Entries Tagged 'resume tips' ↓

There are basically two types of resumes. There is the chronological resume and the skills-based functional resume. The chronological resume tends to be the one that you see most often. However, for some people a skills-based resume would serve them better in their job hunt. Skills-based resumes work best for people that are looking to change careers or who have held a lot of jobs for short periods of time. For instance, if you are a consultant you would most likely want to use a skills-based resume as opposed to a chronological resume. Skills-based resumes are great because they really highlight the reasons why you would be a valuable addition to a company.

I have recently attained a great skills-based functional resume template. This template is used by one of the major recruitment agencies in the US. Feel free to download it and tweak the format to meet your needs. And don’t let the fact that it is focused on finance deter you as it can be used for any industry.

These days it is just not enough to send out a resume without a nice cover letter. I suspect that if a hiring manager narrows the field down to two resumes and one has a cover letter and one does not, well, the cover letter resume is the winner. Writing a well-crafted cover letter to go with your resume says a lot about you as an applicant.

It says that you thought that the position that you were applying for was worth the extra effort and time of crafting the cover letter.

It says that you are serious about the position in question.

It also says that you are a professional.

So, the question is, how do you write a cover letter and what should be in it?

Well, first note that your cover letter should only be about a page. There is really no need for a novel length letter because it probably won’t get read if it is too long.

A cover letter is basically there to fill in the gaps. Every thing that you think is important about why you should be hired for the position that did not fit on your resume should be in your cover letter. And always be sure to include any info that the employer specifically requested in the job advertisement.

Here are some places to see some examples of cover letters:

• Career services at Virginia Tech (scroll down the page to get to the examples)
• Cover Letter Samples at About.com
• Cover Letter Template
• Dynamic Cover Letter Samples
• Two Types of Cover Letters Examples

Here are other resources for tips on writing great cover letters:

• Killer cover letters
• Five Common Cover Letter Mistakes
• Do Cover Letters Really Matter
• Cover Letter Checklist
• Successful Job Applications - Cover Letters
• Customize Your Cover Letter to the Ad

If you are looking for a job then you know that your most important asset is your resume. So, it stands to reason that your resume needs to be the best that it can be.

Of course, there is a lot of confusion out there as to what exactly should and shouldn’t be on a resume and so on.

For a little guidance, you might want to check out How to Write a Winning Resume at Free Money Finance.

One of the most common things that people write are their resumes. Sadly, people make a lot of errors when they are writing their resume. Clearly this is not a good thing as you are relying on your resume to get you a job interview.

It helps to know the common errors that are made so that you can look over your resume and see if you are making any of those errors.

A great post on Finance is Personal was posted yesterday on The Five Most Common (And Most Avoidable) Resume Errors.  You should click through to the site for the entire article. But in summary, here are the top 5 resume errors they have identified:

1. Using the verbage “responsible for”
2. Using a paragraph format
3. Repeating things
4. Giving your job description instead of accomplishments
5. Using objective statements

If you are like most people, you have written your resume by yourself. Most likely you used a template on Microsoft Word for formatting. But is that really working for you? How many requests for interviews are you getting when you send out that resume?

If your resume is not getting you calls for interviews then you need to tweak it a bit until you start getting interview requests.

One of the first valuable bits of information on tweaking your resume are the top keywords that actually weaken your resume.

• Vague wording is something that weakens your resume. Examples include: assist, support and contribute. The problem is that these are not descriptive enough.
• Saying you “effectively” or “successfully” did something as opposed to stating exactly what that success was. Sometimes you may even have it spelled out but add in the “successfully” part which can be both redundant and confusing.
• Listing out things that you are “responsible for.” Again this is a telling and not showing your successes. Instead of saying “responsible for phone coverage” it would look much better to say “answered 15 line phone” or something similar.
• Confusing the reader with fancy words or buzzwords. A lot of times you can get a HR person that has no idea what your resume is talking about. I have actually had this happen before. What a nightmare!

On the flipside of keywords and resumes I also found an article about keywords that strengthen your resume.

• Teamwork. People love to hear that you can play well with others. And it also means to employers that you can be counted on to pick up the slack if someone else on the “team” is falling behind.
• Flexibility. They want to know that you are willing to wear many hats. It’s like multi-tasking, only with more hats.
• Detail-oriented. Employers like it when you are anal and super organized. It means you can be counted on to get things done without someone having to stand over your shoulder.
• Self-motivated. Employers want to see that you will take the initiative and seek out work without waiting for it to be handed to you. I think this goes with flexibility as this kind of person will wear many hats.