Tag Archives: resume

Four Seconds Until You Meet The Recycling Bin

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If you only had four seconds to express to someone your job seeking interests and abilities, would you be able to do it? If you’re looking for employment right now, you better figure it out.

Yup. On average (give or TAKE!!), a hiring manager or recruiter looks at your resume for a lousy four seconds. How in the world can you sum up your entire career and sell your personality in FOUR seconds?!?! Well, I’m here to help.

First of all… toss your personality out the window. You’re not going to capture anything about your personality that a hiring manager will appreciate on a piece of paper.
    *  Do not put your picture on your resume
    *  Do not use colored paper
    *  Do not attempt “cute” with funky fonts
    *  Do not use colored ink
    *  Be sure that your name and phone number are at the top
    *  No gimmicks!!!
If you DO, you’re simply distracting the hiring manager from any reason they should actually consider interviewing you. 

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Overcoming The Painful, ‘Tell Me About Yourself’, Interview Question

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The Wrong Response

There are many ways to respond to this question correctly and just one wrong way: by asking, “What do you want to know?” That tells me you have not prepared properly for the interview and are likely to be equally unprepared on the job. You need to develop a good answer to this question, practice it and be able to deliver it with poise and confidence.

The Right Response

To help you prepare, I spoke to a number of career coaches on how best to respond when faced with this question. Heed the career advise that follows to ace this opener:

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Are You Suffering From ‘Job Seeker’ Terminal Uniqueness?

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As I have been hosting Social Media workshops for job seekers, it’s become very obvious to me that there’s a consistent issue holding some back from achieving any type of progress.

Terminal Uniqueness…. 

What is Terminal Uniqueness? The most basic of the definitions is a person’s belief that he is so unique that the usual rules do not apply to him. Those who fit the definition generally tend to be prideful or ego-driven.

Terminal uniqueness is said to hold a person back from making the progress he needs to improve his life. In an artificially elevated or degraded position, he believes that the advice others give him cannot possibly apply to him.

It seems that, unfortunately, many people have been so beat down by their employment search that they believe nothing will promote them into achieving their goals. It’s almost like, no matter what type of advice I give, simplistic or involved, they feel they are incapable of preforming. The advice simply does not apply to them because they are so different.

At this point, after seeing this so many times, I really wish I could convince people to take my suggestions and simply… give them a try. After all, they are participating in trainings because they feel they have more to learn. Continue reading →

Resume Bloopers!

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People write the strangest things on their resumes, sometimes downright hysterical. Why should only recruiting managers get to laugh at these? The Top 10 are at the bottom. Enjoy!
Insert Brain HereFrom Resume Hell:

  1. “Career break in 1999 to renovate my horse”
  2. “1990 – 1997: Stewardess – Royal Air Force”
  3. Hobbies: “enjoy cooking Chinese and Italians”
  4. “Service for old man to check they are still alive or not.”
  5. Cleaning skills: “bleaching, pot washing, window cleaning, mopping, e.t.c”
  6. “Job involved…counselling clientele on accidental insurance policies available”
  7. “2001 summer Voluntary work for taking care of the elderly and vegetable people”
  8. “I’m intrested to here more about that. I’m working today in a furniture factory as a drawer”
  9. “I am about to enrol on a Business and Finance Degree with the Open University. I feel that this qualification will prove detrimental to me for future success.”
  10. “Time is very valuable and it should be always used to achieve optimum results and I believe it should not be played around with”
  11. “I belive that weakness is the first level of strength, given the right attitude and driving force. My school advised me to fix my punctuality…”

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Updating Your Resume? STOP!!! Read This First.

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Are you working on your resume? As you update it, I have a recommendation. There are certain words in the English language that are so entirely nebulous and objectionable that they say absolutely nothing. Here is my list. This list was established based on the resumes I review. Seeing hundreds of resumes every week, these are the most common words. STOP USING THEM!!!!

Aggressive | Ambitious | Competent | Creative | Detail-oriented | Determined | Efficient | Experienced | Flexible | Goal-oriented | Hard-working | Independent | Innovative | Knowledgeable | Logical | Motivated | Meticulous | People person | Professional | Reliable | Resourceful | Self-motivated | Successful | Team player | Well-organized

Let’s look at one of the words as an example…

Successful:: Having a favorable outcome; Having obtained something desired or intended

While that is fantastic in it’s own right, it actually doesn’t say anything. Instead of saying you’re a successful person, list your successes. These words are opinions. Opinions do not belong on resumes. Stick to the facts – keep them cold and hard. For the sake of simplicity, follow the KISS rule with your resume.

KISS:: Keep.It.Simple.