Job hunting suggestion

I’ve recently done some serious searching online and gotten some great ideas for a new resume look.  I’ve bookmarked all the appropriate sites so I can find them again.  There they sat.  For probably about 2 weeks or so until I finally got up the gumption to sit through a few hours of resume-changing.  (I absolutely detest doing this–boring!  Boring!  Boring!)  The first thing I had in mind was to change my resume type to a functional resume (currently I use a dated, general resume.)  Next I started looking at that really cool bookmark I found.  The website is http://jobmob.co.il/blog/beautiful-resume-ideas-that-work/ for those of you who want the ideas, too. The first thing I noticed is that a lot of these are best done using Adobe Acrobat.  I’ve noticed in my area that most employers want a Word document, either a .doc or .docx, and state they will toss anything else. Fine by me.  I don’t want to have to purchase Adobe–I’d rather just use the free “reader” function–then spend more than a few hours playing around with it to teach myself how it works.  Cool!  So I’ve saved a lot of time and some small expense. Well, I’m pretty good with Microsoft Word.  So, I picked a style that I liked and recreated it.  Combining this with my new functional format and doing what all of the experts say to do (which is to specifically tailor your resume to the job you are applying for), I came up with a really nice, trimmed-down one-page resume.  Then, I looked at some of the bookmarked links I had for cover letters and put together a style that complimented my new resume. Together, they were great!  I’ve only used this once so far–I sent it out last week.  I received a call yesterday for an interview on Wednesday. Now, this may not be that big of a deal, but for me, it’s tremendous!  I send my general resume out a lot–and I hear something back, what, maybe once every six months?  I take the time to make the changes I’ve needed to make (but procrastinated getting done) and I get a hit the first time out of the box!

Man,  I tell you people out there who, like me,  are still looking: it’s definitely worth your time to find a style that works for you and a look that is both eye-catching and different!  With a just a little tweaking now, I can now re-tailor this resume to work for anything I apply for now–cover letter, too.

Another piece of repetitive advice:  research the company and take notes. It’s ok to take those notes in with you to your interview–just ask if the interviewer minds if you refer to some notes you’ve brought with you.  (Remember to also write down the questions you want to ask the interviewer.)  I was really nervous thinking about my interview tomorrow.  Then I followed the expert’s advice (again) and researched the company.  Guess what? Come to find out that the place I’m interviewing with has a ton of similarities to a place I worked at before doing the same kind of job.  I feel a lot better and can relax and feel confident during my interview tomorrow, instead of trying to “fake” my confidence. That oughta help.  Well, wish me luck!