Think About What They Want

Ultimately, it is about what the interviewer wants. They want a person who can come in and fill the gaps that are missing or fulfilling the need of their company. Their job is to make sure they hire the best person possible, but you also have a responsibility to present yourself as someone who has potential that can be nurtured by this company.

Learn From Job Postings

It’s one thing to prepare for an interview, but it’s another to learn about the company or role you’re applying for. You’ll want to read up on their social media profiles, blog posts, etc. – basically anything that lets you know what they’re all about.

Pay attention to any mentions of people in your industry who have worked there before and see if they’ve written anything online. If so, reach out to them via LinkedIn (or even better) and ask them about their experience!

Do Your Research

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Do your research on the company you’re interviewing with, know who will be in the interview, what questions they may ask, and what might be of interest or concern to them. And if possible, do some research on the people interviewing you. Know their names, where they’re from, and what they do with their time outside of work.

Practice Keywords

Practice answers to commonly asked interview questions in advance. You should always come prepared with the following:

1. Who are you?
2. What do you want from this job?
3. Why do you want this job?
4. What makes you a good fit for this position?

This will ensure that when it comes time for your interview, your answers are well-thought-out, concise, and show what you’re capable of.

Emphasize Results in Your Answers

Before the interview, get a good night’s sleep, eat breakfast (something light) and arrive at the interview site with plenty of time. The last thing you want is to show up flustered or drowsy because you just slept through your alarm! Plus, arriving early will give you some much-needed time to review any materials they may have emailed over.

When arriving, smile at everyone you meet. While this may seem simple, it can make all the difference in how they perceive you.

Keep Answering Simple

After preparing your resume, come up with some answers to possible interview questions. The best thing to do is prepare ahead of time. Once you’re ready, try practising in front of a mirror or over the phone with a friend. This way you can see if there are any gaps in your story. You’ll be more comfortable answering questions in person too when you know the best way to answer them ahead of time.

Get Comfortable With Silence

There is always a chance that you’ll be sitting in front of the hiring manager with nothing but silence. The first tip on how to prepare for an interview is to get comfortable with being silent. This will give you time to think before speaking, which can actually make you seem more confident and well-spoken when you do speak.

Plus, it could mean the difference between feeling flustered or seeming as though you’re completely in control.

Not All Questions Are Equal

Research ahead of time is key. You want to make sure you have done your homework on the company you are interviewing with, have done your research on the job opening and be as prepared as possible for any questions that may come up.

Plus, remember that it’s not just about what you say – it’s also about how you say it. Be aware of your body language, don’t slouch or yawn, and be interested in what they are saying by leaning forward a little bit or nodding occasionally.

Remind Yourself Why You’re There

One of the most important things to do when you’re preparing for a job interview is to remind yourself why you want the job. The best way to do this is by compiling a list of reasons why you would be happy working there. This list can include benefits like better hours, better pay, more vacation time, more room for growth in your field, etc. 

Don’t forget that a positive attitude will also come across in your interview.« Browse Jobs

The post How to Prepare for an Interview and Ace It appeared first on ZarJob.

From a previous article, i talked about how internships can help you land a full time job after graduation. From the article it was pointed out experience is the major factor considered in applicants selection for interviews by employers. Well in this article, i will talk about how you gain Competitive Advantage over most applicants to help you land that interview.

I have two words for you. Professional Certifications!!!

What are Professional Certifications?

Professional certifications are a process by which a person develops the knowledge, experience, and skills to perform a specific job. Once the individual completes a course of study, he or she receives a certificate earned by passing an exam that is accredited by an organization or association that monitors and upholds prescribed standards for the particular industry involved.

A professional certification or designation provides an impartial endorsement of a particular professional skill set, knowledge, or experience level. Certifications are typically earned from a professional organization, trade association, or IT vendor by taking an exam that evaluates an individual on his or her aptitude.

Who is a Professional?

From the definition of Professional Certifications, we can infer that a Professional is someone who has undergone a long period of training or rigorous apprenticeship and who has been certified to have acquired enough knowledge and skills as to be deemed competent or proficient to render services in a given vocation.

What are some examples of Professional Certifications?

• Chartered Institute of Management Accountants ( CIMA )
• Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA)
• Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS)
• The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM)
• Institute Of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA)
• Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
• Association of Business Executives (ABE)
• Institute for the Management of Information Systems (IMIS)
• Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) Certification

Note: You can google Professional Certifications for more.

Benefits of Professional Cerfitication 

Obtaining a professional certification often requires a significant time investment, as it involves studying for the exam and possibly taking a prerequisite class. However, the time commitment is typically worth it given the array of career benefits that can’t be obtained with other advancement techniques.

• Gain a Competitive Advantage

If you want to be the best three-point shooter on your company’s intramural basketball team, you should probably spend a lot of time on the court. Similarly, if you want to be the best at your job, you need to devote the time to improving your professional skills and experience. A certification accomplishes this task and gives you an edge over those who don’t have one.

• Prove Your Skills

Perhaps the biggest incentive for earning a certification is the credibility it lends to you and your professional abilities. The certificate you receive is concrete, indisputable proof to employers, colleagues, and clients that you are a capable and qualified professional

• Increase Your Paycheck

Most employers are willing to pay more for people who bring a little something extra to the team, whether it’s a particular skill set, experience, or designation. A professional certification isn’t a one-way ticket to a bigger salary, but it will certainly give you leverage in asking for a raise from a current employer or negotiating compensation terms with a new one

• Enhance Your Resume

A professional certification is like a gold star on your resume. It shows that you’ve gone the extra mile to make yourself the best you can be at your job. Plus, nothing says job commitment like devoting a chunk of your after-hours (and money) to furthering your career. Current and prospective employers will take notice

Read also: How To Write The Best CV

Bottom Line

A professional certification is a card you want to be holding if you’re trying to take your current job to the next level, apply for a promotion, or land your dream job. It’s not going to be easy, but earning yours just might be your best career choice yet.

Feel free to comment below. Relevant comments are invited.

The post How To Make Your Job Application Stand Out With No Work Experience appeared first on ZarJob.

a) Your CV was good but there were more suitable candidates

b) Your skills and experience were irrelevant to the job advertised

c) Your CV is letting you down

To tackle points a) and b), especially when applying for jobs online, focus on applying for jobs where you match the criteria exactly. This will increase your chances of getting a call from a recruiter and keep you motivated. Try reading previous articles on mistakes you can correct to score you job interview calls and how to make your job application stand out from other candidates .

To address point c) make sure you are not making any of the 13 mistakes below, which drive recruiters crazy resulting in your CV being rejected in the bin. You can read from a previous article on how to write the perfect CV .

1. Trying to be different – in the wrong way

Of course, making your CV stand out from the crowd is important. But it has to be done in the right way. Filling your CV with different colours, multiple fonts, boxes and borders only makes your CV messy and difficult to read. Many recruiters have happily admitted that even just seeing the colours red, green or orange will annoy them so much they throw the CV on the reject pile – without even reading it.

If you’re applying to a role within the creative industry, you might get away with a bit of colour. But for everyone else – keep your CV clean and simple. Remove the boxes, stick to one font (e.g. Times New Roman, Calibri, Century Gothic, Arial) and go with black text. If you want to add a bit of colour, dark blue is a sensible choice – but keep its use minimal.

Remember, the easier it is to read, the more the recruiter will love you. Ask a friend or colleague for their opinion if you are not sure – they will spot things you haven’t noticed.

2. Copy-pasting of job responsibilities

This used to drive me crazy as a recruiter. If someone sent me a CV where they had clearly just copy-pasted their responsibilities from either their job description or a previous role, I would reject them immediately. Recruiters want to see that you have really thought about your previous jobs and understood the vital roles they played within each specific company. Copy-pasting implies sheer laziness and will irritate most recruiters. Don’t do it. You have been warned!

3. Too much focus on duties and not achievements

In light of the above, it’s crucial to be aware that the current trend in CVs is moving away from the ‘responsibility’ CV to the ‘achievement’ CV. Long lists of trivial duties, especially where the bullet points contain only one or two words (e.g. ‘filing’ or ‘data management’) can bore recruiters to tears. They show no consideration as to how that particular responsibility affected the bigger picture. Ask yourself – what was the result of that responsibility? This is what recruiters are looking for. This is the achievement.

In an ‘achievement’ CV you can still have one or two bullet points  highlighting your key responsibilities. The main focus though is on your achievements, with a list of 4-8 being sufficient. It’s your achievements that are going to differentiate you from your competitors, not a fancy border or a few lines of red text here and there.

It’s easier to list achievements in roles where the results are quantifiable, e.g. in Sales or Marketing you could say ‘grew sales by 30%’ or ‘grew sales by GHC100,000’.

4.  Listing irrelevant experience

Sending your CV to a job where your experience clearly does not match the given criteria of the job advertised will annoy any recruiter. They have enough CVs to go through – adding to their workload unnecessarily could get your CV put on the ‘blacklist’ and blocked from future jobs. Save yourself and the recruiter time and only send your CV to jobs that you are qualified for.

If your experience and skills do match all the given criteria, make sure you only include the responsibilities and achievements relevant to the job advertised when writing your CV. For example, if in your first ever job 8 years ago you organized your manager’s diary, but this is not relevant to the job being advertised – don’t put it in your CV. Focus on the skills and experience that which will add value to the role you are applying to. This will increase your chances of getting called for an interview. You only have two pages – leave out anything unrelated to the job you are applying for.

5. Unexplained gaps in your CV

Unexplained gaps in your CV or inaccurate/confusing dates can drive a recruiter crazy and might make them give up looking at your CV altogether. If you have any gaps in your CV, either due to a redundancy, taking time out to have a family or for personal reasons, it is better to explain them than not. You don’t have to go into detail. One short simple sentence will suffice e.g. “Nov 2012 – March 2013: actively seeking work after redundancy”.

6. Using paragraphs instead of bullet points

Put yourself in the shoes of the recruiter. They want a nice punchy CV that quickly gives them all the info they need, they don’t want to plough through long paragraphs, nor will they probably have the patience to do so.

Your CV needs to be easy for the reader to scan and it should quickly get to the important meaty bits regarding your job history, skills and accomplishments.

Try and ensure that your paragraphs are relatively short and bulleted. Use plenty of white space, which will make your CV easier to digest.

7. Too Much Personal Information

Just like the pointless process of attaching a picture to your CV, including too much personal info that is unrelated to the job is a waste of space and could be harming your chances of getting a job.

You’re not pitching for a date, so does a recruiter need to know your age, height, weight, religious or political affiliations, marital status or sexual orientation?

8. Poor grammar and spelling mistakes

If your CV is full of spelling and grammar mistakes, recruiters will assume the quality of your work will be similar. If you don’t give your CV the level of attention it deserves, then how much attention will you give your job?  Note that many recruiters have admitted that just one mistake could get your CV thrown in the bin, so always use spell check and review all the text several times to make sure it is free of mistakes. It is sometimes easier to spot mistakes when reading a printed copy.

Read also: What’s More Important To Employers Experience Or Qualification?

9. Graphics and/or irrelevant pictures

A recruitment manager at a global technology company recently told me he had received a CV with a huge picture of a pair of eyes on the front page.  The individual was going for a Business Analyst position and needless to say the CV went straight in the bin.

Unless designing graphics is relevant to the job you are applying to, keep them off your CV. They are a waste of space and some recruiters will see them as pointless and unprofessional.

10. Poor formatting and bad use of space

I have received several CV where the margins have been way too big, and most of the text has been crammed into a thin column in the centre of the page. Not only does it look messy, it often drives the CV onto 3 pages. Remembering you have to keep your CV to two pages, it is essential you make maximum use of the limited space. Simply reducing the size of the text is not a good solution, as this can make the CV harder to read. Keeping the font size between 10 and 12, make use of the full page and keep margins to 0.75-1 inch (2-2.5 cm).

Your CV is the first chance you will get to impress a recruiter or potential employer. Make sure it’s not your last chance by taking note of all of the points above and writing a CV that will communicate your value in the best possible way.

11. Lack of a covering letter

Just like a bespoke CV, a covering letter can often be perceived by candidates as a nice-to-have and not really a necessity. It can however be another key difference between clinching an interview or not.

A well written cover letter will spark an employer’s interest and immediately make them more eager to read your CV.

As with your CV, try to ensure that your cover letter doesn’t have that one-size fits all, generic feel. You want to keep it punchy, listing your strengths and exactly why you would be the perfect fit for the organisation you are applying to.

12. Writing your CV in the third person

Although actively encouraged by some recruitment agencies, writing a CV in the 3^rd person is simply seen as extremely annoying by the majority of recruiters.

An example of writing in the third person on a CV would be, “Baker is a strong manager, admired by all his colleagues”. This will just make you sound a bit odd.  A much better way of stating the same fact would be to put, “A strong manager, able to lead teams in achieving goals”. I don’t think you need to specify who the strong manager is on your own CV!

And finally, you should stick to a sending your CV over in a word format and not a PDF or a ZIP file, etc. Give the recruiter a valid reason not to open up your CV and they’ll take it! And remember that it will be the Word based CV that gets onto to the recruiters HR systems and posted on to the job boards.

And if you are a graphic designer or multimedia developer, try and resist the temptation to simply send a link to download your CV from your homepage. Again, just a simple Word based CV will suffice and you can always direct a recruiter towards some supporting material once you grab their interest.

13.  A Ridiculous Email Address

Email addresses are free. Recruiters as well understand that everyone has the right to choose whichever name they want to be identified with for their addresses.

However, leave this for the informal social networks. Emails like cutechubby@abcd.com or princesspretty@efgh.com should not be found anywhere in your CV.

Get an account that is just your name or as close to your name as possible, and use it for job applications. Show seriousness and professionalism to the employer before they even get to know you.

Bottom Line:

A good written CV accompanied with a cover letter should always be what you’re submitting to an employer. showing seriousness and being professional is the key to getting your CV not rejected.

Take your time to write your CV and Cover Letter.

Credit:  Zeta Yarwood

The post 13 Reasons Why Your CV Will Get Rejected appeared first on ZarJob.

What is Work Experience ?

“Work experience is any experience that a person gains while working in a specific field or occupation, but the expression is widely used to mean a type of volunteer work that is commonly intended for young people — often students — to get a feel for professional working environments. ” says Wikipedia. So in short a work experience can also be termed as an Internship.

Read also: How To Gain More Work Experience 

What is Qualification?

A pass of an examination or an official completion of a course, especially one conferring status as a recognized practitioner of a profession or activity.

What others said concerning Experience or Qualification 

Andrew Main is an associate dean at University of JHB. He thinks qualifications reveal much more about a person than just their academic prowess. He said;

“Firstly, I would like to say that a degree is not just about getting a job/career. The benefits affect all parts of life; intellectual, social, sporting, personal, artistic, ethical, and so much more.

Recruiters often write job advertisements that specify that a degree is needed for the job, thus the market decides on this point, and it values degrees. Additionally, there are more jobs today than there were 50 years ago that involve working with your brain and fewer jobs involving manual skills.

A degree is a start in working life, after all. Then experience, to give it its due place, will increasingly provide opportunities for further development of the person.

Let us compare like with like, say a 21-year-old graduate compared with a 21-year-old with industry experience, both of equal intelligence. Let me give due credit to experience: it does not switch intelligence off (the way a few academics talk, one might think that they suppose the opposite).

However, education changes you. Given the same elapsed time, a course of education will bring a greater depth of understanding than experience can provide.

Thus experience may teach you that ‘doing it that way does not work’, but education gives you the theoretical knowledge and analytical skill to show why it does not work. Education develops your speed of learning and ability to learn at depth.

Thus the experienced learn new ideas processes or technologies, but the educated learn them faster and more deeply.

The graduates who are best at delivering high graduate value come from ‘sandwich’ courses with a year in industry. They have a great combination of theory and rigour, with a strong understanding of application of knowledge.

The courses I work on educate students for two years, place them in industry for a year and bring them back to complete a final year of education. They are outstanding. They gain jobs very easily and prove themselves quickly. The majority have very enviable careers”.

Matt Hackett, manager of digital & marketing recruitment team at Orchard, sees the value of experience in the workplace.

“Nowadays everyone seems to have a or wants to have a degree, and there is still a tendency to jump straight into starting one as soon as possible. But is it the right way to go?

Is a 21-year-old with 3 years solid experience who has completed some relevant industry qualifications during this time a more, or less, valuable resource that a newly qualified university graduate who has barely stepped foot in an office environment before?

Putting yourself in that position, do you think you would be stronger placed having spent 3 years starting a career and having earned at least £30,000 during that time, or having learnt about a subject with limited practical experience and potentially built up large debts? If it’s the former, do employers need to re-evaluate who they are taking on in their entry level positions?

A degree qualification used to be a major deciding factor in who got the job, but I think as more and more people have gained degrees, especially over recent years, employers have become less impressed on the whole, and focused more on experience.

If you asked most employers if they would select a raw graduate with 3 years in education but no tangible experience, or a college leaver with 3 years relevant experience, I would expect the vast majority would favour the latter.

Most job specs I receive stating reference to any required educational and qualifications are usually mentioned at being ‘ideal’ or ‘beneficial’ rather than essential.

When reviewing CVs, both personally and alongside employers, experience is reviewed before education in most cases, apart from entry/junior level positions.

A 3-year study-only degree doesn’t really work, so apprenticeships are starting to become much more commonplace within this sector, along with other workplace learnings.

Obviously this differs in some vocations where a certain level of education is required to progress beyond a certain point, i.e. law, accountancy, engineering etc.

The ideal is a good combination of both theoretical knowledge and practical understanding, and I believe this is better. However, from what I see on a day to day basis, the comfort blanket of seeing an individual with the exact match of experience to a vacancy swings an employer in most circumstances”.

Credit: Total Jobs

My opinion

Related to Kenya, I think experience is more important. If you will agree with me, anytime a job advert is placed in South Africa, you see something like a minimum of some of years experience is needed. Meanwhile the job position calls out to HND, Degree or SHS certificate holders. Which makes only the years of experience stand out. I believe more employers in South Africa will go in for applicants with more field work experience than highly qualified graduates with less or no experience.

I side with Matt Hacket on this.
« Browse Jobs

The post What’s More Important, Experience Or Qualification? appeared first on ZarJob.

Let’s drop it like while it’s hot.

• First, keep on searching

No matter how well your interview went, no matter how perfectly suited for the job you are and no matter how enthusiastic your interviewers appeared to be about your candidacy, never assume that you have the job in the bag. Even if positive signs seem to be raining down upon you, a better candidate could emerge, the CEO’s nephew might need a job, they might freeze hiring altogether – and all sorts of other things could prevent you from getting an offer.

Until you actually have an offer, don’t count on getting any particular job. Keep on searching just as actively as you would have if you knew you weren’t getting this job – because if you don’t get it, you don’t want to have wasted weeks waiting for it when you could have been talking with other employers.

• Send a follow-up email

If you’ve waited long enough that you feel compelled to get some feedback, it’s okay to call or email the hiring manager and say something along the lines of “I haven’t heard from you in a while, so I’m calling to check on whether you have filled the position I interviewed for yet.” Then let them take it from there. If you find out that the position is still open and you’re still being considered, try to learn when a final decision is expected. Then call on that day (or soon after) to find out about their choice.

Read Also : Legit Ways To Make Money Online While Searching For A Job

• Find a book to get lost in

This is a great time to pick up a book (or two or three) that you always meant to read or go find a new one. Don’t forget the local library for some old-fashioned browsing pleasure and maybe a conversation or two with others also waiting to hear back!

• Find a hobby

A calmer person is much better at riding out a long wait … but also a better job hunter and interviewee. So is there anything you always wanted to try but somehow never got around to? Fun things. Painting. Writing science fiction. Acting. Puppetry. Puzzles. Knitting (yes, even men). Yoga. Tennis. Guitar. Soccer. This is a chance to get lost in something that will help soothe the frustration and also add a new dimension to you. Might even lead  to new networking contacts.

• Work on your health

What a perfect time to accomplish something that helps you feel and look better. Start a healthier eating plan. Take up meditation. Begin daily walks or jogging or any kind of aerobic exercise you enjoy. Sign up for (or use) a gym membership if you can afford it. If not, look for things that you can add to your day that help keep those endorphins flowing. Job search can be depressing. Movement and working on things that make you feel better can help in all kinds of ways – even how you feel when you get to the next interview.

• Start a blog

A blog can serve at least two purposes. You can simply build a site from scratch about something that you really enjoy and that alone will keep you busy and perhaps even open up paths for your future.  Or you can create a blog related to your field that strengthens your online presence and will serve as a site to which you can point people, to help your career now as well as later on.

Read Also: How to start a blog

• Don’t beat yourself up, and be ready to move on

There are several reasons why you may not have heard back right away – there’s been a re-organization in the company, they’re interviewing other candidates, there’s been a new product launch, the hiring manager’s time is diverted to a project with a tight deadline and so on. So cut yourself some slack if you haven’t heard back from them within the stipulated time-frame. If you do hear back and it’s not favorable news, try to get some feedback on your candidature. If you ask nicely, many hiring managers do share honest feedback and their tips can help you prepare for your next interview. « Browse Jobs

The post 7 Things To Do To Stay Sane While Waiting For A Feedback After Job Interview appeared first on ZarJob.

You need to write a new cover letter for every position that you apply for, and in order to write a good cover letter you need to find out as much as you can about the vacancy and the company.

Looking at the company website is a good start, but many vacancies listed by recruiting agencies do not disclose the name of the company. However, they show the name and contact details of a person, and you should make a point of calling the contact person before you start your application. Write down a list of questions before you make the call, and choose a quiet location where you will not be interrupted to make the call.

Read Also: How To Write The Best CV

• Your cover letter should be no longer than one A4 page, using 10-12 point font, and if at all possible it should be personally addressed. At the head of the letter you should provide your name and contact details, together with the name of the employer or contact person, the job title and reference number (if provided), the company name and address.

There will be a short opening paragraph indicating that you wish to apply for the advertised vacancy, and a concluding paragraph indicating that you are keen to discuss your suitability for employment in the position. This leaves two or three paragraphs for you to sell yourself. There is no point in summarising your resume in the letter. If you can’t think of something different or special about you and your experience then there is no reason to interview you. Think of your cover letter as an opportunity to write down your elevator pitch.

• I suggest that in your second paragraph you should indicate why you want the job. Your discussion with the contact person should have given you a more detailed knowledge of the role and responsibilities associated with the position, so you can show the depth of your interest.

• The third paragraph should highlight how your specialist skills and experience match the requirements for the job. As you are talking about specialist or technical skills, make sure that this paragraph includes key words or phrases relevant to your area of expertise.  Try to use this paragraph to show what makes you better than, or different from other applicants.

Read Also: 5 Signs That Tell You Did Well On A Job Interview

If you need to include another paragraph before your conclusion, use this to emphasise the personal qualities you have demonstrated. You can indicate how you have demonstrated your excellent written and verbal communication skills; how well you have worked as a member of successful teams; and nominate tasks that required highly developed organisational and time management skills.

Read Also: 7 Things To Do To Stay Sane While Waiting For A Feedback After Job Interview

The letter is now ready to attach to your application, but before you take that step please check for spelling or grammatical errors and that you don’t have lots of sentences staring with “I”. Make sure that everything you have mentioned is factual, and does not conflict with the contents of your resume or your Linkedin profile. Finally, get someone else to check the letter before you send it off.

Steps to write a cover letter

• Start with the proper greeting:

 Address your cover letter to the person who will be reading it. 

• Introduce yourself with an opening: 

Write a personable, inviting opening paragraph that highlights how your skills are a perfect fit to the company and position.

• Get them interested with a compelling hook: 

Highlight your past achievements as they relate to the job you’re applying for.

Read Also: How To Answer Common Interview Questions

• Promote your skills:

 Highlight your additional relevant skills, such as computer languages or certifications.

• Thank them in the close: 

Briefly recap your strengths as a candidate, thank the reader for their time, and include your contact information.

If you need cover letter help, check out these cover letter templates for various careers and career levels in the following industries:

Job Search Cover Letter Examples

• Approach Cover Letter
• Career Change Cover Letter
• Early Career Change Cover Letter
• Mid-Career Cover Letter
• Interview Thank-You Letter
• Unemployed Cover Letter

Administrative/Support Cover Letter Examples

• Midlevel Administrative Assistant Cover Letter
• Manager Cover Letter
• Office Manager Cover Letter

Art/Design/Media Cover Letter Examples

• Graphic Design Cover Letter
• Journalism Cover Letter

Business Cover Letter Examples

• Business Analyst Cover Letter

Education Cover Letter Examples

• Elementary School Teacher Cover Letter
• Librarian Cover Letter
• Teaching Assistant Cover Letter

Engineering Cover Letter Examples

• Civil Engineering Cover Letter
• Electrical Engineering Cover Letter
• Mechanical Engineer Cover Letter 

Finance/Accounting Cover Letter Examples

• Financial Analyst Cover Letter
• Investment Banker Cover Letter 

Health Care Cover Letter Examples

• Caregiver Cover Letter 
• Dental Assistant Cover Letter
• Dental Hygienist Cover Letter 
• Medical Assistant Cover Letter
• Midlevel Pharmacy Technician Cover Letter
• Social Worker Cover Letter
• Vet Tech Cover Letter

Human Resources Cover Letter Examples

• HR Generalist Cover Letter
• Recruiter Cover Letter

Law Enforcement and Legal Cover Letter Examples

• Firefighter Cover Letter
• Judicial Clerkship Cover Letter
• Paralegal Cover Letter
• Police Officer Cover Letter

Marketing and PR Cover Letter Examples

• Account Manager Cover Letter
• Marketing Manager Cover Letter
• Project Manager Cover Letter

Military Cover Letter Examples

• Military-to-Civilian Cover Letter

Nurse Cover Letter Examples

• Nurse Cover Letter

Restaurant and Hospitality Cover Letter Examples

• Bartender Cover Letter
• Event Coordinator Cover Letter

Retail Cover Letter Examples

• Retail Cover Letter

Sales Cover Letter Examples

• Sales Cover Letter

Science Cover Letter Examples

• Research Assistant Cover Letter

Student Cover Letter Examples

• College Graduate Cover Letter
• Internship Cover Letter

Technology Cover Letter Examples

• Computer Science Cover Letter
• IT Professional Cover Letter
• Software Engineer Cover Letter
• Web Developer Cover Letter

Trades Cover Letter Examples

• Cosmetology Cover Letter

Transportation and Warehousing Cover Letter Examples

• Flight Attendant Cover Letter

 « Browse Jobs

The post How To Write The Perfect Cover Letter / Application Letter appeared first on ZarJob.

What is a CV?

For those who don’t know what a CV is. CV stands For Curriculum Vitae.

Curriculum Vitae is an outline of a person’s educational and professional history, usually prepared for job applications. Another name for CV is a Resume. A CV is the most flexible and convenient way to make applications. It conveys your personal details in the way that presents you in the best possible light. A CV is a marketing document in which you are marketing something: yourself! You need to “sell” your skills, abilities, qualifications and experience to employers. It can be used to make multiple applications to employers in a specific career area. For this reason, many large graduate recruiters will not accept CVs and instead use their own application form. 

What are the relevant informations a CV should include?

• A good heading
  

The heading here will be your personal details which should include your name, email address or residential address, your date of birth , marital status, nationality and finally your contact number. Others may include their gender which is also necessary.

Including a photography isn’t essential here. Depending on the country you find yourself in you might have to add your photograph. British CVs don’t usually include a photograph unless you are an actor. In European countries such as France, Belgium and Germany it’s common for CVs to include a passport-sized photograph in the top right hand corner whereas in the UK and the USA photographs are frowned upon as this may contravene equal opportunity legislation – a photograph makes it easier to reject a candidate on grounds of ethnicity, sex or age. If you do include a photograph it should be a head and shoulders shot, you should be dressed suitably and smiling: it’s not for a passport

• Objectives
  

You should be able to clearly state your objectives to hiring managers or recruiters. Your objectives here should be clear about your goals. It needs to details about why you’re interested in a particular position or what makes you suited to the job. It should tell the hiring manager or recruiter whyat you can offer to the organization rather than stating you want to be a part of its success in growth.

Finally, it should highlight your strengths. It should tell the hiring manager or recruiter why you are the right fit for the job.

• Personal Skills & Attributes
  

These are your people skills – interpersonal skills, communication skills, Critical Thinking and other qualities that enable you to be successful in the workplace. Employers want employees who are able to solve problems on their own using creative thinking and thoughtful analysis. Dependability, Commitment to achieving consistent result, Constant improvement, Self-Development are very important qualities in an employee. List your personal skills in bullets.

Read Also : 7 Things To Do To Stay Sane While Waiting For A Feedback After Job Interview

• Hard /Technical Skills
  

These are the qualifications required to do the job. For example, computer skills, administrative skills, language or customer service skills. Presenting your technical skills on a resume can be a challenge. Find out what hiring managers want to see. When you know what they want to see, list the skills out in bullets.

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• Work Experience
  

In this section, try to use more action words such as developed,  conducted, trained, supervised and so on after stating the place of work and the work start date and end date. Try to relate the skills to the job opening. A finance job will involve numeracy, analytical and problem solving skills so focus on these whereas for a marketing role you would place a bit more emphasis on persuading and negotiating skills. Start with most recent jobs downwards. Do not forget to bullet the work places and the experiences as you list them.

• Educational Background
  

As a college student or recent graduate, you should place the Education section after your Hard/Techical Skills section. Beyond that, the length of your section will depend on the amount of work experience that you have. this section will include the year your admission was processed and the year of completion, the name of the Institution and the qualification of the program you offered, The list should start with your recent qualification downwards.

Read also : Mistakes to avoid in order not to get your CV rejected by recruiters

• Achievements
  

Any evidence of leadership is important to mention: captain or coach of a sports team, course representative, chair of a student society, scout leader: “As captain of the school football team, I had to set a positive example, motivate and coach players and think on my feet when making field position changes, often in tense situations”. You can choose to go with evidence of employability skills such as team working, organising, planning, persuading, negotiating etc. You should seperate them out with bullets.

• Interests/Hobbies
  

Avoid stating many passive, solitary hobbies (reading, watching TV, stamp collecting) or you may be perceived as lacking people skills. If you do put these, then say what you read or watch: “I particularly enjoy Fringe, for the vivid insights you get into what might be”.

Any interests relevant to the job are worth mentioning: current affairs if you wish to be a journalist; a fantasy share portfolio such as Bullbearings if you want to work in finance.

• Finally, References

You can omit this section if the job description that does not require you to submit your references. if you want you can add this section. Normally 2 or 3 referees are sufficient. But one of your referees should be an academic reference. The rest can be employees from your last job.

What makes a good CV ?

A good CV should be informative and concise. Its information should be clearly laid out, logically ordered, easy to read and not mixed up. It should be accurate in content, spelling and grammar. Nobody likes an employee who can’t spell or does things in a disorganized manner.

The post How To Write A Perfect CV appeared first on ZarJob.

But what if you didn’t receive a call from the employers or recruiters because of some of the things you do before applying for the job. The questions you need to ask yourself are:

• Did i do it right?
• Did my application reach the employers?
• Was i right for the job?
• Did i miss the deadline?

Before we continue with why you don’t get the calls from employers, let’s find out what employers prefer, Experience or Qualification ?

Read also: What’s More Important , Experience Or Qualification?

Back to the reasons why you don’t get called for job interviews

There are lots of big obstacles that keep you from getting an interview that are out of your control: your previous experience (or lack thereof) compared to other candidates, your salary requirements, and so on.

While you can’t always control every part of the job search process, there could also be little things that are within your control—things that are so easy to fix you’ll actually feel relieved at how little time it’ll take you.

So, if you’re currently struggling to make it to the next round, here are some  changes you can make that won’t require an entire job search makeover.

Did you do it right?

Curriculum Vitae and Cover/Application Letter

• Relevant Information

Many companies have multiple job postings and limited resources to look at (potentially) hundreds of resumes. So, when you’re applying, you need to be clear what role you are applying to.

“When applying for a job, it’s important to be specific about what role in the company you’re applying for. Here at Tigris, we have positions within the head office, in addition to event staff/brand ambassador roles. Be clear about what you want, and why you want it!” 

says Delorme.

Zoë Alexandra, a HR professional at The Royal Conservatory of Music, believes applicants need to take it a step further.

“Each candidate should tailor their cover letter and resume to the position. I have received resumes with objectives about finding a position in a career far removed from any a music school, such as a career as a healthcare practitioner.  Just spending a little bit more time on each application will help to ensure candidates put their best foot forward,” she says.

Do not waste space on your resume on things that aren’t your strengths, but you might accidentally be making yourself look worse if there’s a big gap between jobs or empty space hanging around at the bottom. Hiring managers might assume the worst, when the reality is much tamer. Include enough so that questions aren’t raised, then use the majority of your application materials on your more relevant skills and experiences.

• Spelling and grammar

You missed a word on your resume, you spelled the hiring manager’s name wrong, or you forgot to attach your cover letter. It’s OK, but don’t let it happen again. Use spellcheck, have a friend read it over, and double check the requirements before hitting that submit button. And, if you still happen to press “send” before fixing your mistake, acknowledging the error could be a great way to redeem yourself.

Hiring managers for jobs that require writing skills or even verbal communication can be extremely critical.

• Application Instructions

It’s one thing to make sure your spelling and grammar is correct on your cover letter and resume, but you still need to fill out the application criteria properly. Nothing will put you out of the running faster than when you don’t follow simple instructions.

You were asked to include a passport photograph, 2 references and  relevant documents like a copy of your birth certificate and school certificates and you sent the application without most of the instructed inclusions. Just like Nicole Delorme said;

“I pass on some people if they cannot follow initial application instructions”

Solutions to you doing it right

• How To Write The Best CV To Land You The Job Interview You Have Been Waiting For
• How To Write The Perfect Cover Letter  Under 5 Minutes

Did your application reach the employers or hiring managers?

 Application Methods

• Mass Emailing

Your cover letter and emails are probably fine , but if you addressed them “To the Hiring Manager” or copy and pasted your content word for word without even including the name of the company you’re talking to, you’re not doing yourself any favors.

There’s a reason why we talk about personalizing your message—because hiring managers, surprisingly, can tell when they’re just another application in your pile. A generic application rarely stands out. And if it’s addressed to the wrong company or wrong person, well, you’re really not going to make it through the first round. It’s often times a combination of your personality and experience that really makes people want to meet you.

So get personal. Start by addressing it to a specific individual (a.k.a., actually call the hiring manager by his or her name) and making sure to name the company and why you’d be a good fit for that specific role.

Don’t let the little stuff keep you from the big goal—the interview. Even a small change could be just what you need to turn your job search around.

• Wrong Email Address

This is mostly not from job applicants. You saw a job advert from a newspaper or a job board and you read the job description, followed the application instructions and sent the application but you still haven’t heard anything. It might be that the job advert had a wrong email address with it so it never reached your intended target. Either that or you didn’t take a proper look at the email address.

But all the same you should always take a closer look at email addresses for application  submissions

• Hand Delivery

The job advert you applied to had to do with hand delivery of your relevant documents to the company. You sent in your application by hand and you still never heard anything.Trust me, it is either you didn’t do it right or someone’s negligence at the company cost you your shot at the job

• Postal Address

Applying for jobs via postal address comes with a disadvantage. Your application might have not being carried from the post office to the recipients because the delivery man failed to deliver on time.  It might even reach the employer long after some calls have already been made for interviews.

Solutions to application methods

Always take a closer look at the email addresses before sending applications. Never hand your job applications to the wrong people when you are doing a hand delivery. Make sure you submit it to someone at HR before you leave. Postal addresses should a lways be the last application method you should consider unless it is the only way to do so

Were you right for the job?

Work Experience and Skills

•  Experience

You may think you’re perfect for a role, but your experience can sometimes say otherwise.

“We place a huge emphasis on candidate experience. We look at the skills, qualifications, and applications of previous candidates, and employees who have succeeded in that role,”

says Taline Ainein, HR and recruiting coordinator at A Thinking Ape. “Factors that would potentially make them stand out are involvement in competitions, like coding competitions, for example, side projects that they have worked on, links to their portfolios, a drive for curiosity and growth, and working for a comparable company.

• Gaping holes

If you have had one or more extended period of unemployment, hiring managers and recruiters may simply decide to pass on you instead of asking about the reasons why. Perhaps you took a sabbatical, went back to school full-time, or left on maternity leave. Don’t assume that managers are going to play detective and figure out that the years associated with your Master’s degree correspond to the two year gap in employment.

• Irrelevant Information

This could be a symptom of simply being unqualified for the position, or it could be tied to an inability to detail what you actually do that is relevant to the listed job requirements. I would suspect that most of the aforementioned people (that received no responses to 100 submission) probably fall into the unqualified category, as job seekers tend to feel overconfident about being a fit for a wider range of positions than is realistic. Companies expect a very close fit during a buyer’s market, and are willing to open up their hiring standards a bit when the playing field starts to level.

• Overqualified

The term ‘overqualified’ seems to be overused by rejected applicants today, as there is no real stigma to the term. It’s entirely comfortable for a candidate to say/think “I didn’t get the job because I possess more skills at a higher level than the employer was seeking“. When a company is seeking an intermediate level engineer, it isn’t always because they want someone earlier in their career than a senior level engineer (although in some cases this could be true). Rather, they want the intermediate level engineer because that is what their budget dictates or they expect that senior engineers would not be challenged by the role (and therefore would leave). There are also situations where companies will not want to hire you because your experience is indicative that you will only be taking this job until something better comes along. A CEO applying for a job as a toll collector will not be taken seriously.

Solutions to Work Experience and Skills

• If you don’t have the right experience or qualifications but still want to work at a specific company, look for more junior/ entry-level positions , internship programs or professional certifications. You can then prove yourself and work your way up the ladder.

• Explain and justify any periods of unemployment on your CV with as much clarity as possible without going into too many personal details. Mentioning family leave is appropriate, but providing the medical diagnosis of your sick relative is not.

• Be sure to elaborate on all elements of your job that closely resemble the responsibilities listed in the posting.  Instead of wasting time filling out applications for jobs that are clearly well out of reach, spend that time researching jobs that are a better match for you.
• Be sure that your CV accurately represents your level of skill and experience. Inflating your credentials or job titles will always work against you.

Finally,  do you miss deadlines?

Closing dates

Some jobs have specific deadlines while others are rolling. Even if it seems like the opening is live, it’s possible they’re not looking at new applicants at the moment.

Solution to Closing dates

it’s key to check postings frequently. And if one strikes your interest, my best suggestion is to apply right away (well, once you have your materials together)—the more you delay, the more likely it is that when your application finally makes it in, the company has already started considering other candidates.

Bottom Line

Taking a closer look at these reasons and making changes to them might actually get your phone ringing for a while even though there is no 100% guarantee. 

Credit: Job Tips For Geeks, The Muse

The post Career and Job Advice : Reasons Why You Don’t Get Calls For Job Interviews appeared first on ZarJob.

To ensure you don’t become a victim of identity theft, read the below examples and see if your ‘exciting new offer’ matches one of them:

1. You’re Asked to Pay for Something

Isn’t it strange for an employer to ask you to pay them to give you a job? Being asked to pay some money, as little as 

2. Anything Involving Transfer of Money

Sometimes crooks will try to get you to launder money or send illegal packages to you. They might send you a check and ask you to deposit it into your account, for you to keep some and then send the rest to a random account. However enticing a bit of extra cash is, never accept any job involving the transfer of money from your account to another.

3. You’re Asked to Provide Confidential Information

Many scammers will ask for your bank account information to set up a direct debit for your wage or will ask you to fill out a credit report which will then give them the details to your social insurance number and birth date. Before entering personal information online, check to make sure the website is secure by looking at the web address bar. The address should be a ‘https://’ listed site.

4. Too Good to Be True

Do you remember the good old saying ‘too good to be true’? If you think that the job offer is, you are probably right. Receiving a starting job offer for over GHS 50,000 per annum is complete nonsense. If you have received this kind of bogus offer, delete the email and list it as spam straight away.

5.Unprofessional Emails

Some emails from scammers are professionally written but most often than not you will notice that they are poorly written with many grammatical mistakes. If you receive a job offer letter with capitalization problems, missing commas (or too many) and generally bad English it can indicate that the offer isn’t real. If you have also received an attachment, do not open this, it most likely contains malware that will infect your computer.

6. Online Chat Interview

You’ve received a fantastic job offer and have been asked to attend an interview on Yahoo messenger. What company in their right mind would interview a candidate by chat? Scammers often give you instructions on setting up a Yahoo IM account and will want to take the information to steal your identity. Most authentic companies interview face to face, unless you are overseas where you will attend a Skype video chat interview.

7. No Contact Information

Another warning sign is when you have received a letter with no contact information, including a telephone number or company address. The company logo will also look distorted or of lower quality. Bear in mind that any official job offer will be written on a company letterhead page which includes their logo and contact information.

8. Search Results Don’t Add up

Before agreeing to any interview, do your research. If it’s a verified company you will find information on their official website and should also notice how long the company has been listed for. Some scammers go to the extent of creating their own websites, but the more research you do the more it doesn’t add up. You can also use scamwarners that list information on fraudulent activity and also check its authenticity on scamadviser. If a company has only been registered for a year you should be very cautious.

9. Working from Home

As fabulous as working from home and making millions sounds – it’s unrealistic. Most scammers will send something like the following:

“This is a work from home job. Work hours is from 9am-4pm Monday-Friday You will earn £45 per hour for this position, you are also expected online at Yahoo messenger during working hours. We also offer flexible hours….”

10. Job Offers You Didn’t Apply For

The most obvious sign of a fake offer is, of course, a job that you haven’t applied for. Why would a company randomly select you and send you a job offer without any other form of communication with you? If you are applying for multiple jobs, keep a record of the ones you have applied for to ensure you can filter through this kind of spam.

When you’re job hunting, it can be easy to fall prey to a job scam. Stay one step ahead with the above tips and you’ll find a legitimate job in no time.

Have you ever received unrealistic job offers before? If so, share them with us through the comment section below…«

The post 10 Checks To Identify Fraudulent or Scam Job Offers – Scam / Fraud : appeared first on ZarJob.