Job Seekers head to their beds ?

It would be interesting to know how and where from that my readers apply for jobs....Do you use mainly a smartphone or...
Posted by Looking for a job when you are over 50 on Thursday, 31 March 2016

Resume writing tips

One of the most important things you will write in your life is your resume or CV, and quite probably you will have to do it more than once. When you are job hunting, very often, especially now that so many more jobs are advertised online, via job boards such as Monster, Reed, Total Jobs and indeed and many more your resume /CV becomes the first impression the hirer has of you, whether they have seen your online profile and head-hunted you, or you have applied for a vacancy.

As previously mentioned on this blog, there are many online resources to help you put together a winning resume /CV that will get your job application put in the pile for an interview rather than tossed in the bin. Try Googling Resume (or CV) templates, or tips for your resume (or CV).
There is more than one format to choose from when writing your resume or CV, two of them that I am most familiar with are the Chronological and functional.

The chronological resume is best suited to those who have not had long periods of unemployment and who are looking for jobs in the same or a similar field.

http://susanireland.com/resume/how-to-write/format/chronological-template/
http://www.careeronestop.org/ResumesInterviews/ResumeAdvice/SamplesTemplates/ChronologicalResumeSample.aspx
http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Chronological-Resume
https://www.quintcareers.com/resume/
http://www.resumeworld.ca/resume-samples/entry-level-resumes-samples/chronological-resume.html
https://resumegenius.com/resume-formats/chronological-samples-writing-guide

If you have a patchy work history, have not worked for a long time or are needing to change careers, a functional resume may be the better format for you ~

http://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/sample-of-a-functional-resume
http://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/functional-resume-break-tradition
http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7770-functional-resume.html
https://resumegenius.com/resume-formats/functional-samples-writing-guide
http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Functional-Resume
http://susanireland.com/resume/how-to-write/format/functional-template/
https://templates.office.com/en-us/Resume-%28Functional-design%29-TM00002023
http://www.careeronestop.org/ResumesInterviews/ResumeAdvice/SamplesTemplates/FunctionalResumeSample.aspx
http://www.jobinterviewtools.com/blog/how-to-write-a-functional-resume/
http://jobsearch.about.com/od/jobsearchglossary/g/functionalresume.htm
http://womenforhire.com/templates/functional_resume_template/

http://www.theladders.com/career-advice/what-employers-really-think-about-functional-resumes

Other Google searches that can be very helpful are resumes for older jobseekers, sample resumes for people Over 50, resume for retired person sample, resume examples for older workers and resume for retiree returning to work.

Each format is right in certain circumstances and it is important to know the right one for your needs.
It can be very helpful to make use of online resume /CV samples and guides, there are generic ones and also industry specific examples, and it is good to know how to set up your document according to the job you are applying for or hoping to be head-hunted for when you post it on a job board.

Be sure when you think that the resume is finished, to proofread it yourself rather than just relying on the spell check, remember that many words have different spellings and different meanings, and an error will not show up on a spell check. Hirers are unforgiving when it comes to mistakes on resumes, the last thing you want is for a basic word to be misspelled or the document to be badly set out when the skills for the job require typing ability.

The ideal average length of a resume is two sides of A4, it may seem a lot when thinking how to fill it up, but to do yourself and your work history justice, it is actually not so much, so be sure to make the best of it as your first impression when being considered for that job.

Valerie Hedges

An article for International Women’s Day ...make a difference

So many young girls grow up to be women who believe that only having a man will really make a difference to their lives. Well, a man can indeed make a difference, but not to the exclusion of everything else a woman can be and achieve. Very often for certain women, life takes a different path, it may be that on their own they achieve a high powered career and that this provides them with assets such as a home of their own. They do not want to have a man and nor would it be advisable in some circumstances, as I found out to my cost in a brief marriage where my emotionally and financially abusive husband was entitled to half the property I had owned before meeting him, just because he had married me and had no such assets of his own. I was unable to prove the abuse, since he made sure that if I insisted on the divorce going to court, he would attempt to take my home…And so for many women, it is to a large degree women who have made the big difference in their lives and growth and been their biggest influence on who they are.

We women are capable, powerful and wonderful with unique gifts which can be priceless when used with intelligence and integrity, we are not the women of many popular TV programmes, cunning, needy for a man, manipulative to get and keep one and dependent on having one for any sense of self-worth.

I certainly can say that I write from experience and gratitude for the women who have and do today influence my life and enrich it by their example, many men have credited the women in their lives or even especially just one, such as their mother for their success in life.

If today I was to be advising a younger woman or young girl, I would say look for and look up to as mentor’s women who have maturity of mind, experience and a stable outlook on issues such as love, life, relationships and their career, especially value women who appreciate and have used to the fullest, their chances for education, and their intelligence. However, also look for women who have not compromised themselves or others in order to make progress and achieve…Do not take your cue in life from the movie Working Girl!!! Actually, life is NOT a competition, there is plenty of room on this earth for all of us and we have a lot to learn from each other.

Look up to women who have more than one string to their bow, who when one door shuts such as in their career, they have alternatives up their sleeve, who have perhaps used talents and skills to make their own business.

My blog is written from personal experience of being an older woman who for health reasons had to give up her career and carve out another one and it saddens me to see women whose lives will always be limited by lack of confidence and a lack of worth, a sense that we are entitled to be the very best that we can be , but who are held back by the attitudes instilled in them from childhood and family circumstances, society and class structure , media that has led them to believe they are only valuable if they have good looks and men who have hurt them . …

Don’t hold back, be all that you are capable of being, it is true that a man can make a difference to your life, but we women for ourselves can make all the difference …