Did you know that Jeff Foxworthy is one of the most successful comedians of all time? His album, "You Might Be a Redneck If..." has sold millions of copies and inspired all sorts of similar comedy. Including this post.

So, in honor of the very funny Jeff Foxworthy, I would like to present, You Might Get a Rejection Letter If...

If your resume is 4-pages or longer and is comprised of large paragraphs of information that require the reader to fully read each one in order to understand what you did - you might get a rejection letter.

If your job history is peppered with small companies that few people have ever heard of and you don't bother to include some company background to help the reader - you might get a rejection letter.

If you include your photo on a resume (unless you are an actress or a model applying for acting or modeling jobs) - you might get a rejection letter.

If you include a "hobbies" section on your resume and list any of the following:

watching TV
drinkin' beer and fishin'
smoking weed
surfing the net for porn
meeting with my parole officer
taking care of my 37 cats
cooking meth
masturbating to photos of Megan Fox
collecting lint
- you just might get a rejection letter.

If your resume is written in a font size that requires recruiters to use a magnifying glass to read it - you might get a rejection letter.

If your resume has inconsistent or confusing dates - you might get a rejection letter.

If you are a professional with more than 5 years of experience and your resume is mostly comprised of lists of job duties rather than meaningful accomplishments - you might get a rejection letter.

If your resume includes your personal motto, life or religious philosophy, and you aren't applying for a job in the ministry, you might get a rejection letter.

If you spell your name incorrectly on your resume - you might get a rejection letter.

If you list a generic job title such as "analyst" or "engineer" or "project manager" and you don't provide some kind of context about what kind of analyst/engineer/project manager you were - you just might get a rejection letter.

OK, some of the above was exaggerated in an attempt to make a point and to be humorous. With that said, if your resume is messy, hard to read, requires the reader to read closely and really try to interpret what your job was, or contains weird or inappropriate information you will get a rejection letter. If the economy were great and the U.S. was at 100% employment maybe a shoddy resume would stand a chance but in a competitive market your resume needs to be sharp and polished.

Remember that when you aren't standing in the room to (hopefully) impress interviewers the resume is a stand-alone impression of you. Even if you got a first interview through your network and the first meeting went well you should know that most interviewers will pass your resume around the office and to their superiors before they invite you back for a second interview.

I have known senior managers to overrule junior managers/recruiters who recommend a candidate with a poorly written resume for a second interview. The higher up the food chain you go, the higher the expectations will be regarding your written communication skills. If you are a job seeker, your resume is the most important piece of written work you will ever create. Make it good or don't be surprised when that rejection letter arrives in your email or mail box.

Article by Liz Handlin and courtesy of Ultimate Resumes

Posted by Candice Arnold on March 24, 2009 at 9:12 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Writing a cover letter is a commonplace aspect of conducting any job search. When you apply for a job, even if the prospective employer does not ask you for one, it's good to send one as a way to give them a little more insight into who you are and what you're capable of.

But despite the fact that people write them everyday, many still are unclear about the more important aspects to keep in mind. So to help you out, let's look more specifically at what counts in a cover letter.

Good Use of Grammar

There's not much that stands out more in a cover letter than how it has been written. Yet, you'd be amazed by the number of individuals who send theirs out without having edited it - big mistake.

Remember, when sending a cover letter, writing is the only way to get your point across. This means this mode of communication needs to be perfect. Improper grammar usage or misspelled words can say a lot about how efficient an employee you are likely to be - at least in their eyes. So unfortunately, you may be an excellent employee who won't even be required to rely on written communication when working, but because of your cover letter being poorly written, you may not be called in for an interview.

Avoiding Fluff, Cliches, and Generalities

It's a well-known fact that prospective employers don't have much time on their hands when reviewing cover letters. So it can be irritating when they're trying to read through yours to get a good sense of your skills as well as desire to work for them, and all they get in return is " ... and like my grandmother always says, you can't make anything of yourself unless you be yourself ..."

In other words, while it's nice to know that you listen to your grandmother's words of wisdom, it really doesn't have a place in your cover letter. And neither does showing how many big words you know or being too vague about why you're applying for the job. Your best bet when writing about yourself is to be specific about what skills you bring to the table (mention an example or two if possible). This way the employer doesn't have to dig through a bunch of fluff just to figure out why they should hire you.

Being Honest and Clear in Your Intentions

One aspect of writing that any prospective employer can respect is being honest and clear about the contributions you hope to make at their company. This means there is no room for template answers. Your cover letter should be tailored to their company, and honestly speak as to why you're applying and how you want to make a difference. Of course, doing so will require research on your part. But if you really want to be considered for the position then this is a step you should not overlook.

Writing your cover letter can be easy if you keep in mind what really counts. So dive in and write yours with care. Making a real effort to speak directly, clearly and honestly to a prospective employer will work wonders in getting you the call back you're hoping for.

About the Author:
Heather Eagar is a former professional resume writer and is passionate about providing working professionals with current, reliable and effective job search tools and information. Need a resume service? Compare the top companies in the industry at http://www.resumelines.com.

Posted by Heather Eagar on March 23, 2009 at 10:38 PM | Leave a Comment (1)

How much thought did you put into naming the resume file that you send out to prospective employers and recruiters? Does the file name clearly indicate who you are? Does it go a bit further and tell the recipient what you do? Or is it labeled something like "resume.doc," "myresume.doc," or another name that could apply to virtually any one of thousands of applicants?

A press release on PRWEB (www.prweb.com) highlights conclusions from a "Resume Filename Best Practices Report" recently released by Palladian International. While the report found that 92% of resume files had at least some indication of the sender's name, only 58% included both the first and last name. A large proportion of resumes contained information of no use to a hiring manager or recruiter, such as version numbers and dates.

The report advises that your first and last name always be included in the file name. It is also a good idea to include a word or short keyword phrase that describes your main skill set or industry (for example, CFO, Marketing Executive, etc.). It is important to keep the keyword phrase fairly short, so as not to create an unwieldy file name that extends beyond fields in a database or beyond the edge of the reader's window or screen (such as on a Blackberry). A further recommendation is to separate words with hyphens for readability. I have found that underscores (_) also work well for this purpose.

Following is a sample structure for an effective file name:
FirstName-LastName-Resume-KeywordPhrase.doc

With regard to file format, MS Word is virtually universally accepted. However, if you have Office 2007, it is advisable to convert your file from its default ".docx" format to Word 2003/97 ".doc" format. The new ".docx" format is not readable by earlier versions of Word without installation of a conversion pack. Since there are many recruiters and companies that do not yet have Office 2007 and also do not have the conversion pack installed on their systems, sending the file in Word 2003/97 format avoids the risk that your file will be unretrievable and (horrors) possibly discarded.

Article by, Laurie Smith and courtesy of CareerHub.com. The Career Hub blog connects job seekers with experts in career counseling, resume writing, personal branding and recruiting.

Posted by Candice Arnold on March 23, 2009 at 9:52 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

There are hard realities facing college graduates right now. The current economic outlook and job market are the worst we have seen in decades. For every job posting today the employers receive 500-1000 resumes, and the number is increasing quickly. A recent Yahoo article, on March 10, told of a company in Ohio that posted a $15 / hour janitor position and immediately received over 700 resumes - all of which were stacked on the floor. The reality is that there are fewer jobs, and much more competition. Only those who can differentiate themselves in a very competitive job market are going to get hired.

If you're one of the million plus who will be graduating college and heading into the job market this year, you need to do everything you can do help better position yourself to land a job. If you understand one critical point, you will put yourself way ahead of the game: Companies do not hire on work history, achievements and grades alone - they look for three critical components in addition to these factors.

Employers want to know:

• Are you a good fit for a specific role?
• Are you a good fit for the company or its culture?
• What might you be good at in the workplace environment?

Understand that employers spend hundreds of millions of dollars per year assessing job seekers to obtain this information (95% of companies see value in using assessment data). Through our assessment process you can do it yourself and provide employers with positive ways that you can contribute to their team. It's fast (less then 30 minutes), its simple (3 easy steps), and it's affordable ($29.99) You complete a brief, 15-20 minute, online assessment, select the type of role that you are applying for and upload your resume. ResumeFit inserts your assessment results directly into your resume and provides the employers with the critical data they need to better evaluate you.

Give employers what they want; certify your resume today and help them better understand you. You just may find that your resume shoots to the top of the pile, which may be enough to help you land your next job.

Scott Runkle is Managing Partner / SVP Sales & Marketing of ResumeFit. For more information on resume certification please visit: http://www.resumefit.com/rf/scripts/collegerecruiter.asp

Posted by Candice Arnold on March 20, 2009 at 1:08 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

I am still trying to figure out how to make the best use of Twitter and Facebook for both my personal and business use. I am amazed at how adeptly some folks navigate these social networking tools and how oddly others use them. Have you ever heard that saying, "Better to be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt?" - that was one of my dad's favorite things to say to us when we were kids. That and, "Don't tell everything you know." Dad's not a really chatty guy but, then again, he never says stupid things in public or documents things that could put his reputation at risk.

If you think about it, social media takes those truisms and tosses them out the window. We live in a day and age where technology has made all of us voyeurs to varying degrees and social media is a way for us to express our every thought, feeling, and experience with legions of observers. If you have access to someone's Twitter, Linked In, and Facebook pages and that person updates his/her social media pages frequently (not to mention MySpace) it can be like watching a reality TV show. You can read about their thoughts and feelings, see their personal photos and videos, know where they are going to hang out, who their friends are, who they voted for, and where they work. That is a lot of information if you ask me and sometimes too much familiarity breeds contempt - as you can see anytime you watch a reality TV show. When a camera follows reality show stars around 24 hours a day none of them look too impressive on TV.

There are clearly some individuals who use social media to adroitly advance their careers without embarrassing themselves. Guy Kawasaki is one such example.

When speaking at PubCon South 2009, Guy Kawasaki described his approach to using Twitter as the blending of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) and QVC television channels. He posits that if PBS only broadcast documentaries on one channel and its fund-raising telethons on different station that no one would donate to PBS's documentary channel and neither channel would obtain funding. By combining the two types of Twitters, Guy Kawasaki's 80,000+ Twitter followers allow him to promote his business to them as long as he shares other interesting information.

Kawasaki seems to be able to walk the line between promoting his business, AllTop, and sharing ancillary information that isn't too personal. On the other hand I am baffled by Penelope Trunk's following. She has 9,700 followers on Twitter and a very successful blog, Brazen Careerist. What shocks me about Ms. Trunk is the level of personal information she is willing to share in order to draw attention to her site. She talks, at times, in graphic detail about her divorce, personal relationships, and sex life. None of which has anything to do with career advice although she does make an attempt to link those topics.

Obviously Ms. Trunk's technique works for her but I could never get that personal on the internet. For one thing I wouldn't want to hurt or embarrass anyone that I care about but for another, it just isn't my personal style to share extremely intimate details of my life with anyone other than my closest friends. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article I was trained not to tell everything I know. But maybe I am not managing social media as well as I could? Maybe in order to sell your services you need to share more about yourself? I just don't want to be uncomfortable with the level of detail I share about my personal life online nor do I want to be one of those annoying people who sends out Tweets every 5 minutes about every little thing they are doing.

The other thing I am trying to figure out is how people decide who to "follow" on Twitter. When you "follow" someone you get to see every single update he/she writes in Twitter. Every single one. So if you follow a lot of people the sheer volume of information you sort through can be unbelievable. I only follow about 50 people and I know most of them or have another compelling reason for caring about their updates. On the other hand, there are several people who follow my updates whom I have never met and have no idea why they care what I am doing. It makes me kind of "camera shy" about what I post on Twitter.

I am not sure that perfect strangers need to know my thoughts on random issues or who I am meeting for lunch. Consequently I update Twitter much less frequently than the social media experts say I should and I am probably not getting as much out of it professionally as I could be. I Twitter links to each new blog post I do but beyond that I am always careful about what I put out there. Not to be paranoid or anything but couldn't a stalker figure out your Twitter handle and literally follow you around town to lunch or your errands or wherever you announced you would be?

Facebook is more intuitive to me because you have to request and accept friendships so, presumably, you are only connecting with actual friends. When I type status updates into Facebook I am more inclined and comfortable in writing about what I am actually doing, where I am going, and who I am socializing with because I am communicating to actual friends with whom there is some level of interest and trust. But Twitter updates are different because anyone can "follow" you and find out what you are up to and I am just not sure I see how that is beneficial to me and my business.

I would love to hear from anyone who has figured out how much information is too much to share on Twitter or Facebook. As for me, I am still trying to figure out what works best for me as I slowly wade into the social media world and try to avoid becoming a one-woman social media reality show.

Article by Liz Handlin and courtesy of Ultimate Resumes

Posted by Candice Arnold on March 17, 2009 at 1:50 PM | Leave a Comment (0)

Written By Jimmy Sweeney
Author of the brand new, Amazing Resume Creator

If you have one or more gaps in your resume, it's a good idea to build a bridge from one experience to the next--not with fibs or lies but with the truth.

For example, suppose you worked as an administrative assistant from 2002-2008.

But from 1999 till 2002 you were unemployed because you were ill or had a baby or took time off to help your spouse launch a business. Whatever your reason, you may wonder what to put on the resume so the gap won't work against you.

Here's what you can do:

List the actions you took during your 'employment break' right along with your work experiences. This approach will actually work in your favor because it will show you as a well-rounded person who uses your time productively and in some cases unselfishly--especially if you helped a family member or volunteered for a needy cause. By speaking honestly, you also show your integrity. You'll build a trustworthy image and assure the hiring manager you're someone who is balanced and compassionate.

Here's an example of some bridge builders:

1998-2001 Real Estate Office Manager, ABC Real Estate Company,
Oakbrook, IL

2001-2005 Stayed home to take care of aging parent. Did some free-lance
real estate work, as time permitted.

OR

1998-2001 Executive Assistant, Liberty Manufacturing, Inc.,
Austin, TX

2001-2002 Volunteered for Senator Paul Gladstone's re-election campaign
and finished work on Master's Degree in Business Management.

When it comes to your resume, bridge the work gap with the truth and watch it take you over to the other side--back into the work force.

Jimmy Sweeney is the president of CareerJimmy and author of the brand new, "Amazing Resume Creator." Jimmy is also the author of several career related books and writes a monthly article titled, "Job Search Secrets."

Visit our friends at Amazing Resume Creator for your "instant" resume today. In just 10 minutes flat you can UPDATE or CREATE a resume guaranteed to land you more hot job interviews next week.

Posted by Candice Arnold on March 9, 2009 at 10:54 AM | Leave a Comment (1)

Written By Jimmy Sweeney
President of CareerJimmy and Author of the new,
Amazing Cover Letter Creator

The holiday decorations are down. The carolers have put away their songbooks. A new calendar page awaits your comments and appointments and to-do list. It's also time to say thank you to everyone who sent you a gift or a card or a cheery e-mail.

It's also an ideal time to spread your appreciation to your business pursuits and contacts. As you write your cover letter to prospective employers, be sure to tuck in a few words of gratitude for the opportunity to introduce yourself and your skills, even as you ask for an interview for the job you want.

"Gratitude is the rosemary of the heart,"
according to 19th century American writer, Minna Antrim.

Keep in mind that the hiring manager has no obligation to respond to your cover letter. But if you sprinkle your letter with a bit of 'rosemary' he or she won't be able to resist contacting you. Why? Because you will be among the very few who are more concerned with gratitude than greed. You will display your good heart and your interest in others, not just yourself. This small addition to any cover letter will put you in a class by yourself and it will be a signal that you are someone who would be a welcome addition to the company staff.

Some Ways to Say 'Thank you' Within Your Cover Letter

Use clear and simple language in your cover letter to convey your appreciation while at the same time displaying your talent and skills for the job you are interested in.

1. Thank you for taking a moment to consider my cover letter and resume. I appreciate how busy you are.
2. I appreciate the time you give to prospective employees such as me. I do not take it for granted.
3. I welcome a chance to talk with you about my skills and your expectations. Thank you for this opportunity to hear about your company and to share how I might fit into your plans.
4. I appreciate the job application guidelines you provided online. I'd like very much the opportunity to express my thanks in person for making it easy to introduce myself and my background and to find out how I can contribute to your company.

Avoid gushing or being sentimental. Focus on clarity and sincerity. You have what it takes to land the job you want. Make gratitude a high priority and you will succeed.

Jimmy Sweeney is the president of CareerJimmy and author of the new, Amazing Cover Letter Creator. Jimmy is also the author of several career-related books and writes a monthly article titled, "Job-Search Secrets."

Visit Jimmy on the web at Amazing Cover Letters.com for your 'instant' cover letter today. In just 3 1/2 minutes you will have an amazing cover letter guaranteed to cut through YOUR competition like a hot knife through butter!

Posted by Candice Arnold on March 9, 2009 at 10:30 AM | Leave a Comment (0)

Aren't we all envious of those people who are not only able to figure what their dream career is, but have the guts to actually pursue it? If all people were able to do the same, the world would be a happier place.

But it's not always easy being a dreamer. Because while these people may be pursuing their passion, it's often hard to do it without compromising a reasonable income. If you find yourself in this predicament, here are some tips to help you stay afloat financially while taking strides to pursue your dream ...

Find a Part-Time or Temp Gig

One of the easiest ways to bring in some extra cash while pursuing your dream career is taking on part-time or temporary work. With a part-time job, you work fewer hours, which leaves you with more time to take on your own projects. And with a temp gig, while you may have to work full-time, you can accept or reject jobs at your leisure based on pay and the length of the project, which offers a different type of flexibility.

Another job that some consider when needing flexible income is substitute teaching. Much like temping, you get to decide when you work. And the money isn't bad. For most districts, you can make anywhere from $75 to $120 a day. The only catch is that you usually need the equivalent of two years of college under your belt to qualify.

Try Working from Home

In the age where the Internet rules supreme - and companies are trying to cut back on their overhead - it is easier than ever to find a legitimate work-from-home job. So for many who are trying to pursue an income-lacking passion, working from home in customer service, data entry, or even freelance writing gives them the opportunity to bring in income and allows for great flexibility.

If this is a route you're thinking of taking, it's a good idea to make sure that the company you're looking to work for is legitimate. Check online scam reports, ask tons of questions about the business' reputation, and don't be shy about asking for professional references. The more effort you make to find out the legitimacy of the company, the more likely you are to actually receive an income from home - and that's kind of the point, right?

Take On a Lesser Version of Your Dream Job

There is nothing wrong with starting from the bottom to make your way to the top - the same goes for pursuing your dream. For instance, if your passion is wildlife photography, but you're having a hard time selling your pictures to major magazines, you may want to take a more standard photography job that will give you practice, credibility, and a little income. You can still try to sell your photos on the side until you get your big break, but at least you won't be starving while you wait.

Pursuing your dream can bring with it many challenges. But by bringing in additional income, you can alleviate stress, which often helps to improve creativity. Anything you can do to help foster what truly makes you happy in life is a great reward within itself.

Heather Eagar is a former professional resume writer and is passionate about providing working professionals with current, reliable and effective job search tools and information. Do you need a resume service? Compare the top ones in the industry at http://www.resumelines.com.

Posted by Heather Eagar on March 6, 2009 at 9:57 PM | Leave a Comment (0)