Free classifieds resume service for students

Free Resume Samples Articles : Free classifieds resume service for students

California accounting and business students can enhance their career prospects thanks to free resume postings at www.calcpa.org.

To be eligible for the resume service, accounting or business students must be CalCPA members. Student memberships cost $30 per year. Students can apply at www.calcpa.org/join.

Any employer, including out-of-state employers, can access the CalCPA classified web page and search the site for free. To take advantage of the service, CalCPA student members should login to www.calcpa.org/classifieds, click "Place Ad" and follow the prompts to submit their resume under Situations Wanted--Students.

CalCPA will review the information for suitability before posting. All postings are for 30 days and renewable monthly.

www.youtube.com/CalCPA

COPYRIGHT 2007 California Society of Certified Public Accountants
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

Source: Free resume samples, job resume examples and templates information at findarticles.com

Cover Letters and Thank-You Letters

Free Resume Cover Letter Articles : Cover Letters and Thank-You Letters

"Secret Weapons" Underutilized in the Job Search

Every informed job seeker realizes the importance of the resume and invests the time in developing a quality document. However, too few job hunters spend the amount of time necessary to differentiate themselves through deploying two "secret weapons" - the cover letter and the thank-you letter.

Secret Weapon #1:

THE COVER LETTER

Although it is shocking to many applicants, some recruiters believe the cover letter is even more important than the resume. Over the years, in fact, a number of recruiters have admitted to me that if they are not impressed with the cover letter, they will not even look at the resume. Three major reasons many recruiters place such a high value on the cover letter are:

* It gives some insight into the personality of the applicant (in contrast to the highly factual, objective resume, which is the list of accomplishments).

* It is a writing sample, indicating whether the applicant can communicate in coherent sentences.
* As a personal appeal to the employer, it demonstrates the amount of research the applicant has done on the organization, and outlines what specifically he/she can contribute to it.

An effective cover letter conveys this information to a recruiter in three primary paragraphs that answer these key questions in a hiring decision:

1. Why do you want to work for the employer?

* Explain why you are applying to this company as opposed to any other (your reasons for your interest in each employer should be different).

* Show off your research about the company. This distinguishes you from other applicants.

* Indicate known individuals working at the company that you may be using as a resource.

* Specify your job interest as specifically as possible.

2. Why should the employer select you?

This is the most important aspect of the cover letter. Picture a stack of resumes on a recruiter's desk, submitted by people all applying for the same job. This cover letter must differentiate you from other applicants in order to get the desired action.

* Give the employer five "selling points" that explain why the company should be interested in you and how you differ from other applicants.

* Match your selling points closely to the desired qualifications and personality traits that the employer seeks.

* Give evidence to support each selling point. Anyone can state that he/she is an effective communicator. Without evidence, however, this is only your opinion.

3. What's next?

The applicant should propose the next action step. Without doing so, you will be waiting a long time (possibly forever).

* If you propose to call to set up an appointment, give a specific date for your call. Remember, if you state that you will call on Nov. 1, you must do it; otherwise you failed in your first promise to this employer. In these times of voicemail, you do not have to reach the person, but you can leave a well-prepared message. At the end, you should state that you will be calling back on November 4.

* When applying to an out-of-state employer, it helps if you tentatively plan a trip to the city and tell the employer the specific date that you plan to be there. This will dramatically improve your chances of getting a response. Without offering to travel to the employer's city, you are asking the employer to fly you in, sight unseen (and that will not likely happen).

Additional recommendations to strengthen your cover letter: Address the letter to a specific individual. Do some research: You will need a name to be able to complete your follow-up phone call. Stylistically, try to project confidence; use simple language; and limit the use of "I" and "me." Instead, focus on what you can do for them.

Secret Weapon #2:

THE THANK-YOU LETTER

The interview has concluded and you are in one of three situations: 1) You passed with flying colors and will be invited back for further interviews or be given a job offer. 2) You failed the interview and you will be not be getting an offer. 3) You are "on the fence" (status to be determined).

You will not necessarily know your exact status at the end of an interview. Do not take it for granted that because the recruiter was nice to you, that means he or she is interested in you. As a former recruiter, I know firsthand that many of my former applicants were in this status of "to be determined." I needed to give further thought before making a decision to either refer or reject. This is where an excellent thank-you letter can make a huge difference.

Here are recommendations to help you get off the fence on the positive side:

1. Send the letter immediately after the interview. This demonstrates the importance of the job and company to you. Email works best for immediacy. I disagree with many advisors regarding hand-written thank-you notes because the recruiter will not get it for days. It needs to get to the interviewer before a decision is made.

2. Restate your interest in the position and the company.

3. Summarize briefly what you have to offer to this employer. At this stage, you can exclude the detailed evidence, since you have already provided this.

Source: Free resume cover letter articles, cover letter samples, job resume cover letter templates information at findarticles.com

Resumes, applications, and cover letters

Free Resume Cover Letter Articles : Resumes, applications, and cover letters

You have skills that employers want. But those skills won't get you a job if no one knows you have them.

Good resumes, applications, and cover letters broadcast your abilities. They tell employers how your qualifications match a job's responsibilities. If these paper preliminaries are constructed well, you have a better chance of landing interviews-and, eventually, a job.

Modern technology has added a new twist to preparing resumes and cover letters. The availability of personal computers and laser printers has raised employers' expectations of the quality of resumes and cover letters applicants produce. Electronic mail, Internet postings, and software that "reads" resumes help some employers sort and track hundreds of resumes. Technology has also given resume writers greater flexibility; page limits and formatting standards are no longer as rigid as they were several years ago. "The only rule is that there are no rules," says Frank Fox, executive director of the Professional Association of Resume Writers. "Resumes should be error free-no typos or spelling mistakes-but beyond that, use any format that conveys the information well."

However, the no-rules rule does not mean anything goes. You still have to consider what is reasonable and appropriate for the job you want. Advertisements for a single job opening can generate dozens, even hundreds, of responses. Busy reviewers often spend as little as 30 seconds deciding whether a resume deserves consideration. And in some companies, if a resume is not formatted for computer scanning, it may never reach a human reviewer.

This article provides some guidelines for creating resumes and cover letters that will help you pass the 30second test and win interviews. The first section, on resumes, describes what information they should contain, how to highlight your skills for the job you want, types of resumes, and formatting resumes for easy reading and computer scanning. The next section discusses the four parts of a cover letter-salutation, opening, body, and closing. A final section offers suggestions for finding out more about resumes and cover letters. The clipboard on page 5 provides advice on completing application forms.

Resumes:

Marketing your skills

A resume is a brief summary of your experience, education, and skills. It is a marketing piece, usually one or two pages long, designed to make an employer want to interview you. Good resumes match the jobseeker's abilities to the job's requirements. The best resumes highlight an applicant's strengths and accomplishments.

There are four main steps to creating a resume: Compiling information about yourself and the occupations that interest you, choosing a resume format, adding style, and proofreading the final document. You may also want to prepare your resume for computer scanning, e-mailing, and Internet posting, especially if you are pursuing a computer-intensive field.

Gathering and organizing the facts

Start working on your resume by collecting and reviewing information about yourself: Previous positions, job duties, volunteer work, skills, accomplishments, education, and activities. These are the raw materials of your resume. This is also a good time to review your career goals and to think about which past jobs you have liked, and why.

After compiling this information, research the occupations that interest you. Determine what duties they entail, what credentials they require, and what skills they use. Your resume will use your autobiographical information to show that you meet an occupation's requirements.

You will probably need to write a different resume for each occupation that interests you. Each resume will emphasize what is relevant to one occupation. Remember: Even if you do not have many specialized and technical skills, most occupations also require abilities like reliability, teamwork, and communication. These are particularly important for entry-level workers.

The next step is to organize the personal information you have assembled. Most resume writers use the following components.

Contact information. This includes your name; permanent and college campus addresses, if they are different; phone number; and e-mail address, if you have one. Place your full legal name at the top of your resume and your contact information underneath it. This information should be easy to see; reviewers who can't find your phone number can't call you for an interview. Also, make sure the outgoing message on your answering machine sounds professional. If you list an e-mail address, remember to check your inbox regularly.

Objective statement. Placed immediately below your contact information, the objective statement tells the reviewer what kind of position you want-for example, "Seeking a position as an administrative assistant." Some objectives include more detail, such as "Seeking an administrative position using my organizational, word processing, and customer service skills."

Objective statements are optional and are most often used by recent graduates and career changers. "I like to see an objective on a resume because it shows focus," says Jannette Beamon of Dell Computers' Central Staffing Division in Round Rock, Texas.

Source: Free resume cover letter articles, cover letter samples, resume cover letter templates information at findarticles.com