Tuesday, January 10th, 2012
Recently, a visitor to our Facebook page asked this question.
Although it may seem easy to answer, it’s really not. Lacking details as to what the individual’s background contains and the job being sought, there is no set response.
Unlike 10 to 15 years ago, today’s resumes aren’t a simple listing of your professional and academic experience. These documents are now targeted toward distinct industries. In other words, they’re specialized. No longer can you submit a resume that proves you are a jack of all trades, because that’s not what hiring managers and recruiters want to see. They want in-depth knowledge of your niche in a certain industry.
Therefore, there is no such thing as a one-size-resume fitting all. Something as simple as format can differ widely with candidates. An individual in accounting would choose a conservative approach, whereas a ‘creative’ would want a design and fonts with a bit more flair.
Although resumes are – and should be – as different as people’s personalities, there are certain basics that must be included in every resume. These are:
1. A strong opening summary that paints the individual as the perfect candidate for the position
2. Showcased accomplishments that are quantified
3. Professional experience that doesn’t go back more than 15 years
4. An education section – or training section – highlighting post high school academics or specialized training
In order to stand out from the crowd and to showcase what’s unique about your knowledge, skills and abilities, you need a resume that dovetails your talents to the position requirements.
Settling for anything less will only add time to your job search.
Tuesday, December 13th, 2011
If you truly don’t know or if you have a long list of preferences, either answer isn’t what will get you an invitation to interview.
One of the hardest concepts for job seekers to understand is that resumes aren’t geared towards their preferences. Rather, it’s the hiring manager or recruiter you’re trying to impress.
Which means that first you need to know what makes a great resume:
1. A strong opening summary that paints you as the ideal candidate for the position. It should be rich with keywords and contain one, preferably two, recent/relevant/quantified accomplishments. No objectives, please. Objectives are telling the hiring authority what you want. They don’t care about that. They want to know what you can do for their company.
2. Showcased accomplishments. Not a repetition of what you have in the opening summary but more in depth results of your work. The best place to highlight them is below the opening summary in their own section. Don’t bury them within tasks in the professional experience section. And remember to quantify your results with dollar figures and time periods.
3. Professional experience that focuses on results not simply tasks. Hiring managers and recruiters want to know if the action you took made the company money or saved it money.
4. Post high school education or training. If you don’t have a college degree, be certain to include any relevant job related training.
What a resume shouldn’t necessarily include is your preferences, such as:
1. Template choice: If you’ve chosen a template because you like its flair consider what a hiring manager might think. Is the template more for a creative when you’re in a conservative industry? Is the font hard to read? Does it take up too much space on the page making the resume unnecessarily long? All good points to consider. Remember, it’s not your opinion that matters here. It’s what the hiring authority thinks.
2. Is your resume too long? Although you’re proud of your lengthy list of projects, if they have nothing to do with the job you’re targeting, you’re wasting the hiring authority’s time.
3. Are you including information that has nothing to do with the job search? You may want to boast about awards you received in college; however, if you’re at a professional level your work history should speak for itself.
4. Have you put hobbies, interests and the like on your resume? If so, take them off unless they add to your professional expertise. Stating that you like extreme sports may cause a hiring manager to pause and reconsider whether you’re too much of a risk taker for the position.
When you keep in mind that your resume is written for an audience other than you, you’ll be able to hit on the points hiring managers and recruiters most want to see.
Tuesday, December 6th, 2011
With so few jobs being available in the private sector, many of you might be thinking of working for the federal government. Before you begin your job search there are a few things you need to know to make your efforts as successful as possible.
1. A federal job search is not like a private sector job search. Let’s say you’re seeking a banking job in the private sector. You tailor your resume toward that industry and send it to all the banking institutions in your area or in other states if you’re agreeable to relocation. A federal resume doesn’t work that way. You can’t write one resume and send it to various agencies (eg: DOD, FDA, FHA, etc.). Every federal job has a vacancy announcement (job position) with a unique number and requirements for it. Therefore, your federal resume will be submitted to one agency or institution only…not all of them.
2. Federal jobs may require additional documentation. These may be KSAs (Knowledge, Skills, Abilities), MTQs (Managerial and Technical Qualification Statements), or ECQs (Executive Core Qualifications). These are essay type questions that you must answer indicating how your background meets the requirements of the position.
3. Federal resumes are formatted for the Resumix system. Unlike formatted Word resumes that go to employers in the private sector, a Resumix resume does not have bolding, italics, special fonts, etc. It is unformatted, looking like an ascii or plain text resume (the kind you send in the body of an email). Some federal resumes may be formatted. It depends upon the job and the agency requirements.
4. Federal resumes may be lengthy – more than 10 pages – or they may have a strict word count.
5. They contain information you would never put in a private sector resume. That would include your Social Security Number, supervisor’s name, contact #, high school information, etc.
The above are just some of the major differences between a federal and private sector resume.
Before you begin your federal job search, it’s important to familiarize yourself with these differences. If you fail to follow guidelines, you will not be considered for the position.
Tuesday, November 8th, 2011
If you have to think about the answer too long, or if you’re satisfied with a flip response such as: “A great employee” without providing any supporting data to your statement, then you’re in trouble.
More and more companies are demanding that their employees prove their worth. It’s not enough to simply come in on time, engage in the tasks in your job description, then go home, especially if you’re in a contracting industry or your company is downsizing.
To be retained in this poor economy, you need to show your employer that you are invaluable. And if the worst happens and you’re laid off or your employer goes out of business, then you must market yourself to another company as being their only choice in a new hire.
How do you do this?
At your current job, keep updating your resume with all of your accomplishments (those activities in which you have either made your company money or saved it money). An up-to-date, polished resume will be invaluable should a promotion come available or if staff is going to be cut and your job is on the line.
If you’re looking for new employment, updating your resume is even more essential. Hiring managers and recruiters don’t know who you are and they won’t believe blanket statements like “I’m great at what I do”, “I’ll be an asset at your firm”. They want proof.
The only way to provide that proof is to again showcase what you’ve done at previous jobs. Make your resume accomplishment-focused rather than task-focused. There may be hundreds of other individuals who can do what you do on the job. But there’s only a few that will excel, proving they will grow a company, adding to its success.
From the first day of any job, you should be looking five years down the road to what you want next and how you intend to succeed. During that time, you should do all that you can to make certain your employer sees you as an asset rather than a liability.
Keep a running record of what you’ve achieved. That running record is a resume. Make certain it’s always updated, always ready for the new job search.
The kind of employee you should be is one that everyone wants. All you have to do is prove it.
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