By Julius Morales

References are known as the last part of a resume. Oftentimes, applicants unconsciously inscribe the clause “references available upon request” which may give the wrong impression that he/she cannot put any reference. You do not need to write the references in the resume. Just be ready with your list.

Although good references may be hard to get, be reminded that human resource managers really take time to investigate the applicant. So don’t put names of politicians (who may not know their names are used) or relatives (because obviously they’ll be biased) as your references.

Instead, a good choice of references will be the dean or any faculty member from your previous school, a leader of the community or perhaps a former employer. Remember the criteria: the person should know the applicant well—that is, his or her professional background and work attitude.

In listing down your references, do not forget the following: one, complete name of the reference; two, business address or residence of such reference; and three, telephone of such reference, preferably a landline.

As you hope that you get hired sooner or later, get yourself ready to be scrutinized.

By Julius Morales

High-impact accomplishments statements found in resumes is what make job-seekers’ qualifications sell. Employers are in fact looking for proven track record of accomplishments instead of those who perform only basic job functions.

Accomplishments are actually the key to increase recruiters’ interest which will eventually lead to a request for a job interview.

Thus, it is advisable not to use expressions like “Duties included,” “Responsibilities included,” or “Responsible for”. Instead, flaunt how you have helped previous employers to make or save money, solve a specific problem, build strong customer base, and expand their business.

There are some job-seekers who isolate their list of accomplishments from duties/responsibilities when detailing job functions. If you label only certain items as “accomplishments”, readers might assume that other items listed are not accomplishments.

However, you must ensure that the listed accomplishments support your career goals.

Resume is the most important tool in job hunting. It is a jobseeker’s ‘brochure’ and ‘initial point of sales material’. Therefore, you should be extra careful—and more importantly, factual—when writing your resume. You must take into consideration that hiring managers receive a hundred of resumes every day and that they only scan and ‘judge’ your resume in three to five seconds. If your resume fails to catch their attention in such a short span, you can kiss your hiring chances—or your career—good bye! It is best that before sending it to your prospective employers, you must check—and double check—every thing that is written in your resume.

How then do hiring managers assess your resume at a glance? What do they look for in a resume for it to easily land in the trash can? Here is the list:

1. Poor grammar, typographical and spelling errors
2. Focus on job descriptions rather than accomplishments
3. Inaccuracy of dates, or missing dates
4. Missing contact info, or inaccurate or unprofessional email addresses
5. Poor formatting
6. Functional resumes
7. Long resumes
8. Long, dense paragraphs; no bullet points
9. Candidate applying for position he/she is not qualified for
10. Include personal information not related to the job
11. No employer information
12. Lying, misleading, especially about educational attainment, dates and inflated titles
13. Meaningless introductions or objectives
14. Poor font choice
15. Resumes sent in formats other than “word”, faxed, web page resumes and mailed resumes
16. Existence of pictures, graphics or URL links
17. No easy-to-follow summary
18. Resumes written in first or third person
19. Gaps in employment
20. Bury important information in the resume

If you want to have the best resume, you may want to consider hiring a professional resume writer to avoid being in the list. Remember your resume can make or break your career. Why should you care about spending money? After all, resume is your ticket to the bright future awaiting you.
Hiring a professional writer to do your resume will definitely improve your chances of receiving invitation for interview. They are knowledgeable that they spend quality time in constructing your resume. Resume writing is an art. They have mastered this art to help you land up with a plum job.

Today’s job market is increasingly competitive that a jobseeker should display aggressiveness in his overall job search campaign. How is that possible? Present the best resume. But what is the definition of a best resume? Really, the answers are endless, but one fact still remains—resume is your career-marketing document that you should try developing in its highest standard possible.

The window of opportunity opens in as little as 10 seconds, yet no matter how short the given time is for your resume to spark the readers’ attention, you should grab the chance given to you by portraying your expertise and overall value offered.
Forget about tasked-based resume with an inventory of a position’s responsibilities that is coupled with a standard (and boring list of personal aptitudes. What is in nowadays, especially to the hiring managers, is an achievement/accomplishment driven resume that tells you are a pro-active candidate that demands results and demonstrates the significant value on offer to the organization.
So what are the strategies to come up with the best resume that would promote your overall value and portrays you as a passionate contributor the ongoing success of the company that demands an employment interview? Here’s some of the unending list:

• Include a brief career profile that summarizes your skills and highlights your accomplishments. This tells the reader what you can deliver—rather than what you want.
• Use industry-related key words as well as action words that will surely grab the reader’s attention. For instance: orchestrated, devised, instructed, spearheaded, maximized, led, directed, streamlined, oversaw, managed, motivated, controlled, delegated, consolidated, generated, implemented, proposed, specified, etc.
• Specify the challenges you overcame; the action or solution you undertook to alleviate the challenge; and the (quantifiable) result, and script into a powerfully written statement.
• Be consistent in your resume formatting. Make sure your overall document is well structured (plenty of white space), and attractive.
• Generally, include only the positions you had the last five to 10 years (if the position being applied for is relevant to what you have been doing), with a maximum of about 15 years.
• Edit. Edit. Edit.

1. Do what is supposed to be expected of an employee. Everyday, make a short list of work priorities so that you will know what your boss needs the most. With that, if he asks for something, you will be able to face him and say, “Here, sir” rather than, “Sorry, I’m not done yet”, because it may bring disappointment to your boss.
2. Be someone to depend on. That way, you’re bringing yourself to a higher level of professionalism. He can easily tell—you are an asset to the company.
3. Share ideas. Don’t be afraid of giving out suggestions or ideas to your boss. You may not be aware but you may actually be unloading him of some immediate work that he has to finish.
4. If you have done something wrong in your work, do not think twice of saying you’re sorry—and the next time, show him what you learned from that mistake.
5. Be punctual. Reporting early for work means you are a responsible worker.
6. Observe break times. Yes, stop your work when it’s already time for a break (except if you are doing something urgent). Eat and rest so that you can recharge and work for next hours—effectively.
7. Be noticed. Give your best effort in your every task. Most importantly, give your superior regular reports and updates, subtly saying, “This is what I’m doing everyday.”
8. Be resourceful. Sometimes you need to initiate in doing things to let your boss feel at ease that you can find solutions to the problem—the right way. It’s not always that you ask for his solution—sometimes, you need to present your own solution.
9. Exert effort to learn more. Update your skills and learn new ones.
10. Show respect.
11. Do not let personal matters interfere with work. Once you set foot in the office, show enthusiasm even if you are hurting inside because something happened at home. Work like a professional, do not let your work—especially your image—suffer.
12. Give an extra hand to do an extra work. Do not work on things because they are in your job description. Do an extra task.

By Priscilla Smith
ResumeProWriters
May 21, 2007

You advertise with your resume…nothing more, nothing less.
Begin with an objective statement that greatly underscores your qualifications and goals, including how you meet employer needs. Be a bit cautious when adding more objective statements, although you might need to do so. Remember: you only have 10 to 20 seconds to impress readers.

It will be good to ask yourself: What are your most important qualifications, expertise, and strengths? Position(s) applied for? career goals and objectives? preferred organizational setup?

Focusing on the message of your “ad”, position yourself in such a way that you spell a big difference, while others are indirectly treated as second rate.

The layout of your resume must appear specially inviting, too. Working out on the layout means that you are also fusing a fitting format for your paper!

CHRONOLOGICAL FORMAT

A chronological resume format emphasizes employment history. This traditional format also underlines your job titles, places, and dates of employment. To many employers, the chronological resume is the ideal format. But the functional resume is a valuable substitute if the former becomes unsuitable to you.

FUNCTIONAL FORMAT

Your experience, labeled “skills” or “areas of expertise” is shown in the functional resume. The list of work history here is more concise and is separated from your achievements.
All the best in choosing which of the two basic resume formats will work for you! Your resume, your ad, largely depends on this choice.

By Ding Gnidab
December 02, 2005

This is a true story: One day, Ms. Jane realized she’s already bored with her work. She thought she will not be able to perform her work effectively because she felt drained and unchallenged. She called few of her friends to ask if there are vacancies in their respective companies. All of them promised to help her and asked for her résumé. Day two, one of her friends ask her to report to their hiring manager. Day three, she took the exam and was interviewed. Day four, no action happened. Day five, she was asked to report again to her friend’s office—and got hired! Day six, she resigned from work. Day seven, she had her first day at her new work.

You may think that you it is impossible to find new job opportunities for seven days? Think again because it happens.

Most of the job applicants thought job ads in newspapers, magazines and internet are the only ways to look for new workplace. That is something wrong. They comprised just 20-30% of the job market. Fact is there is a larger (at least 60% of the job market) and more effective way of looking for a potential employee. It is called “networking.” It is a formula that is involving around 10 to 20 more eyes to search jobs for you.

Easier and faster, right? But how?

Networking leaves you from spending much in newspapers and magazines, and staying in your computer job searching for more than two hours. You just try developing contacts with friends, family, neighbors, college alumni, people in associations or anyone who can give you information or job leads. They may be able to do wonders for you. Do your networking through phone calls and emails. Set yourself a quota on the number of calls and emails you will be sending each day.

Another way is through party invitations. Yes, it can help. Why not try attending social and business gatherings? You may be able to find your luck there. Of course, you need not bring your resume—just always get your business card ready.

Most importantly, networking saves you from being in the long list of applicants and getting just a slim chance of landing the job because not every job searcher is aware there are vacancies in some companies.

You think spending 120 hours—or more—doing your internship just to get a good grade is such a waste? Think again.
If you just ‘played’ during your internship, you really can tell it’s a waste. A big waste, actually. But if you took it seriously, acting like a true employee, you have given yourself a future reward. Here’s how:

1. YOU have showed them you’re a responsible future-worker. If you obeyed all his orders and done a damn good job, you have given yourself the benefit of being remembered at and being considered for future vacancy by your practicum boss.
2. YOU have a clue to your dream career. Most of the time, the internship will make you realize what is the career path you should be taking. It will show you in what field you fit.
3. YOU have something valuable to add in your résumé. Things that you have done during your internship, like computer encoding, business letter writing, etc. are of value to you in your future job application. It may not be the ‘real’ work experience, but still, it is an experience that will put much weight in your résumé. It is something that a hiring manager may consider during the application.
4. YOU have the chance of passing your interview with flying colors. During the interview, you will be asked what your duties were during your OJT stint. You have a lot to tell, however, instead of talking about your duties, stress about your accomplishments and valuable skills achieved and there’s a big chance that you will pass your interview with flying colors.
5. YOU have something to put in your references. Isn’t it better if you put your practicum boss’s name in your reference than anyone who does not know your work attitude and your capabilities?
6. YOU have a wide network. If you have made friends during your OJT, maintain your contacts with them. They may be able to give you information or leads regarding job vacancies.

Employed but eager to resign and find a new job? That is something not wise. Let the job hunting begin without quitting from work— just yet. Get hold of your job to have more control in negotiating with your potential employers—especially about paycheck. But bear in mind—you should not lose focus on your current job while doing the ‘exploration’ and you should keep everything a secret. Or you may get busted.

Here are some tips you DO NOT have to do when job hunting while you are employed:

• Do not tell anyone you are applying.
  Even if he’s your best friend in the office, you are not sure he can remain mum about it. Best thing to do is to keep everything to your self.
• Do not include your business contact information.
  The company you are applying to may drop your present employer a call. Be discreet when giving information. List only your home address and phone number on your résumé.
• Do not be easily swayed by blind ads.
  Be extra careful with blind job ads. Read them carefully because one of them may be your present company!
• Do not attempt to use company property.
  You are bringing yourself to big risk if you use company property, such as computer, fax machine, printer and photocopier. There may be a chance that you may leave proof of job application (cover letter and résumé). If you have no computer at home, you may just visit libraries that offer free use of computers, printers and online access. You may also go to an internet café.
• Do not make job-search-related phone calls in the office.
  Somebody may hear you. Again, do not take the risk.
• Do not schedule interviews during working hours.
  Again, one way of avoiding your self from getting caught is to focus on your present work. If you will be absent twice a week—or more, they may have an inkling that you are already applying for new job. Or better, schedule a multiple interview for one day, when you can afford only a one-day leave from work.

What to Include in Your Résumé

Looking for a job—or looking for a better one?

Great way to start is to write a résumé—comprehensive at that. The résumé is where your future with work lies. Why? It gives employers the first impression of how fit you are on the job you are applying for.

Some job applicants, to be 100% sure of creating a sure-job résumé, hire professional résumé writers because they have the technical know-how. It means they have the precise format, pattern or design that will make you—or your résumé —attractive to the eye of the employer. Most importantly, they are sure of their grammar. Correct English grammar can make or break your application. But you must remember, you still have the responsibility of providing them accurate and complete information.

Before or after hiring a writer, here is a checklist of information necessary for inclusion in your résumé:

• Your Name
• Current Address
• Phone Number
• Fax Number
• Email Address (include also your alternative email address, if you have one)
• Job Objective
• Educational Attainment
• Work History
• Computer Skills
• Organizations, Seminars or Lectures Attended
• Personal Data

Keep in mind also these seven useful tips:

1. First and foremost, be honest of the information you’ve given them. Do not embellish your résumé. It might put you into embarrassment later.
2. It may be the job of the resume writer to edit the data written, it is still your responsibility to have an initial proofreading. Remember, not every thing is known or familiar to the writer.
3. Do not provide them your complete biography. Some personal data are unnecessary for your application. Keep it to a minimum.
4. Include only organizations, seminars or lectures attended that would be of value to the job you are applying for.
5. Do not include references. Give them only when asked.
6. Do not include your expected salary.
7. Lastly, brief is best. Some employers only look at the facts essential to the job application. Do not crowd your resume with unnecessary data.