Get ready for next year: evaluate and update

As your summer job finishes up, now is the time to evaluate your experience and update your resume.

1. Evaluate: Think about what you liked and didn't like about your experience. Are there questions you can add to the list of questions you keep for interviews that will help you avoid what you didn't like in the future? Any questions that can help you find a good position?
2. Plan: What sort of position do you want to focus on next year? Are you ready for a change or did you like what you did this time? Do you want to work in a different part of the country?
3. Update: Add this season's employer to your resume and add to your skills list. Update your objective to reflect what you will focus on next season. Tweak your resume to support your new objective.

It's important to do this while it is fresh in your mind. You can always make changes to your resume later on if you decide to focus on something different. Also, if you are a WorkamperPlus subscriber, be sure to post a Rate Your Experience about his employer. See Workamper.com.

Take advantage of what you've learned to fine tune your job hunting process and get an even better position next year! Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

For information on resumes and preparing for interviews, see Jaimie's 2nd edition of Support Your RV Lifestyle! An Insider's Guide to Working on the Road at RVBookstore.com.

Furbabies - NO! Keep your resume professional

In forums, Workampers often refer to their dogs as "furbabies." It's a cute expression. I've also seen it in cover letters and resumes. That's a no-no.

Your resume and cover letter should be professional. That means don't use slang like furbabies, DH (Instant Messenger for dear husband), or my better half.

If you are applying to work at an RV park where your dogs will be living on site, you should definitely mention that you have a dog or dogs. You could include their photo and even letters of recommendation for them, assuring the employer that your dogs are well-behaved pets. Just don't call them furbabies! Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

For information on Jaimie's 2nd edition of Support Your RV Lifestyle! An Insider's Guide to Working on the Road, see RVBookstore.com.

What's a key word?

When you send your resume in to an employer after seeing an advertisement, make sure you use the right "key words." Large companies often use electronic scanners to search for key words or phrases for the particular opening. While smaller companies don't do this, an employer's eye is still going to be drawn to a resume that uses the same words he does. And, if you use Workamper's Awesome Applicant database, employers can search for key words to select resumes to consider.

Key words can be classified into three categories:

• Position: manager, front desk, secretary, dealer
• Type of work or tasks: maintenance, reservations, registration, management, housekeeping
• Characteristics: self-starter, hard worker, initiative, attention to detail

Before you send off your resume, look at it and see if you are using the same terms that you see in the ad. If not, add or substitute. If you use the word "janitor" and the employer is looking for "maintenance," you might not be seen as qualified. Using the key words that an employer uses in the ad will increase your chances of getting an interview and getting hired. Jaimie Hall Bruzenak

For information on Jaimie's 2nd edition of Support Your RV Lifestyle! An Insider's Guide to Working on the Road, see RVBookstore.com

Layout of resume is important

I came across an excellent resource for workers on the RV road. It's Amazing Resumes: What Employers Want to See and How to Say It by Jim Bright, Ph.D. and Joanne Earl, Ph.D. The focus is on proven strategies based on psychological and human resources research.

They interviewed recruiters and hiring officials about what they dislike in a resume. Layout is one of the three main areas. Comments included statements like:

• Layout is terrible. Too difficult to make sense of the information
• Format annoying.
• No logic; difficult to follow.
• Too much information on the page. Text is very small, though information is good.
• Little reference to position description.

Often the layout and appearance can cause a candidate to be rejected even though they have good qualifications. Take time to study resumes and use them as models. Leave plenty of white space so the reader's eye is drawn to relevant points. Bullets and headings help the hiring official find what they are looking for without searching. Jaimie Hall-Bruzenak

For a sample resume and advice on preparing one, see Jaimie's 2nd edition of Support Your RV Lifestyle! An Insider's Guide to Working on the Road, see RVBookstore.com

Customize your resume

You probably have written a basic resume and maybe even a cover letter. When you send it out, take a few minutes to make sure it is aimed at the job you are applying for and customize it for that job.

For example, you would like to work in a campground office taking reservations and checking guests in. This job also includes duties in the store. Change your objective to include working in a store and include any retail experience or use of a cash register in your work experience

Original Objective: Work in a campground taking reservations and checking in guests.

Modified Objective: Work in a campground taking reservations, checking in guests. Willing to work in camp store.

This communicates to the employer that you are looking for a job that does include work in the store and not just reservations and increases your chances of being hired. In your skills area or work experience area of your resume, you would add any experience you have handling money or working in a retail situation.

In your cover letter, make sure you use the employer's words from her ad. If you only say your are looking for work in reservations and guest registration and don't mention working in the store, the employer may wonder if you send out the same resume to all employers or you indeed did read the ad.

It doesn't take much time or effort to customize your resume and cover letter. Doing so will improve your percentage of callbacks, so it is well worth it. Jaimie


For information on writing a Workamper resume and cover letter, see Jaimie's 2nd edition of Support Your RV Lifestyle! An Insider's Guide to Working on the Road, available at RVBookstore.com.