From screening job applications to conducting interviews, hiring practices have undergone a dramatic transformation over the past decade. Despite all the changes, common resume blunders continue to plague job search practices at all levels. This article attempts to overcome some of these errors.
#1: It's all about the number of pages
The one-page rule is probably the most common myth about a resume. Candidates, even senior executives, use microscopic fonts, leave off important information, use 0.1 inch margins, and resort to a myriad of unhealthy practices -- all in an attempt to restrict their resume to just one page.
Many well-meaning college counsellors advise their students to be concise and limit their resume to one page. That was important when you were a student with little or no experience, but why subscribe to the same wisdom after rising to the ranks of upper manaegment or a senior executive role?
There is an opposing viewpoint. Some job seekers mistakenly believe that if they can somehow balloon their resumes to four or five pages, they will probably be considered for higher-paying positions. What? Will someone offer me $250,000 simply because my resume is ten pages and redundant to the point of boredom?
Content rules. The quality of experience should influence the length of the resume, not hearsay. If you have held only one job, then don’t try to create a five-page resume, but if your background merits a lengthier resume then don’t use eight point fonts in a desperate attempt to fit everything on one page.
If you are too concerned about the length of your resume, consider creating a one- or two-page resume with additional pages serving as an appendix or addendum.
#2: Make up that degree - no one will know
Lying on a resume is the worst mistake a candidate can make. Even if you pass the background check (very unlikely considering how sophisticated background checks have become), a savvy employer will discover the deception within days, if not sooner.
Apart from the legal ramifications, we live in a professional world that is influenced by social media. At the touch of a button, HR managers across the country can discuss their experiences. Maintaining a good reputation is more important than ever.
#3: Your resume must have an objective
“Seeking a position that will be beneficial and mutually rewarding … and will make use of my experience and education ....” If that is your idea of an objective, don’t bother using one. Every inch of resume space is precious. Don’t waste it on generic information that can be found on almost every other resume. Every word, every character that appears on your resume must position you as the perfect candidate for the job.
In place of objectives, use what many experts call “branding statements” or “headers”. The concept can be explained with the help of an example.
In the case of a clinical researcher, for example, a generic objective would be as follows:
“Seeking a mutually beneficial position that will make use of my 10+ years’ experience in hotel management.”
An improvement would be:
Hotel Manager with Hospitality Degree and 10+ Years’ Professional Excellence
Worked with top two global hotel chains. Leveraged hospitality expertise to manage three multi-billion dollar projects from ground 0 to financial growth.
The generic example does almost nothing to position the candidate but the refined version, in addition to serving as an objective, brings out three to four prominent strengths and an overall value proposition.
Whether you decide to use an objective or a positioning statement, refrain from presenting generic arguments.
#4: Your references must be listed on the resume itself
Normally, a separate page is used as a reference sheet. This not only protects the privacy of your references (imagine posting their contact information on every job board), but also makes the screening professional’s job a little easier.
#5: I can use the same resume for multiple job targets
If your current resume focuses on your hotel housekeeping background, please don’t send the same resume for marketing positions. It is understandable that you may qualify for multiple positions or be interested in pursuing alternate careers. If so, try to create a customized resume for each job target.
When it comes to a resume, never follow the “one size fits all” approach.
Showing posts with label job hunting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label job hunting. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
I've Got Attitude!
We all know how tough the economy is currently, but it's toughest on skilled hospitality professionals that have been looking for work for an extended time. So now more than ever, your attitude is so important in an industry where it plays such a major factor any day.
How much does having the right attitude affect your career development, getting a job, or fitting in with the company culture? A positive attitude is the cause of a successful job search, not the result, esecially in this industry where quality of people interaction is paramount.
If you're looking for work, it's just common sense that the more negative you are about your own abilities, your job prospects, the companies you apply to work for, and life in general, the less likely you are to land a job. Employers want people who believe in themselves and their skills, who want to work, who want to work for them, and who generally have a positive attitude.
While maintaining a positive attitude is vital to a successful job search, the sluggish economy will make it discouraging. It may seem impossible to revive that positive energy level, but there are many things you can do to bring your rosy outlook back to life and keep it in good shape.
Number one is to feel good about yourself and yur skills and work achievements. This is the key to a positive attitude, and all the points that follow are ways of helping you feel good about yourself.
Speak positively about yourself and your abilities. You know the story about the little engine that could, right? What you believe about yourself is the foundation of all your future actions.
Take charge! Accept responsibility for your life and your job search. It is not up to your mother, father, girlfriend or boyfriend, or your aunt Zelda in Jasper to find you a job. Although your network can be a definite help, YOU are responsible for the success of your job search.
Don't focus on regrets or perceived mistakes. Instead of blaming yourself and constantly rehashing past mistakes, take the opportunity to learn from the past. Build on past experiences to improve yourself and your abilities. You should remind yourself that the current hospitality market is very much an employees one and many are putting the bottom line first and avoiding hiring until it's absolutely necessary - it's not personal and likely not a commentary about your skills.
Stop worrying about the future. While you don't want to live in the past, you also don't want to live in the future. Worrying is a habit, and you can change the habit if you really try. If you find yourself stuck in a negativity rut, shovel yourself out by focusing on your hopes and dreams rather than on your fears. Hiring managers have many ways of knowing when a candidate does not bring a positive attitude to the interview.
Flatter yourself. The job search is no time to be humble. Read every complimentary thing about yourself that you can find. Letters of praise, past awards, performance appraisals, or any other positive recognitions you have are good ways to remind yourself of your worth and talents. Paste these things on a wall or a bulletin board in your work area to boost your spirits whenever you feel a little down.
Start each day on a positive, upbeat note. The start of your day will set the tempo for everything that follows. Do something every morning that will put you in a good mood, whether that is taking a walk, listening to some upbeat music, doing a crossword, or just relaxing with a good cup of coffee.
Get physical! You've heard the saying, "healthy body, healthy mind." Keeping yourself healthy and in good physical shape will boost your energy level and make it easier to maintain a positive mental attitude.
Develop a plan each day of job hunting goals to accomplish. Sticking to your schedule as closely as possible will provide focus to your job search. Might I suggest talking to your friendly hosptiality recruiter to start?
Keep up appearances. While nobody expects you to wear a suit and tie every day on your job search, try not to dress too casually.
Get networking on-line and locally and join an association to keep up to date on developments and trends. It will help you develop your network and put you in contact with people that have interests similar to yours and to know others are in a similar situation. A positive attitude is contagious so surround yourself with supportive, positive people.
Finally, be sure to reward yourself for your job hunting efforts and do something enjoyable and relaxing that will take your mind off job hunting. Remember that nothing ever stays the same and the hospitality market in the West has had many ups and downs that we have come through successfully and your positive attitude will ensure just that.
How much does having the right attitude affect your career development, getting a job, or fitting in with the company culture? A positive attitude is the cause of a successful job search, not the result, esecially in this industry where quality of people interaction is paramount.
If you're looking for work, it's just common sense that the more negative you are about your own abilities, your job prospects, the companies you apply to work for, and life in general, the less likely you are to land a job. Employers want people who believe in themselves and their skills, who want to work, who want to work for them, and who generally have a positive attitude.
While maintaining a positive attitude is vital to a successful job search, the sluggish economy will make it discouraging. It may seem impossible to revive that positive energy level, but there are many things you can do to bring your rosy outlook back to life and keep it in good shape.
Number one is to feel good about yourself and yur skills and work achievements. This is the key to a positive attitude, and all the points that follow are ways of helping you feel good about yourself.
Speak positively about yourself and your abilities. You know the story about the little engine that could, right? What you believe about yourself is the foundation of all your future actions.
Take charge! Accept responsibility for your life and your job search. It is not up to your mother, father, girlfriend or boyfriend, or your aunt Zelda in Jasper to find you a job. Although your network can be a definite help, YOU are responsible for the success of your job search.
Don't focus on regrets or perceived mistakes. Instead of blaming yourself and constantly rehashing past mistakes, take the opportunity to learn from the past. Build on past experiences to improve yourself and your abilities. You should remind yourself that the current hospitality market is very much an employees one and many are putting the bottom line first and avoiding hiring until it's absolutely necessary - it's not personal and likely not a commentary about your skills.
Stop worrying about the future. While you don't want to live in the past, you also don't want to live in the future. Worrying is a habit, and you can change the habit if you really try. If you find yourself stuck in a negativity rut, shovel yourself out by focusing on your hopes and dreams rather than on your fears. Hiring managers have many ways of knowing when a candidate does not bring a positive attitude to the interview.
Flatter yourself. The job search is no time to be humble. Read every complimentary thing about yourself that you can find. Letters of praise, past awards, performance appraisals, or any other positive recognitions you have are good ways to remind yourself of your worth and talents. Paste these things on a wall or a bulletin board in your work area to boost your spirits whenever you feel a little down.
Start each day on a positive, upbeat note. The start of your day will set the tempo for everything that follows. Do something every morning that will put you in a good mood, whether that is taking a walk, listening to some upbeat music, doing a crossword, or just relaxing with a good cup of coffee.
Get physical! You've heard the saying, "healthy body, healthy mind." Keeping yourself healthy and in good physical shape will boost your energy level and make it easier to maintain a positive mental attitude.
Develop a plan each day of job hunting goals to accomplish. Sticking to your schedule as closely as possible will provide focus to your job search. Might I suggest talking to your friendly hosptiality recruiter to start?
Keep up appearances. While nobody expects you to wear a suit and tie every day on your job search, try not to dress too casually.
Get networking on-line and locally and join an association to keep up to date on developments and trends. It will help you develop your network and put you in contact with people that have interests similar to yours and to know others are in a similar situation. A positive attitude is contagious so surround yourself with supportive, positive people.
Finally, be sure to reward yourself for your job hunting efforts and do something enjoyable and relaxing that will take your mind off job hunting. Remember that nothing ever stays the same and the hospitality market in the West has had many ups and downs that we have come through successfully and your positive attitude will ensure just that.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
An Interview or CSI Investigation?
As a recruiter in hospitality for many years, I've been privy to the interview mindset of clients looking for new management and executive candidates. While various styles of interviewing come and go, has it ever seemed to you more like a criminal investigation?
If you said, "Yes!", there's good reason it seemed that way. In my experience, some intervieews approach the interview with the vigour of the most experienced CSI Investigator, as though they just picked you up off the street holding a smoking gun and pleading innocence.
The conductor of this type of interview has taken passion for their work to a new level and lost the primary intention of an interview: to tease the best from the candidate, not the worst. They take great efforts to ask the most obscure questions, give test questions that are not at all related to the position, and probe into your home or personal life. All with the aim to find information to use against you. Amazingly, when an interview becomes criminal it's often not because of anything the candidate has done, but because the interviewee has gone far beyond the probing behavioural question.
Too often an interviewer may wander in with a test in hand and ask you to complete it. It doesn't matter that you'll never be expected to know more than half the answers in relation to the job.
Let's not forget the computer savvy that crawl over the internet for clever and obscure questions that appear to test the candidates' ability to solve problems under pressure. Even working in the front line of the busiest restaurant where the pressure is intense, you'll not likely be in a life and death wine corking horror: it just doesn't happen.
Let's be honest, if a candidate is a proficient liar, the interview is not where you'll catch them out: you're just going to catch normal people making small mistakes. Just like you and I do. And you wouldn't want your career to hang on one small mistake, would you?
So, instead of trying to find ways to trip up candidates, let's remember the first rule of interviewing: show the candidate the same level of respect that you'd want to be shown. Be pleasant and courteous and make an effort to put the candidate at ease: that way you'll get far more out of the interview and you'll be able to make an informed decision when it comes to making the final choice.
Of course one must take into account the business culture and whether or not the person sitting across from you can fit in and you should be able to determine that during the course of a well conducted interview and this should also form an important part of the decision making process.
Remember that first impressions are important and go both ways: just as you'd be aghast if a candidate walked in wearing shorts and sneakers, think about the impression you're making on them. You are the front-line representative of your business. Observe the fundamentals and the interview process should be more rewarding and fruitful. After all, even the ccused criminal on CSI gets a phone call.
If you said, "Yes!", there's good reason it seemed that way. In my experience, some intervieews approach the interview with the vigour of the most experienced CSI Investigator, as though they just picked you up off the street holding a smoking gun and pleading innocence.
The conductor of this type of interview has taken passion for their work to a new level and lost the primary intention of an interview: to tease the best from the candidate, not the worst. They take great efforts to ask the most obscure questions, give test questions that are not at all related to the position, and probe into your home or personal life. All with the aim to find information to use against you. Amazingly, when an interview becomes criminal it's often not because of anything the candidate has done, but because the interviewee has gone far beyond the probing behavioural question.
Too often an interviewer may wander in with a test in hand and ask you to complete it. It doesn't matter that you'll never be expected to know more than half the answers in relation to the job.
Let's not forget the computer savvy that crawl over the internet for clever and obscure questions that appear to test the candidates' ability to solve problems under pressure. Even working in the front line of the busiest restaurant where the pressure is intense, you'll not likely be in a life and death wine corking horror: it just doesn't happen.
Let's be honest, if a candidate is a proficient liar, the interview is not where you'll catch them out: you're just going to catch normal people making small mistakes. Just like you and I do. And you wouldn't want your career to hang on one small mistake, would you?
So, instead of trying to find ways to trip up candidates, let's remember the first rule of interviewing: show the candidate the same level of respect that you'd want to be shown. Be pleasant and courteous and make an effort to put the candidate at ease: that way you'll get far more out of the interview and you'll be able to make an informed decision when it comes to making the final choice.
Of course one must take into account the business culture and whether or not the person sitting across from you can fit in and you should be able to determine that during the course of a well conducted interview and this should also form an important part of the decision making process.
Remember that first impressions are important and go both ways: just as you'd be aghast if a candidate walked in wearing shorts and sneakers, think about the impression you're making on them. You are the front-line representative of your business. Observe the fundamentals and the interview process should be more rewarding and fruitful. After all, even the ccused criminal on CSI gets a phone call.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Pride and Job Hunting
PRIDE AND JOB HUNTING
I thought I'd share something that happened today in the life of an hospitaity recruiter; me. It has to do with pride and looking for your next career move.
I spoke with a man today who's been actively looking for work and currently unemployed. He works in the hospitaity industry in Western Canada at the management level. The connundrum of pride came up in reference to looking for work, but first, let me tell what came before this issue.
We did a screening interview with him and I was following up on his search. He comes across as energetic, people-oriented, an experienced manager who has a history of stability, focusses on upgrading his skills with courses/training and he loves the industsry. All good so far, right?
In terms of career searching, he seems to doing everything right to get himself out there with networking, resume posting, and sending out applications. So why hasn't he landed a position?
I'll tell you why, in my recruiter opinion. This candidate told me he "has pride and wasn't going to call them if they didn't contact me". Ahh, one of the 7 deadly sins wreaking havoc in his ability to land a good job.
Although he's been looking for a significant period of time, he laughed after he told me this. He then went on to say that he's been starting to wonder if there's something wrong with his experience and work history that people are not making offers. Isn't it a shame that good people can sometimes get in their own way and not quite realize that's happening?
So,in the end I gave him the good news, then the bad so to speak.
We talked about where his efforts have been directed and I assured him he was doing a great job getting himself out there and that his experience is solid, his training was the best in the industry currently. I also told him about what the market is like for hospitality career seekers Western Canada now and gave him some new search ideas. A general attitude boost,and isn't that something we can all use when we're looking for work. It's so stressful and rejection can be so personal that we get depressed and look at what's wrong with us.
Then I dropped the bad news. I told him straight up that not receiving follow-up from an hiring organization is not personal and pride shouldn't be an issue at all. I gave him a few scenarios as to why orgnaizations sometimes don't respond to you resume, not the least of which is because they are pulling overtime covering the position that they posted! I emphasized to him that it's always a good idea to follow up with a phone call when you submit your resume. Pride has nothing to do with this, it's about making their job easier and demonstrating your ability to professionally following up.
And what happened to him? I'm not sure, but I think he did understand he could make those calls and not damage his sense of pride. Once he understood the circumstances that could interfere with a company calling him, he was relieved he could do more to be effective in his career search.
Historically, any one of the deadly sins is said to lead to damnation, but I hope now he'll be led to a great career move in hospitality!
I thought I'd share something that happened today in the life of an hospitaity recruiter; me. It has to do with pride and looking for your next career move.
I spoke with a man today who's been actively looking for work and currently unemployed. He works in the hospitaity industry in Western Canada at the management level. The connundrum of pride came up in reference to looking for work, but first, let me tell what came before this issue.
We did a screening interview with him and I was following up on his search. He comes across as energetic, people-oriented, an experienced manager who has a history of stability, focusses on upgrading his skills with courses/training and he loves the industsry. All good so far, right?
In terms of career searching, he seems to doing everything right to get himself out there with networking, resume posting, and sending out applications. So why hasn't he landed a position?
I'll tell you why, in my recruiter opinion. This candidate told me he "has pride and wasn't going to call them if they didn't contact me". Ahh, one of the 7 deadly sins wreaking havoc in his ability to land a good job.
Although he's been looking for a significant period of time, he laughed after he told me this. He then went on to say that he's been starting to wonder if there's something wrong with his experience and work history that people are not making offers. Isn't it a shame that good people can sometimes get in their own way and not quite realize that's happening?
So,in the end I gave him the good news, then the bad so to speak.
We talked about where his efforts have been directed and I assured him he was doing a great job getting himself out there and that his experience is solid, his training was the best in the industry currently. I also told him about what the market is like for hospitality career seekers Western Canada now and gave him some new search ideas. A general attitude boost,and isn't that something we can all use when we're looking for work. It's so stressful and rejection can be so personal that we get depressed and look at what's wrong with us.
Then I dropped the bad news. I told him straight up that not receiving follow-up from an hiring organization is not personal and pride shouldn't be an issue at all. I gave him a few scenarios as to why orgnaizations sometimes don't respond to you resume, not the least of which is because they are pulling overtime covering the position that they posted! I emphasized to him that it's always a good idea to follow up with a phone call when you submit your resume. Pride has nothing to do with this, it's about making their job easier and demonstrating your ability to professionally following up.
And what happened to him? I'm not sure, but I think he did understand he could make those calls and not damage his sense of pride. Once he understood the circumstances that could interfere with a company calling him, he was relieved he could do more to be effective in his career search.
Historically, any one of the deadly sins is said to lead to damnation, but I hope now he'll be led to a great career move in hospitality!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
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