Free Career and Job Search Advice

DarkCoyote · Newbie Joined: 26 Jun 2009 Posts: 4 Career Advice: +0/-0

A lot of people just make one resume and hand it out to everyone, but all the experts agree that it's important to tailor your resume for the type of position you are applying. Resumes are best kept to one page, so it's helpful to weed out extraneous information and highlight the most important skills and experiences. The only way to do this is to know where you're submitting your resume and what information will be most valuable.

It's a good idea to keep one large list of everything you've achieved and all the skills you've acquired (an over sized resume if you will), so that when it's time to compile a tailored resume, you can just pull the most pertinent information into one concise document.

Also a good idea, as many people wisely use job boards to expand their employment search opportunities, is to utilize job boards that specialize in a specific field. It never hurts to put your profile and resume on as many job boards as possible, but the bigger generic job boards make it all too easy to get lost in the crowd. Specialized job boards increase the likelihood of being noticed. Also they offer the opportunity to tailor your resume.

A good example is https://governmentsupportjobs.com/
This is a site for job seekers interested in jobs in contracting and civil service. These jobs offer a great gateway into finding a government job and are open to everyone. They are given preferentially to those with attributes like a security clearance (or the ability to obtain one), and that is why a site like https://governmentsupportjobs.com/ is perfect for it's niche because it offers the opportunity to enter in specialized attributes overlooked on generic job boards.

So remember to keep track of all of your skills and experiences, create tailored resumes, and utilize specialized job boards all to optimize the results of your job search.

Nathan-land-that-job · Posted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 10:15 am Post subject:

While I agree with what you said about tailoring your CV to specific roles, I totally disagree with one page CV's, your CV should be 2 - 4 pages long, yet still very specific to the role your applying for.

What you should ideally do is send a cover letter with your CV, listing all your relevant skills and xperience, which will entice the employer to read your CV.

As an employer myself one page CV's are a total "turn off" and I know it is the same case with other employers I know. You can't fit all the necesary information into a one page document.

www.land-that-job.com

Guest · Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2009 12:16 pm Post subject:

This is some great advice. I completely agree with having a custom resume tailored to the positions you are applying for. It is very rare that a resume can be one size fits all.

In regards to how many pages I don't think there is a specific number that is the right answer. It needs to be right to the point but also give a good representation of your skills and experience. If you can do that in 1 page that is fine. If you can do it in 3 that is fine.

Just be careful and remember the goal of the resume which is getting an interview. I'm sure everyone can agree if you submit a novel that isn't focused you are not going to obtain tha goal.

ArtificialIntelligence · New User Joined: 31 Aug 2009 Posts: 5 Career Advice: +0/-0

Totally agree. CV needs to be written specifically for the job that you are applying. A CV is your first impression, so make sure it is well made and professionally written. I have seen so many CV's land up in our HR department which go right in to the dust bin because they were not presentable, were not well formatted or well written.

EmpireCareer · Newbie Joined: 24 Sep 2009 Posts: 2 Career Advice: +0/-0

Your resume is probably the most important tool you can use in today’s job market. That being said I agree that it needs to be completely tailored to the specific job you are applying for, not just the industry. Now employers are being flooded with so many applicants they are using computer software to scan the resumes and pull out key words that were in their job description. This means that many great applicants are being thrown to the way side because they did not tailor their resume to that job.

The process of analyzing and deciding what key words to use can be difficult and sometimes a daunting task, that’s why I always suggest hiring someone to do it for you. I may be biased since this is what I do for a living, but I have seen some great resumes come through but they simply were not effective. If you are having troubles getting through the first wave of computer cuts, please check out this website
www.professional-resumeservice.com and see if they can help you.

Julie Adams
www.professional-resumeservice.com

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