As a resume writer, I was always taught that resumes did not need to include months of employment, years alone were sufficient.
Nevertheless, recently, more and more companies and recruiters have begun demanding use of months claiming that by not using them, applicants are either "lying" or "hiding something." I spoke to a hiring manager recently who said, "I want to be aware of any possible gaps in employment."
This comment struck me as odd, so I questioned her some more on it. "OK, so you find out the candidate was out of work for two or three months in 2000. What does that do for you?"
Her answer: "I drop them from consideration."
I have to admit that I was stunned by that. As a former hiring manager, I cannot recall a time when I used a two-month gap in employment against someone, particularly someone who was otherwise qualified to work for me.
In fact, my thinking on that has always been, "but for the grace of God, go I." Who knows when that could have been me?
Let's face it. You could have numerous reasons for having employment gaps of less than a year. Health reasons, either because of you or a family member being one of them. Now who wants to put that on their resume "I was out of work because I had a major medical issue" or because "my spouse was sick."
So I responded to my hiring manager friend, "what if the candidate explained the job gap on the resume? For instance, they put something like "laid off from Jan. to Mar. 2000" or "medical sabbatical." Would that make a difference?"
Her answer: "Probably not."
My reply: "No wonder people lie on their resumes then."
In another scenario, I was having a conversation with a recruiter who was bemoaning the lack of months on most candidates' resumes. In this case, my recruiter friend made an interesting point: "If they leave off months, then a candidate can easily make one year look like two."
He then gave me a scenario:
XYZ Company: 2006-Present (but with months: Mar. 2006-Present)
ABC Company: 2004-2006 (but with months: Dec. 2004-Mar. 2006)
LMN Company: 2002-2004 (but with months: Jan. 2002-Nov. 2004)
His point was that if you look at the ABC Company listing, without the years, it looks like the candidate worked there 2 years when in fact it was only 16 months.
Again, my reply: "OK, so it was 16 months instead of 24. Otherwise, the client has had a steady work history. What difference does it make to the employer to know this? I mean, can't you find this all out when you ask the candidate to fill out a more extensive job application?"
His answer: "We want to know what people are hiding."
My reply: "I'm confused. What is this client hiding exactly?"
His answer: "Eight months of employment at ABC Company."
My reply: "So what difference does that make in evaluating this candidate to determine whether you want to interview him or her?"
It seems to me we have all forgotten the main intent of the resume: to review a candidate's background and decide whether you would like to move forward. After all, if a candidate is well qualified and seems to meet your needs but you are concerned about the actual dates of employment for some reason, isn't that something you could just...ask?
Maybe it is just me, but I am having a hard time understanding how the lack of months is the great differentiator. In the case of my recruiter's candidate, adding dates would not be a big deal. (Unless, of course, you see that "gap" from Nov. 2004 to Dec. 2004, and you just need to know how many days elapsed in there!). But in the previous case with my hiring manager, if a candidate showed a two-month gap, he or she wasn't even up for consideration! So what is a job seeker in this situation to do?
It seems reasonable to me that applicants should have some room for providing their background in the best light without being accused of "lying" or "hiding something." They should also not be stuck in a position where they feel they have to divulge personal information like an illness or family issue in the hopes that a hiring manager will be OK with that explanation.
I recognize that hiring managers/recruiters and the like are tired of uncovering lies later on in the process after a candidate is hired, but there has to be some room for middle ground.
So who am I anyway? Why do I think my advice is so valuable?
My name is Stephen Van Vreede. My company is called No Stone Unturned, and I have spent 15 years on both sides of the corporate hiring experience.
The short story is that I have an MBA in Marketing from Villanova University and a dual B.S. degree in Finance & Logistics from the University of Maryland. I am a certified professional résumé writer (CPRW) and a member of the Professional Association of Résumé Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC). As I mentioned, I paid my dues in the corporate world eventually running a large-scale call center for a major truck rental company, and I have spent the past 7 years with No Stone Unturned, assisting job seekers in achieving their goals.
In February 2009, I launched a new group job hunting networking site: NoddlePlace.com. It is absolutely FREE to join, and you have access to everything on the site. Come check it out at NoddlePlace. You can also follow me on Twitter.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Van_Vreede
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Resumes - Secrets of the Career Summary - Is it Mandatory?
A Career Summary is not mandatory. However, there are times when it will give you a tremendous advantage over the competition.
THE TRUE PURPOSE OF YOUR CAREER SUMMARY
The purpose of this section is to make your key qualifications instantly recognizable, and stand out in the mind of employers. When you have Relevant, Obvious, Specific, and Exceptional qualifications sprinkled throughout your job history, the summary gives you an opportunity to collect them all into one place -- right at the top of your resume. Employers will find them faster, which is super important, and they will pack more punch because they will be seen as a collection, rather than a number of scattered, individual items.
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON'T USE A CAREER SUMMARY
If you don't include this section, employers will base their decision to interview you almost entirely on your most recent experience. That's because the stuff at the top of the first page of your resume gets the most attention. If you have only worked at one job, the Career Summary is not needed, and may in fact be redundant and work against you.
IF YOU DECIDE TO USE A CAREER SUMMARY
The easiest and most powerful approach is to customize the summary for the position. Write and format the rest of your resume without a Career Summary, and leave a gap between your contact information and your job experience, about 1/3 of the page. When you come across a position that you want to apply for, fill the space with bullet points that match your experience with the job requirements.
For example, if they need:
You create bullet points like these:
Ready to learn more about how to get more interviews for each resume you send out?
Download my FREE 12-page report, "Anatomy of a Perfect Resume," at
http://www.magneticresume.com so you can learn:
Scott Shane Holt has seen it all while hiring over 100 people, in good times and bad, and as an executive coach helping managers and other professionals accelerate their careers.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Shane_Holt
THE TRUE PURPOSE OF YOUR CAREER SUMMARY
The purpose of this section is to make your key qualifications instantly recognizable, and stand out in the mind of employers. When you have Relevant, Obvious, Specific, and Exceptional qualifications sprinkled throughout your job history, the summary gives you an opportunity to collect them all into one place -- right at the top of your resume. Employers will find them faster, which is super important, and they will pack more punch because they will be seen as a collection, rather than a number of scattered, individual items.
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON'T USE A CAREER SUMMARY
If you don't include this section, employers will base their decision to interview you almost entirely on your most recent experience. That's because the stuff at the top of the first page of your resume gets the most attention. If you have only worked at one job, the Career Summary is not needed, and may in fact be redundant and work against you.
IF YOU DECIDE TO USE A CAREER SUMMARY
The easiest and most powerful approach is to customize the summary for the position. Write and format the rest of your resume without a Career Summary, and leave a gap between your contact information and your job experience, about 1/3 of the page. When you come across a position that you want to apply for, fill the space with bullet points that match your experience with the job requirements.
For example, if they need:
- 3 to 5 years of experience in accounting
- Able to do administrative tasks
- Must multi-task
You create bullet points like these:
- 3+ years of experience in accounting
- Adept at administrative tasks including: phones, calendar, meetings, coordinating events
- Multi-tasks strategic objectives with tactical issues
Ready to learn more about how to get more interviews for each resume you send out?
Download my FREE 12-page report, "Anatomy of a Perfect Resume," at
http://www.magneticresume.com so you can learn:
The 4 most common deadly mistakes that people make and how to fix them!
How to create the perfect Career Objective & Career Summary sections
How to maximize your resume so you're the candidate your next boss wants to meet!
Scott Shane Holt has seen it all while hiring over 100 people, in good times and bad, and as an executive coach helping managers and other professionals accelerate their careers.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_Shane_Holt
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Revising Your Resume
Writing a resume is a way for you to showcase yourself to a company that you are applying to work for. Because your experiences and skills are most likely changing on a regular basis it is a good idea to update your resume on a quite regular basis.
Resumes should be easy to read and easy to navigate. The more current you make your document, the more a potential employer will be able to see exactly what they need to know about you.
When thinking in terms of the look of your resume, you should make sure that the font, style and format is simple, but at the same time catches the eye. An employer who is going through a stack of resumes is going to be more inclined to read the one that is aesthetically appealing and that draws the eye towards the most important features. Your name should be one of the main focal points of your resume.
Putting your name in a font that catches the eye and stands out will ensure that the employer will remember it. You should also tie the font of your name in with other main objectives of your document. An element of style that repeats itself almost guarantees that it will be focused on, and thus remembered. Also remember though that this does not mean to use fonts that are outlandish, keep them professional and simple, yet appealing.
The header should consist of your full name and contact information, including email address, home address and telephone number. Making sure that this part of your header is very visible will ensure that you are remembered.
The next thing that you should worry about is your objective statement. The statement usually falls at the beginning of the document and gives a quick sentence synopsis of what type of individual you are and what type of position you are seeking. When updating a resume you should always try to change your objective statement. You aren't always going to want the same thing so you should put exactly what you are looking for in this statement.
One of the best things to remember when updating your resume is how to format your employment history. Many job-seekers think that they should have their jobs listed in order of most current to least current under experience, this is incorrect. The way that jobs should be listed, in the experience and job-history section, is from most relevant to least relevant.
If you are applying for a job at a marketing agency as a marketing agent of some sort and your last job was working as a dog walker, you may not want to list that first. When an employer is looking at your employment history you want the very first thing that they see in this category to be work that has prepared you for the job that you are applying for, and each job after that should be put in that order of relevancy. If you have some jobs that aren't relevant at all, it is sometimes ok to just leave those off of the document completely. Remember, no employer wants to see clutter.
Some other details to keep in mind are to list your skills and training that can help you with the position you are applying for and to try to keep your resume to one page. If an employer is only looking at your document for less than a few seconds, you want them to be able to soak in all the information that their eye can catch; hence why it should stick to one page, if possible.
Kathleen Whitlow is a copywriter and marketing agent of The Charis Group. The executive recruiting agency provides executive headhunter services throughout the nation. For more information on their Executive Recruiting Agency please visit their website.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kathleen_Whitlow
Resumes should be easy to read and easy to navigate. The more current you make your document, the more a potential employer will be able to see exactly what they need to know about you.
When thinking in terms of the look of your resume, you should make sure that the font, style and format is simple, but at the same time catches the eye. An employer who is going through a stack of resumes is going to be more inclined to read the one that is aesthetically appealing and that draws the eye towards the most important features. Your name should be one of the main focal points of your resume.
Putting your name in a font that catches the eye and stands out will ensure that the employer will remember it. You should also tie the font of your name in with other main objectives of your document. An element of style that repeats itself almost guarantees that it will be focused on, and thus remembered. Also remember though that this does not mean to use fonts that are outlandish, keep them professional and simple, yet appealing.
The header should consist of your full name and contact information, including email address, home address and telephone number. Making sure that this part of your header is very visible will ensure that you are remembered.
The next thing that you should worry about is your objective statement. The statement usually falls at the beginning of the document and gives a quick sentence synopsis of what type of individual you are and what type of position you are seeking. When updating a resume you should always try to change your objective statement. You aren't always going to want the same thing so you should put exactly what you are looking for in this statement.
One of the best things to remember when updating your resume is how to format your employment history. Many job-seekers think that they should have their jobs listed in order of most current to least current under experience, this is incorrect. The way that jobs should be listed, in the experience and job-history section, is from most relevant to least relevant.
If you are applying for a job at a marketing agency as a marketing agent of some sort and your last job was working as a dog walker, you may not want to list that first. When an employer is looking at your employment history you want the very first thing that they see in this category to be work that has prepared you for the job that you are applying for, and each job after that should be put in that order of relevancy. If you have some jobs that aren't relevant at all, it is sometimes ok to just leave those off of the document completely. Remember, no employer wants to see clutter.
Some other details to keep in mind are to list your skills and training that can help you with the position you are applying for and to try to keep your resume to one page. If an employer is only looking at your document for less than a few seconds, you want them to be able to soak in all the information that their eye can catch; hence why it should stick to one page, if possible.
Kathleen Whitlow is a copywriter and marketing agent of The Charis Group. The executive recruiting agency provides executive headhunter services throughout the nation. For more information on their Executive Recruiting Agency please visit their website.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kathleen_Whitlow
How to Do a Resume in Simple Steps
When writing a resume, the ultimate goal is to get the job. This is actually wrong; the real objective is to get the interview, because this is the venue that will enable you to present and show your true skills and abilities. Let's see how to do a resume in simple steps:
- First of all you need to organize the content. Make a list of the jobs you previously had and write down the dates. It is important to show that you are well organized, so avoid sloppy work. Do not leave anything out, because nowadays employers like seeing how experienced their potential employees are.
- Include awards, degrees and skills, or anything that could be impressive and gripping.
- Organize the lists by category, avoiding unnecessary details. Keep to facts.
- Try to tailor your resume to the particular position. Try to see what the most significant part for this job is; if the employer considers educational background more important, try to focus on that; if professional experience is more crucial try to focus on denoting your prior experience. Include details that show what your role has been in the previous companies and job positions and do not omit any awards or acclaims you got due to great performance.
- State your objective; keep it to the point and use small and simple sentences, customizing it to the position as much as possible.
- Mind the format. Keep clean lines and make your resume readable. Keep in mind that your resume is the first impression you create. You don't want it to be the last, therefore you need to make it gripping and interesting.
- Be concise and precise. Avoid spelling or grammar mistakes and anything that might create the impression that you are a careless and disorganized person.
To get more help on how to do a resume just click here
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Trevor_Johnson
- First of all you need to organize the content. Make a list of the jobs you previously had and write down the dates. It is important to show that you are well organized, so avoid sloppy work. Do not leave anything out, because nowadays employers like seeing how experienced their potential employees are.
- Include awards, degrees and skills, or anything that could be impressive and gripping.
- Organize the lists by category, avoiding unnecessary details. Keep to facts.
- Try to tailor your resume to the particular position. Try to see what the most significant part for this job is; if the employer considers educational background more important, try to focus on that; if professional experience is more crucial try to focus on denoting your prior experience. Include details that show what your role has been in the previous companies and job positions and do not omit any awards or acclaims you got due to great performance.
- State your objective; keep it to the point and use small and simple sentences, customizing it to the position as much as possible.
- Mind the format. Keep clean lines and make your resume readable. Keep in mind that your resume is the first impression you create. You don't want it to be the last, therefore you need to make it gripping and interesting.
- Be concise and precise. Avoid spelling or grammar mistakes and anything that might create the impression that you are a careless and disorganized person.
To get more help on how to do a resume just click here
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Trevor_Johnson
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