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EMAIL TIPS:
Use
a Permanent Email Address:
You should try to use a permanent email
account that will stay with you throughout your career or at least for a few years.
Once you leave your current employer, companies you contacted during your
search may want to contact you. Set up a free Yahoo account www.yahoo.com, Google account www.googlemail.com or another free
email account instead. Using your home Internet provider’s free account is
not always a good idea either, because you might move or change providers.
Learn the rules about keeping your account up to date too, because some free
accounts expire over time if you don’t use them regularly.
Use a Personal Email
Address and not a Company Address.
It is never a good idea to use your company email to look for
employment, even if your employer knows you are looking. Setting aside the ethical
questions, and there are many, if you are looking for a job your company
address is temporary. And don’t use your Spouse or another person’s address,
because it is looks tacky, confusing and lazy.
Hide Your Distribution List:
Do not make it appear that you are “shot
gunning” your resume everywhere. A
recruiter may be discouraged from contacting you if it looks like you are
working with hundreds of other firms. When sending your resume to more than
one company in the same e-mail, use the “undisclosed-recipients” feature in
your e-mail program, or the “bcc:” field to hide the list. If your e-mail
program does not offer a way to hide your list, simply send a message to
yourself and then list your other addresses in the Blind Carbon Copy (bcc)
area. This will make your contact seem more personal.
Attach Your Resume: Don’t Use Hyperlinks Pointing to Your Resume! This may be confused with Spam and may never reach your
intended target, or not be opened by the reader for fear of receiving a
virus. You should paste your resume in to the email, attach
it, or do both. Never use links to a
web based resume. Don’t Fax Your resume: In today’s world there is no good reason to fax your
resume unless you are asked to do it. Faxes
are difficult for the reader to work with and to distribute. Faxing makes you
look “old school” and unqualified to work in a modern business. Don’t do it! RESUME DESIGN:
Keep it Clean and
Simple: Loud
colors and funky fonts belong on birthday party invitations, not your resume.
You may not be a professional, but you don’t want to look unprofessional, so
keep your resume clean and simple. Use a 10 or 12 point font throughout the
resume. Do not highlight information unless you are
asked to do so. Instead, reference how you qualify in your cover letter. And
limit the use of bullets, underlining and deep indentations that break
up your document and take up space. DON’T CAPITALIZE EVERY WORD! This is equally true with your email messages too. CAPITALIZING EVERY WORD OF A DOCUMENT
MAKES YOU LOOK RUDE, IGNORANT OR LAZY. In emails it is considered to be SHOUTING or YELLING, and it makes the
document harder to read too. You only have one chance to put your best foot
forward, so DON’T DO THIS! Use a Reverse
Chronological Format: A
functional resume that does not give dates, titles and duties is going to be
viewed as a gimmick to hide your real experience and job progression. Most
recruiters want to see what you have done, when you did it, and how you
progressed in your career. And just stating your accomplishments is not good
enough. Start with your current job
and work backward and NEVER start with your first job and work forward. Including your
Picture: Unless
you look like Tom Cruise or Rebecca De Mornay, including your picture is “Risky
Business”. You may not be as handsome or beautiful as you think and doing
this is unlikely to serve a positive purpose.
Most employers do not require one and it can bias the reader. File Formats – Best to Use MS Word: Adobe makes great software, but be careful. Make sure
you are saving them in a text readable format. Almost everyone can read M.S.
Word files, so use that instead, or attach both formats when you apply for a
job. Don’t use less popular formats like Word Perfect; fewer people use them
and some may have trouble opening the file. Also, don’t save your resume in
the latest version of any program, because readers may not have updated their
software. Instead, try to keep it about one version old because MS Word and
most mainstream programs are backward compatible. Myths about Size: There
is no magic number for the amount of pages needed for a resume. Try to limit
your resume to about 2-3 pages to keep from overloading the reader, but don’t
sell yourself short just for the sake of brevity. Try using a smaller font if
you need to reduce the size of your document, but never use smaller than a 9
point font. 10, 11 and 12 point font size is best. Try to be consistent throughout the
document and limit the number of times you change font sizes. While beauty is in the eye of the beholder,
a 10 point Arial font used throughout the entire document gives the most
information in the least amount of space while still looking clean and
professional. Include Your Full
Permanent Address:
If
you are working overseas or anywhere away from home, include both your
temporary and permanent address and contact information. Don’t rely on
providing your contact information only in your email or cover letter.
Documents have a way of getting separated, so adding your full contact
information to your resume is important. Also, companies you contacted during your search may want to contact
you later, so give them information that is not likely to change. NEVER include your Social Security,
Driver’s License or Passport Number and if anyone asks for it assume they are
scamming you. Use Block Style: Be
careful when using Columns or Tables to create your resume. They take up
space and don’t add to the clean, professional look you want to create. And
don’t waste your time with MS Word’s default resume templates or free online
services. They tend to add too much function and not enough substance.
Instead, use a Left Justified style similar to the way these tips were
created. Highlight your
Stability: Show
the full length of your employment right from the start. Don’t break it up as shown in the
“fictional” example below. And your job title, dates, company can stand
alone. You don’t need to give them a label. Jack of all Trades
and Master of None: It
is a common mistake for job applicants to try and come across as
“multi-talented,” thinking that this makes them look like a more desirable
job candidate. What they don’t realize is that this only proves to be distracting,
causing many strong applicants to be passed over for great positions, even
when they may have a tremendous amount of experience in one specific area. Resume Layout
Example:
Citizenship
and Visa Status: In the USA it is not required to list your
Citizenship on your resume, but there are reasons to include it when it will actually
help you. For example, when you are applying for a Defense Industry job.
Also, if you are working overseas consider including “US Citizen” or “US
Permanent Resident” on your resume to make it clear you are able to legally
work in the country. In the USA (and
many other Western countries) employers can’t ask about National Origin for
jobs in the Home country. But they can ask you if you are a US Citizen or if
you have a legal right to work in the country. This may not always be true
when recruiting for an “offshore” location and foreign company. Outside of
the USA, especially in the Middle East, it is common to ask about Citizenship
and National Origin. In some cases, citizenship questions are justified by
the restrictions placed on the employer in the foreign country. Give some
thought about including citizenship and visa information when it can help you
get the job, but don’t feel obligated to do it in situations that could give
the employer a reason to discriminate against you for reasons of race, or
national origin. Here are a few places to help with resume
design and some of them offer distribution services too!
RESUME
WRITING SERVICES: IT Resume Service specializes
in creating high impact resumes, cover letters, and social network profiles
for Information Technology professionals. Editor’s Choice…James R. Gettys www.iscworld.com (no discounts available but highly recommended
for IT people). ResumeSpider to offers you a great service that sends your resume
directly to multiple, targeted employers and recruiting firms. If you
are looking for additional ways to enhance your job search, click on the link
for a 10% discount they make available for our readers! ResumeDoctor
helps you build a great resume. You only have about 20 seconds to convince an
employer / search firm that you're a viable candidate for the job. If your
resume doesn't catch your reader's attention immediately, it's likely that
your resume will ever be reviewed again. Our readers receive a 10% discount
from ResumeDoctor. Gilbert
Resumes is a resume and career service practice directed by one of the
country’s premier certified resume writers.
(No discounts, but a good service!) Sample Resumes This is a
great site offering free examples of good-looking resumes for many
professions.
Accuro Resumes
gives you the opportunity to have your future prepared with care. (no
discounts) Resumeserviceplus
provides Executive Resume Writing Services for professionals that get the
attention of employers.(no discount available) EMPLOYMENT SCAMS:
International Staffing Consultants,
Inc. is pleased to provide the following information about
employment scams: Tips To Remember: Be very skeptical of overseas employment
opportunities that sound "too good to be true."
Additional Sources on Scams 1)
From
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employment_scams
Employment scams, also known as job
scams, are a form of advance fee fraud scamming where certain
unscrupulous persons posing as recruiters
and/or employers
offer attractive employment opportunities which require the job seeker to
pay them money in advance, usually under the guise of work visas, travel expenses,
and out-of-pocket expenses. The scams typically involve lucrative offers of employment in Europe, the Middle East,
West
Africa, or South Africa with money demanded to be paid to an
agency or travel agent for visas or travel costs. These
companies often present themselves with official looking websites and
documentation. Once the victim has paid the advanced fees for employment,
the business
either declines employment or ceases
operating as soon as the transfer is finalized. This type of scam has become more and more frequent recently due to the
popularity of Nigerian
419 scams, and growing suspicion towards e-mails offering
to transfer money from bank accounts, especially those originating in Africa. Unlike
419 scams, job scams tend to mostly target persons looking for employment in
other nations such as hopeful immigrants or contractors and operate out of nations with
high immigrant and foreign employment rates. It is advisable to be wary of any job offerings which arrive in e-mail
unsolicited and eventually require anyone to pay a fee in advance,
particularly if the fee is asked to be paid through a financial services
company such as Western Union, or if one must pay the amount to a
bank or person in a third country (especially a West African nation) that is
suspiciously unrelated to either party. Most reputable companies and/or
agencies will absorb these costs themselves if they are the ones seeking the
employee. 2)
For
comprehensive information about scams of all types we recommend a visit to http://www.quatloos.com/ which is a
public educational website covering a wide variety of financial scams and
frauds, including wacky “prime bank” frauds, exotic foreign currency scams,
offshore investment frauds, tax scams, “Pure Trust” structures and more. 3)
Expat
Engineer also offers a comprehensive exposure of several employment scams at http://www.expatengineer.net/ 4)
Federal Trade Commision (US) - Protecting America's Consumers 5)
Consumer Direct (UK) -
Advise and reporting 6)
FIDO
(AUS) - ASIC acts against financial scams, including online schemes 7)
Privacy
Rights Clearinghouse - Empowering consumers. Protecting privacy 8)
OnGuard
Online - Practical tips and advice on securing your computer and
transacting online. |
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