Keep It Simple Stupid!

When you're job hunting, your main objective before landing a gig is getting an interview. The golden ticket to landing an interview is constructing a great resume. However, it's not that easy. In my line of work, I have the opportunity to screen resumes and of course, some pique interest and some raise eyebrows. There are plenty of resumes that fall under the Raise Eyebrows category: resumes with typos, resumes with little to no information, and resumes that give too much information. For the resumes with TMI, it's really an eyesore to people who screen resumes. The last thing you want a potential employer to do while they're reading your resumes is develop M.E.G.O. (My Eyes Glaze Over). You only have a couple of seconds to make a great first impression on paper, make it count for something. 


To create a resume that accentuates your high points while getting to the point, here is some info that you might not want to include: 


1. (Overly) Personal Information 
In no way, shape, or form should you ever put too much personal info on your resume. Your social security number, birthday, etc. should never be put on your resume. That would be like volunteering to be the victim of identity theft. Also, for older candidates, volunteering things like your birthday could work against you despite the laws against age discrimination. 


2. Hobbies 
Unless you're filling out an application on Match.com or any other dating site, putting your personal hobbies on a resume is absolutely useless. Employers just want to find out about your qualifications, not that you like dancing, swimming, and cooking international dishes on the weekends. Save that kind of info for when you get the gig and you're making water cooler chat with your co-workers. 


3. Irrelevant Achievements 
If you've amassed a number of achievements over the years, that's definitely something to put down. However, listing your achievement of being Prom Queen is not applicable under any circumstances. Your best bet is to list achievements in your field of interest. If you're in the writing field and have many pieces that you would like to show--blogs, reviews, and other writing samples--please do not send a massive amount of links on your resume. Employers will not be impressed; instead they'll be annoyed that they have a bunch of links to look at. Take your best samples, print them out, and put them in a nice portfolio. When you snag an interview, then you can show off your work in an impressive yet professional way.


4. Laundry List of Responsibilities 
In your work experiences, you usually have a lot of responsibilities. Some responsibilities are mundane and run-of-the-mill; I would suggest keeping duties like copying/faxing, mailing, etc. down to a minimum and focus more on "big picture" duties. Your responsibilities should somehow show that you've either increased your company's revenue, decreased the company's costs, or streamlined a process. You have to show that you've made something easier for your bosses. 


5. Every Single Job 
If you were on a date, would you start the conversation with every detail of your past relationship and expect to go on a second date? Didn't think so. Your job history shouldn't date back to your after school job in high school. An easy way to determine the proper jobs to put on your resume is to make a subtitle called 'Relevant Experience' and provide details on jobs that are relevant to the position. For other jobs that are irrelevant to the position your applying for, create a subtitle called 'Other Experience' and simply provide basic information such as company name, company location (city, state), your title, and dates of employment. 


Giving too much information on your resume is like giving it up too fast on a date. You'll be viewed as a desperate person and you won't get a second chance to make a good impression. Times are rough and I know that everyone is trying to put their best foot forward, but don't throw everything but the kitchen sink into your resume. Keep it simple and to the point. It'll make it easier for employers and easier for you to get that interview! 

Jobs: Come Out, Come Out Wherever You Are!

During one of my recent conversations with a friend, she mentioned how she was having a hard time finding jobs. Although the job market is still in not as strong as it should be, there are jobs out there. It's just a matter of being crafty with with your search. Below are some helpful websites that I've come across in my job search. 


Monster.com 
This widely popular job search engine is used by  many big name companies use Monster as a recruitment tool and the career services (i.e. resume critique/writing, job hunting advice) Monster offers makes them hit with job hunters everywhere. 


MediaBistro.com/TalentZoo.com 
For anyone looking for careers along the lines of media, advertising/marketing/PR, and creative, MediaBistro and TalentZoo are great places to find jobs of various types (project basis, freelance, part-time, full-time). MediaBistro and TalentZoo also give news, events info, and helpful articles on how to make it in the media world. 

Glassdoor.com 

In addition to posting jobs from many companies, Glassdoor provides company information, CEO approval ratings, anonymous reviews from past and current employees, and even reviews on interviews. I highly recommend using this site when you want to find out some info about the company's culture or how interviews are conducted. 


Craigslist.org
The one-stop shop for careers of all functions, Craigslist can be a useful tool in one's job search and many reputable organization are using them to post jobs. However, please exercise precaution as there are job scams that plague the site. To combat that, Craigslist has implemented a space for companies to identify themselves to job searchers. 


LinkedIn.com 
This career-oriented social networking site provides people with a community to not only look for jobs but network with past, present, and future employers. You can list your work history, follow companies that you're interested in, and connect to a wide range of professionals in your field. 


SimplyHired.com/Indeed.com
These job search engines help take the tediousness out of searching for jobs from big name companies and bring the information right to you. In addition to that, these sites also provide salary searches, job trends, and forums to discuss careers. 


Twitter.com 
Although Twitter is used for recreational purposes, many companies have Twitter accounts and tweet open positions. If you have a Twitter account, be sure to follow companies that grab your interest! 


These are just several of the many sites that are helpful to people searching for jobs. I'm pretty sure there are more websites out there so if you found them to be great in your job search comment! 

Time Goes By So Slowly...

Many recent college graduates such as myself definitely had a hard reality to face once the excitement of graduating wore off. We've spent hours applying to Associates programs, searching for countless full-time jobs and internships on the internet, and ultimately had nothing produce into gainful employment. As we were preparing for graduating and moving back to our hometowns, we were all warned of the job market's treacherous environment we would face, but deep down inside we all thought that some employer would take one look at our resume and shiny new degrees and hire us soon after graduation.For many of us, it didn't quite happen that way and there are still many who refuse to believe that the scenario described will not be something they will experience. 

One key factor in anyone's job search is patience. A lot of job hunters seem to think that the hiring process only takes a matter of days when in fact it takes weeks at the very least. There are several things to consider: 

1) Although the company is interviewing candidates, they may not have the actual approval for the position, so HR is just simply looking to develop a pipeline of qualified candidates for when the position is considered officially open. Please note that approval can take months or never happen. 

2) When managers are gaining approval for jobs, budgets must definitely be discussed. If there's no budget, then there's no job. Unfortunately in these harsh economic times, companies are always looking to find a way to trim their budgets and of course hiring people (especially depending on the career level) is a lot of money when talking about base salary, bonus, and benefits. So while the manager may want to hire a person, if the numbers come back funny, then there's no approval.  

3) You are not the only one applying and interviewing for this job. Depending on the company, they are looking for hires internally (current employees looking to advance) as well as externally (laid off experienced workforce and fellow recent grads). Rarely ever do managers interview just one candidate and hire him/her on the spot. When managers are choosing a candidates, they need to be able to compare qualifications, skills, and talents and they can't do that by interviewing one person. 

4) Bosses may decide that responsibilities that a potential candidate may have can be taken on and spread out amongst current employees. In this case, the current employees don't win because they have more work piled on and you, the job hunter, don't win because a potential job opportunity is over before it started. 

5) The manager may have had a bad experience with a past employee and are extremely cautious about hiring someone and end up taking a while to make a decision. 

However, there are some special cases where a company needs to fill a position immediately due to a massive back up of work that needs to be completed. The company will usually post this in the job description by saying they're interviewing  within a short time frame and looking to hire ASAP. If you come across a job like that that fits you well, then apply, attend the interview if you're invited, and good luck! 

For all other regular time-framed jobs, the best advice is to not be discouraged. Searching for a job in this market is definitely an emotionally taxing process and it's easy to feel like you're not getting anywhere especially if you've been searching for months and you haven't heard back from any company. However, if you've been going on lots of interviews, look at each one as an opportunity to improve your interviewing skills or make yourself more viable to employers.

It's important to be realistic in your job search because if you're not, you'll end up frustrated. It's understandable: you're brimming with fresh ideas and ready to take on the world with your many talents, but you feel like no one has noticed it. But also remember this: you're young and have more time on your side; eventually someone will realize what you have to offer. If you ever feel down about your situation, just think about those out there who have spent years looking for a job, can't provide for their families or themselves and then be thankful for what you have left and toughen up because tough times don't last, tough people do!