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Friday, 27 June 2008 09:00 |
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Most of the time job candidates do not have an updated resume when they need one. When the opportunity arises, whether it is a planned job hunt or one that occurs in a crisis mode, it"s easy to fall into a trap of using a resume template as a guideline because you are eager to have one prepared. Unfortunately, that does not allow you to showcase your individual skill set at its best. The resume you copy might be tired, trite and not on point to your potential employer. The resume is the first real look an employer has at you as a prospective employee. If your resume fails to convey why they should hire, you will never get to the second step: the interview. If you don"t get past this stage where they actually read your resume, you won"t get a second chance to strut your stuff. Resume writing is a difficult task. It is hard to evaluate yourself objectively and present your skills and attributes in the most favorable light without seeming to be boastful. Speaking about oneself in a positive manner on paper is very hard for most people to do. It’s not easy to demonstrate what you have accomplished without sounding like a litany from a CV or, at worst, a complete ego trip. But don"t ever forget this one fact: it"s OK to sound extraordinary or even immodest about your accomplishments on your resume. Remember, you want the job don"t you? It is important to have a current resume that"s on target and contemporary, but unfortunately many writers fall into the trap of using buzz words or jargon because they think it makes them sound hip or in style. Think of all those expressions that "totally, like," annoy you. The same is true with the words used to craft a resume. If the word/s is bandied about by every candidate, it ceases to have any relevant connotations to the reader. Phrases that once worked as positive adjectives have become so common place that they impacts your resume in a negative way. For example, reliable, resourceful, self motivated and other overused nomenclature don’t cut it. When you use this language you become a candidate like the rest of the pack. Sadly, that is where you will remain unless you "spice" up your resume with more descriptive verbiage. Tip: A great tool is a thesaurus. If the word you want to use is overdone, look up the synonym. Many times you will find a word that is a lot more powerful. In order to stand out in a crowded pile of resumes, don"t start flinging words about that put you back into the resume swell with the masses. Avoid sounding like every one else. Jargon is not cool unless there is no other way to describe what you do. Consider action words that create a visual picture about what you have done and avoid trite phrases that everyone uses. Demonstrate to your reader that you have the necessary abilities to meet their needs. Make them understand that hiring you will be an asset not a liability. Forget the fact that you are an ambitious, detail oriented, hardworking, motivated, team player. Write what you really do. What have you accomplished in your last job in terms of quantifiable outcomes? Make the reader visualize your last task and how you facilitated a positive outcome. After reading your resume, the employer should want to know more about you. Think about how you can differentiate yourself when you start writing. Here are a few additional overused phrases not to include in your resume. Aggressive, Competent, Creative, Determined, Efficient, Experienced, Flexible, Goal-oriented, Independent, Innovative, Knowledgeable, Logical, Motivated, Meticulous, People person, Professional, Successful, Well-organized. Tip: Let someone who knows nothing about your job read your resume. See if it compels them to learn more about you. Remember that when employers read your resume you want them to move you to the top of the pile, not bury you with all the rest of the boring sound alike resumes. So think about the words that could be your "resume killer." If you find them in your resume, retool it and give it new life. Discover the easy way to make yourself stand out from others. How to become an expert in your field; How to write a better resume; How to write a personal press release; How to accomplish things no one else is doing and to get people to think about you in ways they have not thought before and much more including critical checklists for those important business meetings. This indispensable workbook will show you specific ways to accomplish your personal branding goals and launch your career into the stratosphere. We have done all the work for you with guidelines, cheat sheets and easy-to-use templates to customize for your own use. So don"t put off building your brand any longer. Don"t wait till your associates get your promotion or raise or even a better job. Order Packaging Yourself now @ http://www.packaginguniversity.com/pkgustorefront.htm If you find that the strategies and tactics in these materials don’t work for you or in your business, we don’t feel like we should keep your money. We want you to try them for 30 days with zero risk. |
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Monday, 26 May 2008 08:00 |
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To apply to any job, the candidate needs to write a resume. These are some tips on writing a solid, persuasive resume that will help the applicant get the position they’ve been dreaming of. The resume must be segregated into different sections to be easily understood by the company representative, in most instances Human Resources (HR) department personnel. There are many resume-builder sites available on the net. By searching and locating a proper description, the job applicant may model their resume on it, inserting their own qualifications. By deciding to design the resume in different sections, the job seeker makes it clear to the HR personnel that they know how to proceed with their career. First, the applicant must give details pertaining to their full identity, including address, phone number and email. Then the job seeker must give all the particulars about their education, place of study and grades achieved. This section should also include any distinctions that they have achieved in their school, college and university. Extra-curricular activities and any other notable features that distinguish them from the herd should follow. These include community work, hobbies, interests and special skills. Often such additional details influence the decision maker in calling for a one-on-one meeting or a telephone interview for better position in the company. In the application letter or at interview, the applicant must explain in detail what type of roles they are looking for in their career. In the application, they can also explain how they are planning to go about their career path, if given an opportunity. Care must be taken to give all the details with accuracy, and nothing can be false. Once the resume is completed, the job applicant must check the details that are included in the application – letter and resume. The type of language used, the writing style, whether the details incorporated in the resume meet the expectations of the company. Be sure to put the contact details in an obvious spot at the top of the resume for easy contact by the employer. It’s important to take care with the application, as this is the first point of contact with an employer; a good first impression will encourage them to contact the applicant. Job Descriptions provides detailed information about job descriptions, accounting job descriptions, free resume-writing tips, how to write a resume and more. Job Descriptions is the sister site of Personal Time Management. |
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Sunday, 23 March 2008 05:01 |
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The best use of an interviewer’s time is spent prior to meeting the applicant. A quality prescreen of each candidate does two things: It saves the interviewer time by identifying undesirable candidates up front and allows the interviewer to prepare more fully and tailor the interview to each candidate. A quality prescreen should include a thorough review of all materials furnished by the applicant with a focus on consistency and truth in the details. The interviewer should attempt to gain some insight into each candidate prior to the interview. • Never write on original copies of pre-employment documentation! Instead, use worksheets or make two copies of the documents. Use one copy to take notes on during the review and the other in case of an interview. • Never begin a pre-employment investigation before having a signed application and information release. A powerful tactic in prescreening applicants with resumes is to first accept a candidate’s resume, then let them complete the application. Most applicants who are intent on fudging periods of employment have a very difficult time keeping their dates straight. If you have the opportunity to observe the candidate while they fill out an application, check to see if they refer to another copy of the resume or to another piece of paper. Oftentimes, applicants refer to "cheat sheets" in order to keep periods of employment consistent between resumes and employment applications. EVALUATING THE RESUME The simple truth regarding resumes is that they are sales tools used by applicants; advertising aimed at winning an audience with the interviewer, appropriately- “buyer beware.” An applicant will never understate job descriptions, responsibilities, accomplishments or salary. The strategy in evaluating resumes involves separating “fluff” from “super-fluff.” "In writing biography, fact and fiction shouldn’t be mixed. And if they are, the fiction parts should be printed in red ink, the fact parts in black ink." -Catherine Drinker Bowen It may be helpful to consider the following: Does the resume appear to have been written specifically for the position or does it appear to be a boilerplate document? A resume that is addressed to a specific individual and shows that the candidate has done some of his or her own homework indicates interest in the position. A poorly written or disorganized resume may be indicative of the candidate’s work ethic. Resumes that omit dates of employment may be attempting to cover up large gaps in employment or a change in careers. Is there a pattern of consistent growth and progressive job responsibilities? Resumes that contain too much information not related to the desired position (listing too much information about hobbies and interests) may be an attempt to draw attention away from where the essential information is lacking. Look for qualities that may indicate that the applicant is “bottom-line oriented” (all businesses are in it for the money) and concerned with growth potential within the company. Never make a job offer based on a resume. Instead, compare it to an application and use it to develop areas for further questioning and discussion with the applicant during an interview. REVIEWING THE EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION Most studies indicate that more than 1 in 3 applications contain inaccuracies. Consequently, while reviewing any application you are looking for completeness, accuracy, and consistency. First, look over the entire application and ensure that it is filled out (in ink) in its entirety, signed, dated, and legible (would a jury or hearing officer be able to read it?). Do not consider the application if it is not in order. If necessary, call the candidate back and have it completed it to your satisfaction. Make notes on a copy of the application, highlighting the following areas (this will make it easier to quickly find important information later): • Social Security Number • Name and Address • Previous addresses that are not within the local area • Convictions, if any • Education institutions beyond high school • Supervisor’s name, phone number, dates and wage of prior employment • Reasons for leaving prior employers • Relatives and personal references that live outside of the local area Consider the following "red flags" that will need further explanation by the candidate: • Any blanks • Unexplained gaps in time between previous employers • Other irregularities with dates • Previous supervisors with the same last name as listed relatives or other personal references • When the reason for leaving doesn’t relate to the next job (i.e. “left for better wages or benefits”) or if the next job doesn’t support the assertion • Periods where salaries or promotions increase sharply or decrease • Skills that are included when there are no obvious reasons in prior employment or education to support learning the skill • Any periods of self-employment • Instability in job history “job hopping” • Any other inconsistencies L. Scott Harrell is the author of Truth or Consequences: Hiring for Integrity, a manual which completely and accurately describes proven pre-employment hiring strategies and interviewing skills developed from 14 years of experience as a private investigator and principal of CompassPoint Investigations. More information regarding Hiring for Integrity and other effective hiring practices can be found via his website: http://www.HiringProfessionals.com |
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Thursday, 06 March 2008 22:00 |
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Every job seeker wants to gain as much exposure to job openings as possible, so by “snail mail” or email, off go résumés to recruiters, job ads, company web pages, or the companies themselves in the hope that someone will review them. Ah, but unfortunately, in terms of initial screening, that “someone” has been increasingly replaced by an “it”: the Applicant Tracking System (ATS). You see, thanks mostly to the Internet, companies and recruiters today are being increasingly inundated by résumés sent to them literally at the touch of a button. So given the need for speed, quality, and economy in the hiring process, enter Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), computer software programs that can capture requested information from paper-based résumés or online applications, and then download it directly into an applicant database. Thus, when someone sends a Microsoft Word version of his résumé to a company or recruiter, an ATS can scan it without printing it, and store relevant information. Companies or recruiters can then — using chosen parameters, keywords, or phrases — search stored résumés when a need arises to fill a certain job posting, saving countless hours once spent in classifying and choosing résumés manually.
The Job Hunter’s Problem … and a SolutionAll well and good for an ATS owner, but how can you the job hunter know what parameters the ATS user will enter into his system when looking for a candidate? How do you know what terms and phrases should be added to your résumé to “catch that mechanical eye”? Well, you can’t, at least not with certitude. All you can do is make an educated guess as to what they might be. And, since many keywords can have variants, choosing — and then integrating them into your résumé — becomes even more difficult. Let’s use a CFO as an example. An ATS scan might use any of the following key words or phrases (or others), of which more than one might apply to you: Job Title: CFO, Chief Financial Officer, Senior Financial Executive Years of Experience: 5—10 years of experience, over 10 years of experience, 20+ years, etc. Expertise: Mergers, acquisitions, profit and loss, turnarounds, start-ups, budgets, Six Sigma, etc. Leadership qualities: Team supervision, “big picture thinker,” visionary, senior manager, Board of Directors, multinational, decision-maker, etc. Education: MBA, Ph.D., B.S. in Business Administration, B.S. in Accounting, etc. Certifications: CPA, Certified Public Accountant, Chartered Financial Analyst, etc. As you can see, a list of possible keywords — any of which might be appropriate to you — can be devilishly long, especially when only slight variations are involved.
How to Protect YourselfFirst, put all those keywords you think the most important about you in the body of the résumé. Then put all those of lesser importance in a separate block entitled “Additional keywords” at the bottom of your résumé thusly: Additional Keywords/Phrases: Accounting, standard cost accounting, spreadsheets, financial reporting, regulatory compliance, accounts receivable/payable, Peachtree, 10 years in upper management, BOD, manufacturing, technology, controller, comptroller, auditor, auditing, divestitures, buyouts, … etc., etc. Tip: If you are concerned about your résumé’s appearance, you can “hide” these additional keywords—at least, on an electronic version—by highlighting them, then changing their font color to white. Thus, whether the résumé is displayed on the screen or printed off, those words will be invisible – only the ATS can see them! Some final thoughts. So an ATS can be a foe to you if you don’t realize how it works, but a friend to you if you do. However, remember that all the keywords or phrases you use must be grounded in truth: you must not add what you have no real knowledge of. Remember too that although these additional keywords and phrases may help you get past the mechanical ATS screening, your résumé must still be reviewed by a set of human eyes … but, then again, isn’t that what you are after? Pierre G. Daunic, Ph.D. is a Senior Consultant for R.L. Stevens & Associates Inc. http://interviewing.com/. For over 24 years, R.L. Stevens & Associates has been the Nation’s most successful privately-held firm, specializing in executive career searches generating quality interviews through advertised and unadvertised channels. |
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