This presentation is about finding job, resume writing, and interview skills. It also contains some information about the current US job market.

1. HELP ME GET A
BETTER JOB
Presented by Noorulbari
Afghanmal

2. Did you know?
Current unemployment rate in the US is
3.6% with the number of unemployed
people at 5.9 million.
As of May 2019 Summit County
Unemployment rate is 3.4%
(US Bureau of Labor Statistics)

3. EFFECTIVE JOB SEARCH
Why do employers hire?
Where do I look for a job?
How much time do I need?

4. Why do employers hire?
They hire to make or save money
They hire to save time or resources
They hire to enhance the company

5. Where do I look for a job?
Online job search engines (Akron Works)
Social Media (Linked in)
Networking (Teachers, Churches, Friends)
Researching Companies (Online/libraries)
Newspaper
Temp agencies

6. Did you know?
Referrals are 5x more effective than all
other sources of hiring.
(Jobvite 2017 Recruiting Funnel Benchmark
Report)
87% of recruiters use LinkedIn to check
candidates.
(Jobvite Recruiter Nation Report 2016)

7. How much time do I need?
• Finding a job is a full time job
• Balancing you time is an important aspect
of your job search
• Spend 8 hours a day in this process
• Give two hours to each of the following
activities:
i. Internet job search
ii. Resume
iii. Online application
iv. Networking

8. THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
• What is Applicant Tracking System?
• How to I beat the Applicant Tracking
System?

9. What is Applicant Tracking
System?
• ATS is a software application designed to
help and enterprise recruit employees more
efficiently
• It can be used to automatically rank
resumes/applications
• It is estimated that 75% all mid-sized
companies and 98% percent of large
companies use ATS

10. Did you know?
On average, each corporate job offer attracts
250 resumes. Of those candidates, 4 to 6 will
get called for an interview, and only one will
get the job.
(Glassdoor)

11. How to I beat the Applicant
Tracking System?
1. Use standard resume headings
2. Don’t touch headers and footer
3. Echo resume keywords exactly
4. Left alignment and conservative typeface
5. Write out all acronyms

12. RESUME
• What goes in a resume?
• Formatting and Saving your resume
• Types of resume

13. What goes in a resume?
• Contact Information: Name, Address, Phone,
Email, WWW
• Objective: expresses goals and needs of job
seeker but little focus on employer needs which is
causing this category to trend out. Employers prefer
summary.
• Summary: This Category describes what the job
seeker brings as a candidate. Potential summary
titles include “Executive Summary, Professional
Summary, Career Summary, Summary of
Qualifications.”
• Education/Training: Relevant Only. Use dates
only when adding value.

14. What goes in a resume? Continued…
• Experience: Avoid dates older than 10 years
and avoid listing more than 4 previous jobs.
• Additional Areas: Activities/Honors/ Special
skills: only use this category when the
additional area will be of value to the employer.
• References: No longer included in the resume.
In fact, can cause loss of points in an applicant
tracking system. References should be a
separate document.
• Awards and achievements: Include
professional recognitions of good work. Avoid
personal or family oriented achievements.

15. Formatting and Saving your
resume
When applying online, avoid anything on your resume
that could potentially clog the system. The key is to
avoid templates and keep formatting simple.
• Title your resume with your name and targeted title.
Such as “Your name – Case Management
Specialist”
• Avoid abbreviations such as Ave. or St. and spell
out as much as possible.
• Do not use unique headings, stick to common
resume headings such as Summary, Work
Experience, Education and Skills.
• Never use images, columns, tables, fields, text
boxes and graphics so the ATS can quickly scan
your text for keywords and phrases.

16. Formatting and Saving your
resume cont..
• Remove special characters and avoid creative or
fancy bullets that are often illegible to an ATS
scanner
• Avoid special fonts, font treatments and colors. Use
common fonts such as Arial, Georgia, impact,
Lucinda, Tahoma, and use black color only. Avoid
underlining words which can mess up the
readability of lower case letter such as a, g, j, or y.
see a g j y
• Avoid spelling error, since and ATS does not know
what you ‘meant’ to write.
• Include contact information in the body or your
resume not in the header or footer
• Be consistent

17. Types of resume
Chronological: Best to use if you have steady work history
Advantages:
• Focuses on work history/lists all job related duties
• Reveals gaps in employment history
• Showcases growth in skills and responsibilities
• Widely used and easy prepare
Disadvantages:
• Emphasizes gaps in employment
• Not suitable if you have no work history
• Highlights frequent job changes
• Emphasizes employment but not skills
• Emphasizes lack of related experience and career
changes

18. Types of resume cont..
Functional: Best used by individuals with no previous
employment, gaps in employment, frequent job
changers or individuals who have developed skills
other than documented employment
Advantages:
• Emphasizes skills rather than employment
• Organizes a variety of experience: paid, unpaid and
other activities
• Disguises gaps in work record or a series of short
term jobs
Disadvantages:
• Viewed with suspicion by employers due to lack of
information listed, such as employers and dates

19. THE JOB INTERVIEW
- Planning for the interview
- What should I bring to the interview
- 30 second pitch
- Star story
- Common interview questions
- Questions to consider asking at the end

20. Planning for the interview
• Get important information
• Drive to the site – do a dry run.
• Research the company
• Practice the 30 second commercial and
STAR stories
• Prepare your apparel

21. Day of the interview
• Don’t be on time, be early!
• Interview starts at the parking lot
• Check yourself out before the interview
• Get your portfolio ready
• Greet the receptionist courteously and
professionally
• Stand with the interviewer arrives; let him/her
initiate the handshake
• Ask where you should sit do not assume
• Remember to smile and make eye contact (but
do not stare)

22. What should I bring to the
interview?
• Resume (At least 6 copies)
• Notebook (Spiral bound)
• Binder or portfolio
• Pen and/or Pencil plus a back up
• Company research/Questions
• Awards Achievements (professional only)
• Licenses and Certificates (Bring copies to leave
with the interviewer)
• Tissue
• A smile

23. 30 second commercial
The 30-second Commercial is a statement to
describe the skills and services that you have
to offer an employer. It is a brief monologue
that sells your professional abilities that
reflects your ideal job profile.

24. 30 second commercial
• Greeting – Include your first and last name
• Experience – Accumulated experience in
your specific industry/job
• Areas of expertise – Your major job
functions and skills
• Strengths – specific skills that you possess
• Accomplishments – Specific
accomplishments that emphasize on your
strengths

25. 30 second commercial
• Greeting: Hello, My name is William Smith
• Experience: I am an experience Customer
Service Representative
• Areas of Expertise: with 5 years of
experience in Customer Service Call Center
• Specific Expertise: I am proficient with
Microsoft Office and I type 60 WPM with
97% accuracy
• Accomplishments: I have been
recognized for being top in sales

26. STAR story
Situation, Task, Action, Result
Your STAR stories identify real strengths and
accomplishments.
It shows how you saved a previous employer
time, money or gave your employer peace of
mind
Use for your resume and throughout the
interview to answer the question, “Why should
I hire you?”

27. STAR story
What was the
Situation?
What did you
do? Task
How did you
do it? Action
What
happened?
Result
Employer
having difficulty
filling 3rd shift
needs
Take initiative Volunteered to
take a shift not
usually worked
Showed
flexibility and
ultimately
received
promotion to
shift supervisor
The company
was being
threatened with
a strike
Handle problem Created an
employee forum
to discuss
difficult issues
and complaints
Improved
employee
relations,
resulting in
employer’s
peace of mind

28. Common interview questions
• Tell me about yourself
• Describe your professional weaknesses
• Tell me about a time you solved a problem at
work
• What are your salary expectations?
• Why did you leave your last job?
• If a conflict developed between you and a co-
worker how would you handle the situation?
• Tell me about a time when you had to go above
and beyond the call of duty to get the job done
• Why should we hire you?

29. Questions to consider asking
• Is there anything else you would like me to
address?
• What are some of the skills not included in
your job description this job requires?
• What skills are you seeking in the ideal
candidate?
• What was on my resume that made you
want to talk to me

30. Any Questions?

31. Thank you! Gracias! ‫تشکر‬
‫مننه‬ ‫شکریہ‬ ً‫شکرا‬
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