What are skills that you find lacking in recent graduates?
This is a great question. If you are a recent grad, introspection like this already places you ahead of the curve. Obviously, recent grads will lack "real world experience", but to dig a little deeper, here are a couple thoughts:
1. Social maturity - working with other people well, taking criticism as a good thing, selflessness as an employee
2. Understanding of the industry and economics - younger people don't seem to understand dollars and cents, profit and profit margins, business plans, and generally what motivates people in the big picture.
3. Altruism and willingness to give back without receiving anything in return. Investing time and energy into something bigger than themselves.
4. Interpersonal communication. This is a hard one. Young people tend to let their maturity level show. Learning to reign in comments, funny remarks, opinions, etc is the start. As you mature, re-learning how to express yourself intelligently and in a kind manner is a skill that will take you far.
I keep hearing conflicting advice on resume format for uploading a resume... so, when uploading a resume, word or pdf?
I strongly recommend .PDF unless otherwise instructed.
Military Spouse - Solid Experience but Gaps in Resume
"I'm a military spouse with a resume that has more holes than Swiss cheese, but solid experience. I interview very well, but can't seem to even get to that stage lately - I'm guessing due to the gaps in my resume."
I am glad to help. Thank you and your spouse for your service!
Even if the gaps in your experience aren't brought up, feel free to clarify it yourself - even if you aren't asked. Be honest and from my side of the table, I would see this as an advantage for you.
Communicate that your spouse made sacrifices and served our country. And with that, you happily made yourself flexible to change and adjustment to stay by his/her side. You can conclude that this loyalty and flexibility also plays a part of who you are as an employee.
Is there a chance that you will continue to move around the country in this situation? Or are you permanently settled in your current location? That is the next thought that will go through HR's mind.
Quantifying Results and Formatting on Resume
"For a sales resume, I have read to include as much quantifiable results as possible. Do you concur?
And for formatting... My hr lady said she prefers resume's with a skills and summary at the top followed by jobs with a brief description of the position and then the results driven. Do you have any experience with that?"
Quantifiables are great. Don't forget to balance them out with what makes you effective and unique.
Also, be ready to back them up with your W2 when asked. I've found that the only salespeople that are offended when asked to see their W2 are the ones that exaggerate their earnings.
As for formatting, go for meat over fluffy, trendy "it" words. If you want, still use them if submitting online.
Also, keep the summary concise, but make a statement about who you are. Skills can come before jobs - whichever you feel is more impressive.
Answering Questions You Don't Know the Answer To
"How do you address technical questions that you simply don't know the answer to?"
You want to be straight-forward in an interview, and not attempt to talk your way out of a difficult question (a la many politicians today).
The best way to prepare for this is to understand the position and study the job description. From there, anticipate questions that cover areas that you are not as strong in. When they come up, answer truthfully that the question deserves a response that you can not fully produce, but that it is an area of interest to you, and you plan to pursue and learn more about.