One page, Two page, Three page, Four.....?

While traveling all over the northern half of Georgia a few days ago to apply for a position that is located 10 miles from my house (long story that needs to be told over cocktails.....), a employee services counselor at the Georgia Department of Labor in Decatur told me that my resume should be no longer than 1 page.  As I sat and starred at this individual with utter amazement, I resisted the temptation to break out in laughter.  It was obvious to me that she had not spent any time during her career screening resumes for multiple positions.  All day long.  All day.......

Her statement, however, did cause me to go into deep contemplation-once I got over the urge to laugh-on exactly how long should a resume be.  While some employers may want a one page resume (who are these people????) failure to adequately outline your experience, job skills, and education could guarantee a permanent place in the world of unemployment.  While I am in agreement that one should not list ALL of their previous duties and experience (depending on how long you have been working, of course), your resume submission should at least list something that the recruiter can relate to the job they are looking to fill.

Example:  If a parent is seeking a child care center service for their child(ren), the center or facility with the most information available would probably get more of their time during the screening.  The same concept applies to a job seeker.  If a job listed only "Great Pay, Work 8 Hours, Competitive Benefits", one might think that this listing would be spam.  Besides, what would you have to do in those 8 hours, what do they consider to be great pay?, etc.

Every job listing is different, therefore your resume will have to be slightly different with each submission.  Common sense dictates that if you do not have the skill set to perform the duties, then it would probably not be wise to apply.  Some people think that if they send their resume in anyway, their skill sets would be viewed by the recruiter and sent to someone else to be considered for another job within the company.  While this has happened-I myself have done this-the aforementioned situation is not always the case.  With some companies, it is never the case.  When a recruiter is screening hundreds of resumes a day and is focused on filling a certain position, if the skill set doesn't match what you are looking for then the resume gets bypassed.

While there is no specific limit to how many pages your resume should be, there definitely are limits.  Up to 10 years of experience should be listed on your resume (if you have it) and duties that you have performed that match what the company is looking for should be highlighted in some way on your resume, depending on your format.  For example, if you are listing your duties in bullet form, list what the company is looking for first and follow up with other tasks that might be relevant but not as important.  Anything unimportant should probably be left off.    Also, do not list absolutely everything you did in your previous jobs (i.e. ate lunch at 12, held prayer group and saved souls during breaks, went a day without slapping my supervisor-yes!  I have seen these examples listed on resumes!).  The resume should be tailored to fit the job you are seeking, and it should make sense.  Keep in mind, the recruiter reviewing the resumes look at resumes all of the time, the more information you have on your submission that matches what they are looking for, the better change you will have in being called in for an interview.  Also, your awesomeness as a potential employee will not falter if you leave off some experiences that took place over 10 years ago-that information can be covered in the interview.

So, if you have a one pager that is OK,  if you don't have a great deal of experience to list that is.  Three pages, that's fine too.  However, if your resume looks like a submission that should go to Harper Collins or any other publishing company, you might want to do some trimming.  Do whatever is working for you in your job search and you will be successful. And finally, advice on resumes is great, but if it sounds crazy or outdated, get a second opinion or go with your gut.

Happy Hunting! :)

Don't Get Discouraged.....?

Since my last posting, I had to not only visit my own "virtual" Cussing Corner (see previous blog entry), I have also entered the shaky and scary world of the current job market. (Please note that visiting my Cussing Corner was not the reason that I found myself back in the job market!)  Since I have been job hunting, I have realized that patience, apparently, is not one of my greatest virtues.  But as my daughter once reminded me, "Mom, can't you find patience at Walmart since they have EVERYTHING?"  Unfortunately, the Walmarts in my local area are clean out, so I digress!

As a recruiter, I understood why there was little contact with the applicant.  There were sooo many people applying for jobs that online contact was not only more convenient, it was also more effective from a production standpoint.  As a job seeker, this aspect of recruitment can be very discouraging.

I send my resume, cover letter, appropriate documents, and wait.  Follow-up by sending another application or email if there is one available and wait.  Call phone numbers that are listed on the job announcement (if applicable) and wait some more.  I have had four different professionals redo my resume for me, I have several copies on hand at all times-both physically and electronically.  When I visit an office, I am told to apply online.  Everything that I have done so far requires going online.  I get it-I was once in that position.

However, where do the resumes go?  Do they go to resume heaven with their pretty little wings or get compressed into an electronic file that has collected electronic "dust".  I had imagined that my resume passed by a group of goblins that feasted off of resumes-evil goblins that had the letter X for their eyes and became bigger based on the size of the file that they ate.  Thankfully (I hope) such creatures do not exist.   As I mentioned, I was once in the position of the recruiter, so I understand.

However, when you have been working steadily for the majority of your life it is very easy to become discouraged when you send your resume and never hear from anyone or receive a response.  For all of my fellow job seekers out there keep at it.  We will all have our moments when we may feel like the employment overloards in cyberspace are all on vacation, but keep at it.  Keep hunting-someone will see how wonderful and awesome your skills are and will salivate at the opportunity to have you join their team......

If not, there is always the lottery.......!

The Cussing Corner-Proper Ways to Vent at Work

I will admit that I am having one of those days.  My one of those days moments usually happens on a Monday, which apparently is scheduled by the work-fairies, but today has been unusually grueling.  Since engaging in hand to hand battle at the work place is not only discouraged but illegal (depending on your job), I have decided that a cursing corner is needed to vent my frustrations.  Unfortunately, this type of area is not allowed in my workplace since there is no designated area for it.

We all meet with frustrations at work and are faced with situations where a good combination of bad words laced with stern faces and occasional hand movements might be ideal, but venting frustrations are a very natural human response.  Whether one has to provide direct customer service, manufacture products, or deal with managers or even coworkers that act as if they had a big bowl of stupid for breakfast and lost their minds somewhere during the commute, our frustrations have to get out in one way or another.  No one wants to be the person that ends up on the news for venting in such a way that causes devastation to others and jail time for you, but it is not healthy to hold frustrations in.

Many times, walking away from the situation and getting some air is very helpful.  If those options are not available to you, finding a way that suits your workplace environment and your personality would be the best route to take.  Personally, I have to take a walk to clear my head or go to a break room and listen to music for a few minutes to calm myself down.  If a long period of time passes before you can take a break, breathing and counting exercises can often be very helpful.

Also, we have to realize that sometimes the person that is the source of our workplace frustrations might be having a bad day themselves, or might just have issues altogether.  Although that is no excuse for their behavior, sometimes pity for this person and a little prayer for their situation can help cast a different light on the situation. The one thing that you do not want to happen is to be labeled as the angry employee.  Let the worries and frustrations of the day roll off of your back and always try to think positive thoughts.  If things get too out of hand, maybe it is time to start strategically planning a new career change.  So until you get your own personal cussing corner, vent your frustrations, maintain your professionalism, and let no one steal your joy!

Workforce United!: Never shortchange yourself!

Workforce United!: Never shortchange yourself!: Through my experience as a recruiter, I have seen more than my share of job seekers that short change themselves when it comes to their skil...

Never shortchange yourself!

Through my experience as a recruiter, I have seen more than my share of job seekers that short change themselves when it comes to their skills and work experience.  While tailoring or tweaking your resume to fit the job description is an important step to take when submitting a job application, there should not be such an adjustment to your resume or application that important information is left out.  Today, I was talking with a gentleman that was applying for a position in the financial section of my current agency.  This position required a specific type of work experience that the caller claimed to possess.  While asking about the status of his job application, I informed him that even though he did meet the minimum qualifications for the job that he applied for, he did not list any of the preferred experience on his resume that the hiring manager was seeking.  The problem with this gentleman was assumptions:  he assumed that the recruiter would know that he had the experience the hiring manager was looking for based on his current job field.  As we are well aware, there are many clever sayings about assumptions.

When applying for a job, you cannot assume that the recruiter or even the resume screening software will pick up on experience that you left out.  Many job descriptions are very specific about what they are looking for and in turn the applicant should be specific about what type  of skills they can offer. After all, you are selling yourself  with your resume.  Imagine yourself as a product, and you want the hiring manager to purchase.  Based on your current resume, would the hiring manager want to utilize your services?  Although you may not want to list absolutely everything that you have done in your career profile, you do want to ensure that you list everything that is relevant to the position that you are applying for.  If you leave something out, you only have yourself to blame.  In this tough job market, do you really want to sell yourself short?

Embracing your destiny?

How can you learn to embrace your destiny when you have no idea what it is?  This is one question that I have been considering concerning my own career.  There is a gut feeling, a feeling that you know that there is something else that you should be doing besides the current circumstances-I am sure that we all have that feeling from time to time.  But I have been feeling it more often and decided what I should do about it.

Now my plan may be different that yours, but I think that the process is essentially the same.  I decided to take what I like to call a personal inventory of my skills and my passions.  I even created a list that included things I am good at, things that I dislike doing but have to do, and my passions.  Now that a person might feel they are good at doing might now necessarily be a passion.  For example, I realized that I am really good at screening resumes (which is an essential part of my job), but it is not a passion of mine.  Attending job fairs and giving advice on how to improve a resume is something that I really enjoy.  I was told by a former mentor that a passion is something that you would get out of bed and do for free.  Since I currently have a teenager with a bottomless stomach and bills to pay I couldn't fathom anything that I would willingly do for free.  However, I do understand the concept of the statement.  Interestingly, by taking my person inventory, I realized that I was doing the resume consultation all along for free.  And if I happen to come across a fellow veteran that needs resume writing help, let me say that I literally start drooling!

So maybe that nagging feeling in your gut that is letting you know that your center is off, that your place in the world at this moment might not be where you actually should be-at least not yet.  The nagging feeling will eventually grow and become unbearable, uncomfortable, and maybe even downright annoying.  Eventually you will realize, like I did, that in order to get rid of that feeling you will have to embrace your destiny.  And if you don't know what that is yet, well, it has probably been right in front of you all along.

Workforce United!: Welcome

Workforce United!: Welcome: Navigating through these difficult economic times can be very frustrating and sometimes downright discouraging when it comes to career trans...