9 Tips For a Young Professional Resume

9 Tips For a Young Professional Resume9 Tips For a Young Professional ResumeFor those in the early stages of their careers, resume examples are crucial tools for learning about what should be on a young professional resume- as well as what should be left off. By now, most job applicants have probably heard the statistic that a recruiter spends an average of just six seconds looking at a resume. In this six seconds, the recruiter decides whether or leid to discard the resume, so being able to make a good impression at a glance is key. The question is, how do you make a good impression when you have limited professional experience?When writing a resume, those with little experience are often tempted to include everything about every role that theyve ever had. But the trick is that the relevance of the information you include on your resume is what matters most. A good resume is about quality, not quantity. Particularly in todays job market, where many potential employers rely on applic ant tracking systems to do the initial scans of resumes for them, your focus should be on tailoring your resume to be relevant to your desired job. If youre early in your career, these resume tips will point you in the right direction.6 things to includeSummary statement.A summary statement is not the same thing as a generic line stating your objective. Instead, a summary statement is the written equivalent of your elevator pitch. That is, its a quick summary highlighting what makes you a great candidate- in a few sentences, explain your skills, accomplishments, and the ways in which you could benefit a potential employer.Link to online profile. This may be a link to your LinkedIn profile, or it could be a link to an online portfolio showcasing your writing, art, design, or other work you have created. Whatever you choose, make sure that you have a professional presence online. This does not mean that you need to delete all traces of your social media profiles. In fact, having a soc ial media presence where you demonstrate involvement in your desired field- talking about a conference you attended, posting a link to an article you read- can be a huge benefit during a job search. Further, Amanda Augustine, a career expert at TheLadders, states that 86% of recruiters will look up an applicants online profile. By including the link yourself, you can be sure that a recruiter will get to the correct profile, and not risk being mixed up with someone else.Suitable contact information. Still using that email address that you created in high school? You may need to create a new email address. Choose one that is based on your name rather than on hobbies, jokes, nicknames, etc. For your phone number, make sure that the message callers hear when leaving a voicemail is clear, brief and sounds professional.Relevant activities. Young professionals who have limited paid experience might still have gained relevant, applicable experience by doing something other than paid work. F or example, college coursework, volunteering, or membership in clubs or associations can all provide hands-on experience. Including these types of experiences could also increase the chances that your resume contains the relevant keywords that an applicant tracking system will be looking for. Browsing through resume examples from people in your desired field can help you get a sense of the types of activities that are best to include. Dont go join six clubs just to have more to put on your resume instead, focus your efforts. For example, if you are in marketing or public relations, a volunteer role where you are regularly helping to plan and organize events can provide you with practical event planning experience that many employers find desirable.White space. Dont fear having too little information on your resume. Big blocks of text are hard to read quickly, and key information could get lost. A recruiter needs to be able to get a good sense of your hintergrund in the handful of se conds they will spend looking over your resume. A resume is not meant to take the place of an autobiography it is meant to give hiring managers- and, increasingly, applicant tracking software- an idea of whether you have the skills and experience necessary to succeed at the job. White space is easier on the eyes than clutter. If you hate the idea of leaving too much off your resume, then prepare a second, more-detailed version of your resume to bring with you once you are offered an in-person interview.Company descriptions.For each organization you have worked or volunteered for, consider adding a sentence or two describing its industry, size, and mission. This information can give recruiters a better overall picture of your experience. It can enhance your candidacy if a recruiter knows, for example, that your internship experience was in a start-up environment. Recruiters are not going to stop to research every organization that every applicant has been involved with. If you do the legwork for them, you just might include the information that lands your resume in the yes pile.3 things to leave offObjective statement. If a recruiter or hiring manager is reading your resume, they already know that you want a job. A stilted statement about your desire to obtain a position or leverage your experience is not necessary, and wont tell a recruiter anything that they dont already know. Leave off the objective statement when formatting your resume to keep it clutter-free.References upon request. Resume real estate is valuable there is no need to use any of it up with this throwaway line. If a potential employer asks you for references, and you are serious about wanting to land the job, then of course you will provide references. Besides, references are frequently not even mentioned until the in-person interview, making it premature to address the issue on your resume.Photos. Even if you have a polished, professional headshot, you should not include a picture of yoursel f on your resume. Any time that a recruiter spends looking at a picture is less time that they spend reading about your skills and accomplishments. Additionally, photos and other graphics cannot always be read by applicant tracking systems. If the applicant tracking software cant read your resume properly, your resume might never get in front of a human hiring manager. Make sure that your profile photos for social media look suitably professional, but keep the photos off your resume itself.Obviously there is a lot to consider when crafting a resume. It can be especially hard to make a resume that stands out when you are at the beginning stages of your career, and dont have many years of accomplishments or advanced education or training that you can highlight. Looking at resume examples from people who have more experience in your field can give you a good sense of what you should be aiming for, and what you will need to do to advance your career. Do you see multiple resume examples that include the same certification or accreditation? Is there an often-mentioned organization with a chapter in your area? These pieces of information can help you chart your course.By looking through resume examples from people at and beyond your experience level, you can make sure that your resume is a tool that will help you land your dream career- even if you are just beginning your career path.

How to Prepare for a Sales Job Interview

How to Prepare for a Sales Job InterviewHow to Prepare for a Sales Job InterviewHaving a company express interest in you is great, but the belastung thing you want is to blow it at the interview stage. A little prep work on your part will help you ace your interview. If nothing else, having done your homework ahead of time will make you feel mora confident- which is absolutely vital to any sales situation. And if youre interviewing for a job, thats a sales situation. Get Ready to Look Good When you walk into an interview, your interviewer is going to assume that you dressed to impress. Make sure your look for the interview fulfills this promise. And in any sales job, appearance is critical- so your interviewer will be even more inclined to judge you by appearances than they would for another type of job. Ideally, you want to wear something similar to what your interviewer is wearing. Since you probably dont know what that will be, err on the side of dressing up. When in doubt, li la drink toward conservative outfits. A good suit will almost always be appropriate for a sales interview. And be certain that your clothes are in good shape. Pick out your clothes no later than the night before and check the outfit for stains, wrinkles, and general wear. Examine your shoes and polish away any scuffs or dull patches. Ladies, pick out your jewelry ahead of time and polish that, too. And dont forget to check your pantyhose for runs. Research Your Prospective Employer At the very least, review your interviewers website closely. Know their products and services and read any recent press releases. Next, check the news for anything about the company. If you see good news, you can mention it in the interview as a why I want to work for you item. If you see bad news, you can talk about how you would help the company fix it. If you have time, do the same level of research on the companys major competitors. That arms you with even more intelligent comments.?? As you proce ed, be thinking about questions that you can ask your interviewer. fruchtwein interviewers will give you a chance to ask them something, and you will look very smart if you can come up with a few specific questions about the company and its products. Document Your Victories Any time a customer writes you a letter thanking you for great service or your boss emails to congratulate you on a job well done, make copies of those documents. They are terrific ammunition for interviews. Not only do they provide proof that you are as good as you claim, but they also give you something physical to leave behind with the interviewer. Think of it as the job-hunting version of leaving a brochure for the prospect to review. If you dont have copies and your interview is tomorrow, youll have to improvise. Do you have any sales awards or plaques? Snap pictures of them with a digital camera and stick the photos in a document with some descriptive text. Failing that, write up a list of some of your biggest workplace accomplishments and/or how you would be a great fit for the company (and heres another place you can take advantage of that research you did earlier). Learn From Past Interviews If youve already been on a few interviews, youve probably been hit with some questions that stumped you. These will range from the classic What are your weaknesses? to specific scenarios like If you met with a prospect and X happened, what would you do? When youre interviewing for a sales job, your prospective boss will be looking for clever, persuasive answers to tough questions. Before you go on your next interview, sit down and write out solid responses to any questions that left you babbling. If youre interviewing for similar jobs, odds are youll get asked one or more of those questions again, and this time youll be ready.

What doesnt feel like work

What doesnt feel like workWhat doesnt feel like workDiscover which job is right for you by leaning on yur strengths.Paul Graham is one of the smartest, most successful people in Silicon Valley, and recently wrote a post on What Doesnt Seem Like Work? If something that seems like work to other people doesnt seem like work to you, thats something youre well suited for. For example, a lot of programmers I know, including me, actually like debugging. Its not something people tend to volunteer But you may have to like debugging to like programming, considering the degree to which programming consists of it.The stranger your tastes seem to other people, the stronger evidence they probably are of what you should do. When I was in college I used to write papers for my friends. It was quite interesting to write a paper for a class I wasnt taking. Plus they were always so relieved.It seemed curious that the same task could be painful to one person and pleasant to another, but I didnt realize at the time what this imbalance implied, because I wasnt looking for it. I didnt realize how hard it can be to decide what you should work on, and that you sometimes have to figure it out from subtle clues, like a detective solving a case in a mystery novel. So I bet it would help a lot of people to ask themselves about this explicitly. What seems like work to other people that doesnt seem like work to you?If you think through the things that dont seem like work to you, youll discover a pattern. Does talking to people all day long getyoujazzed, but seem to drain others? Does cranking through a multi-sheet Excel spreadsheet give you a secret thrill when it all adds up at the end? Does managing all the headaches that go along with logistics planning drive others batty, but feel like an engaging puzzle to you?These differences in how you feel when completing a task or a project indicate an aptitude or skill. And thats what sets you apart from others. We (mostly) feel better, perform be tter, enjoy it better, when were doing something for which we are well-suited. And thats an important signal to you about where youll find the most rewarding work in life.Focusing on those areas where you are superior will lead to better results in your career. Too often, we waste time trying to bring all of our skills and capabilities up to the same level as our strongest talents. Not only is that unlikely to work, but it takes away from the time you have to master the skills and capabilities where you do have a gift.So this week, think about whatdoesntfeel like work as you plan your next career moves.