Archive for April, 2011

A covering letter simply states the most important aspects of your previous experience, explains why you are suitable for the post and draws attention to your most pertinent qualifications and skills contained in your resume. You should never mention things in your covering letter which are not already in your resume. Your resume or your curriculum vitae (CV), is the list of your qualifications, skills, experience and training. If you are applying to a job you normally would send your CV to the employer. When doing so you should always include a covering letter.

Often employers have to sort through hundreds of applications for any given post. It is only those applications which really shine that will even get the applicant through to the interview stage. Many will not even receive a response. Shoddy, scruffy applications with spelling mistakes will be the very first to hit the waste paper basket so make sure you are not one of these. Illegible writing is another mistake which interviewers will not tolerate and will also be quickly discarded.

A good example for a covering letter is one which is printed and signed on good quality paper with correct spelling and which, in a few short paragraphs, draws attention to the applicants most relevant skills, experience and qualifications. Of course the CV or resume should also be neat, well presented and printed out on good quality paper. You should be applying a position to which you are qualified for and if you are not, an explanation of this should be included within your accompanying letter. If for example you are looking for a change in direction in your career then you should present your relevant experience in your CV and mention reasons for your application. Talk about what skills you have learned in other roles which have given you the experience and skills to deal with relevant situations and scenarios in the role to which you are applying.

You should also mention why you specifically want to apply for the position and what you personally can bring to the role; not just in terms of your qualifications but also mention characteristics and traits which make you most suitable.

It is often these small details which set you aside from the others who are applying for the same job. It is this edge which is often needed in the application process, especially in today’s competitive job market.

http://ezinearticles.com/6141368

Trying to get your job search off to a strong start - but hampered by the resume writing process? Are you finding it challenging to sum up the reasons you should be considered over others for a leadership role?

If so, you have plenty of company, especially if your career is at the executive or senior professional level. Many leaders discover that it’s easier to actually drive change, improve company operations, or transform revenue performance than it is for them to write about it.

Here are 3 main reasons that resume writing can seem like an massive chore in your job hunt—along with some ways to make the process easier:

1 - You’re too close to the subject.

Most executive leaders and skilled professionals are subject matter experts in all types of leadership competencies, from strategic planning to team delegation.

However, when asked to describe their strengths, most of them will resort to tactical or skills-based descriptions, rather than illustrating the ways in which they add strategic value.

The reason? Being on the front lines is a much different experience than explaining what your career has meant to your employers. You’re naturally good at what you do, but telling your story requires a higher level of strategic analysis—a process that most executives and senior-level professionals don’t think to undertake for themselves.

To help with the process of writing about yourself, try asking others about your achievements and executive contributions. What do they see as your most valuable accomplishments and proficiencies?

What compliments do you receive on your work? You’ll find that the impression others have of you is critical, as it can give you a valuable, and perhaps different, perspective of your leadership career (useful for framing the contents of your resume).

2 - Marketing copy isn’t your strong suit.

Most COOs spend their time ensuring that costs are reined in and that the company’s infrastructure will support growth, while sales managers are assessing the competition, CEOs are busy forming strategic forecasts, accountants are closing the books, IT Managers are negotiating with vendors, and CIOs are dealing with the rising costs of technology.

Of course, these activities leave precious little time to become well-versed in marketing!

Even if marketing campaigns are part of your leadership role, you’ll still find that it’s much harder to create promotional copy when the product is YOU. Often, it’s easier to describe your skills verbally than it is to write about yourself.

Consider looking at executive or professional resume examples, which are readily available online, to get an idea of the marketing style that appeals to employers in today’s job market. How does yours stack up?

In particular, you’ll want to look for these elements in each sample resume:

-Summary section wording, where a short list of executive competencies and personality description often serves as a powerful introduction

-Achievement sentence structure that shows how to condense complex success stories

-Document design, where you can observe how white space is used to separate jobs and sections

3 - You haven’t developed a personal brand message.

As with any type of promotion, branding is a key element of marketing. When it comes to job search, your personal brand is basically the value proposition and reputation that you’ve forged throughout your executive career.

Even if you’re in touch with what this value means to your next employer, it’s difficult to articulate it for yourself and maintain a focus on your top brand values.

A great way to bring out your personal brand message is to contact colleagues or others in your network to get an idea of your market value:

-What strengths did you bring to the company in your last job?

-What were the key reasons for your past promotions?

-How did your professional reputation stack up against others with your job title?

Getting answers to these questions can give you some ideas to weave throughout the content in your executive resume, as it’s important to demonstrate how others have counted on your leadership for results in past roles.

In summary, writing a leadership resume can seem like the most challenging part of your job search, but don’t give up!

Instead, leverage others’ input and investigate current resume styles to create a document that truly reflects your brand and captures employer interest.

http://ezinearticles.com/6147937

Making choices about what keywords to choose on your resume can easily lead to frustration. There are words for titles, objectives, education, accomplishments, and all the headings. There are also power words, action words, industry specific words and resume keywords. Many of your resumes can be eliminated simply because of the lack of keywords. There is also a list of negative words that you should never use on your resume.

Employers use resume keywords when they look at job resumes, along with targeted words in your industry or job description. These unique keywords focus in on the skills required to perform the job duties, along with things like the qualities they want to attract, any talents, abilities and knowledge that can help you capture the hiring manager’s interest in your application. The reason for this is that recruiters for companies often are inundated with applications for job postings, and they need a way to get through them to the gems rather quickly, so they will use software designed to “weed out” those whose qualifications fall short, allowing them to concentrate on who they are looking for, thereby speeding things up for them. But a caution, even though the software is designed to find these keyword triggers, if you just simply sprinkle them throughout your resume in order to gain attention, without being able to back the claims up, your plan might backfire. The software might like you, but the hiring manager most likely won’t. You will need to learn how to use the targeted keywords in the right places, and for the right reasons, on your resume.

To get the right keywords, look to the job description in the post, to identify what keywords are already being used by the recruiters. Look to split up the keywords into two main areas: your skills and abilities, along with what you know into the first area, and the second being helpful/beneficial or attributes desired by employers in the second area. The skills set of keywords can further be split into the skills you have, and the skills you don’t have.

Don’t leave out any trigger keywords for the skills the employer is looking for out of your resume. Put the keywords related to the most relevant abilities at the start of your resume, typically in the objective section or summary section, followed by your work history or experience section. If you have numerous jobs that you’ve held, go with the most current ones, then focus on the relevant past jobs that will help support the current position you are looking into now. If there is an unrelated job you held for longer than a year, then definitely add it into your current resume. This will help alleviate any gaps in your history of employment. Just be sure to abbreviate your experience with that unrelated job.

The strategy that you can use to get you through the screening process involving the keywords for abilities, skills and knowledge are to use the keywords about the skills that you don’t have in a positive light, such as your desire to obtain these skills through training. Don’t just mention that you don’t have these skills or abilities just to get them onto the resume. Show in your educational section on your resume your eagerness to obtain the skills that you are lacking, and your willingness to learn them.

Remember to include power words when you talk about your achievements to maximize the use of your resume keywords. Using the right kind of words can cause your qualifications to sizzle. Then, sell the sizzle. Don’t say dull things like you are good at math or with numbers. Use words like superior math acumen. This will peak the curiosity of the person reading your resume. But don’t go crazy. Peppering your resume with too many power words would be like dumping a whole lot of salt into the stew. It’ll kill the flavor and effectiveness of what you are trying to accomplish. You are not there to serve your ego, but to show your prospective employer the power behind your uniqueness.

http://ezinearticles.com/6130469

A nursing resume template is the key to making your resume reflect your proficiency in your career field. There is currently a nationwide shortage of competent nurses. Despite this shortage, your resume still needs to appear professional. You need to stand out, capture the employer’s attention. Employers consider quality to be better than quantity so do not assume they’ll hire you simply because they’re short-handed. Your resume functions as the first introduction between you and a potential employer. It should clearly state your skills, experience, and education matching these to the employer’s needs.

Nursing is a field where education, skills, experience, and professionalism meet. Every applicant will have similar training and education so you’ll need to find a way to stick out from the crowd. Employers are looking for self-starters, people who can bring ideas to improve the department and have the drive to make them happen. Don’t forget when describing your work duties to mention any achievements you earned or special skills you acquired. Include a list of your certificates and specializations; employers will be impressed by your well-rounded skill set. Remember that nurses do not only fill out paperwork and change IVs, they have constant contact with the patients and their families. Respect and empathy are key traits in successful nurses, features that should be stressed in your resume. A nursing resume template can help you emphasize your experience in the field and your value as an employee, by presenting your information in a easy to read, professional format.

Did you serve on any boards or committees in the past? Did you have a grade point average (GPA) of 3.5 or higher? What about volunteering? Be sure to include that kind of information on your resume; extras like that are very appealing to employers.

When you have finished your resume, be sure to look it over from the perspective of the potential employer, tie your skills to their needs. Have a friend or family member scan your resume and see if they can identify key details within twenty seconds. If not, consider arranging information differently or highlighting specifics. Employers or hiring managers need to see at a glance that you’re the obvious front-runner for the job! A resume that doesn’t have a professional appearance can give the impression you’re not a serious applicant.

Today’s economic environment has created a drought for many career fields, but many medical careers are still seeing growth in the availability of jobs, nursing is one of them. Set yourself apart and present yourself professionally with a nursing resume template.

http://ezinearticles.com/6146548