Do you have a resume?
This question is all that one hears today when looking for a job. But what is a resume? It is a marketing tool that you use to describe your life-work experience. It should show your background, accomplishments and skills, and how they were used to help you succeed. And, how what you bring to the table can be utilized by a new employer.
Here are a few tips for getting your resume read and acted upon:
1. No more objectives. All objectives sound the same, “I’m looking for challenging and rewarding work as a (place job title here) for a company that’s growing.” When everything is the same nothing stands out. Plus, they’re written from the employee’s point of view, what you want. Instead, use a Skills or Summary section where you can describe 5 or 6 reasons to hire you. This gives you the opportunity to match your skills and experience to the specific opportunity available. It will provide a common theme to all your correspondence, show effective communication skills and focus. And will also help with answers to interview questions such as “why should I hire you” or “what can you do for this company that the others can’t?”
2. Watch the little things. Include your name, address, up-to-date phone number and professional e-mail address. Use a simple font. Print it on white paper. Make sure the copier you use makes a good copy. Know your dates of employment. Watch your spelling. Again, WATCH YOUR SPELLING! It has to be legible, that means clear, precise and to the point. It doesn’t matter what it looks like if there are mistakes, missing information, and careless errors.
3. Two pages are ok if you have the experience to back it up. Face it, in today’s job market; we’ll have 7 different careers and about 15 different jobs before we retire. To cut that experience down to a page doesn’t tell enough about you. And if you’re going for your first job, talk about what your school or community achievements were.
4. Have someone else proof read it when it’s finished. To us, it could look like the Mona Lisa, to others, a finger painting. Get the opinion of one you respect and listen to what they say.
5. Do: use action works and key industry phrases; use bullets to emphasize points; list any awards, certificates, licenses, degrees; list volunteer experience (especially when you have no employment history). Remember KISS-Keep it short & sweet.
6. Don’t: use personal pronouns; include personal information (marital status, kids, social security number, religion, height, weight); include a photo, put your references on the resume; talk about why you left other jobs; say anything negative about any previous job or manager; mess with academic credentials; change dates of employment; repeat the same job tasks over and over, instead talk about what you accomplished; list hobbies\interests unless for example, you’re a skier looking for work as a ski instructor.
7. It’s not chiseled in stone. Always be ready to tweak your resume by adding new skills, new jobs, new certificates\licenses\degrees. When you answer an ad, they always list the skills the position requires, make sure that they are listed in your skills\qualifications section.
The goal is to create a document that gets read and gets results. The resume won’t get you hired, but it will get you in front of the people who can.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Getting Results From A Cover Letter
Before the advent of computers and the subsequent security measures undertaken by employers due to 9-11, job seekers had an easier time. You got dressed for success (men a suit and tie, women a dress or pants suit), walked into to the company you wanted to work for and got an application from Human Resources (formally Personnel). If they had time, and you made the right impression, an interview on the spot was not uncommon.
Or, a parent, relative, or family friend would bring you to work to “meet” the boss. After an exchange of pleasantries and a few simple questions (like how do you know so and so), you started work the next Monday.
But today, things are different. In the earlier cases, your appearance, interests, or relationships opened doors. Now, you need a professional introduction to the company, a way for them to see who you are, what you know, where you learned it, and how you use what you know. This is the purpose of a cover letter.
A well written cover letter has one purpose and one purpose only, to get a potential employer to turn the page and read the resume. It will not get you a job; it will not get you an interview. It will wet the company’s appetite to want to learn more about you.
An internet search for cover letters will lend itself to over 1,000,000 different results and offers, ranging from boiler plate, to creative, to having one written for you for a fee ($ 29.95 per letter, with a free re-write if you don’t get results within 90 days). Writing the letter doesn’t take a master’s degree in English. As long as a few key points are kept in mind during the process, your letter will be great.
Key Points:
1) KISS –Keep It Short & Sweet. The idea is to get them to read your resume, not to show off your creative writing skills (unless the job calls for Creative Writing).
2) Be specific about the job you’re applying for. And always personalize it to the company.
3) Past accomplishments = future success. Talk about the results that you’ve achieved, not so much the process. People want to hire winners, put yourself in that spotlight.
4) Write to a specific person. • This is where your research will pay off. • A letter that starts off To Whom It May Concern or Dear Sir\Madam, might be correct, but is cold and impersonal. • With the emphasis placed on building professional relationships, you need to know the person’s name and job title that is screening the applicants. • Make sure you get the name and title right or the letter and résumé goes into the circular file.
5) Use action words and be positive.
6) Only include salary information if it’s specifically requested.
7) Spelling and grammar ARE MORE IMPORTANT than formatting. Nobody will care what the letter looks like if it’s filled with mistakes.
8) ASK for an interviewNow, let us look at the hows of a cover letter. This document should be 3 to 4 paragraphs in length. Brevity, get to the point, make the point, is the key to effectiveness. And don’t be afraid to use bullet points to emphasize key points.
Paragraph 1: List the job you’re interested in and how you learned about the opportunity
Paragraph 2: This is the one called, “You seek, I have”. Your research will pay off here. You can talk about your specific skills and experiences that you have and relate it to the opening available. Don’t go overboard; KISS is crucial at this juncture.
Paragraph 3: State your interest in the opening, your availability for an interview and specifically ask for an opportunity to sit down, face to face. They can’t see the sincerity in your eyes or hear it in your voice from a piece of paper.
If you don’t hear from them within a week, send the letter again. In any office, papers are misplaced or not read when things are hopping. By sending it again, it will double the chances of somebody reading it. And follow up with a phone call, as this shows that you’re a go-getter, who is interested. If you do what others won’t, you’ll get the results they don't!
Or, a parent, relative, or family friend would bring you to work to “meet” the boss. After an exchange of pleasantries and a few simple questions (like how do you know so and so), you started work the next Monday.
But today, things are different. In the earlier cases, your appearance, interests, or relationships opened doors. Now, you need a professional introduction to the company, a way for them to see who you are, what you know, where you learned it, and how you use what you know. This is the purpose of a cover letter.
A well written cover letter has one purpose and one purpose only, to get a potential employer to turn the page and read the resume. It will not get you a job; it will not get you an interview. It will wet the company’s appetite to want to learn more about you.
An internet search for cover letters will lend itself to over 1,000,000 different results and offers, ranging from boiler plate, to creative, to having one written for you for a fee ($ 29.95 per letter, with a free re-write if you don’t get results within 90 days). Writing the letter doesn’t take a master’s degree in English. As long as a few key points are kept in mind during the process, your letter will be great.
Key Points:
1) KISS –Keep It Short & Sweet. The idea is to get them to read your resume, not to show off your creative writing skills (unless the job calls for Creative Writing).
2) Be specific about the job you’re applying for. And always personalize it to the company.
3) Past accomplishments = future success. Talk about the results that you’ve achieved, not so much the process. People want to hire winners, put yourself in that spotlight.
4) Write to a specific person. • This is where your research will pay off. • A letter that starts off To Whom It May Concern or Dear Sir\Madam, might be correct, but is cold and impersonal. • With the emphasis placed on building professional relationships, you need to know the person’s name and job title that is screening the applicants. • Make sure you get the name and title right or the letter and résumé goes into the circular file.
5) Use action words and be positive.
6) Only include salary information if it’s specifically requested.
7) Spelling and grammar ARE MORE IMPORTANT than formatting. Nobody will care what the letter looks like if it’s filled with mistakes.
8) ASK for an interviewNow, let us look at the hows of a cover letter. This document should be 3 to 4 paragraphs in length. Brevity, get to the point, make the point, is the key to effectiveness. And don’t be afraid to use bullet points to emphasize key points.
Paragraph 1: List the job you’re interested in and how you learned about the opportunity
Paragraph 2: This is the one called, “You seek, I have”. Your research will pay off here. You can talk about your specific skills and experiences that you have and relate it to the opening available. Don’t go overboard; KISS is crucial at this juncture.
Paragraph 3: State your interest in the opening, your availability for an interview and specifically ask for an opportunity to sit down, face to face. They can’t see the sincerity in your eyes or hear it in your voice from a piece of paper.
If you don’t hear from them within a week, send the letter again. In any office, papers are misplaced or not read when things are hopping. By sending it again, it will double the chances of somebody reading it. And follow up with a phone call, as this shows that you’re a go-getter, who is interested. If you do what others won’t, you’ll get the results they don't!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
What Am I Going To Do Now?
The rumors are for once true and after devoting time and energy into a career at company X, when the layoffs hit, your name was on the list. First comes that sinking feeling of what am I going to do now. Then, as you’re walking out to the car with a box of desk stuff, you realize that tomorrow is a sleep late day, go sign up with unemployment, and the desire to “take some time to catch up on some stuff.”
The fact is, most of us will be unemployed in our lifetime. According to government statistics, we will have 15 different jobs in several different careers. And it takes longer to find work, about 90 to 180 days. So the question remains what to do?
Relax and don’t panic. It’s not the end of the world, even though it feels like it. Because we identify our sense of self with our job, the loss of employment affects us hard. But, what has happened is that on the journey of life, we get to take a new path. Here are some suggestions to make the trip go smoothly.
What To Do, What To Do
When you sit down and begin to create your notes for your resume, look at your accomplishments first. The duties and responsibilities of a job are the routine tasks. What you want to do is look at what you did; promotions, awards, raises, certificates earned. And you want to quantify it. Don’t just say “I was a cashier”, instead try, “accurate cash handler who is able to serve over 100 customers while providing attentive Customer Service by helping the customer.” The second answer gives the reader information on the quality of your work.
Who Do You Know
We’ve all heard, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” And in today’s job market, those words ring with an unmistakable truth. Now is not the time to throw a pity party and cut yourself off from the rest of the world. It IS the time to work your network.
Contact everyone you know; family, friends, former colleagues, ex-supervisors, anyone you know. Call these people and ask them the magic questions, are you hiring? And don’t forget the equally important follow up question, do you know anybody who is hiring. Remember, you don’t know who the people in your network know. A name, a lead, anything you get from a personal source is worth more than answering an ad. The company looking to fill a position will be more willing to take a chance on someone who was recommended than just off the street.
What Else Can I Do
With all of the opportunities out there and the skills (transferable, technical, job specific) you possess, deciding on what you want to do can be confusing. To find out if moving into a new field is right, you need to have accurate information. One extremely cost efficient way is to take an on-line assessment. Career sites, like gettinghired.com, offer a free workplace skills assessment to see if the new career path that you want to follow will lead to success. Plus, this will give you leads and insights into other fields where your skills can be used.
And since these are job sites you can post your resume and see various job listings. This is a productive way for to learn more about ourselves and have employers find us based on what skills we can bring to the table.
Punch The Clock Everyday
You have to treat looking for work just like a job. Get up everyday, write out a daily schedule to follow and follow it! Make those follow up calls, network, read the business section of the newspaper, ask questions, and do your research. Research the job market, opportunities, companies you want to work for, trends and patterns. Read anything current you can find that has information on the career you want to enter. The better informed you are, the better decisions you can make concerning your future.
Losing your job is not the end of the world. Instead, it’s an opportunity to learn and grow. And by doing the little things, the light at the end of the tunnel won’t be an incoming train, but a clear path for a more rewarding and fulfilling career.
By: Frank J Giudice
The fact is, most of us will be unemployed in our lifetime. According to government statistics, we will have 15 different jobs in several different careers. And it takes longer to find work, about 90 to 180 days. So the question remains what to do?
Relax and don’t panic. It’s not the end of the world, even though it feels like it. Because we identify our sense of self with our job, the loss of employment affects us hard. But, what has happened is that on the journey of life, we get to take a new path. Here are some suggestions to make the trip go smoothly.
What To Do, What To Do
When you sit down and begin to create your notes for your resume, look at your accomplishments first. The duties and responsibilities of a job are the routine tasks. What you want to do is look at what you did; promotions, awards, raises, certificates earned. And you want to quantify it. Don’t just say “I was a cashier”, instead try, “accurate cash handler who is able to serve over 100 customers while providing attentive Customer Service by helping the customer.” The second answer gives the reader information on the quality of your work.
Who Do You Know
We’ve all heard, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” And in today’s job market, those words ring with an unmistakable truth. Now is not the time to throw a pity party and cut yourself off from the rest of the world. It IS the time to work your network.
Contact everyone you know; family, friends, former colleagues, ex-supervisors, anyone you know. Call these people and ask them the magic questions, are you hiring? And don’t forget the equally important follow up question, do you know anybody who is hiring. Remember, you don’t know who the people in your network know. A name, a lead, anything you get from a personal source is worth more than answering an ad. The company looking to fill a position will be more willing to take a chance on someone who was recommended than just off the street.
What Else Can I Do
With all of the opportunities out there and the skills (transferable, technical, job specific) you possess, deciding on what you want to do can be confusing. To find out if moving into a new field is right, you need to have accurate information. One extremely cost efficient way is to take an on-line assessment. Career sites, like gettinghired.com, offer a free workplace skills assessment to see if the new career path that you want to follow will lead to success. Plus, this will give you leads and insights into other fields where your skills can be used.
And since these are job sites you can post your resume and see various job listings. This is a productive way for to learn more about ourselves and have employers find us based on what skills we can bring to the table.
Punch The Clock Everyday
You have to treat looking for work just like a job. Get up everyday, write out a daily schedule to follow and follow it! Make those follow up calls, network, read the business section of the newspaper, ask questions, and do your research. Research the job market, opportunities, companies you want to work for, trends and patterns. Read anything current you can find that has information on the career you want to enter. The better informed you are, the better decisions you can make concerning your future.
Losing your job is not the end of the world. Instead, it’s an opportunity to learn and grow. And by doing the little things, the light at the end of the tunnel won’t be an incoming train, but a clear path for a more rewarding and fulfilling career.
By: Frank J Giudice
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
