Submit Tailored Resume

 

 

 

 

The principle purpose of your resume is to get an interview. Short of a personal introduction to the hiring manager, the resume is part of the formal process of employment. The hiring process utilizes a review of the numerous potential employees and the review is of individual resumes.

 

Utilize your master resume containing  All your qualifications, to tailor one specifically suited to the position applying for as advertised. Include numeric measures of performance, production or time savings experience.

 

Presented at the right are resources for preparing a resume capable of attracting the attention of a hiring manager. Attention to detail is critical, make sure that your presentation accurately matches the requirements of the job posting.

 

 

Get Your Resume into Human Hands

 

Tailor Your Resume

 

Actually Get Interviews

 

Best Ways to Get an Interview

 

Customize Your Resume

 

Optimize Your Resume

 

How to Target a Resume for a Specific Job

 

Tweak Your Resume for an Industry Change

 

A Career Transition Resume

 

Writing a Federal Resume

 

Posting Your Resume Online

 

They Haven’t Called You Back?

 

Consider Following Up

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Get Your Resume into Human Hands

 

https://www.themuse.com/advice/a-job-hunters-guide-to-getting-your-resume-past-the-ats-and-into-human-hands

 

The majority of resumes never even land in the hands of a human. They’re automatically stored in an applicant tracking system—a software application used by companies to search through thousands of resumes quickly to determine which ones are the best fit for a position. Here’s everything you need to know about optimizing your resume keywords and beating the ATS bots.

 

An ATS Wants a Specific Match

 

Dozens of different applicant tracking systems exist, but all of them perform the same basic functions. They compare the content of your resume to keyword searches initiated by a recruiter.

 

When you submit your resume, the ATS parses the information and stores it in its database. Then, recruiters can search for resumes submitted to a specific job and the system will pull up the resumes with the most keyword matches. So, even if you applied for one role, your resume might populate for a different position down the road that more closely—at least, according to the machines—matches your skill set.

 

Therefore, ATS Want Specific Keywords

 

For your application to rank highly for the position you want, your resume needs to contain the right keywords . So, your best bet is to tailor the content to the exact way the job description is written—including plural words, abbreviations, and numbers (e.g., note whether the company spells it nonprofit or non-profit; three years of experience or 3 years of experience). Yes, adjusting your wording for every application takes more time and effort than sending a generic resume, but as you can see, it’s well worth it.

 

ATS is not as intuitive as a human, you need to give attention to these four things.

 

First, echo the phrasing from the job description on your resume: If the position calls for “CRM software,” your resume must use those exact words. If you list “Salesforce,” an ATS will not recognize that as a match.

 

Second, don’t use a generic keyword list you found online. Instead, take the time to review the specific job description keywords you’re applying for.

 

Third, for acronyms, include both the spelled-out version and the shortened one—because an ATS doesn’t recognize abbreviations. For example: It won’t necessarily know that “MBA” is the same as “Master of Business Administration.” And—this is key—to balance between the ATS and human eyes, consider writing the abbreviation in parenthesis like so: Master of Business Administration (MBA).

 

Fourth—this one’s easy—always write out the entire year, (e.g., “2015” not “’15”).

 

Focus on Hard Skills

 

An ATS primarily looks for hard skills when it scans your resume. Soft skills will be assessed later in your cover letter and during the interview, so prioritizing them on your resume won’t earn you too many points.

 

For example, commonly used resume keywords and keyword phrases, such as “dynamic,” “team player,” and “self-starter,” are not quantifiable—so recruiters don’t bother to search for them when sourcing candidates. Instead, focus on your technical skills, credentials, position titles, and software or tools that are relevant in the industry—because those are the keywords they’ll be checking for.

 

Use Resume Keyword Tools

 

At Jobscan, we’ve researched the top 10 ATS used by thousands of companies and identified the common scoring and ranking patterns. These tools help people compare their resumes against the actual job descriptions; make suggestions about which relevant resume keywords are missing and score matching the job description.

 

The biggest thing to keep in mind after reading all of this is that if you play your cards right, your resume will end up in human hands. Those human hands do not speak in keyword. Make sure that your resume has all the right keywords, but is also readable.

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Tailor Your Resume

 

Shannon Lodoen

 

 

 

After scrolling through seemingly endless pages of job postings, you’ve finally struck gold – Most Fantastic Management has the perfect opportunity for you! You’ve got your resume uploaded, ready to submit for review… but wait! Before you send it in, you’ll need to make some changes to make it clear that you’re the right person for this specific job.

 

Tailoring your resume may be time-consuming, but it’s worth it. First of all, it demonstrates to recruiters that you’re really invested in this opportunity – you’ve taken the time to fine-tune and customize your resume, something that not all job seekers are willing to do. Second, it gives them key relevant information at a glance, saving them time and energy investigating your qualifications. After all, it’s easier for them to see how well you match up for the role if you’ve already highlighted it for them.

 

How to tweak things

 

Start out by reading the job description in detail. Look at the requirements and responsibilities, cross-referencing them with your listed skills, experience, and education. If you’ve forgotten or omitted anything relevant listed in the job posting, go ahead and add it to your resume. Do not fabricate or exaggerate skills in your resume, though – it will do more harm than good in the long run!

 

Once you’ve added in any additional qualifications and/or skills, remember to remove irrelevant information that isn’t directly related to the position. Ensure that your resume is concise and flows well.

 

Vocabulary

 

Tailor your vocabulary to the job you are applying for. Demonstrate that you’re knowledgeable about your field by using keywords and specific language (use the job description to help you if you’re having trouble). It’s important to remember that recruiters are often not experts in the fields they are recruiting for, so avoid excessively technical jargon or acronyms.

 

Procedures

 

Ensure that all changes have been proofread and edited and that everything is still formatted properly. Once you’ve finalized your newly-customized resume, it’s ready to send in.

 

Congratulations! You have just significantly improved your chances of landing an interview. Why? By tailoring your resume, you’ve proven that you really are invested and interested in this specific opportunity.

 

While constantly editing and revising your resume may get tiring, remember this: it’s always better to submit 10 well-written, nicely tailored resumes than to fire off 100 generic ones without a second thought. Your motto here should always be quality over quantity!

 

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Actually Get Interviews

 

Workopolis

Adapted from: https://careers.workopolis.com/advice/only-2-of-applicants-actually-get-interviews-heres-how-to-be-one-of-them/

 

 

The internet has made it very easy for people to search out and apply to many job opportunities. But sending out more applications doesn’t increase your chances of getting hired. Sending out better applications does.

 

Employers say that as many as 75% of applicants for a given role aren’t actually qualified to do it.

 

Experts say that only an even smaller fraction than that are selected for an interview. “98% of job seekers are eliminated at the initial resume screening and only the “Top 2%” of candidates make it to the interview”, says Robert Meier, President of Job Market Experts. “Fixing the employment market requires helping job seekers become “Top 2% Candidates” who can meet employer’s rigorous requirements and hit the “bulls-eye” of employer needs to ensure they don’t make bad hires” continued Meier.

 

Applying for jobs you’re unqualified for can hurt your chances at future positions with the company too. The online recruitment software company Bullhorn surveyed 1,500 recruiters and hiring managers and found that such irrelevant applications was the biggest turnoff for 30 percent of them. Of that group, 43 percent said they would ‘blacklist’ those candidates from any other jobs as well – by suppressing their names from even coming up in future resume searches.

 

With that in mind, here are three ways that you can elevate your job applications to the top of the list:

 

Only apply for jobs that you actually qualify for.

 

Now, this doesn’t mean that you have to have every single bullet point listed in the job posting. There is such a thing as ‘credential creep’ where employers flood a job ad with a wish list of qualifications that any one candidate is unlikely to possess. Read the job posting carefully. Make sure that you understand the actual job duties and challenges, if you can make a significant contribution, then go ahead and apply.

 

Explain how you can stand out on the job. Employers want to hire someone who will make their lives easier. Your resume should demonstrate what your past successes can accomplish for them.

 

Avoid listing just your work duties and tasks, but instead focus on your achievements. Make sure the employer knows the added value that you specifically brought to your role. Bear in mind that these should be described in such a way as to highlight their relevance to the challenges of the job you’re applying to.

 

Apply to the job that you’re applying to.

 

That’s a grammatically-interesting sentence, but it’s nonetheless true. It goes back to what I mentioned earlier about people using a one generic resume to apply for numerous jobs.

 

If the job title on your resume doesn’t match the job that you’re applying to, there’s little chance that you’ll make it into the top 2%. Similarly, even if you have the qualifications for the job, if your career objective doesn’t match with the role, you’re unlikely to be hired for it. It gives the impression that you would be a bad fit for the job, and that you wouldn’t stay very long in the position.

 

Find jobs that you can do and that you would actually like to do.

 

There’s no point in applying for jobs that you don’t actually want. Research the company, the industry and the specific role. Write a resume and a cover letter that specifically show why you would like to work at that job for that company. Highlight how your past accomplishments demonstrate what you can achieve for them.

 

A resume that is tailored and specific to a job will always stand out from the crowd of generic applications, and that’s how you can make it to the job interview.

 

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Best Ways to Get an Interview

 

Susan Ruhl

https://www.workitdaily.com/ways-get-job-interview/

 

 

 

Best Ways to Get an Interview

 

Knowing that you are likely one of many applicants, how do you get “noticed”? There are a few steps that you can follow to greatly increase your odds of landing that interview. The following count down presents 10 key considerations

 

10.  Be Specific

 

Develop a list of specific target companies that you can identify to those with whom you are networking. For example, if you say, “I want to work in engineering,” that doesn’t really get my brain working. However, if you say, ” I want to work for XYZ company in an engineering capacity, namely leading a team of hardware engineers,” that helps me to a) understand what you are looking for and b) start thinking about who I may know at XYZ company.

 

9.  Know Your Strengths

 

Knowing what you bring to the table and clearly articulating it sets you apart from the masses right away. Some are not clear on what they can do to specifically help a company. Companies want to know specifically what you can do for them

 

8.  Research Your Target Companies

 

Know those companies that appeal to you and appear to be a good fit. If you don’t know about the company or if you don’t really want to work there, it will show in a conversation. If you are excited about working for the company and you have clearly done your research, it will make you extremely appealing and different from the rest.

 

7.  Develop A Resume That Stands Out from The Rest

 

There are great resumes and terrible resumes. What makes a great resume? Clearly defining what problems you will solve for the company and adjusting the resume based on the job available are two important factors.

 

6.  Develop Marketing Material

 

What can you leave with a new contact that sets you apart from the other people they have talked with? Professional business cards are a must but what about a biographic?  This is a marketing piece that visually tells the story of your job history.

 

5.  Don’t Be Afraid to Call The Hiring Manager

 

Be assertive. If you know who the hiring manager is, call them and briefly state that you have applied for the position. Alert them to this and let them know that if they took ten minutes to meet with you, they would find you a viable candidate.

 

4.  Don’t Rely on Job Boards

 

Not that you cannot find a job utilizing a job board but statistics show that 90% of jobs are never posted and those that are posted are swamped with job seekers

 

3.  Create Your Brand Utilizing Social Media

 

Develop your brand as an industry expert using LinkedIn. Post professional, relevant articles that are pertinent to the type of jobs in which you are interested.

 

2.  Network

 

Make it to the top of the resume pile with networking. Your goal: have someone hand the resume to the appropriate person and say, “We need to look at this person.”

 

1.    Follow Up

 

Be persistent without being obnoxious. Ask your contact how best they likes to be communicated with and how often. Respect that they have their own priorities but don’t give up if they don’t respond immediately. Taking a proactive, professional approach will certainly increase your odds.

 

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Customize Your Resume

 

Peter Weddle

http://www.careercast.com/career-news/optimize-your-resume-if-you-want-get-job

 

 

We believe that a correctly-formatted resume will help snag a new or better job.

Writing your resume is only step one in presenting your credentials. Step two is to tailor your resume for each individual job. In other words, in today’s job market a resume is useless unless it’s written expressly for a specific employment opportunity.

 

The good old days of sending a generic resume with a cover letter that emphasized the relevant points for an opening are gone forever. Recruiters would tolerate that approach in the old world of work because they knew that modifying your resume was a tedious and time-consuming activity. You prepared the document on a device called a typewriter, and changing it was like re-chiseling a statue.

 

Today, of course, that’s no longer true. Recruiters know that it’s easy for you to modify your resume, and they expect you to do just that. Indeed, whether or not your resume has been tailored to a job is used as one of their evaluation criteria. From an employer’s perspective, anyone who’s unwilling to invest the time and effort to put their best foot forward in their resume is probably also unwilling to make a contribution to their organization. And giving that impression with your resume will get you rejected, no matter how qualified you may be for a job.

 

So what resume modifications are likely to help you get noticed by recruiters and evaluated favorably? There are two key rewrites you should perform:

 

Vocabulary

 

Most recruiters are not experts in the fields for which they recruit. They aren’t engineers, or sales professionals, or scientists; they’re recruiters searching for that kind of talent. So what do they do? They look for certain specific keywords on a resume to indicate whether a person is qualified for their opening.

 

Recruiters obtain those keywords from company HR departments, then search their resume database for any documents that contain them. Since computers can only identify exact word matches, even highly qualified candidates may be overlooked if their vocabulary isn’t the same as that of the hiring manager.

 

How can you determine which keywords to pick? Look at the job posting and any other content provided by the employer, then translate your vocabulary into the specific keywords and phrases that they’re using. Just make sure not to exaggerate or misstate your credentials.

 

Content

 

Recruiters are busy people. Most handle multiple job openings simultaneously, and don’t have time to wade through a lot of extraneous information to find the details that would make you a prime candidate for a particular position. So make it easy for them to recognize your credentials.

 

First, remove information that isn’t directly related to the job you want, and emphasize the information that is related until it’s as complete and compelling as you can make it. Then pick the five or ten parts of your record that work best for the job, and highlight them in bullets at the top of your resume in a “qualifications summary.” Put this summary directly below your name and contact info, but above the body of your resume. Recruiters don’t read resumes; they scan them, at least in their initial review. This positioning makes sure that you lead with your strengths, and that the recruiter will actually see them.

 

Tailoring your resume to each job opening clearly takes a lot more time than just forwarding the same old, generic document over and over again. In the good old days, job seekers were often told to mail out 500 or more resumes, as landing a job was a numbers game. Today, however, numbers matter less than precision. The more precisely you fit with a company’s open position, culture and mission, the more you will be perceived as a qualified candidate.

 

So you have a choice: You can apply for a ton of openings using a generic resume and get a ton of rejections (or more likely, hear nothing at all). Or, you can tailor your resume with keywords, apply for a smaller number of jobs and likely hear back from at least some of them. Think of it this way – a tailored resume works; a generic resume means you don’t

 

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Optimize Your Resume

 

im Isaacs

https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/customize-your-resume-for-results

 

 

Submitting the same resume for every position can't possibly meet each employer's individual requirements. If you want to grab hiring managers' attention, you need to give them what they want. You must take the time to tailor your resume to each employer and its goals to strengthen your chance of getting noticed.

 

Before responding to a job posting, review the job description to see what credentials are important. If you're submitting your resume to an employer that doesn't have an advertised opening, research the company and find out how it would benefit from bringing you on board. Once you determine your top-selling qualifications, you will be ready to customize your resume to meet the employer's needs.

 

The most efficient way to create customized resumes is to develop one general resume and then tweak it for each particular job opportunity. Follow these steps:

 

Copy Your Monster Resume

 

Before you apply for your next job on Monster, log into your My Monster account. Go to My Resumes, and find the resume you'd like to copy. Click on the Actions icon for the resume you want to duplicate and select Copy. A copy of your resume will appear at the top of the resume listings, ready to customize specifically for the job you're applying for.

 

Title

 

Your Monster resume title should state your career goal, along with one or two of your top credentials. These credentials should be tailored to the employer's needs. For example: "Sous Chef -- Culinary Degree & 5 Years' Fine Dining Experience."

 

Objective

 

The purpose of this section is to show that you're perfectly suited for the open

 

position. Opt for a concise, targeted resume objective instead of a general statement that could be for any employer or job. A resume objective like, "To become a software engineer for 123 Company's Web services group," makes the hiring manager's job much easier and brings you closer to getting called for the interview.

 

Qualifications Summary

 

Once you've researched the employer's requirements, use the resume career summary section to match these requirements with your qualifications, thereby proving you are the perfect candidate for the position. Modify the Qualifications Summary in your duplicate resume as follows: omit statements that aren't important for the position's specific goals, reorder the summary so statements relevant to the position are listed first and add information about your credentials that's uniquely applicable to the position and employer.

 

Job Descriptions

 

Many employers go directly to the resume's employment history section to assess your qualifications. Review your job descriptions and modify your duties and accomplishments to pertain to the opening. Present an honest account of your employment history, but describe your experience to highlight your work tasks and achievements that relate to the job you're applying for. Place these pertinent qualifications at the top of the description, or use bullets surrounded by white space to make them stand out.

 

Skills

 

You've already reviewed the job posting and determined what skills the employer wants in an ideal candidate. Emphasize your matching skills in your Monster resume's Skills section. Begin your list with the skills that would be of most interest to the employer.

 

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How to Target a Resume for a Specific Job

 

http://www.dummies.com/careers/find-a-job/resumes/how-to-target-a-resume-for-a-specific-job/

 

The all-purpose generic resume is being replaced by the targeted resume, a resume tailor-made for a specific employment goal in a job search. Targeting resumes isn’t just smart, it’s critical. A targeted resume convinces the reader your work will benefit a specific employer and that you should be among the candidates invited in for a closer look.

 

A targeted resume is a job search marketing tool that:

 

·         Addresses a given opportunity, making it easy to see how your qualifications are a close match to a job’s requirements.

 

·         Uses powerful words to persuade and a clean design to attract interest.

 

 

·         Plays up strengths and downplays any factor that undermines your bid for an interview.

 

 

You probably have an all-purpose resume lying around in a desk drawer somewhere. What you and legions of job seekers everywhere like about the all-purpose resume is that it casts a wide net to snag the attention of many employers — and it saves time. However, the one-size-fits-all resume is becoming obsolete and it’s going to get lost in more and more recruiting black holes.

 

 

Prepare your core resume.

 

Jot down every factor in your background that you could use to customize a resume, from experience, competencies, and skills to education. This is your working model, a resume you will never submit to an employer but a rich well you will draw from time and time again. Use as many pages as you need

.

Research the requirements of a job

.

If you’re responding to a specific advertised job, jot down the requirements that the ad lists. Don’t confuse the job duties and the stated requirements. Deal first with the requirements and then see how you can show experience or education that matches the most important job duties.

When you’re not responding to a specific advertised job but are posting your resume in an online database, attempt to attract interest in your candidacy by researching the most commonly requested qualifications for a given occupation or career field. You can do this by studying many job ads

.

Customize each spinoff resume.

 

After compiling the requirements, you must satisfy in a tailor-made resume, scour your core resume to see whether you can add secondary items mentioned in the ad that further improve your chances and start writing.

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A Career Transition Resume

 

 

Alex Simon

Adapted from: https://www.workitdaily.com/career-transition-tailoring-resume/

 

 

 

The first step in tailoring your resume is by linking your past experience with your positions in the future. Keep in mind what the employer is looking for and what they would want to read about you. ,It’s about anticipating what the employer would like to know about you and your experience.

Even though you might feel your new career path is worlds apart from you previous position, there are still ways in which you can link and combine the skills to make them relevant to what lies ahead.

 

State Your Objectives

 

Jump the career change hurdle by being clear and open in your resume and/or cover letter. Don’t claim that you have vast experience in a particular field when you don’t.

Make it clear that you are in a career transition and mention how your past experience, your skills and expertise can tie in with the position you are applying for.

 

Don’t Use Cliches

 

Don’t fall into the trap of using resume clichés. For instance, people mentioning that the fact that they are ‘perfectionists’ is a weakness. Or using phrases such as ‘hard-working,’ ‘team-player,’ or ‘hands-on.’ Every Tom, Dick, and Harry out there has used them, and it will only damage the credibility of your resume.

 

State the Important Facts First

 

Those hiring employees don’t necessarily read every word on the resume.

You need to list your information and facts in a way that is easy to ‘digest’ for your prospective employer. Structure your resume so that all the headings are relevant and the most important facts relating to your new career are listed first.

 

Make Use of Action Verbs

 

Accomplishments that outline your unique contribution are great. When possible, use action verbs such as ‘collaborated,’ ‘designed,’ ‘planned,’ ‘developed,’ ‘initiated,’

 

 ‘sold’….Not only will this show that you are influential within a company, but action verbs will show your proactive approach in the working environment.

 

Work with What You Already Have

 

If you’ve been in the workforce for some time and now are changing careers, you need a professional portfolio and resume now to be most relevant.

Some skills are beneficial to any job, for instance, leadership, communication, negotiation, independent learning, management, problem solving, and so on. Just make sure that you do have examples of where you practiced each of these skills and ideas of how you could do so in your future position.

You also have life experience and alongside a positive attitude and willingness to learn, this is vitally important to prospective employers.

 

Research

 

Do some research about the ultimate resumes in your new career field. You could even have a chat with someone you know in the industry, especially if it’s a senior, and pick their brains on the current expectations.

 

Showcase the Natural Progress

 

Structure your resume so that you don’t come across as a job hopper. Showcase the natural progress from one industry to another by combining your skills, expertise, and interest in your resume. Find an underlying practice that connects all your different experiences and base your new summary, and resume upon this premise.

 

Your Extensive Knowledge

 

State your interest in the industry iby sharing your extensive knowledge even though you might not have first-hand experience. If it’s possible, show them the numbers! Back-up your claims of expertise with actual instances where your work has resulted in a positive change within the company.

 

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Tweak Your Resume for an Industry Change

Martin Yate

https://www.job-hunt.org/resumes/how-to-change-industries.shtml

 

All companies and all industries develop unique priorities, language, and “ways of doing things” as a natural response to the challenges presented by the services they provide or products they deliver.

 

Consequently, every company you approach is engaged in challenges specific to its industry, and when you want to change your industry sector as part of a strategic career move, you and your resume should reflect an understanding of the new target industry’s issues and challenges.

 

Recruiters have an industry bias that springs from real concerns about a candidate’s understanding of the building blocks of commerce in the new industry: the language that speeds communication for its services, the myriad problems likely to crop up in the job every day, and the skills and working relationships necessary to deliver on the requirements of the job.

 

Analyze and Understand the Target Industry

 

Whatever your target job title in the new industry, that job exists – just as your current job – to identify, prevent, and solve the problems that occur within your areas of responsibility.

 

How you do this must demonstrate consideration for company resources, client and vendor needs, and your colleagues. This understanding will be the focus of both your research into the new industry and the subsequent positioning of your resume.

 

The Customer Is Always Right

 

“The customer is always right” and “Find out what the customers want and give it to them” are the two important lessons we learned beginning our careers. Apply this to the needs of the companies hiring for your target job within the new industry. Take the time to understand the unique qualities of service that define your target industry and the challenges they present.

 

Identify people already doing this work who can educate you about these issues, and

tell you how things work. Talk about these issues with contacts in industry/profession specific groups on LinkedIn, or your alumni or professional associations.

 

The insights you gather will demonstrate to employers in your target industry that you understand the issues unique to that industry.

 

If you are serious about changing industries, this may be the right time to consider investing in a professionally-written resume, or the proper tools so you will be equipped to repackage your resume yourself.

 

Have a job-targeted resume

 

A resume describing all you have done is too unfocused, and it won’t get pulled from the databases. Your resume must demonstrate a clear match between your skills and employers’ stated needs for a specific job. When your resume focuses on a single target job and tells the story that best qualifies you for that job, you directly respond to employers’ needs.

 

A Target Job Title, followed by a Performance Profile that addresses the abilities employers in the new target industry seek, followed by a Professional Skills section, make a powerful first impression and tell the reader that you can do this job well before the details of your industry experience are discussed.

 

Take Your Time – Do It Right

 

Changing jobs is tough. Changing industries further complicates matters, so take the time to build a resume that will give you the firm foundations for a successful transition.

 

And while you build, commit yourself to making a real difference at your current job. The days will go more quickly, and you will be able to interview for that dream job with greater confidence and more pride in your professionalism.

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Writing a Federal Resume

 

 

http://gogovernment.org/how_to_apply/write_your_federal_resume/writing_tips.php

 

 

You may be tempted to submit your standard resume to a wide variety of positions and ultimately become frustrated when you don’t advance in the hiring process. However, if you tailor your resume to a specific job description, your chances of moving to the next stage in the application process will drastically increase.

 

To customize your resume, carefully review the position description. Focus on the ‘duties,’ ‘qualifications’ and ‘requirements’ sections and include keywords and phrases in your tailored resume. Make sure that you demonstrate how you have developed the specific skills required by the agency. Your final resume should be tailored so that it mirrors the language used to describe the position.

 

The federal resume is becoming even more important as agencies try to simplify their applications. Emphasize and re-emphasize areas where your previous experience or education overlaps with the duties and qualifications listed in the job opportunity announcement.

 

Numbers impress hiring managers

 

Use the duties and accomplishments section of your federal resume to highlight your performance metrics. Percentages, numbers and data can be a great way to describe the specific impact you had in a particular job. Listing actual measures will go a long way with hiring officials. Be sure they are accurate and that you can back them up in an interview.

 

Sell yourself and your achievements

 

Don't be shy about showing your knowledge, skills and accomplishments in your federal resume. Give the agency representative a reason to make you one of his or her top candidates.

 

Include the skills and achievements that go beyond your work experience and education. Think about all of your activities that might qualify you for a job, such as:

 

involvement in social or religious organizations, volunteer experiences, unique projects or interests, awards or certificates and subjects mastered.

 

These items may set your resume above the rest, especially if they correspond to the qualifications for the position.

 

Check your spelling and grammar

 

One of the biggest complaints from federal agencies is that applicants frequently do not edit their work and often have spelling and/or grammatical errors in their federal resumes. Use a word processor or ask a peer or professional to check your spelling and grammar. Doing so may help you avoid being overlooked when it comes time for an agency to select candidates for an interview.

 

Keep a copy of your private sector resume

 

Some agencies use third-party application systems that are not USAJOBS.gov and may require a different kind of resume. If you have any questions about what documents to send, contact the agency’s human resources representative for clarification.

 

Be concise

 

Provide as much detail as possible, but be concise. Wordy or irrelevant information will only confuse the reader. When tailoring your resume, delete education or experiences that do not relate to the position.

 

Do not assume the reader is familiar with organizations in your resume. Provide context when appropriate, and avoid acronyms. Omit unnecessary details. You should provide enough information to demonstrate your qualifications, without overwhelming the reader. Remember: the quality of the information is more important than the quantity.

 

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Posting Your Resume Online

 

Katharine Hansen, Ph.D.

Summarized from: https://www.livecareer.com/quintessential/e-resumes

 

 

Job-seekers today submit their resumes via text based  e-mail, submit print formatted documents on job boards, or publish them on their own Web page.

 

1.    You absolutely MUST have an online version

 

your resume should be optimized for online posting and submission. More than 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies post jobs on their own Web sites — and expect job-seekers to respond electronically.

 

2.    Your resume must be loaded with keywords.

 

job-hunting today relies on keywords. Employers’ find the job candidates to rely on placing resumes in keyword-searchable databases, and search those databases for specific keywords related to job vacancies.  If you apply for a job with a company that searches databases for keywords, and your resume doesn’t have the keywords needed for the person who fills that job, you are ignored

 

3.    Your resume must be accomplishments-driven.

 

Accomplishments are the points that help sell you to an employer, more than everyday job duties. There’s a direct relationship between keywords and accomplishments, in that keywords can be tied to accomplishments rather than job duties. To make the leap from keyword to a contextual bullet point is to take each keyword identified as critical to the job and list an accomplishment that tells how you’ve used the skill represented by that keyword.

 

4.    An online resume is not difficult to create.

 

The common method involves saving your word-processed (usually Word) resume in text (.txt) format, re-opening it in a text editor program, such as Wordpad, or Notepad, and then making a few adjustments in it. The PDF format is also a common format for submitting a resume.

 

5.    Text-based resumes are the ugly

 

Text-based resumes are the antitheses of gorgeous documents that job-seekers hand to employers at interviews and career fairs. most online resumes aren’t intended to be attractive,their main function is to be searched in databases.

 

6.    Text resumes are highly versatile.

 

With a text-based resume, you can do a lot with it, including:

·         Post it in its entirety on job boards.

·         Paste it piece-by-piece into the profile forms of job boards.

·         Paste it into the body of an e-mail and send it to employers.

·         Convert it to a Web-based HTML resume.

 

7.    You must tailor your resume to each job board’s instructions.

 

Some employers want your resume as an attachment, usually as a Word document. Others want your resume as text pasted into the body of an e-mail message. Still others want you to paste your resume into an online form.

 

8.    Use job-board features to protect yourself

 

reputable job boards have features that enable you to protect your own privacy and confidentiality, control who sees your resume, mask the identity if your current employer, and edit and delete or change it from active to inactive.

 

9.    Increase your e-resume’s effectiveness.

 

Research further on the following topics: 

Properties, Comments, Meta Tags, Description, Keywords,

 

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They Haven’t Called You Back?

 

Larry Buhl

https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/6-reasons-they-didnt-call-you-back-hot-jobs

 

 

Responding to job listings once meant a call or email acknowledgment in return. Now, with so many applicants, you're more likely to hear nothing. Why?

 

In the best of times, responding to a job listing can feel like sending your resume out to sea in a bottle. Sometimes you'll get an email or a phone call acknowledging your resume or application, but often you'll hear nothing at all.

 

If there is a resounding silence from your queries, keep looking and networking. But you can also do some sleuthing to give you a better chance of standing out next time. Recruiters and career experts agree that, if you didn't get an interview or phone call -- or even a thank-you email -- it may be due to at least one of six reasons.

 

1. They're Just Not That into You

 

You're good, but someone else more closely met the qualifications. In a tight job market, employers can usually get exactly the type of candidate they want. A polite "thanks, but no thanks" letter or email would be nice. But don't expect it these days.

 

2. They May Be into You, As Soon as They Get to You

 

Companies receive so many submissions these days that they don't even have time to send out letters or confirmation emails. "I know a major software company that's taking more than three weeks just to send out acknowledgement notes, and some companies are spending months sifting through resumes for just one opening," workplace etiquette expert Sue Fox says.

 

3. They Would Have Been Into You If You Had Followed Directions

 

Many job listings use the word 'must,' not 'it would be nice to. If it says you must have experience in X, then tailor your resume to show that. If you're answering a job listing, be sure you respond exactly the way the company wants.

 

And be aware that if you're not applying for a specific job, but sending out dozens of form letters, your resume is likely in the companies' spam folders.

 

4. They Might Be into You If You Apply for a More Appropriate Job

 

Independent recruiter Cheryl Ferguson says that many job seekers are overqualified, underqualified or otherwise just wrong. "If we need to fill a specific job, and you're not right for it, don't assume that we're going to find the right fit for you," she says. "A lot of times people send me resumes, and I want to ask, 'Did you even read the job description?'"

 

5. Your Presentation Could Use Some Work

 

"A lot of mistakes I see are a lack of cover letter, and a [resume objective] that is all wrong for the job opening," says Lindsay Olson, partner and recruiter at Paradigm Staffing. "Even worse are obviously mass emails where the candidates had no clue what they were applying for."

 

6. There Isn't Any Job

 

Sometimes, due to last-minute budget cuts, a position is eliminated before it's even filled. Other times, according to Olson, companies reel in resumes even when they know there isn't any opening. "Some companies want a big applicant pool because they think they may be hiring in the future," Olson says.

 

How can you learn what happened?

 

·         Contact the Company

·         But Don't Be a Pest

·         Reread the Job Posting

·         Take a Look at Your Resume

 

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Consider Following Up

 

Alison Doyle

https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-follow-up-after-submitting-a-resume-2061007

 

 

Following up in a courteous, professional way can make you stand out in a positive light, by showing the employer just how interested you are in the job.

 

How to Follow Up on Your Resume

 

If you don't hear back from the hiring manager within two weeks, it may be worth following up. Employers and recruiters usually prefer follow-up by email. That way they have a record of the correspondence, and can respond at a convenient time.

 

If no email address is listed, you can try sending a paper letter or calling the company. If no email address or phone number are listed, or the posting says not to contact the employer, follow the instructions and wait to (hopefully) hear from them.

 

Send an Email to Follow-Up

 

When sending a follow-up email message, put the title of the position that you applied for and your name in the subject line so that the hiring manager can see at a glance what the email is in reference to.

 

Begin your email with a polite salutation, using the hiring manager’s name.

 

If you are unsure of the gender of the hiring manager, you can use their first and last name. Your signature should include a business closing, after thanking the employer for their consideration.

 

Write a Follow-Up Letter

 

If you are writing a paper letter to follow up with the hiring manager, follow the format of a standard business letter. Start with the hiring manager’s name, title, and company address. Be sure to include the date, and begin your letter with a professional salutation and the hiring manager’s name.

Finish your letter by expressing your appreciation, using an appropriate closing, and including your signature and contact information.

 

Make a Follow-Up Phone Call

 

When following up with a phone call, try early or late in the day, because people are less likely to be in meetings then. Try calling once or twice before leaving a brief message with your name, and the job title you applied for. Thank the employer for their consideration, and say you’d be happy to clarify any information on your resume.

 

Leave your phone number, so it’s handy for them to call you back.

 

If you reach the hiring manager, be brief and to the point. Let him or her know your name and what position you applied for, then ask them to please contact you if there is anything they would like you to clarify or any additional information they need. Thank them for their time and consideration, and politely ask if you can give them a phone number where they can reach you.

 

Examples of What to Say

 

In your follow-up, it’s important to be as courteous and professional as possible. Any contact you have with the hiring manager has the potential to enhance -  or harm - your chances of moving along in the hiring process. Let the employer know how interested you are in the position, and how eager you are to meet for an interview.

 

Be sure to thank them for reviewing your resume and application materials.

 

You can also ask questions about what to expect as the company moves toward a decision.

 

You can take the opportunity to add or clarify any information about your qualifications that you would like to highlight, or briefly share new information that adds to your candidacy. If you are applying for an out of town position and you plan to visit the company’s location, mention the time frame and your eagerness to meet – ask if it’s possible to arrange an interview during your visit.

 

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