Resume Writing

Thinking about your prospects for landing that new job? You should think first about what your former boss and other references will say about you. While many employees believe that a former employer can’t, or won’t say anything negative about them, Allison & Taylor, Inc. says they might be unpleasantly surprised at the truth…

Isn’t it corporate policy that an employer will only confirm the dates and title of employment?

Allison & Taylor, Inc. has found (since their inception in 1984) - that most managers and HR representatives will ultimately offer them some information about former employees beyond the normal purview of confirming dates and titles of employment. Note that there is absolutely nothing illegal about A&T’s consultants asking your references for additional input on their employment experience with you.

How common is it that past bosses will badmouth former employees?

Over 50% of the reference checks we conduct come back as negative in scope (sometimes, significantly negative). Clearly, many of our clients have lost good job offers due to bad or mediocre comments from previous employers.

I have a separation agreement with my previous employer saying that neither of us will say negative things about the other. Should I have any cause for concern?

Having such an agreement in place is no guarantee that your previous employer will necessarily honor it. Unfortunately, we have seen countless instances where prior employers did not honor their written agreement with their employees.

This information was submitted to Ultimate Resumes by Jeff Shane, Vice President of Allison & Taylor, the nation’s oldest professional employment verification and reference checking firm. If you want to find out more about their services contact www.allisontaylor.com or 800-651-2470.

Article by Liz Handlin and courtesy of Ultimate Resumes

Jobacle recently caught up with Louise Kursmark, co-author of the recently released book 15-Minute Cover Letter, Second Edition. She offers effective strategies for scoring face-to-face interviews and answers several of our questions.

Jobacle: If you had to assign a % to the importance of a good cover letter, what would it be?

Louise Kursmark: It’s hard to be absolute, because some recruiters and employers love, read, save, and share cover letters while others completely ignore them. Consider your cover letter an added opportunity to convince your audience that you have what they are looking for. It would be foolish to pass up the chance to capture favorable attention.

J: Is there a recommended number of words one should use in a cover letter?

LK: The fewest possible to get the message across! Rather than a word count, use these guidelines to construct your letter:

Opening: Get to the point - tell them why you’re writing - in an interesting way if possible. (But it’s more important to be clear than clever.)

Middle: Tell them the value you offer. It’s not about you - it’s what you can do for them. Give a couple of brief highlights of your most notable accomplishments as relevant to the position, company, industry, and any specific challenges you know they are facing. Do NOT tell them your entire career history or all of your qualifications, and don’t repeat items word-for-word from your resume.

Closing: Ask for a meeting. Tell them you’ll follow up …and do so!

J: Is it ever OK to send a cover letter that is not targeted to an individual? What if you’ve exhausted every avenue and have come up empty but still want to contact the organization?

LK: Of course it’s OK, although it’s less desirable because you don’t have an avenue for follow-up. Some companies make it extremely difficult to find out just who your letter should go to. But I consider a blind cover letter a last resort. First be sure you are using the telephone, tapping into your network, and consulting resource materials to find the name of a hiring authority for your area of the business.

J: Should a cover letter match the look and feel of your resume?

LK: Absolutely, in their printed format. However, many cover letters these days are sent by email. I recommend placing your cover letter in the body of the email and attaching your resume as a Word document. You won’t have the same look-and-feel with this method, but it’s what employers prefer. But do be sure that the language, style, and messages are congruent.

J: What’s one piece of advice that you’ve uncovered after the book went to press that you’d like to add as an addendum?

LK: It’s more important than ever to get your messages across QUICKLY. We’ve learned from Twitter that you can say a lot in 140 characters! Trim your letters down to the core message to be sure they are read and not passed over.

More advice from Louise…

Article by Andrew G.R. and courtesy of jobacle.com - your cure for carbon copy career advice!

Quality Education Sites -

Dissertation - Dissertation writing help offered by expert writers! Our dissertations are custom written! No matter what is the topic of your dissertation, we can assist you!
Term Paper Writing - Having written thousands of tem papers, now professional writers share their knowledge and wisdom with you. We know everything about term paper writing!

Research Paper - MasterPapers learnt the article and mystery of writing a perfect research paper! This is why their custom writing services are the best in the industry. No matter what the top of you essay, research paper or dissertation, they can do it all!

Jobacle recently caught up with Louise Kursmark, co-author of the recently released book 15-Minute Cover Letter, Second Edition. She offers effective strategies for scoring face-to-face interviews and answers several of our questions.

Jobacle: If you had to assign a % to the importance of a good cover letter, what would it be?

Louise Kursmark: It’s hard to be absolute, because some recruiters and employers love, read, save, and share cover letters while others completely ignore them. Consider your cover letter an added opportunity to convince your audience that you have what they are looking for. It would be foolish to pass up the chance to capture favorable attention.

J: Is there a recommended number of words one should use in a cover letter?

LK: The fewest possible to get the message across! Rather than a word count, use these guidelines to construct your letter:

Opening: Get to the point - tell them why you’re writing - in an interesting way if possible. (But it’s more important to be clear than clever.)

Middle: Tell them the value you offer. It’s not about you - it’s what you can do for them. Give a couple of brief highlights of your most notable accomplishments as relevant to the position, company, industry, and any specific challenges you know they are facing. Do NOT tell them your entire career history or all of your qualifications, and don’t repeat items word-for-word from your resume.

Closing: Ask for a meeting. Tell them you’ll follow up …and do so!

J: Is it ever OK to send a cover letter that is not targeted to an individual? What if you’ve exhausted every avenue and have come up empty but still want to contact the organization?

LK: Of course it’s OK, although it’s less desirable because you don’t have an avenue for follow-up. Some companies make it extremely difficult to find out just who your letter should go to. But I consider a blind cover letter a last resort. First be sure you are using the telephone, tapping into your network, and consulting resource materials to find the name of a hiring authority for your area of the business.

J: Should a cover letter match the look and feel of your resume?

LK: Absolutely, in their printed format. However, many cover letters these days are sent by email. I recommend placing your cover letter in the body of the email and attaching your resume as a Word document. You won’t have the same look-and-feel with this method, but it’s what employers prefer. But do be sure that the language, style, and messages are congruent.

J: What’s one piece of advice that you’ve uncovered after the book went to press that you’d like to add as an addendum?

LK: It’s more important than ever to get your messages across QUICKLY. We’ve learned from Twitter that you can say a lot in 140 characters! Trim your letters down to the core message to be sure they are read and not passed over.

More advice from Louise…

Article by Andrew G.R. and courtesy of jobacle.com - your cure for carbon copy career advice!

Resumes are straightforward documents. They should list information that describes your education, the companies for which you have worked, what your jobs were, and what you accomplished in those jobs. In addition you can include lists of certifications, patents, affiliations, and board memberships. There are some variations on this formula but that is pretty much what a resume should contain. Do you know why?

Because that is what hiring managers, recruiters (retained or contingent), and human resources professionals want to see.

It amazes me that many people do not think about their intended audience when they put together a resume. I have had a couple of clients, both of whom had more than 20 years of work experience, who have asked me to do “clever” things to their resumes. For example, one client wanted to put her salary history at the top of her resume because she felt that it would demonstrate that she had excelled in her most recent jobs.

Interview followup starts even before the end of the interview and not with the thank you letter. This is necessary so that you are well prepared to make your follow up moves. You can start the process during the end of the interview when you are given the chance to ask any questions. Some of the questions you can ask are

• By when will you make a decision of hiring?
• How many more candidates do you expect to interview?
• Do you need any additional information to get a complete picture of my suitability?

You also end the interview confidently not only thanking him but also explain why you are the right person for this job.

Review the interview as part of interview followup

It is best to review the interview within 24 hours. Ask yourself: Where did you succeed? Where did you fail? What will you do differently next time? Seek feedback from members of your network. These could include headhunters, career consultant, your contact within the company etc.

Thank you letter

The follow-up letter as part of interview follow up should be more than a mere thank you letter. It should encourage the employer to call you for more interviews. Some of the sections in the follow-up letter should be as follows

Thanking the interviewer for the opportunity to interview. You should also appreciate any extra effort taken by the employer, such as introducing you to others, taking you through a tour of the plant etc.

• A brief note about your strengths, with the focus on those areas relevant for the position.
• Address any concerns expressed by the interviewer regarding your qualifications or experience in a straightforward and honest manner.
• A statement of your interest in the job and the organization
• Remind the interviewer about the next steps that you had agreed upon, such as a call next week.

The interview follow up letter should not exceed one page.

Sample thank you letter

Nancy E Spencer
Purolator Courier Corporation
300 West Hollywood
Los Angeles
California

Lisa M.Grant

After you have sent the followup letter, you should plan your next strategy in interview follow up. Use your common sense and imagination to schedule follow up calls.

Article by, Suresh Nair and courtesy of Resume Writing Quick Guide - Quick way to a professional resume

It is normal to expect some degree of anxiety before an interview. At times, you could have the feeling that you are on stage and your performance is being judged. You will feel less anxious if you know why you tend to feel anxious.

If you strongly desire to work for a particular company, and worry that you are not going to do well there, you are likely to experience stage fright during the interview. However, if you go with the expectation of giving an excellent performance, then your anxiety before interview will be far less.

You may also have the feeling that you are being judged. It is important to remember that being evaluated as a candidate for employment is not the same as having your worth as a person assessed. Although an interview is an assessment in some sense, it is not an assessment of your personal worth. It also pays to remember that there is a great deal of luck involved. Even with the best preparation, you may be rejected due to the hiring manager’s personal whims, organizational politics, and even economic downturn or industry performance.

Written By Jimmy Sweeney
President of CareerJimmy and Author of the new,
Job Interview “Secret”

Today it’s more challenging than ever to land a great job. It’s possible you’ll have to go through several interviews before you find the position you’re looking for. You might feel a knot in your stomach, your pulse rate jump, and your hands suddenly perspire as you anticipate the interview. In fact, if you’re prone to sweaty palms…

Job Interview Tip #1: Sprinkle some talcum powder in your pocket ahead of time and massage a little onto your palms before shaking hands with those you meet.

Job Interview Tip #2: Break the Barrier with a Sincere Smile

Jonathan, a professional sales and marketing consultant shared with a friend recently that in this job-search climate he’s always on the lookout for such useful tips. Besides a warm, dry hand he claims a sincere and optimistic attitude, a smile, and looking the person in the eye, go a long way to break down initial barriers. Being friendly and forthright helps one relax and puts the hiring managers on your side.

Written By Jimmy Sweeney
Author of the brand new, Amazing Cover Letter Creator

Have you ever heard or read a quotation you just had to share with someone? How about one of these?

“Plan your work for today and every day, then work your plan.” Norman Vincent Peale

“Real success is finding your lifework in the work that you love.” David McCullough

“Success depends on your backbone, not your wishbone.” Unknown Author

Each one provides good advice as well as inspiration. Consider including an appropriate quotation in your cover letter. It will pack a punch, give the hiring manager something fresh and motivating to read, and elevate you in his or her mind. Cover letters that offer more than simply a list of job skills, will rise to the top of the pile. Managers will notice such a person and want to call you in for an interview.

How to weave a great quotation into your letter.

Pre interview preparation begins much before you even apply for the job. You need to have a good career plan in place, your resume made as marketable as possible and more. So, let’s go one by one.

Career plan

A career plan can be made once you have identified content knowledge, transferable skills and identified your positive personal qualities.

Content knowledge consists of those subjects and areas that are familiar to you and also your areas of expertise or specializations. For example, a real estate broker will have knowledge of financing, mortgage banking, property development etc.

The next step in pre interview preparation is to identify your transferable skills. Transferable skills can be thought of as functions, actions or behaviors that you actually do. For example, someone interested in investment banking will have the skills to analyse financial data, work in teams, write reports etc. You must dig deeper to find out more skills that you have used some time or the other in the past.

Finally, for pre-interview preparation,you need to assess and find out positive personal qualities that would be applicable for the job. These cover a whole range such as creative, dependable, detail-oriented, efficient, enthusiastic, independent, persuasive, responsible etc.

Resume

Since this site is a resume writing guide site, you can browse around and get all the information you want. However, expect questions from statements you made in the resume. As pre interview preparation, you may have to expand on statements and give concrete examples.

Research the employer

Today, the web will give you information on almost any company. Information such as Products and services, financial data etc. Your research should be deeper and thorough. For instance, you can find out the corporate culture, values, organisation’s goals for the future and the difficulties facing the organization.

As a pre interview preparation, you must also know as much as possible about the job itself. The skills and personalities required, other departments you would need to interact, the biggest challenges of the job, to whom would you report, its position in the organization hierarchy etc. You may need to track down current or former employees, customers or vendors to get this information. It would be good if you can find out something about your interviewer.

Your research should also extend to the larger world- the sector or the profession in which the company is operating. Trends and developments affect organizations and your knowledge about these will put you ahead of others, especially for managerial positions. Such information can be got from trade journals, financial publications including newspapers etc.

What to take and what to wear?

Take several hard copies of your resume, copy of reference list, a good quality pad and pen. Wherever relevant, carry your portfolio and any sample presentations. Ensure that everything you carry is clean, polished and that all items are well organized so that you can quickly retrieve them during the interview.

Regarding dress, remember that the first impression is formed within few seconds of meeting someone, and 93 percent of the overall impression comes from nonverbal messages. If the organization’s dress code is business attire, wear a suit and tie (for men). If you are confused, you can always ask the human resources department for suggestions on appropriate wear.

Attitude

Your mental preparation is just as important as all the other factors that we have discussed so far in preparing for pre interview. As a candidate, you have considerable control over the success or failure of the interview process. You can pay attention to your own thoughts and feelings before the interview, and can develop a winning attitude instead of succumbing to self doubt, nervousness or false confidence.

It is important to have your anxiety in check and this article will help you a lot in this direction.

Questions and answers

Since, at the end of the day, interviews are basically a conversation, this is an important area and this will be dealt with in another section.

Article by, Suresh Nair and courtesy of Resume Writing Quick Guide - Quick way to a professional resume

Did you know that Jeff Foxworthy is one of the most successful comedians of all time? His album, “You Might Be a Redneck If…” has sold millions of copies and inspired all sorts of similar comedy. Including this post.

So, in honor of the very funny Jeff Foxworthy, I would like to present, You Might Get a Rejection Letter If…

If your resume is 4-pages or longer and is comprised of large paragraphs of information that require the reader to fully read each one in order to understand what you did - you might get a rejection letter.

If your job history is peppered with small companies that few people have ever heard of and you don’t bother to include some company background to help the reader - you might get a rejection letter.

If you include your photo on a resume (unless you are an actress or a model applying for acting or modeling jobs) - you might get a rejection letter.

Education Links-

Custom Essay Writing Service - Essaycapital.com.com provides professional custom essay writing service.

Education Blog - Your Complete Education Guide

Research Papers - ValWriting.com provides students with professional custom research paper writing service. We have written hundreds of perfectly written custom research papers.

Custom Essay Blog - Custom Essay Blog To know aal about Custom Essay writing

GCSE coursework - Don’t know how to write a GCSE coursework? Fastessays.co.uk is a custom writing company providing writing services for UK students.

Writing Blog - Know more about writing at our writing blog.

Custom Research Paper - Custom research paper writing services! We can handle any research topic. We have millions of ideas on how to write a perfect paper.

Resume Writing - Best resource on web for resume writing guide.

Research Paper Topics - Find more interesting research paper topics and professional help with writing academic papers. Make your written assignment an example of a perfect writing. Need sample research papers? Here you can find it all!

Dissertation Writing -  Know more about Dissertation Writing, what is Dissertation, how to write Dissertation.

Buy Dissertation - Buy dissertation from the leader in the industry of custom writing services! Our custom written dissertations are top quality academic papers! We can handle any research topic, any format of the paper!