3 Resume Mistakes Most Job Seekers Make | Career Rocketeer - Career Search and Personal Branding Blog

I think I’m beginning to sound borderline preachy with my resume and cover letter advice. But I also feel I have a duty to share with job seekers the blunders and mistakes they make that prevent them from getting the interview and ultimately the offer. After ten years of working as a human resources manager and recruiter I’ve seen my fair share of job seeker mistakes. So here’s my list of the three biggest mistakes job seekers make on their resumes.

MISTAKE #1: Outdated formatting

The first impression your resume gives is critical. How do you want the hiring manager to perceive you?
Professional and accomplished? Or sloppy and disorganized? Old and outdated formats only reflect poorly on you as a viable candidate for the position. Not sure what a professional resume format looks like? Try reviewing samples developed by a certified resume writer.

MISTAKE #2: Using an objective

If your resume has an objective, please remove it. That is an outdated practice that is no longer relevant in today’s job market. Objectives will only land you in the “bland, just like everyone else” pile—not the “oh yeah, don’t let me forget to call them today” pile. Replace the old objective with a personal branding statement. Including a personal branding statement is one more way to stand out.

MISTAKE #3: Forgetting important keywords

Don’t forget to use industry specific keywords. Also, make sure you know where to place them. The top section of the resume is the best place because that’s where the hiring manager’s eyes will be drawn.

Short keywords are a great way to tell the employer about your expertise. Don’t forget to also place them strategically throughout the resume so you continue to catch the employer’s attention and communicate that you have the skills and experience they need.
Are you making any of these mistakes on your resume? Submit your resume to info@greatresumesfast.com for a free resume analysis, or compare your resume to those designed by certified advanced resume writers at http://www.greatresumesfast.com.

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Author:

Jessica Holbrook is an expert resume writer, career and personal branding strategist, author, speaker and President/CEO of Great Resumes Fast. She creates high-impact, best-in-class, resumes and cover letters that win interviews. For a free resume analysis visit http://www.greatresumesfast.com/ or for a free phone consultation call 1.800.991.5187.

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Writing a Resume = Writing a Press Release « Courting Your Career

This is a guest post by Jessica Dickson Goodman, Communications Manager with the start-up Careerimp.

No matter how many resumes you have written, the writers’ block that accompanies a fresh Word document (or Pages template) titled “Resume” is horrifying. Whether you’re starting with a blank slate because this is your first resume, you’re shifting careers, or you just need a change in your job search strategies, the following may help you think differently about your resume-drafting.

Your resume is a press release on your qualifications for a given job.

Like resumes, press releases have strict formats, clear requirements for refined language, and a well-defined audience. And like resume reviewers, the reporters who read press releases are extremely time-bound. Effective press releases have a single message, a headline which showcases that one important idea. The body clarifies the who-what-where-why-when-how, constantly reinforcing the message. Struggling for a message? I find “I am competent and have the skills listed in the job description” is a good place to start. Finally, a good press release “not only informs but also teases.”

Resumes are the same. If you had magic potion that embedded a single impression of you in your resume’s reviewer’s mind, what would it be? What if you got three impressions? Those impressions should be implied by every line-item on your resume.

Then, once you’ve proven you are competent with easy-to-skim formatting and classy grammar, you can tease. Include  information they could ask about in an interview. Mention your cricket club so they can ask: “What was it like to found a Cricket club in Pittsburgh?” Include your summer teaching English for “Did you speak Spanish before living in Chile?” Contrast your major and extracurricular interests to get “How do your graphic design skills and your Statistics major fit together?”

Catching your reviewer’s attention by providing them genuinely interesting information is the only way to tease in a resume. Do not risk appearing deeply silly (in a bad way!) by forcing odd fonts or formatting upon your busy reviewer–remember, above all, time is king.

Once you’ve decided on a message (or three), chosen the experiences to highlight, quintuple-checked your grammar and spelling, and added in that sexy twist at the end, chill out. There is no value in suffering over an application. The press release is sent; the resume is submitted. Do your best on the task at hand, and move on.

De-stressing the resume-creation process is a goal I share with my colleagues at Careerimp. If you are interested in other ways to think about creating your resume, check us out at http://careerimp.com.

Jessica Dickinson Goodman works for the Pittsburgh, PA-based start-up, Careerimp. Careerimp is developing a way to automatically generate optimized resumes, thus making all this stressing and strategizing irrelevant. For more on Careerimp, check out http://careerimp.com.

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Knowing When to Throw in the Towel: Making a Career Transition | CareerAlley

“Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It’s the transition that’s troublesome.” – Isaac Asimov

So maybe you’ve been stuck in the same gig for awhile. You’ve gotten to the point where every move you make, ever task you complete, gives you absolutely no satisfaction whatsoever. What used to be challenging and energy-generating now has the opposite effect–each day is challenging only because you cannot wait to get through it.

If you’ve been working for awhile, then you’ve certainly encountered this particular brand of work ennui blues. While the feeling is completely normal, if it persists, then your gut may be telling you that it’s time for a change. Here are some tell-tale signs that the time to throw in the towel has arrived:

1. There’s no room for improvement.

Ostensibly, in any job worth doing, there’s always room for improvement. In a job that grants you satisfaction, you are constantly being given work that stretches just a little beyond your current capabilities. If you’re bored, then ask your boss if you can take on more rigorous work. If that doesn’t work and you’ve exhausted all opportunities for continued challenge, then you may need to find something different.

2. The stress in your daily workload costs more than the salary you earn.

It’s sometimes difficult to compare apples and oranges, especially when it comes to something as ambiguous as “satisfaction” or “happiness”. However, just because such qualities cannot be quantified doesn’t mean you shouldn’t still consider them when conducting a cost-benefit analysis. Ask yourself, is the money I’m earning really worth the toll it’s taking on my physical and mental well-being? While some will dismiss “happiness” in career decision-making, its importance cannot be stressed highly enough. If you aren’t happy, your job performance will plummet, and you’ll negatively affect everyone in your life–both friends and family. Some salaries are simply not worth this sort of cost.

3. You find yourself daydreaming about a different future too often.

Everyone daydreams, and it’s perfectly reasonable for you to be wishing you were somewhere or someone else when sitting in the office. We’ve daydreamed since we were children, so it doesn’t logically follow that a little desire for escape necessitates a career change. However, when daydreaming becomes an activity that you engage in constantly, then perhaps this is a signal that you should listen to your mind’s wanderings. It may be time to act.

These aren’t, of course, comprehensive tips for knowing when to quit your current job and move on to another. All they do is suggest the mindset that may be ready for a change. After all, change is almost always a good thing, whether or not it takes awhile to adjust to. Many people self-impose barriers in making drastic changes in their lives, while they usually blame others. For example, when asking a typical person who hates his job why they don’t try something different, the usual response is something akin to “I just can’t” or “I have XYZ to worry about”. Most of the time, these are excuses that seek to cover up a deep-seated fear of change. Don’t be a typical person. If the time is ripe, then take the plunge and pursue a job that makes you happy.

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Tim Handorf, who writes on the topics of best online colleges.  He welcomes your comments at his email Id: tim.handorf.20@googlemail.com

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Best of Branding: Top 5 This Week | Brand-Yourself.com Blog

Here are the Top 5 This Week – @andywergedal

Keep the faith, things will turn around. The light is the end of the tunnel. The steps towards getting a job are easy to follow (just read the websites linked in this article). The hard part is keeping the faith throughout the process. Remember, everyone else has done the same at some point. You are not alone. Just hang in there another minute, hour, day, week, month, year and things will turn around.

The Top 5 This Week

1. Job References: Don’t Lose at the Finish Line – [Career Rocketeer]

The purpose of providing references is to close the deal. It isn’t to discover if you are telling the truth about your dates of employment, verify that you’ve demonstrated the proper skills for the job, or even to assure the hiring authority that he’s making the right decision to hire you — though each reason contributes.

2. Are You A Resistor? – [Career Rocketeer]

In one of my recent classes, one of the participants came had an epiphany about half way through. She said she realized that she had been resisting anything new so strongly that it was certainly hindering her from getting a new job she so desperately needed. For her, it was simply a matter of coming to the realization of how much she was fighting it that finally caused her to decide to apply some of the ideas we had been discussing.

3. Five Mistakes Job Seekers Make on Their Resumes – [Great Resumes Fast]

After ten years of working as a human resources manager and recruiter I’ve seen my fair share of job seeker mistakes. So here’s my list of the five biggest mistakes job seekers make on their resumes.

4. Succeeding in the New Economy Starts with Values – [Secrets of The Job Hunt]

When it comes to knowing yourself, you have to start with values. The values you espouse are vital to the choices you make and ultimately dictate the way you live. Values can be thought of as the principals you hold near and dear. Your values are the code you live by. They are the rules you follow and the ethics you adhere to when dealing with others.

5. Personal Brands: Craziest Advice Ever – [Personal Branding Blog]

Employers are actively seeking employees who can help move their companies in a direction of growth (or stability). They want sincere, straightforward communicators with integrity.

Photo Credit

Andy’s primary professional role is the communication bridge between technology and executive staff. An expert in project management methodologies Andy excels as the agent of change. In his spare time, he has a passion for helping people find jobs. Checkout his blog at 40×50.com and on twitter @andywergedal.

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Which Interview Personality Are You? | Career Rocketeer - Career Search and Personal Branding Blog

Rather than offer a generic opinion on how YOU should act during an interview, let’s look at the various personalities and attitudes that different people actually portray during a job interview. Then using common sense, you can figure out how to use this information to help you improve your ability as an interviewee; and if you have any questions, don’t be shy, you can email or call me and I will try and help you as best I can.

So let’s have some fun and look at the different personalities and how they may be perceived.

The Desperados – You know the pressure you are under and how desperately you need this job and the income it offers. However you must control your emotions during an interview. When I interviewed candidates as a recruiter and HR manager, I was turned off by the Desperados and usually did not hire them or pass them on to the next level. And how do I identify a Desperado? Some make it easy by coming right out and asking for the job more than once and telling me how wonderful getting this position would be for them! Most however show their desperation in subtler ways that a trained recruiter can pick up on such as body language, extreme nervousness, their cadence and tone of voice, the way they answer questions, and especially from the timing and relevance of the questions they ask. The biggest tell is a candidate focusing on the health and vacation benefits and employee policies more than on learning about the company and the job they are interviewing for.

The Chatterboxes – Some people love to hear the sound of their own voice, lecture others, show off their subject knowledge, and prove to you that they are great communicators. The first two are definite no-no’s in an interview. The next two need to be controlled. What an interviewee needs to understand is an interview is like a time bomb and you don’t know how long it will take for the bomb to explode or be disarmed. Going in you don’t know how
much time the person on the other side of the desk will allow you to get your message across, so every minute counts and the first five minutes count the most. This is when interviewers determine if you are worth getting to know or if you are relegated to a perfunctory, courtesy interview. I find chatty people are nice and qualified but they waste my time because they fail to understand what information is important to a decision maker and what is not.
These are not the type of people you want to be around day to day. Another thing I found is people who come into an interview unprepared are often chatterboxes and will try and compensate by rambling on until they arrived at the point they want to make; and being prepared is high up on the list of things I look for in candidates during an interview.

The Thespians – Whereas it is helpful to polish up on your acting skills for an interview, there is no substitute to showing your true colors. In other words don’t pretend to be someone you are not. If you’re not innovative don’t give the impression you are. The same holds true for any character trait or skill set an employer places great value on. If you do not feel you will perform well under certain circumstances or work conditions such being a small cog in a big machine, working independently or with limited supervision, being asked to lead or mentor others, or if the job requires extended travel, don’t hide or mask these feeling because this is what you think the interviewer wants to hear. Sooner or later the truth will come out. On the other hand actors spend much more time rehearsing their role than they do on stage. Emulating an actor in order to deliver your lines smoothly, get your timing down, control your emotions and body language, and have someone critique your performance are all positive things you should do to
prepare for an interview.

Charlie Rose – The purpose of most interviews is to have the interviewer ask the questions and the interviewee responds. You may want to ask for clarification of a point before you offer an answer, this is Ok. What I and most interviewers find most disconcerting are people who answer our questions with a question of their own. It is true that an interview is a two-way conversation, but it is not a debate and there are no rules that demand equal time. This is especially true on the phone interview and initial first interview. The golden rule is to stay on point and talk about what is important to the person asking the questions and not offer useless information. Think of an interview like this, the interviewee is the host and you are his or her guest. Their job is to ask the questions and your job is to answer them. As you go further into the interview process the rules will change slightly and there is more room for give and take. But always try to save questions for the end, and tell the interviewer “I have a question about this,
but it can wait until the end of the interview.” If they want to hear the question now they will ask you what it is, if not they will know that there is something that needs to be discussed and will leave some extra time at the end of the interview for this question.

Seinfeld – Some people try and mask their nervousness, anxiety or lack of confidence with a prepared joke or two or some other attempt at humor to begin an interview, and with some people act this way all the time. With very few exceptions being a comedian is not a great idea on an interview. You can lighten up the mood just as easily with a firm handshake and a warm smile, and by looking around the office and sizing up the interviewer to find a way to offer a sincere compliment or find something of mutual interest that can be used as an ice-breaker and to set a positive tone.

Rodin – The Thinker is a bronze and marble sculpture by Rodin of a man in sober meditation battling a powerful internal struggle. While some people are flippant and do not take an interview seriously there are many people who are serious, never smile, over analyze every move, and place too much importance on the outcome of an interview before it even begins. They sit in the waiting room mulling theoretical questions and answers as if their life
depended on it, and by the time they enter the interviewer’s office they are wound up tight like a spinning top. If this is you try to keep in mind a cardinal rule of interviewing - avoid getting too high (literally and physically) or too low before, during and after an interview. Just relax and be yourself; and no matter what the outcome, remember it is just a job interview it’s not the end of the world.

Mary Richards – We just met Rodin ‘The Thinker’ who never smiles. On the flip side of this coin is Mary Richards the quintessential Miss Congeniality. This person is always smiling; there is nothing she or he can’t do, and nothing that will turn them off. This is a great attitude as long as you don’t take it too far on an interview because you may be looked as being a phony, or naïve and these are not the type of personality traits most employers desire. So keep the smile but take a more professional approach; and leave the laughs and the giggles in the waiting room.

Catbert – I find this attitude more from interviewers in this buyer’s market, but there are some candidates who still act superior and are full of themselves on an interview. This often occurs with professionals and executives who are interviewing for positions and in companies that they deem are below what they are accustomed to; when they interview with someone who has less experience than they do, or are interviewed by someone who in better times would be reporting to them, not vice versa. There are ways to strut your stuff, being arrogant is not one
of them. Even if the interviewer is condescending to you, it is important not to act in kind and sink to their level.

Peter Griffin / Homer Simpson – You come to the interview five minutes late, make up a lame excuse why, and proceed to take off your jacket, sit before the interviewer sits, and act like you’re the King of his castle. Being casual and comfortable in an interview is an art form not many people have perfected. Unless you are a veteran at interviewing others, I suggest you begin the interview acting by professionally and take your cues on how to act from the person on the other side of the desk.

Now that we discussed these different personality profiles, and there are more, let me tell you that most people are not one but a combination of many. I suggest you go over this blog with someone who knows you and can tell you which profiles define you the most, and then work on making improvement from there.

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Author:

Perry Newman, CPC CSMS is a nationally recognized executive resume writer, career coach, AIPC certified recruiter and SMMU certified social media strategist known for his ability to help his clients get results. You can view his sample resumes at http://www.perrynewman.com/, and email him your resume at perry@perrynewman.com for FREE resume critique.

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What is a Career Brand? | Brand-Yourself.com Blog

People who create content and put it out online, either intentionally or unintentionally, create their personal brand. That is a fact.

However, there is some thought that one can intentionally create a personal brand or decide, instead, to create a career brand. Personal brand meaning, it’s about “me” and career brand meaning it’s more about your company or career and more about “we”.

While this can be true (if you are intentional about it), I would argue that you can and may have a personal brand and a career brand, online, and that if you have a job (or are looking for one), you most definitely already have a career brand – even if you don’t own a computer.

A career brand is not about all the unique things you do and say online that create your online image – as stated, those are the elements that make up your personal brand.

A career brand is you positioning yourself at the center of your career interests, passions, talents and strengths, and building a strong presence where you are showcasing your expertise and gaining interest and trust from employers and clients.

If you are actively doing those things, then you are creating your career brand.

How Do I Create a Career Brand?

Your career brand is a combination of content you create online and everything you do and say during your job search and in the workplace.

However, it is important to note that your online career brand and your online personal brand cannot operate separately from each other. The success or failure of one brand can and will create the success and failure of the other. Your online career brand is a part of your total personal brand.

You can create an online career brand around your current job and company or you can create one around the career niche you are trying to obtain (ex: creating a leadership brand if you are trying to become a manager).

If you are unemployed, you can create a online career brand around the distinct type of position you are trying to obtain. All this can be done by utilizing the different social media venues – LinkedIn being a key one here.

With that said, you can have an online image that is only a personal brand, a combination of a personal and career brand or only a career brand.

If your online image is “only a personal brand”, then your brand may consist of things like: a blog about a hobby, your Facebook page which is mostly personal in nature, and articles about a cause you promote. But, you don’t typically write anything online about your career interests.

If your online image is a “only a career brand” then you have built up a brand (likely intentionally) around your career/niche and you don’t have any personal content online that is viewable to the public.

If you have a combination of a personal and career brand, online, that simply means that you created a career brand but you also have content online that is completely unrelated to your career brand (blog about a hobby, articles about a charity you like, pictures of your kids).

Remember, you must manage the content or it will manage you – a weak personal brand will definitely kill a strong career brand.

Why is My Career Brand So Important?

As an employer, my interest in you (as a candidate) starts with Google where I assess your online career and personal brand. But then, it moves on. I then talk to you on the phone, interview you, hire you, and for the remainder of your employment you will be assessed in regards to your overall performance. It ends when you leave employment.

Any time you are being assessed and evaluated,(and you most definitely are at work!) your words and actions build your brand. It doesn’t matter if it is online or offline. You must always be working on your brand.

But the most important reason why a career brand is very important is because your online career brand is only one of 10 components of what I believe is your career brand.  You just can’t create an “online career brand” and get away with it. Your actual work matters.

I created the following model, which I believe contain all the components that make up your total career brand:

• Online Career Brand (your intentional efforts to brand yourself into your career niche)
• Online Personal Brand (the combination of everything that Google can find out about you online)
• Job Search Strategy
• Resume and Cover Letter
• Interview Skills
• Personal Appearance
• Work Style (how you plan, implement, and execute; how well you work with others, leadership skills)
• Attitude (beliefs, behaviors, morals, and values)
• Education and Training
• Groups and Associations (where you are or should be a member, including any speaking engagements that may result)

A good career brand is authentic, strong, and creates awareness about you. The key to your success is finding the right brand for you and building it. You then must actively and continuously strive to make it stronger and better as you gain new skills and experience.

You must keep this in mind, at all times – from the minute you start your job search, when you create content online, and in everything you do and say in the workplace.

Jessica Simko is a seasoned senior level Human Resources professional with over 15 years of experience in all facets of Human Resources Management. She is a Career Coach and Consultant specializing in helping all levels of career professionals create, build, and maintain a strong career brand in the corporate work culture. She strives to help people connect their passions with their jobs and then to leverage their brand to maximize their potential throughout their careers. She offers a wide variety of career branding articles and tips at Career Branding Guide where she also offers coaching and consulting services based on the Career Branding Guide model. Feel free to connect with her on:

Twitter
Linked In

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A Bit of Wisdom from “The 4-Hour Workweek” | Brand-Yourself.com Blog

Are you feeling burned out, lacking energy and less efficient than you used to be? Has your workday become a practice in managing dozens of distractions while trying to find time to accomplish your priorities? If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then you need to read “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss. In this book, Ferriss gives readers step-by-step instructions on how to join the “New Rich.” The New Rich work less while maintaining their previous levels of income and find other meaningful activities (i.e. family, online business ventures, travel and volunteerism) to fill their newly-created free time.

I could write pages about this book’s principles, how they can be applied and the steps necessary to create this lifestyle and join the New Rich. But you should read this stuff for yourself. So instead, I will quickly highlight a few of the principles that Ferriss asserts can make you more productive in your workday, by eliminating unnecessary demands and distractions.

Productivity vs. “Being Busy”

Oftentimes people (myself included) say, “I need to keep myself busy, if I’m not I’ll go nuts.” A fundamental question you must ask yourself is, are you “busy” with tasks that aren’t important? And how often do these tasks eat up time in your day? Ferriss cites Pareto’s Law, which states that “80% of results come from 20% of the effort and time” when he first changed his work habits. Ferriss applied this law at a time when he was working 15-hour days, seven days a week. He recognized that of his 120 wholesale customers, a mere 5 were bringing in 95% of the revenue. After shifting his energy to these top-performing customers, Ferriss increased his monthly income two-fold in only four weeks and cut his hours worked from 80 to 15. Although this may seem like an extreme example, hundreds of others have adopted these principles and seen immediate and marked results.

Managing Your Daily Distractions

What do you really DO while sitting at your desk? Surf Facebook and check out the latest activity on your newsfeed? Check your personal email account, while monitoring your Twitter feed and LinkedIn connections? Take these distractions that consume parts of your day and add them up. I have, and I’m astounded at how much I peruse these social networking sites and other websites that, at the end of the day, add very little value to my work.  Ferriss suggests using free time-tracking software called RescueTime. RescueTime alerts users when they spend more than an allotted time on a website that one assigns as “time wasters.” A simple note attached to your computer screen with a message saying, “Are you inventing things to avoid the important?” is another method of reminding you to stay on task.

“Batching” Your Time Consuming Activities

Studies have been conducted across the board to show that lapses in productivity occur when workers multitask, especially when they allow interruptions to remove them from a particularly large task.  An individual can take up to 45 minutes to resume working on a major task once he/she has been interrupted. How can this be resolved? The first step is to begin batching. Set specific times in your day to check email and turn off the auto-responders that interrupt you every few minutes. Check sales at the beginning and end of the day, but most importantly, earmark times for this activity. To finish, estimate how much time you are saving by batching similar tasks and calculate how much you have earned based on your hourly rate (how much you value your time).

These are just a few of the principles that you can apply to your daily life to make you more efficient and productive in less time. In an age where texting and checking emails with clients present in the room has become commonplace and often acceptable, now is the time to reclaim your focus and your etiquette by following these basic principles. And by the way, read this book! You’ll soon recognize why it has become a #1 New York Times bestseller and been published in 35 countries.

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