Depending on how your resume looks, hiring managers will either be turned off or want to meet you. A resume is usually their first contact with you. A great resume will give a strong first impression.
1. Having a three to five sentence summary at the top of your resume is much more effective than having an objective. You can use the career summary to sum up your skills and experiences. For example: “Supply chain manager with global experience in leadership, implementation, and project management. Skilled in…” Let them know up front who you are and what position you’re seeking.
2. Do you have several years of work experience? Move the Education section to the end (after the Experience section) so that you can showcase your work experience. (If you are preparing a resume for academia or research, then follow the resume formatting rules for your profession.)
3. Create a text version of your resume for posting online. That way if you post your MS Word resume and the formatting is lost, you won’t have to waste time reformatting your resume.
4. Check job ads for the types of jobs you’re applying for. See what keywords they use in their job descriptions and include those keywords in your resume. If the company uses software to scan resumes for keywords, you’ll ensure your resume won’t be screened out before it gets to a hiring manager. This is where the summary really comes in handy. You can add those keywords to the summary and increase your chances of having your resume selected.
5. When preparing your resume, use action words such as “leveraged,” “led,” “coordinated,” “managed,” etc. Words like, “participated” give the impression that you were on the sidelines, and not actively involved in the project. Don’t just say you were responsible, show the results. Were there any cost savings for the company? Mention them. Was your project completed ahead of schedule? Say so. Did your project lead to increased efficiency? Show the percentages.
6. When describing your current and past positions, only list the strongest accomplishments – the ones that will make a prospective employer contact you for an interview. Don’t include every function you performed on the job. Consider what accomplishments you would be looking for if you were the hiring manager, and what responsibilities show that you can handle the duties of the position you’re seeking.
7. Your resume should not include positions you held more than 10 years ago, unless they are relevant to the position you’re looking for now.
8. Keep it simple. Three pages maximum for management or executive resumes; two pages for all other resumes for corporate positions.
9. Don’t forget to check spelling and grammar. Saying you were the “lead” on a project is different than saying that you “led” the project. For grammar and word choices, do a search to find sites on the web that will answer your questions about grammar and punctuation.
10. Create different versions of your resume if you’re searching for more than one type of position. For example, you may want to apply for Business Analyst and Technical Writer positions. In one version of your resume you can include accomplishments and skills that relate more to being a B.A. In another version you can include accomplishments (and publications) relating to your experiences as a Technical Writer.
Copyright © 2007 Deborah A. Bailey, Writing Services Central, LLC
January 16, 2010
Ten Quick Steps To A Great Resume
January 14, 2010
Professional Resume Writing Services: The Ugly (Part III)
This article represents my third installment of a three-part series on professional resume-writing services. The first part dealt with the “good” aspects of the industry and the myriad ways that resume writers have benefited both job seekers as well as hiring managers and recruiters. The second part focused on some of the “bad” or negative issues that plague the industry and how both resume writers and job seekers can overcome them.
In this discussion, I will focus on the “ugly” parts of the resume-writing industry, looking at how a few bad apples have caused job seekers and industry analysts to question the legitimacy of the industry as a whole.
As a resume writer myself, here are some of the worst issues that I have to face when addressing concerns from worried job seekers who, understandably, don’t want to make a poor investment:
1.Overselling the product. I’ll be honest. This issue drives me crazy even though I grasp perfectly how it happens. Selling a resume, particularly online, like most Internet services is based 80% on pure emotion. Sure, the job seeker needs a resume and starts looking for a writer. But job seeking and resume preparation are emotional things, no matter whether you are currently employed, recently laid off, looking to change careers, or re-entering the workforce. Everyone is nervous. So, resume writers naturally often end up being part writer and part counselor to their clients. That in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing; however, on the sales side, sometimes it can lead to “selling the farm” as a way of soothing the fears of potential clients and getting them to put their trust in your services.
The biggest way that happens is by making promises or guarantees that no writer can be 100% sure of. The second way is by misrepresenting the role of the resume. A resume does NOT get you a job. You do! A resume is a tool. And like any tool, the more well made it is, the better results it will produce for the hand that wields it.
Although the resume-writing industry has done remarkably well at selling job seekers on the need for a well-made resume, it has not done so well at also selling them on the idea that they need to learn how to use it. Most job seekers lack proficient job hunting skills, thinking that a flashy resume and the Internet are all they need.
I look at it this way: I want to make a cabinet, so I buy the nicest saw there is. I can read all the product instructions. Peruse consumer reports. Watch demos. But unless I learn how to actually use my fantastic saw, chances are my cabinet will either not get made or turn out poorly. Why? Because I expected the saw to do all the work. Listen. Everyone wants the dream job, but not everyone is willing to do what it takes to land it. Many expect the resume to do all the work.
2.Using tactics that disparage other writers. It has become common practice with many resume-writing services, especially large ones, to offer free resume critiques to potential clients. In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with this practice and is often useful to job seekers as a way to test out the communication and expertise of a firm. The problem comes when these firms are so desperate for a sale that they take to tearing apart the work of other professional writers. It’s usually pretty obvious to anyone with resume-writing experience when a resume has been professionally done. Certainly the person performing a critique is well within his or her rights to offer up suggestions and recommendations, but knowingly trashing another professional’s work in order to make a sale is unethical and a disservice to the job seeker.
3.Job seekers who get in the way. One of the biggest obstacles to resume writers is the fact that many candidates think they know something about preparing resumes. They’ve read up on it. They’ve spoken to their colleagues. They fancy themselves as grammarians. Now I am in no way insinuating that job seekers shouldn’t ask lots of questions or become knowledgeable on the subject. But please don’t hire a professional to write your document and then proceed to argue with everything he or she does. I’ve seen many resume writers reduced down to nothing more than typists.
Recognize the fact that like other professional services you may employ, you do so because it is not your full-time job and you are not an expert. If you want to get the most out of your resume-writing service, don’t just get a resume, take advantage of the expert advice of your writer.
January 13, 2010
Professional Resume Writing Services: The Good (Part I)
Before I begin, let me start by saying that I happen to be a certified professional resume writer (CPRW) and job search coach. I’ve been writing resumes since 2002, both for myself as well as for larger resume writing firms. Before that, I was a hiring manager for a large truck rental firm, running a 150-person call center. So I have had the opportunity to be on both sides of the job search process, representing the employer and representing the job seeker.
Professional resume writing in itself is a relatively new industry. If you look hard enough, you can find some writers out there who have 25 years (or slightly more) experience under their belt. But by and large, the bulk of writers out there have 10 years or less, with new writing services popping up daily. The reason is that the growth of the Internet as a business tool as well as the willingness of more and more professionals to invest in resume services has blossomed over the last decade, causing more people to consider resume writing as a full-time career.
As a result, the amount of press regarding the industry as a whole has started to increase. And, unfortunately, a lot of it has grown more and more negative. My goal here is to provide an insider’s view and get to the real deal behind those professional resume writing services. This first article will focus on the positives behind resume-writing services. I will be following up this article with two more segments (the Bad and the Ugly).
The Good
Let’s start out with some of the positives about resume writing that often seem to get overlooked.
1. Without a doubt, the quality of resumes has certainly increased thanks to the influx of people purchasing professional services. And hiring managers are now seeing better quality documents come across their desks. Instead of simply writing professional obituaries, candidates can now produce targeted resumes that seek to marry the needs of the employer with the skills of the candidate.
2. Writing your own resume is a difficult task. It’s somewhat like doing your own taxes. You certainly can try and figure it out. You can buy the software and read through the myriad directions. You can devote the time and muddle your way through. But at the end of the day, you are still no tax expert. And you submit your taxes on a wing and a prayer.
When constructing a resume, you are marketing a product, and that product is YOU! It’s tough to look beyond yourself, understand the wants of your target market, and produce a well-written, quality document that appeals to your target market. Too many job seekers look for resumes that appeal to them and care very little about the audience they are trying to reach. A resume writer can help you take an objective look at yourself, sift through strengths and weakness, and understand what an employer in your industry is looking for.
3. The industry is filled with many sincere, high-quality writers who bring corporate, communications, and recruiting experience to the table. Most candidates get more than just a resume; they also get loads of job search advice. Are there bad apples? Of course, and my next article (Professional Resume Writing Services: The Bad) will focus on why that is. But overall, what drives most people to the industry is the desire to help others. Certainly resume writers want to make money (don’t we all?), and they want to have thriving businesses, but they also want to see clients succeed.
4. Although the cost of purchasing a resume writing service has increased, it is still a relatively small investment. Of course, shelling out a few hundred bucks when you are unemployed seems like a lot. But this is your career we are talking about, after all. And first impressions do still matter.
5. The industry does have a way for job seekers to sift through the plethora of services out there. Most job seekers are unaware that there are organizations out there who offer certification testing for the resume writing field. One of them, the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC) offers the CPRW exam, which requires individuals to undergo a testing process that includes a review of their work by their peers.
January 11, 2010
How to Make Your Resume Stand Out
Whether or not you’re planning to look for a new job, it’s best to keep your resume updated. Get into the habit of updating your accomplishments and skills so that your resume is always ready.
Here are some tips:
- Group your top skill sets into a summary.
- Create a professional email address (using your name – no nicknames) to include with your contact information.
- Use past tense – even when describing your current job.
- If you’re posting your resume online, don’t encourage identity theft by including too much personal information.
- Gear you resume towards the job you want, not the one you have now.
- List your most recent job first.
- Check spelling and grammar – don’t depend on your spelling errors being caught by spell check.
Your resume should not include every task you’ve performed in every position; instead it should only include your strongest accomplishments. Though it’s tempting to all the details about every job you’ve had, your resume is only a starting point. Use it to get your foot in the door so that you can get an interview. Once you have an opportunity to speak with the hiring manager, then you can go into more detail.
Since you have to catch the attention of the reader right away, stay away from passive-sounding words when describing your accomplishments and responsibilities. Passive sentences are indirect and don’t make much of an impression.
Look at this example of a passive sentence: “Participated on product development team.” Compare that with this example of an active sentence: “Created scripts and tested new product.”
In addition to using active words and sentences in your descriptions, you also have to show results. Which description would appeal to you as a hiring manager?
“Arranged new product development meetings,” or “Facilitated meetings for new product development team which led to cost savings due to reduced miscommunication between departments.”
If you are a freelancer or temp worker, you’ll probably work for various companies and hold different positions. Even if you had different titles, the skills and accomplishments will show your versatility in different industries and company cultures.
Keep track of the projects you’ve worked on, articles and documentation you’ve written, etc. Set aside samples of your work so that you can include them with your resume, if requested.
When you’re changing careers playing up your skills is very important. You may not have direct experience in the area you’re changing to, but you can show how the skills you’ve acquired in the old career can be carried over to the new one. Pick accomplishments that show that you are versatile and can think out of the box. Play up training and learning experiences to show that you can adapt to new environments. The person reading your resume is focused on finding the right person for the job. They won’t have the time to think about how to fit your skills into their requirements.
Not sure how to show that your skills can be transferred to a new profession? For instance, if you’re a project manager and you want to become an event planner, you could play up your organization skills or your communications skills. You could also play up your ability to simultaneously manage different tasks. Look at the work you’ve done, then find ways to highlight your strongest accomplishments. The person reading your resume should see right away that you can perform the duties the position requires.
Of course if you know what type of job you want, it’ll be easier to create your resume. However, if you’re not sure what you want to do next -or how to update your resume to reflect your varied skills – consider hiring a professional to help. These days you can’t take a chance that your resume will be overlooked. If you present yourself to your best advantage, you’ll have a better chance of being hired for the job you want.
Create a Resume That Comes Alive
More often than not, resumes are your first introduction to an organization – giving them the responsibility of persuading the reader to want more. It is common for individuals to agonize over writing a resume and more often than not the finished product looks more like a career obituary or personal statement than a first class ticket to your dream job. A resume is an advert, an advert that introduces an individual, their career achievements to date and predicts how they will perform in their next role.
With only one resume out of every 200 leading to an interview, it is important to ensure that yours is the one that gets noticed. There are a number of key tips to writing a resume that will come alive in the readers’ hand, read on to find out more.
Step 1 – Research
Before starting to write your resume you need to do some preliminary research so you can tailor it to the jobs that you wish to apply for. Writing a broad resume can exclude you from specific positions that you apply for.
o What do I want to do? Research job specifications, websites, industry press.
o What makes me the best candidate for any job? Research job specifications, websites and industry press to discover the types of candidate’s organizations are looking for. Use this research and speak to people within the industry to draw up a list of your skills, characteristics and experience that makes you the best candidate for any job.
o Select the jobs that you would like to apply for
Step 2 – Write your primary job objective (this gives the reader incentive to read on)
An XX position in an organization where YY and ZZ would be required.
Step 3 – Write your summary
Using the research and brainstorming create a summary that articulately matches your skills and experience to the job requirements.
o A short phrase describing your profession
o A statement of broad or specialized expertise
o Use 2/3 additional statements
o Breadth & depth of skills
o Unique mix of skills
o Special or well documented accomplishment
o Awards, promotions or superior performance
o 1 or 2 professional or appropriate personal characteristics
o Add in the sentence you created in Step 2
E.g. Solution focused and driven human resources executive with eight years experience in strategic management and large scale recruitment projects. The national lead for retention policies within a large healthcare provider that has lead to a 15% reduction in turnover among nurses nationwide. Seeking a senior HR management role that offers extensive project work.
Step 4 Resume Format
Now you have your job objective and summary, choose what format of resume best suits your type of job search. There are 3 main types of resumes:
Chronological – This is the most common. It is a chronological listing of your work experience with the most recent first. It is best for:
o People who have practical work experience without long periods of unemployment and minimal job / industry changes.
o Individuals who have shown growth within a single professions
Functional – This resume format focuses on skills, credentials and accomplishments. It highlights what the strengths are rather than when / where they were developed. The main formatting difference is that after the job summary / objective you list your professional or business skills and successes, followed by a list of the positions held. It is best for individuals who:
o Have lots of job experience and many jobs
o Are just entering the work force with no / little track record
o Are just pre-retirement and have lots of work experience
o Are returning after a period of absence (return after maternity/paternity leave or long term sickness)
o Are changing careers / do not have consistent career growth
o Are Military personnel seeking civilian jobs
Combination – This resume format is a combination of the chronological and functional types. It is best for individuals who:
o Are advancing in the prospective careers and have an established track record they want to keep.
Step 5 Success Stories
Whatever format you choose you still want to include between 2-5 professional success stories for each role you have had. A useful method to help you create a strong resume is the mnemonic is CARS. For each job held think of Challenges you faced, Actions you took, Results or outcomes and finally Skills / Strengths that this showed you have. Using this story to create a sentence that speaks to how successful you were at your previous role. Remember to refer back to the words used and requirements detailed in the job description and use them where necessary so your resume is tailored to the hiring manager’s specific requirements.
E.g.
C – We needed to recruit 10 nurses before the opening of a new hospital ward in 4 wks time
A – Worked with team to create a shorter recruitment turnaround time, created a Team Leader specific to the project and negotiated the buy in of senior managers to sign off new recruits.
R – Recruited and trained all 10 within the 3 weeks, reducing the predicted $500k agency spend.
S – Negotiation, team leadership, meet deadlines, motivation, intuition and creative problem solving.
Resume – Successfully managed a team that recruited 10 nurses, expedited their training and start date in order to meet a 1 month deadline, saving the hospital a predicted $500k in agency spend.
Step 6 Education & Publications
Enter in reverse chronological order after your work experience and accomplishments.
The only time you put education directly under the summary would be:
o Recently graduated
January 3, 2010
Career Search : Get That Job Fast: Life Long Learning
JOB SEARCH : GET THAT JOB FAST!
WHAT THEY DIDN’T TEACH YOU IN SCHOOL: LIFE LONG LEARNING TIPS TO
LAND A JOB STRAIGHT OUT OF SCHOOL
“YOUR CAREER SEARCH MAY DEPEND ON THE INFORMATION
IN THIS LETTER”
“FINALLY THE FIRST PRACTICAL, STEP – BY – STEP ROADMAP FOR
GETTING THAT JOB STRAIGHT OUT OF SCHOOL”
Either way, whether this is your first job straight out of school or not….. Yes, you can get that job fast! Jobs at your dream companies are available now, and you’re missing out!
You see, looking for a job without a proven plan is like baking a cake without a recipe – you will only waste your time, frustrate yourself and end up miserable without a career. You can find employment at your dream company in no time flat by implementing the job search strategies you are about to learn!
Jobs define us. Most of us are passionate about our careers. There are jobs out there perfect for you that you’re missing out on because you don’t have the right tools! The job search strategies in this amazing e-book will help you select the right career for you, and not get turned down for the jobs you want! Once you have the right tools from this e-book, jobs will be much easier to come by. Knowing what you’re doing is more than half the battle! The jobs you want are only a quick read away! What kind of jobs have you held in the past? It’s not that important. No matter what, you are convincing someone new that you are the best person for a new job. There are so many jobs out there, and few people with the skills to get them. This e-book will show you how to get those jobs!
Your career searches is over…read and follow this letter carefully and you will find exactly what you are looking for!
Let me explain!
Whether you are a student with a high school certificate looking for a job, an undergraduate seeking temporary employment, or a graduate starting off in search of a career, you will find easy-to-follow strategies in “What They Didn’t Teach You In School: Life Long Learning Tips To Land A Job Straight Out Of School” which will help and guide you step-by-step on your way to your first job. It does not matter whether you have held jobs elsewhere before; you have to treat your job hunt as if you are looking for a job for the first time. After all, you are looking for a job for the first time in a different industry or organization every time you are applying for jobs where you have not held a job before. If you had a job with Coca Cola as HR Manager and now you are seeking a career with Nestle, you are looking for a job for the first time with Nestle, right? It is obvious therefore that these guidelines are relevant to everyone.
I am going to show you how to get that first job straight out of school by giving you proven career search, resume, CV cover letter, and job interview questions strategies and detailed examples of those strategies so you can get that job fast. Too often people set goals without preparing their personal environment for those goals to succeed. “What They Didn’t Teach You In School: Life Long Learning Tips to Land a Job Straight out of School” will clearly prepare the job search environment for you.
If you are wondering: will this book really help me in my job search? The answer is it could. It’s up to you. As you well know, it’s not enough to buy a book if you are not going to apply the employment search strategies contained in the book. Drifting from one good intention to the next without action will not help either, you need to act.
Are you feeling drained and tired of your job search?
Are you fearful about the future because you haven’t had success in your career search?
Are you feeling really stressed out that you will never get a break and find employment?
Are you still earning the same as a year ago in spite of the fact that you deserve to get a promotion?
Tried to get a job but failed utterly? Beginning to lose your job hunt nerve?
What changes do I need to make in my career search?
How can I look for work differently?
What career builder strategies can I employ?
What would have worked better in my attempts of looking for employment?
What career placement lessons have I learned?
What career personality is limiting me and what can I do to change this?
How will this book address my fears?
What career quiz and personality tests can I take to prepare me to be job ready?
How will it help me find a job? “What They Didn’t Teach You In School: Life Long Learning Tips To Land A Job Straight Out Of School” will help you…..
Get an overview of the job search process.
Find information packed pages of real-life, practical tips, techniques, strategies, job- skills testing and advice that will address your fears and questions on the job search process based on real-life experience.
It will provide you with job hunt strategies that will help in your job search.
You will save time, money and effort in your employment search.
Discover mistakes made by many job seekers and how to avoid them.
You will also learn:
How to explore your job opportunities.
How to plan your job search.
How to choose a career and a job.
How to set goals and develop a career plan.
How to compile a CV or Resume and Cover Letter.
If you would like to have complete control over your job search regardless of the economy and to put an end to your endless waiting for an interview call, please keep reading!
Maybe you, too, have found that the job search process is getting tougher. You have to apply to a lot more jobs and companies than ever before. Maybe it’s been awhile since you have been called for an interview, or you may be in that unhappy minority having been called several times for an interview, but you’re still not where you want to be.
You see, success at getting called for an interview and actually being hired has a lot more to do with understanding the real secrets of job searching and interview techniques– and little to do with sending hundreds of CVs or resumes to hundreds of companies for hundreds of jobs.
Breakthroughs come from going “outside the box” and bringing new, proven strategies back in.
Keep doing what you’ve always done and you can be sure you’ll never get anything different than you’ve already gotten.
Now there is a new comprehensive e-book which replaces all old–fashioned job search strategies.
Imagine how your life would be different if you would only implement all the career search strategies, tactics, and job interview questions discussed in my e-book.
A cover letter is an important piece of the job search puzzle. Those looking for jobs generally don’t give a second thought to their cover letter. A quality cover letter can make or break your job search. In this e-book, you will find great tips for your curriculum vitae and for your cover letter. What many job seekers don’t realize is that a cover letter can help determine whether your resume even gets read! If a cover letter is missing or if a cover letter makes a poor impression, your CV won’t get the time of day! HR Managers and employers are simply too busy to read past a cover letter that is terrible. Both the cover letter and the resume go straight to the trash if the cover letter isn’t top notch.
Once your cover letter is complete, the battle is only halfway won! Your CV or resume is of the utmost importance as well. Professional resume writers can charge a great deal of money! Why not learn about a quality resume for yourself and save yourself the cost? Developing a quality resume isn’t challenging. You will learn from my years of experience what makes an eye-catching resume. As the person in charge of reviewing resumes and hiring job seekers for positions, I have looked over thousands of resumes. You can capitalize on my experience and make an impressive resume for yourself! There are few better things you can do for your job search than to create a quality CV and cover letter.
I will share with you in this e-book……………..
1. What I was looking for in a resume.
2. How I selected a resume among hundreds of resumes.
3. I will offer you the most effective CV and cover letter writing techniques for your employment search and job interview tips and strategies.
4. What attracted me to a CV, and what pushed me away.
5. What critical transferable skills you need to include in your resume. The tips here will amaze you, this is your opportunity to tap into my experience.
6. I am revealing all the secrets and tricks you need to know in order to succeed in your career search.
I will also share with you “Interview Response Tips” – Try these techniques compiled from over a decade of experience as a Human Resources Manager. You will find them nowhere else, and they are not taught in any school system. I know all the tricks because I set the job interview questions. I have set job interview questions and conducted interviews for Personal Assistants, Clerks, Junior Managers, Middle Managers, COO, CFO and Heads of Departments. After so much time, I know what I am talking about. “I have walked the talk so to speak”. And I want to help you in your job search!
It’s a struggle to make a good impression if you’re not prepared for job interview questions. My experience will guide you through job interview questions and help you to garner the confidence you need to land your first dream job fast. Most people don’t answer job interview questions properly, and so they are never asked in for a second interview or given the job they want. Job interview questions are not difficult, and the answers to job interview questions can be simple. As with other things, it is simply a matter of having the right strategies for job interview questions. As someone with over a decade of Human Resources experience, I know all about job interview questions. As you will soon learn, I have developed job interview questions for a number of positions. I have heard great answers and bad ones to job interview questions, and I want to make sure that you always know what to say to job interview questions. Read on to learn how to give perfect answers to job interview questions!
For reasons of credibility, I think it’s appropriate to briefly tell you about my background, why I wrote this e-book, and for whom.
For 12 years I worked for various organizations as a Human Resources Specialist, HR Manager, and Senior HR Manager. It has been painful to see bright young graduates struggling in selling themselves to their prospective employers. In spite of the fact that many of these youngsters were highly qualified and attended expensive private schools, they lacked knowledge, skills, and preparedness for the jobs they were applying for. This book was written with these graduates in mind. In this e-book I will share with you the secrets and tricks behind interviews – what factors I used in selecting potential candidates, the most common weaknesses I identified about the majority of fresh graduates, and what they need to do to overcome those weaknesses.
Career Trend Tip: Watch Your Back!
Automation is making more and bigger inroads into our career planning.
Not too long ago we reported on the current employer fad of automated interviewing. We pointed out that your next job search phone call may be from an automated system asking you screening questions. The system will try to determine if you are the right kind of candidate for the job. Refer to our website for how to handle this situation.
Looking to the future, it was recently reported that workplace privacy issues will escalate. Some company policies can threaten personal privacy.
For instance, were you aware that some companies have started to use surveillance software? This sophisticated software covertly monitors and record each keystroke an employee makes. This includes individual letters, symbols, and punctuation. The data can be saved in a file or transmitted over a corporate computer network.
Ok. Let’s say in a moment of frustration you put together a stinging letter to your boss whom you feel has wronged you. Then, after reading it over a couple times you rethink your decision. Maybe this isn’t such a smart idea after all. So you delete the whole letter.
Too late.
Every word, every letter, every keystroke has been recorded on your hard drive. Or it’s been sent as an email to a computer system administrator who can retrieve it at their convenience.
What does this all mean to your career planning or job search?
If you’re on the job, beware. Find out what your current organizations policy is on this matter so you can make sure your privacy is protected. In other words, understand the corporate rules and play by them.
If, on the other hand, you are offended by this kind of policy and you see it as an invasion of your privacy you will want to discover the company’s policy before you accept a position with them. It is not at all inappropriate to ask in advance. This is what intelligent, assertive job search is all about.
Stay on top of the ever-changing job marketplace with RSS! Don’t miss out on critical career news and innovative job search strategies. Stay informed! It’s so easy to have immediate access to current trends and alerts. If you go to our website, simply click on RSS.
As we’ve said many times before, planning your job search or career change in advance prepares you for addressing the kind of issues that can make a huge difference in your future job satisfaction and career growth.
January 2, 2010
Job Change Alert: Make Rapid Turnover Work For You
Employers are learning the hard way! More and more organizations are acknowledging a critical fact . . . Finding ways to retain valuable employees must begin before an experienced and talented worker is entertaining an offer from someone else.
And things aren’t getting any easier for employers. A recent Harris and Associates survey shows that more than 50 percent of workers expect to change jobs within the next five years!
Furthermore, rapid staff turnover is expected to escalate. That means that just when companies are devoting more time to finding new talent, they have to find ways to encourage current employees to stay.
Managers can no longer afford to take for granted the steady, productive employee who is a good, if unrecognized quality performer. Sadly, they have been provided very little by way of mentoring or appreciation. So, managers are contributing, often unwittingly, to the turnover.
The good news is that, if you are considering a job or career change you can make this dynamic work in your favor in two ways:
1. If 50% of your fellow employees are contemplating a job or career change in the next five years, so are 50% in other organizations. This spells opportunity for you.
2. You have added leverage to upgrade your job status both within your own organization as well as in a prospective new work environment.
The secret to using these changes effectively is to always know what your options are. For example, you can stay on top of the ever-changing job marketplace with RSS! Don’t miss out on critical career news and innovative job search strategies. Stay informed! It’s so easy to have immediate access to current trends and alerts. If you go to our website, simply click on RSS.
You know, your current job and future career advancement provides the fuel that drives your lifestyle. If you don’t believe that, check out the sometimes catastrophic impact of losing your job.
So you want to nurture your job status and career growth like you would an investment. The escalation of staff turnover is another workforce dynamic that can work for you!
December 25, 2009
How To Write A Resume – Objective Vs. Summary Statements
It’s hard to write a resume. Most of us are not “born salespeople.” Just mentioning the word “sales” usually sends a shiver of fear up our spines. Add to this the fact that we are taught from childhood that it’s not polite to brag about ourselves it’s no wonder that when you’re asked to “sell yourself” on a resume you freeze up like a deer in the headlights.
So instead of panicking let’s take a resume apart piece by piece and explain how to write an effective resume. Hopefully this will eliminate some of the fear involved in “selling yourself” on paper.
RESUME BASICS (what every resume MUST have)
Your name, address and phone number (obviously). But also your email address.
Email addresses are where most people tend to go wrong. I have a friend with an email address called “1hottiger” (one hot tiger). While this might be cute among friends, to a prospective employer it shows poor taste, and a lack of maturity (since she’s in her late 40’s). If you don’t have a professional sounding email, create a new one just for your job search. You can get free email addresses on Google, Yahoo or Hotmail.
Example of a BAD email address:
ImAPartyGirl@email.com
JennysMom@email.com
2Hot2Handle@email.com
Example of a GOOD email address:
MaryMartin@email.com
M.Martin@email.com
Mary.A.Martin@email.com
STYLE
When you write a resume avoid using fancy fonts or colored ink. This just makes you look immature. Plus, statistics show that if someone has to struggle to read something they won’t. Which means you’re resume is guaranteed to hit the trash faster than most if you use a script font.
Try to make your resume look like a nice letterhead. One thing I do when I write a resume is condense lines. In the header I put my name to the left and my phone number all the way to the right. Then below that I put my full address (on one line) on the left and my email all the way to the right on the same line. Then I separate it all with a nice line to look like professional stationery.
When To Use An Objective Over A Summary
The Objective Statement
An objective statement is for people who are either just starting out or changing careers. Your resume should state your desired job and field (engineering for instance) and demonstrate that you have the skills or education (if not the job background) for the position.
When you write your resume make sure that you use “action words” in your objective statement. Just like they sound they convey that you are a person willing to get to work and do your best. It should state your skills, your desires and what you want to do FOR the employer.
The WRONG Way To State An Objective:
Looking for a position with a dynamic company that will recognize and use my talents. I am seeking a company that promotes from within and will recognize and reward hard work and talent.
This statement is all about YOU. It gives the prospective employer no information about yourself that makes you stand out from the crowd. When you write your resume try to think from their position. They want someone that’s gonna get in there and work hard to make THEM money. How will you do that?
The RIGHT Way to State An Objective:
To apply my knowledge acquired through my Masters degree in Graphic Design and internship at ABC Advertising Company to an entry level position in the art and marketing department of a major magazine.
The Summary Statement
A Summary statement is for people that have been working for a while. It “sums up” your skills and positions using strong “action words” and states your qualifications up-front. It’s a way for a prospective employer to “glance” at your resume and determine if it’s worth reading further. It should outline briefly your skills and background and anything you feel you did that was “above and beyond” the nature of the job you held.
BAD Summary
Department manager for 15 member department in large marketing firm. Managed schedules and oversaw daily department duties and workflow.
The reason this is BAD is that it’s generic. Lots of people have jobs like that. What set you apart? Let’s try again:
GOOD Summary
Accomplished department manager with 10 years experience. Created highly synergistic department of 15 creative marketing employees that generated over $5 million dollars in annual sales through applying teamwork and incentives/rewards.
This is just a sample but you should have 3 to 5 strong sentences like this. When you write a resume show the results your efforts made whenever possible, whether it was saving the company money and/or time, or bringing in sales.
Please keep in mind that these lessons are for the person just entering the job market or in entry-level or lower-level management. If you’ve been in the workforce for a while and are on the rise in your field then you definitely will want to consider hiring a professional resume writing service.