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You Are Not Entitled to a Job!Résumé Tips Some basics about job hunting... First of all, nobody owes you a job! This obvious fact is often overlooked by the eager job hunter -- at least for a couple of months -- when he or she gives up looking for a job! Many people think employers should hire them because of their award-winning personality. You have got to have a little something to show for yourself besides your pretty smile. The simple truth is, you need to find a way to stand out from the crowd so that your potential employer will actually listen to what you have to say. A great résumé is the best place to start. Action statements about what you have accomplished really stick out on a résumé. Vague statements can really hurt your chances for a position. Your résumé is the first chance to impress an employer. Do not ruin that chance with silly spelling errors and cloudy information. Employers love concise, well thought out résumés. Your résumé is your map to a job. It should lead to a job and not the garbage. Write it like you spent the last year perfecting it. It should never sound like it was slopped together in an hour. A good way to STAND out from the competition is by expressing your desire for the job with a little extra effort. There are ways of straying from the convention and yet remaining in the norm. A paper résumé is the norm. Résumés can take any form your imagination takes you. Some employers will welcome creativity and other formats such as portfolios or website résumés. A great place to discover new ways of impressing employers is at Vision-Résumé. This extra effort might just help you stand out from the crowd and provide the traction needed to remain in an employers mind. However, standing on your creative submission alone is not very wise. You should back up your portfolio or website with a traditional paper résumé as well to appease the unmoved hirer. The most important thing to remember in this battle-ground of job seeking is that employers do not owe you a thing. They have a position to fill and you are just one of a few, if not hundreds of persons asking for the job. So, enter the task of job-hunting as if looking for a soul mate. It takes effort, and only the most dedicated win the best jobs. Some basics about job hunting... First of all, nobody owes you a job! This obvious fact is often overlooked by the eager job hunter -- at least for a couple of months -- when he or she gives up looking for a job! Many people think employers should hire them because of their award-winning personality. You have got to have a little something to show for yourself besides your pretty smile. The simple truth is, you need to find a way to stand out from the crowd so that your potential employer will actually listen to what you have to say. A great résumé is the best place to start. Action statements about what you have accomplished really stick out on a résumé. Vague statements can really hurt your chances for a position. Your résumé is the first chance to impress an employer. Do not ruin that chance with silly spelling errors and cloudy information. Employers love concise, well thought out résumés. Your résumé is your map to a job. It should lead to a job and not the garbage. Write it like you spent the last year perfecting it. It should never sound like it was slopped together in an hour. A good way to STAND out from the competition is by expressing your desire for the job with a little extra effort. There are ways of straying from the convention and yet remaining in the norm. A paper résumé is the norm. Résumés can take any form your imagination takes you. Some employers will welcome creativity and other formats such as portfolios or website résumés. A great place to discover new ways of impressing employers is at Vision-Résumé. This extra effort might just help you stand out from the crowd and provide the traction needed to remain in an employers mind. However, standing on your creative submission alone is not very wise. You should back up your portfolio or website with a traditional paper résumé as well to appease the unmoved hirer. The most important thing to remember in this battle-ground of job seeking is that employers do not owe you a thing. They have a position to fill and you are just one of a few, if not hundreds of persons asking for the job. So, enter the task of job-hunting as if looking for a soul mate. It takes effort, and only the most dedicated win the best jobs. John Harbison is a contributing member of Vision-Résumé. For more job help check out the Career Center. |  | | | RELATED ARTICLES Should You Telework/Telecommute "WOW! I can work from home and make money? I can sit around in my PJ's and work whenever I want? How great, I want to be a Teleworker!" 50 Things To Do To Your Boss That Are Fun For You, But Not For Them 1. You're eavesdropping and you hear your boss has reservations at his favorite restaurant. You know, the one you can't afford. Call them back and cancel his reservations ? say you're his wife. Writing Resumes Use a resume as a foot in the door In a Rut? Ready for a Career Change? Are you unhappy at work? Tired and lacking energy and drive? Don't worry, you are not alone! Studies in the US show that up to 70 percent of the workforce is unhappy with their job at any given time. We all feel dissatisfied and frustrated with our jobs at times. So, how do you know when the feeling of dissatisfaction and frustration means it is time for a career change?There are a few key signs which point towards a need for change: Are You Living Your Career Dreams? Inherent within the human spirit is a desire for fulfillment, a longing to carry out our creative aspirations by reaching new heights of accomplishment. Yet often the yearning for fulfillment can be suppressed by fear and apprehension. Perhaps we aren't feeling good enough, smart enough or able enough to pursue and fulfill our dreams. Little Mistakes That Keep You Unemployed If your job search is dragging on and on, you might want to look in the mirror. Because the person looking back may be sabotaging your efforts. Resume Writing and Preparation is Free Online Creating a strong resume is a very important part of applying for a job, either online or off line. There are many resume writing services that will help you build an impressive resume for job interviews. When and How to Say I Just Cant Do It! We naturally hesitate to tell our boss when we can't do something or are feeling overwhelmed in our job. Bosses don't want to hear that, right? Well, it depends. In many situations, your boss is so busy that he/she doesn't keep track of how much work you're doing. When your boss gives you a new project, he's not thinking about all the other projects you're already working on. And here's the kicker -- unless you speak up and tell your boss that you can't handle the workload he's giving you, he'll assume everything is fine. This can have bad consequences for you AND your boss. You know what will happen. Eventually things will start falling through the cracks or you'll rush through tasks and start making mistakes. You can only do so much in a day, and deadlines will be missed. While you're stressing out, work that your boss needs you to do is NOT being done. When this happens, your boss will not appreciate your excuse: "But I had too much to do, I was overloaded with work!" Saying that AFTER the fact will be much worse than telling your boss up front -- before mistakes occur or deadlines are missed -- that you're having trouble with your workload. It is your responsibility to tell your boss when you are overwhelmed, and there's nothing wrong with doing this. Of course, you don't want to tell your boss, "I can't do that; I'm too busy." But you can say, "I'll be happy to take that on, but I need your help with prioritizing the other projects you've already given me. Which jobs can I put on hold or delegate to someone else while I work on this new one?" That's way better than keeping your mouth shut, trying to do too much, and failing miserably. Targeting Your Resume is So Important For Your Career Targeting your portfolio, (resume and cover letter) can get you any job you desire! The purpose of targeting is so you can find your perfect match, your dream job! Career Change - Is Your Career A Good Fit Or Is It Causing Pain? Do you leap out of bed in the morning looking forward to the day ahead? Why Your CV/Resume is Not Generating The Interview Offers You Want If your current CV or resume is not generating the interview offers you want, it is time to start assessing it. Check to see that the following descriptors apply: Unlimit Your Life! Do you have a tendency to think in absolutes? Getting Past Fear Have you gotten tons of career advice, solicited and unsolicited? You nod when you hear it and think, "Yeah, I know this stuff." So, what else is new? 7 Tips to Deal With a Bad Performance Review Q. "I wasn't happy with my last performance review. Should I dispute the review? Write a letter for my file? Talk to a lawyer? Or just let it go?" 5 Ways to Drastically Improve Your Resume in 10 Minutes of Less Follow these quick and easy tips to build yourself a betterresume in under 10 minutes flat. Job Hunting Tips: Taking Care of Yourself Looking for work is generally a miserable undertaking. No matter how much education and experience you have, you are in a powerless and vulnerable position. How to Insure Job Security The attorneys I coach have one common problem. They don't have enough hours in the day to do everything they need to do. Most are working long hours and that "To do" list keeps growing not shrinking. So it is no wonder that when I suggest that they find time to market their practice they think I am just plain daffy! How To Get A Job Fast In today's unpredictable economy, the idea of job security with any company would seem to be a thing of the past. Large company layoffs, golden handshakes, mergers, leveraged buyouts, company acquisitions and similar business moves have left people of all ages out of a job they need to live. The Top 10 Reasons to have a Career Coach Many people in the last decade have experienced for themselves either a layoff or termination. Some of these people affected have experienced outplacement-consulting services. This is a fancy word for "help" in finding a new job. Many have also heard the adage that it is better to get a new job while you are still employed. Assess Your Transferable Skills One of the most important parts of a job search is assessing your Transferable skills. These are skills which you can use in other jobs such as: Communication, Information Management, Human Services, Managerial, Manual/Physical Labour, Personal Attributes, Organization.Often when people have been working in the same job for a long time, they become so accustomed to performing their duties that they fail to recognize the skills they have. It is beneficial to sit down and write out a list of all the things you do in a work day and all the things you do at home as well. It is easy to forget that skills such as problem-solving, decision-making, and organization which you use at home and in volunteering are skills that you can transfer and use on a new job. A benefit to this recognition of your skills is that you can come up with a variety of Ideas for jobs or places that these skills may be used. If you are currently unemployed and are having a difficult time with this, talk to some friends or a career/employment counsellor.Once you have determined where your transferable skills may be best used, you can work on some Productive Strategies to market yourself. This may be using your networking skills to gain access to some new employers, or it may be revising your resume to highlight your skills instead of your work history. It may also involve doing some volunteer work to expand your network by putting you in touch with people who might have other contacts you can use in your job search. |
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