There are, in fact, at least six benefits to writing a top-quality resume:
- You will get more interviews when responding to want ads and when sending unsolicited resumes;
- Because it emphasizes results, your resume will guide your interviews and enable you to focus on your most positive experiences;
- Your resume becomes your calling card and helps people remember you, while also enabling them to contact you and refer you to others;
- You will be better prepared for interviews;
- Knowing you look good on paper helps build self-esteem;
- It will help your prospective boss justify the decision to hire you.
Remember, a resume is not just a resume. It represents you. Take the time to create a resume that presents the best you have to offer. A resume won't get you a job, but it can help get interviews. Or, put another way, a good resume won't get you a job, but a bad one will cost you jobs. Set your mind on spending whatever time it takes to produce a resume that truly sells you.
Know Your Worth
The first principle for getting a top salary is to fully sell your worth to the organization. You do so by demonstrating your ability to make or save money for the organization, solve problems, or reduce the stress and pressure that your future boss has been experiencing. Al though companies have formal or informal salary ranges, those sort of ranges often get thrown out the window when someone with unexpected experience or potential becomes available.
The most useful resources for determining salaries are people, including professional association officials, head-hunters, and people who currently do the type of work you're interested in. Associations exist for every career field imaginable. They sometimes produce salary surveys for the benefit of their members. Even those which don't can often give you good information about current salary ranges. To find an appropriate association, use The Encyclopedia of Associations and National Trade & Professional Associates of the U.S. These references are available at most libraries. For local associations ask people in your chosen field what associations they belong to.
Once you locate an association, attend meetings and talk to members. With national associations find out if salary surveys are available and also ask to speak to the person most knowledgeable about salaries.
Headhunters are another good source of salary information and wage scales because they are privy to what people are being offered. Many will take two or three minutes with you to give you some advice. If you choose to call some headhunters, briefly sell yourself and ask if they are interested in receiving your resume as well. Recruiting firms and employment agencies often conduct wage surveys that they make available to the public as part of their marketing. You can call and ask these firms if they have such surveys available.
Talking to people who do the type of work you want to do can also provide excellent insight into salary scales. You can usually get this information over the phone. Explain the purpose of your call, and ask if they have a couple minutes. Then tactfully ask about salary ranges. You might say something like, "I'm not asking what you make, but if you could give me a good sense of how much someone in the Cleveland area might make with four years' experience in shipping and receiving, that would really be helpful." Taking them off the hook by specifically not asking how much they make invariably yields better results.
Complete your salary research at the beginning of your job hunt so you know what your career field is paying today. Then you won't end up turning down what will later look like a very good offer. Many people have turned down offers, only to accept something for even less several months later. This happens most frequently during a recession when many job seekers do not realize that salaries have fallen. By the same token, salaries tend to rise during a boom time, so don't short change yourself if you're job hunting at a time when the economy is strong.
Do Not Discuss Salary Until the Job Is Offered
Discussing your salary requirements before an offer is made hurts your ability to negotiate. For that reason you should avoid asking about salary, and you should deflect probes into your current earnings or salary expectations.
If the job seems challenging, assume it will pay adequately. Even if it turns out that the job will not pay enough, going through the interviewing process will at worst cost you some time. The following four things can happen only if you thoroughly sell yourself throughout the interviewing process and then go for the job offer:
- The job is excellent and it pays what you want.
- You succeed in convincing the employer that they need a highly capable person such as yourself, causing them to change the job description and to bump the salary up a couple notches.
- You're overqualified for this position, but an excellent job in the company opens up a few months later and you are hired.
- The employer hears of a suitable position with another company and refers you there.
If the job seems challenging, it is best to attend the first interview, learn as much as you can, sell yourself to your fullest ability, and do everything you can to get a second interview. If you are not interested in the position, and you believe it will not pay enough, you can always tactfully decline the offer for a second interview. Simply stick with the process, with the intent of getting an offer. Then see where it can go. Any one of the four things listed above might happen.
The problem with asking about pay is that the interviewer will often turn the question around and ask you how much you make or how much you need to make. When that happens, you're in trouble. Of the three things that can happen, only one is positive. If you provide your income or your expectations, it will either be too high, too low, or about right. If the figure you give is too high, it will generally be assumed you will not be interested in the company's salary range, so the offer won't be extended. If you are making considerably less than they are prepared to pay, the assumption will be that you're a light weight. This, too, results in no offer. Or, you might get the offer but they may lowball you, knowing that what they're offering you is 15% below the bottom of their range, but 20% above what you were making before. They know you will be hard pressed to turn down their offer.
