Tuesday, September 20th, 2011
There are a few lucky people out there who have perfect job histories. No gaps in employment. No job hopping. No downsizing at their firms. No career transitions.
Most of us, however, have something in our past that we fear will hurt our future chances. So, what do you do to turn a negative into a positive?
First of all, look at yourself as a product you want to sell to the company with your resume and cover letter as the advertisements. With that in mind, try to minimize the negatives. For example, when you see a soft drink commercial, there’s no mention about sugar adding empty calories, harming teeth and contributing to ill health. The entire focus is on taste and sharing a soda with friends.
Keeping that in mind, never begin your cover letter with a statement like – “I know I don’t have any experience in this field, however…” No one will get past the no experience part. Or “I was laid off and haven’t had a job for two years, but…” Again, few will get past the ‘laid off’ and ‘no job’ for several years.
Instead, dovetail what you do know or what you’ve learned through recent retraining to open your cover letter and your resume. The first paragraph of your cover letter might read something like this:
“With comprehensive experience in accounting, including serving as the liaison with the IRS at XYZ firm, I can minimize company tax burdens. While at XYZ firm, I saved the company $1.5 million in tax liabilities.”
Nowhere in that paragraph does it say that the candidate is currently unemployed, nor should it. Instead, it begins with a positive – how s/he can save the company money through tax negotiations.
On the resume, the same concept is used in the opening summary. Start strong with one, preferably two recent/relevant/quantified accomplishments that will translate well to the job you’re seeking. In an endless sea of resumes and applicants, hiring managers notice this kind of data.
As to not having experience. If you’ve never worked in an industry and have no training in it, then don’t apply. Simple as that, because you’re wasting your time. However, if you’ve been trained in the field, play that up, not the fact that you have no experience. In the first paragraph of your cover letter, you might write something like this:
“In response to your posting for a dental assistant, I have worked with (then name the tools you used at school, the techniques, everything you trained in.) Be detailed. Don’t apologize for not having experience, present your skills and what expertise you do have.
Getting an interview isn’t easy, especially in our current economy. Even so, many individuals with less-than-perfect backgrounds do it every day. Their secret is simply presenting themselves in the best possible light in their cover letters and resumes.
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
A recent episode of USA’s “Suits” explored what happens when someone lies on a resume and is caught years later.
The individual in question claimed to have graduated from college and attained his CPA (Certified Public Accountant) designation. The truth was, he hadn’t graduated and he wasn’t a CPA. That didn’t mean his work was lacking. In fact, it was stellar.
Didn’t matter. By lying about such critical data, he exposed the firms whose accounts he audited to possible lawsuits.
That episode clearly showed what happens when you play with the truth on your resume. The individual lost his job and it didn’t look like he’d been working anywhere else as an accountant anytime soon.
So, is it worth it to fudge even a little on your resume?
No, it’s not. Even if you’re not caught immediately, the lies told will always hang over you like a cloud. Worse, they could expose you to legal action if your position involves critical or sensitive information.
Today, most employers do background checks to determine if a degree was earned or a certification attained. Once they catch you in a lie, you can forget about ever working for them. If it’s a small, tight-knit industry, you won’t be welcome at any of the other businesses either.
A resume isn’t a lie-detector test. You don’t have to put every bad incident from your past on it to prove veracity. However, you shouldn’t embellish or rely on falsehoods to get the interview or the job.
If you do, someday you may regret it.
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011
We all know it’s a poor economy for jobseekers. We also know that sending out hundreds of resumes in response to every opportunity doesn’t generally produce great results.
So what’s the secret to landing your next position or getting back in the work force?
Although there’s no one certain way for a candidate to gain that all-important interview, being visible to prospective employers and colleagues in your industry is always a plus.
Sites such as LinkedIn and BranchOut have added a new dimension to networking and the job search. On these sites and others, you’ll see individual profiles that look a lot like resumes. They have a qualifications summary, skills section, work experience and academic data.
And there are scores of individuals visiting these sites daily. Some may be seeking to connect with individuals they once worked with. Perhaps they attended the same school. Others, such as recruiters, might very well be looking for the ideal candidate for an open position that isn’t being advertised.
Think of the connections you can make on sites such as these, in addition to sending your resume out to published ads.
Knowing the importance of networking at all career levels, ResumeEdge is now offering a Social Media Profile Development that can be used on social networking sites such as BranchOut, LinkedIn and others.
Our professional team of certified editors knows the ins-and-outs of social media and how to capture a reader’s attention whether that individual is a recruiter, hiring manager or former colleague.
Today’s job search is complex. Why not use social media to your advantage and get your ‘brand’ out to those who can help you reach your dream job.
Tuesday, August 16th, 2011
How many times have you searched online job boards, finding a position that seemed ideal until you came to the requirements?
Some of them might be:
1. You need a degree
2. You require a certain level of experience, usually expressed in years
3. You need experience with certain software or procedures
These are just some of the obstacles you may face when applying for a new position. However, requirements aren’t necessarily a rigid checklist. More often, they’re an employer’s wish list.
Let’s take a college degree as an example. If you can show that you have the required knowledge and skills, learned on the job at other companies, the employer may very well waive the educational requirement. Hiring managers want employees who can do the job well. A college degree confers some level of accomplishment, but it won’t replace knowledge learned in the real world. Submit to those jobs, stressing your ‘life’ experience.
As far as years on the job or in the industry are concerned – again, this is flexible for most hiring managers. If they want five years and you have three to four, you shouldn’t let the opportunity pass you by. Structure your resume to show how much you know about the required responsibilities, not how many years you’ve been doing them.
When it comes to software or procedures, you do need to be up to speed before you’ll be considered. Before applying for jobs that have these requirements, consider taking an online course to learn what you need to know. Unless the posting requires expert experience, a hiring manager may consider your other talents more important than software or procedure expertise.
The idea here is to be flexible and to understand that employer specifications are generally flexible, as long as your background meets most of the other requirements.
