Starting off on a new career or finding your first job as a recent grad or for stay at home mother is not an easy task. Well, for many candidates around the world, finding the right entry level job with little experience is an uphill task. There are so many candidates vying for the same position that you have to stand out from the crowd.
So, what can you do to get noticed? Begin with modifying your resume. Your resume is often the difference between a ‘no’ and an interview, which is why you want it to shine. There are certain things you shouldn’t put on and certain things you should put on your resume. Here are the skills and qualifications that you should consider putting on your resume.
Health & Safety Training
Businesses are required by law to have a health and safety officer on the premises. Why? Well, these people can apply first aid before the experts arrive should anything go wrong. From a health and safety standpoint, a safety officer is a good appointment. For businesses, it is just another expense. If you already have the qualifications, however, you are more appealing. That means they don’t have to send you on training courses and fork out for the expenses. You’ll find many courses online and for example the Hazwoper training courses, can be done remotely from home. When it comes down to the crunch, this could be the difference between the successful candidates and those whose resumes got pushed down the stack.
Also, try to tailor your resume well to the job description. If you have a passion for health and safety training, there are many jobs out there that focus on health and safety. Search around and net work effectively to know about such opportunities.
Touch Typing
Most businesses work out of an office, which means they need office workers. And, most office workers have to be computer literate or they can’t do the job. Computers and software programs like Microsoft Word dominate the environment. And, that is where touch typing comes into play. To begin with, it means you are suitable for the role. More importantly, it means you are a productive candidate. Touch typing is the quickest way to type and write out documents. If you are quick at typing, you will get through more work. Ironically, you don’t need a degree to know that employers love productive employees.
Second Language
Over the past couple of decades, companies have become a lot more universal. The days where you dealt with your local community are long gone. Instead, these are the days where you strike deals with suppliers in China and Latin America. The industry is a lot more global, and that means you need to speak the lingo. Of course, English is the universal language of the world. However, it is always nice to speak another language so that nothing gets lost in translation. Always advertise the fact that you are bi/multi-lingual.
While looking up jobs descriptions it is easy to search on the major search engines to see which companies and jobs favor multi-lingual employees. There are many jobs that specifically desire and require bi/multi-lingual expertise, apply for those and you increase your chances of being noticed and asked for an interview. Employers do realize that there are advantages of hiring a bilingual employee.
Voluntary Experience
You should note that voluntary experience throughout your resume doesn’t look too clever. That is because employees like to see a mix of paid and voluntary work. If you can get that mix right, though, you are in a strong position. Voluntary work tells employers a lot about the candidate like their willingness to work. Also, it shows them your dedication to the cause. These are attractive traits that employers want to see when they look at a resume. Plus, if the experience is vital to the job role you’re sure to be advance to the next level.
Extra skills and qualifications always look good on a resume if you want to stand out from the crowd.