Day 15 of unemployment

Day 2 of One Stop Employability Skills workshop! Thank God it's over!

While it was very educational and informative I could have done without some of the characters.  One girl was late for everything, never paid attention, and asked the dumbest questions.

Today was all about applications, resume writing and interviewing. Tidbits I'll pass along to you all..
For Applications:
-spell out street, road, boulevard (ex: 5000 E. 22nd Street)
-keep abbreviations to a minimum
-instead of leaving boxes empty put in N/A
-once you have a higher degree than a high school diploma no one will ever ask to see your high school diploma or GED
-when asked for supervisor/title you should write in Human Resources since in most cases calls to check on employment will be referred to HR
-don't give social security number until offered the job, you can fill the spaces with 0's, 4's or 7's
-if you don't want the new company to call your current employer b/c you don't want your current employer to know you are looking for a new job check NO to do not contact employer.
-Never write that you've been fired, instead say job ended  or seeking career advancement if asked during the interview what happened just stick with job ended.
-you should only put down 5-10 years of work experience never admit to over 10 years. Employers think anything over 10 years doesn't mean anything anymore because things would be outdated. Even employment dates only go back 10 years even if you've been at the same job over ten years instead list different position as separate jobs if within the same company.
-If the application ask for hourly rate or salary range you don't have to put  anything down.  You don't talk about money until you are offered the job.  Instead put in 0's or if the job description has a pay rate for example like $12 hourly rate and  your last job paid $18 put in $12 if you are ok with that.  Employers are not allowed to ask your past employers about your pay rate. 
-under job tasks use the job description to list the skills they are looking for

For Resumes:
-Objectives are out...HR people think they are lame.
-the one stop people really like functional resumes, use chronological resumes for people that have jobs in the same line of work
-don't put dates of graduation unless it's been within 5 years
-don't put References available upon request
-don't use "I" or " responsible for...." on resume

Cover letters:
-do not ever write To Whom It May Concern: or Dear Hiring Manager, always put in someone's name

Interviewing:
-Packaging is 45% (Appearance)
-Responsiveness is 35%
-Skills 10%
-Miscellaneous 10%

Obviously I learned the most about filling out the application.  Later on in the day we had to practice interviewing each other in front of the class. 

I have a little certificate now....awesome! 

Back to watching tv tomorrow!