Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters Tips
Providing daily suggestions for making your resume, cover letter, and other career-marketing communications as effective as they can be.
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More Ways Your Resume Can Convince Employers to Take the Next Step
Dr. John Sullivan, who has “worked with major corporations on the design of their hiring and resume screening processes” observes that “nearly all applicants fail to adequately highlight themselves in a way that increases their chances of being selected for further evaluation. Thus, he came up with “30 ‘Power Factors’ to Bolster the Content of Your Resume.” This blog has excerpted those 30 factors over the last couple of weeks. Now we excerpt Sullivan’s... |
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Always Introduce Your Resume With a Cover Letter
Although not stated in an ad or mentioned in conversation, an employer likely wishes to see a cover letter accompanying your resume. True, not all employers share the same views on cover letters and therefore can’t all be put in the same barrel of opinion. But, there’s a certain degree of risk when the employer expects a cover letter but doesn’t receive one. Let’s face it, the cover letter serves as a chance for you to sell yourself further— even if only a tiny... |
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Content-Bolstering Power Factors for Your Resume, Part 5
Dr. John Sullivan, who has “worked with major corporations on the design of their hiring and resume screening processes” observes that “nearly all applicants fail to adequately highlight themselves in a way that increases their chances of being selected for further evaluation. Thus, he came up with “30 ‘Power Factors’ to Bolster the Content of Your Resume.” Here are the final six: Global perspective — almost every employee is expected to have a... |
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Use Business-Letter Format Atop Your Cover Letter
Listing addresses correctly will show the letter recipient that you are a professional — accurately include spelling of names, the inclusion of the recipient’s position title, and full company address. For example: —————————————————————————————- July 2, 2010 John McNeil, Director of Operations S3 Plastics... |
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Content-Bolstering Power Factors for Your Resume, Part 4
Dr. John Sullivan, who has “worked with major corporations on the design of their hiring and resume screening processes” observes that “nearly all applicants fail to adequately highlight themselves in a way that increases their chances of being selected for further evaluation. Thus, he came up with “30 ‘Power Factors’ to Bolster the Content of Your Resume.” Here are the next six; the final six will appear in a later entry: Planning/Forecasting —... |
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Try Kicking Off Resume with Branding Statement
A current trend in resumes is to use a branding statement, sometimes in combination with a headline. A “headline” atop your resume usually identifies the position or type of job you seek. A branding statement is a punchy “ad-like” statement that tells immediately what you can bring to an employer. A branding statement defines who you are, your promise of value, and why you should be sought out. Your branding statement should encapsulate your reputation, showcase what... |
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Provide Example Accomplishments in Cover Letter
One paragraph in your cover letter should discuss your accomplishments or highlights that you want to showcase or have the employer locate quickly, writes Deborah Brown-Volkman, president of Surpass Your Dreams, Inc. a career, life, and mentor coaching company. “Bullets work well in making your accomplishments easy to read.” Brown-Volkman suggests thinking of this paragraph as filling in the details of this sentence: “Here are relevant examples of what I have done that match... |
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Content-Bolstering Power Factors for Your Resume, Part 3
Dr. John Sullivan, who has “worked with major corporations on the design of their hiring and resume screening processes” observes that “nearly all applicants fail to adequately highlight themselves in a way that increases their chances of being selected for further evaluation. Thus, he came up with “30 ‘Power Factors’ to Bolster the Content of Your Resume.” Here are the next six; the rest will appear in later entries: Problem identification — if... |
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Tailor Your Cover Letter to Each Recipient
Much like a resume, a cover letter should be unique and personalized for each position. Although the bulk of your information will likely remain the same, don’t utilize the exact same letter from one recipient to the next. Areas that are prone to change are the first and second paragraphs. The most critical portion of your letter is within the top section of the content because those first statements are made in response to your candidacy. This tip is excerpted with permission from... |
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Content-Bolstering Power Factors for Your Resume, Part 2
Dr. John Sullivan, who has “worked with major corporations on the design of their hiring and resume screening processes” observes that “nearly all applicants fail to adequately highlight themselves in a way that increases their chances of being selected for further evaluation. Thus, he came up with “30 ‘Power Factors’ to Bolster the Content of Your Resume.” Here are the next six; the rest will appear in later entries: Management tools used — even... |
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Assume Your Cover Letter is Substandard ...
… This way, you’ll continuously look for a “better mousetrap.” Just like any position or industry, things change. You only need to review a book on proper business correspondence (complete with examples) written 25 years ago to realize how we correspond differently today. Today, business correspondence is written using a conversational tone instead of the once I-would-never-talk-that-way-ever writing. This tip is excerpted with permission from Designing a Cover Letter... |
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Content-Bolstering Power Factors for Your Resume, Part 1
Dr. John Sullivan, who has “worked with major corporations on the design of their hiring and resume screening processes” observes that “nearly all applicants fail to adequately highlight themselves in a way that increases their chances of being selected for further evaluation. Thus, he came up with “30 ‘Power Factors’ to Bolster the Content of Your Resume.” Here are the first six; the rest will appear in later entries: Result or accomplishment —... |
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Tailor Resume to the Job You Seek
Hiring decision-makers surveyed for the book, Top Notch Executive Resumes identified this as one of their Top 30 Executive Resume Pet Peeves: Resume is not tailored to the targeted vacancy. Shawn Slevin, HR and human capital solutions provider for Chair Swim Strong Foundation in the New York City area, called resumes that are the same for every position “cookie cutter.” Instead, your resume should closely match the requirements of the job you are targeting. While hiring decision-makers... |
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Packaging Your E-Mail Cover Letter
Just as certain secrets can help you write a dynamic cover letter, there are also key strategies for sending email cover letters. Those strategies can be found in our article, Tips for a Dynamic Email Cover Letter. |
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Objective Statements Currently Out of Fashion
Objective Statements on resumes have fallen somewhat out of favor. Many employers and recruiters claim they don’t even read them. That’s because most objective statements are badly written, self-serving, too vague, and not designed to do what they’re supposed to do, which is to sharpen a resume’s focus. For a very detailed discussion of the pros and cons of objective statements, guidelines for how to write a good one and samples, see Chapter 1 of our e-book, The... |
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Organizing Your Cover Letter
The introductory paragraph obviously is very important to ensure the reader “cares” about your submission. The starting sentences of each subsequent paragraph should also encourage readers to keep reading. In fact, each paragraph should be a main point, and then each subsequent sentence should contain supporting details. Professionals who write corporate communications will also tell you that little things, such as word choices, can have a huge impact on how often and how fully... |
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Flatter Employer in Second Paragraph of Cover Letter
In the second paragraph of a cover letter, compliment the employer on what the organization has done right and what you admire about it, writes Deborah Brown-Volkman, president of Surpass Your Dreams, Inc. a career, life, and mentor coaching company. “Sincere flattery goes a long way and shows that you have taken the time to get to know the employer in more detail.” Brown-Volkman advises thinking about the phrase, “I like your company because…” |
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In Cover Letter: How to Address Unemployment
With jobseekers now changing positions 10 or more times throughout their careers, gaps in employment are becoming more prevalent amongst the pool of jobseekers. Try to avoid it, certainly. Depending on the length, you may not need to address the gap within your cover letter. You don’t really need to address a small gap, such as a couple weeks, or maybe two to three months. The gap may come up in an interview, yet the timeframe isn’t large enough to be concerned with when writing... |
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Make Your Resume Specific and Targeted
Hiring decision-makers surveyed for the book, Top Notch Executive Resumesidentified this as one of their Top 30 Executive Resume Pet Peeves: Resume is too general. To keep from limiting themselves, candidates sometimes create a very broad resume that lacks specific information. A peeve for one survey respondent is “failure to include enough information for a recruiter to determine fit. Executives more so than less-senior level candidates should be aware of the importance of effective... |
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Everyone Has Had Accomplishments
Has this ever happened to you? You’ve been instructed to list your career accomplishments, and you can’t think of any. Or you’re asked in a job interview, “What accomplishments are you most proud of?” — and you freeze up. You know you have had accomplishments, but you just can’t dredge them up. The inability to come up with accomplishments happens to lots of job-seekers. We know because we’ve asked our resume and cover-letter clients to list accomplishments as... |