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The Worst Resume Advice

A couple of years ago, I wrote The 10 Worst Resume Suggestions You Ever Received. It is time to update that list with a few more examples of the world’s worst resume advice for job hunters.

  1. Do not say anything that sounds like bragging. Then hope that companies will be awed by your lack of success, progress, and confidence.
  2. Fill your resume with acronyms so that hiring managers and recruiters are struck dumb with admiration. They will also feel dumb—hiring managers and recruiters do not actually understand every acronym used by every specialty in every company in the world.
  3. Do not tie yourself down to a specific job title. Leave it to hiring managers to figure out where you might fit in their company; they have nothing better to do.
  4. Do not read job postings or advertisements to get a handle on what companies are looking for. If you pile on enough achievements and skills, you are bound to be qualified for something somewhere, right?
  5. Be sure to fill social media with your complaints and rants about your current job. Hold on to your belief that constant complainers are high on everyone’s list of best employees or that hiring managers never consult social media.
  6. Never network; ignore your friends, coworkers, family, and peers when you are job hunting. Stick to the computer and hope that the perfect job finds you.
  7. Do not proofread. Trust your online grammar and spelling checkers, which never make mistakes, like accepting fiancé when you meant to write finance.
  8. Lather on the adjectives. Who cares what you actually have accomplished as long as it was “best in class” or “unparalleled” or “state of the art” or “exceptional”?
  9. Do not check your contact information. Trust that you will never transpose a number, write different email addresses on different pages, or abbreviate your state the wrong way.
  10. Refuse to talk with a professional resume writer. What do professionals know anyway?

At Robin’s Resumes®, I am dedicated as always to steering job hunters away from bad advice.

Resumes for Jobs in Foreign Countries

If you want to live and work at a foreign location—whether outside the United States for a U.S. citizen or within the United States for a citizen of another country—your resume has to meet certain special criteria.

You will want the hiring manager or recruiter to know that you are familiar with the language of the country where you want to work. It is also important to mention if you have citizenship or dual citizenship in that country, if you have lived (or visited) there previously and if you have educational degrees that are equivalent to those in the foreign country.

If you use a professional resume writer, the writer should be a native speaker in the country where you want to work. Even small mistakes in spelling (for example, between American and British English), grammar or cultural references may undermine your resume.

Different countries have different standards for resumes; may prefer CVs, which are more detailed. Some require your social security or passport number; some (like the U.S.) do not want it. Some expect a photo; some do not. Make sure you understand the expected format and content.

Make it easy for foreign companies to contact you. A LinkedIn account and a Skype account are very helpful additions to email and phone.

Different countries have different ideas about appropriate behavior. Religious views about foods or beverages, comfort with direct eye contact or with touching between men and women, the type of clothing considered professional and many other social norms vary greatly. Make sure your photos and comments on social media do not violate the sensibilities of your target country.

You will face different visa, driving permit and work permit requirements in foreign countries. Familiarize yourself with those requirements before you start your job search to make sure you can meet them in a timely fashion if you are offered an interview or job.

Robin’s Resumes® has helped many foreign job seekers find work in the United States. Contact us today.

Writing Advice from Robin’s Resumes®

Sometimes I see a resume in which the job seeker has followed every piece of advice I ever gave on writing a resume and it is still not ready to send out.

The contact information is clear and professional, the opening profile explains the job applicant’s value to the company and the resume is targeted for the companies and industry the job seeker is interested in.

So what’s wrong?

Unfortunately, the one item that sinks many resumes is poor writing. At Robin’s Resumes®, you have a skilled, certified, professional resume writer working on your resume. While all my skills, certifications, and years of experience are important, the word “writer” is the one word that we are focusing on today.

You cannot make spelling and grammatical mistakes on your resume. Hiring managers and recruiters will often cast a resume aside for those mistakes without ever looking at an applicant’s actual qualifications. Those mistakes include the misuse of commas and apostrophes; misspellings (“complementary” instead of “complimentary” or “advise” instead of “advice”); subjects and verbs that do not agree (online grammar checkers are notorious for making mistakes with plural and singular verbs); and similar errors. Two letter words (of, at, to, in) are often missing and easily overlooked because you expect to see them when you read. Over-capitalization is a bad habit that I mostly blame on technology, where every new product or service (Cloud vs. cloud; Web site vs. website) starts out life with a capital letter.

Beyond grammar and spelling—involving rule you probably have not thought about since fifth grade—good writing also means using interesting verbs to capture attention; explaining difficult concepts in a way that hiring managers and recruiters can understand even if they lack the needed financial, technical, or business background; emphasizing the right accomplishments and skills; creating flow; and on and on. Good writing means communicating your value concisely, accurately, and passionately, when “concise” often means “in one sentence or less.”

If writing is not your strong suit, take heart—you have Robin’s Resumes® in your corner. Contact us today.

What Makes a Resume Writer Professional?

The best resume ever achieves two goals. First and foremost, it results in an interview. Second, it prepares you to ace that interview by reminding you of all you have achieved during your career and why you are a great fit for the position.

As a professional resume writer, my goal is to have every resume result in an interview and give a job seeker confidence and pride in his or her accomplishments, skills, and education. How do I work toward that goal?

  • By not simply taking a job seeker’s word for what they have achieved. I ask questions that often elicit facts that the job seeker overlooked and achievements that the job seeker downplayed—important information that any recruiter or hiring manager wants to know and important information for the job seeker to share during the interview.
  • By making sure that all the information in the resume supports the specific job search. Often, job seekers, eager for any job, will send out a resume that is so generic or broad that it is suitable for no job. Or the job seeker will describe responsibilities (“sold shoes”) instead of accomplishments (“sold 25 pairs of shoes daily, 10% over average sales for other sales associates”); or will waste space on irrelevant information. With a targeted resume, job seekers need not struggle to recall their greatest successes; how they overcame a challenge; or why they are a great fit for this company.
  • By organizing information to give the strongest initial impression: at the first glance a hiring manager or recruiter knows that this person has what it takes to succeed at the company and the job. Moreover, the right keywords are taken from the job posting or advertisement so that an applicant tracking system pulls that resume as a match for the job requirements. Finally, because those keywords are in the resume, the job applicant knows what words the interviewer is hoping to hear.
  • By making sure that the job seeker’s online presence and resume support each other. Few things are more embarrassing at an interview than having to explain contradictions between a resume and an outdated online profile (for example, on Pinterest or LinkedIn) or worse yet to explain away an online rant or photo that raises questions.
  • By advising job seekers through this blog, webinars, and articles to give themselves credit for what they have achieved and to seek help when their job search bogs down. As a Certified Job and Career Transition Coach and as a Master Career Director (MCD), as well as a professionally certified resume writer, I keep up with the latest trends in both resumes and the job market, to give you a resume that meets the expectations of today’s recruiters and hiring managers.

A resume written by a professional resume writer advances a job seeker through to the interview and helps ensure that the interview goes smoothly. Contact me today for the professional resume writing assistance that you need.

What a Professional Resume Writer Does

If TV had a reality show about professional resume writers, you might expect that the entire show would consist of a clacking keyboard. In truth, though, professional resume writing involves a lot more. Here’s how my workweek usually goes. 

First are the phone conversations with clients, where they ask about my services, I explain how the resume writing process works and we discuss fees. Many job seekers who call me don’t have a resume. Many more have a resume that is out of date or has failed to bring them any interviews or interest from hiring managers and recruiters. I spend time finding out about their experience, accomplishments, and skills and any information they may have overlooked that would boost their resume’s power. 

Second, I maintain online and personal contact with recruiters and hiring managers. I need to know what they are looking for; how applicant tracking systems are transforming their search for viable candidates; and how new laws affect their recruiting and hiring practices. Keeping up with industry and government standards and expectations for resumes is an important part of a professional resume writer’s job. 

Third is the actual resume writing, which involves finding the most accurate, passionate, clear description of what a job applicant offers to companies. In a few seconds, the resume must capture the attention of a hiring manager or recruiter and then give them the information they are looking for in their ideal candidate. Every resume must be formatted to pass muster with both applicant tracking systems and human hiring managers; it must also be checked for correct spelling, grammar, and accuracy. 

Fourth, my workweek includes obligations to my fellow resume writers as a mentor. I belong to the four top professional organizations for resume writers and career coaches. I am also a speaker at national and local meetings of resume writers and a judge at industry events. With more than fourteen years of resume writing experience plus awards and honors from numerous industry organizations, I believe I can feel justified in calling myself a professional resume writer. 

When a job search is stalled, a realistic way to start reviving it is with a phone call or email to a professional resume writer. Please contact Robin’s Resumes® today.

 

Four Questions to Ask Yourself before You Hire a Professional Resume Writer

I am often asked why someone would hire a professional resume writer. After all, a job applicant is the best source of information about his or her education, skills, and accomplishments. How could someone else write a better resume than the actual source?

If you are hesitating about whether to hire a professional resume writer, please take the time to ask yourself these four questions:

  1. Are you confident in your writing skills and more particularly are you confident in your ability to write the type of resume that will get attention from hiring managers and recruiters? Professional resume writers keep up with the latest trends in resume format, content, and delivery; they make sure your resume stands out because of quality, not because it made someone’s “10 biggest mistakes” list.
  2. Do you have any hesitation about what to include or omit in a resume or where to put information? If you are shy about “bragging” or if you are not sure what information an employer will find valuable, you need to speak to a professional resume writer. A professional can also help with special circumstances; for example, professional resume writers know how to construct a resume for someone who is just starting out in their career or transitioning from one career to another or has a gap in employment or wants to relocate.
  3. Are you confused about contradictory advice from books, blogs, webinars, friends and family, and your own instincts? If your resume is sinking under a sea of advice, a professional resume writer will help you create a resume you are proud to send out—a resume cannot start working until a hiring manager or recruiter sees it.
  4. Has your current resume gained you job interviews? Your resume must at least get you into the door for an interview. If it has not achieved that goal, it may benefit from the services of a professional writer and coach, who can analyze whether your resume is correctly targeted for the job you want.

One of the most personally gratifying parts of my job is when job seekers first see their professionally written resume; they understand immediately that I have raised their resume to a new level. Contact Robin’s Resumes® today and put your resume in the hands of a professional.

How Resumes Have Changed over the Years

Resumes have changed over the years and are still changing. Thirty or forty years ago, for example, a resume commonly led off with an objective such as “seeking challenging job in publishing industry.” Now the resume starts off with a summary or profile of the job seeker’s strengths.

It used to be that resumes concentrated on skills and responsibilities. Now they concentrate on achievements (how those skills were used) and the value the job applicant brings to the position.

In former times, a “one size fits all” resume was acceptable. Now the emphasis is on a resume that uses keywords targeted to a particular job, company, and/or industry.

Job applicants used to include information on their resume that laws now prohibit employers from seeking, such as marital status, or information that employers are no longer interested in, such as hobbies. However, that information and more may still be found by employers who search LinkedIn, Facebook, or other social sites if the job applicant participates in those sites. Aligning your social media with your resume is now an important part of any job search.

While the need for a cover letter has remained the same, submission techniques have changed (from mostly mail to mostly electronic), so the cover letter is often a cover email.

The old fashioned resume was usually one page and written on a typewriter, making the format a minor consideration so long as it was professional looking. Nowadays a resume of two or more pages is fine, if the content justifies the length. Word processing provides a wealth of opportunities for design, but applicants should keep in mind that automated resume screening software may not be able to read an overly designed resume. In addition, too much design—multiple fonts, lots of bold and italic, complex graphics—may actually diminish the professional look of a resume.

Times have changed for resumes, and professional resume writers make it a point to keep up with those changes so that your resume has the maximum impact. Contact Robin’s Resumes® today for a resume that is professional, up to date, and filled with the information recruiters and hiring managers are looking for.

Resume Advice for 50+ Applicants: Part 1

If you are job hunting after a long and successful career, you may not have updated your resume during the last five, ten or fifteen years. Some of your ideas about unemployment, job searches and resumes may also have become dated. Do any of the following ideas sound like your own?

  • You are ashamed to let any family, friends or close business associates know that you are now unemployed. In the last decade, more and more people have experienced joblessness through no fault of their own. If people know about your situation, they can help.
  • You have been unemployed for more than 2 months; you’re convinced the situation is hopeless. Nowadays, a job search can easily take 6 months, regardless of age or work history.
  • You updated your ten-year-old resume by simply adding your most recent employment. The format and content of resumes have changed a lot in ten years, if only in response to the widespread use of electronic resume readers. Above all, your old resume is not targeted to the job you want now—and targeting has become very important in the job market.
  • You do not want to have anything to do with social media. Social media is not frightening and not difficult to learn, once you know how to use it. It can truly advance your search for employment. You do not need to have a presence on every possible social media site, but you should join at least one professional site, like LinkedIn.
  • You have responded to all the newspaper ads and now you are simply waiting for a response. These days many employment opportunities never appear in the papers. Invitations to apply or interview are made in person during industry or networking events or online through professional sites. Instead of passively waiting, find new opportunities to network or volunteer in your field or take a course to sharpen your skills. Keep active.
  • You believe professional resume writers produce cookie-cutter resumes and do not add any value. An accredited professional resume writer helps you target your resume, elicits from you information about accomplishments you may have forgotten or under-valued, understands what recruiters and hiring managers are looking for, and strengthens your qualifications by identifying transferrable skills.

At Robin’s Resumes® we work with individuals at every stage of their careers, from recent college graduate to C-level executive with more than 25 years of experience. Regardless of your age, background, education, or industry, contact us for resumes that work in today’s job market.

Too Many Choices, Not Enough Decisions

When you are unemployed, people often try to raise your spirits by talking about all the free time you have and all the opportunities now open to you. However, having too many choices can be as devastating to a job search as having too few. Here’s why:

  • There are dozens of ways to spend the day when you are between jobs. But if you aren’t careful, everyday chores and distractions will draw precious time from your job search. Set yourself daily tasks that are related to your job search, whether that includes going to network events or responding to ads or searching for leads on the Internet.
  • There are hundreds of books out there on how to write a resume, run a job search and develop your personal brand. At some point, you have to give up on the research and act.
  • There are thousands of people just like you in the same boat. Don’t beat yourself up over a job loss. Do ask for help. You may benefit from a professional resume writer or career coach; you may find that your best job leads come from former co-workers, family or friends. The only way to get help is to ask for it.
  • There are millions of possible jobs out there—but how many of them match your experience, skills, education, interests, salary requirements, geographic location and so on? You need to focus yourself and your network or you will waste your time and theirs on fruitless quests for the wrong job.

 If you are struggling to get organized after a layoff, contact Robin’s Resumes® and let us simplify one decision: where to get the best possible resume!

Resumes That Grab Attention in the First Few Moments

Newspaper publishers and editors know the importance of the upper left quarter of a page. Because readers always begin reading from left to right and top to bottom, the upper left quarter is where the eye generally goes first. When you are writing your resume, you will want to take advantage of that natural tendency.

Put your name on the top of the page, either in the center or on the left. Your contact information also belongs on top (not on the bottom).

Make sure that the top half of your page contains the most important information you want to deliver. For a new graduate, that important information might be the degree you’ve obtained and the courses you’ve taken. For someone with a long job history in one field, that might be a summary of your achievements in your current role and the value you will bring to your next company. For someone switching careers, the most important information might be your past achievements or skills that are most relevant to your new career, regardless of chronology.

As a professional resume writer, I take pride in writing resumes that quickly capture the attention of hiring managers and recruiters. Let me help you.

Writing Your Resume: How Long Is Too Long?

When I was interviewed online at Women for Hire last year, listeners constantly asked about editing their resumes. Here are a few of their problems (P) and my solutions (S):

P.    Most of my jobs seem to have a lot of responsibilities and requirements. If I touch on each of them, the resume grows and grows.

S.    Job ads and postings usually make it clear which skills, achievements and knowledge a company considers most important in a job applicant. First, make sure the company knows you are the right person for the job by describing how your skills and achievements meet the company’s requirements. Then, add whatever else will spark the company’s interest in interviewing you, keeping your focus on the job you are applying for. 

P.    The most difficult part of writing or revamping my resume is to decide how long to make it. Everyone says one page only, and no more than 10 years of experience. 

S.    “Everyone” is wrong. Two or even three-page resumes are fine if you are giving the company information that is relevant to the job posting and to your ability to contribute as an employee.

P.    I am desperate to find a job so I put too much of my skills and education into my summary. 

S.    Creating a balanced resume when you are desperate is difficult, and one of the reasons why the objectivity and resume editing skills of a professional resume writer are so valuable. Write your summary to match the important criteria for the job you want, not from desperation.

If your resume feels too long—or too short—contact Robin’s Resumes®. We are experts in tailoring resumes to just the right length.

Finding Out How Great You Are

One of my most rewarding responsibilities as a professional resume writer is to remind job seekers how much they have accomplished in their careers. As job seekers, we may undervalue our contribution; forget details; struggle with explaining what we do; worry about appearing either boastful or unimportant; and overlook “soft” skills, like the ability to communicate with fellow employees at all levels.

I have developed a questionnaire that helps to dig out those hidden, forgotten, or wrongly undervalued skills and achievements. My professional writing skills and technical background, as a graduate of MIT, enable me to clearly explain even the most complicated and technical job functions in language that attracts both hiring managers and technical managers. In addition, I keep current with the soft skills that companies want in their employees and know how to present them in the context of your accomplishments.

A resume that is truthful neither exaggerates nor dismisses your skills, education, and contributions. If you need help in finding out how great you are—and letting future employers know—contact Robin’s Resumes® today.

Applicants with Long Careers: Resume Techniques That Work

When you are writing a resume, a long career has many advantages in terms of skills, experience, successes, and a reputation for excellence in your field. But a long career also has two main disadvantages:

  • It shows your age.
  • The experience most relevant to your job search may be 15 or more years in the past.

At Robin’s Resumes®, we are skilled in professional resume writing techniques for gaining the benefits of a long career while avoiding the drawbacks.

Before we add information from 15 years ago, we assess whether it is still current and valuable. Your old computer skills might not be something to boast about in this age of Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google. Similarly, years ago an employee who stayed put for decades was prized; now a higher value is placed on a variety of experience, with job changes every 4 to 5 years being the norm.

If your past experience is current and valuable, we might feature it in a Career Highlights section on the top of your resume. The section would contain all of your most relevant experience, regardless of dates.

Or we might add a Previous Experience section at the end of your resume where we do not detail dates, but list your title(s) and the company name(s) to show your career progression.

If you are applying for more senior positions, we might actually recommend showing more than 10 years of experience to emphasize the advantages of a long career.

We never downgrade your experience in hopes of qualifying you for a job. Would you hire someone to be your secretary if they had enough experience to be your boss?

Every job seeker’s situation is different. Part of my mandate as a professional resume writer is to help make your resume attractive to hiring managers. Contact me today.

Is Your Resume Readable?

A resume is a written document and, like all written documents, it has to be readable. A readable document is grammatical, logical, concise, and interesting. Let’s take each of those qualities in turn.

The grammar you use in speech or in a quick email to family and friends is not the formal grammar a resume requires. Online grammar checkers are useless. If your formal grammar is sketchy, please consult a professional writer.

Logical writing is organized. Whether that organization is present to past, most relevant to least relevant, or most impressive to least impressive will depend on what your resume is trying to accomplish. But once you settle on your logic, don’t violate it.

Concise writing eliminates excess words and information. For example, in the phrase “new innovative technology,” the word “new” is redundant; the word “innovative” means “something new.” Concise writing focuses on the skills and accomplishments that bear directly on the job opening.

Interesting writing keeps the audience in mind. What is the company interested in hearing about you, as revealed in their advertisements, job postings, and website? For companies, numbers are almost always interesting ($50,000 budget; 5 direct reports; 6 months; 15 customers; 3 countries). Interesting writing is also varied. In a resume, that means using a variety of strong verbs rather than relying on weak phrases like “was responsible for” or “played a role in.”

Professional resume writers know how to make a resume grammatical, logical, concise, and interesting, as well as accurate. Visit the Robin’s Resumes® website for examples of readable civilian and federal resumes. Then contact me to help you with your resume.

The Most Important Information on Your Resume

A LinkedIn participant asked the group to identify what information was most important on a resume. All of the professional resume writers and hiring managers who responded agreed that contact information topped the list: name, phone number and email address.

The next most important items were to show how your experience matches the job requirements and how your accomplishments make you stand out from the rest of the crowd.

To that all-important list, I would add three more items:

  • Proofread carefully. If you make a change, check the entire resume again. Your change may contradict a statement earlier or later in the resume. It may force a line over to the next page or make formatting disappear.
  • Create the resume in two formats. You need a format that is ATS friendly for online submissions and a more styled format for networking.
  • Remove irrelevant information. Remember, your resume is not your life story.

If you need help deciding what’s important for your resume, contact Robin’s Resumes® today.

Executive Resumes: Take the Time to Tell the Story

According to the 2012 Global Hiring Survey from the global professional association, Career Directors International (CDI), the practice of adding success stories as a separate addendum to executive summaries may pay off in more interviews.

CDI surveyed experienced professionals who “review resumes as part of their sourcing, hiring, and recruiting processes” in several countries and who deal mostly (46%) with executive and management level candidates.

According to the CDI Global Hiring Survey, “59% responded they were likely to read success stories, while 26.1% of respondents indicated they were unlikely to read additional material. Evidence suggests that to capitalize on the intentions of 59% of hiring authorities, executive job seekers should consider including additional examples of their skills and experience.”

As a professional writer of federal resumes, where success stories are imperative, I write the stories that grab the attention of hiring managers. Contact me today.

Watch Your Resume Language

Recently, I was asked to upgrade the resume for a health industry executive. His current resume stated that he was used to coping with a “dearth” of government health regulations. Unfortunately, “dearth” means scarcity and it was clear that what this applicant meant was just the opposite: he dealt with a vast quantity of regulations.

You have to be careful about using words in your resume that are not part of your daily vocabulary. It is too easy to think you know what they mean and make a mistake.

Another problem is that many words sound similar but have very different meanings, like “differing” and “different” or “affected” and “effected” or “principle” and “principal.”

A third problem related to resume language is that it is easy to get carried away with a sentence and lose sight of your point. One safety manager claimed that he “increased budget management, cost control, quality standards and onsite incidents”—surely, a safety manager would increase safety standards and decrease onsite incidents. But he forgot to check the list of his achievements to make sure they all related properly to the verb “increased.”

As a professional resume writer, I am always improving my vocabulary and writing skills to make sure that the statements I made about you are the ones that you want to make and that your achievements and skills are communicated in the clearest way possible. If you are not quite sure of your resume language, send me an email.

Best Advice on a Career Change

If you’ve been out of work for a while, you may decide that what you need is a career change. The success of that approach depends on your answers to five important questions.

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.

New Year, New Goals

As a professional resume writer, my perspective on great goals for the New Year is a bit skewed toward helping my clients find the jobs their talents, accomplishments and skills entitle them to. If you are already out in the job market, have a strong urge to move on to a better position or expect to be downsized, here are a few things you can do to make your transition easier:

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.

Define a Great Resume? Easy!

For recruiters and hiring managers, a great resume is one that tells them what they want to know fast. They review hundreds of resumes for every job opening. They lack the time to hunt for the qualifications, experience, achievements and attitudes they want in the perfect candidate. So your resume has to fulfill their wish for quick and thorough information.

Your resume is a marketing document. It is marketing you. With the holidays approaching, your mailbox is full of brochures. Consider what the best marketing pieces have in common: The contact information is easy to find and read; a bold statement up front makes that company stand out from the crowd; and the detailed information gives the facts that any consumer wants before deciding to buy.

Your resume must do the same thing: make it easy for recruiters to contact you, start with a strong statement of your outstanding skills and accomplishments and cover the details that recruiters and marketing managers are looking for. And it has to do all without wasting their time.

I have more than 10 years of experience writing professional resumes for individuals at all levels, from upper management to support staff, in technical, retail, government, manufacturing and many other fields. Look at the samples on this website for civilian and federal  resumes. Then call me today so we can get started on marketing you.

How Do Recruiters and Hiring Managers Screen Resumes

These days a lot of recruiters and hiring managers rely on computers to eliminate some of the hundreds of resumes they receive in response to each advertisement. The computers search for keywords directly related to the skills the company is looking for. But as I’ve mentioned before, keywords are not enough.

No one hires an employee on the basis of a computer search alone. At some point, every resume of interest is read by a real person. Your resume must show that you have the skills and achievements to back up the keywords.

Some hiring managers focus on the beginning of your resume: your most recent job. Some focus on the end of your resume: your education and professional certifications. Some hiring managers read cover letters and some ignore them. You cannot know what part of your resume package will hold the most appeal. So you should make sure that all the information you give is professional in content and format and is easy to find.

Most recruiters and hiring managers do not like purely functional resumes (where jobs are not listed in chronological order and job titles are not clear). They believe that a purely functional resume is an excuse to hide problems. They do not like video resumes; they do not have the time to listen to every word of a video resume when they can quickly scan through a written resume. They do not like surprises. If they search for you on the Internet, they want to see a professional presence on Facebook and LinkedIn (for example) that is consistent with your resume. If you are hunting for a job, remove the rants against your old boss and the party animal photographs.

Trying to think like a hiring manager or recruiter is difficult. I have the years of experience and the contacts in the field to shape an appealing resume from your job history, achievements and skills. As a professional resume writer, I know what the majority of recruiters and hiring managers want and expect in a resume. Email me today.

References, Excuses and Apologies: What Not to Add to Your Resume

Professional resume writers know what to leave in and leave out of a resume. We never include references or the phrase “references available on request.” If an ad or application specifically asks for references, include them in your cover email or letter or in the official application. You do not want your references to be surprised by calls from every company you apply to, and you do not want to take up valuable space on your resume by telling companies what they already know: references are always available on request.

As a professional resume writer, I am saddened when a job applicant uses a resume to explain a lack of skill or a job loss. I understand that a new job hunter may be unsure of his or her skills or that someone who is recently downsized may be in pain. But a resume should celebrate abilities and achievements. It should not be a list of excuses and apologies.

Please call or email me. As a professional resume writer, I can guide you in deciding what information belongs on your resume and what you should leave off. I know how to showcase the value that you bring to a company—and help you believe in yourself.

Choosing a Resume Writer

When you are choosing a resume writer, you need to ask questions. Here are four of the most important questions and my own answers.

  1. What types of certifications do you have? Robin’s Answer: I am a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW), Certified Advanced Resume Writer (CARW), a Certified Electronic Career Coach (CECC) and a Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC).
  2. What specialties do you have? Robin’s Answer:  I am a Certified Federal Resume Writer; I have written many successful resumes for federal personnel and for civilians hoping to land a federal job.
  3. Have you ever written a resume for someone in my field? Robin’s Answer: Like most long-time resume writers (I have written resumes for over 10 years), I  have written resumes for a wide variety of professionals at all levels from entry to CEO. But I also tend to attract job hunters in technology fields, usually from word-of-mouth referrals. I am a former process engineer and project manager. I understand technology and what technology companies are looking for, whether they need an IT professional, a supply chain manager or a chemical engineer.
  4. What do your resumes look like? Robin’s Answer: I supply several samples on my website under Civilian and Federal Resumes. If you like what I delivered for other job seekers, you will like what I deliver for you. I want your resume to impress future employers but I also want it to make you feel confident. That confidence will help carry you through your job hunt and interviews.

Do you like my answers? Give me a call today.

What Is a Professional Resume? What Makes a Resume “Professional”?

When those questions were asked on LinkedIn, everyone agreed on the answer: a professional resume is tailored to the job you want.

You begin to tailor a resume by looking at ads in print and postings online for positions that interest you. What skills, attitudes and achievements are recruiters and companies asking for? A professional resume matches those requirements.

Achievements are particularly important. Thousands of people may share your combination of skills. But what did they do with those skills? A professional resume highlights your achievements and is results-driven. It explains how your previous employers benefitted from your skills. It you makes stand out from the rest of the applicants.

A professional resume and cover letter echo the words that recruiters and companies use in their ads and posts. You’ll want to work those keywords into the very start of your resume. A professional resume grabs attention from the beginning by showing that you are a great fit for the position you want.

If you are overwhelmed by the range of requirements in your field, if you are unsure of your achievements or if you are sending out a resume that shouts “I’ll take anything,” email or phone me now. As a professional resume writer, I know how to create a very professional resume.

What To Do When You Get Conflicting Advice on Your Resume

A recent job hunter sent her resume around to all her friends and relations asking for advice. A fellow job seeker argued against including so much information. A former co-worker suggested expanding to two pages. One friend said, “You should center your education section.” Another friend said, “Get rid of all the centering.” An aunt recommended removing information about specific college courses. An uncle praised the details about her college career.

The job hunter froze. How could she consider applying for a job when she couldn’t even get the resume right?

Like many job seekers, she suffered from too much advice from amateur resume writers. I recommend that you limit the number of your reviewers. There are a dozen ways to write a resume. In truth, great resumes vary a lot both in format and content. What is perfect for one job applicant may not serve another one at all. At Robin’s Resumes® we customize each resume to you—your experience, your achievements, your industry and your expectations.

If you are frozen by conflicting advice, give Robin’s Resumes® a call. I will set you firmly on the path to the job you want. Remember, the only resume that succeeds in getting you a job is the one you send out.

Professional Resume Writers: How Do You Find an Honest Professional?

One of the ways you can identify a professional resume writer is to look for certifications like the following:

  • CPRW: Certified Professional Resume Writer
  • CMRW: Certified Master Resume Writer
  • NCRW: Nationally Certified Resume Writer
  • CARW: Certified Advanced Resume Writer
  • MMRW: Master Military Resume Writer
  • CFRW: Certified Federal Resume Writer
  • CMRS: Certified Master Resume Specialist
  • ACRW: Academy Certified Resume Writer

A professional resume writer should have at least one, if not several certifications (see my About Us page for my own certifications). Some certifications have become obsolete (for example, CFRWC), but the ones listed above are still going strong.

In addition, referrals are an excellent way to find a professional resume writer; many of my clients come to me through word of mouth referrals or as a result of my speaking engagements at industry and educational events.

The resume writing industry is not regulated so anyone can claim they are a resume writer. In addition, there are several “scam” companies set up that simply rip off customers (many are based overseas); the website won’t reveal the size of the industry in the United States.

If you look for certifications and listen to referrals, you’ll find the right resume writer for you. Send me an email or give me a call; if I can’t help you, I’ll try to refer you on to another truly professional resume writer.

Just an Ordinary Everyday Person

Recently, I spoke with a woman returning to the job market after years of raising her family. “I haven’t done anything for 10 years,” she said. Coincidentally, I had a similar conversation with an executive just a few weeks later. “I don’t give enough back to the community,” he said. And soon after that a college graduate complained that she lacked enough experience to get the website design job she wanted.

In a short while, I discovered that the woman had held leadership positions in three nonprofits over the years; the executive participated in at least one community event every month, including speaking before high school students; and the college grad had developed websites for two family members (“but they’re family members,” she objected).

The problem is that we all undervalue our contributions and experience. The achievement that you dismiss as nothing special may be exactly what your next employer is looking for.

A professional resume writer can help you discover those talents and abilities you take for granted—and then describe them so that potential employers recognize their value. We cannot be truly objective about ourselves.

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