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R-E-S-U-M-E, Resume!

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One Valentine’s Day tradition is to spell out a partner’s name and use each letter to assign a loving trait to the partner (for example, E-V-E stands for Eager, Virtuous, Excellent).

Okay, it is silly, but today I want to see how that Valentine’s tradition works out for resumes.

R stands for respectful—enough respect for yourself to tell the truth on your resume and enough respect for the job you are applying for to make sure you have the skills, education, and accomplishments that the employer is looking for.

E stands for energized—a commitment to the job search that begins with the brag book you are keeping right now (yes?) to track your accomplishments before you forget them. It is also the energy to continue sending out resumes even if you think a job offer is certain; you never know what will happen between a stellar interview and a written job offer.

S stands for strategic—you need to know the position, industry, and company you are targeting so that your resume is strategically focused and you are prepared to ask intelligent questions (and give intelligent answers) during the interview.

U stands for uniform—the format, message, spelling, and grammar of your resume must be uniform from start to finish. If you change from bold headings to italic, if you waffle between a leadership and staff position, if you spell startup in one place and start-up in another, and if you randomly leave off periods at the ends of sentences, you are showing inconsistencies and a lack of attention that may undermine your resume.

M stands for modern—today’s hiring managers and recruiters often see a resume only after it is chosen by an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). You must have a resume that is formatted and written to satisfy the ATS—and consider having a separate resume for networking for jobs. You must also be aware of social media. Hiring managers and recruiters will look online to catch any discrepancies with the professional image your resume presents. In fact, many hiring managers and recruiters will search for candidates online before a resume ever hits their desk. The vast majority will research you online and conduct an extensive background search before they officially hire you.

E stands for engaging—your resume should be written in everyday English, with active verbs and clearly explained accomplishments that keep the interest of hiring managers and recruiters. Avoid too many acronyms and make sure that technical information is described in the context of accomplishments so that even nontechnical readers get a sense of your strengths. Be as specific as possible: “ranked 3 out of 44 salespeople” is more memorable than “top rated salesperson.”

Is your resume respectful, energized, strategic, uniform, modern, and engaging? I help job seekers every day to reach those goals for their resumes. Contact me today—and happy Valentine’s Day!

The Value of a Job Seeking Holiday

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Looking for a job is difficult, whether you are employed or not. You may be pressured by personal finances, family, and friends; you may be frustrated by a company’s slow decision making or the lack of any response to your resumes or interviews.

Time for a break.

Take 24 hours to forget about your job search completely, and when the 24 hours are over, consider whether the following shifts in your methodology and outlook might help:

  • Change your networking method. If you have been mainly connecting with people online, try face-to-face; if face-to-face, try online. Sometimes simply breaking a pattern refreshes a job search.
  • Broaden your search. Look at the jobs you are applying for and consider whether you have limited yourself to a certain job title, industry, or even geographic area. If your limits are too tight, you may be shutting yourself out of jobs you are qualified for and would enjoy.
  • Thank someone. Thank a hiring manager or recruiter in your cover email for considering your application; thank interviewers for their time; thank the people you network with for their interest and conversation; thank your family/friends/associates for their patience and suggestions. A “thank you” creates stronger bonds.
  • Take a fresh look at your resume. Is it targeted for the job you want? Is it specific about what you have accomplished in the past? Did you proofread it? (Do not rely solely on online spelling and grammar checkers; they miss and often randomly change important words.) Is it simply but professionally formatted?
  • Ask for professional help. You may need a consult with a certified career transition coach; you may need the insight of a professional resume writer. Asking for help could save you from weeks of unemployment or unhappiness in your current job.

At Robin’s Resumes®, we are prepared to help you find a new outlook and renewed momentum during your job search. Contact us today.

Highlight Innovation on Your Resume

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Among the skills that companies cherish these days is the ability to innovate. Most of us are innovators on some level, but we may not recognize our own abilities. We downplay the contribution we make with suggestions or actions that improve our own or others’ work. Yet, any fresh idea that creates a more efficient, cost-effective, easier, or collaborative workplace is an innovation.Here are a few keywords and key phrases that will help you write about your contribution as the innovation that it truly is:

  • Initiated [a program, process, collaboration, or event]
  • Re-organized [a team, documents, business unit]
  • Wrote [a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), the first user manual, a new brochure]
  • Opened up [a new market, a new facility]
  • Created [a technique, a campaign, a way to…]
  • Recognized [an opportunity to…]
  • Introduced [Lean manufacturing, for example]
  • Predicted [a consumer trend]
  • Developed [a product, a relationship, a new source for…]

Innovation takes many forms. Lean manufacturing, for example, has been around for years. But if you are the first to introduce it to your company, then you are an innovator. Your company may have been selling the same product for decades; but if you are the one who opened up a new revenue stream, you are an innovator.

Maybe all your innovations have been directed toward making your own work more efficient. Someone once said that if necessity is the mother of invention, laziness is the father. Many creations have their start in someone wanting an easier life; never downplay an innovation because of its roots.

Finally, many innovations build on the work of others. When you modify an existing product, re-organize an existing team, or develop an existing relationship to make it more profitable, you are innovating. No one else saw or grabbed that opportunity. You did.

At Robin’s Resumes®, we appreciate innovation and know howto write about it. Contact us today.

By the Numbers: Why Professional Resumes and Profiles Are Essential

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Today I thought I would share some interesting statistics about job searches. The following statistics come from a variety of sources, including Glassdoor, Jobvite, and CareerBuilder.

While Jobvite lists career sites (27%) and job boards (19%) as the most frequently used source for applicants, that leaves over half of recruiters and hiring managers using other sources, such as referrals, internal hires, and agencies. Do not make the mistake of thinking that a savvy, immediate boss will be the one reading your resume—instead, prepare your resume so that anyone, including an Applicant Tracking System (ATS), can understand the value you bring to a company.

An ATS will discard well over 50% of the resumes it processes. The ATS searches for keywords and selects the resumes where they appear for further review by hiring managers and recruiters. You should study job postings and advertisements carefully for keywords—skills and knowledge the company is looking for—and use those words honestly in your resume.

Online sites have a strong influence on hiring. Most hiring managers and recruiters (73%-87%, depending on the site) have searched social media for candidates; and almost all candidates (over 79%) use social media to search for jobs. To stay ahead of the competition and attract hiring managers and recruiters, you should strengthen your LinkedIn and other professional profiles and keep your posts on sites like Facebook and Instagram strictly professional.

According to CareerBuilder, 41% of employers use text messages to schedule an interview. Make sure your contact information is clear, professional, and correct. A small error in your email address—or the inability of a company to tell if you meant 1 or l (one or el), 0 or O (zero or oh) might mean you never hear from them. The best email address uses your full name.

According to the 2017 Jobvite Recruiting Funnel Benchmark Report, the time between recruiting and hiring and is tightening: down to 39 days from 43 days in 2015. So keep those resumes flowing even if you feel you have a great chance at a job. If you haven’t heard from a company in over a month, they have probably filled the position.

According to a council of Human Resource executives from Fortune 100 companies, you increase your chances of being hired by 80% if you have networked to the job. You must pass the ATS for these jobs since according to several sources, over 99% of jobs listed by Fortune 500 companies are screened by ATS systems. Those statistics all show the high value still placed on resumes and the importance of professional social media profiles.

My job as a professional resume writer is to make sure your resume and social media profiles are not only well-written but capable of rising to the top in any search by hiring managers, recruiters, or ATS. Contact me today.

New Goals vs. Old Resume: How to Align Them

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Are you rethinking your career? You may find a looming gap between current career goals and your current resume. Many college graduates find themselves considering careers that do not align with their degree. People returning to the workforce after a break may find the skills that they acquired in the past are no longer relevant. Other job seekers may be deliberately seeking a new career path for any number of reasons; they might want to explore new interests, have better chances for advancement, or move to a place with fewer openings in their field.

Whatever your reason, there are several ways to handle that career/resume discrepancy on your resume and to prepare yourself for bridging the gap between where you are now and where you want to be.

Handling the Discrepancy on Your Resume

Hiring managers and recruiters do insist on a certain level of skill for most positions, but they are also interested in how skills are used. Review your past career to find transferable skills. These skills may be soft skills (such as leadership or communication) or hard skills (such as data analysis or sales). Then show how you used those skills to benefit employers. Within certain boundaries, it doesn’t matter if you sell shoes or cosmetics; great sales skills are always appreciated.

You should also consider organizing your resume so that you show your most relevant experience first, regardless of date. You could, for example, begin with a section titled “Relevant Experience” or “Career Highlights” before you offer a chronology. You could divide your career into two parts, listing non-relevant jobs under “Other Experience.”

Bridging the Gap to Where You Want to Be

If you see a career transition in your future, start preparing now to make yourself more marketable. Compare advertisements and job postings to see what top three or four qualifications appear over and over again; concentrate on meeting those specific qualifications. Read carefully, without regard to the job title. You may find that your ideal job (or one close to it) is available but not under the title you expected.

Take courses in your chosen field, volunteer those rusty skills to sharpen them, and work freelance, contract, or part-time jobs in the industry you are targeting to acquire current and relevant experience.

Attend networking events and gatherings where you will meet people who already work in your goal career. Even if they do not know about current openings, they can help you gain insight into what will make you more appealing to hiring managers and recruiters. When you are transitioning your career, you may want to talk to a career and transition specialist or a professional resume writer. I am qualified in both fields. Please contact me today.

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