Free Resume Advice For Job Seekers

As the majority of us are all aware, addressing selection criteria can be a daunting and lengthy process. Good news…many goverment departments are streamlining the job application process, especially when it comes to addressing selection criteria. I have worked on many job applications for clients who have applied for roles within two Queensland government departments who have streamlined the process, namely, Queensland Health and Queensland Transport. Other government departments are also starting to follow the same guidelines. That is, requirements in addressing selection criteria or key competencies and responsibilites include compiling only a one to two page statement. I have completed many and I always compile a document that contains content filling a full two pages. I do not believe that providing a one page statement is sufficient to cover the key competencies, especially when they ask for five or six to be addressed. I have one client who has now commissioned me for the fifth time (one application was for a standard selection criteria addressing six key areas up to half a page in length for each criterion; and the other four applications were for Queensland Health positions, all requiring a one to two page statement). She has been successful in gaining job interviews for four of the roles (we are currently in the process of completing the fifth application). I’ll be posting excerpts from the selection criteria next week, and excerpts from the statements in the future. Stay tuned…

Cheers,
Annie Cerone

CareerOne.com.au posted an employment news article toward the end of January 2010 predicting week-to-week improvement and growth in the Australian job market. Commentary from human resource industry professionals on growth forecasts for each state is also featured:

http://www.careerone.com.au/news-advice/employment-news/jobs-australian-outlook-2010-20100121

Cheers,

Annie Cerone

Highlighting your key skills and attributes are essential in promoting yourself in your resume! Very rarely do I develop resumes for clients that simply list duties, tasks or responsibilities undertaken in roles. I ask the question: ‘what key skill does this duty or task represent?’ For example, if a client lists for a particular position on their current or outdated resume (prior to me revamping it) that they supervised the work duties of staff. I would rewrite this point to highlight the skill and elaborate on the duties in this manner:

Leadership & Management: Managed and supervised the day-to-day tasks of staff (up to 12 at any given time) including scheduling work rosters, checking deadlines, delegating duties, conducing performance appraisals, and providing career development coaching.

This example now shows a more in depth coverage of not only the specific duties undertaken but also the key skill set utilised.

Transferable skills can be developed through both paid and non-paid work including community or volunteer involvement, studies, hobbies, and homemaker tasks. They are all transferable to the job market. There are many skills that we develop in our daily lives that are important and can be incorporated into your resume. On many occasions I have had clients who are mothers and wanting to enter the workforce again in either a part time or full time capacity only to ‘forget’ to mention that they have undertaken community service work whilst rearing their children and not in gainful employed during this period. These clients have been called up for job interviews once I have developed their resume which highlights their community service work.

It is important you brainstorm and apply lateral thinking skills when developing your resume and ask yourself about the skills you have utilised and developed throughout the years. Common transferable skills include (but are not limited to): organisation and time management, planning, leadership, team work, relationship building, networking, communication and interpersonal, problem solving, analytical and critical thinking, research, technology, and so forth.

Transferable skills:

1. Are the secret of job-hunting success because they are the most basic unit of whatever career, occupation or job you choose.
2. Are the secret of changing careers without necessarily going back to school because they allow you to build a picture of a new career from the ground up.
3. Are customarily divided into 3 basic areas according to what kind of object they act upon, whether it be some kind of data (information), people or things:

   * data – synthesizing, coordinating, innovating, analysing, compiling

   * people – mentoring, negotiating, instructing, supervising, managing, persuading

   * things – controlling, manipulating, tending, handling, setting up
4. When you list your transferable skills, you should always claim the highest skills you legitimately can on the basis of past performance.

Remember, it’s all about marketing you!

Cheers,

Annie Cerone