You updated your business wardrobe and hairstyle. Don’t neglect your resume!
7 Ways Your Resume Dates You
Five Online Job Hunting Mistakes
Most of our reporting on how to succeed in the job hunt has focused on resume writing and interview skills/practices. However, as many of you online students are all too aware, there is a lot of job hunting that goes on over the Internet. Wouldn’t ya know it, there are etiquette mistakes to be made in the online job hunt just as sure as there are in the real world. Here’s a link to a great article about how to avoid common online job hunting gaffes, SNAFUs and faux pas. Spell Check Isn’t Enough to Avoid These Grammar Blunders
Kaboodle.com had this great list of common grammatical blunders that you really should avoid when writing resumes and cover letters. The takeaway message here is that spell check is not enough because sometimes misspellings form other actual words that are not spelled wrong, but mean something entirely different. Here (over the fold) are some examples from the Kaboodle.com article. Continue reading… The Inside Info on What Hiring Managers Want
One of my other jobs involves working with thousands of staffing companies. As a result, I have regular contact with hiring managers across the United States. When I saw this article in US News entitled, “21 Things Hiring Managers Wish You Knew”, I was impressed with how spot on it was. Hiring managers have seen it all when it comes to people’s ideas of what is appropriate behavior in the pursuit of that “perfect job”. If you’re about to embark on a job hunt, with your Allen School diploma in hand, have a quick read of this piece so you can get some idea of what hiring managers are looking for in today’s difficult employment environment. Remember, there are 6 job seekers for every available job today. So it pays to be as well prepared for the critical interview process as you can be. Never before has it been so important! How To Explain “Holes” in Your Work History
We’ve all had periods of unemployment. We’ve all had to take time away from career pursuits, whether it was to tend an ailing loved one, return to school/training, deal with personal problems, support a family member’s struggling business or become a quasi-homeless beachcomber in an exotic tropical locale. Whatever the reasons, inevitably, we end up with a gap in our history which can be a glaring weakness on your resume. In interviews, it can be awkward trying to call attention away from the gaps. How should you explain where you were when you weren’t working for 11 months?
Take a look at this excellent article from The Savvy Networker wherein it is explained exactly how to address these holes in the resume. More Resumé No-no’s
Every so often, I post on ways to enhance your resumé or to at least avoid some common job-hunting mistakes. These posts always generate alot of interest. So here’s another installment in the “how not to botch your resumé” category. Below are some comical errors culled from hiring managers in diverse fields in an article by Maria Hanson at LiveCareer. Needless to say, none of these people were called back for an interview.
Avoid Careless Mistakes like these:
“Speak, read, and wright English/Spanish.”–seen by Angie Beauchamp, Charm Factory manager.
A candidate actually misspelled her own first name, writing “Barbara” as “Barabara.”–Mark Gollihur, who managed a video store when he received that application.
Bad Ideas
Email address: Bostoncutiee22@example.com.–seen by Stacey Schmidt, a recruiter at Vistaprint.
A job-seeker used a free return-address sticker from an endangered-wildlife nonprofit on his resume instead of typing his contact information out.–seen by Philip Farina.
For the whole article and a longer list of resumé gaffes, click here. To Land the Interview/Job: Think Inside the Box?
Standing out from the competition is always a challenge in a job search. And, although it is said that “there is nothing new under the sun,” there are those individuals who come up with novel ideas for breaking through in terms of getting noticed by a hiring manager. Follow me over the jump for some truly innovative strategies for getting noticed in the sea of resumes. Continue reading… 10 Resume Red Flags
With unemployment high and so many candidates competing for so few positions, the strength of your resume is even more important than ever. I found this great breakdown of “don’ts” at Investopedia.com a great site for info on basic economic concepts and financial information. While we have done resume posts in the past, this list really gets into some of the mistakes folks have been making lately in their attempts to make their resume stand out against the sea of resumes that recruiters are swimming in. Resume Writing Resources
Writing resumes is intimidating for many and with today’s exceptionally competitive employment environment it can be even more daunting. Continue reading…