Ways of Postponing a Job Offer Without Burning the Bridge

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Why Shouldn't I Start A Resume Without A Specific Job Goal?

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Ways of Postponing a Job Offer Without Burning the Bridge

What if you've been offered two jobs on the same day? Or if you've been told that you passed the interview in a company when you're still waiting for the results from some bigger company?

It's difficult when you find yourself caught in a career dilemma. Nobody wanted to accept the work out of sheer pressure of the moment and without weighing other opportunities. In this case, you wanted to delay your offer so as to see what other prospective employers have in store for you. But you're afraid that you might blow up the opportunity presented at the moment.

And this brings us to the question: is there any possible way of postponing a job offer without turning off the employer who proposed it? Actually there are. Take note of these very helpful bits of advice when it comes to being torn apart between certainty and opportunity:

1. Ask for time to decide

Tell the employers honestly that you want to carefully weigh options before you plunge into the work. Most people appreciate honesty when it comes to business relationships. You may not please them for asking that you want some time to think it over, but definitely you would earn their trust for saying so. Most people will understand the situation, and there's no offense for telling that you are on the deciding stage of choosing an employer. Guilt is unreasonable; you're still not committed to the company who asks you to work with them.

2. Go on a vacation

Ask if they can discuss the details of the job after some time of scheduled vacation. You'll be surprised on how much they'd be generous on giving you the time to think of the proposal. But of course, you won't have to lie. Pack your bags for real and breathe in some fresh air- you need that to finally decide if you really want to take the opportunity. You can't clearly determine your opportunities if you'll stay in the same old routine at home. It's one clean way of postponing a job offer because you won't make them feel like you're doubtful on working with them. It's about time that you take a breather before you finally soak yourself into tiring corporate duties.

3. Request for a copy of some employment information or company data

Inquire about the company. Show your genuine interest by asking for a copy of some press release about them, a brochure, or even a copy of your employment terms and benefits package. In that way, you don't only have the materials to find out how good are your employers, you also have the time to think about it while they're processing the documents. Another plus factor is that you'll make them feel that you are sincerely considering working with them by asking the details of their business.

4. Say Thank You

That's the secret sauce. Express your gratefulness for being chosen as their employee. Companies love to feel that they are being valued and appreciated. If you find it hard to say that you're still weighing options from other businesses, at least make them see that you are honored to be picked out from the hundreds of applicants out there. Postponing a job offer doesn't always necessarily mean that you have to ruin your professional relationship with the company. Sometimes it's about keeping the ties and being thankful even if you are still not accepting the post.

Melinda Edwards works as a career consultant and has been invited in many forums and events on human resource management. She is also a time management expert who effectively performs her roles both as a career woman and a mother.

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Why Shouldn't I Start A Resume Without A Specific Job Goal?

As a resume writer, I speak to a number of people. Most of them know what kind of job they are seeking. Every so often, however, I encounter someone different. The exchange generally goes like this:

ME: "What job are you seeking?"

CLIENT: "I don't know. At this point, I'll take anything."

ME: "That's not a good way to go about writing a resume. You really need to focus on some kind of job in order to be successful."

CLIENT: "But I don't know what kind of job I want. Can't you just write me a resume anyway?"

If the conversation persists like this, I explain to the client that if they don't know what they want, I can't ethically take money from them, because they're asking me to write a resume that I know will fail. I know this because I know how employers think, and what they want to see in a resume.

There's a fundamental reason why employers don't want to see resumes without clear job goals: If you write a directionless resume, you are asking the employer to tell you what kind of job you should have. That's not up to the employer, that's up to you. An employer reads a resume with just one question in mind: "What's in it for me?" If your resume doesn't answer that question, the employer has a whole stack of resumes stretching halfway to the ceiling, from candidates who will.

That alone is something I believe people forget: competition. When you submit your resume to an employer, you are one of approximately 400 candidates jockeying for a single job. It's hard enough to get the employer to read your resume, even if it's perfect. If you come across as directionless, that employer will toss your resume into the circular file.

"So," you ask, "how do I decide what I want to do before I write my resume?" One method would be to consider the jobs you've had previously and eliminate the ones you wouldn't take again on a bet. Then consider your strengths, the things you've accomplished outside of work, the activities you enjoy doing. Is there some way you could find a job doing one of them? Ask yourself if there's something you love to do so much that you'd do it without pay.

If those methods fail, there are books on the subject, prime among them What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles. You won't go wrong with that one. There's also one called I Don't Know What I Want But I Know It's Not This by Julie Jansen. Each of these can be found on Amazon, Barnes&Noble.com, or any other online bookstore. Read them. Learn from them.

Just don't send out an "I'll take anything" resume.

Jack Mulcahy has written hundreds of resumes for people from all walks of life. Each resume he writes shows the unique selling proposition so necessary to market the job seeker. To learn more about Jack and how he can work to help your resume gain interviews, visit his website at http://www.resumesbyjack.com/.

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Choosing A Professional Resume Writer - Get a Great Resume Without Breaking the Bank

The job market these days is tough. This is definitely no secret - all you need to do is turn on the news to see how badly the economy is doing. While we have gotten a little bit better from when the economy crashed in 2008, the job market is still very competitive, and everybody is looking for an edge in the market. If you've tried looking for a job recently, you know how difficult it can be!

One of the most important things to have in hand during the job search is a solid resume. The resume is the ticket to the job interview - but the problem is that for any position that opens up, a beleaguered human resources employee is likely digging through through hundreds of different resumes. If you want to land the coveted interview, you'll need to have a resume that stands out from the rest of the crowd.

The problem is that many people do not know how to appropriately represent themselves on a resume. There are thousands among the unemployed who are perfectly qualified for jobs, but their resumes simply do not represent them as well as they could. If you have a good resume in hand, you'll have a leg up on the competition.

Of course, crafting a resume that is both visually appealing and informational can be a problem. It's not all about putting as much information on a piece of paper as you can - much of it is about organization and arranging the information in a way that looks pleasing. Many professional resume writers say that the blank space on a resume is just as important as the actual information!

The art of a good resume is equal parts information and creativity, as well as a bit of spatial reasoning. You need to be able to represent yourself on paper in a way that makes tired human resource workers take note. If your resume is one out of a thousand, you need all the help that you can get to make that resume the one that gets the interview! If your resume is forgettable, then you can forget about landing that dream job.

Essentially, getting a good resume is easier said than done. Assuming that you don't have all day to sit around and worry about white space, you might need a little bit of extra help along the way. Anybody is capable of writing their own resume, but the fact of the matter is that there are some people who are more skilled at writing resumes than others. In fact, there are a legion of individuals out there who make their living by helping others write their resumes!

These people are called professional resume writers, and employing one to help you make your resume the best that it can be might be the best investment that you can make. After all, if spending 50 dollars on making your resume look the best it can be is the difference between landing the interview and not, it's 50 dollars well spent in this poor economy.

Of course, the issue at hand is finding the right professional resume writer for you. Not all professional resume writers are created equal - and just because a certain resume writer is skilled does not mean that they will necessarily be the right choice for you.

So how do you choose the right resume writer? Try these tips.

What job market are you trying for? There are resume writers who specialize in writing corporate resumes, and others who do more in the creative realm. No matter what kind of job market that you're looking to hit, there's a professional resume writer that specializes in that area. Obviously, if you're trying to write a resume as a photographer, you'll probably want to avoid the professional resume writers that generally work with CEOs!

Do you need a resume or a CV? Depending on the job market that you are working for, you might need one, the other, or both. Resumes are, by rule, no longer than a page. A CV tends to detail your entire experience in a certain area, and thus is longer. There are professional resume writers who work with those wanting resumes, and those who want CVs. There are also some professional resume writers that work with both.

How long have they been working in the business? Generally speaking, the professional resume writers who have been in the business the longest will be the most familiar with the process, but the more experienced that the writer is, the more that they charge. Just because a professional resume writer is just getting started does not mean that the services they offer are inferior. Just be sure to do your research beforehand and budget appropriately!

Freelance or company? There are professional resume writers who work as freelancers, and those who are part of a company. There are pros and cons to each side, but there is something to be said for working with a company since you are guaranteed a higher standard of work, but the companies do tend to be a little bit more expensive. Freelancers can be more hit and miss in nature, but can also be cheaper. If you find a good freelance resume writer, you can get the best of both worlds. Again, careful research is the key.

Professional resume writers are a great investment in tough economic times. If you're looking to hire a professional resume writer, a good place to start looking is on the Internet. Many sites allow you to read reviews of resume writers and see which ones will suit your needs best.

Good luck in the search for a professional resume writer. Once you get that interview and get on the job, you'll realize that working with a professional writer might have been one of the best investments of your professional life!

Jason Kay is a professional resume writer and contributor to career magazines and websites such as JobGoRound.com, which provides a wealth of career advice.

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Send the Resume With or Without a Cover Letter?

There are tons of people that struggle with this question! If you find yourself in this predicament, do not feel too bad about it! We are going to let it known whether it's smart or not to send the resume with or without a cover letter!

Okay, imagine you are trying to interview and read over tons of letters, resumes, that are coming in through fax, through the internet, or even through mail. You are reading the resume's, and they have absolutely nothing on there.

They do not state an objective, they do not have a point. Not only that, but you haven't had your coffee yet, you're really annoyed right now because you do not feel like working after a 3 day weekend on a Tuesday morning, but you have to. Or even a Monday morning, who feels like working on a Monday morning?

Well, how many of these resumes are we really going to read through? We are probably going to dump some of these aside - I'm getting paid by the hour, not by the resume. So that's one thing to consider.

The cover letter are pretty nice addition, people who give this in addition to their resumes are pretty legit in the eyes of clerks who read this. Also, if you submit it directly to the person, you will have an even better shot.

That's why you want to make sure that you submit the very best cover letter that you can do. You want to take the time to prepare the covering letter, and you can go to some of these websites all around the internet, as they will help you out as well!

One thing that you should never do in this world today is to just blend in with the crowd; or in this case, just send your resume without the covering letter. The cover letter does not have to be fancy either, it just has to give off some main points including position you are going for, accomplishments, things of that nature.

It does not have to be extended, just brief, written, concise and straight to the point. If you have an employment gap, the cover letter can be written so strongly that the employers and clerks ignore it!

You have to do it for the specific job as well, it's not so much one size fits all in this situation! You want to make sure that you are reading the position description and making sure it fits the particular job!

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