Although it seems daunting and impossible to attract a hiring manager’s attention with that kind of data, it can be done.

1.  IF YOU’VE WORKED SIX JOBS THROUGH ONE TEMPORARY AGENCY, LIST THE AGENCY’S NAME AS THE EMPLOYER:

Technically speaking, the agency – not the company where you actually do the work – is the employer and should be listed as such. If you’re like most contract workers, you do the same job for a number of companies, and you should detail those duties one time only beneath your job title, which will also include the employer list. For example:

FIRST STAFFING AGENCY, White Plains, New York, 2001 – Present
Administrative Assistant
(XYZ Company, RRT Company, ABC Company, & CDF Company)
* Generate correspondence for staff and senior executives.
* Answer telephone inquiries.
* Maintain inventory of office supplies.

The above is organized and provides relevant data without repetition.

2.  USE THE OPENING SUMMARY TO PROMOTE THE SKILLS IT TAKES TO SUCCEED AS A CONTRACT EMPLOYEE:

Showcase your time management skills (especially if you’ve been asked – at the last moment – to accept a position because of an emergency staff shortage), how you thrive on change and meeting new people, what a quick learner you are (every company has its own policies and procedures that new staff must adhere to), and the range of your skills, which have to be comprehensive in order to move from company to company on short notice. In other words, show the hiring manager that you can make a quick, seamless transition from your contract job into a more permanent position at the targeted company.

3.  SHOWCASE ANY CONTRACT JOBS IN WHICH THE CONTRACT WAS EXTENDED OR YOU WERE ASKED TO STAY ON:

Detail why you were offered a permanent position, and where it led – either to a promotion or to increased responsibility. The key is to show the new hiring manager that you have what it takes to get the job done.

To be effective, a Qualifications Summary must:

1. Provide a snapshot of you as the ideal candidate for the position.

2. Be concise and to the point, addressing what expertise you can bring to the job to benefit the prospective employer.

3. Address pertinent qualifications in the job posting.

4. List your most stellar and recent quantified accomplishment that pertains to your current job search.

5. Provide additional data that enhances your candidacy, including:
A. Linguistic capabilities in foreign languages
B. Certifications
C. Licensure
D. Willingness to travel or to relocate for the new position

6. State specific skills, such as computer proficiencies (if applicable)

7. List your past employers if they are well known, eg: Boeing, Wall Street Journal, Macy’s, AT&T, etc.

8. Work Permits or Green Card data for foreign nationals.

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.

Does that mean you should throw up your hands and give up?

Not at all.

What it does mean is that you need to remain realistic. Gone are the days when a candidate could send out five resumes and receive four calls for interviews and a bidding war for the individual’s services. Today, each of us has to realize that even with a hundred resumes sent out, there may be no call backs. So, we have to submit again and again.

We may also have to take a lesser position to get our foot in the door. We may have to transition to a growing industry if ours is contracting or being outsourced.

A great, accomplishment-based resume is always a terrific way to begin the job hunt. But it’s no longer the be-all and end-all. It’s only one part of a very long process.

The key is to keep submitting your resume, keep looking for opportunities and to recognize an opportunity when it arrives. It may not be what you dreamed about, but it could be the chance for something better in the future.

Government jobs are plentiful even in a down economy. They are also good career-oriented positions with advancement opportunities. Landing a government job is a complex process, but it is well worth the effort if you desire to work in the public sector. Many private-industry job applicants use a standard resume thinking it is the same or just as effective as a Federal resume when applying for a government job. This is not the case. There is certain information that needs to appear on a Federal resume that you would not include on a private-sector resume. The human resource professionals need to see certain information in your application materials in order for you to be considered for further review as an applicant.

Federal Résumés Require More Personal Information

The information you need to provide for a government application (often called a vacancy announcement) includes your full name, complete mailing address, social security number, and your country of citizenship. Vacancy announcements contain a list of what to include in your résumé. If you leave any information out such as your social security number, you might not be considered for the job.

Federal Résumés Need to Align with the Job Announcement

With a standard resume, you might use a qualifications summary to outline your skills and experience that relate to the job you are applying for. With a federal résumé, you use an objective statement that needs to include the job title and department, the position’s grade level (the job’s level of difficulty), and the job announcement reference number. Following the objective statement you include a list of your qualifications that apply to the requirements listed in the job description.

Adhere to all Application Guidelines

Each vacancy announcement includes a “How to Apply” section that tells exactly what application process you need to follow and what information you need to include. It is critical that you provide information for every category in this section because most résumés are electronically scanned before a hiring manager reviews them. The required information often includes your past supervisor’s name and phone number and if that person can be contacted. This section often asks for your highest employment grade level whether you are a veteran or a civilian employee. You won’t be able to provide this information if you are transitioning from the private sector so you could enter N/A. Do not leave any categories blank.

Standard resumes are commonly one-to-two pages. Federal résumés can range from two-to-six pages and must comply with the guidelines required by the government personnel offices. Federal employment can be a good career opportunity if you are prepared and willing to produce a Federal résumé package that promotes you as the “best qualified” candidate for your selected government position.

To request David for your federal or private sector order, please key in his last name (jensen) in the ’select your editor’ field of the online form.

Instead of waiting for a job posting to encompass all of your passions and talents, be proactive and convince the employer to create a position that will be beneficial to everyone involved. When you have a passion for something, your heart and soul goes into the work, and that’s why you need to show the employer he not only needs the service you’re offering, but he needs you to provide the service for optimal results.

If you already have a job but want a different position with the same employer:

On your own time (not on company time), draft a proposal for your supervisor for your idea. Examples of these can include an accountant having a great marketing idea for a product at a company that does not have a marketing department. Be sure to provide clear objectives, cost-saving goals and graphs that pinpoint how the business will benefit from the position and why this would be beneficial for everyone involved. Next, make sure to include your experience in the field and the positive results you’ve had had working in the same capacity for others.

Employers are always looking to get ahead of their competitors so this could be a perfect way for your employer to distinguish himself from everyone else. Volunteer to work on your own time to further the objective within a specific timeframe (i.e. 30 days). If you get results, the employer will give serious thought to hiring you on a more permanent basis in the new capacity.

If you do not have a job or want to change employers:

Write a letter (or formal e-mail) to the employer you’re targeting and let him know what your skills are and how you think you can help his company succeed even more so than at present. Then, in the letter, make sure to put that you are willing to work on an internship basis (even for free) in order to show the company how they can benefit from this new service that you’re willing to provide them.

If the company accepts your offer, you can use the position as a possible road to permanent employment. However, even if the company hires you as an intern and makes it clear they will not have a paid position for you, use the internship as something that you can put on your resume to aid you in your search for a permanent position in that specific field.

Note: Bigger companies that don’t have specific positions to fit your passion may be more willing to take you on as an unpaid intern, and big company experience looks great when you’re trying to gain permanent employment with other companies in the same field.

To request Marina for your resume or cover letter, simply key in her last name (ricci) in the ‘select your editor’ field on the online form.

If unemployment or underemployment has given you more free time than you would normally have, take advantage of that time to make yourself more marketable in the current job scene. 

One of the best ways to increase skills that could be readily used by future employers is to freelance.  Freelancing can include anything from writing to editing to graphic design.  Anything that can be done outside of the office on your home computer is considered freelancing.  This is the perfect opportunity to bring already-refined skills into the open.  Even if the work is unpaid, having work that is published or prominently displayed for future employers in a magazine or Web site is a great way to make your work stand out from the rest of the applicant pool. In addition, the more practice you have in a certain skill area will make your expertise even better.

Another great way to sharpen skills is to obtain a certificate for a certain skill-set at a nearby community college or skill center.  Certificates range from Speed-reading to Leadership.  Not only are these classes discounted because they are in a neighborhood community college, they will also teach or sharpen your skills.  Then, you can use these certificates to obtain an advantage when applying to jobs where most people have the same type of skills at the forefront. 

The best way to sharpen skills and obtain experience that is crucial to future employment, especially in a field outside of your expertise, is to intern.  Internships are up as companies need more staff and have fewer funds.  Thus, unpaid or underpaid internships are everywhere and can be created by companies.  Therefore, if you want to go into an industry where you have little experience, this is an opportunity to obtain it.  In these types of situations, if your work is really phenomenal, there may be a position that opens up in the company during the internship.

When sharpening up skills in this economy, it is important to make your skills and talents stand out from the rest of the applicant pool.  Thus, obtaining publication, certificates or experience that others lack is the fast-track way to getting the job of your dreams.

 To request Marina for your resume or cover letter order, please select her name in the ‘select editor’ field of the online order: http://www.resumeedge.com/ or http://resumeedge.ca/

Let’s go through our “don’t-let-this-happen-to-you” list:

1. Using a suffix after a family name. If you’re a Jr. or a Sr. leave it off. It makes you sound too young or too old. Have a family nickname? Keep it in the family. A resume should have your given name only.
2. Funky email addresses: HateMondays@email.com may sound cool to your friends. To an employer it’s unprofessional.
3. The What-I-Want Objective: A resume is not the time to give an employer your wish list. Use a summary of your skills, instead, to tell them what you can offer.
4. Generic Phrasing: Adept professional, seasoned manager, dynamic candidate. These phrases take up valuable space unless you support them with a quantified accomplishment.
5. Accomplishments That Aren’t: Without the results, they’re daily duties and lose their impact. Always include dollar figures, percentages, and time periods. For example: Grew sales 38% within six months, representing an increase of $100,000 in revenue, through targeted cold calling.
6. Buried Skills: The end of a resume is not the place for important certifications, licensure, or multilingual capabilities. Put them in the opening summary where they won’t be overlooked.
7. Listing Hobbies or Interests: If it’s not pertinent to your career goal, leave it off. White water rafting may make you a liability to the employer’s health care plan.
8. Haphazard Organization: List your most important skills first, followed by the next most important, and so on. Education doesn’t always go at the top or at the bottom of the resume. It and the other sections go where they will most impress.
9. Failure to Target: Consider an employer’s needs when writing your resume. A one-size-fits-all model will likely fail.
10. Use of first person and slang: Resumes are business documents written in the third person. Keep yours conservative and businesslike.

Ten easy reminders to get you started.