A person who has been working as an office clerk or administrative assistant for many years may be having no luck getting a better position and not understand why. This individual can benefit from Job Search Assistance Programs that provide a variety of services to boost the effectiveness of the search. An organization that provides career coaching may help with resume writing, networking, becoming active on career-related social media sites and more.
This person’s resume may currently not really explain his or her strengths. It might simply have a list of job duties along with education credentials. A resume that emphasizes accomplishments instead of just routine tasks is more intriguing to an employer.
An administrative assistant might wonder what is actually accomplished in this job other than those tasks. The career coach teaches this person to emphasize aspects such as meeting deadlines, keeping the office running smoothly and making sure invoices are paid on time. Often, this job actually involves office management, even if the employer has not seen fit to give the position that title. Job Search Assistance Programs help clients view their current and previous work positions in a different light. An organization such as Career Directions shows various ways that this person can list routine tasks from the vantage point of what those tasks accomplish for the office.
The clients also can participate in practice sessions that hone their interviewing skills. It’s always disappointing when a prospective employer likes a resume but doesn’t respond well to the candidate in person. Again, this can be primarily a matter of which aspects to emphasize. Human resource managers and other interviewers commonly ask questions about the person’s weaknesses on the job, for example. That type of question can be a landmine. It’s not a good idea to talk about mistakes made on the job. Instead, look at a weakness that actually may be a strength. For instance, the candidate might mention that slow times at work tend to be boring and that he or she prefers to be busy all the time while on the job. Employers find this to be a positive statement.
