I completed a resume writing workshop seminar yesterday on Zoom to a group of Assyrian Fund Community members and they had some tremendous questions I jotted down and wanted to share. I delivered some improvised, knee-jerk reaction statements to go with them, hopefully something will help you!
1. Should I ever send my resume on LinkedIn “Easy Apply”
I’m split on this…one hand, as a former recruiter, I was fine with taking applications wherever I could get them, so long as they were a fit. Having said this, some recruiters may appreciate a candidate being thorough and filling more details out. I say, if it?s a job you really, really, really want, do as much effort as possible and skip the Easy Apply. Now if you say every job is the one you want? I say, tell your friends your busy for the next few weekends. But smart busy!
2. How much information on the resume is too much information?
If it?s super small font and takes up every bit of 2 pages, way too much. If it?s 3 pages or max, too much! Find a balance of a page or 2 and maximize the space provided without overwhelming details. Keep it clean. Brevity is preferred, but ensure you complete your point (accomplishment, value-offering, KPI) too.
3. Do you recommend any job boards?
Indeed, LinkedIn are 2 favorite. Everyone is on there.
4. What if you are from a humanities background, how can you turn your CV into a resume?
Identify your transferable skills to the corporate world and list accomplishments that may translate success with an added metric or quantifier tied to it. Some transferable skills might be:
Partnership & Relationship Building, Customer Success, Program Management, Initiative Adoption, Community Outreach, Client Advocacy, Strategic Planning, Cross-Functional Communications, Budgeting, Business Growth, Fundraising, Social Diversity, Scheduling, Issue Resolution, Stakeholder Engagement
5. How should I handle unemployment gaps?
There are a few techniques so without going too overboard, so I?ll give you my 2 best tricks. One being drop months from your resume and see if the years will offset any gaps. A second is to make the resume more functional and have your experience listed as a work history with all your accomplishments broken down first in sections based on the function. There are probably a dozen tricks out there, and everyone is handled differently depending on skill, experience, industry, new target, etc. Numbers of variables.
6. What if I’m applying for a job that I don’t meet all the qualifications for?
Again, reflect this back to setting up your resume to be more geared towards transferable skills and relatable accomplishments. I always say go for it, but not if it?s job #2, #5, #10 at that same company. Be mindful of how many times you apply to one company as recruiters track that in their ATS systems and can blacklist ?annoying? candidates who apply to everything. No one likes a jill or jack of all trades these days. You need to be focused, specific to a niche and specific to your value offerings in that role and company.
7. How individualized should my resume be?
Specific as possible. The ideal candidate for hiring teams are someone who?s been doing the exact role they need to fill and at a competitor. From there, they go down the qualifiers and the higher you rank as a qualified candidate, the more likely to receive a call from them. Recruiters do not prefer the likes of a jill or jack of all trades. They want an ideal candidate. You need to be focused, specific to a niche and specific to your value offerings in that role and company.
8. What are a couple best practices to consider when conducting a webcam interview?
Act like you would during the regular interview. This is key because you want them to know you?re no different on camera than from real life, than from emails you?ve shared already. All these aspects make you. So be you. Easiest way to go. As far as technically, practice with family or friends so you are technologically sound and ready to roll once interviews start popping up.
Thank you for reading! Please visit www.jobstickers.com to keep up with all of MJW Careers’ content, and visit www.mjwcareers.com or email warz65@gmail.com (or call 855-YES-EMPLOYEES) to learn more about our resume writing, interview training, career coaching or outplacement services and solutions.
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