Who says that resumes have to fit onto one page? The concept of the one page resume is a myth that has been around seemingly forever and has almost no validity. Those who dissent the most? Tech recruiters! Which makes no sense to me when it’s critical for IT candidates to list their programming languages,…
Are you including a header & footer in your resume? Well, don’t. I don’t know how or why this became a thing, but it’s not only pointless, but dangerous. I’m not aware of any ATS software that can read headers and footers, but since that’s where you’re putting your name and contact information, you’re basically…
When clients send me their resumes in a template that they downloaded from the Internet, I immediately copy and paste the information into a Word document, and work on the resume in Word. Sometimes, when we’re done with the content, the client asks when I’m going to make it look “nice,” or “more professional.” I’m…
You have to stop sending out meaningless resumes. Hard stop. What makes a resume meaningless? Listing responsibilities without context. A section devoted to keywords (I see you, ATS slaves) without context. Details so outdated that they do you more harm than good. Let me explain, one point at a time. Listing responsibilities without context. Perform…
If you want to connect with your target employers, stop thinking of your resume as a history of your work life. It’s not. You are the product, the employer is the consumer, and your resume is how you market yourself. So when the occasional client is perplexed as to why I removed portions of her…
Your resume isn’t an autobiography of your career. Resumes are marketing tools intended to take job candidates to the next step in the hiring process, which is to get interviewed by the hiring manager. To market yourself strategically requires presenting potential employers with a value proposition that aligns with the position they need to fill.…
If you are a government employee about to retire and enter the private sector, be prepared for radical changes to your resume. The biggest – and potentially upsetting – change will be that most of what’s on your resume is irrelevant to companies that you’re interested in. Resumes for government employees entering the private sector…
Stop thinking of your resume as a history of everything you’ve done in the workforce and turn your resume into a marketing tool by using the strategies that successful marketers employ to sell their products. Get your head around the concept that you are the product and potential employers are the buyers. Marketers understand that…