Sunday September 5, 2010
 

Handling Gaps in Your Resume During a Job Search

To effectively manage career and employment gaps in your resume, you need to be honest, but in most cases you don’t have to go into great detail. Depending on the reason for the gap, you may not need to go into details at all. For example, if you were not employed for a few months between jobs, then on a resume that lists the years of employment rather than exact months, it may not appear as a gap in employment at all. In fact, some people choose to leave out irrelevant part-time job experience or short-term assignments on purpose.

In the case of managerial positions, a resume should cover no more than the past 15 years of experience while lower level jobs may only need to go up to the past ten years. So, if you worked for a few months in-between jobs (less than a year), you can use the year of employment format, instead of the exact month. For example, using 2004 to 2008 is better than reporting exact months which might make recruiters calculate gaps that they wouldn’t otherwise.

If you are changing careers, this might be easily explained, especially if you went back to school for more education. Most employers do understand that it can take longer to find a job in a new career. When you have been laid off, due to economic slowdowns or cut-backs, employers will understand it. Keep in mind that a potential employer will check work history, so don’t lie about layoffs, especially, if they are due to economic cut-backs.

If you have taken time off to care for an elderly parent or a child with a serious illness, it is sometimes best to say so. Also, keep in mind that many people will take a few months away from their career at some point in their life; so using the yearly format can make the point less obvious, yet allow you to be truthful.

Doing freelance work, volunteer work or self-employment is understandable to most potential employers as well. Just be prepared to give some kind of reference or proof if you bring this up. Also, these are items that can be mentioned in an executive summary format on your resume. Be sure to only include them in a work history resume, if they are pertinent to the career you are pursuing.

Keep in mind that while some things can be explained in a cover letter, a resume should highlight exact accomplishments, education and work experience, but not in a traditional historical content. While most job applications still use this format, sometimes a good resume itself can help you obtain your desired position. Remember, your resume is the most important part of selling yourself to a potential employer.

Avoiding giving negative reasons; instead, highlight any accomplishments and recommendations that you have earned. This will give you an advantage over other applicants, rather than drawing attention to employment gaps, especially short ones. Using an executive summary of your skills is helpful, too.

7 Legal Job Search Mistakes to Avoid

One should be aware of the fact that the job market has many things in store for you. Whether you are a fresher or an experienced person you should always have the knowledge of making your search fruitful. You should not think that either you or anybody knows everything. Only the people related to legal employment can offer you with correct advice. But every person has a different advice to give. You just need to keep an open mind while searching for a job; this will help you not to make mistakes that are made by most.

A. Harrison Barnes, the CEO of LegalAuthority.com, suggests that one must avoid seven legal job search mistakes in order to get the best legal jobs out there. Firstly, often the legal job seekers do not look for the appropriate job search based on the areas of specialization such as cyber crime, intellectual property rights, or patents. If one conducts a search that is not focused then one will not find a suitable job opening resulting in disappointment. You may also be forced to relocate to a different place or even have to practice at the area you do not enjoy working in. You can also end up being in a firm with less pay and no advancement at all. Hence this can be avoided with Legal Authority.

Secondly, the legal job applicants often do not have much to choose from while they are conducting a job search. Every city has many law firms and corporations with legal departments that are looking for employees. There are thousands of them – both small and big firms. Most of these legal law firms are always hiring. But if you think that the right employer for you is the one who has posted a job opening on any of the legal job boards then you are definitely wrong.

A. Harrison Barnes says that if there are 1,000 law firms, then out of it, at least 25-50% of them will be hiring at the same time. But one will be able to find only 2-5% of these positions even after doing their homework well. It is here that the problem lies. Here, the LegalAuthority.com comes in. They give access to the other huge percentage of the market. The clients using this website are amazed with the results when they tap into this market. Access to this market through their website will bring a change into the life of the clients.

Thirdly, the legal job applicants do not take time to prepare the professional application material. One cannot simply send the resume with few words written in it, while seeking for a job that would pay you thousands of dollars. One should realize that he/she are not applying for any normal job but to be an attorney in a firm. While judging the application, the employer looks at every single detail – how well one writes, the formatting and the way the language is used. Thus, LegalAuthority.com by A. Harrison Barnes helps prepare resumes for their clients. The ones who prepare the resume are highly qualified. This will help in giving a good impact on the people judging your resume and legal cover letter.

Fourthly, legal job applicants do not follow appropriate legal job marketing strategies for which experience and knowledge are required. One can get the knowledge from the employment advocates of LegalAuthority.com. In an hour of conversation with the employment advocate one may gain enough knowledge and they will lay you with enough experience. This conversation will be very effective for most of the attorneys do not have enough idea of how to strategically market themselves.

Fifthly, the legal job seekers have this fear of being rejected according to A. Harrison Barnes. Most of the attorneys who are practicing law live with a fear that they will be rejected. Thus, they apply to only those organizations which they think won’t reject them. But one has to come out of the fear or else on e will lose many better opportunities. If one is vulnerable LegalAuthority.com will help get the person the best job he/she deserves.

Sixthly, the legal job seekers have to understand that the legal employer is running a business. Like any other business they aim at profits. So while applying in the firm one has to understand that the employer is going to use them to increase their own assets.

Finally, relying on family and friends is not advisable for it may sometimes lead to problems. Thus, one should ask for advice from an experienced individual or professional. Legal Authority makes the job hunt easy for you by providing you with good career advice to help the candidate.

How to Look for the Ideal Law Job

An ideal law job means being an attorney job at a big and famous law firm, getting a very high pay along with incentives such as house allowance, a car from the company, insurance facility, good pay for extra hours at work, and enough time to spend with family. Getting the ideal law job is what every lawyer asks for. It is not only good for their legal career but also good for their life. In order to get the job that suits all your priorities is not easy. You have to spend hours in looking for the right law job for yourself.

Most people prefer using those traditional methods of searching the law job. They register themselves with legal job portals. They search in the employer’s website or look for it at government website. They may even step further in checking out the association’s website. But the best way recommended to the legal job seekers by the owner and creator of Legal Authority.com, A. Harrison Barnes is to register with Legal Authority.com. He has created this website only to help law job seekers in the best possible way. The team working here puts in a lot of effort so that every client of Legal Authority.com does not remain unemployed. They get their job as quickly as possible.

Legal Authority.com is the best in its work of getting the unemployed employed. The team comprises of more than 40 recruiters and researchers. They are experts in what they do. Every client who registers with Legal Authority.com is allotted a recruiter who is available to them seven days a week. A. Harrison Barnes says that any problem you face just approach to the recruiter allotted to you and thus within a certain period of time your problem will be solved.

You can solve every problem related to your legal job search, the legal resume, the legal cover letters, the way you should approach the employer, getting suggestions of how to present yourself before the employer during the interview session and also help in deciding what the right job is for yourself with the help of the recruiter. They will guide you all the way unless you are successfully employed.

Legal Authority.com has got the biggest database than any other job portal. They search is not limited to United States rather they search for a legal job from every corner of the world. So you can very well understand that you get access to more legal job opportunities with Legal Authority.com than registering with someone else.

There are only three small steps that you need to take to get the ideal job for yourself. The three steps are the only thing you need to do, say A. Harrison Barnes.

First, you need to sign up with Legal Authority.com for a free consultation. Once you have signed up you can ask for guidance in your legal jobs search. It is very tough task for every attorney or a law student. You can have a good advice from them for a successful career. The recruiters are themselves experienced lawyers who have got experienced the legal field well. They help you by knowing where your interest lays, your marketability and the career options related to the goals or aims that you have thought or set for yourself. They will help you analyze your experiences and desires.

Second, A. Harrison Barnes asks you to decide the parameters you want to or wish to work in. there are different types of law firms you can work with. There are law firms that pay a lot to the attorneys and in reply ask for many hours of work. And there are some law companies that give importance to the life of the attorneys.

Thus it is up to you decide where or what kind of firm would you like to work with. It depends upon the lifestyle you want to lead. The recruiters of Legal Authority.com can help you decide this. Your branding will be done in such a way that you can apply to companies of your choice only. They will guide you with the advantages and disadvantages of working with every type of firm.

Third, after analyzing your requirements, the recruiter will narrow the scope of your search for a legal job. They will help you search the law job according to geographical location, the size of the firm, and your practice area.

Finally, the most important step according to A. Harrison Barnes is that you need to become the client of Legal Authority.com. You just need to pay the membership fee of $195 and you will have access to all of the services that Legal Authority provides.

The Importance Of Good Communication In Your Job Search

There is nothing more important than communication, especially when it comes to looking for a job. Employment can be easier enough to come by, even in rough economical times, as long as you have the right tools for the job. When you can communicate efficiently, you will find that you will be offered more jobs than you know what to do with.

The first place that you have to show your communication skills is through your cover letter and resume. This is the place where you basically “sell” yourself. This is where you show all of your potential employers out there what you are made of. It is where they will gain their first impression of you. To make sure that their first impression is something that you would like for them to have, it is important to make sure that you are going through your resume and cover letter with a fine toothcomb.

You need to realize that many resumes pass over the desk of the hiring manager. Only a small percentage of the resumes that come through a business on a yearly basis make it through to the interview process. And then even a smaller percentage is given a job offer. If you want to be one of those in that super small percentage that gets a job offer, you must make sure that you are being proactive and doing everything that you possibly can.

You must show in your resume that you are serious about finding employment, not just in general, but specifically with their company. This may mean that you will have to specialize and adjust each resume that you send out, but it is worth it. Instead of a generic resume, you want to make sure that you are showing a particular interest in their company and the specific job title that you are after.

Another area to put a lot of thought and consideration into is that of the interview itself. Once you find yourself scheduled for an interview, it is important to make sure that you begin researching facts about the company, including their general history. The more you know about the company’s history, what they do, what their market is; the better shot you have at getting the job. When someone shows that they have a vested interest in the company and that they are able to show that interest through communication in an interview, they have a great chance at getting the employment that they are seeking.

A follow up call, letter or email after the interview is another way to show off your communication skills, your interest in becoming part of the company and your personality. You want to be someone that they have always wanted to join their company. You want to be the solution to the employer turn over problem they have had. You want to be the person that they are chasing after, even though you have been chasing after them for so long.

While it may seem like a lot of work for a career or even just some random job, it is important that you stick with it. You want to make the most out of your career and you can do so by showing off your effective communication skills during your job hunt.

How to be the World’s Best Job Seeker?

Have you been more than disillusioned with your job seeking capabilities? Have you been frantically searching around for a specific and proven job seeking formula that can at a single stroke turn you from a sucking job seeker to an expert in true sense of the term? Thanks to Mr. A Harrison Barnes and his proven tips, hound.com is actually going to assist you and help you hit bingo in this particular context.

Before getting into the details of this formula along with a description, one of the most significant things about this formula that needs a mention is that anyone of you can actually try out this job seeking formula for free and find out its edge. The man himself behind this inimitable formula none other than Harrison Barnes recognized the basic purpose of transforming the job search capabilities of people as soon as possible so that they can for once experience the charismatic feel of success. He has been doing the same thing for hundreds and thousands of people for years now and he is determined to do it for you as well. He promises to solve your job search worries.

The basic fact that A Harrison Barnes and Hound.com will ask you to focus on is that, if you as an individual have the guts and the urge to actually change the kind of job search and the kind of life you live, you have to start right at this moment and you have to believe in the fact that you can actually do it. He had made such bold promises to people time and again and the number of individuals who were benefited by his efforts is large enough to fill up one big city.

His aim is to tell job seekers the precise way of finally breaking what seems like the unending cycle of failure and finally land with their dream job. Guess what he is about to do the same for you, right at this moment, now add here at the hound.com. Each one of us know it very well as to how important a good job is as it is something on which your entire career depends. But then often people do not have to have the vision of how exactly they can get a decent and quality job. A lot of smart heads realize that nothing much about to happen with all the search until and unless they stop going after the same job that thousands of other people are also running for. That is the simplest thing to do, to seek a job that no one else is seeking

Well at this juncture one question that Mr. A Harrison Barnes would ask you. How many people do you think turn for the jobs that are found on other job sites? Wondering? Well if you check the numbers you will be pretty surprised. These sites actually do anything and everything to draw people’s attention to these jobs and that is precisely what the employers who post the jobs on these sites pay them for. To seek more and more people for the jobs that the post and that is most of the business houses and corporate organizations prefer. And the jobs that you generally come across at most of these job boards are the ones that all and sundry are running after.

On the contrary have you ever thought of a situation where you would be the sole applicant to an equally favorable and quality job opportunity? Wouldn’t that help change the possibility of success? The answer that’s hovering in your mind right now is that, obviously it will. So in order to ensure that what you need to do is, apply for unadvertised jobs listed at Hound.com.

Often companies tend to post jobs on their own sites as that doesn’t cost them anything. In fact most of the experts including A Harrison Barnes are of the view that you will find ten times more jobs on the company website than most of the major job boards. Jobs posted on the company sites tend to receive a lot less applicants than the ones on the job board. The fact is that most of the people don’t even have an idea about the appropriate company name.

b, the expert assures that you will get a lot more offers, a lot more interviews and a lot better jobs when you use Hound to focus your job search. This is because Hound does something inimitable distinct from any other job site. It shows you only those jobs that are posted on employer websites.

The Ever Changing Role of the Administrative Assistant

Looking for a challenging career that’s versatile and allows you to wear several hats? Take a look at the new definition of an administrative assistant, says A. Harrison Barnes, founder of EmploymentCrossing.com. The well known and respected career coach says the days of making coffee and typing letters are long gone; today’s admin assistant is versatile, visible and very much in demand.

Many administrative assistants are finding themselves scouting meeting locations, hotels and other venues for their employers. Many are bi-lingual and are capable of speaking with their company’s international customers fluently. They have buying power for their employers and can approve big money contracts with suppliers and clients. And they’re commanding big salaries.

Their skill sets include advanced computer skills, marketing skills, human resources and even accounting skills. Many are gaining these diverse capabilities via experience, but there are those who are preparing to enter the work force with continuing education courses included in their resumes. It allows them to move up the proverbial corporate ladder faster as well as negotiate better salaries from the beginning.

Senior administrative assistants, says A. Harrison Barnes, are presenting with impressive resumes as they become a part of the EmploymentCrossing.com network. They have outstanding writing skills, they’re creative, organized, detailed and work better under pressure than some of the vice presidents or other management they report to. They can effectively supervise others, conduct interviews, schedule travel and ensure their offices work flawlessly.

In law firms, the legal secretaries work closely with paralegals as they help the attorneys prepare for court cases, witness interviews and client meetings. They can assist with finding the right court cases for the attorneys to submit as precedence and they prepare legal notifications, blue backs and other correspondence.

In a health care setting, medical secretaries work with doctors and nurses as they document patients’ time spent in a hospital or their visits to the physician’s office. They have a thorough understanding of medical coding procedures and can easily read a doctor’s handwriting that to anyone else looks like nothing more than scribble. While they don’t regularly come in contact with patients, they have the right personalities to practice patience and kindness. They work with drug representatives and ensure the medical office is in compliance with all necessary federal and state guidelines. They often do payroll, accounts payables and receivables. They generally know all of the business aspects of the doctor’s office or hospital and can successfully juggle those responsibilities.

Are you ready to begin your administrative career? EmploymentCrossing.com has thousands of jobs available right now. Your new career could be just a few clicks away. Take advantage of the article database or submit your resume to the experienced team of employment professionals to ensure it’s the best it can be. See for yourself why administrative assistants are the reason business runs smoothly.

Tips to Hire Best Candidates in the Market

If you are a company who is looking to offer employment and if you want to make sure that that employment goes to the best and the most qualified, you will find that there are many things that you need to keep in mind. With so many job seekers in the market right now, there is no guarantee that you are going to be selecting from a pool of qualified applicants. In many cases, finding just the right person for a position is going to feel a lot like looking for a needle in a haystack, and this is something that can be even more frustrating when you are interviewing for a very important job in your company. How can you make sure that you are going to get the right person?

The first thing that you need to consider when you are looking for the best candidates in the market is to make sure that you are offering what the work is worth. Not only do you have to make sure that the applicant is going to suit the job, you have to make sure that the job is one that is going to be interesting to your hypothetical candidate. For instance, take the idea of your salary range into consideration. The people who are looking for jobs are going to want to be paid what they are worth, and if they have the qualifications, experiences, and characteristics that you are interested in, you need to be willing to pay them an appropriate wage.

When you want to find the best candidates around for a position in your company, you will find that you need to consider who in your own company will fit the position. There are actually plenty of reasons to do so. In the first place, you are going to be able to garner more loyalty from your existing workers if they see that there is an opportunity for promotion. Similarly, by hiring within the company, you are going to be in a great place to make sure that the employee in question is going to be able to understand how your business is run; orientation can be very short and sweet with that in mind.

Once you have looked through the resumes that are offered to you, remember that you need to do interviews. Interviews are tiring and exhausting and the truth of the matter is that they can be quite tough even under the best of circumstances. Finding a good person can take a lot of time, and interviews are integral to this process. Take some time and consider what your options are going to be and what you can do to make the interviews go much faster. Consider spacing them out; at least half an hour between interviews will help the prospective candidates stay more fresh in your mind.

If you are someone who is interested in moving forward and in making sure that you are going to be getting the right person for the position that you are hiring for, there are a lot of things to keep in mind. Just be patient and be ready to snatch up the person that you know is going to make the difference.

How to Do Telephone Screening

When you are thinking about how you are going to be able to get the right people to fill the jobs that you have available, you will have to look into finding candidates and starting what seems to be an endless round of interviewing. The truth of the matter is that interviewing seems to be a process that makes people very tired and you will find that if you want to do a good job, you are going to have to go about it working intelligently. Take a moment and learn more about how to work on effective telephone screening and how you are going to be able to move forward and get the job done in very short order.

When you are interested in good telephone screening, remember that all of the people who are looking for jobs should be treated equally. Take some time and consider what your options are going to be and how you are going to be able to move forward. When you are searching for people to offer employment to, consider putting together a questionnaire that will allow you to read off questions. Give yourself spaces where you can note the response and where you can make notes that are going to allow you to keep specific candidates in mind. This is an important tool when you are looking for people that you want to offer employment.

Remember that when you are looking for questions to ask that there are few better things to inquire about than experience. Where has the person worked before, and what has their experience been like? Are they someone who works quickly and what has been their favorite thing about their last position? Why did they leave their last opportunity and were they happy with that employment? What do they have to say about their experience and where do they feel that it gives them something to build on? Where do they feel that their experience falls short? Remember that you should let them expand on the matter as they see fit.

Do keep a close ear when they start talking about their last company. Some people will inevitably bad mouth the last company that they worked for, and you will find that this is really something that you want to keep an eye on. Are they going to be frustrated or angry with your company and are they going to talk about you like this in the future? If you are worried about how they might speak and if you are concerned that they might say injurious things about the way that you function, this is not necessarily a person that you want to offer a job. Consider how you are going to move forward and consider how you are going to get the results that you need.

This is something that you need to keep in mind when you are doing telephone screening and the more time that you spend thinking about the people on the other end of the line, the better your chances are going to be when it comes to finding people who suit your company and the work that you have available.

Why is it important to choose a College Major?

Choosing a college major is the key to your career. This decision will affect your career in a significant way. The decision of choosing the right college major is a tough process. You need to know what exactly you want, what interests you the most and which subject can help you lead the kind of life that you desire. You need to be very clear in choosing your college major so that you needn’t shift to another major after choosing one.

A. Harrison Barnes, the owner of Employment Crossing.com, suggests that you spend enough time on the subject before you take a decision. Always remember that it is the decision of your life. Narrow your focus to only specific majors that interests you. You need to know which college offers your subject and then choose the best. There are many colleges that offer double majors and some of them also offer you triple majors. There are even colleges that offer both minors and majors.

Choosing a major in a specific academic subject is important for it will show your high level of work in one field, says A. Harrison Barnes. You may go in for major in two fields or have a minor and a major or you even have the choice of creating your own major according to the choice of college. Many options will help you have a better choice and will lead you to a good career.

Your major will help you land your first job after graduation. Though there is a possibility of you shifting to another career or in fact careers during your life, this is not good unless you have a very specific reason. So deciding on a major is important for your life, says A. Harrison Barnes.

Complete Assessment of Yourself

The decision of choosing a college major is a personal one that requires focus on the subject. You need to spend a lot of time thinking about your likes and dislikes, the goals that you have set for yourself, skills and talents that you possess and also your abilities to perform.

You need to be clear of what excites you or what kind of career appeals you. You even have to see if your choice will allow you to live in the place you wish to. According to A. Harrison Barnes the most important thing you need to take care of is your happiness; you need to decide what makes you happy and how happy will you be with your choice of major in future.

You need to understand your strengths and weaknesses; examine what exactly you value in work i.e. working under pressure, stability, status, helping society, pacing, having a positive impact on others, group affiliation, working alone or as a team.

Narrow down Your Choices

According to A. Harrison Barnes the self-assessment that you make about yourself will make you narrow down your choices. Once you have a better idea of the careers that you are looking forward to, you can list them. And then decide on one major that will build your career and take you to the top. Then you need to decide which college is most suitable for you.

Take help from Career Counselors

You even have the choice of consulting with a career counselor. They can guide you with books and self-assessment tools. They can also guide you to faculty member who can answer you about a department that you are thinking about. This helps you get a complete picture of the department – its professors, the kind of guidance you can expect from them, the curriculums that is required and so on. A. Harrison Barnes says that these career counselors even guide you in preparing your resumes when required.

This way you would have chosen the right major that will lead you to a perfect career and a perfect life.

Applying to a Small Company

If you are in need of a job, you may want to consider applying to a small company before anything else. No matter how much skill you have, you should never underestimate what working for a small company can do for you in terms of growth and advancement. In order to make working for a smaller organization possible, you must first seek employment.

In order to do this, you need to search a few online job websites as well as look in your town’s classifieds section. Already have a small company in mind? Even better. Most of the time, people know exactly what company they want to work for. If you are not sure, then think of a couple of small corporations and give them a shot. The harder you try, the better. Just keep in mind that a positive attitude, confidence about your skills, and a killer resume are what will get you that position.

There are plenty of reasons why working for a small company is much better than working for a larger corporation. The first advantage is that there is less competition. People in authority at your workplace are going to recognize your strengths much clearer than they would when having to pick someone out of a larger crowd. You also do not have to do as much to get yourself noticed. Of course, you are still going to have to work. But gaining recognition for your job skills and abilities is going to be easier.

Looking to move forward in your career in less time? Perhaps you would feel a lot better managing or working as a team leader, but do not yet possess the skills or qualifications to jump right into it. Working for a small company guarantees you will have a much easier time interacting with team leaders, bosses, head of administration, etc. Every successful person has to start somewhere. You never know, you might just end up becoming the head supervisor of your small company. It certainly isn’t an impossibility.

The atmosphere of a small company is also likely to feel more team oriented with less chaos and stress. Less stress also means a more enjoyable work experience. The communication and overall attitude of each employee is usually much more positive than that of the employees you may find in a larger workplace. When something is up, everyone gets involved — not just a select few. Basically, all employees are treated more equally and everyone feels included. If you have ever worked for a large corporation with an enormous amount of employees, you know how disorganized things tend to get. Oftentimes, over half the employees aren’t even doing their job. A smaller company allows less room for distraction and promotes more focus on actual work.

Since you will be focusing on your work more than the average employee, you are likely to find that you have skills you never knew you possessed. You gain more experience in less time. This year you might be a regular employee, next year a supervisor. The possibilities could be endless.