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Replies to 'Career Goals'
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September 16, 2006, 6:00 pm PDT
 Quote From: choosetherite Hello Folks. I am having extreme difficulty finding a job after completing college. I am 27 y/o and have worked since age thirteen in several industries, and I made a decision in 2004 to go back to school. I recently graduated this August with my AAS in Criminal Justice. However, my Resume needs an Extreme makeover! What I know best is customer service, public relations, office management, credit and collections...yet my passion lies in the field of law enforcement. I have been unemployed the last ten months to stay home with my three children and to finish my degree. So, not only do I have a significant career change, but a gap in my employment history. I have primarily focused on obtaining employment as administrative support, but I have not had ONE single interview or telephone call in regards to my Resume submissions. I have applied for County jobs as a Probation/Corrections Officer, Investigative Tech Trainee, and now after the written test I am placed on an eligibility list for six months. If nothing happens within this time frame I must start from ground zero. I am feeling highly discouraged, depressed, losing motivation daily, and feel my education has gotten me absolutely nowhere (except for more debt). Please help! I don't know what to do!! My marriage is on the rocks due to the financial stress and I need to get back to work to get my family back on track enough to keep afloat and pay down our debt. Choosetherite, I recognize a lot of what you are feeling right now. As far as your resume: take the job responsibilities from your previous jobs, cs, pr, office mgt, cr & coll. and compare those with the job responsibilities for a career in law enforcement. Emphasise the ones that are similar and use buzz words such as: Established; Developed; Accomplished; Achieved; Serviced; Focused; Oversaw; Delegated; Completed; Advanced; Increased; Scheduled; Solved; Retrieved; Supervised; Motivated; Approved etc. etc. You get the idea.
As far as the gap in your resume: use that to your advantage by saying something like: "Domestic Management", make it a big deal -because it is!!!- be proud of it, but always be honest about it, and again: use job descriptions from a career in law enforcement that are/were applicable in your time off with your children. Don't forget: a career at home with your children requires a lot of skills!! List them!! Such as: persistance, precision, patience, great organizational skills, motivational skills, tenacity, multi-tasking, etc. I'm sure you can think of a lot more!!
I am by no means an expert, but I have learned that is not only ok to brag about yourself, (we women don't do that enough anyway), but it is necesary to get noticed in the job market. Sell yourself. Employers don't read through resumes, they only scan them. So put buzz words in there and I hope you will get noticed!!! I wish you much luck in your life and your job hunt. Keep us posted!
MooiMooi. |
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