Resume Help Blog

As if the dreaded R-word wasn’t already making the job hunt tough, applying for work online can feel like you’re tossing that carefully crafted cover letter and résumé into an abyss of HTML. After polling experts in human resources and career development, we gathered a few tips for separating yourself from the other online applicants.

1. Use position-relevant keywords: “Most recruiters today do not look at each individual résumé that comes in. They perform searches on electronic résumés by keywords,” says Allison O’Kelly, CEO of staffing firm, Mom Corps. “Therefore, it is critical that you make sure that you have keywords in your résumé that you would expect a recruiter to use in a search.”

2. Label your résumé clearly: “If you are e-mailing your résumé directly to an employer, you can name the document “Full Name’s Résumé for Name of Position Applying to,” says Tara Malone, assistant director of career development at Purchase College.”

3. Use the appropriate subject heading: “If sending via e-mail, the subject line must clearly state “who” you are (for example, sales associate- pharmaceutical industry) or the position for which you are applying,” says career consultant Wendy S. Enelow.

4. Don’t use “helper words”: Jane Goldner, president of the Goldner Group, adds that words like “assisted” and “coordinated” emphasize that you’re less of a doer and  more a passive helper.

5. Try the FedEx trick: “A candidate sent FedEx envelopes to each hiring manager with a short note telling us that the best candidate we could hope to see was about to present her résumé and that we should be ready,” says David Lewis, president of a human resources outsourcing firm, OperationsInc. “A few days later, another FedEx arrived with the résumé. She got the interview. She was as advertised, and we hired her.”  Click here for more ideas like this that really work!

http://www.metro.us/us/article/2010/02/28/22/4724-82/index.xml