Archive for the ‘Resume’ Category

Overcoming Age Discrimination

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

You’ve heard the saying, “You’re not getting older, you’re getting better.” Well maybe so, but employers don’t necessarily think that way when scanning resumes. Unfortunately, many of them shy away from hiring seasoned people because these pros are perceived as inflexible, over-trained, and worst of all, too expensive.

Your resume can overcome this obstacle in subtle ways that establish your capabilities. For instance, to overcome age discrimination, consider limiting your experience to 15 years for a managerial job, ten years for a technical job, and five years for a high-tech job. Leave other experiences off your resume or list it without dates.

Your goal is to only use information that is directly relevant to the job you are seeking. This is honest as well as fair to your prospective employer. After all, if you’re a 50-year-old applying for a job in accounting, why would your prospective employer care that you worked as a counselor for five-year-olds at Camp Gichi-Goomi when you were 16 years old? That’s exaggerating the concept, but you get the point.

New Graduate with No Experience – How Do You Wow a Hiring Manager?

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010

If you’re just starting out in your chosen profession and you’re faced with having little professional experience to offer an employer, there are ways to maximize what you do have.

1. Focus on Academics in the Chosen Field or Relevant Training:

Rather than placing education or training last, as is the case in most resumes, move that section directly beneath the Opening Summary (and before Professional Experience). Within that section, (whether you’re a recent graduate or a seasoned professional transitioning to a new career), list all coursework that is relevant to your new profession. For example, an aspiring Accountant would list tax courses, finance, bookkeeping, and computer proficiency in Quicken, Excel, and Peachtree software. If you’ve excelled academically in your chosen field, and have been granted a scholarship or won a school award, this should also be mentioned.

2.  Choose a Resume Format that will Emphasize Your Skills, Rather than your Lack of Experience:

Although most employers do prefer a reverse-chronological format (that is, your most recent experience detailed first, followed by your next most recent, etc.), there are times when a functional format is best. Functional formats showcase professional skills learned in school (or on the job). These formats can also stress pure academic experience – in the case of an entry-level Accountant that would mean listing coursework taken or specialized training under the subheading of Accounting Skills.

3. Build your Skills List for the New Career by Studying Job Postings from Online Sources (HotJobs, Dice, etc.):

Match up any qualifications the hiring manager wants that you also have learned academically. Then use those matches as proof that you have what it takes to get the job done.

Minimizing Lengthy Employment Gaps

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

What do you do if you have gaps between jobs? It’s not that you decided to drop out for a while to find your inner self. Perhaps you were laid off at the beginning of this historic recession and like millions of others have had difficulty finding a job in your industry or in a new area. Perhaps you had a baby and took some time off. Maybe you suffered an injury or had to take care of an aging parent. Whatever the situation, many people have employment gaps for very legitimate reasons. A resume doesn’t explain why the gaps are there and employers often don’t take the time to find out. How do you get past this?

If you have gaps in your employment history, consider highlighting what you did during your time off. Perhaps some volunteering, part-time consulting, or freelance work encompassed the skills or experience the company is looking for.

You could also use a functional resume rather than a reverse-chronological resume. When you write a functional resume, you list your skills as they apply to a specific job. With this format, your resume explains what you can do, what you have learned, and what precise abilities you bring to a new job. Although not many job applicants use this format, it is often far more effective than the reverse-chronological resume in answering the prospective employer’s most important question: “What skills do you have and how can they help me in my company?” This format is especially effective for job hoppers, career changers, people just entering the job market who have little work experience, and applicants who have been out of the job market for an extended length of time.

How to Tailor Your Resume for Maximum Impact

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

A STEP-BY-STEP APPROACH TO TAILORING A RESUME:

1. Use online resources to determine job requirements within the targeted industry: Search online job sites such as HotJobs or online versions of newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, New York Times for employment openings. Then match your skills/knowledge/abilities to their requirements.

2. Prioritize data within the resume that meets the requirements stated within the job opening. Don’t hope that hiring managers will search for this data – they won’t.

3. Determine what’s most important to the employer – educational background or professional experience – and list it in that order: The key is to place relevant information first.

4. Pull out industry jargon (also known as keywords) from the job posting. Failure to provide keywords, especially when submitting to large corporations that use scanning software, will result in the resume being dismissed.

5. Use the appropriate formatting and tone as it relates to the targeted job: A conservative approach would be employed at law and accounting firms. The entertainment field or high fashion world would warrant a more stylish/casual approach.

6. Include ONLY what is relevant to the targeted position.