Take Time To Study The Organizations Website

When creating a resume or cover letter, make sure you STUDY THE ORGANIZATIONS WEBSITE! It will give you insight tips on what they value, their mission statement, their goals essentially what they are looking for in a employee. Some websites even have valuable videos that you can study. By learning what the company is focused on and their BUZZ words, it will equip you to market yourself more strategically on your resume. Anytime a client asks me to write a resume, I always ask them to please suggest one organization that they would like to submit a resume to. That way I can create a strategic resume for them, giving them the cutting advantage and it also is created to allow them to make changes to it as they apply to each position.

NBC news just released an article that stated for 2011 "the smartest job seekers create essentially a new resume for each job opening, going so far as to take keywords out of actual job descriptions and working them into their resume", stated NBC news. Are you doing that for your search? It really makes sense if you stop to think about it. Not only do many organizations have applicant tracking systems where they pull resumes from key wording but once it gets into the hiring manager hands, they want to see a resume that point out to accomplishments that are specific to the job opening and to you as a professional! If you need help with your resume so that it is structured with key wording, please contact me ASAP!!

Get Your Email Right! Be Professional

I know this sounds very basic but I have seen so many resumes of individuals that put CRAZY, UNPROFESSIONAL emails on their resumes that they are sending to potential employers! As a former recruiter the first thing I see at the top of the resume is how to contact them and if it was a weird email, I would always hesitate. Please, be professional with this. You will not be taken seriously if you do not have a email, voicemail or answering machine and please make that professional ( don't have kids singing in the voicemail or something corny like that)! It is always a good idea to ditch the "cute or funny" email address and make it professional with something like just your name, you can go to GMail or Hotmail to create a free account for your resumes.

Do I Need A Electronic Resume?

Have you ever tried to cut/paste your resume into the body of an email or paste it on a online application, only to find it looks unorganized and nothing like your resume?

With recent technological advances it is important to be sure you have a "Electronic Resume" on hand if an organization should request that type of resume. The reason they do this is because this format allows the organization to search, store and select from a large database of resumes by entering key words, experience and education they are seeking. Also, you will see many job search engines that allow you to paste your resume rather than allowing you to upload your document.

** I want to point out- if any organization or job search engine allows you to upload with a PDF - DO IT!! It allows the resume to be viewed exactly how you created it!

To make a electronic resume, you can create it in a plain text ( the file etension .txt) or rich text format (.rtf) . That way the document formatting can not be stripped out by e-mail readers and without formatting errors.

Words That Are In Your Resume Are Critical !

Make sure that you always have actions words in your resume such as: Spearheaded, Collaborated, Championed, Awarded, Facilitated..... rather than just writing words that are most common such as Participates, Handled, Provided.

This is a great site that shows thousands of Action Words that you can apply to your resume.

Avoid long sentences, shorten them with bullets.

Do not list references on a resume - most employers know that they are going to ask for these and that you will supply them once they get to that point in the hiring process.

Always have a title under your name header that uses the words that are described in the job description and PLEASE ensure that it matches your experience. An example would be to center the words: "Sales & Executive Business Operations Professional" or "IT Sales Management". This will ensure immediately, the first thing they see is what you can do!

Never put hobbies on your resume or personal information! Also, unless you are directly out of school without alot of experience, it is not necessary to include your GPA or sororities...etc....

PAY ATTENTION TO KEY WORDS

Whether you are writing your first resume or updating an older one, remember to stop and think about which key words to add to your resume. You could get lost in the sea of applications if you do not make your qualifications and key words pop out to the hiring managers.

To do this, focus on the open job announcement's "QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS and REQUIREMENTS". This may take some time because it is important to have the resume geared exactly for the open position!

Your resume needs to pass that initial scan test from hiring managers and recruiters. From my human resources and recruiting experience, the first thing that is looked at when scanning the resume is "the qualifications". Showing that you are qualified will help you make it to the next step in reviewing your resume - you do this with key words! You want to ensure the critical information jumps out off the page!

If you would like a free review of your resume, I would be happy to look at and give you feedback.

Thank You Follow Up Letter- Is It Necessary?

Now that you have succeeded with a phone interview/email interview/ or face to face are you wondering if you should send a thank you letter? YES...YES..YES....

The number one reason that you should send one immediately within 48 hours of the interview is because it BRINGS YOUR NAME and qualifications back in the frontline of the hiring manager!
Writing a thank you follow up letter also gives you an opportunity to clarify anything that you discussed and highlight any useful detals that you may have forgotten to mention.
It shows that YOU WANT THE JOB and it also puts you one step ahead of anyone who does not send one.

Sending a thank you letters shows initiative, follow through and professionalism- everything a hiring manager and organization want to see!

If you need additional assistance with this, please do not hestitate to contact me!

Resume Tip For Font Size

I can't tell you how many resumes I have seen and currently see when the font size is too small, thus making it challenging to read a resume. As a previous hiring manager in Human Resources, I typically only took about 5 seconds to first glance over the resume- sometimes 10 seconds MAX before I decided if it the candidate was going to go any further in the process. One of the largest mistakes people make is making their font size smaller to fit everything on the first page. As a rule of thumb font should never be smaller than 11. Ideal would be font size 12 as it is easy to read. Always keep your type of font the same such as all Arial or Times New Roman. I would recommend also making your name at the top stand out in 16 font size because it grabs the hiring manager's attention verses trying to make it jazzy or funky to stand out. Last but not least - do not use a lot of italics and underlining!