Posts Tagged Resume

Are You Letting “Too Much Information” Ruin Your Resume?

Sep 8

Posted by doostang in Advice & Tips, Job Search, Resumes | View Comments

By Alesia Benedict, CPRW, JCTC – GetInterviews.com

Project Finance Analyst, New York, NY

Market Research Analyst, Philadelphia, PA

Junior Trader, Chicago, IL

Chief Operation Officer, Washington, DC

Investment Banking Analyst, Boston, MA

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True or false? Including everything on your resume an employer will need to know about you will help facilitate the hiring process.

While it may sound like a helpful hint, the correct answer is false. In fact, including certain details on your resume can seriously damage your job search. From decreasing your chances of landing an interview to influencing potential salary, “too much information” on a resume can be detrimental for any candidate.

If your resume contains any of the following, you are putting yourself at a major disadvantage right from the beginning:

References

Your professional references should be always be listed in a separate document and provided when requested – and that usually doesn’t happen before the interview. Since the primary function of a resume is to land the interview, sending your references as part of your resume is premature.

Some jobseekers think this is a good way to take advantage of networking opportunities by dropping the name of a reference or two to impress a prospective employer. Your resume is still not the right place to accomplish this. To emphasize your relationship with a professional contact, simply mention it in the cover letter. (Be sure to do so subtly, however. For example, “My former colleague from XYZ Company, Jack Smith, suggested I contact you directly because he felt my skills would be a perfect fit for your organization.”)

Salary History & Requirements

The dinner table isn’t the only place where talking about money is considered rude. A resume should not indicate compensation requirements or salary history. Aside from etiquette, doing so could literally cost you.

If you disclose your bottom line and it’s less than what an employer was willing — or even expecting — to pay you, you’ve just inadvertently volunteered for a pay cut.

Unless a salary requirement is mandatory to apply for a position, do not surrender this important information, or you will risk compromising any leverage you may have in future salary negotiations. When a concrete figure is required to be considered for an opening, this information should be incorporated in your cover letter, not your resume.

If salary history is requested, it typically comes later in the process and should be prepared in a separate document.

Hobbies

Whether you spend your weekends as a Cub Scout Leader or enjoy skydiving in your spare time, extracurricular activities are almost always irrelevant to one’s career, and therefore, do not belong on a resume. Since your resume is a professional piece of communication, reserve the limited space to present only information related to your professional qualifications, and keep leisure activities separate.

There are exceptions, particularly for professionals who engage in outside activities directly related to their jobs. An accountant who serves as treasurer for a local charity, an aspiring gym teacher who volunteers as a soccer coach, and a construction worker who donates his time and skills to building houses for the poor are good examples. When in doubt, if an activity or affiliation doesn’t support your career objective, leave it out. Most employers are only interested in their employees’ after-hours activities when they need staff to work overtime.

Educational Details

For mid- and senior-level professionals, detailed information related to your college years is not necessary. Unless you are a recent college graduate with little career history to offer, keep the emphasis on your professional achievements and the tone at a higher level. Your grade point average and past extracurricular affiliations are far less important than your recent work highlights.

Also be sure to omit your year of graduation unless you finished school in the past 5 years. Though age discrimination is certainly prohibited by law, volunteering your age can never help you.

Reasons for Leaving

Whether your former boss threw you a going away party or had security escort you from the premises, your reasons for leaving any job should be reserved for a job application. They simply don’t belong on your resume regardless of the circumstances. If you wish to have an opportunity to explain a sticky situation like being fired, wait until at least the first interview so you’ve had a chance to make an unbiased first impression.

Overall Content

The most important issue to consider regarding the quantity of information is overall content. Employers do indeed want to know about important work you’ve done throughout your career – but they do not need or even want to know every detail. Summarize your best assets rather than inundating the reader with minutiae. You have literally under a minute to make an impression on a prospective employer, so you must be very careful choosing what content to emphasize.

Nothing will help land your resume in a “no” pile faster than making it too long, too cluttered, and too cumbersome to read.


About the Author:

Alesia Benedict, Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC) is the President of GetInterviews.com, the country’s leading resume writing firm. They provide professionals with customized, branded resumes and career marketing documents. Her and her firm’s credentials include being cited by JIST Publications as one of the “best resume writers in North America,” quoted as a career expert in The Wall Street Journal, and published in a whopping 25+ career books. Established in 1994, the firm has aided more than 100,000 job seekers to date. All resume writers are certified writers. GetInterviews.com offers a free resume critique and their services come with a wonderful guarantee — interviews in 30 days or they’ll rewrite for free!

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Avoid a Job Hunt Rut

Sep 1

Posted by doostang in Advice & Tips, Job Search | View Comments

By Alesia Benedict, CPRW, JCTC GetInterviews.com

Investment Banking Analyst, Boston, MA
Product Quality Associate, SF Bay Area, CA
Analyst / Associate, Philadelphia, PA
Fall Intern, New York, NY
Technology M&A Analyst, Foster City, CA

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Does this sound familiar? You see a post for that dream job and promptly submit your resume – only to hear nothing for days, then weeks. You wonder why you didn’t receive a response as you continue to scour postings for the next position that seems like an ideal match.

If your job search has hit this type of rut, take heart. It doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t just as qualified as your competition. It could just mean your job search strategy is all wrong.

In a job market this tough, you need to be more aggressive than ever to get noticed by hiring managers and recruiters. The key is to gain as much exposure as possible. The more you put your resume out there, the greater your chances for grabbing a hiring manager’s attention.

Here are a few ways to jump start your stalling job search:

Utilize job boards

Employers once relied solely on high-priced headhunters to gain access to highly-qualified candidate pools. Now, they can turn to the Internet – namely, job boards — where job seekers post their resumes. The boards match qualified applicants with open positions based on employers’ customized criteria.

While most job seekers are familiar with mainstream boards such as Monster, they may not realize there are literally hundreds of boards tailored by industry, profession, or diversity group. For those concerned with privacy issues, most boards even offer the option of keeping certain details of your contact information confidential until an employer wants to reach you. Most allow job seekers to post a resume free of charge, so there’s really no good reason to ignore these opportunities.

Send a follow-up letter

If you have already sent in your resume only to yield no result, don’t be afraid to take another shot. Rather than just submitting your resume a second time with a standard cover letter, use a follow-up letter. This approach is particularly useful if you’ve updated your resume recently and would like a chance to submit the new-and-improved version. A follow-up letter allows you to reintroduce yourself while demonstrating you are very serious about a company or position.

Unlike making a telephone call to follow up, a letter doesn’t catch the employer by surprise or put him or her in the awkward position of talking to you without the benefit of your resume for reference. Keep the letter short and to the point, but be sure to focus on why you would be ideal for the position. The goal is to lure the reader into revisiting your resume, giving your application a second chance.

Prepare a 30-second speech about yourself

Whether you attend an organized networking event or happen to run into a former colleague in the park, you should be prepared to capitalize on opportunities to establish professional contacts that can lead to your next job. Many job seekers lament that networking events, like those sponsored by college alumni organizations or professional associations, are a waste of time. After all, you meet so many new people and have such a brief window of time to make any impression at all. Before you’ve finished with small talk, the conversation is over without even getting to the reason you were there in the first place.

Going in prepared, however, can make all the difference. Creating and practicing an “elevator pitch” – a 30-second speech summarizing your professional qualifications and goals – can make the most of the limited time you have to establish new contacts. As an added bonus, you will also eliminate those terribly awkward moments when you struggle for what to say.

Take advantage of online networking sites

Setting up profiles on popular networking sites, such as LinkedIn, not only provides you with an online presence for your professional qualifications. It also helps you reconnect with former colleagues with whom you’ve lost touch. The wider your network of contacts, the more potential opportunities will come your way. Joining most of the popular online networking sites is free, so there’s really no excuse not to do it.

Of course, for any of these techniques to be effective, you need to be sure employers can not only find you, but will be impressed with what they see. That’s why it is crucial to make sure your resume is up to par and rich in keywords before these methods can jump start your job search.

About the Author:

Alesia Benedict, Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC) is the President of GetInterviews.com, the country’s leading resume writing firm. They provide professionals with customized, branded resumes and career marketing documents. Her and her firm’s credentials include being cited by JIST Publications as one of the “best resume writers in North America,” quoted as a career expert in The Wall Street Journal, and published in a whopping 25+ career books. Established in 1994, the firm has aided more than 100,000 job seekers to date. All resume writers are certified writers. GetInterviews.com offers a free resume critique and their services come with a wonderful guarantee — interviews in 30 days or they’ll rewrite for free!

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The Best Resume for a Bad Economy

Aug 25

Posted by doostang in Advice & Tips, Resumes | View Comments

By Alesia Benedict, CPRW, JCTC GetInterviews.com

M&A Analyst, New York, NY
Business Associate, Palo Alto, CA
Research & Trading Associate, Cambridge, MA
Business Development Director, Newark, NJ
Associate Analyst, Chicago, IL

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With unemployment at its highest level in more than 25 years, many professionals are out of work for the first time in their careers. Things may look bleak, but for those worrying they will have to go from earning six figures to minimum wage, take heart. Though no one wants to settle for a job that is far below one’s worth, there is good news.

There are some creative strategies a job seeker may consider that will not adversely impact his or her long-term career outlook. In fact, just a few small strategic changes to your resume can instantly increase your job-hunting prospects even in these rough economic times.

Broaden Your Scope

You may have spent your entire career in one industry, but it may be time to also look around for positions in related fields. If you not are willing to settle for anything less than your dream job, go for it — but be willing to wait. For most, especially those already out of work, finding a job as soon as possible is important. That doesn’t necessarily mean you must settle or take a step down. All that’s required is an open mind to consider a comprehensive range of lateral possibilities.

For example, a human resources professional who specializes in recruitment may now branch out into related functions such as employee relations, benefits administration or even generalist positions. A laid-off newspaper copy editor could move away from the struggling newspaper industry and apply his or her skills for technical writing or public relations roles. A real estate sales representative can look into sales positions for other industries by emphasizing his or her transferable skills.

To compete with others who may have had more direct experience, you can level the playing field by highlighting valuable transferable skills on your resume rather than focusing just on specialized experience.

Don’t Get Hung Up on Titles

Instead of seeking out positions based on job title, it may be time to adjust your strategy or you risk limiting your prospects. Concentrate on job descriptions rather than titles. This doesn’t only apply when looking through postings, but also when it comes to branding yourself correctly on a resume.

Rather than listing a very specific job title as your objective, indicate something more general. A more general objective will broaden your appeal to recruiters and hiring managers weeding through resumes.

Don’t Fall Into The Overqualified Pile

You may have far more experience for a position than required, but you still want to be considered for the role. Downplaying your achievements is never advisable, but if you are a job seeker with “too much” experience, simply avoid going back too far on your resume. After all, highlighting accomplishments from 1976 will usually not help you anyway since it is from so long ago. Employers are most interested in your recent experience.

As a bonus, you will avoid another pitfall in the process. Discrimination of any kind is, of course, illegal, but unfortunately, it does happen. As a general rule, there is usually no compelling reason to go beyond 20 years on your resume.

Don’t Agonize Over Employment Gaps

It wasn’t too long ago when a resume reflecting any gaps in employment was taboo. It was thought to raise glaring red flags, implying something amiss in your job history. In a robust economy, it’s understandable for an employer to question why a jobseeker didn’t work for a long stretch of time. But in times like these, an abundance of well-qualified people are out of work through no fault of their own. It is simply reflective of our times.

That’s why there’s really no reason to be overly concerned about gaps in a resume — within reason. If you haven’t worked for six months, it doesn’t really require an explanation these days. If you’ve been out of work three years, that’s a different story. In such cases, it’s usually best to tactfully indicate the reason right on the resume to prevent an employer from speculating.

Minimize “Job Hopping”

In tough economic times, many jobseekers accept temporary assignments or perform consulting work as they search for permanent positions. Such experience is valuable because it not only helps pay the bills, but also demonstrates a strong work ethic and shows you are keeping your skills sharp. However, listing a series of several jobs over a short period of time on your resume could project an inaccurate image of a job hopper to an employer who is just giving your resume a preliminary glance. The best way to present this on your resume is to group consulting work together so you showcase your contributions without giving it too much valuable space, adversely impacting your overall presentation.

There’s little we can do to change the economy, but with the right strategy, your resume can help show your true worth — even in today’s tough job market.

About the Author:

Alesia Benedict, Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC) is the President of GetInterviews.com, the country’s leading resume writing firm. They provide professionals with customized, branded resumes and career marketing documents. Her and her firm’s credentials include being cited by JIST Publications as one of the “best resume writers in North America,” quoted as a career expert in The Wall Street Journal, and published in a whopping 25+ career books. Established in 1994, the firm has aided more than 100,000 job seekers to date. All resume writers are certified writers. GetInterviews.com offers a free resume critique and their services come with a wonderful guarantee — interviews in 30 days or they’ll rewrite for free!

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Be a Big Fish in an Overcrowded Pond

Aug 18

Posted by doostang in Advice & Tips, Job Search | View Comments

By Alesia Benedict, CPRW, JCTC GetInterviews.com

Analyst, New York, NY
Marketing Director, Mid Atlantic States
Investment Banking / Private Equity Analyst, New York, NY
Manager – Strategy & Business Development, Washington, DC
Junior Analyst, West Conshohocken, PA

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How do you stand out as a great candidate in a sea of unemployed applicants competing against you? A hiring manager recently told us “I need to fill three key positions at the plant. These jobs are posted and right now with the unemployment rate being so high, I’ve been getting 200-300 resumes per position. It would be ideal if I can find candidates through word-of-mouth.” The large crowd of candidates is not just a problem for you the job seeker, but also for the hiring manager. Hiring managers often look first to word of mouth referrals to find good candidates, save time, and make a better hire.

Having a network contact pass on your resume automatically makes you a big fish in the pond. The hiring manager above would pay closer attention to the resume of a candidate referred to him than he would to the 200 resumes dropped into the database from the job advertisement. Hiring is still a people-centric action. People hire people. Computers don’t hire people.

Technology can make it easier but it can also make it more difficult. It is important to make sure your job search is multi-faceted and includes not only responding to online ads but networking, cold submissions, targeted marketing, and recruiter contacts. Big fish work harder than little fish to make themselves stand out in the crowd. Successful candidates have a great resume, a cover letter that grabs the reader, and a plan to use those tools aggressively to gain attention. Are you a big fish or are you a minnow? Minnows sit back and wait for something to happen. Big fish go after things aggressively and proactively!

About the Author:

Alesia Benedict, Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC) is the President of GetInterviews.com, the country’s leading resume writing firm. They provide professionals with customized, branded resumes and career marketing documents. Her and her firm’s credentials include being cited by JIST Publications as one of the “best resume writers in North America,” quoted as a career expert in The Wall Street Journal, and published in a whopping 25+ career books. Established in 1994, the firm has aided more than 100,000 job seekers to date. All resume writers are certified writers. GetInterviews.com offers a free resume critique and their services come with a wonderful guarantee — interviews in 30 days or they’ll rewrite for free!

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Is Your Resume a Dinosaur?

Aug 11

Posted by doostang in Advice & Tips, Job Search, Resumes | View Comments

By Alesia Benedict, CPRW, JCTC GetInterviews.com

Analyst, New York, NY
Marketing Director, Mid Atlantic States
Investment Banking / Private Equity Analyst, New York, NY
Manager – Strategy & Business Development, Washington, DC
Junior Analyst, West Conshohocken, PA

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Think your resume has what it takes to land that dream job? Even if it did 10 years, five years, or even two years ago, think again. As fast as the applicant pool has grown in this fierce job market, the rules of the job hunting game have been transformed.

With many more applicants out there than there are jobs, you not only need to be on par with the competition, you need to stand out in the pack. Setting yourself apart from other qualified applicants is only part of the answer. It’s important that you stand out in a good way.

One of the most valuable ways you can accomplish this is to make sure your resume is fresh and modern. After all, a job hunter’s worst fear is looking like a proverbial dinosaur to prospective employers and recruiters. Since your resume is a representation of you to a recruiter or prospective employer, you certainly don’t want to make a first impression that resonates old-fashioned and outdated.

There are dozens of strategies today’s job seeker must know in order to build a winning resume from scratch, but here are five of the biggest red flags that will instantly make your resume appear antiquated:

1. Obeying a One-Page “Rule”

Many job applicants spend countless hours trying to squeeze a decade or two of valuable experience onto a single sheet of paper. (Sure, you can squeeze more text onto the page by shrinking the font. Would you really want to strain the eyes of the person who holds your resume – and your fate – in his or her hands?)

The trade-off for avoiding the so-called second-page stigma is sacrificing content regarding valuable experience, compromising the overall quality of the resume.

The good news is that the one-page resume no longer rules, as today’s hiring manager is more likely to be scrolling down on a screen than flipping to the next page.

In fact, for experienced professionals a two-page resume is the most common format. There are obvious exceptions, such as recent graduates and entry-level applicants who can easily fit all of their experience on one page without sacrifice. For seasoned pros, however, even three- and four-page resumes are not uncommon and are acceptable today.

Enjoy the flexibility, but still proceed with caution. Keeping content concise is still extremely important and making the right choices about what facts to include and which to leave out still needs to be a key part of your overall strategy.

2. Overstating Your Objective

“Objective: To obtain a position utilizing my skills and background in [fill in your field here]…”

If your resume starts out like this, it’s definitely time for a change! Today’s resumes are much more savvy. Rather than preparing a few mundane lines to express your goal, your objective can be clearly stated in a word or two. All you need to state is the title you are seeking, and let it stand on its own. This not only enhances your presentation, but it makes it easier for recruiters and HR managers to quickly see what position you are targeting.

As a bonus, the space you save can now be applied towards a hard-hitting summary about you to generate a more powerful impact and to showcase what makes you unique. The summary has evolved into a crucial component of the modern resume, so be sure not to neglect this integral section.

3. Skipping the Keyword Section

Keywords are not just recommended; they can make or break your resume, which is why a keyword section (aka the core competency section) is an absolute must. Typically found on the top half of the first page, employers have come to expect to see a list of your areas of expertise.

This not only conveys your skills at a glance to an employer reading it, but it also serves another important function. In today’s technology age, it’s often impossible for prospective employers and human resources personnel to read through hundreds (if not thousands) of resumes in order to weed out the ones they don’t want. Many rely on technology to do it for them, and this is where datamining comes into play.

An increasing number of companies are using computer programs to scan through resumes for preset keywords in order to narrow down the applicant pool. Even if you are qualified for a position, if those all-important keywords are not contained in your resume, you are going to land in the “no” pile before a human being ever lays eyes on it.

Including a keyword section helps optimize your resume for such searches, but that’s only half the battle. Knowing what buzzwords relate to your profession and industry requires research, so be sure to do your homework.

4. Unnecessarily Stating Computer Skills

There are several instances where listing computer skills is absolutely vital. If you are an IT professional, by all means go ahead and include them. If you are applying for a position that involves heavy data entry or specialized computer skills, please list them.

If not, however, there is such a thing as too much information, particularly when it comes to computer skills. Many applicants are under the false notion that listing universal software programs such as Microsoft Office or Internet Explorer is a crucial part of their backgrounds. However, this simply isn’t the case. In fact, Microsoft applications are so universal, listing them is more often than not a waste of space.

For upper-level applicants, it is already inferred that you possess the entry-level technical skills that were needed to successfully rise through the ranks. Listing them would unnecessarily lend your overall presentation a lower-level feel, which you would obviously want to avoid.

5. Referencing References

Just as fairytales conclude with “the end,” resumes at one time had their own last words. You guessed it: “References available upon request.”

Common sense regarding references has prevailed. After all, shouldn’t it go without saying that you are going to provide references if a prospective employer you want to hire you requests them?

Just for the record, references themselves should always be prepared as a separate document. They do not – and never did – belong on the resume itself. Remember, the primary function of a resume is to land an interview, so references are typically not even needed until a later stage in the interviewing process.

Don’t Forget Some of the Classics

Modernizing your resume will show an employer you are a cutting-edge professional as long as you don’t forget two important basics. Top-notch writing and a polished, professional format will forever remain timeless.

About the Author:

Alesia Benedict, Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC) is the President of GetInterviews.com, the country’s leading resume writing firm. They provide professionals with customized, branded resumes and career marketing documents. Her and her firm’s credentials include being cited by JIST Publications as one of the “best resume writers in North America,” quoted as a career expert in The Wall Street Journal, and published in a whopping 25+ career books. Established in 1994, the firm has aided more than 100,000 job seekers to date. All resume writers are certified writers. GetInterviews.com offers a free resume critique and their services come with a wonderful guarantee — interviews in 30 days or they’ll rewrite for free!

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Seven Tips for Developing References

Aug 4

Posted by doostang in Advice & Tips, Job Search | View Comments

By Alesia Benedict, CPRW, JCTC GetInterviews.com

Analyst, New York, NY
Marketing Director, Mid Atlantic States
Investment Banking / Private Equity Analyst, New York, NY
Manager – Strategy & Business Development, Washington, DC
Junior Analyst, West Conshohocken, PA

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“References upon Request”. While this phrase has become passé on resumes, every job seeker knows the importance of having good references. Even with the more commonly occurring instance of HR departments only confirming dates of employment and status for rehire, references are still a very important part of the job search.

So how do you “develop” your references? Most people think you just write down a few people’s names and contact information that can attest to the fact that you are a great person, a good employee, and won’t run off with the office supplies. Totally wrong! Developing good references actually requires some thought and work.

Tip 1 – Consider the field

When deciding upon whom to name as your references, it is important to think about who you select. Director supervisors and people who have true knowledge of your work performance make the best references. Higher-up execs, while perhaps having more important job titles or better name recognition might well say “Joe who?” when contacted for a reference because they don’t know who you are or only have a passing exposure to your work performance. That would be embarrassing!

Tip 2 – Ask Permission

Always talk to those whom you plan to name as references in your job search! You don’t want your reference to be caught off guard when contacted. Also, get their permission and make sure you have the correct contact information for them. Some might prefer to be contacted by email while others prefer a home phone or cell phone number. Mailing address for references is not necessary.

Tip 3 – Are They Competition?

An old recruiters’ trick is to use an under-qualified candidate’s resume as a “backdoor” to qualified candidates – the references. Good references should have direct knowledge of your work performance but ideally should be in a slightly different functional line of work than you. For example, a recruiter might contact an Associate from XYZ Firm only because he is hoping to get access to the Senior Associate (the candidate’s supervisor) in hopes of luring him/her away.

Tip 4 – Who Knows Whom?

When a recruiter or employer is checking references, they know the references that are listed by the candidate are going to have good things to say about the candidate. Let’s face it – who is going to list someone that would say BAD things? That is why hiring professionals ask the following question of most references: “Who ELSE other than you has direct knowledge of Joe’s work performance? Can you give me their number or email?” It’s not so much who YOU name as a reference but rather who your reference names as a reference. To counter this, ask anyone you ask to be a reference the same question “If asked, who else would you recommend as a reference for me?” If your references name someone who you think would not be very glowing in their report, take the opportunity to steer them away and suggest an alternate person.

Tip 5 – Get it in Writing

Save yourself a lot of trouble and have your references write letters of recommendation for you. In fact, anytime you have a great achievement and receive accolades, ask your supervisor to give you a “pat on the back” in writing. Save these for the future! They are invaluable.

Tip 6 – Preserve Privacy

Never, ever publish your references’ names or contact information in your resume or on the web. First of all, references should never appear on a resume simply because it is not the place for that information. References are provided during the interview, usually a second interview and it is always great if you have it prepared in advanced and can leave the data.  Something tangible by which the interviewer can ‘remember you’. Putting your references’ names, phone numbers, emails and addresses in an online database or in a resume that is published online is simply not something you should do.

Tip 7 – Keep it Professional

Your references should be professional people who have direct knowledge of your work performance. The “character reference” is pretty moot, especially for executives. Hence, do not include a pastor, a friend, a neighbor or a family member.

Before you start your job search, make sure you have your references developed and ready to go. Your references need to know if you are conducting a confidential job search or an open one so they do not accidentally let the cat out of the bag. Consider a thank you note to each reference after you win your new job. That will keep them primed for the next time!

About the Author:

Alesia Benedict, Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC) is the President of GetInterviews.com, the country’s leading resume writing firm. They provide professionals with customized, branded resumes and career marketing documents. Her and her firm’s credentials include being cited by JIST Publications as one of the “best resume writers in North America,” quoted as a career expert in The Wall Street Journal, and published in a whopping 25+ career books. Established in 1994, the firm has aided more than 100,000 job seekers to date. All resume writers are certified writers. GetInterviews.com offers a free resume critique and their services come with a wonderful guarantee — interviews in 30 days or they’ll rewrite for free!

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Five Reasons You’re Not Getting Job Interviews

Jul 28

Posted by doostang in Advice & Tips, Interviewing, Job Search | View Comments

By Alesia Benedict, CPRW, JCTC GetInterviews.com

Equity Research Associate, New York, NY
Management Consultant, Nationwide
Analyst, Los Angeles, CA
Pre-MBA Private Equity Associate, Boston, MA
Investment Banking Analyst, San Francisco, CA

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It’s a tough market out there. Not only is unemployment high, but the regular flux of the market has stilled somewhat as people hang on to jobs and paychecks rather than seeking advancement or relocation. Don’t make your job search any tougher than it needs to be. Evaluate your efforts to see if you’ve made any of the following mistakes.

1 – Your resume and cover letter are not written aggressively. Most people only capture job duties and responsibilities in their resumes. That’s just not enough to gain attention in these tough market conditions. Your resume and cover letter must be written to grab the interest of the employer or recruiter, plus win high rankings in applicant tracking systems and online resume databases. A great resume is powerfully written with strong industry keywords; it details specific accomplishments and brings in measurements of performance wherever possible; and it is focused and relevant to the targeted position. A poorly written resume can be a significant hindrance in winning interviews.

2 – You are limiting your efforts to answering online job advertisements on fewer than ten job sites. Fishermen know when fishing is poor, they have to cast a wider net. The same goes for job search. If you are limiting your efforts to a few online job sites, you miss out on a majority of the market. A strong job search will include not only big job boards, but also networking, targeted communications, and creative career marketing. Don’t ignore job boards but don’t limit yourself to just online ads for your marketing efforts.

3 – You are not targeting specific companies first. Most jobs are never advertised anywhere. They are filled from within, filled from employee referrals, or filled from prospective candidates whose resumes are already in the company’s database. If you are only chasing advertised positions, you are behind in the race right from the beginning. Generate a list of companies for which you would like to work and get your resume and cover letter to all of them. Build a consistent marketing campaign targeting these companies and build a knowledge base on their operations, their missions, challenges they face, and markets in which they operate. Use this information to market yourself to the needs of the company. In your communication, always speak to how you can be valuable to the company and how you can meet their needs.

4 – You ask your network if they know of any job openings. The question “Do you know of any open positions?” is a yes or no question. Once you get a “no” from your network contacts, you have exhausted your efforts, right? If you feel like you have a limited reach in your network, it is because you are asking the wrong question. You should be asking your network contacts for information about specific companies.  As you work your network, you will build a significant knowledge base that will eventually lead to specific contacts within companies and give you insight that will be valuable in your marketing efforts. Asking for information instead of asking about open jobs also makes networking easier! You don’t put your network contacts in the uncomfortable position of not being able to help. If you have ten different companies you are researching, more than likely your contact will be able to give you some kind of information on at least one of those companies. You actually make it easier for your network contacts to help you!

5 – You are not following up on your efforts. The squeaky wheel gets the oil. You must be a squeaky wheel. When employers get hundreds of applicants for a single opening, the five percent who take the trouble to follow up and keep following up will stand out in the crowd. You want to be in that five percent who rise above the masses. Sure, it’s an extra step and it sometimes feels superfluous, but it is not wasted effort. You are not being a pest or bothersome. You are demonstrating you have an interest in the company and an ongoing interest in being considered for employment. Make some noise and be sure to follow up on your resume submissions.

Job search takes a lot of effort. With unemployment near double-digits, there are a lot of candidates in the market. The ones who get results are the ones who put forth the extra effort to conduct a smart, complete job search.

About the Author:

Alesia Benedict, Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC) is the President of GetInterviews.com, the country’s leading resume writing firm. They provide professionals with customized, branded resumes and career marketing documents. Her and her firm’s credentials include being cited by JIST Publications as one of the “best resume writers in North America,” quoted as a career expert in The Wall Street Journal, and published in a whopping 25+ career books. Established in 1994, the firm has aided more than 100,000 job seekers to date. All resume writers are certified writers. GetInterviews.com offers a free resume critique and their services come with a wonderful guarantee — interviews in 30 days or they’ll rewrite for free!

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Doostang News July 26: How Transferable Skills Acquired in the Classroom can be Valuable to Your Resume

Jul 25

Posted by doostangkaitlin in Advice & Tips, Doostang News, Job Search, Resumes | View Comments

Investment Analyst, New York, NY
Director of Technology Services, Nationwide
Associate, San Francisco, CA
Marketing Operations Analyst, Boston, MA
Analyst, Los Angeles, CA

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One of the challenges recent graduates often face is that they have very little work experience.  They leave college armed with all the knowledge and enthusiasm vital to the workplace, but have a much harder time filling up their resume.  The solution?  Focus on transferable skills acquired from the classroom that can be applied to the workplace:

Communication

Classrooms are rife with opportunities for communication.  Any time students collaborate on a project, share their views on an article, or review and peer edit papers, they are engaging in prime communication skills that are ideally suited for the workplace.

Meeting Deadlines

Deadlines are one of the main tenets of college education, and though many college students spend a good chunk of their academic careers procrastinating, the ability to ultimately get things done on time is a sign of a valuable employee.

Multi-tasking

Students may not feel it, but they are excellent multi-taskers.  Any individual who can juggle several classes, sports, activities, and a social life is a person who can bring an equal sense of balance to their busy life in the workplace.

Research

It often seems that the majority of what a student does in college is research.  All of those long hours spent in the library prepare you for research you may have to do on the job.  More than this, the research skills of a recent graduate are probably much more fresh than those of a seasoned employee who hasn’t stepped into the reference section of a library in years.

Adaptability

College years are some of the most shifting, unpredictable years of an individual’s life.  First, that person is uprooted from their home, then they are placed into a foreign environment with many unfamiliar people and are left to fend for themselves, often for the first time in their lives.  Someone who is able to successfully make it out of this situation unscathed can certainly take on the corporate world, learn to adapt to a new office environment and work with peers.


While listing the transferable skills that you acquired at college may not seem as convincing as listing job experience on a resume, hiring managers understand that you are young and haven’t had as much time out in the workforce.  Moreover, they also know that college, in and of itself, is practically a full-time job.  Always remember to focus on what you know and what you’re good at, and take pride in the fact that as an individual new to the working world, you have a fresh, creative, unbiased outlook on the market because that is often what a company is looking for.

Until next time,

The Doostang Team

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Words that Sabotage Your Resume

Jul 21

Posted by doostang in Advice & Tips, Job Search, Resumes | View Comments

By Alesia Benedict, CPRW, JCTC GetInterviews.com

Investment Banking Analyst, Los Angeles, CA
Real Estate Analyst, New York, NY
Quantitative Equity Analyst, Boston, MA
Consultant. London, UK
Private Equity Consulting Associate, San Francisco, CA

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Creating a winning executive resume is a feat of strategy involving focus, wording, design, and content selection. To achieve a career marketing document that wins interviews, all areas of the strategy must be on-target and consciously used in the most effective manner. One of the most common mistakes job candidates make when writing their resumes is the mistake of not paying attention to strategy and word selection.

There are actually words that are commonly used on resumes that can have a detrimental impact on the effectiveness of the resume. When most job candidates write their own resumes, they don’t consider word choice because they are primarily worried about getting down the basic information. Verbiage is critical and the wrong word choice can sabotage your resume.

When writing your resume, it is important to consider your audience. The average recruiter and/or hiring manager sees hundreds of resumes from qualified candidates. Resumes begin to look and sound the same to them. Using run-of-the-mill wording only hurts your candidacy because it causes your resume to fade into the pile of hundreds of others rather than standing out. Here are some words and phrases to avoid:

Soft-skill Descriptions

Job seekers feel they need to communicate their soft-skills to the employer because they believe they are the traits that make them unique. There is nothing further from the truth. Soft-skills are claimed by nearly all job candidates and are so common that hiring managers pay no attention to them.

Soft-skill phrases to avoid or severely limit:

  • Excellent communication skills
  • Goal-driven
  • Strong work ethic
  • Multi-tasker
  • Personable presenter
  • Goal-oriented
  • Detail-oriented

Do not bore the reader to tears with these trite, overused and tired phrases. After all no one will write that he/she takes long lunches, is lazy, and argues a lot with peers. Hence, it is much more effective to write description that is action-based and demonstrates these abilities rather than just laying claim to them. For example, rather than just stating you are an “excellent presenter,” you could say something like “Developed and presented 50+ multi-media presentations to C-level prospects resulting in 35 new accounts totaling $300,000 in new revenues.”

Age, Health, Appearance

Many executives have not had to write a resume in years since they’ve either been promoted progressively from within or have been headhunted aggressively by other companies. Now they are facing that scary time warp known as pre-retirement and fear age discrimination. They feel they can counter this perceived hurdle by giving description of their age or health to “prove” they are not ready for the nursing home! Such description can be death to a resume because rather than helping, it significantly hurts. Not only are you playing fast and loose with hiring laws but you just make the issue you are trying to hide stand out in neon letters.

Age, health, appearance phrases to avoid:

  • Young
  • Energetic
  • Youthful
  • Athletic
  • Fit
  • Healthy
  • Professional appearance
  • Mature

I recently saw the following on a resume “Healthy, young-at-heart executive ready to make a difference rather than play golf all day. Trim, fit marathon runner seeks position as National Sales Director.” This person might as well have written “57 year old male terrified of age discrimination and worried that he’ll be passed over for a younger candidate”.

Passive Voice

Many people write in passive voice because that is how we’ve been taught to write “formally” in high school composition and then in freshman college English. It is habit and as a result of the habit, the passive voice is prevalent in self-written resumes. The problem with passive voice, however, is that it is just that – passive! A resume needs to have punch and sparkle and communicate an active, aggressive candidate. Passive voice does not accomplish that.

Indicators of the passive voice:

  • Responsible for
  • Duties included
  • Served as
  • Actions encompassed

Rather than saying “Responsible for management of three direct reports” change it up to “Managed 3 direct reports.” It is a shorter, more direct mode of writing and adds impact to the way the resume reads.

On the flip side, while action verbs are great, don’t overdo it.  Ack! I have actually seen:

  • Smashed numbers through the roof
  • Electrified sales team to produce
  • Pushed close rate by 10%

Myers-Briggs, DISC and other profiles

Many job seekers have gone through personality and style profiles such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator or the DISC Profile. While the results from these evaluations can be invaluable to the job seeker for evaluating an opportunity in terms of “fit”, employers and recruiters are more interested in performance results. Do not inadvertently “pigeon-hole” yourself by including your profile results in the resume.

Consider your word choice in a resume. A resume is a marketing document for your career just as a brochure is a marketing document for a product or service. Companies put careful thought and consideration into each and every word that goes into marketing copy and you should do the same in your resume. These words stand in your place with the recruiter and need to showcase you in a powerful way.  In a perfect world, these things would not matter, but in the reality of job search today, they matter a great deal.  Be wise — stop and give some thought to the words you choose.

About the Author:

Alesia Benedict, Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC) is the President of GetInterviews.com, the country’s leading resume writing firm. They provide professionals with customized, branded resumes and career marketing documents. Her and her firm’s credentials include being cited by JIST Publications as one of the “best resume writers in North America,” quoted as a career expert in The Wall Street Journal, and published in a whopping 25+ career books. Established in 1994, the firm has aided more than 100,000 job seekers to date. All resume writers are certified writers. GetInterviews.com offers a free resume critique and their services come with a wonderful guarantee — interviews in 30 days or they’ll rewrite for free!

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Resume Strategies for Career Changers

Jul 7

Posted by doostang in Advice & Tips, Job Search, Resumes | View Comments

By Alesia Benedict, CPRW, JCTC GetInterviews.com

Analyst, New York, NY
Marketing Director, Mid Atlantic States
Investment Banking / Private Equity Analyst, New York, NY
Manager – Strategy & Business Development, Washington, DC
Junior Analyst, West Conshohocken, PA

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Are you considering a change in direction in your career? If so, you are not alone. Economic downturns often result in consideration of new, more lucrative career directions. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American will change jobs at least ten times over his/her lifetime and will make a complete career change three times. A thirty-year career with one or two companies is no longer the norm. People move, change jobs, change companies, and change their minds on a regular basis about what they want to do with their working life. Handling that change on the resume can pose a challenge to job seekers.

In the past couple of years, we’ve seen many people who have lost their careers due to the economic situation. Mortgage, real estate, and construction industries have dried up from underneath the professionals who worked in them. As a result, these individuals and professionals in other distressed industries are often seeking to return to a career field in which they previously worked, posing a resume challenge.

Returning to a prior career field creates an organizational problem with the resume, especially if the most recent career field is not well-related to the earlier one. How can you show the employer you have good experience in business analysis, for instance, if the first thing they see on the resume is your experience in mortgage sales? The challenge faced is establishing the focus of the resume from the start. That means a powerful summary and core competencies section right at the top.

A summary is the most important part of the resume. It has to establish the focus of the job search, show how you are qualified for that focus, and engage the reader to read further into the resume. If the summary does not engage the interest of the reader, he/she will not give the rest of the resume the attention needed to clinch the call for an interview. In a career change situation, the summary is even more important because it has to do double duty – persuade the reader to continue reading and set the idea in the mind of the reader the job seeker has the right qualifications, even if they are not exemplified in the most recent employment experience.

The wording of a career-change resume is crucial. Most career fields have similar base functions – customer service, team work, project work, or business sense. Some have similar skills such as sales and customer service; business analysis and financial analysis; or operations and project management. Other career fields are very dissimilar or require licenses, certifications, or specialized training. Regardless whether where you are going is similar to where you are now, the wording of the resume in terms of similar functions, common duties, and supportive accomplishments can help you make that switch.

Additionally, selection of information can make a significant impact on the effectiveness of the career-change resume. Often, the most important factor in information selection is what is excluded from the resume. When making a career change, it is very tempting to “throw in every fact” in hope that it will have some kind of impact in the mind of the reader. Unfortunately, the result tends to be opposite. Too much information overwhelms important facts and the reader has trouble seeing the real qualifications in the “static”.  When constructing the career-change resume, consider information presented to the reader very carefully. You have a limited amount of space to make your argument and you don’t want to waste it with irrelevant information that does not support your goal.

It’s not just what you’ve done in your career; it’s what you’ve achieved. When making a career shift, showing good performance can help you make the jump, even if the performance is not in your new career field. Skills will take you only so far and then it’s more a matter of attitude, drive, and willingness to learn. You can show those traits by demonstrating how you’ve performed well in your career to-date. Employers are more likely to give an opportunity to someone who shows drive than someone who just shows skills on the resume.

Career-change resumes can be challenging to construct. Make sure you understand clearly what the requirements of your target job will be in terms of both hard skills and soft skills. Look at your experience clearly to identify what will transfer well. Identify points of achievement that demonstrate an attitude of ambition. Coalesce all this into a document that sells your performance while showing your transferable skills and you will have a winning career-change resume.

About the Author:

Alesia Benedict, Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC) is the President of GetInterviews.com, the country’s leading resume writing firm. They provide professionals with customized, branded resumes and career marketing documents. Her and her firm’s credentials include being cited by JIST Publications as one of the “best resume writers in North America,” quoted as a career expert in The Wall Street Journal, and published in a whopping 25+ career books. Established in 1994, the firm has aided more than 100,000 job seekers to date. All resume writers are certified writers. GetInterviews.com offers a free resume critique and their services come with a wonderful guarantee — interviews in 30 days or they’ll rewrite for free!

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