Are you passionate to enter the recruitment industry, but despite your best efforts you cannot seem to secure an interview? 

Are you applying and applying and applying and - even when you thought it wasn't physically possible to carry on – applying some more, but you never get a phone call? 

Do you have all your work experience displayed on your resume and you KNOW in you heart of hearts that you have the skills and experience to be a successful recruiter, but nobody else seems to agree??

What is going on?!

Whether you are considering a new career in recruitment or maybe you've previously worked in the recruitment industry and are looking at returning, there are some very important factors you need to seriously consider when choosing which company to work for.

Hours spent filling in applications between tasks at work, sneaking out of the office to speak with agencies about my employment needs, attending numerous interviews disguised as 'Doctor's Appointments', completing computer tests until I developed arthritis in my fingers, the rejection phone calls that made me wonder if I would ever work again and whether or not my future was going to be as exciting as the B Grade midday cooking shows that were slowly becoming a part of my daily routine…

Was I ever going to find a consultancy with a difference?

Before you even start to prepare your resume for a prospective employer, you too must think the same way and address the following.

·What key qualifications will the employer be looking for?

·What qualifications will be most important to them that you possess?

·Which of these are your greatest strengths?

·What are the highlights of your career to date that should be emphasised?

·What should be de-emphasised?

·What things about you and your background make you stand out?

·What are your strongest areas of skill and expertise? Knowledge? Experience?

·What are some other skills you possess--perhaps more auxiliary skills?

·What are characteristics you possess that make you a strong candidate? (Things like "innovative, hard-working, strong interpersonal skills, ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously under tight deadlines")

·What are the three or four things you feel have been your greatest accomplishments?

·What was produced as a result of your greatest accomplishments?

·Can you quantify the results you produced in numerical or other specific terms?

·What were the two or three accomplishments of that particular job?

·What were the key skills you used in that job? What did you do in each of those skill areas?

·What sorts of results are particularly impressive to people in your field?

·What results have you produced in these areas?

·What are the "buzz words" that people in your field expect you to use in lieu of a secret club handshake, which should be included in your resume?

Interview yourself and get the fodder for your resume. Each job application you write should have a different resume that focuses on the prospective employers needs, not your own.