GREENSBORO, N.C. — The unemployment rate is 13.3%. We're talking about a lot of people out of jobs and eventually a lot of people looking for jobs.
It may have been years since you did a resume and things have changed. Check out this difference between a very standard resume and the revamped resume. There is no longer a job objective, but a summary. Damian Birkel, founder of Professionals in Transition explained the difference.
“A human resources manager doesn't care what your objective is. What they need to do is read your career summary, four or five sentences, and be able to decide if they want to go on. And most resumes, a generous amount of time is 30 seconds.” Birkel said.
He said you need to catch their attention right away, including adding your skills at the very top under your career summary.
When it comes to your cover letter, “Everyone says where is that magic list of keywords? They don't exist. If your viewers want to make sure they use the right words 100% of the time in their letter, they need to insert two columns.” The left column should be the words you read in the job description. The right column should be your job history and skills. Marry the two and use them in the letter after the opening paragraph.
Another key point is don't trust job sites to be 100% accurate.
“If you find a position you like on Indeed, go immediately to the employer’s website and make sure it's still there. You'll save yourself a tremendous amount of time if it's not.” Birkel said.
An automated job site can show a job is open when it's been filled for days even weeks, he said.