Why are you waiting to update your resume? Are you thinking you are stable at your job? That can only update your resume right before you send it out? Are you waiting to practice interviewing until you have an interview time on your calendar? If so, you are too late! Let me explain... If you wait until you are laid off or actively seeking a job, you are selling yourself short in a variety of ways. First, you are not adding valuable information to your resume in real time, thereby forgetting important details, such as the topic you presented, the old and new software you worked with, and the training you completed. You are missing portions of valuable work experience which set you apart from other employees. A company knows what your general job description looks like. Yet, they have no idea how you have made the position yours, by adding the personal touches only you provide to personalize your role. Secondly, you are not tapping into the hidden job market, networking, thereby passing up what could be your dream job. Everyone is always in the market, unless you own your own company. Even then, there could be enough of an offer to potentially interest you. You cannot explore opportunities if you are not refreshing on paper, thereby reinforcing, your strengths to yourself. Think about it. Like anything else, interview practice takes time. It takes a lot of effort, rehearsal, and practice. You won't get the luxury of time, if you are scrambling to meet with a job coach the day before your interview. You are already going to be nervous, and are not going to be focused enough to absorb all the information about the company, the position, and how to most effectively answer questions. I have seen people from entry level to C-level make the same mistake, time and time again. The last minute is too late! If you wait until the car is empty to fill up with gas, you're going to be pushing it to the nearest gas station. And where I'm sitting, in South Florida in July, that just doesn't seem pleasant. Refuel. Give yourself a little bit of time. Stop scrambling. You will make a better impression!
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A big frustration that many job seekers face is that they are looking for a targeted position and are being contacted by irrelevant jobs that are outside of their field. Now a choice needs to be made: is the job an opportunity in the door or a dead end situation?
Sometimes a lower level position in a large company with room for growth is a great way to get in, demonstrate your abilities, and get promoted, whereas getting into a small company where you will never have the opportunity to advance is not advantageous to your resume and your career. Ask targeted questions in the interview. Find out if the position/company have room to grow. Talk to others at the company. Utilize www.linkedin.com and the web to see what others think of the internal workings of the company. Don't just take an opportunity at face value: dig deeper, ask more, and identify if the role is the one for you or if you would be wasting time. I can’t tell you how many employees come to me unprepared. They have old resumes, forgot their resume, dog ate the resume, dog peed on the resume. And my first thought is: will this person be more prepared for a presentation?
Today, I was meeting a student for a scheduled appointment to review his resume. I rushed my lunch in order to meet with him on time. He “thought I emailed the resume to myself, but I guess I didn’t.” I thought you’d potentially be a good candidate, but I guess you aren’t? What’s the deal? Why are you unemployed? Let me count the reasons... Be ready for an interview, job fair, or networking event. It isn’t as though it fell out of the sky. I am sure you knew it was coming! Take time to run your interview answers off a friend, think about what you are going to wear, how you are going to present, and what you are going to bring in your portfolio to make you look like a superstar. Otherwise, all you are doing is cutting into my lunch hour or my productive time that I could be spending with someone else, and I don’t like that! |
AuthorJessica has over 15 years in job searching and resume development. She has been quoted in many national articles and has been noted as a subject matter expert in the field of employment. All information on this site is proprietary and the opinion of Jessica Renard. There is no guarantee that you will find a job based upon reading this blog. Archives
December 2014
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