Your Resume - selling yourself

Hi again -

So you have networked and found out about a great job. Now what? You either mail or drop off your resume. What?!? you don't have a resume?? You don't even know what a resume is??!??

Relax, a resume is just a list of where you worked and what you did at each job. It can take the place of an application. The sole purpose of a resume is to get an interview. It is your sales tool - something to make the employer want to talk to you to learn more.

Creating a Resume

There are 2 basic formats for resumes - chronological and combination.

The first is Chronological. Jobs are listed in Chronological order with the most recent job first. This is a great resume if you are going to stay in the field you have been working in and have made progress in your career (moved up the career ladder).

(If you don't have a resume, it is pretty easy to create a basic chronological resume. Just go to the MN Job Bank at http://www.minnesotaworks.net/ (or click on the link on the right) You will need to create a user name and password if you haven't been there before. Click on the resume tab on the left side and it walks you through it.)

Combination is a better choice for people who are going to be changing their careers. Instead of listing your employment history first, you list skills. That way, the first thing that employers are going to see is your skills and then they can see that you can do the job. You still list your jobs, but under the skills. So employers are seeing that you have the skills to be in customer service or maintenance even though your last job title was accounts payable or assembly.

Here is a quick example or the differences:

Chronological
Contact Info (name, address ,etc)

Objective: (what type of job you want)

Employment History:
Job Title #1 Employer Location Dates worked
-bullet points of duties and accomplishments
Job Title #2 Employer Location Dates worked
-bullet points of duties and accomplishments

Education:
degree school location dates (only if in the last few years)

Combination
Contact Info

Objective:

Employment Skills (or Professional Profile - however you want to word it)
Skill Area #1
-3 or 4 bullets of duties and accomplishments
Skill Area #2
-3 or 4 bullets of duties and accomplishments
Skill Area #3 (I would only do 3 or 4 skill areas)

Employment History:
Job Title #1 Employer Location Dates
Job Title #2 Employer Location Dates

Education
degree school location dates (only if in the last few years)

Tweaking a Resume

Here are some tips to make your resume a better sales tool...

- Use bulletpoints and short phrases instead of paragraphs. Most resumes only get a 10-20 second scan.
- Only go back 5 - 10 years in your experience. Go back further if you have worked somewhere for longer.
This will help with age discrimination. And technology is changing so fast that older than 10 years almost becomes irrelevant.
- Use plenty of white space. If the resume looks too crowded, it may not even get looked at.
- Proof read - and have a friend proof read it also. This is your first impression, you don't want the employer to think you make mistakes or are messy.
-Be relevant and truthful.
- this is a sales tool - you don't need to include that temp job that only lasted 3 months.

Remember the hardest resume to write is you own. Just get started.

Good luck!

What is your bottom line?

When looking for a job, one of your first steps should be to determine what your bottom line is - how much money you need to make. That way you can save yourself, and the employers, a lot of time and energy by not applying for jobs that you cannot take.

Sometimes the want ads do not list the salary of the new job. Really try to find out. If you know someone who works at the company, ask them. Check out the company website. See what other area companies pay for the same type of work. If all else fails, call the HR department and ask them.

Determining your bottom line is pretty easy. Make a list of everything you spend money on for a month. This would be all of your bills, groceries, gas, eating out, kids activities, etc. Then list expenses that are upcoming - things such as car ins, prescriptions, upcoming events (birthdays, weddings) etc. With this you can see what your total expenses are. Subtract from this any income you have. That will leave you with the amount that you need each month.

There are a few things to consider when looking at your bottom line....

Travel
How far away is the new position? How much gas is it going to cost to drive there everyday?
Work hours
Can you work 4 days/week? Can you work on-line?
Health Insurance
This is a big one. You could be spending a lot more, or saving a lot more depending on the plan offered by a new company. And I am talking thousands of dollars. Compare the premiums to what you used to pay and look at what is covered. Hopefully you are pleasantly surprised.

When you know your bottom line, you can always be flexible with this. Write a salary range on the application. Maybe the company would pay more for your experience or give a salary increase sooner than usual. Just get things like that in writing.

Hope this helps you!

First Impressions

So, I like to people watch. If you have ever done it, you know that you can tell a lot about a person by what they wear, how they walk, how they talk, etc. I have heard that most people have an impression of you in about 7 seconds. 7 seconds - WOW!

Employers do the same thing. They judge you, fairly or unfairly, on what your application or resume looks like, or how you walk into the interview. And you only have one chance to make a good first impression.

So why should you care if you make a good first impression? Someone once told me that employers had to accept him for who he is. True, but they don't have to hire you... If you make a good first impression, you can trip up on a few things down the line without it hurting you so bad.

The very first impression an employer will get of you is when you are applying for a job. If you are walking into businesses, be aware of what you are wearing. Employers will ask the front desk staff what you looked like and how personable or professional you were. Tip - Be nice to everyone! When you turn in an application or resume, make darn sure that there are no mistakes and it is filled out neatly. (Take 2 applications if you need to.) Sloppy applications mean that you may do sloppy work.

When you meet with an employer be sure to dress the part. The general rule is to dress a step above the position you are applying for. For example, khakis and a polo shirt for factory type work, a shirt and tie for office type work for men, skirts /dress slacks and a blouse for women. One great tip I heard was from a worker who was applying for a management position at a fast food restaurant. He had seen that managers wore black pants and a red polo, so that is what he wore to the interview. He already looked the part and the employer could picture him as his new manager. He got the job.

Other tips for dress:
- no wrinkles!
- wear a shirt with sleeves (for both men and women)
- cover tatoos if possible (unless you are applying at a tatoo place)
- take out facial piercings - just one in the earlobe is OK
- no jangling jewelry - and not too much jewelry
- watch the perfume or body spray. More and more places are going fragrance free

Bring what you need to the business when you are applying, or to the interview. Don't ask for a pen to fill out the application. What a way to show that you are not organized. At the interview, bring extra copies of your resume. That shows you are organized and serious about the position. If you have a reference sheet, bring that, along with any letters of recommendation.

Know a little bit about the business. It really isn't that hard to find out something. Most businesses have a webpage. Or call and talk to the front desk people before you go in. I am always amazed at how many people have no idea what a company (where they are hoping to spend most of their waking hours at) even does. I work for a non-profit and when people that we are interviewing think we are the State or County it is a huge turnoff.

Age Discrimination. This really exists - for both ends of the spectrum. Older workers (over 45) are looked at as stuck intheir ways, slower, not computer literate. Younger workers (under 25 or so) are looked at as unreliable, unprofessional, ego driven. Know that this is out there and figure out how you will combat this.

For older workers, dress a little more trendy. The tie blouses and ruffles went out for us decades ago and even though they are coming back in style, they never will be for us. Wear clothes that make you look more energetic. Talk about your computer skills and how much you love to learn new things.

Younger workers need to be early to the interview. Dress a little more conservatively. Talk about how responsible you were in your last job, how you are a team player.

Another tip: try not to smoke right before the interview if you are a smoker. I have heard of one employer that won't hire smokers for service maintenance positions that require site visits. The employer is sure that the employee will stop for a smoke break both before and after fixing the machine. That sure sounds like discrimination to me - but just try and prove it. If you really want the job, try to hold off - or at least don't smoke right before you go in to shake the employers hand for the interview.

First impressions aren't really that hard to get right. Just put yourself in the employers position and think about what type of person you would like to hire. If you are that person, dress and act the part.

Good luck!