Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Rules For Resume Writing in 2020

Rules For Resume Writing in 2020Employers have changed the rules for resume writing in 2020. Many years ago employers used to read a resume, decide if they were interested and use that information for an interview. Today, that process is done differently.First, when it comes to resumes, some are better than others. As a matter of fact, your resume today is more important than the resume you prepared years ago. So take the time to analyze all the elements of your resume. This will help you determine how to structure your resume the best possible way.If you are applying for a job that involves manual labor, then be sure to state the correct job description, skills, education and experience that the company is looking for. Let your resume show exactly what your experience and qualifications are. Don't have it feel like you are trying to get yourself into trouble.Another common mistake that many make is not using their contact information. Some employers keep track of things like that an yway, but just making sure to use a valid email address would make a big difference. Contact information is an important part of a resume. Make sure you state this information properly.The next most important part of a resume is the job history section. Be sure to list all jobs and start with when you started. This will help determine the quality of the experience and skills you have. It also allows the employer to see if you have held a certain position before and if you were fired from it.You should also include your experiences and certificates you earned. This is a good way to show that you have experience or education and skills that can apply to a specific job. Many employers look at the certificates you earn during your years of employment. It's important to remember that the rules for resume writing in 2020 do not apply to everyone. There are many cases where they do not apply. There are others who can simply state everything that they want and have the employer look at thei r resume without even reading it. It all depends on the resume.

Thursday, April 16, 2020

How to Manage Your Email on Vacation

How to Manage Your Email on Vacation Chances are, you’re taking at least a little time off work over the next couple of weeks. And chances are just as good that you’ll come back to an overflowing inbox and a stack of projects you have to reacquaint yourself with so you can pick up where you left off. It doesn’t have to be like this. Experts in work-life balance say there are some tips and tricks to managing email on vacationâ€"and none of them involves staying tethered to your smartphone for the duration of the holidays. Send out a heads-up. Before you go, contact the 10 or 12 people who email you the most and let them know when you’ll be goneâ€"and that you won’t be checking email, says Rusty Lindquist, vice president of insights and human capital management strategy at recruiting software company BambooHR. “Tell them that if there’s something urgent, to indicate so in the subject, and otherwise save correspondence till your return.” See what you can delegate. Can a co-worker cover some of your projectsâ€"or the communication that goes with themâ€"while you’re gone? “If so, schedule time to meet and review the project before you leave,” suggests Paul McDonald, senior executive director at staffing and recruiting company Robert Half. “Make certain you return the favor the next time they go on vacation,” he adds. Set a time frame for checking emailâ€"and stick with it. If you absolutely have to check emails while you’re gone, give yourself a short time period and stick with it, Lindquist says. The key is to keep it quick, and the key to that is being ruthless. If it doesn’t say “urgent,” it goes in the trash folder. Set expectations on response times. “If you’re not checking in, be crystal clear about it,” McDonald says. Set your out-of-office message and spell out whether you’ll be off the grid entirely, checking email daily or weekly, or directing people to contact a colleague in your absence. Pace yourself. Once you’re back in the office, don’t kill yourself trying to get through your inbox in an hour. “It will take time to fully catch up, and people understand this,” McDonald says. If you make yourself crazy, you’ll undo the benefits you got from actually relaxing on vacation. Request resends, or just purge it all. When you return, send out an initial email asking that any urgent emails be resent, Lindquist says. It’s possible the senders worked out the issue on their own in your absence. “Alternatively, you could just delete everything that doesn’t say ‘urgent,'” he says. “That can be incredibly liberating, if a bit risky.” Read next: 5 Secrets for Writing the Perfect Out-of-Office Email

Saturday, April 11, 2020

Poka-Yoke Interview Questions and Get the Job - Work It Daily

Poka-Yoke Interview Questions and Get the Job - Work It Daily Once an applicant has secured a physical interview it is essential to ace the interview to get the position. Using poka-yoke to answer interview questions is better than preparation. What is Poka-Yoke? And, how do you apply it to an interview? Almost every employment resource tells applicants to prepare for an interview. Unfortunately, preparation is a vague term open to interpretation. A job you want is on the line; this is not the time to guess about anything. Poka-yoke is a Japanese term that was developed in relationship to the Six Sigma business model. Within Six Sigma poka-yoke specifically refers to creating designs or systems that anticipate and prevent future problems before they happen. The automatic backup of computer files is a poka-yoke, the use of different prongs on electrical outlets is a poka-yoke, an online form that comes back immediately saying that the information doesn’t match is a poka-yoke. In all cases preventing problems before they arise is the idea. Poka-yoke is much more specific and proactive than preparation. Here we are only going to poka-yoke interview questions. However, the process can also be used for interview personal hygiene and speaking. The strength of poka-yoke is that it allows a person to focus on potential interview problems before they occur. Here is an example: A bright young single mother goes in for a job interview as a Financial Analyst. By all measures she is the most qualified person for the job. During the course of the interview the employer asks her if she has any further questions. The single mother, focusing on the things she wants to know about the company, asks the interviewer if there is a company daycare program. This is an important consideration for the woman. However, she has just told the interviewer she has a child? Children? The interviewer then inquires about the age of the child and the woman tells him that she has three kids under the age of five and that she is a single mother. While it is not ethical, the employer wonders how this woman will cope in the position, and he hires someone else. If the applicant had sat down to poka-yoke interview questions before the interview she would have answered the question differently and she would have been hired. The woman prepared very well for all the standard interview questions and had done very well up to this point. The largest potential problems in her working career are related to taking care of her three children and she knows this. However, she had not poka-yoked various scenarios to deal with the problems that are likely to arise let alone poka-yoked the interview questions related to her personal Achilles heel. Poka-Yoke Biggest Weaknesses and Craft Successful Interview Answers Identify your three biggest weaknesses related to any job and poka-yoke questions related to them before the interview. For the example above, our interview candidate identifies her three weaknesses before the interview as: Affordable care for her children in New York City. No knowledge of social media. Difficulty working the long hours associated with the position of Financial Analyst. Once the three greatest weaknesses have been identified create answers to potential interview question bombs. In the example above, the job seeker would look for answers to the daycare question from the company’s website and by using Linkedin information. Before starting employment she would have good ideas about how to deal with weaknesses one and three. She certainly would know not to offer up one of her greatest weaknesses in the interview. Once she has been offered the position she can negotiate from a position of strength to secure additional time off and resources for her family. By listing her second greatest weakness, a lack of Social Media knowledge, she can prepare a suitable answer. Something like: “I have investigated the structure of Facebook and have found that their security was seriously flawed until just recently. Similarly, many of the other Social Media outlets have serious security issues that can leave users’ privacy and identities vulnerable. Rather than jump into Social Media as a first adopter, I am waiting for most of the flaws to be corrected so that I do not expose myself to any unnecessary risks.” Poka-Yoke Common Interview Questions After dealing with the bombs tackle these questions the same way. This is preparation that looks to identify potential problems. When you find issues create your own detailed poka-yoke answers. Here are some common questions and some poka-yoke ideas for creating answers. 1. What do you know about our company? Why are you applying for this position? Poka-yoke: Use research to learn about the company AND to determine your likely value to them. Be specific; mention research, research sources and then talk about how you can specifically add value to the position. 2. Tell me about yourself. Poka-yoke: Do not tell your life-history. This isn’t a bar and these people are not your friends. Focus on relevant job experience that is applicable to the current position. Follow up with why this position is a natural progression for you rather than discussing negatives about your current situation. 3. What are your strengths? How can you add value to this position? Poka-yoke: Answer with a broad strength list that applies to the position. Then highlight with an applicable example from your career history that answers the main desired qualities listed in the job advertisement. Make answers unique and engaging; something that will stick in the mind of the employer. 4. What are your weaknesses? Poka-yoke: Be honest rather than use the common “my strength is my weakness” double speak. However, make sure any weakness you discuss will have a limited impact on the position. Then discuss ways in which you plan on dealing with this known weakness to limit its impact on your productivity. 5. Why should we hire you for this position over another candidate? Poka-yoke: Know your worth related to the position. List and highlight your unique qualities. Keep to the point and focus on your strengths rather than trying to guess what skills other applicants might posses. The value of poka-yoke is it asks the mind to think about problems from a different perspective. Fix the problems in your interview before they appear and then get ready to negotiate a better salary! Poka-yoke interview questions image from Shutterstock Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today!