Saturday, March 14, 2020

Avoid the Resume Black Hole With These Tips - TheJobNetwork

Avoid the Resume Black Hole With These Tips - TheJobNetworkTired of applying and never hearing back? Use unterstellung resume tips to ensure your application makes it past the electronic gatekeepers. googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1467144145037-0) ) If youve ever looked for a job, youre probably familiar with the notorious resume black hole. It goes something like this You find the perfect job online, submit your resume, and then wait, hoping against hopes that youll receive a call back. More often than not, no one ever contacts you about your application and youre left wondering what you could have done differently to change the outcome.Sound familiar? Youre not alone.As a career coach I often hear from job seekers who are frustrated by the lack of response from employers. What many of them dont realize, however, is that often times, the hiring manager never received their job application.Let me explain. Before your job application is passed along to the hiring manager, it first has to be reviewed by one, if not two, anfangsbuchstabe gatekeepers an electronic screen known as an applicant tracking system (ATS), and a junior-level HR coordinator.In both of behauptung cases, the gatekeeper has been instructed to scan the document for important pieces of information and terms related to the role at hand. If the resume meets this criteria, it will pass through the screen and make its way to the next reviewer, either an experienced recruiter or hiring manager who will have a better understanding of your work and capabilities. If your resume doesnt make it past these initial gatekeepers, the hiring manager is never made aware of your application.Below are some resume tips to help your application avoid the resume black hole and make it through these initial reviews and to the top of the hiring managers pile.Avoid the Headers and FootersDont insert your contact information into the actual header portion of the korrekt document. This can ge t scrambled by the applicant tracking system and cause confusion for the recruiter. Instead, decrease your top margin on the document to 0.5 inches and place your personenname, contact information, and hyperlinks at the top of the page.The same goes for using the footer section of the document.Stick to SimplicityWhile you may want to demonstrate your creativity to the hiring manager, the resume is not the place to do so. In fact, most ATS systems get easily confused by a resumes extra bells and whistles, such as logos, pictures, embedded charts, symbols, and shading, and could easily reject your application out of confusion.Stick to voreingestellt fonts that are ATS-friendly. This includes Calibri, Arial, Tahoma, and Cambria. Click on the following link to view a full list of the best fonts for your resume.Use standard headers for the different sections of your resume, such as Professional Experience or Work History, Education and Professional Development, Technical Skills, and so f orth.Lastly, upload your resume as a Word document instead of a PDF to the employers career site. ATS systems still have trouble processing PDFs and may miss important information in your resume. Save the PDF version for when youre emailing your resume to a networking contact and want to ensure the formatting remains intact.Proofread Your Resume CarefullyWhile you may get dinged by a recruiter for misspelling definately when you meant to say definitely, at least theyll be able to figure out what youre trying to say. A software system will not. Dont let your application get tossed into the resume black hole because of a simple typo.Proofread your resume. Then proofread it again. Then hand it over to your friend who majored in English and have them review it. Silly mistakes can be easily avoided if you take the proper precautions with these resume tips.Incorporate Relevant KeywordsEvery profession has its own set of jargon, acronyms, certifications, and skill sets that describe their work and industry. ATS systems are programmed to look for these resume keywords to rank your application and determine if youre a good fit for the role.In order to make it past these initial reviews, its incredibly important to optimize your resume with relevant keywords. Start by reviewing the job descriptions youre applying to and take note of the terms that routinely pop up on these job listings. If you possess these skills, incorporate these terms throughout your resume in the Core Competencies and Work Experience sections. Be sure to include a Technical Skills section towards the bottom of your resume that lists the systems with which you are proficient. You can also copy and paste a number of job descriptions into JobScan.co to identify the most frequently used resume keywords and see how your application measures up.Before you sit down to write out your role and responsibilities from your previous positions, take a look at the sample job descriptions youve gathered that repre sent your job target. How do they define the position and its responsibilities? What specific language do they use to state the core requirements for the role? If youve done that work before or possess those qualifications, describe it on your resume using the exact same wording.In addition, be sure to include the acronym as well as the full name of every job title, certification, degree, or organization thats associated with your professional experience and qualifications. For instance, you may put SSGB after your name at the top of your resume, but be sure to also spell out Six Sigma Green Belt under your list of certifications. The same applies for common industry terms while your job title may be Director of MARCOM, its important to also include the term marketing communications when describing your role.Dont fall into the resume black hole. You may not be able to control the recruiters actions, but these resume tips will ensure your job application makes it past the ATS screen and onto a human being for review.This article was originally published on TopResume.TopResume is a Talent Inc. company, the personal branding destination for all career-driven professionals. Through our extensive network of professional writers, we offer career advice and analyze and write more resumes and LinkedIn profiles than any other service in the world. Ready to get started? Request a free resume critique today.

Monday, March 9, 2020

Advice for Veterans Starting a Business and Entrepreneurial Career

Advice for Veterans Starting a Business and Entrepreneurial Career Advice for Veterans Starting a Business and Entrepreneurial CareerStarting a geschftlicher umgang can be a perfect fit for veterans.In plus-rechnen to showing great bravery and dedication to our country, serving in the military is a valuable education that provides numerous opportunities for success later in life. Armed with discipline and drive, veterans have a particular skill set that makes them ideal candidates to departure a geschftlicher umgang. An entrepreneurial quest offers the benefits of flexible, hands-on work. For many vets, this type of challenge is just whats needed to bring a sense of structure and purpose to life outside of the work theyve done serving our country.If youre a U.S. veteran starting a business but youre unsure exactly how to begin, here are some tips and resources that can help get you moving in the right direction.1. Do your researchYou may be the very best at what you do, but unfortuna tely, if theres no demand for it, you will have a large uphill battle that may bedrngnis prove to be worth your time. Thats why its imperative to research your market before you put in your time, money, or other resources.To start, you must first decide where you want your business to be Will it be something local or will it be online? Once you know your location, youll want to consider your competition How many other businesses are there doing what you want to do? How much do they charge for their services? Can you be competitive and mucksmuschenstill meet your costs? Is there room for growth? All of these are important factors in both establishing a business plan and finding funding.Beyond that, theres a lot to think about before starting a business. Youll want to consider what type of business (sole proprietorship, limited liability company, corporation, etc.) youre going to start and what effect that will have on you. Will you be the sole owner or will it be a joint venture? How will this affect your taxes and other infrastructure? If these are things you arent too well versed in, research is essential, and a good place to start is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). They have a comprehensive list of business structures and the tax implications of each to help you in your process.2. Write a business planNow that you have an understanding of what your industry and company structure will entail, its time to start putting together the information about your business.This can be a tough task, but dont let this challenge hold you back. You can start small choose your business name. Once you have that, draft up what you know your business will do, what goals you want to accomplish, how youll market your business, and details about your competition that you found in your research. Dont forget to plan for how youll address any problems that may arise.If you get stuck along the way, remember there are plenty of guides and tutorials online that can help you underst and what youll need to do to get started. You can find general business plan tips here, and this guide on Military.com shows an example outline of a business plan. This can help you get going, as you can fill in the elements you know and discover where you need to do more research or what questions you still need to answer.RelatedBeing Your Own Boss Tips for Beginner Entrepreneurs3. Find your fundingThere are numerous VA small business loans available, and some are even geared specifically toward veterans with lower leistungspunkt scores. You can start off by contacting your local banking institutions to see what kinds of programs they might have available. You can also find valuable resources for veterans through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.Of course, you can always opt to provide your own seed funding, especially if you have the funds readily available or dont have a lot of initial costs for getting started.fruchtwein startups have many stories of relying on credit car ds to make ends meet early on. If thats something youre considering doing, there are several smart credit card strategies to get you on your way. For example, you can use a credit cards introductory 0 percent interest financing to buy equipment and pay for upfront expenses.If you have the cash to pay your credit card bills in full, you can consider using a cash back rewards credit card to maximize the value of your business purchases. Chase credit cards like the Freedom and Freedom Unlimited offer 1 percent and 1.5 percent cash back on every purchase, respectively, which means you can put those savings on your upfront purchases toward growing your business.But, like with anything else that comes with starting a new business, you need to weigh your options. There are other options that are good for getting rewards on your purchases as you get your business up and running. One is the Discover it Cashback Match card which, for a certain amount of time, offers 5 percent cash back on pur chases made on Amazon and other stores, plus unlimited 1 percent cash back on all other purchases. Practically every major issuer offers a card with cash rewards or promotional financing, so if either of those strategies appeals to you, shop around for one that makes sense for your wallet (and your credit).4. Set up your businessNow that you have all the finer points of running your business smoothed out, its time to put it all into action. Youll want to register your business name with your state business and get your tax ID number. This is also the time to get all the licensing and other legal documents youll need. A local Veterans Business Outreach Center, through the Small Business Administration (SBA), can help you with training, counseling, and mentorship to help you get your business off the ground on solid footing.5. Do what you love and knowBuilding a business around something you already know and love puts you one step ahead of the game. The less you have to think about ju st getting through your day, the more time youll have to spend thinking creatively about growing and improving your business.There may be a lot to learn about running a business, but there are resources for veterans out there to help you along the way. Most importantly, they dont all require you to spend additional money, as youre likely tightening your budget as you get your business up and going. In fact, the SBA has a free training program, Boots to Business, that offers a three-part workshop to help veterans understand some of the basics of starting and running a business. Any active military members who are currently transitioning out of the military, as well as their spouses, are eligible for this training program.Ultimately, the goal is to inspire, empower, and equip all veterans with the knowledge and resources necessary to move forward on the path to entrepreneurship. Military training builds a young person up to do noble things, and it is with this in mind that we strive t o support all aspiring veteran entrepreneurs in their goal of business ownership and success.Make sure your resume is in tiptop shape. Hire a TopResume professional resume writer todayRecommended ReadingHow to Get Your Military Resume in Shape for a Civilian Job SearchThe Modern Guide to Career TransitionJobs for Veterans What to Consider Before Accepting the JobRelated Articles