Job hunting 102

Job hunt 102: 



When you are looking for your next job, urgency can drain your strength, as the bank account drains and you spend resource on your job hunt, everything becomes more urgent and desperate. I will not talk about how to conserve your hard earned money you will know well enough about that, but I have a few points that may help your job search and mines.

- Applying for roles, start with the roles that closely match your own previous job, common sense but many people try the shotgun approach, it does not work that well.
-Cover letter needs to be written to address the role you are applying for, you can cut and past, but make sure it does not carry over parts relative for a previous role.
- When you can not find roles that matched your previous role, you need to look at roles that you have specific transferable skills suitable for that role, these need to be highlighted in your cover letter. -Companies and recruiters using ATS, usually, through job boards, website applications, if at all possible avoid an email directly, search for the email address or phone number to contact directly many good candidates get lost in the ATS system if you have to use the online application rewrite your CV and make it full of words directly from the job description. 

 Research ATS to help you defeat that bucket that swallows up your changes before it even gets to a human




Have a good weekend

Update: 


I had a few questions regarding ATS: Applicant tracking systems see below for a better understand and hop over to www.jobscan.com

1. Use standard resume headings

There are several different acceptable ways to phrase headings within your resume (for example, “Professional Summary”, “Career Summary,” “Work Experience” and “Work History”). Whatever titles you decide to use, be sure to stick to these standard headings in order to keep your resume clean, professional and ready for ATS.
By over-customizing your resume headings (for example, using “About Me” and “Accreditations”), you make it more difficult for Applicant Tracking Systems to parse your resume. ATS are typically unable to recognize nonstandard headings, and as a result they’re unable to sort the content appropriately in their databases.

2. Choose the correct resume format

Many qualified resumes have been rejected because their format was not optimized for an ATS. There are three main resume formats: chronological, functional and hybrid. While chronological is the most popular, it might not be the right fit for you.
Making sure your resume is formatted correctly will only increase your chances of getting through applicant tracking systems.
Check out Jobscan’s 20 ATS-friendly resumes. Get a bonus template here.

3. Don’t touch headers and footers

While it is tempting to make your resume stand out, colorful, eye-catching images (including tables and graphs) and fancy typefaces often confuse Applicant Tracking Systems.
 
Headers and footers are best left empty (leave your contact information out of there!) with standard 1-inch margins. It is always best to let your experience and skills set you apart from others.
For all job seekers applying to creative positions, such as web designer or architect, save the color and creativity for the in-person interview and times (for example, a job fair) when you’ll use a paper copy of your resume.

4. Echo resume keywords exactly

If anything on a resume can beat Applicant Tracking Systems, it would be those trusty resume keywords. Resume keywords are the skills and qualifications in the original job description that should be included in a resume (e.g., communication skills, Microsoft Word, and academic degrees).
However, simply using any form of these keywords will not win over an ATS: keywords must be formatted to echo the original job description exactly (to an ATS, there is a difference between “Microsoft Word,” “MS Word,” and “Word”).
Jobscan is an excellent online resource to make sure you have included all your resume keywords and formatted them correctly.

5. Left alignment and conservative typeface

Use left alignment for your resume text. While right text alignment might appear to give your resume a formal or edgy appearance, it won’t actually boost its chances of beating Applicant Tracking Systems. In fact, it could prevent the system from parsing content correctly.
Any typeface that is not conservative (such as Helvetica, Times New Roman, Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, or Calibri), or that is not a standard size, runs the same risk.

6. Write out all acronyms

You may have thought your parents and grandparents were terrible at deciphering texting slang such as “LOL” and “OMG,” but compared to them, Applicant Tracking Systems are stuck in the Stone Age when it comes to acronyms.
Even if an acronym is well known (for example, BMW or IBM), it may not be recognized or categorized correctly by an ATS.
To avoid misunderstandings, always spell out the acronym first before including the acronym (if necessary):

• Companies and Associations: International Business Machines (IBM); American Cancer Society (ACS)
• Products: Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS)
• Brands: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing (3M)
• Years: 2015-2016 (never 2015-’16 or ’15-‘16)

 www.jobscan.com