Stinky Resume

Stinky Resume After six weeks of job searching I finally broke down and went to a two-day workshop to help me hone my job search skills and techniques. By this time I had sent out over 100 resumes in response to specific job postings or just to a company (without a specific posting). And I had only 2 interviews â? ¦ 2%. Pretty discouraging. In this workshop we were watching a video and something jumped out at me. One of the case studies on the video was a guy who was really big on making sure that his job titles stuck out to impress anyone that read his resume. And that was exactly what was keeping him out of interviews. This was my problem! In my short eight-year career I have had the following titles: Intern, Programmer, IT Manager, CIO, VP and General Manager. Pretty cool, I thought. I was impressed! But those titles were in a different job market (southern Idaho) than where I was now looking (the Salt Lake City area). I found that I was â??competingâ?  with others that had my same titles (and education: CIS degree and MBA), but with many more years behind them. In other words, I may have had similar breadth but the depth of my experience was not even close to theirs. And this came through on my resume, loud and clear. So, after watching this video and having an â??aha! momentâ?  I realized that what I should have done was change my titles to â??managerâ?  or something like that. Iâ??m not sure what recruiters and professional HR folks would have to say about this, all I know is that my resume wasnâ??t getting me to the next step â?? the interview. My advice is to get REAL help from a resume professional. Ask around because Iâ??ve also heard that some of these resume writers are really big on formatting and cool stuff but lack on substance, etc. For formatting and all the trickery go to emurse.com and put your resume through their system (for free) â?? youâ??ll be able to get it spit back out in various formats and file types (pdf, doc, etc.). And, if this is a frustrating topic for you (in other words, if your resume isnâ??t doing its job), you might want to check out what those on the other side of the desk (or e-mail) are thinking. Just reading this agenda is interesting because it presents some of the same issues that Iâ??ve heard about from job seekers, but with a twist from the recruiterâ??s perspective. How to make your resume common? How do they view keywords, acronyms and job titles? Stuff to think about. Stinky Resume After six weeks of job searching I finally broke down and went to a two-day workshop to help me hone my job search skills and techniques. By this time I had sent out over 100 resumes in response to specific job postings or just to a company (without a specific posting). And I had only 2 interviews â? ¦ 2%. Pretty discouraging. In this workshop we were watching a video and something jumped out at me. One of the case studies on the video was a guy who was really big on making sure that his job titles stuck out to impress anyone that read his resume. And that was exactly what was keeping him out of interviews. This was my problem! In my short eight-year career I have had the following titles: Intern, Programmer, IT Manager, CIO, VP and General Manager. Pretty cool, I thought. I was impressed! But those titles were in a different job market (southern Idaho) than where I was now looking (the Salt Lake City area). I found that I was â??competingâ?  with others that had my same titles (and education: CIS degree and MBA), but with many more years behind them. In other words, I may have had similar breadth but the depth of my experience was not even close to theirs. And this came through on my resume, loud and clear. So, after watching this video and having an â??aha! momentâ?  I realized that what I should have done was change my titles to â??managerâ?  or something like that. Iâ??m not sure what recruiters and professional HR folks would have to say about this, all I know is that my resume wasnâ??t getting me to the next step â?? the interview. My advice is to get REAL help from a resume professional. Ask around because Iâ??ve also heard that some of these resume writers are really big on formatting and cool stuff but lack on substance, etc. For formatting and all the trickery go to emurse.com and put your resume through their system (for free) â?? youâ??ll be able to get it spit back out in various formats and file types (pdf, doc, etc.). And, if this is a frustrating topic for you (in other words, if your resume isnâ??t doing its job), you might want to check out what those on the other side of the desk (or e-mail) are thinking. Just reading this agenda is interesting because it presents some of the same issues that Iâ??ve heard about from job seekers, but with a twist from the recruiterâ??s perspective. How to make your resume common? How do they view keywords, acronyms and job titles? Stuff to think about.

Top 20 Resume Writing Mistakes

Top 20 Resume Writing MistakesSome of the most common resume writing mistakes are made while writing your resume, and these mistakes can make a big difference in whether you get hired or not. So before you get started, find out how to avoid these mistakes and make your resume stand out.As much as you may love to rewrite your resume from scratch, a job that requires this kind of time commitment is hard to come by. You could consider taking online jobs, freelancing or writing. Whatever you decide to do, always look for a job that will allow you to earn enough money to support yourself and your family.This is an honest mistake that most people make when they first start. Most people also write their resumes by hand, meaning they will not have a printer with them or a computer to use as a template. For these people, the only thing they have to rely on is their own memory and a word processor on their computer. If you have a good memory and a computer, go for it. Otherwise, choose a cover letter that you can type up yourself.Remember that your resume should be two-sided. You want to have the facts side of your resume, but also give a brief overview of your accomplishments. This is a very important aspect of your resume, so it will pay off to invest some time in research and brainstorming your resume, so that you will come up with something that makes you stand out.Another common resume mistake is that you make your resume for someone else to look at. There is no point in wasting time on one job. You should make it clear to the hiring manager that you want the position and that you intend to take it only if you are offered the job and the company has the hiring process outlined for you.Always proofread your resume before sending it out. It is easy to miss or overlook important things when you are rushing to get the job, and you will make these mistakes on a regular basis. If you want to get hired, make sure you only send one resume to a prospective employer.Are you s tarting to see where these errors would be on a list of top ten mistakes? That is because the most common resume writing mistakes are listed as number three. Make sure you understand what these things are before you even begin. If you cannot spot them on your own, you will waste time that could be better spent in actually getting the job.If you have not already done so, make a list of all of the mistakes you can identify on your resume. This list will be useful in making a new resume and it will also serve as a reminder of how to avoid these mistakes on future resumes as well.