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.
The plan used to be that if you did not know what you wanted to do after graduating from college, then you could temp for awhile. You could try on different jobs and figure out what you liked without making a commitment. It could take you a few weeks or a few months, and all the while you would be earning some money. That plan or blueprint has changed in these times of recession. More and more, the jobs offered out there are listed as “temp, ongoing” or “temp to perm.” Employers are trying out the candidates that they choose to hire without investing a great amount of money in terms of pay or time in terms of training. If it works out, you may be hired from a temp position into a permanent one. However, this means you have to be willing to take a gamble: low pay and no benefits now for higher pay and benefits later. You also need to hit the ground running. Offices are running very lean these days, with a few people doing a lot. People who temp or do contract work often feel as if they keep having to “start all over again,” paying their dues to get into a better-paying position. How you perform your job is important. It can be tough in a temp position because the permanent people may feel like there is no justification in investing time to help you learn the ropes. It is also difficult to live on a low salary while trying to figure out how to pay for basic things such as health insurance and health care. However, if you want to be considered for a higher-paying, more permanent position, you have to do the job well. This is a situation where a strong resume can help you. A resume not only gets you an interview. It can also help you negotiate your way into a more permanent position. Combine a strong job performance with a resume that illustrates that you have the education and skills to perform a higher level, permanent position. Watch for on-the-job information that you can use to make you a compelling choice. You may have skills on your resume that you are not using in your temp position now; however, you need to highlight those skills that make you a valuable asset to the company, so valuable that they will want to keep you on permanently.
Writing a resume can be overwhelming, but you don’t have to let it get to you. There are many different types of resumes and many ways to write them, but here are some tips that will help get you started so you can have an amazing resume with less stress and frustration.
Focus on your strengths:People are not perfect. They have flaws, but potential employers know that. They are not looking for your flaws. They are looking for your strengths and the skills that make you stand out. Don’t make things harder on yourself. Take the things you are the best at and put a lot of focus on those things when writing your resume.
Emphasize your achievements: Potential employers not only want to know that you are skilled in an area, but they want to know that you have put that skill to use and it was a positive outcome. They are hiring someone that will help their company succeed, and you need to show them that you have succeeded in the past and have the skills to succeed in the future.
Keep it honest: It seems like a simple enough tip, but it is true. Too often people try to fluff their resumes with skills and experience that are not completely true. This may get you the job if your fake resume is impressive enough, but your employers will find out that you lied eventually and that will cause more problems than your fake resume can help you with. Keep your resume honest and it will pay off in the long run.
Keep these tips in mind as you write your resume and it will be smooth sailing.
If you have been job hunting for awhile, landing a job may make you so happy that you do not stop to consider whether this position is exempt or non-exempt. What does that mean? You know from having non-exempt positions on your resume that non-exempt means that you are paid hourly, and you must be paid overtime for hours worked that are more than 40 hours per week. Your manager must acknowledge and pay you for time worked before or after work, lunch hours, on-call hours, and meeting and lectures attended outside of regular work hours. You will get more money if you work overtime hours. All this time tracking is documented on some sort of time card. The down side of non-exempt status is that you rarely get to do the conferences, meetings and lectures outside of regular working hours because you have to be paid one and a half times your regular rate for those hours. Employers do not want to pay out the extra money. Exempt positions are paid on a salary or combined salary and bonus basis. If your position is exempt, you must work however many hours you need to get your job done. And you do not get paid any extra money for working through lunch or going to conferences. You usually do not fill in a time card for an exempt position. Anyone who has taken on the jobs of employees who have been downsized will tell you that working in an exempt position can be tough because you work longer for virtually no more pay to get the work done.
If you have been working and job hunting during the recession, it is likely that your resume has both exempt and non-exempt positions on it. Don’t forget to learn which status your new job has. It is a nasty shock after getting paid extra money for a lot of overtime to move to an exempt position where you may be working just as many hours for no extra pay.
One of the most important parts of a job search is knowing what type of job you want to have. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who have absolutely no idea what they want to do or go into. Here are some steps to career assessment that will help you decide what you want and start you on the path to success.
Self Assessment: This step is looking inward and making an inventory of your skills, desires, and interests. This will help you understand what you would enjoy as a career. Some people may be able to decide right then and there what type of job they want to search for, but for most people they need some more help.
Career Testing: There are many test and programs that can give you an idea of what career would be best suited to your interests and skills. You can find these assessments/tests online or sometimes at career centers. This is not likely to give you one exact career path, but it will give you some ideas to move you forward.
Career Counseling: Now once you have finished testing and have some ideas, then you can get some help from a professional that can lead you to your decision of what career path to take. Career counselors are trained to help uncertain job searchers find a path that will lead to a fulfilling and successful career.
Career assessment is a great way to help you discover the best career path and make your job search more focused and therefore more successful.While it is not necessarily helpful for everyone, there is no harm in trying it out.
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.
As odd as it may sound, many people keep the fact that they are searching for a new job a secret even when they are unemployed.This is a bad idea simply because you never know who is going to hear about a job opening that would be a perfect fit for you. Still, networking has changed drastically over the past few years. In fact, just 5 years ago this would be an entirely different set of hints. In any case, sending out resumes is just not enough. Tell your friends and former colleagues that you are looking for a new job
You don’t have to go into detail about why. Just be sure that everyone you know is aware of it. Be sure to mention it on your social media sites as well. The world has gotten a great deal smaller in recent years due to the Internet, and letting your online contacts know that you are actively searching for a new job can literally open up an entire world of opportunities. Attend workshops and meetings for your field
There are a wide variety of meetups, gatherings and seminars that will put you into direct contact with others in your field of expertise. Be sure to have a supply of updated business cards available. While this may seem like it’s just for fun, many employers attend these events looking for new candidates. Attendance at these events shows a prospective employer that you are ambitious and enthusiastic about your career. Update your business cards
Instead of your entire physical address, something that is far less important now than in prior eras, use the space to provide links to your social media sites. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter accounts make it possible for a prospective employer to learn more about you; LinkedIn has an online resume that makes it possible for even more prospective employers to see your skills. You will of course want to include your email address and cellphone number.
Networking is an important step in the job search process and it can be an enjoyable one. So load up a few resumes (depending on the type of gathering), build a stash of business cards, and head out.
