My father was...a drinker. And a fiend. And one night he goes off crazier than usual..... I'm only kidding. My father owns a limo company called Flying High Transit, based in Clinton, N.J. He drives clients to and from the airport and into the city as well. Being caught in a stigma of constantly needing cash to pay bills and student loans off due to my current unemployed status, I occasionally help him out by driving people when he is occupied.
On Friday evening, I drove this nice older couple back from Newark Airport. They have daughters in their thirties, one of whom works for an insurance rating company in a nearby town. I dropped off the couple at their house, and they asked me for my e-mail address to give to their daughter for consideration for an employment opportunity (You never know.... It's called networking). That really pumped me up, a chance for a career, finally? I was pleasantly surprised to get an e-mail in a timely fashion the very next morning from their daughter, asking me to send my resume to both her personal and work e-mail addresses and she would then forward it to Human Resources.
Ahhhhh, the good old HR Department, the resume graveyard itself in any company. I felt my spirits sink along with my chances of actually getting an interview, having my resume in the caring hands of a department of people who don't know me personally, and do not know my strengths and assets in a team and professional environment.
HR departments are like automated answering machines for a company that you would like to get in touch with and possibly even start a relationship with. Let's just say that the company is a girl that you want to ask out for dinner. The girl is usually busy and is NEVER home so you must deal with her answering machine. You have to make a good impression on the answering machine to spark the interest of the girl, so it's all about presentation, aka the resume. So you have to do work now, in order to "DO WORK!!!" later.
On Saturday I was in Connecticut with my family for my grandfather's 85th birthday (Happy Birthday, Pop!!) I started reading this article about a guide to getting a career in the jobs section of Reader's Digest, written by Cathie Gandel and Hilary Sterne, (Yes I said it, Reader's Digest, don't judge!) This article was loaded with a plethora of good information about getting a job, being in between jobs, and advice from career coaches.
My primary focus was on the part of the article pertaining to resumes.
HR people like a "powered up resume," so instead of saying "I worked," say "I collaborated" or "I led," for instance.
Here is a list of some more power verbs that will boost your resume's value, and HR people will fall head-over-heels in love with it based on the words they read, assuming they took their adderall that morning and will give resumes/people the attention they deserve:
-accelerated
-accomplished
-collaborated
-constructed
-created
-designed
-developed
-devised
-drafted
-established
-expanded
-formulated
-generated
-implemented
-improved
-initiated
-launched
-managed
-negotiated
-operated
-presented
-produced
-streamlined
-supervised
-tracked
-wrote
The article also features good advice from resume professionals: Paul Mathews, Peter Weddle, Anita Attridge, Michael Worthington, and Cheryl Lynch Simpson.
Resumes are all about the past, job posts are all about the future. Think about how your qualifications can match up well with what the employer is looking for on a professional level. Don't use any font under 11-point on your resume (remember the "HR-ADD Factor"), and send it as part of the e-mail and NOT as an attachment, (thanks for the information that could've been BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION YESTERDAY!!!! Or 10 months ago). Read the job description and use the same words, so if the ad specifies 'instructor' don't write down 'trainer' on your resume. Also, don't use buzz-words (team member, problem solver, or self-motivated). Instead, specifically describe your accomplishments (not duties) by quantifying your experience.
It's like a football game. It's a game that pits you, as the prospective employee, vs. the HR department, aka 'the opposition' as I like to refer to them as. You must illustrate and implement plays that baffle or dazzle the opposition in order to get by them, head to the end-zone (the initial interview) to score, and ultimately win the game (get the job offer).
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