, then in an interview if the boss talks about his/her achievements and mentions nothing of the team’s achievements, then you do not want that job!

Location

Before you answer any advertisements and start going for interviews, decide calmly how far and by what method it is acceptable for you to travel to work.  For example, for nearly three years I had a two-hour drive each way, every day to work.  I will never do that again, and so from about ten years ago, any job more than a 40 minute drive from home, I did not even apply for.

There may also be a particular place you’d like to work.  I found that I got on well with clients in particular areas of Sydney and so I preferred to work in those areas.  You may take into account the PMA, accessibility to public transport, noisiness or quietness of the location (proximity to railway or freeway noise), etc.

Responsibilities

Another thing to consider and clarify in your own mind is the type, volume and level of responsibility you want in a job.  Do you like increasing your responsibilities over time or do you prefer to just stay the same?

Work Environment

Depending on the type of work, do you need a particular environment to work well?  For particular jobs, do you need an air-conditioned office?  In a workshop, do you prefer cleanliness and good organisation?  Do you prefer space to work in or do you work better in a confined environment.  Depending on the type of job, your experiences and how you work best, there are a few things to consider here.

These are some of  the important first steps to securing job success.  You should consider them and make a few notes before you contact your Automotive Recruiter.

By taking the time to consider and identify the answers to these, you increase your chances of finding the best job for your skills and a workplace that will give you the best opportunities.

Contact me now to discuss your automotive work options.

Plan Your Job Success

Some friends of mine run marathons.  Occasionally I’ll go and watch them run.  Along the route, there are plenty of drink stations for the runners to grab a drink (and in some cases, an energy bar) while they are running to keep their energy up.  Speaking with some of my running friends, the drink stations act as mini-goals in their running plan, so when their tired legs and lungs are begging them to quit, the mini-focus becomes making it to the next drink station before the negotiation re-commences!  If they can successfully delay quitting like this, they finish the marathon successfully.

Sadly, too, a friend of mine collapsed and died in a marathon many years ago.  He was extremely fit and motivated, but the autopsy found that he died due to massive dehydration, probably in part because he skipped a few opportunities to take on water, perhaps because he was so focused on the task of running and reducing his time.

Even without fatal consequences, many runners harm their performance by skipping water stations.

How does this relate to a car sales career?  Well firstly, a successful car sales career is more of an endurance event than a sprint event.  Secondly, it’s important to replenish and refresh yourself along the way if you want to keep your performance up.

We have worked with hundreds of salespeople and sales managers who are focused on the endurance of their sales careers but oblivious to their performance, especially relative to the rest of the market.  It’s a  bit like a marathon competitor who finishes the course days after everyone else has packed up and gone home.  Their determination is admirable, but it doesn’t count for much by itself.

The motor industry is a dynamic industry – it is always changing.  So the salespeople and sales managers who just doggedly persist without replenishing their energy, their perspective, their knowledge and their skills are getting left behind by the rest of the industry and their potential customers.

Some of the changes in the industry just during my career have included the introduction of F.B.T., the introduction of Luxury car Sales Tax (with several subsequent increases), the introduction of GST, new Privacy Laws, increased paperwork to sell a car, the introduction of mobile phones, e-mail and the internet.

Salespeople and sales managers who did not adapt to these changes have been culled from the industry.  Especially with the internet, customers are better informed than ever, often better informed than the salespeople that they are dealing with.

So to become and remain successful in this industry, salespeople and sales managers must replenish and refresh themselves.  They can do this in a variety of ways including:

• Sales Training
• Management Training
• Reading Sales /Management Books
• Learning new skills by trial and error (often the slowest way)

Often the industry itself encourages its employees and managers just to stay focused on the sales targets (the finish line for the marathon this month) but in doing so, removes their focus from sustaining themselves for the next finish line and the one after that.

In dealerships and manufacturers we have worked with that have an obsession with this month’s results, the levels of staff burnout and /or turnover are higher than average, so the long term of goal achievement is compromised by short term focus.

As a bare minimum, you should be adding to your knowledge and skills systematically at least once a month.  Attend a sales training course or read a good book on sales.  Learn something and add it to your skills.  Use it and develop it and make it a useful, replenishing top-up to keep you in the race!

Discuss your automotive sales career and learning for career progression!

Learn more to earn more!

When automotive recruitment agencies and automotive employers are assessing job applications, they sort the applications.  There are many ways that they can do this and the methods they use may vary depending on their experience, priorities and knowledge.

An initial sorting will usually aim to quickly sort the wheat from the chaff, i.e., quickly identify the ‘no-hopers’ from the good candidates.   Usually the level of planning preparation and presentation of the candidates’ resumes are an easy basis to make the initial cull.

Once they have progressed to the interview stage, the criteria for progression become a bit trickier.  Most employers and automotive recruiters we have worked with have some similarities in this regard, and although they have different names for it, one of the major criteria that we see applied to distinguish potential employees is ‘Locus of Control’.

Locus (from Latin: location, place) of control is a term that describes a person’s belief about the causes of results in his/her life.  Someone with a strong sense of personal responsibility and accountability is said to have an internal locus of control.  Someone who sees that most of their life is affected by outside forces such as conspiracies, luck, enemies, market forces, etc. is said to have an external locus of control.  Another common terms to describe these two categories are survivor (internal L.O.C.) and victim (external L.O.C.).

If you were an employer who would you rather employ?  Someone with internal locus of control or someone with external locus of control?

When we apply these terms specifically to car salespeople, in our experience:

Car salespeople with internal locus of control:

• Have clear goals and direction
• Are self-motivated
• Generally focus on their goals and the team’s targets
• Believe that they can take action and make judgements to positively affect outcomes
• Actively ask questions to find out information
• Don’t make excuses
• Fill ‘spare’ time productively
• Use initiative to seek out knowledge and skills
• Take responsibility for their own learning and professional development
• Have a conciliatory attitude to customers, even those who don’t buy
• Tend not to blame other people for what happens
• Are accountable for their actions

Car salespeople with external locus of control:

• Don’t have goals or clear direction other than what is given them by management
• Are either unmotivated or expects others to motivate them
• Generally ignore their goals and the team’s targets
• Believe that they are helpless and victims of circumstances
• Make incorrect assumptions and don’t ask questions to clarify situations
• Make excuses
• Waste ‘spare’ time with unproductive or even destructive activities
• Expect the employer to do more for them than they do for themselves
• Do not take responsibility for their own learning and professional development
• Have a hostile attitude to customers, especially those who don’t buy
• Tend to blame other people for what happens
• Are not accountable for their actions

Even as I write this, I remember reviewing a resume a few years ago in which the salesman listed each of his previous employers and the reasons for leaving the employer (bizarre!).  In each instance, he blamed the employer, e.g., our cars were overpriced in the market, the valuer wouldn’t give me good trade-in valuations, the management were unprofessional.  It was abundantly clear that this salesman had a massive external locus of control.  At the time he had sent his resume to 200 (yes, two hundred!) prospective employers and in true external L.O.C. style could not for the life of him understand why he hadn’t been invited in for a single interview!

As you can see, any employer in their right mind is going to want to employ lots of Internal L.O.C. salespeople and have no external L.O.C. salespeople at all on the team.

If you already have an internal locus of control – congratulations, we can probably place you with one of the best automotive employers in the country.  Contact us!

If you realise that you’re somewhere in the middle and need to develop more of an internal locus of control, follow these steps to actively develop a stronger internal locus of control.

1. Acknowledge that you ALWAYS have choices and that those choices ALWAYS have consequences.  Admit that you are not always immediately aware of your choices nor their consequences and don’t start thinking about the consequences in too much detail to begin with.  By realising that you always have choices, you can begin to examine your choices when you feel helpless and start thinking about, observing and learning from the consequences of the choices that you make.  The choices available or the ones you identify may not always be desirable, but you can begin to start exercising CHOICE about your circumstances, even just to get started.

2. If you feel stuck, list all the possible choices that you can see , even if they are choices that you would not make. Just get as many down on paper as you can  before you start evaluating the consequences of those choices.  If need be, do some research and get help from others to add to the list.

3. When you have an extensive list of choices, think about the likely consequences of each.  After weighing up the likely consequences, make a clear decision about your choice (which may include to do nothing for a certain period). Rank the other choices so you have a back-up second choice if need be.  Acknowledge that this is YOUR CHOICE – you have made this decision.  This starts you developing the habit of looking for, and being aware of, new choices, possibilities and opportunities.

4.  Keep doing this exercise when you feel frustrated or helpless in like situations.  As you keep doing this, you will become better and better at it, and you’ll develop better decision-making which will make you happy to take responsibility for the mostly good decisions you make.

And finally, if you have a strong external locus of control, don’t worry, it’s not your fault that you haven’t had the success and breaks you would like.  There have been other people conspiring to keep you down and they have been helped to hamper your efforts by the aliens.  But one day you will have some good luck and the tooth fairy will deliver you a special package containing a magic elixir of youth and vitality, the winning lottery numbers in advance and a genie in a bottle and everything will work out!

Successful salespeople have an internal locus of control

Job Title: Used Car Sales Person

Location: Sutherland Shire

Job Reference: SP2232

Job Description:
Our client is looking to enhance the customer service experience to maintain their competitive edge in their market. The long standing team is a tribute to the environment the management team has created and maintained. With this in mind the opportunity for a sales person in has been made available to add to the already successful team.

This is a great opportunity for a level headed, mature minded individual.  Industry experience is preferred for this role  however it is not essential in order to succeed in this position.   Prior sales experience is essential regardless of the industry in which it has been attained.  An individual who has performed well as a sales person and is ready for a new challenge will be highly considered, especially someone coming from a high level customer service background.

Your ability to create and nurture mutually beneficial business relationships is the single most important factor.  Team motivation and harmony is very important to the success of the department, therefore you must be a team player. Your ability to observe and implement the basic selling techniques will pave your way to success in this role.

Essential experience/qualifications/skills:

• Ability to create good business relationships
• Effective communication skills
• Professional personal presentation
• Ability to listen, observe and take action
• Sales results focused
• Personable and approachable
• Have the passion and drive to succeed
• Experience in sales/retail/customer service

Desirable (but not immediately essential) experience/qualifications/skills:

• Time Management skills
• Ability to relate well to a broad range of people
• Empathy
• Organisational skills
• Attention to detail
• Good time management
• Ability to prioritise quickly
• Confident decision-making skills
• Methodical
• Teamwork

Some of the Benefits offered/included in this role:

• Company car/Car allowance
• Air conditioned office
• On site staff parking
• Large team – better coverage for RDO’s etc.
• Good strategic location with high volumes of walk-in traffic
• High profile long-established fracnchise dealership
• High volume new car department providing good quality trade-ins
• Strong marketing support
• Stable team
• Reputable company
• Onsite training to help you achieve your goals

Contact us to discuss this role and any other suitable positions we may have for you.

Please quote Job Reference No: SP2232

Opportunity in Used Car Sales

A résumé is a valuable tool in securing a great position in the automotive industry.  We’d like to think that the days are gone where a Sales Manager would put on anyone, even without a résumé or an interview, ‘to give ‘em a go’ knowing that he can sack them within the first three months if they don’t ‘work out’, but there are still a few of those dinosaurs out there.  However, the industry is so competitive that most dealerships are now well aware of professional recruitment procedures and the benefits of ensuring that they hire the right person the first time.

So a great résumé is even more important to make sure that you get an interview.  That’s your résumé’s job – to sell an interview to the employer.  A résumé is written summary of your career, experience, education and achievements.  We have seen some terrible mistakes made far too easily with these important documents so here’s our Top 5 mistakes to avoid:

1. The ‘Three Musketeers’ Résumé

Apparently the three musketeers had a catch-cry: ‘All for one and one for all.’  Very noble, but not effective when it comes to résumés.  A one-size fits all approach to your résumé will almost guarantee that your résumé is average or below average for each role that you apply for.  Make sure you tailor your résumé and your cover letter to the role.  Match the employers’ wording and re-word the language and achievements in your résumé to suit the employer.

2. The ‘Goldilocks and the 3 Bears’ Résumé
Too big or too small is a common mistake (usually the former).  You want to ensure that theer is enough detail to reasonably convince the reader of your suitability for thr job, but you do not wnat to list so much detail that there is nothing left to talk about at the interview.

According to Sean Morahan, an automotive industry trainer and consultant, résumés should be ideally 2 to 3 A4 pages.

”When I’m consulting to employers and we are going through more than 100 applications for one role, we start by culling those with too much waffle and those with not enough relevant detail.  A professional salesperson needs to be good at assessing what information to present to clients and how to present it.  If salespeople can’t get this right in their résumés, dealerships don’t want them anywhere near the dealership’s clients.”

3. The To-Do List Résumé

These are résumés that simply list mundane tasks that the salesperson has performed in previous roles.  They just itemise the job description, e.g., “Telephone follow-up of customers, meet and greet of showroom customers, keep showroom and desk neat and tidy.”.  This is ridiculous, because anyone looking to hire a salesperson is already familiar with salespeople’s job descriptions.  What they want to know is what did you achieve?  What results did you get? What targets did you surpass?  Don’t list the tasks, list your results and achievements!

4. The Scrap Paper Résumé
Poor presentation tells a prospective employer straight away that you don’t really care about how you come across – so you are going to be a nightmare with their customers.  Guess what?  No interview!  If it’s a hard copy, make sure it is printed on clean, good quality paper and perhaps presented in a clean, neat folder.  Imagine a prestige car dealer handing out brochures printed on rough cardboard – it’s a cheap image that makes you think twice about the product.  The same applies to you and your résumé.  If it’s in electronic form, make sure that your résumé  is spaced and formatted properly.  Use easy to read fonts (like Arial or times New Roman in 10,11 or 12 point only).  Number your pages with your name on each page and use bullet points for easier reading.

5. The Miss Speld Resumay

We see way more of these than we would ever want to.  Spelling mistakes on a résumé are unacceptable and inexcusable.  Even if you don’t know how to spell, you must know how to run a spell check and how to give your résumé to someone who knows how to spell.  The person you give it to must not know how to spell better than you do – they must know how to spell better than your prospective employer does!  Thsi is a document that is meant to symbolise and represent you at your best.  If it has spelling mistakes, then your best is nowhere near good enough.

Contact us to discuss your résumé and get the right car sales position!

Present a Good Résumé!

I have recently been reviewing résumés for positions in automotive car sales and several of them have amused and bemused me by listing ‘communication skills’ under the applicants’ strengths or profile .  What has given me mirth about this is that in these instances, the applicants have a phenomenal number of spelling and/or grammar mistakes throughout their résumés.  They have not read or understood or addressed the prospective employer’s written needs in their résumés.  Their communication is off to a dreadful start and has significantly crippled their chances of getting an interview, let alone the role.  Luckily, the chutzpah of listing ‘communication skills’ amongst their qualities will give plenty of recruiters a forgiving chuckle as they feed the shredder another unsuccessful application.

Another thing about ‘communication skills’: If you are going to put them on your résumé, be sure that you can answer questions about them.  I’d naturally ask you ‘What do you mean by communication skills?’ and have seen too many applicants turn into blubbering messes at that question.

Communication skills include:

Reading: read the position advertisement or listing carefully with a highlighter in your hand.  Highlight all the important qualities and/or qualifications that the prospective employer has mentioned and them make sure that you address them in your résumé.

Writing:  The ability to put together a sentence is highly desirable.  If you are applying for a sales trainee role, or even a salesperson’s role, the ability to ask for help or guidance from a manager when you need it is very important and if it is obvious that you can’t even ask your spell check or a literate friend to check your résumé before sending it, you have already disqualified yourself from the role.   Seriously, to apply for sales role worth between $30K and up to at least $100K p.a., I’d pay a couple of hundred dollars to a professional editing service to get my résumé perfect before I sent it.   Car salespeople have a lot of paperwork to complete and if your first piece of paperwork (your résumé) is shoddy, no Sales Manager worth his/her salt is going to let you near a customer’s sales contract, registration papers, stock order, or finance paperwork.

Addressing the other party’s needs:   This is a fundamental of a sales role, and the first, most important opportunity that you have to show that you can do this is in your résumé.   Use the employer’s language (from their job advertisement / listing and website).  If they use the word ‘enthusiastic’, make sure it’s in your résumé.  If they say ‘proven track record of success’ -put that phrase in your covering letter.

These are only three of at least a dozen communication skills that you should ideally have, but hopefully they give you an idea of what is required as a bare minimum.  Good dealerships have good attention to detail and, to become a successful member of their team, you will have to prove that you have that attention to detail, too.

Request more details on available car sales jobs.

Car Sales Jobs - Get Your Résumé right!

When  you are a professional car salesperson, your job is to identify customer needs and to meet or exceed those needs.  Before you get the job in car sales, you have to ‘sell’ your prospective employer and how effective you ar at doing that will be determined by how well you understood the first sentence.

Dealerships and their managers have diverse needs.  Possibly, those needs are not quite as diverse as those of your retail customers !  However, similar pitfalls apply if you are not mindful of the dealerships’ needs or fail to meet those needs.  From my experience, the most common employer’s needs are to 1. Minimise Risk and 2. Maximise Return.  Think about the specifics of these needs from the employer’s point of view and think about which of your characteristics and achievements will highlight your ability to meet those needs.

Some ways to specifically reduce the risk for your potential employer include:

1.  Show a Stable Work History
If your work history is unstable, you are unlikely to stay long term.   The candidates I have seen whose résumés are filled with roles of 3-6 months usually blame their employers for their and try in vain to convince employers that this will be the job (the first ever) where they will stay long term.  If you cannot show at least one job where you’ve stayed for more than two years, you are  most likely wasting the dealership’s time as well as your own.

2. Experience in Similar Fields
Unless you have actually tried sales or similar roles (e.g., frontline hospitality) and like the work, the odds are against you.  Most dealerships have had far too many inexperienced candidates promise that “I’m a good worker.  I learn fast.” etc.  I saw one salesperson with a year’s  Real Estate experience, with no car sales experience, pester a dealership every day for a month to get a job and he lasted less than two months once he got the job.  He showed more determination to get the job than he did in doing the job.  If you don’t have experience, then lessen the risk by getting car sales training and/or getting some unpaid work experience helping out at a dealership, even if it’s only weekends.  Make sure that you really want the job and prove it by getting at least some experience.

3. Speak the employer’s language
Research the employer’s company and history.  Read and re-read their website.  Read and re-read their advertisement.   What words and phrases do they use?  Make sure that you use at least some of these words and phrases in your application, and keep those phrases in mind for your interview.  Don’t force them into the conversation if the right opportunity to use them doesn’t come up, but if you can naturally use them in the interview’s conversation, then do!  Using the employer’s own words is a good way to reduce the employer’s risk that you do not understand them.

4. Invest in yourself
Most applicants don’t invest in themselves, so by investing in yourself, you not only put yourself ahead of the pack, you further reduce the risk for your employer.  So many candidates say and/or think “When I get the role, then I’ll buy a nice suit and some new shoes.  When i get the role, I’ll read some sales books.  When i get the role, I’ll seek out some good training.”  Now that’s a bit like looking at an empty fireplace and saying “When you give me some heat, then I’ll put some firewood in.”  It doesn’t work.  If you can sit in an interview wearing a great suit and new shoes, tell the employer the best five things that you learned in each of the last three sales books you read and can show a certificate of some relevant training that you invested in, you have removed almost all the risk from the employer’s mind.  I remember my Dad had a book of proverbs when I was a kid and the proverb on the front cover was “Throw out a sprat to catch a mackerel.”  This means that you forego or sarifice something small to gain something larger or better.  Investing a few hundred or few thousand dollars to get a job that pays you $60K, $80K or over $100K a year is not a waste of money.  It is an incredible investment that gains you a massive competitive edge.

5. List your achievements / results
Poor or inexperienced applicants tend to list their responsibilities rather than their results.  This shows a focus on simply performing tasks, not in achieving results.  Sales jobs require results.  Even if your résumé does not include car sales, or sales, find a way to word all of your previous work in terms of achievements and results, not list your job description.  This will show the employer that you understand and can focus on results, not just turning up and doing the bare minimum of your job description.

If you can do these things well, you’ll probably get straight onto your prospective employer’s short list.  Once you get to that point, you’ll have to have something extra to offer to beat the other candidates who have read this article!  Good luck!

Remove risk to get the right Car Sales Job!

Having looked at many hundreds of resumes over the years, one of several tired, worn out clichés that appears far too often is “I’m a fast learner.”

It reminds me of the following ‘Dilbert’ cartoon:

But getting back to the resumes: how do job applicants use this simple statement and why is it such a problem?

Firstly, it is used (or misused) in a number of ways.  Sometimes it is put in the job applicant’s covering letter.  Sometimes it’s in their ‘Personal Attributes’ or ‘Career Profile’ or something similar.  Occasionally it’s in one or more of their previous job descriptions.

People who use “I’m a fast learner” in their resumes usually sabotage whatever advantage they were trying to gain by using this statement.

But why?

Mainly it comes down to their focus on telling instead of showing.  The well-meaning but slightly ignorant applicant feels compelled to tell the prospective employer how good he/she is, but is unaware of how the resume looks.  These applicants hope or expect that their resumes will be read literally, but they are usually read metaphorically by the employer.

For example, imagine that you are an employer looking at resumes.  A candidate tells you in her resume that she is a fast learner but you also notice that she has spelled your company name incorrectly and has several other spelling mistakes in her resume.  When her resume is read literally, it says “I’m a fast learner.”  When her resume is read metaphorically, it says “I’m a slow learner or non-learner.”  The obvious, simple mistakes send the employer a much more powerful message than the words printed on the piece of paper.  That message is a negative one, completely the opposite of what the applicant was trying to convey.

Another problem with claiming on your resume that you are a fast learner is that it strongly implies that you are not really the ideal applicant, but the employer can put in time and effort to teach you.   This is pitching a desperate, relatively unattractive case for second prize.  It’s much better to go for first prize (getting the job!) by letting your resume show (not tell!) that you are a fast learner.

Some important actions to take with your resume to avoid this trap are:

1. Pay Attention to detail. Ensure that your resume is as perfect as you can make it. Spell check it and then have it edited by a professional. A common mistake is doing multiple resumes for multiple job applications and forgetting to change names and details in the duplicates, so you transfer across an incorrect employer name or details.   Another common mistake is to use a ready-made resume template and then forget to remove the printed instructions in the template like “Insert your job history here.”  It looks lazy and/or stupid and suggests that you are a slow learner or a non-learner.

2. Specifically address the employer’s needs. Grab a highlighter and highlight all the key words or phrases in the job advertisement.  Then make sure you have comfortably (not forcibly!) used each of them in your resume and/or cover letter.  This shows the employer that you have read the ad properly, you have probably understood the requirements better than most and you have specifically addressed what the employer is after.

3. Don’t say that you are a fast learner.

I’m glad you don’t need an explanation for number 3.  You’re obviously a fast learner!

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Learn fast but don't say you do!