In order to secure a job you must have a resume. There is really no way around it. Not only must you have a resume, but it needs to be professional and accurate. In order to get you started, here are the basic elements of any good resume. You might already know most of these, but in case you didn’t, here they are:
Heading: this includes your name and contact information. It should be easy to read and centered on the top of the page.
Career Summary: this is a 5-7 sentence summary of what you have done and are capable of doing. It focuses on your brand, expertise and experience. You need to let the company know what you can do for them.
Qualifications: this is a short bulleted list of your skills and qualifications for the job (i.e. keywords of the job position, keywords of what you’ve done “Process Implementation” or “Territory Sales”, etc.).
Experience: this gives a brief summary of your prior work experience. Include company name, your job title, your supervisor’s name, and a brief summary of what your duties were.
Education: this gives a brief overview of your highest degree of education and/or any additional education that pertains to the job. This could include classes or certifications in a certain area that would help you perform well for the company you are applying to.
Those are the main elements of a good resume. Remember to keep it clean, concise, and easy to read. Also, keep it up to date and accurate–do not add fluff or fake jobs to your experience (you’ll be caught).
These tips will get you started and as you apply for more jobs you will become even better at creating and adapting your resume for jobs.
It is very easy to think that, when you have sent out hundreds of resumes, those resumes disappear into thin air.However, if you post your resume online or email it in response to a job ad, your resume usually gets stored in a database. This database could be a job aggregator like Career Builder, or it could be an applicant tracking system for a company or staffing agency. Just because you do not get a response to your job application, it does not mean that nothing is done with your resume. What is does mean is that you want to be careful who gets access to your resume and the information on it.Many people eagerly post their resumes on a job aggregator only to be contacted for jobs they do not want, such as franchise opportunities or life insurances sales or other jobs that require you to put thousands of dollars down to get started. One thing that smart job seekers do is to create an email separate from your personal ones for just this purpose, that way your personal email won’t be bombarded with annoying spam mail. If the company is interested in you, they will email you. However, be sure that you regularly check both your email inbox and spam for messages from potential employers. Putting your resume on LinkedIn is also another way for your resume to ‘live on’.As LinkedIn can be used as an online version of your resume, it will still be working for you even when you aren’t in an active job search (as long as you keep up with your profile and don’t ignore it).
It’s important to remember that once your resume is ‘out there’ in cyberspace either on a job board or LI, it will stay there until you remove it. Be strategic about where you put your resume and you will have better results.
If you are looking for an easy way out of creating a resume you are out of luck.You will need a resume for practically everything, including a promotion within your own company.
While it will be different for every company, most will require a resume of some sort. Even for entry-level positions. This means that you need to have a resume no matter what. Not only will it save you heartache during your job search, but it will be impressive to employers who have not required a resume. By having a resume, you make it easier for potential employers and it also makes your job of “selling” yourself to the company easier. It is just a good idea to have a resume no matter what. However, there are definitely some cases where you won’t need a resume.If in the job posting it specifically says “no resume needed,” then you are in luck. Another case may be if a company has an application that they want all applicants to use instead of a resume for organization and record keeping, then you have again lucked out, but for the most part, this will not be the case. The vast majority of the time, employers want a resume from you so you better be prepared to give them what they want or they won’t give you what you want — the job. A resume is not difficult to put together if you take the time to do it.And if you really feel you can’t write an impressive resume, hire a resume service to help you out. There is no harm in having a resume, and who knows? The resume may just get you that job.
Successful job searching is a huge task. And resume distribution is probably the biggest and most difficult part of the whole process. It takes a lot of time and effort, and you will be hit with a lot of rejection and disappointment. With all that pulling you down, it is often hard to keep motivated and continue the search, but you can do it. Here are some simple tips to help you stay motivated and keep your head in the right place as you distribute and search.
Move On Quickly From Rejection: There is nothing more degrading than rejection, but there is no reason to dwell on it. Accept that you were not the right fit and move on to the next place. This will keep you from getting bogged down by multiple rejections.
Take A Resume Distribution “Vacation”: Now, don’t go off to Hawaii on a whim, but it is advisable to take a day off from the job search every once in a while. A day spent doing things for yourself will get you back up to where you want to be to continue your distribution with vigor.
Keep Positive: I know, this sounds nearly impossible, but you can do it. Some people have a mantra they recite to keep them in good spirits, others have a routine they go through that keeps them from thinking about the disappointment too much. Figure out what works for you and if you can’t think of anything, smiling can change your whole attitude and keep you going.
It will not be easy. The important things rarely are. But that does not mean you should give up. You need to keep motivated if you want to be rewarded. Eventually you will succeed and you will land that job that you have been searching for so diligently.
A resume is your first opportunity to sell yourself to future employers. Use this opportunity to make a good impression. Unfortunately, many people make common and simple to fix mistakes that keep them from making that good impression. Here are some common errors to look for before you send your resume to an employer.
Avoid spelling errors, typos, and poor grammar. This is simple, yet it will make you look unprofessional and incompetent.
A common error in resume writing is changing from first to third person midway through your resume. Stay consistent throughout your resume writing.
Another common resume problem that you should avoid is creating a resume that reads like a job description. Keep the focus on your skills, accomplishments and how your accomplishments were achieved.
Avoid creating a resume that is too long. Put yourself in the position of the person reading your resume. Most future employers will be reading a multitude of resumes at one time. One way to avoid a too long resume is to avoid providing personal information that isn’t relevant to the job. If your resume is too long, they are sure to not go through the entire resume.
A common mistake in resumes that is often overlooked is making sure you provide accurate information. Employers will not be impressed if you didn’t take the initiative to provide them with accurate information. Gather up accurate dates, names, phone numbers.
Avoid the common mistake of giving partial information because you don’t remember, recall, or haven’t updated your resume.
Lastly, an important and common error you should avoid in writing a resume is keeping it simple. Provide simple yet powerful information. Enough information, but not too much. And, as always, simple and accurate.
When applying for a job, you are not going to be the only applicant. You will be competing for the job with dozens of other qualified candidates. With so many candidates, it is not unreasonable to fear your resume getting passed over or lost in the mix of things. In order to avoid that from happening you need to create a resume that will stand out from the crowd. While you want your resume to pop, you do not want it to be unprofessional. Here are some concepts to create an impressive resume that will stand out.
Eye Catching: You want your resume to catch your potential employer’s eye immediately so they spend time looking at your resume intently rather than just passing over it briefly. While it would be easy to do this using a wacky font, that is a bad idea. Using a wacky font looks unprofessional and can be hard to read. It might not look the same on their computer either. They might see an entirely different font. Instead, use a sans serif font. Another idea is to add a touch of color. Color in small doses can look great. This will catch their eye without looking unprofessional.
Professional: You do not want to give your potential employers a bad impression by having a resume that looks unprofessional. This means you need to keep it easily readable and organized. No wacky fonts, bright colors, or pictures (or words) that are large, obscene or vulgar. A small clip art that has to do with the job may be appropriate, but for the most part you should not put any pictures on your resume at all.
Impressive: Now that you have caught their eye and shown them a professional resume, you need to impress them with what you put on your resume. Keep them interested and invested in you by putting your greatest accomplishments, achievements, and job titles on your resume. This is what will make them want to call you in for an interview.
It can be hard to get your resume noticed in a sea of resumes that all look very similar, but if you can find a way to make your resume stand out without compromising professionalism, then you will be one step ahead and closer to getting an interview and landing a job.
There are many skills you can put on your resume, but there are two specific skills that are very important to employers and will help upgrade your resume:
Customer Service
Strong Work Ethic
These skills are important in almost any field of work, and here is why:
Customer Service: Companies have customers. That is how they make money. They get paid by a customer, a client, another company, etc. to perform their purpose as a company, making customer satisfaction a very important facet of their business. If their customers are not happy, then the company will lose business and money. How do they keep those customers happy? By providing the customer with the product or service and providing it through employees that exhibit excellent customer service. If you have learned how to be an excellent executor of customer service, and you express this on your resume, you will be at the top of the list for jobs, because employers will know that you will help keep their customers happy and help them make money.
Strong Work Ethic: Micro-managing is one of the most inefficient forms of management. It keeps supervisors from getting more things done and it keeps employees from feeling that they enjoy their work. If you have to be micro-managed in order to get your work done, you are wasting time and losing revenue for the company. However, if you are able to work well on your own without supervision and can produce good work independently, then you are working more efficiently and in turn, helping the company save and earn money.
If you have both of these skills, and show where you have used these skills throughout your career, you need to make sure that you feature them prominently in your resume. If you don’t have these skills, then learn them. Work on them and learn how to utilize customer service and a strong work ethic in any situation so that you can upgrade your resume and land a great job.
This is a question asked thousands of times every year across the country: “How do I put together a great resume when I’ve only just graduated from college?” The overly simple answer is that you do it the same way you would if you had been in the workforce for 25 years. It’s not that simple when you have little to no work experience, but it can be done in a slick and professional manner. When in doubt, hire an expert resume writer to help you. It will be money well spent in the long run. Hopefully, you obtained some work, volunteer or internship experience while in college. It’s important to remember that experience doesn’t have to have been paid to count. Many new graduates incorrectly assume that if they were not paid during the internship or for volunteer service that it doesn’t count. The reality is that everything counts. An internship, especially one in your field, is every bit as valuable to a potential employer. Volunteer work as well. The most important thing to remember is that a potential employer is looking for someone who is a team player, will be great to work with and has the skills to do the job. They do not care how you got those skills. Employers also want to hire people who have been in real work environments before. Following a few common sense tips and ideas will make it possible for you tocreate a great resume and land a job that is right for you.
