26 Feb 10 A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – XIV
This post contains the last set of tips on changes you need to bring in your résumé to get the job you want. Like the tips shared in the previous posts, these are bite-sized and actionable. Do not just read and forget. Work on it. And that too as soon as you can.
Keep it short and simple
I will not add stupid to above because I know you are not that. You are quite smart, and in your 45 years you have also understood the power of simplicity. And believe me when I say that simplicity works in résumé as well. No one likes to read a CV-epic, so keep it short and simple. Mention only those things that really, really matters for the job you are applying for. Keeping it short will help you keep it focused. Focus is another important thing.
Use chronological not function résumé
A new trend of using functional résumé —the type in which skills are mentioned in a cluster— has caught the fancy of young job seekers. Yes with young job seekers, particularly those who are looking for a career change, so let it remain confined to young people only. You do not need to follow the trend because in mid-aged job seekers the use of functional in place of chronological résumé is seen as an attempt to hide age. Well, I understand you do not intend to do that, and I am equally certain that you will not get even a 10 seconds of personal time with employers to explain this to them, so why take chances? Go with a résumé that lists your experience in chronologically. If you are too much in love with functional résumé then use it in combination of chronological one.
Write emphatic cover letter
Although cover letter has come at the end of pour discussion on résumé, it does not take away the importance assigned to a cover letter by your employer. A cover letter is your elevator pitch, and the emphatic it is the greater is the chances of your being called for a personal interview. A great cover letter makes your résumé stand out from the crowd of hundreds of faceless curricula vitae.
With this our discussion on résumé comes to an end. I hope you will apply these principles in your own CV. From the next post in the series we shall discuss about interviews and about ways to handle tough questions. Till then keep applying the principles taught so far.
Tags: 45 Years, Attempt, Career Change, Cover Letter, Crowd, Cv, Elevator Pitch, Epic, Job Guide, Job Help, Job Search, Job Seekers, Looking For A Career, New Trend, Personal Interview, Personal Time, Search People, Simplicity Works, Stupid, Young People
21 Feb 10 A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – XIII
In the last couple of posts, we talked about résumé and the role it plays in building your case for your employment. We will continue this discussion in two more posts. In this part, we will see what all you can do to fine-tune your résumé.
Wear your Employer’s Shoes
Well, not literally. What I meant was you need to have a fresh look at your résumé to see how a person on the other side of the table will look at it. Put yourself in your employer’s shoes and see if you would have called a person carrying this résumé for the interview? There is no point for being right, so do not lie to yourself. This exercise is done solely to find problem in your CV.
See what is the flavor of the market
Tight fitting, camel toe revealing outfit might be a huge fashion in yesteryears, but today if you wear it you will look funny—I am not a fashion person so I might be wrong here. But, I know I am not wrong when I say you need to use the format that looks modern. See what format is used these days, and follow that trend. You may be 45, but your résumé should not look that old. Dress it up like youth does!
What’s the new lingo
In your youth, hyperlink and HTML would have meant nothing, but today it does. There are many similar changes in terminology of almost every field. Find out what words got omitted and what got added to your field in last couple of years, or from the time you last checked. Embrace the change, at least in your résumé. It will tell your employer how much you are unlike your age, I meant up-to-date with current trend.
We all new to adapt and evolve with time, this is the only way we can sustain ourselves. Keep on working, and keep on evolving.
Tags: Camel Toe, Current, Cv, Exercise, Fashion, Fine Tune, Fresh Look, Hyperlink, Job Guide, Job Help, Job Search, Lingo, Search People, Shoes, Yesteryears
20 Feb 10 A Job-Search Guide to Help People Over 45 – XII
Your Curriculum vitae is your strategic weapon that you can use to deal a deadly blow to your competitors while securing your position with a prospective employer. Hence, it better be good. You should always focus on sharpening your weapon (keep your résumé up-to-date) which may require you to take some classes. Let’s move forward and see what needs to be done to nab the job that was not “claimed” to be suitable for a 40 plus individual.
Show you can evolve
No one likes anything static, not even you and so does your employer. The main reason why he wants young people in his team lies in the fact that young people have up-to-date knowledge and they are ready to evolve. Show the same degree of commitment by taking extra classes to train yourself. Enroll to some vocational courses or training classes that will put you at par with youth in their 20s, in terms of technology and knowledge. Mention this on your CV, your prospective employer will take notice of it, and you will get duly rewarded for your hard work with a job and better salary.
Talk about experience
If you have not spent 40 years of life daydreaming or sleepwalking then you definitely have accumulated some kind of skill set that will make the job you are applying a piece of cake for you, well at least easy. In your résumé talk about your experience from the related fields, this along with your commitment to evolve with time (read above) will give you an edge which will be hard for your younger competitors to surpass.
Keep it Up-to-date
Do you know what the first company you worked with call itself these day? Or do you know who has taken the ownership? Are these details in your résumé? Contact the companies that you are mentioning in your CV under experience or past employer columns and ask about their names, locations, phone numbers, and people in charge. Finding it may or may not be difficult. It depends upon the kind of companies you worked in. If those were big corporate giants then you may be knowing their details already, but if they were small setups then you need to visit their office or call your old colleagues for the detail.
Always remember, nothing is impossible not even at this age. Well, I meant almost nothing. You cannot put toothpaste back inside the tube from which it has been squeezed. Try it, you cannot. But getting a job is far much easier than that. Talk to you in the next post, till then keep looking and stay calm!
Tags: Corpora, Curriculum Vitae, Cv, Deadly Blow, Extra, Job Guide, Job Help, Job Salary, Job Search, Knowledge, People Finding, Phone Numbers, Piece Of Cake, Prospective Employer, Search People, Skill Set, Train, Young People
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