Employment Digest

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A study released May 31 by Spherion Pacific Enterprises, a recruiting and staffing firm based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., found that nearly half of the U.S. IT work force plans to change jobs in the next year. While this means great things for techies—the same study found that IT workers beat the overall work force in job-seeking confidence—it also means that thousands now have résumés to polish and tighten.If members of the IT work force are like most Americans, the thought of trying to get their résumés into such a form that their desired jobs will simply flutter into their laps sends them into a spiral of panic. How can I fit all this on a page? How do I know what they really want to see? Why do I never get callbacks?As it turns out, most résumé writers are committing the same types of blunders: fussing over outdated rules, spending hours on a cover letter that might never be seen by human eyes, and leaving out essential keywords and supporting evidence.

 eWEEK spoke to experts from recruitment firms and job boards and picked their brains for as much résumé-writing advice as they would dish out, rounding it up below. The best thing we learned: With the right advice, writing a top-notch resume can be a breeze.

1. ATS: The most important letters you need to know“IT recruiters almost all use ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems) to review résumés. They parse what they receive and throw it into a database and search against it via keywords, such as ‘MS Exchange’ or ‘Java.’ They don’t always instantaneously look at your résumé,” Michael Turner, vice president of marketing at Atlanta-based ComputerJobs.com, told eWEEK.The most important thing to understand about ATS, Turner said, is that the only time most recruiters will see your résumé in full is when they pull it up in a search. To ensure that your résumé will get pulled up in as many relevant searches as possible, it’s important that job seekers use skills keywords.

1. Skills section keywords So, what are skills keywords? They can be anything from industry buzzwords to specific skills. Turner summarized the importance in language techies understand well: “It’s a lot like trying to get your site listed on Google. Keywords are just as important when trying to get your résumé picked up by third-party recruiters on ATS systems. Even when you apply for a job, a lot of times your résumé goes right into their system,” he said.The best type of skills summary is thorough and maximizes the number of applicable keywords.”You should have a skill summary with the number of years of experience you have with each. A lot of people use a three-column table. Again, keywords count,” Turner said.Kate Lorenz, advice editor at CareerBuilder.com, of Chicago, told eWEEK that you should put as much as you can in writing.”List your specific IT certifications accurately and clearly to communicate what expertise it has given you, including technology focus, specific skills and unique abilities,” Lorenz said.Monster.com offers even more specific advice on choosing keywords.”A good way to determine keywords is to read job descriptions for positions that interest you. If you see industry buzzwords, incorporate them into your résumé,” wrote Monster.com résumé expert Kim Isaacs.
2. Don’t use a templateStill using Microsoft Word’s “Elegant” or “Professional” résumé template? Don’t, said Turner.The reason for this is twofold: one, these templates are overused and inspire ennui when you want to grab attention, and two, many templates leave out one of the most important elements, the aforementioned skills summary.”They’re too traditional. IT résumés need to highlight objective first, skills second (a summary of skills and years of experience for each), then experience, and education last. The Word templates I’ve seen almost always start out with education or work experience, but with no place for a skills summary. The first thing a recruiter or hiring manager wants to know when reviewing a résumé is, ‘Does this candidate have the skills we need to get the job done?’” Turner said.
3. A good objectives section countsNow that you have written the information in such a way that someone typing your skill set into an ATS will pull up your résumé, your next focus should be on creating a sharp profile or objectives section, leaving out the tired jargon.”Objectives should be at the top of a résumé: It is the first thing that they’ll see. You should customize your objectives section as best as you can, targeting it to the job you want. Nobody wants to read, ‘I want a career that will utilize my skills,’” Turner said.
4. Lose the one-page-only ruleWhat happens when your skills and experience are extensive enough that they spill onto a second page? Don’t be distressed, Turner said.”There’s a myth out there that you need to keep your résumé down to one page, and it’s just not true … I wouldn’t mind seeing two pages of really solid work history [that] will add more words to the ATS system. You don’t need to tell us everything you did at every job, but it’s good to have a solid history. Tell us more than ‘Used C++ to create applications’—tell us how you put it to work.”

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The way you search for jobs reflects your age

I lost my job nine months ago when my company was acquired by a new owner.

Although recruiters say that I show a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and that I am more than qualified for the work, I rarely get called back for a second interview.

I am encountering age discrimination even though all companies deny practicing such discrimination.

How do I get around this problem?

Dear Reader: There is little question that age discrimination exists in our workplace, although smart employers should be trying to figure out how to attract and hire older workers rather than avoid them. If progressive employers are interested in attributes like work ethic, maturity, dependability and problem-solving skills, they should be looking to find ways to include older workers, but that’s another story altogether!

Sometimes, we advertise our age without realizing it, and if we are primarily contacting employers through recruiters and HR individuals who are relatively new in the workplace, we are projecting and magnifying a possible problem. It wouldn’t hurt to do a self-check of your resume and cover letters. Consider the following red flags:

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Seven steps: Strategies that will get you a job

The job market is good, the Internet is buzzing, and optimism is high. Still, the best jobs require talent before you walk in the door-– you need to know how to search. Seven tips:

1. Understand keywords. Only three to five percent of job seekers find employment through online job sites. In order to be one of this small percentage, you need to tailor your resume to keyword searches. "Sending a resume to a big company’s web site is like sending your resume into a black hole," says John Sullivan, professor of management at San Francisco State University. "In a big company, your resume is sorted by an applicant tracking system."

Sullivan tells of a study where researchers took a job opening and wrote 100 perfect resumes for that opening. Then the researchers added more info to the resumes. Only 12% were picked up by the tracking system as qualified. This means that even if you are the perfect candidate, there is almost a 90% chance that no human will ever see your resume.

So be specific about your skills.

2. Don’t depend on your resume. The typical resume is linear, and makes people without linear careers look like a mess. Such resumes highlight work gaps and leave little space for achievements that did not contribute to corporate life.

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How to Answer Illegal Interview Questions

Picture this scenario: You’re in a job interview and doing well until the interviewer asks you an illegal interview question, "What’s your religion?"

It’s natural to be stunned by this question. Besides, why would your religious beliefs matter in a job interview? You’re not quite sure how to answer it, or if you should answer this question at all. But, if you don’t answer you might seem standoff-ish to the interviewer. If you find yourself in this scenario, here are three ways to handle this situation, according to published reports:

1. Answer - It’s not illegal to answer an illegal interview question. However, if you choose to answer it, be succinct and clear.

2. Refuse to Answer - Point out that it’s not an appropriate job interview question and you don’t feel comfortable answering it. Avoid using the word "illegal" in your answer, it might cause an already tense situation to become more uncomfortable.

3. Tactfully Sidestep - Assess the motive behind the question. If you don’t think it was malicious and you really want the job, put it back on the interviewer directly. This practice might make the interviewer realize that the question asked is inappropriate. Here are some sample answers to illegal interview topics:

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5 Shortcuts to a New Job

Are you ready to be a little more creative in your approach to job hunting? Are you willing to consider positions beyond the narrow spectrum you’ve been targeting? Here are five of the most potent ways I know to land work:

1. Get a job created for you.
You call an employer, but the company isn’t interested in hiring. Try asking the magic question: "What could you use some help with?" More often than you might expect, that question can lead to a temporary or full-time job created just for you.

2. The biggest-steak-in-Texas guarantee.
Marketing guru Dan Kennedy wagers, "I’ll bet you the biggest steak in Texas that if you use this method, you’re going to land a job fast."

* Scour the large employment ads in the Sunday paper. Pick the names of ten companies you’ve never heard of.
* Visit each company’s website to find a reason you’d like to work for it.
* Write a letter to the CEO explaining why you’d like to work there. Include what you would bring to the table. Give a reassuring explanation for why, if you’re so good, you’re looking for a job. End with the line, "I would guess that, at some point, someone gave you a break. I’m hoping you will give me one."
* FedEx the ten letters and you are bound to get some responses and, if you’re any good, a job offer or two – quickly.

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Contacts are crucial if switching careers

Job hunting is never easy. Even with the right experience and professional contacts, it can take months to land a coveted position. So imagine the challenges when you’re trying to break into an entirely new career. Where do you begin your search? And how do you compete with more-qualified candidates?

Don’t kid yourself: You won’t catapult to the top of your new field right away, even if you’ve made headway at your company.

"If you’re making a complete career change, you have to be prepared to do your time at the bottom," said Alexandra Levit, author of They Don’t Teach Corporate in College: A 20-Something’s Guide to the Business World (Career Press, $14.99), who also writes a Web log on GetTheJob.com.

Yet employers want to see firm evidence that you’re committed to their field — not just following a whim because you’re bored. And there’s nothing like doing the least glamorous tasks — sometimes for little or no pay — to prove your devotion.

Here’s how to get going:

Develop contacts: It’s no secret that the easiest way to get a job is by a personal contact, someone already in the industry who can clue you in to openings or vouch for you to an employer. You’re probably familiar with networking, but you’ll likely have to think of a few new resources to change fields completely.

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Don’t forget to Google yourself before the interview

You’ve researched the company, labored over the best "hire me" outfit and perfected your argument as to why the manager absolutely must employ you.

But there’s one more move that if forsaken could hurt your chances of nabbing that position.

You never Googled yourself.

"You want to see how easy it is for an employer to find out more about you," said Mary Flaherty, Roberts Wesleyan College’s career services director.

"References will say glowing things about you," she added. "But Google is a free way for employers to do even more background checking on someone."

Recent college graduates might be especially vulnerable, given their love of social networking sites, blogs and crazier lifestyles.

Take this warning from Arnie Boldt, a managing partner at the Penfield career consulting firm Arnold-Smith Associates.

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Working OT to land a job

 Walter Stephens, a recent VCU graduate, has two part-time jobs at the moment. He is operations officer at Forest View Rescue Squad in Chesterfield County. He has the same job in Hanover County.

Walter Stephens, a recent VCU graduate, has two part-time jobs at the moment. He is operations officer at Forest View Rescue Squad in Chesterfield County. He has the same job in Hanover County.

Walter Stephens mailed out nearly two dozen résumés and had only one interview with Waste Management Inc. to show for his effort.

The interview wasn’t even face to face. Stephens, a 23-year-old May graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, burned daytime cell-phone minutes pitching himself to a human resources representative.

"She said tell me about yourself, so I told her basically what she could have read off my résumé, just with a little more detail," Stephens said. "It’s hard to sit there and bore people to death."

Stephens’ job-hunting woes are common for many college graduates — perhaps even a rite of passage.

"It really is frustrating. I mean, you give them a résumé, but it really is only the surface of who you are," Stephens said.

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Write your resume in an hour

Too often people spend so much time trying to perfect their resume, they lose sight of their real goal — to find a job.

You’ve probably heard your friends, family members or even yourself say that you will start looking for that new job as soon as you get your resume put together. And then a month or year passes and you still haven’t finished the first step toward a new career. Resumes don’t have to be hard to create, they don’t have to be time-consuming, and they don’t have to be intimidating.

Plain and simple: a resume is a one- or two-page summary of your life and employment history. According to Michael Farr, author of "Same-Day Resume" (JIST), before you begin the writing process, you should learn what to expect from your resume.

"As a first step in creating a resume, examine what a resume is and consider what it can and cannot do," Farr says.

A resume presents you to prospective employers. It serves as your introduction and is often used in their screening process. It may get you an interview and it may not, it all depends on what that particular employer is looking for in a new employee.

Don’t depend on your resume to do your job search for you. A resume is merely one tool in a complete job search. Sending hundreds of resumes out and expecting calls for interviews to come pouring in will get you no where. Even if your resume does get you an interview, it doesn’t necessarily get you the job.

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Resumes crucial for experienced workers

Andy Armstrong is a veteran public-relations man, aspiring novelist, published cartoonist - and temporary letter carrier during warm weather. He has sought a full-time PR post since a New York agency laid him off in 2002.

The 49-year-old resident of Allendale, N.J., mainly blames his age. "Being older doesn’t help," observes Armstrong, a genial individual with a low-key demeanor. "I’ve heard myself described as ‘overqualified’ many, many times."

It’s a common lament among older applicants. But less obvious obstacles often impede them as well. Some, for example, resist the hard work required to find meaningful work, says Richard H. Beatty, author of numerous career books.

Other baby boomers "have a tough time thinking about new ways of doing things," adds Diane Darling, a Boston networking specialist.

"Employers ignore a prospect’s age if he is impeccably professional and technologically current," observes Bill Heyman, CEO of recruiters Heyman Associates, New York.

A more focused and efficient job search would help Armstrong overcome possible age bias, these experts concluded after each spoke with him at my request. They offered a road map for circumventing job-hunt roadblocks when you’re past 45.

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