Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Resume Tips

Most people lay utmost importance to devising a crisp resume in order to get a job that most of the times lead to a rather boring and lengthy piece of document that is not easy to understand by employers.

A resume is a ‘self-promoting’ document that ideally presents you in the best possible way for the purpose of being selected for a job interview which would eventually win you the job. It should thus not be treated as a personal document enlisting your achievements or some sort of a testimonial of a lifetime; and it surely is not your professional career obituary.

A good resume is one that fully engages an employer’s interest within 4 seconds, precisely. Your experience and technical expertise should therefore be meeting the particular job requirement, worthy of an in-depth review by prospective employers. Your resume is your very own advertisement and you’re selling yourself.

To begin with your resume - A good resume must mention a job target or an objective; displaying confidence and a sense of direction.

Follow the three ‘C’s. Be clear, be concise and be coherent! The sole purpose of a resume is to generate an employer’s interest that leads him to call you for an interview. Put your self in the shoes of the potential employer. Analyze your resume for their point of view. When you’re looking at the requirements and qualifications for the job, emphasize on what you would demand in the candidate. That is exactly how you need to devise your resume.

Always write a different resume for a different job title, accordingly. Make your resume appropriate for all the jobs you’re applying for.

Proofread your resume, then proofread again. Spelling errors, grammatical mistakes and confusing punctuation are not acceptable. Have a friend or a professional proof read your resume for you.

Ready for your interview? Get hands-on tips

Always remember when asked why you let go of a previous position, or wish to leave your current job, refrain from talking about how much you hate your work, the colleagues with whom you worked with, and especially, your boss! Why do that? simple, your new employer will absolutely appreciate an employee who would always respect him.

When asked if you have any questions or queries for the employer, never act as if you have no questions or don’t know anything about the company for which you have applied. Ask questions about the company, employers would always appreciate employees who have done their homework.
Finally sell yourself but don’t look anxious or even desperate. Tell the employer your key points with his company could benefit. If you have earned a degree online, tell the employer the hard work, commitment and dedication you have put in to earn those extra credits required for your degree.

Accredited degrees for the Unemployed

Recently Obama administration has set out plans and policies towards all educational prospects. In a major economic downturn environment, everyone is going for an additional degree to get a better job opportunity. Career changes have been also been noted by individuals so they minimize their chances of being out of work. The bottom line being, education is the only factor that could be your savior at the end of the day.
The president has outlined a new plan under which the Department of Education will direct institutions to increase or come up with plans for financial aids to make education an even easier experience for working people. This would actually assist the unemployed in enrolling in various educational programs as per their expertise while practicing their unemployment benefits.

Most of the unemployed who actually possess skills can earn an accredited degree faster than the traditional way. This way they can easily be an official degree holder and can find the proper job they need to excel in a shorter span of time.

Online Life Experience based Degrees

If you wish your degree to be accepted by your employers then or any other academic institute, it is necessary that you opt for an accredited life experience degree. Therefore take all precautionary measures when choosing your desired life experience based college or university. As indicated by a few researches and studies life experience degrees have proven to be exceedingly effective when it comes to working adults. It provides working adults the preeminent medium to earn a degree they actually deserve along with continuing their work. Even though there are a few organizations still having a tough time accepting life experience degrees, the emergence of online life experience based degrees is highly established from all over the world and is being followed by many working adults.

Advantages and disadvantages of life experience degrees

The debate over the advantages and disadvantages of life experience degrees has been going on for a long time. like all things in life, every advantage has a certain disadvantage attached to it and vice versa. Here’ I’ll explain what I have learned so far regarding life experience degrees.
From my experience and from what I have heard, let me list down a few basic list that might be useful:

Advantages

Disadvantages

- Easily reachable mode of education

- Inexpensive and extremely affordable

- Allows students earn a degree at their own pace

- Gives individuals the opportunity to excel in their career by letting them earn an accredited degree

- Lack in-person interaction with fellow students

- Cheating may be easily done depending on the evaluation criteria

- Few employers may acknowledge it, while other may still decide on for traditional degrees