Tuesday, November 18, 2014

7 Ways To Pump Up Your Resume



Hiring managers sometimes have to read over hundreds of resumes each day. They all start looking the same, as you can imagine. What does it take to write a strong, compelling resume that will catch their attention? Pump up your resume to make sure you’re considered for the position you want.

That’s the prize-winning question! Because hiring managers, recruiters, or HR assistants are individuals, they have different things they find appealing. What works for one, might not work for the next. But, there are some universal qualities that comprise a “good” resume that will appeal to the vast majority.

And, that’s what you’re shooting for. Something that gives your resume a better chance of getting read than the other resumes that are putting these poor folks to sleep. You want to improve the statistical probability that your resume will be selected for an interview.

Here are some safe bets for turning your light-weight resume into a heavy-weight contender. Nothing crazy here, folks, because you don’t want to stand out in a bad way! (Imagine your resume being passed around to other recruiters for them to giggle at.) For the right kind of attention, try these ways of pumping up your resume.

1. Avoid Using A Template

According to The Undercover Recruiter: “Using a template will never make you stand out and chances are your application will be cut short due to your resume being the same as every other job seeker’s.”

Your resume should have a unique design. But, what if you’re not a Microsoft Word wiz? Look on Youtube for lots of formatting how-to videos and tips.


4. Emphasize Your Personal Brand

Write about your personal brand strengths throughout your resume. Check out this article if you’d like to know more about personal branding. Here are some ways to get ideas for yours:
  • Ask others what they value in you and how you work.
  • Look for accomplishments on old performance evaluations.
  • Consider assessments to gain a deeper understanding of ways you can describe your strengths.

7. Put Your Best First

To really knock out your competition, don’t save the best for last! Front load each bullet point, putting the biggest part of the success first. Like this example:

Before:
Navigated intense challenges of recruitment to onboard astounding 17 director-level and researcher recruits.
After:
Brought onboard unprecedented 17 director-level and researcher recruits, navigating intense recruiting challenges.

You can also frontload your document with your biggest accomplishments in the summary. Don’t wait to hook them with your greatness! Put it out there right from the start.

Employers want to know what sets you apart! Why should they hire YOU? If your resume lands you an interview, but there’s another candidate you’re sparring in the ring with, it could be your amazingly strong resume that puts you over the edge and wins you the job.

That’s the sweet science of pumping up your resume. Now, go get ‘em, tiger!


Read all 7 ways and the complete Careerealism article

Monday, November 17, 2014

3 Strategies to Leverage the Value of Twitter in a job search

If these clients would tap into the research they’ve done on the companies they're targeting, they could reap plenty of benefits from Twitter in just 10 to 15 minutes, a few days a week, especially because the majority of job seekers aren’t doing anything with Twitter.


1. Stay Focused on Your Job Search and Your Personal Brand

Don't start or engage in conversations not related to your job search. No one really needs to know what you had for breakfast or what movie you saw last night.

Keep the majority of your tweets relevant to your personal brand, industry, areas of expertise, and value to your target companies. That doesn’t mean you can’t tweet off-topics and humorous tidbits, when you have extra time.


2. Do a Lot of Retweeting

Simply the act of tweeting again a tweet that someone else has tweeted, retweeting (abbreviated as "RT") is one of my favorite ways to use Twitter and one of the best ways to save time there.
Even if you do nothing else on Twitter, posting relevant retweets can be a powerful way to build brand evangelism, a quality Twitter following, and get on the radar and stay top-of-mind with people you want to notice you.

First, gather up a long list of the right people to retweet. Who are these people? Colleagues, industry thought leaders and subject matter experts, top-level executives (or hiring decision makers) at your target companies, and executive recruiters in your niche, to name a few.

Search for them on Twitter, follow them, and start retweeting them. It’s as easy as that!

It’s critical to include in your retweet the @username of the person who originated the tweet, because they’ll see the retweet on their "Notifications" page. Chances are you’ll get noticed, if enough of your retweets show up there for each person you’re retweeting. If a good retweet doesn’t mention the original author, take the time to track them down and include their @username.

Retweeting Strategies to Help You Get Noticed

See the strategies + Step 3 + the complete article