Archive for the ‘How To’ Category
September 15th, 2011 | 
Author: In this economy, it’s absolutely essential to stand out among the hundreds of people who may be applying for the same position. Your resume can be what makes or breaks you, so it’s important to keep it up-to-date with the information employers want and need.
The last time you created a resume, chances are you were looking at a simple one-page document highlighting your work experience and education. This won’t cut it anymore. In addition to a resume document, you should also be embracing online networks like LinkedIn. This site allows you to present to a prospective employer not just your resume, but also portfolio examples of your work and recommendations from previous employers and coworkers with just a click. Since you will most likely be submitting your resume as an email attachment, make sure to include live links so that the person reviewing your resume can quickly move to your online profile.
2. Include all your information.
Remember the old rule about fitting all your information onto one page? That rule no longer holds true. Today’s worker likely has many years of experience, and you don’t want to sell yourself short. A resume of two to three pages is perfectly acceptable and often even necessary. Because the first page is the one that will be seen first, make sure that one has the most important information relevant to the job to which you are applying.
3. Watch your words.
Another piece of outdated resume advice is to use certain words such as “team player” and “problem solver” to describe yourself. Unfortunately, these days everyone else is also using those descriptives. Recently LinkedIn published a list of the most over-used words and phrases in resumes. The list includes such favorites as:
– Innovative
– Motivated
– Extensive experience
– Proven track record
– Fast paced
– Entrepreneurial
Rather than using such generic and vague terms, describe actual projects and results you have been involved in. If you can describe how much money you saved the company, even better.
4. Make a good first impression.
Like it or not, your resume is still going to be judged by the way it looks. It should look clean and professional, and should also imply that you know your way around a word-processing program. Most importantly, there should be no spelling or grammatical errors. A single spelling error is all it takes for your resume to be filed in the trash can. It might be helpful to have a professional resume service create your resume for you, as long as they follow the current rules. You may want to provide them with the information you want included and request that they simply design the document.
5. Create your brand.
What is your top skill? This is your brand. Don’t use phrases like “objective” or “summary” in your resume. Instead, boldly declare your skills, whether you are a “finance director” or a “marketing specialist.” Proudly state your name and your brand to help prospective employers quickly identify you. With the deluge of resumes that job openings often bring, the person looking them over may not have time to do more than quickly scan many of them. Make yours stand out and catch the eye of the person who is making the decisions that may determine your future.
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Too many candidates mistakenly believe that being called in for an interview is being guaranteed a position — nothing could be further from the truth!
You might be the last person on a short list of candidates. Your skills, knowledge, and abilities are good, but perhaps not a perfect match for the company. However, the hiring manager is interested enough to meet with you and allow you to sell yourself to the company.
How do you do that? Preparation – preparation – preparation.
- Know how to dress. If you’re not familiar with the company culture, visit its website or offices during work hours to see how staff dress. No matter how casual they may be, the key is for you to look professional—you’re not on staff yet.
- Do extensive research about the company. Know what they’re about. Nothing’s worse for a hiring manager than to interview someone who hasn’t a clue what their company offers.
- Compose a list of questions about the company that indicates your interest in its products and services, the position itself, and the company and department culture. No more than 3 or 4 questions. Any more than that and your prospective employer might think you’re going to be “high maintenance” always coming to them with questions.
- Prepare a list of answers to the most frequently asked interview questions. For example: Where do you see yourself five years from now?
- Practice, practice, practice. Make certain your voice and body language don’t give away your anxiety.
- Calculate travel time. Know how long it will take to get to your interview so you arrive on time.
Tags: The part of the hiring process known as the interview is something that scares most people to death. It doesn’t have to if you have thought of prospective questions before hand and prepared yourself accordingly and also thought of some questions you may have for the interviewer.
Here is a brief list. We kept it brief because the list could be four pages long if we so desired, however you would not read it and it would be very frightening. So we pared it down to the most likely ones:
- How would you describe yourself?
- To be successful in this career, what do you think it takes?
- Do you have the qualifications and personal characteristics necessary for success in your chosen career?
- Why should we hire you?
- What are your long-term goals and objectives?
- What major problem have you handled recently? Did you resolve it? How?
- What characteristics do you think make a manager successful?
- Why did you apply to our company?
- How do you approach critical assignments?
- If you had to think on your feet to solve a difficult situation, what would you do?
- Why were you fired?
- What steps do you take before making an important decision?
- Name the most difficult assignment you had and how you finished it.
- What kind of supervisor do you prefer?
As you can see, the questions are open-ended, not allowing for a simple yes or no answer. The more you talk, the more the hiring authority learns about you. That’s why you need to be prepared before you utter one word. Each answer must be crafted carefully to maximize your chances of being hired.
