Are you a fresh graduate? Have you been seeking a perfect career for yourself for the future? Do you want to know how you can get a perfect career that best matches your abilities and expertise? These and other questions are exactly what a fresh graduate is considering and who also needs a proper consultation. Choosing a career path is the most important part of your professional life. Many graduates and young students get confused when they are asked about their career path.
You may have fallen into the trap of thinking the sole reason for work is to bring home enough money to live comfortably. While adequate compensation is important in any job, it’s not the whole story. If you are unsatisfied with what you are doing every day, it will take a toll on your physical and mental health. You could feel burned out and frustrated, anxious, depressed, or even unable to enjoy time in your own home knowing another work day is ahead.
The best time to choose your job path is when you are tagged with “Graduate.” Yes, when you graduate, it is the perfect time for you to consider your career route. You need to have an analysis on your own overall graduation performance. Your own result can give you an idea which particular field you are sufficiently good to explore yourself. You need to concentrate on that very field. If not, then you may start your career in a direction you don’t want to go.
Until you decide on the type of career, you don’t need to select any kind of field. Another possibility is when you are going to apply for a job. You must believe in your expertise. If you are confused about what constitutes a good decision for your career, it would be a good idea to discuss it with a career expert. Professional consultants are a good choice for having different alternatives that will be a better fit for you and your qualifications.
Personality and common sense is also very important. You need to judge your personality in comparison with your job or perhaps your career. Personality judgment gives you some tactics and some choices that might be very helpful for you in deciding your career path. It allows you to judge your inner personality to see how well you are able to adjust to a particular career path. Consult with someone you have a lot of respect for. They can act as a neutral party and let you know what your options are and what direction you should take.
Since a lot of businesses now use the internet to check potential employees, it’s very important to know what your personal brand says about you. So, how do you do that.
For starters, search for your own name on Google to see what comes up about you. Sometimes, there will even be other people with the same name so you need to make sure you know which searches are relevant to you.
Google will find you especially if you have any Google accounts such as email, Google Voice or Google plus. Additionally, make sure your social networking pages are more professional than casual. Be careful of the things you post on networking sites. You don’t want it coming back to bite you, and it will if you aren’t careful. It doesn’t matter what others are posting on their own sites, but if you are trying to build a brand, yours needs to be more professional than that. Register for online forums that are relevant to your type of skills so that you can build your personal brand better. Forums are an excellent way to find business relationships and information. The more you keep your presence alive on the internet, the easier it will be for potential employers to find you and to become acquainted with who you are. Last, but not least, tailor your resume so that it details all the relevant skills you have and your expertise. Once that is done, post your resume in as many places as possible on the Internet. Before long, you will have built a professional brand that others will contact you instead of you always having to seek job positions.
Both cover letters and resumes are essential when applying to a job. However, each format has its own specific style so it is important not to confuse the two in the preparation process.
The cover letter introduces the candidate as well as explains to the prospective employer the reasons and qualifications for applying to the specific job.
A resume is the listing of experiences, accomplishments, and education that one has accumulated over the years. These are the five ways that cover letters and resumes differ:
While the resume is brief in nature, the cover letter should expand on any details that the resume may have left off, including explanations for inconsistencies.
The cover letter should be an actual letter with complete sentences and divided paragraphs while the resume can have bullet points and phrases.
The cover letter attempts to get further consideration from whomever reads it while the resume is the basis for which they see the candidate’s background and qualifications.
A resume outlines past accomplishments and experiences while a cover letter expresses future goals.
The cover letter can express more enthusiasm in the language while resumes should follow a rigid and professional tone.
As you can see, the two go hand in hand. So, be sure to have your cover letter prepared and detailed for each job posting that you apply for.
Due to the job markets lately, there are a lot of older generation employees wondering how to get hired. The key is recognizing and remembering that your work experience can play a supportive role as well as a leadership role with organizations. The two need not be mutually exclusive. If you’re over 50, you’ve probably had the experience of being labeled as overqualified. And in response to this unwanted job-search slur, you’ve probably done what any intelligent, ambitious individual would do: Dumb yourself down on your resume. A good move, but what does this do to your career confidence? If today’s market is telling you repeatedly in rejection emails that they are not concerned with your achievements, it’s no wonder your self esteem is shaky. As an over 50 job candidate, you have a unique challenge to struggle with during the interview. Even though the interviewers are telling you that you are overqualified, you are suddenly feeling very inexperienced. This is because you’re overqualified because of the simple length of your resume, the style of your suit, color of your hair, and lingo in your business repertoire.
You’re under qualified because you may lack some understanding of today’s rapidly evolving technologies, flattened infrastructure, and business culture. Coming to terms with this before the interview is an essential component to building back your career confidence. Be confident that you could do many of the job duties of the interviewer just as easily in the pre-computer generation. That doesn’t make you stupid. Many people couldn’t do a lot of jobs if it weren’t for computer programs helping them along. Figure out your strengths and what you can bring to the table as far as being able take on a leadership role. It will still be a learning experience but we all have to learn something sometime. It’s important to know multiple aspects of your professional self prior to your job search, and it’s important to know how to present them to your next employer on paper and in person.
What are transferable skills? They are the skills and abilities that transfer from job to job no matter which position you have held in the past. One of the things that make these skills so valuable is that they can be used in such a wide array of work settings. For instance, everyone needs problem solving skills, whether you are a general contractor or a financial analyst. That skill transfers from position to position regardless of what the job title is. How can this be used to benefit your resume and your job search in general? When you create or revise your resume, there are a number of things to consider. The first and most important consideration is how you are going to ensure that your resume specifically speaks to the prospective employer’s needs. This could be if you are qualified to do the job, can you get along well with people, mutually agreed on salary and will you stay with the company.
As is true with all aspects of writing a resume, each and every word on your resume should be tailored to the position you are applying for. If you are seeking a job as a computer programmer, you probably will not want to list your public speaking ability. You would, however, want to emphasize your ability to organize, plan and/or work well under pressure. Each job has certain qualifications that are best suited to it. Job duties may differ from job to job, but there are a myriad of skills needed that transfer well from one to another. Being able to identify and clearly relate those transferable skills to a prospective employer is a huge benefit to you. When you can incorporate these transferable skills into your resume and cover letter, you will be making the job of a hiring manager much easier. He or she will see that you have a lot to offer that will be over and above your specific job qualifications.
Your employer just let you go. You need to find another job, but how should you handle your termination on your resume? The days when you signed on with a company and stayed with it until retirement are gone. In today’s climate, employers are much more understanding when they see a less-than-perfect work chronology, but you still have to be careful how and when you present a termination. Do not put the termination or the circumstances surrounding it on your resume. You will have a much better chance of impressing hiring managers if you deal with this question in face-to-face interviews.
If you were recently let go, resist the urge to keep your position listed as “to present” on your resume, giving the appearance that you’re still employed. You will have to explain yourself later on, and potential employers might think you tried to mislead them. It’s a different matter if you were laid off instead of fired. In this case, you can mention the lay off in your cover letter. Employers are more forgiving of layoffs, so mentioning this might work in your favor. Focus on your accomplishments in your resume. Your goal is to wow your potential employers by highlighting those accomplishments and skills. Even if hiring managers are wondering why you left a certain employer, your resume should be strong enough for you to receive invitations to interviews in which you can explain your situation in person. Be sure to list all of your contributions about a previous employer, even any that laid you off. This too can be a red flag to hiring managers. Talk about your responsibilities, overall contributions to the company and if you received any awards or special recognition. All of this will go a long way in your favor and that’s what you want.
Most job applicants today believe that they should first write their resumes in order for them to land a career. Yes, resumes are truly important and highly critical in one’s professional/corporate success. It plays a significant role for someone to achieve their career goals. But, writing your resume is not the first step. What you should do first is to look for the most appropriate job for your skills, competencies, and needs. After listing down the job opportunities you found that fits your needs and skills, it is then when you move on to writing your resume.
Always keep in mind that for a resume to be successful and outstanding among all other resumes being submitted for the same position, it should be personalized, specific, and targeted to the job you are applying for. This means, one personalized resume for every job opportunity.
To ensure this, you must first look for the most appropriate job for you and read through the job posting. As you are reading through the posting, make sure your skills, knowledge and ability match that of the posting. Make sure these skills are listed at the beginning of your resume. The person viewing the resumes will see it faster than having to sift through it. The keywords you use in your resume need to be specific to the job posting. For example, if the job posting is requiring someone with department management skills, make sure these keywords are in several places on your resume and highlighted. And, use them in the cover letter as well.
Standardized resumes and those written using templates no longer succeed to catch the attention of the primary reviewer of resumes. If you want to make your resume stand out among all the piles of resumes submitted for review, it has to be highly specific with contents that have not been seen before by anyone.
Hiring a resume writer to tailor your resume to fit your skills and those of the marketplace is an excellent option. You can then know that your resume will be professional and will take you places.
Everyone needs a resume. However, not everyone is very good at building a very good resume and get overwhelmed. It can be boring trying to get it just right and it never seems to be right. That’s where a professional can help. Professional resume writers can sit down with you and discuss your resume needs. They can then build an excellent professional resume that will reflect your jobs skills the most.
Yes, there is a cost involved, but you have spent many years cultivating your job skills and expertise. But, with so many looking for jobs in today’s world, it would be in your best interest to invest in yourself so you won’t get lost in the shuffle.
Because resume writing is what they do, they will be able to create your professional resume into something that will stand out from the crowd and get you noticed. It’s not the same as it was several years ago and a generic resume was all you needed. Today, however, potential employers are looking for that “thing” that will set that particular resume apart from the others. If they don’t see it, the resume gets tossed aside.
Doing research on the internet will give you multiple resources in which to find a resume writer and possible job openings in various venues. It can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Consider investing in yourself. It is the most important thing you can do to make a change for 2012.
