In an ideal world you would like to think that once you have emailed your resume it arrives to the attention of the intended recruiter/ HR manager, sometimes this happens but certainly not all the time. There are a couple of reasons why this might be the case as discussed below, along with a third point explaining why the right keywords are important for candidates registering with employment agencies.

1.  The company uses a database to weed out unsuitable applications.

With companies being swamped with resumes it is understandable that they use filters to identify appropriate candidates from less realistic candidates. How do they do this? By providing whatever software they are using with keywords and phrases relevant to the job, if your resume does not include these keywords then you may find your application fruitless.

                                                                                                                                                  2.  Recruiters are screening resumes for the job.

This is not too dissimilar to the 1st point except instead of software intercepting resumes to seek the best candidates for the job, the task falls to recruiters.  Before forwarding a resume to the HR manager / hiring manager the recruiter might  browse your resume to see if you have the keywords that fit the job description.  This is particularly relevant with technical roles where the recruiter may not be familiar with technical terminology and is reliant on keyword compatibility to filter candidates accordingly.

                                                                                                                                                  3.  Keywords with recruitment consultancies.

If you register for work via a recruitment consultancy then your resume will be added to their large database of resumes.  So when a vacancy comes in the recruitment consultant will search his/her database using keyword-rich terms in the hope that the software the consultancy uses will provide a shortlist of candidates most suitable for the job vacancy.

                                                                                                                                                 Not having job-specific keywords on your resume will leave you at a disadvantage when searching for a job, so use the job description as a guide to predicting what keywords are key to each role you apply for and tailor your resume accordingly.  Next week we continue on this theme by looking at ways to identify keywords to use on your resume.

4 Reasons Why You Should Register With An Employment Agency.

Employment agencies and recruiters work off a commission basis so it is in their best interest to find you a job,in a previous post we looked at 5 tips to help you get the most out of your employment agency, today we look at 4 of the reasons why registering with a recruitment firm will be to your advantage.

1.Employment agencies can help you with your resume.

A successful resume is key to getting a job interview, experienced recruiters will be quick to spot any flaws on your resume and help you overcome them.

2. Employment agencies can offer advice on your interview skills.

Professional recruiters having interviewed you will be able to offer advice that will allow you improve your interviewing skills before interviewing with the hiring company. This will be of particular benefit for those who have not changed jobs in sometime so therefore may be short of experience in this regard.

3. Employment agencies already have relationships with hiring companies.

If a recruiter is working on behalf of a client then this suggests that they have a solid relationship with that client so an application on your behalf may be met with greater merit if coming from the recruiter rather than directly. Another reason is that recruiters have the advantage of being able to call the hiring manager to sell your resume on your behalf.

4. Employment agencies can negotiate a salary on your behalf.

Experienced recruiters are well-versed in the skill of salary negotiation (after all the more you get, the more they get) and can negotiate on your behalf ensuring you get the best possible package.

Maintaining a good relationship with your recruiter is important, so don’t bombard him/her with calls or emails, you want him/her to work on your behalf in a favorable manner so ensure you have a cordial relationship with your recruiter.

Registering with employment agencies is free of charge (steer clear of any employment agency who tries to charge you a fee for using them) and as a job seeker you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by joining a reputable employment agency to work on your behalf.

3 Reasons Not To Apply For A Job Until You Know Who The Job Is With.

If you are currently in a job the importance of being made knowing in advance where your resume is being sent cannot be understated. In your eagerness to find new employment you may be tempted to apply for jobs where the client company is not specified, this could turn out to be a big mistake. If you see a job advertisement that looks perfect but has “Confidential” listed as the company then avoid applying for it until you can garner more information about the job. The following examples highlight just 3 of the dangers .

1. Your resume gets sent to your existing employer.

Yes the unthinkable could happen, you apply for a job before eventually finding out the dreaded information that the role is with your existing employer. Expect a call to the bosses office should this happen but not necessarily for the type of meeting you hoped for.

2. Your resume gets sent to a client of your existing company.

Your boss won’t appreciate getting a call from a vendor asking “What’s that employee John Smith (for example) like?, he has applied for a job here with us”. This will be met with, at the very least, disappointment by your existing employer and like above will a meeting with your company management for further discussion.

3. The job may not exist.

You read that right, it is not unheard of for companies / recruiters to want to build a database of resumes for certain positions, in order to have them on file should such a position become available through an employee leaving or company growth. It is rare in the extreme that this happens but is worth bearing in mind nonetheless.

It is important not to let your desire to find a job curtail your professionalism in seeking one, should you see a job advertised without a name do all that you can do to find out who it is with. One way of trying to find out their identity is to send an email (not from your company email address) requesting information about where the role is based, at the very least, this should help you eliminate your own company as being the employer.

10 Common Spelling Errors Found On Resumes

Considering the importance the role of a resume takes in attempting to gain an interview there is nothing as infuriating for recruiters than when they receive resumes and cover letters that contain spelling errors.

Spelling mistakes display a lack of preparation, poor attention to detail and can dissuade employers from even wanting to interview you. This list of 10 of the most common spelling errors will hopefully assist you in creating a compelling cover-letter and an error-free resume.

Correct Spelling        Incorrect Spelling

Indispensable            My sales skills have been “indespensable” …

 
Correspondence        I include my business card for future “corresspondance”…

 
Accommodate            I will be happy to “accommadate” any queries…

 
Management              I seek a ”managment” role to continue my career growth… 

 
Separate                     My references are attached as a “seperate” document…

 
February                     Commenced employment in “Febuary”…

 
Occasion                     There was an “ocassion” when…

 
Necessary                    Should more information be “necessery”… 

 
Correspondence         For future “corraspondence”… 

The time you take checking and ensuring that your resume is free of spelling mistakes may prove to be time well spent indeed, so double-check everything before you send your application forward.

Recruiters receive a large amount of resumes on a daily basis so to ensure that your application shines you need to provide a professional resume with the salient information easily outlined. I have seen all kinds of resumes come across my desk over the years and can usually tell by the lay-out of the resume whether the candidate is suitable for the job, so getting the resume right is essential.

You resume should have your contact information across the top, this contact information should include both your email and home address along with your phone number. Don’t forget to include your cell number, as you want to make it as easy as possible for recruiters to be able to contact you.

The next part of your resume should be headed “Summary of Qualifications” and in bullet-point format underneath the heading provide an overview of your abilities and experience. You should keep these to one or two lines maximum but try to be as descriptive as possible for example instead of saying “10 years management experience”, say “10 years management experience managing teams ranging from 10 employees to 100 employees at varying stages of my career.”

The next section of your resume should be headed “Experience” and from here you should outline your career-history. For each job you should have job title, the company name, the dates of employment, and a job description. The descriptions should be in bullet-point format again, and should highlight your achievements and contributions whilst in each position, see example below:

Recruitment Manager, Sample Company, Dec 2002-Present

• Created and implemented a recruitment campaign to increase staff numbers by 50%, this was achieved on time and within budget.
• Negotiated significant discounts with recruiters and head-hunters which saved Sample Company in excess of $60,000.
• Provided training courses to senior management on the value of staff-retention.
• Developed a training plan for new employees.
• Created a company handbook for employees.

“Education” is the next heading for your resume, you should include the name of the college, your qualification and any extra information relating to your qualification such as merits or awards. If you have any professional qualifications relevant to your own area of employment you should also include them.

Before sending out your resume ensure that it is free of grammatical errors and contains no misspelled words, don’t provide any unnecessary information (such as a private blog or a link to your social-networking page). You rely on your resume to get you an interview so spend time refining it, until you are completely happy that it provides enough positive information about your career history and achievements.