Job seekers were given some invaluable advice and tips on resume writing and interview skills at a workshop hosted by Business Bermuda.The event, which was held on Thursday and presented by Derek Smith, executive director of Bermuda Careers Centre at the Department of Labour and Training, focused on helping applicants to make the best first and lasting impression in order to land a job in this challenging economy.More than 30 people attended the three-hour workshop and walked away with new skills and ideas to improve their chances of securing employment.“In these times it is critically important for job seekers to have their A-game together,” said Mr Smith. “They need to have that ‘wow factor’ to impress employers. Now people need to make a concerted effort to fine-tune their interview skills requiring individuals to think about how they want to present themselves to employers. They need to sell their professional persona to potential employers.”This workshop covered different types of resume formats and the value of designing a resume according to the job instead using a basic template. The presentation started with tips on resume structure and content and finished with interview preparation, techniques and closing in order to land the job.Cheryl Packwood, CEO of Business Bermuda, said: “We understand that there is an unusually high number of unemployed due to our current economic climate and wanted to do something as an organisation to help those seeking jobs to understand what employers are looking for in order to increase their chances of being hired. Attendees were given practical steps to not only improve their resumes and stand out in an interview, but how to cope with the job seeking process.“Mr Smith stressed that looking for a job is a full-time job, and job seekers need to be relentless while managing their expectations. He was very well received, and I’m extremely glad that we were able to provide this much-needed information to the community.”The feedback from the diverse array of attendees ranged from: “Great workshop. It definitely helped me choose to redo my CV. I’ve had it all wrong, and the workshop definitely benefitted me. Now I feel motivated in this process” to “I found it very rewarding. I like the networking opportunity with other job seekers within itself. It was a benefit to liaise with Mr Smith going forward one-on-one. I am going to work on sharpening my resume and making it applicable to each application. In my day, I learned one format and now I see the value of using different formats to get my foot in the door. Being able to hone those skills is helpful.”One participant said: “I learned a lot from the workshop. I feel very full from it. To be honest, I thought he was going to go over stuff I knew, but he definitely taught me new stuff. I’m thankful. People don’t always give new information. He hit points that we needed to know and was very helpful“Another said: “I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was very beneficial to those seeking jobs as well as those with secure employment. I hope that you put on more of these events. Now I’m very excited. I plan to go back now and spruce up my resume. I’m really thankful.”