I have been a stay home mom for 9 years,however I have attended school (finished a BA &MBA) as well as volunteered, will this help or hurt my chances of rentering the work force and do you have any tips for doing so

I graduated from college in May with a BS in Computer Science and have been having trouble finding employment. I've only had two jobs in my life. One was developing a software application for a professor last summer, and the other was working at a doctors' office part-time four years ago, doing whatever needed to be done that others didn't have time to do. I have made 4 versions of my resume, one for computer science jobs, one for medical office jobs, one for generic office jobs, and one for other miscellaneous positions that I have been applying for locally in hopes of earning some money while I continue searching for 'real' jobs. Is this enough, or should I be customizing my resume even more for different positions?

I have been unemployed from a full time jo for over a year and a half. I have been substiuting off and on, should I take this off my resume?

On today's segment, you recommended putting a career objective section on a resume. I used to do this, but was later told that I should leave it off, as I was already stating much of that information in my cover letter. While I generally keep my resume the same, I do customize each cover letter I send, citing specific examples of qualifications and achievements from my career, as well as stating other qualities that make me a good employee overall. Is this the correct approach? (If you wish to see examples of my cover letter and resume, please let me know where to send them for analysis.)

Hello!  Below is my broken resume that gets me nothing but denials!  I need a new job, and appreciate any advice!

 

Theresa Principata

PO Box 12148 Covington KY, 41012

Mobile 859-802-0237             theresap@huff.com

 

 

Objective:        Secure a position with a progressive and successful organization offering an atmosphere of unlimited personal and professional growth where individual strengths and experiences are valued while focusing on corporate goals and objectives.

 

Summary of Skills:

                                    Project Manager                      10 years

                                    Real Estate Sales                       8 years                                  

                                    Property Manager                   15 years

                                    Manager of Employees           17 years

                                   

 

Experience:                            June 2007 to Present           Project Manager

 

                        Martin-Elias Properties & New Creation Construction

Predominant experience in Project Management with Developer and/or General Contractor.  Extensive experience working closely with the project team consisting of Owners, Architects, Engineers, Consultants, Governing Authorities and Contractors.

 

                       

                        March 2000 to Present      Outside Sales

 

                        Huff Realty

                        Residential and Commercial site acquisition for investment and personal property

                        owners. Closed gross commission award leader in the greater Cincinnati area with sale

                        revenues consistently in the $4,000,000 range.

 

How can I include a cover letter when applying directly via the employers website? I have cone across some that allow for it and others that don't. If they don't how do I get a cover letter to the correct person?

I am at a Director/ VP level. I had my resume done by a company and they said that I should leave off my employer from 1985 to 1997 because it would indicate my age.  It is a very large company where I was doing unrelated work- but the skills could be used in the future.  What do you think? 

I recently applied for a position with a non-profit group and had a contact from the group that I know send my resume along as well. I have been told the recruitment process is slow, but instead of waiting on my hands, I would like to do everything I can to give myself a good chance at an interview. Beyond my strongest contact, I am acquainted with another individual there who I have not spoken with regarding the opportunity.

 Are there any other steps that I can take to help position myself as a strong candidate, and if so, what would you recommend?

there are many military people, with clearances, that are "retiring" or separating from the military and looking for employment.  They are having a difficult time.  What can they do?

I am trying to revise my resume to obtain a supervisory or management position and am having a hard time.  I have many years of admin. experience and in all positions have taken the lead to ensure the job is done correct.  I have the leadership quality but I only have an Associates degree can you help me?

If you're not getting any bites, then you want to have someone look at your resume.  If you have a copy handy, paste the first quarter of the page here and I'll take a look. Just that much information will tell me a lot and I'll try to help.

Hello Tory,

I just wanted to thank you for being on GMA today. I am a 24 year old male living in a small city with very limited job options. Most of the jobs here are hotels, food, and the like as this is a tourest town. I started off my career working at Wal-Mart for 2 years. I then went to USAMobility for a year and half until I was laid off due to oursourcing. I then went to work for a small service provider as Tech Support. The company then was bought out and shortly after the buy out I was promoted to do IT work. I did IT work for roughly 6 months before the company reorganized and did mass layoff. I was hired back 3 weeks later into Tech Support (the job I had before doing IT) However, due to a lot of the changes within the company and the hours I was requested to work, I was unable to keep the job and was fired due to attendence issues and now I am once again unemployed. I have been searching for jobs and have applied for at least 45 jobs but have yet to find anything as options are limited in my city and most of the jobs only pay $9 or $10 an hour. I am wondering if you could give me some advise as to what I can do at this point? I was fired making $15 an hour and with me having no college or any type of training, I was making decent money for this area. I am open to almost any type of jobs and also am willing to travel as well or even relocate. Can you please point me in the right direction?

Thanks so much in advance!
Michael
Pensacola, FL

Tory,

I am an older female worker, not yet ready to retire.  The company I had worked for for 5 1/2 yrs. terminated me last March.  I have sent out hundreds of resumes and had several interviews,  still no luck.  I am attaching my resume and I hope you can give me some hints on how to get employers to take me seriously.  I am wanting to scale back my responsibility level and I've been applying for non-supervisory and non-management type jobs.

I have scaled my resume back so that it does not include all of my work experience.  I felt like my full resume was way too intimidating.  What else should I do.

Help,

Jan Percy

Jan Johnson Percy

1909 Oak Forest Dr.

Round Rock, Tx  78681

512.255.4648

Cell: 512.638.3903

janjpercy@sbcglobal.net

 

 

OBJECTIVE

 

To obtain a position that utilizes my wide range of healthcare and business operations experience.

 

PROFILE

 

Sixteen years of management experience, including full operations and office/administrative responsibilities.

 

Supervised as many as 15 employees and focused on teambuilding.

 

Highly developed leadership and organizational skills

 

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Director of Laboratory Operations                          Bio-Medical Services

                                                                              11/2002 to 3/2008

Part of management team brought in to re-build and develop a laboratory serving the veterinary profession.

 

Intake Coordinator                         Brackenridge Hospital Laboratory

                                                                                       2000 to 2002

 

Department responsible for receiving all specimens into the laboratory for testing.

 

Medical Technologist                Brackenridge Hospital Laboratory

                                                                                      1988 to 2000

 

Bench Tech in Microbiology in both Full time and PRN capacities.

 

EDUCATION

 

Bachelor of Arts                           Microbiology                     Univ. of Texas – Austin

Bachelor of Science                  Medical Technology                Univ. of Texas - Austin

Tory, I was wondering how do you get the feedback on your resume?

How do I stand out in a competitive New York market? I have a little more than 2 years experience in the type of work of the jobs I'm applying for: copyediting and proofreading.

At what point should I reorganize my resume to put experience before education?  I just graduated two years ago and the two jobs I have had since then have not been very related to my degree, which is in environmental science and natural resources.  I want to get back to that field.

At the same time, I have went back to school with online courses in organization leadership.  How do I convince employers to hire a full time student for a full-time position?  I am handling my current position really well, without conflicts, and I feel confident in my ability to do that with any job.  Tips?

Hi Tory My story is that I am 40 did not go to college but fell into property management at age 20. I was making 18.00 and hour plus bonuses and excellent bene's when my Company sold and brought in their own employee's. I still have a positive attitude most of the time but am finding that I may end up with a job that pays half of what I was making. I am starting to let little thoughts after being off two and a half months, sneak into my head like you should have went to school and your getting to old blah blah...... should I just take the job at the school district for 10.00 or keep searching?

 

 

Sue King

Eugene Oregon

If you're applying online through a website, then no cover letter. If you're applying to an email address or to a person directly, then a cover letter definitely helps your chances, especially if it's customized for the position you're applying to.  Address it to the company, reference the company name and the position.  Pay attention to what they're seeking in the job posting -- ie if they name 3 required skills, then use the cover letter to emphasize your experience in those three areas.  Show an interest in that company and that role.  It'll differentiate you from those who don't take the time to express why they'd be an asset to that company.  Good luck

Hi Tory,

If there is a position we are interested in, but are missing one qualification needed for the position, do you think a company will hire you if you take an adult education course on that particular subject matter?

Thanks.

I have been searching for a position in IT for at least 4 months.  I have also heard the dreaded "You appear to be overqualified".  Being overqualified should be a bonus for an organization and does not automatically translate into the candidate seeking a higher salary.  How do I turn this apparent negative into a positive and how would I receive a review of my current resume?  As one of the previous posts related, I have also paid for a professional to revamp my resume without success.