Whether you’re a brand new executive or you have years of experience, you should know by now that summer is one of the best times of the year for networking. You can spend hours working on resumes and cover letters during the colder months, but now is the time to disperse them to your best contacts. What makes the summer season the best time to improve personal branding for senior level managers? Here are some things to consider the next time you network this summer.
Volunteer Opportunities
There are numerous volunteer opportunities across any community nationwide throughout the summer. Take advantage of these opportunities by doing good deeds while meeting some new people along the way. You’d be surprised at how your c-level personal branding can improve by being active within the community. Plus, just about everyone is open for conversation since they feel great about contributing to a good cause. There are many great people you’ll meet when volunteering that can lead to lifelong friendships and potential business contacts.
People Are Open For Conversation
There’s something about the summer season that makes people more relaxed and open. With vacations planned and more time spent outside the office, people are more open to conversation now than any other time of the year. There’s never a bad time to work on your c-level personal branding. Whether you’re at a Meetup group, a work event or even a happy hour with some colleagues, never miss the opportunity to improve your brand. And don’t forget your business cards so people will have something to remember you by!
Casual Environments Are More Relaxing
People simply get tired of being in an office all day long. Summer is the perfect time to get out and have some drinks on an outdoor patio after a long day of work. Find events that are outdoors during the summer, since generally you’ll find the people there are more relaxed. Just be sure to adapt to your environment so you fit in rather than being the person who ruins the vibe. Professional Resume Services isn’t just about resumes and cover letters. We also have some valuable tips about networking as well. This summer is the perfect time for networking, so feel free to contact us at any time if you need any tips or advice on making the best connections this summer.
Does A Summer Break Apply to Your Job Search Efforts?
School’s out for summer… but what about your job search?
Just because many executives and high-level employees go on summer vacation doesn’t mean you can take a summer break on your job search. One of the mistakes many job seekers make is thinking companies don’t hire in the summer, which simply isn’t true. Companies are always going through resumes and cover letters to find the most qualified candidates throughout the year. And if you decide to take a break during the summer, you may miss out on a great opportunity.
Companies Don’t Stop Hiring During The Summer
The notion is companies will wait until after the summer to start interviewing for different positions. However, it’s actually the opposite. Many companies are busier during the winter months, so they don’t have as much time to interview. So they reserve summertime for conducting their interviews and hiring employees, even if it’s on a temporary basis. Regardless, you need to ensure your LinkedIn profile is current once summer starts, just in case a recruiter happens to stumble upon it.
Temporary Could Turn Into Permanent
Since summer is typically slower for most businesses, they may only be hiring for temporary employment. However, many of these positions will turn into permanent positions when business begins to pick up again. Be sure to include in your executive bio if you’re willing to accept temporary employment if the option is available to become permanent in the future. At the very least, you can gain some valuable experience with a temporary position to set yourself up for a permanent position with another company at a later time.
Polish Up Your LinkedIn Profile
Whether you’re going on an extended vacation throughout the summer, or if you feel you need to take a break from your job search efforts for any reason, polish up your LinkedIn profile at the very least. You never know when recruiters are going through resumes and cover letters, or scouring LinkedIn to find the best candidates. Updating your LinkedIn profile could be a great way to get discovered during the summer with minimal effort on your part. Professional Resume Services is here to help you get through the dog days of summer. We can help revamp your resumes and cover letters during the summer so you’re ready to apply for positions at any time. No matter what you need help with regarding your job search efforts this summer, feel free to contact us at any time.
You Can Find Networking Opportunities Even in the Most Unlikely Places!
Most people are very aware of the value of networking. Not only can it help you find the career opportunities you’re looking for, but it can also bring value to personal branding for senior level managers. However, networking doesn’t always have to be in the form of career fairs, conferences and other business events. There are plenty of other unique networking opportunities to help you boost your c-level personal branding, and all of them have to deal with common interests.
The Gym
Just because you aren’t going to bring resumes and cover letters to the gym doesn’t mean you can’t network there. If you’re the person who puts on your earphones and shuts out the rest of the world around you while you workout, consider removing them and listening to your surroundings instead. You never know who you might meet on the treadmill next to you.
Sporting Events
Sporting events are also common interests where you can network with a variety of people. It’s easy to get into a discussion about a particular team or sport in general, and the conversation can go in many different directions. You may not attend a sporting event with the intention of improving your c-level personal branding, but it could easily happen.
Public Transit
If you take public transit frequently, there may not be a better opportunity to network. You have several minutes sitting by the same person on your route, so strike up a conversation with them. Conversations can go in many different directions, so you may have other people around you chime in as well.
At Kids Events
Parents always feel connected with other parents when they go to their kids events. It’s extremely easy to open up a conversation when kids are involved, so take advantage of the opportunity. It’s probably not the time to talk about resumes and cover letters right away, but once you form a connection you can develop a relationship as time passes.
Bars
Again, you shouldn’t bring resumes and cover letters into a bar, but that doesn’t mean you won’t have the opportunity to talk about them. Professionals sometimes go as a group or on their own to bars to unwind after a stressful day. Sit next to someone and talk about the day. Chances are you will be able to relate to them at some level. At Professional Resume Services, we take personal branding for senior level managers seriously and want to help you improve your brand as much as possible. Feel free to contact us for more networking tips and how you can turn them into great opportunities.
Four Tips for Tending to Your Family AND Your Job Search
Going through a job search affects your family indirectly more than you think. As much as the search takes a toll on your own mental and physical state, you still have to find a balance with your family. You may have gone from working 8-12 hour days and never being at home to always being at home searching for a job. The best professional resume writers see this happen all the time with executives and different professionals, so there are some things you can do to help ease the transition. Here are some ways you can tend to your family and your job search without either one suffering.
1. Establish a New Routine
Sometimes you don’t realize how routine your life is until the routine gets disrupted. When you go from being employed to unemployed, you have to adjust your routine accordingly. You may now be the one to drop off and pick up the kids from school, cook dinners or do other household chores. The best way to start establishing a new routine is accepting that you have to change.
2. Set Goals
Set both family goals and job search goals at some point. One goal could be writing a couple resumes and cover letters each night after dinner. Another goal could be determining when the best time is for you to land a new job. There’s a chance you don’t have to rush as much as you thought when you consider the family duties you have to take care of.
3. Get Your Family Involved in Your Job Search
Be transparent with your family, including kids who are old enough to understand what’s going on. Let them know as much as you can what all goes into personal branding for senior level managers. It will require some time away from the home to network, meet with potential employers or even take classes. When your family is on the same page with your goals, it will be easier for you to go about your job search.
4. Split Up Family Responsibilities
Instead of stressing about doing all the family responsibilities yourself, get the rest of the family involved in them. This will give you some time to dedicate to writing resumes and cover letters, but you can also have some family time as well. Professional Resume Services has the best professional resume writers to help you craft the perfect resume so you don’t have to spend as much time on your own. Having a family while searching for a job is stressful, so feel free to contact us if we can help in any way with your resume.
Our Guide to Creating a Better Targeted Resume for Executives
Finding a job in the 21st century requires both the ability to self-promote and a bit of marketing savvy. With the invention of sites like LinkedIn, it is now easier than ever to show prospective employers what you can offer them. Having top-notch resumes and cover letters is vital when trying to get taken seriously by business professionals. Targeting your resume for a particular job is a great way to show an employer how well you’re suited to that company and position. When trying to create targeted resumes that get you hired, be sure to consider the following factors.
You Don’t Have to Start From Scratch
The biggest mistake you can make when trying to create targeted resumes and cover letters is starting from scratch. Your existing resume will have a lot of useful information in it and can be altered to make it more targeted. Ideally, you will want to have a “summary of qualifications” section on your existing resume. Each time you apply for a new job and want to target the resume, you can edit this section to make it specific to a particular company. By not throwing the baby out with the bathwater when it comes to your resume, you will be able to save a lot of time and energy.
Make Your Cover Letter Shine
One of the first things an employer will look at is your cover letter. Droning on about things unrelated to the job you are applying for will usually end in your resume getting tossed aside. You’ll want to make sure your cover letter is written as concisely as possible. Carefully read over the job listing and see what type of qualifications the company has outlined. Baiting the hook with a great cover letter is an important part of landing the right job. Working in the relevant experience you have may make your cover letter more appealing. However, many executives flounder when it comes to crafting their cover letter simply because they have so much experience, it can be hard to know what’s worth including. You have to learn where to trim the fat—which the top rated resume writing services can help you with!
Show The Reader of the Resume You Have Done Your Homework
Your main objective when trying to create targeted resumes that get you hired is standing out from the other applicants. Doing your homework when it comes to the company you are seeking employment with is wise. A great way to catch the reader’s eye is to include something in your cover letter regarding the company’s history. Don’t be afraid to delve deep with your research and learn as much about the company as you can. Merely mentioning a company’s Fortune 500 status will not garner as much attention as a lesser known factoid about their achievements or their work in the community. An easy way to get a feel for their brand and their proudest achievements is through their website. Pick out facts that align closely with your own qualifications and try to relate the two. Once you get started, you will probably realize creating a targeted resume is not an easy process. Letting top rated resume services, like Professional Resume Services, handle the targeting process could mean better job search results. Be sure to contact us to discuss how we can help you in the pursuit of resume excellence.
What Should You Always Incorporate Into Your Cover Letter?
Cover letters are and have always been one of the trickiest parts of the job hunting process. Cover letters are a great way to show potential employers how your skills can benefit the company before they even look at your resume. Many experts wonder just how to approach writing a cover letter, and where the differences between resumes and cover letters really lie. In this blog, we’ll cover exactly how to format your cover letter and what’s worth including to boost your chances of success.
Conciseness
One of the most important things to remember when writing cover letters for resume is that the two shouldn’t be identical! Yes, your cover letter will contain some of the same information found in your resume, but you don’t need or have to include every single facet. Remember: hiring executives only have a few seconds to read your information. It’s best to keep your cover letter short and to the point, so you don’t waste the recruiter’s time and have a higher chance of getting called back.
Talk About the Company
Before you draft the first sentence of your cover letter, you should do ample research about the company you’re looking to work for. Just like your resume, your cover letter should be targeted to the employer. The best way to research the company is to network! Talk to other executives to see how you could contribute to their business and fit into their office culture. You’ll also want to be sure to look into their work within and contributions to the industry, as well as any other companies they compete with. Showing you know quite a bit about their company will prove you’re invested and worth hiring. You may just find something similar to your own work achievements, which you can tie into your cover letter.
Your Strengths
One of the primary functions of resumes and cover letters is to illustrate your strengths and what you have to offer to a company. Be sure to go into these qualities in your cover letter. Talk about your skills and accomplishments you’ve gained throughout your career, what these mean and how they’d make you a valuable member of the company. You should be trying to sell yourself as much as possible. Just don’t overdo it! You don’t want to come off as a braggart, though a bit of boasting is okay. Stick to as much factual information as possible by talking about how you’ve affected the industry, any similar or competitive companies you’ve worked for in the past and your experiences within your chosen field.
Referrals
Knowing someone who may have turned you onto the company will help you immediately catch a hiring executive’s eye. In fact, you may want to point out this fact right away. Networking is and has always been an important part of landing a job. Over your many years of career experience, you’ve undoubtedly amassed a large number of contacts and referrals. Now’s the time to really rely on them! A referral can vouch for you and your ability to be a great addition to the company. You never want to pass up on someone putting in a good word for you. We understand writing cover letters isn’t easy with so much experience under your belt, so we hope this blog will start you off on the right foot. You can always turn to a cover letter writing service for any extra help you may need to get started or sort out any kinks. If you have any questions about your executive cover letter, feel free to get in touch with us!
Four Effective Ways Career Changers Can Spruce up Their Resume
Career changes are becoming increasingly common in today’s ever-shifting world, especially as people with multiple skills and access to different, better options are leaving less fulfilling careers to move toward new opportunities. No matter who you are and how secure you are in this decision, switching to a new field can be incredibly daunting. This holds especially true if you’ve spent several years within your old field and are just now gaining the chance and confidence to move onto the new. How can you market yourself and get your foot in the door? Will any of your old experiences and skill sets help you gain the job you want?
Luckily, there are a few things you can do to help boost your chances of successfully breaking into a new industry. 1. Don’t Forget Your “Extracurriculars”
Not every experience included on your resumes and cover letters has to be on the job. As long as it applies in some shape or form to the jobs you’re applying for and the industry you’re trying to get a foothold in, it will appeal to potential employers. You can include such things as internships and organizations, among others. 2. Rewrites Are Likely
After spending so much time building up your resume for your current field, it may feel like a waste to scrap it and start anew for a job change. However, it’s worth it for a variety of reasons. Each job you’ll apply to will have different interests and needs, which you will have to analyze in terms of how well you’ll fit. Tailoring your resume to different jobs makes sense because it gives employers a sharp idea of how well you’ll fit in with the company. If this idea seems daunting to you, you can always turn to a professional resume writing service for ways to rewrite your resume effectively! 3. Keep It Brief
You may feel tempted to pad your resume if you don’t have quite enough experience in your new field. Don’t! You have merely a few seconds to catch a potential employer’s attention, and overloading them with information about your experiences, whether true or embellished, is just the right way to turn them off completely. Make the most of your resume by including only the most important experiences and other bits of professional information. 4. Format Your Resume Properly
Not even the most spectacular resume will make the cut if there are noticeable formatting errors. The good news is you have a bit of wiggle room when it comes to acceptable resume formats. There are letter resumes, which amount stylistically to experience-based cover letters; functional resumes, which focus on any skills you have in relation to your chosen field; and chronological resumes, which organize your experiences from newest to oldest. Feel free to pick whichever format is right for you!
No matter what field you’re trying to enter, you can rely on top rated resume writing services to help you craft an appealing resume! Don’t hesitate to get in touch to learn how you can improve your prospects and earn the job you deserve.
Resumes and cover letters are made better with technology.
As you and nearly everyone else in the world have realized and are experiencing as we speak, technology has drastically changed the way people interact with one another. This goes not only for casual conversation, such as through social media, but through the way customers and businesses interact and even how people seek out jobs. If you’re a senior-level professional on the hunt for a new position, you’re probably taking in just how much job hunting has changed since the last time you had to look for work. However, many of the changes delivered by technology are quite beneficial to job seekers!
Social Media
You’ve likely had some experience with social media sites, either through your prior job positions or on a personal level. Facebook is one of the most popular social media sites, as well as LinkedIn, which is great for professional networking. However, if you’re on the hunt for a new job, you’ll want to evaluate your social media profiles and what image they’re presenting about you. You never know who will want to take a look at your profile. Many prospective businesses looking to hire you could end up searching for you on social media just to get a sense of who you are as a person and a professional. A stellar social media profile will do you a whole host of favors! You can consult with any number of top resume writing services to help even out your online presence.
Communicating with Higher Ups
Before the Internet became mainstream, reaching out to those in charge of hiring you was an ordeal. Originally, all that could be done was to send out a physical letter, hoping it reached the hiring manager and earned a response. The process was much slower back then in every sense of the word. Thanks to email, instant messaging and video chat services, however, this is no longer the case. Communications are far faster now than ever before, enabling you to easily get in touch with higher level professionals and hold a constructive conversation with each other about your prospects.
More Convenient Interviewing Procedures
As stated before, the advent of today’s technology makes communication easier than it ever was in the past. This includes the interviewing process, made convenient thanks to Skype and other video chatting clients. Nowadays, you’ll likely be first exposed to prospective employers through a telephone or video chat conversation. Because of its increasing prominence, it would be a good idea to gain some experience with software of this variety. A team of professional executive resume writers can help you with this as part of their services. A web interview works similarly to a physical interview. Be sure to keep this in mind as you prepare for one by dressing professionally, making sure your space has sufficient lighting and tidying it up if need be. Resumes and cover letters are elements of the job hunting process that haven’t changed as far as importance! Once these pieces have done their job, however, times have certainly changed.
