Writing a Unique Resume Summary

Writing a Unique Resume SummaryThere are two different approaches you can take when creating a unique resume summary. One is to focus on your skills and qualifications and include only the most salient features of your career, while the other approach is to have an extensive explanation of your skills and achievements. Which one do you think will help you in landing the job?One of the most important aspects of finding the perfect resume is to ensure that it is unique in both content and format. While there are some important aspects that are universal in resumes, such as skills and achievements, there are some aspects which vary from employer to employer. Some employers may need to know about your past experiences. Others may just need you to be well-qualified and well-prepared for the interview.This leads to the question of how to find a resume that is unique in content and format. When it comes to making a resume unique in content and format, you can create a resume using your own resume or use one of the many templates available on the Internet. However, you should remember that every resume is different, and the resumes that work for some employers may not work for others.There are many companies which are interested in hiring the best possible candidate from each career path, so it would be wise to research the potential employer's requirements. They may just want to see your resume along with references and contact details. Most employers want to hear what you have to say and who you know, so it is important to avoid making a resume too similar to other people's resumes.You should include details about your skills and experience in the resume summary, but you should also include details which are relevant to the job. Your resume summary should not be too detailed, because this can confuse your interviewer and the interviewers for whom the resume is designed. Instead, have a summary that will highlight your skills and accomplishments in an impressive manne r.If you include your skills and experiences in your unique resume summary, it is likely that the interviewer will assume that you have been working in the same position for the same company for several years. However, there are chances that the interviewer might not be looking for specific experience, but a broad outline of your work history that includes previous jobs, industry and experience. For example, the interviewer might not be looking for your last job, but for your work history in a particular industry. In this case, you should still include this broad outline in your resume, as long as it is not too lengthy.A unique resume summary should be created to reflect your skills and experience, and only include the most relevant details. If you include too much information, it will give the impression that you have been doing the same job for many years, which you don't.

Are You in a Dead End Job

Are You in a Dead End Job Jennifer Goff was fresh out of college when she landed a dream job at a thriving art gallery in San Francisco. Before long, she climbed the ranks to become the director of PR and media. She loved it, but after three years in the role, she began to feel restless. “I had adapted to the continuous deadlines, and had established smooth, efficient routinesâ€"yet I was less absorbed by the work,” says the 27-year-old Goff. “I no longer had moments when I felt ‘in over my head.’ And, oddly, I missed that.” After reflecting on her situation, Goff realized that she wanted to expand her writing and marketing skills beyond what her current gig offered. So she made the difficult decision to move on, accepting a content marketing job at an Austin-based start-up. “My team in San Francisco was extremely close-knit, so it was hard for me to say goodbye,” she admits. “But I looked ahead to the benefits that could come from exploring the unknown.” In fact, Goff recalls a quote from Yahoo president and C.E.O. Marissa Meyer that really resonated for her when she was contemplating the career move: “When you have different options, you should choose the thing that looks like it will be more difficult, because that usually turns out to be the right choice.” “At first, I felt disillusioned that my ‘dream job’ was no longer the right fit, but at the same time, admitting that was incredibly freeing,” Goff says. “For anyone facing similar feelings, the advice I’d give is: Embrace it. Jump into something new.” Easier said than done, right? This can be a particularly anxiety-provoking proposition if you’re one of the many people who lost a job during the recent recessionâ€"or if you’ve clung to a less-than-awesome gig out of fear of being unemployed. “Most of us are wired to crave stability,” says career coach Matt Youngquist, president of Career Horizons in Bellevue, Wash. “The recession took away our sense of security, and now that it’s over, people are starting to take a deep breath and are happy to finally be in a place of relative calm.” With this in mind, we’ve put together a four-step action plan that can help you assess whether it’s time to take that big career leap yourself. Step #1: Figure Out If You’re Staying Simply for the Sake of Staying It’s a no-brainer to leave a job because the hours are killing you, or your boss is a carbon copy of Miranda Priestly. It’s another thing entirely if nothing is wrong, per se … except that you’re coasting instead of growing. So if you have a nagging sense that you’re running on autopilot, it’s probably time for a gut check. “Ask yourself whether you’re too comfortable, and honestly analyze your feelings by talking it out with friends,” says Deborah Brown-Volkman, a career coach and author of “Coach Yourself to a New Career.” She also recommends composing a pro-con list comparing the benefits and drawbacks of staying versus moving on. “This gives you objectivity so that you can make a fair assessment,” she explains. It also pays to dip your toe into the job-hunting pool. “People who’ve been out of the game for a while are often unaware of what opportunities are even available,” Brown-Volkman says, adding that this is especially true if the recession’s dearth of options intimidated you into staying put. So check out job boards and LinkedIn, and also make an effort to reach out to people in your network. Sometimes sniffing around informally like this can be enough to get you over the initial fear of making a change. Step #2: Get Real About What Really Matters to You Just to be clear, feeling comfortable in a job isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But if you want to climb the ladder as high as you can, your path is going to look very different from someone who values a flexible schedule and plenty of vacation time. To suss out your own priorities, you need to get really specific by “breaking things down into testable benefits,” Youngquist says. She offers up this example of the kind of key questions you should ask yourself: If you crave better work-life balance, what would that look like exactly? Working from home once a week? Never staying late at the office? Moreover, how much would you give up for those perks? Would you be willing to take a pay cut? This kind of seemingly simple career soul-searching can often lead to a clear answer. Take the case of one of Youngquist’s clientsâ€"a rising star at Boeing who wished she were at a smaller start-up, where she could have more impact. “When we sat down and looked at her current benefits and job stability, we realized that she would probably backtrack if she jumped ship,” Youngquist says. As Youngquist explains, her client was shocked to learn that the average tenure at young tech companies was just two and a half yearsâ€"never mind the long hoursâ€"whereas Boeing ranks in the top 3% of businesses in terms of longevity. Since she had already put in so much time building a bulletproof career for herself at Boeing, she decided to play it safe and stayâ€"with a newfound sense of appreciation for what she had. Close Modal DialogThis is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Step #3: Research If a New Job Is Worth the Move If you’ve found a job you’re really interested in, go ahead and applyâ€"but be sure to do your homework along the way. A good first stop is Glassdoor, where you can find employee reviews of a company’s internal environment. “If seven out of 10 people report that, for example, an organization doesn’t promote from within, that’s something to think about,” Youngquist says. Next, do a LinkedIn search on the firm to find out if anyone in your extended network has worked thereâ€"or is connected to someone who hasâ€"and ask if you could have five minutes of their time to discuss a job opportunity you’re exploring. Once you’re actively interviewing, Youngquist recommends carefully evaluating the culture to get a sense of how they treat employees. Were you jumping through hoops during the interview process? Did you get a good feeling from the staff you met? And don’t be afraid to ask tough questions yourself: Where have previous employees in this position ended up? What are the biggest challenges involved in this job? Think of it like dating. If you pay attention in the early stagesâ€"did your date text you back, or leave you hanging? are you always picking up the tab?â€"you can often determine what a long-term relationship would look like. Brown-Volkman has another suggestion: Draft up a list, with your current position in one column and the new job in another. Then compare certain factors side-by-side, like benefits, salary, commute, schedule and responsibilities. Step #4: Evaluate What It Would Cost You to Stay in Your Comfort Zone One particular challenge facing “lifers” is that you lose marketability. After 10 years or so in the same job, recruiters start penalizing people for not being more ambitious, assuming your skills are stagnant and you lack motivation. And while money isn’t everything, becoming a barnacle usually means you aren’t scoring the raises that occasional job-hopping can net. “Periodically, it’s worth investigating what you’re worth in the marketplaceâ€"and if you’re underpaidâ€"by going on interviews, talking to recruiters, and checking out websites like salary.com,” says Eleanor Blayney, a CFP ® and consumer advocate for the Certified Financial Plannerâ„¢ Board of Standards. Blayney estimates that a 30-year-old currently earning $45,000, but who could be making about 10% more in a new position, potentially gives up $500,000-plus over their work life by staying put. This takes into account not only lost salary but also lost 401(k) matches and lower Social Security benefits. On the flip side, that long tenure in your current job has likely earned you perks that can be hard to let go of, like ample vacation time or stock options. But there’s no reason why you can’t negotiate for similar benefits with a new employer. Just try to keep your asks to a maximum of three, Youngquist says. “And remember that you already have a decent job, so you need a compelling reason to leave,” Brown-Volkman adds. “You have nothing to lose.” More from LearnVest: Confessions of Job Hoppers Is the Financial Grass Really Greener? 3 People Test Life in a Different Career 10 Tough-but-Valuable Career Lessons to Learn by 30

Best Practices For Hiring Veterans - Work It Daily

Best Practices For Hiring Veterans - Work It Daily On May 7 I attended the Robin Hood Foundation’s “Veterans Summit 2012” on the USS Intrepid in Manhattan. This article is based on a detailed summary I wrote for my blog. At Coca-Cola they have learned that there are two reasons to hire veterans: It’s the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. Why? Who would not want an employee who for two, three, four years has been told over and over again that “No” is an unacceptable answer and the job/mission has to get done â€" and then go out and do it? At Goldman Sachs they know that veterans bring with them a high degree of professionalism, excellence, and a track record of accomplishments. At Wal-Mart they have found vets to have a high level of maturity and reliability. Who wouldn’t want employees with those characteristics? The job can always be taught, but values? Those you need when you walk in the door! Of course, hiring vets is not enough. It is just as important to make certain that the hiring is successful. Here is what some major companies are doing to meet that goal: Wal-Mart sponsors job fairs for veterans. J.P. Morgan has set goals for veteran hirings - 10 a day. Toward that end, they have established recruiting centers inside seven military bases. The more veterans a company hires, the more comfortable employees will be interacting and working with them. Familiarity may sometimes breed contempt, but in this case it breeds understanding, acceptance, and respect. J.P. Morgan found that when simply looking for veterans in general, only 10% were actually hired. So they changed their hiring practice and began focusing on specific veterans with specific skill sets. Now, a third of all veterans they interview are hired, and when a veteran submits a resume, they respond within five days. Veterans are mission-focused so it is important for them to be inspired by the company’s mission. This is similar to the importance of understanding the corporate culture. It falls on leadership and employees of a company to make that happen. Goldman Sachs has a veteran intern program, which is modeled after a similar program for women returning to the workforce. It is an eight-to-nine week program where participants learn the skills necessary to succeed in the positions for which they are hired. Additionally, Goldman has an internal network of a thousand veterans who help each other with any issues that may arise. A similar group exists at J.P. Morgan. Simply stated, veterans understand veterans better than anyone else, so they are best suited to help each other when difficulties appear. The usually unspoken concern of employers is the question of the mental health of veterans. Some veterans, for example, are uncomfortable around bright lights. Others, as I have learned from offering career counseling services to veterans, do not like sitting with their backs to the door. Little things for us, lights and seating arrangements, can be major issues for them. But the solutions are simple. The rewards, on the other hand, can be immense. Hiring veterans image from Bigstock Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today!