Take a few minutes to look around our Website to find out more about the program and the position. This will help you to decide whether it’s a good match for your experience, skills, and interests.
Send your resume by email. 98% of all our resumes now come by email. Fax is a distant second – okay, but not as polished. Third choice is snail mail. Do NOT hand deliver resumes – People unexpectedly arriving with resumes do not get the anticipated foot-in-the-door interview; all we get is an unexpected interruption, attending to your resume when it’s convenient for you, not us.
Know what position you are applying for and put that in the email subject line.
Your “cover letter” can be the text of your email, the first page of your resume, or combined with your resume as a separate word.doc or pdf file. If your “cover letter” is in the body of the email, we will print it and attach it to your resume. Your email text can serve the purpose of the cover letter: to introduce yourself, express your interest in the position, and highlight relevant information.
Use one of the standard email fonts. Don’t use unusual fonts, formatting, or colored backgrounds. The same is generally true for the resume. Pleasant, easy to read, uncluttered fonts and format makes a resume inviting and readable.
You can send your resume through the contact us form on our website. Send your resume as a word.doc or pdf attachment. Give it a file name that includes your name, not our name (i.e. not “mapletreeresume.doc”, and not “resume.doc.”) Here’s why: When your resume is downloaded by HR personnel, it will be saved by the file name you give it in our computer directory. When resumes are sent as “socialservicesresume.doc” we have to give the file a new name that uniquely identifies it as yours before we download it. That takes us extra time, if it’s done at all. If your resume has your name in the file name we can find it again; if not, we may not. So be sure the word.doc or pdf file name includesyour name, not our name. Suggested file name format: JoshuaWilson2014Resume.doc
Resumes should be no longer than two pages. Honestly, resumes that are too long seldom get read. But it’s also hard to get everything you’ve done on one page, (without little tiny print or over filling the page). A two-page resume is ideal. Highlight Education, Employment-Experience, and some creative heading(s) to showcase personal accomplishments, achievements, skills, attributes, memberships, etc. Before you do a final “save” on your resume, make sure you have eliminated any blank pages at the end. Hint: Delete all the blank lines/spaces on the blank page. If MS Word won’t suck up the last page, change the top and/or bottom margins on the previous page(s) until Word absorbs the “empty formatting” on the last (blank) page.
References are not necessary on a resume. It is, however, a good idea to bring references to the interview. Have a nicely printed list of three or four (total) personal and professional references, in case you’re asked. Put your name and contact information at the top. Identify how you know them, and provide a name, business or relationship, address, phone number(s), and email address for each contact. Indicate whether they are a personal reference or a professional reference. Ask your references in advance if you can use them as a reference.
Visit the Website and find out as much as you can about the program and the position before arriving for the interview. This will allow you to come to the interview prepared and knowledgeable about the program and the position. That allows more time for you to showcase your qualifications, ask questions that aren’t answered on the Website, and talk about how the job is a good match for your skills and interests. Note: it’s painfully easy for us to identify, early in the interview, which candidates have not taken time to review readily available information about the program or the position. Know which position you are applying for!
Find out where the interview is so you don’t have to call for directions at the last minute.
A good resume doesn’t get you a job;
it gets you an interview.
A good interview gets you a job.