Resumes / Curriculum Vitae Archives - Page 10 of 13

How to ensure you don’t stuff up online job applications

August 5, 2013 by Carolyn Smith Leave a Comment

With an increasing number of applications, (both in the private and public sector), requiring candidates to submit their information online – this week, I thought I would devote some time to the tools and techniques that you need to know in relation to resume formats and submitting a government application online, so that you don’t stuff up your online application.

Yep this stuff is as exciting as watching paint dry, BUT with the explosion of the internet during the job search, it is really important to keep abreast with these changes, because if you don’t – it could mean disaster for your online applications.

Use the right resume format for online applications

In the past decade, the most common resume-related questions have shifted from the standard functional versus chronological resumes, whether to include dates of education, removing or keeping experience and so on, to what type of resume should be used for transmission and online.

With the advent in the last few years of online technologies, we have seen the email resume, web resume, HTML resume, scannable resume, ASCII resume, PDF resume, along with the traditional word resume.

So what is the difference between all these resumes?

Word Resume (or traditional resume), is designed to compel the human audience to take further action and call you for an interview. Designed in word, they are formatted and written in a way to draw the eye to areas that focus on your achievements and are written in a powerful way that holds the attention span of the human reader.

PDF Resumes – are traditional resume converted to PDF for online transmission. If you want to convert your word document, without buying expensive software – try

Scannable resumes – are designed to meet the needs of resumes fed through OCR (optical character recognition) software that reads and extracts the text. The extracted text is database for storage and later recalled by keyword from an applicant tracking system.

Text (ASCII) resumes is an ASCII-formatted version of either your traditional or scannable resume. Text resumes are universally readable on all computer systems and platforms. An ASCII resume received in email can be entered directly into an applicant tracking system without the added step of needing to scan it. Entry into the system is fast, easy, and accurate.

Web resume – also known as the HTML, a web resume may be uploaded online, allowing 24 hour access and provides a technology-savvy image.

When ascertaining what type of resume version you require, you also need to take into account, whether the resume audience is going to be the human reader, or computer reader. So many job seekers post their resumes online (for example major online job boards) with no success, as they have failed to develop a resume for the computer reader.

To develop a resume for the computer reader, you need to understand that the computer will review resumes based on keyword searches – hence the need to incorporate keywords throughout the resume, so the computer reader is alerted to your suitability.

How to incorporate key words in your resume:

The most common types of keywords that signal to both the computer reader and human reader that you have the relevant background are:

Job Titles
Skills related to the role
Jargon/Technical terms

For example:

Job Description:

The Operations Manager is accountable to the Director of Engineering and Environmental Services for the progression of the asset management strategies of the Mater Health services. Maintenance of infrastructure including maintenance planning, condition assessment, asset register, statutory compliance, budgets are key components.

Key words that should be incorporated into the résumé

Operations manager
Asset management
Strategy
Maintenance
Infrastructure
Planning
Condition assessment
Asset register
Statutory compliance
Budgets

Submitting an application online

An increasing number of agencies and companies require information to be submitted via online application forms, entailing specific questions, or your answers to selection criteria, within a word, or character count.

When preparing these documents, use MS Word so you can use features such as spell check and then copy and paste your answers into the provided box. However when preparing in MS Word, ensure that you don’t use auto formatting, such as italics, bolding, underlining, or other automatic formatting allowed in your word processing. These features get stripped or transformed into weird character combinations, when your application is copied and sent online. Basically, you need to work within the limitations of what you see on your keyboard (or rather you need to create an ASCII text version).

For example you will need to replace any bullets with ASCII supported keyboard characters (if it appears on your keyboard, it’s an ASCII character). Such as use an asterisk (*), or (~), which is located on the left hand side of the number 1.

Also remove all centre, right hand margin and justification alignment, table characters, columns and graphics.

This will make your application universally readable and allows for easy to manipulate for entry into applicant ranking databases.

In conclusion:

While the internet can be confusing, by just following a few simple rules, you will be able to use the right sort of document and formatting to ensure that you effectively promote your qualifications and skills to secure that job online.

Job-hunting over the holiday period

December 17, 2012 by Carolyn Smith Leave a Comment

Christmas is coming and this is the quiet time for head hunting, hiring and recruitment activities. But before you wind down your job search to zero or give up, keep in mind, while not so many jobs get advertised, some companies are still hiring over the holiday period. What this means to you as a job hunter, is that contrary to what most people tell you, this could be the perfect time to get your resume or selection criteria in front of a decision-maker who need to hire a person as a matter of urgency, (plus you face less competition as less job seekers looking). So keep on looking.

The holiday period is also a perfect time to prepare for a future job hunt. Use the time to:

Take a good hard look at your resume and selection criteria

Like it or not, these documents are your key to obtaining an interview and your only chance to make a good first impression. Competition is really tough for some jobs, so before you put pen to paper, make sure you are suitably qualified so you are only targeting those jobs in which there is a good chance that a well-written application will get you through to interview. If applying for a government job, I strongly suggest that you touch base with the contact officer and obtain more information about the position, including ascertaining whether someone is acting in the position, so you can gauge your competition. Once you have obtained the relevant information, set aside at minimum a whole day so you can write strong evidence based responses to selection criteria.

In terms of your resume, effective resumes are highly focused marketing pieces that must be strategically written and designed to sell YOU as the best solution to potential employer’s needs and problems. Both your resume and selection criteria, must illustrate your unique value proposition that will differentiate you from your competitors in the job market. Do your documents accomplish these goals? Are they outcomes focussed? Do they accurately represent you in the way you wish to be presented?

If not, it is time to rewrite these documents, as poor marketing documents might be the key reason why you are not securing interviews.

Use the downtime to start networking

If you are working at a company where the holiday season is a slow one, take advantage. If on holiday, take the time to use your network of acquaintances and contacts to network. The holiday season is a great excuse to get in touch and let your contacts know you are on the market for a job. For example:

Send a Christmas card to networking contacts, recruiters and to employers that could help you with your job search.
Connect with your professional network online via LinkedIn. The season to be merry is a great excuse to touch base and reinforce or expand your network.

If networking freaks you out, remember that networking is not about asking for a job, you are simply asking for referrals or advice from people that might be able to assist you. I mean, would you be upset if someone you knew contacted you to inform you of their job search and asking for some advice, or to point them in the right direction during the silly season? Of course not, in fact you would probably be very flattered, so why not use this method as a way to discover new opportunities and network your way into a position?

Use the holiday to research job prospects

This is the perfect time to undertake research on various opportunities that will be available in the short-term future. Use the time constructively and research companies over the Internet. This is a great time to get information relating to whether a company is experiencing growth, or compile a list of the right contact person within your targeted companies. Remember, companies experiencing growth need to hire and won’t stop hiring over the holiday season. Even though holidays are bunched up at this time of year, if a business has competitive pressures, are growing markets or undertaking a new strategic initiative they are not going to stop hiring because of Santa Clause.

Sneaky tricks to overhaul your resume and selection criteria

November 30, 2012 by Carolyn Smith Leave a Comment

Ask any professional resume writer and what they enjoy most is transforming a resume from a chronological work history, to a document that effectively markets a client. Done correctly, your resume is your ultimate marketing tools and will substantially increase the odds in your favour of securing an interview. Below are some of the key strategies that I use to transform client resumes.

Select Accomplishments / Selected demonstrable examples

The key word I use as a professional is select and it is used frequently on purpose. This word successfully implies that you have many more accomplishments to list, or many more examples that you could incorporate into your responses to selection criteria. In your selection criteria, just add – Selected demonstrable examples include and then insert your STAR’s or CAR’s. In your resume, just bullet the top 3 – 5 accomplishments that are relevant to the job you want to land. Make sure you use short phrases and action words. For example:

Instrumental in growing temp hours by 150% to 300% consistently exceeding consultant quotas by 150% or more.
Architect of new benchmark assessment process within the industry, which significantly improved candidate quality and reduced the pool of unsuitable candidates.
Drove business development with key clients, including successfully securing preferred supplier agreements.

Special Skills / Relevant Skills

You can use the term special or relevant, since it implies that you have more skills, but the ones you have listed are unique to the potential employer’s needs.

Other Work History / Prior Employment

Use this heading if you want to disguise very old work history, but this old work history it is still relevant to the position you are applying for. Just list the various positions, without inserting the dates, after your more current work history. For example:

PRIOR EMPLOYMENT:

Hanimex (NZ) Limited – Importing & Costings Clerk / Secretary to Sales Manager

Delivered top-level secretarial support and juggled multifaceted administrative tasks, including accurate costings and completion of weekly consignments, letters of credit, liaison with Customs Agents and general administration.

FC Mathews & Sons Limited – Sole Charge Office Manager

Autonomously managed a range of tasks, from general bookkeeping, wages, reception, bank reconciliations, through to ensuring a superior level of customer service.

Graphics and symbols that add punch

Add a chart, which demonstrates a quantitative improvement, for example in sales. (Just ensure the chart only takes up a small amount of space on your document).

Use symbols, such as %, rather than percentage and $, rather than dollars, and numbers, namely $1,000,000 rather than one million dollars to emphasise your achievements. Both symbols and numbers tend to jump off the page, when employers scan your documents.

Use bold to highlight key words

Bold key words, for maximum impact in your resume or selection criteria, as this is a great tactic to get reader’s to slow down and take notice. For example:

Top performing consultant for the whole of New Zealand (consistently in 1^st position for the North Island or 2^nd overall for the whole of New Zealand).

Use online resources to write your job descriptions

Why reinvent the wheel when developing descriptions for your jobs in your resume and selection criteria. So long as you don’t plagiarise material, the Internet is a great source for obtaining job descriptions that make you sound like a real wiz.

Mirror the employer’s language and requirements

Your resume and your responses to the selection criteria are actually not about YOU. Yes, you heard me – they are not about YOU – they are about what you can offer THEM (the employer and agency). Once you understand this vital principle, then you can start creating a document that meets their needs and the best way to do this, is to simply mirror their requirements, right down to the language they use. So if they require someone with a bubbly personality, list one of your personal features in your cover letter, as a bubbly personality. It is all about creating the linkage between what THEY require and what YOU can offer.