career search

10 30, 2018

The 4 Elements of a Good Resumé

By |2018-10-30T06:00:16-04:00October 30, 2018|

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There are four things that every resume requires.

Our friends from Ohio Means Jobs are hosting a Job Fair from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 14, at Manry Park Community Center in Willowick.

More than 50 employers are attending, all of which have full-time, permanent, direct-hire opportunities available.

Please dress professionally, bring resumés and professional references. For more information, call (440) 350-4000 and choose the “Job Seeker” option.

By the way, Ohio Means Jobs visited us earlier this month for a resumé workshop at our Lake Branch.

And, even if you weren’t able to attend the workshop, Ohio Means Jobs can still share the for key elements of every good resumé.

1. Careful Planning

The goal of any resumé is to win you a job interview. And that starts with being prepared.

Collect information about yourself, including your previous positions, responsibilities, skills, and education. Also, take time to consider your skills. Analyze how they might translate to another job.

Write your resumé with your prospective employer, not yourself. Demonstrate how you can contribute to their bottom line.

Also take time to consider your objective. What type of work do you want? Write your resumé with that in mind.

2. Design & Presentation

Not to be superficial, but it matters how your resumé looks.

Your employer may only skim your resumé initially, so it has to be easy to read.

  • Use black text on white or off-white paper
  • Keep it to one-page if possible. The goal is to entice an employer, not to share your autobiography.
  • Use no more than two type styles — one for headings, the other for body. Type should be 10 points or larger. Avoid underlining or unusual fonts. Keep boldface and italics to a minimum.
  • Paper should be 8 1/2″ by 11″. Margins should be at least 3/4 of an inch.

3. Proper Content

Make sure to include:

  • education or training background, special courses or skills, and academic honors that are pertinent to your desired job.
  • relevant occupational licenses, certifications, and memberships to professional organizations
  • contact information so the employer can find you easily.

Don’t include:

  • personal information like Social Security number, age, marital status, race or family background

And make sure to proofread your resumé repeatedly! If you’re bad at spotting typographical and grammatical errors, ask someone else to scour your resumé.

4. Right Format

There are three kinds of resumés:

  1. Chronological, which lists your work experience from most recent and concludes with your education
  2. Functional, which emphasizes skills and abilities as opposed to previous positions
  3. Combination, which use aspects of both chronological and functional resumés

Each kind of resumé is appropriate for a different situation. Combination resumés are typically most effective..

However, if you have holes in your employment history or are trying to change careers, then you should draft a functional resumé that focuses on your skills.

Three final tips from Ohio Means Jobs:

  1. Many employers filter resumés for certain key words. So make sure to include key words pertinent to your industry in your resumé.
  2. Use a cover letter to highlight key points in your resumé.
  3. A follow-up phone call or letter can demonstrate your interest in a position. (However, some job listings instruct you not to follow-up. Disregard that at your own risk.)

If you want more help in your career hunt, check out Ohio Means Jobs’ tips for writing a resume and searching for jobs online.

08 5, 2018

3 suggestions when writing or updating your résumé

By |2018-08-05T06:00:07-04:00August 5, 2018|

resume-1799953_640We hosted a résumé workshop with an expert from Modern Employment earlier this summer, and she made three suggestions for anyone who’s writing or updating their résumé.

1. Know what kind of résumé you want.

There are four kinds of résumé:

  1. Chronological, which lists your work experience from most recent and concludes with your education
  2. Functional, which emphasizes skills and abilities as opposed to previous positions
  3. Targeted, which is when you draft a résumé for a specific job listing
  4. Targeted chronological, which combines aspects of the first and third type.

Each kind of résumé is appropriate for a different situation. Targeted chronological résumés are typically most effective, and you should always spend some time targeting your résumé when you apply for a job.

However, if you have holes in your employment history or are trying to change careers, then you should draft a functional résumé that focuses on your skills.

By the way, our speaker advised not going back more than 15 years on a chronological résumé to avoid age discrimination.

2. Don’t forget your soft skills.

Do you know the difference between a hard and soft skill?

Hard skills include specific knowledge necessary to do a job. For example, if you’re a software developer, knowing Java is hard skill.

Hard skills are easy to demonstrate on a résumé with degrees, certificates, etc.

By comparison, soft skills characterize your ability to work with others and are much more difficult to measure. They include communication, decision-making and leadership skills, as well as creativity.

Soft skills may be difficult to measure, but they’re very important to many employers. Make sure you include them in your résumé.

3. Use action verbs.

Don’t litter your résumé with conjugations of “to have” and “to do.”

Don’t just “do.” Lead. Don’t just “research.” Search and solve. Don’t just “help.” Collaborate and contribute.

Here’s a helpful list of power words you can use when summarizing your résumé.

If you want more help in your career hunt, check out Ohio Means Jobs’ tips for writing a resume and searching for jobs online.

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