This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Nancy writes:
Do you have any suggestions on how to explain/validate long periods of professional work gaps in a resume? I am a stay-at-home mother and need some convincing and creative ways to describe this recent position on my resume. I would appreciate any input.
I know I risk the wrath of some of the women reading this blog, but I don’t really like to see resumes that under experience list something cute, such as “Household Manager” or “Domestic Coordination Specialist,” as job title for women who stay at home to manage their households and parent their children. Of course, with a traditional chronological resume, if you don’t list something for when you stayed at home, you will have huge gaps between jobs.
So, you really have three options. First, you can take the approach listed above and make your time at home a category under experience. And while I realize there are many responsibilities involved — I was fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home dad for a few months a long, long time ago — I still don’t think, from an employer’s prospective, that it qualifies to go in this section.
Second, you can consider experimenting with reorganizing your resume into a chrono-functional or hybrid resume that is organized around skills clusters (such as communications, leadership, organizational, etc.) rather than specific jobs and experience. Unfortunately, this style of resume is a bit on the outs right now because employers fear you are hiding something by taking this approach.
Third, you can look beyond your household and compile all the volunteering, freelancing, or other part-time or educational experiences you may have had and use those to show that you were still using and perfecting your skills.
Remember that the goal of your resume is to get your foot in the door — to get you that job interview — and once in the interview, you can decide how to position yourself — your experiences, skills, and accomplishments — in order to sell the employer on your candidacy.
Learn more about mastering resumes by using one of more of the excellent resources found in the Resume and CV Resources section of Quintessential Careers.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
James writes:
I’m searching for a guide on how to write my resume, but I can’t seem to find anything. If you could give me some tips, or a site that I could go to, that would be greatly appreciated.
Can’t find anything on resumes? Wow. There’s tons of stuff available on resumes — in magazines, books, and on the Web… but I’ll give you a quick primer.
Your resume is a critical marketing tool. Your resume has to entice a prospective employer enough — through its focus, content, and style — to first consider your qualifications for the job at hand and then to invite you for a job interview. A resume is a statement of your unique mix of experiences, education, and skills. You must not lie on your resume, but you must always remember its goal.
I think the most important thing any job-seeker should do before attempting to write a resume is to first sit down and make a list of your skills and accomplishments from all your previous experiences (work, volunteer, school, etc.) because you will take from this list those critical skills and accomplishments — not your duties and responsibilities — that highlight your fit for the next job you are seeking.
The next step is researching and identifying the job — and all the requirements of that job — that you are seeking because it is critical that your resume is focused on specifics. You should also research the potential employers that may have jobs that you seek so that you can incorporate some of their keywords into your resume.
Wait! Does this advice suggest that job-seekers need to have a specifically tailored resume for every single job they apply for? Yes! There is absolutely no reason for you not to develop a different resume for each job and employer. For most job-seekers, this task will simply mean tweaking small parts of your resume for similar jobs.
Once you have the content down, you should focus on the style and look of your resume. Do not use a template; design your own. Follow a consistent style. Use normal fonts and sizes. Use bullets rather than paragraphs. Do not use personal pronouns. Consider using a career/job objective or profile section. Always list education and experience in reverse chronological order (starting with the most recent stuff). Do not list any personal information (such as age, marital status, weight). Do not include controversial information. And ALWAYS, ALWAYS, spell-check and carefully proofread your resume for any and all errors.
Read our articles published on Quintessential Careers: The Scoop on Resume Length: How Many Pages Should Your Resume Be? and 10 Resume Mistakes to Avoid.
You can gets lots more advice, including resume samples, resume-writing tutorial, and more, in this section of Quintessential Careers: Resume and CV Resources.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Laura writes: Since moving to Daytona Beach 5 years ago, I have worked for 10 employers and also tried self-employment. (Four of the jobs were temporary.) Only one of those employers was a good match for me, but unfortunately, they went out of business nine months after I started working for them. I am a highly qualified accountant/bookkeeper, but it seems this town is unwilling to pay a decent salary to someone with my skills and more than 25 years of experience. My age (over 50) may also have something to do with my inability to get a good job offer. I have been on several interviews, but I seem to come in second or third choice.
I think now is the time to reinforce the whole concept of a job search as a marketing campaign. Your cover letter and resume are the key marketing promotion documents and the job interview is the critical sales call. If you then look at yourself as a product, it puts job-hunting in a much different light.
You have a number of issues/problems/concerns that need to be addressed. First, I let me preface the rest of this answer with the depressing news that the Central Florida job market is one of the weakest and low-paying that I have ever researched. So, as you’ve discovered, job-seekers need to keep their expectations tempered.
Your resume. There are a number of issues you need to deal with here. First, you need to remove older job experience and take older dates off your experience and education so that employers can’t easily guess your age. Next, you need to do something with all the jobs; 10 jobs in five years is a huge red flag. I would consider lumping all your temporary work into one grouping in a traditional resume — or consider experimenting with some sort of chrono-functional resume, in which skills are emphasized and employment history is secondary. Next, are you current with your training/technology skills — and if so, does it come across on your resume? So much of accounting and bookkeeping practices have changed, even in the last 10 years, that employers may assume older job-seekers still do it the “old” way and may be resistant to change. Your task is to not let them assume that!
In the interview. Your resume can only do so much for you — which is basically get you to the interview. Now you need to sell yourself to the employer. Don’t go into interviews, as some older workers do, with anything but a positive attitude — focused on how you can make an immediate contribution to the company (rather than relying on all your years of solid experience). Attitude, especially with older workers, is critical.
I strongly recommend that you read some of the articles and other resources in this section of Quintessential Careers: Job Resources for Mature and Older Jobseekers.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Anonymous writes: Quick question: How do you handle and resume that is now 2 pages… no way around the second page…have to turn in Friday and I am stumped!!
There is nothing wrong with established job-seekers having a two-page resume. Even some exceptional recent college grads may need two pages to showcase all their accomplishments, skills, education/training, and talents and abilities.
In fact, it’s much better to have a two-page resume with normal margins and font size than to try and condense all your information onto one page using narrow margins and tiny type, virtually guaranteeing that no employer is going to even bother trying to read it.
Here are some rules about writing a two-page resume. First, if you need to go to a second page, do so. Just be sure that the second page is at least half full; anything less, and you should find a way to cut/condense to make the information fit on one page. Second, be careful not to divide elements from page one to page two; in other words, do not start a section on page one that carries over to page two. Third, be sure to include a header at the top of the second page identifying it as page two of your resume. Fourth, do not even consider going to a third page.
Some other general rules of resume-writing: focus (and quantify whenever possible) on accomplishments rather than job duties or responsibilities; showcase transferable skills when your work experience has been outside the traditional path; consider a functional style over a (traditional) chronological format when changing careers; consider leaving dates off college degrees to avoid age discrimination.
Find lots more information, articles, tutorials, and resources in the Resume and CV Resources section of Quintessential Careers.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Julie writes: I have been unemployed for a little over a year, but I have been doing all the paper work for my husband’s business he has on the side. I also live on a farm. So I really haven’t been employed. How would I add this in my resume? If I leave it off they will think I haven’t been working.
So many job-seekers are in a similar situations as yours. Perhaps they worked for a family business, perhaps it was volunteer work, or perhaps it was taking a year off to go back to school…But what you and all these other job-seekers don’t understand is that all these things add up to your specific mix of skills and abilities. Employers are more interested in job-seekers that have been doing something during a hiatus from full-time, paid employment than job-seekers who appear to have been doing nothing,
What’s the answer? Don’t discount any of the year that you’ve been working on the farm and helping your husband’s business. Instead, embrace that experience. Find experience, skills, and accomplishments that you can pull from the past year’s work. If you find the experience doesn’t quite fit into a neat career path, then consider experimenting by supplementing your conventional chronological resume with a chrono-functional style. What’s the difference? Chronological resumes focus on your job history while chrono-functional resumes focus on specific (transferable) skills sets you’ve mastered. Read more in these articles published on Quintessential Careers: Should You Consider a Functional Resume? and Strategic Portrayal of Transferable Skills is a Vital Job-search Technique.
You can also find many more resume-related articles and tutorials in the Resume Resources section of Quintessential Careers.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Orlando writes:
I have recently moved to New York City. I have 4 solid years of web development/programming and design experience. I have also worked 2 years, out of the 4 years, as a web-development consultant. On top of my experiences and skills, I am still pursuing my first bachelor’s degree in computer information systems.
For some reason, I am experiencing difficulties in finding a job in New York. I have been
sending resumes for more than a month now and generated only one interview, but another candidate was selected. I was wondering if this is because I don’t have my degree yet or is it my resume? How long does it usually take, on average, for someone to hear from companies?
Please help me. I would really appreciate any suggestions you can give me on how to get interviews with companies.
I don’t know what method you are using to find job leads, but if you are relying only on job ads — either job postings on Web sites or in help wanted ads in New York area newspapers — you need to move your job search up quite a few gears. Have you joined any professional or social organizations since you moved to New York? Do you have friends or family in New York? I ask because networking is the best method to find strong job leads.
Learn more about networking by going to Quintessential Careers: The Art of Networking.
Don’t get discouraged, but don’t sit at home waiting for a phone call. Pound the pavement. Make your own opportunities.
Finally, one other great source for understanding the importance of marketing in job-hunting is my article: Using Key Marketing Tools to Position Yourself on the Job Market.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Karen Danyels writes: I’m thinking about switching jobs, but when I look at what my duties are here, they don’t sound like very much at all. My job is basically data entry and word processing. My duties include running almost all packages that go to the courthouse. These include starting evictions, running eviction packages, the Substitute Trustee, Notice of Sale, Notice of Hearing, staying in contact with the mortgage companies, ordering Title Searches, ordering Publication requests from the newspapers, Final Reports, and various other forms. I also had the highest grade in my class in editing and proofreading, the only A in the class.
Once you have this list of accomplishments and skills, it’s time to work on your resume. One article in particular that you should find useful is: Ten Easy Ways to Improve Your Resume, by my partner, Katharine Hansen. If you need more help with your resume, go to the Resume Resources section of Quintessential Careers.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
J.R. writes:
I have a 2-year employment gap on my resume. I took some personal time off for mental recuperation, but I know I can’t say this in an interview. How can I fill this gap or make it look somewhat better?
On your resume: I would suggest that you consider converting your chronological resume to a chrono-functional format. Chrono-functional resumes focus on your accomplishments in key skills areas; your employment history is summarized at the end of your resume — and gaps become less apparent. You can read more about functional resumes in Should You Consider a Functional Resume?
In the interview: It’s best to position this employment gap as time well-spent on improving or challenging yourself. If you took some educational courses (or even just read a lot), you should focus on the attainment of new skills and knowledge; if you volunteered your services, you should focus on your accomplishments; and if you did some consulting, you should focus on the gap as a time to spread your wings and try to make it on your own.
As you can tell from these examples, you need to position the gap as having some redeeming value — besides improving your mental health.
Finally, remember that while you are self-conscious about the gap, some interviewers may never even notice it … so don’t volunteer potentially negative information; wait for the employer to raise the issue before offering an explanation.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Clyde writes:
When writing a cover letter, should I mention I had been laid off and/or include the reason for the layoff?
The Career Doctor responds: Never, never — never ever — include any negative information in your cover letter. Negative information immediately puts your cover letter (and entire application) into the trash.
You need to think of your cover letter as a sales document. Thus, talk only of the great things about you and how you are going to make a contribution to your future employer. Discuss what you can bring to the employer; discuss your key skills and qualities.
I suggest you take some time to go through a wonderful tutorial on cover letters. Go to the Dynamic Cover Letters Tutorial For Developing a Stunningly Effective Cover Letter. You’ll find more than 100 pages of advice, hints, and samples to help you create successful cover letters.
You might also want to read an article from my partner, Katharine Hansen: Cover Letter Success is All About Specifics.
And if you are more of a book person, may I now suggest that you obtain a copy of the 3rd edition of Dynamic Cover Letters.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Eugene writes:
I am a student studying law, and I recently decided to apply for a position as a paralegal with some law firms. I spent some time looking at your Quintessential Careers website. Now, I do not doubt for a minute that much research is able to substantiate the information that you have presented, but I find it difficult to imagine that some of the techniques you mention do work. What immediately springs to mind is the section on closing paragraphs: “I will call your office in the next week to schedule an appointment.”
To me, that sounds quite unorthodox, and perhaps even pushy and rude. I actually incorporated a line to the same effect in my cover letters after reading your website, but now I am wondering whether it was the best thing to do. Could you please explain to me why this works?
The Career Doctor responds:
In any job market, but especially in this job market, job-seekers need to know how to best market themselves to prospective employers. This self-marketing strategy has several components when writing cover letters.
First, rather than saying something like “I hope you’ll find my qualifications a good match with what you’re looking for,” you need to show — and tell — the employer that you are a good match for the position. Describe how your accomplishments, skills, and training are a perfect match for the employer’s needs.
Second, you do need to end your letter with an aggressive stance. If you do not want to be so aggressive as to say you will call for an interview, you can simply say you will call to discuss the job. Employers want go-getters, not passive employees.
Third, as I have stated numerous other times, you MUST follow-up all your cover letters and job applications. Saying you are going to call is the easy part; the hard part is actually making the phone call. And in the phone call, you need to still be aggressive in not taking no for an answer — just remember to stay professional at all times — while showcasing why you are the perfect person for the job.
Find lots more helpful information and resources in the cover letter resources section of Quintessential Careers.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Greg writes:
I am in the process of locating a position after being employed for nine years with one employer. I have my resume completed, but I need to know what information to include on my references for the interviews.
References are a funny thing. Most employers ask for them, but depending upon the position, only a small percentage of employers really bother to call all the people on a job-seeker’s reference list.
Here are a couple of tips regarding reference lists:
- Never put references on your resume. Make a list on a separate sheet of paper that matches your resume (and cover letter).
- Never include references with your resume and cover letter, unless specifically asked by the potential employer.
- Choose people who know you professionally and can speak well of your skills, abilities, and accomplishments. Always list your strongest reference first.
- Make sure you ask people if they mind serving as a reference for you — and then contact them again when you think they may be contacted by a potential employer.
- Try to use people who know you professionally, but if you are a recent college graduate or someone returning to the workforce, you can list a personal (character) reference.
- Make sure you completely identify each reference, including name, title, company, address, phone number, e-mail address.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Judy writes:
I have worked information systems in many different industries and am attempting to streamline my resume to each company’s “buzz words” or keywords. Do you have access to or can you refer me to site to find these words?
Keywords are nouns and phrases that employers use to search internal and external resume databases when searching for job candidates. While this practice started in the technology industry, it has certainly spread to many other industries, and more and more job-seekers are placing keyword sections on their resumes to strengthen their chances of being selected. (See our article, Tapping the Power of Keywords to Enhance Your Resume’s Effectiveness, for more details.)
The best way to develop a list of keywords for your resume is to first examine your accomplishments and skills areas. Second, examine the type of job you are seeking to move into. Third, conduct some job searches at our job board and some of the other major job sites and make a list of the keywords from the job postings (using, for example, job title, job description, qualifications, skills, software, industry jargon, etc.). You might also consider searching the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook for keywords.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Lorraine writes: I have a query. My husband was retrenched almost 8 months ago now, and I want to send his CV to as many printing companies that I can find in South Africa. I also want to send a covering letter attached with his CV explaining that he was retrenched 8 months ago and would like to know if any of these companies have any vacancies. Please help me with the wording of this letter as I am at a loss?
Your help would be greatly appreciated.
The Career Doctor responds: Certainly one of the key components of a job search should still be cold contact, where the job-seeker sends his or her cover letter and resume (or CV) to companies that might have job openings. The critical factor with this strategy is getting the name and title of the hiring manager for your area of expertise and then writing a powerful cover letter. Why does cold contact work? It works because of the large hidden job market; the vast majority of job openings never get advertised or posted, so cold contact is a way of applying for positions that may in fact be open.
I assume that while you are writing the letters, that they will actually be signed by your husband. The cover letter is critical — its function is to spark enough interest so that the employer then looks at your resume (or CV). Think of the cover letter as a sales pitch letter, where the item you are selling is yourself — your mix of skills, accomplishments, and education. You NEVER want to put anything negative in your cover letter. And while many folks are being retrenched or rightsized or re-engineered out of jobs, it’s still a negative. Employers want to see job-seekers who are (or appear) gainfully employed. So, please, say nothing about the retrenchment in your cover letter; saying anything will only harm your husband’s chances. Read more about writing cover letters in the Quintessential Careers Cover Letter Tutorial.
Finally, please remember that your efforts are not complete once you mail the cover letters and CVs to the printing companies. The last paragraph of your cover letter should request action — an interview — and after a reasonable amount of time (1-2 weeks), you MUST follow-up and contact each company — each hiring manager — and ask for the interview. If you don’t follow-up, you are wasting your time even sending the cover letters and CVs.
A note to all job-seekers: Please don’t wait eight months after being downsized to start job-hunting. Take some time to reflect and consider whether it’s time to change careers — but even if you get a big severance package, you should get right back out there on the job market. The longer you wait to start job-searching, the harder it will be for you.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Clyde writes:
When writing a cover letter, should I mention I had been laid off and/or include the reason for the layoff?
The Career Doctor responds: Never, never — never ever — include any negative information in your cover letter. Negative information immediately puts your cover letter (and entire application) into the trash.
You need to think of your cover letter as a sales document. Thus, talk only of the great things about you and how you are going to make a contribution to your future employer. Discuss what you can bring to the employer; discuss your key skills and qualities.
I suggest you take some time to go through a wonderful tutorial on cover letters. Go to the Dynamic Cover Letters Tutorial For Developing a Stunningly Effective Cover Letter. You’ll find more than 100 pages of advice, hints, and samples to help you create successful cover letters.
You might also want to read an article from my partner, Katharine Hansen: Cover Letter Success is All About Specifics.
And if you are more of a book person, may I now suggest that you obtain a copy of the 3rd edition of Dynamic Cover Letters.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Heidi writes:
What are some tricks to making resumes more effective? I am not having much success in finding a new job and at least one person has suggested my resume could be stronger. But how?
The Career Doctor responds:
I don’t know about tricks, but I can certainly give you some strategic pointers. I am constantly amazed at how many bad resumes I see on a regular basis — and with all the articles, books, and Web-based resources, I simply do not understand how it is possible.
Let’s start with the purpose of a resume. A resume is a marketing document designed to arouse enough interest in a prospective employer to call you for a job interview. It’s a statement of facts — education, skills, and accomplishments — designed to show how you would make the ideal candidate for the open position.
A resume should focus on the positive. It should not include any negative information. It should also not include duties and responsibilities, salary information, names of supervisors, or references.
And a resume should be tailored to each specific job, each specific employer. Once you have your resume written, you’ll want to modify it each time you send it off. From the job description and from the company’s literature or Website, pull some of their words and jargon and incorporate them into your resume.
Finally, consider adding some kind of summary at the top of your resume. You could use a keywords section, a job title, or a qualifications summary… something that a hiring manager will see from a quick scan of your resume.
And please do not forget that looks and writing matter. Make the resume attractive and avoid all grammatical errors. Do not use a template, but instead create your own format or borrow one from a resume you find attractive. And whenever possible, have someone proofread your resume before you send it out.
For more help with resumes — from articles to tutorials, samples, and more — go to this section of Quintessential Careers: Resume and CV Resources for Job-Seekers.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Nancy writes:
Do you have any suggestions on how to explain/validate long periods of professional work gaps in a resume? I am a stay-at-home mother and need some convincing and creative ways to describe this recent position on my resume. I would appreciate any input.
I know I risk the wrath of some of the women reading this blog, but I don’t really like to see resumes that under experience list something cute, such as “Household Manager” or “Domestic Coordination Specialist,” as job title for women who stay at home to manage their households and parent their children. Of course, with a traditional chronological resume, if you don’t list something for when you stayed at home, you will have huge gaps between jobs.
So, you really have three options. First, you can take the approach listed above and make your time at home a category under experience. And while I realize there are many responsibilities involved — I was fortunate enough to be a stay-at-home dad for a few months a long, long time ago — I still don’t think, from an employer’s prospective, that it qualifies to go in this section.
Second, you can consider experimenting with reorganizing your resume into a chrono-functional or hybrid resume that is organized around skills clusters (such as communications, leadership, organizational, etc.) rather than specific jobs and experience. Unfortunately, this style of resume is a bit on the outs right now because employers fear you are hiding something by taking this approach.
Third, you can look beyond your household and compile all the volunteering, freelancing, or other part-time or educational experiences you may have had and use those to show that you were still using and perfecting your skills.
Remember that the goal of your resume is to get your foot in the door — to get you that job interview — and once in the interview, you can decide how to position yourself — your experiences, skills, and accomplishments — in order to sell the employer on your candidacy.
Learn more about mastering resumes by using one of more of the excellent resources found in the Resume and CV Resources section of Quintessential Careers.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
James writes:
I’m searching for a guide on how to write my resume, but I can’t seem to find anything. If you could give me some tips, or a site that I could go to, that would be greatly appreciated.
Can’t find anything on resumes? Wow. There’s tons of stuff available on resumes — in magazines, books, and on the Web… but I’ll give you a quick primer.
Your resume is a critical marketing tool. Your resume has to entice a prospective employer enough — through its focus, content, and style — to first consider your qualifications for the job at hand and then to invite you for a job interview. A resume is a statement of your unique mix of experiences, education, and skills. You must not lie on your resume, but you must always remember its goal.
I think the most important thing any job-seeker should do before attempting to write a resume is to first sit down and make a list of your skills and accomplishments from all your previous experiences (work, volunteer, school, etc.) because you will take from this list those critical skills and accomplishments — not your duties and responsibilities — that highlight your fit for the next job you are seeking.
The next step is researching and identifying the job — and all the requirements of that job — that you are seeking because it is critical that your resume is focused on specifics. You should also research the potential employers that may have jobs that you seek so that you can incorporate some of their keywords into your resume.
Wait! Does this advice suggest that job-seekers need to have a specifically tailored resume for every single job they apply for? Yes! There is absolutely no reason for you not to develop a different resume for each job and employer. For most job-seekers, this task will simply mean tweaking small parts of your resume for similar jobs.
Once you have the content down, you should focus on the style and look of your resume. Do not use a template; design your own. Follow a consistent style. Use normal fonts and sizes. Use bullets rather than paragraphs. Do not use personal pronouns. Consider using a career/job objective or profile section. Always list education and experience in reverse chronological order (starting with the most recent stuff). Do not list any personal information (such as age, marital status, weight). Do not include controversial information. And ALWAYS, ALWAYS, spell-check and carefully proofread your resume for any and all errors.
Read our articles published on Quintessential Careers: The Scoop on Resume Length: How Many Pages Should Your Resume Be? and 10 Resume Mistakes to Avoid.
You can gets lots more advice, including resume samples, resume-writing tutorial, and more, in this section of Quintessential Careers: Resume and CV Resources.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Laura writes: Since moving to Daytona Beach 5 years ago, I have worked for 10 employers and also tried self-employment. (Four of the jobs were temporary.) Only one of those employers was a good match for me, but unfortunately, they went out of business nine months after I started working for them. I am a highly qualified accountant/bookkeeper, but it seems this town is unwilling to pay a decent salary to someone with my skills and more than 25 years of experience. My age (over 50) may also have something to do with my inability to get a good job offer. I have been on several interviews, but I seem to come in second or third choice.
I think now is the time to reinforce the whole concept of a job search as a marketing campaign. Your cover letter and resume are the key marketing promotion documents and the job interview is the critical sales call. If you then look at yourself as a product, it puts job-hunting in a much different light.
You have a number of issues/problems/concerns that need to be addressed. First, I let me preface the rest of this answer with the depressing news that the Central Florida job market is one of the weakest and low-paying that I have ever researched. So, as you’ve discovered, job-seekers need to keep their expectations tempered.
Your resume. There are a number of issues you need to deal with here. First, you need to remove older job experience and take older dates off your experience and education so that employers can’t easily guess your age. Next, you need to do something with all the jobs; 10 jobs in five years is a huge red flag. I would consider lumping all your temporary work into one grouping in a traditional resume — or consider experimenting with some sort of chrono-functional resume, in which skills are emphasized and employment history is secondary. Next, are you current with your training/technology skills — and if so, does it come across on your resume? So much of accounting and bookkeeping practices have changed, even in the last 10 years, that employers may assume older job-seekers still do it the “old” way and may be resistant to change. Your task is to not let them assume that!
In the interview. Your resume can only do so much for you — which is basically get you to the interview. Now you need to sell yourself to the employer. Don’t go into interviews, as some older workers do, with anything but a positive attitude — focused on how you can make an immediate contribution to the company (rather than relying on all your years of solid experience). Attitude, especially with older workers, is critical.
I strongly recommend that you read some of the articles and other resources in this section of Quintessential Careers: Job Resources for Mature and Older Jobseekers.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Anonymous writes: Quick question: How do you handle and resume that is now 2 pages… no way around the second page…have to turn in Friday and I am stumped!!
There is nothing wrong with established job-seekers having a two-page resume. Even some exceptional recent college grads may need two pages to showcase all their accomplishments, skills, education/training, and talents and abilities.
In fact, it’s much better to have a two-page resume with normal margins and font size than to try and condense all your information onto one page using narrow margins and tiny type, virtually guaranteeing that no employer is going to even bother trying to read it.
Here are some rules about writing a two-page resume. First, if you need to go to a second page, do so. Just be sure that the second page is at least half full; anything less, and you should find a way to cut/condense to make the information fit on one page. Second, be careful not to divide elements from page one to page two; in other words, do not start a section on page one that carries over to page two. Third, be sure to include a header at the top of the second page identifying it as page two of your resume. Fourth, do not even consider going to a third page.
Some other general rules of resume-writing: focus (and quantify whenever possible) on accomplishments rather than job duties or responsibilities; showcase transferable skills when your work experience has been outside the traditional path; consider a functional style over a (traditional) chronological format when changing careers; consider leaving dates off college degrees to avoid age discrimination.
Find lots more information, articles, tutorials, and resources in the Resume and CV Resources section of Quintessential Careers.
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This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Julie writes: I have been unemployed for a little over a year, but I have been doing all the paper work for my husband’s business he has on the side. I also live on a farm. So I really haven’t been employed. How would I add this in my resume? If I leave it off they will think I haven’t been working.
So many job-seekers are in a similar situations as yours. Perhaps they worked for a family business, perhaps it was volunteer work, or perhaps it was taking a year off to go back to school…But what you and all these other job-seekers don’t understand is that all these things add up to your specific mix of skills and abilities. Employers are more interested in job-seekers that have been doing something during a hiatus from full-time, paid employment than job-seekers who appear to have been doing nothing,
What’s the answer? Don’t discount any of the year that you’ve been working on the farm and helping your husband’s business. Instead, embrace that experience. Find experience, skills, and accomplishments that you can pull from the past year’s work. If you find the experience doesn’t quite fit into a neat career path, then consider experimenting by supplementing your conventional chronological resume with a chrono-functional style. What’s the difference? Chronological resumes focus on your job history while chrono-functional resumes focus on specific (transferable) skills sets you’ve mastered. Read more in these articles published on Quintessential Careers: Should You Consider a Functional Resume? and Strategic Portrayal of Transferable Skills is a Vital Job-search Technique.
You can also find many more resume-related articles and tutorials in the Resume Resources section of Quintessential Careers.
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This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Orlando writes:
I have recently moved to New York City. I have 4 solid years of web development/programming and design experience. I have also worked 2 years, out of the 4 years, as a web-development consultant. On top of my experiences and skills, I am still pursuing my first bachelor’s degree in computer information systems.
For some reason, I am experiencing difficulties in finding a job in New York. I have been
sending resumes for more than a month now and generated only one interview, but another candidate was selected. I was wondering if this is because I don’t have my degree yet or is it my resume? How long does it usually take, on average, for someone to hear from companies?
Please help me. I would really appreciate any suggestions you can give me on how to get interviews with companies.
I don’t know what method you are using to find job leads, but if you are relying only on job ads — either job postings on Web sites or in help wanted ads in New York area newspapers — you need to move your job search up quite a few gears. Have you joined any professional or social organizations since you moved to New York? Do you have friends or family in New York? I ask because networking is the best method to find strong job leads.
Learn more about networking by going to Quintessential Careers: The Art of Networking.
Don’t get discouraged, but don’t sit at home waiting for a phone call. Pound the pavement. Make your own opportunities.
Finally, one other great source for understanding the importance of marketing in job-hunting is my article: Using Key Marketing Tools to Position Yourself on the Job Market.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Karen Danyels writes: I’m thinking about switching jobs, but when I look at what my duties are here, they don’t sound like very much at all. My job is basically data entry and word processing. My duties include running almost all packages that go to the courthouse. These include starting evictions, running eviction packages, the Substitute Trustee, Notice of Sale, Notice of Hearing, staying in contact with the mortgage companies, ordering Title Searches, ordering Publication requests from the newspapers, Final Reports, and various other forms. I also had the highest grade in my class in editing and proofreading, the only A in the class.
Once you have this list of accomplishments and skills, it’s time to work on your resume. One article in particular that you should find useful is: Ten Easy Ways to Improve Your Resume, by my partner, Katharine Hansen. If you need more help with your resume, go to the Resume Resources section of Quintessential Careers.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
J.R. writes:
I have a 2-year employment gap on my resume. I took some personal time off for mental recuperation, but I know I can’t say this in an interview. How can I fill this gap or make it look somewhat better?
On your resume: I would suggest that you consider converting your chronological resume to a chrono-functional format. Chrono-functional resumes focus on your accomplishments in key skills areas; your employment history is summarized at the end of your resume — and gaps become less apparent. You can read more about functional resumes in Should You Consider a Functional Resume?
In the interview: It’s best to position this employment gap as time well-spent on improving or challenging yourself. If you took some educational courses (or even just read a lot), you should focus on the attainment of new skills and knowledge; if you volunteered your services, you should focus on your accomplishments; and if you did some consulting, you should focus on the gap as a time to spread your wings and try to make it on your own.
As you can tell from these examples, you need to position the gap as having some redeeming value — besides improving your mental health.
Finally, remember that while you are self-conscious about the gap, some interviewers may never even notice it … so don’t volunteer potentially negative information; wait for the employer to raise the issue before offering an explanation.
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This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Eugene writes:
I am a student studying law, and I recently decided to apply for a position as a paralegal with some law firms. I spent some time looking at your Quintessential Careers website. Now, I do not doubt for a minute that much research is able to substantiate the information that you have presented, but I find it difficult to imagine that some of the techniques you mention do work. What immediately springs to mind is the section on closing paragraphs: “I will call your office in the next week to schedule an appointment.”
To me, that sounds quite unorthodox, and perhaps even pushy and rude. I actually incorporated a line to the same effect in my cover letters after reading your website, but now I am wondering whether it was the best thing to do. Could you please explain to me why this works?
The Career Doctor responds:
In any job market, but especially in this job market, job-seekers need to know how to best market themselves to prospective employers. This self-marketing strategy has several components when writing cover letters.
First, rather than saying something like “I hope you’ll find my qualifications a good match with what you’re looking for,” you need to show — and tell — the employer that you are a good match for the position. Describe how your accomplishments, skills, and training are a perfect match for the employer’s needs.
Second, you do need to end your letter with an aggressive stance. If you do not want to be so aggressive as to say you will call for an interview, you can simply say you will call to discuss the job. Employers want go-getters, not passive employees.
Third, as I have stated numerous other times, you MUST follow-up all your cover letters and job applications. Saying you are going to call is the easy part; the hard part is actually making the phone call. And in the phone call, you need to still be aggressive in not taking no for an answer — just remember to stay professional at all times — while showcasing why you are the perfect person for the job.
Find lots more helpful information and resources in the cover letter resources section of Quintessential Careers.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Greg writes:
I am in the process of locating a position after being employed for nine years with one employer. I have my resume completed, but I need to know what information to include on my references for the interviews.
References are a funny thing. Most employers ask for them, but depending upon the position, only a small percentage of employers really bother to call all the people on a job-seeker’s reference list.
Here are a couple of tips regarding reference lists:
- Never put references on your resume. Make a list on a separate sheet of paper that matches your resume (and cover letter).
- Never include references with your resume and cover letter, unless specifically asked by the potential employer.
- Choose people who know you professionally and can speak well of your skills, abilities, and accomplishments. Always list your strongest reference first.
- Make sure you ask people if they mind serving as a reference for you — and then contact them again when you think they may be contacted by a potential employer.
- Try to use people who know you professionally, but if you are a recent college graduate or someone returning to the workforce, you can list a personal (character) reference.
- Make sure you completely identify each reference, including name, title, company, address, phone number, e-mail address.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Judy writes:
I have worked information systems in many different industries and am attempting to streamline my resume to each company’s “buzz words” or keywords. Do you have access to or can you refer me to site to find these words?
Keywords are nouns and phrases that employers use to search internal and external resume databases when searching for job candidates. While this practice started in the technology industry, it has certainly spread to many other industries, and more and more job-seekers are placing keyword sections on their resumes to strengthen their chances of being selected. (See our article, Tapping the Power of Keywords to Enhance Your Resume’s Effectiveness, for more details.)
The best way to develop a list of keywords for your resume is to first examine your accomplishments and skills areas. Second, examine the type of job you are seeking to move into. Third, conduct some job searches at our job board and some of the other major job sites and make a list of the keywords from the job postings (using, for example, job title, job description, qualifications, skills, software, industry jargon, etc.). You might also consider searching the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook for keywords.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Ruth writes:
I’m seeking an administrative assistant position and I’m confused as to whether my current job title falls into the category. My current position is operations coordinator, which focuses in the area of fleet services, warehousing and other duties. I possess the skills of the administrative assistant, but wasn’t quite sure if these two titles could be interchangeable. Thanks for your help.
The Career Doctor responds: I think job-seekers sometimes get too carried away with job titles.
It really doesn’t matter what your current job title is — as long as you have the skills necessary to succeed in the job you are seeking, in this case, as an administrative assistant. Employers do look at your past job titles, but what counts is not the title, but the experience and the accomplishments.
My advice is for you to get the job listings/descriptions of administrative assistants from a couple of different employers. Examine the qualifications they seek from prospective employees and be sure your background, accomplishments, and skills are a good fit.
Next, develop a solid cover letter and reputation that showcase the unique set of skills, accomplishments, and experiences that make you an ideal administrative assistant.
Then, when applying for these jobs, be sure to speak to the specific requirements of each employer, showing how you meet or exceed each requirement. You should be well on your way to an administrative assistant position.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Lorraine writes: I have a query. My husband was retrenched almost 8 months ago now, and I want to send his CV to as many printing companies that I can find in South Africa. I also want to send a covering letter attached with his CV explaining that he was retrenched 8 months ago and would like to know if any of these companies have any vacancies. Please help me with the wording of this letter as I am at a loss?
Your help would be greatly appreciated.
The Career Doctor responds: Certainly one of the key components of a job search should still be cold contact, where the job-seeker sends his or her cover letter and resume (or CV) to companies that might have job openings. The critical factor with this strategy is getting the name and title of the hiring manager for your area of expertise and then writing a powerful cover letter. Why does cold contact work? It works because of the large hidden job market; the vast majority of job openings never get advertised or posted, so cold contact is a way of applying for positions that may in fact be open.
I assume that while you are writing the letters, that they will actually be signed by your husband. The cover letter is critical — its function is to spark enough interest so that the employer then looks at your resume (or CV). Think of the cover letter as a sales pitch letter, where the item you are selling is yourself — your mix of skills, accomplishments, and education. You NEVER want to put anything negative in your cover letter. And while many folks are being retrenched or rightsized or re-engineered out of jobs, it’s still a negative. Employers want to see job-seekers who are (or appear) gainfully employed. So, please, say nothing about the retrenchment in your cover letter; saying anything will only harm your husband’s chances. Read more about writing cover letters in the Quintessential Careers Cover Letter Tutorial.
Finally, please remember that your efforts are not complete once you mail the cover letters and CVs to the printing companies. The last paragraph of your cover letter should request action — an interview — and after a reasonable amount of time (1-2 weeks), you MUST follow-up and contact each company — each hiring manager — and ask for the interview. If you don’t follow-up, you are wasting your time even sending the cover letters and CVs.
A note to all job-seekers: Please don’t wait eight months after being downsized to start job-hunting. Take some time to reflect and consider whether it’s time to change careers — but even if you get a big severance package, you should get right back out there on the job market. The longer you wait to start job-searching, the harder it will be for you.
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This posting is a guest entry from the Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen, PhD:
Clyde writes:
When writing a cover letter, should I mention I had been laid off and/or include the reason for the layoff?
The Career Doctor responds: Never, never — never ever — include any negative information in your cover letter. Negative information immediately puts your cover letter (and entire application) into the trash.
You need to think of your cover letter as a sales document. Thus, talk only of the great things about you and how you are going to make a contribution to your future employer. Discuss what you can bring to the employer; discuss your key skills and qualities.
I suggest you take some time to go through a wonderful tutorial on cover letters. Go to the Dynamic Cover Letters Tutorial For Developing a Stunningly Effective Cover Letter. You’ll find more than 100 pages of advice, hints, and samples to help you create successful cover letters.
You might also want to read an article from my partner, Katharine Hansen: Cover Letter Success is All About Specifics.
And if you are more of a book person, may I now suggest that you obtain a copy of the 3rd edition of Dynamic Cover Letters.
Need help with your resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document? Order today from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service.
You may wish to present a Qualifications Summary or Profile section on your resume. In addition to Profile and Qualifications Summary, these resume-topping sections go by numerous names: Career Summary, Summary, Executive Summary, Professional Profile, Qualifications, Strengths, Skills, Key Skills, Skills Summary, Summary of Qualifications, Background Summary, Professional Summary, Highlights of Qualifications. All of these headings are acceptable, but our favorite is Professional Profile.
Twenty-five years ago, a Profile or Summary section was somewhat unusual on a resume. Career experts trace the use of summaries or profiles to include information about candidates’ qualities beyond their credentials to the publication of the late Yana Parker’s The Damn Good Resume Guide in 1983. For the last 20-plus years, resume writers have routinely included these sections; however, the age of electronic submissions has now caused the pendulum to swing the other way.
On one hand, electronic submission means that hiring decision-makers are inundated and overwhelmed with resumes and have less time than ever before to peruse each document. That means that many of them do not read Profile or Summary sections.
On the other hand, the age of electronic submissions has increased the importance of keywords so that candidates can be found in database searches. Even some of the hiring decision-makers who don’t read Profiles and Summaries advise including them as a way to ensure sufficient keywords in the resume.
A vocal contingent of decision-makers, especially among recruiters, strongly advocate for a Summary section — but one that is quite succinct — a short paragraph or single bullet point. They want to see in a nutshell who you are and what you can contribute.
For a detailed discussion of these sections, including guidelines for crafting them and samples, see Chapter 3 of our e-book, The Quintessential Guide to Words to Get Hired By: Your Professional Profile: Bullet Points that Describe Your Strengths in a Nutshell.
And use our Resume Professional Profile/Qualifications Summary Worksheet to help you develop bullet points for this very important resume section.
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Here’s what John Logan, human resources manager with ZS Associates, had to say about the importance of cover letters in our Q&A interview with him: Cover letters are the sole way our firm understands why an applicant seeks a position in our firm and what skills they will add; they are an important component of our application. The most effective cover letters announce the position the candidate seeks, and highlight up to three skills from the position listing that the candidate possesses — augmenting what is written in the resume. Because resumes are structured in bullet format, the cover letter is the only avenue for a candidate to provide additional details about skills prior to an interview.
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One of the “Top 5 Reasons Why Job Hunters Fail” is “not writing a cover letter,” Robin Ryan notes in an article in her monthly newsletter.
“Human-resources managers state that cover-letter writing is becoming a lost art,” Ryan writes, “since job hunters think they can skip this step when they apply electronically.”
“A well-written cover letter has great power with employers and should always precede any resume sent. Open the letter with a powerful first paragraph that sums up the background, key strengths, skills and accomplishments you have to offer. Human-resource managers say that a good cover letter demonstrates your communication skills and can capture the interview,” Ryan advises. For an overall refresher on cover letters, see our Cover Letter Tutorial.
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In larger corporations, resumes will be entered into a keyword-searchable database, so job-seekers should know key skills and software packages and list them as appropriate, said human resources manager John Logan in the Q&A interview he did with Quint Careers.
Having those key words on a resume will get a candidate into the search pool, but employers still have to review each resume to understand the depth of skills in desired areas. Job-seekers should remember that it’s NOT about buzzwords, it’s about having the skills that an employer needs. Employers should remember that resume databases are tools to help find candidates with required skills, but those databases cannot replace reviewing resumes against the job specifications. “Despite technology, I believe there is still some art in the employment process,” Logan said. Database systems may not format a resume correctly, and appearances do count to interviewers. Job-seekers in creative fields (graphic design, advertising, performance, etc.) have more leeway in resume format.
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A resume should be a statement of the skills a job-seeker would bring to a new job, as well as an outline of accomplishments in past positions, said human resources manager John Logan in the Q&A interview he did with Quint Careers.
Because the resume is often the only data an employer receives from a candidate, the bullet points must provide context for past work; providing details like number of people supervised, size of project budget, estimated cost savings in dollars (or other appropriate specifics) helps an employer place each candidate in the context of the organization. “I find that most resumes do not provide enough details for me to understand the scope of the candidate’s experience, but are merely a restatement of a job description, which is not helpful to me as an employer,” Logan said.
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If you are a creative professional, include all of your creative/design skills in the "Skills" section of your resume as these are important talents that will be required in any job for which you apply, writes Jennifer Klein in her article for Quint Careers, Creative Professionals: Does Your Resume Reflect Your Design Skills?.
In addition to any software/computer skills that are typically included on the resume, include a category of design/fabrication/creative that lists your skills in those areas as well. You can also consider including a "Design Philosophy" on your resume rather than an objective, where you can make a statement about your design beliefs and/or style. (Make sure that if you do choose to mention a certain type of design expertise in your design philosophy that your resume represent that type of design. For example, if your design philosophy states you believe in modern design and straight lines, then the feel of your resume should represent that.) If you are in a field of design that also requires a portfolio, it is important to incorporate the design aspects of your resume into your portfolio to provide branding consistency. The same is true of a teaser sheet. Be consistent with your font type, graphic elements, color, and other elements. The portfolio, teaser sheet, and resume should all have the same "feel" to them.
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The easiest way to get an employer's attention in your resume is to include in your summary the exact skills requested in the employer's job announcement, writes Sherri Edwards in her article for Quint Careers, Ten Resume Tips. The use of keywords at the very beginning of a resume will capture the employer's attention. Conversely, using a variety of skills that are unrelated to the position will detract from your value, not add to it.
Using the employer's specific words will ensure you get attention, while paraphrasing with other language can be disadvantageous. Tagging "hard" (technical) skills on at the end of the resume may work for recruiters' electronic searches, but when the recipient/screener is actually reading your resume, your most important skills may be overlooked.
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