Cv for Interviews

Archive for the ‘Interviews’ Category

Job Hunting Tips

Are you a fresh graduate and planning to look for a job? Did you just recently quit your job and are looking for greener pastures? Are you unemployed and have little experience regarding ways to secure a job? Whatever your situation may be, it would be to your advantage to

study the following tips:

Check your resume for mistakes Before submitting your resume to a recruitment consultants, check your it for corrections at least three times before handing it over. After researching about the job position, it is critical that you format your resume to match the needs of the company. For example, if you are applying for an accounting job, you should put in detail your accounting experience on your resume. Typographical and grammatical errors are serious no-no’s. It is also ideal to keep the length of the resume’ to at least a page and a half long. Taking the interview challenge

A survey conducted by a staffing and consulting firm based in California which corresponded with 1,400 chief financial officers concluded that candidates for employment made most of their mistakes on their interviews. Some of the mistakes they made include:

Arriving late
Having little knowledge about the company
Having little knowledge about the position applied for
Having a superiority complex
Behaving arrogantly

The body language of the applicant must also denote that he isconfident yet not overpowering. He must maintain eye contact, have a strong handshake, and avoid looking defensive by the act of crossing the arms. Wearing the right clothes is crucial for projecting a confident stance. As they say, it is better to go to an interview over-dressed than being under-dressed.

Answer questions smartly

A common mistake of interviewees is that they tend to get tense and forget the questions that are given to them, which has the effect that they are not prepared for the interview. It is important to research the company and the position applied for to prevent being side-tracked during the interview. If you do not know the answer to the questions being asked, it is better to admit you don’t know the answer to the
question and add that you can research about it. Look for the skills or expertise that the company is looking for so that when interview day comes and the interviewer asks about your strengths and core competencies, you will be able to match it to what they need.

Getting the necessary referrals

Having a referral from one of the company employees can go a long way toward landing an interview. A typical company may receive job applications in the hundreds and usually 35% to 60% of all job vacancies are filled by referrals. The odds of getting hired when you have a referral are very high if you have another 200 to 500 applicants vying for the same position. If you do not know anyone from the company that may give you a referral, it is a good idea to network the alumni of your college or university, trade groups, social networks, and professional associations. Remember, having a referral greatly increases your chances of getting the position.

Online application
With the current trend of technology and its merging with business
processes, more and more companies are now requiring prospective
applicants to submit their application online. Thus, first impressions
are relayed not by your first appearance but by the quality and content
of your e-mail. E-mails regarding job application should be polished
and well-articulated. When applying on-line, use the following tips:
Complete your sentences and do not abbreviate.
Employers do not like when you send them application letters that
seem to be too casual. It is important to make a letter that is both
formal and well written. This gives a good impression regarding your
capabilities and skills.
Get directly to the point
When writing an application letter, you must be concise and
straightforward. Do not put a story on the letter just to get the
attention of the employer, chances are he or she will just get irritated
with you and this only reduces your chances of getting hired.

Consider potential issues that may hinder you from getting the job
You may find instances wherein there is a lot of need for a job but the
requirements for the position may entail training programs that may
bar you from getting the position due to its highly competitive nature.
Some require a lot of experience even at least 3 years of work
experience. Some may have no barriers to entry but the job itself may
entail a very routine work flow.
Getting the job you want may be a challenge but never lose hope. It is
better to wait a while and get a job that you will enjoy rather than get
a job as soon as possible but ending up dissatisfied and unhappy.
Make the right decision then act on it.
More information on completing a proper resume will follow in an
upcoming chapter.

When youre looking for the perfect job you need to know how to find the job and
how to secure it. To do that you need to first identify your perfect jobyou cant
begin to look for the perfect job unless you first know what you it means to you.
Once you have formed an idea in your head and put it on paper you can begin
looking for your perfect job. At least by that time you will know the type of position
and company that is of interest to you and can forward from there.

Once you have identified your perfect job, the next step is to find someone who is
hiring for the position and type of company you want. The best way to do that is
through some type of classified advertisement, preferably online where there is a
larger selection from which to choose. When you have more options, there is an
increased likelihood that you will find what you want rather than having to look for
more opportunities because you are not able to find the one that suits your needs.
There is single way to connect with your perfect job that is better than another.
It
depends on what you seek and what your qualifications are for the position you
seek. Some positions are more readily available than others and will have more
selections from which to choose while others will have more limited selections,
especially in smaller areas. You also increase you chances of connecting to your
perfect job if you are free to relocate to another state or city, especially if you live
in a small town where there are not very many opportunities for employment.
When you are ready to connect to your perfect job, make sure you choose the
method that is going to provide you with the most job leads. It will become a
simpler process as you become more familiar with where to find job leads based on
your job preferences. In addition, as you learn how to present yourself positively
you will land that perfect job and no longer have to take the time to conduct job
searches. Everything ties in together and complements each part of the process. It
is important to make sure you understand all of the steps in order to have
assurance you are doing everything that is necessary from job search to application
to interview.

In the movie “You’ve Got Mail”, the sub-plot aside from the love angle
is that the heroine (played by Meg Ryan) was forced out of business
when the big-time bookstore owner (played by Tom Hanks) moved
into town.

Meg’s character owned a quaint little bookstore which she inherited
from her mother. Although the prices of her books were a little steep,
she makes up for it in service. She packs the books in a specialized
bag, and she knows all of her customers by name.

Tom’s character, on the other hand, moved into town to build a branch
of a big chain-bookstore which offered discounted prices and a huge
building, as compared to Meg’s little bookshop on one corner of the
town’s streets.
In the end, Meg was forced out of business because her customers
went to Tom’s monstrous bookshop.

Nowadays, this situation will not hold true anymore.
More and more small organizations are paving the way and giving big
businesses a shot of their own medicine

In the movie, the reason why Meg Ryan was forced out of business is
because she cannot profit anymore. Her prices are steep as compared
to the other big business’ discounted rates.

Her only edge is that she gives personal service, she knows her
customers by name and she has a very small staff, about 2 or 3
employees.

As a small organization you may turn around and have these qualities
as your edge to compete against the big sharks in business.

If youre seeking the perfect job, its impossible to say exactly where you will find
it. The key is to take your list of requirements and look at the available job postings
to find the closest match. You are not likely to find something that will match your
list exactly because most everyone tends to look for something more than what is
potentially possible to find. For example, everyone would love to find a job that has
free medical insurance, but that is not likely to happen in the economy today,
therefore you want to scale that down a bit into something that is more realistic.
Something you should remember when you are job seeking is that less than 20% of
jobs are listed in the newspaper. Most employers have a file of potential applicants
or look toward those who have the ambition to walk into their company to drop off
a resume and/or see a hiring manager. These are the people who have the highest
potential for being hired because they show the ambition for going after what they
want. It shows a potential employer they are an enterprising person and not
someone who is going to sit back and wait for something to happen.

On the other hand there are many employers today who refuse to accept resumes
unless they are actually hiring and with the cost of gas, many job seekers have
stopped just walking into a company hoping to have an interview. Most employers
today are asking to see resumes in their mail or inboxes before they will even
schedule an interview. How do you beat the game when you are up against
potentially thousands of applicants? One thing that many applicants fail to do in
todays economy is making a list of the places they have submitted resumes so
they can follow up on its status. Never attempt to rely on your memory because
several weeks later you will not be able to remember where you sent your resume.
Of course job posting sites such as Monster.com are available and many employers
today make use of these sites when searching for new applicants. By filtering your
search you have a better chance of finding the job you seek and seeing if it fits
within the scope of your perfect job before you submit your resume. This method
makes it convenient for employer and job seeker and allows both to see what is
available before they request an interview.

The initial step is to look at local newspapers for this provides information just by looking at the Classified Ads section and the lists of
wanted personnel and employment opportunities will be read. Applying at several companies initially in a local area can save an
applicant more time and money. If it so happens that a job was found late in the day, call immediately for inquiries and never let a day pass
when opportunities arise.

How to look for jobs that are not announced?
Sometimes companies and other employers do not really advertise any job openings in their organization. The best thing for an applicant is to
weigh things if it will be possible to be hired by a certain company by just submitting an application form or resume. Start looking for the
job personally. Tell everyone about your job hunting. Relatives and previous offices or company co-workers will be able to give hints on
job vacancies in their current companies. Professors or teachers will also be helpful in recommending schools and institutions that are now
looking for new instructors. These people might not have any vacant position in their company in mind but they certainly know someone
who knows or needs a new employee. That is what others call networking.

Often times, the Yellow Pages does the important job of providing information on how and where to call to look for a job. This gives an
accurate list of companies and prospective employers in a chosen area. Visiting the library is also a tool than can be useful when looking
for a job. There are libraries that have a list of local employers, just asks the librarian for more information.
Contact these employers personally, even if they did not advertise any vacant positions that needed to be filled

Lastly, be observant of signs posted on doors and windows of shops and stalls being passed by. If lucky, just walk in and ask for
information about the job and how to apply. After submitting application forms and resumes to the respective
companies, keep track of the progress by creating a chart where you can jot down the name of the company and when the application was submitted.

There are two main types of skills, hard skills and soft skills. Hard
skills are tangible in the sense that these are things that you do like:
knowing how to operate different kinds of machinery, knowledge of a
specialized computer program, ability to type fast, skills on using
many types of tools, credentials regarding special crafts, etc. Soft
skills are skills that are rather abstract in nature like personal qualities.
This may include the following: being a good team player, having the
ability to work on your own, being enthusiastic or organized and
decisive.

The steps to follow:
Making a list of your previous jobs and experience acquired
First thing to do is to make a list of all the companies that you have
worked for and the things that you learned from these jobs. There will
be a lot of things to list and you should be careful not to forget even
the smallest things or activities that you were part of or organized. It
is also a good idea to list the volunteer activities that you participated
in.

Include a list of your hobbies
Although it might sound trivial at first, it is also very helpful to list all
your hobbies. There are a lot of abilities that your prospective
employer may get from your hobby list. This will also give an idea of
your personality. For example, if you were part of the school’s
debating team, then your employer may deduce that you have good
analytical skills. If you were a champion chess player, then your
employer will have the impression that you are good at making critical
decisions. Think of your daily routine and the things that you do and
often take for granted. Are you an organized person who always keeps
your things in proper order? Are you an extrovert that can easily make
friends in a matter of minutes? These may seem ordinary to normal
things to you, but your future boss might think otherwise.

You’re looking for a new job, and you’re on Twitter. What should you say in 140 characters or less that would help you reach your goal?

First of all, you have to identify your target audience and surmise what your target audience would be interested in. As a job seeker you primarily have two audiences: recruiters/hiring managers and colleagues who can refer you to openings. Fortunately for you, recruiters/hiring managers and colleagues have one very important thing in common. They are both looking for the best and the brightest. Recruiters/hiring managers want to identify the cream of the crop when searching for the ideal candidate. Colleagues also want to refer those who will make them look good in the eyes of the company that they refer people to. So your task as a job seeker is to demonstrate that you are on top of your field.

Simply advertising the fact that you are looking for a job is not sufficient, and if overdone, can prove your undoing. Instead you need to devise a job search strategy that reaches your target audience effectively. One method that you can incorporate into your strategy is tweeting the URLs of articles that discuss new trends in your industry and/or profession. This subtly shows that you are savvy about what is going in your field. This is especially important for people who have been unemployed for awhile because it is easy for employers to assume that if you have been out of work for some time that you are not current with your field.

Another part of your overall job strategy can be to maintain a blog and comment on different aspects of your field. You can tweet the URLs of your different blog posts along with a very brief description to entice your followers to go to your blog. (Using a URL shortener such as bitly.com will give you a few more characters to share more information with your followers.) In addition, you can highlight information that you receive at professional association meetings or professional conferences on your blog, again directing your target audience to your blog posts.

Yet another tactic is to provide links to news videos that are related to your field. For example, if there is a news story about how the proposed financial reform of Wall Street will impact the financial services industry, you can share that video via Twitter. Your audience will appreciate the timely information and also view you positively as a professional because you are sharing useful information.

In order to increase the likelihood of your tweets being found by the right people, you should use hashtags that relate to your field. You may need to do a little research by using variations of different keywords related to your field to find hashtags that are commonly used, but it will be worth your while to do so if hiring managers and recruiters find you as a result.

Lastly, you can increase the visibility of your tweets by connecting your Twitter account to your LinkedIn account so that your tweets automatically show up in your LinkedIn status bar. LinkedIn and Twitter can be used together effectively in a social media job search since they are complementary in nature. Twitter’s brevity is its strength, but LinkedIn allows you as the job seeker to go into much more detail about your professional background.

(Feel free to follow me on Twitter @cherylepalmer and connect with me on LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/in/cherylpalmer. You can also register for a free social media job search webinar at http://www.calltocareer.com)

When the economy is in bad shape, the job market is usually worse. Those with jobs are trying to stay employed and people without jobs are desperately trying to find a new job, both can be extremely stressful.

If you put in the time and effort into finding a new job you will be rewarded no matter how fierce the competition is. Stay motivated and persistent – finding a new job is your new job right now.

These are the top ten ways to find a new job:

1. Use the Internet Daily – It is so easy to get lost on the Internet wasting time on websites, job boards and social media sites with no real benefits. Make sure you are actively spending your time on the Internet looking for and applying to jobs and networking with those who may be able to help. There are a ton of useful job boards and career sites to help you focus your search. Check out JobBoardReviews.com to help find the most useful websites to your industry or profession. Do your best to stay focused on your job search for a few hours a day. Be sure to actively apply to jobs, don’t just upload your resume and wait for phone calls.

2. Perfect your resume – Your resume is often the first glimpse a potential employer gets of you and your skills, make sure it accurately details your skills and work history and how they can benefit your future employer. Make sure you have someone proof read it before sending it out and try to customize it for each job you are applying for.

3. Network – Let everyone you know that you are looking for a job. The more people you have out there on your team, with eyes open the more opportunities you will have. Tell everyone in your network what kind of a job you are looking for or any special skills you may have. You can forward your resume to people in your network and ask them if they know of anyone hiring or if they can check within their company for any open positions. Most people actually find and are hired through referrals from a friend or family member than any other source.

4. Go back to school – Now is the time to get the competitive edge over other job candidates. Many people are finding it hard to get to a traditional college or university and are opting for online schools and programs. Look into enrolling in an accredited online college for some online courses and upgrading your training. Increasing your education will improve your resume and get you one step closer to landing a job.

5. Target Local Companies – Get out and start knocking on some doors. If you are not having any luck online submitting your resume online, it’s time to get out and start meeting people face to face. Make a list of companies in your area that you would like to work for, call them directly to see if they have any openings that interest you. If that doesn’t work, put on some professional attire and stop by with your resume in hand.

6. Industry Mags and Social Niches – Sometimes the best positions that are the perfect fit are only being advertised in industry specific magazines and publications. Sign up for some Industry trade magazines, online groups, forums, and social networks. Reading up on the latest industry news is a great way to stay on top and find new open positions. It also will help with your industry specific networking.

7. Job Fairs – Can it get better than this. Job fairs are a giant room or convention center filled with companies who are looking to hire. Dress to impress, print out a bunch of copies on your resume and start talking to companies who are looking to hire. It’s such an easy way to meet people and get some help with your search

8. Get some Professional Help – Recruiters, headhunters, and temp agencies are always looking for qualified candidates. Find some recruiters that specialize in your industry or position and get them your resume.

9. State and public resources – There are so many free resources offered by your state to help job seekers find a new job. Most states and counties offer everything from resume writing services, career counseling, and lots of sessions on all the skills you will need to find you new job. State and local resources are also often given lists of openings that aren’t posted or found in other locations. Pop on over and see what they can offer.

10. Consider Freelancing – If you are not finding the right full time position, consider taking a contract position or freelancing your services out. Many companies are not able to hire for full time positions but would be willing to give you a try on an as need basis.

Get on out there! Remember to Network, keep your head up and Don’t give up! There is someone out there waiting to hire you.

Top Ten Job Searching Tips
How many of these have you read? Here we go again, but this time I am concentrating on those matters which have emerged over the last two to three years, that we often neglected or failed to use in the past; mainly it’s to do with new technology.

1. Get a professional email address.

Ditch the babyangel@gmail.com. Now is the time to professionalise yourself, use your proper name or professional name.

2. Google yourself.

Sounds egotistic doesn’t it? But just in case you wrote something many years ago, and it raises its head to bite you in the foot, it is better to check what is out there on you in cyber space. Also while we are at it, blog your email address, telephone number and address as well, all these can leave a digital footprint exposing yourself to other information .

3. Add your email address to your CV or resume.

How many times do I see this omission?

4. Start blogging.

This is a free way of getting yourself known and building your profile.

5. Register on online job sites.

There are many: seek.com, TradeMe/jobs.co.nz, and also check out your local newspaper online listings.

6. Use social networking sites to your advantage.

Make a special professional Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Bebo etc account specifically to your work environment, keep your personal social networks to your friends.

7. Network.

Join societies, organisations and clubs associated to your career. Check out the Yellow Pages and online directories to see what is available, then network with these people.

8. Specialize – Become a Subject Matter Expert.

A sophisticated society has many specialist roles, therefore, the more specialised you are or can become, the more expertise you can provide, and more value to an employer’s team. But don’t forget to be a generalist in all areas connected with your career.

9. Lead from your strengths.

If you know what you are good at, or above average, or just brilliant at … then move from that area first. If you are good at public speaking then use that as your primary form of accentuating your strengths.

10. Mitigate your weaknesses.

Similar to number nine. Play down your weaknesses. Avoid (especially in those first couple of meetings) those things that you are not so good at, or generally don’t like doing.

Paula Stenberg, 2009

http://www.cvstyle.com