Resumes – Worthless or Useful in Getting a Job?
Dec 19, 2009 Resume Help
There are a lot of misconceptions about the resume. A resume will not get you a job. A resume will usually not get you in the door. Only your efforts through cold calls or crafted and targeted cover letters-—to which the resume is an addition or follow-up–or the efforts of others on your behalf will get you in front of the hiring manager. The resume is, however, your “best foot forward.” I should note that some argue that you can craft a resume in such a way that it will get you in the door and more interview offers. Interested? Check out Guerilla Resumes. You will get a lot of creative ideas for making your resume come to life and stand out from the rest of the crowd.
In general and for most cases, however, the following advice should serve you well when it comes to writing a resume:
Important: Think of a resume as a part of what you will talk about, but not whether or not someone will talk to you.
So, How does the good resume help you?
If a resume doesn’t necessarily get you a job, what is it good for? A resume presents relevant information to interested parties in your targeted job search. It doesn’t say everything about you, and is not just a list of everything you’ve done. (There is a different document that does, called a CV, or curriculum vitae, and is mostly used for academic and specialized professions.) A good resume makes the interviewer’s job easier and helps you prepare for the interview. You should send in your resume after you have spoken with a recruiter or hiring manager. Otherwise, their consideration of you for a position will be solely based on your written resume and cover letter.
There is one situation where the resume itself is important to getting you in the door. When you are formally responding to a Human Resources department about advertised job openings. Because recruiters are reviewing more than a hundred applications for any one position, resumes are often used to weed out applicants rather than to match them to a job. This means your resume will be reviewed by human resources staff in terms of what could eliminate you from consideration, rather than an eye for finding good things in it in order to hire you.
So, the bottom line is that resumes are useful in the job search–just not in the way that most think they are. They are useful in helping you prepare for an interview. Also, they help shape the conversation you will have with a prospective hiring manager. Also, when well done they can also demonstrate your professionalism and your ability to communicate in written form. What resumes don’t do: They don’t get you a job or even in front of a hiring manager. The one slight exception is when you are applying to job ads or classifieds. That’s when a resume is used to weed you out of the job applicant pool (hence all the advice about spell checking, good formatting, etc.).
Knowing what the resume truly is for and how to create a standout resume to help you in the job search will go a long way towards helping you get hired. All of this said, there are ways to make your resume standout so it will assist your job search efforts.
Tags: curriculum vitae, CV, job search, Professional, resume writing, Resumes, written job search materials
Can’t find a job? Sue your school!
Aug 3, 2009 News and Trends
This article appeared today on MSNBC. The headline read, Jobless graduate sues her college for $70,000. It was a stark reminder that in the rush to go back to school to get a degree or training in another area in this current dire economic climate, there is no guarantee that investing in that additional training will automatically land you a job. (Promises of the school notwithstanding, which is what the lawsuit argues). No matter the experience or background or additional training you receive, there are certain pro-active steps you must take to show up on employer radar. These steps are outline in the free report on how to get employers to look for you. You will greatly increase your chances of job search interview success if the hiring decisionmaker has heard of you, seen you or spoken with you before the interview.
Tags: education, finding a job, interview, job search, Job., lawsuit, recession, school, sue
New – Amazing Resumes
Jul 26, 2009 Product and Site Reviews
amazing resumes
Who Else Wants Their Phone Ringing Off The Hook With Quality Job Interviews?
Take all the headache out of writing your resume with this software that will automatically generate amazing, quality resumes guaranteed to get you in the door.
Tags: Amazing, job search, resume creator, Resumes, written job search materials
10 things you need to know before you start your job search
Jul 20, 2009 Product and Site Reviews
Have you heard the saying that goes something like execution is three quarters planning? Well, from project management to your job search, thinking through your plan of action is the key to success. You don’t have to know everything, but there are a number of critical pieces of information you need to find out in order to make sure each action you take is going to lead to your next job. You can avoid a lot of time wasting, frustration, dead ends, and a silent phone by asking yourself the following:
Do I…?
1. know what’s on my credit bureau reports and why it’s important in the job search.
2. know how to take care of my finances until I land a new job.
3. know what my major strengths are and the types of work I could perform well.
4. know my values, characteristics and attitudes and can clearly communicate them.
5. I have enough information to present and demonstrate my qualifications.
6. know when I am distressed.
7. know when and how to use a resume, a cover letter, a note card, or a business card
8. know my references and prepared them to respond on my behalf.
9. know how to collect and organize a list of people who I know and turn them into job search contacts.
10. know how to develop a network to reach decisionmakers and hiring managers.
And here’s five more for good measure…
11. know how to develop job leads when you have no network.
12. know what to wear and what not to wear.
13. know how to obtain company information from research.
14. know how to answer ads in a way that guarantees you get called in for an interview.
15. know how to rock an interview!
If there’s even one thing on the list that you are unsure of or think you don’t know, you should definitely consider purchasing one of the few comprehensive job search resources with up to date job hunting advice to get up to speed. The Rainy Day Guide to Finding a Job answers all of the above and then some.
To your success!
Tags: book, hidden, job search, jobs, preparation, prepare
Federal and State Resources for Jobseekers
Jul 15, 2009 Who's Hiring?
While there’s been a lot of talk about the economic stimulus program and federal resources directed at state and local governments, and checks being paid out to individuals to promote economic recovery, did you know that federal and state governments have long had quite extensive resources to locate job opportunities? I’m not talking about registering with your local unemployment office and having to apply for low-wage jobs to keep unemployment going. What this post is referring to are the huge databases of current jobs (both government and private sector), free job search resources (like a computer, desk, stationery, office supplies and career counseling and resume help), and more.
The federal government maintains national employment centers (CareerOneStop.org), and states also have career development resources for jobseekers.
Here is a list of federal and state resources for jobseekers:
CareerOneStop.org
CareerOneStop is a U.S. Department of Labor-sponsored Web site that offers career resources and workforce information to job seekers, students, businesses, and workforce professionals to foster talent development in a global economy
JobCentral.com
JobCentral is provided as a public service by leading U.S. employers. It’s a nonprofit consortium of leading U.S. corporations that works hand in hand with the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA). The idea is for employers to create a national work exchange to lower their recruitment costs. The site has direct access to jobs by member companies. Examples of companies with job openings that belong to JobCentral: US FoodService, Deloitte, International Paper, Pepsico, HSBC, Sun Trust, Maxim Healthcare, Novartis, MSC Industrial Supply, ITT, CoStarGroup, and literally hundreds of the biggest companies with tens or hundreds of thousands of employees that have found a way to keep their recruiting costs down.
Employment and career resources by state
Included here are state workforce agencies and regional onestop employment centers. The majority are government websites, but not all. The defining characteristic for inclusion is that each link lists current, active job opportunities for a particular state.
Follow the links below to state-specific job openings:
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Los Angeles
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
Las Vegas
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
New York City
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Houston
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Tags: federal, government, job search, jobcentral, local, onestop, state, workforce
Top 10 Steps to Get Noticed in Your Field – Free Report
Jun 10, 2009 Downloads
Last year we released a free report, available for FREE download for a limited time only: Top 10 Must-Do Steps to Get Noticed by Potential Employers in Your Field or Industry.
This report showed how:
• How anyone can become a standout in their field and get recruited by employers.
• Why you need to make sure a decisionmaker knows who you are before you approach them for a job or go in for the interview–and how to make that happen.
• Ways to regularly stay in touch with your contacts BEFORE you need them.
• Get on the mailing lists of top executives and decisionmakers in your industry.
• Why you should start a blog and get involved in social networking.
• Many ways to promote yourself without seeming to.
• And much more…!
The report is no longer available for download, but you will find everything in the report and much much more in The Rainy Day Guide to Finding a Job.
To your happiness and prosperity!
Tags: field, industry, information, job search, recruiter, resource, search firm
Surviving the recession
Jun 1, 2009 News and Trends
Economists are currently debating whether or not the recession is officially over. However, if you are among the millions who have recently been laid off or soon will be in the midst of a job search during these touch economic times, the recession is all too real when it comes to finding a job.
On this website, you will find the job search resources to make the most out of your background to generate interviews and secure job offers. However, there can be times when even the best job search material makeover and preparation can still leave you with too few prospects. If you have used the resources on this site and have done everything you can to create incredible job search marketing materials that should keep your phone ringing with interview requests and job offers and you feel that you are still not getting enough response in your current field or you are unemployed and looking for a career change, now could be the time to go back to school, get training and a degree or certification for a new career.
Even when the economy is slowing down, some fields and skill sets will always be in demand. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released projected growth sectors through 2014 and a few careers really stand out in terms of projected demand and salary growth.
High Paying Careers
There is still a high demand for workers in computers, education, health, law, accounting and insurance. For example, US Department of Labor, CNN Money.com and other sources have found that postsecondary teachers and researchers who specialize in math or related, applied subjects, economics, psychology, and languages earn over $100,000 a year. Other high-paying careers include therapists and medical assistants (particularly home health aides), lawyers and paralegals, computer engineers and analysts, as well as insurance actuaries.
A big part of a successful job search is making your credentials are as good as they can be. Always be sure to brush up and stay up to date on your skills, industry trends, new software or procedures and processes. Seek out job training, certification or degree programs if needed. Now could be a great time.
Tags: career, education, job search, pay, recession, salary, training
