Why Am I Not Getting Calls After Submitting My Resume

Why Am I Not Getting Calls After Submitting My ResumeWhy Am I Not Getting Calls After Submitting My ResumeYour resume is your flugschein into a job interview. But if youve sent out dozens of them and havent gotten a single call back then theres a problem. Youre probably wondering Why am I elend getting responses to my resume?If youre like many candidates out there, the culprit is some of these common resume mistakesYour resume looks dated.If you havent written a resume in a long time, then chances are, youre taking an out-of-date approach. For instance, you dont need to include your entire street address on your resume. Simply include your email, cell phone, and city and state so the hiring manager knows youre local. In addition, skip the objective instead, list a summer of qualifications highlighting your most relevant skills and experience at the top. Finally, dont state that references are available upon request. This simply takes up valuable real estate on your resume. Theres t oo much fluff on it.Todays hiring managers want candidates with a proven track record. So if you only include tasks and responsibilities, or you use hyperbolic language, its a turn off for the hiring manager. Rather, use hard-hitting, factual statements about your accomplishments and back them up as often as possible with actual numbers. For instance, renegotiated vendor contract with office supply company that saved 15% on future orders.The format is difficult to read.Hiring managers expect experienced job candidates to submit a polished resume. So if your font size is too small or inappropriate (think Comic Sans), or the copy is dense and hard-to-read, then youre going to get overlooked even if you have extensive experience. Thats why when formatting your resume, you shouldChoose a professional-looking font and make sure the point size is 11 (10.5 is ok if you need the space)Bold job titles and the names of employers.Use bullet points under job descriptions to highlight your duti es and accomplishments.Make sure theres plenty of white space on your resume. Keep in mind, its best to submit a two-page resume that is well-formatted and easy to read than a one-pager that looks jam-packed.Youre not taking ATS systems into account.In todays world, a human doesnt often lay eyes on your resume until its been screened through the applicant tracking system (ATS). These systems are designed to organize and sort applications, as well as screen candidates based on specific criteria. Thats why you need to format your resume in an ATS-friendly way.To help you, here are some tips on getting through ATS systemsName your resume file properly, such as Joe Smith Resume. Dont go the Joe Smith Marketing Resume Version 27b route.Use standard headings such as Work Experience and Education throughout your resume. Dont try to get creative.Get rid of any unusual font types, images, tables or fields that could filter you out of the running.Be consistent with how you order jobs under W ork Experience.Use some of the keywords in the job posting throughout your resume.Dont put your contact information in a header or footer include it in the body of the document.Send in your resume as a Word document.Many times, candidates dont understand why theyre not getting called for interviews. But its almost always because of one or more of the resume mistakes listed above. If you need help with yours, contact the resume writing experts at ResumeSpice. Were here to help and just a call away at 832.930.7378.

How Long A Meeting Should Really Be, According to a Communications Expert

How Long A Meeting Should Really Be, According to a Communications ExpertHow Long A Meeting Should Really Be, According to a Communications Expert When was the last time you walked out of a meeting feeling energized, excited, motivated, clear-headed? Exactly. Those meetings are rare.At best, the good ones represent only half of all meetings . But even then, of all meeting attendees across the country, 91% say they daydream and 73% do other work. Its estimated that $37 billion in salary cost is wasted each year in having people attend unnecessary meetings.Okay, so lets huddle. Something is terribly wrong with meetings. Surely we can address or fix this? For now, here are three suggestions concerning time, purpose and content the basic components of every sit-down chat.One-hour meetings. Did you ever wonder why meetings are scheduled in one-hour time blocks? My guess is because its easy, and calendars have always readily enabled the one-hour time block. But do meetings need to last one hour? Absolutely not.Meetings can be 15 or 30 minutes just as easily as they can be 60. The standard one-hour meetings including and especially the ones that run over happen as a result of someone a) doing what weve always done, and/or b) preferring to process or review everything in a group setting rather than giving it critical thought or vetting it with critical others first.From now on, think before you send the meeting invite. What is this meeting for? Who really needs to attend? How many of the attendees really need to speak? How much discussion time does there need to be? Do I even need to call a group together or would it be better to meet one-on-one with a select few first and then call the group together later? If/when I call everyone together, how much time do we realistically need? Is the topic/issue worth that amount of time? Thoroughly think through these questions and plan before you schedulePlain and simple have an end-game in mind or dont have the meeting. Ask yourself What is my desired outcome? What do I hope or need to accomplish by calling this meeting? If you are the meeting leader, you need to be clear about the meetings purpose and articulate it at the top of the meeting. It sets context, expectations, and it helps you keep everyone on track. You are not obliged to build consensus about the purpose of the meeting. Rather, you establish the purpose and then move the meeting along to achieve it. Prior to the start of each meeting, ask yourself What do I need to accomplish? Then, turn that into a sentence for your meeting opener and build your agenda around it. Your purpose, or desired outcome, becomes the litmus test if an agenda item, discussion point, or even a particular person is not going to contribute to accomplishing the end-game, feel free to omit from the meeting. Likewise, if you cannot identify a clear purpose or desired outcome, then perhaps you need to revisit the validity of calling a meeting.To r un a tight meeting, you should also ask yourself What has to happen in order to arrive at the desired outcome? Will we need to inform, collaborate, share, process, decide? What verb best describes the type of communication that needs to take place?Curate the meeting agenda so its content reflects what you are trying to accomplish, keeping the end-game in mind. All too often, meeting agendas are built around participants and ensuring that certain people get air time. Dont worry about them, worry instead about the meetings effectiveness and time well spentBy focusing on these three primary components, the foundation for each meeting will be rock solid. And from there, you can begin fine-tuning any minor details. You may even find that different structures are appropriate for different teams, and thats okay Theres no science or formula for the perfect meeting, but establishing a basic framework and slowly determining what works and what doesnt can make all the difference.

How Margin Loans Work

How Margin Loans WorkHow Margin Loans WorkMargin loansare loans taken to finance the purchase of securities, usually the purchase of stock (also known as equity). The loans are normally extended by the samefinancial servicesfirm, such a stock brokerage, that the customer uses to trade. They are a common method of financing used by investors and extended by brokerage firms, giving individuals extended credit and increased risk. How Margin Loans are Created The maximum value of a margin loan relative to the value of the underlying securities is set by the Federal Reserve Board. Each firm is free to implement more stringent lending policies than prescribed by the Fed. The portion of the trade price not financed by the margin loan can be paid for in cash or by posting yet other securities as collateral. If securities are posted as collateral, their value must normally be at least twice the amount of cash otherwise required. The standard paperwork for opening a margin account typicall y includes language in which the client allows the firm to lend the securities held therein, at its discretion and with no compensation to the client. More than almost any other type of account, margin account paperwork should be read over carefully, ideally with a financial professional or lawyer to assist with any confusing language. Upside Potential Utilizing leverage by buying securities on margin can significantly increase an investors potential for gain. For example, paying $10,000 in cash for a security that doubles in value to $20,000 yields a 100 percent gain, exclusive of commissions, fees, and taxes. Buying the same security with 50 percent down in cash($5,000) and 50 percent obtained through a margin loan ($5,000) would yield a 200 percent net gain (after paying off the $5,000 margin loan), exclusive of commissions, fees, taxes and interest on the loan. Effectively, the brokerage is letting you use their funds to place trades beyond what your net worth would normally allow. Since you are leveraging larger amounts, the potential for larger gain is also there. Downside Risk Leverage cuts both ways. If the value of the security in our example fell from $10,000 to $5,000, a cash customer would incur a 50 percent loss. However, a client who bought the security on 50 percent margin would suffer a complete 100 percent loss. All $5,000 of the remaining value of the security would have to go to paying off the margin loan, and the $5,000 put down in cash would be lost entirely. A margin call, which is the belastung call you want to receive as an investor, results when there is a fall in the price of securities, either the securities purchased with the margin loan, or the securities posted as collateral for it. A margin call requires the borrower to post yet more collateral in the form of cash or securities. The rules surrounding margin can get rather complex, and differ at the discretion of the lender, but some investors go bankrupt not because they made a bad initial investment, but because they did so on margin. Vetting Clients Because of therisksinvolved, clients should be closely vetted for the appropriateness of giving them access to margin. Unfortunately, brokerages are notoriously lax on this, and will give margin to almost anyone who posts collateral and signs the paperwork. Accordingly,compliance departmentstypically require special paperwork and disclosures to ensure that margin accounts are offered only to clients who fully understand the risks, and who have the financial resources to incur possible losses. The Bottom Line Although trading on margin can give an investor access to increased amounts of return, the risk inherent is best left to only the most seasoned traders. Losing 100 percent of your investment is bad, but you could potentially owe the brokerage if you borrowed against securities that fail to cover the margin loss.