Jay Wren – Page 59 – Be in the Top 1% in Mindset – Leadership

How to Write a Resume

How to write a resume: having a resume is an essential part of getting a job for most people. I based the information in this article on two sources. The first source is the hundreds of resumes I have read as a corporate recruiter. The second source is the feedback I have received from hiring managers, staffing managers, other recruiters, and from interviewing hundreds of applicants. These are suggestions only, but the layout is a working format. If you replace the information below with your information, you will have written a resume.

A resume is similar to a job application. When you complete a job application, you will need to list the jobs you have had, where you performed those jobs, and when you had those jobs. Therefore, you will find it useful to have your resume with you as you complete job applications.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Your name
Street address
City, State Zip
Home phone
Cell phone
Email address

OBJECTIVE AND SUMMARY
Stating an objective or a giving a summary at the beginning of the resume is common practice. Stating an objective or providing a summary is optional.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
There is no sentence structure in a resume. The wording in a resume is simply a series of statements of actions and accomplishments.

For example, this is a sentence: I doubled the company’s sales in 6 months.
This is resume wording: Doubled company’s sales in 6 months.

The history in a resume is just a list that includes employment periods, performance, skills, responsibilities, accomplishments, and education.

(Most recent job first)
Company Name; company Location, From –to
Most recent title, Location, From – to

Use bullet format.
•        List things you have accomplished. Do not waste space on your just giving a job description. List things that showed that you made a difference in the positions you held.
•        Use facts—for example, exceeded assigned sales goal by 30%, reduced costs, promoted people, saved time, increased productivity, etc.
•        Employers and recruiters search their databases for specific words, so list successes with specific industry words or functions. Include the real name of your product categories, product names, sales accounts, functions (e.g., Profit & Loss, Market Research or Software Names, New Product Development, Market Insights, Innovation), etc.

Then include Previous Companies going back in time from most recent.

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EDUCATION
Normally, education goes at the bottom of the resume. People who have recently received an educational degree or credential that alters their employability might consider putting education at the top of the resume.

Other items that might go at the bottom of the resume are awards, extra skills, volunteer work, or perhaps some relevant college employment.

HOW TO SHORTEN YOUR RESUME FOR READABILITY
Hiring managers only spend seconds looking at each resume. They are going through stacks of resumes, often in documents that they have to open one at a time.

Avoiding the following items might make the difference as to whether a hiring manager reads your resume.

Objective
Summary
Hobbies
References
References available on request
Compensation
Long paragraph formats
Long-winded discussions of core responsibilities
Too many details on jobs with well-known functions
Details on jobs that date back in time
Paragraph formatting
Third person reference

Why Did You Quit Your Last Job?

If you are unemployed, a common job interview question is why did you quit your last job. The answer has value to the interviewer for several reasons.

Your answer can help the interviewer know whether the type of job you are seeking is available at the interviewer’s company. Your answer can also help the interviewer evaluate your integrity when the time comes to conduct reference checks and background checks. The way you answer the question can help the interviewer draw conclusions about the way you view work and view your role in the workplace.

There are a number a valid reasons people quit their job.

Safety issues can make jobs undesirable.
Commute costs or commute distance are sometimes overwhelming.
Job stress can create the necessity for finding a different job.
A change in a person’s home life can force a person to have to find a new job.
A challenging work relationship with your supervisor or co-workers can make you want to find a new place to work.

Quite often people lose a job for reasons beyond their control.

Companies run into difficulty and lay off people.
Automation can create changes in the numbers and types of employees a company has.
Companies move offices, retail locations, or manufacturing facilities to new locations, cutting local jobs.

Prepare thoroughly on how you want to answer the question on why you left your job.

Write out a solid, brief answer.

Try your answer out on several different people. Of course, different people will have different views on how to answer the question. Based on the discussions you have with other people, you will find that these people ask you questions about your reason for quitting your job. Include these questions and your answers to these questions in your thinking about why you quit your job or lost you job.

In the end, you will need to select an answer that works best for you. Thoroughly rehearse your answer. How you answer why you quit your job can help you move on to getting an offer for your next job.

How to Cancel and Reschedule a Job Interview

Knowing how to cancel and reschedule a job interview is an important part of the job interview process.

Having to cancel a job interview can cost you the opportunity itself. Before you can return for a rescheduled interview, another applicant might fill the job. Additionally, frustrated hiring managers who now have a hole in their schedule may not even grant you the opportunity to reschedule.

Cancel Immediately

Failing to cancel until the last minute will only make you appear flakey or disinterested. The more lead-time you provide when you cancel an interview and reschedule it, the better is your opportunity of rescheduling another interview. Certainly, call to reschedule as soon as you know you have a problem making the appointment.

Cancel and Reschedule in the Same Call

When you call to cancel an interview, ask to reschedule during the same call. You may not have another opportunity to speak directly with someone to reschedule the appointment.

Emphasize your continued interest in the job. Remember to state how much you still want to have the opportunity to interview for the position. Ask the hiring manager or recruiter what time would be another good time for them.

Valid Reasons

There are valid reasons to cancel and reschedule an interview.

Work conflicts with your current employer can create a need to reschedule an interview. When rescheduling an interview because of a work conflict, you don’t need to be specific about the details of the work conflict.
Health is certainly a valid reason to cancel and reschedule. Some interviewers will not be happy to greet a person who has symptoms of a cold. If you have a cold, you might call to let the interviewers know. You can offer to come to the interview, but say that you felt you should let the interviewers know about your condition.
Personal conflicts do arise. Let the person know that you regret having to reschedule. Sharing details of the situation are not always necessary and perhaps better avoided. For example, a death in your family or among your close friends is certainly valid reasons for rescheduling. However, you don’t need to say who died.

How to Calm Your Nerves Before A Job Interview

How To Calm Your Nerves before a Job Interview is an important skill for many applicants.

Many job applicants are nervous before a job interview. A bad case of the interview jitters works against you. Instead of having a clear mind, you think less clearly and effectively. At a time when want to feel poised and confident, you feel tense and uncomfortable.

Interview jitters are a form of stage fright.

Applicants know that another person or other people are judging the things they say and the things they do. They fear rejection.

If job interviews give you the jitters, you are not alone. Everyone experiences some feelings of uncertainty from time to time. There are things you can do to become calm and feel confident.

Have a light, healthy snack before your interview.

Being hungry or loaded with caffeine can make you feel nervous. Take a health bar and a bottle of water with you. Find a comfortable place to relax. Enjoy your health bar and bottle of water about thirty minutes before your interview. Give your body time to digest the snack and get the food into your system.

Reduce the amount of caffeine you eat or drink.

You might avoid chocolate bars. They are great for energy. The sugar and caffeine can get you energy boost. However, as the sugar wears off, you can feel an energy drop. The caffeine can leave you feeling a little on edge. If you enjoy coffee or caffeinated soft drinks, you may want to avoid them before your interview. Caffeine from chocolate or from coffee or soft drinks added to the adrenaline of having interview pressure can give you a heavy case of the jitters.

Prepare thoroughly for your job interview.

Know the details of the company. Know the details of the job for which you are interviewing. Review your resume. Know how to discuss your experience in terms of how are qualified for the job.

Prepare questions for the people who will interview you.

Having questions will show that you are interested in the question. Having your questions written out will help you remember to ask the questions that you will need answered.

Remember to breath.

Baseball players use this simple technique often. Watch pitchers right before the windup or batters right before stepping into the batter’s box. The players will take one or two deep breaths. You don’t need to master any complex breathing meditation. Just breathe.

Related articles

Going from Self-Conscious to Self-Confident
Overcoming Intimidating Titles
Turn Your Career Worries into Career Plans
Job Security: How to Stop Scaring Yourself
Clearing the Mental Clutter of Job Stress

Job Change: What is Your Greatest Strength?

What’s Your Greatest Strength is a popular interview question.

Answering this question gives you an opportunity to shine as the perfect applicant for the job. When you are preparing for your interview, think specifically about how your strengths fit the job.

There are different types of job strengths.

Each of these strengths has value depending on the requirements of a particular job. Take the examples from these lists, write them into your resume, and use them in your interview.

Soft skills strengths

Soft skills are tricky. Some hiring managers and recruiters overlook soft skills in a resume. In other cases, hiring managers and recruiters think of lists of soft skills as puffery in a resume. Forgive me for repeating this point, but discussing soft skills is effective when those skills specifically relate to the job for which you are interviewing.

Interpersonal Communication skills
Enthusiasm & Attitude skills
Teamwork skills
Relationship skills
Problem Solving & Critical Thinking skills
Professionalism skills

Knowledge-based or hard-skill strengths

These skills come from your education and your work you have done. They are the strengths that you can take from one job to the next. The strengths are core qualifications for any job.

Accounting
Analysis
Brand Development
Computer Programming
Data Management
Education
Financial Management
Internet Programming
People Management
Planning
Mathematics
Research and Development
Software Applications such as word processing, spreadsheet, image editing, database
Software Development
Selling
Typing
Writing

Talent or natural ability strengths

One of my favorite subjects is talent. Talent is a gift. However, as people learn new things, their intelligence relative to the intelligence of other people their age can increase. In other words, our intelligence quotient can become greater.

The obvious example for an understanding of how the growth of talent has limitations is the one for gifted runners. Training and conditioning can make a person a faster runner. However, the person who is gifted runner will also become faster through training and conditioning.

Talents are strengths that enable you to develop skills. There are two types of talent: convergent talent and divergent talent. Some people would say that there are three types of talent. The third is emotional intelligence.

Listing talent in a job description is not a normal process. However, if you are applying for a job that requires on-going skills development, you should highlight the fact that you have a talent for developing those types of skills.

How to Prepare for Tough Interview Questions

How to prepare for tough interview questions is part of becoming a more effective job seeker.

First, prepare thoroughly for the routine questions. This approach will make large parts of the interview easier for you. You will increase your confidence and reduce the pressure when an interviewer asks you a difficult question.

Here are some of the most difficult questions.

The questions link to some of the hundreds of career articles on this website:

Another step in preparing for difficult interview questions is to develop basic interview skills.

Listen: Just listening closely to the questions will help you subconsciously develop effective answers.
Clarify: Make certain that you understand the question. Ask the interviewer for more information.
Ask for time:Sometimes you might ask the interviewer to allow you to come back to a question.
Be honest: If you do not know the answer to a question, be honest.

Don’t sweat it.

Of course, you would like to handle every question with ease. Some interviewers ask questions to see how well you can think under pressure. When an interviewer asks you a difficult question, take a deep breath and think about what you are saying. Realize that everyone has trouble giving good answers all the time. I see politicians, television reporters, talk show hosts, and talk show quests become tongue-tied. The ones who are most effective are the ones who smile at their mistakes and work past the mistakes to answer the questions.

How to Introduce Yourself at a Job Interview

How to introduce yourself at a job interview is a series of fundamentals.

The way you introduce yourself can set the tone for the entire interview. You create that all-important first impression. Start with a positive tone and maintain it. It is much easier to maintain a positive impression than it is to reverse a negative one.

When you enter the business where you are interviewing, be courteous to the people you pass.

Treat the receptionist professionally. Smile. Tell the receptionist your name. State that you have an appointment and give the receptionist the name of the person you are there to meet.

You do not need to tell the receptionist that you have a job interview. State that you have an appointment. The person with whom you have an appointment knows you are there for a job interview. Announcing to the receptionist and perhaps other people near you that the hiring company is interviewing people is inappropriate.

If you speak with people who are waiting in the lobby, act professionally.

Do not discuss personal matters with other people in the lobby. While waiting in a lobby for a client appointment, I met a woman I had known professionally by telephone. She was in town traveling on business. She was complaining about the fact that she had a hangover and had spent too much money taking a client out to dinner the night before. She had spent a lot of money at the bar. She was not sure how she was going to hide the bar tab on her expense report.

At the time, the woman was had a solid career. I had no need to know the information the woman gave me. However, the information shaped the professional impression I have of the woman.

Use power body language.

Relax.

Confidently, walk into each room during your time at the hiring company.

Sit up straight. Stand straight. Hold your shoulders back. Keep your arms open. Don’t stare at the floor. Don’t slump and fold your arms. Radiate warmth and openness. Use body language that makes people trust you and approach you.

When you shake hands, grasp the other person’s hand firmly, look that person in the eye, and say, “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Have a terrific interview.

How to introduce yourself at a job interview is a series of fundamentals. Follow those fundamentals to get a great start in your interviews.

What to Say in a Job Interview

Knowing what to say in a job interview is critical to your interview success.

“I want this job.”

You may not know that you want the job until after you leave the job interview. Keep selling and moving forward through the interview to do the best job you can of getting a second interview or a job offer. Keeping the process positive increases the likelihood that a company will feel positive about you as an applicant.

Simply say that they you want the job and why you want it.

“I solved these problems.”

Before you go to an interview, list examples of problems you have solved.

Describe the problems.
Explain the things you did to solve the problems.
Discuss the results.

Here is a simple example of a problem people solve in customer service. Often customers line up single file to reach a booth. The line backs up into other shopping areas. You set up a switchback rope system that reduces the floor space customers need to reach booth. The result is a saving in floor space and a more orderly flow of customer traffic to the booth.

“Can you tell me more?”

You show interest when you ask for more information. Sometimes you will not understand a question or get the point an interviewer is trying to make. You may even find that you are dealing with a person’s objection. A sales device in dealing with a buyer with an objection is to ask the person to help you understand his or her point of view. You can phrase the question in this simple statement. “Can you tell me more?”

”I exceed goals.”

Have examples of times when you exceeded goals your company set for you. Explain the goal. Discuss the details of how you created a plan and the steps you took to exceed the goal.

“I have studied your company, and I like what it does.”

Always prepare with details about the company that is interviewing you. Know the details of the job. Have a list of things that you like about the company and about the job for which you are applying.

What Not to Say in a Job Interview

What not to say in an interview is as important as what you say in an interview.

When you are in a job interview, don’t ruin your chances of getting a job by saying the wrong things. You are rarely the only candidate in the interview process. Saying things that make hiring managers and recruiters uncomfortable can cost you a job offer.

Don’t discuss politics, religion, sports, social issues, or news headlines.

You are in a job interview to discuss a job. Unless the job that involves one of the above subjects, you will increase your chances of getting a job offer by avoiding those polarizing topics.

Don’t discuss personal problems.

Unfortunately, many people have personal problems and health problems. Successful people know that the time to discuss those problems is in the privacy of their home or office.

Use your interview as an opportunity to show that you are competent, hardworking, and sincere. If you are uncertain about some information that you think you should share with a future employer, research thoroughly what you should disclose and not disclose to a future employer.

“Don’t complain about your current company.”

When you are in an interview, do not complain about your boss, your company, your job, or anything else. In an interview, you are trying to impress the hiring company with what a terrific person you are to have in the workplace. No one wants to listen to a person complain.

Do not use obscene language.

Of course, you wouldn’t use obscene language in a job interview.

Don’t negotiate salary.

Before you start flashing around your price tag, you need to sell the company on wanting to hire you. Once the company makes you an offer, you can start to negotiate salary. In the early stages of interviewing, don’t discuss salary.

What to Bring to an Interview

What to bring to an interview is an important as the things you say in an interview. Getting to an interview to discover that you do not have the things you need is not only embarrassing, it is often an interview killer. I recommend that you buy a portfolio case or a briefcase that you use just for interviews. Keep the case stocked with the materials that you will take to every interview.

When organizing your interview case, make sure you bring the following items.

Bring several copies of your resume. You should have a copy for your own use and a copy for each person on the interview schedule. Take extra copies for people who are not on the schedule but who might come into the interview. Sometimes having unexpected people join the interview is a sign that the company finds you a strong applicant.
Take a copy of the interview agenda. Reading this agenda during the day will help you stay fresh on the names of the people you are meeting. You can also make notes on the agenda. These notes come in handy for the thank note you send after the interview.
Bring a list of references. Do not offer these references to every person you meet. However, if things proceed rapidly to an offer, you want to have your references handy to accelerate the process.
Bring a brag book. This book contains samples of your work, letters of endorsement, and examples of recognition,
Bring your laptop. If you have impressive presentations that you can show the interviewer, you can benefit from having your laptop to show the quality of your work.
Bring business cards. Some interviewers use your business card as a way to verify your employment and verify your job title.
Bring a notepad. You need to keep track of contact and company information that you learn during your interviews.
Bring three or four pens. The extra pens help you relax that you have a pen that works. In addition, it is wise to make sure you can help an interviewer who does not have a pen for taking notes.