Top 10 Things That Make Formatting CVs a Nightmare

Top 10 Things That Make Formatting CVs a Nightmare Formatting candidate CVs is  an absolute joy said no one ever. It can be quite a hideously repetitive, frustrating process that takes way  longer than it should, especially when all you really want to do is send your amazing candidate straight over to your client but cant because the CV is pumped full of weird formatting tricks. For a third party recruitment consultant, all CVs sent to clients generally need to be branded and look the same when they leave the inbox.  They  need to look high-calibre. No client wants to receive a messy / all-over-the-place shortlist of CVs that all look completely different (unless they are meant to be creative pieces in themselves). For all those recruiters out there spending hours each week fiddling with your candidates CVs to make them  look neat and on-brand, youre not alone and your pain is felt around the world by  others. Candidates, if youre reading this, know that there are definitely  things you could do to make your recruiters life simpler. A great place to start is by avoiding these 10 things that really do make formatting your CV a nightmare, sorry (not sorry): 1.  PDF docs Unless youve got one of those programmes that converts it into word,  PDF documents are actually the pits. You cant make changes. And while you can copy and paste chunks of text, its weird and clunky and is anything BUT a seamless process. Weird paragraphing and symbols are pulled through. Honestly, PDF docs are such a headache. 2. Photos images No. Just, no. If anything, photos are just annoying, because they must be removed and often the paragraphs are wrapped around them and its just irritating, okay? 3. Weird fonts You couldnt just pick one? In what world are  headings supposed to be in a different font to the body of text? And while were at it, you are not from 1901, Lucinda is not appropriate. What are you going to pull next, Webdings? Sheesh. 4.  Changing tenses Pick a style of writing and stick to it. Are you opting for third person or first person? This is no time to sit on the fence. Do you realise how much time it takes to correct these mistakes? Do you?! 5.  No chronology When candidates have ordered their experience according to skill sets and industries, not by time, that is a headache and a half. Matching up dates isnt fun for anyone. Just tell me where you are now, then work back from there. Simple. 6. Massive gaps Massive gaps just require back and forward emails and phone calls to get to the bottom of why there are holes in the chronology! Recruiters need to be able to explain gaps to their clients on behalf of the candidate. 7. Landscape orientation Unfortunately this is not as simple as switching to portrait. Ooh Ive an idea! How about you just put it in portrait to begin with?  Perfect! 8. Split-page paragraphs Two columns on one page? No thanks. When one puts this kind of formatting into a document, thats it, its basically a write-off the page will never be the same again. Switching back to one column is horrendous experience. 9. Stubborn hidden formulas My last point led me here. When CVs are riddled with weird hidden formulas that prevent you from doing simple things like removing line breaks or centring heading, thats when the real nightmare starts. Its like a bad dream you cant get out of! 10. Capslock Your experience at me!! To all the candidates who use that weird font that is lower-case size text, but upper case letters, please refrain. Its almost impossible to change. And there you have it. The top 10 things that make formatting a candidates CV an absolute nightmare. Sure, recruiters could ask candidates to do all this for them, but sometimes, candidates cant action it straight away, and we all know that time is of the essence for recruiters  it has to be done NOW! Please, thank you and excuse me. Cheers.

[Special Event Announcement] Classy Career Girls Night Out - Classy Career Girl

[Special Event Announcement] Classy Career Girls Night Out I am so excited to announce our first ever Classy Career Girls Night Out!! If you are an ambitious professional woman and are looking for a better way to balance the most important aspects of your life without having to sacrifice yourself, youll love this meetup. Meet like-minded women who refuse to drift through life and instead want to create work and a life they really love. Get ideas from each other, collaborate and support each other. This networking event is for women who are juggling their work and life and really want to make a difference in the world while enjoying the work they do.   You can learn more and sign-up for Classy Career Girls Night Out here. The Classy Career Girl  community ranges from young professionals to second career changers, from fast climbing corporate gals to empire-building entrepreneurs. We all carry the same life-long desire to find the career we were born to do, to be happy and to live a life of meaning. We hope to be a place where each woman can thrive and make a difference. Note: This isnt your ordinary meetup or networking event. This event is a live meetup of a private community that is growing rapidly online, the Classy Career Girl Network.  This growing international online group is a community of over 2,000 women all over the world helping and supporting each other.  If you are looking for some ambitious ladies who truly want to support you and cheer you on, welcome to your new tribe. How do YOU balance it all? Lets share our secrets. This event is organized by Anna Runyan and Sarah Argenal. Anna is the  CEO and Founder of ClassyCareerGirl.com, Forbes Top 35 Most Influential Career Site and E-Learning Platform for ambitious women. Sarah is a  Lifestyle Strategist  at Working Parent Resource. Sarah helps working moms find a more meaningful balance between their career, a loving marriage, quality time with their kids, and their own health and well-being.   Hosted at Gold Leaf South Park. Gold Leaf was established in 2016 by husband and wife duo, Kevin and Sonya Kemp. With Sonyas experience in art and design, and Kevins background in business, owning a shop together has been their biggest dream. Light refreshments will be provided. There is no cost to attend but fair warning…the event will be held inside the cutest store you’ll ever see so you may want to bring some shopping money.   You can learn more and sign-up for Classy Career Girls Night Out here.

The Benefits of Adding Non-marketing Majors to Your Marketing Team CareerMetis.com

The Benefits of Adding Non-marketing Majors to Your Marketing Team Many hiring managers quickly breeze over the education section when writing job descriptions or reading resumes for marketing positions. They think that a marketing job requires a marketing major, so they use this degree as a filter to sort candidates quickly. Oftentimes, though, this results in marketing managers weeding out applicants who have skills and experience that would be valuable to their marketing team.By discouraging brilliant strategists from other disciplines, they risk missing out on applicants who can adapt in this quickly changing field. For this reason, it’s worth it when hiring your next marketing team memberto look beyond their educational background. In many cases, professionals from other fields can benefit your team in unique and unexpected ways.What Is Marketing?evalevalBefore diving into hiring for a marketing position, we should first take a look at the many components that comprise this career. Marketing is a bit two faced. On one side, it entails communi cations, writing, design, the arts, and a host of presentational elements. These are the client facing attributes, the ones that convince an audience and clarify a brand.On the other side is an in depth understanding of this audience. This includes research, quantitative data, and qualitative insights, all of which have to be integrated with social sciences such as history and behavioral psychology. In other words, it can’t just look nice; it has to be effective. It’s a tall order, which is why a career field this intricate requires a team with diverse skills and perspectives.What a Marketing Degree Can’t Do?As the field itself becomes more complex, many companies are looking beyond degrees for new ways to assess talent. Whether this assessment is in the form of rigorous case study interviews or a universal test for marketing, experts hold dozens of opinions about the best ways to sort applicants. One thing that many agree on though is that holding a degree in marketing is no longer a fast pass to getting the job. It’s no longer a reliable indicator of the mindset and skills needed to succeed in the field.A degree in marketing offers theory, not grit. It can’t guarantee an insightful, curious, adaptable attitude. More important than a curriculum in advertising is the ability to be inquisitive about consumers and about our changing world. What gives certain marketers an edge in the industry is putting themselves out into the world and exploring different paths. So while a marketing degree still has value, it can no longer single handedly provide the tenacity necessary to thrive in the industry.The Multidisciplinary ModelMarketing is comprised of multiple areas of study, so not only are contributions from other backgrounds valuable â€" they’re vital. From copyrighting to data analytics to project management, take note of areas where your team might have talent gaps. Say, for example, you have plenty of data analysts to support your campaigns with num bers. While you might think these staticians are the superheroes of your team, don’t forget that every hero needs a sidekick.Maybe the sidekick you need looks like a historian, able to make sense of these trends over space and time. Or maybe your company needs a sidekick who looks more like a sociologist to give those numbers human meanings. Whichever is the case, someone who can apply specialized experience or unique outlook is more valuable than an extra person to recite textbook marketing practices.The different careers within marketingare often more specialized than hiring managers realize. For example, someone with a niche data science background will have a more in-depth understanding of market research than someone with a general marketing degree. More tailored knowledge is often more useful than generic knowledge. That being said, choosing a marketing hire with a beneficial academic or career background is rarely cut and dry. Your marketing team knows best where there are opportunities and gaps to fill, so consult them first when deciding the skill sets to look for. Also consider seeking guidance from a marketing recruiter.evalRecruiting firmsexist for this exact purpose. They know how to scour resumes and cover letters for skills and experience geared towards the specialized roles in marketing.What Non-Marketing Majors Can ProvidePerspective: Marketers who come from different backgrounds can step outside of the traditional business model to show a new side to a problem or approach. They can expand your team’s point of view to solutions that you had not seen before.Methodology: Each academic discipline has a slightly different process. While the marketing methods are tried and true, incorporating aspects of other methodologies can help campaigns run more smoothly. For instance, an advertising campaign can benefit from the scientific method. While you don’t always think about gathering materials or employing t-tests to evaluate progress in marketi ng, practices such as these could add much needed structure to the planning phase or insight to the evaluation phase of a campaign.Attention to Detail: Having an eye for detail holds a different meaning in each academic context. English majors are able to evaluate linguistics, syntax, and connotation to maximize audience impact whereas design and fine arts majors can evaluate composition and presentational elements to achieve visual impact. When it comes to influencing consumers in the buying process, your team could benefit from having someone who can offer this level of specificity.Ideation: evalDiverse professional backgrounds also make for productive brainstorming sessions. People with varied educations have been trained to see the world in distinct ways.Digital gurus will offer up suggestions that are unique from those of creative writers. That’s how innovation occurs. That’s how teams achieve detailed productions that naturally differentiate themselves from the typical mar keting campaigns. Pulling talent from various sources is the best way to protect against stagnation.So, if you aren’t screening for a marketing education, how on earth do you complete first round screening?While hiring for marketing position is not as clear cut as for position for other industries, there are a few key elements to look for on resumes and cover letters.Adaptability: Other industries prefer consistency in a resume, but marketing urges flexibility. A candidate who pursued multiple majors or participated in organizations outside of their field knows how to apply their talents in different contexts. They can put their skills to use in unconventional ways. In addition, a varied background shows that they were curious and daring enough to step out of their comfort zone, which marketers should be willing to do daily.Initiative: Look for examples of times applicants have been proactive in their academic and professional careers. Taking the initiative to explore new career p aths or lead projects shows that they can see the bigger picture. It demonstrates that they have experience charting unfamiliar territory.Curiosity: More important than what a candidate learned in school is what they sought to learn outside the classroom. Do they make a conscious effort to learn new skills and widen their horizons? If they are just entering the marketing field, look for initiatives they’ve taken to familiarize themselves with the craft. A degree in marketing is not essential; however, making the effort to learn the customs of advertising, whether through an online class or a club, shows willingness to learn as well as respect for the field.Of course, it would be easier to file away non-marketing majors when looking for new recruits to your team. But it will only save time in the short run. If you simply need another helping hand, then this straightforward method will suffice.On the other hand, if you want an asset for your team, someone who can contribute unique k nowledge and methodology, then it’s worth the extra effort to look beyond their degree. In the long run, it will help your marketing team climb to new heights.

10 Ways To Polish Your Social Media Presence - CareerEnlightenment.com

5. Join industry chats.Seek out Twitter chats for the industry you’re transitioning to and join in the weekly or bi-weekly designated conversations. This is a great way to ramp  up your industry connections, build a following on social media, and showcase your industry knowledge.6. Don’t be afraid to network.Whether it’s with thought leaders in the industry youre transitioning to or employees of the company you’re hoping to someday work for, online networking  is crucial to your job search success. Begin engaging online by commenting, tweeting, or sharing relevant content, and then consider taking the networking  off of social media through email, phone call, or even Skype.7. Monitor your privacy settings.While Facebook is becoming  a big player in the job search, if by chance you prefer to keep your profile as a more personal hub, make sure your privacy settings follow suit. The same  goes for other personal social media channels. You may even consider creating personal, pri vate accounts or usernames to ensure you’re not detracting from  your job search.8. Treat every social media profile like it’s your resume.Once your privacy settings are in place, all professional social media profiles should be treated as if they’re your cover letter, resume, and portfolio. They should act as a  glowing example of your professionalism, industry knowledge, and any other skills or traits you’d like to showcase.9. Participate in some humble bragging.One of the most effective ways to tout your know-how is by showcasing things you’re proud of. For instance, avid blogging will also benefit your job  search, so why not share your posts via your social media accounts to garner views and conversation? You can also post recent work of media attention  you’ve received.10. Go above and beyond.So you’ve got a polished Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook account, but why stop there? Uncover other beneficial social media websites like  YouTube, Quora, Github, About.me, and begin building your presence on  them. You never know what will push you to the top of a candidate list.Before you embark on your career change, make sure your social media is perfectly polished to depict you as a great candidate in your new career field.Did your social media presence help you land a job?

10 Tips to Get Promoted in 2018 Part 2 - Hallie Crawford

10 Tips to Get Promoted in 2018 Part 2 Is a promotion on your list of goals for this year? If so, you are not alone. Research shows that 51% of employees are considering a new job. However, don’t let this deter you from reaching out in your industry. 84% of organizations anticipate a shortfall in the minimum number of qualified leaders over the next five years. Qualified and engaged leaders are urgently needed and you could be one of them! In the first article in this series, we discussed possible obstacles to reaching out for a promotion and the first 5 tips to get a promotion. This article will discuss the next 5 tips to reach out to the next level in your career. (Make sure to download your free copy of our Job Search Worksheet to stay organized as you work towards your promotion!) 1. Be confident. Your attitude is critical to success because your attitude affects your actions, which will affect your outcome. 85% of our clients say they are their biggest obstacle to their career goals. Watch out for the Impostor Syndrome and create positive affirmations for any negative thoughts to keep them in check. 2. Be a leader. You may have a strong work ethic, but that isn’t enough to get a promotion. Superiors look for people who show leadership potential to advance them within an organization. Ask yourself if you are truly being a leader in your current job. Are you being your best self? It’s not about perfection every single day, but we all know if we’re stepping up to the plate or not. You know your potential- are you living into it? Consider whether you need to: Do more to motivate your fellow coworkers or employees. Take a greater leadership role in meetings. Offer suggestions to improve processes in your department. Develop your EI (Emotional Intelligence). Are there times when you’re doing the bare minimum rather than going the extra mile? Take time each week to take stock of what worked, what didn’t, or what you could have done differently to improve your leadership potential. 3. Ask for and implement constructive criticism. We all receive constructive criticism (and sometimes not so constructive) from various sources, even peers. If you seem to not respond well to criticism from any source, either by defending your actions, blaming someone else, or dismissing their comments, this doesn’t put you in a good light. This can prevent your boss from recommending you for a promotion. And even if you take the feedback well, but don’t make improvements over time, they won’t be impressed by your performance so it won’t matter what you’ve said. Action tip: Take few minutes tonight as well to think about how you react when you receive criticism. Ask a trusted friend or colleague how they perceive your ability to handle negative feedback and how they perceive you at work so you can get input on what your credibility, reputation, and/or brand is like. Consider whether what they tell you is the image you want to portray and work towards improving it if needed. Cultivate humility, a necessary soft skill, which will making accepting criticism much easier. 4. Find a mentor. Too many professionals don’t have a mentor. Having one can be a critical piece to your career success and progression. If you are looking to advance your career, finding a mentor in your industry, inside or outside your company, can make a big difference in your ability to move up. Mentors can advise you the qualities you should develop, the skills you need, and give you the all-important insider knowledge on what makes your industry tick, plus an objective opinion on how you’re doing. You can try to learn it all on your own, but it’s much better if you have someone you can confide in and who can offer you sound advice so you don’t have to try to advance by trial and error. 5. Prepare and conduct the meeting. When it’s time to schedule the meeting to ask for your promotion, it’s important to be prepared. Make sure you have prepared the following: Your resume Your accomplishments document Your brag book Salary research A presentation to show during your meeting Finally, when working towards a promotion, it’s essential to avoid certain habits or tendencies. Here are four basic things to avoid: 1. Dishonesty/cheating at work. This could be directly lying to your boss about a project or the way something was handled with a client, taking the credit for something you didnt do, or lying about being sick when you call in sick. 2. Handling personal matters at work. This could be regularly taking personal phone calls, texting, or scheduling personal appointments during work hours. Bosses translate this as a lack of respect for the work environment and that employees dont consider their work to be important. 3. Bad attitude. Working with a negative or critical attitude can dampen the office culture, especially when most bosses try to cultivate a positive work environment. Employees with bad attitudes make that difficult or even impossible. 4. Being unreliable. Habitual tardiness, missing deadlines, meetings, or other appointments drive bosses crazy. They cant depend on this kind of employee.

Help For Seniors To Writing A Resume

Help For Seniors To Writing A ResumeHelp for seniors to writing a resume is usually one of the last things that come up in the hiring process, but it's important that you take the time to write your resume correctly. If you're a recent college graduate or you're going back to school, you may be a little nervous about it, but you should have no trouble with this resume. It'll help you on the job search, and it'll give you a leg up when applying for future jobs, which is the biggest benefit of all.Writing a resume can be an emotional experience for you. It might seem like a daunting task at first, but it's not. The truth is that you can easily write your own resume. If you have trouble coming up with a good-looking resume, maybe you should go online and look at some sample resumes and see what people are looking for. That can also help you determine what kind of impression you want to leave on the hiring manager.When you're first starting out, you should concentrate on making your resu me stand out from the rest. Take the time to write a professional resume. Don't waste your time on a resume that's cluttered with unnecessary information. Also, make sure your resume contains enough information to cover all of the necessary areas. You don't want to make your resume too long; rather, it should only be long enough to get the attention of the person reading it.Find the best form of communication. There's nothing worse than being at a job interview only to realize that you don't know how to communicate with the person that's asking you questions. It's okay to fail sometimes. One of the best ways to start is to be yourself. You don't need to be perfect, but you need to be honest with your needs. Being friendly and happy with yourself will help you convey this message to the person reading your resume.When you're writing, don't forget to include any helpful advice you may have for the company. This can be a good thing because it can show the hiring manager that you have t aken the time to talk with them, and you are eager to learn more about the job. They can be impressed by your dedication to learning about the company and its requirements. People really do appreciate it when a job seeker puts the time and effort into learning the facts of the position they're applying for. Help for seniors to writing a resume can come in handy here.Help for seniors to writing a resume can come in handy if you're a parent with questions about how to get your child enrolled in a certain class. After all, it's important to your child to feel comfortable and respected in their own environment. You should be able to find the information about the classes and schools on the Internet, and it will certainly be worth your while to talk to the person at the school district. They probably won't be expecting your inquiry, so you have an opportunity to create a rapport with them.Help for seniors to writing a resume is a good idea, and you don't need to wait until you're thirsty before you start to think about the next step. Many companies will hire someone fresh out of college the same day they receive a resume. Find a way to get your resume in front of potential employers, and you'll be surprised at the results.

Got an Awkward Workplace Problem Get Help from a Career Expert

Got an Awkward Workplace Problem Get Help from a Career Expert The office is fraught with uncomfortable situations. Does your colleague clip his nails at his desk? Should you let your office crush know you’re sweet on her? Does your boss ask you a little too much about your personal life? What do you do when your colleague takes credit for your work? You face lots of sticky issues in the workplace, including ones that could affect your performance and pay. We’ve already tackled questions on friending your boss on Facebook, impressing your manager when you work far from HQ, applying for an in-house transfer, and getting a chatty co-worker to pipe down. What’s your question? Write to us, and we’ll get experts to provide career advice. And maybe your nail-clipping co-worker will read the story and do the right thing. Your Name (optional) Where You Live (optional) Your Email Tell Us A Little About Your Situation(required) Submit