Highlight Successes on a Resume

Time for a steady stream of blog updates that I forgot to post. Everyday Interview Tips may need to be renamed “Almost Everyday Interview Tips.”

Most people write terrible resumes. Based on this knowledge, there is a good chance your resume is terrible. Sorry. The truth hurts. You have a terrible resume. Embrace it. Acceptance is the first step towards recovery.

Your resume probably sucks for many different reasons, but one of the most common reason is the failure of most resume writers to put down successes and achievements on their resume.

Most Resumes

The achievements section of your resume is designed for achievements. Achievements are areas of work that you were successful in the past. Achievements are not simply the tasks you were assigned. Most people’s achievement bullet points look like this:

• Worked with Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, and Access.
• Completed projects on a tight deadline.
• Hard worker with various boring skills.

This is bad. These are not successes. Anyone can work with any of these products, or claim any of these claims. If you open a complicated data analysis program, and you randomly click several buttons and then close the program, you can claim you “worked” with the program too. The question is – did you work with the program successfully.

Listing Successes

Your goal with your resume is to show the things you have accomplished. Yes, it is a good idea to put a few keywords in there about what you worked with simply because it gives the employer a good idea of what you know, but that does not mean that you should take that as an opportunity to simply list off experiences.

Instead, list of achievements. Focus on what you have actually completed successfully, even if you achieved very little. Here is how the above list can be written better, even if you have very few good achievements to your name.

• Generated over 300 resource documents, 50 spreadsheets, and 10 Access databases.
• Completed an estimated four week marketing campaign project within a two week deadline.
• Established companywide organizational processes for hiring new recruits.

Even if you haven’t achieved much in your time at your previous employer, you have likely completed several tasks successfully. What were they? How can you write them in a way that impresses the employer?

The employer does not care what you worked with nearly as much as they care whether or not you worked with it successfully. The best way to show them that is to list achievements, rather than tasks, on your resume. Try to integrate keywords, but make sure that the focus is on what you actually brought to your previous company.

Take Away Tips

• Focus your resume on the items you successfully completed.
• Don’t simply list tasks you were assigned without mentioning their achievements.

When is the Job More Important Than the Money?

This may come as a shock. You may need to sit down? Are you sitting down? Sure you are. We’ll wait…

…

…

Okay, now that you’re sitting down, we’ll tell you a secret about life: Sometimes money is not that important.

If you need a few minutes to catch your breath from that surprising blow to everything you have ever learned in life, you can minimize the browser for a few minutes. Maybe listen to some Pandora. Come back when you are done though.

Are you back? Okay, it’s time to discuss what we mean.

Why Money May Not Be The Primary Decision Making Factor

You just went through a long job interview. You learned a lot about the company. They offer you a job, but they offer you much less than you were hoping to make. Maybe not so much less that you cannot afford to live, but enough of a cut that you cannot live as richly as you had hoped. Even though the salary may be beneath your expectations, there are reasons that you may want to take the job anyway.

Reasons to Take a Lower Paying Job

• Growth Potential

Some jobs have a low starting pay, but a considerable amount of growth potential within the company. If you are a hard working employee that is confident in your abilities, then you have the potential to move up quickly, and if you move up quickly, you will get more money. Your initial pay may be low, but your future pay five or ten years down the road may be higher than you would have gotten if you had taken a different job.

• Happiness

Before you laugh – sometimes it is worth taking a lower paying job if you will be happy with what you are doing. We know, it’s a hilarious thought, but some jobs are simply rewarding. You like the coworkers, you like the services or the product, you don’t feel a lot of stress; you are happy. Happiness is underrated. What is the point of being rich if you’re unhappy 40+ hours a week?

• You Are Really Good

Imagine if you are offered a job where you know you can not only succeed, but you can thrive. All of the tasks represent your greatest skills. You will ace this job, and you know for a fact you will literally be the best thing to happen to this company once you take on the role. Sometimes that’s a good place to be. You can start working for lower pay, and when you reach evaluation time in one or two years, ask for a raise. If the company has the means to pay you and sees how valuable you are, they will offer you a raise. If not, you can always try to find another job in the future.

• Good Experience for Future Work

Sometimes in a tough economy it is worth the time you have to invest in a role to improve your resume and make you more attractive to other employers. If you were struggling to get a job because you didn’t have enough experience, and then you are offered a job that will supply you with that experience, spend two years working for less pay and then seek better paying work elsewhere.

Money is Not Everything

It’s great to pick up a large paycheck, but it is also important to remember that paychecks are not everything. There will be times where it is more advantageous for either your career or your happiness to take less money when you get hired. It may be hard to justify, but money isn’t everything, so learn what you can about the job and, if they offer you less than you want, weigh the pros and cons.

Take Away Interview Tips

• There are times where less money is still worth your time.

5 Best Job Search Engines

We at Everyday Interview Tips strive to bring you some of the best information about job interviews available on the Internet. Every day we compile information on how to answer interview questions, interview techniques, interview protocol and so on. The information we compile is meant to be useful to just about everyone.

Still, there is a segment of the population that is unable to benefit from our interview tips – those that cannot find an open job in the first place. Since our goal is to be useful to everyone, here are 5 of the best job search engines available so that you can find your dream job, come back, find us awesome and tell your friends how sexy we are.

Best Job Search Sites

• Craigslist

Here’s the deal with Craigslist. From a “will I get a job interview” perspective, it’s not great. Thousands of people comb craigslist every day looking for new jobs, and any job posted on craigslist is bound to receive hundreds of applications. However, craigslist is now the go-to website for most small businesses, and that makes it extremely valuable for job searchers.

• Indeed

Indeed combs the job boards, specific company websites, and even newspaper classified ads and brings all of those together into one comprehensive search engine. For many job seekers, Indeed is their only source for posted jobs. Over 1 million new jobs get listed everyday on Indeed.com, helping you find the perfect job for you.

• Monster and CareerBuilder

Though they are two separate websites, they are grouped together here because they are essentially the same type of website. They get specific job listings from companies that may not be posted on other websites with a number of interactive tools and advice columns to help you with your job search. These are the two biggest names in job searching, and while Indeed may be slightly better, those two websites are nothing to sneeze at.

• Idealist

Most job posting boards are designed to thrust you into the corporate world. However, what if you want to make a difference, or work in a field that is extremely rewarding? For that, you go to Idealist, where you will find a number of non-profit jobs in your area for all different levels of experience. The pay at these jobs is low, but the satisfaction level is high.

• SimplyHired

Simply Hired is similar to Indeed, except that you can find jobs in categories. It also has a Facebook integration feature that searches for your friend’s companies (in case the idea of working with a friend appeals to you).

Look For Work

The above represents a number of job search engines that will help you find the career you are looking for. Don’t forget to keep track of the jobs you apply to because you will often find the same position posted on each website. Apply to the same job twice and it is likely you won’t get the job.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Find a Job
• …
• Profit!

Twitter is the Best Friend of the Unemployed

When you are unemployed, you need to do whatever it takes to find a job. You cannot limit yourself to well-known job websites, because those websites are going to be attacked by everyone looking for a job. You need to also find jobs that are more specialized, jobs from companies you like, and other openings that you may not hear about elsewhere.

Jobs on Twitter

Tweets are no longer just for birds. Twitter is the land of the “instant update.” News reporters use it to break the news before they have time to write an article. Justin Bieber stalkers use it to scream every time they win a lock of his hair on eBay. Employers use it to advertise a recently opened job.

It’s the latter that is clearly the most useful for you. Twitter has a variety of uses for unemployed workers that may turn it into your new best friend.

How to Use Twitter to Find a Job

• Follow Employers – Many employers have official Twitter accounts where they will advertise recent product releases, news and, of course, new jobs. It may not be that useful to follow major businesses like Microsoft, but smaller businesses will have fewer competitors giving you the immediate edge.
• Professionally Tweet – One good idea is to start a professional Twitter account where all of your Tweets relate to the types of jobs you are hoping to find. Personal Twitter accounts are nice, but don’t create the “I’ll be a great employee” impression you are hoping for.
• Network – Twitter is a great way to network with businesses, workers, etc. Expand your followers and over time you will develop connections that may help you find work.

There are clearly a lot of ways that you can use Twitter to find work. Add your resume to your profile and suddenly you are applying to anyone that reads your account. Just because it’s a strange addition to Web 2.0 does not mean you should overlook it. It may be your best tool for finding work in today’s economy.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Use Twitter.
• Seriously, use Twitter.

Additional Links

• Yahoo Article on Twitter

Don’t Spam Your Resume

It is hard to find a job in today’s economy. Each position gets thousands of applicants, and to compete you need to make sure employers are seeing your resume and considering you for the role. In general, this means that you need to send your resume to dozens if not hundreds of different jobs, especially if you are fresh out of college and not necessarily as competitive with your work history.

The problem is that this tactic is getting overused. Job seekers are sending their resumes to every job they find at a lightning fast rate, sometimes sending as many as ten or more resumes per hour. We already know it is a bad idea to send applications that quickly, simply because that implies that you are not customizing each document to the job you are applying for. Yet there is another problem that can occur as well, and this issue will prevent you from finding a job.

Whoopsadoodle

According to a number of hiring managers, when they post a job in multiple locations online, they have started to receive multiple resumes from the same applicants. These applicants did not bother to look at the listed employer (or did not notice an identical job description) and send in their resume two or three times.

What this shows the hiring manager is that you did not bother to see if it was a company you wanted to work for, and that you likely did not read the project description and notice the similarities. Spamming your resume is a surefire way to not get a job.

How to Keep Track of Your Applications

When you start applying for jobs, create a database of all of the jobs you have already applied for. Include companies, titles, email addresses of hiring managers, and maybe a link to the job description. Also take note of when you sent the resume. This will ensure that you do not spam your resume to employers.

What if You Want to Reapply to a Company?

There may be times that you see another job open within the same company. Rather than send in your resume again, you should instead look for contact info of the hiring manager you sent the initial resume to and request that they consider you for that position as well. Tell them that you will be happy to resend your resume and cover letter upon request. If asked, write a new cover letter addressing the new position. This will show interest in the company itself without appearing to be job spamming.

Take Away Tips

• Don’t spam your resume to companies.
• Keep a log of all of the companies you send your resume to.
• If reapplying for a job, email the hiring manager first about going back over your resume.

Free PDF – Free Resume Writing Tips Available for Download

At Everyday Interview Tips, we strive to bring you more than just your average interview strategies. Our goal is to be your number one resource for all questions or advice related to job interviews. We want you to be able to win your job.

Each month we will write up new and informative guides designed to supply you with the tips, strategies and techniques that can earn you employment at companies all across the country.

This month we have a free resume writing tips PDF available with information on how to avoid one of the most common resume mistakes: clichés.

In this month’s guide, titled “7 Clichés to Remove From Your Resume” you will find:

• The 7 Most Common Clichés Found in Most Resumes.
• Tips on How to Avoid Clichés in Resume Writing.
• Information on Choosing Effective Action Words.

“7 Clichés to Remove From Your Resume” is designed to provide you with resume writing tips that are sure to help you improve the readability of your resume. The resume tips in this free guide are designed specifically for those looking to enter the workforce.

Get Your Free Resume Writing Tips PDF

Download Your Copy of “7 Clichés to Remove From Your Resume”

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