Transferable Skills Guide: Identifying Your Transferable Skills – Kayla Strickland

Mar 052018
 

What is a transferable skill?

Time management. I needed it when balancing a handful of demanding courses, a capstone paper I really wanted to hit out of the park, part time work, bills, (at times) a social life and rest. I need it just as much in my current role as Customer Support and Operations Manager at Addgene. In this role, I balance my daily tasks, meet cross-team project commitments, respond to any issues raised by team members, and plan for the future of the team. All while still paying bills and having a life outside my job.

The same can be said about teamwork, communication, writing, management, and creativity; I have developed these skills through school, jobs, and volunteer work, and I guarantee you have developed them through similar experiences in graduate school. These skills will be useful anywhere I work in the future; they are transferrable across most, if not all, industries and work environments. This is why they are called transferable skills.

Continue reading »

Did Creating Your Resume REALLY Just Get a Whole Lot Easier with Microsoft and LinkedIn? – Marie Zimenoff

Feb 122018
 

Writing your resume is hard, right? Today, LinkedIn and Microsoft announced the launch of Resume Assistant in Word. The claim is that this tool will make it easier to update your profile and your resume. Let’s explore.

The Good: Technology that provides inspiration and reminders of content/skills you might include and connects you to job announcements that might be relevant.

The Bad: Differentiation is hard. Writing specific statements about what you did is important. You’ll still have to do that work to truly stand out on your resume or LinkedIn profile.

The Ugly: Did they seriously use a resume example in their video and article where the summary includes “detail-oriented” (on every list of over-used phrases) and experience that starts with “responsible for”? Almost every resume article you read will tell you not to use “responsible for” (for good reasons that we won’t go in to here – a quick search will bring up a dozen articles that explain why).

Continue reading »

  •  February 12, 2018
  •  Posted by at 12:11 pm
  •   Comments Off on Did Creating Your Resume REALLY Just Get a Whole Lot Easier with Microsoft and LinkedIn? – Marie Zimenoff
  •   Career Success, Resume Tips

Why You Need Both a Resume and A Stong LinkedIn Profile – Arnie Fertig

Jan 292018
 
Perfecting the tone of your resume and LinkedIn profile will improve your job hunt prospects.

If LinkedIn had its way, there would be no such thing as a resume anymore. We may be heading in that direction, but we certainly aren’t there yet!

The reality is that you need both a well-constructed resume and an optimized LinkedIn profile for an effective current job search. They should share a certain amount of information and complement each other, but not be identical.

Your LinkedIn profile can draw recruiters and hiring authorities to you when you show up in their search results. It can be the pathway for them to reach out to you to request your resume. And, virtually every company of a certain size will require a resume from you for their applicant tracking system at some point in the hiring process.

Conversely, when you submit your resume to companies, you can assume that when it draws some interest, reviewers are also likely to search for you on LinkedIn for additional information.

Continue reading »

  •  January 29, 2018
  •  Posted by at 10:25 am
  •   Comments Off on Why You Need Both a Resume and A Stong LinkedIn Profile – Arnie Fertig
  •   Career Success, Resume Tips

The Job Search Strategy That’ll Make You 15 Times More Likely to Be Hired – Stacey Lastoe

Dec 182017
 

If you’ve been applying to opening after opening and not getting any bites (read: interviews or offers), it could be because referred candidates are snagging the roles first.

While you’ve no doubt heard that it’s all about who you know when you’re looking for a job, that’s more true than ever. A recent Jobvite article shared data showing that referred applicants are 15 times more likely to be hired than applicants who apply via a job board.

Crazy, right? Well here’s another fun fact from their 2015 Recruiter Nation survey : Nearly 80% of recruiters noted referrals as the best way to find quality hires, and this figure has remained consistent.

What does this mean for you? Well, for one thing, it cements the importance of networking , but it also makes it abundantly clear where you should be putting your efforts (hint: into meeting people who work at your dream companies). You can pull this off more easily than you think.

Continue reading »

How To Build A Career, Not Just Find A Job – Lisa Haugh

Dec 122017
 
Developing your professional network will be far more valuable than uploading your resume to every listing site on the internet.

Headlines abound whenever Facebook or Google introduce a new feature or product. Recently, both rolled out similar services for job seekers, but don’t expect these tools to take all the work out of landing your dream job.

Here’s what the two Silicon Valley giants are offering. Google will aggregate listings from five major job sites to display in search results. On Facebook, companies can post jobs and contact and track applicants. The social media site will also push relevant jobs into users’ news feeds.

Related: To Succeed You Must Make Yourself Indispensable

Continue reading »

A Mid-Year Checklist for How to Always Be Ready for a Great New Job – Ray Bixler

Oct 302017
 
Constantly try to expand your list of professional contacts.

It’s June, the halfway point of the year. Whether your job is going great or going nowhere, right now is an ideal time to think about your career prospects, where you are and where you want to go. As Alec Baldwin’s character in the movie “Glengarry Glen Ross” said, “ABC – Always Be Closing” – except in this case, ABC stands for “Always Be Candidating.”

The workplace version of ABC means you should consistently think about yourself as a potential job candidate, even if you’re not actively looking at all. Situations can change quickly. There’s a good chance you might even become an independent contractor at some point in your career. In fact, it’s increasingly likely you’ll be a member of the growing gig economy. A survey by Intuit found that 43 percent of American workers are forecast to be gig economy participants by 2020.

[See: 25 Best Business Jobs for 2017.]

Continue reading »

10 Ways College Grads Can Make Their Resumes Stand Out – Diane Gottsman

Sep 152017
 

If you are one of approximately 1.8 million students receiving a bachelor’s degree this year, you’ve probably been working on your resume. This can be a challenging task for upcoming college graduates, especially those with minimal work experience. When you consider that hiring managers typically take less than 10 seconds to decide which pile your resume goes into, you will want to make sure yours stands out in a positive way.

Knowing how to create an outstanding resume is a skill that will serve you well throughout your career. Here are 10 ways to create one that works for you.

Continue reading »

  •  September 15, 2017
  •  Posted by at 3:07 pm
  •   Comments Off on 10 Ways College Grads Can Make Their Resumes Stand Out – Diane Gottsman
  •   Career Success, Resume Tips

Take Proactive Control Of Your Job Search And Career – Michelle Dumas

Aug 072017
 


You’re having that dream again. You know, the one where you forgot about your job interview and you’re not prepared in the slightest. You’ve shown up wearing faded pajamas and fuzzy slippers, and to your horror, your resume is written in purple crayon.

Don’t panic. As challenging as your job search is, it’s unlikely that even your worst interview will measure up to this nightmare.

But it does open the door to the question that needs an answer: What are you doing to take proactive control of your job search?

It’s Personal

Job seekers are often told to keep emotion out of it and focus solely on the most logical choice — keep business separated from the personal side of life, and never shall the two meet.

Continue reading »

10 Tips for Writing the Best Resume for Your Post-Graduation Job Search – Marcia Hancock

Jul 242017
 

The biggest challenge facing college students and new grads is landing a good job. A job that is in your chosen field provides real-time professional work experience, utilizes your learned skills and pays well. Opportunities are opening as the economy expands, but new grads are often labeled as inexperienced and excluded from hiring consideration. Internships abound that offer “work for free” terms, supposedly in exchange for professional experience, yet often provide little or no experience substance.

The solution is to develop a resume that translates your academic achievements into real professional work experience.

SO HOW DO YOU TRANSLATE YOUR ACADEMIC SUCCESSES INTO NEEDED WORKPLACE SKILLS?

Continue reading »

  •  July 24, 2017
  •  Posted by at 12:06 pm
  •   Comments Off on 10 Tips for Writing the Best Resume for Your Post-Graduation Job Search – Marcia Hancock
  •   Career Success, Resume Tips

Ask a Career Coach: Help! I’m Not Getting Interviews, But I’m Doing Everything Right – Kyle Lee

Jul 172017
 

Dear Kyle,

I’m stuck in what I would say is a “rut.” I’ve been employed at my current position for a little over eight years and am sort of stuck. There’s no chance of advancement. I’m bored and know that I have many transferable skills (in pharmaceutical sales); however, because I don’t have direct experience in the area I want to take my career, I can’t even get an interview.

I’ve been sending out my resume for over a year now. I had it professionally assessed by someone experienced in this line of work, so I know it’s professional and highlights my transferable skills. I feel incredibly confident that if I could just obtain an interview, I’d be well on my way to getting the job. Any suggestions or insights on how else I can promote myself to stand out? I’m at a loss!!

Signed, Stuck-in-a-Rut

Dear Stuck-in-a-Rut,

You just struck a chord with 90% of people who have tried to apply for jobs online. It’s tricky; you can’t ignore the standard application process, but what do you do when the portals become black holes? Assuming you’ve already been tweaking your resume and customizing your cover letter every time you apply for an opening, following up, and still getting no response, it’s time to take other action.

Continue reading »

 Older Entries