OK, that's a harsh title, I know.

But, as a professional resume writer, I see SO MANY resumes filled with errors and ineptitude that I had to alert you to some of the worst.

Without further ado, here's how you can write a resume that works ... by NOT writing one that is brutal.

1) Avoid sins of commission ...

Typos in your resume can short-circuit your entire job search, because many readers have zero tolerance for them. One misspelled word or grammatical error can land your resume in the trash. Solution? Get a friend (or three) to read through your resume for mistakes. Because you're too close to the action to catch them all yourself.

2) ... and of omission

Missing data in your resume is just as costly as wrong data. I'm always amazed whenever I see a resume with no dates or job duties in the experience section, for example. Again, show your resume to friends for input on this one.

3) Three- and four-page resumes

You and your mother are the only two people in North America who will read every word of your resume if it's longer than two pages.

There are other resume writers who say a three-page resume is OK, but because I've offered my clients an unconditional money-back guarantee since 1996, I have to go with what works.

So I insist on two pages as the maximum length for 99.9percent of all resumes.

As an experienced recruiter once told me: "The goal of your resume isn't to hit them over the head with everything you've ever done. The goal is getting a job interview."

4) Blather

You won't bore anyone into hiring you. Obvious, no? Then tell it to the writer of this:

"Utilize knowledge of established contracting techniques, principles, and practices, and utilize knowledge of procurement regulations to develop, coordinate and award a variety of concurrent or sequential contract actions."

To avoid plodding, preposterous platitudes, read your resume out loud. If you find yourself gasping for breath, break the offending sentence in two (or three).

5) Disorder

Your resume should follow a logical sequence, from most important and most relevant, to least. For example, if you're just finishing school with a degree in the field you want to work in, put your education section near the top of the resume.

There are other errors to avoid, but these are some of the worst and most common. Here's hoping your next resume is a winner and not "brutal" :-)

Best of luck to you!

Kevin Donlin is the author of "The Last Guide to Cover Letter & Resume Writing You'll Ever Need," a do-it-yourself manual that will help you find a job in 30 days ... or your money back.

This Blogswap article is courtesy of Recruiting.com and CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students and recent graduates who are searching for internships and entry level jobs.

Posted by Shawn Augustson, CollegeRecruiter.com on February 22, 2007 at 9:45 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

I can hear you now: "Huh? I'm looking for work. How can I stop being a job seeker?"

Well, you can think that way, if you want to be like everybody else. But why be ordinary?

Let me illustrate with a thought experiment ...

What kind of reaction do you think you'd get if you knocked on an employer's door and asked, "Could you give me a job?" I'll tell you. The reaction would be underwhelming. If you knocked on 100 doors you might get three or four "Yes" or "Maybe" answers. That's the response rate in a typical job search.

But what if you took a different approach?

What if you knocked on an employer's door and asked, "Wanna buy a dollar for 25 cents?" Here's the answer you'd get: "Tell me more!"

In other words, you will get more attention if you offer to sell employers money at a discount, than if you simply ask them for a job.

Which leads to the following paradigm shift: You need to stop thinking of yourself as a job seeker, and start thinking of yourself as an investment. One that pays returns of 100%, 200%, or more.

How?

Think back to your last job. Were you fired within 90 days? No? Good! That means you were either making more money or saving more money than your employer was paying you in salary. Otherwise, you would have been terminated. (If you left on bad terms, of course, think back to a successful job.)

In other words, when you did your job well, you produced a return on somebody's investment in you. Maybe it was 10% or 20%. Perhaps much more. How much? That's for you to figure out.

You must examine your work history and determine how much money you saved or earned on the job. Every job. Then, stick those numbers in your resume and cover letters. And mention them in every networking conversation and job interview you have.

You need to be very clear about how much of a return on investment employers will get by hiring you. When you do this, you will stand out from a crowded field of ordinary candidates. And you will get hired faster.

Here are two ways to do it ...

1) Write down all the money you've saved or earned for employers.

What have you done to increase profits in your current and prior jobs? Be specific!

Do NOT write: "Sold products and met quotas." Write: "Sold $516,750 in one year while exceeding all four quarterly quotas by an average of 21%."

Do NOT write: "Produced substantial savings." Write: "Saved $45,890 in 45 days."

If you get stuck, get on the phone and call somebody in Accounting, HR, Marketing or IT and ask them to help you quantify the value of your achievements. The numbers are out there. It's your task to find them.

However, if you simply can't quantify your work in dollars, then ...

2) Write down everything you've done to increase efficiency or save time.

Because time literally is money to employers. Perhaps you wrote a training manual, or created a new shipping system on the loading dock. Everything is fair game here.

The key is to figure out exactly how many hours you saved per week and assign them a dollar value. Then annualize that value to get the most impressive number possible.

Example: Let's say you created a process that saves 10 hours a week. How much does your employer pay someone to do what you just automated? If it's $10 an hour, add another 30% or so to cover insurance and benefits, and you'll get a figure of $13 an hour. Multiply that by 10 hours per week and you've just saved $130 per week, $520 per month, and a total of $27,040 per year.

You can now write this in your resume: "Saved $27,040 annually by automating widget process."

And guess what? When you fill your resume with results quantified in dollars, you turn yourself from just another job seeker, crying "Give me a job!" into a walking, talking, blue-chip stock, who says: "Hire me at $50,000 and I can deliver a 300% return on your investment because I've routinely saved $200,000 annually at prior jobs."

Which would you rather be?

To sum up, your task today is to stop thinking of yourself as an ordinary job seeker and start thinking of yourself as an extraordinary investment.

When you do -- and you do the thinking for hiring managers by emphasizing specific results in your resumes, cover letters and employment-related conversations -- good things will happen in your job search.

Now, go out and make your own luck!

Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes and the creator of
GetHiredNow.TV. Since 1996, he has provided job search assistance to nearly
10,000 people.

Posted by Shawn Augustson, CollegeRecruiter.com on February 20, 2007 at 5:24 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

As you sit down to write your cover letter, do you ever stop and think, “Who the heck is going to read this?” You may believe that just because employers get hundreds of resumes per job posting that they tend to skip the cover letter part. That is just not true.

One Size Doesn’t Fit All

You’ve written this awesome cover letter and it’s taken you quite a long time to create your masterpiece. You’re tired and spent from all your hard work. When it comes time to get your information together for the next job, you change the “To” section of the cover letter and the job title that you’re applying for. Boom – done!

But hold on a second…

What you just did is a major faux-pas. How is Employer #2 going to feel when it’s obvious you didn’t write your cover letter just for him? What if there was something in there that didn’t relate to that particular job at all?

Before you throw up your hands in frustration, let me clarify: you do not need to completely re-write your entire cover letter for each and every one of the positions for which you apply. You just need to put forth a little extra effort to show the employers that they are not just one of many companies for which you are applying.

Oops! Forgot to Change the Company’s Name?

You’re applying to jobs online and you hit “Send” a split second before you realize you forgot to update the company’s name on your cover letter. It seems like it’s happened to everyone but it is a huge blunder that most likely takes you out of the running for that particular position. Not very encouraging, huh? The good part about it is that you’ll be extra careful applying for jobs from then on.

Is there a way to recover from this error? You could always follow up with a hardcopy of your resume package. By then, the hiring manager probably would have already forgotten about your little mistake. You can also wait a few days and apply on line again. With so many resumes, employers probably aren’t going to remember your original submission.

Not Highlighting Your most Important Achievements?

Many job seekers believe that if they have their achievements on their resume, why should they repeat themselves in their cover letter? Simple – you need to do everything you can to make that employer want to read your resume. If your cover letter doesn’t provide them with enough ‘proof’ that you’re a great candidate for the position, then there is a chance they won’t even make it to your resume.

Now I’m not saying that it’s best to repeat yourself verbatim. Be a little creative and reword those top three or four achievements or important requirements that you know the employer wants to see. These may be different with each job posting so customize appropriately.

There are many ways to make your cover letter grab an employer’s attention. Treat it as being as important as your resume in getting interviews. After all, it’s your cover letter’s job to make the hiring manager want to read your resume. A great resume needs a cover letter to pave the way for the job that you really want.

Heather Eagar is a former professional resume writer and owner of http://www.CoverLettersMadeEasy.com who is now dedicated to providing job seekers with resources and products that promote job search success from beginning to end.

Posted by Heather Eagar on February 8, 2007 at 9:37 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Ever had a new job just sort of fall into your lap?

I'll bet it's happened at least once to you or someone you know.

Perhaps you got a phone call from an old friend who referred you to a hiring manager. Or an email from a relative urging you to apply at their company.

Wouldn't it be nice if there were a way to "attract" more job opportunities like this?

Well, I believe there is.

I believe that job search "luck" can be created, based on my 11 years of helping and observing thousands of job seekers. And plenty of others agree, including Lynn Ahearn, a Certified Law of Attraction Practitioner and Founder of Life Success Coaching (www.lifesuccesscoaching.net).

Ahearn tells the story of one client who quickly "attracted" her dream job as a result of taking the right action.

"During our conversations, she remembered an old passion for undersea adventure -- something she had forgotten about for years," recalls Ahearn. Her client did some research, and found the name of a renowned author who was doing work that really resonated with her. She sent him an email and,
about 45 days later, was hired as his assistant.

According to Ahearn, there are three steps to take if you want to experience the same sort of "magnetic job search." Here they are …

"First, get clear about the job you want. This can be difficult for many people, who do not truly know what they want to do," says Ahearn, who believes it's often easier to describe what you hate about work. So she asks people to list the things they don't want, then she takes them in the opposite direction to write down a description of their ideal job.

"Second, you must get in vibrational alignment with your target job," says Ahearn.

This is related to the idea that success breeds success. By thinking and feeling more like you already have the job you want, opportunities will start to appear, almost as if by magic. I've seen it happen too many times to discount the idea.

Example: One of my clients, Jaime, a project manager from St. Peter, Minnesota, had not one or two but four different job opportunities to choose from. The positions were all attractive (from $70,000 to $90,000 in salary) and he interviewed at least twice with each company. One success led to another in his job search.

Or Marc, a computer technician client of mine from Bartlett, Illinois. He writes: "I accepted a position today. It's actually amusing because now that I got this, other offers are rolling in. A company I interviewed at two months ago called me back with another position. I already accepted the other job, so I had to decline."

What if you don't have any job interviews on the horizon? One way to get into alignment and create an attractive, internal feeling of success is by re-reading the description of your ideal job, until you get really excited about it. "Know that this job is a perfect match and that it is on its way to you," Ahearn suggests.

The third step is to be open to receiving the job you want. "While you're taking inspired action, listen to your intuition and be open to opportunities," says Ahearn. As long as you are absolutely clear about your target job and are taking at least one step each day toward it, you'll get there following this advice.

Kevin Donlin is President of Guaranteed Resumes and the creator of GetHiredNow.TV. Since 1996, he has provided job search assistance to nearly 10,000 people. Author of "51 Ways to Find a Job Fast -- Guaranteed," Kevin has been interviewed by USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, CBS Radio and others.

Posted by Shawn Augustson, CollegeRecruiter.com on February 1, 2007 at 5:25 AM | Leave a Comment (0)