International Resume Writing Tips

International resumes
In Belgium, it's a faux pas to use French or Dutch, depending on the language of the employer.
In Canada, Quebec requires French as the primary language of the province.
In Switzerland, you can use French, German or Italian, but it's far more appropriate to target the preferred language of the employer.
In China, the written language is universal, but the official language is Putonghua, (Mandarin), and your interview will be conducted in that language.
In India, most of the country speaks English, but the working language is likely to be Hindi, Urdu, or another common local language. Education accreditation:
Vitally important for professionals, you will need to provide documented proof of accreditation of your qualifications. Your resume should reflect your qualifications adequately so the employer can cross check. require some adaption of style, and in some cases language proficiency. Because the resume is your professional history, it has to be presented well, and in accordance with the styles required in different countries. In some instances you'll also need to adapt to the application process, as it affects your resume...

International resume issues
Although the information provided in international resumes is fundamentally similar, format and style varies. Depending on where and with whom you're applying, you will need to rework your resume. These are some tips for getting it right, and what not to do:

Check with the overseas employer: Because you're dealing with employers with established methods and requirements, it's advisable to check first about specific requirements. In many cases the adjustments will be comparatively minor, but you can create problems for yourself by leaving out required information. You can be screened out without even knowing why.

Templates: There are a lot of resume templates online, and many of them are out of date. Some of them are actually quite inappropriate for some parts of the world. Don't guess. Check out a range of examples so you're sure you're at least in the right ballpark.

European Union resumes and applications: EU nations have common requirements for information on applications. These requirements include a range of information which relates to the resume, like recognized language proficiency levels, class of drivers license, etc. The information like where you studied your language and where you received an industrial license should also be clear on your resume. The application can be used as a cross check on what you're telling the employer in your resume.

Languages: Language issues are extremely important. There's a large range of situations you need to consider, depending on where the job is. You must have a good working professional level of fluency. Low quality language usage on a resume can instantly destroy a job application. The only reliable way to produce a good international resume in another language is to develop your own skills. Do not rely on an electronic translation or use a translator. Any deficiency in your own abilities will show immediately at an interview.

Multi lingual nations: In some bilingual or multilingual countries, using the right language is also vital:

Should You Take That Telecommuting Job

The ability to work from home is a great opportunity for the right type of person. Here are some pros and cons to having a home-based job…

After extensive searching on Craigslist (craigslist.org), Monster (monster.com) and CareerBuilder (careerbuilder.com) you have found an awesome job opportunity. There is only one catch - you must work from home. This is not an unlikely scenario. Many people, from small business owners to freelance writers to individual craftsmen work from a home based office. According to workplace lifestyle website CareerJounal.com, around 30 million people telecommuted at least part time last year. Here are the pros and cons to such a lifestyle.

Pros

• Work on your own time
• No commute - Los Angeles drivers can especially appreciate this. No more missing the game because of traffic.
• Your office travels with you - A laptop and a backpack are all you need to bring your work on vacation.
• You decide the dresscode - When was the last time you saw anyone wearing sweatpants and no shirt to the office.
• Tax breaks - If you meet the home-office requirements of the IRS
• Family life - You can spend much more time with your significant other (and children if they are in the picture).

Cons

• Distractions - You must have serious discipline to ignore the television, Internet, girlfriend/boyfriend and get your job done.
• You work on your time - What is a benefit can also be a serious negative. Procrastination can get the better of you.
• Loneliness - Nobody to share water-cooler jokes with, no trips to a favorite lunch stop, no chatting it up at all.
• Compensation - Depending how your compensation is structured, you might end up doing a lot of work with no boss around to properly reward you.

10 Ways to Tell It’s Time to Find Another Job

Getting axed, sacked, canned or fired hurts. It does nothing for your self-esteem and it doesn’t look great on your resume. You’re always better leaving your position on your own terms. But how can you tell when your job may be on the line. Here are 10 things to look for...
1. There’s a path worn in the carpet between your cubicle and the corner office.
If you’re always being called into the principal’s office, something is wrong. Either you don’t get it or your boss doesn’t get you. When there’s this kind of communication breakdown, it’s time to start looking through the help wanted classifieds.
2. They’re storing urinal cakes in your office.
When they start storing janitorial supplies in your office, your days are probably numbered. That’s not the way a good employer treats a valued employee. If your work is truly valuable to your employer, expect compliments, good reviews and an annual raise. Maybe even a performance bonus! But definitely not urinal cakes.
3. Your parking spot has been rented out to a hotdog vendor.
A definite sign you’re on the way out. Oh sure, you might chalk it to pure coincidence, but you’re in denial. When things like this (and #2) start happening to you, get proactive and get out.
4. Your boss keeps calling you Skippy when your name is Bob.
Oh, yeah, you’re a goner. When your boss can’t remember your name, or starts calling you by the wrong name, consider the obvious. Also, when you’re no longer asked to join department meetings, your boss is definitely trying to tell you something about the future.
5. Your co-workers start avoiding you like the Ebola virus.
Office gossip spreads like wildfire and, all-too-often, everybody knows before you do. Sure, it’s unprofessional, but it happens all of the time. So, if your workplace friends start to shun you, ask people if they’ve heard anything. A good friend will tell you. A lousy friend will run screaming from the room. Either way, it’s time to move on.
6. The HR director knows the names of your spouse, kids and pet dog.
Unless you work in a small office where the human resources director is also the CEO, custodian and customer service rep, you have to wonder why, all of a sudden, the people in HR have pulled your file. Be suspicious.
7. You read a help wanted ad describing your job placed by your company!
This has actually happened more than once. Employers don’t like to be left with holes to fill in the company roster, so many hire replacements before the hammer falls. If you happen to run across your job description in the classifieds, in an ad placed by your company, keep looking. You’re probably in the market for a new job – which was why you were reading the help wanted section in the first place.
8. Your supervisor warns against taking that second mortgage.
She’s trying to do you a favor. She doesn’t want to see you left holding the bag. The decision to let you go may be made at the supervisory level, or by some faceless bigwig back at HQ. In either case, take the hint when it’s offered.
9. You’ve been calling in sick a lot, but only on Mondays and Fridays.
Your employer expects you to be there. When you aren’t, productivity falls and someone has to cover for your. Good employees go to work and do their jobs. Ex-employees take a lot of ‘mental health’ days.
10. Your boss invites you to attend the resume prep seminar in the cafeteria.
Not very subtle, but there’s nothing subtle about losing your job. It’s a life-altering experience, and it can take its toll on your confidence. You can avoid trouble when the axe falls by being reliable, trustworthy and just plain invaluable.
Getting sacked rarely comes as a complete surprise. There are usually signs that things aren’t right at work – signs that you may choose to ignore, but shouldn’t. Keep your eyes and ears open for signs of trouble. A change in company ownership, a new supervisor, a new set of company procedures – dramatic changes can often lead to layoffs, belt-tightening and lots of ‘Good Luck’ parties.
Get proactive when you see the writing on the wall. Get your resume updated by a professional. Get listed with a couple of headhunters, start networking and start reading the help wanted ads. If you can leave on your own terms, with your new job already in place, the transition from one job to the next will do a lot less damage to your ego and your bank account.

Three Common Job Hunting Failures

Some people will tell you that the condition of the economy does not matter when it comes to getting a job. If you talk to them a bit longer, you will find that they were always able to find some kind of work, even during the Great Depression. Were they just lucky, or are they telling the truth? Interestingly enough, my own experiences reveal these people are 100% correct….
 As long as there are people in a country, there are going to be services that need to be performed and products that need to be manufactured. Under those circumstances, there are always going to be jobs. That said, there are three things that will prevent you from getting a job, regardless of the economy and your skills. Overcome these three problems, and you will never have to worry about being unemployed.
Failure to Pursue Jobs in Related Occupational Niches
Today, many people that were employed as secretaries and other white collar jobs are returning to college in droves to obtain clinical degrees. While that may be of some use if you legitimately like to work with people, others are going to find it an absolute nightmare. Why waste all of this time when there are plenty of receptionist, medical billing, and medical records jobs open? No matter whether you apply for jobs at outsourcing agencies, work at home transcription venues, or in medical practices, you stand just as much chance of getting those jobs as others with previous experience. The proof? I did the exact same thing in 1997, and got nine years out of it, complete with going from clerk to full manager.
Failure to Find Out if You Can do the Job
The two most dangerous words that pop into your mind when reading a job description are "I can't". What do you mean by that? How do you know you "can't" do a job in a related career cluster if you have never tried? The sad fact of the matter is, you couldn't even tie your shoes before someone taught you. When it comes right down to it, if you are willing to learn, and willing to try, the vast majority of employers will be happy to train you as opposed to take on someone that is jaded about the job and just looking for a paycheck.
Failure to Ask for a Chance
If you don't ask, you will never receive anything that you want in life. That holds true in the arena of job hunting as well. No matter whether you are overqualified, underqualified, or don't know the difference, failing to ask for a job will most certainly result in failure. Think this is just a matter of mindset? Think again. Thousands of men and women during the Depression went knocking from door to door asking for jobs. It didn't matter if it was handyman work, sewing - anything that someone would pay them to do. When you ask someone for a chance, chances are, they may just give you one.
Everyone in America needs to be working at some type of productive job. Even in these horrible times, there is no such thing as a newspaper that doesn't have at least 20 job openings. What is stopping you from calling them today? Think you can't do the job? Think again. Ask them what it takes, and see if you can get an interview. What have you got to lose?

By  L.F

Planning your Career? Explore Career Resources

As you prepare for your career, there are a variety of resources you may consider consulting. You may choose to explore several resources, or you may only want to use only one type of resource. Despite what your choice may be, you may want to know what your options are in order to help you make better choices….

Campus Career Center and Career Counselor

You may want to stop by your university's career center and find exactly what resources are available. For instance, many career centers have bookshelves filled with company literature and career handbooks. These resources may help you analyze different career options or confirm that the career you've chosen is right for you. You may also want to schedule a meeting with your career counselor. He or she may not know everything about your specific career, but he or she may be able to give you some direction. Your counselor may reveal resources you never even knew existed.

Online Resources

Online job postings can give you a sense of what the demand is for a particular job, what type of salary you can expect or what type of experience is required. Many of these online career resources like Careers.org, Careerbuilder.com, and Salary.com also provide articles about appropriate work behavior and resume tips.

Career Organizations

Depending on what your potential industry is, there is probably an organization for your profession. These organizations, like Society for Technical Communicators (STC) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE,) offer resources that are specific to the careers in these fields. You may want to consider joining an organization because they often provide critical information about new advancements in a field, allowing you to improve as your industry evolves. They also often provide job listings for those either looking for a career change or who are just starting out. Usually these organizations require people to pay some type of a membership fee, which varies.

Job Fairs

You may also consider attending job fairs in order to meet job recruiters from different corporations. While at the fair, you may also get a sense of the company's goals and expectations by talking with its representatives. You may even be able to set up an interview. Job fairs are opportunities to network with others in your industry. By going to a job fair, you may also be introduced to other career opportunities in your field that you were unaware of.

Off-Campus Career Centers

Another resource that you may want to consider are off-campus career or employment centers. It is often best to visit these centers when you first begin your job search so that you can create a plan. By planning ahead, you may be able to use your time more effectively. Many career centers offer programs and workshops to help with such processes. These centers often have established connections with the business community in that area, which you may be able to use advantage.
The resources listed here are just a few examples of the many available to you. To learn more about the resources in your area or about your career, simply dedicate time to doing some research. Learning about and using these career resources may help you find a job sooner.

Establishing a Career Plan

This article describes that different steps that are involved in establishing a career plan. By establishing a plan, a student may be able to stay on track and stay motivated in school…

When you begin thinking about your career, you may want to establish a career plan. Before you start sketching out a plan, you may want to begin by evaluating yourself. Get to know your strengths, weaknesses, preferences, aptitude and personality traits. By being aware of these personal aspects, you may be inspired to look at other career options that you have not considered before. It may also give you a better sense of what careers are best suited for you. If sitting down and thinking about yourself doesn't help, you may want to take a career assessment test at your career center. 

Next, you may want to make a list of careers that best fits your interests. Put anything on the list that you may be interested in, and don't worry about meeting the qualifications yet. This exercise allows you to get an idea of what you're interested in before you begin researching the careers more thoroughly. It may also help you realize that your goals and interests have changed. 

After you have a list of possible careers, you may want to pick your favorites and begin researching. Research may involve talking to people who are in that field, speaking to a career counselor, reading career guide books or surfing different websites. Researching may help you get a better understanding of the careers your interested in. When you're researching what types of tasks are involved in your career choices, you may also want to find out what companies hire people in this field. If you're able to talk to somebody from a company, you may want to find out if the company offers any mobility in your field. You may also want to consider other plans that you had in mind. Do you want to get married before you are thirty? Do you want to have kids? Would the demands of this job conflict with any of these plans? 

Now that you have done the research, you may want to decide on a specific career that you want to pursue. After you decide on a career, you may want to start researching what type of a major is associated with this field and if a minor in anything would be beneficial. You may want to see if a license is required. Some careers don't require a degree, but instead they require a license. Licenses may be attained through community colleges, vocational school or an accredited occupation program. Finding out your career's requirements may help you stay on track while you're in school. Having this goal during college may also help to keep you motivated especially when things begin getting difficult.