Resume Writing and Online Job Search

1
Resume Writing and Online Job Search

• Presented by
• Trent Rose, Tech Trainer Salina Public Library

2
The Sources

• Before we begin I would like to mention my
  sources.
• Nancy Jo Leachman, Librarian, who has spent
  countless hours reviewing resumes.
• Quintcareers.com, an online job board which
  provides informative advice for job seekers.
• Monster.com, one of the most popular online job
  boards
• Adams Cover Letter Almanac
• Cant Miss Resumes

3
Career Interest

• Many job seekers find they are unable to find
  similar job opportunities because of market and
  industry conditions or geography limitations.
• There are a number of free online career interest
  and aptitude tests. These sites are often ad
  supported which can bring up privacy issues.
• NEVER PROVIDE SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS, DATE OF
  BIRTH, or EVEN HOME TELEPHONE.
• Community colleges also offer in-depth career
  testing for a small fee or for free.

4
Career Interest Sites

• CareerFitter offers a quick and free exam which
  can help job seekers identify interest areas
  http//www.careerfitter.com/free_test/careerbuilde
  r/index.htm

5
Career Interest Sites

• Quest Career Services provides a detailed exam
  which will provide a number of potential careers.
  
• http//www.questcareer.com/career_assessment_resou
  rces.html

6
Career Aptitude Sites

• LiveCareer A free career aptitude test.
• livecareer.com

7
The Hard Part First

• Remain professional and friendly at all times
  during your job search. It is of key importance
  to be courteous to receptionists and other
  gatekeepers which assist department and human
  resources managers.
• Maintain your network at all times during and
  after a job search.
• Maintain a professional contact with at least one
  person from your former employer.

8
Cold Calling

• According to Quint Careers, four-fifths of the
  current job market is closed.
• This doesnt mean there are no jobs to apply for,
  but job seekers will need to be more creative and
  look harder to find them.
• There are a number of methods for doing this,
  such as cold calling.
• Cold calling is the process of making contact
  with a potential employer in person or by mail
  even though they have not advertised for help.

9
Cold Calling

• Before cold calling it is important to gather as
  much information as possible about an employer.
• Find out what products the company makes
• Services it provides
• Ranking within the industry
• How long it has been in business
• Recent projects

10
Finding Out About a Company

• Check the companys website for information
  first.
• Hoovers.com provides information about businesses
  across the country. Although only a certain
  amount of information is free, it will provide
  enough information to be helpful.
• Yahoo Finance provides additional information
  about publicly traded companies.

11
Applying Online

• This can be the most difficult area of any job
  search.
• It is important to keep in mind job boards like
  Monster.com primarily appeal to staffing agencies
  acting as an intermediary between you and an
  employer.
• Online job searching can be as effective as the
  newspaper classifieds, however, privacy can
  become an issue.

12
Tips for Applying Online

• Do not provide your Social Security Number or
  date of birth.
• You may want to create a separate e-mail from
  your primary one, as an attempt to ward off spam.
  
• Make sure your e-mail address conveys a business
  like image.
• Beyond traditional background checks employers
  may check the Internet for information about an
  applicant. Avoid distasteful MySpace or other
  online profiles.

13
Tips for Applying Online

• If an employer contacts you by e-mail print off
  the message and save it.
• An e-mail message is usually a first point of
  contact, but it is advisable to call the
  interviewer to schedule a time.
• Write down information from phone messages.
• Find out the relationship of the interviewer to
  the company and the terms of employment.
• Interviews from online job boards often take
  place in informal places like Coffee houses.

14
Creating Online Resumes

• It is important to use formatting conservatively
  in online resumes to make the documents look the
  best.
• Online resumes are generally used for job boards
  like Monster.com.
• What looks good on paper may not appear the same
  online.
• Online resumes should avoid centering and
  bullets.
• Use descriptive words rather than active words
  found in paper resumes.

15
Creating Online Resumes/Words

• It is important to use words that the employer
  will be searching for.
• For example instead of saying managed a
  restaurant crew of 20, try restaurant manager,
  manager, or General Manager.
• Instead of bakery line worker, try baker
• Take a survey of the ads for jobs you want look
  at what skills they want and the words they use.
  Apply these keywords to your resume.

16
Keyword Inconsistency

• It is a generally accepted standard for online
  resumes to use different keywords to describe the
  same thing.
• In your cover letter you might use A.A. degree,
  then use Associate degree in your resume

17
References

• ALWAYS INCLUDE EMPLOYMENT REFERENCES when
  applying to a specific employer.
• Generally references are not included in resumes
  on online job boards.

18
Tools for Resume Creation

• There are a number of tools you can use for
  creating a resume.
• Microsoft Office Word 00-07, available at many
  libraries.
• Alternatively, most computers come with Microsoft
  Works.
• A free and comprehensive office suite is
  available at OpenOffice.org
• Keep in mind most of these tools have built in
  resume templates.

19
Sample Online Resume

• http//www.wa.gov/esd/guides/resume/post/post_samp
  le.htm
• Notice the lack of bullets, use asterisks instead
• The entire resume is left justified, nothing is
  centered.
• Privacy experts suggest hiding your name and
  mailing address when posting to online job
  boards.

20
(No Transcript)
21
Writing a Hard Copy Resume

• Avoid posting hobbies or other interests unless
  they directly relate to the job.
• Items which are found on a resume
• Name, address, telephone, fax, and email
• Education/vocational training
• On the job training
• Work experience
• Skills summary (try to apply your skills to the
  job you are applying for
• Major accomplishments
• Military experience

22
Writing Hard Copy Resumes

• Military experience
• Add certifications and licensure
• Awards (academic, on the job recognition, etc.)

23
Resume Types

• There are two types of resumes which include
  chronological and functional.
• The most current work experience is presented
  first and works in reverse.
• The last five to seven years of work experience
  is generally enough.
• Chronological resumes are not for people who have
  taken time out of the workforce or who have more
  diverse work backgrounds.

24
Resume Types Continued

• Functional resumes allow candidates to flaunt the
  skills of their choice and the experiences of
  which they are the proudest. This format gives
  candidates the luxury of combining a lifelong
  dedication to community service into their
  for-profit achievements when switching career
  tracks. And, as an added bonus, they work well
  for candidates who want the world to forget about
  their brief professional dalliance with
  interpretive dance.

25
Functional Resume Example

• http//www.1st-writer.com/ExampleResume1.pdf
• Positives Considerable detail Provides an
  ample amount of experience
• Negatives Wordymajor accomplishments could be
  broken out with bullets.

26
Chronological Resume for Retail
27
Functional Resume

• http//jobsearch.about.com/library/samples/blresum
  efunctional.htm
• Notice the work experience diversity
• Pros
• Well crafted resume which is interesting
• to look at.
• Cons
• Lacks any real leadership skills

28
Recent High School Graduate Resume

• http//www.1st-writer.com/Jane20Doe20HS20Resume
  .pdf

29
Recent College Graduate

• http//www.1st-writer.com/Jane20Doe20Resume.pdf

30
Helpful Resume Resources

• 1st Writer provides a comprehensive resource
  about creating resumes from templates and
  scratch.
• http//www.1st-writer.com/free_resume_examples.htm
  
• About.com Job Search Resources this area of the
  site provides resume writing hints and other
  helpful job seeker information.
• http//jobsearch.about.com/

31
Resume Hints

• Ask a friend or family member to review your
  resume for consistency and effectiveness.
• Feel free to email me trose_at_salpublib.org
• Make sure you replace all information which is
  part of a resume template.
• Use SPELL CHECK
• Watch for formatting consistency
• The format painter in word processing
  applications can help.
• One or two pages should be the MAXIMUM SIZE for
  most resumes.

32
Cover Letter Writing

• No spelling or typing errors. Not even one.
• Address it to the person who can hire you.
  Resumes sent to the personnel department have a
  tougher time of it. If you can find out (through
  networking and researching) exactly who is making
  the hiring decision, address the letter to that
  person. Be sure the name is spelled correctly and
  the title is correct. A touch of formality is
  good too address the person as "Mr.," "Ms.,"
  "Mrs.," "Miss," "Dr.," or "Professor." (Yes, life
  is complicated.)
• Write it in your own words so that it sounds like
  you--not like something out of a book. (Electra
  gets in trouble with libraries when she says
  things like this.) Employers are looking for
  knowledge, enthusiasm, focus.

33
Cover Letter Writing

• Being "natural" makes many people nervous. And
  then even more nervous because they are trying to
  avoid spelling errors and grammatical mistakes.
  If you need a little help with grammar (do they
  still teach grammar?)--check out the classic work
  on simple writing, Strunk White's Elements of
  Style, published in 1918 and now online. A good
  place to begin is "Chapter 5 Words and
  Expressions Commonly Misused."
• Show that you know something about the company
  and the industry. This is where your research
  comes in. Don't go overboard--just make it clear
  that you didn't pick this company out of the
  phone book. You know who they are, what they do
  and you have chosen them!
• Use terms and phrases that are meaningful to the
  employer. (This is where your industry research
  and networking come in.) If you are applying for
  an advertised position, use the requirements in
  the ad and put them in BOLD type. For example
  the ad says--
• "2 years' experience processing magnetic media
  (cartridge, tape, disc) interface with benefit
  plan design, contracts and claims and business
  background with strong analytical technical
  skills--dBase, Excel, RR, SQL."

34
(No Transcript)
35
Cover Letter Samples

• http//jobstar.org/tools/resume/clet-ex1.php

36
Online Job Boards

• There are a variety of online job boards
  available.
• The job boards can be national, state, regional,
  local, etc.
• Make note of the address, account information,
  and date a resume was posted to a job board.
• Note whether your resume status is private or
  public
• Experts advise job seekers to post their resume
  to no more than 1-3 job sites.

37
Local Job Boards

• http//www.hayshasjobs.com/
• https//www.kansasworks.com/ada/
• http//www.westernksjobs.com/
• http//www.salina.com/www/jobs/index.html

38
National Job Boards

• www.Monster.com a national job board which
  features a resume builder. The site has come
  under fire for not protecting users privacy.
• www.simplyhired.com another national job board
  with more opportunities nearby. This site is
  rated as one of the best job resources by US News
  and World Report
• http//www.collegerecruiter.com/ a site which
  presents job opportunities for recent graduates.