Resume Help Blog

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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:

1. How would you describe yourself?
2. To be successful in this career, what do you think it takes?
3. Do you have the qualifications and personal characteristics necessary for success in your chosen career?
4. Why should we hire you?
5. What are your long-term goals and objectives?
6. What major problem have you handled recently? Did you resolve it? How?
7. What characteristics do you think make a manager successful?
8. Why did you apply to our company?
9. How do you approach critical assignments?
10. If you had to think on your feet to solve a difficult situation, what would you do?
11. Why were you fired?
12. What steps do you take before making an important decision?
13. Name the most difficult assignment you had and how you finished it.
14. 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.

A friend of mine who was looking to change careers asked me last week for some ideas of tailoring his resume to expedite his search. Here’s what I told him, and this advice is for you too. Here are two examples but there are many; always keep in mind whether you are in sales or management this applies; “sales are sales”; if you know how to sell the product is incidental. Same is true of management. A personal friend of mine worked in management in six or seven different companies, all different products. If you understand people, “management is management”, only the product changes. If you are a machinist and run a lathe; you can be easily trained to run a mill or drill-press.

If you are seeking a job in a new area, you should first identify and describe any previous work experience in the best light possible while identifying the most relevant duties performed. Job descriptions are no longer seen as helpful ways for employers to evaluate potential employers, and many of them are looking for accomplishment-focused phrases and results-oriented statements. So tailor your resumes toward this.

Using Action Verbs in Resumes

Use action verbs. These are words that are used specifically in resumes to accurately and succinctly indicate what a job applicant accomplished in their last position. These phrases begin with an action word such as designed, sold or instructed and leave out unnecessary words such as the, a and also.  The phrases sound crisp and leave the distinct impression that you have been active.

The best action verbs depend on the specific job duties you performed, but some example action verbs could include: billed, wrote, supervised, managed, analyzed, directed, trained, planned, taught, developed, maintained, organized, initiated or produced. When you write your resume you should pick one verb for each line and then elaborate.

Accomplishments to Mention on a Resume

If you haven’t had to look for a job for several years – you may have a difficult time figuring out which of their past accomplishments are best to focus on when choosing the action words for their resumes.

These questions may help when trying to determine which verbs are best to describe the results of each pertinent job duty:

• Did I improve efficiency – how?
• How did I perform the job better than expected?
• Did I implement anything new that benefited the organization?
• Did I receive any awards or special recognition as a result of past performance?

Tips When Changing Careers

Researching the new field or profiling the specific job the applicant is looking for is the most important aspect of changing careers. The more knowledge you have about the company the better your chance to market your existing skills. By using the Internet, research has never been easier. Employers are impressed by applicants who have taken the time to find out about their businesses.

When applying for a specific position, it’s essential that you include keywords on your resume:

• Keywords that reflect your field of expertise
• Keywords that were used in the job posting, as many companies use software to evaluate how well a person’s skills match with those listed in the job posting

Companies are receiving thousands of resumes each day, so yours needs to stand out among all the others. Here’s how:

1. Be a match. If you are interested in applying for a specific position, be sure to research the company and thoroughly go over the job description and position requirements. If they list specific requirements and you have experience that fits what they are looking for, highlight this information clearly on your resume so the reader can quickly see that you “match” the position. Use caution that you aren’t repeating the exact phrasing from the advertisement—use the keywords that will identify you as a match. Also, don’t rule yourself out even if you feel you’re not a close match. Send the resume and let the employer decide.
2. Be concise. In addition to your duties with current and past employers, it is important to include contributions and achievements, as well as your educational background—but don’t overdo it. A resume is basically an advertisement, and your goal is to create enough interest that the organization will want to learn more about you by telephone or in a face-to-face interview. When a resume contains too many heavy details, you run the risk of overloading the reader, which can result in him or her missing important accomplishments you have achieved during your career. A prospective employer isn’t going to take the time to read a resume that is too lengthy.
3. Be active and persistent. Finally, if you have been part of a reduction in workforce, be assured that you will eventually successfully land a job. Treat your job search like you treated your full-time job—dedicate your time to it every day. Many times when someone is no longer working, they feel lost and unsure, but the key to triumphing over this situation is to commit to beginning the search process and moving forward from there. Get out there and make things happen!