Work, success, and meaning at every stage of your career
Writing better resumes
Every day, we hear from jobseekers who are discouraged with their job search. “I’ve applied for hundreds of jobs online; I never get a response at all, let alone an invitation to interview.” It’s easy to believe that you’re doing something productive by applying online, but it’s only true if you are taking the time to make your applications as complete as possible.
If hiring activity really starts to improve in late 2010, you’ll be getting more chances to put your resume in front of the right people (defined for our purposes as “people who have jobs to fill.”) Here are some tips for making sure that your post-recession resume tells a good story about how you weathered an extended layoff.
Skills are one of the most important things you have to convey to a prospective employer. If you had to name your five most important and valuable skills right now, what would you say they are? Here is a way to organize your thinking about skills as you prepare for an interview.
The chronological resume is the gold standard of formats; it gives your job history in an easy to read format, and it’s the choice of recruiters everywhere. This recession has made many workers rethink their careers and retrain for new ones, and that means that they need a new format to market their skills. Enter the Functional Resume – a way to talk more about what you can do, and less about what you’ve done in the past.
Many jobseekers are impatient with the application process – especially established workers with a resume in hand. “Why even bother?” they’ll ask. “Can’t I just write in ‘See resume?’”?
The answer is no, for a couple of good reasons.
If you are still sending an original resume via mail, your cover letter can enhance your communication with a potential employer. A good cover letter can help put your resume in context, expand on your skills for the position, and express your personality in ways that your resume can’t.
Unfortunately, even good resumes get overlooked, lost, or discarded due to jobseekers’ errors in judgment. Based on formal and informal discussions with hiring managers, here are some common mistakes that can sink your chances of getting noticed among dozens of resumes.
Your Work, Your Way 