Qualifications | Robin's Resumes (r)

My Qualifications: Is This Job Worth Pursuing?

Jun 07 2020

If you do not have the qualifications for a job—the skills, education, background, and accomplishments that the job demands—the job is not worth pursuing. You will be rejected.

But how do you know if your qualifications fit the job?

Missing qualifications. Some job postings and advertisements list so many job requirements that no one human being could possibly provide them all. Or maybe the requirements are reasonable, but you cannot meet one or two of them. In either case, you should have the ability to acquire the skills you do not have. The job is only worth pursuing if you have a majority of the qualifications the job requires, including the first few they mention that you know really are essential, and your resume shows you are capable of achieving the rest.
Pending qualifications. You must provide the proper education and licenses for jobs in fields like nursing, law, financial advising, and engineering; certifications are more likely to be optional. However, it is all right to say that your degree, license, or certification is pending—as long as “pending” does not means months and not years from now. The job is worth pursuing if your resume confirms that you have earned or are actively earning the qualifications you need.
Out-of-date qualifications. If you are re-entering the workforce after an absence, your resume must show that your qualifications are current. If they are dated, consider volunteer, intern, or temporary jobs or education that will help to prove that you are keeping your qualifications current. When it comes to old positions on your resume, consider if you have outgrown those old skills or the industry has moved passed them, summarize past positions, and leave maximum room for your current skills and qualifications. The job is worth pursuing if your resume supports your current ability to do the work.
Changing qualifications. If you are shifting careers (for example, you are looking to transition into management), you must pull out from your past positions examples of the skills you will need in the new career. For example, highlight occasions when you showed leadership even when you were not the official team leader. The job is worth pursuing if you write your resume for the job you want, not the jobs you had in the past.
Technical and scientific qualifications. Assume that the recruiters and hiring managers who first read your resume will have less knowledge than you about the technical or scientific basis for your career. Concentrate on the results you have delivered using your knowledge, not on the technical or scientific how and why. Always define acronyms. Different organizations, even different divisions in the same organization, will use the same acronyms in different ways; you want to be clear, and you want any searches to pick up on both the acronym and the words behind it. The job is worth pursuing if your resume clearly explains your technical and scientific qualifications in terms of accomplishments.

Do you have concerns about your qualifications for the job you are pursuing? Robin’s Resumes® can help by writing a resume that deals in the best way possible with missing, pending, out-of-date, changing, or technical and scientific qualifications.

Showing Your Potential in Your Resume

Dec 22 2019

Here is my Holiday gift to you: you can apply for jobs where you have a majority—but not all—of the qualifications if you can show strong and relevant potential in your resume.

Why Your Potential Is Important

According to the Harvard Business Review (HBR), over 40 percent of both men and women avoid applying for jobs where they do not meet every single qualification, simply because they do not want to waste time and energy.

The assumption of wasted time and energy reflects a mistaken belief that (a) hiring managers and recruiters know exactly what they need for a new hire to succeed; (b) someone somewhere is the ideal candidate who meets every one of the requirements in exactly the way they are written in the advertisement or posting; and (c) resumes are nothing more than a list of facts—tasks completed, courses taken, grades and promotions achieved.

In reality, all the hard qualifications in the world will not help if a resume fails to show how those qualifications can be valuable to the company. In addition, they are irrelevant if the resume does not include skills (like communication skills) that never make it onto an advertisement or posting. A resume should achieve more than a list of competencies. As HBR states, you need to see the hiring process as one where the ability to correctly frame your expertise—show your potential in your resume—can overcome a few disadvantages in skills and experiences.

If you don’t have all the qualifications, it can help you to network with the hiring manager for the job. This way, your resume will not be rejected by the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) before it is read. In some cases, I have found that companies and hiring managers can influence a job posting to match the experience of a job seeker who does not meet the initial, too limiting, requirements of a job posting. In some cases, they may redo the job posting, so you are the only candidate that can pass.

What You Should and Should Not Do on a Resume

You should never lie about qualifications on a resume. You should never entirely ignore requirements in a job advertisement or posting. You should also never rely on one factor alone when applying for a position; skills, education, experience, and achievements all have a role to play, but that role can vary depending on your own strengths.

Your resume should establish a trustworthy relationship with the hiring manager and recruiter that you can then develop more deeply during an interview. For example, suppose you do not quite meet the years of experience requirement; your resume might instead emphasize that your experience has been especially deep or wide-ranging—that quality, in this instance, makes up for quantity.

Why the Hiring Process Rewards a Professional Resume

A professionally written resume focuses your experience on those competencies most needed for the job you want; makes the most of the qualifications you do have; demonstrates your ability to contribute; includes your soft skills; and celebrates your potential.

The services of a professional resume writer can be essential to frame your resume in exactly the right way to show your true potential. To find out more, please contact me at Robin’s Resumes®.

Your Resume: Are Your Qualifications Clear?

Dec 10 2017

You know that you are qualified; does your resume back you up?

Here is what you can do to make sure your resume shows the hiring manager or recruiter what they need to know: that you are the perfect candidate.

Study the company’s website and its job posting or advertisement to understand—at a minimum—what the company does and where you would fit into its structure. That information should translate into keywords and skills you embed in your resume.
Include in your resume the key skills that you have and that companies are looking for in someone with your background. Those skills should appear as part of your accomplishments but also as part of a skills list.
Make sure your skills are targeted: yes, you can play the oboe but that is not generally a skill required by either a carpenter or Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
Remember that soft skills may be just as important as hard skills. Soft skills include the ability to work in or lead a team, communicate with stakeholders and board members, develop talent, manage change, develop a customer-centric vision, encourage diversity, spark innovation, and so on.
In your summary, stress the ways that you can help a company solve its problems, whether through increased sales, better customer relations, improved software, re-organization—or wherever your skills and experience will make the most impact.
Accomplishments are vital for making your qualifications clear. They show that you not only have skills but know how to use them to the company’s benefit.
Give education, both post-secondary and continuing education, the emphasis it deserves in your field. Achievements like a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), a black belt in Six Sigma, or training in negotiation, coaching, or leadership are valuable additions to your qualifications.
Make sure you mention any awards you received from your customers, peers, bosses, or the industry at large.

When your resume is written around your specific qualifications, you stand out from the other candidates. Your competitors may also be qualified in their own way, but they cannot possibly share your unique combination of skills, accomplishments, education, and awards. Let Robin’s Resumes® help ensure that employers and recruiters see you as the new hire they have been searching for.

What Job or Career Are You Qualified for?

May 11 2014

If you are searching for your first full-time job or if you were recently laid off, you may be suffering from doubts about your qualifications. You may not even know if you want to continue on the career path that your education best fits you for or that you have been following so far. How do you know what direction to take now?

Your first step should be to search through employment websites, online job postings, and print job advertisements looking not for job titles but for skills. If you begin with your skill set, you may find that you qualify for more jobs than you thought possible. For example, the following job titles may all involve the same exact skills: executive secretary, executive assistant, office manager, office administrator, and project coordinator.

Your second step is to think about geography and industry. Find out what companies are available in your preferred region and/or industry, and monitor their websites for openings that might match your qualifications. You might also contact these companies to let them know about your interest.

Your third step is to talk to people in the industries and companies you are considering. If you are shy about making personal requests, LinkedIn and similar online sites are excellent ways to connect. In general, people are delighted to talk about their profession and share their expertise. By asking questions, you may find out that you have more transferrable and valuable skills than you thought. You might even find a lead to a job.

When you have a better idea of your career goals, it is time to write your resume for the job you want. As I have often stressed in these blogs, you cannot write a strong resume for “any job.” If you have taken these steps and are still struggling, please contact me. As a Master Career Director and certified Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC) as well as a professional resume writer, I am ready to help.

Resume Questions? Resume Answers!

Jul 28 2013

Once again, here are some quick answers to a few of the questions I’ve been asked by job seekers regarding resumes:

Q. How do I handle a nickname on my resume?

A. The best way is FirstName (Nickname) LastName; for example, Richard (Dick) Porter. However, make sure your nickname is professional. If there is any question, leave the nickname out.

Q. What is the best font to use on a resume?

A. I recommend standard Ariel or Times New Roman fonts. If you use an obscure font, your resume may end up on a computer without that font, and the resume will not appear the way you intended.

Q. I’m a Director in my company. Am I considered an “executive”?

A. Basically, an “executive” is anyone with managerial and decision-making responsibility. Your title is not as important as your accomplishments, skills and education and the role you are prepared to take on. Never sell yourself short.

Q. I’m a new college graduate who worked her way through college as a waitress. Should I mention those waitressing jobs?

A. Yes. Your waitressing experience shows that you have a good work ethic, interact well with others and are a reliable and trusted employee. While your resume should emphasize your qualifications for your new career, it is important to include the jobs you held while attending college.

Do you have resume questions? Feel free to contact me at Robin’s Resumes®.