Standing
Out From The Crowd
During
your job search, to be most effective you will want to stand apart from
the crowd. Office managers and human resource personnel receive
hundreds, if not thousands, of resumes and cover letters. As they scan
through these, there has to be something that catches their eye to move
your resume to the "maybe" stack and keep it out of "File 13".
When you are preparing your resume, it is essential to customize it to
the position you are applying for. If the job criterion calls for a
"meticulous" person, consider using similar terminology in your resume.
You will want keywords in your resume to stand out marking you as
qualified for the position. Often experience will do this, but you will
want to include some of this information in your skills section as well.
A source of much debate is the type of paper you should print your
resume on. Some suggest high quality white paper, while others suggest
conservative stationary. This is a personal decision. The most
important thing is to use quality paper and print it on a good printer.
Also, do not handwrite the address on the envelope; print it as well.
You may consider off-white paper or stationary to offset your resume
from the hundreds of others.
You will also need to stand out during the interview process. You will
achieve this first and foremost by your appearance. Dress
professionally and make sure every aspect of your appearance is
impressive. Before the interview, consider what questions may be asked
and what your responses will be. You do not want to sound rehearsed,
but you want to be able to respond with clear and concise answers. Be
confident and self-assured of your qualifications and ability to
perform well in the position they are filling.
Send a short but professional thank-you note after the interview. The
idea behind this is to keep your name fresh in their mind. This shows
consideration but also gets your name in front of them one more time.
This is less intrusive than calling to follow up on the position,
although that is also an option a few days after the interview. You
must reinforce your profile for a hiring manager if you want to achieve
job search success.
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