When someone tells you they plan on beginning a new job search, it’s usually followed by a few moans and groans. You can sense the pure dread of having to update their resume that they haven’t looked at in months (or years). You can see the less then fun montage of them trying on different potential interview outfits over and over….Well, I’m here to tell you this process doesn’t have to suck.
Are you in love with your resume?
I’m not talking about the list of achievements you’ve stacked up or that impressive degree. When you look at your resume, can you confidently say that it depicts the type of person you are? Is there a sign of life?
Too often I’ve come across resumes that had the qualifications, but were lifeless. Times Roman font on a plain white sheet of paper, maybe even a header with your name bolded does not scream, “hire me!” Step out of the preconceived notions of what a safe resume is “suppose” to look like and show employers who you are because you my friend, are not boring, plain, or anything times roman font related…
Keeping in mind professionalism,…
…add color tones to spark up your skills. Take into consideration your industry. If you are in finance, let’s keep the warm tones with a traditional format. If you are in marketing, show off your creativity with reasonable design. You can also download free fonts to add personality, but don’t use funky fonts that will make your qualifications hard to read by employers. Play with headers and incorporate modern clean lines to your work history.
Don’t state the obvious.
If you were an event planner, an employer can pretty much tell what you did at your last job, the basics. The bullet points under your job title, should tell the employer more. What did you do differently at this job? What where your career highlights? What makes you different than any other candidate with this similar background? Brag! You finally have a valid reason to show not only how awesomely qualified you are, but why you are the BEST person for the role.
You scored an interview!
And now the stress levels increase on how to look and what to say (or not to say). I don’t care if you are interviewing for a startup where everyone wears flip flops, and beanie hats to meetings, dress business professional for your interview. Look your best professional self. Notice what I said, YOUR best professional SELF. Still be you. If you’re uncomfortable during the interview because you’re not comfortable with how you look, potential employers will recognize that. You’ll be able to articulate your qualifications better for the simple fact that you are comfortable. Yes, its OK to be nervous, but remember, getting an interview means you have the skills. Now they just want to get to know YOU.
Learn from rejection.
If you don’t land a gig I always suggest asking for feedback, especially if there was an assignment assigned as part of the process. Sometimes it can come down to what candidate was a better “fit” and if it wasn’t you, don’t take this the wrong way. You deserve to be a job where your personality works with the environment and this could take time, but in the end be totally worth it.
In short, the route to a new job may be long, but you still deserve to enjoy the ride!
House Momentum 