10 Resume Blunders You Cannot Afford to Make
In this stagnant economy, every line of your resume – from your name down to the last line – needs to promote and sell your candidacy. Each job has hundreds, perhaps thousands, of equally-qualified candidates. Many of these applicants have no idea of the blunders they’ve made on their resumes. The smart job seeker knows what to avoid which invites an interview.
Let’s go through our “don’t-let-this-happen-to-you” list:
- Using a suffix after a family name. If you’re a Jr. or a Sr. leave it off. It makes you sound too young or too old. Have a family nickname? Keep it in the family. A resume should have your given name only.
- Funky email addresses: HateMondays@email.com may sound cool to your friends. To an employer it’s unprofessional.
- The What-I-Want Objective: A resume is not the time to give an employer your wish list. Use a summary of your skills, instead, to tell them what you can offer.
- Generic Phrasing: Adept professional, seasoned manager, dynamic candidate. These phrases take up valuable space unless you support them with a quantified accomplishment.
- Accomplishments That Aren’t: Without the results, they’re daily duties and lose their impact. Always include dollar figures, percentages, and time periods. For example: Grew sales 38% within six months, representing an increase of $100,000 in revenue, through targeted cold calling.
- Buried Skills: The end of a resume is not the place for important certifications, licensure, or multilingual capabilities. Put them in the opening summary where they won’t be overlooked.
- Listing Hobbies or Interests: If it’s not pertinent to your career goal, leave it off. White water rafting may make you a liability to the employer’s health care plan.
- Haphazard Organization: List your most important skills first, followed by the next most important, and so on. Education doesn’t always go at the top or at the bottom of the resume. It and the other sections go where they will most impress.
- Failure to Target: Consider an employer’s needs when writing your resume. A one-size-fits-all model will likely fail.
- Use of first person and slang: Resumes are business documents written in the third person. Keep yours conservative and businesslike.
Ten easy reminders to get you started.
Getting By and Doing Well Without a College Degree
by Lou Huskey, CPRW, ResumeEdge.com Editor
Although many employers require a college degree, there are hundreds more that do not. When you find yourself in the job market, it is important to focus on your expertise and specifically target the position by accentuating experience and/or training that parallels what the company or organization is advertising for. Searching for a new position without a degree can be difficult, therefore, a strong resume is imperative and a pointed cover letter can give you the visibility you need.
By having your resume professionally written, you give yourself an edge over other candidates who present a document that is self-prepared. Your editor will need you to gather information together to showcase what you have to offer, which can include goals, accomplishments and achievements, leadership abilities, communications and interpersonal skills, computer proficiencies, along with specialized experience related to your field as well as classes and seminars you have attended. Although it is important to have enough detail to encourage the reader to develop an interest in bringing you in for a face-to-face interview, you don’t want to bombard them with too much. When someone runs into a resume that is too long or doesn’t have enough spacing within the body of the document, it can be intimidating and simply not read. Keep in mind that employers are scanning through looking for keywords and phrases that “match” what they are looking for.
Being a well-rounded individual is also important, especially when first starting your career. Many candidates who have very little experience and don’t have a strong academic background should accentuate other areas within their lives that show community involvement, activities where they have gained organizational and motivational skills, team collaboration, training, discipline, adhering to and following guidelines, etc. These are areas that create initial dedication and build character, which can help the reader see you as a person with a strong level of integrity and an outstanding work ethic.
A cover letter can often times allow the candidate to “speak” about what they have to offer in a more informal way and target each job and company based on in-depth research of both the organization and their employment needs. It is simply a way to introduce yourself and touch on highlights they will find in your resume. There is no need to mention that you don’t have a degree, but it can be helpful to indicate how your background (both work experience and/or what education you do have) has prepared you for the type position you are applying for.
When an advertisement indicates that potential applicants should have a college degree, it never hurts to go ahead and submit your resume anyway. Sometimes companies will list this need but end up hiring someone who has a strong background that fits the job requirements. Don’t rule yourself out by not applying for the position. They may not respond, but if you haven’t submitted your resume, you can be assured that you will not hear anything back!
In closing, simply remember that an education is typically the first step in securing a rewarding career opportunity. Even if you haven’t had a chance to pursue a degree, present yourself in a professional manner that demonstrates how you will prove to be a very valuable employee. You should come across as an individual who feels quite confident as a potential asset to your next company.
Lou Huskey served over 25 years in creating effective resumes as a professional recruiter first with a private employment agency, then with Management Recruiters, and eventually as owner of her own recruiting and consulting firm. She is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and has prepared thousands of resumes for candidates at all levels over the span of her career. Lou has a solid understanding of exactly what prospective employers are looking for in a resume and how to “sell” an individual’s background by creating effective resumes, cover letters, follow-up and thank you letters for each of her clients. Her expertise also includes a strong knowledge of interview strategies and career counseling, which has proven to be of great value in assisting individuals to be successful in face-to-face interviews with prospective employers.
To request Lou for a service on ResumeEdge.com, simply choose her last name (huskey) in the ’select your editor’ field.
Social Networking and the Job Search
by Lou Huskey, CPRW, ResumeEdge.com Editor
The traditional job search is no more. With an employment market that is more competitive than ever, sending your resume into the abyss of a job search engine or “digital recruiting” site such as Monster.com can be hit or miss, as you are competing with countless other individuals just to get to the company’s inbox. More and more, social networking sites are becoming the job search tool of choice.
MySpace.com, founded in 2003, includes a career section, Myspace Jobs, which offers links to hundreds of thousands of postings across the country in general fields from Accounting to Technology. These job opportunities, however, are not exclusive to MySpace. Most are culled from a multiplicity of external sites, making MySpace Jobs a sort of glorified, commercially-sponsored Google. While MySpace.com does offer a wide variety of links to career opportunities, it does not balance that one facet well with its other segments, which are far more concerned with photo sharing, quiz-taking, and pushing the latest products. Thus it may not be your best bet as a social networking hub if your goal is to socialize with potential employers and other professionals in your field.
Facebook.com was originally intended as a social network for students at the college and university levels. No more. Unlike Myspace, which is a virtual free-for-all, with Facebook you must be a member of a specific network that connects you with other individuals who also belong. So, it can really allow you to connect with your current colleagues in a professional way given your membership within the same network. Because of its nature, however, prior knowledge of your “Facebook friends” seems almost required. It is, then, great for fostering relationships that balance professionalism and your personal life, but a bit less conducive to acquiring the attention of prospective employers as a job seeker.
Then there is the latest social network and microblog to explode onto the scene, Twitter. It can be a fairly powerful professional networking tool. It affords you access to other professionals in your field, offering you a first-hand glimpse into their professional mindset. Twitter offers a venue for you, as a professional, to demonstrate your expertise and share information in short, witty snippets. When used correctly, it can be leveraged as an effective networking tool.
While the previous three sites see themselves as social networks for life, which may include business, LinkedIn sees itself as a social networking tool for business. Registered users maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in their field, individuals called connections. Such connectivity can be used to find jobs, people, and business opportunities recommended by someone in one’s contact network. Because it is professionally driven, LinkedIn eliminates the potential for distraction that revelation of too-personal information might cause.
In conclusion, it is imperative to try to open every door possible and spend time each day identifying new and energetic means to expand your job search. Most of the time it’s free advertising, so don’t pass up the opportunity to join the thousands of people who are already involved in this wave of reaching others on both a personal and professional level.
Lou Huskey served over 25 years in creating effective resumes as a professional recruiter first with a private employment agency, then with Management Recruiters, and eventually as owner of her own recruiting and consulting firm. She is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and has prepared thousands of resumes for candidates at all levels over the span of her career. Lou has a solid understanding of exactly what prospective employers are looking for in a resume and how to “sell” an individual’s background by creating effective resumes, cover letters, follow-up and thank you letters for each of her clients. Her expertise also includes a strong knowledge of interview strategies and career counseling, which has proven to be of great value in assisting individuals to be successful in face-to-face interviews with prospective employers.
To request Lou for your order, simply choose her last name (Huskey) in the ‘request your editor’ field of the online order.
To Blog or Not to Blog
by David Jensen, CPRW, CARW, CEIP, ResumeEdge.com Editor
While glancing at various blogs to gather some client data, the CEO of a public relations firm noticed a post about the PR industry from an undergraduate student. In her blog, the student commented about how the PR industry was changing. After reading this post, the CEO invited the student to visit his firm and ended up offering her a job. This method of employee/employer match-up is becoming more common, which means that blogging (if done properly) is a good idea.
Starting a Blog
A good way to decide whether to start a blog is to answer these two questions:
- Do you have something to say?
- Does anyone care about what you are saying?
Blogs are inexpensive to create. In fact, they’re mostly free, but they’re only beneficial when your information is worthwhile. When you regularly post new and meaningful information on your blog, you show your readers (and potential employers) that you invest time in expanding and strengthening your expertise. This means that it’s important to genuinely elevate your professional development and expertise and stay current with your industry’s trends.
Update Your Blog Regularly
Starting a blog is not hard to do. Sustaining a blog and frequently updating it might be a challenge because an effective blog needs to contain fresh content. In addition, blogging is more than writing; it is creating a forum for dialogue and a chance to promote your specific areas of expertise to your audience. The best blogs are those that provide valuable information and also request readers to comment and provide their own insights.
Avoid Disclosing Personal Information
Your credibility is on the line whenever you blog. Make sure your information is accurate, timely, and free of grammatical errors. Even more, don’t allow yourself to divulge too much personal information. When you post a blog, it’s out there for the world to see and what you write is a reflection of you. People follow blogs to obtain information they can use, not to read about your personal exploits. If you post unethical or questionable content, it can come back to haunt you if a current or potential employer happens to see the post. Your best strategy is to make your posts meaningful and concise. If your readers cannot see the end of your post without having to scroll down (around 800 words) they might not read to the end.
Blogging is about Exchanging Ideas
Simply creating a blog is not enough. Create awareness about your blog by including your blog address in all your business communications and emails. Blogging is a community effort. Expert bloggers recommend that you spend some time reading and commenting on other blogs. They also encourage you to spend time in blogging communities where positive energy is flowing and link to people who are experts in your field and promote on-going, dynamic communication. You can have a positive experience with blogging when you are gracious, professional, and practice professional reciprocity.
