Greystone Resource Solutions

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24/06/2016

Well exactly !!!

11/05/2015

Software development at a complex level in accordance with specifications and agreed timescales Responsibilities: Research and define new architectures, patterns and best practice for the system Design of Service components and associated testing based on functional specifications Act as a mentor to…

25/01/2015

10/06/2014

MOST COMMON MISTAKES ON RESUMES:
If a recruiter sees one spelling or grammatical error on a resume it will be thrown into the trash.
Survey conducted last year of more than 2,000 hiring managers and HR professionals. The study asked them to name the “most common and most outrageous real-life resume mistakes they see.”

Most common mistakes
•Resumes with typos
•Candidate has an inappropriate, non-professional-sounding email address
•Resumes with missing information—no dates of employment, no list of skills
•Resumes are too generic, not tailored for the position
•Resumes that copy/paste text from the job ad
•Resumes printed on decorative paper
•Resumes that are too long or too short
•1 in 3 Employers reject you due to something they found online which is not mentioned in your resume

Most outrageous
•Resume was written entirely in the Star Trek language of Klingon
•Resume used text-speak — the letter “u” instead of the word “you”
•Under objective the candidate wrote “To work for someone who is not an alcoholic with three DUI’s like my current employer”
•Candidate neglected to include his/her name in the resume
•Resume included baby pictures of the candidate
•Resume included jail term served for assaulting former boss

While the above “outrageous resume examples” may sound amusing and unbelievable, having your resume rejected because of errors is certainly believable—and missing out on a potential job opportunity is no laughing matter.

The most common mistakes on a resume would be, believe it or not, the small details. Not so much what is on a resume, per say. For example, an extra space where it is not needed, a period after the month, abbreviation in one place and not another. Many employers look at the small details to make sure you actually put time and effort into a resume. If you say you pay attention to detail and then you have a three-letter month abbreviation in one place and a four-letter month abbreviation in another, the employer will wonder how you did not catch the discrepancy.

The latest trends in resume writing would have to be design. If you are a job seeker looking to have your resume stand out amongst the rest, your resume should not be a plain bold name here, or bold title there. Rather, consider using a template that you can purchase online or contacting your alma mater and asking for some templates. Making your resume stand out from the pack is always beneficial.

Now, there are wrong ways and right ways to “stand out”. Highlight your skills, minimize gaps in employment and wow them with your summary of qualifications. Remember to ask for a critique of your resume. You very well may miss a detail or a critical spelling error.

10/05/2014

Slacking on your cover letter? I wouldn’t hire you.
I recently looked for a new manager-level hire. I got over 100 résumés indicating a great deal of interests but I was shocked to see that over 90% did not have a cover letter, and some cover letters were addressed to a wrong person. People often complain that they never hear back from the companies they apply to, and this may be one of the reasons why.

A cover letter is like a sales proposal; it’s an opportunity for you to pitch your services and to connect your “unique value proposition” to the needs of a company. It’s also a piece of personal marketing – you never know who will read it, and where that person will work next – your paths may converge in the future and it’s worth an investment to make a good impression now. Even if your résumé is not an exact match for the job, it’s a chance to convince someone you’re worth looking at regardless.

Like any well-constructed, well thought-out sales proposal, it has to have certain elements to be effective. I have read many poor cover letters over the years – letters that were vague, generic, and full of clichés, or that failed to connect the dots in a way that is convincing or at least intriguing. Like clients feel with ineffective sales proposals, when reading a poorly written cover letter it’s hard not to think “Why should I care? How are you going to help the company get where we need to go?” Cover letters are about you, but it’s about you only in relation to the needs of the company that is hiring, and it’s up to you to build that positioning framework.

Demonstrate passion or interest in what the company is all about

Share what attracts you to the company and why you would love to join the team – show that this is not just “another job application” for you and that you relate, or care, for the mission and vision, or services or products the company is delivering.

Demonstrate specific knowledge of the company

It’s easy to do the research today on the company, leadership, employees, strategy, success or challenges, and the competition. Demonstrate that you have done some research and try to connect your background, attitude, or skill-set with where the company needs to go or the challenges it needs to address. You need to position yourself as a person who will add value to the future success of the team – this should be in the opening paragraph. “With the increasing competition company X is facing, my track record in operating in a fiercely competitive environment while at Y will strengthen the team’s ability to compete successfully. “My collaborative leadership style as demonstrated through X will help you build a culture of collaboration which is one of your stated goals for the upcoming year”. Make that connection!

Make specific links between role requirements and your experience.

After the broader positioning, it is so very important to go a bit deeper and connect your background, skills, knowledge, and attitude with specific requirements of the role that would have been stated in a job posting. If there are too many, choose a couple and focus on them. If your résumé is not perfect for the job, draw from academic, personal or extra-curricular and volunteering experiences. The key here is to assert that you are a match for what’s required.

Finish with confidence.

It’s good to summarize your unique value proposition at the end – to reinforce a key point of what you bring to the table.

It is essential to finish with confident and specific “next step” statement. You should express certainty and confidence with your last sentence – “I look forward to discussing how my skill set is relevant in an interview…”

Naturally, make sure there are no grammar mistakes – one thing that I see so often is confusion between “its” and “it’s” - it’s worth having someone look at your letter and copyedit it.

Keep it brief.

Finally – a cover letter shouldn’t be longer than a page. It’s hard to write succinctly and articulate your key points in a few paragraphs, but it’s worth taking the time to do it.

31/03/2014

In our experience, there are really only 3 questions you have to prepare for and you can link most of the interview questions back to these three. Preparing for these three questions also means you can answer most questions more naturally, simply by referring mentally back to your preparations for these three questions.
Basically, any interviewer wants to establish 3 key things:
1. Have you got the skills, expertise and experience to perform the job?
2. Are you enthusiastic and interested in the job and the company?
3. Will you fit into the team, culture and company?
During the interview, the interviewer might use many different questions and angles to get to the answers. If the interviewer doesn’t get what he or she wants from one question, they might ask them in different ways. Or they might probe from different angles to test for consistency in your answers.