Career-Resumes writes resumes.  That’s obvious.  So you got your resume, and it’s great!  What are the rest of your job search tools?  Here are some that I try and keep on-hand:

Your resume is the industry standard document which everyone knows and accepts.    You may make progress in your job search and networking without one, but there will eventually come a time when someone asks for your resume.

Business cards are what professionals share between themselves, isn’t it?  It isn’t common to go to a business networking function and see a bunch of employed professionals passing out resumes, but it is common to see them passing out business cards.  Aren’t you a professional?  Yes, you are… and you should have business cards.  I get mine from VistaPrint, but you can get yours from a ton of different places.

A professional email address. If you can’t spare the $10/year to get your own domain name, and have an email address like me@myname.com, you should make sure you have an email address that looks professional.  Something like Jason@gmail.com is much better than basketball77@gmail.com.  When

A pen. If you are in a job interview, or at a networking event, you shouldn’t have to ask someone else for a pen to write down an email address, phone number, date for an appointment, etc.  You should be prepared with your own pen.  You can ask, of course, and you should if you don’t have one, but having your own tools (pen, in this case) makes it look like you are there on-purpose.

A professional-looking binder that zips. Something you can put documents in, keep a notepad for notes, or just keep your miscellanous stuff.  Walking around a room with a bunch of loose papers just doesn’t look good… keep it all nice and neat.

Gum (or some kind of bad-breath-killer). I like to keep gum on hand (which is hard when my kids figure out where my stash is), but once saw a professional speaker pull out a listerine strip.  You can also get just minty hard candies… anything to help keep bad breath under control. If it’s gum, I usually spit it out before the event (job interview, informational interview, networking event, etc.)

These are some of my tools… what are yours?

I have to share a rather embarrassing story with you.  In my job search I was interviewed by a handful of companies… so each one was like gold.  There was a company I was very, very interested in.  They were a high-tech startup, focusing on hardware (as opposed to software).  They had just received 8 million in funding.  My boss would have been a guy who had a very successful career at Microsoft (he came out of retirement just to work at this company).  If the company did well, I could have walked away with gobs of value in stock.

I borrowed my dad’s resume, which he had paid to get done.  It looked great, of course, and really did him justice.  I figured I could take his resume, change it to match my skills and experience, and I’d have a great resume also.

Everything on the resume was true… I didn’t fictionalize, lie, misrepresent, etc.  But when I was in the interview I was asked “what do you mean by this skill? Can you give us an example?”

I had the deer-in-the-headlights look.  My first thought was “where in the world did you see that? Surely it’s not on MY resume!”

In fact, it was on my resume.  It was in a listing of skills or attributes, and I kept it on there because it fit something I had done as general manager at my last job.  But when they asked the question, I couldn’t even remember what the skill meant… it was too jargony.

From that experience I learned something: READ YOUR OWN RESUME!  Be prepared to talk about every single point you have on your resume!  You should do this, obviously, to avoid the situation I had.  But you should also do this because your resume, in one or two pages, describes your brand.

Do you know what your brand is?  Do you know what you have to offer?  Do you know the strengths that you are putting forward, and how you want to be known (and branded)?

No matter who wrote your resume (even if you did), you need to study your resume and internalize it.

If someone asks you “can you tell us about this skill, and give an example….” you can’t have the deer-in-the-headlights look.  Doing so might raise a yellow flag.

Internalize your resume.  Make sure it matches, and you can talk about each point in it.  Or, be prepared to share your own embarrassing story with others

This is the seventh in a series of eight posts, each linked to one of eight categories in the Career Resumes blog. These posts sum up the best pieces of advice, tips, direction, insights, and answers discovered and shared on the blog by Allen Voivod, Chief Blogger for Career-Resumes.com from October 2006 to September 2008.

In talking about interviews, I have to widen the net to include a couple of other topics. These days, the interview process often includes behavioral and skills testing, and people who talk about interviews often focus on the on-the-nose issue of the job interview, to the exclusion of the highly useful and related topic of the informational interview.

When I started this series of posts, though, I set myself a 3-5 item limit for each topic, so I’m going to challenge myself and cover all the bases within the original allotment.

1. If you’re thinking about changing industries or job functions, embrace the informational interview. Find three-five people who have the kind of job you’d like to have, and go for it. You can find tons of advice online about how to conduct informational interviews with a quick Google search. And if you doubt in the natural human capacity for helping polite and interested strangers, then have faith in the natural human need to feel important, to be seen as good at what they do, and want to be listened to.

2. Do your research. I’ve previously written about using Google and social networking sites to your competitive advantage. I’ve also talked about researching the target company, and coming prepared with a few strong questions to ask, to show your interest and demonstrate that you’ve done your homework. To that, I’d also like to add that the more you can find out about the company’s interview process, the better. Ask the person who sets up your interview. Find someone who knows someone who’s been through the process. Get every edge you can.

3. Role play. Yes, it can feel awkward and boring and seem impossible for your spouse to authentically embody the thoughts and actions of the person who will ultimately interview you. Allow me to get all “tough love” on you and say “Get over it.” Put yourself in the interviewer’s shoes, write down the questions you’d want answered if you were the hiring manager, then get used to answering then cleanly and confidently. I quoted movie director Garry Marshall in a previous post, who told a floundering male film student pitching a movie idea, “No one wants to give $100,000 to a nervous man.”

Yes, it’s time for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and like any good blogger, I’m going to tie a current events theme into the content of a blog post.

I keep hearing about swimmer Michael Phelps and how he’s going for an unprecedented medal record, and hearing athletes talking about how they don’t fear the pressure of performing at the Olympic level – they actually relish it.

So I got to thinking: How could the professional, manager, or C-level executive tap into that?

One of the highest-pressure situations in the job search process is the interview. It’s easy to sell yourself on a resume by comparison, when all you have to do is put words on paper or in a Word doc.

In an interview, you often have no idea what’s going to happen, what’ll be thrown at you. You have to rely on your knowledge and wits, your skills and talents, and maybe even dig deeper into yourself than you might have expected possible.

How can you go into an interview with the proper mindset – one where you have complete confidence, power, and assurance of your success?

One tool athletes often use is visualization – meditating and seeing in their mind’s eye what winning will be like. Right down to the smells, the sounds, even the taste! They make the experience as real as possible in their minds, so they know what it feels like, know that it’s not only possible, it’s inevitable.

Try it for yourself. Find a quiet place in your home, and imagine it – being relaxed in the waiting room, the door opening, your interviewer coming out, shaking hands, sitting in the chair, the temperature of the room, the rev in your pulse created by your last cup of coffee, the whisper of central air…

Get the idea?

So you got the interview. Great!

Psst - who’s it with?

What…you don’t know? Uh-oh.

These days, you need every advantage you can get. So when you get the request to set the date and time of the interview, ask the name - and get the spelling right - of the person(s) who’ll be interviewing you.

Now you’ve got your homework to do. Head on over to Google and find out everything you can about your interviewer. You never know what random fact is going to come in handy, as long as it can be casually slipped into conversation.

Google’s only your first stop, though. Next up is LinkedIn, and Facebook right after that. You’re looking for:

1) Things you have in common…

2) Things about his or her career journey you’d like to emulate

3) History in the industry you’d like to learn more about

4) Knowledge in the profession you’d like to gain yourself

5) Trade groups and other associations that may be relevant for your job search – whether you land this job, they turn you down, or you turn them down

Is all of this research overkill? On the one hand, maybe. People have been landing executive positions for hundreds of years without needing the likes of Google, LinkedIn, and Facebook for their preparation.

But since you have the tools at your disposal, why wouldn’t you use them?

Even if it’s just to be able to write a more personal thank you note after the interview, take twenty minutes out of your day to do a little research. With everything I keep hearing about the tough job search situation, all I can think is that every little edge you can get is gonna help.

(Heck, while you’re at it, ask what kind of interview style they use. If they won’t tell you, all you can do is prepare as best you can, which we’ve covered at length in other posts.)

Ever been asked to tell a story in an interview? You know, in response to something like, “Tell me about a situation where you faced a challenge in a previous position, and how you handled it.”

Well, there’s an effective storytelling tool I’ve come across in the marketing world, and though I’ve seen three or four variations on it put out there by different folks, here’s basically how it would work for you, the job seeker:

1. The strong opening. This is a teaser preview of the story’s big punchline.

2. Positioning. Then you step back and briefly describe your job and company you held at the time.

3. Problem statement. Pretty straightforward – you describe the situation.

4. Failed solutions. If conflict is the key ingredient in making a story compelling, then being able to describe solutions other people tried, which failed, increases the listener’s interest because it deepens the level of conflict in the story.

5. Your solution. Describe it, top level, executive summary style.

6. Objections. Again, deepening the conflict. If there was any doubt cast on your solution, share it, and share how you overcame it.

7. The proof. Numbers, percentages, hard results – that’s the key here. You want incontrovertible evidence that shows your solution worked.

Now, it may seem like this would take forever to do in an interview, and you’d bore the interviewer to tears…but here’s a little stat for you: Speaking at a nice moderate pace, you can do about 500 words in just three minutes.

Think you can tell a good story for an interviewer if you typed it out across two double-spaced pages in a Word doc first, to get the story down in this format (which also serves as a way to practice it in advance)? Yes, I think you can.

I’m watching the Boston Celtics completely dismantle the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 6 of the NBA Championship. I grew up in LA, but somehow never got attached to the team that emigrated from Minnesota.

(Besides, the Lakers name was inspired by the lakes in Minnesota. Why would they keep the Laker name when there’s not a single lake in Los Angeles worth mentioning?)

One of the talking heads in the game said that NBA executives should be inspired by the Celtics turnaround. They were one of the worst teams in the league last year, and this year, they’re going to win it all. And it’s because, as the TV talking head claims, the Celtics put together a team that was ready to work together from day one.

And that raises an interesting question for anyone in the midst of a career search, sending out resumes right now. Can you answer this one: What are you ready to start on Day 1 of your new job?

Most people sit in the HR department all day during their first day in a new gig. What if you did something different? Maybe one day is expecting too much, so brainstorm what you could do in your first 90 days…

If you’re doing your research on the companies for which you’re customizing your resume, you should have at least some idea of what you can do for that company – especially when you already know (and have documented on your resume) the kinds of results you can deliver.

You’ll most likely get the opportunity to riff on your ideas during the interview. Come with questions to ask. What are the challenges they’re facing? What are the strengths of their current team, and their weaknesses? What are their goals for the department, the company in the next year? Three, five, ten?

Use your interview session as a brainstorming session. It’ll keep you sharp, offer the interviewer/hiring manager something different - something that stands out - from what they’ll see for the rest of the day. And show ‘em how you’ll be ready to work from day one.

Did you ever go on an informational interview when you were younger?

You remember those (or at least reading about them). That was when you were in college, exploring career options, and you asked to interview a person already working in your desired field.

Maybe it was even a manager, someone who hired entry-level folks for positions like the one for which you’d eventually apply.

The good news is, even though you’re much higher on the corporate ladder now than you were back then, the informational interview is still a highly useful tool – especially if you’re considering not just a mid-career job change, but one which will take you into an entirely new industry.

Granted, you probably have to be a little more discreet now than you had to back then – no calling a target interviewee from your current place of business, for example. Do your research at home, make your calls from your cell phone on your lunch hour. (Not everyone needs to be told this, but sometimes the friendly reminder helps.)

In fact, it would be better for you to identify trade and association groups catering to managers, directors, VPs, and/or executives in your selected field, and attend an event or regular meeting.

And like any good networker, start by asking questions. Yes, you’re looking for someone who can help you, but don’t forget to see who you can help while you’re at it, to keep your networking karma scales in balance.

Chances are, you’re going to find more than a couple of people who’d be happy to share their experiences with you. You don’t have to be so formal as to ask for an “informational interview” – just ask if you can set a meeting to ask a few questions about their field and what it takes to be successful in it.

Remember, your one goal when finding the ideal person for an informational interview is to set the appointment, and nothing more. Save your questions for later, unless you’re specifically asked to fire away right then and there.

When it comes to trade shows (stay with me for a minute), if you want to come up with a new idea for your booth – one that’s not been seen before in your industry and would stand out at a show – one of the classic recommendations is to go out to shows in other industries, see what they’re doing, and get inspiration.

You can do the same thing with the business of changing careers. For example, I was thinking about the topic of interviewing recently, and all the folks who talk about preparation, the standard questions you may or may not get asked, the different types of interviews, and so forth.

And yes, I’m one of those folks, so I went looking for a new idea. I found one in the world of improvisational comedy. Personally, I think improv comedians are geniuses. Making people laugh without a script or a net, making scenes, situations, and comedy on the fly, in front of an audience? That takes some serious talent.

And there’s a strong parallel with interviewing. For all the preparing you do, can you ever really know what’s going to happen on the other side of the interview door? Of course not – so it would pay to have a couple of tools in your belt to help you react to the unexpected with skill and panache, I’d say.

With that in mind, here are “The Three Fundamentals” from The Improv Wiki. Substitute “professional” for “funny,” and suddenly it’s job seeking advice:

Yes And. Take whatever has been given in the scene so far and build on it. Just build the reality. Don’t consciously try to be funny. Cooperate with your scene partners, don’t fight them (even though your characters might fight).

Listen. Pay hyper-close attention to everything that happens on stage. What you hear is the fuel you pour into Your Personal Search Engine (your brain).

Commit. Sell It. Put your line out there, make your choice, and let whatever happens happen. Never say a line tentatively, like you need audience approval. Let the audience decide what’s funny, let the scene go where it goes.

If you’ve ever been through the job interview process - and that pretty much applies to everyone reading this blog – then you’ll appreciate Cecil Donahue’s acerbic take on interviewers AND interviewees in the February 2008 issue of GQ magazine.

Donahue, who writes GQ’s monthly “The Office” feature, has previously tackled ticklish subjects like email etiquette, office holiday parties, and speaking, ahem, straightforwardly to one’s boss. If I remember correctly, though, he’s done it anonymously. “Cecil Donahue” is actually a pseudonym for someone who “works at a major American media company.”

Though I haven’t heard about anyone trying to unmask him, a la Fake Steve Jobs or the mastermind behind TheFunded, I must say I’m darned curious about his (or her) true identity. As with those recent unmaskings, it’d probably turn out that Cecil is no one “famous” per se – more likely, in fact, just one of us.

Albeit with good advice and an even better sense of humor.

If you don’t get GQ at home, head to your local library or newsstand, and you’ll find Cecil’s interviewing article starting on page 73. I’m going to spoil it a bit for you, though, by listing his top tips for the folks on either side of the desk here. (You’ll have to check out the article for the full (and very useful) details.

Top 5 tips for interviewees:

1. Your success in the interview depends on your level of preparation.

2. Research the person who will be conducting the interview.

3. Make sure everything on your resume is true.

4. Go in armed with a ton of good questions.

5. If, after an interview or two or three, you should find yourself growing increasingly excited about the opportunity, don’t forget the final step: Ask for the job.

Top 4 tips for interviewers:

1. Talk to the candidate’s references, then ask for even more.

2. Work the candidate.

3. Schedule interviews with colleagues up and down the chain of command.

4. Ask the candidate why he wants this position at this company.