It’s a rare day that goes by where someone doesn’t ask me to critique his or her resume. To be brutally honest, most resumes are not up to par. From the spelling errors to the lousy formatting, from the boring, never-ending laundry lists of duties, to the straight copy-and-paste job descriptions full of fluffy business-speak, [...]
I created my business slogan “Unleashing your career with the power of words” many years ago as it resonated with me. Words have always had power. They can hurt someone’s feelings, they can wield power by inspiring decision makers to act. Politicians, spin doctors, advertising professionals and product marketeers have known the secret for decades: [...]
This week’s top question came from “Jon” who asked:
“You always say that in a resume the last job should have the most information and to progressively decrease the amount of info for each job back in time. I understand why you would do that, but what do you do if your “show stopper” career moment [...]
Your prospective employer, a recruiter, or hiring manager is not your best buddy and not your confidant.
Yes, these people want to know about you, your background and your achievements, but they don’t need to know all about it!
Many people writing their own resumes think everything needs to be explored, without knowing that every revelation can [...]
A fun site that makes a word “cloud” of oft-used words and phrases is wordle.net. However unexpected opportunities present themselves with Wordle that will allow you to see the ‘big picture’ of your resume development. From your existing resume, highlight the entire document and click on “Edit” and “Copy”. Now make your way to the [...]
Have you ever heard of the 5W1H Formula? It’s especially helpful in planning your resume and job search.
Rudyard Kipling, the great poet once wrote:
I keep six faithful serving men
Who teach me well and true
Their names are What and Where and When
And How and Why and Who.
Journalists call this the “5W1H” formula and while it’s great [...]
A Secret Society?
Reading IT resumes when you’re an outsider to the industry can be a hair-pulling and frustrating experience. Filled with mysterious industry jargon and even more mysterious lists of acronyms, IT resumes can make you feel that you have been invited to a meeting of a secret society without the right handshake!
Technology professionals regularly [...]
If you are a manager or senior manager writing your own resume, don’t concentrate exclusively on achievement of KPIs to the exclusion of the people side of the business. Of course your achievements in terms of reducing costs, driving revenue growth, and delivering strategic outcomes are great. But they are not the only thing you [...]