Have you seen resumes with the candidate’s academic or professional credentials as part of the person’s name? We don’t think twice about referring to medical doctors as Latisha Jones, MD, but what if Latisha earned a Master’s in neuroscience? Should she refer to herself as Latisha Jones, M.S.? This is a squirrelly issue, as people…
There are two job search related topics on which people are divided – vehemently so: the demise of cover letters and whether or not resumes should be tweaked for every job you apply to. Back in 2016, I wrote about what I consider to be the silliness of tailoring the resume, so I re-visited the…
Would that I had a nickel for every client who asked me to include in the resume that they are a “fast learner,” or a “diligent worker,” or my all time fave, a “proven leader.” But I don’t, or I wouldn’t be writing a blog post about it. Here’s the thing: everyone says stuff…
I used to be on the fence about including hobbies and volunteer work on a resume, but now I’m not. I had been ambivalent because while hobbies or volunteerism arguably have little or no bearing on a candidate’s qualifications, they sometimes catch the hiring manager’s eye and forge enough of a bond that it leads…
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it now: your GPA doesn’t belong on your resume. Recent graduates mention their GPAs, which I understand. They’re just exiting an environment where their grades mattered, and if they’re applying to graduate school, they still matter. That doesn’t mean that GPAs add value to resumes, and I’ll explain…
Your resume is your first line of defense to avoid ageism during your job search, as ageism is a real, if difficult to prove obstacle to your job search if you are over 50. By eliminating details that point to your age, you greatly improve the odds that your resume will land you interviews. So…
I see it all the time: resumes that feature a box containing a bunch of keywords that represent skills or areas of expertise. But are keywords important in a resume, or is the context around them what actually matters? Answer: It’s the context. A sales executive sent me his resume that included a box titled,…
Clients who have challenging issues in their resumes are often told not to use a chronological resume, but I strongly believe that functional resumes are bad.I’m truly surprised when I hear that a functional resume is a good idea for those who have employment gaps, or whose job titles don’t convey the full extent of…