Readers:
Dr. Randall Hansen, a nationally recognized career expert, is the Career Doctor.
Discover more about Dr. Hansen, read about the purpose of this column,
and find previous issues of this column at the home of The Career Doctor.
If you have any college, career, or job-related questions or comments that Dr. Hansen could
provide valuable assistance with, please
feel free to email him at: careerdr@quintcareers.com.
Dr. Hansen writes this column on a biweekly basis.
James writes:
I'm searching for a guide on how to write my resume, but I can't seem to find
anything. If you could give me some tips, or a site that I could go to, that would
be greatly appreciated.
A:
The Career Doctor responds:
Can’t find anything on resumes? Wow. There’s tons of stuff available on resumes --
in magazines, books, and on the Web... but I’ll give you a quick primer.
Your resume is a critical marketing tool. Your resume has to entice a prospective
employer enough -- through its focus, content, and style -- to first consider your
qualifications for the job at hand and then to invite you for a job interview. A resume
is a statement of your unique mix of experiences, education, and skills. You must
not lie on your resume, but you must always remember its goal.
I think the most important thing any job-seeker should do before attempting to write
a resume is to first sit down and make a list of your skills and accomplishments from
all your previous experiences (work, volunteer, school, etc.) because you will take
from this list those critical skills and accomplishments -- not your duties and
responsibilities -- that highlight your fit for the next job you are seeking.
The next step is researching and identifying the job -- and all the requirements of
that job -- that you are seeking because it is critical that your resume is focused on
specifics. You should also research the potential employers that may have jobs that
you seek so that you can incorporate some of their keywords into your resume.
Wait! Does this advice suggest that job-seekers need to have a specifically tailored
resume for every single job they apply for? Yes! There is absolutely no reason for you
not to develop a different resume for each job and employer. For most job-seekers,
this task will simply mean tweaking small parts of your resume for similar jobs.
Once you have the content down, you should focus on the style and look of your
resume. Do not use a template; design your own. Follow a consistent style. Use
normal fonts and sizes. Use bullets rather than paragraphs. Do not use personal
pronouns. Consider using a career/job objective or profile section. Always list
education and experience in reverse chronological order (starting with the most
recent stuff). Do not list any personal information (such as age, marital status,
weight). Do not include controversial information. And ALWAYS, ALWAYS,
spell-check and carefully proofread your resume for any and all errors.
You can gets lots more advice, including resume samples, resume-writing tutorial, and more, in this section of
Quintessential Careers: Resume and CV Resources.
Q:
Gabriel writes:
I am a Graphic Artist just starting out. I have been asked to give a salary
history but really do not have a salary history in my field, how can I get
around this and still prove I am very able candidate for the job. Thank You.
A:
The Career Doctor responds:
Getting asked by a prospective employer for a salary history -- especially
when you are a new graduate or new to the career field -- is not that big a
deal. Employers often want this information for a variety of reasons, such
as to evaluate your salary progression through a series of jobs and employers,
to evaluate whether you have been underpaid or overpaid, and to gain power
in the salary negotiation phase.
A salary history for you seems kind of moot since you don’t have any salary
history in your field. Still, if you want the job, it makes sense to comply with
the request.
When writing your salary history, use the same letterhead as for your cover
letter and references list. Simply list job titles, employers (including location),
dates of employment, and starting and ending salaries -- in reverse chronological
order (with most recent job first).
You could also have a short paragraph on your salary history sheet and/or on the
cover letter with which you send the salary history that explains why you feel these
salaries are not important - and that makes a case for a better salary in your new
career field.
And whatever you do, never lie about your salary history.
Rebecca writes:
I have a question regarding interviews. I currently have a full time job, but am
looking for something new. Unfortunately, in just the few phone calls I have
made, it seems as though most companies interview between 9 and 5.
How should I handle this? Is it rude to try to make an appointment for earlier
or later? For companies near my office, I can schedule an interview during my
lunchtime, but some places that are farther away might take half a day of travel.
I only have a limited amount of vacation time, and while one or two days for a
viable job option would be fine, I don't want to waste all my vacation days on jobs
that might not pan out! What is the typical protocol on this?
A:
The Career Doctor responds:
Yours is a very common misconception among job-seekers. Many, if not most,
employers are willing to work around the schedule of their top candidates. Thus,
many employers are willing to schedule before- and after-hours job interviews…
and some will even sacrifice the lunch hour to schedule interviews. So, when you
get to that point of scheduling interviews, simply ask the employer for a
convenient time for both of you.
As for the employment opportunities where the prospective employer is located
some distance from where you work and live… that’s a different issue. It’s
obvious for these interviews, you are going to need to burn a personal day or
vacation day. No question. But you can avoid using up all those days by being
very selective in applying for jobs that require that kind of commitment.
Remember, you should be taking a narrow approach to your job-search, selectively
choosing only the best opportunities in terms of fit with the job and employer.
Don’t waste your time or a prospective employer’s time by applying for jobs that
you really have little interest in. And don’t ever use sick days to go on job interviews;
it is not only unethical, but could come back to haunt you if discovered.
One other strategy to follow if you have several out-of-town opportunities, assuming
they are in the same far-off city, is to attempt to schedule all of them in a two-day
period… that way you can get them done in two days while spending the night there
and staying fresh and focused on your task at hand.
Q:
Rosie writes:
I am hearing impaired and have been in search of jobs with no luck. I don’t
know whether employers are not hiring me because of my hearing impairment
or they just don't want to be bothered about it. I have long history of office-related
skills. Have you studied about hearing impaired or disability that can't get job?
What is the purpose for employers to limit who can be hired? I hope you can
understand and take a look this moment.
A:
The Career Doctor responds:
First, of course, the overall job market is still in a bad way. Skeptical and tight-budgeted
employers are not hiring, pushing existing workers to work longer hours and do more
work for the same pay (thus increasing their productivity statistics) and/or outsourcing jobs
overseas. We all keep looking around the corner for the upswing in the market, but no
one knows for sure when it will arrive.
But job-seekers with disabilities always find it tough, so the current situation only exasperates
the issue. Even though there are laws protecting and promoting job-seekers with disabilities,
you still need to seek out employers that have it in their corporate culture to hire the best
candidate -- based on skills and experience and nothing more.
First, to identify prospective employers, I recommend using your network of contacts. If
there is a local deaf agency or deaf college, I would ask for their assistance in finding
opportunities. You should also have your references prepared to discuss how your hearing
impairment did not affect your work.
Finally, in the interview, your best strategy (and not just for you, but for all job-seekers) is
to make the interviewer feel at ease. You don’t have to, but you could be the first to
mention how there are multiple ways to communicate, and that you are open to all of
them, followed quickly by a statement about the strength of your skills and positive
reviews/evaluations from previous employers.
