How a Great Resume can Help New Grads Score their First Job
You have spent the past four years living off Ramen Noodles and driving a ten year old rust bucket just to ensure that you reach the point you are at now – a new college grad ready to enter the workforce, shiny new degree in hand. You got good grades and all your professors loved you – so why aren’t prospective employers clamoring for your services?
Your resume may not be helping. The problem is that employers want to know what you can do for them and are just not all that interested in what you did in school, so you need to tailor your resume to convince them that all that experience you gained in school and all that knowledge really does transfer to the workplace. Some tips:
State your Goals – As a new graduate your resume has to feature a good, targeted objective statement. Whether you add a formal objective section or reference it in a qualifications summary is up to you, but whichever you choose avoid the kind of flowery jargon laden nonsense that too many new college grads tend to use. Investing a few dollars to have a resume writing service come up with a good one for you is a wise move if you are not sure how to put your aspirations into words.
Highlight the Positive – If you have little in the way of real world work experience your academic achievements should be highlighted in as positive a way as possible. And that doesn’t just mean stating your GPA, or mentioning the fact that you made the Dean’s list (although that certainly won’t hurt) Did you do an internship while you were in school? If so make sure you mention it. Did you win Employee of the month at the restaurant you were waiting tables at to pay the bills? Mention that too. Although the job duties may not be related to the job you are chasing now such things do go some way to demonstrating your worth as an employee in general.
Pick the Right Format – A traditional chronological resume format, which emphasizes employment history, rarely works well for a new college graduate. A functional resume, which highlights all those academic achievements and unique skills that you can bring to the table will be far more successful. Again, if you are not sure that you have done a great job by yourself consider hiring someone to do take your rough draft and polish it into a resume that will really help you land that all important first job.
Reasons Why You Aren’t Getting Hired
Have you been on dozens of interviews but still have no job to call your own, even though you thought everything went well every time you sat down with a potential employer? If you really have not made any huge interview faux pas there may be other, slightly less obvious reasons why you job search is taking longer than you had hoped:
Job Descriptions – Read it properly. Do you really meet all the criteria? In years past, when there were plenty of jobs to go around a few extra years’ experience could compensate for a lack of skill in a certain area but in a tight job market that is simply no longer the case. If you find yourself discounting (or losing out on) job opportunity after job opportunity because you cannot meet one certain criteria don’t just give up, do something about it.
Words mean a Lot – It is one thing to have a resume that is free of grammar and spelling errors but if that resume is full of “jargon” chances are it is hurting your chances of landing a job every bit as much as a resume that is grammatically incorrect as a first graders English essay. Use keywords yes, they catch the recruiters eye but do not stuff your resume full of incomprehensible nonsense.
Wrong Fit – Your interview suit is killer, you meet every point in the job description and your resume would make Bill Gates blush, but you still don’t get the job. Unfortunately there really is no perfect recipe for getting hired. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of personality or a clash with the unstated corporate culture. You just don’t fit and you will probably never even know why. . It’s all perfectly legal (if a little sad) but the point to remember it’s not you, its them.
Unreal Expectations – Are you simply aiming too high? Are you still sitting in the backyard at home scoring the classifieds for the perfect job while the bills mount up? We would all love to snag our dream job but the fact is you have to settle for one that is good enough. No one says that you have to go to work in McDonalds if you were previously a NASA engineer but you do need to be willing to make a few compromises if you want to end upon somebody’s payroll.
Do Resume Gimmicks Ever Pay Off?
Job seekers hear, read and see so much advice about what to include on their resume, as well as what not to, that you might think that most people have a pretty good idea of how to write a great resume by now. However, as demonstrated by a recent Career Builder study that is not always the case. Human resources professionals were asked to submit the strangest resume inclusions they had ever encountered. Some of them were obvious ploys to grab the recruiter’s attention, while others? Who knows. Here are some of the best (or is that the worst?)
- A female candidate included a letter of recommendation – from her mother.
- A candidate explained (as he should) the reason for a gap in his employment history. He took three months out to mourn the death of his cat.
- Another candidate tackled the always sticky issue of a criminal record. He stole a pig, but it was, he went on to assure recruiters, only a really small pig.
- A gentleman listed one of his hobbies ( a no no these days in itself) as sitting on a levee at night watching the alligators.
All very funny, but in a job market that is still rather tight do gimmicks (and humor) actually work when you are trying to stand out from the masses? Once in a while you will hear a tale or read a news story about how a clever trick piqued a recruiter’s interest and helped the poor candidate get the job but in the real world it’s rare. On the whole whatever the industry, such things will not get you job. More likely you will become an anecdote for the recruiter you targeted to share after dinner at some future event (or to share with a national survey) but that will do little for your personal career prospects.
Cover Letters – More Important than You Might Think
Many jobseekers know how important it is to have a great resume and spend a great deal of time (and in many cases money) making sure that theirs is just right. But if you look at most of the job applications you encounter either on or offline they ask the candidate to submit a resume and a cover letter, and it is that cover letter that lets them down. If the cover letter is bad often the recruiter is so turned off by it that they never even bother to look at the perfectly crafted resume. Here are a few tips for an effective cover letter:
Keep it Short and Sweet – You are writing a cover letter, not your autobiography. A pleasant greeting, a few lines summarizing the highlights of your resume and a polite closing requesting an interview is quite sufficient. Any longer than that and a recruiter is likely to lose interest and move on to the next application in their pile.
Never use a canned cover letter – If you are going to send a cover letter take the time to actually write one that is specific to the job you applying for, not just the same missive sent out again and again to dozens of different potential employers. Human Resources personnel and recruiters tend to be able spot these a mile off and your application is likely to be passed over right away.
Be mindful of your tone –A cover letter is a missive from one professional to another and the tone should be professional yet relaxed. Don’t be funny, ridiculously wordy or over flattering. Most importantly though confident is good but cocky is very bad. You want the recruiter to read your cover letter and come away with the impression that you may indeed be a helpful, useful addition to their team, not that the author believes that they are living on Mount Olympus and deigning to come down to work with mere mortals!
Proofread – Failing to proofread the cover letter they are sending out is a mistake made by many a job hunter. They have worked to develop a flawless resume and then ruin the whole thing by attaching a cover letter that is badly written and has grammar and/or spelling mistakes. Keep jargon to a minimum as well, as excessive use of it just tends to make the recruiters head spin.
Tax Time Tips for Job Hunters
Job hunting can be a strenuous and sometimes downright depressing but, it does have its advantages when it comes to tax season. Knowing what you can (and cannot) deduct when it comes to filing is important. Here are a few pointers:
Travel Expenses – Traveling to interviews can take a real bite out of your budget but, much of it can be claimed back on your taxes. There are some rather confusing IRS rules you have to keep in mind though. If the sole purpose of your trip is to obtain new employment then everything – flight, meals, hotel rooms – can be deducted. However, if you went to Hawaii on vacation and decided it was so wonderful you cannot imagine leaving and then decide to look for a job, none of the expenses are deductible. Reason being the original purpose of your trip was pleasurable in nature. However, you can still deduct the cost of actually getting to the interviews (bus, rental car, etc.)
Resume Distribution Services
It is no secret that many are out of work and seeking employment today. With unemployment rising and a not so promising job market for new grads, job seekers are looking at every option to help. Of course there are the basics: submitting your resume to the major job boards (CareerBuilder, Monster, etc.), checking the job classifieds, setting up a LinkedIn profile, and registering with employment agencies. While, registering with an employment agency or two is a great idea it certainly does not give you access to the numerous other agencies out there. With the number of agencies available it would be a full-time job alone applying and interviewing with them all. Choosing a resume distribution service might be the answer.
Resumes Must Have Specific Key Words
“I’m perfect for the position. So why didn’t you call me?” Have you ever thought or said something similar to this?
The answer to that question in my experience is that candidates rarely demonstrate in the resume they are the perfect fit. Most important word is, “demonstrate.”
