7 Hot Resume Success Strategies For Landing Your Next Career

Posted on November 18, 2008
Filed Under Job Seeking

Infuse these seven strategies into your resume for success.

1. Does your resume make a statement? Is it clearly positioning you as the next hire for the position you seek?
2. Intelligently integrate key words from the job description into your resume.
3. Carefully outline accomplishments with a dual purpose. The accomplishments display ways that you have done a great job, easily connected to the opening you wish to fill; plus the accomplishments reflect aspects of your job history that you personally like about your past.
4. Delete. Delete, edit, cut, make more concise, choose what you want to say about you.
5. Empower yourself to have the resume tell the story you want to tell. This ties in to “delete” and takes it a step further. Take ownership of your life. Choose your next job and then create a resume that reflects that job. It is your resume.
6. Is your resume authentic? This is a really big question, hidden in a short word. The closer you match your own truth to what you say about you, the more you will like your next job.
7. Throw in something somewhat one-of-a-kind or funny about you. For one client, we included “extraordinary baking skills.” Maybe you like to scuba dive. Or perhaps you raise llamas. Maybe you have a sense of humor. Now, that might be appreciated. Allow some area of you that is rare or special to shine.

More career inspiration on No. 1: Does your resume make a statement? Is it cohesive? If I pick it up and want to know who you are and where you are going, can I get this? I recently read a client’s resume who had nanny skills and executive assistant skills. Her resume was all over the map. She wanted to move from nannying into more office-like setting. So we re-framed her past. We focused on executive assistant and marketing jobs for core of her professional background, and then included the nanny positions at the end under “Other Experience.” Now when you look at this client’s resume you know she wants to be an executive assistant, and is already doing a great job in this field.

More career inspiration on No. 2: Key words are critical. To emerge as a top candidate today, you’ll move up much easier if you take the time to carefully read the job description and match your background in ways that show you can do the job that is open. It sounds like no big deal, but it really does take time, attention and energy. It requires thought. If you do none of the other suggestions, do this one.

More career inspiration on No. 3: Own your accomplishments. You want to show good ones that match the opening. And you also want to like them, yourself, because you might be asked to achieve them again. One client wrote that she was good at handling disgruntled customers. Now, if you want to keep doing that, definitely include this as an accomplishment. However, if you hate it, delete it.

More career inspiration on No. 4: Many experienced job seekers have trouble cutting words from their resume. Don’t be afraid to edit. Less is more. Say enough, and not too much. Overwhelming the reader is not a good idea. Just delete things you didn’t like to do or accomplishments you don’t want to ever take on, again. Sometimes I find people feel the resume has to be a perfect representation of their actual job experiences. I say no, your resume should be the right piece of paper or PDF file that goes in the drawer of your next perfect position after you have been hired. That’s it. It is the right thing but not everything you’ve ever done. We don’t want to know what you liked to do in kindergarten, yet sometimes people feel compelled to share every single thing they have done across a dozen positions. Please don’t be afraid to delete.

More career inspiration on No. 5: This is the heart of my message. It is your resume, and it can tell the story you wish to tell. Take control. What will your next job be like? Write your resume to get that job. Forget about your past. Your resume needs to reflect the future you want to create.

More career inspiration on No. 6: What is real? Is your resume really about you? The more you can create a life history that shows not only what you have done, but sings alive with where you want to go, you feel good. You feel excited, energized, alive. When you are authentic about where you want to go, others will jump on board and hire you. The closer you are to your own truth, the closer your next position will reflect where you want to be next. Stop looking from outside in, and look from inside out.

More career inspiration on No. 7: Once I wrote that you know you need to hire someone to write your resume if you would rather clean out toilets than create a resume. I thought that was funny. And on my own resume one time I summed up a substantial and seriously award-winning journalistic career in this manner “Wrote lots of stories about lots of topics for lots of CA newspapers.” Downplaying with humor can be tricky. If humor feels uncomfortable, include something like “dedicated seamstress” or “rugby player” or “scuba dive for fun.” The levity will be appreciated by whomever is reading your resume, and the inclusion outside of topic gives the interviewer a way to break the ice.

Good luck!

For help with your resume, you may contact Erica M. Nelson, the author of a new book on career inspiration due March 16, 2009. She is the author of “Prospect When You Are Happy” available at amazon.com and http://www.EricaNelsonEstates.com - She writes to inspire people to live a full and authentic life. How to get where you want to go. Live today! You may contact Erica Nelson at authorEricaNelson@gmail.com.

© %FIRST Vick - visit the resume help area for more great content.


What Happens After the Job Interview?

Posted on October 3, 2008
Filed Under Job Seeking

Once you complete your job search package, then the next step in sequence in the job employment network process is to contact your job search network contacts. This is best done to expand your career job employment options and opportunities. The early bird gets the worm. Because your network members are certainly as well as statically the strongest source of job leads, they can form bridges and conduits to the perfect job- the career of your dreams.

What are the basic standard and accepted job employment as well as career networking guidelines to follow?

First it is always best to make an appointment to meet in person. Impromptu may seem fine and as well show that you are a person of great personal initiative - the type to get the job done, to go around roadblocks and obstacles yet experience has shown and demonstrated that overall appointments provide for the best results. No one is taken untoward. Both parties can prepare mentally and physically. Nowadays most corporate job placement is awarded as a “team” or “committee” effort. By making an appointment the authority that you care calling on can solidify any decisions that are too made. This way they can have the accurate and timely data that you want - that you have been awarded this job or perhaps an alternate position with the firm or organization.

What alternates are available to you if you cannot arrange an appointment within a reasonable time frame - or any appointment at all? What does protocol allow for?

If you cannot arrange an appointment personally then the next option in line is to simply make a telephone call. Briefly review your objectives - your job employment or career objectives and ask for recommendations when you make the phone call. Lassie it never hurts to ask. Most people feel rather gratified and indeed complimented when asked for their advice and the lessons of their experiences, especially in the workplace. If you think about it most people are always told to do something - this or that function or activity - few are ever asked for their input and certainly not the benefit or benefits of their experiences. It seems that only after our employment terms are over, and people retire does anyone seems to have great insights into their workplace, career and industry.

Why not benefit from those thoughts and well earned advice right now? It all comes down to asking in a sincere and genuine manner not only as a means of asking “Why or why not did I not get the job?”

Lastly it never hurts to send a thank you note. A physical letter is always best. Emails and faxes can be done - but they may seem superficial, an add on, impersonal and downright tacky and tactless. Be grateful for the help and input that you receive. Show sincere gratitude. Send a personal hand written note - either sent by mail or better yet personally. This shows personal respect while demonstrating that you are a person of honor, integrity, ingenuity and personal incentive. Who knows - it may result in a chance meeting of record that will propel you into the next phase and dimension of your career employment job networking strategy.

By Shaun Stevens - http://www.albertajobshark.com/

© %FIRST Vick - visit the resume help area for more great content.


Closing the gap on your resume

Posted on October 3, 2008
Filed Under Job Seeking

Closing the gap on your resume

The business world was surprised in August 2007 when Robert Nardelli landed the top job at Chrysler LLC after being shown the door as The Home Depot’s CEO in January.

Not all out-of-work employees bounce back so easily.

With unemployment in the United States at a five-year high - the latest Labor Department’s report says 605,000 jobs have been lost this year - job seekers may have longer searches ahead.

However, experts say a stretch of unemployment is not the black mark it used to be.

A layoff, or time off to deal with work-life balance issues, won’t keep you from getting an interview or a job offer - if you know how to handle it, say executive recruiters.

"I don’t think it’s as big a negative as people think, if you have a good story," said Barry Lawrence, career expert at Jobfox, a McLean, Va.-based job search site.

Employees today will switch jobs 10 to a dozen times in a career, and there will be "hiccups" along the way, said Lawrence.

"Even in a good economy, businesses are changing focus, people are going to fall through the cracks," he said.

Recruiters understand that and have probably lived through it themselves, Lawrence said.

Jeffrey Steinberg was an executive recruiter for two decades before he left the business in 2001.

Searches dried up after the 9-11 attacks and his wife was dying of cancer, so Steinberg, who was self-employed, shut down his business.

Since his wife’s death in 2002, he has focused on taking writing courses and working on poetry and fiction; he said he was lucky to have the financial resources to explore his passion.

Seven years later, he’s planning to return to work.

At 55, he’s less concerned about the seven-year gap in his resume than competing against younger people.

"I think age is a bigger deal. It hasn’t affected me yet -but I think the resume I have doesn’t have all these dates I had," he said.

Steinberg has worked up two resumes, one chronological and one organized around the types of experience and achievements in his career.

"Anybody who will hire me at this stage of my life is going to hire me for a certain set of skills," he said.

In fact, recruiters stress that if you must address your resume gaps in a job search, focus on presenting the time off from work as a positive, learning experience.

Some gaps, such as taking time to care for a sick relative or to go back to school, explain themselves.

Layoffs due to corporate meltdowns such as Enron Corp. or Bear Stearns Co. also need no explanation.

"Don’t be embarrassed. People sometimes get too concerned.

"They focus so much on the gap and not on the reason there was a gap," said Katherine Spencer Lee, executive director of Robert Half Technology, a unit of recruiter Robert Half International.

Be honest if you left your last job because it was a bad fit, say the experts.

Most employers understand that jobs are not one-size fits all. Unless you have a series of short stints in a row that all ended abruptly, recruiters won’t hold it against you, said Spencer Lee.

"If the last five places you worked were not a good fit, tell me why we as number six should hire you," she said.

In most cases, you don’t need to volunteer an explanation; most interviewers will ask about your employment history.

But if you are worried that you have a significant gap in your history and you’re applying in an industry where job searches tend to be brief, such as health care, you may want to address the issue in your cover letter, say recruiters.

Also consider sending a functional resume, like Steinberg’s, with entries organized by skill set.

"People think of this as ‘Am I fudging?’ or ‘Am I cheating?’ You’re not, you’re just presenting yourself in the most positive light," said Lawrence.

But all experts agree, don’t ever lie on your resume. No matter how bad you think it looks, getting caught lying will make you look much worse.

Before you even get the interview, put together talking points to explain why you were out of work and what you did while you were off, all focusing on the skills you would bring to the job at hand.

"Answers like ‘I took a year and a half to find myself,’ leave an interviewer scratching their heads because they wonder: is this person going to try to find themselves during our busy period?" said Steven Miranda, chief human resource, strategic planning and diversity officer of the Society for Human Resource Management.

Present yourself and your time off in a positive way, said recruiters.

Focus on what you achieved during your down time - whether you did freelance or consulting work, took courses or did volunteer work - and don’t badmouth your past employer to the interviewers.

"If they hear a lot of negativity and lot of poison, they are going to wonder: what is this person going to say about us when he leaves here?" said Miranda.

Lastly, if the interview is over and no one has brought up the bare spot in your resume, don’t mention it.

Take the cue from the interviewers; they’ll let you know what they’re concerned about, said Jennifer Grasz, spokeswoman for employment site Careerbuilder.com.

Today’s employers are more understanding of the lifestyle choices employees face than they were five or 10 years ago, she said.

So as long as you explain your professional detour in a positive way, don’t put too fine a point on it.

"Don’t make apologies for choices that were right for you," Grasz said.

"You want to focus on your strengths."

© %FIRST Vick - visit the resume help area for more great content.


« go back — keep looking »