Teenage Resumes

If you are writing a resume for the first time and are freaking out because you don’t know what to put down let alone what format to use, don’t despair. Research shows that resume get about 20 seconds to make the cut. So format is very important, use one that is easy to read and the most relevant information is the most visible. I mostly use a combination of the chronological and functional formats. Show off some of your computer skills and create your own format as opposed to a generic one found on your computer, that everyone else will have. You can use bullets to increase the readability to highlight relevant skills. Make sure and use a font that is easy to read.  

Start off with your contact information, name, address, phone number and e-mail. You may want to create a free account with a professional sounding address, especially if yours is too cute or inappropriate for a work setting. Stud69 will not impress your new boss and may disqualify you before they ever read the rest of your teenage resume. Next I put a Summary of Qualifications, highlight your most relevant skills here. You will know what is relevant if you spend a bit of time researching similar job posting and take note of the skills they are wanting. I also suggest spending time researching each company you apply for and find there mission statement, sales, goals, check out business journals, and local news paper archives. If they identify team work as a core value document your team skills. If they are opening into a new market document relevant skills that would add value to their goal. That is the key right there, show how you will add value or contribute something they need and you will get an interview. Here are some items to include:

Positive personal characteristics

Technical and computer skills

Coursework relevant to your desired profession

Educational accomplishments (include your GPA if it’s over 3.0)

Skills and experience gained during internships or summer jobs

Other related accomplishments (design awards, recognition, winning competitions etc.)

Work History (include unpaid work if it relates to your target positions)The key is to emphasize those things that demonstrate your value and to leave out those things that don’t. For example, if you are looking to work in Information Systems, your ability to program in C++ will be important – but the fact that you have won awards for water skiing won’t! Don’t include hobbies unless they directly relate to your goal.

Spend some time either at the library or on-line looking at examples and formats and you will soon get an idea of the basic structure. Your school career counselor can help you too, I strongly suggest you have at least 2 professionals proof-read it before you drop it off. Teachers and parents will work.

Don’t forget a cover letter, check out this blog for How to Write An Effective Cover Letter. If you follow these guidelines you will be leaps and bounds ahead of your peers and you will pass the 20 second test.

Should I Take Notes In The Interview?

This is still somewhat of a controversy. From what I have read and experienced is that most interviewers give an approving nod.

Here are the con’s

1. An interview is still considered by some to be a conversation, and thus taking notes is rude.
2. It may make the interviewer defensive,thinking about possible lawsuits. The last thing you want to do is to make the interviewer nervous.
3. It may indicate you have a problem with short-term memory or aren’t quick enough to think on their feet.

Here are the pro’s

1. The interviewers are taking notes, just don’t delay the process.
2. An interview is a business meeting and thus taking notes is not only appropriate, but professional and not showing signs of a scattered or disorganized mind. Certain business cultures provide all employees with notebooks and expect them to use them to stay accountable to goals and objectives.
3. It encourages listen and not talking, some coaches suggest the 80-20 rule, 80% listening and 20% talking.
4. The most important thing is to ask permission. Insurance plans and benefits can be complicated and I think it is best to have accurate information. I also think it demonstrates a level of seriousness and interest towards the position.
5. You have all the information you need to write a very effective thank you letter.
6. You may think of a question to ask or a topic you want to expand upon while the interviewer is talking and you don’t want to interrupt them, you can write it down to talk about latter.

It is very important to ask permission because it eliminates any surprises and draws attention to that behavior. You can also inject a sales pitch into the question.

Suggestion:

Do you mind if I take notes? I want to keep the details of this discussion very clear in my mind because the more I learn about the opportunity, the more confident I am that I can make an important contribution.

Suggestion for consulting your notes:

While we were talking, I jotted down a few points I wanted to ask you about. May I have a minute to consult my notes?

Thanks for the detailed description of the opportunity and the company. I know you answered most of my questions in the course of our conversation. Before  I came here, I jotted down a few questions I didn’t want to forget. May I consult my notes?

Pay attention to all the fine details in an interview including your pen and a notebook. I suggest getting a nice pen and a leather bound notebook. Taking notes with a pen that doesn’t work or a ratty looking, cheap notebook won’t impress anyone.

I got this information from a book called 201 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview, by John Kador.

Working With A Disability

The US Census defines disability as a condition that limits or prevents working and by it own latest published survey that number of people in this category is 17.4 million people of working age (16 to 64). This isn’t a good definition as many people with disabilities do work. The Survey of Income and Program Participation uses a broader definition and includes, those unable to work, those on Social Security, those who use wheelchairs and those who report limits in what they can do and estimates the number of Americans  with a disability is closer to 32 million people.  This group of people have on of the highest unemployment rates of any group, 67%. A Harris Poll found that 7 out of 10 people with a disability who are not working want to work. 42% say an important reason they are not working is that their supervisors don’t think they can handle working full-time or doing the task.

32 million people represents a huge untapped employment reservoir. How can employers tap into this resource? By changing the myths about people with disabilities and that starts by changing  the language we use to describe the “disabled.” “Didabled” I think is degrading and minimizes a person to the label of their disability. That is all that they are. As a person with a disability, I am as warm, dynamic and complicated as a person who does not have a disability. I have the same rights and responsibilites as any other American thanks to the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990. It our Cvil Rights Act.

Why do I feel like I have to work harder, take on more work, just to prove I can do it.  I guess I need to prove peolple with disabilities are more than just the label we are branded with.  We are people who have had to overcome huge barriers, just to do the things a person without a disability takes for granted.

The Hidden Unemployed

This from the New York Times.

“The number of Americans who have seen their full-time jobs chopped to part time because of weak business has swelled to more than 3.7 million — the largest figure since the government began tracking such data more than half a century ago.

 

 

The loss of pay has become a primary source of pain for millions of American families, reinforcing the downturn gripping the economy. Paychecks are shrinking just as home prices plunge and gas prices soar, furthering the austerity across the nation.

On the surface, the job market is weak but hardly desperate. Layoffs remain less frequent than in many economic downturns, and the unemployment rate is a relatively modest 5.5 percent. But that figure masks the strains of those who are losing hours or working part time because they cannot find full-time work — a stealth force that is eroding American spending power.

 

 

All told, people the government classifies as working part time involuntarily — predominantly those who have lost hours or cannot find full-time work — swelled to 5.3 million last month, a jump of greater than 1 million over the last year.”

That is one million more American Workers who are turning to credit cards to buy food and necessities. The move to cut hours may save Corporate America’s bottom line, but it is devastating to American Families. Most of us can’t afford our health care now, but when you begin making COBRA payments, you really pay. Exxon-Mobile reported the most any American Corporation had ever made, ever, averaging $1500 a second. I am all for a free market, but isn’t there something wrong with this picture? Aren’t the corporations killing the goose that laid the golden egg? In more ways than one. High gas prices caught the American Auto Industry with their pants down, and has all but stalled production of SUV’s and trucks. Just think of where we would be now, if we would of listened to the ineffective Jimmy Carter about foreign oil 30 years ago.  We didn’t have the technology then, but we do now and there is no excuse (except Exxon-Mobile is making record profits). We developed solar technology for NASA, now it is a viable alternative that could provide millions of jobs for hurting American Workers. Greedy and shady lenders have caused the one asset middle America has and that is the equity in their homes to drop. Couple that with skyrocketing cost due to high energy cost and there isn’t enough paycheck to meet the demand of the month. It isn’t just average Americans that are going into debt, but a nation as well. We are now 9 trillion dollars in debt and borrowing more by the second. What happened to fiscal responsibility. I guess that is what you get in a president who has never had a real job before and has always had someone to bail him out.

Resumes 101, Formats

Employers are getting hundreds of resumes and you have about 15 seconds to make it into the call pile. So a good resume is critical. How you approach gathering and presenting information will help with the finished product. A resume has one purpose, to get you an interview. There are basically 5 different formats you can use, Targeted, Inventory, Chronological, Functional and the Combo/Hybrid. For my clients who have spotty employment history and many have criminal records I use the Combo/Hybrid

A Targeted resume targets a specific career objective or specific industry, to highlight skills for what the employer is advertising.

An Inventory resume is for when you have a general objective, but don’t want to limit yourself to one job title.

The chronological resume documents progressive career movement and is easy to read. Document your work history In reverse chronological order. This emphasizes a progressive, steady employment

A functional resume highlight skills and qualifications and focuses less on the amount of work history you have. The top of your resumes highlights skills, qualifications and the bottom contains your work history and education.

The Combo/Hybrid combines several of the key benefits of them all. Start out with A Summary of Qualifications and highlight your best most competitive skills or traits. Then if education is your next best selling point put it next or maybe it is your work history.

Now you know the different formats of resumes.

Illegal Interview Questions

I’m a Job Developer and yesterday I ran into an uncomfortable situation when a prospective employer was asking for my client’s diagnosis. My client has a severe Mental Illness that is still shrouded with so much stigma, I didn’t want to tell him.  I felt that the question was inappropriate if not illegal. So I did some checking and this is what I found out. My colleague felt the question was in legal territory, since  I introduced myself as a Job Developer and it wasn’t an interview with the client. Here are the absolutely illegal question subjects. 

Race

Color

Sex

Religion

National origin

Birthplace

Age

Disability

Marital/family status

An employer can ask you questions to determine your fitness for the job, not delving into your personal life. Illegal questions may be asked to eliminate you from the position or  because the interviewer is poorly trained, ignorant or just overly curious.

What is the best way to handle an illegal question?  I was vague and tried to answer the nature of the question.I told him he had an illness that required him to take medication, but that it didn’t affect his ability to do the job I suggested. I had talked with my client about disclosing his disability, so I had permission, but I didn’t think it was in my clients best interest to fully disclose. If an interviewer asks about your national origin, you can reply that you are legal to work in the Untied States.  You can also say that you are uncomfortable with that question and it doesn’t have anything to do with my ability to do this job. I never have confronted or anything I have read suggest confronting the legality of the question in the interview, because you don’t know their motivation (ignorance or malice). You can file a claim with the EEOC, U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but there are time frames to adhere to.

Negotiating A Salary

You landed the interview, you have been offered a position, now you must negotiate for your salary package, what to do?

First, don’t go to the interview without first having a salary range for the position you are being hired for.  You will be at a huge disadvantage if you don’t do some homework first. There are several sites were you can find a range. One is http://www.cbsalary.com. You need to establish a bottom salary, the lowest offer you can reasonably accept and don’t go below that. This may become a balancing act with how badly you need the job and getting the salary you need.

Secondly, don’t take the first offer and don’t sell yourself short, but don’t start negotiating until an offer is made.  Don’t be afraid to refuse and offer, negotiate, make a counter offer. Ask more about the challenges and responsibilities. This gives you more information and can give you leverage. Repeat the offer, then remain silent like you are thinking about it. Be prepared with options and counter offers. Remember your selling points during the interview, revisit these if need be.

Lastly, don’t accept the job right away, ask for 24 hours to think about it. Know how badly the employer needs to fill this position. Continue to demonstrate your interest and enthsiasism for the position even though you are negotiating. Don’t substitute aloofness for holding out for a better deal.

Don’t forget to write a thank you note, this may seal the deal!

Right On! I Got A Job Interview, Now What?

Here are 10 tips to help your next interview be your last for a while

Do your homework.Research the company beforehand so that you can showcase that knowledge during the interview. The internet is a great resource, you can google the company, check business journals for company information, like ranking, sales, mission statement. This will give you a background and later you will be able to ask informed question.

Know where you’re going. Make sure to find out where the office is and how to get there. There are several free sites devoted to directions, Mapquest, Google Maps and Yahoo maps. Know how long the trip will take. Take the name and phone number of the person you’ll be meeting with. Know what the parking situation is, adjust your time accordingly. Save yourself time and unnecessary stress by knowing these things before heading to the interview.

Dress the part.As an Employment Specialist I have experienced this first hand. Two job candidates, different skills, both had criminal background. One gentleman was applying for a warehouse position. He had a suit on. The employers response, “finally someone to interview. The other candidate, more qualified, he wouldn’t take out his facial piercing, no job. Interviews, but no jobs. Your clothing should be neat, pressed, and professional looking. As it can be difficult to know the culture of the office environment beforehand, err on the side of conservative. However, don’t be afraid to inject some personality into your look, and don’t neglect the details. Make sure to have a fresh haircut and clean, manicured nails.

Rehearse beforehand.Prior to your interview, prepare answers to common questions the interviewer is likely to ask, such as What are your strengths and weaknesses? Why do you want to work here? Why should we hire you? and the ever popular Tell me about yourself. You can download interview questions. Conduct a mock interview with a trusted friend as practice. This works best if you can record it. This way you can see what your body language is saying as well. Non-verbal communicates makes up to 80% to 90% of the message being sent.

Secure your references.Get the details, numbers, address, etc. Bring in letters if you have them. Find at least three key people — former supervisors, colleagues, or instructors — who are willing to serve as your professional references. Be sure to secure their permission beforehand, and be certain that they will speak highly of you if contacted by a potential employer. If you don’t have three professional references, use clergy members.

Arrive early.Be sure to arrive at least 15 minutes before the interview. Visit the restroom and check your appearance in the mirror. Announce yourself to the receptionist to let him or her know that you have arrived and that you have an appointment. Turn your cell phone off so it doesn’t ring during your meeting.

Bring necessary documentation.Make a checklist of documents that you will need for the interview, and make sure that you have them in your briefcase before leaving home. These documents may include extra copies of your résumé, a passport, driver’s license, Social Security card, or portfolio of writing samples or other professional work. If you are a recent graduate, you should also bring along your college transcripts.

Sell yourself.The interview is your chance to shine, so now is not the time to be humble. Develop a 25-second sales pitch that sings your praises. In business this is called an “elevator speech,” a compelling overview of why you? that can be recited in the time it takes to ride the elevator. It should include your strengths, your abilities, and what sets you uniquely apart from other applicants.

Don’t neglect to ask questions. Based on your earlier research, ask how the responsibilities of the open position relate to the company’s goals and plans for the future. Interviewers are often favorably impressed by candidates who show that they are knowledgeable about the organization. Another resource is a book I use 201 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview, by John Kandor.

Follow up.After the interview, don’t forget to send a handwritten note or friendly email thanking the interviewer for his or her time and consideration, as well as restating your interest and commitment to the position. If you don’t hear anything after one week, call to politely inquire when they will be making a final decision. You have come this far take the energy to follow through, Thank you cards have always worked well for me and my clients.

 Interviewing can be very stressful, these tips should help bring down your stress level. Think back to school and how you felt before a test. Remember what that feeling was like when you didn’t study, now remember what it was like when you were prepared. Preparing will dramaticaly reduce your stress.

Does The Wage Gap Still Exist?

This is what infoplease.com says
“The Equal Pay Act was signed in 1963, making it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who hold the same job and do the same work. At the time of the EPA’s passage, women earned just 58 cents for every dollar earned by men. By 2006, that rate had only increased to 77 cents, an improvement of less than half a penny a year. Minority women fare the worst. African-American women earn just 64 cents to every dollar earned by white men, and for Hispanic women that figure drops to merely 52 cents per dollar.

Over the past 40 years the real median earnings of women have fallen short by an estimated $700,000 to $2 million. During a lifetime of full-time work (47 years) this gap amounts to an estimated loss in wages for women of $700,000 for high school graduates, $1.2 million for a college graduate, and $2 million for a professional school graduate.

If working women earned the same as men (those who work the same number of hours; have the same education, age, and union status; and live in the same region of the country), their annual family incomes would rise by $4,000 and poverty rates would be cut in half.”

Seriously, poverty is cut in half. That says something about our beliefs of the “lazy” poor people.  We need to address the inequality of the working poor. It comes down to opportunity, or lack of. Education, or lack of. Access to resources like the world wide web, or lack of.

This news is from alternet.org, from The Wage Gap Lives On.

“The U.S. Supreme Court recently dealt a blow to women’s ability to sue their employers for pay discrimination. In the 5-4 Ledbetter v. Goodyear decision handed down last year, the court’s majority ruled that employees cannot sue unless they have first filed a formal complaint with a federal agency within 180 of the discriminatory pay being set. Since salary information is often secret, a woman may not know she was paid less until the clock has run out.”

How fair is that? This ruling seems to instionalize the Wage Gap.

“Employers put women in a category where they think they’re not going to be reliable,” said Janet Chung, and attorney with the Northwest Women’s Law Center in Seattle. “It’s not just about pregnancy, but the whole frontier of family responsibility discrimination. They may think a newly married, younger woman will become pregnant soon and not be committed to her job. Or if she has children, they may assume she doesn’t want to travel. Rather than assessing a woman’s performance on the job, they make assumptions.”

So what do you do? Educate yourself. Here are the top earning professions for women. Do some research. I think Monster.com has the best salary checker, if you have a non-traditional job title, you have to play around with it.

Occupations with Highest Median Weekly Earnings Among Women, 2005

Rank	Occupation	Median weekly earnings
1.	Pharmacists	$1,483
2.	Chief executives	1,413
3.	Lawyers	1,354
4.	Computer software engineers	1,174
5.	Physicians and surgeons	1,134
6.	Computer and information  systems managers	$1,094
7.	Medical and health service managers	1,026
8.	Computer programmers	1,014
9.	Physical therapists	1,014
10.	Human resource managers	998

Here are projected growth in different industries.

Industries with the Fastest Wage and Salary Employment Growth, 2004–2014

Industry description	Thousands of jobs		Change, 2004–2014	Average annual rate of change
	2004	20141
Home health-care services	773.2	1,310.3	537.1	5.4%
Software publishers	238.7	400.0	161.3	5.3
Management, scientific, and technical consulting services	779.0	1,250.2	471.2	4.8
Residential care facilities	1,239.6	1,840.3	600.7	4.0
Facilities support services	115.6	170.0	54.4	3.9
Employment services	3,470.3	5,050.2	1,579.9	3.8
Independent artists, writers, and performers	41.9	60.8	18.9	3.8
Office administrative services	319.4	449.9	130.5	3.5
Computer systems design and related services	1,147.4	1,600.3	452.9	3.4
Outpatient, laboratory, and other ambulatory care services	836.1	1,160.4	324.3	3.3
Child day-care services	767.1	1,061.9	294.8	3.3

NOTE: 1. Projected.

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

What Are The Benefits Of Having My Resume Written Professionally?

A professionally written resume will dramatically increase your response rate — and substantially shorten your job search time. Landing a job is 70% presentation and 30% actual skills and abilities. In fact, the candidate who gets the job is not always the most qualified; rather, the candidate with the best presentation is who gets hired.

Busy hiring professionals must quickly screen out hundreds (even thousands) of resumes. The few that survive the initial 10-second screening process are subjected to a more careful scrutiny before more time is invested in an interview.

    

Many people don’t want to use the services of a professional resume writer because it is too expensive.  True, resume writers normally charge between $100 to $400 for a resume, depending on a person’s level of experience, which translates into how complex the assignment will be.  Top notch resume writers even charge in the thousands, but those writers work mainly with executives who can afford it.

Whether or not to have someone write your resume for you is a personal decision.  Based on experience, however, very few people who have had their resumes professionally written have regretted their decision.  Why?  Because after they saw how big of a difference their revamped resume was compared to their original one, they realized they made the right decision.  Also, throughout the resume writting process, they gained an appreciation for the work that resume writers do.

 There are sites that will provide you with a resume template. How you say what is important is just as important as what you say. Use keywords that a hiring manager will pick up on. I like to use action words, orchestrated a landscaping route. If you are like me and have trouble spelling, even with spellcheck, have someone proofread your resume. Even if you are an english teacher, have someone proofread your work! You may know what you are trying to say, but will others? Use language that explains not obscures.