How To Create a Polished Resume

A “How To” Series on Marketing Yourself to Employers
By Lily Henderson

Everyone will tell you that it is important to have a polished resume, because it is the first piece of information that an employer will see about you when considering you as a candidate for the position they wish to fill. There is a myth floating around that employers use some kind of program to quickly scan resumes, and kick out the candidates whose resumes don’t meet the criteria for the job. Well, it isn’t exactly a “myth” but so many people will spend their time loading their resume up with key words they feel this “program” will pick up and send their resume to the “interview” pile. These efforts are useless. You should worry less about making yourself sound perfect for any job, and worry about finding the job that best suits your experience, education, and skills. Looking for any job will usually result in finding the wrong job, not having the experience enough for the job you are hired for, and eventually put you back on the market looking for employment. It is worse to have a job you are not qualified for than to have no job at all. Let’s break it down, and find out what is the most crucial elements to having a resume that will have the employers calling you none-stop.

The Tale of Two Cover Letters

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times, but mostly the worse for anyone looking for a job.

Creating a polished resume goes far beyond just creating the resume. The cover letter is just as important, if not more so, than the resume itself. While it is perfectly acceptable to have just one resume, you should have a specialized cover letter for each job you are applying for. The employer can read your resume, but still not feel they know enough about your qualifications, and whether you would be a good fit for the company. A cover letter gives you the opportunity to allow the employer to obtain the information about you they cannot glean from simply reading your resume.

Not only is it crucial that you include detailed information about yourself, you must also be specific when addressing the employer. If the information is available, you need to address your letter to the person responsible for filling the position. If this information is unavailable, using the name of the company is acceptable, or addressing it to the HR department is also suitable. If none of this information is available in the job posting you may also begin with “Dear Employer,” however, I would avoid doing so whenever possible. The employer wants to know that you have taken the time to review the qualifications for the job, and are confident in yourself to be able to fulfill these obligations. To do this, you have to have fully reviewed the job post, including the information about the company; who they are and what they do, and why you feel you are a good fit for this position. Also, you need to take this time to site exactly why you feel you are qualified for this job.

Using a Resume Objective
When resumes were first utilized to gain employment, employers were interested in resume objective statements. They would primarily use this information to determine a candidate’s long-term goals. There is some controversy on whether or not to use an objective statement in the opening of your resume. Many people feel it is as important as including your contact information, others believe it is unnecessary. This is one of those things that really just depend on the employer. Some employers won’t read them at all, while others are curious, and ask you about your objective statement. Mostly, this is just useless information that the employer isn’t truly concerned with. So use your best judgment when creating your resume as whether or not to include this information. I haven’t used an objective statement on my resume for over 5 years.

Know Your Qualifications
A common mistake that people make is under-estimating their qualifications. Your previous job may have been as a telemarketer, does that mean you should only apply for positions working in a call center? No. What it means is that you know how to work in a calling center, but most likely the primary skills learned at that job were customer service, communication skills, problem-solving skills, and having the ability to redirect a customer’s thoughts to your way of thinking. These are most likely all the skills you would obtain in this line of work. So what does that mean for an unemployed telemarketer? You can branch out some from the job title you used to have. How many other positions can you think of that require customer service skills, communication skills, and/or problem-solving skills? There are so many different jobs that require these skills. But just as I mentioned before, while it is okay to look for a job beyond your last position’s title, you should still make sure it is a job for which you are qualified. Knowing what skills you obtained during your time of employment will help you in determining which information to include in your resume. When I am updating my resume I retrieve the information my employer gave me about the job description and responsibilities for my position. I post that, as well as any additional responsibilities I took on during my time in that position.

Formatting Concerns
Formatting is an issue that everyone deals with. How to include all the information without writing a book about your work history is where people go wrong all the time. First and foremost, your resume should be only one page long, two tops. This doesn’t of course include your cover letter, but all-in-all, if you send more than three pages you have sent too much. Also, play with the margins. It doesn’t have to be one full inch from the edge of the paper. I use text boxes in a word document so that I don’t have to mess with the margins of the entire page, plus this offers maneuverability for quick and easy format editing, and offers more space for crucial information. If you still struggle with fitting everything on one or two pages, remove the information from your resume and include it in your cover letter.

Professional Resume Writers
A professional resume writer, such as myself, is a person who is paid to write resumes. We know the best formatting for the type of resume you may need, we know all the key words employers look for, and we can write you a cover letter that can easily be personalized by the applicant. If you don’t have the skills to articulate how great of a candidate you are, a professional will be able to assist you with looking as good on paper as you are in person. These services range from $50-200 per resume, depending on the rates of the writer. I charge $50 for the cover letter, $75 for the first page of the resume, and $25 for each additional page. While, this may seem like a lot of money, especially for someone who is unemployed, you should consider this an investment in your future.

Visit http://www.absoluteknowitall.com./ A great place for employers and job seekers to meet.

How To Conduct A Proper Job Search

A “How To” Series on Marketing Yourself to Employers
By Lily Henderson

With the unemployment rate continuing to rise, those who are looking for a job often find themselves overwhelmed and easily discouraged during this process. They are unsure of what is entailed in a proper job search. Many will visit a few websites or job posting boards, fill out a few applications, and sit and wait for the phone to ring. When this doesn’t bring results frustration often sets in. They are unfamiliar with what makes for a successful job search.

A successful job search goes far beyond just knowing the popular job posting websites, or creating a networking site profile. There are even more important things than having a polished resume. While all of these things are important, the most important tool in marketing yourself to employers is conducting a proper search. There are three key principles to success when looking for a job.

Finding a Job Is Your Job.

The amount of time you spend looking for a job will directly reflect the number of interviews you will be called in for. Just as in any sales job, the key to success is numbers. The more times you post your resume, or apply for a job, the greater likelihood that you will find a job. This doesn’t mean that you should apply for every job available. An unemployed plumber is not going to get the job working as a doctor in a hospital, but he may get the job working as a sanitation specialist for a local corporation. But unless he is actively searching for a job every day, by the time that he does come across the job posting another qualified applicant has already applied, and will probably interview before the plumber even submits his resume. By being one of the first candidates to apply you will increase your chances of being called in for an interview.

Someone who is unemployed should be actively seeking employment 3 to 5 days a week, 6 to 8 hours each day. This may seem like a lot, but if you are unwilling to spend at least 20 hours a week looking for a job, you can’t expect to find one.

Know All Your Resources.

Sometimes you may not know exactly where to go when looking for a job. Job posting websites are an excellent source for looking for employment. Whether you visit a well-known, nationally advertised employment website or something more locally owned and operated. There are hundreds and sometimes thousands of jobs posted on these websites. I would recommend finding a site that posts all these jobs from your local area in one place, a site like www.absoluteknowitall.com/.

Another great source is a job resource center. These community-run facilities offer free computer access, classes for creating resumes, and many other services. They will sometime even provide practice interviews with someone who can coach you on proper interview educate. Many employers will even post jobs on a bulletin board at these centers. I recommend these types of facilities for people who are unfamiliar with the more basic steps to finding a job. These services tend to be reserved for people who are in low income households, but if you have been unemployed for a significant amount of time, you probably qualify for this assistance.

In addition to websites and resource centers it is a good idea to apply at employment agencies. You don’t have to be the only one looking for a job for you. These agencies have professional relationships with employers from all around your local area, and have the competitive edge in job placement that you will not obtain on your own.

Create a Job Tracker.

A job tracker is where you will be able to log in all of the important information about jobs for which you have applied. The information that should be included in the tracker is company name, position title, contact person, date you applied, method of applying (i.e. email, postal mail, fax), job source (i.e. agency, website), benefits provided, qualification requirements, etc. You should also include information about whether you were called in for an interview. You may find the need to edit this form a few times before you find a format that works for you. But be careful not to spend too much time creating this form. You don’t want to take away from valuable time you could use to actually be looking for a job.

The importance of a job tracker is to help you keep this information in a form for quick reference when called in for an interview, and so that you can track which sources were most successful for finding that opening. This will help you know how to further spend your time looking for a job. The tracker is also a very helpful tool in providing you with the basic information about the job, so that when you are called in for an interview you will sound professional and knowledgeable about the position when setting up the interview. Instead of saying, “uh, which job is this for?”

These are just the first few steps of many for successfully finding a job. A few other steps you can take before your interview is to review as much information as you can about the company you will be interviewing with. Visit their website if they have one, or conduct a Google search. It also helps to know what people say about them at the Better Business Bureau. You should know as much as you can about what products and services they offer. Know who the important people are at the company, and obtain as much information as you can about the position you are applying for. The more prepared you are when you go in for the interview, the more you will stand out to the employer as the perfect candidate to fill the position.

For more information on local jobs available in your area, go to www.absoluteknowitall.com

Interviews Gone Wrong!

Interviews Gone Wrong
A Series
Patrice
Patrice- Patrice got herself fired before she was ever hired.  She never knew what hit her.  It was painful to watch.  She was bright, beautiful, charming, and approachable.  She presented herself well and was professional.  Patrice came into a downtown Portland business and job shadowed my boss one rainy winter afternoon.  Her enthusiasm was genuine and it was apparent the big guy liked her right away.  David Carrera surrounded himself with attractive apprentices in his high end hair salon and day spa.  He was known for holding high standards in the salon and twice weekly classes that all new hires must attend for the better part of their first year ensured this.
Patrice knew the best way to get her foot in the door and stand out among the many applicants, was to come in on her own time, essentially volunteer a few hours doing what others hoped to do after a vetting process, and then secure an entry level position she would endure for ten to twelve months, all for a chance at a coveted position as a stylist or junior stylist in the salon.
And so, dressed impeccably, hair and make-up done to perfection, and in high heels, Patrice swept hair, shampooed hair, towel-dried hair, and all the while made chit-chat with the master stylist himself, David Carrera.  As she did, she complimented him, asked questions, and generally presented herself as someone who would fit in well among the existing staff.  Patrice was a smart young woman and it soon showed.  She proved she would have fit in with not only existing staff, but with the savvy clientele, too.
This was a fabulous strategy, and one can be used in other contexts beyond the beauty industry.  To volunteer two to four hours- even a whole day- is a great investment.  You will find out if this is the environment you want to work in in a much more meaningful way by actually working in it than you will by sitting across from a conference table.  You will be interviewing them as much as they will be interviewing you.
But back to Patrice and how she lost the job before she even got it- I already told you she looked great, handled herself like a pro, and was creative.  It was easy to read the boss’s face and see he was going to put her at the top of the short list for interviews.  He admired her spunk, it was clear.  He kept it professional, but the banter soon became relaxed, and I knew he liked her.  So what happened that took Patrice from “Yeah baby!” to “Not even maybe!”?
The ugly turn came when Patrice offered too much information.  She started bragging about her three small children.  We all love out children.  That is not to be disputed.  And this is not about how she gushed much too long about them, which she did.  She should not have, but in truth she should not have even mentioned them in this context.
David knew from experience that a young mother would be, by necessity, taking a number of days off to care for her children when they were ill.  He worked with women, remember?  This was not his first rodeo, and Patrice had just told him she had three children.  The spark left his eyes.  He lost interest in a matter of a couple of seconds.  I knew.  He knew.  She, however, had no idea, and continued to try and impress as him as she swept clippings and served coffee to clients.  She was allowed to finish the day, and possibly interview, but from that exact moment, her chances at a job in that particular establishment were zero.  She had shot herself in the foot and had no idea she had done so.  She had really wanted that job.  It was sad.
I could not tell her, as I stood awkwardly nearby that day, but I can tell you: Do not give away too much information to a potential employer. 
There are laws that protect you from a potential employer asking about your marital status, religious background, HIV status, number of children, and so on, but there are no laws against stupidity.  Therefore employers usually will ask you of there are any other things you would like to tell them about yourself.  This open ended question is everyone’s opportunity to divulge too much.  You are under no obligation to tell your future employer anything.  You may give a little detail about a hobby if you choose to, but spilling your guts is only going to hurt you.  I accidentally did myself a good thing in this scenario once- I had told my potential employer I had no husband, no children, no boyfriend, and no pets.  It was dumb luck.  I didn’t know any better than to say too much either, but in my case I had said the right thing.  David hired me that day.
Submitted by Carmen Lohkamp 
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