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Crafting Your Resume – Don’t cut Corners

Today’s job market is fiercely competitive so you have to pull out the big guns for your job search. The first thing you must start with is an effective list of qualifications that will sell your skills, knowledge and experience to potential employers. No matter what your qualifications are, your resume and cover letter will determine whether or not you get an interview. In this article, we’ll give you some valuable tips that will help you stand out from the crowd.

The purpose of the resume and cover letter is to get potential employers to notice you. Managers want to know about a job seeker’s skills, experiences and interests. While your employment history is important, do not spend too much time describing the companies you have worked for. Instead, emphasize your duties, responsibilities and accomplishments. Your documents should be factual, impressive, readable, and tailored to the position you are seeking. This is a key point. If the job listing that you are responding to requires a certain skill, be sure to emphasize your training and experience with that skill.

Employers want to be able to read your paper profile quickly, so forgo padding the page with unnecessary information. Instead of complete sentences, use short descriptive phrases in bullet form to give your documents a clean and organized look. However, be extremely careful when checking for grammatical and spelling errors. Nothing irritates a potential employer than spelling mistakes because it conveys the message that the job seeker in not thorough, nor detail oriented.

In addition to creating a professional profile, you should also demonstrate what kind of person you are. Include a section that lists awards, volunteer work, philanthropic activities, sports you may be involved in or any other extra curricular activity. This raises your value to a potential employee because it demonstrates commitment and the willingness to work hard.

It may sound ridiculously obvious, but do not forget to include your contact information on your resume and cover letter. Don’t just include a home phone number. Include a cell number, IM address, and email addresses. You absolutely do not want to put yourself in the position of playing phone tag with an employer. After two tries, they probably will move on to a candidate who makes themselves available. Finally, before you send your documents out, go over them with a fine tooth comb to make sure there are no spelling errors, missing words or incomplete information. You may even want a friend or family member to proof read them. Once you are sure they are perfect, polished and professional, submit them with pride.

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Career Planning Need to Knows Traps and Pitfals

If you’ve made the decision to enter into a new career field, you’ll need to start planning carefully to make sure that you are successful. There are lots of things you should do, even before your first interview, that will prepare you for the professional advancements that you’re striving for. Here are some practical tips that will get you ready for your new job.

One of the first steps to career planning is research. If you are going to need additional certification or education training for your new profession, you’ll need to research the schools across the country that are offering the programs that you want. Depending on what you find, you may need to relocate or commute long distances for a few months, and this will mean a big adjustment for you and your family. You’ll also need to see which schools are more likely to offer you internships and jobs in your field after you’ve received your degree. This will help with your career planning tremendously, since you’ll be able to explore more options that will help you to grow professionally.

Evaluating your personality and skill set is another important part of career planning. This will help you to determine which positions you should be interviewing for, and will give you a good indication of how well you will be able to deal with colleagues. This is important no matter what field you’re pursuing, and is especially essential if you are pursuing a career that involves customer service.

Career planning should also continue after you’ve landed your first paying job in your field. What will it take for you to receive a promotion? How can you do your best in your current position? What are some of the things you need to know in order to become an expert in your profession? These are the questions that need to be answered while you are doing your job every day. For instance, if you are in the information technology field, you’ll learn which computer training classes are necessary for you to manage a business. And, if you are in the medical field and want to eventually become a surgeon, you’ll learn which internships and additional classes will make you more qualified to treat patients.

Also,don’t forget to talk to your school’s guidance counselor or career advisor in order to get more information on career planning as well. He or she may have resources that you would not be able to find on your own, and can make it easier for you to start working in your field even before graduation. Good luck!

Should you always include a cover letter with a resume and headshot?

Specifically for Disney Channel? And any tips on writing cover letters besides keeping them short and to the point?

What are some of the best tools and techniques for job hunters these days?

I’m looking for more than just job boards, classifieds and networking techniques. I’m an experienced technical consultant looking for some clever new ways to get noticed by employers.

How does someone with no previous job experience write a resume?

I want to start applying to jobs, and I tried to look up ‘how-to-write-resume’ things online, but all of the ones I found were mostly for people who already had previous job experience, or finished their education – or at least most of it. I’m a freshman in college and I’ve never had a job before. I need help in how to write a resume but I don’t really know what to put it in. Any tips? Or a website that helps people like me on how to write resumes?
To the first answerer, I clicked on the website you gave and um.. apparently it’s ‘unsafe’.. I have this "WOT" (Web of Trust), it’s an add-on for mozilla firefox that tell how reliable and trustworthy a site is.. and the website you put is red, which means more-or-less, its risky/dangerous/not-a-good-idea-to-go-onto-that-website…
but thanks for ur tip :)

I need help writing my resume!?! what am i suppose to write?

I am 16 yrs old and I am going in for my first interview next wk can anyone give me any good tips?

-plz&thank-u!

Resume tips, please help!?

I’m writing a resume for a job as a chef and need help.

What is the best way for an executive to find a new job? Websites? Headhunter? Mass Mailing? Networking?

I want to find a job in a different region of the country. What is the best way to go about finding a high level COO, VP, or General Manager job when searching outside your region? The job boards like Monster and others don’t seem to work well.

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I'm trying to write a resume but I have never done it before. Does anyone know any good tips or sites to help?

Also maybe a place for free formats. :-D

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Experience with Professional Resume writing services?

I am starting the process of looking for a new career, which means, of course, that it’s time to dust off the ol’ resume. I haven’t written a resume in ages (I’m not a job hopper; I tend to stay a while wherever I am employed), so I’m not terribly confidant about my resume writing abilities. Have any of you folks ever used one of those professional resume writing services? If so, would you recommend any one in particular? If not, what tips would you all have for writing a solid, professional resume/cover letter?
Thanks!

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