Posts Tagged ‘resume writing’

Your resume is not your obituary

This is my Monday sound off.  This post is not about what’s wrong with applicant tracking systems.  That topic could fill a book.  It is not a “quick resume fix” post either.  It’s my Monday sound off about what’s on my mind, and thoughts about the week ahead.

Today, I had a chance to get to know a colleague, Dawn Rasmussen.  She’s a resume writer, and pay it forward enthusiast like me.  She’s a no nonsense, career focused person who I met through Twitter (which is how I meet most of my colleagues.)  She and I spoke for an hour about what’s wrong with resumes, resume writing, and our own personal pet peeves with the document, how its read, and our industry.  Our passionate discussion leads us to this week’s HFChat topic- How to avoid becoming road kill on the applicant tracking system highway.

As an HR professional, I am well aware that most of the time people aren’t reading resumes, software is reading your resume.  How you beef up your resume with salient key words will make or break your resume. It will determine where a human beings eyes will ever see them.  Once a human being’s eyes do see your resume, you have to make the second cut- either you have the B.Q.’s or you don’t have the B.Q.’s (better qualifications.)  It sucks because you might have the best B.Q.’s on the market, but if your resume isn’t properly written you will not get the interview.  It’s as simple as that.

This makes me angry.  I’m not going to lie.  It ruffles my feathers on a personal level, because I know a lot of great candidates who don’t get considered because they don’t know how to represent themselves.  I have even fallen into this pot hole.  We all have our blind spots.  That’s where a good resume writer comes into play. HFChat is not going to be about building a relationship with a resume writer.  We handled that topic a month ago with Karen Siwak, who did a wonderful job.

This week, we are going to dig deep into the issue about why resumes fail.  What are HR/Recruiters pet peeves about resumes?  Why do certain resumes fail?  Should we re-write our resume for each job?  It’s exhausting, I know, but this week we are going to attack this topic on the flank.  It’s going to be a real lunch and learn topic.  My goal, as will all the HFChats it to give you tangible take aways that you can go back and apply to your life, and enrich your career.

I’ll talk more about this on Wednesday when I post the questions to the chat.  Here’s how you can get in touch with Dawn Rasmussen: dawn@pathfindercareers.com Trust me, she’s someone you should follow, and get to know.

Now it’s your turn to sound off…what questions do you want to ask our expert this week?  What are your points of pain, or pet peeves?  Please comment below.  We want to serve you better.

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The Relationship Between Your Resume Writer & You? When Should You Hire A Resume Writer? When Should You Go It Alone? Do You When To Hold 'em? When To Fold 'em?

Margo Rose, Founder & CEO of HireFriday and HFChat follow me on Twitter: @HRMargo

This week, HFChat addresses the relationship between you, your resume, your resume writer, and your career.  How important is a resume?  Will a resume get you a job, or will it get you an interview?  Do you know when to hire a resume writer?  How do you select a resume writer?  How do you vet a resume writer?  How can you tell when it’s time to fish and cut bait when the resume writer simply isn’t for you?  Should you even bother hiring a resume writer when there are so many free resume formats and tools online?  All of these questions are fair game…but they are not the key questions of focus.   Your comments, editorials, and feelings about this topic are welcome in Friday’s HFChat.  @TomBolt is our co-moderator.  His wisdom in the recruitment community is unsurpassed.

I love this topic, because I have strong opinions it.  I also have an open mind about your strong opinions as well.  That’s what makes HFChat so compelling.  We keep an open mind about all view-points.  The only thing we ask for in return is common courtesy.  Personal, or professional attacks will not be tolerated.  Twitter is a gentile sometimes, and shrill others.  However, I’ve set the tone of HFChat as a civil, helpful, friendly, and open channel for exchange.  It is also a breeding ground for vigorous debate.  I love debate, in fact I welcome it.  All that I ask that there be no personal attacks during the chat.  If you want to attack somebody on your Twitter stream, that is your business.  Personal attacks will not be tolerated during our discussion.  It’s just bad form, and it shuts down open dialogue, and civil debate.

Why do I bring up these guidelines for discussion?  I am a Twitter chat enthusiast.  I have observed Twitter chats that have escalated into brutal exchanges.  I don’t believe in brutal exchanges during any Twitter chat.  If I have something downright personal to say to someone, I’d rather take it offline, or simply debate with them one on one.  Enough said.  I joke around with my colleagues all the time.  Most of us know the boundaries, where to start, and more importantly, where to stop.  Do I rant on my blog from time to time, sure I do.  It’s my blog.   I am an identity blogger. Offering editorials about what I observe in the human resources, and recruitment space is what I do here on HRMargo.com.

Here are the questions for your consideration.  Let’s examine the relationship between resume writers, and the #HireFriday job search community.  The following are the questions that will appear in tomorrows chat in sequential order:

1. Should one hire a resume writer, or go it alone?
2. There are a lot of free tools out there, so how does one make an informed decision?
3. What is the best way to select a professional resume writer?  How do you vet a resume writer, and make an informed decision?
4. What is the best way to communicate with a resume writer if you are not please with their process, or progress?
5. Resume writers, what do you want job seekers to know about your job?
6. Job seekers, what do you want resume writers to know about your search?

Typically, I like 3 questions for a one hour chat.  This is a meaty topic.  We may need to do this in two parts.  I’m not sure.  We may or may not get through six questions.  I prepared 6 questions in case the online chat stagnates, or loses focus.  Honestly, I think the first three questions could consume an entire hour.  We will get to as many questions as we can, and will answer as many questions as possible.  I have invited my favorite resume writers to participate.  I have also encouraged the professional human resource community, and recruitment community to participate as well.  What I love most about Twitter chats is that you just never know who will show up, what will be said, and how you can help.  The point is to help as many people as you can.  Remember, job seekers: you can help too.  Each of you has a valid point of view, an area of expertise, and are tremendous resources to our HireFriday Community.  That, and I love you.  I am one of you.  You are a part of my life, and I am a part of yours.

Sincerely,

Margo Rose, M.Ed, Human Resource Development

Founder & CEO of HireFriday

http://linkedin.com/in/margorose I accept all linkedin invitations from members of #HFChat and the #HireFriday Community.  Just mention HFChat or HireFriday in your invitation, and you will be welcomed into my network with open arms.

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Julie Walraven, Professional Resume Writer, and Executive Coach

I invited Julie Walraven to write this guest post on HireFriday because of her undying support of job seekers everywhere. She’s a passionate supporter of the HireFriday movement on twitter, linkedin, and facebook. In fact, she retweets the posts of more job seekers, than just about anyone else in the #HireFriday twitter stream. Looking for a job is hard work. Julie makes it a little easier. It’s people like Julie that make our online community the unique and special place that it is. Last week, she and I had an interesting conversation about HireFriday, and the job seekers who were using it. We both realized that there are ways to present yourself. More importantly, there are ways NOT to present yourself. We put our heads together, and I asked her to write a post. You are about to hear from a professional career coach and resume writer with excellent credentials.

Julie Walraven is a 20+ year résumé writer and career professional with an arsenal of cutting-edge strategies to help her clients find the help they need to win new positions and take their careers to new levels. Now that I’m done tooting her horn, read why I think she’s the one to follow. Her post is compelling, useful, and is sure to help you on your career path. So get ready job seekers, and learn how to get ready for HireFriday!

I love the concept of #HireFriday and I think that Margo Rose is both brilliant and so compassionate for understanding that job seekers need the help of the whole HR community and career industry. I am very happy to connect job seekers with potential opportunities using the power of #HireFriday. Margo has created a very clear set of guidelines for both the job seeker and the helping community of HR professionals and career professionals.

As I have watched job seekers put themselves out there on #HireFriday, I have seen some so ready for the opportunity and others, well… not so ready. Just like in the normal job search, if you are pushing yourself out there with a low-level résumé and no strategy for what to say when you are contacted by a potential employer, you will end up disappointed.

Critical to every job search is to create the right first impression. I caution my clients to make sure that physically they are ready to interview at any time. If they hand-deliver a résumé in torn jeans, dirty tennis shoes, and looking more like they just got done mowing the lawn, then they will potentially ruin their opportunity to be seen as serious contenders. I work with multiple levels of job seekers from entry level and students to executives and my advice to them is the same. You need to look the part, act the part, and have the sales tools with you to sell yourself every time you are in front of a potential employer.

Margo Rose’s #HireFriday is no different. If you are participating in #HireFriday and have your résumé on your blog/site or are using your LinkedIn profile, you need to make sure that you look the part of a prepared job seeker.

How? If you create your résumé yourself, make sure it is packed with keywords, accomplishments, and résumé stories. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is complete but not a clone of your résumé. Use the resources of the many career professionals who blog about résumé writing, job search strategies, interviewing, and all the intricacies of the job search.

Don’t use tired old phases: “excellent interpersonal communication skills” or the dreaded words like: “responsibilities include” which is like fingernails on chalk boards to résumé writers. Quantify and qualify your résumé throughout with numbers and stories. Ask yourself questions that draw out the details, and follow that with “and what then?” Too many people stop before they even they tell the story. Make your value pop!

Many of us (career professionals) have samples on our sites. Don’t duplicate them, they were created for specific people and will not fit your talents and abilities but use the samples for inspiration and to make sure your résumé makes the cut.

Passionate about writing, I am a Career Marketing Strategist, with thousands of happy clients, who use the resumes and career marketing materials I have created for them to reach their potential and find new career opportunities. Job search strategies are critical in this Web 2.0 world especially in the recovering economy.

When you look at LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and the changing array of applications, the challenge of trying to work with even just one of them can be mind-numbing. My own journey into “social media” connected me with talented people all over the globe and I love teaching others how to find connections, build relationships, and move online to real life connections.

*editor’s note: HRMargo wants to leave you with a motivational song that will get your HireFriday going, and motivate your job search. Unemployment can be hard, but it’s not impossible. Remember, never give up on your dreams*

You can find more about Julie at http://designresumes.com

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There’s a facebook group called “Good Grammar is Sexy.”  When I met Karen Siwak, @ResumeStrategy on Twitter, I knew in my heart, I’d met a grammatical sexy wizard.  She’s passionate about writing the very best resumes that represent her clients in their brightest light.  In this guest post, she discusses the importance of storytelling.  No, not “The Three Bears,” storytelling, but “The Little Engine That Could,” storytelling.  Except you are the story.  The story is about how you can tell your story to a prospective hiring manager, and land that interview.  Storytelling is a performance art, and so is effective resume writing.  Read Karen’s post as if you were listening to a book on tape. Absorb the words, and let the message seep into the crevices of your mind.  Allow these lessons to guide you as your template, as you continue to polish your resume.  This is not an advertisement for Karen, but rather a post to empower you with strategies for engaging the hardest part of any search: selling You & Company.  It’s why resume writers are so successful, because this can be an arduous process.  Admittedly, it was the hardest part for me.   The best part of being a blogger is featuring the writers you respect the most.  It is in that spirit, I present to you, Karen Siwak.

Perhaps I’m an odd duck, but I actually enjoy critiquing resumes. And it’s not just because I like picking holes in people’s hard work, or that I take delight in being a grammar sergeant.  In fact my critiques will rarely make mention of a bad format choice (unless its atrocious), or a misplaced comma (unless it is glaringly obvious and bastardizes what you are trying to say).

So why do I like critiquing? It’s because I am a fanatic about resumes that tell an interesting story, and frankly, most don’t. In fact so many resumes fail spectacularly when it comes to story telling, that having to screen through a stack of resumes has been likened to water torture. I like critiquing because I know that I can offer a dozen client-specific suggestions that, if followed, will immediately elevate a resume above the crowd.

Here is my storytelling check list, and I can tell you that less than 10% of the resumes I’ve critiqued over the years have met even half of these criteria:

1. Is there a target job title and a profile or summary that speaks to a specific target audience?
2. Is the summary laden with warm and fuzzy “plays well with others” self-aggrandizements, or does it contain factual statements that show why this candidate is the perfect solution to a specific kind of challenge?
3. Is there an easy-to-read “table of contents” outlining the candidate’s top 10 to 12 core skills and expertise?
4. Does the skills summary use industry-specific language and keywords, and is it stripped of all extraneous words so that the keywords jump out?
5. Does the resume set the context for each job? Is there a brief description of the company, its products, its competitive position?
6. For each position, does the resume briefly list the candidate’s job mandate and the key challenges that they faced when they came on board?
7. Does the resume tell how the candidate stepped up to those challenges, and outline the results they achieved?
8. Does the resume describe how the candidate’s mandate changed over time, how their role evolved, how their company grew or changed as a result of their contributions?
9. If there was a promotion or series of promotions, does the resume describe how this came to be?
10. If applicable, does the resume indicate who the candidate’s clients and stakeholders were? Does it name names, or provide enough information to demonstrate the scope and scale of the client base?
11. If the candidate held similar positions with several different companies, does the resume just duplicate the description, or does it have something fresh and unique to say for each position?
12. When looked at in chronological order, does the candidate’s career progression demonstrate that they have grown professionally over the years?

Personal branding has become de rigeur in today’s internet-driven job market, and smart jobseekers know that they need to use cutting-edge marketing principles to build and sell their personal brand. What you say (and don’t say) in your resume contributes to your personal brand.

As any good marketing professional will tell you, storytelling is the new differentiator.  http://ko-kr.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=309910932696). Sure facts matter, details matter. But stories connect with people on an emotional level. In a job market where the choice of candidates can be endless, having a resume that tells a great story can be the very differentiator that you need to propel you to the top of the candidate pool, and ensure that you get the attention your skills and experience deserve.

If you’d like to reach Karen Directly:

Website: www.resumeconfidential.ca

Twitter: twitter.com/ResumeStrategy

Blog: www.resumeconfidential.ca/blog

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