Cv for Interviews

Posts Tagged ‘Prospective Employer’

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.

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.

If you are still looking for a job, here are some tips on how to follow up on your contacts:

* Send a thank you note right after the interview, ideally after a
couple of days. This is a way of getting the prospective employer
to hear from you again. Should you not get hired for the current
position that they offer, someone from that company will likely
keep your information on file for future consideration.
* Make sure that you leave your mobile and landline number, email
address and home address so that prospective employers
will have no excuse of not getting in touch with you.
* Be accurate in getting the contact information of perspective
employers. In return, when you place their information on any
letter that you send out (i.e. resumes, thank you notes) avoid
typographical errors and make sure that you have their names
correct, to see to it that everything is in order.
* Some companies do take a look at your character references
so alert the people on your list that they might receive a call
from your prospective employers.
* Always be on the positive side. Should you not get hired for a
particular position, you may ask the people from that company
for referrals to other companies or at least keep you in mind for
future hiring.

If you are currently in business, whether you are just starting out or in
the midst of expanding, you also need to make sure to follow up on all
important contacts. For example, you go to a corporate event and you
have distributed a lot of business cards. Do not stop there. These
people might eventually bring big business to your company so it is
important to build up a strong business relationship with them.

When applying for a job, it is ideal that you identify your strengths and weaknesses and get prepared to address them. By knowing your
advantage, the chances of getting the job that you want will surely get easier. But you should not get too confident since this is one of the
common mistakes that plague job applicants. Appearing too confident or as somewhat of a know it all person will only get you labeled by
your interviewer as unfit for the job.

Identifying your skills
First thing’s first. You should identify your skills. This is your ticket to get that job and you should be able to articulate your abilities and
expertise as best as you can. Many people have a hard time telling their skills and abilities as this may seem to be bragging. But you
should not be shy or afraid to discuss your skills. In fact, it is important that you convey to your potential employer what your
talents are. You should be able to sell your abilities to your employer. That is how you will get the job that you want. It is important that you
don’t appear arrogant or condescending but you should also avoid selling yourself short. If the interviewer asks you about your strengths
or what separates you from the other applicants, you should be able to readily give a good answer. But before you even go to the interview,
your resume should highlight your skills and talents for your prospective employer to see.

In these changing times, it’s more important than ever for ever job seeker to know how to evaluate a job opportunity. Establishing a set of acceptable criteria for each prospective employer in advance of accepting a position can save you time, money, and keep your career on-track over the long-haul. Here is a list of the top factors to assess before becoming a part of any company’s team.

Is the company financially stable?

If the company is publicly traded, are they reporting record losses? Are there news reports of scandal or bankruptcy filings? These are good indicators the company may not be a quality option.

Do you know who’s running the operation?

Most companies have a section on their website with the biographies of the CEO, Board of Directors, and the top rung of management. This data can also be obtained through research sites like Hoovers or LinkedIn. Have there been frequent high-level changes over the past three years? Does the organization have a competent team in charge? If the Vice-President of Sales was indicted ten years ago on embezzlement charges, this may be a red flag that stability could be an issue. Look at the company’s leadership as if they are under a microscope.

Look at lay-off trends for the organization.

Does the company have a history of performing mass lay-offs? Do they have high-turnover rates? These points are indicators every job seeker should further consider.

Does the employer have a good reputation in the community?

A reputation, whether positive or negative, precedes an organization. Talk to people, network, and learn.

Is the company adding jobs and growing?

Are they hiring more this year over last? Are they adding additional office locations? These are two good indicators of growth.

Is the entity considered innovative and fresh – or a dinosaur?

Many companies out there have antiquated processes and business systems. When an employer never invests in upgrading their systems to advance with technology, it may be only a matter of time before this company becomes extinct.

Connect with current and past employees through LinkedIn or other business social networks to see how they rate the employer.

Much like a hiring manager calls for references on prospective employees, every job seeker should find out how current and past employees felt about that company. This can be very insightful, indeed.

Has the company ever failed to make payroll?

This may sound like a “no-brainer,” but this is a situation when you don’t want to walk away – run!

Go with your gut instinct.

If any aspect of a company’s background doesn’t seem right, research to uncover further information. In the end, every long-term business relationship should be based on facts.

Christina Archer is the owner of I-CareerSearch, helping candidates land their next job faster and more efficiently. An entrepreneur and author of the new book, Landing Your Dream Job In Any Economy, currently available at http://www.publishamerica.net/product88364.html, Christina has provided a roadmap to enable job seekers to differentiate themselves from their competition within the job market.

Offering free resume evaluations, I-Careersearch offers a host of free and paid services to job seekers. Premium members receive full job search management services, to save them both time and money. For details, go to http://www.I-CareerSearch.com or contact Chrisina directly, at christina@i-careersearch.com.

Looking for a job in any field, especially for a beginner, has always been challenging – beginners have to overcome their own insecurities, at the same time that they learn to navigate the marketplace and follow promising leads. Here are some of the most important things that you can do to speed up your job search:

Prepare a good resume and cover letter

Most people do not understand the purpose of a resume – it is not to get you a job. It is the interview and subsequent meetings that will convince the prospective employer to hire you.

The resume’s main purpose is to open the door and get you that interview. But now you need to consider the employer – he or she is busy, has little time to review lots of resumes, is probably confronted with many many resumes, most of which are from people who lack the proper qualifications. So how will a resume convince the employer to call you for an interview.

The resume must stand out – there are just too many that look alike for any but the most interesting and powerful to stand out. You need to capture the employer’s attention and interest – your resume needs to make the employer feel that “this” one seems promising.

Make sure that the resume is very clear – you need to make it easy for the employer to pick out what he or she is looking for. List specific skills and experiences that you know the employer is looking for – don’t be vague!

Integrate into the resume any and all experience in the field that you are applying for that you have acquired- even if it was not. Experience in any kind of writing counts for something – and often it is the very “something” that motivates the employer to give you a call.

But simply waiting to hear from a company to which you have sent your resume is counterproductive. Here are some tips:

Use Social Contacts

It’s best to try to spread name out to as many people as possible and to let people know that you’re in the job market; this is the way many professionals find jobs, especially freelance jobs. Use your social contacts as much as possible – today, the internet also provides many ways to expand and reinforce social contacts: social networks such as LinkedIn and Facebook, twitter, etc. Make sure that you have a good LinkedIn profile and an impressive resume there – then make a habit of linking to people, correspond with your links, send lots of messages, join groups and make comments or send messages.

The key is to maintain a high profile. You can try to reinforce the internet links with real meetings wherever possible.

Social networking is one of the main ways that professionals get jobs today, especially in hi-tech fields such as programming, technical writing, etc.

Be Proactive

It’s important to realize that you need to actively contact people to get a job – you can’t just send out resumes and wait. Actively contact companies that you have strong reason to suspect have a job opening, or are contemplating one. Many companies do not advertise their open positions right away – if you can contact the company before they think about advertising, you can considerably increase your chances of getting a job.

Where do you get tips about which company has a potential opening? One source is from friends who work in the company – for example, friends may tip you off about an upcoming project. You then simply contact the company directly and introduce yourself as a friend of so and so, and suggest a meeting.

Other ways of finding clues as to which companies are hiring in your field is to follow advertisements for positions that are related to your own. For example, say you are a technical writer and you discover that a software company suddenly advertises for software engineers, programmers, and other hi-tech personnel. This indicates that the company may be starting the development of a new product or product version. Now you make a good guess that the company might be under pressure to finish a lot of documentation related to the project – so you contact them and ask if they are interested in hiring a good technical writer.

Be Persistent
You can’t just say, “OK, I’ve done enough, I’ve sent 50 resumes, that’s it. You need to be persistent. Of course, some people confuse persistence with misguided obstinacy – they send out their resume to one company and then just sit and wait for one company to come through – this is like waiting for the winning lottery ticket. That kind of persistence is just a waste of time and emotional energy.

Real persistence means to keep contacting new companies – you need to keep going and never give up. When you get a “no” from a company, just go to the next one. To put yourself in the right frame of mind to do this, just tell yourself that you have to collect lots of “no’s” before you get a “yes” – every time you get a “no” you get that much closer to getting a “yes”. That’s the reverse psychology that you need to keep going. Tell yourself that if you don’t get 10 “nos” you won’t get a job; force yourself to keep contacting new places. Have confidence when you contact a potential employer – don’t sit trembling in fear, hoping to hear a “yes”. And, avoid contacting an employer again after they have rejected you. I have seen some people contact the same company again and again, as if there were no other companies to apply to. This is a mistake – a completely warped idea of what it means to be persistent.

You can considerably increase your chances of finding a job if you apply the strategies and techniques outlined in this article – be creative, open, sociable, and persistent.

Educator and sociologist Dr. Mati Schwrarcz has been training English speakers as technical writers and marcom specialists for over 17 years. Since then his graduates have become leading writers in hi-tech companies throughout the world.

YEDA Center for Technical Communications

http://www.yedacenter.com

When applying for a job, it is ideal that you identify your strengths and weaknesses and get prepared to address them. By knowing your
advantage, the chances of getting the job that you want will surely get easier. But you should not get too confident since this is one of the
common mistakes that plague job applicants. Appearing too confident or as somewhat of a know it all person will only get you labeled by
your interviewer as unfit for the job.

Identifying your skills
First thing’s first. You should identify your skills. This is your ticket to get that job and you should be able to articulate your abilities and
expertise as best as you can. Many people have a hard time telling their skills and abilities as this may seem to be bragging. But you
should not be shy or afraid to discuss your skills. In fact, it is important that you convey to your potential employer what your
talents are. You should be able to sell your abilities to your employer. That is how you will get the job that you want. It is important that you
don’t appear arrogant or condescending but you should also avoid selling yourself short. If the interviewer asks you about your strengths
or what separates you from the other applicants, you should be able to readily give a good answer. But before you even go to the interview,
your resume should highlight your skills and talents for your prospective employer to see.

If you are still in the job search process, it is extremely important to follow up on all contacts. It is not good to just sit and wait for results
to come pouring in when you think that you’ve already done your part because your contact information has been distributed.
Consider two men applying for a prime position at a company. After the interview, the first applicant just sits around waiting to hear from
his prospective employer.

On the other hand, the second applicant distributes his contact information to some people that he met in the company. Furthermore,
applicant number two does a follow-up on the results of the job interview a few days later. The first applicant has not been heard from,
because he just relies on the basic “We’ll call you” routine. Who do you think will have a greater chance of getting the job?
Even though the first applicant is more qualified, since he did not follow up or even send a thank you note to the interviewer, in the end,
he does not get the job.

If you are still waiting for that job offer and you do not follow up on your contacts, your chances of getting hired become slimmer. In
business, following up on all of your contacts is a sure-fire way to spread the word about you, your business sense and expanding your
horizons.

After listing all your skills and all the things that you do well, you may
now decide what field or career you want to take a crack at. Select the
skills contained from your list and partner it with the employment you
are seeking. Always take time to consider if your skills are relevant to
the job that you are aspiring for. Don’t be bothered if you have to cut
out some of the skills from your list. It is also important to include in
the list your skills that the prospective employer will probably value.

Stand by what you write
You should be realistic about your skills and the level of expertise that
you have with it. For example, if you indicate that you are a very
organized person, then you should be able to show this to the
interviewer by being able to organize your thoughts and effectively use
the time that was given for your interview.
It is important to know your skills every time you are job hunting.
Always put your best foot forward and good luck!

Scoring the interview for the job that you want doesnt have to be rocket science. Sometimes you can score that interview by simply making a phone call. There are many ways that people go about trying to get an interview. The methods of achieving one vary by company. It is best to know what the companys application process is before taking your first step.

Generally, when a company is hiring they post an ad in the newspaper or an online job bank. How to contact them is usually included in the ad as well. You dont want to email a resume to a company that is requesting that you walk in with your resume. You dont want to call a company that requires a faxed resume etc. Ignoring their initial contacting information will guarantee that you will not get that interview because you have already proven that you cant follow simple directions.

Sometimes, you can get a job lead from a friend before the job has been posted. If this is the case, you can either ask the friend to give the employer your resume and cover letter. If your friend doesnt actually work where the lead came from, you can try calling about the position and ask what the application procedure is.

There are four general methods of applying for a job, and they include these basic methods.

Sending a Resume

Some companies prefer that you mail in your resume. For this type of approach, it is best to include a cover letter with your resume. The cover is a basic letter that describes the position that you are interest in and a few details of your qualifications and skills. It is basically your lead in to your resume. Before writing your cover letter, you should know whom the letter is to be addressed to. You never want to begin a cover letter with Dear Sir or Madame or To whom it may Concern. It shows that you have not prepared, and that you are not looking for a specific position with their company, but any job that you can get your hands on. Basically, it is disrespectful to your prospective employer.

Emailing Your Resume

Emailing resumes is becoming a commonplace way for recruiters to get resumes. Most companies offer this method as an alternative to the others. However, there are few tips on how you should go about it.
You should attach your resume as a word document or PDF file. These are the most common formats and what most companies will accept. The subject line should read like this: Smith, John (clerical position)This makes it easy for the recruiter to know who the email is from, and what it pertains to. It also assures that your email will be read.
Sometimes there are specific methods for addressing an emailed resume. Some companies have certain subject line requirements so follow them. If your company wants you to paste your resume, dont send attachments because your email will be deleted right away.

Faxing Your Resume

Again, you will need to include a cover letter when you fax in your resume. If you are not using your own fax machine, be sure to include your proper contact information. The rules for your cover letter are the same as for mailing your resume. More about cover letters will be provided a bit later on in this book.

Walk-In Your Resume

For this type of application procedure, you will want to dress appropriately. You would want to dress just like you would for an interview. Companys usually ask you to do this if you are going to be working directly with customers. They ask for a walk in because they want to get a look at your grooming habits right away. Sometimes, a walk in will have the employer giving you a brief interview on the spot, to see if they will require a formal interview later. So be on your best and most appropriate behavior.
Also, walk-ins do not require you to bring in a cover letter with your resume. Your appearance is sort of the cover letter. Sometimes, you will be requested to fill out an application form as well. Smile and be polite, no matter who you are talking to. That could be the difference between getting an interview and just taking an extra trip for nothing.

Telephoning for an Interview

It is not particularly common anymore for companies to ask you to call them for an interview. That is usually saved for jobs that include sales andor jobs that are not so easily applied for by the other methods. Telephoning for an interview is a bit common when a company requires that you be on the phone a lot. It gives them a feel for the quality and the personality of the person on the phone. When making this type of interview request, always speak in a clean and clear manner. Be polite and prepared to answer any questions that may be asked of you. You might approach the telephone interview like this:

Hello Mr. Brown, I am Mike Sandal. I am calling with regards to your ad in the Post about the clerical position. If you are asked your experience andor previous work experience, be prepared to answer quickly and explain how long you have been doing that type of work and give a brief description of your duties.