04 Dec 09 Avoiding Resume Mistakes When Job Hunting
Hunting for work means writing, or updating your resume numerous times. Especially if you want to apply for a broad range of jobs, and increase the likelihood that you’ll be chosen for one. The importance of personalizing your resume cannot be understated, especially if you want to stand out from the crowd. But in addition to avoiding writing mundane formatted resumes, here are a few more pitfalls you’ll want to side step.
Make sure your resume is properly up to date. The last thing anybody wants to see is an old resume that you’ve been using for a few years. That shows no initiative, a lack of effort, and will reflect poorly on your work ethic. You definitely don’t want a potential boss counting strikes against you before you even have a chance to interview.
Keep your resume professional. While I always stress making your resume unique and tailored to each job that you apply for, don’t step out of the professional mold. Keep your font generic and readable, and stick to the standard resume format. Just tailor the information to each job that you apply for. That’s the best way to make a great impression.
Don’t send your resume without a cover letter. The cover letter is the standard starting point of any application, and a resume sent without one is incomplete. The resume only serves as a list of professional accomplishments and goals, the cover letter is where you put these into perspective with your personality. The cover letter sells you, and shows that you are the best employee for the job. Take advantage of the opportunity.
Finally, make your objective statement absolutely clear. You have to have a clear cut idea of what you intend to give, and get from the job you are applying to get. This is extremely important to a potential employer, so you want the statement to be as clear and understandable as possible. You wouldn’t want someone tripping over the first, and most vital part of your resume.
Tags: Boss, Cover Letter, Crowd, Initiative, Job Hunting, Likelihood, Mold, Objective Statement, Personality, Perspective, Pitfalls, Professional Accomplishments, Resume Format, Resume Job, Resume Mistakes, Resumes, Send Resume, Side Step, Strikes, Work Ethic
20 May 09 Find Your Dream Job, Whether They’re Hiring Or Not
You’re not going to find your dream job by searching internet job boards, or Google-ing for openings at companies that you would love to work for. Mostly because a large majority of corporations just don’t have the time or effort necessary to commit to that scale of a job search. Simply put, it takes much too much of a company’s vital resources to start a hiring period, unless it’s absolutely necessary. Mostly because the company needs somebody to overlook and run the process, usually a dedicated employee concentrating only on finding the right people throughout the hiring process. Not everyone can free up a salary and spot in the corporation for such a person.
Which is exactly why it’s much more proactive and you’ll net better results by finding jobs for yourself, instead of waiting for them to pop up on the job boards. What you need to do is network yourself. Find the companies you would like to work for, or the jobs that you want, and get connected to them.
First, search for the people you want to work for, whether they seem to have any job openings or not. You might just have exactly what they didn’t even know they were looking for. Next you want to get in touch with their human resources department, as in almost every case, HR handles employee hiring and terminations. Although another common tactic, but one with a lower rate of success, is to contact management heads. This can either pay off completely, or fail miserably, as managers usually have very busy schedules, and if you don’t impress almost immediately, you are doomed to be completely forgotten.
From here you basically want to send a friendlier variation on the sort of cover letter you would send with your resume. Make your intentions clear, that you’re interested in a job, introduce yourself, and personalize everything to let them know your qualifications shortlist and why you want to work for that company. Try that enough and you’re bound to find somebody that didn’t even know they needed you, thereby landing a much better job than you could have found searching Monster.com for the umpteenth time.
Tags: Corporations, Cover Letter, Dream Job, Find Job, Finding Jobs, Google, Hiring Process, Human Resources Department, Ing, Internet Job Boards, Job Hiring, Job Openings, Job Search, Job Searching, Salary, Send Resume, Tactic, Terminations, Variation, Vital Resources
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