Ever have one of those days?

When Is The Best Time to Apply For Online Jobs?

The job application process is no doubt tedious and tiring for everyone. We've all been there - sifting through the various job ad postings, sending through resume after resume, and all we want to do is get the application process over with as fast as possible. Everyone tells you to at least take a few minutes to tailor your resume and cover letter to each job you apply for.

Personalizing your application materials no doubt increases your chances of getting a call back, but I'm also going to let you know that there is another way to increase your chances at getting that interview call, and it has absolutely nothing to do with who you are or with the quality of your resume and cover letter - it simply has to do with when you send through your materials.

I recently had a friend complain to me about getting no call backs at all. She had sent through personalized resumes and cover letters dozens of times and had not received one interview invitation. Sure, the job market is extremely tough in some areas at the moment, but to receive zero phone calls out of dozens was a bit alarming to me.

I asked her to show me her resume, and everything looked great. She told me about the sites she was applying through, and I saw no problem with that either. But she then told me about the application process itself, and this is where an important detail stood out - the time she was sending through her resumes.

Many job seekers, especially the already employed, use nights and weekends to send out the bulk of their applications, and this can sometimes put them at an immediate disadvantage. Anyone who's worked in an office environment knows that Mondays are usually extremely hectic. Everyone's trying to catch up on their emails and phone calls, and there usually isn't a lot of time to spare, especially on things that are not urgent, like reading resumes. The first thing most people do when reading emails is prioritize and figure out what needs to get done sooner rather than later - resumes, especially ones sent days ago, usually fall into the "later" pile.

The point is that you want to be sure that your resume and cover letter are noticed. Sending them through on the weekend not only puts your email toward the back of the line chronologically, but it also puts it among the spam messages that have filled up the inbox, and you don't want to accidentally get deleted.

Ideally, try to respond to job advertisements during the day, when someone is most likely to see it, let alone read it. If your only time to apply for jobs is on the weekend, at least try to send through your cover letters and resumes toward the later part of the weekend, preferably on Sunday evenings. You want your resume and cover letter to be one of the first things the hiring manager sees, not something that they see toward the bottom of their inbox that they will "get to later."

© RedStarResume Publications – www.redstarresume.com

Laura is the Marketing Coordinator for RedStarResume, a business that provides resume and cover letter writing services for students, graduates and young professionals.

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Avoid Spelling and Grammar Mistakes on Your Resume

It's common knowledge that spelling and grammar mistakes can be extremely damaging to your resume's chances of landing you a job interview. Everyone seems to be aware of this fact, and this is why they are constantly reminded to check and then recheck their resumes.

So then why are these mistakes found all the time on resumes? A lot of times, people are reluctant to share and have their resumes edited by others, and failing to do so can result in small errors going undetected.

Showing your resume to someone else benefits you in more ways than one. For one, it provides an extra pair of eyes to look for any spelling of grammar mistakes. While you may be absolutely positive that there are none, especially since you've edited it numerous times, it can't hurt! I can tell you from experience that 7 out of the 10 resumes I read contain some sort of spelling error, and I'm willing to bet that most of these people did several edits on their resumes.

Have you ever read something so many times that you started memorizing and reciting it more than actually reading it? This happens a lot with resumes. We get so caught up in what we think it says that we sometimes forget how this translates onto paper. I notice a lot of times that people write things like "... responsible updating data..." or "...selected represent the company at various trade shows." If you just read that for the first time, you probably noticed that a few words are missing there. Obvious, right? Read it a few more times and you might find yourself automatically inserting the missing words. This is what happens quite often with people who write and then edit and re-edit their resumes.

Showing your resume to someone else eliminates the chances of this happening as they will be more likely to catch small mistakes like these. They can also provide an objective critique on your resume.

While you clearly know more about your past experience than anyone, translating this onto paper for a stranger to understand is sometimes very difficult, and the person critiquing it can point out any job descriptions that don't make sense or aren't very clear.

Overall, having another person or two look at your resume before you send it off can do nothing but help you. The job market out there is tough at the moment and you want to give yourself the best chance possible - don't let small errors that you looked over damage your chances of landing an interview.

© RedStarResume Publications – www.redstarresume.com

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When Should I Look to Apply For an Internship?

Internships are extremely important and beneficial to college resumes, so if you have the opportunity to apply for one, I would 100% recommend it. Internships are huge resume boosters and will no doubt give you an advantage over the competition when it comes to real world job seeking after your college graduation. The key thing to note, however, is that with internships, planning ahead is always your best option.

Most do not work like jobs in terms of the actual hiring process. With jobs, ads are posted and can be filled within only a few days because the start date is almost immediate. With an internship, the process is quite different – the actual start date could be months away, which is why you need to think about it in advance.

If you’re thinking about applying for an internship with a major corporation (or with one that you anticipate will be accepting applications from thousands of students around the country), you will definitely need to apply for this months in advance. Many summer internships are filled by the spring, and, in turn, ones for the fall are filled during the summer.

While most internships are filled months in advance, this does not make it true for all internships. Colleges all over offer internships with various departments or with school-based organizations that you can usually apply for toward the beginning of the semester. While they may not seem like the most exciting ways to spend some of your free time, they will definitely add value to the resume you send out to that internship you really want.

The main thing is that if you’re just starting to think about internships and haven’t found one you’re interested in yet, it’s never too early to at least start drafting and preparing your resume. You won’t be able to apply for a job or internship without one, and you want to be prepared the minute you see one you like.

© RedStarResume Publications – www.redstarresume.com

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What are the hardest challenges facing graduates in 2010?

Top 5 challenges facing graduates in 2010:


Competition (too few jobs and too many graduates)
Here is the scenario… You have graduated college with a good looking degree; you feel on top of the world and ready to pick and choose your dream job. The reality however is that your one of a many in the same boat. While you feel as though you would be best suited for a particular role there can be hundreds of other people who feel the same way as you. I often tell the story about my days as a recruitment consultant where I used to recruit for graduate positions. I would post a graduate position on the job boards and by lunch time I would have 200 applicants in my inbox. So what can you do to differentiate yourself from the rest of the crowd? You need to ensure that your resume is in the top 5-10% of all resumes. A single mistake in your resume can be the difference between your resume ending up in the interview stack or in the deleted folder

Downturn in the economy:

We are all sick and tired of hearing about the global financial situation, sluggish economic growth and rising unemployment. Unfortunately this is the situation which new graduates find themselves facing when looking for a job in 2010. My best advice is to network, stay patient and increase the effort into the job search. You are going to have setbacks and days when you feel like the whole world is against you. The real challenge will be ones of Continuing perseverance and confidence.

Lack of Real world experience:

My advice to all graduates (and those preparing to graduate) is to seek work experience. I personally hated this advice while I was at university but looking back now my work experience helped me plan out my career and gain vital experience in competitive industries. When the time came to put forward my resume, my previous work experience set me apart from many of my competitors.

Too high expectations:

Many graduates (myself included) complete university and expect to hand pick the job which they want. Furthermore in 2010, graduates have an expectation that they know what is best and should actually be the boss rather than working for the boss. So many times I have had graduates apply for job positions which are so unrealistic and then get despondent because they are not getting interview requests. It’s important for graduates to realize that they need to gain the experience before they can call themselves the boss.

Debate between further higher education and job seeking

Do you continue to study or start straight away with the job seeking? Many graduates don’t have a choice in this matter but for those who do continuing to study can lead to greater results long term (financial and job position) and also further help distinguish yourself apart form other graduates. On the other hand is it better to start working and get your foot in the door? There’s no better education then real life experience of learning on the job.

© RedStarResume Publications – www.redstarresume.com

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