Posts Tagged ‘job-search’
Career Change Is Not For Wimps! 3 Powerful Steps to Do Work You Love
Tough words… but I truly believe that folks who make career changes should be applauded for their courage. The courage to live closer to their authentic selves. The courage to put aside all the negativity we hear about the economy. The courage to face their own fears.
Most people will change careers 5-10 times in their lifetimes. Not just jobs ? but whole new careers. At the same time, we’re not taught how to go about this in the best way ?how to evaluate what careers fit us best ? how to choose work that makes our heart sing!
If you are considering a career change, here are some tips to get you started:
1. Know thyself. Give yourself time to really get in touch with yourself. What do you value most in your work? What skills do you really love doing? What natural talents and gifts do you have that you must use to serve others?
2. Go on an exploration. Be curious. Ask lots of folks about their work. Make a list of everything you’ve ever considered doing ?even if it seems outlandish. Then make a list of questions you’d like to get answered about those careers. This website can give you some good information about skills needed, education requirements and salary ranges for many careers: http://online.onetcenter.org/ As you get your questions answered, start making commitments about what you WILL have in your next career. Narrow down your choices until you’ve settled on one to target.
3. Go after it! Put together a job search campaign. Make a list of at least 5 different strategies you’ll use to go after your best work. These can include networking, making a list of contacts to call, online job seeking on specialized job boards, online seeking of specific companies’ job postings, sending targeted letters to organizations you’d like to work for even if they don’t have jobs posted.
Set weekly and daily goals and get a support partner to help keep you accountable to reaching your goals.
Changing careers takes good strategies, courage and support. And it can be the most rewarding thing you’ve ever done. Congratulations on taking this first step!
©Ann Ronan, Ph.D. 2004
About The Author
Ann Ronan, Ph.D., Certified Career Coach and author, works with professionals in career transition. If you’d like more tips, strategies and support check out the 90 Day Career Change Is Not For Wimps eCourse delivered to you by daily emails with weekly telephone support calls ? www.authenticlifeinstitute.com/CareerChange.htm
How to Reach Your Next Job Faster with Fewer Potholes, Roadblocks
Complacency damages your career more than lack of qualifications. The most obvious roadblock you’ll encounter on the race to find your next job is usually regrets about skills, education, and professional knowledge. However, be careful that you don’t possess an inner smugness that rests on past successes. Complacency will trick you to believe that employers will find you without any effort on your part to find them. You’ll be anesthetized to job search urgency by this false sense of security. Overconfidence costs you money and opportunities if you decide to sit back with a Jack Daniel’s and idle your time away until the phone rings. It won’t.
Job seeker loses $30,000 and top management role while waiting for “right opportunity. Rich Connell, senior consultant for R. L. Stevens & Associates Inc., a leading international career marketing firm headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, regretted a huge blunder he made during his earlier career adventures. “I lost a high level management position and $30,000 in commissions and bonuses because of job search complacency,” said Connell.
After being suddenly downsized, Connell admits several valuable months vanished while he waited for the “right” opportunity to magically appear. He didn’t take his search seriously. These tactical errors took him out of the marketplace and off the hiring radar at the critical start of his sales career. Employers didn’t know he was available. He missed a great position that was significantly more suitable and provided larger financial reward than the one he settled for because he ran out of leverage. “In retrospect, I should’ve jumped right back into the market and not wasted all that time. If only I had started my search sooner and gave it more attention. Losing $30,000 and a management fast track was an expensive teacher to learn how to conduct a successful job search,” he lamented.
Now wiser and more successful from the experience and lessons learned, Connell from his ninth-floor office overlooking Indianapolis, Indiana strongly encourages job seekers to not postpone a career transition to wait for non-existent “perfect conditions.” Don’t delay your search any longer, for any reason. Get serious and get on with it, he says.
Regret for time wasted can become a power for good in the time that remains. We often in hindsight, look so long and so regretfully upon the closed doors that we don’t see the one which has opened for us. Use these ten tips to anticipate and plan your next job search move. Your foresight here will convert regrets, disappointments and fears into much needed fuel to strengthen your chances to reach your next career destination faster:
1.Develop a sense of urgency to move fast on opportunities. Measure the value of everything you do against the results you expect.
2.Recognize and exploit cycles and trends in your industry.
3.Update your knowledge continually through coursework, news and blog reading, and active participation in trade association activities.
4.Segment your targeted employers and focus on those who can benefit the most, immediately, from what you are selling.
5.Anticipate how you can differentiate your product (you) from every other similar product (your competition) in the marketplace.
6.Analyze your competition thoroughly through strategic market research; be clear about where you’re strong and they’re weak.
7.Make a list of all the reasons why an employer should hire you. Translate them into personalized solutions, organize them by priority and memorize.
8.Identify the primary objections to why an employer might not hire you and then develop bulletproof answers to those objections.
9.Refuse to let the fear of rejection hold you back. Don’t take rejection personally.
10.Never forget that whatever got you to where you are today is not enough to keep you there.
Hot career advice: Don’t let other job seekers gain tactical advantage because your paralysis of analysis or inertia derailed momentum. Anything less than total commitment to excellence becomes acceptance of mediocrity.
Use career campaign foresight to continually deal with and calculate your future. By doing so you’ll fast forward to your next career pit stop and avoid most job hunting potholes and roadblocks. Remember: It’s not about where you’ve been. It’s about where you’re headed. Be alert. Look ahead.
Marta L. Driesslein is a senior management consultant for R.L. Stevens & Associates Inc. (http://www.interviewing.com), a career marketing firm and organization celebrating over 24 years of providing strategic marketing solutions for its clients’ career transitioning needs. Email inquiries and comments to publicrelations@rlstevens.com.
12 Steps to Targeting Success in Your Career or Job Search
Is your job search sagging? Are you still looking for that ideal next job? Or are you about to begin looking for new work and are not sure of the best way to go about it? What you need is a way to evaluate your job search strategies to see whether or not they are working effectively for you.
Ready to get started? Here are 12 building blocks to a successful job search and the goals that will help you get to where you really want to be in the world of work:
1.) Making networking phone calls: Effective job searches begin and end with networking. Start by making a list of everyone you know: family members, extended family, friends, present & past co-workers, faith community colleagues, barber/hairdresser, dog groomer, neighbors. Even list the clerks who work in your favorite grocery or video store, bank tellers and gas station attendants. Everyone! Call or talk to each person on your list (most people can easily produce a list of 50-100 people). Target: Make 3-5 new networking phone calls weekly.
2.) Contacting employers before openings occur: The process of applying for a job before an opening is known to be present is referred to as “accessing the hidden job market” – and doing so is critical for job search success. By using a great on-line tool such as Reference USA to access employer information, you can mail targeted resumes and cover letters to companies that match your size, focus and sales criteria. Target: Mail 5-10 targeted but unsolicited resumes with cover letters weekly.
3.) Responding to online postings: There are literally hundreds of sites like Monster.com, and you can pour hours and hours into searching them for job opportunities. Remember to search on multiple titles or portions of titles and to post your resume at every opportunity. Target: respond to 3-5 postings weekly.
4.) Responding to newspaper help wanted ads: This is the favorite job seeking strategy of searchers everywhere, but guess what? Out of every 100 resumes an employer receives, they will throw away 92-95! Target: Submit only 3-5 resumes and cover letters weekly in response to help wanted ads.
5.) Identifying new employers to contact: Find employers the old-fashioned way: in phone books, through networking leads, through word-of-mouth, in reference sources and online databases (such as Reference USA, mentioned above), through articles in local papers and through the Yellow Pages of your local phone directory. Target: Identify and research 5 new employers weekly and use them to fill your quota for #2, above.
6.) Contacting recruiters and employment agencies: It’s not appropriate for every job seeker to contact recruiters and employment agencies, but if this strategy makes sense for you, then by all means make use of them. Target: Contact 1 new recruiter or agency weekly.
7.) Making follow-up phone calls & sending thank you letters/cards: Sending out resumes and cover letters is only the first step in the process of developing relationships with employers. About 1 ½ to 2 weeks afterward, call them to verify they received your materials and to inquire about next steps. Always follow-up on interviews and make is a habit to send thank you letters or cards afterward as well. Target: Make 5-10 follow-up phone calls weekly and send a thank you letter or card for every job interview or informational interview you participate in each week.
8.) Managing your references: How do you “manage” references? Supply each one with a copy of each version of your resume. Keep them up-to-date on what is happening in your job search. You don’t need to call them weekly, but you should generate news every few weeks at least. Give your references a copy of all the references you’re using so each one can refer an employer on to someone else on the list if asked. Prepare your references by giving them background information, adjectives and descriptive words that “sell” your best stuff. Target: Contact each reference at least once per month during your active job search and contact everyone when that perfect opportunity comes along to prepare them.
9.) Practicing interview answers: Don’t just practice the night before an interview. Target: Practice your interview answers and questions at least 1 time per week.
10.) Practicing the salary negotiations process: Ditto with salary negotiations. Target: Practice your strategies and responses at least 1-2 times per week.
11.) Staying socially connected with employed others: Job searching is extremely lonely, so make sure you stay socially involved with family and friends. Target: Get out of the house at least 2 times weekly to see friends or extended family.
12.) Managing your attitude and energy: This is the most important building block of all, because without a positive attitude and high, focused energy, you won’t achieve the result you want. Targets: Do at least 1 fun and creative thing outside your house weekly.
Why not take Fridays off (if you’re unemployed) and enjoy! Absolutely, categorically don’t job search on weekends. Exercise, take care of your body, and journal. Feed your mind good books and your spirit hope.
Strengthen or do more of what works. Adapt, replace or fix what does not work. Reevaluate your search progress every 30 days for as long as it takes for you to find the work you really want. And, if your job search results do not markedly improve within 45 days, see a career search professional for individualized assistance.
Cheryl Lynch Simpson is a Spiritual Director and Solutions Coach who helps women discover and create the life they’ve always wanted to live. Cheryl is the author of over 30 print/Internet articles and the founder of Coaching Solutions For Women, a coaching website that produces and showcases career, business, and life solutions that improve the life balance of today’s busy women. For a complimentary copy of her latest e-book, Ten-Minute Stress Zappers for Women Service Business Owners, visit http://www.coachingsolutionsforwomen.com.
Theres No Need to Pad Your Resume
It seems like a good idea, harmless in fact. Your friends assure you that everybody does it and that employers rarely check resume facts. Going on blind faith and convinced the truth hasn’t been helpful so far, you seriously consider fabricating information on your resume. You adapt the school of thought that a little white lie never hurt anyone and lying on a resume is just that, a little white lie.
Cheating on a resume can be tempting, especially when one has been searching for a job for months or even years. However, we all know that fibbing is never a good idea, and the likelihood that you’ll be caught is extremely high. Even if your “creativity” slips through the cracks, karma has a way of catching up with you. So either way, lying gets messy.
That said, many job seekers have major hiccups in their professional life-employment gaps, lack of education and/or experience-and it is becoming increasingly difficult for most to write their own resumes without exaggerating or flat-out lying. Since resume fraud is on the rise, employers are taking much more care in verifying information, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to mislead them. The good news, however, is that lying isn’t necessary if the resume is well-written and strategically organized.
The education and experience sections of a resume are the ones most job seekers are fixed on fabricating. They are under the impression that if they lack the educational requirements or the experience described in the job description they won’t be considered a serious candidate. That, however, is a myth.
Education doesn’t top an employer’s list
Many people incorrectly believe hiring decisions are made based on the candidate’s education, and they feel compelled to stretch the truth in order to compete with their degreed counterparts. The reality is that education, though important, isn’t the driving force behind hiring decisions unless, of course, your profession requires a degree (e.g. doctors, lawyers, CPAs, etc.).
When a candidate lacks a college degree but has a solid work history, education quickly falls down the ladder of necessary requirements. Let’s take a look at this point from an employer’s perspective.
The situation: The job description reads, “Seeking an accounts payable specialist with comprehensive experience in processing expense reports, reconciling vendor accounts, and performing bank reconciliations. Successful candidate holds an associate’s degree in accounting.”
Candidate #1: Jose has worked in accounts payable for the last five years. During his career, he has set up new policies, cross-referenced purchase orders with invoices, and interacted with vendors to resolve invoice discrepancies. His experience comes from the school of hard knocks and he doesn’t have a college education.
Candidate #2: Maria recently received a bachelor’s degree in accounting. While earning her degree she worked as a front desk clerk for a Fortune 500 company where she was in charge of filing and answering a multi-line phone system.
Who would you rather hire, Jose or Maria? Chances are that you named Jose as the clear winner because his experience supercedes Maria’s education. Jose will be able to jump into the position with little or no training because he has hands-on knowledge of best accounting practices. Maria, on the other hand, is green. The hiring organization would have to spend time, money, and resources to train her, which they most likely won’t have an interest in doing.
Show ‘em what you’ve got
Employers spend most of their time scrutinizing the experience section of the resume, and unfortunately, the homespun resume rarely tells the whole story. Most resume do-it-yourselfers fear their accomplishments won’t fare well against the competition and they decide to embellish facts in an effort to attract an employer’s attention.
Again, fabricating information isn’t necessary. Most likely the experience you have garnered throughout your work history is impressive. The challenge, however, is expressing your accomplishments in a way that entices the hiring organization to give you a call.
When dealing with hiring organizations you have to connect all the dots. For each position that you are applying for, there is an average of 500 applicants so you have to make it very easy for the reader to distinguish between you and every other qualified candidate. The only way to achieve that is by writing strong resume copy.
As a job seeker you are intimately involved in your own search, so much so that it is hard to take a step back and write a resume that is marketable. You are probably your own worst critic. If you have attempted to write your own resume you know how difficult it is to write about yourself objectively.
To make the resume-writing process easier, answer the following questions:
The point here is to start thinking about your career as a portrait of who you are professionally, and not just as a job. When you make that mind shift, it will be easier to put words to paper. Lying isn’t a necessary evil. The trick to obtaining the job you desire is making the most of what you have to offer.
About The Author
Recognized as a career expert, Linda Matias brings a wealth of experience to the career services field. She has been sought out for her knowledge of the employment market, outplacement, job search strategies, interview preparation, and resume writing, quoted a number of times in The Wall Street Journal, New York Newsday, Newsweek, and HR-esource.com. She is President of CareerStrides and the National Resume Writers’ Association. Visit her website at www.careerstrides.com or email her at linda@careerstrides.com.
The Six Figure Job Search
Before we start discussing how to search for a six figure salary job, let’s set a goal. The goal I suggest is to double your income every five years. That may sound like a stretch. Well it is? but it is a doable stretch goal.
I set this goal for myself twenty years ago when I graduated from a small public college. I grew up an average kid from Philadelphia. I had average grades in high school and college. And I never went to graduate school. At the time I graduated from college I had never been west of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Twenty years later I can tell you that I have lived and worked on three different continents and I’m vice president of a large publicly traded company.
What made the difference for me were two things.
First and foremost was my college sweetheart. She always felt that I could do and be whatever I wanted. Her faith was a driving force that ignited my ambition.
Second was the director of the placement office at my college. He spoke to the senior class about the job market in 1983? which was bad. He spent three-quarters of his presentation telling us what we couldn’t do and what we shouldn’t expect. While I recognize that he was trying to manage our expectations so that we wouldn’t become frustrated or disappointed in our job search his negativity frankly pissed me off.
One of the things that he told us was that we should just forget about applying to Armstrong World Industries. Armstrong was headquartered in the same town as my college. The director told us that since the job market was tight Armstrong was going “up market” to the bigger name schools, so we should just forget about wasting our time chasing Armstrong.
Right then and there I made up my mind that no one was going to tell me what I can’t do when it came to achieving success. Since Armstrong was not interviewing on campus, I had to figure out how to land an interview with their college recruiter.
I targeted a job with them in their sales organization. I thought it would impress them if I made a cold call on the college recruiter. So I planned my approach. I would go over at lunch time when the main receptionist wouldn’t be on duty. I figured the person that covers during lunch wouldn’t take their gate keeping duty as seriously. I thought if I could just get into the Human Resources Department, I could probably wait for the college recruiter to get back from lunch.
My planning worked better than expected because the college recruiter was having lunch at his desk and he was happy to sit with a college student who had cold called on him.
I had my two minute pitch ready and my questions to gather more information as to their needs all polished up and ready to go. I was very relaxed since I figured I had nothing to lose, which is true in any job interview. If the interview you are on doesn’t work out, learn from it and then just move on.
After spending an hour with the college recruiter I was offered to join Armstrong’ training program. The first thing I did when I got back on campus was to see the director of the placement office. I told him how I got into my beat up 1977 Datsun B-210 wearing my brand new navy blue polyester suit that I bought at Sears the night before and drove over to Armstrong’s and landed a job offer to join their college training program. You could have knocked him over with a feather. Then I told him that I would double my salary every five years?
I learned three things from this experience:
First, don’t let anyone tell you what you can’t do.
Second, anyone who learns how to successfully conduct a management level job search can significantly advance their career.
Third, anyone who is willing to learn, stretch themselves and isn’t a quitter can achieve their goals.
I applied these three lessons twenty years ago and I haven’t looked back? including doubling my income every five years. The best decision I made was to marry my college sweetheart who first lit that spark of ambition in me. We have been happily married, with three great daughters, ever since.
Since I always felt like I was the original “Average Joe” who found out how to break through the ceiling of mediocrity, I wanted to share what I learned. What led me to wanting to share the lessons for finding a six figure salary position were two things.
First, I landed as a senior executive at three different large publicly traded companies before I was forty. And second, I saw on the news that the number one New Years Resolution is to get a new job or to advance your career.
So I began work on The Six Figure Job Search CD which was launched in July 2003 on www.sixfigurejobsearch.com. This CD leads the executive job searcher through the entire process from planning their campaign to negotiating the offer. And I share the overview of the techniques here.
For a six figure salary search you have to understand that it is a numbers game. You are now approaching the narrower points in the pyramid and the demand for six figure jobs always outstrips the supply. Your resume has to hit at exactly the moment that a company or a recruiter needs a person with your particular skill and experience. So you can see that you will get very few hits? and that is why we need to get you up to bat as often as possible.
A mistake I’ve seen executives make is that they believe the process will be easier than it really is. They believe that once they get their name out there and they send their resume to 50 or 100 companies, then the world will beat a path to their door. Understand right up front that this process is going to be tough and time consuming. That is why knowledge of how to manage the process and how to diligently prepare are going to be the major keys to success.
The further up the ladder you climb, the more items other than just your functional skills will come into play as part of the hiring process. The hiring company will screen your functional skills, but that is just the minimum ante.
The first thing the hiring executive will want to assess is what kind of person you are. Are you the kind of person they want to work with? If the hiring executive doesn’t have a good feel for you personally, then it will be difficult to win them over. This may seem unfair, but it is human nature.
Next, the hiring executive will be looking at your functional skills. Suffice it to say that you will have to be able to point to specific successes and experience that will demonstrate that you do have the functional skills for the position.
At this point, the hiring executive will likely be seeing if you will fit with the company’s culture and environment. You too need to learn as much as you can about the company’s culture. No sense in going to work somewhere you won’t feel is a good fit.
Another thing that they will be evaluating is whether or not you will be a risky hire. A bad hiring decision costs significant time and money for both the candidate and the company. If this job will be a big step for you, that is an added element of risk. Also, if this job is in a new industry to you, that too is a risk. These types of objections, the prepared searcher can deal with.
The bottom line question in the mind of the hiring executive is this, “Will you bring value to the company that far exceeds the compensation they will pay you?” That is the magic formula that you will need to focus the whole process on.
Many executives have contacted me seeking employment and have started by telling me what they thought they deserved and were worth? You know what? I couldn’t care less. If they wouldn’t sell me on the value they can deliver first, then why should I be interested in what they want?
Let me tell you from experience on both sides of the desk, if the hiring executive is convinced of the value that you can deliver, you will likely get an offer that is higher than what you felt you “deserved”. But you have to unequivocally demonstrate tangible value that you can deliver.
Most people do have great value that they can offer, however they are poor at communicating what that value is. Therefore, often it is not the person with the most innate talent that gets hired; it is the person who can best articulate, in a winning way, what their talent is that gets them the job offer.
Some common mistakes many searchers make are lack of preparation and a lack of understanding of the ins and outs of the search process. There are also two traps that you should be aware of.
The first trap is the misconception that the outplacement consultant is responsible for getting you a job. The second trap is the misconception that the job broker or resume distribution firm you hired will find you a job.
These things could happen, but DON’T COUNT ON IT!!!
It is much more likely that you will have wasted time and money by not taking full responsibility for your search.
If you have been put out of your job and your company provided outplacement service, push them hard because they’re getting paid whether you find a job or not. Even better, try negotiating an arrangement with your former employer in which they would give you an amount in cash equal to what they would pay the outplacement service. You are much more likely to focus the money in ways that address your needs.
I am not a big fan of outplacement services. I compare executives going through outplacement to the walking dead. Outplacement is reminiscent of poorly conceived government entitlement programs that drain any motivation from people who are forced to rely on them.
This really isn’t surprising, given that most of the executives you will mix with in outplacement have been pushed out of their jobs. They tend to be bitter, and also feel that they are owed a new job by the outplacement firm. The smartest thing you can do is to get over it as quickly as you can. Instead of becoming bitter, look forward and focus on what is important to you and your family. Bad things happen to good people and good companies, but how you react to the situation is 100% within your control. Being a savvy and knowledgeable job seeker can help you preserve your health and sanity while opening up better opportunities for you.
Regarding Job Brokers; happiness isn’t the only thing that money can’t buy; it can’t buy you a job, either. I also recommend avoiding resume-distribution firms with wild claims of success. You can learn to do the same things yourself with a little time and effort, while saving yourself a great deal of money.
Here’s the number one six figure level job search tip, don’t go it alone. Advancing your career and fulfilling your aspirations are too important to take chances with? or for that matter to leave to chance. Underselling yourself or not properly selling yourself will cost you in not reaching your potential. It will also cost you tens of thousands of dollars in annual compensation and over the course of 10, 15 or 20 years that adds up to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Seek out a reputable career coach or mentor that has demonstrated experience in the area of six figure salary executives and job searches.
Rob Waite is a senior executive with over 20 years of leadership experience in domestic and international business. His successful track record includes start-ups, turnarounds, multinational strategic partnerships and global business expansions with Fortune 500 companies. Rob is also a successful author, dynamic speaker and a business strategist. His most recent book is The Lost Art of General Management, was dubbed “a must read for anyone who wants to be unstoppable in business” by one well-known CEO. Rob also developed and produced a one-of-kind interactive virtual seminar The Six Figure Job Search that guides executive level job seekers through the entire job search process. Also, joining such luminaries as Bill Gates, Donald Trump and Suze Orman, Rob is a contributing author to the Walking With the Wise series from Mentors magazine. Rob has been a senior executive with both Fortune 500 and Global 500 companies. You can learn more about Rob, his books and programs at http://www.robwaite.com and at http://www.sixfigurejobsearch.com
15 Tips for Writing Winning Resumes
The thought of writing a resume intimidates almost anyone. It’s difficult to know where to start or what to include. It can seem like an insurmountable task. Here are 15 tips to help you not only tackle the task, but also write a winning resume.
1. Determine your job search objective prior to writing the resume. Once you have determined your objective, you can structure the content of your resume around that objective. Think of your objective as the bull’s-eye to focus your resume on hitting. If you write your resume without having a clear objective in mind, it will likely come across as unfocused to those that read it. Take the time before you start your resume to form a clear objective.
2. Think of your resume as a marketing tool. Think of yourself as a product, potential employers as your customers, and your resume as a brochure about you. Market yourself through your resume. What are your features and benefits? What makes you unique? Make sure to convey this information in your resume.
3. Use your resume to obtain an interview, not a job. You don’t need to go into detail about every accomplishment. Strive to be clear and concise. The purpose of your resume is to generate enough interest in you to have an employer contact you for an interview. Use the interview to provide a more detailed explanation of your accomplishments and to land a job offer.
4. Use bulleted sentences. In the body of your resume, use bullets with short sentences rather than lengthy paragraphs. Resumes are read quickly. This bulleted sentence format makes it easier for someone to quickly scan your resume and still absorb it.
5. Use action words. Action words cause your resume to pop. To add life to your resume, use bulleted sentences that begin with action words like prepared, developed, monitored, and presented.
6. Use #’s, $’s and %’s. Numbers, dollars, and percentages stand out in the body of a resume. Use them. Here are two examples:
- Managed a department of 10 with a budget of $1,000,000.
- Increased sales by 25% in a 15-state territory.
7. Lead with your strengths. Since resumes are typically reviewed in 30 seconds, take the time to determine which bullets most strongly support your job search objective. Put those strong points first where they are more apt to be read.
8. Play Match Game. Review want ads for positions that interest you. Use the key words listed in these ads to match them to bullets in your resume. If you have missed any key words, add them to your resume.
9. Use buzzwords. If there are terms that show your competence in a particular field, use them in your resume. For marketing people, use “competitive analysis.” For accounting types, use “reconciled accounts.”
10. Accent the positive. Leave off negatives and irrelevant points. If you feel your date of graduation will subject you to age discrimination, leave the date off your resume. If you do some duties in your current job that don’t support your job search objective, leave them off your resume. Focus on the duties that do support your objective. Leave off irrelevant personal information like your height and weight.
11. Show what you know. Rather than going into depth in one area, use your resume to highlight your breadth of knowledge. Use an interview to provide more detail.
12. Show who you know. If you have reported to someone important such as a vice president or department manager, say so in your resume. Having reported to someone important causes the reader to infer that you are important.
13. Construct your resume to read easily. Leave white space. Use a font size no smaller than 10 point. Limit the length of your resume to 1-2 pages. Remember, resumes are reviewed quickly. Help the reader to scan your resume efficiently and effectively.
14. Have someone else review your resume. Since you are so close to your situation, it can be difficult for you to hit all your high points and clearly convey all your accomplishments. Have someone review your job search objective, your resume, and listings of positions that interest you. Encourage them to ask questions. Their questions can help you to discover items you inadvertently left off your resume. Revise your resume to include these items. Their questions can also point to items on your resume that are confusing to the reader. Clarify your resume based on this input.
15. Submit your resume to potential employers. Have the courage to submit your resume. Think of it as a game where your odds of winning increase with every resume you submit. You really do increase your odds with every resume you submit. Use a three-tiered approach. Apply for some jobs that appear to be beneath you. Perhaps they will turn out to be more than they appeared to be once you interview for them. Or perhaps once you have your foot in the door you can learn of other opportunities. Apply for jobs that seem to be just at your level. You will get interviews for some of those jobs. See how each job stacks up. Try for some jobs that seem like a stretch. That’s how you grow — by taking risks. Don’t rule yourself out. Trust the process. Good luck in your job search!
Copyright 1999 – 2004 Quest Career Services, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Ann Hackett is the President and founder of Quest Career Services, LLC (http://www.QuestCareer.com), an online resume writing and outplacement services company. Ann can be reached at ahackett@QuestCareer.com or 952-929-4197.
Benefits of Maintaining a Career Portfolio
Have you ever tried to contact a past employer only to discover they are no longer in existence or your former manager has moved on and been replaced by someone else? Of course, if you are an avid networker this shouldn’t be much of a problem when it comes time to provide proof of your experience, education and accomplishments. A portfolio of your career should be developed and maintained using all documentation of your career history in order to overcome any problems that could arise in proving any aspects of your career. It should also include your most up-to-date resume which will be based on the contents of your portfolio.
Include documents pertaining to your education including continuing education such as diplomas and certifications. Have any of your past managers sent memos or emails to you or your colleagues mentioning any of your accomplishments? Were your accomplishments published in the company newsletter, local newspaper or a trade magazine? Annual reviews, award certificates, and documents or articles recognizing your contributions to projects and/or business growth are proof of your accomplishments and major contributions. Be sure to clip the articles, print the emails, save the memos and add them to your portfolio.
Document volunteer experience you have gained. Although you didn’t receive compensation from volunteer experience, you gained some kind of experience and maybe even recognition for your efforts. Were you able to help an organization overcome a major hurdle that hampered their mission? Did you provide assistance to the members of an organization? Were you instrumental in developing new marketing methods to spread news about the mission? Were you instrumental in the expansion of the organization?
Anything that can document your career history could prove to be valuable in your career advancement or job search. In the event you are unable to make contact with a former manager or provide up-to-date contact information to a potential employer, your career portfolio could serve as a means of proving your value to the potential employer. Don’t take your career lightly. Document your career and maintain your portfolio. Your children and children’s children will also thank you in years to come because they will have proof of your accomplishments and the mark you made in history, too.
Angela Betts has over 8 years of experience writing compelling resumes targeted to specific job postings as well as with long distant and internet job searches. Angela provides resume writing skills and job search tips to job seekers to assist them in their job search. Visit http://www.resumeritr.com for assistance with development or enhancement of your resume.
Finding Freelance Writing Jobs – Join Us On The Job Search
Finding freelance writing jobs require great skill, dedication and lots of patience. There are many qualifications that businesses look for prior to hiring an individual to fill their job vacancies though. When the potential applicant arrives, he or she must possess a good working knowledge of the tasks that the business person needs. If they don’t there is sure to be someone else who does. Therefore, when looking for writing jobs, the applicant simply must make sure that they are the most qualified for the employment opportunities.
Here are some helpful hints on getting the first assignment.
Step One: Prepare. It is important that the individual be prepared for the different types of work that is available. For example, proofreading work is readily available to those who have the right talents. For those who are doing copy work, they will need to provide the right voice to entice the reader deeper into the website while getting the search engines to scream their name from the beginning.
Step Two: Provide examples of work. It is essential that those who are looking for work be able to provide quality samples of the work they have done in the past. Seeing is believing in more ways than one when it comes to getting writing jobs.
Step Three: Make the most out of existing relationships. By providing good quality work to those individuals who have offered employment, the individual will continue to have jobs offered to them by the business. And, by doing this more and more opportunities will be provided to them by other businesses that have heard about them through recommendations.
When it comes to searching for those all important freelance jobs, look to the small ads or those websites that advertise them. For individuals who have a specific need or a specialized quality, it may make sense to search out companies who provide that type of service. Then, a relationship can be forged.
If you follow these suggestions opportunities will be developed and success is around the corner.
Visit http://www.FreelanceWritingResource.com for more Articles, Resources, News and Advice about Freelance Writing Jobs. Copyright © FreelanceWritingResource.com. All rights reserved. This article may be reprinted in full so long as the resource box and the live links are included intact.
