A resume is a great way for you to showcase your qualifications and prove why you would be a good fit for a new role. It’s the first step to getting your dream job. We need to start somewhere…and that is with your resume.

Below are 5 ways to help your resume stand out from the competition.

Keep it Simple

Keep your resume simple and clean. This allows recruiters and hiring managers to quickly see your qualifications and not get distracted by the font, multi-colors, design elements, etc.

A simple resume that is organized and clean will maximize its readability. Adding a lot of fluff can count against you. While you may want to go into detail about your experiences and accomplishments, keeping it simple and easy to read allows for the recruiter and/or hiring manager to understand quickly what you can offer a company and if you can be successful in a particular job role. 

Highlight Relevant Work Experience

It can be hard not to mention every accomplishment or job experience you have done as you want to make yourself stand out from the competition. The better option is to make multiple versions of your resume. You’ll want to match your resume to the job description that you are applying for.

A great way to highlight your relevant work is by using numbers and results to show the impact you have had in your current role. This doesn’t necessarily mean cost savings numbers but the number of team members, frequency of a task or projects, reporting, etc

Spotlight Key Skills/Keywords

As mentioned above, you should practice the same concept as highlighting your relevant work with key skills ( hard and soft skills). Do this by referencing the job description and make sure your skills match up with the requirements. It’s important to highlight that you are referencing the job description to see if you are qualified for this job opening. From there you can pinpoint skills, programs and keywords you’ve detailed on your resume to match the skills and job duties asked for.

Adding the right keywords can be a very helpful technique as not only are recruiters/hiring managers matching your resume with the job description, but they are also searching online for your skills and experience. Many recruiters are using algorithms to source for candidates, by adding the right keywords this will in turn help you be more discoverable.

Volunteer Work/Other Experience

If you have not added this before, this is a great opportunity for you to show your personality and highlight other aspects of yourself besides work experience. It’s a great way for companies to see if you may be a good fit for their culture. In addition, these experiences can transfer to other skills in a new workplace.

Again, make this simple. You don’t need to elaborate on these experiences but highlight them. You will be surprised to know that a lot of hiring managers/recruiters will look at these skills just to get a sense of who you are personally, then judge if you would be a good culture fit.

Format and Grammar

This may be an obvious one but please read your resume and proofread. If your resume has misspellings, clutter, formatted wonky, it will be passed by a hiring manager/recruiter. This is a way to show your professionalism without them going into your experience.

Make it simple and easy to ready by correct line spacing, even PDF the resume so you can’t see any formatting issues. Just remember, keep it clean and organized and I promise the recruiter/hiring manager will thank you!

For more tips, click here. 

As the coronavirus pandemic spreads worldwide, many companies are implementing mandatory work-from-home policies. For many, this could be challenging as working from home can be lonely, hard to manage and, with schools closing, difficult to work with family around. This is the new reality for many Americans and finding the right tips can help you make it through and in the end be more productive than you think.

Below are some tips to help you work remotely in a positive and productive way:

Create a Workspace: A big challenge when working from home is finding the right space to work in, something home based. It’s important to know that you should never work in your bed or on the couch. Studies from the Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard has backed up the idea that you should never work where you sleep.  Working from where you sleep or even relax will make it more difficult to fall asleep or even wind down as your brain will think you’re in a place of work and thinking.

If you live in a smaller place, it can be hard to figure out a separate area to work in. Not everyone has an additional room for a workspace or a home office. I find that the kitchen table is a great place to work. Make it your own space, take some décor off the table and set up a workstation. Some people tend to either get distracted or work later hours. Creating this workspace allows you to begin your day and end your workday at the same hours you currently work in the office.

Dress Code: Some believe the biggest benefit of working from home is that you can wear PJs all day. However, many believe that not getting ready for the day creates a less productive and much slower start to your work. I am not saying that you dress in work attire but at least change into somewhat nice outfit, so you are signaling your brain to know when it is work time and when it is relaxation time.

Dressing appropriately while working from home can create confidence and allow you to maintain a productive and normal workday. It’s a visual reminder that you are ready to get projects done and creates an environment that is normal to you without actually being an office.

Keep that 9-5:  As mentioned above, some tend to work longer hours because they don’t know when to stop. In addition, they take a longer break and feel they need to work later hours to finish certain projects. People work usually 9 to 5 and it is very important to stick to your normal work hours. This will allow you to be accountable and make you manage your time properly. By stopping at your normal hour, you can recharge and start the following day with a fresh outlook.

Especially now, with everything shutting down, your home environment probably includes roommates and/or family members. This can cause many distractions while working and make it even harder to stick to your normal work hours. Make sure you set boundaries and ground rules and allow yourself to disengage with them while working and then re-engage when you are done. This will give you a good work-life balance.

Video Conferencing: Remote workers have used video conferencing as a value impact on their engagement with other co-workers. Working from home can be very lonely and you can feel disengaged from your co-workers or even just people at this point. However, this is 2020, and that means our technology is up to speed, and using video conferencing has made it quite easy for co-workers to connect with one another virtually.

The best tip would be to set up a weekly call with your team or people you engage with a lot on email. This will allow you to feel like you are in the office with one another and can see facial expressions and feel more engaged.

With all this change happening day by day, it can be difficult to navigate through your new normal. The above tips can help you while you work at home.

The Benefits of Working with a Diverse Supplier

For many large organizations, supplier diversity will be imperative for their business programs and partners. Working with a diverse supplier can develop businesses and contribute to the bottom line.

What is considered a diverse supplier? A business 51% owned and operated by a minority group such as minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, LGBT-owned, service-disabled veteran-owned, historically underutilized businesses, and SBA-defined small business vendors. These businesses are also certified through third party agencies that ensure that these companies are indeed diverse suppliers.

Working with a diverse supplier can be quite valuable for your organization. Below are the key advantages of working with one:

Diversity: By working with a diverse supplier, you will ensure that you are getting a unique and different perspective on business practices and solutions. Diverse suppliers are well connected and are heavily involved in their community. They are a great resource to help diversify your workforce and bring new ideas to your business needs.

Innovation: Many diverse suppliers are medium to small sized companies which allows them to be more innovative with new ideas. They can execute ideas or solutions quickly and be able to pivot all resources to these new ideas. Having innovation will be crucial for your business as it can improve processes, increase efficiency and in turn increase your bottom line.

Flexibility: As mentioned above, because many diverse suppliers are medium to small sized, they are much more flexible than larger organizations. They are able to be laser focused on their customers and don’t have to escalate through many people when an issue arises.

If you are interested in working with a diverse supplier, Contact Amerit Consulting today. We are a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned company that provides staffing solutions and guidance that power your business on a human scale.

Talent Budgeting

The first two months of the year, Companies will be finalizing budgets and adjusting according to the needs of the company’s revenue from the past year. It is great for a company to do its due diligence, to research upcoming talent trends and what 2020 can be expected to look like.

According to SHRM, salary increases in the US will rise by an average of 3.3 percent in 2020, up from 2019 which was 3.2 percent and 2018, which was 3.1 percent. While this may seem modest, companies will need to acknowledge that they need to reevaluate their total rewards packages. As has been stated before, this tight labor market is staying constant and companies need to address these needs to stay competitive within the market.

Companies are looking into investing in well-being programs, office training and career development. This is to ensure that companies are meeting the needs of their current workforce. This has been a big topic in 2020 – that we need to take better care of our workforce and make sure their health and well-being is the top priority.

Not only will companies need to be looking out for talent budgeting, but they will need to prepare for cybersecurity budgeting as well. With the new privacy acts in effect in General Data Protection Regulations ( GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy At (CCPA), this has pushed a lot of budgeting toward updating their cybersecurity.

With that said, in 2019 the idea of AI was a major topic of discussion. Companies will now be integrating into their business and will need to budget accordingly. This will also spark some thoughts. Will some of these AI technologies eliminate certain headcount or will you be adding headcount to manage these new tasks? This will be important to figure out before you finalize any budgets.

The 2020 Hiring Trends: What You Should Expect to See

The expectations of the recruitment process are evolving each year. Recruitment firms are the best source of hiring trend forecasting as they are in constant contact with various markets.

Here are some of our predictions for the 2020 job market for hiring trends from some of the Amerit team members.

“As we head into 2020, I expect the trend of a very tight, candidate-driven market to continue. The heavy growth seen by companies across various industries has led to expansion of openings across our entire nation, especially those within the Technology, Accounting & Finance, and Healthcare verticals. The trend and challenge of having far more openings than there are qualified, readily available candidates remains. Companies, employers and hiring managers alike are going to need to stay up-to-date on the current wages, trends, and conditions of the market; while being creative with their offerings to further appeal and stand out to candidates. Creative hiring solutions such as remote work, a dog-friendly office, flexible work hours or other unique company “perks” (i.e. on-site gym, healthy office snacks, etc.) can attract more applicants. With the continued increase in cost of living, especially in areas like Nashville where the cost of living has skyrocketed 15% since last year, companies will need to offer fair market pay for salaries to ensure that they not only attract future candidates, but retain current employees. When taking into account the above items from a Staffing perspective, I expect there to be an increase in direct hire (i.e. permanent placement) roles, especially for those roles that are harder to find or have niche requirements. Additionally, I expect contract roles to increase in regards to both the overall duration of engagement as well as the number of long-term contracts roles.”

Alysha Connelly, Territory Manager 

“In 2020 I believe we will continue to see an increase in job placements in the greater Nashville area, specifically in the technology field. With Nashville consistently being named as one of the top 10 cities in the country to live and work, and the cost of living skyrocketing, employers will need to start upping their offered wages to keep up with the national average. Especially if they want to attract quality employees in this candidate driven market.”

Whitney Rossell, Senior Recruiter 

“Talent pool is limited and will be hard to just attract talent on pay. We need to be focused on adding additional value to the candidates. On-boarding is key and creating a straight forward process that keeps client and candidate engaged will be the focus. Amerit will continue to pour into our team and their growth. Culture and purpose will be a top priority.”

Ian Wagemann, President 

Amerit Consulting, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business, is proud to announce its new expansion in Nashville, Tennessee. This new expansion allows Amerit to strengthen its local presence in the Nashville area while providing strength on a national level by offering comprehensive Recruiting solutions to the Healthcare, Technology, Financial Services and Construction industries. The new establishment is Amerit’s ninth location throughout the United States and will be led by Alysha Connelly, Territory Manager and a new Senior Recruiter, Whitney Rossell.

Click here to continue to read about our expansion to Nashville, TN.

The Healthcare industry has been booming and is one of the fastest growing employment sectors this year. As 2020 is near, look for this industry to continue to grow immensely as the demand for healthcare services rises. Compared to other industries, none come close to this growth. According to US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the healthcare industry grows by an average of 17,000 jobs a month and with an overall growth of 18%. The biggest growth is in the public health sector.

Why do we see this growth? Many will say that the growth is due to the advances in Medical Sciences and the demand for cures and healthcare services.  Also, with the transformation of technology, we may see new jobs develop and future training may be crucial. One thing is for sure, the need for care will continue to expand the growth of healthcare providers.

The economy is in a good spot and unemployment continues to hit record highs. However, back when the economy was at its absolute worst, the healthcare industry was not affected. This pretty much ensures us that the growth is not just a prediction but essentially a reality.

So, are you interested in healthcare jobs?  CareerBuilder described the top paying healthcare jobs in 2020 per the following:

1. Physician Assistant

Growth: 17%

Median Salary: $106,000

Education: Master’s Degree

2. Nurse Practitioners

Growth: 17%

Median Salary: $107,000

Education: Master’s Degree

3. Occupational Therapists

Growth: 12%

Median Salary: $84,000

Education: Master’s Degree

4. Speech Language Pathologist

Growth: 10%

Median Salary: $77,000

Education: Master’s Degree

5. Dental Hygienist

Growth: 10%

Median Salary: $74,000

Education: Associate Degree

6. Occupational health and safety specialists

Growth: 6%

Median Salary: $72,000

Education: Bachelor’s Degree

If you are looking for your next career in healthcare, contact Amerit Consulting today to learn how we can help you find it!

Tech Companies in the Nashville Area

Nashville has been named #1 in the Southeast for headquarters of job growth since 2013, according to the Department of Economic and Community Development. It is no surprise that Nashville is known for healthcare and music, but its technology industry has been developing for quite some time. Since 2014, there have been eight companies from the San Francisco/Silicon Valley area that have moved their offices to Nashville. With many CEOs confirming that the amount of available workforce has been a big attraction for them.

But what does this mean for the future of Technology companies in Nashville? Will they continue to grow in numbers?

Over the last 5 years the tech labor force has grown by 43% according to the Nashville Post. This growth is hitting record highs and we don’t see it slowing down. The expansion of the Tech industry will create this growth acceleration.

As said above, the amount of skill and diversity in the talent pool in Nashville is one of the biggest reasons’ companies are relocating to this area. Nashville has nearly two dozen higher education institutions which have provided talent with advanced skills. This also has created major research for invocated solutions and technology for emerging fields.

Not only are companies benefiting from these skilled talents but the candidates themselves are interested in living there. They are surrounded with an abundance of live music, professional sports, amazing food and more. To top it off, the weather could not be better and the commute to work isn’t bad at all.

These perks are driving these employees to move and to stay, and this is attractive to companies. It offers them everything they need and it’s the kind of customer base they are looking for. Every company is looking for the right change and impact and Nashville is the one for them.

For more tips, click here!

Nashville Area: The Cost of Living Vs. Salary Growth 

It’s no surprise that Nashville area growth is making it one of the most populous U.S. cities, ranking at #53. However, with the population growing, the cost of living is also rising, and we can see it adding up quite a lot.

The extensive growth in Nashville, has made it the “IT” city. However, we do see some challenges as the cost of living is growing but we don’t see the rise in salaries. This is causing quite a rift.

According to PayScale, the average salary in Nashville is $52,176 as of 2019 Q2.  Recent studies show that to live comfortably in Nashville, you would need an average salary of $70,150.  Could this slow the Nashville the growth in the future? It’s unclear right now.

The increase in cost of living has also caused the cost of transportation to rise, which may effect the growth and ultimately make people uninterested in living there.

With this shift, many workers are requesting salary increases as they cannot meet living expenses and want to jump as much as 12 percent.

For business owners, this is a great opportunity for you to evaluate your salary structure and get ready for budgeting in 2020. If you are looking to add headcount this could mean that you may need to pay a little more for candidates that you are trying to recruit. This will make it more desirable for them to take on the position.

This growth and tight labor market will bring some challenges but working with a staffing company can help eliminate those stress points. If you are looking for help with budget planning or growing your staff, Amerit can help you and let you focus on your business growth.

Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your business grow!

Nashville Area

Known for its country music, Nashville has also become a booming metro of the Healthcare, Technology and Construction industries. Over the past 5 years, we have seen the job growth double in numbers, which equates to about 20% and over 194,000 more people working there since 2014. Over 100 people move to the city every day and it has been said that it is the most diverse, yet progressive city in the country right now.

With this growth comes a great deal of opportunity for business owners and employees looking for work. The Nashville Healthcare industry contributes about $92 billion in revenue encompassing over 570,000 jobs. This industry started in 1968 when the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) was founded. By 1969,  HCA was publicly traded. After that, everything changed for healthcare. It now has the highest healthcare job growth in the nation.

In addition to the Nashville Healthcare industry being one of the nation’s top growth sectors, the Technology community is slowing making its mark as well. With an increase of 2,522 new jobs in 2018 and growth of about 4.2% we see this to be a major job contributor in this area. The tech job market is also in high demand, with a medium wage of $72.45, the highest of any  medium wage.

With all this job growth, more and more people are moving to the city every day, driving the Construction industry to historically high levels. Construction activity is contributing to the employment growth, creating 23,000 new jobs. When the economy is hot, construction is peaking. We will not see any slow down soon.

All this growth, coupled with an extremely tight labor market, is bringing about a dilemma in hiring strategies for many of the Nashville’s companies. It has been harder and harder to find candidates to fill these job openings.  Recruiters are looking for passive candidates and will need to rely on reputation, initiatives, salary, bonus plan, etc. to leverage candidates.

Working with a staffing company can help eliminate that stress, as their prime focus will be finding the right candidates for your business. If you are experiencing hiring struggles in the Nashville area, contact us today to learn more about how we can help your business needs.