What are the primary functions, or uses, of a resume?

• Resumes are self-marketing tools used to present your qualification toward a specific professional goal. Its primary use is to convince the hiring manager or hiring committee that from all the candidates interested in the role, YOU in particular should be contacted for an interview. The more competitive the selection process, the better your resume should be!
• And a resume is not just used before the interview, but also during and after the interview. Be prepared to talk about any entry on your resume, since your resume is also often used by employers as a prompt for certain questions during an interview
• And of course after the interviews are over, that resume of yours helps remind your interviewers of the relative strengths and weaknesses of all the candidates as they make their final selection.
• After you land a job, an updated resume can help you keep that job, get a raise, or a promotion. When it’s time for a performance appraisal, you don’t want to just listen to your boss’s assessment of your accomplishments – this is your chance to document your accomplishments not just to your boss, but your boss’ boss, who will have to approve that promotion or nice raise you deserve.

Should every professional have a resume? If not, who would not need a resume?

• Yes, I believe every professional should have a resume, or a bio, or a profile of some sort. Most of us want to contribute our skills to a business as an employee or consultant, and many of us want to contribute our skills to a worthwhile organization. In either event, you’ll need some statement that persuasively summarizes your qualifications.
• Of course there is an exception to every rule, so if you are independently wealthy and have no desire to contribute to society through professional or charitable work, then relax, you do NOT need a resume or even a biography.
• But you should know, even Donald Trump has an official biography on his web site.

What are some fundamental aspects of resume development/writing to keep in mind when creating a resume for the first time?

• The first fundamental of resume writing is BE FOCUSED. Focus on a particular type of work and make every word on the page has a right to be there – in other words, make sure everything you include is relevant to your target position and your target audience. To ensure that your resume is relevant to your target audience, study the words employers use to describe the work at hand. Analyze those job ads that detail the work you want to do, and be sure to incorporate the soft skills and hard skills that employers are seeking.
• The second fundamental of resume writing is BE SNAPPY. Instead of writing passively and focusing on duties, write in a vigorous, accomplishment-oriented style that gives enough detail to prove you’re a performer. Think in terms of compact yet complete statements where you start with an action verb and end with a measurable impact.  Do write in first person verb tense. Skip the pronouns I me and my, which have the effect of making your resume sound less than objective and factual.
• The third fundamental of resume writing is BE TRUTHFUL. Never exaggerate or fabricate information – you would not want to put yourself in a position where you could not defend any particular statement in your resume – at a minimum that would result in an awkward interview, and in the worst-case scenario, you could be fired from your new job if a mis-statement is later investigated.

How should the resume writer use keywords in their resume?

• Key words or buzzwords are the nouns and noun phrases used by employers to describe the work at hand and the qualifications needed to excel. They include the job title, the technical or industry-specific qualifications and certifications, as well as the so-called ‘soft skills’ like presentation skills, relationship-building and negotiation skills.
• Keywords or buzzwords are sometimes used as “search terms” to retrieve a resume from a database.
• Recruiters and hiring managers are scanning the resume for these important terms as well. If your resume lacks important keywords, you may not make it to the interview because the person doing the first screen of the resumes may lack understanding of your profession and not be able to infer that you have the proper skills. They will go for the candidate who has all the requirements plainly detailed on the resume.
• I recommend using the keywords throughout the resume, in the summary section, in the experience section, and in the education section, in the context of a complete sentence. I don’t recommend using a keyword block or ‘invisible’ words – recruiters may assume if you don’t use it in a sentence it probably doesn’t apply to you.

What information belongs in a resume?

• CONTACT INFO – For starters, be sure your contact information is included and correct. You may think this is obvious but I do see resumes where contact info is missing, out of date, or mistyped. The hiring manager can’t invite you in for an interview if she can’t call or email you.
• DO include an overview statement, details on recent, relevant experience, education, technical skills, and professional activities that demonstrate you have the ability, motivation, education, and background to do the work at hand.
• NUMBERS are smart in a resume – include verifiable facts such as your company’s overall sales revenues, your budgets, your number of direct reports, your number of clients, and of course quantifiable achievements. Official recognitions of your work such as “Employee of the Year” are always great.

What information does not belong in a resume?

This is a great question. In resume writing it’s just as important to know what kind of information to leave out as it is what kind of information to include. Remember, if it doesn’t qualify you, it might just disqualify you.

• Getting back to contact information, do not include your work phone number or your work email address – these are your current employer’s assets and they are not appropriate for you to utilize in seeking other employment.
• Do not include everything you have ever done in your life. Some jobs are too old, some jobs may not be relevant to your current goal. Likewise with education. If you have attended multiple college, it may not make sense to include them all. If you have degrees or certificates that don’t really apply to your current goal, think hard about how or whether to include them. If you are pursuing jobs where they are seeking 5 years of experience and you have 25 years of experience, do not include it all, you will be seen as overqualified and not a fit.
• It’s generally not appropriate to include your date of birth, any kind of high school information, marital status, religious or political affiliations. Don’t include any information that will enable an accurate guess at your age. If your degree is more than 10 years old, do not include the date of graduation.

• Think of resumes and job applications as two very different things. Do not include unnecessary headers like “email, phone number, employer” and definitely don’t include addresses of employers, wages paid, or supervisor’s names and phone numbers. Do not include your photo.

• Also avoid the temptation to copy and paste the company “job description” into your resume. Job descriptions are too generic and too detailed to serve as vibrant examples of your accomplishments on the job. Most people understand your typical duties when they read your job descriptions. It’s better to add specific details that explain the scope of your work, how your work is measured, and what specific things you’ve contributed to the company’s success.

• References are not part of a resume, nor do you need to end with the phrase “references on request.” Employers know they can ask you for references at an appropriate time.

• Reasons for leaving are generally not part of the resume unless you can legitimately make an accomplishment-statement.

• Hobbies and non-work activities should generally not be on the resume. You might also want to avoid including hyperlinks for your email and any web pages for technical reasons (your resume might get caught in a spam filter).

What type size and font should be used?

It really is important to create a smart-looking document that commands attention.

• For the main body font, you should use a size of 9 to 11 points depending on the particular font you choose. Make sure your chosen font is crisp, business-like, and easy to read. Ask a few people to scan the resume for you and ask them if they find it user friendly and easy to digest. For your name, you can use a larger font, up to 18 points. Your name is the most important thing on the page so it should be the largest. For your section headers, use a 12 pt font.
• Avoid old-fashioned font treatments like underlining.
• Use a little, but not too much bolding, all caps, and italics.
• Don’t use more than two different font types in your resume.
• Be sure you have plenty of white space for your margins and horizontally between the major sections of the resume.
• If you have more than one page, make sure that the information is balanced across each page – you wouldn’t want to have a page and a quarter of information, as that doesn’t look well-thought out.

Should your years of professional experience determine the length of the resume?

Not necessarily!

• The length of your resume has more to do with the total amount of relevant content.
• The more recent and relevant the experience, the more detail you should include. As you go back further in your history it’s more appropriate to pare down the amount of detail you’re including in your resume.
• Make sure you are not repeating the same phrases over and over in your resume, no one wants to read the same exact description twice.
• For some people, such as consultants or people with projects, the number of relevant projects will determine the length of the resume.

Is there an absolute limit for page length of a resume? If so, what is it?

• No, there is no absolute limit, although most of the resumes I prepare for my clients do not exceed 2 pages. Expectations vary in different professions and industries.
• Some recruiters and hiring managers have a preference for very short resumes, others want to see more detail.
• When in doubt, keep it brief and packed with accomplishments and keywords.

What if you have very little professional experience? What information should be offered in the resume?

• Everyone’s resume should have an introductory section that talks about career goals, interests, abilities, soft skills, and hard skills, as they relate to the target position. If you’re just starting out in your career or you’re making a career change, your introductory section is even more important.
• In your experience section, you don’t just have to limit yourself to full time, paid employment. You can also include a description of internships, volunteer work, and part-time or independent work that relates to your goal.
• And of course if you have strong educational credentials, you can add details on relevant courses to further develop your resume.

How often should a resume be updated, and what are some tips on updating?

• You never know when you might need an updated resume – with social networking, great opportunities can come out of the blue and it pays to have a polished resume ready to go. You should also have an updated resume to present at your performance evaluations, or you risk being taken for granted by your boss.
• As far as how often to update your resume, a lot depends on how much you accomplish or how often you change jobs.
• Some people might want to update as often twice a year. I have one client who is a producer for a very popular and prolific comedian who has a complex business with numerous projects, products, TV shows, and tours going on each year. This particular client should probably update her resume once every three months.
• Others can get away with updating every year or two but the longer you wait, the more likely you are to miss out on important details that could support your career advancement.
• I strongly encourage my clients to keep an “atta boy” or “atta girl” file where you keep notes on things you’ve accomplished each month. This not only helps you to think about what you have already accomplished, it helps you to think like a top performer so that you’ll strive harder to excel. Set up an Outlook reminder that says “What did I accomplish this month?”
• As you track your career progress, remember to include specifics such as cost savings, sales increases, profit margins, names and types of accounts serviced. Every time you get a kind word from a manager, colleague, or customer, save it in the atta boy / atta girl file – chances are there is good material for the resume. And of course save details on any awards or recognitions you receive through your employer or  professional organizations to which you belong.
• Of course, every time you update your resume, re-examine your career goals. Then make sure every word on the page is still relevant and still supports your goals. So that your resume doesn’t grow into the great American novel, be sure to delete outdated or less helpful information.

When does work experience become too old and should be removed (or excluded) from a resume?

It really depends on the situation but usually 10 to 15 years is sufficient. You may have experience from the past that is still relevant and beneficial, but often I find ways to effectively include key qualifications in the resume without tying them to a specific time frame, job title, and company.

When you’ve finished creating or updating a resume, what should you do next? 

Share your resume with several colleagues and ask for suggestions on content. Ask them to point out any glaring errors too. And never think of your resume as “finished” – it’s a living document that should be tailored to suit the opportunity at hand. Whenever possible, ask your target audience – meaning the hiring managers and recruiters to whom you are sending the resume – for feedback on your resume – after all, you have written it especially for them, so their opinion matters a great deal.

Let’s imagine a job seeker finds an opening and is interested in applying. Should that person send both their resume and a cover letter?

• If you’re really interested in a position you should bring your “A” game to both the resume and the cover letter. The more specific you can be with your application, the more likely you are going to be seen as a top candidate.
• Hiring managers are generally favorably impressed when you make an effort in your application.
• Make sure that the cover letter is targeted to address the specific company, contact person, and opportunity at hand. A cover letter should be very different from your resume. It should not be a narrative rehash of what is already in your resume.

Are there any circumstances when a job seeker would not send a cover letter with their resume?

If you have someone inside the organization who is serving as your spokesperson, you might be able to get away without a cover letter. If you have no information on the company, such as a blind ad, you might be able to get away without a cover letter.

What information should be contained in the cover letter?

You should always try to get the hiring manager’s name and job title, the HR contact’s name and job title. This makes the letter more personal and is an important first step toward following up.

You should include a mention of anyone you know in the company and what they have to say about it. Include what you like about the company – they love hearing why you think they’re great. You should include specifics about the impacts you believe you can make in the position, and highlight your best qualifications for the job. And last but not least, you should let them know that you intend to follow up in a few days to get their feedback on your application.

1. 17.   What tone should the cover letter convey? Can the job-seeker add a bit of their personality? If so, what’s appropriate?

If you are responding to a job ad, do your best to match their tone. An earnest, enthusiastic tone is generally welcome.

How long should the cover letter be? 

Most cover letters should be less than one page.

Should the same resume/cover letter be used for every position a job-seeker pursues in their current job-search?

No! No one is impressed by a form letter. The best you can do in a form letter is a narrative rehash of what’s already in your resume. The only letter worth reading is one that is specific and vibrant.

Should the resume and cover letter be sent both electronically (via email) and in hard copy form (via the postal service)?

You should send the resume and cover letter in the format requested, whether that’s an online upload, and email, a fax, or a hard copy by mail.

• Follow up with the company to ensure that they received your letter and resume. Often people think they’ve successfully completed an online application, or attached a resume, and something went wrong. Sometimes spam filters and other technical glitches can get in the way. Never assume that your information was received!
• You can of course send a hard copy resume to a company but do so as a last resort. Many companies these days are paperless and wouldn’t know where to file a hard copy resume unless it’s the recycle bin.

When should a job seeker get help from a professional, like you, with their resume?

• It’s a very competitive job market these days, so even if you happen to be an outstanding writer, I would say getting professional help can make all the difference in a swift and successful end to your search.
• One reason for hiring a pro or getting outside help is this = Writing a resume is very subjective, meaning it’s easy for you to focus on things that seem important but just aren’t relevant to your target audience. Getting outside help from an expert can make the process much more objective, easier, and much more effective.
• It’s also important to note that many job search services often tax-deductible, so the cost of resume preparation and related services can be a write-off.
• At a minimum, look at current resume sample books, get a free critique or two from a professional resume writer, or get a friend or two to help you. If you do decide to hire a resume writer, ask your friends for referrals, or use the Professional Association of Resume Writers web site (www.parw.com) to find a certified professional resume writer near you.

Still have questions? Feel free to email them to tracy @career-magic.com. You can also send us your resume for a one-time free critique!

by Tracy Laswell Valdez, CPRW, JCTC – CAREER-Magic.com

No doubt about it, job searching can be a draining, emotionally gut-wrenching, and depressing experience. The world as you know it hangs in the balance throughout a long, anxiety-ridden jaunt through the unknown. As a job search expert, a big part of what I do is help clients stay “up” emotionally throughout the process. I feel for you! So here are some thoughts on how to stay up during an extended job search, contributed by real live job seekers like yourself:

1. Treat your body like the temple it is: quit smoking, exercise, eat yummy and nutritious foods, rest well, keep yourself meticulously well-groomed. Pamper yourself!
2. Get outside each and every day for at least 30 minutes – fresh air, sunshine, and nature are free and powerful medicine.
3. Stay away from booze and other chemical depressants.
4. Limit Internet, television, and other electronic depressants.
5. Volunteer for worthwhile causes where your contributions are truly appreciated.
6. Go to church, meditate, do yoga, read inspirational books – do things to keep your perspective.
7. Avoid grumpy, pessimistic, critical, demanding people. Instead, hang out with supportive, energetic, POSITIVE people who are always trying something new. And contrary to your gut instinct, it’s often quite helpful to socialize with other unemployed people as long as they’re perky, can-do folks who are not going to let life get them down.
8. Along those lines, spend some time with babies and puppies and kitties – in other words, those who serve as reminders that the simplest things in life can be a joy.
9. Get a small job where you can make a difference, make a few dollars, and make some new networking contacts / friends.
10. Throw yourself a pity party – I’m serious! Invite your wisest, closest friends, whine and moan, get it all out of your system, then move on.
11. Ask your closest friends to tell you five great things about you.
12. Cut yourself some slack if you’re feeling angry, bummed, or tired. Give yourself permission to take a break from the search every so often.
13. Go back to school to develop a new skill, whether it’s job search related or something fun you’ve always wanted to learn (like a foreign language, cooking, pottery, dance). Learn something new even if you have to get a student loan.
14. Find some free fun each day – if you look, you can probably find free and low-cost sources of entertainment (free art exhibits and live music at coffee shops, free video and music rentals at the library, etc.).
15. Get your expectations on straight. Job searches take a lot time -  the rule of thumb is month of full-time searching for every $10k in annual salary you’re seeking – in other words, most people’s job searches can be expected to take 4-12 months.
16. Try not to go through your job search like a lead balloon, tense and tight and deadly serious in all you do. Get wacky, laugh a lot, take a lighthearted approach. Instead of getting tangled up in small details (should I email, should I fax, should I write a cover letter?), realize that the people on the receiving end of your application are people too. This means they all respond differently to different things. Instead of following the job search herd, try to think of some goofy, out-of-the-box (yet legal and somewhat professional) ways to get in front of hiring managers. You really have nothing to lose at this point.
17. Develop a habit of gratitude to replace the habit of self-pity. I personally count my blessings at least once a day, often in writing, and it’s a great way to stay up when life gets grueling and discouraging.
18. Get professional help! Call CAREER-Magic today and let us help you get unstuck. Or at very least, email us your resume for a free resume critique (resume analysis).

For more tips on positive, productive job searching, check out our book The Essential Job Search Companion, or call CAREER-Magic today to schedule a job search coaching session – 303-424-1700. We guarantee to provide a boost to your job search!

by Tracy Laswell Valdez, CPRW, JCTC – CAREER-Magic.com

More than ever before, a job seeker’s resume must be carefully composed in such a way that each word on the page supports a specific career objective. And it better be all about benefits of hiring you: 75% or more of the content needs to prove your worth and demonstrate the RESULTS you will bring to your next employer. Features (for example, 20 years of progressive experience) can’t sell like specific benefits (improved profitability by 25% in 2008).

I challenge you to read your current resume, line by line, and ask yourself with the question “so what?” at the end of each sentence. Ask yourself whether a statement can that be expressed as a specific quantifiable contribution to the company’s bottom line. It can be difficult, and at times you will have to estimate, but the more you are able to assess your value to a company, you will be more likely to win and retain a rewarding position.

Relevance: Be sure all the points in your resume are truly relevant to your current objective? Some of your background may be in a completely unrelated industry, and some may be “ancient history.”  Consider removing any information that instead of better qualifying you, could be used to weed you out. That would include irrelevant qualifications, whether educational or experiential. The competition today is nothing less than fierce. Recruiters are charged with finding the exceptional fit, the amazing value candidate, and a one-size-fits-all resume simply cannot convey the right stuff. It is also important to realize that “more” experience may not be seen as “better” – you are likely to be perceived as older, more expensive, or just “overqualified.”

Tailoring. The right stuff may be in there, but is it translated to the words the employer is using? Each resume you send for a specific opportunity needs to be tailored so that the recruiter can see exactly those qualifications being sought. This can be done in a number of ways throughout the resume but the introductory section of your resume should say it all – fluently, persuasively, in the language of the specific employer.

CAREER-Magic offers free resume critiques via our contact page as well as cost-effective resume editing and complete development services. The right resume can pay for itself many times over by shortening the search and giving you leverage to negotiate the best offer. Call 303-424-1700 or email us today for more information.

Not getting the results you want in your job search? 

Don’t give up! Learn what you can do to take your search to the next level. The Smarter Job Search Workshops are interactive, information-packed one-hour workshops designed to make you more successful in a number of ways:

• Brand Yourself! Create winning resumes and cover letters with all the right buzzwords!
• Job search efficiently and effectively using metasites (Indeed) and social media (LinkedIn, Meet-Up, more)
• Network live and online to get more interviews (don’t be an anonymous job seeker!)
• Interview persuasively to become the candidate of choice!
• Negotiate the best possible offer!

TOPICS (see our Meetup page at the link above for specific times and locations)

• The Above & Beyond Job Search by CAREER-Magic
• Smarter Interviews & Salary Negotiations by CAREER-Magic

• Cover Letter Magic by CAREER-Magic
• Generating Job Leads for Fun & Profit by CAREER-Magic

• Using the Phone Effectively in Your Job Search by CAREER-Magic
• Job Search Skills For Introverts by CAREER-Magic

• Branding & Buzzwords: Using Powerful Language in Your Job Search by CAREER-Magic
• Social Media 101: Using LinkedIn, Meet-up, and other platforms in Your Job Search by CAREER-Magic

CAREER-Magic Job Search Workshops are facilitated by Denver Job Search Expert Tracy Laswell Valdez, leveraging 16+ years of job search support for 3000+ clients. For more info, please call 303-424-1700 or email tracy@career-magic.com. Please RSVP online by clicking here!

WHEN & WHERE: See calendar of events at http://www.meetup.com/The-Smarter-Job-Search-Workshop/

Cost: $10 per session by cash or check. Please RSVP online by clicking here!

by Katharine Hansen, Ph.D., and Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.

If you’ve been searching unsuccessfully for a new job for some time now — or if you’re about to start a job-search — you’ll want to review the 10 job-hunting concepts we discuss in this article. We refer to these job-search concepts as reality checks because we so frequently hear from job-seekers who have been struggling to find a new job but are approaching one or more aspects of their search unrealistically. If you’re having difficulty finding a new job, you too may need a reality check.

You need a reality check if…
You’re only spending a small portion of your time on job-hunting activities.
Many experts believe job-hunting should in itself be a full-time job. If you’re in school or employed while seeking a better job, your time may be somewhat limited. But you should put as much time as you can into it. Try to contact people in your network every day with the goal of setting up interviews with your contacts or people they’ve referred you to.

If you have other time commitments (such as a current job), carve out time, such as very early in the morning or during the evening, to work on job-hunting tasks (such as polishing your resume) that don’t need to be done during business hours. Try to schedule interviews for lunch hours, early mornings, or late afternoons so you take little or no time away from your job.

If you’re unemployed, treat job-hunting as though it is a job. Invest time in your search just as you would a typical workweek.

You need a reality check if…
You are conducting a “scattershot” approach to your job-search.
Some job-seekers think the best way to find a new job is to apply for as many jobs with as many employers as possible. Some job-seekers even apply to multiple positions within the same company and jobs they are not totally qualified for. The faulty thinking behind this strategy is that the more jobs you apply for, the more likely at least one of these efforts will result in a job interview. Beyond the flawed logic here, the other problem with this strategy is giving yourself a false sense that you are actively seeking a new job.

The reality is that the best job-search efforts are ones that are focused on specific jobs with specific employers. Employers want candidates with specialized qualifications and accomplishments. And the glut of resumes from unqualified and marginally qualified candidates is a major factor in the growing ineffectiveness of Internet job hunting.

So use your time more wisely conducting research on jobs and employers and target a select group with a detailed job-search strategy rather wasting your time and energy on a scattershot approach.

You need a reality check if…
You rely on advertised job openings for job leads.
While job ads (in newspapers or online job boards) are useful research tools, you as the job-seeker should not count on these job openings as your sole — or even a major — job-search method. Very few job-seekers ever get a job through this method; however, job ads do serve a useful purpose in researching the qualifications employers seek. You can then develop a tailored resume and cover letter full of keywords, even using some of the employer’s own buzzwords.

A better way to conduct this type of research — and a better way of discovering employers who might have job openings — is to go directly to each company’s Website and search its career or human-resources section. Some employers have an amazing amount of information published on their sites, including job openings, job application procedures, career paths/tracks, corporate culture, and much more.

If you’re struggling with a better way to find job openings, read, 10 Ways to Develop Job Leads.

You need a reality check if…
You’re really not all that comfortable “using” people through networking.
If you’re squeamish about networking because it feels like using people, you’ve got the wrong idea about networking. But you’re not alone in this feeling. Many individuals are uncomfortable with the notion of networking because of the creepy — and untrue — idea that networking means using people. Successful networking doesn’t mean milking your contacts for all they’re worth; it means a give and take. Networking is at its most effective when both the networker and the contact reciprocally benefit from the relationship. Even if your contact does not benefit immediately from knowing you, he or she should gain something from the relationship eventually.

Networking doesn’t mean asking everyone you run into if they know where the job openings are. It means establishing relationships so that you can enlist support and comfortably ask for ideas, advice, and referrals to those with hiring power. Networking is the process through which you get connected and build relationships with people who can help advance your career.

Don’t you have to know a lot of people already to be able to network effectively? Absolutely not. All you have to do is want to know more people than you do now, people who can assist you in your quest for your ideal job. And you should also be willing to do as much as you can to encourage others to want to get to know you and help you. It takes only one person to start your network because that person can refer you to others, and your network will expand exponentially. Your goal should be forming relationships that are so powerful that you contacts feel invested in your success – and you in theirs. When one of your contacts has some promising career information to impart, the first person he or she will want to tell is a friend — you, if you’ve successfully built the relationship.

For more about networking see our Critical Career Networking Resources for Job-Seekers.

You need a reality check if…
You only have one “one-size-fits-all” version of your resume.
In a recent study by CareerBuilder.com, 71 percent of hiring managers said they preferred a resume customized for the open position. And in an age when we can all easily manipulate our own computer files, there’s little excuse not to tailor your resume — at least somewhat — to each job you apply for. Maybe you simply adjust your Objective statement. Maybe you tweak your Professional Profile or Qualifications Summary to suit each job. Perhaps you emphasize different skills and accomplishments for each job you apply to.

For some job-seekers, the idea of tweaking your resume for each job you apply for is unrealistic. But even if you are unwilling to change your resume to increase its chances of prompting an interview, you will likely need more than one version of your resume to accommodate the preferred delivery methods of multiple employers.

More than 80 percent of employers are now placing resumes directly into searchable databases and an equal percentage of employers prefer to receive resumes by e-mail. To meet the delivery requirements of most employers, it’s an absolute must these days to have:

• A formatted, “print” resume in document form that you can send as an attachment to an e-mail message to the employer.
• A text-based (ASCII text) e-resume stripped of most formatting and pasted directly into the same e-mail message sent to the employer (can also be pasted into application/resume submission forms on online job boards). Read more in our article Top 10 Things You Need to Know about E-Resumes.

Beyond those two types, you might need a Portable Document Format (PDF) resume, a Rich Text Format (RTF) resume, and a Web-based (HTML) resume. Read more about these delivery methods in our article, Your E-resume’s File Format Aligns with its Delivery Method.

And, if you you’re a career-changer, or have minimal experience, highly diverse experience, or gaps in your work history, you may want to consider multiple organizational formats for arranging your information on your resume. Such variations include the traditional chronological resume, the functional resume, and the hybrid or chrono-functional resume. Read more in our article What Resume Format is Best for You?

You need a reality check if…
Your resume is not a marketing document loaded with keywords and accomplishments.
Too many job-seekers confuse resumes with job applications. They think a resume should be a dry recitation of every aspect of their job history, including duties and responsibilities of each job. In fact, resumes should be marketing documents that entice employers to invite you for an interview. That means that resumes should focus on the highlights of what will sell you to an employer — information that tells the employer what you can contribute to the organization. In today’s world of job-hunting, accomplishments and keywords are two of the critical elements your resume needs to prompt employers to interview you.

Job-hunting today increasingly revolves around the mysterious world of keywords. Employers’ increasing dependence on keywords to find the job candidates they want to interview has come about in recent years because of technology. Inundated by resumes from job-seekers, employers have increasingly relied on digitizing job-seeker resumes, placing those resumes in keyword-searchable databases, and using software to search those databases for specific keywords that relate to job vacancies. Most Fortune 1000 companies, in fact, and many smaller companies now use these technologies. In addition, many employers search the databases of third-party job-posting and resume-posting boards on the Internet.

The bottom line is that if you apply for a job with a company that searches databases for keywords, and your resume doesn’t have the keywords the company seeks for the person who fills that job, you are pretty much out of luck. Read more about the importance of keywords in our article Tapping the Power of Keywords to Enhance Your Resume’s Effectiveness and how you can identify the best keywords in Resources for Identifying Keywords and Researching Keywords in Employment Ads.

Accomplishments are the points that really help sell you to an employer — much more so than everyday job duties. In fact, there’s a direct relationship between keywords and accomplishments in that keywords can be tied to accomplishments rather than job duties, so a good way to make the leap from keyword to a nice, contextual bullet point is to take each keyword you’ve identified as critical to the job and list an accomplishment that tells how you’ve used the skill represented by that keyword. For more about maximizing your accomplishments in an e-resume, see our article, For Job-Hunting Success: Track and Leverage Your Accomplishments.

Professional resume writers specialize in transforming mundane resumes into sparkling, enticing marketing pieces; consider hiring one of these experts if you can’t get your resume to sing. Our sister site, Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, offers such a service.

You need a reality check if…
You’ve posted your resume on a few job boards and are waiting for employers to contact you.
The key to any successful job search is mixing up your job-search techniques so you do not rely on any one method, whether it is posting resumes on the Internet, answering ads, networking, making targeted contacts, or cold-calling. Statistics vary on the percentage of job-seekers who find jobs through the Internet, but most studies suggest figures in the single digits. The largest percentage of job-seekers succeed in landing jobs through networking. Therefore, job-hunting time should be invested in proportion to the methods that are likely to be most fruitful. You will likely find it more effective, for example, to spend four hours networking with colleagues at the meeting of a professional organization in your field than to use those same four hours posting your resume on Internet job boards.

But beyond mixing up job-search methods in general, the wise job-seeker also mixes things up within individual methods. Take posting resumes on job boards, for instance. An increasing number of employers are using their own Websites to seek job candidates rather than through the major boards, such as Monster.com. So it makes sense to check out company Web sites, using, for example, The Quintessential Directory of Company Career Centers or DirectEmployers, a site that enables job-seekers to apply directly to company Web sites instead of third-party sites. Job-seekers may also find success in posting resumes on smaller, niche job boards that are industry-specific or geography-specific. Sites that cover classified ads for multiple newspapers may also be useful.

Finally, virtually every job-search method requires follow-up. Experts are now suggesting that submitting frequent — even daily — updates of your resume to the major job boards will keep your resume near the top of the virtual stack. If you’ve taken a step beyond merely posting your resume on job boards and are submitting your resume and cover letter in response to Internet job postings, follow-up, though difficult, is also advisable. See more about follow-up below.

You need a reality check if…
You don’t follow up with each employer after sending your resume and cover letter.
Some job-seekers think their task is complete once they send their cover letter and resume to an employer, but the reality is that their work has just begun. Job-seekers should state in the cover letter that they will follow-up with the employer (ideally the hiring manager) at some specified time, usually a week to ten days. That’s the easy part; the hard part for most job-seekers is actually following-up.

Some job-seekers see this type of follow-up as too aggressive; it is not. Following-up with a prospective employer to check on the status of your application conveys interest and enthusiasm on your part — as long as the follow-up is conducted professionally.

Other job-seekers find it too hard to actually obtain a phone number or email address of the hiring manager. This situation is a reality in today’s job market, but here’s where having a network of contacts can pay off, because if you have a network contact who works at the employer, he or she should be able to get the information you need to follow-up. You can also try our old technique of calling each prospective employer’s receptionist and asking to speak with the hiring manager.

In any job market, it’s the job-seeker who continues to show interest in the job opening who gets the edge over other job-seekers.

You need a reality check if…
You don’t prepare for job interviews by anticipating questions and researching the company.
One of the worst ways job-seekers can sabotage their job searches is by not preparing enough for the job interview. When you get invited to an interview it means that on paper you meet or exceed the employer’s expectations, but it’s at the interview where you can close the deal and beat out the other job-seekers who are also interviewing for the position.

The best way to prepare for job interviews is by anticipating the type of interview and interview questions and by researching the company thoroughly. There are several types of interview styles, from traditional interviews to behavioral interviews to panel interviews. Each type of interviewing format presents its own challenges and opportunities. Whenever possible, it best to uncover the type of interview you can expect — and then plan for it by preparing (but not memorizing) answers to those questions. And if you haven’t had an interview in a while, it might be best to conduct a mock interview with a career professional or trusted colleague.

By researching the employer and showcasing that information in an interview, you are demonstrating your interest and commitment to the company. One of the most common interview questions is “tell me what you know about our company.” One job-seeker we know actually creates a small binder for each employer, filled mostly with pages printed directly from the employer’s Web site; and in every interview where he has used this method, pulling the binder out to showcase his research, he has impressed the interviewers. Learn more in our Step-by-Step Guide to Researching Companies.

And to discover more about types of job interviews, interviewing strategies, and interview preparation, go to our Guide to Job Interviewing Resources.

You need a reality check if…
You don’t follow up regularly with employers you’ve interviewed with to keep your name at the top of the list.
No question about it — once you’ve had an interview with an employer, you must not only thank the employer for the time spent interviewing you, but continue to follow up, treading that fine line between showing your persistence and enthusiasm for the job and making a complete pest of yourself. Be sure to discern a timeframe for the employer’s hiring decision before even leaving the interview. Tailoring your follow-up schedule to that timeframe, plan on regular phone or e-mail contacts to keep your name in front of the employer.

An esteemed colleague of mine, Carol Ross, writes a brilliant blog, often putting lucid words around the topics that I find myself pondering (though with less clarity). Her most recent, The Upside to a Recession, is about “realistic optimism” –an oxymoron better known as the silver lining. Like Carol, I have pondered the implications of our present economic circumstances — and have come to the conclusion that the changes occurring are not all bad.

One of the good things Carol Ross mentions is that we now seem to have a renewed focus on connecting with others, whether live and in person or on Twitter. Connecting with others, sharing thoughts, ideas, feelings, getting real, getting focused, getting help – these are critically important behaviors, in my opinion. Following the enthusiastic response to another recent article by Carol, Nine Networking Mistakes to Avoid, she created a new educational offering – the Networking Naturally Program. While I have not yet attended this teleseminar, I know Carol well enough to heartily recommend it. If you do, let me know what you think.

The following article is based on an e-mail I received from a “recently re-employed UNIX Guru” – we’ll call him Louis, because, well, that’s his name. Fresh from a relatively short period of unemployment, he still identifies with those still in job search mode – and nice guy that he is, he wanted to share a few pointers with you regarding e-mailing of resumes in the hope that it would improve your success. His company gets lots of e-mail from job seekers – and get this:

“I’d say that about 25% of the e-mails we get from job seekers have problems with attachments. That is:

1. there is no attachment even though they reference one;
2. the attachments can’t be opened;
3. the attachments contain only an icon or the persons’ vcard;
4. the attachments are corrupt or otherwise unreadable.

We never follow-up with these candidates because if they are so cavalier about what they send
out without verify the contents, it doesn’t say much about their attention to detail and follow-through.”

Yikes! Louis suggests that you do this instead:

“When sending out electronic mail assume NOTHING about the recipient in terms of their technical abilities or what software or platform they may be using.

Double-check to be sure you sent the attachment you thought you sent.

Use a simple filename based on your name, e.g. “JimSmith.doc” rather than “resume.doc.”

When sending out attachments, ALWAYS include the content of the attachment in the e-mail message body (in ASCII/plain text) as well. Not as pretty, but, your resume certainly shouldn’t stand on formatting alone. Remember, some people won’t ever open attachments from unknown sources.

To further cover your bases, consider sending attachments with multiple versions of Word. Word 95 / RTF seems to be the best “least common denominator.” Mention prominently in your e-mail that if there are any problems reading its attachments to please reply immediately

Make sure that your reply address is valid. We’ve had people send things in and we have tried to follow-up with them only to have their e-mail address bounce back.

TEST your e-mail attachments by sending to friends who utilize different OS, platforms, and word processing applications.

And follow up, too, to be sure someone received the resume! Yes, even if you have to call, fax, or snail mail someone! How else do you stay at the top of the heap?

While we’re on the subject of emailing in your job search, let’s talk about your email address, as it can send the wrong message. As a recruiter, I have actually seen employers refuse to interview a qualified candidate with a goofy email address. Check out this article : http://free2succeed.blogspot.com/2009/03/is-your-email-address-sending-wrong.html

By Frank Fox

Your resume is the one step in your job search over which you have total control. It is your personal career marketing document. Based upon the strength of that one or two pages of information, you will either be selected for an interview from among potentially hundreds of other candidates — or passed over.

The Resume’s Function

The purpose of a resume is not to get a job! Its purpose is to get an interview. And any candidate in today’s job market is up against very stiff competition.

Put yourself in a personnel or human resources director’s shoes. The morning’s mail has just arrived and a stack of 100 or 200 resumes have been dropped on your desk. Your first goal is going to be narrowing down that stack to perhaps 10 or 20 candidates. So the first function a resume serves is to eliminate most candidates from consideration.

Job recruiters spend approximately 15 seconds looking at each resume. In that short time, they make a decision to place you in the “yes” pile…or the “no” pile. This decision can be based on the overall appearance of your resume, the format, and the three or four key selling points you have listed in your qualifications summary at the top of the resume.

If you make it to the “yes” pile, your resume will receive a detailed reading. But again, the recruiter is still looking for a reason to eliminate you as a candidate. From that pile of resumes that came in the mail, the recruiter’s goal might be to narrow the list to only five or ten candidates who will be called for an interview. So even if you survived the first screening and made it to the stack of 20, you still have a 50 /50 chance of being cut the final selection.

Remember, this entire process happens solely on the strength of your resume. And if you survive this process, your resume then becomes the basis for your interview. The recruiter will use your resume as an outline to discuss your career history, accomplishments, and qualifications for the position they need to fill at their company. 

After the interview, your resume continues to represent you as your qualifications are weighed against those of other candidates who have also made it through this interview stage. Assume that only the five or ten most qualified candidates were interviewed. Now the company has to make choice. How do they do that? The people involved in the decision sit down at a conference table and discuss those final five or ten resumes … again, looking for reasons to eliminate all but one applicant. Even here, your resume plays an important role in reminding the company of your qualifications the impression you made during the interview, etc. 

Should You Write Your Own Resume?

Probably not – unless you are a skilled professional writer who can also honestly look at your own strengths and weaknesses objectively. While there are dozens of “do-it-yourself” resume books on the market, the truth is that if you do your own, your resume is being prepared by an amateur.

Does it make sense to spend four years and $40,000 to earn a college degree and then market that investment to employers with a do-it-yourself resume? Or to have solid career credentials and a salary level of $30,000, $60,000 or $100,000…and use a less than professional resume to represent you?

Think of a company like Coca-Cola. The executives who work for Coca-Cola probably know that product better than anyone else. Yet Coca-Cola uses a professional advertising agency to create the messages that are designed to sell us on buying Coca-Cola.

The Professional Resume Writer

Hiring a professional resume writer serves the same purpose in selling you to a potential employer as Coca-Cola’s advertising agency in selling their products to consumers. You’re getting the benefit of the expert who writes resumes everyday and who knows how to present a client’s background and credentials to best advantage.

For example, there are three standard resume formats: The Chronological, Functional, and Modified (which is a combination of Chronological and Functional). Deciding which format will best present your career history is a critical strategic decision before the first word is ever written on paper.

Most job candidates also fall into one of the three categories that are detrimental to the success of a do-it -yourself resume: 

1. Those who are reluctant to “brag” about their past accomplishments and successes and tend to underplay the specific information an employer wants to see in the resume. Sometimes a candidate simply doesn’t realize how important some detail of their past performance would be to a future emloyer.
2. Sometimes the candidate says too much. Even though the candidate would be perfectly qualified for the available position, they can appear to be overqualified, or a threat to the hiring manager, or too narrowly focused on one aspect of the job instead of being a generalist. 
3. Finally, there may be some aspect of a candidate’s past that can be difficult to present in the resume: frequent job changes, a long period of unemployment, lack of a college degree normally required for a particular position or the lack of any actual work experience in this particular field (career change, graduating students, military personnel returning to civilian job market) etc.

A professional resume writer is an objective third party with the expertise to draw out relevant information from your work history, tone down the extent of your achievements, if necessary, and provide strategies for overcoming any difficult or negative aspects in your job search.

Choosing a Resume Professional

Over 700 professional resume companies throughout the U.S. and Canada belong to The Professional Association of Resume Writers (PARW). This professional membership demonstrates their commitment to their craft and to serving their clients. In addition, the association established a study and testing curriculum in 1991 and nearly 200 of the association’s members have already earned the designation, Certified Professional Resume Writer.

For assistance in locating a PARW member near you, visit www.parw.com, or call 800-822-PARW (7279). Look for PARW members when you check the yellow pages under “Resume Services” or call: 800-822-PARW (7279).

Frank Fox is the founder and executive director of the Professional Association of Resume Writers in St. Petersburg, Florida.

A survey of HR managers and recruiters on resumes and related issues 

As the moderator of an HR / Recruiter Panel Discussion at the 1999 Professional Association of Resume Writers’ convention, I learned that professional resume consultants, just like job seekers have plenty of questions than ever when it comes to the “receiving end” of our finely crafted job search documents.

As a follow-up to this informative discussion, I decided to survey yet another panel of experts. In November of 1999, I e-mailed a group of 40 hiring officials with ten key questions. Respondents included recruiters and private HR consultants, as well as HR managers representing the financial industry, the computer/engineering/technical recruiting fields, a regional public utilities provider, a major marketing firm, and a mountain ski resort. 

Important Disclaimer ~ please note: hiring an employee is a highly complex human event with a great deal of variability from one case to the next. What works for one individual, corporate culture, industry, and geographic location may not work for another. The opinions offered by this small sample of hiring officials are not meant to represent the “one right way” of doing things. Instead, think of this survey as a learning tool, and continue to ask questions throughout each job search you conduct to gauge the effectiveness of various techniques.

Here are the results of the survey (totals of more than 100% indicate multiple answers).

1. Preferred length of a resume:

Specific comments from respondents: 
“One or two pages is fine, but no longer.” 
“Two pages, but can be longer if the third page is a skill summary, appendix, or something other than pure text.”

Conclusion: It depends, but most would like the resume to be kept to two pages. Note: I assumed in the case of answer c that a higher-level position indicated a more in-depth resume. None of the respondents queried me on this, so I’m going to keep assuming that.

2. Resume Style/Format:

Conclusion: The functional approach is out. Most hiring officials like a combination or traditional approach.

3. Resume Paper:

Conclusion: No one seems to care much about paper. Save yourself some money.

4. Preferred method of receiving resumes:

Conclusion: Although most respondents say they like resumes by e-mail, it’s probably still a good idea to ask which file format is preferred. Save your stamps!

5. Cover letters:

Specific comments: 
“I like to read cover letters, and in general, don’t receive many. I don’t care if it is a form letter, as long as it is not OBVIOUS that it is a form letter. “Dear Sir” is not very smart…”

Conclusion: While it seems to be fading in importance, it’s still a good idea to write a great cover letter.

6. How many years of related background do you like to see reflected on a resume?

Specific comments: 
“Depends on position requirements.” 
“Depends on the position. Some do not require any related experience. Others require up to 10 years of related experience.”

Conclusion: It depends on the position. Is there an echo in here? Was that a dumb question? A lot of us wanted to know…

7. How long does your company typically retain information on candidates?

Conclusion: Our work seems to have quite a long shelf life. Use this information to sell updates and to encourage clients whose job searches aren’t progressing quickly.

8. Does your company use scanning/database systems to manage resumes?

Conclusion: I almost wish I worked in scanning/database systems sales! 

9. How many people are involved in a hiring decision in your firm / your clients’ firms?

Answers: Varies, 1-3, 6-7, 2-4, 3, 2-3, 2-4, 2, 5-6, 3-8.

Conclusion: The mathematical average I came up with is 3.95. I admit it, this was a stretch of my math skills, but I’m pretty sure I did it correctly (91 divided by 23).

10.  What do you wish job seekers would do differently when applying to your company?

“Since I travel a lot, it is helpful for the candidate to follow up with a phone call or e-mail to ensure that his/her resume has been received.”"Send a cover letter. Tell me what they REALLY want to do. Follow up by phone or e-mail. Let me know when they have found a position and are no longer available.”

“I would like them all to be really definite about what they do and don’t want to do in their job/career. Don’t be wishy-washy! New grads are the worst offenders in this respect. If you just want to start at the bottom and eventually work your way up in the sales, or marketing or finance or IT or whatever field, say so!

“Research the company.”

“Detailed resumes, with dates and CURRENT information.”

“Not call more than once to follow up on their resume and be willing to discuss and be honest about their salary earnings and expectations.”

The final analysis:

A surefire way to be effective in a job search is to ask the hiring managers or recruiters what they want to see, how they want to see it, and how often you can follow up. Then deliver!

Don’t use your middle initial

In my years as a career services professional, I have found that approximately 90% of my clients are hell-bent on having their name appear on their resumes as follows:

“George M. Smith” or “Susan W. Dingle”

It ends up on the resume only about 5% of the time. I will, naturally, put any truthful bit of data on the resume as my clients dictate (after all, they are paying me). But first they get my professional opinion, so we go through the following discussion on names.

“So, why do you want your middle initial on the resume?” asks the tough-love career cheerleader.

“Because it’s how I sign my checks.” “That’s the way everyone lists their names on resumes.” “Isn’t that more formal / professional / impressive?” are the usual responses.

Keep it casual and memorable.

First off, a resume is a marketing piece, not a legal document. It should not be confused with any legal document, like a check, job application, last-will-and-testament, to which one would normally sign one’s name.

Besides, being formal or doing what everyone else does isn’t necessarily the best way to market one’s self as a unique individual. The idea here is to get some name recognition going. Adding a middle initial just adds another bit of data to obscure your name. Let’s put it another way… would your boss or co-workers know you by your middle initial? They usually call you by an informal first name and your surname, right? The people reviewing your resume should be looking at a name that sounds approachable and similar to other names of co-workers. “Bob Greene” is much just easier to recall and more approachable than “Robert F. Greene.”

Is your given name just a bit too common? The John Smiths of the world, all 897,324 of them, might want to add the entire second name to the header for a little pizzazz. Better to add the second name, though, than just the initial, in my opinion. Or go back to first and second initials.

Skip the “Junior” and the “III”, “IV”, and “V”, though. Most recruiters are too overworked to be interested in whether there were two, three, or fifty Vincent Aaron Van Aardvarks in the family tree before you.

Beating discrimination in the first cut

If you’re a female heading into a male-dominated arena, you might consider using the initials of your first and middle names. That way, a Sally Jo Brown can become S.J. Brown, who might get called before the other similarly qualified Sallies. Other times, you may want to alleviate the discomfort that a potential recruiter may feel when contacting one with a sexually ambiguous name like Pat, Chris, or even Tracy, by using the full given name.

Unfortunately, racial discrimination is still a common phenomenon among hiring professionals. Our names can sometimes reveal or imply revelation of our nationalities. It’s perfectly okay to shorten a foreign-sounding name to initials, or even to add a nickname in quotes. However, one’s name IS, after, all, one’s name. If you are proud of your name and heritage, by all means use it. Perhaps that way you’ll find your place in equality-oriented companies with people who tolerate or even embrace diversity.

Age discrimination may also play a role. If you have an old-fashioned sounding name, or present your full formal name, you may be perceived as being older than the “ideal” candidate in some companies, whether you are or not. If you think it is an issue, use initials, informal variants, or nicknames.

You see, those of us who make a profession in career marketing can go on and on over the most minute of details. More harangues on said small stuff to come, stay tuned!