Quick and Easy Tips On Resume Categories

VISUAL APPEALMake it attractive and organized by being consistent! Be sure to use tabs instead of spacing. Each element should be presented the identical way from section to section. For example, if you center and bold a heading, center and bold all of your headings. If you indent your experience under an employer, do the same for the rest. If you use just the years for a position held, do not use months for the other positions. If you skip one line between two sections, skip only one line between all sections. When you are done, examine the format. Does it look uniformed?Many job seekers make the mistake of creating a simple, hard-to-read heading or “Resume Letterhead.” To start your resume off right, bold and capitalize your name and make it at least a 16-point font size. Place your address in an interesting way. For example. break the address up on either side of the name, placed in the center, and add a line to separate the name and address from the body of the resume.FOCUSIndicate your objective so the reader doesn’t have to guess. Instead of using an objective statement that really doesn’t say anything specific, place an objective title in its place, all caps and bold. Or:(wrong) OBJECTIVE: Seeking to secure a growth-oriented position utilizing my experience and education.(right) OBJECTIVE: Customer service representative with five years of experience in automotive manufacturing seeking a sales position with a major auto dealership.QUALIFICATIONSList several key qualifications (hard skills) that match the requirements of a position. This could include length of experience, type of experience (i.e. sales, customer service, technical expertise, licenses, certifications, and degree).PERSONAL ATTRIBUTESSparingly list soft skills and personality traits well suited for the position. This should not be confused with qualifications. This could include strong communication skills used as a group presenter, excellent time management skills, people-oriented, project-oriented, team leadership, problem solving skills, mathematical aptitude, confidentiality, patient advocate, etc.EXPERIENCEProvide a presentation of where you worked, in what positions, and for how long. Convey what the positions were about and what your main responsibilities were. Take into consideration who you reported to, if you supervised and trained anyone, who your customers were, how you interacted with them, what type of projects you worked on, if you handled monies or managed budgets, if you utilized the computer to retrieve and update information, etc.SKILLSIf you possess certain technical skills such as patient care, computer systems, automotive repair, scientific R&D, etc., be sure to emphasize it in a situational way to show the reader how you used these skills. If you have extensive computer skills, be sure to create a separate category called Technical Expertise.ACCOMPLISHMENTSList accomplishments to show you make a difference in the workplace. This could include process improvements, streamlining workflow efficiencies, training others when a new computer system was implemented, starting up a new department, etc. You can include your accomplishment directly under each position or in a separate category called Accomplishments, Achievements, or Contributions.TECHNICAL EXPERTISEThis is an important category for an information technology professional to itemize their expertise in hardware, software, operating systems, protocols, programming languages, website development, etc.LICENSES & CERTIFICATIONSThis is mandatory for many positions requiring state licensure. For example, a teacher (teaching certificate), nurse (registered nurse), hairstylist (state licensed cosmetologist). Some occupations offer certifications that demonstrate a level of proficiency, but is not state mandated to work in that capacity. This is true in the case of information technology, for example, it helps to maintain certain certifications to advance professionally and demand higher pay.EDUCATIONAs with licenses and certifications, many occupations require a degree. Some certifications and licenses are not offered without appropriate academic training. Again, these include teaching, nursing, and cosmetology. These occupations require a certain level of training defined by hours or semesters, such as student teaching, clinical training, and hands-on classroom training. If you have experience and are not transitioning, list your education at the bottom. If you are just starting out or are transitioning, include your relevant education at the top. The main idea is to place your strongest selling points first. If you are in a higher education such as school principal, list your education at the top because that is your field.PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONSList only the current organizations that you are affiliated with. If you were with an organization for a very long time and it would help to include it, then list it with the years of membership. If you are involved in doing things for the organization, include “active” in your “membership” title. For example, Active Member, ABC Organization, 1998 – Present. If you are actively involved in many unrelated organizations, use your discretion when deciding to include it. You do not need to list experience when listing your affiliations. Just your position, i.e. Chairperson, The Organization, XXXX. You do not need to list locations. The exception with the verbiage is if you are a college student or just graduated. You would then want to include how involved you were in fundraisers and special projects. That will show your character and leadership potential. Once you have gained experience, be sure to remove the verbiage so you don’t look “green.” By then you should have more impressive information to include.COMPUTER SKILLSIf you are in information technology, use a Technical Expertise category. If not, list your software without proficiency level. You do not need to list email, faxing, and calculators. Those are expected.REFERENCES AVAILABLE UPON REQUESTThis category is not necessary. You should bring copies of your references to the interview to leave with the hiring manager if you feel you are still interest in the company after the interview. The only time it is a good idea to include this cliche category is if you are just starting out in your career. If you are very seasoned and have lots of letter of recommendation, you can always indicate that you have a “Portfolio of Letters of Recommendation and Exceptional Professional References”

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Go Global With International Business

With the development of an integrated global economy, marked by free trade and free flow of capital, now is the time to pursue a cutting-edge international business career.

Around the World

In case you hadn’t noticed, U.S. firms are expanding abroad. This requires organizations to form effective strategies for entering the international business market. They need to be aware of legal matters pertaining to specific countries, and they need to be concerned with organizational and administrative issues, especially if they are involved in a partnership with a foreign firm. As international business markets become more competitive, U.S. firms are learning to use resources more efficiently by reducing costs, streamlining operations, and developing marketing strategies.
That’s why today’s professionals need comprehensive knowledge of international business as well as foreign cultures and languages. Globalization has increased the need for international business workers with these specialized skills to manage multicultural and multinational workforces effectively.

“Distance” Learning

An international business degree will provide you with the training you need to manage an international business and to succeed in our global economy. With an international business degree, you’ll be equipped with a global focus across different functional areas of business. You’ll learn theories of international protocol and how they continually change. You’ll learn to recognize global differences and apply sensitivity to cultural diversity issues in communications, management, marketing, and the legal aspects of global business operations in your international business career. You’ll explore the differences among various economic development levels, as well as the new economic groups forming in Europe and Asia.

International degree program coursework may include international marketing, export/import practices, globalization, international trade, financial management, business planning, economic development, international law, international business policy, international culture, foreign languages, overseas business practices, foreign market analysis, foreign operations, sourcing, communications and negotiations, critical thinking processes, ethical codes of conduct for global business leaders, marketing strategies, and management practices and processes.

The Real World

With an international business degree, you can work as a business strategy consultant, managing consultant, account manager, project manager, business developer, distribution manager, director of international affairs, finance advisor, foreign market analyst, or management analyst, to name a few.

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New Tax Rules Concerning Gambling Activities

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has historically required that gambling winnings and gambling losses be separately accounted for. The reason for this has to do with the way gambling losses are deducted for tax purposes. Gambling losses are treated as an itemized deduction and reported on Schedule A of the individual income tax return (Form 1040). This creates a problem in the cases in which taxpayers cannot itemize (as is the case when a standard deduction is greater) or in which the taxpayer’s income exceeds a certain threshold (in which case the taxpayer loses part of their itemized deduction via a phaseout). In such cases the taxpayer does not get the full benefit of the gambling losses to offset against the gambling winnings. What the IRS is really after is the reporting and taxation of gross gambling winnings.

New Tax Rule:
According to a recent tax court case (Shollengerger, TC Memo 2009-36) taxpayers are allowed to net gambling winnings during a given day with gambling losses. This is a significant setback to the IRS. As an example, imagine if you were to win $2,000 in the morning at a casino and lose $900 later that afternoon. Prior to this court case, the IRS would require that you report the $2,000 in gambling winnings and then separately itemize the $900 in gambling losses on your tax return. The court instead ruled that the taxpayer in this case was permitted to net the gambling winnings for the day and report $1,100 as net gambling winnings instead of the $2,000 gross amount, the IRS mandated. The court went on to state that this “netting rule” only applied on a daily basis. It stated that a taxpayer could not net gambling winnings and losses for the entire year.

Irrespective of this change in reporting and taxation of gambling activities, there are specific accounting requirements for gambling activities. The IRS requires taxpayers to keep a diary or ledger of all gambling activities. This tax accounting requires the taxpayer to record the following information concerning various gambling activities:
1. Type of gambling activity
2. Location of gambling activity
3. Amounts won and amounts lost for every activity
4. Number of games played
5. Cost of Bingo cards purchased
6. Winnings for each Bingo card
7. Copies of Keno tickets validated by the gambling establishment
8. Copies of casino credit reports
9. Copies of casino check cashing records
10. Records of the number of races bet on (horse, harness, dog)
11. Amount of racing wagers
12. Amount of racing winnings and losses
13. Record of slot machine number
14. Record of slot machine winnings by date and time per machine
15. Table number played (blackjack, craps & roulette)

16. Table credit card data including where credit was issued

All of the above items can be supplemented by receipts, tickets etc.

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