© 2010-
Everyone has some relevant work experience, including recent graduates, stay-at-home mothers, teens and returnees. While you may not have as much as you like, you probably have an internship or two under your belt, specific accomplishments, such as awards or honors, and part-time jobs.
All past experiences teach us something but mostly how to get the job done. Think about this; everything you know you learn at some point in time. We are born blank like a brand new DVD or CD disc. As the years pass we will burn into our brain knowledge and experiences, develop skills and utilize all of these elements again at some point in time.
It’s true that some professions have a very specific set of technical skills required but those skills still would not have a lot a value if you don’t know how to use them for lack of experience as the old saying goes “Been there, done that.”
Some younger job seekers worry about their lack of work experience but if you had part time jobs, shores at home as you were growing up, you have experience. Let’s say you had a part time job at the ice cream parlor around your neighborhood during the summer months. What did you learn there by scooping ice cream. Well, customer service comes to mind, what about time management and procedures,follow instruction or delegate tasks to the newer kid that just started to work there. Maybe you had to teach the new recruit how to follow all the procedures and to deal with potential problems that may arise during normal business operations. That means you have experience training and motivating others.
Let’s not forget to arrive on time and work your hours. You have acquired a great skill; self responsibility, if you don’t get there on time you may not have kept your job. One step further, and I am not saying all of you had this experience, you were late more than once but even so you kept your job. Probably you were very creative in coming up with a convincing way of telling your boss why you did not make it. Guess what? You were persuading or selling an idea and promoting the future value of keeping you on the job and probably allowing your boss to realize the added cost of finding someone like you for the spot.
Take inventory of all such attributes and mine each for transferable skills like supervising, public speaking, negotiating, training, and editing. Now, present each attribute using these transferable skills to connect your current experience with the career you're pursuing.
Avoid listing out accomplishments that are irrelevant (even if they are extremely cool), such as being a champion skateboarder or surfer, unless you know that the person reviewing your resume has an interest in such things or you competed at a professional or Olympic-class level.With every entry on your resume, connect the information with your intended career. If you "connect the dots" for hiring managers and recruiters, you're more likely to land an interview.
© Copyright New Edge Productions
About the Author
Fernando Ratkoczy http://www.linkedin.com/in/fernandoratkoczy is an author and Founder of http://www.NewEdgeProductions.com . If you're looking for Job Search Training, then check out “The Fast Job Search Series”. If you try to reduce your job search time and improve results you found one of the most comprehensive programs in the market. You are welcome to review free previews http://www.newedgeproductions.com/job-training-videos.html
All past experiences teach us something but mostly how to get the job done. Think about this; everything you know you learn at some point in time. We are born blank like a brand new DVD or CD disc. As the years pass we will burn into our brain knowledge and experiences, develop skills and utilize all of these elements again at some point in time.
It’s true that some professions have a very specific set of technical skills required but those skills still would not have a lot a value if you don’t know how to use them for lack of experience as the old saying goes “Been there, done that.”
Some younger job seekers worry about their lack of work experience but if you had part time jobs, shores at home as you were growing up, you have experience. Let’s say you had a part time job at the ice cream parlor around your neighborhood during the summer months. What did you learn there by scooping ice cream. Well, customer service comes to mind, what about time management and procedures,follow instruction or delegate tasks to the newer kid that just started to work there. Maybe you had to teach the new recruit how to follow all the procedures and to deal with potential problems that may arise during normal business operations. That means you have experience training and motivating others.
Let’s not forget to arrive on time and work your hours. You have acquired a great skill; self responsibility, if you don’t get there on time you may not have kept your job. One step further, and I am not saying all of you had this experience, you were late more than once but even so you kept your job. Probably you were very creative in coming up with a convincing way of telling your boss why you did not make it. Guess what? You were persuading or selling an idea and promoting the future value of keeping you on the job and probably allowing your boss to realize the added cost of finding someone like you for the spot.
Take inventory of all such attributes and mine each for transferable skills like supervising, public speaking, negotiating, training, and editing. Now, present each attribute using these transferable skills to connect your current experience with the career you're pursuing.
Avoid listing out accomplishments that are irrelevant (even if they are extremely cool), such as being a champion skateboarder or surfer, unless you know that the person reviewing your resume has an interest in such things or you competed at a professional or Olympic-
© Copyright New Edge Productions
About the Author
Fernando Ratkoczy http://www.linkedin.com/in/fernandoratkoczy is an author and Founder of http://www.NewEdgeProductions.com . If you're looking for Job Search Training, then check out “The Fast Job Search Series”. If you try to reduce your job search time and improve results you found one of the most comprehensive programs in the market. You are welcome to review free previews http://www.newedgeproductions.com/job-