By Eboni T. Thomas
Are you the type who’s typically twiddling your thumbs while holiday shoppers are scrambling for sales? Consider transferring your time management skills to fortifying your resume. After all, there’s no time like the present to prepare for a career move up or out. According to monster.com, major hiring initiatives typically follow close on the heels of the holidays. But why wait until the New Year? Seal your professional package now with these four tips:
Get a resume makeover
If you’ve been searching for a while and haven’t been getting results, maybe you need your resume revamped. Do your qualifications and accomplishments stand out at a glance? Or are they buried in a text-heavy, hard-to-read layout? Does your resume include potential key words customized to each posting? Or are you sending out a general version for multiple positions? Has a professional or friend proofread your resume? Glaring typos or awkward wording could be keeping you from your dream job.
Customize each cover letter
When you apply for a position with an option to include a cover letter, do you take the opportunity to do so? If not, your competition might be beating you out. Writing a cover letter conveys your serious interest in a position. You might think hiring professionals rarely read a cover letter word for word, which could be true. But you never know which word you’ve included could grab their attention. Suppose they decide to narrow down candidates by those who submitted cover letters. Worth the time, right?
Polish your online presence
If you’re in the market for a new job, you should use social media to your advantage. Sites such as LinkedIn® provide an innovative way to network by identifying first, second and third contacts who work at companies you wish to pursue. It is important to keep your profile as updated and professional as your resume. If your image and credentials in your social media do not match your application, you risk being screened out as a candidate.
Persist and prepare patiently
These days, finding a job and completing the application process can seem daunting. From assessing whether you meet the requirements to registering online to uploading your resume and other files, it takes time. Just remember, these persistent steps help place you in the candidate pool.
While ‘tis the season before hiring heats up, preparation and patience are still essential. It could take a few weeks (or months, depending on the industry) to get through the interview and onboarding process. You might reap the fruits of your labor during the holidays by preparing your resume package to before the holidays. Or you could sprint ahead of the New Year’s Resolution pool by searching while they’re shopping.
Eboni T. Thomas is a professional writer/editor with a background in corporate communications and marketing for EY. She has written for major newspapers (freelancing for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and reporting for The Detroit Free Press) and business profile magazines. She presented a Mom Corps YOU webinar in May on how to Transform Your Resume Into Social Media. To learn more about her resume, cover letter and LinkedIn profile content development services, visit allwrite-byme.com.