Author: gvtadmin

Having a well-formatted resume is almost as important as having a well written resume. Most employers receive a stack of resumes of qualified candidates and scan them quickly before they decide whether or not hey want to read further. In addition to key words, what stands out the most about your resume is its format. It is essentially the first thing people will notice, whether on paper or in electronic form.

There are a number of rules you should keep in mind when formatting your resume. First, start with a blank page. Avoid using templates that are already available in Microsoft Word. These templates are outdated, and they will make your resume appear generic and uninviting. Additionally, these templates, while well formatted in Microsoft Word, will not translate well when emailed or uploaded to job search engine web sites. You can find samples of resumes on the Internet; search for resumes by your industry to find the templates that make most sense for the job you are seeking. Than work on a blank page to replicate the look and feel of the resume you like.

Ideally, your resume should fit on one page; if you have extensive experience, limit the length of the resume to two pages, but only list experiences and skills relevant to your career objective. Even if you are applying for a job in a creative field, do not insert images or pictures into your resume. If you are looking to show off your creativity, you can do so in a separate portfolio of your work.

The page should have one inch margins, top and bottom, right and left. Use left justification only – as a rule, do not center the content of your resume. The font and font size should be consistent. Your name, and any headlines in your resume should be displayed in the same manner. Typically, the headlines will be in all caps, and in bold. Try not to underline any of the information in your resume. In the world of Internet driven job applications, underlining in a document implies a web link. Thus, using underlining for emphasis is not appropriate. The font size for headlines should not exceed 14 points; the remainder of the text in the resume should not exceed 12 points.

When trying to align your resume, be ware of spacing and tabbing. Stay consistent in the way that you are spacing out the information on the page. Use tabs, rather than spaces. You always have to anticipate that the person you are sending your resume to may have a different version of the software than you and thus may not see the exactly the same resume you are sending – it is possible that the margins will reset, paragraphs will shift, bullet points will change shape, etc. This is why you must keep the spacing consistent, as well as try to keep the font and the bullet points as basic as possible.

As a last formatting check point, ask your friends or your family for help in reviewing your resume. Send the resume file via email to a few of your friends – ask them to review the resume and make sure nothing seems out of place. Print out the resume on paper and review to make sure that margins are accurately set, and that the content doesn’t appear crowded on the page. Keep in mind – when it comes to your resume, sleek simple appearance, and great writing, will get you the job you are looking for.

People put a lot of thought into changing careers. After all, it is one of the more important decisions one can make. We have to consider our families, our living and financial situations, our competitive advantage in the new field, etc. Making a career change typically means starting with a blank canvas; while you have the freedom to paint that canvas any which way you wish, you have to invest time, energy, make sacrifices and prove yourself as a credible professional in your new field. You have to be competitive, and motivated, and sustain the drive that is necessary to be successful. After you convince yourself that changing careers is the right thing to do, you will have to convince your potential employers to give you the job you are seeking.

To do so, you have to do your research. Demonstrate to your employer that you have an extensive knowledge of the industry, even if you don’t have the accompanying experience. Before you begin your new career, make sure that you understand what professional paths are available for you, and determine what your ultimate goal is. This will help you form the career objective for your resume. Additional, make sure to do your research on the company you are interested in, as well as their competition (if you are interested in non-profit organizations, make sure to brush up on other organizations with similar missions); if invited for an interview, you will want to appear very knowledgeable not only about their company, but about the industry as a whole. You will have to convince your potential employer that you the best person for the job, better than the candidates with experience – to do that, you have to showcase not only your enthusiasm for the opportunity, but your eagerness to learn and your knowledge about the field.

Transferable skills, those skills that can be utilized in numerous fields, are also a key to a successful career change. Consider your qualifications to date. What experience have you acquired that can be transferred across industries? Transferable skills include verbal and written communication, people management, customer relations, organization and project management, development of new processes, generation of new ideas or concepts, etc. Such skills can be adapted to all organizations, and you should utilize them to showcase your qualifications for the job you are seeking. For example, if you would like to ditch the 9-to-5 desk job for a hectic, unpredictable life of a high school teacher, let your potential employer know that your previous experience in leading by motivation makes you a perfect candidate for the job (even if that marketing project you managed has nothing to do with teaching English composition). Making a list of all your professional experiences and the qualifications needed for the job you are seeking will help you in determining which skills are transferable to your new career. Once you define your transferable skills, use a functional resume to assure most (if not all) of the qualifications needed for the new job are met in your resume.

In addition to your resume, use your cover letter or email to let your potential employer know why you are changing careers, and that your new interest is not a passing one. Make sure that your resume reflects your newfound interest in a genuine and professional manner, and you are sure to have a successful career change.

Whether you have decided to change jobs, have been laid off and are looking for a new opportunity, or brand new to the job market, you will likely resolve to search for work on the Internet. There are two ways that you can find job listings on the Internet: company web sites and resume banks. Most companies now have a special area on their web site dedicated to careers, listing available positions from entry level to higher management (executive positions are often filled through head hunters, or personal recruitment). Larger, more sophisticated companies allow you to create a professional profile on their web site and upload your resume. This allows you to apply for an available position of your interest, and it allows company’s recruiting team to match your resume to an available position they are looking to fill. Most companies list contact information for their available positions, so that you can reach out to the appropriate person and submit your resume for consideration. However, unless you are targeting a handful of organizations, consider the amount of time it would take you to review web sites and job postings of all the different companies in your area. You would surely get frustrated and give up. Resume banks, more commonly known as resume databases, are a much better resource for job seekers. These databases have two functions: they allow you to search a comprehensive listing of available jobs from a large number of companies, as well as upload your current resume and make it available for those same employers find you.

Resume databases, such as monster.com or careerbuilder.com, have been successful in building their online presence because they responded to the growing needs of the companies looking for qualified professionals, and to the needs of busy professionals looking to expand their careers. Resume databases should be free – while you will be asked to register on the web site, you should not have to pay any membership fees. You can search through a resume database without having to register on the web site; some sites however may restrict the number of jobs you can view or the amount of details you can get from a job posting.

Registering with a resume bank has its benefits. If you are looking for jobs, you know first hand how time consuming the search can be. Making your resume available to a large number of employers can certainly help speed up the process. When registering, include your contact information and your most up to date resume. Do not post a sample cover letter. Although they are mostly discarded from resume banks, cover letters are meant to be personalized. Posting a generic cover letter along with your resume doesn’t help you get noticed. If you are seeking a new job while still working, you have valid concerns about your employer finding your resume in one of these databases. Some resources recommend leaving off your current job – however, many professionals don’t want to do so, because it is their current job that serves as that step stone to the next point in their careers. We recommend including a title, but leaving off the company name. Also, consider posting a functional resume over chronological one, and make a note in your profile that a detailed resume can be emailed upon request. Make sure that the resume you have posted in the database is current. Do not date your resume – this way it will not appear out dated to employers. Log into the web site once every few months and update your profile and your resume if you are actively looking for a job (always provide most up-to-date contact information, even if you don’t have time to update the complete profile).

Resume banks, or databases, can help you gain access to a large number of job postings, so don’t steer away from them. However, make sure that your profile and your resume are posted on reputable sites, such as monster.com. If you are unsure of the credibility of the site, do some research online and see what others have to say about it. Make sure your profile is up to date. And finally, don’t rely on employers to find you. If you are actively searching for a new job, review the listings regularly and seek out the opportunities that best meet your career objectives.

The most difficult and time consuming section of any resume is the listing of your work experience, no matter the level you have reached in your professional career. The key is to consider your career objective and prioritize your work in accordance to your goals.

Your professional experience should not only showcase the activities you have done in your previous jobs, but should demonstrate your qualifications in the way that motivates employers to want to know more. Of course, we are referring to results, any tangible, measurable items that are impacting to the bottom line. Let your employers know that your project came within budget, that you exceeded the timeline, that you acquired X number of new customers, or that you increased sales by a double-digit percentage. Employers can wrap their minds around numbers, because they are focused on them daily. You want to let your potential employer know that you can think in the same way they do and that you take results into serious consideration as your perform your job on day-to-day basis.

To get started with your work history, begin each description with a power word, such as managed, developed, communicated, etc. Do some research and use only the power words and phrases that are appropriate for your industry. Make sure that the statements you list first under your job responsibilities quantify your achievements – don’t be afraid to list sales figured, customer acquisition rates, budget and timeline successes, or any other figures which help put your responsibilities in a context of the business/field you are working in. Be specific. The only way your statements are truly quantified is if you include numbers. Saying that you acquired new customers is significantly different from saying that you increased the customer database by 10%. As mentioned above, this is the most critical aspect of listing your job descriptions on your resume. Your employer wants to know not only what you did, but how well you did it. Also, these statements should be aligned with your career objective you included at the top of the resume. If you want to get a job in project management, letting your employer know that you managed a team of 20 people and the overall results you achieved will effectively highlight your qualifications. It is important to quantify your job description statements on your resume; however, as a word of caution, do not quantify all statements, just one or two that are most critical to your job and are goal driven. This shows your employer that you think in terms of exceeding your goals. All subsequent descriptions of your responsibilities should support the first one or two items on your list.

As a final test, put yourself in the shoes of your employer. Cross-check the job description and make sure that you address the qualifications required for the job with the information on your resume. Let your potential employer know you have what they are looking for, and you’ll be sure to make a great impression.

A resume is a one- to two-page document summarizing your career objectives, professional experiences and achievements, and educational background. To stand apart from other candidates, you should consider the information in your resume carefully and make sure that it is personal to you. Here are three tips on making your resume unique to you:

1. Customize your career objective. Think of your whole resume as a sales tool; your career objective is your opening statement. You want your employer to know what you want, not just restate what other people want. State your commitment to your career goal. If you are unsure of what you want, how is your employer to believe that you really want the job at their organization and you are not just applying because you want to get out of your current work environment? Don’t be afraid to state what you want from a job and from an organization. While you want to state your commitment, you also want to show that you are willing to take action to achieve your goal. Indicate what direction or action you are willing to take in order to accomplish your career objective. Lastly, be specific about what you are looking for in a work situation. While you can say that you are looking for a “challenging” environment, this doesn’t mean anything to your employer, as people define challenges in various ways. Avoid using generic and broad terms. Simply state what you want, and what you are willing to do to get it.

2. Highlight the best elements of your experience. This is the most commonly missed aspect of writing a resume. The entire professional experience section on your resume is unique to you. Take advantage of that. Use power words to list your responsibilities, and make sure that you have a winning attitude in each of statement. Focus on those responsibilities that best describe the skills you acquired while in each job that make you the most qualified candidate for the position you are seeking. Quantify your responsibilities when possible to showcase to your potential employer that you are drive by results and are capable of exceeding goals. Don’t be shy about promoting your qualifications – you earned them with your hard work and dedication.

3. Personalize your cover letter. The biggest mistake professionals make is not spending any time on their cover letter. Your cover letter should receive the same attention as your resume as they go hand-in-hand. Address your cover letter to the appropriate person at the company (contact info is typically listed in the job description). Make sure to mention what position you are applying for, and demonstrate how the information in your resume aligns well with the job requirements. Your cover letter also allows you to address any information in your resume that may raise questions – take the time to do so, as you don’t want your resume discarded because you chose not to create a personalized cover letter. Overall make sure that your cover letter supports your resume and presents you as the most qualified candidate for the job.

A resume is a one- to two-page document summarizing your career objectives, professional experiences and achievements, and educational background. The heading of the resume should contain your name, address and contact information. The body of the resume should be broken into the following sections: career objective, profile/summary, professional experience, achievements, scholastics, and references. Your career objective should be brief, up to two sentences; it should give your potential employers an idea of how you wish to move forward in your professional life. A concise profile or a summary should discuss who you are and how your skills and experience best apply to the job you are interested in. The summary, as well as other parts of your resume, should not contain personal information that discloses ethnicity, sexual orientation, marital status, age, living situations, or any other personal information that is not directly related to your career. Personal profile/summary should only contain a few well-written sentences that convey what you can bring to the table in terms of the specific job. Use this section to attract the employer’s attention, but don’t go overboard in trying to be creative – stay professional. Your experience listing should include information on one to five jobs you’ve held, starting with your current or last job, and listing previous positions in chronological order. Your education should include college, graduate and post-graduate work, as well as any courses or professional certifications that are relevant to your career development. Achievements, volunteer positions, publications and interests should only be listed if they apply to your professional work experience References should be listed if requested; best practices suggest not to list generic statements about references being available upon request as this is understood.

Curricula vitae or CV is a collection of documents that describe your education and professional history, focusing on your achievements and showcasing higher level of detail than a resume. People most typically using CV as form of application are seeking positions in education, entrance into graduate and post-graduate programs, or research, and they are required to discuss their professional philosophies. While resumes are often limited to one or two pages, CV is a compilation of documents, has no length limit and extends over at least several pages (most frequently four or five pages, but can be more based on experience and achievements). A CV contains similar information as your resume, but places higher emphasis on education and scholastic accomplishments. Unlike your resume, a CV would contain information on scholarships you may have received, texts or research you have completed and published, grants you received, community and volunteer work, teaching philosophy, etc. You will begin by listing your career objective, in summary form, to showcase your commitment to your goals and actions you are willing to take to achieve them. If you are applying for a teaching position, give a brief outline of your reaching philosophy. Immediately following your goals, list your achievements, highlighting your education first. Here, you can mention your thesis project or dissertation, courses that support your career objective, publications and research (in progress or completed), certifications, studies abroad, languages, etc. Your experience should be included next, focusing on the work history that supports your career objective. This should conclude your CV.
If you are unsure which form of application to use, do the appropriate research and create a resume or CV that best fits the format commonly accepted in your industry.

There are many industries where publication of your own work is a critical part of your career development. As professionals in industries that require us to actively publish research studies, essays, articles, textbooks, etc. we have to find ways to account for such publications on our resumes. There are a number of things to consider in respect to publications as you develop your resume.

First, ask yourself how relevant the publications are to your career objective. If you have recent publications that support your career objective, make sure to create a separate heading on your resume and list the publications in reverse chronological order. Follow the AP style when listing your publication, omitting your name from the listing if you were the only author of the text, as that is implied. Do not list publications that do not support your career objective on your resume; while they may be helpful to mention to your potential employer via a cover letter, it is not necessary to take up space on your resume with information that is not directly impacting to your career. If you have submission in progress, or are working on texts that you know will be published at the later time, and they support your qualifications for the job, include them on the resume under a sub-heading of “submitted to (publication name)” or “to be published in (publication name)”. However, if you decide to include works in progress, be certain that they will get published at some point in the future. This is mostly critical for freelance magazine, newspaper or creative writers; do not list every article you have submitted for publication, unless you are certain that it will get published.

If your list of publication is fairly extensive, do not dismiss it completely from your resume. You want your employer to know that you have either published or are in the process of publishing your work. You should create a section within your resume dedicated to publications. Don’t go overboard with the number of publications you list on your resume. List three to five publications, in reverse chronological order in this section. This will give your employer an idea of your work, the publications and audiences you have reached. At the end of your publication listing, include a statement that tells the employer a complete listing of publications can be provided upon request. In your professional summary, or cover letter, you can indicate the total number of publications you’ve had in your career. Create a separate document that includes a complete listing of your publications, following the ASP style. You should make sure that the list of your publication credits other authors properly, as well. You should have a print out of this list, along with your resume that you can bring to any job interview, or forward to the hiring manager at their request. In addition, if asked about your publications, offer your potential employer a copy of any of your articles for their review (although if given the appropriate reference information, your employer, if interested, will be able to locate your publications on their own).

Overall, disclose any information about publications if it supports your career objective and highlights your qualifications for the job. Review the information you list carefully and make sure that names and dates of publications are correct – even minor mistakes can raise questions about your credibility.