Round Out Your Resume with Additional Information

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Writing a perfect resume is half way to get a job. But will it attract potential employers or not?  The consultants of ACCEPT Employment Center offer you some tips to help you to have an attractive resume.

Work experience and education are the basic information of the resume. And the part “Additional Information” is often forgotten without giving much importance to it.

What is usually included in this part? First of all foreign language skills, then personality, sometimes computer literacy, driving license, marital status, date of birth and hobby. Let’s discuss some above mentioned points in details.

1.Foreign Languages

Of course the more languages you mention the better. But there is no need to exaggerate, because everything can be easily checked. A couple of question in a foreign language you hardly know, you can forget about working in that company. As a rule in resumes it is often written: “fluent”, “understand”, “reading and translating with a dictionary”, and so on. But if you want to attract the HR Specialists’ attention you should write: advanced, intermediate, elementary, and so on.

2.Driving License

A hundred years ago the pace of life was slow enough and many people could manage everything in one working day. Now the pace of life is increasing at incredible speed year by year and lots of mobility is required from us. So vehicle helps us to ensure free movement. So if you have a driving license, mention it.

3.Hobby

Your hobbies can tell much about you both as a person and as a professional. But be careful with your revelations; some HR specialists, for example, believe that the fans of fights and martial arts are too aggressive and there is no need to hire them.

4.Age

It seems very simple, if the candidate’s age suits then recruiters will consider his candidacy. But what can do the candidates who are a bit younger or older for the desired position? Among HR Specialists there is such kind of opinion; if your age is between 27 and 39, then you better write down your age not in the beginning, as usually, but at the end of the resume. In this case the HR Specialist, being greatly impressed by your professional achievements, will take the age into account at the end.

5. Marital Status

As a rule this point is especially interesting if the candidate is a woman. Some employers prefer not to hire young mothers; others look for specialists with two children, and some single ones…
In conclusion we would like to mention; as HR specialists view your resume an average from 7 to 8 seconds, then do not be lazy to do your best to attract HR specialists’ attention. So the part “Additional Information” is a great chance to do it.

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Lying on a resume and at a job interview

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Everyone knows that lying is not good. But sometimes circumstances make job seekers lie. There arises a question: “Whether all the means are good in job finding process?”According to a survey, 50% of job seekers had to lie at a job interview. Why it happens?

Work experience

Sometimes jobseekers remove a few places of work from their resume, assign extra responsibilities, especially if it is not possible to verify.For jobseekers it will seem harmless, or may be they believes in their abilities and know they will not fail.

Skills

Very often jobseekers lie about their skills, thinking that the requirements to candidates are too exaggerated. Sometimes because of lack of time or other circumstances employers don’t verify authenticity of the mentioned skills. And if they are not very necessary in the job, the jobseeker  is successfully hired and starts working. But if the mentioned requirements are important for the job, then the candidate sure will have problems, and in this case it is quite possible that he will not pass the probation period. So, if the work is mainly related to computers, then you shouldn’t tell that you are “an excellent computer user”, or if a company works with foreign partners, you shouldn’t tell “excellent knowledge of English”, if it is not like that.

Motivation

Jobseekers often lie in response to the common question “Why do you want to work in our company?”. After all the employee more likely will hire the candidate who is interested in developing his professional skill with company’s success achievement.  But of course everyone would like to do what he prefers. That is why it is very important to try to find a job which you like. In this case there will not be need to lie about your motivation.

Employment gap

Big gap in employment confuses many employers. But how to explain to a potential employer that, for example, you had an awful management in your previous workplace and the search for a new job has taken too much time? Many jobseekers prefer to lie. If the candidate is a good specialist, and this kind of lie will not cause harm to the company, the lie can be justified.

First of all, you need to be confident, that you will not cause harm to anyone, including yourselves. And if you have the chance to tell the truth, it is better to do it.

Job Search Strategy

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You can create a perfect CV, but it will not be noticed if you use ineffective ways of finding a job.  Over the past few years job search strategies have undergone number of changes.  And the reason is not only the economy, which implies an aggressive competitive environment.  During the era of digital technologies and social websites, your CV can be not the first information about you for the potential employer.  It is quite possible the first thing that the employer will face with will be your profile on Facebook. Your CV should be perfect, but you must always keep in your mind that you are “some kind of product in the labor market” and your goal is to sell yourself on the best possible terms.

Lots of employers use internet to gather information about new hired employees.  It is quite possible that your profile will be found by potential employers. Keep this in mind and build your profile in such a way to make a good impression. Because the good combination of online and offline self-presentation is the key to successful competition in the labor market.

Being on internet, you should use all the clues and connections to reach the position that interests you, even it is just an acquaintance on social websites. Be active in the area you are interested in, make comments under the posts of specialists on forums and communities, chat and exchange opinions. In this area there are not only employees but also recruiters, hiring authorities and this can be a good chance for self-realization. It is quite possible you will be valued as a specialist or as a blogger after a while. Internet is a hidden labor market. The only thing you must avoid is to be obsessive. So, using your professional skills, experience of web communication and simple courtesy you may attract HR Managers’ attention without revealing your real intentions as a work seeker.

This way you can know about the new job openings in the company you are interested in beforehand. Keep in mind – when you represent yourself on Internet you represent your own brand as well. Do your best to make your self-presentation bright and it will not be unnoticed!

Tips for an Outstanding Resume

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Whether you are an active job seeker or just interested in this topic, for sure you have often thought over how to make your resume outstanding.

Very often the people with the same qualifications have to really conquer for the same position in a big company. So, how to make your resume to stand out above the rest?

More often there are no any rules for an outstanding resume.

First of all put yourself in the place of hiring authorities. How do you think, how many resumes they read in one working day? It is clear that no one will read your five-page essay. So your task is to be as short as possible. Remember that an experienced recruiter needs only 10 seconds to scan your resume. So, what do most hiring authorities scan for initially in the 10 seconds they look at a resume? They want to know for whom you have worked, how long you were there and what position or positions you held. Those three things are what everybody scans for. If the initial scan is palatable, then the resume gets read further. Maybe even read two or three times. The initial scan deals with who, how long and what.

Here are the three key points of writing an outstanding resume:

1. Your resume should be memorable

Your resume must be built in such a way to be imprinted in the memory of the personnel who reads it briefly and for the first time. Your resume is your personal brand, your style, your self-presentation in the absence of you. Very often to make your resume memorable, you can mention how you plan to achieve the goals set in front of you.  A prospective employer doesn’t care about what you think of your resume and track record. He or she cares about what you can do for them.

2. Your resume should be concentrated

Keep in mind that the people reviewing the resume are probably short on time. You want them to look at it and get a quick and impressive idea of why you stand out from the crowd. We do not recommend writing an objective. A prospective employer only cares about what they want. About the only time we might recommend the use of an objective is if you are customizing your resume for a particular, specific job. If you know exactly the particular requirements of a particular position with a specific organization, you might be able to write the objective meaningful to the hiring authority. If you plan to get a job in the same industry where you worked before, just write your “position” in the beginning of the resume. For example, “Financial Director” or “Administrative Assistant”. You can also point out work experience. If you would like to change your work industry then you should improvise.

3. Your resume must provide the evidence of your claims

In other words provide facts for the support of your resume information. Remember about your best work experience. Write in the resume where, how and what you achieved.

We recommend that you keep the message of the resume on a simple level. If you get any more sophisticated or esoteric than that, the resume may miss the mark. Using these tips you will sure make an outstanding resume.

Summarizing the tips above, an outstanding resume should be:

  1. Catchy
  2. Concentrated
  3. Justified

How often to change a job?

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Those people who choose to change jobs once a year or a few times a year, please keep in mind that if you do not have your own business plans or your own start-up ideas. The choice you have now may be fatal to your future career development.

From the interviewer’s point of view, if you don’t know what you do, or you do not know why you want to change a job.  The reasons may be,

  1. You do nothing in past few years.
  2. You lack thinking ability
  3. You lack the basic communication skills.
  4. You lack respect for the work.

I give you a suggestion regarding the frequency if you really want to change a job, it is best 2 years at least for you to do a job. If you can not make it, you need to know why and convince others.

Why 2 years? There are many reasons,

  1. From a technical perspective, for IT industry, if not engaged in two years or more than 2 years time, it is difficult  for you to understand this area and get enough domain knowledge
  2. From the perspective of interpersonal relationships, it’s very hard to build relationships and expand your social circle in a short period of time.

For the above reasons, two years have become the basic indicators of many companies, HR and hiring managers to determine whether the candidate with career planning. Since you are doing a job, you must maximize the value of the job.

So when you want a new job, think about what you get from the current job? Is your job performance above average? Are you able to speak clearly what you have done about all aspects of the work? Did you meet a bunch of real friends?

If the answer is no, unfortunately you have the job for nothing. More tragedy is that no matter how you change jobs, you can not get true growth.

Interview Traps

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You must give the interviewer the information which really interests him.  Interviewer in his turn can use various traps to see your reaction and get out the information you wouldn’t like to tell.

Accept Employment Center will represent some interview provocations, traps and tricky questions .

Misunderstanding

After getting your answer the interviewer can state that he doesn’t understand. Even you explain that again he can pretend he doesn’t understand.  That is a test for stress resistance.  You can get nervous and behave aggressively, but there is no need. This is a part of the game and you must stay calm.  Ask what wasn’t clear for him and explain it once more, do not lose control.

Active listener

After listening your answer or comments, the interviewer can show big interest, , repeat “yes, yes”, “very interesting” all the time.  Usually in such cases the interviewer thinks quite the opposite.  That means you speak too long and the information is not necessary.

Try to give each question 1-2 minutes.  If you really have to tell much, list the main points and tell that you can separately give comments on them. If it is necessary for the hiring they will ask you.

Pauses

In any business conversation as well as in an interview you must keep pauses. For example, after you have answered the questions the interviewer can keep silence for a long time, as if waiting for the continuation. In this case there is no need to feel ill at ease and try to add some blank information.  Calmly wait for the next question.

Frankness

The interviewer can be friendly to you, to make you feel more relaxed. In this atmosphere you can give more information that you should do. Be careful, do not fall into this trap.

Provocation

You can speak long about your previous experiences, responsibilities and achievements, and after listening to you carefully, the interviewer will ask: “So, you have not done this practically, haven’t you?”  Such kind of provocations can make anyone nervous. You must answer calmly and confidently: “No, you misunderstood me”. Do not forget to be friendly and self confident.

Work or Family

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Work or family –two spheres in our life, and it is difficult to determine which one is more important. At the same time lots of people, who have work, have to keep balance on the fine line joining these two spheres.

The “deal of the year” is very close. Foreign partners have proposed a profitable project. At last the management, assessing the merits of your efforts, appointed you to higher position. And so it begins…endless business trips, preparation of hundreds of documents, settlement of small details and problems.

And so, soon the “X” day will come. It is necessary to check up everything one more. Everything must be perfect, because your career depends on it. Probably you will have to stay at the office for another couple of hours, and also will have to work on the weekend.

Of course your spouse will be unhappy again. You have promised to spend your free time with her.  But what can you do? Whatever you do it is for them – relatives and loved ones.

Many of us are familiar with this situation. And everything seems to be going well, but after one signed contract comes another one, and works takes more time and strengths from you, and family members become more angry and offended. It seems to you there is no way out from this situation. But nevertheless, there is.

The most effective way in this situation is to compromise.  Talk openly with your family. Point out the positive sides of this situation, such as – financial situation improvement, which will allow you to travel and to carry out long-held dreams.

Think how this situation can be mitigated and how to reconcile family and work. Totally dedicate one day in a week to your family. Don’t speak about your work that day. Go to the cinema, exhibitions  and picnics.

Don’t put work on the first place. Of course you can follow financial situation and success, but are they worth to lose your family? And finally, it is easier to find a new job than a new family.

Your First Day at a New Job

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First working day at a new job is not very easy. No matter how experienced you are – new people, new tasks and lots of information. What to do?First impression is very important. Of course bad first impression is not the end of the world, but good first impression can be very useful for you. How to do it?

ACCEPT Employment Agency has prepared few tips for you.

Go to work early

Go to work at least 30 minutes early. It will give you a chance to meet your colleagues and speak to your superior. Plan everything in advance. Lay out your clothes the night before, go to bed early and make a cup of coffee for you in the morning.

First impression

Firm and confident handshaking makes friendly atmosphere. Be friendly and don’t wait till the others come up to you and introduce themselves. Of course you mustn’t be too insistent and don’t distract them from their job. Choose the appropriate time, get acquainted and make enquires about the job.

Build bridges

Of course you would like to make contacts with all the employees of the company, but you can hardly manage it.  You will probably work with limited number of people in your department. Your relations with them can decide your future career chances, and it is very possible your superior will be interested in their opinion about you. As you know too little about the company’s performance, you better listen more and speak less. Don’t avoid asking questions.

Learn your new job

It is difficult to do the first day. Try to find out more about the work nuances and don’t forget to make notes. If the first day you answer some phone calls, that will be a great beginning.

Make enquires

No one will require perfect knowledge about the company performance from you, but it will be better if you get ready in advance. You can find some information from the internet. Interesting data or some phrases can raise your image.

Be self confident but not too much

You have already passed one big trial – interview. That is why you have all the reasons to be self confident. But you mustn’t addle self coincidence with arrogance.

Be careful with you promises

This can help you to show your talent and skills, but never promise more than you are able to do.

Don’t be a hero

It is quite possible you are hired to organize the performance of the department or to make some changes in the company’s performance. May be your predecessor wasn’t very good and your superior has some expectations from you. But this is not possible to do the first day. First of all you must be integrated into the work. So, don’t be a hero.

Don’t panic

If something is not going as you planned don’t panic, that is not the end of the world. It is possible you will be able to make an impression the second time. Calm down and be as you are. Your colleagues can be nervous today as well, may be today it is just such a day, and by the way, the working day is coming to its end.   Have a nice trip home!

How to Enjoy Your Job

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Nowadays many people feel happy when they just find a job. And searching for a job they more concentrate on financial expectations and stability than happiness.

But that is not a reason to put up with routine, boring and stressful job, giving up your desire to enjoy your work. Strive to make your job important and meaningful. Don’t underestimate it and think it is not worse than any other profession. There are no uninteresting professions and we make our work interesting ourselves. For example you can always keep close contact with your inner world, which has no relations to your work. Those can be family members’ pictures on your desk, your favorite book hidden in a drawer or just something which can help you to forget about the work problems for a while.

Very often we choose our future profession based on our parents desires or labor market demands.

To change the scope of the profession is a bit frustrating for many people. We regret the time and strengths spent on education and professional skills and feel scared to lose what we have already obtained.

If you are not ready to change your profession still, then try to find the advantages of your work and make a list of what you really want.

Do you want to help the others or get recognition?

Do you have free work schedule or a car with a driver?

We feel very comfortable when the work coincides with our main needs and expectations. Otherwise stress and frustrations is inevitable.

The employees, who take work documents home or draw work plans before sleeping, endanger their health, and depression becomes inevitable.

What to do if the stress and boredom in the working place becomes unbearable. There are 3ways – put up with it, quit the job or change the situation.

Boredom arises not only when you have nothing to do but also when there is lack of motivation and because of other reasons such as routine work, lack of interest to the work, etc. To get back work enthusiasm you should give up the myth that you can find more interesting and comfortable work than yours.

In order to overcome the boredom you must show more creative approach to your job and find out another, more rapid and effective way to do it.

Sometimes you must be decisive and quit. This decision can frustrate you.

What will happen if I can’t find any job?

What if I have overestimated my abilities?

The ones, who know what they want and know how to represent themselves, can easily find the desired job.
After all concisely quitting the work which is not suitable for you gives you some strange feeling of freedom. And we must remember that professional life like real life doesn’t stands still in a place.

10 Tips for Hiring the Right Employee

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Staff recruitment is one of the key responsibilities of HR Managers. Hiring the right employee is a challenging process. Hiring the wrong employee is expensive, costly to your work environment, and time consuming. Hiring the right employee, on the other hand, pays you back in employee productivity, a successful employment relationship, and a positive impact on your total work environment.
Hiring the right employee enhances your work culture and pays you back a thousand times over in high employee morale, positive forward thinking planning, and accomplishing challenging goals.
Here are 10 tips which will help you to hire the right employee.

1. Understand what you really Need and Want
You must start from the detailed description of the vacant position. If you don’t have any appropriate description you must write job description and responsibilities yourself.
Good created job description can help you to make the right selection.
2. Search for the best ones
It is also possible to find an appropriate employee through friends, Internet, other organizations, recruitment agencies and advertisements. Personal references considered to be the best way to find new employees.
3. Get ready for the interview
After candidates resume shortlist you must compare them with the job description and select only the best ones. Look through your selected resumes once more. If it is necessary make some notes. Prepare questions related to the job in advance to check the candidates’ professional skills.
Especially be attentive to the candidate’s personal qualifications, experience, skills and future plans.
In general all the candidates aware of the interview main questions, such as:
Why did you leave your last job?
Why are you interested in this job?
How do you imagine your career in 5 years?
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
What did you like in your previous job? What didn’t you like there?
These questions are good enough, but you must prepare questions to which the candidate is not prepared to answer.
For example:
Tell me about your best superior. Why do you consider him the best?
Tell me your worst superior. Why do you consider him the worst?
How do you solve the problems?
What skills would you like to get in the future?
4.   Create an appropriate atmosphere for the interview
Choose a comfortable place for the interview. During the interview the candidate can get nervous and feel ill at ease. Your task is to help him to feel comfortable and free. You should  meet him, suggest tea or coffee and in general be very polite.
5.  Understand clearly your task
Though you think you already know it but you must or overview what is the aim of the interview. Make short description of the job and plan interview in advance. Will someone else be at the interview? Will the second interview be held or not?
Inform the candidate about the interview duration and make sure it doesn’t affect on his own plans.
Also find out whether you can communicate with his last employer.
6. Keep interview process on track
Go into the interview with a complete and revised list of questions for the applicant. Be sure to review this list right before the interview to make sure you are prepared for the interview. This will make referring to questions a much quicker process. Consider adding notes of follow-up questions you want to ask if the interviewee answers a particular way. Only stray away from these questions if it truly advances the interview.
You must ask reasonable questions to get necessary information which will help you to make the right decision. That is why you must keep interview process on track; concentrate only on the basic questions.  Give the candidate chance to speak more.
Get information about the candidate’s abilities (experience, education and skills), his attitude to work (enthusiasm, preferences and aims), social values (personal qualifications, character) as much as possible.
7. Listen and make notes
Your aim is to get some information about the candidate. That is why you must listen carefully to what he says. Make some important notes.
8. Answer the questions
Allow the candidate to ask you some questions about the company and the job. Reasonable questions can give you some idea about his thinking.  Be ready to answer to difficult questions such as:
How do you motivate your employee?
What career opportunities are there in your company?
How stable is the company’s position on the relevant market?
9.  Provide the necessary information at the end of the interview
It is better you provide the detailed job description at the end of the interview. That time you can also represent your company culture and staff interaction. If you talk about this earlier you will give the candidate a chance to choose appropriate answers to your questions.  Speak about the salary, schedule and benefits provided by the company.  Finish the interview by thanking the candidate for his attention to the company.
10. Evaluate the candidate
After the interview allocate some time to evaluate the candidate. For that you can refer to the notes you have made during the interview.
Here are the 3 most important questions which will help you to do the right selection:
Will the candidate be able to do this job?
Is the candidate willing to work?
Will he be flexible at work?
The good staff is the guarantee success of the company. It is like a treasure which you must search for it hard and keep properly.