Applying to Management Jobs: Polish Up Your Resume and Interviewing Skills

By Irene Test
It's a tough job market for everyone out there. While the national unemployment rate has steadily hovered around nine-percent for the past six months, not everyone currently employed is satisfied with their situation. Those who once held higher-ranking positions are forced to work retail to pay the bills, while those in respectable fields see their coworkers getting laid off and their workloads increasing. No matter if you're employed, unemployed, or looking for a career change, making the right impression is far more important now than ever before. And, for those being interviewed for management jobs, these requirements are even more demanding and specific.

The first step to applying to any management jobs is having the right resume. In today's job environment, the information in your resume must be tailored to the specific requirements of the job. As far as managerial positions are concerned, this not only includes listing all positions relevant to the industry but also highlighting your team leadership skills and responsibilities. As you want to give off the impression that you're in control in all situations, indicate with each job how you've led a group to success on a project.

But a resume is only getting your foot partially in the door. Assuming a company calls you back, the next step for all management jobs is the interview. Are you really as impressive in person as on paper? Much like the information in your resume needs to be relevant, your interviewing skills should be up-to-date, as well. While sounding too scripted may lead an interviewer to be suspicious, not being prepared with answers to traditional questions is far more disastrous. And, always make sure you highlight specific examples for each question.

For management jobs, interviewing rounds may go on for several weeks, and depending upon your success, you may need to appear in front of a different person or group each time. Aside from being prepared, knowing the right people is also helpful in the job search. Having enthusiastic and knowledgeable references is important, but considering the current climate of the job market, so is having the right connections. Build up your network during your job search to find the right person to pull you in and up into a management job.