Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Society of Broadcast Engineers, inc.
Newsletter Article Submittal
Hello
:
If your local or
national members of Society of Broadcast Engineers, inc. would benefit from the following career-related
article, please feel free to publish in your association’s news letter, or
website.
Permission to print
intact including ending attribution box.
Category: career and
job-search tips
Title: “Why Doesn’t
My Old Resume Work Anymore?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Why Doesn’t My Old Resume Work
Anymore?”
If your last job
search prior to 2001, you may be in for a rude awakening. You might be surprised to find that your old
resume, which worked well for you before, is no longer attracting employers,
headhunters and corporate recruiters. If
you wondered, “What am I doing wrong?” it might not be you—it’s probably your
resume.
There are three
reasons your old resume may not be working for you:
·
Drastic
increase in competition
·
Changes in
technology
·
Changes in
your industry
1. Drastic
increase in competition
Increased
candidate competition is the #1 reason your resume is no longer working.
While
current employment outlooks are marginally brighter, competition is still so
high that your resume must be able to stand out against a mountain of
candidates.
The
best way to enhance your competitive standing against other job seekers is
through strong accomplishment statements.
Accomplishments are most effective when:
·
They
illustrate your transferable skills
·
They show your
contribution to corporate bottom-line objectives
·
They are
stated quantitatively
If
you are confused about how to state your accomplishments effectively, consider
hiring a professional resume writer.
Correctly written statements will make your accomplishments shine—and
you’ll be more likely to land those critical interviews.
2. Changes in
technology
Is
your resume ready for the high-tech world?
Probably not, if you are still snail-mailing or faxing your resume to
potential employers. Are you willing to
take a chance on your resume being tossed, just because you didn’t take the
time to prepare your resume for an electronic audience?
With
dramatic increases in the number of resumes received, many employers have
invested in software to manage resumes and candidate responses. It is entirely possible that a computer, not
a person, will be the first one to screen your resume. The electronic eye is much more objective
than the human eye; it scans only for industry-specific terminology and
keywords in qualifications and responsibilities.
Here
are some critical questions to ask about your resume:
·
Does it
contain the right keywords to put you in the “interview” pile?
·
Will new
resume software be able to read its formatting correctly?
·
Will your
tables, fonts, and graphics transmit properly in an online resume form—or will
they disintegrate into unreadable symbols?
You can give your old
resume a real boost by investing in the services of a professional resume
writer who understands the pitfalls of our electronic job market. Whether your resume needs a brush-up or a
complete rewrite, it’s well worth the investment to make sure your name makes
it to the top of all candidate lists.
3. Changes
in your industry
If you are still just
tacking your most current job onto the same old resume, then your resume
probably contains a lot of old terminology and buzz words. If so, it will make you look outdated—even
over the hill. It may also fail to be
recognized by software that uses keywords to retrieve the best resumes.
If you’re feeling
out-of-step with your industry, it may be time for a checkup with a career
coach who can help prepare you and your resume to stand up to the challenges of
your industry’s changing trends.
Bottom line: if your
old resume that no isn’t winning the attention of employers, then it’s time to
ask yourself, “How much is my old resume costing me in wasted time and effort?”
An investment in
professional resume help could mean the difference between months of fruitless
effort—and landing the perfect new job.
A new, better resume built on strategies that are suited to today’s
job-search challenges may be just the edge you need to get you noticed and get
you hired.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Deborah Walker, CCMC
Resume Writer ~
Career Coach
To see resume samples
and read more job-search tips visit www.AlphaAdvantage.com
Email: Deb@AlphaAdvantage.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thank you
Deborah Walker, CCMC
888-828-0814
Deb@AlphaAdvantage.com