The State of Cover Letters (in 2016)

The State of Cover Letters (in 2016) Heres a post about my take on cover letters, as a hiring manager. For years Ive been reading and hearing that cover letters are outdated and unnecessary.  As a hiring manager that never sat well with me, but what do I know. Then, last week I read this article, Standing Out From a Crowd of 30,000, by Davis Nguyen, a hiring manager at Bain. That is a big deal.  There is a subheader titled The cover letter wasnt really optional. NOT OPTIONAL. Then, Lisa Rangels email this morning had this: I view a cover letter like I do a suit.  Can you do the job not wearing a suit? Yes. But if you need to wear a suit to work, you better have one that makes you look great. A cover letter is the same. Can you apply without a cover letter? Absolutely. But if the employer asks for one, you better have one that makes you look fabulous.” Sure, some people think resumes and cover letters are dying.  But heres the bottom line: there is no standard in hiring. One company might try to standardize something, or say were a bunch of high tech millennials, and we think resumes are stupid.  But the reality is, if a hiring manager, decision-maker or influencer wants a cover letter, and you dont have one, then that is one mark against you. Why risk it?  Just write the thing! Some people spend more time arguing about whether they should have one than what it would take to write one. Optional?  Yep. Great idea to have one anyway?  Yep. The State of Cover Letters (in 2016) Heres a post about my take on cover letters, as a hiring manager. For years Ive been reading and hearing that cover letters are outdated and unnecessary.  As a hiring manager that never sat well with me, but what do I know. Then, last week I read this article, Standing Out From a Crowd of 30,000, by Davis Nguyen, a hiring manager at Bain. That is a big deal.  There is a subheader titled The cover letter wasnt really optional. NOT OPTIONAL. Then, Lisa Rangels email this morning had this: I view a cover letter like I do a suit.  Can you do the job not wearing a suit? Yes. But if you need to wear a suit to work, you better have one that makes you look great. A cover letter is the same. Can you apply without a cover letter? Absolutely. But if the employer asks for one, you better have one that makes you look fabulous.” Sure, some people think resumes and cover letters are dying.  But heres the bottom line: there is no standard in hiring. One company might try to standardize something, or say were a bunch of high tech millennials, and we think resumes are stupid.  But the reality is, if a hiring manager, decision-maker or influencer wants a cover letter, and you dont have one, then that is one mark against you. Why risk it?  Just write the thing! Some people spend more time arguing about whether they should have one than what it would take to write one. Optional?  Yep. Great idea to have one anyway?  Yep. The State of Cover Letters (in 2016) Heres a post about my take on cover letters, as a hiring manager. For years Ive been reading and hearing that cover letters are outdated and unnecessary.  As a hiring manager that never sat well with me, but what do I know. Then, last week I read this article, Standing Out From a Crowd of 30,000, by Davis Nguyen, a hiring manager at Bain. That is a big deal.  There is a subheader titled The cover letter wasnt really optional. NOT OPTIONAL. Then, Lisa Rangels email this morning had this: I view a cover letter like I do a suit.  Can you do the job not wearing a suit? Yes. But if you need to wear a suit to work, you better have one that makes you look great. A cover letter is the same. Can you apply without a cover letter? Absolutely. But if the employer asks for one, you better have one that makes you look fabulous.” Sure, some people think resumes and cover letters are dying.  But heres the bottom line: there is no standard in hiring. One company might try to standardize something, or say were a bunch of high tech millennials, and we think resumes are stupid.  But the reality is, if a hiring manager, decision-maker or influencer wants a cover letter, and you dont have one, then that is one mark against you. Why risk it?  Just write the thing! Some people spend more time arguing about whether they should have one than what it would take to write one. Optional?  Yep. Great idea to have one anyway?  Yep.

Essential Tips for More Productive Job Searching

Essential Tips for More Productive Job Searching Essential Tips for More Productive Job Searching Time is precious when you are looking for a new job.  Even more so if you are already working full-time but want to find better employment. When you are limited to job searching during evenings and weekends, it can often put a lot of extra pressure on your already busy schedule â€" especially when you have to fit in some important social time with friends and family. There are no two ways about it.  If you want to find that perfect job you need to put the time and effort in to getting it. This can often mean sacrificing precious down-time to spend job searching instead. To make life a little easier for you and to give your life more balance while you search, we have compiled a few tips that you may find helpful.1. Make use of smartphone appsIf you spend time commuting to and from work each day by train or other public transport, then utilise this travel time by conducting a few searches through your smartphone. Most job sites are now mobile-ready. You can access recruitment agenci es and job sites during your commute by train, bus, tube, taxi or tram.Obviously, this is something that you cannot do while at work. Most employers will frown upon you doing this, but there is no stopping you from conducting mobile job searches while travelling to and from work, or even during your lunch break if you decide to go and sit in the park for your lunch hour each day. This can all add up to quite a lot of hours of productive searching over the week or whole month!2. Make use of good job search appsModern technology has seen great advances in app development. Well-crafted apps are a lot quicker to load than more traditional desktop sites that you access via your smartphone or tablet. Recruitment sites are now well aware that the majority of their audience will be accessing their sites through mobile apps over any other form of access. They  are now engineering apps that will allow people to access their job feed while on the go.This means that current and new job search a pps have a shorter loading time than before and have an easy to access and navigate interface that is compatible with multiple devices. This has taken the frustration out of conducting job searches on the go and it is now easier than ever to access jobs boards and subscribe to the latest live job feeds.3. Adapt your Resume to suit your searchesGone are the days when you painstakingly crafted your resume and gave it out to every potential employer and recruiter. These days you need to tailor your resume to fit in with each individual position you apply for.Rather than start from scratch each time you need to amend your resume or need to add some fresh information following some skills training course or work experience, why not structure your resume in a way that only certain areas will need to be revised and amended for each application you make.Here are some tips about tailoring your resume template to fit your searches:Your personal statement is the section where you want to sell yourself to your potential new employer. Making a positive impression here is important and will often be the deciding factor about whether your resume makes it to the interview pile or the reject pile. You should include any personal achievements you are proud of in here. Let the potential employer see a glimpse of your personality and what sort of person you are.Always put your most recent job first. If you start at the beginning with your very first job, your potential employer may not be very interested in the fact that you had a Saturday job in a fast food restaurant.  They will be more interested in what you have been doing most recently. In other words,  what skills you are bringing with you to the table. Look at what skills and experience you have gained that make you a specialist in your industry. When applying for a job in the same industry that you currently work in, your potential new employer will be looking at your expertise and how that would fit in well with their team and how what you bring could enhance their performance or productivity. Do you have skills that could fill a current gap? Can you offer something that they dont already have?Remember that your potential employer will only spend about two minutes scanning over and reading your resume before making a decision. Put all your relevant and related experience, training and education into easy to read sections that makes it simple for the reader to pick out as they skim over the area.Finish off your resume with your personal interests, but dont make this section too wordy. Potential employers like to see the human side of job candidates. It is good to draw up a short list of your interests and hobbies, countries you have travelled to etc. This can demonstrate that you are a well-rounded individual with a good work-life balance and that you would be a valuable team member.Freesumes can help you here. We have a wide range of stylish and professionally crafted resume templates that you c an download for free and then complete, edit and amend as you need to. Take a look at our free template selections by clicking here. All of our resume templates are easy to download in MS Word and are completely customizable.4. Check out your dream employers on LinkedInIf you have a desire to work for a particular company or are interested in a number of businesses that look like an appealing match for your skills, then follow those businesses on LinkedIn.Following businesses is a good way to discover more about. This  can give you more of an insight into how they run things over there. It is perfectly fine to follow a company if you have a desire to work there, and even when you apply for a position within the company you may already be known to them through LinkedIn. Many companies will check potential candidates LinkedIn profiles to see if they are a suitable fit for the business before offering them an interview so make sure your profile is up-to-date and looks professional. Quite often you may find individual members from a company you are interested in that have LinkedIn accounts. In some cases it is OK to follow a company individual as long as your interactions with them are kept professional. The last thing you want is to come over as too intense or enthusiastic as this may spoil your chances of being invited for interview when you apply. There is a fine line between following someone on LinkedIn and stalking them!Connecting through LinkedIn is also a perfect opportunity to talk about your relevant experience and skills. It is also a good opportunity to  forward a copy of your resume for them to look at. This could stand you in good stead for the interview stage as they company will already be familiar with you. previous article The Free Purple Resume Template A Touch of Lilac next article Classy Emerald â€" A Fancy Word Resume Template Freebie you might also likeThe Best Way to Explain Your Sabbatical To a New Employer

Internships your rights University of Manchester Careers Blog

Internships your rights University of Manchester Careers Blog If you read the press, you might assume that you just have to accept being unpaid if you want to do an internship not so! Most of the media focus is on topics that really interest journalists the media, politics and the creative sector. This is where a culture of unpaid interships seems to be rife (and frankly, its always been like this though thats not to excuse it). However, for most other types of work, its always been the norm to pay for work done, whether youre a student, recent graduate or experienced professional. The exceptions are if the internship is an integral part of your university programme (though most industrial placements are paid), or if its a short insight type of internship, where you get to see what an industry is like, but arent expected to be a normal productive worker. Up to a couple of weeks is fine for one of these insight internships, but much longer is pushing it. Additionally, you wouldnt normally expect to get paid by many voluntary organisations for short periods of work, though even in the charity sector, if youre expected to work significant hours, you should expect to be paid or receive expenses as a minimum. Want to know more? Theres a whole section of our website devoted to work experience and internships Information on taking unpaid experience and your rights Adverts for internships and work experience on CareersLink Our own Manchester Graduate Internship Programme, offering paid internships, mainly with local smaller employers. This excellent short video from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and Channel 4, makes it clear what your rights are and how to find out more if you feel you are being (or have been) exploited. Thanks to Tristram Hooley, University of Derby, for bringing this video to my attention (through Twitter, of course!) All Postgrad-highlighted Postgraduate Internships work experience

How to Get into Ethical Hacking

How to Get into Ethical Hacking Ethical hackers are professional cybersecurity specialists who help businesses uncover and address vulnerabilities before they are exploited by cybercriminals. Due to the ever-growing cybersecurity risks, ethical hackers are in serious demand. In fact, recent statistics show that there is three times as much demand for ethical hackers in the UK as there are suitable candidates. Given the high wages and incredible demand for talented ethical hackers, many people are considering a career in the industry. However, it’s not quite as simple as that! Ethical hacking is not something that you can simply pick up and learn overnight. Ethical hacking is not nearly as glamorous as it is sometimes portrayed in the media â€" it demands a very high level of technical expertise, patience, and persistence, not to mention hard work. It is also a myth to assume that all ethical hackers were originally criminal hackers â€" these people actually represent a small minority. The vast majority of ethical hackers gain their skills through years of professional training. If you are thinking of taking up a role in ethical hacking, here are some of the skills and qualities you will need to pursue a successful career. Excellent background IT knowledge To be a successful ethical hacker, it is first important to have a strong grounding in IT. Some ethical hackers join the profession having already obtained extensive experience in systems administration, networking and software development. This is due to the fact that ethical hackers need to have a good understanding of systems and applications in order to learn how to exploit them. It is worth pointing out here that there are many different areas within ethical hacking, such as web application, wireless and network penetration testing. All areas require specific knowledge that can only be gained with a thorough grounding in each field. Network penetration experts Redscan recently published this insightful introduction to ethical hacking, pen testing and red teaming â€" which provides a solid overview for those interested. Industry qualifications Prospective ethical hackers need to gain industry qualifications. Accreditation body CREST is recognized as offering some of the most useful. It should be noted, however, that these qualifications aren’t like taking a quick evening class â€" many take years to study towards and complete. To pass a CREST qualification, students are required to hold knowledge and skills around a huge range of subjects alongside two to three years of regular and frequent practical experience â€" usually equating to around 6,000 hours of experience and research. To become a qualified Offensive Security Certified Expert, candidates must successfully complete a grueling 48-hour online exam. Strong problem-solving skills High-quality ethical hackers need to think differently to most other people. The best qualities to possess are an ability to think outside of the box plus a natural aptitude and desire to solve puzzles. Patient and persistence are also crucial character traits of successful ethical hackers. A willingness to continuously learn A good ethical hacker is an active learner. You need to spend a lot of time keeping up with changing trends in hacking and cybersecurity, learning about adversarial tactics, techniques, and procedures. It is also important to have a good understanding of a range of hacking tools. Cybercriminals change and adapt their methods all of the time, so ethical hackers need to keep up and respond accordingly. They also need to be passionate about their work. Ability to script or write code It isn’t necessary for ethical hackers to have the kind of coding skills of a skilled web developer, however, having a good grounding in code will give a tester an advantage. Knowledge of languages such as Python, Perl, Bash, and PowerShell is extremely valuable and helps hackers to perform assessments more efficiently and effectively. Good communication skills Finally, ethical hackers need to be able to clearly and accurately explain the results of their work to a range of stakeholders, both technical and non-technical. This means they need to have good communication skills and be able to describe complex processes and solutions in a simple way. About the author:  Mike James  is an experienced business writer specializing in HR, tech, and cybersecurity. On the latter, he has contributed to many of the leading publications both online and in print â€" such as StaySafeOnline, GlobalSign, Tech London and more.

Over 60 Have you thought of a portfolio career - Career Pivot

Over 60 Have you thought of a portfolio career - Career Pivot Have you thought of a portfolio career? If you are over 60 and will have to work well past the normal retirement age of 65, you might well consider a portfolio career. I am currently reading the most popular book on the topic â€" And What Do You Do?: 10 Steps to Creating a Portfolio Career by Barrie Hopson and Katie Ledger. They describe four types of careers: Single-track career â€" This is what we were raised to do in the 20th century. Select a career path and stay with it until you retire. Serial career â€" This is I have largely done. I have moved from career to career throughout my lifetime. I am on my seventh career. This is highly unusual for baby boomers but will be very common for our kids! Lifestyle career â€" You know a mother who is raising kids and holds a part-time job. Maybe you know someone who is taking care of a family member but runs a small business on the side. Portfolio career â€" This is a career that is all about cash flow and less about a paycheck. You develop a variety of streams of income that might include: consulting, teaching workshops, running an online business, multi-level marketing (Some are actually quite good! I could hear you snickering! I am not involved in any though.),buying and selling products on eBay, buying and selling real estate, having multiple part-time jobs,…. Who is suited for a portfolio career? And What Do You Do?: 10 Steps to Creating a Portfolio Career by Barrie Hopson and Katie Ledger has a questionnaire. I highly recommend you take the questionnaire. The authors say people who are best suited for a portfolio career are: “self-starters, excellent time managers who organize their lives well, believe they’re largely in control of their own destiny, don’t like to be bossed about, have a huge need for independence, are high energy, prepared to market themselves and actually enjoy connecting. They like change and variety are not frightened to take risks, cope well with stress and pressure, feel positive about themselves, quite like having deadlines, love to learn, are not purely driven by money and are not over-anxious if they have insufficient funds at some times. They are also, assertive, can multi-task, live with ambiguity and often blend their work and free time.” As you can imagine perfectionists need not apply! You may not be all of these but you might need to surround yourself with people who can fill the holes. For example, if you are not good at marketing yourself then partner or trade with someone who can. Does this sound interesting? Marc Miller Listen to the most recent episode Like what you just read? Share it with your friends using the buttons above. Like What You Read? Get Career Pivot Insights! Check out the Repurpose Your Career Podcast Do You Need Help With ...