2016 Cover Letter Tips -

2016 Cover Letter Tips -2016 Cover Letter TipsYou can listen to this article insteadIn May Microsoft published an interesting study detailing research on the changes in ur attention spans over the last several years. From 2000 to 2013 our attention spans dropped from 12 seconds to a mere eight seconds. We now have an attention span one second shorter than that of a goldfish. Let that sink in for a minute Which makes me wonder What effect does dwindling attention span have on our job searchesand our cover letters? It means the cover letter as we know it is dead.HOW WE WRITE COVER LETTERS NOW Super text-dense, making up one full pagesometimes morein content. A long-winded introduction that doesnt add value to the candidate but merely states where you heard about the stelle and why you may be interested. A lengthy body of text consisting of 2-3 paragraphsthat typically either repeats points in the resume or tries to make a connection between experience and the position to which youre applying. A long closing paragraphwhich may or may not include a follow-up method or contact information. Some people get carried away and delve into a long career narrative or life story.HOW WE NEED TO WRITE COVER LETTERS Also referred to as an E-Note, Power Note, or Value aussage Letter.2016 Cover Letter Tip 1 Keep It Short Before You Lose ThemOur shortened attention spans are the result of the digital ageit has changed the way we consume information our brains are changing, and its affecting more than just how we use our mobile devices or consume content online. Its changing how we conduct our job searches, requiring that we state only the most critical informationin the most concise way.For those who arent professional writers, have a hard time writing about themselves, or find it hard to spare the details, it is creating a real challenge. So what do you do? First forget the cover letter as you know it. Its a part of the pastand were moving on to better strategies for job sear ching.2016 Cover Letter Tip 2 Mobile Devices Rule the DayE-notes, power notes, or value aussage letters (the new cover letters) have to meet the demand of an increasingly mobile device-dependent audience. Mobile device content consumption and e-mails have seen massive increases over a short time some research indicates increases of 80%, while others have tracked a 123% surge in usage. Meaning employers are reading your e-mails and opening your resumes on their mobile phones. An e-notewhich is the content in the e-mail that your resume is attached toshould be brief and fit on a single screen without having to scroll. Please dont expect to write a concise e-note with your first draftnot even the best professional writers in the world nail it the first time. We are masters at editing. Go through and write your first draftthen go back and edit. Strive to use fewer than 150 words so the entire text will be optimized to fit on a mobile screen without scrolling.2016 Cover Letter Tip 3 Crea te SpaceIncorporate plenty of white space when you write your e-note. Using white space in your e-note breaks up content into digestible pieces. Consider Twitter and the impact that it has had on our entire generation. Were required to say it in 140 characters or fewer. Twitter had the foresight to recognize that their audiences attention span was shortand they didnt want to lose it. Not only is your audiences attention span shorter than it used to be, but hiring managers are just plain pressed for time. Make Twitters 140-character limit your guide and endeavor to create tweet-sized sentences in your cover letters.2016 Cover Letter Tip 4 Ask and State to Engage and FascinateI teach job seekers to write a Value Proposition Letterthat always departures with an interesting question or fascinating fact. For example, my value proposition letter might start out by askingAre you a hectic CIO with no time to write your resume?Or it might sayAre you a time-pressed executive being recruited f or a dream role that requires a resume yesterday?landsee how Im speaking to my audience? Busy CIOs and time-pressed executiveswhile also recognizing and acknowledging their dicke bretter bohren mssen. They need a resume NOWand they dont have the time to do it themselves.Start your e-note, power note, or value proposition in the same way. Talk to your audience ask a question or state an engaging fact that points to their biggest need. You always want to speak to the need.2016 Cover Letter Tip 5 The Solution to the ProblemHave their attention? Great. Now show them you have the solution to their problem YOUUse 3 short bullets with provable resultsMy clients enjoy results like behauptung In 2 weeks or less my clients are going on several interviews. Resume response rates increase immediately by 75%. 80% are employed in 2 months or less, crushing the average job search time by more than 50%.Then tie the need and the solutionYOUinto your brand and what you do I work with busy C-level exec utives on tight deadlines to create interview-winning resumes within 3-5 business days.You can change the wording to accommodate your audience, the results, the problems, the space you have, or any number of other factors. Whats great is that its completely customizable.2016 Cover Letter Tip 6 A Formula to FollowUse the following point to keep your e-note creation easy. You wont have to start from scratch every time you write a new one, and writing will be easier and faster.Remember to keep each point shortEngage or fascinateTarget the needYou are the solutionProve itMoney Employers want to know how you made it, saved it, or contributed to itBrand Make the connectionClose with a call to actionEdit 150 words or fewer2016 Cover Letter Tip 7 Call to ActionWhen I write value proposition letters for my clients I end with a call to action. Mine might sayReady for results like these? Lets chatYours could sayWant to learn more? Visit my website http//www.greatresumesfast.comOrInterested? Lets talk Call me at 1.800.991.5187Customize your call to action in any way you want. Get them to take actionwhether that action is to call you, e-mail, view your LinkedIn profile, or visit your online resume. Dont let them stop after reading your e-note you want them to be so compelled by the solution you provide that they just have to act.Keep these tips in mind as you write your next cover letter, and youll be miles ahead of your competitors.Having a hard time writing your own cover letter? Lets chat Visit my website at http//www.greatresumesfast.com, call my office at 1.800.991.5187 or connect with me on LinkedIn to discuss how I help busy job seekers create interview-winning cover letters, resumes, and LinkedIn profiles that cut their job search time by 50% or more and secure interviews in 2 weeks or less.WANT MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS? Check outINFOGRAPHIC What Employers See When You Apply on LinkedIn

What Do Corporate Recruiters Want We Asked Them - Jobscan Blog

What Do Corporate Recruiters Want We Asked Them - Jobscan BlogPosted on November 16, 2017December 16, 2019 by Jon Shields Job seekers face a buzzsaw of obstacles, locked doors, and unpleasant experiences in pursuit of a job offer. The first tests are typically issued by a corporate recruiter who serves as the gatekeeper between the job seeker and the hiring manager.To learn more about what job seekers are up against, we spoke with fur corporate recruitersAndrew, a recruiter for a wide range of stelles in the non-profit industryJames, a healthcare recruiter with over a decade of experienceJonathan, a technical recruiter for a Fortune 25 companyKevin, a technical recruiter for an international consulting firmWhat Does a Corporate Recruiter Do?A lot of what we do is eliminating the busy work for the hiring manager, said Andrew. They want to see three-to-four candidates that match at least 75% of what theyre looking for, then they make the decision.A corporate recruiter, also known as an in-house or internal recruiter, is the point rolle for a companys job opening.They are tasked with distributing the job posting, intaking applications and resumes, sourcing candidates, and narrowing the applicant pool. Corporate recruiters do elend make the final hiring decision, but are tasked with delivering a handful of the most qualified candidates to the hiring manager.Corporate recruiters shouldnt be confused with agency recruiters or headhunters,who are only paid if the company hires their candidate. Corporate recruiters are on the same team as the hiring managers. As a result, they are less focused on their placement rate and more concerned with long-term fit and retention.Its a totally different mentality, James told us. Ive been working at this job for 10 years. Ive known these managers for years. Im looking for our long-term benefit.How Corporate Recruiters Find CandidatesWhen the hiring manager decides they need somebody, they open a requisition, said James. That goes t hrough an approval process with management and signing off on all the budget stuff. Once all thats done it shifts to me.Developing the Job DescriptionCorporate recruiters dont typically write job descriptions but are often involved in the process. I help with job descriptions sometimes, said Jonathan. Depending on the hiring manager, they might want to write their own job description.Whether its to modify the job description or simply make sure everyones expectations are in sync, the recruiter starts off by talking everything over with the hiring manager.Im the guy that takes our generic job description and asks the manager, Does this adequately address what you want? James told us. I coordinate with the manager to ask, Are there specific details that we need to put here, specific skills or education to customize this for your specific need?Sometimes its the recruiters job to make sure the hiring manager isnt asking for too much.With hiring managers, they want to throw pretty much e verything onto the need to have side of things, said Andrew. ur job as recruiters is to help them take a step back and differentiate between the need to have experience and the nice to have experience. Because if you have a long list of need to have experience, its going to really complicate the recruiting process.Once the job description is finalized, the recruiter is responsible for distributing the job posting to their job boards of choice Indeed, LinkedIn, Craigslist et al.How Corporate Recruiters Review a ResumeOnce the job description is finalized and posted, corporate recruiters field the incoming job applications and resumes. The response depends on the type of position, but some recruiters intake overwhelming numbers. Some of our positions tend to have upwards of 200 applicants, Andrew told us.How do corporate recruiters sift through to find the best candidates?Applicant Tracking System Searches and FiltersMost large companies, including 99% of Fortune 500 companies, utiliz e an applicant tracking system, or ATS. This software has a variety of features that helps recruiters and human resources reps throughout the entire hiring process. The features most interesting to job seekers are the ones that allow applicants to be filtered, searched, and ranked.If an applicant submits their resume or job application through an online form, theyre interacting with an ATS. One of the ways corporate recruiters narrow down their applicant pool is by asking knockout questionson the online application.We platzset up our ATS with pre-screener questions, said James. When someone is applying on the website, those questions are screening for minimum qualifications for that job code. For example, if the minimum qualifications include a Bachelors Degree and 5 years of experience in this particular realm, there will be questions that speak to that to try and screen out people who dont meet those requirements.Some ATS can also parse an applicants resume and make the text searc hable for the recruiter. To filter down a high volume of applicants, the recruiter can simply search for keywords on the resume, such as hard skills or job titles. The best way to determine what a recruiter might search for is by analyzing the job description.The first thing Im looking for is the hard skills that match the job description, Kevin told us.Customizing your resume for applicant tracking systems and the software thats doing keyword searches, thats absolutely true in my industry, in any industry in general, said James. Thats very much how employers tend to do that.What Corporate Recruiters Want to landsee on a ResumeSome studies suggest that recruiters only spend an average of 6 seconds skimming a resume and determining a fit. Whether or notlage its that extreme, recruiters arent studying every resume top to bottom. Initial assessment, maybe 15-25 seconds per resume, said Andrew.A lot of people dont know how to write resumes to articulate what they actually do, said Jonat han. So what do corporate recruiters want job seekers to do on their resumes?Include a Hard Skills SectionI would suggest people having a hard skills section, advised Kevin. When we reformat our internal resumes, skills and competencies are always at the top, right underneath the name, before you get into work experience.Its become increasingly popular to list skills near the top of the resume. The functional and hybrid resume formats are entwurfed specifically for this purpose.Use Accomplishments to Demonstrate SkillsJob seekers cant rely on a skills list alone. Those skills lose their meaning when theyre not backed up by context and accomplishments.If Im looking at a resume, the ideal person for me, theyre gonna have, Heres the hard skills that I have, described Jonathan. Then from there, Heres my current job. Heres a project I worked on and what that accomplished. Heres the problem and heres how I solved it.He continued Breaking it down to, Heres my contribution to this company, what I did. That is the best kind of resume to me because it gives me a really quick, OK, heres how you used a skill. This is what you accomplished.If an important skill is listed, it should be made abundantly clear how and where that skill was utilized and developed. Evidence is required.Excerpt from a resume example with a skills list under each position.This applies to both hard and soft skills. Im not too turned on by candidates who put things like hard working, dedicated, things like that on their resume, said Andrew. There are so many things that you can say about yourself, but how is that demonstrated? If you put down something like, Havent missed more than three days in a year, thats solid numbers, something thats more tangible.Prove That Your Experience Meets RequirementsExperience level is among the minimum qualifications in most job listings. Job seekers that clearly demonstrate that they have enough quality experience will stand out among applicants. Id say 80% of the pe ople arent what were looking for, said Jonathan. Theyre just applying online.He continued The first thing that I look at is how long have they been doing what theyve been doing.I want to see the progression of not only what job title and what company you were working for, but also a snapshot of the progression of your career, said James.I also look at the types of companies they worked with, said Jonathan. Is it a small two-man shop? For us theyll work for a large enterprise applications, so do they have that kind of experience, working on a large team of 10, 20, 30, 40 people?Resume Formatting MattersIts not just about key skills and impressive experience. Not only can formatting cause problems in an ATS, recruiters draw conclusions from the way your resume is laid out.Im not just looking for the content of it, Im looking for how you format the information, said James. Im looking at the logical flow of it, how you categorize the information, how does it read. The quality of present ation tells me something about you.He concluded If you did a sloppy resume, youre losing points already before Ive even called you. If I even call.Its not just the design. Consistent formatting can make the difference.Say their last position they were there from 10/12/2010 until 11/1/2017 but in the previous company the person said from November 2, 2008 until January 3, 2009, described Andrew. Thats misformatted in the way the dates are conveyed. I know thats a very nitpicky thing, but Ive had candidates not move forward in the process because of something like that.Dont Use a Resume Template with a PhotoJob seekers should also be wary of resume formats that include their headshot. Im not the biggest fan of pictures on resumes, said Kevin. That kind of drives me nuts and immediately opens the door to recruiter discrimination, which is obviously something everyone is trying to avoid.To keep themselves above claims of discrimination, some recruiters automatically reject any resume tha t includes the applicants photograph.Using your headshot on a resume could trigger an automatic rejection. (Google renommee Search screenshot)How Corporate Recruiters Source Passive CandidatesCorporate recruiters also look beyond their incoming job applications to fill roles. Reaching out to candidates that arent directly applying is known as sourcing. Job seekers can improve their chances by supporting these efforts.Put Your Resume on Career SitesSourcing often starts with browsing resumes posted by job seekers to a variety of job boards. This includes the big name career sites such as Indeed, Monster, Glassdoor,CareerBuilder and others. There are also niche sites that cater to specific industries. For example, in healthcare, James checks outNatureJobs. In tech, Jonathan and Kevin browse sites like Dice, GitHub, and Stack Overflow.Stack Overflow works really great because you can see their skills, you can see questions that theyve asked to the Stack Overflow community, how active t hey are, if theyre an active or passive candidate, things like that, said Jonathan. Its a great tool.Optimize for LinkedIn Recruitment87% of recruiters use LinkedIn to source or vet job candidates.We use a lot of LinkedIn Recruiter, said Kevin. Thats probably the main tool I use.Recruiters use LinkedIn Search to find candidates that have the right job title or hard skills for the open position. They can return a combination of skills and titles in one search by crafting a complex Boolean string. A Boolean search contains and, or, and not operators and other modifiers that help return very specific results.For example, a very simple Boolean search would be Web AND Developer. This search only returns LinkedIn profiles that have both of those terms.Im taking the hard skills that are listed in the job description and doing some sort of Boolean search with them on LinkedIn, said Kevin.Search results for the Boolean search Web AND Developer in LinkedIn Recruiter.The searches can become ve ry complex. I had a coworker who would send me these 20- or 30-line-long Boolean searches, said Kevin. Heres an example of a long and complicated Boolean search string for a User Interface planer position(UI Design OR UI Designer OR User Interface Design OR User Interface Designer OR user interaction design OR user interaction designer OR human computer interaction OR HCI OR UI/UX Design OR UI/UX Designer OR UX Designer OR UX Designer OR user experience design OR user experience designer OR interaction design OR interface design OR interaction strategy) AND mobile AND (consumer facing OR consumer-facing) AND NOT director AND NOT managerAddingkeywords from actual job descriptions to their LinkedIn profiles helps job seekers appear in more recruiter search results.Interviewing with a RecruiterOnce a corporate recruiter has identified candidates theyd like to learn more about, the next step is to schedule a quick phone call known as a phone screen.Be Engaging in the Phone ScreeningThat s going to be a phone interview, maybe take about 20-30 minutes at the most, said James.If I come across an individual whose resume is a very strong match, my first thing is to call that individual so that we can have a 20-30 minute conversation where he can take me through the resume, Andrew told us.The phone screen serves a few purposes. To start, it gives the recruiter their first good opportunity to gauge the candidates verbal communication.You want to know how good they are conveying their past experience to someone that theyve never met, continued Andrew. So in that initial conversation, Im gauging what their communication skills are like.If someone cant really hold a conversation on the phone theyre probably not going to move forward in the interview process, said Kevin.If you get someone on the phone and theyre super monotone and they dont have a lot of enthusiasm, youre just like, This is a high energy place. If youre not at least able to be excited about what Im telling yo u, its not gonna work out, said Jonathan.Corporate recruiters use a short phone screening to gauge communication skills, dig into the resume, and start determining culture fit.Make Sure Your Resume Adds UpThe second thing recruiters are doing during the phone screen is vetting the resume.As Im having this conversation Im looking for discrepancies, because people are oftentimes not real honest in job interviews because theyre trying to sell themselves, said James. Im looking for your story to make sense.A lot of individuals dont like making their resume longer than 2 pages, said Andrew. I always recommend trying to squeeze it into one. But when you have that limited amount of real estate, there are going to be some things that you have to leave out. In a phone screen youre trying to really mine out each position individually so youre able to answer any sort of question that a hiring manager may have about that individual.Get Excited About the CompanyAside from logistics and other sp ecifics that need to be addressed, the third goal of the phone screen is to sell the candidate on the company and get an idea of culture fit.I tell them about our company, tell them about what we do, why its a great place to work, said Jonathan. Kind of be that sales guy to get them excited about the position.One of the questions that I do try to ask everyone is what the culture at their old jobs were and what they liked and didnt like and compare it to what ours is, said Kevin.Depending on the company and position, a corporate recruiter might opt to bring in a candidate for an in-person interview. That said, the phone screen is typically the only interview the recruiter will conduct with a candidate. After a successful phone screen, the recruiter will assemble a report featuring their notes and the candidates resume and send it to the hiring manager for review. An in-person interview will typically be with the hiring manager.In some organizations, the corporate recruiter may come b ack around after a successful in-person interview to present the offer, negotiate salary, and tackle other logistics.How to Impress a Corporate RecruiterJob seekers focus a lot of attention on the hiring managers. They tailor their resume to the hiring managers job description. They personalize their titelbild letter for the hiring manager. They prep for common in-person interview questions. But impressing the corporate recruiter is the first step. Without an OK from the recruiter, the hiring manager is completely unaware of most applicants.To recap, in order to make a good impression with a corporate recruiter, job seekers should do the followingMeet the minimum qualificationsValidate listed skills with examples and accomplishmentsExhibit an attention to detail on the resume Presentation mattersInclude optimized keywords on their resume and LinkedIn profileBe prepared to talk about themselves on the phone (enthusiastically)Facebook Commentswpdevar_comment_1 span,wpdevar_comment_1 i framewidth100% important

Resume Writing for Homeless - What Is It?

Resume Writing for Homeless - What Is It? Dont just think about the key couple of businesses you run throughout. It proves you are going to get the job finished. There can be a number of others appearing to join the identical cause, which means that your application should be made to impress. Its simpler to summarize when the remainder of your resume for teens is in the bag. How youre help (provide a great service experience) 4. Once you locate a service you want, dont neglect to look at my review of it. In summary, the service exists, so should you want to use it in order to find a top essay, thats reason enough. Customer service is a critical element in many jobs and its vital that you concentrate on that in your resume. One of the most common causes of homelessness is property-destroying disasters of any sort. Among the biggest factors thats contributing to the great number of homeless people within the nation is that theres a significant absence of affordable housing . To conclude, homelessness is a huge issue in the usa and its one that affects people from all walks of life. It is a huge area of concern in the United States and it is something that social services and government officials are struggling to deal with. Many activities can offer compelling resume content. Always make koranvers that you have a look at the review my essay section of any writing service website youre contemplating using. When it is, apply right on the company website. Notice how the example resumes are extremely specific when it has to do with technical skills. Resume Writers You may have a major influence on a veterans life. This reading can be rather dense. Its crucial that the service you decide on knows for sure theyre only employing the ideal essay writers. A modified version can showcase your volunteer experience and offer an outstanding method to land your ideal chance to give back. Where and how you apply can also produce a difference. The typi cal life expectancy in the homeless population is simply 47, but homeless women are not likely to live beyond 43 years old. The feeling of happiness which comes with doing something good for others would make this kind of effort really worthwhile. Understanding how to start can be the largest challenge and looking at examples can be quite beneficial.