The Job Seekers Thread

[Zenster]

In light of the current recession, I'm starting this thread as a way to agglomerate this board's job finding talents. Having recently received some truly useful career counseling, I'd like to share some of the revelations that were bestowed upon me by some really good professionals.

Resumes

A one page resume is still the best way to go unless you are applying for an executive position or have an extensive background that is truly pertinent to the job that you are applying for.

It is critical that your resume begins with a goal or objective statement that specifically mentions the position you are seeking. If you are applying for an advertised job, make sure to mention the position verbatim as it appears in the job ad.

When summarizing your experience try to avoid mentioning in exact terms any employment spans of over five years. Obscene as it may sound, employers have begun to discriminate against individuals who have remained in a single job for over ten years. Such stability is currently viewed as not being conducive to growth and learning. When noting lengthy employment in a given position, simply say, “Over five years experience with …”.

Many large corporations now use OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology to pre-screen resumes prior to them ever reaching the hands of a human being. This has caused a significant change in how your resume should be structured.

Just below your goal or objective statement should appear a short list of qualifications. The list should include your academic accomplishments and all prior experience that has a direct bearing on the job you are applying for.

It is of vital importance that you include the exact terms used in the job advertisement when describing your own qualifications. They must be listed verbatim along with your own mention of prior experience in performing similar tasks.

All of the above must appear within the first half-page of your resume. The OCR system will dismiss your application if it does not find these exact terms before then. This rule of thumb also applies in general as you have somewhere between fifteen and thirty seconds to grab a human resource worker’s attention when they read your resume.

Whenever possible, use bulleted lists to describe important aspects of your current or previous positions. Try to avoid using more than three or four bullets at any given time.

Each entry on your resume should make specific mention of the position you held along with the period of employment.

Strange as it seems, there is no longer such an emphasis placed upon noting the address and location of previous employers. A phone number is often all that is needed.

Along with each entry should also be a mention of major accomplishments for each position held. Always have at least one and limit the list to about three items.

Refrain from mentioning personal traits. This is no longer of such importance unless your activities have direct bearing upon the position being applied for. For instance, volunteer work could be relevant if you are seeking a job with a non-profit corporation.

The above represents some basic guidelines about resume writing. Please post any questions or personal observations that you would like to share. Especially those tips or ideas that pertain to a successful placement. More to follow.

[Q.E.D.]

Moved from Q&A -> Jibba Jibba.

[Kat]

Do you know of any sites with example resumes? (No, I'm not currently seeking, but who knows what the near future could bring.)

[Jill]

Do you know of any sites with example resumes? (No, I'm not currently seeking, but who knows what the near future could bring.)

When my husband first moved here I demolished his 3 page résumé and completely reformatted it from long, descriptive paragraphs to this. He took it to a professional career counselor who told him she wouldn't change a thing, well, except maybe listing dates first and the positions he held second, but that wasn't even that important. It actually didn't have the Vivendi/Universal job on it when she saw it -- that was the job he actually got using this résumé. It was updated with that job to keep it current, and found online by a headhunter from Paramount Pictures, who recruited him away with an offer at nearly double his salary.

(FTR, although I no longer do, I worked in the job placement industry for several years, though not specifically as a "career counselor".)

[tirial]

http://www.cvtips.com/resume.html has a few tips about creating different types of resumes, for different countries.

[criminey.jicket]

Google image search "sample resumes".

[Zenster]

Resumes and Cover Letters:

Another trick that can be useful in convincing a Human Resource bot to hire you is the following format:

Create a cover letter that uses a two-column approach, with the left-hand column being a bulleted list of skills mentioned in the employer's job description and the right-hand column being another bulleted list of similar duties or tasks that you have performed.

If necessary, you can edit or slightly rephrase lengthy passages of the employer's job description but such tampering should be kept to a bare minimum. The key is to carefully reword your own right-hand items so that they convey your abilities without mimicking the employer's description.

For readability, try to match the sentence length of each bullet so that they visually align on the page. This enhances the impact of your "yeah, I've done that" format.

NEVER use form letters or pre-formatted resumes. Most HR bots have seen them all and a lack of creativity can be a total interview killer.

NEVER use the word "I" in your resume. If the reader wants to know who it is they're reading about, they need only look at the page's top. Some HR bots will bin your resume for this transgression alone.

The word "I" is permissible in cover letters.

Avoid switching tense when describing previous duties and experience.

Avoid mixing fonts, bullet styles or using multiple indentations that can visually garble your information.

Use acronyms sparingly, if at all. While the actual supervisor who will hire you may know what they mean, an HR bot may not and end up binning your application because of it.

Carefully proofread your resume and cover letter. DO NOT rely upon spellcheck, it is not your friend. Spelling errors can kill an otherwise good resume or cover letter. If possible, have a friend proofread your documents for you. The same goes for grammar, too. Avoid using the same word more than once in a given sentence, or even in the next sentence.

Use this simple trick to gauge the quality of your writing. Read it out loud. Your writing should convert into clear and easy-to-understand speech. If the spoken version is uneven, the written part is probably hard to read as well.

Use the "Olympics" sorting method to determine how much effort you will put into pursuing a position. Sort various prospects into Bronze, Silver and Gold categories.

Bronze: Boilerplate resume and cover letter with only the objective line being tailored.

Silver: Resume and cover letter adapted to specifically mention the employer's job description along with your qualifications. This means rewording your objective line and qualifications section.

Gold: Tailor-made resume and cover letter for that one employer and position.

One caveat: Do not submit identical resumes or cover letters when applying for multiple positions with a single employer. This will be interpreted as laziness or inability to articulate your specific qualifications.

Be very attentive about how an employer requires you to submit your resume. Due to computer viruses, many hirers will no longer accept attachments and, instead, require that your resume be in the email's body of text. Attaching your resume will see your application dismissed without review. Additionally, emailing can distort or totally ruin special indentations and other formats. For this reason, it is good to have an email-formatted resume to submit on such occasions. As a quick test, email the resume to yourself and then see how it looks.



Some interviewing pointers:

Know your resume by heart. If you are unable to repeat significant passages of the document you have submitted, it will look like you had someone else write it for you.

Always save one or two high points to trot out regarding your past positions. Simple statistics, like doubling sales in a single quarter or other factoids go over quite well.

NEVER mention negative aspects of previous jobs unless specifically requested to do so. Even then, avoid scathing or overly negative portrayals of anyone or any organization, even if they are true.

Avoid discussion of politics, religion or sex like the plague. Rarely can you make any useful points with such talk and those subjects can be absolute landmines during an interview.

When confronted with the old trick question of; "What is your worst fault?", be prepared to put a positive spin on it. Like: "I like to complete projects by day's end for hand-off to the next shift."

When asked what your best traits are, use the opportunity to communicate your most developed skills. Don't be shy about letting the interviewer know that you are qualified and ready to go to work.

In many cases, one picture is worth a thousand words. If there is an opportunity to show examples of your work, be sure to have some with you.

The same goes for letters of reference. You should always have hard copies of any letters of recommendation from past jobs. Letters from co-workers do not carry anywhere near the weight of ones from supervisors and management.

ALWAYS have a few extra hard copies of your resume with you during your interview. Nothing is worse than sitting down to a panel of interviewers and forcing them to pass around your resume or run out to copy it for you. The same goes for letters of recommendation and work examples.

If you do not have a personal business or calling card, GET SOME. VistaPrint and other online printers will make them for free. A calling card makes it easy for a receptionist to announce you and provides a quick form of contact during chance meetings.

If you are nervous when interviewing or have trouble making conversation, please consider attending Toastmasters International. It is a public speaking organization whose minimal dues are well worth the price. They can train you to deliver spoken information like a pro. Stuttering or mumbling your way through an interview can kill your prospects.

An interview is your golden opportunity to sell yourself. Don't compromise it by dressing poorly. It is always better to overdress than to under-dress. Some corporate cultures are unpredictable so choose your apparel carefully.

Learn to read the body language of people that interview you. It is vital to recognize when they are withdrawing or connecting with you. This can make or break an interview. Plus, reading a person properly will cue you about what interests them so that you can elaborate on your best points.

Always be prepared for your interview. Do an online search about the company and read their own news releases. This will give you talking points and impress prospective employers with your diligence. Learning more about the employer's products or services will help you to better connect past experience with their needs. Few things are more persuasive than connecting those dots during an interview.


Finally, your social and professional network is your most powerful job hunting tool. Many companies will only hire people recommended to them by their own employees. Friends and colleagues will be able to tell you about internal positions before they open up to the public. More importantly, a company employee can bypass the HR bots and hand off your resume directly to the person who makes the hiring decision. It is impossible to overstate how important this head start can be.

Please continue to ask any questions that will help your job hunting. All observations and contributions are welcome. If you want an example of how harsh this current job market is, a janitorial position in Ohio paying all of $15.00 per hour received some 700 applications last week. Be prepared for some fierce competition out there. Good hunting.