Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.
The video below from Fast Company tackles three resume myths that should be discarded.
Showing posts with label resume errors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resume errors. Show all posts
Monday, October 19, 2015
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
The Danger (and Value) of Showing 10+ Years of Experience on Your Resume
I was speaking with someone today with more than 30 years of experience in their industry. They resisted the fact that I wanted them to put 10+ years of experience. As we discussed the positive and negative of putting the true number of years (32!), I thought this might make an interesting topic for today.
The Dangers
The Value
The Dangers
- The biggest danger with listing more than 10 years of experience is the fear of age discrimination. Age discrimination is based in fear. A few of these concerns are that you lack energy, fear that you are not open to changing technology or ideas, and fear that you may have health concerns. These are all tough to overcome on a piece of paper.
- The more experience you have, the more salary you can demand. Employers are looking for the most cost-effective employee. Therefore, showing your entire 25 years of experience may give them second thoughts about whether or not they can afford you.
- Keep in mind, if you have 32 years of experience and you are being interviewed by your potential boss that isn't even 32 years old, they may be intimidated by you to the point that they will not even call you for an interview. Fear that you may take their job from them could be a stopping point for some less secure bosses.
- Most employers truly want to know your latest and greatest accomplishments. They view older accomplishments as outdated and irrelevant. Employers do not want to wade through irrelevant information to get to what they deem "the good stuff."
The Value
- Showing a depth and breadth of experience demonstrates you can hit the ground running and make an immediate impact on the organization. Be sure to show that you possess current knowledge of new technology or methods if you go back more than 10 years.
- In more than 10 years of industry experience, chances are you have seen changes in industry standards and expectations and changes in technology. Demonstrating your consistent performance, no matter the changes surrounding you, can be valuable to your sales pitch.
Friday, March 22, 2013
Grammar Lessons for Job Seekers
I meet HR managers and recruiters all the time that tell me when they see a resume with spelling or grammatical errors, in their eyes the candidate is no longer considered. If this were the case for all employers, our nation's unemployment rate would be much higher. However, whether you consider yourself a spelling and grammar expert or not, the bottom line is that your resume is a paper representation of you. If it is full of mistakes and errors, in the employers eyes this is how you do your job.
One of the biggest issues I see when looking at resumes is the use of the homophones. Homophones are those tricky words that are pronounced the same, yet can have different spelling and meanings. Below I have gathered together - and clarified the use of - a list of the most common homophones that I see on resumes.
Led / Lead
The word lead is one of the trickiest on the list. What it means depends on how you pronounce the word. Lead (pronounced leed) can mean the act of showing the way, guiding, or directing. The word led is the past tense of the word lead. However, many people often use the word lead (pronounced like led) as the past tense of the verb "to lead," when actually this word refers to a soft metal. They led the team down to the lead mine.
Affect / Effect
The easiest way to remember the difference is that affect is a verb that means to produce a change while effect is a noun that is refers to the change it produces. Rising gas prices affect everyone. The effect of higher prices is immediate.
There / Their / They're
There is a location. Their is the possessive form of they. They're is a contraction of the two words they are. Here is a sentence that contains all three words: They're going to walk because their car is over there across the street.
Its / It's
When you want to contract the words it is or it has you use it's. When you are speaking in terms of the possessive you don't use the apostrophe and it is written its. It's cold outside so the dog laid in its bed.
Pique / Peek / Peak
You pique someone's interest or emotions. You quickly or furtively glance when you peek. The peak is the highest level of a mountain, frequency, volume, or intensity. After peeking at the peak of the mountain, my interest in climbing is piqued.
Your / You're
Your is simply the possessive form of you. You're is a contraction of the words you are. You're going to get sicker if you don't take your medicine.
Whose / Who's
This is very similar to its/it's and your/you're. You use whose as the possessive form of whom or who. Who's is a contraction of the words who is. Who's the lady whose family is waiting in the lobby?
Patients / Patience
Patients is the plural word that refers to people under medical care. Patience is the quality of being patient or being willing and able to suppress restlessness or annoyance. The patients were losing patience with the long wait time to see the doctor.
One of the biggest issues I see when looking at resumes is the use of the homophones. Homophones are those tricky words that are pronounced the same, yet can have different spelling and meanings. Below I have gathered together - and clarified the use of - a list of the most common homophones that I see on resumes.
Led / Lead
The word lead is one of the trickiest on the list. What it means depends on how you pronounce the word. Lead (pronounced leed) can mean the act of showing the way, guiding, or directing. The word led is the past tense of the word lead. However, many people often use the word lead (pronounced like led) as the past tense of the verb "to lead," when actually this word refers to a soft metal. They led the team down to the lead mine.
Affect / Effect
The easiest way to remember the difference is that affect is a verb that means to produce a change while effect is a noun that is refers to the change it produces. Rising gas prices affect everyone. The effect of higher prices is immediate.
There / Their / They're
There is a location. Their is the possessive form of they. They're is a contraction of the two words they are. Here is a sentence that contains all three words: They're going to walk because their car is over there across the street.
Its / It's
When you want to contract the words it is or it has you use it's. When you are speaking in terms of the possessive you don't use the apostrophe and it is written its. It's cold outside so the dog laid in its bed.
Pique / Peek / Peak
You pique someone's interest or emotions. You quickly or furtively glance when you peek. The peak is the highest level of a mountain, frequency, volume, or intensity. After peeking at the peak of the mountain, my interest in climbing is piqued.
Your / You're
Your is simply the possessive form of you. You're is a contraction of the words you are. You're going to get sicker if you don't take your medicine.
Whose / Who's
This is very similar to its/it's and your/you're. You use whose as the possessive form of whom or who. Who's is a contraction of the words who is. Who's the lady whose family is waiting in the lobby?
Patients / Patience
Patients is the plural word that refers to people under medical care. Patience is the quality of being patient or being willing and able to suppress restlessness or annoyance. The patients were losing patience with the long wait time to see the doctor.
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