|
 |
|
5 Tips for Customizing your Resume
Gone are the days of the bland, generic one-page resume. Employers these days are more impressed by a resume that is customized and they tend to give jobs to interviewees that have a bit of knowledge about the company. By doing your research, you're showing initiative, which impresses potential employers. It will also help you decide whether or not you would feel comfortable working for the company, and would fit in with others at the office and the overall atmosphere. Researching the company can also help you ace the dreaded job interview, since it will give you an idea of what you want to communicate, and how you can incorporate that sentiment into the company philosophy. Overall, it will decrease stress levels because you're already just a bit more prepared than the average applicant. So relax? and start your research! Here are five tips to customizing your resume: 1- Visit the company's website: read past the obvious introductory pieces. Pay special attention to the layout and design- they should give clues as to the type of company it is. If possible, familiarize yourself with the key players in the company. 2- Go beyond the company site: Google the company name, and read some of the recent news articles, annual reports or any other relevant information you can find. 3- Seek out the competitors: talk to anyone you know who works for one of the competitors to find out how your potential employer is viewed in their industry. 4- Inquire around the water cooler: ask your friends and co-workers what they know about the company. 5- Pick up the phone: call the company, and ask the receptionist their views on the company, including dress code, organization, leadership style, and overall office atmosphere. About The Author Jessica Klein is a member of the 'Mount Real Research Team', whose aim is to seek out and distribute business information to the virtual public. She is a freelance writer based in Montreal, Canada who loves writing about anything from accounting to zebras. For more info about Mount Real, visit www.mountreal.com.
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
I Just Lost My Job: How Am I Going To Tell My Kids? One of the responsibilities of a human resources professional is to let employees know that their job has been eliminated. It is seldom easy to do and often painful for the person who is hearing the news. Seven Deadly Types of Job Recruiters Collect them all! Job Hunting Tips: Staying Active Unemployment is depressing: financial pressures stress you out, looking for work is humiliating, and your fragile self-confidence reels under the blows of indifference and rejection. The Group Interview Sometimes, when going on job interviews, you might end up in a situation where you are in a group interview. A group interview is where you are being interviewed along with several other candidates for the job. Some professions that might conduct group interviews are sales, education and flight attendants. Beat the Crowd with Winning Resume Cover Letters Far too many people underestimate the importance of resume cover letters. In a sense, a well written cover letter works like an agent on your behalf. It tosses a sales pitch for you to the employer, explaining why you should be at the top of the list for interview calls. Taking the time to write a cover letter tells the employer you are willing to go above and beyond; not just simply slap a resume in an envelope and mail it. Using Keywords to Find Legitimate Telecommuting Job Leads Many people are choosing telecommuting as an option to bring in an income while being at home. Whatever the reasons that we choose to work at home, the one thing we all have in common is the problem of locating legitimate jobs online. We often come online with the idea that finding a job online will be easy. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone in the Job Search Most everyone these days knows what a comfort zone is. My definition is the place, environment and tasks that we have learned to do and feel comfortable with--a comfort zone. Writing Great Cover Letters Cover letters are an essential ingredient to your complete résumé package. This is the best opportunity for you to demonstrate your personal character, knowledge of the company and your business writing skills. The following is a relatively generic format for creating your cover letter. Note that most cover letters are designed to target a specific company or at least a specific industry. First Paragraph You must spark the employer's interest. Focus on your unique characteristics, whether they are based on experience or personal traits that will benefit the company. Don't simply restate your résumé objective statement. You must command attention, not simply alert the employer that you are applying for a position (they already know that!). Second Paragraph Provide more detail about your professional qualifications or relevant educational background. Highlight your professional accomplishments and/or achievements, not responsibilities. Use active verbs when describing things that you have done and back it up with a statistic or concrete fact when possible. Tailor this paragraph to the position that you are applying for. Third Paragraph Demonstrate knowledge of the company, their industry, and the challenges that they may be facing. This is where you connect what the company needs in an employee and the skills that you bring to the table. You want to implicitly show your knowledge of the company without regurgitating something you read on the company's website. Alluding to general industry trends that are affecting the company will let the employer know that you can see the big picture and how your position affects the company's strategy. Fourth Paragraph This is the final paragraph of most cover letters. You should demonstrate your confidence and enthusiasm in working at the organization. Be sure to include a call to action, requesting an appointment with the decision maker (using the word appointment over the word interview helps make you sound more confident and professional). It is also recommended that you alert the employer that you will follow up with them, usually one week after sending your résumé package. A Career in Image Consulting You might have seen them while watching TV shows such as Extreme Makeover, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, or What Not to Wear. Or you might have heard that Martha Stewart needed them to give her advice on how to look sympathetic to a jury. Telecommuting Website (Part One) "I've heard you talk about building a website to get telecommuting jobs. Can you tell me more about this, and how I would do it?" Jobseekers! Look For Smoke, Not Fire "If you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always received," said some wise person. This is certainly true when it comes to job-hunting, especially during a "sucky" economy. How many times have you applied to a job on Monster.com? Now ask yourself, "How many other people have applied for the same position?" The numbers are discouraging I assure you. Should this keep you from applying to jobs online? By no means, job boards are a necessary part of the process. However, if you limit your jobsearch to seeking only those jobs that you are qualified for then you are making a mistake. Am I suggesting that you do a "shotgun" effect with your resume and apply to as many jobs as you can hoping that by some miraculous twist of fate you catch a recruiter's eye? No... and yes, in a way. Where Did All The Farmers Go? Several times a year, I hear someone complain about the development of farm land in our area. These complainers consider it a crime that so much of our farm land has been converted to housing, business, shopping, etc. They seem to consider the farmers and developers to be criminals. A Workplace Romance Can Be Detrimental to Your Career Over 70% of single employees will become romantically involved with someone they work with at some point in their career. The workplace has become the new single's bar. The workplace has also become the number one place for cheating spouses to meet affair partners and conduct extramarital affairs. How to Make Money as a Reflexologist Being a reflexologist is one of the top five career choices in the field of holistic health. The trend shows that more and more people are turning toward holistic practices to enhance traditional medical therapies. Being a reflexologist also allows the practitioner to create a flexible schedule in many circumstances. Tips for Building a Successful Career 1. Develop excellent work habits ? for example, meet deadlines and don't procrastinate. How to Get Hired by Being Obvious If you want a drink of water, do you hire a focus group or pick up the Yellow Pages? No. You go to the kitchen, fill a glass and drink. You take the shortest route to fill your need. Dont Let Difficult People Derail Your Career Unless you are among the luckiest people in the world, or you are totally free of all relationships in the real world, you have to cope with difficult people in the course of your work. The Inevitable Job Interview Question: ?Why Did You Leave (Are Planning To Leave) Your Last Position This is a question that you can almost count on being asked at your next interview What the interviewer wants to know is, "Why are you available?" Talented People I was asked last week for an article about employment, "What is your favorite 'employment phrase'?" Managing Emotions During Career Change and Job Search, Part One How can you manage your emotions during your career change or job search? To answer this practical and wise question, let's first define what emotions are. Emotions, also commonly referred to as feelings, are energy released in your body in response to perceived events, that is, to data received via your five senses.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2008 |
