How to get that second interview every time

What are some resume objectives that will catch a potential employer’s attention?

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:37:09 +0000

Resume objectives are not always used in people’s resumes which is unfortunate since it gives you the opportunity right from the start of your resume to state why you are a good fit for this particular position. It is something that needs to appeal to the reader, and is worth spending time on to make it stand out from all the other resumes the company will receive. In a competitive job market, the resume objective is your chance to shine and stand out from the crowd.

Now writing a resume objective is a challenge, especially as it has to be tailored for just about every resume that you send out, but it is your chance to show why you should be considered for the position, so use it. You want to write something that will stand out from the rest of the resumes that the company will receive, so spend the time on this. It can make the difference between an instant rejection or a first interview.

resume objectives play an important role in your resume

Use the resume objectives area to answer the question of why you should be considered for this particular position. Make it concise, relevant to the position being advertised, and shows why you are the perfect candidate for this position, by including your goals, your experience as well as your skills. This is a lot of information to put in one paragraph, so it will probably take you many attempts at writing before you get something that will stand out and with which you are totally satisfied.

Put yourself in the position of the reader. Are your objectives and experience appropriate for this employment position? Is it relevant experience? Why are you applying for this job? Does it fill your objectives? Why are you applying to this particular company? Try to create an objective that is a little different from others, and shows skills that they can use in their company.

Now writing objectives and resumes can be very challenging for the best of us, and because so much depends on it, it may be worth your while to invest $100 or $200 to get your resume professionally prepared, by people who deal with resumes every day and know the correct format, and what words get the best response and so on. It can remove some of the stress from your shoulders knowing that your resume is well written and appropriate for the jobs you are applying for.

Make sure the content of your resume is accurate, and never lie by saying you an do something that you cannot. The chances are you will be found out, and that will have very negative consequences.

So to summarize, spend most of your time on your resume objectives, rewriting and rewriting until it reads well and is concise and attractive, and is something you would want from someone if you were advertising such a job.

Incoming search terms for the article:

Tweet This Post

Interview letter – what should I write in a post interview thank you letter?

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:31:41 +0000

No matter how your interview went you should always send a post interview thank you letter, although about 95% of people don’t bother. This is your chance to be one of about 5% that takes the time to thank the interviewer for his or her time. Most employers are happy to receive these, as it is common courtesy. It shows your interest in the job, and the company, and it keeps your name in front of the employer.

an interview letter follow up can be a great idea

Note that these thank you letters should be written within 24 hours of the interview, and it is actually to your advantage to send it sooner rather than later. It could help sway the decision of who to hire in your direction, or at least to go to the next stage, which is probably a second interview.

The type of post interview and thank you letter depends on the company involved. If it a very formal company, then writing a formal thank you letter will probably be best. If the company is more informal, then perhaps a more personal hand written letter is better. Now not every one agrees on whether emailed thank you letters are acceptable or not. They do have the advantage of speed in getting there hopefully before a decision is made, and for companies that do a lot of business by email, this is probably fine. Even then, many advise sending a hard copy as well, just to be sure.

Now, although sending an interview and thank you letter is important, it is vital that you check and double check your grammar and spelling. It needs to be perfect! Get a friend to check it as well, just to be extra sure. You do not want to be remembered as the person who sent a thank you letter full of errors!

There are plenty of sample letters around, but do not copy them word for word. You need to put in your own content and customize these letters a little, and you should really send one letter to each person that interviewed you.

If you know that the hiring decision is to be made in the very near future, consider hand delivering your letter, if the company is close by. Otherwise you could send the letters by courier or express mail so that they get there before the decision is finalized.

Yes, it does take time to write interview letters and thank you letters, but it is worth the investment of time and the small expense, as it will get you remembered in the right way. Remember that in this thank you letter you can also reiterate your interest in this particular job with this particular company.

Incoming search terms for the article:

Tweet This Post

Resume references – should you include references in your resume?

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 03:09:28 +0000

In days gone by the resume references were always included at the end of the resume, but times have changed. Because there are generally 2 or even 3 job interviews before a decision is made, most employers prefer not to have this information until later in the hiring process, as it just gives them more information than they need at the start of what could be a long process.

Of course, if the job advertisement requests references, then you do include them with your resume. Otherwise you can just state that references are available upon request on your resume, and leave it until later before sending them to your prospective employer.

However, you do need to have both professional and personal references available. It is advisable to check with these people in advance to make sure that they are willing to be a reference for you, and you should also make sure that they are prepared to give you a good reference!

resume references are important to have

Your references should have known you for at least one year, and be able to vouch for your conduct and personal character, as well as your attitude, strengths and weaknesses, academic qualifications, communication skills, and management and leadership skills. Now not everyone will necessarily know this about you, which is why you need to have usually 3 personal references as well as 3 professional references.

You should cover with each of these individuals in turn what you are hoping they can confirm for you. For example, you may use a former teacher as a reference, and may want them to confirm that you handed in assignments on time, you were punctual and took on a leadership role in that particular class. It is always advisable to remind these references of what you did do for them, as we all forget things, and what was important to us was probably much less so to them!

Keep in touch with people from you past that you may need for a reference in the future. Make sure you know whether to give a personal address for them, or a business one, and the same with phone numbers, when you are asked for reference details. Advise your references of the job interviews you have had, and who may be contacting them for a reference in the near future. If there is a best time for them to be reached, find that out, or if they are likely to be away when you need them. If so, you may need to find an alternate reference. Think about who to use well in advance!

For professional references, if the reference has their own job in the field you are applying, then make sure you give their job title, as it could be an advantage to you to do so. Ask whether you can list an email address as a contact for them, and confirm the address. They may choose to use a personal email rather than a business one, or vice versa.

When you are listing your references, it is helpful to state whether they are a business associate, an employer, a supervisor, or a co-worker. This can help your interviewer understand the relationship between your references and you, whether it is personal or business related.

So to conclude, prepare your list of references in advance, but do not write your resume references in your actual resume unless requested to do so, only provide them when they are requested, and of course, make sure they are accurate.

Incoming search terms for the article:

Tweet This Post

What are the Job Interview follow up do’s and don’ts?

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 03:17:41 +0000

Now when you have had a job interview there are some things you should do to follow up, and some that you shouldn’t, and you should read these even before you go for your interview. At the end of the interview, ask when the employer expects to make the decision about who to hire. While you are at the company, make sure you get business cards from everyone who interviews you – it makes the next stage so much easier!

After your interview, write a thank you latter to all those who took the time to interview you, using the information off the business cards you collected. You can also use this letter to confirm your appreciation of the company and the work that it does, and the hope that you will be invited to join the company in the near future.

job interview follow ups are important to get right

The important point is to write thank you letters after your interview, whether they are hand-written or typed, and get them sent as soon as possible, within 24 hours of the interview if at all possible. They should be sent to everyone who interviewed you as mentioned above, which means they should all be a little bit different, just in case they are compared! Make sure you have the correct spelling for the names and the correct titles too on the letters you send.

Of course, make very sure that your letters do not have any grammatical errors or misspellings in them.

Try to be patient, but if you have not heard anything about the position after about five days, then phone the company and ask whether the position has been filled, and state your continued interest in the position. Be prepared to give the name of the person who interviewed you, and ask if there is any more information that they need from you before they are able to make their decision.

If, during the interview you were asked to provide some documentation, make sure you do so at your earliest convenience.

Keep looking for and applying for jobs during this company’s hiring process, just to be sure you do not have all your eggs in one basket.

Make sure your references know that you have been interviewed and are now at the next stage. Go through what the job entails with these people, and how you think your expertise will help, based on your work with your references in the past.

Try to make sure that you leave the company with a good impression of you, even if you are not offered the job. You may want to apply for another job later, or ask if there are any vacancies that they know of in their particular industry.

Don’t feel bad about following up. Some companies actually wait a while before they make their decision to see just who is keen enough to follow up, and how they do this, whether by phone, email, or regular mail, and whether they follow up just once, or do so regularly. This happens more for sales jobs, where the applicants will need to follow through on their sales calls, so the company tests how well they follow up on their own job prospects.

So remember, and do follow up on your job interview – it will not take up much of anyone’s time to let you know if the job is still available or not.

Incoming search terms for the article:

Tweet This Post

How do you write an internship resume?

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:03:26 +0000

EVERYONE finds it difficult to prepare an effective resume, with very few exceptions, and an internship resume is not normally one of these; and everyone has doubts about whether they have included the appropriate points, or omitted some vital piece of information.

When you are applying for an internship job you need your skills to shine brightly. You need your competencies to be exactly what the prospective employer is searching for. You want your strengths to be clear, and your weaknesses and flaws to be buried deep down so that no-one will see them straight away.

But most important of all, it’s crucial to understand a couple of things about your internship resume.

submitting a great internship resume hopefully gets you an interview

First, an internship resume has ONLY ONE GOAL – and that is to give your prospective employer adequate knowledge on your background, skills and abilities that they will want to meet you in person. In other words, it’s TO GET THE INTERVIEW. Its purpose is not “to get a job” or “to tell them how great I am” or “because the job application said I had to”… it’s to make them to want to meet you face to face. That’s all.

Next, knowledgeable recruiting professionals will often make 3 passes through a pile of resumes, and if there were any specified, stated pre-requisites (for instance, a particular university degree) … do you satisfy this requirement or not? If not, you may very well not make it to that first interview.

Second. . . your job history, and there are a LOT of things to be gleaned from your job history that you may not even realize, and many of these can disqualify you. There are some subtle issues at work here, which we are unable to go into at this time.

On pass 2 through those internship resumes that haven’t already been put in the no fit pile, they are looking for your skills and knowledge, and evaluating them against what they asked for or seek. Your internship resume will be classified at this time as a good fit, a maybe, or not a fit.

Pass 3 is the detailed evaluation of all the remaining internship resumes. At this stage resumes can and will still be disqualified – for example, if it contains too many business buzzwords, or too many spelling errors, it can still “trump” your experience and abilities and see your resume moved to the “no fit” stack of resumes.

Now, we could go into a lot more depth on all of the issues we’ve touched on here… but there’s a secret. A secret to having the best opportunity at getting all of your experience, skills and abilities safely through the minefield of the 3 stage assessment process.

And it’s straightforward; Pay the $100 to $200 it’ll cost you to have an internship resume professionally written by resume writers who automatically know the best phrases to make use of, the best format to adopt, how to stress your strengths and play down your weaknesses, who always know what the hiring professionals are searching for, and who also know how they evaluate internship resumes.

Just take a little time to look at the leverage you gain by using professional writers; $100 or $200 improves your likelihood (dramatically, in our experience) of getting a job that pays you thousands every year. To be blunt, unless you’re in such dire monetary straits that you simply cannot find the money to pay for this, then you are paying a ‘stupid tax’ when you decide to prepare an internship resume yourself and inevitably you could lose out on some great employment opportunities which you could otherwise have won.

So think about it, and good luck with your internship resume.

Incoming search terms for the article:

Tweet This Post

How do I write a teacher resume?

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 01:23:20 +0000

First of all, you should realize that EVERYONE finds it challenging to prepare an excellent resume, even a teacher resume; and even after it is done, everyone has doubts about whether they have included the right facts, and omitted ones that weren’t necessary to the position.

When you are applying for a teaching job, you need your knowledge to shine in its very best light. You want your skills to be exactly what the school board is looking for. You want your strengths to be distinct, and your weaknesses and flaws to be buried so well that nobody will notice them.

But most of all, it’s imperative to understand a couple of things about your teacher resume.

a teacher resume needs to be a little different

To begin with, the teacher resumes have ONLY ONE OBJECTIVE – and that is to give the school board adequate knowledge on your background, skills and abilities so that they will want to meet you in person. In other words, it’s TO GET THE INTERVIEW. The resume is not there to get you the job, or for you to tell them how good you are, or because the ad said you had to send in a resume … it has one purpose, and that is to cause them to need to meet you face to face. It is as simple as that.

Next, be aware that experienced hiring professionals will often make 3 passes through a stack of teacher resumes, and, if there were any particular, stated prerequisites (for example, needing a degree in french, say) … do you satisfy the prerequisite or not? If the answer is no, then your resume will hit the discard pile in most cases.

Then there is your career history where there are a LOT of things to be obtained from your employment history, and many things can disqualify you. There are some subtle issues here, but this is too detailed to go into any further here.

On pass 2 of those teacher resumes that haven’t already been disqualified, they will be searching your skills and knowledge, and evaluating them against what they asked for or seek. Your teacher resume will be classified at this time as a good fit, a maybe, or not a fit, and in this last case, it will be put into the discard pile.

Pass 3 is the detailed assessment of the remaining teacher resumes. However, this is still a stage for disqualification – for example, an abundance of business buzzwords, or too many spelling mistakes or grammatical errors, can still over ride the knowledge and abilities and see your resume moved to the “no fit” pile.

Now, we could go into greater depth on all the issues we’ve mentioned so far. .. but there is a secret. A secret to having the best possible shot at having your experience, skills and abilities move safely through the minefield of the 3 level assessment.

And it’s simple enough; shell out the $100 – $200 it costs to have a teacher resume professionally written by resume writers who automatically know the right phrases to use, the best formatting to adopt, how to stress your strengths and disguise your weaknesses (we all have these, no matter what you think!), who know what hiring professionals are hunting for, and who know how resumes are best reviewed.

Just take a few minutes to consider the leverage you could gain; for $100 or $200, this charge enhances your likelihood (significantly, in many cases) of getting a teaching job that pays you thousands each and every year. To be blunt, unless you’re in such dire monetary straits that you simply cannot find the money for this, then you are really paying a ‘stupid tax’ if you decide to prepare a teacher resume yourself and you will inevitably miss out on some employment opportunities that you could otherwise have won.

Of course, the choice is yours, and whichever way you choose, we wish you all the best of luck with your teacher resume.

Incoming search terms for the article:

Tweet This Post

How do I write a student resume?

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 02:59:56 +0000

A student resume is rarely among the exceptions, but you should appreciate that EVERYONE finds it difficult to write an outstanding resume; and afterward everyone has doubts about whether they have included the correct things, while omitting what really are irrelevant issues as regards each particular job.

When you are applying for a student position you would like your skills to stand out in the best way possible. You need your skills to be exactly what the prospective employer is looking for. You want your strengths to be obvious, and your weaknesses and flaws to be buried so deep that no one will be able to notice them.

But most of all, it’s important to realize a couple of things about your student resume.

students resumes need to be carefully prepared

First, the student resume has ONLY ONE GOAL – and that is to give your prospective employer enough knowledge on your background, skills and abilities that they will want to meet you in person. Put another way, it’s TO GET THE INTERVIEW. Its purpose is not to get you a job, or for you to tell everyone who reads it how good you are. It’s aim is to get you that interview, and that is all.

Secondly, you should know that knowledgeable recruiting employees will often make 3 passes through a mound of student resumes, and if there were any specific, stated requirements (for instance, a particular college degree) … do you satisfy the condition or not? If not, your carefully written resume is probably headed for the reject pile.

Then there is your job history – there are a LOT of things to be learned from your employment history, and many of these can disqualify you. There are some subtle issues here, but they are too specific to go into right now.

On the second pass through the student resumes, through those that haven’t already been disqualified, they are looking for your abilities and knowledge, and evaluating them against what they asked for or seek. Your student resume is classified at this time in one of three categories, either as a good fit, a maybe, or not a fit at all, and is then placed in the appropriate pile.

Pass 3 is the detailed resume review, but this is still a stage of disqualification – for example, too many spelling mistakes, or too many buzzwords can still beat your knowledge and abilities and see your student resume moved to the “no fit” stack.

Now, we could go into much more depth on all the issues we’ve touched on here. .. but there is a secret you should know. A secret to having the best shot and opportunity of having your experience and skills and abilities safely passed through the minefield of the 3 pass review.

And it’s quite straightforward; shell out the $100 – $200 it’ll cost you to have your student resume professionally written by resume writers who automatically know the phrases to make use of, the formatting to adopt, how to stress your strengths and disguise your weaknesses, who know what the hiring professionals are hunting for, and who also know how they review student resumes.

Just take a couple of seconds to consider the leverage you could gain with this; $100 or $200 improves your chances (dramatically, in our experience) of you getting a job that pays you thousands each year. To be blunt, unless you’re in such dire financial straits that you simply cannot find the money for this, and in this economy that is certainly possible, then you are paying a ‘stupid tax’ when you decide to prepare a student resume yourself and inevitably you will lose out on some chances you could otherwise have won, and maybe even that perfect job.

Whatever you decide to do about your student resume, we wish you all the best.

Incoming search terms for the article:

Tweet This Post

How do you write a sales resume?

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:47:21 +0000

With rather few exceptions, and a sales resume is not normally one of them, you need to understand that EVERYONE finds it tough to write the perfect resume; and afterward everyone has doubts about whether they have included the appropriate things, or omitted those which are not really relevant to the position.

When you are applying for a sales position you need your experience to shine in the best way possible. You want your skills to be exactly what the potential employer is looking for. You need your strengths to be obvious, and your weaknesses and flaws to be buried so deep that no one will notice them.

However, most of all, it’s crucial to realize a couple of things about your sales resume.

a sales resume differs from other resumes, or does it?

To begin with, this resume has ONLY ONE OBJECTIVE – and that’s to give your prospective employer adequate information on your background, skills and abilities so that they will want to meet you in person. In other words, it’s TO OBTAIN THE INTERVIEW. Its purpose is not “to get a job” or “to tell them how great I am” or “because the job application said I had to”. . . it’s to cause them to meet you face to face. And that is all.

Next, knowledgeable recruiting professionals will often make 3 passes through a stack of resumes, and, if there were any particular, stated requirements (for example, a particular college education) . . . do you meet the necessary condition or not?

Second. . . your job history, and it may surprise you to learn that there are a LOT of things to be discovered from your job history, and many can of these can disqualify you. There are some subtle issues here.

On the second pass through the resumes, through those that haven’t already been disqualified and put in the no fit pile, they are looking for your abilities and experience, and comparing them against what they asked for or seek. Your sales resume is classified at this time as a good fit, a maybe, or not a fit at all.

The third pass is the detailed evaluation of the remaining resumes. This is still a possible stage of disqualification though – for example, too many industry buzzwords, or too many spelling mistakes, can still over ride the experience and abilities and see your resume moved to the “no fit” pile.

Now, we could go into more detail on all the issues we’ve mentioned here.. . but there is a secret. A secret to having the best opportunity possible at having your experience, skills and abilities pass safely through the minefield of the 3 stage assessment.

And it’s simple; Pay the $100 to $200 it will cost you to have a sales resume professionally written by resume writers who automatically know the phrases to use, the right format to adopt, how to stress your strengths and play down your weaknesses, people who know what hiring professionals are searching for, and who know how they go about evaluating these sales resumes.

Just take a few seconds to see the leverage you could easily gain; $100 or $200 enhances your likelihood (significantly, in our experience) of getting a job that pays you thousands of dollars each year. To be blunt, unless you’re in such dire financial straits that you simply cannot find the money to pay this, then you are paying a ‘stupid tax’ if you choose to prepare your sales resume yourself and inevitably you will lose out on some job opportunities you could otherwise have won.

So all the best with your job hunting and with your sales resume – hope it is successful for you soon.

Incoming search terms for the article:

Tweet This Post

How do I write an administrative assistant resume?

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:25:49 +0000

There are few exceptions, and an administrative assistant resume isn’t often one of these, but you should realize that EVERYONE finds it tough to prepare an effective resume; and after that everyone has doubts about whether they have included the appropriate items or not.

When you’re applying for an administrative assistant position, you want your experience to shine through strong and bright. You want your competencies to be exactly what your prospective employer is looking for. You want your strengths to be distinct, and your weaknesses and flaws to be buried so deep that no one will spot them.

But most of all, it’s important to realize a couple of things about your administrative assistant resume.

administrative assistant needs a different type of resume

To begin with, your resume has simply ONE purpose – and that’s to give your prospective employer enough knowledge on your background, skills and abilities that they will want to meet you in person. In other words, it’s to GET THE INTERVIEW. Its objective is not “to get you the job” or “to tell them how great you are” or “because the job application said you had to”. . . it’s to cause them to want to meet you face to face. Period.

Next, knowledgeable recruiting professionals will often make 3 passes through a stack of resumes, and, if there were any specified, stated pre-requisites (for instance, a particular university schooling) . . . if you do not satisfy the requirement, your resume will probably go in the “no fit” pile.

Then. . . your employment history. There are a LOT of things to be gleaned out of your job history, and many of these things can disqualify you. There are some subtle issues here.

On pass 2 through those resumes that haven’t already been tossed, they are looking for your abilities and experience, and evaluating them against what they asked for or seek. Your administrative assistant resume will be classified at this time as a good fit, a maybe, or not a fit.

Pass 3 is the detailed evaluation. This is still a stage of disqualification for resumes though – for example, an excess of industry buzzwords, or too many spelling errors, can still “trump” the skills and abilities and see your resume moved to the “no fit” pile.

Now, we could go into depth on all the issues we’ve touched on here. .. but there’s a secret. A secret to having the best shot at getting your experience, skills and abilities safely through the minefield of the 3-pass assessment.

And it’s simple; Pay the $100 to $200 it’ll cost to have your administrative assistant resume professionally written by resume writers who automatically know the words to make use of, the formatting to adopt, how to stress your strengths and disguise your weakness, who know what hiring professionals are looking for, and who know how they evaluate administrative assistant resumes.

Just take a few seconds to examine the leverage you gain; $100 or $200 enhances your likelihood (significantly, in my experience) of getting a job that pays you thousands each year. To be blunt, unless you’re in such dire financial straits that you simply cannot afford to pay, then you are paying a ‘stupid tax’ if you decide to write an administrative assistant resume yourself and inevitably lose out on some employment chances you would otherwise have won.

So good luck with your administrative assistant resume, whatever you decide to do.

Incoming search terms for the article:

Tweet This Post

How do I write a manager resume?

admin — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:58:26 +0000

When it comes to writing resumes, you need to appreciate that EVERYONE finds it tough to write a good resume, even a manager resume; and everyone has doubts about whether they have included the right items, while leaving out the irrelevant ones.

When you’re applying for a manager job you need your experience to shine in its best light. You need your competencies to be exactly what the prospective employer is searching for. You need your strengths to be distinct, and your weaknesses and flaws to be buried so deep that no-one will spot them.

But most of all, it’s important to understand a couple of things about a manager resume.

a manager resume is different from a student one

First, the manager resume has simply ONE AIM – and that’s to give your prospective employer enough knowledge on your background, skills and abilities that they will want to meet you in person. In other words, it’s TO OBTAIN THE INTERVIEW. Its aim is not “to get this job” or “to tell them how great you are” or “because the job application said I had to”. . . it’s to cause them to want to meet you face to face. That is its one aim.

Second, experienced hiring employees will often make 3 passes through a stack of resumes, and, if there were any specific, stated prerequisites (for example, a particular university schooling) . . . Do you satisfy that condition or not? If not, don’t expect an interview.

Next. . . your job history, and there are a LOT of things to be understood from your job history, and many can disqualify you. There are some subtle matters at work here.

On the second pass through those manager resumes that haven’t already been disqualified, they are looking for your abilities and knowledge, and evaluating them against what they asked for or seek. Your manager resume is classified at this time as a good fit, a maybe, or not a fit.

The third pass through is the detailed review of your resume. Note that this is still a stage of disqualification – for example, an abundance of business buzzwords, or too many spelling errors, can still “trump” the experience and abilities and see your resume moved to the “no fit” pile.

Now, we could go into more depth on all the issues we’ve touched on here. . . but there’s a secret. A secret to having the best opportunity at having your experience and skills and abilities safely through the minefield of the 3-pass assessment.

And it’s uncomplicated; pay out the $100 to $200 it’ll cost you to have your manager resume professionally written by resume writers who automatically know the words to use, the correct format to adopt, how to stress your strengths and downplay your weakness, who know what hiring professionals are searching for, and who know how they evaluate manager resumes.

Just take one or two seconds to see the leverage you gain; a $100 or $200 charge enhances your likelihood (dramatically for many people) of getting a job that pays you thousands every year. To be blunt, unless you’re in such dire financial straits that you simply cannot afford to pay, then you are paying a ‘stupid tax’ if you choose to prepare a manager resume yourself and inevitably you will miss out on some opportunities you could otherwise have won.

So consider the above and all the best with your manager resume.

Incoming search terms for the article:

Tweet This Post