Thursday, November 28, 2019

How to List Skills on a Resume Skills Section [3 Easy Steps]

How to List Skills on a Resume Skills Section 3 Easy Steps How to List Skills on a Resume Skills Section 3 Easy Steps Resume Skills Section How to List Skills on Your ResumeNot sure what the skills section of a resume looks like, or how to put one together? Dont sweat it - our resume skills section guide plus professional examples will clear things up.Regardless of your preferred resume format, experience level, or even industry, you should include a skills section on your resume. However, if you put yours together carelessly, it will waste the hiring managers time (and hurt your chances of getting hired).The three keys to writing an effective resume skills section areknowing how to list skills that impress employerschoosing the fruchtwein suitable skills section format for you as a job seekerunderstanding exactly what to put in your skills sectionIf you cover behauptung three areas, your chances of landing mora interviews immediately increases.This page focuses specifically on the skills section of a resume. If youre looking for a list of resume skills, articles focused on hard skills or soft skills, or even a guide that discusses hard skills vs soft skills, youre on the wrong page. If you want to know everything there is to know about a resume skills section, however, read on for answers to your most pressing questions.1. How to List Skills on a Resume Skills Section (3 Steps)Getting abfluged is often the hardest part when it comes to writing a resume. Follow these three steps and the skills section of your resume will start to shape up quickly.Step 1 Write Down Your Most Marketable AbilitiesEvery job seeker is equipped with a distinct set of marketable skills. Making a physical list of your skills and then deciding which ones are relevant to the job you want will help you create the best resume skills section possible.Some of your top work-related abilities are learned in school, others are mastered on the job, and sometimes theyre even picked up through ex tracurricular activities or independent study. There are also skills more inherent to your own personality (known as soft skills) that you can list on your resume to help round out your skills section.Write down every skill you possess in a Google doc (dont worry if the list is small, we all have to start somewhere). Then, organize them into hard and soft skills. A combination of these skills should be put in the skills section of your resume.Step 2 Cut All Non-Relevant SkillsWhich skills you end up listing on your resume depends on where youre applying. If you want to work at a bank, your time management skills and ability to handle numbers should be on full display. However, if youre an aspiring yoga instructor, you have no reason to mention math anywhere on your application - and should instead focus on certifications and teaching-related soft skills.Once youve narrowed down your list to only skills related to your target job, youre much closer to creating a good skills section. Step 3 Pair With the Job DescriptionTo truly create a home-run resume skills section, you want to put in skills that areRelevant to the positionTouched upon in the job descriptionWhile job descriptions sometimes explicitly mention skills that are required and/or preferred, there is usually more to gather if you read between the lines. Take this 5th grade science teacher job listing, for instance (yellow highlights denote soft skills, and orange signals hard skills)While not all listings will be this detailed, you can always figure out what the hiring manager is truly seeking from job seekers if you look close enough - particularly when it comes to desirable soft skills.Adapt teaching methods and instructional materials? Adaptability.Resolve students behavioral and academic problems? Conflict Resolution.Enforce rules for behavior and Enforce administration policies? Classroom Management.Communicate objectives to students? Communication skills.Some of your skills will exactly match t he ones on the job description, and others will be loosely related (stretching the truth a little bit is fine, but dont lie). Its okay if you end up with more matching hard skills than soft skills or vice versa, since everyone has a different background and skill-set.If you have an abundance of both hard and soft skills, let your industry dictate the content of your resume skills section. For instance, jobs like engineering require a significant number of technical skills to perform, and technical skills tend to be hard skills.By contrast, if youre a bartender, youll need to have well-rounded interpersonal skills to deal with customers and colleagues. In this case, soft skills should be featured in your resume skills section (except for the variety of delicious cocktails you know how to make - definitely display those hard skills).2. How Many Skills You Should List on Your ResumeHow many skills you end up putting on your resume depends primarily on you. If youve built up an impress ive number of work-relevant skills throughout your career, its in your best interest to spread them across your resume in places like your work experience section and resume introduction.With that said, your resumes skills section has a limited amount of space. Each skill you list on it should pack a punch, or else your application will fall flat.There are three types of skills sections job seekers employ to highlight their key marketable abilities, and the type you choose will determine how many skills you list.Three Types of Resume Skills SectionsThe three primary types of resume skills sections are theAdditional Skills SectionTechnical Skills SectionRelevant Skills SectionAdditional Skills Section (Examples + Who Should Use)An Additional Skills section (or Skills section) is a standard component of a resume. Hiring managers expect it, and it can be found on most resume templates you see online.However, the additional skills section should never be placed at the front and center o f your document.In most cases, your work experience is more marketable than your skills. Since you can use your experience section to quantifiably show off your skills anyway, featuring it makes the most sense.Although this is the case, dont neglect your additional skills section. You still have room to put down anywhere from three to eight or nine relevant skills and abilities there, and each one can help make a stronger case as to why youre the perfect hire.If you work in a position listed below (or are aiming for such a job), youll likely want to use an additional skills section in your resume.You can examine some additional skills resume examples hereAdministrative AssistantService Industry Gigs (Bartender, Server, Retail Sales Associate, etc.)CashierDental AssistantSocial WorkerConstruction WorkerHuman Resources (HR)Technical Skills Section (Example + Who Should Use)If your skill-set is more important to the job than your work experience, then having a dedicated Technical Skill s section on your resume is an effective way to impress hiring managers.Check out the following example to get an idea of how this might look for youSince IT work demands a special set of abilities, this IT-industry applicant begins his resume by listing key technical skills at the top.He also breaks them down into core areas, which helps organize what would otherwise be an extensive list into easy-to-digest chunks of skills for the hiring manager to read.Industries where a technical resume skills section may work better than an additional skills section include the followingInformation TechnologyGraphic DesignManufacturingTechnical WritingEngineeringHuman Resources (HR)Executive Level Positions, like CEOabsatzwirtschaft (experienced or manager-level)Relevant Skills Section (Examples + Who Should Use)The brde type of resume skills section is most useful if youre using a functional resume, and would like to downplay your work experience for any reason.Known as the Relevant Skills sec tion, this format allows you to elaborate on how past achievements and work have helped you hone specific skills. Check out this substitute teacher resume sample to see this in actionAs you can see, a relevant skills section operates similarly to a work experience section, but simultaneously allows you to avoid mentioning specific dates and job titles (great if you have employment gaps). Plus, it gives you the chance to elaborate and prove your core work skills, whereas a standard skills section doesnt have the necessary space.3. What to Put in the Skills Section of a ResumeStill not entirely sure how to fill out the skills section of your resume? Try the following out for size1. Universally Useful SkillsWhile some skills are specific to certain industries, many are transferable. Such abilities can help you bolster your resume skills section in the event yours is looking thin.Hard Universal Skills (Microsoft, Languages, More)Youd be surprised by the number of people who want to kno w how to list Microsoft skills on their resume. Thats because many companies have made using Microsoft Office Suite a fundamental part of their employees daily routine.In addition to listing the various Microsoft skills youve mastered onto your resume, you should also consider employing some of these other key universal hard skillsLanguage fluency (Spanish is a great asset in the US, Mandarin Chinese is important for business, and many languages will be useful depending on your industry and where you are located)Computer skills (G Suite, Microsoft Office 365, HTML, cloud management)Writing (technical writing, copywriting, blogging)Spreadsheets (creating pivot tables on Excel, organizing and setting filters on Google Sheets)Marketing (Search Engine Optimization, Google AdWords, Google Analytics)Soft SkillsRegardless of your industry, most soft skills are transferable. This is why you should cultivate them during your time at every company.Time management, communication, interpersonal skills - all of these and more can be honed and developed in any job, and can be conveyed on a resume and in interviews.Some key universal soft skills includeLeadership Skills (conflict resolution, delegation, problem solving)Organizational Skills (goal setting, dependability, scheduling)Customer Service Skills (patience, empathy, adaptability)Management Skills (forecasting, public speaking, mentoring)2. Industry-Specific SkillsWeve taught you how to analyze a job description and locate skills you can include on your resume, but sometimes those skills may not be descriptive enough. Thats when a little research into your target company can go a long way.Find + Absorb a Companys Mission StatementTake a close look at the website of your target company to learn more about them. See what products theyre offering, explore their About Us page, and try to learn what makes them tick.Most companies also have career pages where they deutsche bundespost positions they need filled, and sometim es those pages have mission statements that highlight their core values, as well as what they look for in employees. Take Nike, for instance.If you found a job listing on Indeed.com for Nike, you would have missed the major insight provided by their careers page (which includes the word innovation three times, by the way). From this short note about what Nike does, you can see they are looking for someone who isDrivenPassionateCreativeCapable in design or codingInnovativeLook at Job Descriptions of Other CompaniesSome companies do a great job creating an online presence - having highly visible, aesthetically pleasing websites, blogs with useful content, and frequently updated career pages with vivid job listings. Others fall a bit short.Checking out job descriptions posted by other businesses in your industry is a good way to find additional hard and soft skills for your resume skills section, especially when your target companys listings are lacking.Two nurse auditor positions, tw o very different job descriptions.Pay Attention to Skills Listed by Employees on LinkedInSimilar to website research, look for people employed in your target industry (or even job) on LinkedIn, and read their LinkedIn summary.Lets say you were applying for an open Digital Marketing Director role.Heres an example of a digital marketing director I discovered on LinkedIn at random. Immediately, you can see some core industry-related skills youd put into your skills sectionContent creationLink buildingOutreachKeyword researchWordPressLeadershipCreativityConclusionPutting together the skills section of your resume will set the tone for the rest of your application. Whether youre building a robust technical skills section or simply peppering a few key abilities into your additional skills section, taking the time to do it right will ultimately aid you in your quest to find fulfilling work.Ready to build your resume? Theres no time like the present. Or do you have any hot tips for creating a resume skills section? Our readers would love to know - leave a comment below

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Tips for Quality Monitoring in Call Centers

Tips for Quality Monitoring in Call CentersTips for Quality Monitoring in Call CentersCompanies invest large sums of money in call centers, so they want to make sure they are operating as effectively as possible and that customers are satisfied with the speed and quality of service they receive. They do this through quality monitoring of the call centers and their employees. The majority of behauptung facilities with dedicated equipment and staff respond to incoming calls, but some make outgoing sales calls. The incoming call centers also handle sales calls but are also used forcustomer serviceand customer support. If you purchase a product or service from a large company, or if you need help with that product, you will most likely deal with acustomer service representativeat a call center. These call center agents are often the face of the company to its customers. What Quality Call Center Monitoring Is Call center managers monitor call centers with respect to performance and to quality, settingKey Performance Indicator (KPI)metrics for them. Performance issues include metrics like how quickly the caller can reach a call center and how quickly they can reach an agent, how quickly their issue can be resolved and the call closed, and how long they wait on hold during a call. These metrics are typically measured by an Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) phone ordnungsprinzip and are discussed elsewhere. Quality issues that call center managers set KPI metrics for include agent courtesy and ability to follow procedures. These are typically measured by call center quality monitoring programs, explained in detail below. The Importance of Call Center Quality Monitoring Most call center quality monitoring is done by people rather than software. Speech recognition software is improving but has not yet reached the point where it is preferred over human monitors. Some companies set up their call centers without including a quality monitoring program. This is short-s ighted. The information captured by the metrics of a call center monitoring program is essential to the cost-effective operation of the call center and the capturing of vitalcustomer feedbackon quality, performance, and service. Benefits of Hiring an Outside Firm for Call Center Quality Monitoring A company has to decide whether to monitor the quality performance of their call center representatives using their own staff or hiring an outside firm to do it. Even when a company has an internal Quality Department to supplement the team managers in the call center, it is preferable to hire a third-party firm to do quality monitoring. This outside monitoring provides additional data that the team managers just dont have the time to produce. An outside firm doing the quality monitoring of your call center is preferred because the outside firm is perceived as mora objective for the following three reasons 1. Objectivity When monitoring is done by an internal quality group or team leade r, call center representatives wonder whether the score they receive from that company member might be biased by other interactions within the company. They worry, for example, that the quality monitor might give them lower marks because of the disagreement they had in the lunch room last week, or that their supervisor has favorites to whom he or she gives higher marks. When the monitoring and grading are done by anonymous outsiders, none of those possible biases influence the scores. 2. Speed When supervisors are responsible for monitoring calls their employees take, they often monitor as few as two or three calls a month. An outside quality monitoring firm is able to meetservice level agreements(SLA) that monitor four to eight calls per employee each week. This produces more accurate metrics more quickly. 3. Perspective An outside firm can often provide insight into the underlying issues and problems the quality monitoring reveals that the internal quality team cant see because t hey are too close to the problems. How to Start the Call Center Quality Monitoring Process Develop a scorecard that will be used to measure the subjectivemetrics, such as customer courtesy. Make sure you get input from all stakeholders, including the employees who will be handling the calls.Listen to the calls. Typically they are recorded in case there is any difference of opinion on the scoring, or to reinforce training points. The quality monitor can listen to the calls live as they happen, or later.Score the call based on the scorecard developed at the beginning of the program. These scores are then made available to the company management to see if they are meeting their goals and to then take appropriate action. Data analysis of scores tells management how well they are doing, whats going well, and where further training is needed. It can also highlight where changes need to be made to the scripts sales teams follow or to the procedures the service team uses. Done right, it provides excellent information on the Voice of the Customer that is critical to the companyscustomer satisfaction program.Select a sample of calls to use to calibrate your scoring. Everyone involved in scoring needs to periodically evaluate the same call and compare scores to make sure scoring is standardized. Bottom Line Takeaway for Quality Monitoring in Call Centers By monitoring a statistically significant number of calls, scoring them against a calibrated scorecard, and providing those data to everyone involved, a company can maximize the value of its call center and call center employees.

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Sexual Harassment Is Unacceptable, Regardless of Gender

Sexual Harassment Is Unacceptable, Regardless of GenderSexual Harassment Is Unacceptable, Regardless of Gender Can a female boss be found guilty of sexually harassing a young male employee? Can a gay man be successfully sued for sexually harassing his gay male subordinate? Can a woman sexually harass aelendher woman?The answer to all of these questions is a resounding yes. It may seem obvious to some that harassment is harassment is harassment, but just a few short years ago, many workplaces and even courts routinely disregarded or dismissed such complaints, considering them unlikely, impossible or not worthy of serious attention.Fortunately, cultural shifts are bringing the justice system into line with the fact that anyone can be a harasser or a victim. In 1993, attorney V. James DeSimone made a historic win when he successfully argued that his client, Wayne Mogilefsky, was being sexually harassed by his boss Michael Levy. Prior to that landmark case, the only pub lished decision in a male-on-male sexual harassment case dismissed it as horseplay. DeSimones case became a crucial step in paving the way for a 2013 California law recognizing that sexual harassment could in fact take place between persons of the same sex.Yet as recently as 2016, that idea hadnt fully gained traction, even in such bastions of gay rights as West Hollywood, Calif., where then-mayor John Duran faced a male-on-male sexual harassment lawsuit that the city paid $500,000 to settle. His re-election soon after the settlement prompted the Los Angeles Times to observe that West Hollywood, for many, seemed to be the town that MeToo forgot.But in 2019, as Duran faced new allegations of sexual harassment by members of the Gay Mens Chorus of Los Angeles, fed-up residents began calling for his ouster proof that change can eventually make it everywhere.As an employment attorney for nearly 15 years, I used to represent larger firms where management didnt believe harassment could ex ist outside of the stereotypical male superior/female subordinate dynamic. Now, especially in light of the MeToo movements urgings that we view sexual harassment with the utmost seriousness, employers have begun to change their tune. Ive represented hundreds of employers, from small shops to Fortune 500 firms, and Ive seen first hand how views have shifted.No matter who the players in a sexual harassment matter may be, as an attorney, I give the same advice to all clients Write down what happened, what was said, where it was said, and who witnessed it. The typical cases come down to the proverbial he-said-she-said scenario no matter the genders involved so the better prepared you are, with more anecdotal evidence, recorded as soon as possible after an incident occurs, when memories are fresh the stronger your case.If you are in a public or shared area of your workspace, where there is not a reasonable expectation of privacy, you might consider recording a conversation. But this c an get tricky legally, and in many states, its not legal to record phone conversations without the consent of both parties. Thats why email is my preferred method of documentation, especially since it includes a date stamp.Once you do so, the company has a duty to investigate, and it cannot legally retaliate against the complainant.Sadly, despite the law, many employers do attempt to retaliate against a complaining employee through suspensions, demotions, and even termination. Its not uncommon for someone who makes a harassment complaint to suddenly find themselves hit with bogus write-ups and worse. If an employee has a clean past employment record of disciplinary history, with promotions or raises, that history can serve as evidence that an employer is trying to retaliate against a whistleblower.Even though headline-grabbing stories like the Harvey Weinstein case focus on female subordinates harassed by male superiors, in my courtroom experience, todays jurors, especially younge r ones, understand that anyone can be harassed. Everyone is much more aware than they were even five years ago that these issues arent limited by gender or sexual orientation, and that people should be treated the same and afforded the same rights.Raymond Babaian is the founding partner of Valiant Law . During his nearly 15 years in practice, he has gained expertise in litigation of employment, general liability, class action, construction, products, and general business litigation matters. He has written volumes of employment handbooks, construction and real estate disclosures and agreements, and general business contracts aimed to fully protect his clients.