k2bdeutmeyer Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 DH is ALWAYS looking for a better job (he is seriously underpaid and hates his current company), but I feel like his resume is not written very well. I can say that, because, well....I wrote it, lol. I am certainly no expert and don't really have any professional experience. He has about 1.5yr left of school until he has has bachelor's (YAY!!!), but continues to apply for better positions in the meantime. So.....would anybody be willing to take a look at his resume and help me fix it?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k2bdeutmeyer Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 I've helped my DH with resumes before. I'd be willing to look at it. One thing I always tried to do is tweak it for the particular position being applied for. Use key words from the job description in the resume. Different employers often word things differently. If you use that in the resume it starts to feel like your husband was exactly what they were looking for. KWIM? You want to put the most impressive things about him first. So, if he has a lot of experience, list jobs first. If he has more education than experience, put that. Also, do some research on what the expectations of resumes in his particular field are. That varies. Generally you don't want it to be too long winded except in some fields that's typical. You want it to be pleasing to the eye (organized, bullet points, etc.). Sweet! Thank you!! Can I attach a word document to a PM, or would you like to PM me your email address?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juniper Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Can I ask a question? Dh was recently meeting with his mentor in his present field of employ. This man mentioned that he hates HR, because in this field all they do is enter the resume into a computer and run a key word search. What I am trying to figure out is how to find the key words. Would they be the key words used in the job description? Is there a way to find out what the industry specific key words are? Thanks! op, sorry to slighty hijack! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k2bdeutmeyer Posted December 11, 2012 Author Share Posted December 11, 2012 Can I ask a question? Dh was recently meeting with his mentor in his present field of employ. This man mentioned that he hates HR, because in this field all they do is enter the resume into a computer and run a key word search. What I am trying to figure out is how to find the key words. Would they be the key words used in the job description? Is there a way to find out what the industry specific key words are? Thanks! op, sorry to slighty hijack! Oh, you're totally fine! That's a great question. I feel like job hunting has become a sort of secret art......more info is always good :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Can I ask a question? Dh was recently meeting with his mentor in his present field of employ. This man mentioned that he hates HR, because in this field all they do is enter the resume into a computer and run a key word search. What I am trying to figure out is how to find the key words. Would they be the key words used in the job description? Is there a way to find out what the industry specific key words are? Thanks! op, sorry to slighty hijack! This is definitely true. Especially at job fairs, unless a recruiter is trying to fill the exact position you are looking for, the resumes go into a stack to be scanned. Of those resumes, the ones that will be chosen to be reviewed will be the ones with the highest relevancy when comparing the words in the resume to the key words they have chosen. Also, not all formatting is easily searchable. We prepared two resumes....a nicer one with formal formatting, and another one for HR to scan with simple formatting and key words tweaked to the job announcement. I will look for the title of the book we used. It was excellent. Preferred resume styles change, and writing one now is very different from writing one 10 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 The book is Kate Wendleton's "Packaging Yourself: the Targeted Resume." Here is a link to a helpful thread from a while back: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/442416-if-you-knew-ahead-of-time-about-a-job-loss/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 One thing I always tried to do is tweak it for the particular position being applied for. Use key words from the job description in the resume. Different employers often word things differently. If you use that in the resume it starts to feel like your husband was exactly what they were looking for. KWIM? I'm convinced that this tactic is what got me my current job. I didn't have very relevant experience, but I treated the job ad as if it was series of questions and wrote my CV to answer those specific questions. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Can I ask a question? Dh was recently meeting with his mentor in his present field of employ. This man mentioned that he hates HR, because in this field all they do is enter the resume into a computer and run a key word search. What I am trying to figure out is how to find the key words. Would they be the key words used in the job description? Is there a way to find out what the industry specific key words are? Thanks! op, sorry to slighty hijack! Regarding the key words, try to use as many words in the particular description. You can use words used often in the industry, but what is most important is that you match the key words the HR person uses when looking for a good match for the job. Even though you might prefer to use "amiable" instead of friendly, if their job description says "friendly," I would use that in the searchable resume. You are looking to get the most number of "hits," or the highest relevancy so that his resume is selected for review out of the thousands they have in their database. Also helpful is listing certifications they require that he has, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted December 11, 2012 Share Posted December 11, 2012 Some people think it's good enough to make one resume and mail it out to 100 companies. I don't think so. It's like my husband has his resume on Monster. He gets e-mails about possible job matches and 90% of the time they aren't anything he has done or can do or wants to do. Even if one is qualified, if they don't specifically demonstrate why, it gets lost among the rest of the information. There are a lot of people chasing jobs around here at the moment so I did everything I could to make myself attractive. I did a free short computer training course (to allay any fears that I was too old to be computer literate). I developed a relationship with my computer tutor and she agreed to give me a reference. I went along to free interview skills workshops and CV writing seminars. I got a good hair cut and tidied up my car (how else is a boss going to get a feel for how organised you are?) I answered an ad in the newspaper (everyone tells you that this is not worth doing). I went for an interview and then wrote an email thanking the interviewer for his time. He said I was the only person who did the latter. I'm not saying that job searching is easy - Husband has been out of work for almost two years - but there are things that you can do to improve your chances. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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