While you may have a “Skills” section in your resume, you may not have a “Professional Skills” section. What is the difference? Why is it important to have a “Professional Skills” section?
People have lots of skills. Some people can play instruments. Some people can juggle. Some people can stand on their head. Some people can curl their tongue into a clover shape. While these skills make great party tricks and are fun hobbies and enjoyments, they are not useful in a professional setting. You may think that people would not place playing instruments or juggling in the “Skills” section of their resume, but it does actually happen. People may add some of these skills in order to show some personality or change up their resume. Unfortunately, that personality can also make you look unprofessional and even incompetent. So if you want to make your resume unique, there are better ways to do it.
- Get Rid of Personal Skills and Hobbies: As fun as they are, your personal skills are not applicable to a professional setting. Even though they should not be listed on your resume, if you are specifically asked for some of those fun skills during an interview, then you can feel free to speak about them.
- List Your Professional Skills: List your professional skills from most applicable to the job to least applicable. If you can’t figure out which skills will be most applicable to the job, start with your strongest skills first, then move down the list.
- Title The Section: Instead of titling the section “Skills,” title it “Professional Skills” or “Areas of Expertise”. You could even consider pulling qualifications right from the job description and incorporating those skills (if they are applicable to your skillset) into your list on your resume.
Keep the “personal” out of your resume. Employers want to read about your professional expertise and the value you offer, not about your hobbies and personal interests.
You may think that if you search a recruiting agency’s job listings and there are only a few jobs, that a recruiter won’t be able to help you. That isn’t necessarily true. One of the actions a recruiter can take when he gets an exceptional resume, one with unique skill sets, is to skills market that job candidate.
Skill marketing occurs when a recruiter contacts a company that does not necessarily have a job opening, but knows that the company may find a particular candidate to be a valuable asset regardless of not having open positions. Skill marketing can be a good tool to use to get noticed and hired by a company. However, you must be able to present your skill sets clearly on your resume, and keep up to date on trends in your field so that you know which skills may get your foot in the door.
A good recruiter knows what those skills are, too, based on industry trends, but also on building relationships with companies. He/she often has a unique perspective on where a company is headed. For example, company Q may be known for digital printing, but the recruiter may know through conversations with hiring managers that company Q is moving towards other types of digital imaging as well. If you have skills working in digital imaging, the company may just create a position for you to spearhead their new ventures in digital imaging.
So don’t just rely on job aggregators that list job postings from all over the internet. Feel free to use them. But also develop relationships with recruiters. Let them know what you are looking for in in you next job. If they don’t see any immediate openings for someone with your credentials, ask these recruiters to skill market you. You may just end up with a great job that didn’t even exist before you asked for their help.
Instead of just sending out a generic resume, today’s job candidates need to take the time to tailor their resume to fit every job being applied for. While this may make the application process take longer, it will be well worth the effort in the long run. Here are a few tips to tailor your resume and help make the application process go faster:
Keep the information on your resume up to date. Just got a new cell phone? Change the contact information right away. It is easy to forget to change such a small thing, but you shouldn’t wait until you’re applying for a new job. An out-of-date phone number can have big, negative consequence (such as not being contacted for your dream job).
Read the job qualifications and duties carefully. Add the same keywords to your resume so that it will make it through the recruiter’s software scanner.
Use separate resumes for experience in different industries or a functional resume for two or more closely related industries. It makes it easier to add crucial keywords to your resume when tailoring it to a specific position.
Learn to be a cut and paste, toggle expert. Not all job application databases will let you upload a resume into different information fields. Become familiar with Control+C and Control+V to copy and paste. PCs use the Alt+Tab keys and Macs use the Apple+Tab keys to toggle between screens. Copy text from your resume first, then toggle to the job application page and paste the text into the information boxes.
Name your resumes generically and modify the name each time you upload it to an application database. For example, label your updated resume “Edit512” for the industry it addresses and the date you updated it. Do not name your resume with a company name. It is too easy to upload your Xerox resume for an IBM position, and forgetting to change the name will count against you as a job candidate.
Following these easy tips will help you to be more prepared for your job search.
I really like doing my work on a Mac, and if you are lucky enough to be able to choose your computer platform, showcasing your computer skills on your resume is an easy task. Whether you have a professional writer help you build your resume, or you choose to do it yourself, getting familiar with how your word processing program works, quirks and all, on both platforms will make your life easier.
More employers operate on a PC platform than on a Mac platform. So if you are a Mac fan like me and looking for a job, getting to know both platforms will be a big plus. Unfortunately, Windows Vista was such a buggy system that many PC users like myself bailed out and bought a Mac. Fast forward to now. Windows 7 has been a relatively stable environment, and if you have been away for awhile, learning Windows 7 won’t be all that difficult. It builds on computer skills that you used when you were working in Windows XP. There are also apps that will allow you to run a stable Windows environment on a Mac if you really want to stick with your Mac computer. Don’t let an employer catch you unaware, however, if you are a diehard PC fan. Some employers do work exclusively on Macs, especially in design fields such as graphic design and packaging.
Knowing both platforms will help you in your job search. Be sure to list both on your resume if you are up-to-date on MAC and PC systems. If not, look online for free workshops. Windows has gotten much better at providing online training. Apple recognizes that not everyone lives close enough to an Apple store to attend their free workshops, so much of that information is also online. Add any computer workshops you attended to your resume, as well as any computer certifications completed.
Make potential employers aware of your computer proficiencies by listing programs and applications you use on a regular basis on your resume. Most position ads will tell you which programs are required or desired. Check the ad carefully, and make sure you list every program and app required with which you have experience.
We all know the importance of a decent cover letter and why we need to use it to sell yourself when applying for a job. However, if you aren’t careful, you could make some of the most common mistakes made and that is going to harm your chances of being successful when applying for a job.
One of the biggest mistakes that people make when writing their own cover letter is giving away too much information and being too truthful. Although no one is suggesting that you should lie on your cover letter there is a possibility that you can give too much away and put them off of hiring you.
For example, writing something like “I know I don’t have much experience, but I am a quick learner” is going to do you no favors. The whole point of your resume and cover letter is to sell yourself, not to give them a reason to move you off of the “to hire/to interview” list. Another example is telling the reader (who you don’t know) the reason why you left every job, OR what has been happening in your personal life. If you have a major job gap, it’s a good idea to touch on it briefly i.e. “After taking time off to raise a family…” or “After taking a year-long personal sabbatical…” You don’t ‘need to tell the reader that you were going through a messy divorce or needed to take time off work to decompress. Some things are better left unsaid. What you say could work against you.
Rather than concentrate on the negatives, turn it into something positive – so, for example, “Based on my unique experiences, I know I would be a valuable asset to your team,” or something similar will work for you. You are telling them that you feel you would fit in and that you are already considering the team that you are likely to work with.
Remain positive and show them why you would are the right choice for the position. Including these assets in the cover letter will help you be as successful as possible when it comes to finding your perfect job.
Take a look at your resume with fresh eyes – can you honestly say that it is written well enough to get an employer’s interest? It is easy to forget just how many people you may be up against when it comes to applying for a job and just how tough the competition to be. The person in charge of deciding who goes through to the interview stage of a job application process is probably going to be reading loads of different resumes over a short period of time. You need to make sure that your resume stands out for all the right reasons and commands attention.
Although what your resume says and the skills that it showcases are important, you need to give careful consideration to the layout of your resume. People will take one glance at your resume and will know immediately whether or not they are interested in reading more about you. It might not seem fair, but at the end of the day first impressions count, so you need to make sure that the first impression your resume gives is a good one.
There are many standard templates you can use as part of a word processing program and if you are after a standard resume, then this will suit you perfectly well. What it won’t help you do is create a resume to get excited about or something that is going to make sure that people pay attention to you. You need to ensure your resume is created in a manner that will make the reader stop and pull your resume out of the pile.
If you are serious about job hunting and making sure that you have the best chance of job success, you may want to consider hiring a professional resume writer to ensure that your resume is creative and flawless. Professional resume writers are trained to highlight your best skills and achievements, as well as can write your resume so that it markets you, and shows employers the value you can offer their company. Remember, the first step to your next career is getting your resume read by employers-will your resume stand out above the rest?
The whole point of having a resume is to showcase your talents and experience with the aim of helping you to achieve the job of your dreams. When you have a decent resume, it should help you to secure job interviews as well as ensure that when you do get an opportunity to interview, you have a strong chance of being offered the job.
Many people think that just having a generic resume is enough. They assume that if their resume looks decent, then their chances of getting a job is high. What many job seekers don’t realize is that their resume could be holding them back and actually be the reason they are not getting called for job interivews.
If you are unemployed, or actively searching for a new career, take the time to look at your resume and identify areas where you can make improvements. A common mistake is to assume that your resume will work well as a one-size-fits-all option. However, there is little highlighting your office skills on a resume if you are applying to be a Structural Engineer. You need to ensure that your resume is written for the type of position your’re seeking, and effectively communicates the value and expertise you can offer in the position you’re applying for.
Remember – your resume is an employer’s first impression of you and what you offer as a potential employee. Everything you communicate your resume will help them evaluate you and your qualifications. Many hiring managers only take a few seconds to glance over a resume – you must ensure your resume grabs their attention during those few seconds.
In today’s competitive job market, a resume must effectively and efficiently sell a job candidate’s value to employers. Don’t let a poorly written resume hold YOU back from opening the door to a new career!
Job hunting isn’t easy, which is reason enough to get it right the first time. Whether you are looking to change jobs or you need a new career because you are unemployed, it makes sense that you try to get a job as quickly as possible. You don’t want to spend months trawling job hunting websites and applying for jobs, instead you want to be as successful in your job hunt as quickly as possible.
When it comes to job hunting, many of us go about it in the same way and this means that we make the same mistakes. If you are searching for jobs but are being unsuccessful, then it is time to rethink your job hunting strategy and look at ways of helping to make your job hunt as successful as possible.
One of the most common mistakes when it comes to job hunting is applying for too many jobs and spreading yourself too thin. You need to decide what career you want to follow and the jobs you want to apply for. It isn’t going to work for you just to apply for as many jobs as possible. You also need to make sure that your resume is suitable for the jobs you are applying for – sell yourself! Don’t just have a resume that is generalized rather than being tailored towards a particular industry. That will do you no favors.
Don’t just assume that the longer your resume is the better. Remember that potential employers are likely to be reading a number of resumes so they are going to scan them quickly rather than paying major attention to them. This means that if your resume seems too long or full of too much text, then they will be put off at first glance – which is something that you want to avoid at all costs!
Remember as well that job hunting isn’t easy for everyone, so make sure that you don’t give up at the first hurdle. There is a perfect job opportunity out there for everyone so you need to keep up the hunt in order to be successful in your quest for a brand new job or step up the career ladder.
