Many companies are turning to background checks in an effort to reduce hiring questionable employees. While a lot of people do not like someone checking into their personal lives, it is becoming something whether you like it or not in order to get a job.
There are many reasons why background checks are being performed. Perhaps a company deals with security related products. It is very important to have employees that will not be enticed. For instance, if someone has been convicted of theft of money, and a company wants to hire someone who takes care of the finances, they will not want that personal dealing with the financial aspect of the business.
Other reasons are if a potential employee has possibly tried or has sued a previous employer. The potential employer will want to know that and then make a decision whether to hire that person or not.
The list is long that can be included in background checks but tax liens, bankruptcies or civil judgements cannot be included. However, this may not apply in your state if you have a salary of $75,000 or more.
Companies are required to let you know when they perform a background check. That is also the reason why you have to sign a release for certain types of information.
No matter what anyone thinks of background checks, they are here to stay. If you feel you have a background that may not pass muster, it is very important to be upfront about it in the beginning. If you hide information and it’s found out later, you certainly won’t get the job. However, if you are upfront with the employer, you may get the chance to be considered anyway.
Believe it or not, there are actually some people who just have the knack for getting fired (I bet you can name a couple of people like that yourself!). Alternatively, there are others who never get fired. What is the difference between the two and which type are you?
Companies today want to grow and they can’t do that if they have some people who are making it harder. So, they will get rid of them and replace them with those who bring something to the table and will help that company grow.
There are certain types that companies will fire. They include:
- The Naysayer – these types will always find a reason not to make a change, whether it’s for the better or not. They like the old phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”. Unfortunately, many past businesses thought like this, but they are no longer in business.
- The Whiner – This type will always complain about a new duty or an overall office change. They are the ones who can breed discontent in the workplace by making statements such as “I don’t get paid enough to do that.” Ugh. The whiner will always be a negative in the workplace.
- The Grouch – This person will know everything there is to know, know how to do it better, and try to tell everyone in the company how to do it better than they can themselves, even if it’s not in their area of expertise. They know how to do it all, just ask them.
Any of the above personality types will get fired eventually. They can take a company down pretty fast. If you are one of these types, change your attitude at work to one who is willing to go above and beyond the call of duty, be willing to make changes in the workplace, work overtime if necessary, just to name a few.
The economic times call for all employees to do what they can to help a business survive. The business, in turn, will keep working you so that you have money to put food on the table.
You’ve done everything you can possibly think of to get your executive resume out to businesses and still it’s hard to find a job. What else can you do? Think about social media sites such as Twitter.
Many people now use tweets to get their resumes out to businesses faster. It’s also a great place to look for jobs. A lot of companies are now advertising online versus the regular way of newspapers and job boards. It’s also very easy to tweet a resume.
As many know, tweets are usually only 140 characters or less. You don’t put your complete resume there; it’s impossible. But, you can do special coding in the tweet in order to link it to your resume.
Hashtags are used when searching for the best phrase for the type of job you are looking for. For example, the # sign will go before the phrase, such as #executivejobs. Place this in your tweet box and a number of phrases will appear for you to choose from.
You will need a Twitter account and once you have that you can enter the hashtags of your choice. You will also want to save your resume on your computer as a .DOC, RTF, PDF or TXT file.
You can use third-party resume tweeting service like TweetMyResume to share your resume online. When that is accomplished, you can add a tweet like #resume and add it to your tweet in order to share it. Also, put in your profile what job skills and the type of job you are looking for. Prospective employers will see your tweet and possibly contact you about an interview.
Social media has become the proving ground for job searches and resumes. In addition to Twitter, you can also use LinkedIn, Facebook and others. Make sure you retweet your resume weekly to keep it fresh and on top of other resume tweets. Hundreds of people have founds jobs by doing this on Twitter. This just may be the way to get that job you have been waiting around for.
With all the new technology available on the Internet today, there is absolutely no reason anyone should simply stop once a resume has been completed and sent. There is a wide world of other venues just waiting for you to use them to market your personal brand. Blogging is only part of it.
Some may think blogging and job searches are two different things. They are, but they aren’t. There has never been a better time to be able to talk to people, to get the word out about you and your skills than blogging.
Build a blog site that highlights your job skills and your previous jobs. Talk about something every day. Add links to your resume and use the social networks to retweet or repost your site.
There are numerous job boards for you to use to post your resume, whether it’s an executive resume, professional or entry level. And there are people who will retweet your blog post so others can see it. Before long, you have reached thousands of people. Before, you would have sent it to only a few. So, what’s smarter?
Twitter has a very easy way to help individuals with their blog posts and to be able to integrate both together. Facebook does as well, and LinkedIn too.
Now, you can increase your visibility and get more options available to you during your job search. Take a chance and see how much fun it is and how much it will help at the same time.
Before you send your next resume out, give blogging and social media sites a try. You just may have more opportunities than you originally thought.
Everyone starts their career in an entry level position. A basic resume is great for entry level positions but will not work for executive positions as your experience grows.
And, experience does grow. There is a young lady who started out as a cashier in a motorcycle accessory store. She did not have a college education and so she didn’t make much money. But she stayed there, went above and beyond the scope of her job and got raises and more responsibility.
After a couple of years, she moved on. This time, it was still a customer service job, but it paid more and it gave her the freedom to go to school to get a degree.
She has since gotten her degree after 3 years and in this current position she just got a promotion to manage two of the stores. It can be done. Many people work hard to climb this ladder of success. But you then have to change your resume to reflect you now, not the you from several years ago.
It’s important to keep your entry level resume up to date. As you progress in the job field, keep adding new skills, new responsibilities, etc. You will also need to adjust your career outlook so that it reflects your work ethic and beliefs and how you can better a company with your experience.
As your resume turns into an executive resume, you will be able to recognize more things you can add to the resume so that it is tailored correctly, tastefully and will encompass everything you know. After all, if a resume is a reflection of you, don’t you want to be presented in the best possible light?
You have applied to the most important job of your executive career. This is the job you have been working towards for years. You have done everything right.
Then, you find out you are passed over because a reference on your shiny new executive resume came back in a bad light. What? How could that be!
You forgot all about the confrontation you had a few years back with a supervisor that you just could not get along with. Words were exchanged and you quit abruptly. At the time, you were not worried about it as you got a better job within a week.
Now, it’s come back to haunt you. Hindsight is golden, so the saying goes. If we could see into the future at the time we make mistakes, we wouldn’t make those mistakes, right? Right. But we can’t, so we burn bridges that we shouldn’t.
It’s very important not to burn bridges in any job, but especially if you are climbing the ladder to an executive position. It will return to haunt you because no employer wants someone who is hotheaded and cannot control themselves.
Be sure your executive resume is not going to have burnt bridges popping out when you least expect it. If the position has to be on your resume, then be sure to speak with the company that you had the conflict with and make sure they are willing to give you a good reference. Many times they will, as long as you are taking the right steps to work through it.
Additionally, speaking with a resume writing service and getting counseling from them on how to proceed will go a long way in helping with your executive resume and you during the interview process.
Since the job economy is dismal at best, there are a large number of people who are out of work and have been out of work for a long time. For many employed workers, they are working in a field totally unrelated to their college degree. So, is it helping?
Statistics show that those with a degree earn more money than those with only a high school diploma (90% compared to 64%). They may not be making as much as they had hoped, or in a field they trained for. But a college degree is still important.
Hopefully, the times that we live in currently will not last forever and the job economy will get better. When that happens, there will be more job opportunities that may fit your degree better.
Even those who attend a technical college and train in a specialized degree do better, on average. It may seem as if going to college is a waste of time currently, but it simply is not. You have to invest in yourself and hope for a better future.
If you don’t, you will be most likely working for a lot less money than you are really worth. No one wants that. And, everyone wants to be able to take care of themselves and making more money is where it’s at.
The year 2012 is full of promise and now just may be the time that you seriously consider getting a degree. It does not matter how old you are, there is never a better time than now to better your life.
Since the new year is here and everyone is making new year’s resolutions, now is the perfect time to start the new year with a new executive resume. Make one of your resolutions a vow to find the perfect job with the right resume.
If you are currently struggling to find a really good job or any job at all, it may be that you need to polish your resume. In this instance, the phrase “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” doesn’t work. If it’s hard to find a job, you have to fix something. That something may be your resume. Perhaps you have not listed enough skills or it’s not powerful enough to get someone’s attention.
With as many people out of work in today’s market, it is important that your resume be above par. It may now be time to hire the services of a professional resume writer. Someone who knows just how to make your executive resume stand above the rest.
Our writers will meet with you to discuss what may be working and what might be hindering you on your resume. We’ll also discuss the type of role you are seeking and what you bring to the table. We can then put together a resume that you will be extremely proud of and know that it was well worth the expense of having it professionally done.
So make it your new year’s resolution to clean your resume up so that you will have that dream job in 2012.
