When You Search Jobs, Employers Look at Your Credit Report

Don't assume that when you search jobs and find a promising listing, a good resume and cover letter is all you need to get an interview. With the cost of training forming a major expense of hiring new employees, many companies investigate other sources of information to find out everything about you.
One of the tools they use is a credit report. It reveals everything about your financial history including your current and previous employers and addresses, your bank accounts, charge cards, mortgages, and what else you owe. The following are just some of the red flags they don't want to see on your report.

• Foreclosures/bankruptcies. This may show that you can't manage long-term obligations, such as projects or work responsibilities, and cannot deal with problems except by going through last resorts. This is a particular problem if you're looking for a job in the real estate industry.
  
• Late payments. This indicates that you have a problem with time management, even though you eventually meet your obligations. It makes employers wonder if your work submissions will similarly be tardy.
  
• Too much financial activity. Your reports may show a surge of activity related to opening charge cards as credit card companies close your existing accounts. This shows that you have trouble with budgeting and managing money. You may like to live beyond your means and finance immediate rewards with future profits.
  

You can at least find out what employers will see in your reports by ordering them from AnnualCreditReports.com. You're entitled to one free report per year from each of the major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. If any of the information is wrong, get it corrected immediately by contacting both the merchant who entered the data and the credit bureau reporting it. If any of the above problems are part of your report, be prepared to come up with good explanations for them during the interview.
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When You Respond to Job Listings, Watch Out for These Resume Traps

You have the skills, the experience, and the educational background that makes you perfect for an upcoming job listing. But you may be competing with hundreds or thousands of other applicants for the same position. You want your resume to stand out from the crowd by avoiding these common traps.

Sending the same resume for all jobs. This tells your potential employer that you don't care enough about working there to research specifics about the company. With inexpensive word-processing software readily available, there's no excuse for not tailoring each resume for the job you want.

Being general. Saying that you're a “hard worker,” “good with people,” or “quick learner” reveals nothing about you because they don't provide specific information. Talk about numbers, dates and tasks when describing your accomplishments. Examples include “increased sales by 25 percent over one year,” “added 30 new customers per week through cold calling by telephone” or “completed one-year training program in only six months.”

Not checking for grammar and spelling. A resume that are full of erors says that your careless. Would you want somebody who writes like that working for you? Run your resume through a spelling and grammar checker. And then have someone else look at it. A fresh pair of eyes can spot errors that you've missed several times.

Listing old jobs. You don't have to put down every job you've had since you graduated from high school 25 years ago. Employers are only interested in your current skills and knowledge, and only if this information is relevant to their needs. Stick to the past ten years but prepared to explain jobs previous to that in your interview.

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Where to Find the Best-Paying and Most Office Job Listings

Office and administrative support occupations form the largest employment category in the United States, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of May 2012. There are over 21.3 million workers in this category, comprising over 16 percent of the total workforce, with average earnings of $34,410 per year, or $16.54 per hour. Their jobs include office clerks, tellers, secretaries, and word processors.

• The highest-paying jobs belong to the supervisors responsible for making sure their subordinates finish their tasks on time. They average $52,830 per year, or $25.40 per hour.
• The most jobs belong to the 2.8 million general office clerks who perform miscellaneous tasks in a business. They make a mean $29,270 yearly, or 14.07 hourly.

The industry offering the most jobs for office workers are banks and credit unions with 1.04 million positions averaging an annual $32,360, or $15.56 per hour. The Postal Service shows the highest pay at $51,570 per year, or $24.79 per hour, for 538,840 employees.

Among states, California, the most populous one, boasts the most office jobs at 2.4 million. Workers here average $38,210 yearly, or $18.37 hourly. The District of Columbia, which the BLS considers a state, has the highest pay at $46,510 per year, or 22.36 per hour, for 82,140 positions.

Topping the opportunity list among metro regions is New York, the most populous urban area, with 929,640 jobs making a mean annual $40,300, or $19.38 hourly. Ranking first for pay is San Francisco, California, averaging $45,540 per year, or $21.89 per hour, for 156,590 workers.

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Get Your Keywords Ready and Search Jobs Free

When you search jobs free online, you have plenty of competition. Using the right keywords will help your application rise to the top. Learn how to choose the words that will make you stand out and get more interviews.

Understand how application tracking software affects your search. Companies use this kind of software to whittle down the huge volume of resumes they receive. Even smaller businesses are starting to adopt this practice, and the programs are becoming more sophisticated. In addition to looking at job requirements, they may be ranking you according to what school you attended and how long you stayed in your last job.

Find the right keywords for you. There are plenty of resources for discovering the best terminology to use. Study the job description and company website to get an idea of what your potential employer is looking for. Read industry publications and attend association events to stay up to date on the latest jargon. Take a look at your colleague’s resumes to see what they’re saying. If you’re working with a recruiter, ask them for suggestions about what words hiring managers are looking for now.

Incorporate keywords into your application. Use your keywords early and often but not too often. Ten times is typically the maximum to avoid looking overstuffed. Work your keywords into your cover letter as well as your resume. State them in different forms and contexts so you don’t sound repetitive. Even if you didn’t graduate from an Ivy League university, you may be able to legitimately reference a prestigious name if you take online courses there. Keep your formatting simple to avoid confusing the software. Use separate lines to distinguish between your job title and the name of the company.

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The Jobvertise Team