Behind the Rewrite Building a Winning Resume

Behind the Rewrite Building a Winning ResumeBehind the Rewrite Building a Winning ResumeWhen resume writers asked Laura Warren for a copy of an existing resume, she told them she deleted it.Professional resume writers dont usually take it as a positive sign when they ask a new client for a copy of an existing resume and are told she just deleted it.It might suggest the client is a little careless with whats supposed to be a thumbnail history of his or zu sich own life.Or it might reflect a lot of determination to change course and not much patience with an existing resumes inability to reflect reality more effectively than a W-2 form.In the case of Laura Warren, it appears to have been the latter. This member of Ladders was unhappily pursuing mid- to senior-level executive positions in the cosmetics industry until a session with a career coach helped herbeibei realize that politics, public activism and the life of a professional lobbyist fit the reality of her life much better than a marketing gig at LOreal.The first time we talked on the phone she said shed deleted her resume, said Becky Brown, the resume writer at Ladders who worked with Warren. She had one, but it had all these jobs that basically said office assistant or clerical work that didnt really reflect the really impressive things shes done.I had to go on a fact-finding mission to get more information, Brown said. I needed more than just the names of the positions. I needed what she did for each company, what her accomplishments were.According to Brown, Warren had a hard time promoting her real strengths and accomplishments.Being CEO of your own cosmetics company is pretty impressive, and that alone probably carried her through a lot of initial screenings.Warren spent almost 20 years working in the hafen of Los Angeles for various shipping companies, learning not only how to manage and document the logistics of international trade, but also how to negotiate with both management and labor, work with international companies, and what goes into the actual operation of a port.When I travel I look at ports and hammerhead cranes, she said. I time the number of moves they do an hour from the port to the ship as they load or unload containers. Sometimes you see 12 sometimes you see 40. I evaluate the ports and can see where theyre doing well and where they need to be shored up.She spent several years working at the Biltmore Galleries in Los Angeles, managing expensive artwork, working with an exclusive clientele and learning how both the art and entertainment businesses work.During both those periods and during the time she was running her own company, she was active in organizations involved with both the Port and the Los Angeles business community. She sits on the board of governors of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp., a community and business-development organization whose members include top executives from most of the big companies in Los Angeles. Shes also on the adv isory board of the Community Redevelopment Agency/Los Angeles, again with top executives from many of the areas largest businesses.With most resumes you focus on not just the companies people work for but what you did for them, Brown said. With Laura, it was the other stuff that mattered to presenting her effectively as a lobbyist, without any formal experience as a lobbyist.So, rather than a resume that starts with one paragraph on the job seekers goals and another on her skills and accomplishments at past jobs, Warrensresumeshowcases her experience and contribution running her own company and at the CRA/LA and LAEDC and other organizations.In that way we can show her immediate value as a lobbyist, talking about her experience in those areas and her contacts there, even though they werent part of a formal job, Brown said. Her work with these organizations and the people she knows and what she accomplished are what shes trying to leverage as experience as a lobbyist, so thats the fo cus of the resume.

The Top 10 Reasons Why You Didnt Get the Job

The Top 10 Reasons Why You Didnt Get the JobThe Top 10 Reasons Why You Didnt Get the JobHave you ever struggled with a job hunt and asked Why cant I get a job? Sometimes its just bad luck, but often there is something youre doing wrong in your job search. Here are 10 reasonswhy the recruiter is rejecting you. 1. Youre Underqualified You dont need to have 100 percent of the skills and qualifications listed on a job description, but you do need to have a high percentage. Aim to apply for jobs where you fit at least 90 percent of the qualifications. (That number drops for highly specialized jobs.)If the job description asks for someone with three-five years of experience, your 2.5 years of experience may qualify you for the job if youre strong in all of the other areas. Six months of experience isnt going to cut it. 2. Youre Overqualified It can landseem illogical that employers would reject you for having too much experience or too many degrees. But remember that recruiters and hiring managers are looking for people who will thrive in the job they have available.If you have an MBA and are applying for an inbound call center job, people will assume that youll find the job boring, so they wont hire you. If you think you would enjoy a job for which youre overqualified, make aya you acknowledge this in your cover letter and explain why youre applying for this position. 3. Youre Focused on One or Two Companies Your dream job is at the company across the street, so you apply for everything that comes up there. Its fine to apply for a few positions at the same company, but people sometimes want a job at a particular place so badly that they apply for 10, 20, or even more positions.When your name pops up that frequently, youre actually lowering your chances of getting a job. Companies want to hire people that want a specific job. If you apply for too many positions, they assume that you just want any job and wont necessarily be happy if they hire you. 4. Y our Resume Is Sloppy In real life, a typo doesnt make a huge difference. In your resume? A typo can constitute the difference between whether you get an interview or findyour application automatically rejected. Never submit a resume that you havent run through a spell checker and a grammar checker.Always make sure that your resume welches reviewed by a human with a good command of grammar rules. Your formatting is also important. Recruiters dont want to see fancy resumes, they want to see resumes that are easy to read. 5. Your Cover Letter Stinks (or Is Missing) Not every job posting asks for a cover letter, but if it does, and you dont include it, youll lose out on the job. If it doesnt specify, include a cover letter anyway. Make sure that your cover letter doesnt just re-hash the information in your resume- thats a waste of the employers time.Your cover letter should focus on why you are a great fit for the position. It should take the employers stated needs and match them t o your credentials. Remember, dont claim that you are the best person for the position- you dont know that and it makes you look foolish. 6. You Cant Explain Why You Were Fired Lots of people lose their jobs- some through no fault of their own and some because they did something stupid. Regardless of the reason youre unemployed, youll need to explain what happened and why (if it was something you did) it wont happen again. Its hard enough to get hired when youre unemployed, but if you simply blame your former babo for being a jerk, companies wont want to take a chance on you. 7. You Have an Unstable Job History If youre a student or a recent grad, its okay to have multiple short-term internships and summer jobs. Otherwise? You should work at each job for at least 18 months, and preferably three or four years. If your last job was for 14 months, you better prepare to stay at the next one for at least three years. Otherwise, your record tells recruiters that you wont stick aro und long enough to make training you worth the cost and time. 8. Youre Trying to Change Careers Lots of people successfully change careers, but it isnt easy. If youre trying to change career paths make sure that your resume and your cover letter detail why youre changing careers and why youre qualified for the new career path. Employers wont make the connection without your help. 9. You Have Unrealistic Salary Expectations Lots of companies require you to list your targeted salary on your job application, along with your salary history. If youre applying for jobs that pay $30,000 a year, but youve listed your target salary as $45,000, the employer will reject you immediately. No one wants to waste time interviewing you when they know you wont want to take the job at the available salary.Additionally, even though you are willing to take the right job at $30,000, if your last salary was $45,000, the recruiter will assume you wont want to take a big pay cut. (Massachusetts jus t passed legislation prohibiting companies from asking about your salary history, so this is no longer a problem in MA. Watch for additional states to follow suit.) 10. Youre Annoying Applying for a job can induce anxiety, and your application or interview is important to you, so you are tempted to call repeatedly and follow up when you dont hear from the employer. Recruiters and hiring managers dont have the time to speak to every applicant, and they especially dont have the time to talk to every applicant multiple times.Its okay to follow up after youve had an interview, but its not okay to follow up multiple times unless they specifically ask you to call back. It can turn the prospective employer off big time. If youre struggling to find a job, take a look at this list and see if you can eliminate a few of these problems to increase your chances of job searching success. - Suzanne Lucas is a freelance writer who spent 10 years in corporate human resources, where she hired, f ired, managed the numbers, and double-checked with the lawyers.

stop telling me youre a great writer

stop telling me youre a great writer stop telling me youre a great writer Its bedrngnis a great idea nor is it necessary to brag about your writing skills in your cover letter or on your resume, via subjective assessments of yourself like the following that Ive seen recentlyOutstanding writing skillsHighly conceptual and great at expressing ideas in a fresh, new wayAble to present strategic concepts in clear, persuasive, technically sound writingHeres why. If you have great writing skills, Im going to see them in the cover letter. You dont have to tell me theyre there. If I care about candidates writing skills (and oh, how I do), Im going to be looking for them in your cover letter and other communications anyway.But all too often, candidates give me their own assessment of their writing skills. And when it doesnt match up with the not-so-great cover letter theyve written which is often the case now Im doubting the other subjective statements they have on their resume too. If the yre wrong about their writing skills, why wouldnt I think they might be wrong about other skills theyre claiming for themselves?Frankly, I dont like any subjective statements on a resume. As Ive written before, resumes should present factual information about what youve done, not subjective self-assessments. Thats because I dont yet know enough about you to have any idea if yours is reliable or not.Telling me that youre a fantastic writer when I can see that youre not pretty much answers that question for me, and not in a good way.Now, you might think, But since I know that I am a great writer, its okay for me to do this. And maybe you really are (although a lot of people think they are when theyre not). But you still shouldnt do it. If youre a great writer and you want me to know that, write a great cover letter. Thats how Ill know.stop telling me youre a great writer Its wiedererleben Friday Heres an old post from March 2009 that were making new again, rather than leaving it to wi lt in the archives.Its not a great idea nor is it necessary to brag about your writing skills in your cover letter or on your resume, via subjective assessments of yourself like the following that Ive seen recentlyOutstanding writing skillsHighly conceptual and great at expressing ideas in a fresh, new wayAble to present strategic concepts in clear, persuasive, technically sound writingHeres why. If you have great writing skills, Im going to see them in the cover letter. You dont have to tell me theyre there. If I care about candidates writing skills (and oh, how I do), Im going to be looking for them in your cover letter and other communications anyway.But all too often, candidates give me their own assessment of their writing skills. And when it doesnt match up with the not-so-great cover letter theyve written which is often the case now Im doubting the other subjective statements they have on their resume too. If theyre wrong about their writing skills, why wouldnt I think th ey might be wrong about other skills theyre claiming for themselves?Frankly, I dont like any subjective statements on a resume. As Ive written before, resumes should present factual information about what youve done, not subjective self-assessments. Thats because I dont yet know enough about you to have any idea if yours is reliable or not.Telling me that youre a fantastic writer when I can see that youre not pretty much answers that question for me, and not in a good way.Now, you might think, But since I know that I am a great writer, its okay for me to do this. And maybe you really are (although a lot of people think they are when theyre not). But you still shouldnt do it. If youre a great writer and you want me to know that, write a great cover letter. Thats how Ill know.