How to describe the skills and experiences you didn’t even know you had

BY COLLEEN CLARK

You may have been babysitting for years, maybe had a paper route, mowed the neighbour’s lawn, sat behind a table at the church bazaar or were class president. Any of these can mean that you have viable work skills to put on your first resumé.

Every company with job postings wants a resumé. If you haven’t had a job yet that paid you with a paycheque, you may feel intimidated or unable to produce a CV.

Don’t fear: you likely  have enough experience and skills to write a one-page resumé.

Sit down with someone who knows you well and make a list of all the skills they think you have, including those  exhibited around the house, in the community or as part of a school team.

Be very introspective and stretch yourself to identify your personal gifts. If you’ve  been babysitting, list all the responsibilities that go along with caring for young children: being attentive, playful, creative, athletic, responsible and preparing meals.

Once you’ve compiled your list, create stories about each skill to validate it. Use a formula called SAR: Situation, Action, Result.
Start with creativity: (Situation) “Regularly babysat kids of varying ages from under one year to age 11. (Action) I’d take the kids on walks to look for nature items that we could use in art projects. The walks gave the kids a chance to run about and be curious. (Result) We then created the art piece, with lots of interaction in a creative environment.”

From this story you extract the Action and the Result and that becomes a point in your resumé: 

• took children on nature walks identifying interesting objects and answering questions while collecting artifacts for an art project; and
• organized craft projects for children of all ages to give them a creative outlet while having fun and interacting with others.
Let’s say you helped out at the church bazaar selling baked goods. Skills: selling, helping people, one-on-one communication, customer service and product knowledge. The Action Result statements would be:
• provided knowledgeable, friendly customer service at a bazaar to assist a variety of people in making a positive buying decision; and
• engaged potential buyers in conversation and made them feel comfortable about our product, which resulted in selling every item on the table in record time.

Not all statements have a direct result. Some require more about HOW you did something than what the result was. For example: answered telephones in a busy office in a friendly and knowledgeable manner.

Accomplishments in your first resumé don’t have to be monumental, like saving a company thousands of dollars; they just describe a situation where you used a skill to get a result. They demonstrate your personal accomplishments.

Try not taking yourself for granted as you go through your work life, keep track of your professional achievements and wear them like a badge of honour, no matter how inconsequential you may think they are.

Following your accomplishments, add in your education and any certificates you may have such as in a sport or artistic field. Include any teams or groups you participated in and the community work you did.

Lastly, add in three or four interests, specifically ones that are relevant to the job you are applying for. And be sure to have others proofread and edit your resumé before you send it out. Employers take a very dim view of sloppy writing or typos in a resumé.

Originally published at www.blog.workopolis.com.

From Next February/12

How partnering with an employment agency can help you succeed in your work search

BY NOA GLOUBERMAN

In your hunt for a job, going it alone can be tough. Fortunately, you don’t have to. Recruitment agencies, also called employment or staffing firms, are experts at matching the right candidates to the right job opportunities, and could be your key to success.

“There are a number of companies that will only use recruitment agencies for any new hiring they do, because they know we’re the experts and a lot of top candidates go through our agency,” explained Andrew d’Eça, vice-president and general manager of Angus One, which offers permanent, executive, contract and temporary staffing services across the Lower Mainland, in a past interview.

In addition, d’Eça said that “90% of the job market these days is hidden, meaning most jobs are never advertised but, rather, filled through referrals, networking and, of course, employment agencies.”

4,000 marine-industry jobs are expected to be created over the next eight to 30 years

On October 19, the federal government named Vancouver-based Seaspan Marine Corp. as the prime contractor to build the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS) program’s non-combat vessels.

The $8 billion program will initially see Seaspan construct seven non-combat ships, including joint support ships for the Royal Canadian Navy, offshore science vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard and a new polar icebreaker.

The federal government also has plans for a further 17 vessels, which should fall under the non-combat package. The contract is expected to inject billions of dollars into the local economy and create more than 4,000 jobs in the West Coast shipbuilding industry over the next eight to 30 years.

New, direct marine jobs will likely include mechanics, machinists, pipefitters, electricians, steel fabricators, engine fitters, sheet-metal workers, joiners, welders and other skilled tradespeople to construct the ships.

“While we felt we were more than capable of building the combat ships, we are honoured to have been chosen to provide non-combat,” said Seaspan CEO Jonathan Whitworth in a release.

“We have a long and established track record of working with the [navy and coast guard] in building ships on time and on budget. Seaspan is committed to returning B.C.’s shipbuilding industry to its once-thriving roots. This award is a direct result of that commitment. We will deliver world-class ships to Canada.

Four reasons why no one is reading your resumé

BY OZZIE SAUNDS

You read an exciting job posting and apply, hoping to get a response from the company. Days later, you’re feeling frustrated, thinking, “How come they didn’t phone me about the position after I sent them my resumé?”

Here are some of the most likely reasons why no one is even looking at the resumé that you’re sending to potential employers.

No. 1: Your resumé is not optimized for computer-scanning software. With the growth of the Internet, the way we find and apply for available positions has dramatically changed over the past decade. With just a few clicks of a button, a job seeker can upload or email his or her qualifications to an online job board or human resources personnel.

With the increased ability to apply for more jobs in a shorter amount of time, hiring managers and recruiters have to deal with a lot more applications per open position. To cope, they have turned to recruiting software and applicant-tracking systems to help screen out resumés that don’t seem like a good fit.