How Too Much Experience Can Affect Your Job Search

When you’re a kid, you’re told that you need to go to college to get a good job and will spend the next few years studying hard to get a bachelor’s or a master. But does all the studying always pay out when it comes to your career? Well, not always.

The main problem that most graduates face is finding  a first job as too many companies require too much experience, which doesn’t give a chance to students trying to enter the working world. As a result, they are forced to take internships or try to get a job through networking; in most of the cases, they will end up making less money than what they’re worth, which is pretty frustrating.

Fortunately, there are some simple steps that you can take to have better chances to land a good job.

Let’s take the example of Linda. She went to college for four years and got a bachelor’s degree in Business and Administration. She also got some experience thanks to a summer internship. She graduated last May and has sent her resume out to hundreds of companies in the last few months. She’s been using the career resources available at her school and even followed a training on how to write a resume and how to have successful  interviews. Still, she hasn’t gotten any interview yet. However, her brother who just went to high school is already making 50,000 a year being a simple salesman.

Is Linda doing anything wrong? For starters, Sarah is sending the same resume to every employer. In addition, she has a generic cover letter where, rather than talking about what she can bring to employers, she focuses on what she wants from a job.

Employers need to know what you can do for them, and every job listing is going to be different. That’s why it’s essential that you change your resume writing and cover letter to reflect each job opening that you apply for. Linda needs to focus on keywords that are placed in the job announcements and use them in her resume. She also needs to look specifically for entry-level positions with minimum experience, because she only has one internship under her belt. Another thing that Linda can do is to use her inexperience to her advantage. By this, we simply mean taking the time to make light of her lack of real work experience, and give it a positive spin. For example, because of her lack of experience, she’s completely able to be trained to a company’s specific needs. That sounds much better than “I’ve never worked in this field before.”

Resume writing can be a challenging endeavor, as can the post-college job search. However, as long as you provide a unique, polished resume that stands out from the crowd, you can ensure that your phone will be ringing in no time.

The importance of keywords

When you’re looking for the perfect job, having the perfect resume is essential. Resume writing is probably  the most important part of job hunting and needs to be treated as such. One thing that will often make or break is your resume appeals to the employer’s needs. For example, if your resume is self-centered and only about what you want, you might as well not even bother applying. However, if you take the time to find out what the employers need and use you resume to show what you can do for them, you will get better chances to get the job.

When you begin the resume writing process, you need to make sure your resume is customized to each position you’re applying to. The days when you could send the same resume to a hundred job openings are long gone. The employment market is much more competitive now, which means that not only you need to appeal to each job separately but also that your resume needs to stand out. One of the ways to do this is to use the right keywords.

What keywords are we referring to? Simply the words used in the job announcement. Here is an example:

Executive Management Team Member

Looking for an addition to our team. The qualified candidate will possess the following skills:
Bachelor’s Degree or Master’s Degree
Minimum two years of experience in executive management position
Ability to set and meet deadlines, maintain employee relationships, manage time and tasks efficiently
Computer data entry and spreadsheet experience, as well as networking and Intranet abilities
The right candidate will be detail-oriented and have demonstrable experience in all areas. To apply, send resume and cover letter, along with salary requirements to:
Chuck Norros
456 Main St..
San Diego, CA 94364
EOE/M/F/D/V

Now let’s focus on pulling the keywords and phrases out of this announcement Make sure that you include the following words from the listing in your resume writing: deadline-oriented, executive management experience, time and task management skills, computer abilities, spreadsheet experience, and detail-oriented, networking experience.

All these keywords – or phrases – are very important and should be included in your resume. This will do two things: it will catch the attention of the recruiter and show them that you pay attention to details. As a result, your resume will be more likely to stand out, and will give you a better chance to get hired.

No matter how qualified you may be, you need to provide personalized resumes for each job listing to make sure you get a foot in the door.

Five tips to choose a great resume writer

If you’re exploring a professional career and applying for an executive job, you first need to find a professional resume writer to prepare your resume for you. Hiring a resume writer is definitely wotrh the investment. There are several professional resume writing services, and finding the right one might be quite a fastidious task. Here are some tips to help you find the best resume writers.

1.    Look at their sales ability. Any resume service should have a compelling sales pitch page. Some people feel intimidated by a sales pitch, but think of it that way: if a resume agency can’t sell themselves, they won’t be able to sell you in a resume.

2.    Reputation is another factor that is crucial considering when hiring a professional resume writer. You can use search engines and review sites to check various companies and determine which ones have good reputation and which ones should be avoided.

3.    Experience is also key into selecting the best writers. With all the companies out there, selecting the services that have been around for a long time might be a good angle. While it doesn’t mean that new companies are not as talented, it’s usually a good sign when a business has been around for a while.

4.    You should also make sure that they are certified, which you can know if they mention PARW, CPRW or NARW.

5.    Finally consider the personal attention you will be getting. What you need is a writer who will work with you and will write a customized resume just for you, not someone who will throw your experience and education into a cheap template or resume builder.

These are the important things to keep in mind when choosing a resume writer. Additionally, you need to remember that you pay for what you get. Thus, if you are looking for the cheapest service, you will probably get a cheap resume, as well. You simply need to compare the resume companies available and choose the best resume writer based on their abilities and the costs, instead of just considering only the cost of the service. If you want to get the best job, you need to have the best resume, so it all depends on your research and taking seriously.

Resume Writing for Telecommuters

Telecommuting has become a phenomenon in today’s e-commerce society, and writing resumes for a telecommuting position is very different than writing traditional resumes.

For starters, telecommuting resumes need to stand out. while it’s important for any resume to stand out, it’s even more important for telecommuting jobs as telecommuting job postings usually generate an average of 500 to 1,000 responses in the first couple of days. As a result, your resume should be almost perfect; it should also catch the attention of the employer and showcase that you are the right person for the job.

In general, the focus of a resume is usually on your experience and how it is relevant to the job for you’re applying to. However, when it comes to writing a telecommuting resume, you need to focus on that skills that make you a great candidate for a remote position. For example, you should emphasize time management skills, the ability to be self-motivated and deadline oriented as well as your internet skills (for communication purposes).

Another element to consider is that telecommuting resumes are under much more scrutinized, which is because you are competing with applicants nationwide and even sometimes  worldwide, for these jobs. As a result, employers will be less forgiving if they find errors in your resume. Telecommuting jobs are filled by the best, and in order to be considered, your resume needs to be the best.

When you work remotely, there’s no face to face interview. You might speak to recruiters on the phone or through e-mail, but chances are you might never get to meet them in person. Therefore, you need to put more effort into your resume writing to ensure it makes a great first impression. When applying for regular jobs, you can still make up for your resume shortcomings during the interview. However, when you apply to telecommuting jobs, your resume and cover letter will be the only impression employers will get, so you need to make sure it’s a good impression.

Telecommuting resume writing isn’t really that much different from writing a standard resume. However, there are a few things that need to be taken into consideration. Make sure your resume stands out, and is 100% grammatically correct. Also, make sure that your resume leaves a good lasting impression. While, of course, nobody’s perfect, your resume needs to be as close to perfection as possible in order to get your dream work-at-home job.

Writing A Good Resume Objective

Day-after-day, employers receive 100s of resumes from qualified candidates. Regrettably, unless you are able to make your resume unique enough, you will end up being just a resume in the pile. When it comes to resume writing, you should have a clear goal and showcases it in the right place, with the right words, so that you can catch the attention of the employers and recruiters.

While you can use a resume objective, they most of the time sound outdated and selfish. Rather, lots of job seekers now use a Qualifications Summary in their resume, which allows them to open with a statement that says “here I am, and here is what I have to offer.” While yur career history and education will go over everything in details, a brief statement about what you can do for the company will definitely have a bigger impact.

When writing this statement, you should keep a few things in mind. First, you should use pro-active language; keep your distance from big fancy words. Instead, go straight to the point. In addition, make certain that you are appealing to the employer and that you show them clearly what you can do for them. They could care less about what you want in a job; they just want to know what you can bring to their company, so make sure this is clear. Another important thing when writing your resume objective or qualifications summary is to avoid vague statements such as  “looking for a position where I can utilize my skills, experience and be a team player”.  This statement is unclear, self-focused and doesn’t tell anything to the employer about what you have to offer.

Here are a few good examples:

“Sales executive with employee management skills, computer abilities and a MBA”.

Administrative assistant with five years of experience in word processing, client communications, clerical work, and great phone skills.

These two qualifications summaries are very focused and direct, speaking clearly to the employer about what these candidates can do. Since most HR mangers simply glance at resumes, you should make sure you deliver a powerful message so that your resume stands out.

When it comes to resume writing, there are several elements that need to be considered, but the statement that you make at the beginning is probably the most important as if it’s what makes the first impression and if it’s not catchy enough, employers won’t read further.