Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
by David Jensen, CPRW, CARW, CEIP, ResumeEdge.com Editor
Businesses rely on a hardworking, innovative staff to be successful and profitable. In fact, corporate managers often attend workshops on recruiting and retaining top candidates. After completing a seasonal or temporary assignment with a company, you might wonder how to become the type of employee a hiring manager wants to retain. According to a group of Human Resource professionals, this endeavor goes beyond possessing the necessary skills and experience. It is also something you should pursue long before your assignment has ended. Here are a few tips to help you retain that position:
1. Know What is Expected of Top Employees
Even after a brief tenure with a company, you should be familiar with the organization’s culture and working environment. With a clear understanding of the company’s mission and what is expected of you, you are much easier to hire. Knowing the expectations includes functioning with little or no supervision and making sound decisions that you are willing to stand behind. It also includes ensuring that you have your tasks and assignments under control.
2. Expand Your Knowledge
Employers appreciate your willingness to continue learning and expanding your skills. Take advantage of training and professional development opportunities (both inside and outside the company). This will help boost your standing as a top performer. If you don’t have an official mentor (or even if you do), watch other people in the company who tend to be top performers. Observe how these people function and interact with others. You might even want to ask for tips on how to succeed in the organization.
3. Be Proactive
Sometimes you can spot opportunities to get the attention of a hiring manager. This might be challenging when you are busy with your current assignments, but the effort is always rewarded. At a large advertising agency, an executive often mentioned that it would be helpful to have some case studies to present to new and prospective clients, but he never assigned the project to anyone. Several weeks later, one of the executive’s staff decided to create the case studies despite being busy with other projects. He did much of the work on his own time. This employee was immediately revered as a resourceful, top-performing employee and was often awarded some high-level assignments for the company.
4. A Responsible and Trustworthy Team Player
Being a reliable employee that is professional, polite, and punctual might seem like an obvious prerequisite to gainful employment. Still, reliability ranks as one of the top characteristics most admired by employers. The same goes for being a team player. Outside of your skills and talents, employers look at how well you fit in with the organization and how your contribution benefits the company as a whole. Be willing to collaborate and share the successes and failures that come with productivity. Also, when talking about other projects you worked on, use the term “we” instead of “I” as you discuss the processes and outcomes.
If you have been working as a temporary or seasonal employee, you should be familiar with the company’s culture and organizational conventions. With a little extra effort and perceptiveness to the qualities of other successful employees, you can elevate your status to someone the hiring manager is eager to keep on board.
Dave has a Master’s Degree in Professional Communication. He is an accomplished consultant with 5 years of experience in résumés, employment interview coaching, and career coaching. After working as a documentation specialist at Novell, he has become an accomplished freelance writer with specialties in SEO articles, press releases, technical documentation, and journalism. Dave is a Certified Professional Résumé Writer (CPRW), Certified Advanced Résumé Writer, (CARW), and a Certified Employment Interview Professional (CEIP). He has prepared hundreds of résumés for various professions. His specialty includes résumés and cover letters for information technology, advertising, public relations, sales, and graduate school admissions.
To request Dave for your business document, simply choose his last name (Jensen) in the drop down menu on the order page.
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
by Darlene Zambruski, ResumeEdge.com Managing Editor, CPRW, SME
In many professions such as Accounting, Medicine, Nursing, and Law, professionals are required to maintain skills through continuing education and seminars. By providing this information to a hiring manager, you’ll be stating unequivocally that you are prepared for the demands of the current industry, and that you meet all legal and licensing requirements.
A Word About Courses and Seminars for Candidates Who Lack College Degrees
In this education-focused world, candidates without college degrees are often in a panic about what to put in the Education section of their resumes. High school diplomas don’t seem like enough (and usually aren’t). To overcome this, specialized training, in the form of courses and seminars, can go a long way to enhancing candidacy. This is especially true if the field is in the trades (i.e. construction, auto repair, etc.), but it is also relevant to white collar positions, such as administrative assistants or office managers. In those jobs, computer skills learned during evening/community college courses or at seminars are acceptable to hiring managers.
Positioning your Training for Maximum Impact
If your industry requires continuing education to maintain licensing, then mentioning your adherence to this should be included in the Qualifications Section of your resume. For example:
“Currently enrolled in accounting coursework to maintain CPA certification through June 2005.”
Or
If you are transitioning from one career to another, then training can be an acceptable substitute for lack of professional experience. In this case, industry-specific training should be added to the Qualifications Summary or immediately after it in a special section.
Or
Never combine Education and Training if they are not related. Never place Training at the end of your resume or in the Education section of your resume if it’s directly related to your current job search and can enhance your candidacy.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How much detail should I provide in listing my training?
Training should always include the date, sponsoring agency, location, name of course or seminar, and whether certification or licensure was granted. Training that is especially important to your job search may include a brief description of the coursework to give the hiring manager a better indication of what was actually learned or accomplished.
How far back should I go in my training and coursework as an IT professional?
No more than 10 years as the Information Technology field is constantly evolving. Any training that led to certification through companies such as Microsoft or Oracle should be showcased if the data is germane to your current job search.
Should I include my online coursework, or will hiring managers dismiss this kind of non-traditional training?
It would depend upon the scope of the training and the sponsoring agency. If you’re taking online coursework sponsored by Microsoft or Oracle, hiring managers would easily accept this as valid. If your training is sponsored by a company with little to no name recognition, then it’s wise to include details, including course hours, level of expertise (beginner, advanced, expert), and any other information that will give the hiring manager a clear idea of what you’ve learned.
I received a lot of my training overseas, should I include it in a U.S. Resume?
If it’s relevant to your current job search. However, make certain to indicate what the U.S. equivalent of your foreign coursework would be to provide an accurate picture of your training to hiring managers.
Tuesday, April 1st, 2008
by Darlene Zambruski, ResumeEdge.com Managing Editor, CPRW, SME
Because resumes are sent electronically or by regular mail, it’s not often that you can use your networking savvy until – or unless – you’re called in for an interview. However, by listing memberships in professional and academic societies, your resume is a silent partner in networking your skills to hiring managers who are also members of these groups. Additionally, affiliations quickly and effortlessly indicate your professional industry or academic status.
When to Emphasize Professional Affiliations
Mention membership in Professional Affiliations within the Qualifications Summary when:
1. You’ve held a leadership position within the organization (eg: President, VP, Secretary, Treasurer)
2. The organization is recognized as the leader in your specific industry (eg: AMA – American Medical Association – for a physician; SPHR for human resource professionals; The Writers Guild for authors)
3. Membership is required in your career field.
A Word About Maximizing Your Professional Affiliation Data
If you are in possession of the hiring manager’s name and background (through research on company websites), it’s a good idea to research professional membership files (eg: college alumni associations) to see if that person is affiliated with the organization to which you belong. If so, make mention of your membership in your cover letter. Networking in this manner may give you an edge in being granted an interview.
When to Emphasize Academic Affiliations
1. If you are a recent college graduate
2. If you have little to no professional experience
In the above scenarios, showcasing academic affiliations, especially honor societies, will impress upon a hiring manager your dedication to the chosen field and your potential as an employee.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. My only memberships are with the PTA and similar organizations since I’ve spent the last few years raising my children. Should I include this information on my resume?
If you held leadership positions within these organizations that would indicate to a hiring manager your potential for a management role. Even if you did not hold such a position, if you served on committees, that would indicate your teamwork capabilities and commitment to your community. This information should be included.
2. I’ve been out of college for nearly 20 years. Do I still include alumni membership information on my resume?
It never hurts to include this information as the HR professional viewing your resume may very well be an alumnus of the same school. That data, alone, may very well capture the hiring manager’s interest so that added attention is granted the information on your resume.
3. What is preferred by hiring managers – national associations or local chapters?
It would depend upon your role in each. If you are simply a member of a national association, but are president of a local chapter, the leadership position should be emphasized.
4. One of the professional associations to which I belong is fairly new and not widely recognized, should I include it on my resume?
If it enhances your candidacy, and if you provide the hiring manager with additional data regarding its importance. For example:
Member, Culinary Specialists Guild, founded in 2002 to promote the culinary profession and to provide beginning chefs with worthwhile information to master the craft.
Tuesday, November 13th, 2007
by Darlene Zambruski, ResumeEdge.com Managing Editor, CPRW, SME
In our youth-oriented culture many workers, some as young as 40, worry that their employment options diminish substantially with each passing year.
To avoid the potential for age discrimination even before you’re invited to interview, make certain that your resume showcases your unique talents and qualifications, rather than your years in the industry. This can be accomplished in three ways:
1. Use a functional format to market your unique skills and qualifications:
Unlike a reverse-chronological resume that stresses dates and employers, a functional format emphasizes what you know and what you can do, rather than how long you’ve been doing it. For example, a business analyst would have a “Career History” section with the following subheadings and bulleted information:
Financial & Business Analysis
· Performed complex analyses for system-wide negotiations, projections, and line-of-business reviews in addition to analysis of population distribution, claims/utilization, and cost.
· Identified, collected, and organized data from multiple sources for input into monthly, quarterly, annual, and ad hoc reports provided to contracting/finance departments and senior management.
· Designed and implemented database applications used in contract rate and risk management analysis as well as the identification and correction of data errors and discrepancies.
Management & Supervision
· Analyzed, interpreted, and resolved claims with authorization for payments up to $75,000.
· Directed activities of 40 claims analysts at a large project site.
· Interacted daily with enrollment, claims, utilization/quality management, and customer service to resolve provider issues.
Nowhere in the above are years specified or emphasized.
2. Exclude early positions that do not enhance your candidacy, especially if you’re in the IT field:
Modern resumes generally do not go further back into employment history than 15 years. For IT professionals, no professional history past 10 years should be included. Why? Industries change so rapidly, early skills are replaced with more current methodologies. And most employers want to know what you’ve been doing recently, not what you did when you first graduated from college.
3. Exclude dates of college graduation:
Although it’s considered unorthodox by some, excluding dates of graduation, especially if you left college in the early 70’s, will minimize the risk of age discrimination. For seasoned professionals especially, college graduation is not the hook it might be for an entry-level candidate. If what came before your educational data is stellar (i.e. career history, accomplishments, unique skills), then few hiring manages will notice or care about this omission.
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