Customized Resumes and Cover Letters are Better for Your Job Search - FlexJobs

Customized Resumes and Cover Letters are Better for Yur Job Search - FlexJobsCustomized Resumes and Cover Letters are Better for Your Job Search -8One complaint that recruiters often express is that candidates dont take the time to craft a unique titelblatt letter or edit their resume to fit the job for which they are applying. Instead, they simply send in their generic resume and cover letter, inserting the company name and job title into the proper locations beforehand (hopefully). But customized resumes and cover letters are vital to your success as a job seeker, especially with the prominent use of applicant tracking systems.Of course, we understand that crafting a unique resume and cover letter for each job application takes time- time that, all too often, isnt viewed as worth our while. However, the fact of the matter is that taking a little extra time to tweak yourcover letters and resumescan decrease the amount of time it takes you to land interviews, which can shorten your j ob search process significantly. Instead of applying to 10 jobs with the same cover letter and resume, you will have more success if you apply to five jobs with more partiealized documents.Here are a few tips for creating customized resumes and cover letters1. First, the unique cover letter.We arent suggesting you write every cover letter from scratch, but we are saying that the more applicable the letter is to the job, the better the chance a recruiter will want to continue onto your resume. How can youmake your cover letter uniquefor each job?Research the companys website and mention, in one sentence, why you are interested in working for them specifically. Is it their mission statement? Is it their community involvement? Is it the impact their products make on the world?Write several lines that speak directly to some of the main qualifications outlined in the job description. This makes it easy for the recruiter to discover that you are qualified for the position.Clearly explain why you are passionate and excited about the job, and give them a positive sense of who you are and why youd be the right person for them to hire. Can you help them solve a problem? Fill a need? Why do you wantthis job?2. Now, the unique resume.Just like your cover letter, your resume doesnt have to be written from scratch every time you apply for a job (imagining that is simply terrifying). But it does help if you change up some of the wording and emphasis on your resume to be aligned with the job description.When reading the job description, circle the keywords in the job description and requirements sections to help you pay attention to what the employer is looking for in an employee. Then, focus your skills and experience on your resume to those qualifications.Appropriately integrate some of these keywords into your resume and make the related skills and experience stand out. This might require rewriting a bullet or two in your work histories.Include top sections like a Summary, Key Skills, and/or a Professional Headline. Those can be easily edited and updated for each job to which youre applying.The Summary section should have three to four bullets that describe why you are uniquely qualified for the position(s) you want.The Key Skills should list six to nine of your best skills that are required for this job.The Headline should tell a reader exactly what kind of professional you are (and will hopefully closely align with the job title youre after)If you have an Objective or Executive Summary on your resume, make sure that it is in-line with the specific job you are applying for- if this is out of sync, your resume will likely be out of the running immediately3. One last, but HIGHLY important note.Hopefully, we dont have to mention this, but just in case- whentailoring your cover letters and resumesto each specific job,you absolutely only want to state what is true about your professional and educational history.If you find that a job description has keyw ords like PC and MAC proficiency but youve only ever worked on a PC, dont stretch the truth when tailoring your documents. To recruiters, the only thing worse than generic job search documents and typos are documents that dont tell the truth. So, rather thanlie on your resume, highlight the skills and experience you have that are related to the job. Then, to sweeten the deal, provide employers with a sample of your work through awebsite or portfolio.Interested in reading more about customized resumes? Check out our resume tipsReaders, what do you do to make sure you have customized resumes and cover letters for each application? Share your tipsJessica Howington contributed to this post.

New study explains how to deter BS in the workplace

New study explains how to deter BS in the workplaceNew study explains how to deter BS in the workplaceIt can be hard to spot a bullshtter at first. They make claims that sound right, but upon closer inspection, these opinions have no basis in fact or reason. When we fall for their BS, we feel like fools. I just made a decision based on someone who has no idea what they are talking about? we think. No one likes feeling played.How can we stop it from happening? Those are the questions that a new study in theJournal of Experimental Social Psychology sought to explain.Social accountability can stop BSTo defeat bullshtters, you must first understand what encourages them to start spewing fake expertise in the first place. Psychologist John Petrocelli found that it gets encouraged when people feel obligated to form an opinion and when they know the audience hearing the BS is going to be less knowledgeable about the topic.The bullstter is a relatively careless thinker/communicator, he writes . People may be especially likely to bullst when they feel obligated to talk about something of which they know little to leidhing about, and when they are trying to get away with something. Participants were more deterred when they knew their knowledge was likely to be fact-checked by an actual expert, or by someone with an opposing view.Given that bullstting may potentially serve multiple communicative functions, including interpersonal connectivity and expressions of identity, people may feel free to bullshit with those they anticipate to possess like-minded positions, Petrocelli said. To stop BS, you need to create a culture of accountability.A bullstter cannot sell what we do not buy, the paper notes.To test this, Petrocelli, invited online participants to justify their views on polarizing issues like affirmative action quotas, nuclear weapons, and capital punishment. People in the accountability group were told that they would need to justify and explain their opinion to a So ciology Professor with an opposing view on their stance.Participants suddenly became much less likely to admit to BS when they knew their explanations were going to be read by a skeptical, knowledgeable authority.When people are held accountable or when they expect to justify their positions to people who disagree with their attitudes people appear to refrain from bullshitting, Petrocelli concluded. The threat of being called out and exposed as a bullshtter may be enough to help bullshtters keep their opinions to themselves.

How to accomplish more in 30 days than most people do in 365

How to accomplish more in 30 days than fruchtwein people do in 365How to accomplish more in 30 days than fruchtwein people do in 365The best ambition killer is trying to play someone elses game. - Dan SullivanCraig Ballantyne, author of The Perfect Day Formula How to Own the Day And Control Your Life, has a really powerful exercise to help you realize if youre seeking approval in the wrong places.He calls it the STUPID GOLDEN STAR Exercise. As Ballantyne asks, Who is giving you stupid Gold Stars in life? And what are they costing you?What are you getting approval for that is bedrngnis serving you?Who is giving you approval that does elend serve you?Why are you seeking this approval?What is this costing you?If youre saying YES to the wrong things, its because youre seeking approval from the wrong people.If youre trying please everyone, youll end up pleasing no one. Without question, youll not end up pleasing yourself and those closest to you.If youre not discriminate about what youre willing to work on and focus on, then youre life is far more of a mess than you think.If youre feeling super busy and out of control, then you are out of control. If you dont have time to put yourself first and have a morning routine, then your life is a mess right now, and youre being totally ineffective.You are seeking approval from all the wrong places.Youre seeking quick wins.Youre trying to do it all.Youve lost sight of your grand vision.If you try to please everyone, you end up pleasing nobody. Because you cant keep up the charade forever. Eventually, your relationships will become transactional. And those relationships will end. Because right now youre forcing it. Youre not coming from a punkt of power. Youre trying to force success. And when you operate from this perspective - you start to make impulsive and ridiculous decisions.Day-by-day, your internal reality will become more of a mess. Youll know youre going further and further out of control. But you keep convincing yo urself that next month will be different. Everything will come together and THEN, youll start focusing again.Not gonna happen.Youve got to pull the plug.Youve got to start running your own race again. Somewhere along the line, you forgot about WHY you were doing this. You got caught up in the whirlwind of other peoples goals and agendas and values.How to get things back on trackBallantyne has the following questions to help you get back on track so you can start getting Good Golden Stars again.What do you NEED to get approval for doing?Who are the right people to get approval from in your life?Who are the right people that you need to give approval to, yourself?Who are the people - personally and professionally - that really matter, here and now, but also in 20 years?Joe Polish, founder of Genius Network, is known for saying The people you meet on the way up are the same people you meet on the way down.If you enter relationships from an impulsive and selfish perspective, those rel ationships will eventually come back to bite you. People wont trust you. Theyll see you as only looking out for yourself - since you used a lot of relationships to get you where youre at.You werent really thinking about them, but where those relationships could quickly get you.Your intentions may not have been hostile in the first place, but you also werent thinking long-term. You were trying to force things.When youre trying to force things, eventually everything starts crashing down. David Hawkins explains this better than anyone in his iconic book, POWER VS. FORCE. As Hawkins says, The person who suffers from inner poverty is relentlessly driven to accumulate on the material level.How to accomplish more in 30 days than most do in 365Its very easy to fall into the trap of being busy, and being busy is not necessarily productive. - Tim FerrissAccording to Chris Smith, founder of The Campfire Effect If youre not feeling motivated - youre either not experiencing enough pain to chan ge, or youre not curious enough about the power of possibility.If youre not making tangible progress, things can feel boring or not worth the time.So you need to start making tangible progress.You need a future vision that seems exciting. And you need to get back to feeling like what you want to achieve is a game.In the book, MY LIFE IN ADVERTISING, Claude Hopkins says, If a thing is useful they call it work, if useless they call it play. One is as hard as the other. One can be just as much a game as the other. In both there is rivalry. Theres a struggle to excel the rest. All the difference I see lies in attitude of mind.Your work needs to become play again.You need to make it a game.You need to get excited about making progress, growing, learning, and changing your life and circumstances.You need to get back to plotting and scheming and making plans.If youre too busy to sit and make plans, youve lost sight of what really matters to you. You should never be too busy to be able to s it in the silence to meditate, pray, and write down your thoughts and plans.Breaking this downSeek approval from the RIGHT PEOPLEGive approval to the right peopleRemove everything from your life that is impulsiveGet back to your purposeGet back to planning and schemingMake it a gameMake your work play againBe willing to failEnjoy the work and activity in and of itself (not for what it will get you)Detach from immediate outcomes and refocus on your purposeGet back to the whimsy and play and fun of lifeAllow yourself to embrace the pain of growth and failureEmbrace the curiosity of seeing how far you can goLife becomes play when youre living congruently. When youre focusing on the right things and the right people.When youre putting first things first.When youre taking 20 purposeful steps in 1 direction rather than 1 busy step in 20 different directions.If youre not making time to have a morning routine - where youre getting clear and intentional, every single day - then youre not m oving in the right direction. Youre also not being effective.The purpose of a morning routine is to give yourself the time and space to get clear. To get yourself energized and focused. And then to set your day on the right track so the day doesnt derail you as it does most people.Then you need to get excited again. Usually, you get excited by seeing tangible results in the near future. You need a short timeline to sprint toward. You need to create a result that youve wanted, or your family has wanted, for a long-time. One youve procrastinated and stopped pursuing with vigor because 1) you stopped making your work play, 2) youve lost the excitement of progress, and or 3) youve lost focus of what you really want and got busy.Often, you cant get yourself to do what you need to because work feels like work again. And you dont have anything exciting to accomplish.Youve lost your energy and are feeling depressed. Of course youre feeling depressed - your behavior is incongruent. Youre no t putting first things first. Youre back to sleeping-in and living reactive.Research in psychology is so clear confidence doesnt start the journey. Its not confidence that leads to success. Its successfully executed behavior that creates confidence and momentum.Give yourself a 30-day timeline to accomplish something big.Cut-off everything thats a busy distractionStop seeking approval from the wrong people (have some honest conversations, clean out your calendar and life, and focus again on the right people)Get back to your morning routine where youre getting energized and focused and clearMake work play again (it can only be play when youre making tangible progress toward something that excites you)You can make something exciting by, 1) making some form of progress, and 2) having something compelling in the near-future to look forward toGet back to plotting and scheming (literally get a white board and start writing all of your dreams down, and your values, and what youre grateful f or, and what matters most to you)Get connected again to yourself and what youre really aboutThen sprint toward a vision that you know you can achieveMost people - even those at the top of their game - are a mess right now. The globalized society and the internet has leveled the playing field. If youre ambitious and willing to fail and respond well to failure - you can easily catapult yourself to the top of your fieldWherever you are, thats the best place for you to beIt doesnt get easier the more successful you become, it actually gets harder and more confusing (unless you continually re-invent yourself and never stop failing and remaining humble and grounded)Remain the underdog by continually failing forwardGive yourself less time at work and more time to play (Shawn White said the reason he has been able to stay at the top of Snowboarding for nearly 20 years is because he spends a lot of time away from the sport - he has a life outside of snowboarding)Cut yourself off when you need to (if you give yourself shorter timelines, youll get more done) - often 80% is sufficientIf you do a morning routine, youll focus on the right things while you are workingIf you focus on the right things while youre working, youll make progressIf you increase your ambition for what you can be, every step you take forward will be a BOLD step, because youll be willing to failThe more energy you can put into BIG AND BOLD steps, the faster youll move beyond those at the top of your fieldAll the while, youll be congruent, because youll be putting yourself (and your health) first, so you can be better at your work and with your loved onesThis article originally appeared on Medium.