Tips for Building a Targeted Resume
Millions of job seekers looking for great career opportunities pound the pavement and troll the on-line job boards monthly with resumes in hand. Unfortunately many of those resumes will be less than perfect. Frankly, most will be bad.
Despite the volume of FREE resume writing advice on line, in college career centers and libraries stocked with FREE job search resources, most job seekers still do a last minute rush job with their resumes and hope for the best.
If you are an upcoming college grad trying to write a targeted resume here are some pointers to focus attention on the Education section of your resume.
1. Move Education close to the top of the resume – The EDUCATION section on the college resume immediately follows the RESUME OBJECTIVE, if you choose to have one. It should not go to the bottom of the resume or after your EXPERIENCE. The fact that you are completing your college degree is the single most marketable thing that employers are interested in right now. It needs to be in the top 30% of your resume.
2. High School Activities – As a rule, do not mention High School beyond your college Sophomore year unless you had a significant and outstanding accomplishments there. For example if you held leadership roles, set academic or athletic records and you can add them without exceeding a page – go ahead and include them. If you are in college and beyond your Sophomore year, you should have had enough activities in college to replace the ones from high school. If you do not, make that your goal. If you are a skilled worker without a college degree, try to focus on any on-the-job training or apprenticeships you have done.
3. Can You Name Your Degree or certificate? Visit the Registrar’s office on campus to find out the correct name of your program. Did you receive a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration or a Bachelor in Business Administration? Is it a BS, BA or BBA? You should know this and state it correctly on your college resume.
4. Major – What was your area of emphasis within your degree? Was there an emphasis? Did you double major? Did you have a Minor?
5. Coursework and Projects – When listing relevant coursework on the college resume, avoid repeating the subject names. Listing both English “I” & English “II” really means nothing to the recruiter. Eliminate “I” & “II” and try “English, 2 years” instead. It saves space and gives a sense of advanced studies. Include non-trivial projects and coursework that demonstrate your ability to work with teams or practically apply your knowledge.
6. Graduation Date – Many college students, grads and anew alumni will add the date they started college, but omit the date they will actually graduate. Do not leave the recruiter guessing about your graduation date. This is important especially if you are not on the 4-year or 5-year college track anymore.
7. Status – If you are a college student are you a Freshman, Sophomore, Junior or Senior? If you started college, but did not finish your program, state the number of credits accumulated. This really gives recruiters a sense of how much knowledge you might have already acquired and therefore what internship roles within the company might be best for you.
8. GPA – Is it a requirement for the college students’ resume? NO it is not. Will it work against you if you omit it from your resume? It very well could. The fact is that recruiters want to know what your college GPA is. If low, it is better to let them know up front but have an explanation for why it is low, rather than try to hide it. Without an explanation, the recruiter might second guess your qualifications or think that you have a poor work ethic. State both Overall GPA and a Major GPA if it tells a better story.
9. Certifications, Honors and Awards – Did you gain any certifications throughout your college experience? Food Safety, CPR or technical certifications like Cisco Certification are a great way to showcase a commitment to go above and beyond. Highlighting academic honors and awards you received will go a long way to set you apart from other candidates as well.
10. Language and Technical Proficiencies – Do NOT claim technical or language proficiencies that you do not possess. It only takes a simple conversation for a recruiter to spot a fake quickly. It is so much more powerful to leave it off the college resume, but mention knowledge of a language or technical skill in the interview.
Once your resume is complete, have it proof read by a career professional. Many online services are available to help you with FREE resume critiques and can offer feedback to help you increase positive response to your resume.
Resumes For Applying For A Great Job
Niche Resumes are always considered to be the first step for lending a great job. The question might be arising in reader mind for, how necessary resumes are for securing a job? Here goes the answer for same; resumes are all very important documents on which the interviewee is judged. The Niche resumes for jobs plays an outstanding role for securing the job. Job is considered to be the primary and the basic step for the interview and also it is the first step of communication between he interviewee and the company or an interviewer.
This is undoubtedly true that without the proper Niche resume, securing job is next to impossible. Though, you are filled with all awesome qualities but unless the resume is presented in best manner, one can not proceed for the second step. Before applying for a new job it is recommended to be well equipped with niche Resume. A Niche resume should be so framed that there is all necessary content included with a simple look that can easily attract the interviewer toward it.
Resume should be very clear with, proper mention of the positive sides of the candidate as well as the negative side with the hobbies, qualifications, job experience and other necessary things. There are several ways for construction of Niche resumes with all best qualities and best contents too.
Today’s companies are widely open for those who will be capable enough o bring their values into the business. Show up Resume in the outstanding manner. There is only one way found to present your emotion and ability via resume. There are two types of resume first is American resume while the other is U.K Resume (also known as C.V). There are different ways of preparing resumes like; Chronological resume, Functional resume and combination resume.
1) Chronological resume mainly consist of niche resumes for job purpose with inclusion of employment history that may be salary package, date of joining and other related questions. This also includes details about experience in documentation form.
2) Functional resume imparts comparatively less importance over experience and other job detail as Chronological resume does. The Functional resumes have inclusion of qualification at the top of the document with other details of schooling and work experience.
3) Combination Resume states its quality by its name. This is mixed frame for preparation of resume of Chronological resume and Functional resume. This resume is preferred by many professionals.
5 Cover Letter Tips: Do What Most Job Seekers Don’t
Although your cover letter is as significant as your resume, career and job coaches put more emphasis on writing a good cover letter for obvious reasons – prospective employers usually read the cover letter first. For most employers, a resume is a kind of “fact sheet” that supports the academic and professional accomplishments you highlight in your cover letter. There’s no such thing as a \”one size fits all” cover letter when applying for a job. You will probably be targeting different types of jobs in your search, so it is crucial that you adapt your cover letters to fit the needs of each particular employer. Below are 5 tips that will help you write the kind of stellar cover letters that set you apart from the crowd and get noticed by employers. Write for the Employer – Not Yourself Your letter should be precise and must strictly address the needs of the employer.
All too often, job seekers make the mistake of writing long and detailed letters, only to ignore the needs of the company. Your employers are too busy to go through mundane letters – and if you write a cover letter that is all about you and don’t address their needs, they are bound to ignore your job application. Show Your Enthusiasm Too many job seekers write cover letters that are mere synopses of their resumes. Recruiters want candidates who are enthusiastic, passionate about their work, and eager to shoulder new responsibilities. In your cover letter, you must indicate your eagerness to learn new skills and adapt yourself to a new work culture. It’s your job to convince them that you have that ‘X’ factor that sets you apart from the rest of the crowd. Highlight the Most Important Facts from Your Resume You may be a great artist or a volunteer in your community, but unless the employer is specifically asking for this experience, you don’t need to put it in your cover letter. For instance, you may be a great painter, but if you are applying for the position of a graphic designer, recruiters will be put off to see other skills being emphasized in your cover letter. Focus only on those specific skills in your resume that are required for that particular job. Include Facts about the Company You employers will be thoroughly impressed if your cover letter indicates your knowledge about the company and its mission.
Educate yourself about the company, its recent accomplishments and the nature of their business before you write that cover letter. These days, almost any company can be researched on the Internet, so there is simply no excuse for not doing this. Be Aggressive With Your Follow-Up Request After all, you are writing to them for a specific purpose. In the concluding paragraph, you must request an appointment and express your willingness to come in for an interview. Tell the prospective employer that you will make a follow-up call after a few days – and include a specific date, rather than making a vague promise to call. And then actually follow through on your promise. Writing an effective cover letter is very important to increase your chances of getting that coveted interview call. If you find that you need more guidance than the tips above, consider using the services of a career coach or a professional resume writing service so you can start getting the interviews you deserve.
Your Resume’s Design – How Important Is It?
The thought of writing a resume can be intimidating to say the least. There is so much to consider that the process can easily leave you too exhausted to continue – even before you start. What’s worse is if you have no idea how to create the design – or even how important the design actually is to the resume. The design can have a lot of influence on how successful your resume is in procuring you interviews. There are some simple tips that will help improve your resume significantly.
Let’s dive right in… Make it Easy to Read The first idea you should keep in mind when designing your resume is choosing the right font style, size and color. Most people find success with the more professional fonts like Times New Roman or Arial, rather than Comic Sans, which makes the resume look more like a party invitation than a professional document. As for sizes, you want to avoid those that are too large or small. Again, you aren’t trying to place your resume on prospective employers’ windshields so getting their attention won’t take much more than a 12-point font for Times New Roman and 11 for Arial.
And when choosing the color, remember one word: black. Nothing Fancy Another design error that many make when creating their resumes is adding decorations. This is definitely a risky move to take because while one employer might absolutely love your cute form of expression another might feel sick to his stomach.
So instead of using flower borders in your design, think about making your name a little larger (and using a different typeface) than the rest of the content to add a little character to your resume. Stick with the Default Setting When deciding on the layout for your resume, you definitely want to stick with vertical rather than landscape.
Think about it; if you were a manager who had to sort through a stack of papers, you would probably be pretty annoyed if you had to rotate the stack 90 degrees because someone wanted to add a little spice to the design. So to avoid irritating an employer, stick with the default set up for your word processing program. You’ll be glad you did. The Paper on Which It’s Printed Over the years, many people have come to rely on fancy resume paper because they have been advised by their career centers or professors that this is the best way to stand out among other applicants.
However, with times changing so much and the electronic age prevailing over all else, most companies prefer that their applicants submit materials via the company’s website or job portal, which pretty much kicks a hole in the pretty paper theory. You can buy white paper with a plain smooth finish and be okay. If the company allows for both online and offline applications, then you can always choose to do both. You’ll find that the effort you put forth on your resume and its design will pay off in the end. Stick with the basics and keep it simple. After all, this is the easy part of writing your resume.
