Cheap Resume Services – Are They Worth the Risk?

The time you went and offered your self out on a chance to grab a job, did you bother thinking that if you had paid for cheap resume services that you could’ve still been unemployed till you actually make a real resume? Well that seems to be the problem when it comes to understanding what a resume signifies, a resume is a document bearing all your achievement, talents, and accomplishments in your past occupations as well as the place of where you studied your skill and so on and so forth, it should be handled and made with consideration and care since it is as important as the diploma you photocopied and stapled right on it.

How damaging can cheap resume services be to your chances of getting employment when you are at that stage where the newspaper is your best friend and your eyes are skimming through the wanted ads every single day while you eat up into your savings? It is severely damaging. You think to your self you’ve saved yourself the huge cost of actually availing a decent resume service by forking up $50s and leaving it in their hands. Unfortunately, you didn’t know that as your resume keeps getting pushed aside or off the company boss’s table, you eat away into your saved up left over cash you had put away just in case of emergency and as the days turn to weeks and so forth, you are just exhausting that fail-safe cash relying on a resume made by a factory which did not know all your qualities and talents, merely placing the robotic answers of your name, your age, your place of birth, etc.

Company bosses who wish to hire employees want to see people with potential in their companies and if your resume was made by cheap resume services, they can’t see that potential in you. Your resume must have artistic hints of your uniqueness and quality, it reflects on you as a human being and if it’s as plain as a help wanted poster, what could draw the company boss to even consider your resume as something he can acknowledge in respect. If you don’t have time to make a good resume, the company boss doesn’t have time to look at it either. Don’t be lazy and give some serious effort into making an appropriate resume because if it lands you a job, it can finally end your worries of if you might be eating next week or not.

Unemployment is hard to deal with, it is a flat lined moment in your life where hope looked bleak and depended on who would want your ability or skill. It all relies on your resume and if you had availed cheap resume services to deal with that important document, you might as well had shredded it because it won’t land you one decent look from the boss’ eyes onto your paper. There are good resume services out there but though the prices are sometimes beyond understanding, it’s the quality that counts. You need a good resume to get a job that suits your salary bracket and if it takes a little monetary sacrifice on your part to get it then all you can do is risk it. You are unemployed, you have nothing to lose. Cheap resume services are mostly factory-made resumes that don’t take into consideration what other quality resume services acknowledge, like which talents to show, which achievements to highlight, etc. You should think twice before sitting down and relaxing as a cheap resume was passing by countless tables and landing in the trashcan or floor.

Conducting a Job Search in Secret

At some point in your professional life you may find that you are not quite where you want to be and you may therefore decide that you need to conduct a job search in order to find a better opportunity for yourself. The problem is that you don’t want anyone to find out about your job search for fear that you may lose the position that you currently hold. Really then you find yourself in the position of finding a new job but doing so in secret.

This may sound like it is impossible to accomplish, but if you go about just the right way it can be done. No you can’t go about looking for a new job in the traditional sense such as posting your resume online for fear that your employer might see it o look through the classifieds on your lunch break, but there a number of strategies that you can implement that should keep your name out of the boss’ office such as:

• Use Personal Contacts: Many professional jobs are found through personal contacts lending credit to the term, ‘It’s all about who you know.’ If you are seeking a new job and want to keep it on the down low then dig deep into your network. You will of course need to be sure that who you are contacting is not going to let your current employer know that you are seeking employment elsewhere and if you aren’t sure if they will or not, then use someone else.
• Work with Recruiters: Working with job recruiters can take a lot of hassle and worry out of your secret job search. Because a recruiter represents certain companies they will have insights on positions that may fit your skills perfectly. Additionally you can supply the recruiter with all of your information instead of posting it online for the world, and perhaps your boss, to see. Recruiters can also do much of the leg work for you as far as finding positions and setting up interviews goes, which is good because if you are seeking a job in secret you can’t be doing this yourself while you are at work. Just be sure that the recruiter you are working with doesn’t represent the company you are trying to leave.
• Post an Ad: Instead of posting your resume with your name smattered all over it, try posting an ad instead. This may not garish as many interviews as some processes, but it does help to get the word out covertly that you are looking for a job and it lets any potential employers know exactly what you are looking for. To start you can place a ‘position wanted’ ad in your local newspaper but you shouldn’t stop there. Find a trade magazine or two within your industry and post the same ad there for increased exposure. Again, be sure that any publications that you post ads in are not in your current place of business.

While finding a job without it being a secret is hard enough, doing it stealth like is even harder. However, with a little finesses and some determination you can conduct a job search in secret and still be successful doing so.

Why Your Resume will be Thrown Away

You know you need a strong resume in order to get considered for a job, but there are a number of factors that will have your resume thrown away faster then it lands on the potential employer’s desk for consideration. Knowing what not to put on your resume and what mistakes to avoid can mean the difference of the sound of your phone ringing for an interview or the sound the trash can makes when your resume hits it.

Really what you put in your resume is what will determine whether or not the potential employer will be interested enough in you to call you in for an interview, so you want your resume to be strong and filled with useful information that will allow the potential employer to get a true glimpse into that which is you.

Conversely, there are things that you want to omit and there are things that you want to be sure are right or your resume may get trashed. Here are some things that will get your resume thrown away and thus are things you want to avoid:

• Bad Grammar and Misspellings: It is not enough to simply do a spell check at the end of your resume writing day. In order to be sure that your resume is spelling and grammar perfect you have to edit, edit, and then edit some more. After you have reviewed it, give it someone you know to review it. Remember, you only get one shot at making a great impression with your resume so make it count.
• Use of Slang: No matter how hip and cool you may be, don’t use slang terms in your resume. This can turn off a potential employer rather quickly and have them filing your resume at the bottom of their trash can. Because you are trying to get a job you should be writing in a professional tone and save the slang for your personal life.
• Lack of Relevancy: When a potential employer reads your resume you want them to think of all the reasons you would be perfect for the job. If your resume is filled with all sorts of irrelevant information in regards to the job in which you are applying for then it will likely not get to see the light of day.
• Sloppiness: When you read through something you want it to be nice and neat and broken up so that it is easy and pleasant to read right? Well that is precisely what a potentials employer will be looking for as well. If you turn in a resume that has no logic or structure to it, it will not be pleasant to read and probably won’t get much attention at all.

In today’s job market there are going to be a good number of people that want the same job that you are after. A potential employer will cut to the chase as quickly as possible so that they can get to the most qualified applicants right away. If your resume is not in ship shape then you will not get a consideration and your resume along with many others will see nothing but the dumpster.

Compare the best resume services.

Best Websites for Employment Articles

It seems that when you are hunting for a job everyone has a piece of advice to give, but what are the best websites for gaining valuable employment advice that is free for the taking? Simply conducting a Google or Ping search for ‘employment advice’ will yield you far too many choices to weed through and you could spend the better part of a week trying to decide which websites will offer you the best advice in your quest for employment.

While the choices are vast when it comes to websites that offer quality employment advice there are several that seem to always stand out on any list that ever gets compiled. These websites are easy to use and are full of valuable information that is sure to help you find you way in the crazy employment market that is currently taking place. Here is a breakdown of the top websites for employment advice:

• Careerbuilder.com: Careerbuilder.com has a section for both people who are looking for a job as well as a section for employers who are looking to hire. Additionally, the website offers free advice on both sided of the employment gauntlet and is a very interactive and easy to use website. Because Careerbuilders.com works with some of the top employment agencies in the world the advice they give is both in depth and plentiful. Once on the home page there is an ‘advice and resources’ button that will take you to a section filled with various tid bits of information broken down by certain categories.
• Monster.com: You may already know that Monster.com is a great place to post your resume online and have it be available to thousands of potential employers, but you may not know that they have a special section with employment articles for giving job seekers advice on finding the perfect job. On the home page of the website you will see a tab that is labeled ‘advice.’ One click is all it will take and you will then be led to a smorgasbord of information, tips, tricks, and the like, all designed with one thing in mind; helping you get a job.
• HotJobs.com: HotJobs.com works in conjunction with Yahoo and they too have a special section filled with all kinds of resources that you can use to help you obtain a job. On the home page they have a button labeled ‘career tools’ which will take you to a section loaded with helpful information. Along with advice on finding a job, you will also be able to take advantage of the advice they offer on everything from preparing the perfect resume to what to expect in a job interview.

While there are a lot more websites that offer free employment articles online there will not be any others that offer the amount and quality that these three do. Because they are such big names and work with big corporations, recruiters, and a huge data base of people looking for work they are filled with an endless supply of knowledge that can be tapped whenever you want for free.

Government Resume Guidelines

Because going to work for the Government is totally different then going to work in the private sector it therefore makes sense that a Government resume will be totally different as well. In order to give yourself the best possible chance at landing the Government position of your dreams you have to be sure that you are following proper guidelines with your Government resume.

Federal recruiters will grade your Government Resume using a very specific point system based on the FQS, or Federal Qualifications Standard method. Using this method the recruiters will match the most qualified applicant according to education and related work experience. Therefore it is of utmost importance that you follow the guidelines to the letter if you wish to have your resume reviewed.

Each Government resume must be structured so it will follow the Government guidelines and has to basically be custom tailored around the specific job announcement and must also include all the information that the announcement requires.

Though it is said that the standard resume should be no longer than a page unless absolutely necessary, a Government resume will contain much more needed information and will therefore be much longer. Here is what must be in every Government resume:

• Information about the Job: This will include the announcement number of the job and the job title.
• Your Information: You will be required to give your name, contact information, your social security number, and your country of citizenship.
• Government Experience: If you have any past Government experience you will be required to provide the highest grade you attained.
• Other Education: You will list all degrees you have obtained along with any training specific to the job posting.
• Your Experience: Here is the perfect opportunity for you to list anything and everything that is relevant and will show that you are the perfect candidate for the specific job posting. If you have relevant work experience in the private sector that will translate over to the Government job you are trying to get then be sure to list that.
• Everything Else: You can also list if you are a veteran. You will want to further include anything else that is relevant to the job announcement. Do not include anything that is irrelevant even if it is an outstanding award. Nothing gets a Government resume tossed faster than irrelevant information.

These days Government recruiters use a keyword searching software called Resumix in order to help weed through the sometimes hundreds of resumes that are turned in for one Government job posting. For this reason it is important that you use specific keywords that will relate to the job posting so that your resume has a better chance of standing out.

Depending on the job posting you may also need to obtain and fill out all the pertinent KSAs –Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities- and then turn those in with your Government resume. If KSAs are required, it will be listed as such in the job announcement.

While a Government resume is certainly more time consuming and much more detail oriented in comparison with a traditional resume, you must follow the guidelines for success. Failure to do so will have you disqualified at a rather fast pace and leave you to have to wait for the next time your dream Government job opens up.