Thursday, August 2, 2018

Not Getting Interview Calls? Those Pesky Workplace Acronyms Could Be The Culprit!


To get that first interview call, your resume should be pristine and natural for anyone to read - from the layperson to a technical/military expert.  
Using common workplace acronyms in your resume could be negatively impacting your job search because the automated tracking system (ATS) or the person reading your resume may not be familiar with them. Why spell the words out?  Employers choose specific keywords for ATS systems to filter and find the right candidates and may not use their related acronyms.
 
When preparing your resume, here are a few simple basic rules to help navigate your resume through to an interview.

The first rule: when choosing to insert common acronyms, be sure to spell out the complete wording once because abbreviations such as ATM for automated teller machine could have been spelled out as qualifications by the company as “automated,” “teller,” and “machine,” and the system would not recognize “ATM.”

The second rule: don’t capitalize all words that have acronyms (always capitalize acronyms and proper names).

The final rule: take the time to make sure your acronyms are correct.  Easy mistakes can be costly – i.e., the medical acronym "HIPAA" s often incorrectly written on resumes as "HPPAA".



30 Seconds that just might land you an interview!


Having a short and well prepared "elevator pitch" could be a key to your future career...  

Like most people looking for work, you come into casual contact with professional people daily when personally dropping off your resume, visiting a recruiter, or going for an interview. One of these new unscheduled encounters could also provide a link to an employment opportunity.

Called by many names over the years, the elevator pitch remains a positive way for job seekers to present a brief (around 30 seconds) rehearsed personal introduction that encompasses their relevant experience and employment goals to a potential employer or a new professional contact.   To add to the impact, presenting them with an introduction business card with your name, position goal, email address, and other information can speed up the process.