Your Resume the Key to new Opportunities!!
Your resume, think of it as the key to opening doors to new possibilities and opportunities. So given it is the key, you should probably learn how to write a great resume. First there are 3 main styles of resumes: Chronological Resume: A chronological resume starts by listing your work history, with the most recent position listed first. Employers typically prefer this type of resume because it's easy to see what jobs you have held and when you have worked at them. Functional Resume: A functional resume focuses on your skills and experience, rather than on your chronological work history. It is used most often by people who are changing careers or who have gaps in their employment history. Combination Resume: A combination resume lists your skills and experience first. Your employment history is listed next. With this type of resume you can highlight the skills you have that are relevant to the job you are applying for, and also provide the chronological work history that employers prefer. So which do you choose? For me I prefer the Combination, or as I call it “the best of both worlds”. The first resume you write should be what I call your “uber resume” (also known as "Resume Journaling"). This means you write a resume that includes everything you ever did, even if it is an additional job, or duty. This resume will be way more than the recommended 1-2 pages long (if you have only been in the workforce for a short time it might be shorter). This resume will be updated constantly to capture everything you have ever done. To do this you will need to gather every piece of information you can. Things to gather:
When writing you resume make sure to utilize clear measurable achievements. For example do not just say “increased hiring”, instead say “increased hiring 50%”. This not only states what you did, but gives a clear, measured, and quantifiable number that potential employees can wrap their arms around. Also remember when writing it in allot of cases it will end up in an “applicant tracking system” were it will be searched on. When it is searched for it will be searched for based on the buzz words that are appropriate for the job, so be sure you include them in your resume. This includes software, skills, attributes, and industry buzz words. Also when writing your resume you need to use action words, when possible. Below are a few, not all, but a few action words you can use. General Skills Achieved Arranged Built Collected Contributed Delivered Designed Dispatched Examined Improved Increased Informed Maintained Organized Performed Purchased Prepared Scheduled Supervised Trained Technical Skills Assembled Balanced Built Calculated Cut Designed Detected Developed Formed Generated Inspected Installed Maintained Molded Operated Packaged Processed Remodeled Sales Skills Accomplished Arbitrated Budgeted Computed Consulted Demonstrated Dissuaded Exceeded Forecasted Generated Increased Influenced Marketed Ordered Persuaded Produced Projected Promoted Realized Saved Sold Communication Skills Addressed Authored Clarified Created Demonstrated Drafted Presented Persuaded Proofread Reported Clerical Skills Assigned Balanced Catalogued Charted Compiled Composed Distributed Edited Followed up Identified Ordered Planned Prepared Recorded Helping Skills Assisted Attended Comforted Consoled Encouraged Facilitated Guided Helped Nursed Reassured Served Supported Tutored So now you have this big, long “uber resume”. So what’s next? Next you start applying to jobs, and you copy out of your “uber resume” the parts that are specific to the job you are applying for. For example, if you are applying for a recruiting job, you copy out the recruiting specific portions of your “uber resume” thus creating a “recruiting resume”. Now you have a recruiting specific resume that can be used for applying to recruiting jobs and it was all quick and easy as cut and paste. Remember to try to keep it to no more than 2 pages. The key is "try", if you have enough experience and it goes longer, so be it. Besides a resume you will need, a cover letter and thank you notes. A cover letter is a letter that introduces you more formally, announces you candidacy, and should provide some information that is not in your resume about how you qualify for the position. Suggested cover letter layout:
Your handwritten signature (if being mailed or handed in person) Type your name Ok you know how to write a resume, and a cover letter. Now for the final piece, the thank you note for after interviews of any kind. The thank you note should be short, concise, and above all appreciate of their time. General guideline:
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So this is part #6, Bringing it all Together with the “MOST” technique.
Okay so let’s bring it all together. If we learn how to multitask, then we can get more done in a shorty time frame, which will help with time management and planning and be helped by being organized. If we are organized, we will be able to work with more speed as we will know where all the info is, and we will be able to make a good plan that will allow us to multitask and manage our time correctly. If we can learn to work with great speed, we can get more done in less time, and to do this we must be organized to easily and quickly find info. If we learn to manage our time and have a plan we will be able to work with great speed, and multitask. Notice all the bolded words; notice how they all over lap form pillar to pillar. That is what I meant by interdependent. Each pillar needs the other to form a strong foundation that will allow us to get the “MOST” out of ourselves as staffing professionals. Now we can learn to multitask and increase our ability to multitask with practice, but again only to a point at some point some will be able to multi task more than others, because it is just inherent. You can learn to be organized in fact most PM courses teach you organization, and there are allot of books, and courses on it. You can gain speed in allot of ways, you can learn to read faster, you can train your mind to think quicker, as you do more and more you will gain speed it is just human nature the more you do something the quicker you will get with it. Of course training and experience will only take you so far like with multitasking some of it will just be inherent. You can learn Time Management and Planning. In fact most PM sources cover this and there are numerous books and courses on the subjects. Now for the quick plan: Take a PM course and take what you learn about time management and planning and being organized and use your inherent skills and abilities to come up with your way to get the “MOST” out of yourself as a staffing professional and keep with it. The more you do it the quicker you will get with it, the quicker you will work and the more processes you will be able to handle as you learn to be able to multitask at a greater rate. I have always said the biggest difference between me and others is speed, multitasking and research. I have already posted numerous posts on research, and things related to that such as thinking out of the box, not settling for the easy and simple things, etc. Now with the conclusion of the series on “MOST” you have the things, abilities, and skills that allowed me great success. “MOST”-Part 5!!!
Getting the “MOST” out of yourself, Time Management and Planning!! So this is part #5, pillar 4 on the “MOST” technique. Pillar 4 Time Management and Planning, simply put you need to understand or learn how to manage your time effectively and have a plan. Time management and Planning are together because if you have a plan you will manage your time correctly, if you managed your time correctly you had a plan even if you did not know it. So this is another skill that you can learn. There are many ways, and thoughts on how to manage your time. I prefer utilizing a PM style of time management. That being to utilize a schedule to layout what I need to do and when I need to do it. Also having a plan for what I am doing. An example you are scheduled for sourcing, something that should be on your schedule every day, you have 30 openings to source for. That’s great but if you do not have a plan, that meaning what positions to source for, how many candidates you want to find etc, you will waste allot of time on 1 or 2 positions and end up not having anytime for the others. So you can see how Time Management and Planning go together and how they all fit with the other pillars. Which brings us to the last in this group of posts. Part #6, Bringing it all together. “MOST”-Part 4!!!
Getting the “MOST” out of yourself, Speed!! So this is part #4, pillar 3 on the “MOST” technique. Pillar 3 Speed, not just fast but warped speed fast, the ability to perform at warped speed is essential to the pillars. So this is a biggy, speed can be god given, or gained over time and effort or both. For our purposes we are talking work speed. So gaining speed can be done in allot of ways. If you learn to type faster you will increase your work speed, if you learn to think quicker you will increase you work speed, if you are better organized and know where all the info is you will find it quicker. All of these things will increase your work speed. As with all the pillars they are interdependent. Also as with multitasking you can increase yours with training and practice, but it will only go so far some of it will be inherent. Next Part 5, Pillar 4 Time Management |
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