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Job Search 101:

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Show measurable results for actions that solved problems or ... Customize each letter to the specific job (when responding to ads) one size does not fit all! ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

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Title: Job Search 101:


1
Job Search 101
  •   Marketing Yourself with Effective Resumes and
    Cover Letters
  • Patricia A. Paolucci
  • Associate Director, Career Services
  • Graduate and Continuing and Career Education
  • Assumption College

2
INTRODUCTION
  • Creating resumes and cover letters
  • that will enhance your presentation
  • of skills and accomplishments and
  • become better tools in your job
  • search.

3
WHAT IS A GOOD RESUME?
  • Marketing tool you are the product, and your
    resume is part of your sales pitch
  • Highlights your unique qualifications and how
    they meet the employers need
  • Gets you an interview or moves you forward in the
    selection process

4
THE EMPLOYERS PERSPECTIVE
  • What is the employer looking for?
  • Is the experience appropriate are relevant
    experience or skills missing?
  • Is length of time at the right level sufficient?
  • Is there a sufficient level of technical
    knowledge?
  • Is there a sufficient level of management or
    leadership skills?

5
THE EMPLOYERS PERSPECTIVE
  • Is there a solid record of achievement?
  • How does the candidate compare with other
    candidates?
  • Is this a good career step for the candidate?
  • Does the resume have a focus, and does it
    demonstrate the candidates value?

6
ELEMENTS OF A RESUME
  • Heading
  • Qualifications summary
  • Education honors and awards
  • Professional experience
  • Volunteer experience
  • Additional skills
  • Professional affiliations
  • Publications and presentations
  • If recent graduate, Education should be near
    top of resume if not, Education placed near end
    of resume
  • If applicable

7
TWO POPULAR RESUME TYPES
  • Chronological
  • Combination (chronological and functional)

8
CHRONOLOGICAL
  • Begins with your most recent job and goes
    backwards
  • Traditional resume format preferred by
    conservative employers
  • Works best for people who have progressed in
    titles and responsibility in one organization or
    one field, or who have a good work history
  • Fast read gaps and flaws are obvious
  • If it doesnt work, dont use it

9
COMBINATION RESUME
  • Quick synopsis of your market value followed by
    employment history
  • Promotes assets, key credentials, and
    qualifications
  • Supports your accomplishments that match
    employers needs
  • Utilizes benefits of both resume formats

10
FORMATTING A RESUME
  • Use letter size (8.5x11) paper
  • Print on high-quality printer
  • Choose easy-to-read font
  • Avoid point font size of 10 or below
  • Margins should be symmetrical
  • Bold section headers use other formatting
    features

11
FORMATTING A RESUME
  • Double space between sections single space
    between job statements
  • Use bullets to highlight accomplishments avoid
    gimmickry
  • Limit to 2 pages, depending on years of
    experience, whenever possible (CVs can be longer)

12
QUALIFICATIONS SUMMARY
  • Succinct preview of, and substantiated by, what
    is presented later in your resume
  • Grabs the reviewers attention
  • Summarizes your value to an employer explains
    what you can do for them now
  • Presents a clear focus or objective

13
WRITING A QUALIFICATIONS SUMMARY
  • Starts off with your current status
  • Shows years of experience in job target field
  • Includes transferable skills, strengths, traits
  • Can be displayed in short paragraph form or
    bullets

14
EXAMPLE OF QUALIFICATION SUMMARY
  • Financial executive with eight years of
    experience in healthcare, financial services, and
    public sectors. Ability to manage mainstream
    financial functions and perform in general
    management capacity. Effective leader and team
    builder with strong strategic and team management
    skills. Expertise includes controllership,
    financial planning and budgets, financial
    systems, and treasury.

15
EXAMPLE OF QUALIFICATION SUMMARY-CAREER CHANGER
(from Monster.com)
  • Dedicated RN with 10 years of experience in
    medical-surgical settings seeking career
    transition into clinical nursing research. Offers
    solid foundation in analytical tools and
    methodologies, current healthcare advancements,
    and surgical procedures. Strong background in
    diabetes education, with experience developing
    and delivering training programs to staff,
    community organizations and medical providers on
    a range of diabetes-management topics.

16
EXAMPLE OF QUALIFICATION SUMMARY- SOON TO
GRADUATE (from Monster.com)
  • Communications major (graduation May 2006)
    offering proven skills in writing press releases
    and feature articles generating favorable
    publicity and increased organizational
    visibility. Talented, experienced communicator,
    knowledgeable in press conference coordination
    and volunteer recruitment. Proficient in
    Microsoft Office, including PowerPoint,
    QuarkXpress, and Adobe InDesign software.

17
ACCOMPLISHMENT STATEMENTS
  • Showcase relevant achievements dont regurgitate
    job duties
  • Use action verbs and keywords in short phrases to
    demonstrate achievements
  • Show measurable results for actions that solved
    problems or addressed a needuse numbers when
    possible!
  • Use PARs Model (Problem-Action-Results)

18
ACCOMPLISHMENT STATEMENT EXAMPLES
  • Planned and implemented innovative special event,
    raising 200,000 and attracting 200 guests, 30
    of whom became dues-paying members.
  • Initiated cost reduction program that realized
    100K in savings within the first two years of
    implementation.
  • Established a summer camp and offered courses in
    computer skills for 150 low-income children ages
    6-14 improved computer skills resulted in
    enhanced classroom performance during school year.

19
FINAL ADVICE
  • Proofread, proofread, proofread!!!
  • Your resume must be clear, visually
  • appealing, accurate, and typo-free
  • Ask a friend, faculty member, peer, or colleague
    to review and provide feedback

20
ELECTRONIC RESUMES
  • Also called text-only resumes or ASCII
  • Used when sending your resume via e-mail and you
    dont know if recipient has same software that
    you are using
  • Used when uploading your resume as part of an
    online application
  • Easier for employers to add to tracking databases

21
CONVERTING RESUME TO TEXT-ONLY
  • Save your resume file as a new document.
  • Set your margins so that you have 6.5 inches of
    text displayed.
  • Select all text, and then select font that is
    non-proportional 12 pitch, such as Courier 12.
  • Save as text only with line breaks.
  • Open this new file in Notepad, Simple Text, or
    whatever text editor you have.

22
CONVERTING RESUME TO TEXT-ONLY-cont.
  • 6. Review your resume in the text editor. You
    will note that many of your formatting
    characteristics are displayed differently (e.g.
    bullets show up as ?).
  • 7. Replace formatting with ASCII equivalent
    (e.g., replace bullets with or hyphens). Use
    word wrap feature under the Edit menu if you see
    long lines of text (unless otherwise specified).
  • 8. Test out the resume by copying and pasting it
    into the body of an e-mail message to see if
    youve corrected the flaws.

23
COVER LETTERS
  • Purpose
  • Your formal introduction to a prospective
    employer or internship host
  • Achieves interest
  • Summarizes and highlights what you can offer an
    employer

24
TYPES OF COVER LETTERS
  • Response to a specific available position
  • Letter of inquiry, a.k.a. broadcast letter

25
RESPONSE TO SPECIFIC POSITION
  • Important to
  • Present your accomplishments and skills that best
    meet organizations needs
  • Use industry-specific terms mimic or paraphrase
    wording in ad

26
RESPONSE TO SPECIFIC POSITION - LETTER STYLES
  • Three styles
  • Narrative-use paragraphs to describe your skills
    and experience
  • Bulleted-use bullet points to highlight selected,
    targeted accomplishments
  • T letter-draws direct parallels between the
    employers stated needs and your experience

27
BROADCAST LETTER
  • Useful for
  • Networking and informational interview requests
  • Mail campaign targeting prospective employers or
    internship hosts to create interest serves as
    introduction and conveys your potential value

28
BROADCAST LETTER STYLES
  • Two styles
  • Narrative-use paragraphs to describe your skills
    and experience
  • Bulleted-use bullet points to draw attention to
    targeted, selected, accomplishments

29
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE COVER LETTERS
  • Treat as a business letter use business letter
    format, including
  • Use of personal letterhead include phone number
    and e-mail
  • When possible, address to a specific person
    (hiring manager preferable, HR manager if
    necessary)-try to include exact title. If
    unavailable, opt for Dear Sir or Madam
  • After salutation, use colon, not comma
  • Close with Sincerely yours, or Yours truly,
  • After your signature line, indicate if there are
    enclosures or attachments
  • Letter should have polished, professional look
    and content be sure to proofread!

30
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE COVER LETTERS
  • Customize each letter to the specific job (when
    responding to ads)one size does not fit all!
  • Grab attention with your first sentence start
    with why youre the perfect person for the job,
    or how your background addresses employers need,
    or
  • If referred or recommended by someone the
    employer knows, start out with, At the
    suggestion of John Doe, I am writing to apply for
    the position of
  • Be sure to reference the position youre applying
    for-dont leave the employer guessing!

31
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE COVER LETTERS
  • Keep to one page when possible
  • Make the connection between your work experience
    and the stated requirements of the position. Tie
    your experience to your skills, then tie your
    skills to the job description
  • Use action words to describe your accomplishments

32
TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE COVER LETTERS
  • Convey confidence and enthusiasm!
  • Indicate that your resume and any other requested
    credentials are enclosed
  • Close by ASKING for an interview!
  • Keep a copy of all letters that go out, including
    your e-mails

33
SUMMARY
  • Best resume format for your background and
    experience
  • Create a summary statement
  • Write measurable accomplishment statements
  • Write cover letters highlighting your most
    saleable skills and experiences geared to the
    type of search youre conducting
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