How to Land Your Perfect Job
As we are being barraged by news stories of a struggling economy and we experience first-hand just how bad things have become, we need to take appropriate action to get things moving in a different direction. And as we see layoffs and unemployment reach record levels, finding a job in this environment has grown increasingly difficult.That is why it is vital to your job search to have a killer resume. Recent statistics have shown that the average job posting receives over 1000 resumes to fill one position. I find that figure to be staggering. What are the odds that your resume will even be read by the person doing the hiring?
An employer simply doesnň€™t have the time to look through and read every single resume sent. Your resume needs to somehow attract their attention immediately to make the cut. Experts say this is only about ten to fifteen seconds ň€“ maybe.
Consider hiring a professional to create and write your resume. These are people that do this for a living and know exactly what hiring managers and recruiters are looking for in your resume. However this can be quite expensive, with most services charging over $100. When you canň€™t afford to hire a professional to write your resume,
Here are some tips to follow that can help your resume get attention when you canň€™t afford to hire a professional.
The first thing to do is realize what the purpose of your resume is. This is a common mistake made by most job seekers. The purpose of your resume is to get you interviewed, not get you employed. Like the old adage, you need to crawl before you walk. The resume should serve as a way to open up a dialogue with your prospective employer, to get a conversation started.
Your resume needs to have eye appeal. It must be easy to read quickly. It must be brief. When I sat in the ň€śbig chairň€ť as an employer, I have seen many resumes ň€“ most of them tragically bad that I never bothered to look at ň€“ from people who probably had good qualifications. What I found unprofessional was the way they treated their first impression with me, which was their resume. They never got even a call back from me.
Have you ever sent out a resume to an employer and never gotten a response? Do you see where Iň€™m going with this?
You donň€™t have to lay out a history of every little thing you have ever done. A couple of key bullet points of your duties with each job are more than sufficient. I have seen many resumes that have twenty duties listed such as ň€śkey operator Xerox machineň€ť or ň€śfilled coffee pot when empty.ň€ť Keep it simple and professional. An employer will appreciate the respect you have for their time when they see your resume professionally written like this.
Try to keep your resume to no more than two pages. As I stated throughout this article, an employer is busy and does not need to read a book about you. The more you hone your skills and experience to what they are looking for, the better shot you have of getting the interview.