Many times your resume is discarded by companies for reasons outside your control: someone internal to the company was promoted into the job, the job requirements or the company’s budget changed or perhaps another candidate simply had more of what the company hoped to find in a new employee. However, the following four situations are under your control. Your resume may not make the cut if:◾Your resume fails to specifi...

All too often I see resume posts and articles with the some version of the title: “Resumes Guaranteed to Get You Hired.” In fact, no reputable resume writer would give such a guarantee and no company would hire you based on a resume alone. The company will interview you (maybe several times), check your references, and discuss how well you fit their requirements and culture. Your resume is one part of a complex hiring proce...

Although age discrimination is discouraged by state and federal regulations, anyone with a long career knows how difficult it is for a 55-year-old to impress a recruiter or hiring manager who is 30 years younger. Your resume should be written to get you into the door for an interview, where your enthusiasm, dedication and skill will impress your future employers. Successful resumes for older workers share these characterist...

A company that specializes in helping virtual teams work effectively recently reported on the latest employment trends, including an increase in freelancing and part-time work, multigenerational workplaces and work across borders and time zones. What effect do these trends have on your resume? First, freelancing and part-time work—or multiple consulting jobs—are no longer seen as panicky attempts to fill an employment gap....

Okay, you have completed your research into companies in your industry, you know the jobs you want and are qualified for, you have listed your major accomplishments and skills—but how do you write the resume? Writer’s block can occur for many reasons, including second-guessing yourself about your choices, anxiety about “boasting,” low self-esteem because of a recent job loss or poor interview and a dislike for writing in ge...

In these blogs, I have often mentioned “hiring managers and recruiters.” Hiring managers are the individuals in a company who review job applicants. They may work in a company’s Human Resources department or may be the manager you would report to if hired. Hiring managers often work with recruiters to find quality job applicants. Recently I took a look at the capabilities and qualities that companies value most in hiring ma...

I have many clients in creative careers that demand online or print portfolios: writers, graphic artists, photographers and web designers, among others. When hiring managers or recruiters look at job applicants for communications or design positions, they expect to see samples of previous work at some point. Any creative person about to engage in a job search should make sure to accumulate physical or electronic samples of...

As much as you may wish to keep private your lack of work or your unhappiness with your current job, the people who care about you will notice. In many ways that is a good thing. When they become a part of your job search team, you have more chances of finding someone who needs an employee just like you. But how do you ensure that well-meaning friends and family offer the right kind of help? Here are some frustrating job se...

Can’t“Can’t” is the first word to avoid on your resume because your resume should show you at your best, outlining your achievements, skills, education and overall fit for the job you want. If you “cannot” travel, work on weekends, handle certain tasks or function in rush situations, do not share that information on your resume or cover letter. That is a conversation for later, perhaps during the interview. If the job posti...

The goal of a resume is to get you to the next stage, an interview; and a great resume is written in a way that allows you to ace the interview and possibly move on to the stage after that, a job offer. None of that may happen if you make these three mistakes. Recently a blogger on resumes suggested that all tasks in a job lend themselves to being described as an accomplishment. He advised a college student who handed out f...