Your
Job Application - How To Apply Online
My
FREE Tips to Make Sure Your Resume Stands Out- Part 1
With current economic times it is more important than ever
to ensure your resume is water tight to follow every rule
applicable for it to stand out. Are you currently looking
for employment and not having much luck with your ratio of
follow up contact to get to the next step (and interview)?
For the majority of job seekers this is a fact. The good
new is there is a lot that can be done to get your resume
noticed in the 5 second window of opportunity. Get your old
resume out and check it off to ensure it has all the following
conformity.
Having worked in recruitment I feel it necessary to explain
the process behind reviewing resumes. For each job application,
we are bombarded with 200-1000 applications. Normally from
the time the job advertise closes until we shortlist candidates
for interview we have approx 3-5 days. (With multiple job
placements occurring at once)
In short this basically means
you get about 5 seconds or a quick
flash at your email and job application to decide whether
it warrants being sorted into the "review for interview"
pile (meaning to read further) or "unsuccessful".
Only a handful out of the hundreds are read further to assess
their suitability to the role.
Many elements contribute to your resume being noticed or
not. Sometimes it does not even get opened and all is decided
upon with the email or cover letter.
I recommend everyone spending a little money on a professional
resume being written by someone who has actually worked in
recruitment and not merely a secretary that types a well presented
document.
If you are wondering if your resume fits the bill of good
health, read on and tick off the areas your resume can be
improved. After all, a great job occupies a major part of
time and we all have a right to be content with a great employment
opportunity.
First
of all we are going to look at the first step in the door
which is the email that usually accompanies online applications.
- Sometimes the email is the only thing that will be looked
at
- Check your English and grammar with your written email.
- Subject
If the application guidelines ask to include a application
number in the subject heading then do that, but add something
to grab their attention such as "I think you have found
your star" or "experienced and well adapted to
[add the position]" to grab their attention
- Don't make the email your cover letter (too much writing
will turn the recruiter away)
- Do however try adding this to the first line of the email
(special trick that works well)....
"I'm sure you're busy, so I'll keep this letter short
and simple.
I would like to apply for the role of [add position]. My
cover letter and resume have my work experience details to
verify my dependable and worthy skills. In short my last role
that has major relevance was [put in the last position that
was relevant].
My background is [complete with one sentence with power words].
I would very much like the opportunity to work with you.
Please don't hesitate to contact me to discuss my suitability
further."
Secondly
we look at the accompanying cover letter
- Aim for no more than one page (more than this will loose
interest)
- Begin again with .... As mentioned in my email, I'm sure
you're busy, so I'll keep this letter short and to the point.
- Do break it up with 1-2 subtitles if they are relevant
and eye catching
- Last paragraph should be a call to action (eg. I am very
interested to find out more about the position and discuss
my suitability with you. Please feel free to contact me
to discuss your needs further and thanks for your time)
Get a friend to check over it to ensure there are no typos,
contextual faults with sentence layout etc.
A
great test is to give your cover letter to a friend and remove
it after 5 seconds and ask them to tell you what they learned
from it?
If they cant say much then nothing is standing out! Stay
tuned for Part 2 of this series where we uncover the resume
secrets.
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