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Is Your Resume Lost in the Great Internet Void?
With the advent of email and online job services, job hunting suddenly
became much easier. Or did it? Sometimes it’s hard to know if your resume
is actually reaching someone’s desk—or is lost somewhere in the great void
of cyberspace.
If you want to be sure that your resume is being seen by a real person who
can offer you a real job, here are three rules to get stronger response.
· Use the Right Key Words
More than ever, resumes are stored in a database and queried for key words
to indicate candidate match. If you aren’t using the right words to
describe your employment experiences, then your resume might be rejected
before it’s ever seen. Review key words your resume uses to:
· Describe your dream job. Do your qualifications match the
job description? Look closely at areas listing your technical skills, job
responsibilities and core competencies.
· Attract your desired industry. Are you using industry
buzzwords? In other words, does your resume talk their talk?
· Attract your occupational field. Do the phrases you use
prove your level of experience in your field?
· Use the Correct Electronic Version
If your resume can’t be opened as an attachment, then it can’t be seen.
Because of the threat of computer viruses many companies only accept
resumes through their own online forms which ask you to cut and paste
(rather than attach) your resume. Make sure you are sending your resume in
a format that will work for the employer.
· If a resume attachment is requested: Save your resume as
a Word document (.doc or .rtf). This is the standard most companies use,
and it should retain the formatting that you used for your resume. But
just in case they use a different word processing program than yours, you
should still avoid using too many fancy formatting options, such as
columns, boxes and tables.
· If an email or online form is used: Use ASCII, plain
text, or text only. This removes formatting, but the information is
preserved. Be sure to review your resume before sending it so that it is
still easy to read and user friendly.
3. Differentiate Your Resume from the Crowd
There are dozens of fast food restaurants that sell hamburgers and fries.
How do you choose which one you want? Chances are, one of those
restaurants has a differentiating edge, something that you like better than
all the others. The job market is the same way; it’s flooded with choices,
so you have to make your resume stand out from all the competition.
The best way to differentiate your resume from others is with
accomplishments. And those accomplishments really stand out when:
· They are measurable. Can you define how much you
accomplished in dollars saved, contracts won, or percent changed?
· They support your transferable skills. Can your skills be
used by this company, even if your job experience is in a different
industry? What skills will transfer from one job to another?
· They connect to corporate bottom-line objectives. How can
you help them save time, save money, increase their profit margin, improve
sales, or increase revenue?
While the Internet is still a great tool for job seekers to connect quickly
with employers, take steps to insure your resume won’t get lost in the
void. Before you send your resume off to the Great Cyber Beyond, use these
three tips to make sure your resume gets the attention it deserves!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deborah Walker, CCMC
Resume Writer ~ Career Coach
To see resume format samples and read more job-search tips visit
www.AlphaAdvantage.com
Email: Deb@AlphaAdvantage.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Three Things Every Recruiter Looks for in a Resume
If
you are in the middle of a job search, recruiters can be either your friend—or
your foe. They make the choice to
keep you out of the hiring process or to introduce you to corporate hiring
decision makers. The quality of
your resume is a key factor in determining how recruiters will treat you in the
job market.
Focus
Core
competencies or transferable skills
Accomplishments
If
your resume lacks any of these crucial elements, then you are probably not
capturing the attention you deserve, and you are missing out on important
interview opportunities.
1.
Focus
Since
recruiters’ time is at a premium, they must know your career focus within
seconds of opening your resume. If
your career focus isn’t clearly stated, you can’t assume the reader will
take the time to search through your resume for clues.
Most recruiters consider “Career Objective” statements worthless if
they contain no real information about the specific position you are looking for
and the industry expertise you offer. The
best objective statements are concise and to the point.
2.
Core competencies or transferable skills
Once
a recruiter understands your focus, he/she will want to know if you have the
required core competencies or transferable skills to accomplish the job.
A thorough research of employer job descriptions will help you identify
the core competencies your resume must feature.
You’ll
capture and hold recruiter attention by including only those core competencies
relating specifically to your focus. Be
careful not to muddy up your personal marketing message by including extraneous
skills. If you remember the
all-important rule of relevancy, you’ll go a long way toward keeping the
reader’s attention on your key skills.
3.
Accomplishments
Once
your resume has made it through the initial screening for focus and skills, the
recruiter will want to know how you stack up against other candidates.
Remember, with record-high resume response to job openings, recruiters
need good, solid reasons to recommend you for consideration over the mountain of
other candidates. Clear, concisely
stated accomplishments are the best way to distinguish yourself from your
competition.
Whether
the recruiter works for one corporation or represents many corporate clients as
a third-party recruiting consultant, he or she must be able to give valid
reasons for promoting you as a viable candidate.
You can make their job infinitely easier by including the information
they need—and bring your resume to the top of the candidate pile.
When your resume sells itself, you gain advantage points, and make the
recruiter look good as well.
For
optimum impact, write accomplishments that illustrate the strength of your core
competencies, transferable skills and focus.
An accomplishment is only valuable to your resume if it promotes the
skills your target employers are looking for.
Remember the rule of relevancy as you craft each of your accomplishment
statements.
In
today’s extremely competitive job market, employers rely heavily on recruiter
to screen out the crowd of applicants. Allow
them to present you as one of their best candidates by letting your resume
present your best abilities.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deborah
Walker, CCMC
Resume
Writer ~ Career Coach
Find
resume and job-search tips in the article archive at www.AlphaAdvantage.com
Email:
Deb@AlphaAdvantage.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Three Critical Elements of a Successful Job Search"
Any marketing guru will tell you, the success of a product launch depends
on the quality of its advertising message, its exposure to a targeted
audience and the skill of its sales presenters. If any one of those
critical elements is missing, revenues fall short of corporate goals.
Likewise, a successful job search requires:
* A clear marketing message (resume and cover letter)
* Ample exposure to targeted employers
* Polished interview skills to secure the job offer.
Fall short on either of the three, and an extended, lengthy job search is
the result.
The first step to a successful job search is a resume that communicates a
strong marketing message. Just like a print ad entices the reader toward
purchase, your resume has one job: to entice employers to call you for an
interview.
How does one transform a boring, historical document into a marketing
message that sells?
* Focus on benefits rather than features.
* Use accomplishments to illustrate marketable skills.
* Appeal to management buying motivations with examples of bottom-line
impacting results.
Once you’ve transformed your work history into a marketing message, you’ll
want to give it as much quality exposure as possible. Marketing
professionals use various media to get their message out. New athletic
shoes may be promoted through print ad, television and online medium.
Likewise, get maximum exposure of your job-search marketing message, with
several strategies, both proactive and reactive.
One of the most common complaints I hear from job seekers is that they get
no response from their resume. When asked how they use their resume, it’s
usually 100% in response to posted job listings. Securing an interview
from a job posting is like trying to catch a fish in a pond that is ringed
elbow-to-elbow fishermen. To make matters worse, there’s a sign posted at
the pond that reads, “Due to budgetary cuts, the pond wasn’t stocked this
year.”
To get maximum exposure and more interviews you’ll want to include some of
the following strategies:
* Networking with professionals who may provide job lead information.
* Conducting your own target-market campaign to selected employers.
* Resume distribution to a large, yet select group of qualified
headhunters.
All the exposure in the world will not get you closer to your next career
position if your interview skills are not sharper than your competition.
Just like a sales person whose rent money depends on his/her ability to
outsell the competition, so must the job seeker hone his/her interview
skills in order to win the offer. Second choice still means “unemployed.”
Some job-seekers cringe at the thought of conducting a job interview as a
sales presentation. Natural-born sales people are rare. The most
effective and highly paid sales professionals had to learn and practice
their skills. Job seekers of any background and personality style can
adapt sales skills to perfect their interview skills. Minimally, those
skills should include:
* Pre-interview research of the prospective employer.
* Anticipation of and answers to relevant questions.
* Questions to uncover unstated concerns.
* Closing skills that lead to the next stage or the offer.
Job seekers in a lengthy job search may benefit from analyzing which of the
three critical elements is not working for them. Start by asking these
questions:
* Is my resume-send-out to interview ratio low? Maybe it’s a resume
problem.
* Am I finding enough job leads? Maybe it’s time to implement proactive
strategies for better exposure.
* Do I consistently end up “second choice” in job interviews? Probably
time to sharpen the interview skills.
Making sure your skills are their sharpest in all three critical elements
of the job search will help you gain your career objective in the shortest
amount of time with the least amount of stress
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