Resume Format ~ Those Crappy Little Boxes

Resume Format ~ Those crappy little boxes


Yes, you spend hours or perhaps minutes on your resume and there is little response, you ponder as to why no one will take you seriously or see your true value. Here may be some reasons to consider.

Resume programs ~ some are good, some really stink. If you are applying for a position that requires full knowledge of Microsoft Office products will your potential employer like what they see if it comes from a canned program ------- Nope. So roll up your sleeves and get to the center of the matter. Some of these programs put your information in boxes similar to a spreadsheet. Avoid this at all costs! Reason: your information may not be compatible with most resume inhaler programs or HR systems (to be continued later). Resulting in most of your information becoming lost, scrambled or discarded incomplete.

Narrative Resume ~ real cute, mostly written in third person “ Bill is an excellent person with great experience, blah, blah, blah” This is bunk, unless you are a applying for an arts or theatrical position. Employers are interested in only Name, Address, Contact information, Education, Work History and Certifications. Be thorough in your description of what you do and be sure to include the experience to back up your qualification for the job you are applying for.

Formatting ~ Stay away from fancy fonts and absolutely no color text. Stay with Arial, Tahoma and Times Roman. These are all easy on the eyes and easy to scan, don’t make your reader work too hard, or you will immediately make a bad impression.

Headers and Footers ~ Don’t use them; they don’t copy easy into files and never transfer into HR Processing systems, same as the crappy boxes.

Think like an Employer ~ Employers have a mental checklist in their heads. They normally look for:

• Name ( so they can associate your name with skills )
• Address ( will we have to relocate or are you local )
• Degree ( from where and G.P.A. if it’s worth bragging on )
• Work History (Name of company, what they make, how long there, what you did, etc.
• Certifications ( Engineering societies )
• Memberships ( go with professional only )
  
  Most employers go in this order – so use it, when they get to the end you want them to say yes.
  
  
  Hobbies and recreation ~ stay away from this, I have had some people turned down because they had so many volunteer activities listed the employer had the impression the person won’t be concentrating on their job and will need time off away from work to volunteer.
  
  
  
  So now you have some homework, you have 5 seconds to impress someone you want to work for, does your resume do the job? Don’t count on explaining it in person, unless your resume opens the door, you won’t get the chance.
  
  
  Get to work.
  
  
  Next Topic ~~~ How to work with a Recruiter – Liar, Liar
  
  
  
  

Hazards in finding a new job

Warning! Will Robinson………. You may or may not remember the robot from Lost in Space but maybe some of us need a helpful reminder in our lives. Everyone looking for new employment needs to be aware of some things that may jeopardize their future or current job.

Here is the scenario………. You, Mr. or Ms. Jobseeker apply online through some job board and attach your resume. You get an email from some recruiting firm that tells you that you meet the criteria for the job you applied for. You are thrilled and fill out the survey that they send you that asks for your current job, how long you have been there, current salary and what salary you wish to obtain, etc. etc…. Click Send and then you sit back with visions of grandeur waiting for the phone call that will lead you to that wonderjob you have always dreamed of………. Warning! This supposed recruiting firm may be a paper supplier that will take your information and send it to hundreds of prospective employers, not the kind that want to hire you, but the kind that the recruiting firm wants to do business with. They are not representing you; they are pushing in paper to get noticed. Employers don’t waste time with these spammers. But later, you the jobseeker are surfing the web and come across a company that has nearly the same job and you are excited and apply online through their portal. You are certain they will call you, but time passes and there is no contact…. Ever wonder why? I just may because you have already been sent to them by these posers and now you can’t be considered because they already have your information and if they pick up your information and contact you, they will have to pay a fee to someone they don’t do business with and open the door to future annoyance.

What not to do? Simple:

• Don’t respond to surveys
• Don’t do business with people that don’t list their full contact information
• Don’t supply information unless it is over the phone, one on one and you determine where your information is going.
• If the recruiting firm won’t tell you the name of the company…… hang up after telling them they do not have your permission to maintain your information.
• When supplying a resume, leave your name, mobile phone number only on your resume as well as your email address. If they love you they will find you and have an incomplete file that will be of little future use.
• You may do the same if you are placing your information in a databank such as monster, etc. Don’t go the blinded or confidential route as those looking will have an impossible time contacting you. It has been proven that the blind links don’t work. And, make sure you have yourself listed correctly as if you can’t come up in a search you are wasting your time and be honest when putting your info on there.
  
  What to do?
• Only deal with recruiting firms that answer their phones and talk with you regarding career issues or wishes.
• Only deal with those that give full disclosure of who and where your information will be shared with.
  
  
  Next topic…………. Crappy resume formats…………… those crappy little boxes.
  
  Keep checking back for new adventures in employment.