Top 10 Features You Must Include in Your Resume

Top 10 Features You Must Include in Your Resume Have you ever considered what a hiring manager or an HR representative is really looking for when trawling through and screening hundreds of resumes daily? It will be a combination of things but some of them recur for every position they recruit for. Its easy to miss the basics so here is a list of the top 10 traits that will get you on the radar of the reader. 1) Communication  skills: Communication skills are hugely important for anyone dealing with people on a daily basis. Speaking to IT guys can be drastically different to speaking with HR. Your ability to communicate is the number one factor for you career progression so you need to show initiative here. Example: “I joined Toastmasters 2 years ago and I am currently working towards my advanced speaker certification”. 2) Openness: This means openness to new ideas, new processes, new people and so on. As corporations are ever changing entities, your ability to change with it is crucial. You will have to demonstrate how you adapted in the past and how you can do it again. Example: “I tested the new email system quickly learned how to use it, then helped to roll it out across the business and taught it to others across the company” 3) Creativity: This is your ability to engage in non-linear thinking or thinking outside the box to use a nice cliché. An employer needs people that not only point out what is wrong in a process for instance, but can also come up with a better way of doing things. Example: “I spotted an opportunity and developed a new order process and reduced lead times by 20% across my department”. 4) Cultural Experience: Denotes what experiences you have had with people from other countries and cultures. You will want to include any language you speak, any time you have spent in a foreign country, any connections you have abroad etc. This can come in handy when a company needs to deal with and even negotiate with international partners. Example: “I lived in Germany for 2 years and speak fluent business German”. 5) Positivity: Everyone wants a force of positivity on their team. It’s difficult to include this on a resume but you can do your best by using upbeat language and dropping hints of what a happy camper you are in the office. Example: Working with this team was a fantastic experience, I still keep in touch with all of the great members and I am glad they have all got promoted and wish them all the best. 6) Commitment: This is your chance to show how you get involved in the corporate culture and really try to live and breathe what your company is all about. Example: “I have carefully studied the companys vision statement and refer to it almost daily when I need guidance on daily and longer term tasks”. 7) Enthusiasm: This is all about what lengths you go to in order to further your career. Extra-curricular activities can benefit your potential new employer. Example: “I joined the local chapter of the Chamber of Commerce Networking Group in order to build up my network of industry peers”. 8) Integrity: You would think it should hopefully go without saying that you have the integrity required for customers and co-workers to trust and work successfully with you. In order to reiterate this point you could write what others’ experiences of you have been. Example: “When my manager needed someone trustworthy to look after the new office, she picked me out of 8 internal candidates”. 9) Team spirit: We can assume that you are a team player, everyone that works in an office is required to be or they would get the axe sooner than a Frenchman can spell esprit de corps. Team spirit is more than simply playing, it’s actually taking the initiative and activating a group of people and creating closer bonds. Example: “I organized a paintball day out for junior staffers and the top executives, in order to create a sense of belonging for the newbies”. 10) Community service: Everyone claims to have a big heart but only a few can actually quantify what their charitable accomplishments are. This is about you making a difference and being able to tell the world how you did it. Example “I organized a muffin bake off in my team and we raised over $2,000 for the local homeless shelter”. There we go, 10 features that you have to include somewhere on your resume. I hope this gives you some ideas and that your resume is better off with these tips. What is your experience of these 10 features on a resume? Do you think they help and if so why or why not? Feel free to share your experience in the comments. RELATED: How to Ensure Your Resume Gets Read By a Human [INFOGRAPHIC]

Dyslexia at Work 10 Ways Employers Can Help

Dyslexia at Work 10 Ways Employers Can Help According to the  British Dyslexia Association  (BDA), dyslexia affects approximately 10% of the British population. Therefore, around  2.9 million workers  are living with this learning difficulty, meaning it’s incredibly likely that a current or future employee will be dyslexic. Understandably, revealing a learning difficulty can be a daunting prospect in the workplace and this anxiety can hold back those with dyslexia from asking for help. This means that their behaviors can occasionally be misunderstood as a lack of ability, dedication, and inattention. However, those with dyslexia can bring as many strengths and qualities to a business, as non-sufferers do, which means it’s incredibly important to encourage people to speak up about it. Most commonly, symptoms of dyslexia include struggling to formulate thoughts quickly enough to participate in conversations and confusing words within sentences and letters within words. Not only that, but struggling to schedule work, making deadlines and recollecting and recording the contents of meetings and messages are frequent signs of dyslexia. Recognizing these signs and encouraging an open conversation about dyslexia, will ensure that those living with it, can reach their full potential and enjoy work, whilst feeling fully supported by their employers. To facilitate this, the wellbeing experts at CABA  have shared 10 ways in which leaders can support employees with dyslexia: 1. Set up a mentoring scheme This ensures that the workforce feels more comfortable talking about learning difficulties, with the hope being to subtly encourage those that are struggling to come forward and ask for help. A mentoring program can offer a range of tailored advice and support for anyone who may be suffering from anxiety,  mental health  or any other form of learning difficulty in the workplace, not just dyslexia. 2. Diagnostic Assessment To be able to best support your team members, diagnostic assessments would be truly valuable in understanding their specific needs. These can be arranged via the BDA, who could also help to provide advice that may have not been considered previously. 3. Create dyslexia-friendly content If you recognize that an employee has dyslexia, small changes can be made to help employees navigate through work content. This may mean using an easily readable font such as Arial or Comic Sans, as small or italic fonts can cause letters to appear more crowded. It may also be useful to use headings to create structure and to avoid background patterns or pictures as they could distract from the text. 4. Adapt your communication style It’s worthwhile asking any dyslexic employees what their preferred method of communication is. This is because if the individual is a visual learner you could work using a mind map or flow chart, to best get across important points. Remember, everyone works differently, so ask the individual what works best, to ensure you get the most out of them. 5. Training services To help employers support staff members who may experience work-based learning difficulties, The British Dyslexic Association and  the  Helen Arkell  Dyslexia Centre offer a range of services to ensure that both parties are mutually benefitting. So, ensure you set aside enough budget to invest in resources to help aid people with dyslexia. 6. Assistive technology There are a number of technological devices that can make work life easier for those with dyslexia. For example, speech recognition software allows speech to be converted into text, and vice versa â€" cutting out the task of reading and writing which can often take much longer for a dyslexic employee. 7. Raise awareness Why not run a dyslexia awareness course for all staff, using a qualified and experienced dyslexia specialist who has experience training in the work environment? This will help to clarify any misconceptions about dyslexia and help to make all employees feel comfortable in dealing with it. 8. Alternative workspace Loud and busy environments can make it hard for dyslexic workers to concentrate, so to help them, it can be beneficial to offer alternative work environments. For example, allowing these employees to use a meeting room, to help them focus when they really need to. If this is not possible, then provide headphones or earplugs as an alternative. 9. Encourage the use of calendars and alarms   Dyslexics can benefit from seeing things more visually, so using calendars and alarms can help to track time in a more visual way. In turn, this will help employees stay on schedule, and help them to plan their day and week.   As well as this, the use of diary invites and desk calendars can be used to remind them of important deadlines. 10. Specialist stationery Black text on white paper can be problematic as the whiteness can be dazzling and make it harder to read. Using paper of softer tones like yellow or pink may be preferable. As well as thicker pens, like gel pens which allow a team member to better understand their writing. Organizations need to accept that everyone works differently and must look to adapt to individual needs  â€" because those with dyslexia will range in their abilities. It’s important that employers create an unrestricted and honest environment to allow their employees to talk freely about dyslexia and  other learning difficulties. This will be desirable to both the individual and the whole organization because after all, employees are better able to perform and be more productive when they have the correct support. About the author: The CABA provides lifelong support for past and present ICAEW members and their families and are Passionate about health and wellbeing.

Choosing the Right Recruiting Firm - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Choosing the Right Recruiting Firm - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Recruiting is time-consuming; it’s often an arduous and complex process finding the candidates themselves. Just as difficult for most companies is finding the right headhunting firm to represent their organization. The search means discerning who will maintain high standards of employer branding and ultimately procure the necessary talent in order to further the company’s competitive advantage. In order to address this challenge, it’s imperative to understand why firms have so much trouble selecting the right recruiting firm, what can they do to better ensure that their recruiter is competent, and what the ramifications are of choosing a subpar recruitment company. Ramifications of Failing to Hire the Right Recruiting Firm When hiring companies initially fail to sign staffing firms that are competent, a few things can go wrong. Like anything else, the severity of these issues varies from minor annoyance to significant setback. The wrong recruiter can hurt the employer’s hiring capabilities for an extended period of time. Below, you’ll find a list of the detriments: Lost time and opportunity cost. Time that is lost is lost forever. When companies wait around for resumes that never come or spend time weeding through scores of recruiter resumes submissions that are well off from their needs, they lose precious time, potential revenue and sometimes employee morale. Poor employer representation (i.e. failure to stir up demand for the job) turns off a significant amount of fitting applicants for the position and hurts employer reputation. Poor candidate management throughout the process. The effective recruiter controls conditions. The less apt headhunter lets conditions control them. Poor recruiters not only fail to pitch the job correctly to the right people, but they also fail to manage the candidates in a way that fosters trust and builds a positive brand for the hiring company. When a recruiter mismanages a job applicant, that individual will often negotiate harder on their salary. The lack of trust, communication and professional respect between the recruiter and applicant inevitably encourages the prospective employee to interview with a multitude of organizations. Often, this leads in the firm losing job seekers to competing offers. Settling on job applicants who are inferior. One of the biggest misconceptions that employers have is that recruiters all have equal resources to find the same applicants and say the same thing to each in order to stir up demand. Quite the opposite. Why Hiring Firms Have So Much Trouble with Recruiting Companies Contrary to popular belief, it’s not always 100% the recruiting firm’s fault for a failed staffing process. Companies that engage in certain habits hurt their relationships with staffing agencies. This hinders overarching recruitment capabilities. Some of the most common missteps companies make when working with recruiters: Failing to judge the competence of the recruiters whom they are working with at the outset. One of the responsibilities of an employer, for the reasons listed above. Not staying in constant communication with the recruiting firm and applicant. Communication breeds trust and expedites the recruiting process without foregoing accuracy. Signing on with multiple contingency recruitment entities without taking the time to formulate a relationship with any of them. Contingency recruiting firms have no obligation to the employer and must be managed via candidate feedback and consistent communication on the part of the hiring company. Signing on with the least expensive option and assuming that the same competency, resources and dedication will be forthcoming as from better paid headhunters. While we all want quality for less, there comes a point where the hiring firm has little chance of locating and procuring strong applicants from the work of the staffing company that is in turn staffed with subpar employees. Judging a Recruiting Firm’s Competencies When vetting recruiting firms, hiring companies often ask the wrong questions. Open ended inquiries like how many candidates a firm has sets that hiring party up to be lied to. Accepting arbitrary numbers as indicative of a staffing firm’s abilities is the largest reason for failure. Companies benefit from focusing more on the individuals responsible for the hiring project. Assessing their knowledge and inquiring about professional accomplishments is paramount. Speaking directly with those responsible is also imperative. Employers need to ask questions that make sure the recruiters understand the company and products / services. The following 3 questions will tell a hiring manager all they need to know in order to choose the right recruiting firm. Who will be representing my company? What is their background? How would they represent (i.e. pitch) the company they are representing? In the End When hiring recruiting firms, it’s best to take nothing at face value. Not all staffing firms are created equal. Recruitment is a people business, and recruiters mindsets and levels of interpersonal competency personalities of the recruiters will ultimately determine success.

Are You Unknowingly Turning Off Clientele - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Are You Unknowingly Turning Off Clientele - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Most everyone in business desires more clients. Corporate salespeople not only wish to keep their job but also strive toward earning the bonuses at the end of the year. Entrepreneurs diligently work to establish a strong presence and a desire for their services in the marketplace. With these goals in mind, many salespeople and entrepreneurs are mistakenly turning off their intended clientele. The fix is largely dependent upon attitude and communication style. A positive mindset with desire to serve clientele well, speaks to hearts and minds Recent Examples Entrepreneurs The latest style of email blast states something similar to , “Hey â€" this is  the best thing you’ve ever seen to build business!” How is it possible for anything to be “the best” for everyone in receipt of the email? Have you ever created a product or service of which you are proud, only to be told it isn’t good enough? This is usually followed up with the remark, “But if you use my service, I’ll help you to create an improved version”. This approach only serves to produce a lot of anger and bad word of mouth. Sales Professionals Those who lack the know-how of building sound relationships will substitute with talking. The client can’t wait for that person to leave. And the salesperson becomes frustrated when no interest is seen after spending much time. Making the situation even worse, the salesperson announces, in an irritated voice, “Your business won’t survive without this.” This behavior will only serve to place a black mark against your personal brand. Salespeople and Entrepreneur #1 Error! The number one error of those in business is to allow referrals and leads to grow cold.  Timely response is crucial.  Otherwise, a lack of caring is seen in the eyes of those needing help.  Instead, the prospect  will find  the help needed elsewhere. The Better Approach The best approach is to research the person’s online presence and company website. And then research top players in the industry. Give thought to how your acquaintance and those you read about may differ in focus and style. Create a list of questions to ask of your prospective client that will move the conversation in the right direction. Leading with questions, and learning of goals for the company, will always work best. The tie-breaker is to do the same on a personal note. Ask: You must be so busy, why did you agree to take the time to meet with me? What are your personal as well as business goals? What experiences led you to your career? How do you believe I might be able to help? The above questions are more personal and allow for a more honest and direct dialogue. Asking is to be done with an inquisitive yet friendly tone so that your prospective client recognizes you are truly trying to help. Toward  the end of the initial conversation, you will have an improved idea of how you may help provide the solution sought. Compare thought, ideas and possible solutions. Have your client prioritize what matters most for them. Last of all, ask when they would like to get started. Following these guidelines will lead you to the Smooth Sale!

When Writing Resume: Do You Speak in Past Tense?

When Writing Resume: Do You Speak in Past Tense?The other day I heard from a reader who was wondering how to write a resume in the correct way. She had graduated from college and wanted to get a job as soon as possible, but was having trouble getting a job based on her poor academic record. Her reason for asking this question is that she knew that she would not get a job based on her academic background, but she was not sure what to say about her job-hunting efforts.She knows she needs to show she has the work ethic needed for a job, but her academic record does not exactly help that aspect. She told me: 'I am a pretty smart girl, but in my current situation, I need to write a resume using my good grades from college. I know I have to show I am able to work well with others, but I also need to show my employers that I am able to learn fast. How can I make the most of my academic experience in my resume?'So what she did was, after she had done her research and collected all of her wor k, she asked one of her teachers if she could use their letterhead in the curriculum she was using at school. Since her teacher usually had the letterhead from years ago, it was a great idea. She said that her teacher had recently started using one of the online courses, and she wanted to look into that further.What she ended up finding out is that the curriculum they were using was one that was based off of the use of lessons that were from the old syllabus, but with updated standards and materials. Since she already had the letterhead from her original faculty, she then got her teachers' credentials and photocopied them. In this way, she could use her letterhead as a summary of her academic resume.She then took a look at her old letterhead and simply used the old letterhead for her academic resume. After doing this, she then sent the resumes off to various employers. She found out that she was able to get interviews from all of them and she also was able to get some interviews wit h companies she was interested in.I realized that there were two things that she needed to make sure she did. First, that she did not use her academic resume to talk about her work-related experience. She had enough work experience already.Second, she needed to make sure that she did not use the term 'Degree.' This is a common term that you will find in some degrees that are earned outside of your major. So she took a look at the school's syllabus and made sure that she only listed her major in the academic resume. This made sure that she did not take more time from her resume to talk about her educational background and it also gave her an easy way to link the academic resume with the original letterhead that she had used earlier.She was able to go from looking at her old letterhead to now using the same letters, and even the same letterhead, that her school's syllabus used for years. In fact, she found out that she did not have to worry about how to write a resume in the correct w ay since she had already done that at the school.

9 Resources for Dealing with Forced Job Search - CareerAlley

9 Resources for Dealing with Forced Job Search - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. Never regret. If its good, its wonderful. If its bad, its experience. Victoria Holt Imagine the following scenario: You just found out that your department is being off shored and that your job will be eliminated in six months. The good news is that you have six months to find a new job, the bad news is that you have only six months to find a new job. Half of job search is being prepared, developing a job search plan and then executing on it. The other half is being in the right place at the right time (some would call this luck). The point is, while six months sounds like a reasonable time to find a new job (and it might well be), the time available to look for a new job while you are still working is minimal. There are so many things to consider when you have limited time. Last Job on the Right Imagine someone is giving you directions to their house. The last part of the directions is to continue down a very long road and make the last turn on the right. Problem is, how do you know its the last right if the road continues on? There is a delicate balance between accepting a job that is close and getting the right job. If you are lucky, you will have more than one offer to consider while you are job hunting. But as you race the clock to find a job before you lose the one you have, how do you know if the offer you have is one of many to come or the last one you will get for the foreseeable future? You should have a list your perfect job criteria and your minimum requirements criteria. Remember, accepting a job that meets your minimum requirements is not settling. The Best Job For Me Selector A quiz to help you make your priority list of what is right for you. It is time to find your true calling Plans, Plans and more Plans The first thing you should do when you find out your job will be eliminated is to make two plans: a plan for handling unemployment (should you lose your job before you find another) and a plan for getting a new job (some links follow). Your out of work plan should include financial considerations (like cutting back on spending and deciding if you will need to take a part time job while you continue to job hunt). Your plan for getting a new job can be a lot more complicated, depending on what resources are readily available (a current resume, a good network list, etc.). 10 Things To Do If You Lose Your Job I lost my job, now what? Financial planning for possible job loss Job Hunting Basics Starting a Job Hunt Darwins Law of Job Search Okay, so maybe Darwin didnt write a law of job search, but as far as weve come over thousands of years of evolution, we are still very much operating in a survival of the fittest world. This is definitely true in the working world. While we would like to believe that only the best survive in the working world, the unforeseen laws of the corporate world often intervene and change the playing field dramatically. As good as any of us might be, downsizing, off-shoring and corporate failures often through us curve balls we were not expecting. What then defines success is how we handle the curve balls of life and how quickly we respond to the unexpected challenges of job loss and job search. Bouncing Back from Job Loss: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Job Hunters Why You Need a Job Search Marketing Toolkit Survival of the Fittest Good luck in your search. Good luck in your search. Visit me on Facebook

Writing a Resume That Cuts to the Chase

Writing a Resume That Cuts to the Chase When it comes to resumes, longer is rarely better. In todays fast-paced world, hiring managers generally spend less than 15 seconds looking at a resume. They want to be able to see your key differentiators quickly, and they will rarely look past page two to find the information they need. So how do you keep your resume concise without sacrificing clarity or quality? Here are some common resume problems that can result in a document that is too long and some recommended fixes.A long job history If youve been working for 20 years or more, it can seem like a difficult task to craft a resume that is only two pages. But this can be accomplished without sacrificing the quality or accuracy of the document. One strategy is to create a separate category for all employment experiences that are more than 15 years old and group them in a section labeled Early Career Experience or Additional Experience. This section allows you to summarize early experience in just a few sentences and save space f or more recent and relevant information.Additional Experience Prior executive leadership experience with XYZ Company as Vice President of Sales (1990 to 1996) and five year career with ABC Corporation progressing in various sales, sales management, and corporate marketing positions.Multiple temporary or consulting assignments If you have worked multiple assignments during a short period of time, your resume can become confusing for your reader, and the short gigs can make you look like a job-hopper at first glance. To remedy this, create a category called Temporary Assignments or Consulting Assignments and give an overview of the highlights of the experience rather than listing the details of each.HR Consultant, various assignments 2008 to PresentXYZ Company. For global technology solutions company, selected to create U.S. recruitment strategy for division representing 1,500 employees in six offices. Trimmed recruiting budget (projected savings of 25-50%) using non-fee, referral, a nd social media recruitment strategies. Recruited team to support $17M in new business.ABC Company. Developed the business strategy and execution plan for an alternative candidate sourcing model that minimized agency costs and leveraged online networking and employee referral programs to deliver $100K in savings in first 5 months of implementation. Also developed and revised employee handbooks for Baine Co. and Matthews Associates.Too much information about job tasks Resumes can become unruly if you include long lists of job responsibilities followed by long lists of accomplishments. To prune your document, create a paragraph of no more than 5 or 6 sentences to explain your job tasks and only bullet your key accomplishments. This strategy will save space and allow your reader to focus on your most important achievements.Created the strategic direction and execution plans to support large scale corporate events and product launches. Oversee all pre and on-site communications and adv ertising, media planning, exhibit construction, invitation management, VIP hospitality, sponsor management, and exhibit construction. Manage relationships with 5 advertising agencies. Budget: $10M; Staff: 3 direct reports, 10 indirect reportsRecognized with Marketing Award in 2011 for orchestrating the companys most successful campaign at the countrys premier sports event while trimming event costs by 10%.Project-managed product marketing campaign at an international ski resort resulting in 30,000 qualified leads in just 3 months and a 5% conversion rate.Dedicating equal space to every job experience Just because youve held seven jobs over the course of your career doesnt mean you should dedicate the same amount of space to each job. Focus on relevance and generally spend more time explaining more recent positions than those held earlier in your career.Poor use of white space and fonts Sometimes resumes become too long because of poor decisions about design. Dont create margins that exceed one inch on any side, and use a font of either 10 or 11 points.Want more resume tips? Check out our e-book, 15 Items for Your Resume To Do List  and our resume samples.