Do not give your personal data to any third party claiming to perform a background check. First, call the company where you have applied for a job and ask for verification that this is a legitimate background check. In most cases, the company will be surprised and shocked to learn that a third party has contacted you.

In addition, if your resume includes personal data such as your social security number, height, weight, marital status or medical history, please remove it. Companies do not want or expect this information and it increases your risk of identity theft.

Because I am a Certified Advanced Resume Writer and a Certified Federal Resume Writer, I can advise you on exactly which information belongs on your resume—and which information should never appear there. Contact me today.

When I write a resume, I’m less concerned with cliché words than cliché information. The words “team player” are perfectly fine to use, if your achievements and skills back them up. The examples in your resume should show what you’ve achieved as part of a team and should make you stand out from other candidates with similar claims.

Compare these two descriptions using the cliché “strategic thinker”:

• Strategic thinker: Able to come up with new approaches to serve the needs of customers.
• Strategic thinker: Redirected business resources into products with larger payback, driving an additional $150,000 in annual sales.

The details in the second bullet prove that the candidate does indeed think strategically. Those details change “strategic thinker” from a cliché into a very valuable skill.

Contact Robin’s Resumes today for a professional resume that presents you as the best candidate for the job.

First, are you considering a change because you do not like your current work situation? It may make more sense to look for another work situation than to leave your career. As a Coach and Professional Resume Writer for more than 10 years, I have found many folks who confuse unhappiness with their current situation as unhappiness with their career choice. There is a difference. I can help you determine which change is right for you.

Second, if you have any doubts about a career change, are you sure you have exhausted every avenue to advance in your current career? As a Job and Career Transition Coach, I can guide you to job search techniques and resources you might have overlooked.

Third, if you are determined on a change, are you moving into a career you can feel passionate about? If you are depressed about the prospect of change—for example, if you are leaving behind the only work that gives you joy—you cannot present yourself well at interviews. Your lack of passion shows. That type of career change makes your job search harder, not easier.

Fourth are your skills transferrable? If you need help presenting your skills and achievements in their best light, call me. As a Certified Professional Resume Writer, my job is to make sure companies understand the value you bring.

Fifth, if you do not have the current skills to make the final career change you want, do you know what steps to take to qualify for the career you want? Whether you need to return to school, build your portfolio, or take a transition job that moves you closer to your goal, I can provide guidance.

A career change should be exciting and fulfilling. Robin’s Resumes® is here to help.

(a)    They cannot figure out what the marketplace wants—their resume is not leading to interviews and they don’t know why.

(b)   They do not know how to explain their accomplishments—they are reluctant to boast about themselves, their career path is unusual, or their background does not seem to fit the traditional resume.

In fact, these two problems are the same problem. You cannot give companies what they are looking for unless you are confident in describing your skills, accomplishments, and experience. Your resume will not lead to job interviews unless it clearly describes your background and the value you would bring to the hiring company.

I belong to the top professional organizations in the country for resume writing and career marketing. I have 10 years of experience and am a sought-after speaker at resume writing and career management conferences.  If you have run into your own hardest part of resume writing, let me help you over the hurdle with professional advice and a professional resume.

Your title in a small company may change significantly when you move to a big company. This is not a step down. Although the title may not be as impressive, the job may actually be a step up if you are managing more employees.

Think about this situation as if you were a hiring manager who needs someone to lead 100 employees. Two candidates interview with you: one from a company with four employees total and one from a company with 80 employees. All other items being equal, which person would you hire?

You can make yourself more attractive to larger companies by emphasizing the broader range of experience you get in a small company. You might also concentrate on the types of issues and projects you worked on at the small company; regardless of the size of a company, leaders are still created one person at a time.

I have considerable experience helping people transition from small companies to big companies and vice versa. I know the pitfalls to avoid and the expectations that must be met. Contact me today.

These skills are valuable to employers but it is not enough to state that you have them. The best way to highlight your adaptive skills is to show how you used them in your previous jobs and volunteer positions.

In periods of full employment, employers know they may not find someone with the exact technical, mechanical or scientific skills they want. They are more likely to select folks who have strong adaptive skills, which allow the company to train the employee for the position. In a period of high unemployment (such as now), companies feel their most economical solution is to wait for the perfect employee who doesn’t need training. However, companies still want but employees with the adaptive skills to fit the company culture and contribute to the company’s bottom line.

Thus, it is always important to mention your adaptive skills in the context of your achievements. Your resume should assure a company that they are hiring someone who not only has the specific skills the company needs now but also has the adaptive skills to grow in the future.

You may need career coaching to identify and recognize your adaptive skill set. You may need help in translating that knowledge into a strong resume. Contact Robin’s Resumes today and we can begin working on a stronger resume for you.

Companies like to receive traditional print or electronic applications and resumes that they can scan into their computerized Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). Using an ATS, the recruiter, hiring manager or human resources personnel can quickly search through thousands of resumes for those job applicants who have the skills, experience, education and accomplishments the company is looking for.

This reliance on ATS systems is, at the moment, much stronger than any reliance on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media sites. If you were a recruiter, would you rather hunt through thousands of tweets for the one person you need or use an ATS system to evaluate the resumes sent to you?

Right now, I recommend that clients have a resume optimized for Applicant Tracking Systems.  They also need a “pretty” resume to mail or hand to an interviewer.  Job seekers who have a LinkedIn profile should make sure that it strongly and consistently reinforces their resume. Profiles may be needed on other social media sites.

If you are overwhelmed by the online, print, and electronic choices before you, give me a call. Together we will find the combination that will give you the best possible showing in the job market.

Revise your resume. Before the need for a new resume becomes an emergency, take out your old resume and update it. Don’t have a resume? Start on one now.

Meet the right people. If you have let your memberships lapse in professional associations, the Chamber of Commerce or other business or nonprofit groups, start getting involved again. Word of mouth is an excellent way to find a new job. Your personal connections will alert you when new openings occur.

Work the numbers. Now is the time to count how many people you have mentored or supervised over the years, how much you improved your company’s profits, where you saved money, how many more widgets your department produced after you took over and so on. List your accomplishments and put some numbers on them.

Get the help you need. A job search should not be completely do-it-yourself; you cannot turn yourself overnight into a professional resume writer, career coach, social media guru, networker and recruiter. Find professionals to help you. Ask your local librarian for guidance. Go to career conferences. Let family and friends know you are looking. Stay connected.

If you need a new direction and new energy for your job search, give Robin’s Resumes a call. Together, we will work to make your New Year a very happy one.

The federal government also has strict rules about eligibility. In fact, some positions are only open to candidates already working in the agency that has posted the job and only open to those already working at a certain grade level in government. Others are open only to military personnel, military spouses or veterans.

The end date for applicants is very specific, often down to the hour, and the method of sending in the application is also specific (email, mail, fax, hand delivery and so on).

Your background and skills must exactly match the requirements in the job posting. There is no flexibility with federal jobs. You may have to write essays based on certain questions. Those essays have to be submitted as part of the application.

You may have to send other documents. But if the announcement does not request other documentation, you should not send it.

A federal resume is difficult to complete even for someone with years of federal government experience. I am a Certified Federal Resume Writer and a recognized military transition expert. I have delivered speeches and seminars on writing federal resumes before professional organizations and conferences. If you are considering applying for a federal government job, contact me today.

First, all recruiters and hiring managers like a chronological resume. Please do not try to gloss over your years of experience by writing a strictly functional resume, one that is a narrative and not a list of positions held. A strictly functional resume immediately makes recruiters and hiring managers feel that you are hiding something.

Second, as I’ve said before in this blog, your resume is not your life history. You do not have to list every job back to high school graduation. Consider grouping some jobs by company name and position only under “Additional Experience.” Do not give the date you graduated college.

Third, employers are looking for skills but they are looking even harder for evidence that you know how to use those skills. When you focus your resume on achievements, you make recruiters and hiring managers think twice before moving on to someone younger but entirely unproven. Experience is a virtue.

Finally, as a fellow resume writer once put it, your resume is not about you, it’s about the employer and the employer’s needs. You want to position yourself as the solution the employer is looking for.

All of the points above apply to job hunters at any age.

If you are afraid that your age is damaging your chances for a job, please contact me.