How to Get Hired: Are You Targeting a Specialist Position or Generalist?

There are different kinds of positions to apply for. One thing to consider when you're looking for a job is to target the company you'd like to join and make sure you fit the position they are looking for. Monster outlines 2 kinds of resume formats - the generalist and the specialist with recommendations on the best approach for you. Read on and discover which one is right for you

The Generalist's Advantages

Positioning yourself as a generalist could be effective if you:

    Target Small Companies: "A company with fewer than 500 employees may see a job seeker with a broad base of skills as giving them more for their money," says Dave Upton, founder and CEO of ExecuNet. At tiny companies or startups, a broad array of skills is often essential due to the need to wear different hats, Upton added.
    
    Target Downsizing Companies: Organizations that consolidate functions will often want someone who can do many things, such as a single HR generalist who can handle compensation and benefits as well as recruiting functions, says Stefanie Cross-Wilson, co-president of recruitment and talent management at Hudson.
    
    Will Take Any Job: Recruiters agree that the scattershot approach yields scattershot results even in the best of times. But if you simply want a foot in the door of a company -- any company, doing anything, anywhere -- selling yourself as a jack-of-all trades could pay off.

The Specialist Positioning

Selling yourself as a specialist is preferable if you:

    Know Exactly What You're Looking For: If you're sure about what you want and know how your skills match up to the requirements, make the case that you're the one they need and don't muddy your resume with a variety of unrelated skills.
    
    Work in a Competitive Industry: These days, employers who used to receive dozens of resumes for a position may see hundreds or thousands. The person who fits the job best, particularly in a competitive field, is more likely to get the job than someone who can do a bit of everything, recruiters say.
    
    Seek a Job Requiring Specialized Skill:  An employer filling a job that requires deep knowledge of industrial automation, forensic accounting or video game design, to name a few, can usually find a candidate with the exact skills to match the job. If you don't have the specific skills, your knowledge of gardening, accounting or music theory, while nice to have, won't make up that deficit.

The Best Approach

Still not sure which approach is best? Recruiters recommend playing it safe by positioning yourself as a "specialist, with breadth." To do this:

1.     Research a job opening and the company to find out exactly what skills are needed and what other skills might be useful.
2.     Emphasize the depth of your expertise in the most necessary job skills -- the ones that actually match the job description -- and add your compatible skills at the bottom of the resume
3.     Don't send out a hodgepodge resume. You're more likely to confuse the recruiter or the hiring manager, who may think of you as a dabbler without depth.

This tactic, recruiters say, will cover your bases by showing the breadth and depth of your skills, and that could be a winning combination in a tight job market.

Are You a Fresh Graduate? Here Are Some Resume Writing Tips

This post is dedicated to new graduates. Here are some tips to write your resume from Monster.com

Young graduates face one of the hardest tasks in all CV writing, which is how to differentiate themselves from everyone else and not come across as a wannabe with overblown intentions but little to offer.

Contrary to popular belief, naked ambition is not highly regarded by recruiters, who are actually looking for evidence of maturity and judgement, at least an appearance of originality and creativity and the definite hint of potential commitment.

Your challenge is to imply all of these things without being so crass as to actually say them. This is where intelligent candidates can score highly by making the most of their NON WORK activities and interests.

Young graduates rarely have a great deal of work experience, and if they do it tends to be irrelevant to their future career. I often see long CVs that ramble on about the communication skills the person learned selling burgers and the numeracy skills they acquired at an all night petrol station.

This sort of information cuts no ice with anyone. Important things about work experience might be whether or not you did it to fund some amazing trip around Europe or whether you did it to pay for your university tuition fees and then managed on sheer talent to convert it into degree....

Years ago, milk round employers started introducing trick questions on their graduate trainee recruitment applications. They asked things like: What is your worst mistake and how did you recover from it?

Think about that question and what it implies about the people they are searching for: people who can first of all recognize an error, then come up with a strategy to deal with it, then manage a project that gets the result.

What this means in CV terms is that it is that you need to be reflecting on where you are now, not pretending to be Richard Branson.

Avoid using the word 'I' at all costs but describe the experience you do have in such a way that brings out all its value.

Examples:

You chose your study path
Tell them why, what was in your mind, what evolution there has been in the light of experience, what skills you believe it has given you, appropriate to what kind of roles in real work. Do this in a concise and intelligent way that tries to imagine what they want to know about you (see above). Make sure it is not merely blind ambition but also shows judgement, knowledge outside the syllabus, awareness of modern developments in culture and business.

You have non work activities
Don't just list them in a dull way; if you practice martial arts mention the resolve and inner calm they help you achieve; if you have participated in voluntary work say why you did it and what you got from giving your time; if you have rebuilt a VW Beetle from scratch and supercharged the engine, you can describe your engineering achievement; if you have travelled and worked abroad, make the most of it by laying down at least one interesting piece of bait for people to connect with at the interview.

The heart of your proposed CV
The focus is bound to be your studies, and for some professional starts it is essential to achieve high grades, which can justifiably be mentioned in detail.

I often advise people to say why they chose specific courses, who their tutors were (if famous) and what they learned, specifically, from that branch of study. If you fancy investment banking, for example, and have experience in using the same appraisal system that top trading organisations actually use, then mention it and say what you did with it. If you haven't, and you expect to break into a golden career, find out quick!

Your knowledge
Young people without maturity, and who are unlikely to be of any use to an employer, expose themselves at once by expecting everything to be done for them. I get enquiries from History graduates who vaguely fancy a career in e-commerce because it pays well (they imagine). Forget it - unless you are a History graduate who has spent hours on the Internet, read the e-business gurus and can talk convincingly at the interview about the future. If this is you, say so in your CV; if it is not you, then you aren't much use at the moment and you need to use your initiative to acquire information that wasn't handed to you on a plate.

That rule applies to every field of activity. People with 1st Class Honours degrees can almost ignore it, but everyone else can benefit from having gone beyond the narrow confines of academia and well beyond what the university careers service has ever dreamed of.

If you have knowledge, flaunt it and get it out there. Locate your employment targets on the Internet, research the company in detail and contact them direct. Don't expect to follow all the other sheep through an easy gate marked "A graduate career". It isn't like that any more. People with training who left school at 16 can be just as highly regarded as Computer Science graduates who have no idea what they want, what is possible and how to move themselves forward.

It's a tough world out there
It is entirely commercial. All careers in the future will be sales related in some sense. Wise up to that fact immediately and be prepared to develop your career from whatever angle you can gain entry into the world of your choice. Many of the most successful people I write CVs for started life by leaving school at 16 and showing initiative at every step of the way. Bear in mind that as a young graduate you are untried and unproven and that the world does not owe you anything. You have to prove yourself and make yourself valuable enough to employ.

The way to start is by showing that you can actually sell yourself, getting the message right, positioning appropriately, not producing a bombastic imitation of a mature career CV.

Snappy letters work wonders
Spend time on your application letters and throw the first 25 you write away. Until you have one that sings, that is less than a page long, that excites interest, that does not repeat your CV and is not soured by blind ambition, you have not yet written the letter. When you have written the right letter it will open doors and you can adapt it for application form statements.

I cannot tell you how to write a letter. It's a creative process, par excellence. You need to throw away your constraints and start by just saying what you want to say in plain English. Then tidy it up and add a few choice buzzwords. Then cut the ones that go too far. Then write it again, and again and again and again until it feels just right. Then try it out and revise it if no results come back.

Like your proposed glittering career, your very first application requires some hard work, commitment, maturity, willingness to get your hands dirty, admission of ignorance, capture of new knowledge and all the creative flair you can muster.

via Monster.com

Use Action Phrases and Power Verbs In Your Resume - Here's A Complete List

Action Phrases and Power Verbs to use in your resume (care of Monster's Career Advice)

Describing your work experience isn't easy. To help you, we've compiled a list of action phrases and power verbs. The purpose of using them is to show employers that you know how to get results. Begin your job descriptions with a power verb or phrase: enlisted the support..., formed a committee..., sold, budgeted, improved, increased, maintained the client relationship.

Action Phrases

CHRONO RESUME
Design, develop and deliver
Conduct needs analysis
Write course design documents
Manage development
Consult with clients
Facilitate problem-solving meetings
Implement solutions
Develop and implement formatting
Developed and delivered
Revamped product training
Assessed employee and client training needs
Analyzed evaluation data
Designed and implemented

EDUCATION EMPHASIS
Followed special task force
Assisted special task force
Proctored and scored
Facilitated discussion

SCANNABLE RESUME
Reduced manufacturing plant's burden
Reduced material costs

BLUE CHIP RESUME
managed an eleven-person team
negotiated over $tk
coordinated strategic five-year plan
created and implemented innovative approach
developed new product


Power Verbs

A-B

accelerated acclimated accompanied accomplished achieved acquired acted activated actuated adapted added addressed adhered adjusted administered admitted adopted advanced advertised advised advocated aided aired affected allocated altered amended amplified analyzed answered anticipated appointed appraised approached approved arbitrated arranged ascertained asked assembled assigned assumed assessed assisted attained attracted audited augmented authored authorized automated awarded avail balanced bargained borrowed bought broadened budgeted built

C

calculated canvassed capitalized captured carried out cast cataloged centralized challenged chaired changed channeled charted checked chose circulated clarified classified cleared closed co-authored cold called collaborated collected combined commissioned committed communicated compared compiled complied completed composed computed conceived conceptualized concluded condensed conducted conferred consolidated constructed consulted contracted contrasted contributed contrived controlled converted convinced coordinated corrected corresponded counseled counted created critiqued cultivated cut

D

debugged decided decentralized decreased deferred defined delegated delivered demonstrated depreciated described designated designed determined developed devised devoted diagrammed directed disclosed discounted discovered dispatched displayed dissembled distinguished distributed diversified divested documented doubled drafted

E

earned eased edited effected elected eliminated employed enabled encouraged endorsed enforced engaged engineered enhanced enlarged enriched entered entertained established estimated evaluated examined exceeded exchanged executed exempted exercised expanded expedited explained exposed extended extracted extrapolated

F-H

facilitated familiarized fashioned fielded figured financed fit focused forecasted formalized formed formulated fortified found founded framed fulfilled functioned furnished gained gathered gauged gave generated governed graded granted greeted grouped guided handled headed hired hosted

I

identified illustrated illuminated implemented improved improvised inaugurated indoctrinated increased incurred induced influenced informed initiated innovated inquired inspected inspired installed instigated instilled instituted instructed insured interfaced interpreted interviewed introduced invented inventoried invested investigated invited involved isolated issued

J-M

joined judged launched lectured led lightened liquidated litigated lobbied localized located maintained managed mapped marketed maximized measured mediated merchandised merged met minimized modeled moderated modernized modified monitored motivated moved multiplied

N-O

named narrated negotiated noticed nurtured observed obtained offered offset opened operated operationalized orchestrated ordered organized oriented originated overhauled oversaw

P

paid participated passed patterned penalized perceived performed permitted persuaded phased out pinpointed pioneered placed planned polled prepared presented preserved presided prevented priced printed prioritized probed processed procured produced profiled programmed projected promoted prompted proposed proved provided publicized published purchased pursued

Q-R

quantified quoted raised ranked rated reacted read received recommended reconciled recorded recovered recruited rectified redesigned reduced referred refined regained regulated rehabilitated reinforced reinstated rejected related remedied remodeled renegotiated reorganized replaced repaired reported represented requested researched resolved responded restored restructured resulted retained retrieved revamped revealed reversed reviewed revised revitalized rewarded routed

S

safeguarded salvaged saved scheduled screened secured segmented selected sent separated served serviced settled shaped shortened showed shrank signed simplified sold solved spearheaded specified speculated spoke spread stabilized staffed staged standardized steered stimulated strategized streamlined strengthened stressed structured studied submitted substantiated substituted suggested summarized superseded supervised supplied supported surpassed surveyed synchronized synthesized systematized

T-W

tabulated tailored targeted taught terminated tested testified tightened took traced traded trained transacted transferred transformed translated transported traveled treated tripled uncovered undertook unified united updated upgraded used utilized validated valued verified viewed visited weighed welcomed widened witnessed won worked wrote

Tips On How To Make Your Resume

Here are some tips from Wikihow on resume writing

• Be consistent! Format each entry in your resume in the same way.
• You might not need to list your whole name if it takes up two full lines (James Michael Allan Hoffman III; James Hoffman is fine or even Jim Hoffman if that's the way you like to be addressed.
• Don't over qualify yourself for a position. Give enough information for interest and save the "wow" factor for the interview. Write the resume for the position you are applying for without altering the truth.
• Don't attach 6 letters of recommendation, your diploma, your birth certificate, and your CPR and fitness certifications. Indicate your current certifications and be prepared to give references upon request. Do not waste space on your resume by saying "References available".
• Put your educational details in before your employment details, with the most recent first on both of them.
• Another approach is to lead with your strong suit, whether it be education, skills, work or volunteer experience. The idea is to showcase your strengths and hide any weaknesses.
• Detail your duties within each position but don't go overboard.
• Highlight your expertise in software programs and/or any other particular skills that will impress the interviewer.
• Listing personal hobbies is optional, but make sure they are sending the right impression. In other words, you might want to mention your stamp collection if you're applying for a job at a delivery company, but don't include Monday night football at Hooters.
• Be careful about listing volunteer activities. When you start listing things that tie you to political and other emotionally charged organizations, you might get put in a bucket of preconceived notions. It's not right, but everyone has biases and it is better to avoid them if possible.
• Quantify your accomplishments, if possible, by applying specific numbers to your successes. For instance, if you streamlined the flow of work for your department, define how much time it saved the company over a period of, say, 4 months. Time is money.
• Most people are somewhat shy and modest about what they have done on the job. Don't be! Think hard about what you've done and what you've accomplished. For instance, instead of saying "answered phones," say "answered multi-line phone and routed calls for an office of 43 people." The example here shows the prospective employer the volume of work you've handled and the complexity of the equipment.
• Try to keep your resume to one page, and two at most.
• Get a friend or business adviser to check it for mistakes. It is easy to miss typing errors and grammatical mistakes in your haste to produce the perfect resume.
• Print your resume on good quality paper, such as 20 pound bond white paper. Fancy papers are nice, but it's the content of your resume that employers care about.
• If possible, keep the resume for a day or two before reading it again. You may think of something else you want to add before submitting it to prospective employers.
• Write a cover letter that is short, sweet and to the point (and specifically written for the job you're applying for). If at all possible, do not write more than a page-long cover letter (make sure, though, that you include everything the employer asks for). Try and remember that the person reading it is probably looking at hundreds of resumes. Address logical questions in your cover letter. If you're applying for a position in California but your resume has a New York address, explain why. If you don't, the reader will probably trash the resume (unless the company is ready and willing to pay for a relocation package).
• If you do have to use two pages, make sure that the second page is at least half filled. If not, go back and re-work the formatting to see if you can fit it on one page. You can also review all the information you have and make sure it is all necessary and relevant. Remove the "fluff".
• Use no more than three different fonts.
• Always backup your resume on a floppy (yes, a floppy), flash USB drive or even print it out.
• Use white space effectively. The resume layout should be professional, crisp and well-defined. If you have too much information on the page, feel free to leave out what you feel is not 100% necessary, such as that fast food job you had in high school, if you have other more relevant experience to draw from.
• Do not pad your resume. This may be illegal in some instances, and is quite likely to make you look like a fool.
• Do not include irrelevant personal information. If you make inappropriate personal disclosures on your resumes, employers may perceive you as having poor judgment. They may also, intentionally or unintentionally, discriminate against you.
• Although in some cultures, it's customary to list your age, marital status, and family status, it isn't common in the United States. If you think age is important, you can allude to it with the year you graduated college or high school. Otherwise, these dates aren't necessary. Beware that, depending on the industry, you may face age discrimination if you graduated many years ago. For example, in creative industries, having graduated more than a few years ago may disqualify you from getting an interview for a junior position.
• In some countries (like Germany) you have to include a photograph with your application. In others, like the US and Canada, including a photo will immediately disqualify you with many employers. This just goes to show how important it is to research the local culture if you apply for a job in another country.
• Many word processors, including Microsoft Word, have "fill-in-the-blank" style resumes. Check for one with an appropriate style and then follow their guiding. It can give you help on how to start.
• Make a lot of drafts!
• Remember, the resume lands you the interview and the interview gets you the job!

Image from Online Writing Lab