Is LinkedIn Resume Passing Up the Traditional Resume

No matter you are a full-time recruiter or a full-time job seeker, the argument about 'whether giving first preference to the resume or the LinkedIn profile' does hold a significant role in your vocational life.

With millions of recruiters pounding over LinkedIn to catch the best fishes, anyone desperately looking for a job wouldn't mind spending hours decorating their LinkedIn profiles. On the other side, the importance of a well crafted, professional resume cannot be ignored, as it does every bit to move up the candidate in a hard-boiled job competition.

So, what should be the take on this? LinkedIn or Resume? 

LinkedIn – The Hangout Place for Hiring Managers

Yes, it's true! Don't be surprised when you see hiring managers toggling through the candidates' LinkedIn profiles while sipping in the Cappuccino in a cafeteria, resting in corporate lounges, or simply sitting in a green park. LinkedIn is gradually overcoming the popularity of resume and tardily capturing that 'first preference' when it comes to a serious job search.

It won't be astonishing if those hands which initially screened the resumes for filtering deserving job applicants now first browse through the applicants' LinkedIn profiles. Today, the professionals working behind the resume reviewing procedures have become LinkedIn savvy and are preferring the popular social media horizontals to pluck the right individuals for their business requirements.

Besides, it makes sense to them to spend nothing for gathering quality information about the candidates through their online portfolios rather than shelling out a thousand dollars from the company's pocket to pay for the resume database providers.

Enhancing your LinkedIn

According to the national career coaches, an updated and impressive LinkedIn profile proudly announces professionalism and suitability for the appropriate job positions. Only 10% of the total LinkedIn profiles, as per a recent survey, are 100% complete. You can take this opportunity to outdo your tough competitors and uphold a remarkable status on the LinkedIn social-cum-business platform. BestSampleResume explains how important it is to draft an online resume for the technology savvy world.

All you need to do is to take care of a few points while maintaining your LinkedIn:

a. A formal head shot

b. A professional profile title that relates to your current employment status or expertise

c. An up-to-date summary of your entire career with qualifications, special skills, and experiences mentioned aptly

d. Highlighting relevant projects

e. Broadening your contact network and collecting endorsements

If you haven't created your LinkedIn portfolio yet then it's time that you consider this crucial job search element and acquire a ceaseless success in your career.

College Student Resume Examples

Student resume examples can be found on the internet for various job openings and fields. The difference is in the way you present the different fields of interest and your contribution in school or college. You, as a student, have to show your interest in the subject through different ways. 

For example, if you are fond of fine arts and wish to apply for a course in this field you should write the following points in your resume:

• Learnt pencil sketching.

• Good in still drawing.

• Have interest in shading.

• Done embroidery for fashion designers.

• Participated in inter collegiate competitions.

In short, you need to mention your interests in terms of proving something with such activities. Do not lie but mention whatever little you have done in the resume.

The employer is interested to know the actions you have taken in order to prove your interest. You write a resume when you apply for a job and thus you need to prove your mettle to the employer in the resume as well as interview. A good resume is a doorway to the interview room.

Employers look for ambitious and enthusiastic people when it comes to college students. 
The contents for the resume will be like any other resume, as follows:

• Resume Objective.

• Educational Summary.

• Education Details.

• Areas of Competence.

• Outstanding Achievements.

• Extra Activities.

This is how you should put your details in sequence. This will highlight everything an employer expects out of a freshman.

Which Format to Use?

The next obvious question is about the resume format for college student resume. Use the standard reverse chronological resume format. It has two basic advantages:

1.It is a standard format and it is easy to understand for the recruiters.
2.It has all the details in a chronological order, which leaves no scope for ambiguity and cross checking.


Dos and Don'ts:

Some dos and don'ts for making a student resume are given in the following:

• Be confident in terms of using words to describe your abilities.

• Do not paste or include a photograph in the resume.

• Keep the resume strictly relevant and to the point.

• Do not fiddle with the standard, plain and professional format of resume.

• Do not tell about your failures.

• Format it in a legible way.

If you just follow these simple tips, you can easily turn a college student resume into a competitive one.

Resume Examples and Tips for Experienced Professionals

The resume for experienced candidate is surely different from that  of a fresher applicant. If you are writing for an experienced candidate, you need to keep certain things in mind. For an experienced resume, you need to focus on your past work history and explain to the employer about the job responsibilities you handled during these employments. You can refer resume examples for experienced professionals for designing your application. Going through the examples, you will get complete idea on writing this type of applications.

resume example for experienced candidates

Resume Tips for Experienced Professionals:

Here are some tips for writing the resume for an experienced professional. With these tips, you can create a perfect job application that will make a positive impact on the employer and get you the job opportunity.

• Use chronological resume format for writing  experienced resume. If you have experience in similar field, this format is best for presenting your details.

• Your work history and educational details are presented in reverse order of chronology. Your most recent work experience is listed first. 

• You can give the details like name of the employer/ company, location, job title, employment dates, and work responsibilities. After your most recent experience details, list the next recent experience details. 

• If you are highly experienced professional with lots of jobs in past, you do not require to provide details of all your past jobs. Only give the information about the recent three employments. 

• Same is the case with education section in your application. This section should also be written in reverse chronological order. 

• Give the details of your most recent degree in the beginning and then the next degrees. Provide the name of your college/university and year of passing the degree. 

• Use a compelling objective statement for your CV. It should convince the employer about your suitability for working in the applied position. 

• You have to list your major accomplishments in your objective statement and explain to the employer how these can help you to work efficiently in your prospective profile. It is the most important section in the resume as employer will read it  immediately after he opens your application. 

• With a powerful objective statement, reader will be forced to go through the entire resume and call you for the personal interview to know more about your qualifications and traits. 

• One more thing you can do to design an impressive application is to refer the example of resume for experienced professionals.  These examples will show you how to present the details effectively in your application and how you can create a positive an impact on the recruiter. 

All these tips together will help you in designing a perfect application for experienced candidate. You can take help of best resume writers to help you draft your resume.

My First Job Interview

first job interview

After completing studies, all of us aim to get a job in a prestigious company and earn a handsome salary. I was very excited about all this when I achieved my graduation degree. I was ready with my resume and went to the interview test. The excitement at that stage is memorable, when you give your first job test and the recruiter announces that you are among the one who is shortlisted for the next round. I was successful in cracking the next round too. And then it was the “interview round”. 

I also faced the same trauma which most of us face during the “first job interview”. Honestly, I had butterflies in my stomach. I was so nervous that I felt like running away from the interview place. How well prepared you may be for the interview or how talented you may be, all of us go through this stage of interview nervousness. I was counting the moments at that time. Alas!! the time arrived when I had to go in the interview room. I was feeling very nervous. But then, as the interview progressed, I started feeling comfortable and calm. As I answered the questions, my confidence began to arise. At the end of the interview, I felt satisfied and confident with the interview session and stepped out of the room with more energy and desire to do better next time.

stay confident

That was the time I realized that success comes in cans, not cant's. Its you who can beat the fear within yourself. Remember while going to the interview that it's just an interview and the interviewer is also person like you. Be yourself. Listen to your inward voice and bravely obey that. Let not the fear hide your potentials and talent. Fight the fear and move forward. Desire to try and do better is what you need to be successful. Your will power, confidence and hard work is the key to crack the job interview successfully.

How to make your customer service resume eye-catching?

Person working as a customer service representative has to provide number of services to the customers and resolve their queries. They should have a complete understanding of the subject and should be able to answer any query asked by the customer.

For working as a customer service executive, you need an impressive customer service resume that will highlight all your job specific skills and traits. 

For designing your application, you can also refer the customer service resume examples. These examples will give you complete idea of the details to be included in job applications. Now we will see how you can make your customer service resume impressive and attractive.

Writing an Impressive Customer Service Resume:

More impressive your resume, better are your chances of getting an interview call from the employer. During the interview, you can convince the employers to hire you for the job. Working in this position, you will have to handle numerous responsibilities. For this, you must possess broad range of skill set and list all the necessary skills in your application. Here are some important tips for making your customer service application impressive.

• If you are an experienced candidate, list your past work experiences and qualifications. Mention the responsibilities you handled for every job position in past. You may not know what skills employer is expecting for the customer service job. Hence, try to include maximum job relevant skills and special accomplishments in your application. 
   
• List the experiences in chronological order of importance. List the work responsibilities in bulleted points for better readability. Place these details under the position you have help in the past. Emphasize on the duties where you needed to regularly interact with the clients and solve their queries. Show the employers that you possess excellent set of interpersonal skills.
  
  
• Transferable skills are most important for customer service job. Also, don’t forget to mention your computer skills in your application. You will be assisting the client with different application and database software; hence, you should possess excellent computer skills to provide such assistance. 
   
• If you hold the job specific technical knowledge, you can list it under separate section. Make different sub categories and include the information in the corresponding sections. List all the operating systems you are familiar using and knowledge of different database tools.

One more thing you can do to make your application eye catching is to choose an appropriate format. Most job seekers prefer chronological format for listing the details in their application. This format will make the details readable and easily catch an eye of the recruiter. Also go through some customer service resume examples to get more understanding on writing such resumes.

 

Surviving a Layoff and Explaining it Gracefully on Resume

Layoff on resume

Due to the economic recession suffered by the IT industry in recent few years, many employees were laid off to downsize the company or due to unavailability of projects. Employees are forced to change their jobs during such economic slowdown. Layoff may make a bad impact in your CV and raise the eyebrows of the employers when you apply for the job next time. Not only recession, but there are many other reasons for lay offs. An employee may be fired for not performing according to the expectations or due to misbehavior. Hence, your potential employers will need clarification of the reasons of your layoff. When applying for the job, it is important to design your CV in such way that it makes you the most suitable candidate for the job and provides explanation of your job loss. 

Surviving layoff

How to present layoff in your CV?

There are various reasons for the layoffs. Many times company has to let you go for economic reasons, no matter how good your performance is. Sometimes, your poor performance can be the reason, but you may get prior notice for such kind of layoff. When you are applying for any job after suffering a sudden job loss, it is important to explain your layoff carefully to the employer or you may lose the job opportunity. You may not even be called for the personal interview to prove your suitability for the job. 

Here are certain things that you need to keep in mind while presenting the information of your layoff in your CV –

• Be straight forward while listing the information of your job loss. Many companies will fire the employees due to the poor economic condition suffered by the company. You will not be blamed for such layoff during your prospective job application if you present these details carefully. Many times companies reduce the highest paid employees or cut down their salaries during economic slowdown. Such fired employees are replaced by the lower paid employees.
• If your layoff was due to your poor performance, such information in your CV will certainly affect your chances of getting a job. If this is the case with you, you need to hide these details and explain to the employer that there were certain personal reasons that affected your performance. You must also make sure to tell them that these problems do not exist anymore and will not affect your efficiency in the future. The layoff information in your CV should not say anything negative about you. Explain as much as you can about your job loss and convince the employer in a proper way.
• Even if you are dismissed for bad conduct or poor performance, it is bad idea to hide this fact from employers. Your dismissal will not change your capabilities and experiences. Some people may, however, look at it in a negative way; the layoffs generally don’t affect your performance. You must learn from your past mistakes and understand the reasons for your dismissal and try to avoid them. You can convince the employer by stressing on your work history and your unique skills and capabilities. If your details exactly match the job requirements, employer will at least call you for the personal interview to know the reasons for your dismissal.

Creativity is another best thing to survive a layoff in your CV. Be creative while writing your CV and add the details depending on the position applied for and expectations of the employers. You must not be ashamed of the layoff; rather you can explain the circumstances under which the layoff happened.

You can view open office resume template and resume examples for writing an awesome resume.

Dress For Success-What to wear to an interview??

interview dress

Job Interview Dresses

You should have pleasant appearance when you are appearing for the personal interview. It leaves a first impression on the potential employer and it should be a lasting one. When you enter the interview room, interviewer will initially see your attire and make a judgment about your appearance. Hence, it is important to dress up professionally whenever you appear for any interview. Here are some interview tips for selecting proper attire for interviews.

Attire for Interviews:

Whenever you appear for the interview for any job, it is important to dress professionally. Formal dressing is always recommended for the interviews no matter even if your prospective office environment allows casual dressing. You need to create an initial impression on the employer and proper dressing is the best way to create a positive impact on the minds of the interviewers before starting your communication.

Which is the best attire for the interviews? There is no such perfect dress code for the interviews. Yu must wear the dress that looks formal and perfect on you and most importantly you should feel comfortable in it.

Following are some ideas on dressing for your job interview.

Interview Dressing for Men:

interview dresses for men

• Suit (or even a formal long sleeves shirt preferably white)-

A candidate wearing a suit will obviously make a better impact on the employer than the candidate wearing a jeans and a t-shirt. Depending on the position you are applying for, you can wear a suit or just a plain, light color full sleeves shirt. Suit is recommended when you are applying for a managerial level or executive level positions.  

• Dark Color formal pant-

A dark color pant always suits well on a plain, light color formal shirt.

• Belt-

Using a belt will enhance your personality and provide you better appearance.

• Tie (optional)-

Tie is optional and it can be used depending on the interest of the candidate.

• Leather shoes and dark color socks-

Use either black or brown color well polished leather shoes.

• A neatly set hair (professional hairstyle)-

Set your hair properly with the gel or comb it neatly.  

• Clean shave-

Clean shave is must before the personal interview.

• Use mild perfume or deodorant-
• Trimmed nails.
• Folder or a briefcase for documents.

Do not carry the bundle of documents. Carry the necessary documents and organize them properly in a folder or a briefcase.

Interview Attire for Women:

interview dresses for women

• Dark color suit.
• Skirt should be long enough to sit comfortably.
• Matching blouse.
• Professional shoes.
• Limited jewelry.
• Decent hairstyle.
• Light makeup.
• Apply mild perfume or deodorant.
• Manicure and clean the nails properly.
• Carry a folder or briefcase for holding the documents.

What are the things that should be avoided during the interview?

• Chewing gum.
• Mobile phones.
• I-pod.
• Soft drinks, tea, or coffee.
• Cover the body tattoos, if any.
• Piercings should be either removed or hidden.

Tips for Choosing Appropriate Attire:

-When you are expecting to go to an interview, make sure you have an appropriate dress for the interview. The dress should be decent and formal. For men, light color formal, full sleeves shirt and dark color formal pant can be the perfect attire. You can also use a tie on it. The dress should be properly washed and ironed.

-Get the clothes ready a night before appearing for the interview. Keep all the things in place so that you don’t miss out anything in a hurry. Remember to carry a handkerchief and watch while going to the interview. Polish your shoes.

-Use a mouth freshener or a breath mint before you enter the building or the interview room.

All these tips will help in enhancing your personality and improving your appearance when you are appearing for the interview.

Also know the key ingredients that can spoil your resume.