“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.” —Alexander Graham Bell

Whether it is the new search of a college graduate or needing a new job/career, the job search is not always straight forward. After you have selected the position(s) that you are searching for, it’s time to get organized for the resume submission process! Here are some tips and tricks to help you not lose your wits and hope.

There are three documents that I am going to outline of how to be organized for your next job search.

1. Resume
2. Google document/Word document
3. Google sheet/excel sheet

Resume

This is a straight forward document that lists your qualifications, skills, education, and awards/recognition in (usually) chronological order. There are times when it doesn’t have to be chronological but it is better to do so (more on this later).

Resume Do’s

• Do list your name and contact information clearly at the top of the page (depending on your industry also include your preferred pronouns)
• Research the key words needed for the job that you are applying for. You can do this by reading the information on the job site, linked in profiles etc. Add these key words as truthfully as you can when in your descriptions of your skills, abilities and qualifications.
• On your past jobs, remember to keep the action words as past tense not present tense. I.e “Directed a program serving 50 high risk youth in after school activities” and NOT “co-lead program serving 50 high risk youth in after school activities”.
• Use very clear and dynamic words to describe yourself. Use a thesaurus if you have to!
• Do check and double check your grammar and spelling before submission
• When finished, save the document in multiple places online, desktop, paper copy etc.
• Save the file with your legal first and last name and the listed job title that you are applying for.
• Make a LinkedIn profile and change your setting to “looking for job”
• Place a link to your updated LinkedIn profile to your regular email.
• Share with your network that you are job seeking. If you can provide your resume or business card, as appropriate. Make it as easy as possible for your network to pass your name on to prospective employers.
• If this is your first or one of your first professional jobs, try to keep resume to one or one and half pages
• If you are job seeking while currently working, be discreet and respectful

Resume Dont’s

• Do not falsely represent yourself. You can however in a paneled interview describe how you “might” handle a complicated situation.
• Do not submit your resume file with any weird file names. Examples: “Revised draft” or “Final” or with your initials and the job title.
• Refrain from being witty or snarky in your descriptions of your skills and talents
• Never utilize those sidebars of information. Many HR departments utilize AI and AI will read directly across the sentence and into the side bar. This will create confusion and your resume will most likely be discarded because AI cannot read this format.
• Avoid throwing your current or any previous employers under the bus. Prospective employers while they may want to know the tea, do not want to see this information verbal or written as your first impression.

Exception clause

When would a chronological organization of your resume not be helpful?When you are changing industries or a radically different skills set than your current employer/position. Instead organize your resume with the most relevancy to the applied position.

Google document/word document

This is your copy and paste document of the extra yet relevant details. When you are copying and pasting information to the 50th job posting you will thank me that you have this information so readily accessible.

You will create headings and subheadings of the following information:

• Job references.

Subheading will be every named reference. With every named reference, you will list the job title, relationship to you, and contact information of every reference.

• Previous employer company contact information.

Subheading for each listing should include the company’s addresses, phone numbers, zip codes.

• Extra information on jobs.

If you edited out some of your job responsibilities, talents awards etc. Place that information there.

• Full listing of your high school and post high school educational institutions.

Subheadings include years of attendance, the college name, degree level awarded, graduation date. If you are currently enrolled, you state “anticipated graduation date”.

• Your job/industry requires a background check

You will need to write down all previous home addresses and any minor that you have lived with (yes, all those siblings) in the past 5-20 years. Oh, and include the dates when you lived at those addresses and the dates of birth of the minor children.

Google Sheet/excel sheet

You are going to track all of your job postings in this document. You do not want to have applied for the same job on two different sites. You do not want to miss a deadline. This is your job at stake. Welcome to adulthood, kiddo.

Here are some ways to organize your google sheet.

• Tabs. Use the tabs on the bottom for different roles. (did you know that you can color code these tabs, rename them and re-sort them at any time?)

Necessary information to list in the Row A as follows:

• the company name,

• the exact title,

• job posting ID,

• date that you submitted your resume,

• date of HR interview,

• date of secondary interviews,

• if job offer was offered or not (yes or no button),

• and notes

You can also have additional information IF it is relevant. This information would be as follows:

• a dropdown menu of job attendance ( remote, hybrid, not remote), city/town/suburb of job,

• salary range posted,

• contact information of any colleagues or the HR personnel.

Conclusion

Initial stages of euphoria of finding a dream job can change quickly. Keep your sanity by being as organized as possible in your job search. A quick, accurate and simple response to an HR manager can make the difference on their assessment of you. Don’t make HR or a prospective boss confused or waiting long for your responses before there is a job offer. Please also have a thank you note ready to be sent to the hiring manager as well. Little details do a make a positive difference!

Are there any suggestions that would be helpful to add to this list? Please comment below with that information.