FAQ - Career
At belairdirect, we expect our employees to take charge of their career. We've included some resume and interview tips we hope you find helpful in achieving your career objectives.
What you should (and shouldn't) include in your resume
by Natalie Kobica
Your resume is an advertisement about the most important item that you will ever sell - YOU. Its purpose is to provide the reader - either an employer or recruitment consultant - with so much interesting and positive information about your skills and abilities that they feel they just have to meet you to find out more.
That means your resume should only contain information that will secure you an interview. Any other details are not only irrelevant but also risky - risky because such details take up valuable space and divert attention from what is important.
So what information should you and shouldn't you include?
There are basically four sections every resume must have - name and contact details (personal details), education, work history and details regarding any additional skills or experience, training undertaken, computer skills, foreign languages spoken and professional associations you belong to. If you have been out of work recently, any voluntary work done during this time is also a good selling point.
Your resume should contain factual information on the details above. It should not contain your opinion on what you think you are good at. Whoever is reading your resume wants to see proof of these skills. So describe your skills by detailing your qualifications, responsibilities and achievements - that is what you have actually done and when you did it. You will be asked what you think your strengths are at the interview stage.
Personal interests need not be included as these are mostly irrelevant to your tasks within the job and can also create an inaccurate impression of you.
The only exception would be if your personal interests suit the role that you are applying for. For example if you were applying for a position as a sales assistant in a sports store, your interest or involvement in playing or watching sport is a fact the reader would be interested to see.
In summary, stick to facts (not opinions) and think about what's relevant and what isn't for the job you're seeking.
Source: Monster.ca
You Can Survive the Behavioural Interview
by Carole Martin
When asked a traditional question like, "What would you do if you had a customer who wasn't interested in buying the product?" you can make up a story. But when you are asked behavioural questions, the interviewer is listening for specific examples of how you have handled situations or problems in the past.
Behavioural questions begin with phrases like, "tell me about a time when," or "can you give me an example of." The interviewer wants to hear your real-life examples. When an interviewer asks such questions, he or she is listening for examples of how you handled situations similar to the ones you may handle for this company. This is your chance to talk about your accomplishments. If you can demonstrate, through examples (preferably recent ones), that you've succeeded in certain areas of interest, you will be considered a possible candidate for success in a future position. After all, if you did it somewhere else yesterday, you can do it for this company tomorrow.
Your success stories should include the situation, the action you took and the result. Here is an example if you were interviewing for a sales position:
The Situation: I had a customer who did not want to hear about the features of my merchandise because of a prior interaction with my company.
The Action: I listened to her story and made sure I heard her complaint. I then explained how I would have handled the situation differently and how I can offer her better service. I showed her some facts that changed her mind about dealing with the company again.
The Result: She not only bought the merchandise, but complimented how I handled her account. She is now one of my best customers.
You can prepare for this type of interview by writing out your stories before the interview. Determine what stories you have that would be appropriate for the position based on its job description. If the job requires dependability, write your story about a time when your dependability was recognized or made a difference with a customer.
You can use the stories you prepare even when the interviewer does not ask behavioural questions. If you are asked a traditional question, use your prepared story and preface it with, "I can give you an example of a time when I used that skill on a previous job."
By preparing for the interview ahead of time and recalling your past successes, you will be able to have examples in mind and will not be caught off guard. There is no way you can predict what the interviewer is going to ask you, but you can prepare what you want him or her to know about your past as a predictor of your future performance.
Source: Monster.ca
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