Use or Utilize This post is more for the professional crowd. I may have mentioned that I worked as a headhunter for more than thirty years. During that time, I got a lot of résumés—more than twelve thousand of them. One thing that used to jump out at me was how people tried so hard […]
Three Things Every Job Description Needs How to write a job description is something they should teach every manager, or at least the ones responsibile for writing job descriptions. It’s not that difficult. When you break it down, there are only three things every job description needs. I worked as a headhunter for almost thirty-five […]
Four Things You Don’t Need on a Job Description Responsibilities Responsibilities—The first of the four things you don’t need on a job description is a long list of responsibilities. We discussed this on a , but it won’t hurt to mention it again. No one I know of gets excited by the thought of responsibilities. […]
Make Sure Your Résumé Isn’t Wasting My Time When companies need to hire someone, they resort to what they feel is a process that works, and all too often, it’s a black-and-white decision. It has to be. The person screening résumés has a stack of 200–400 or more applications in front of them, and they […]
Common Mistakes in Interviews I won’t go so far as to say it is the mistake that matters most or even the one that most interviewers will recognize, but let’s face it—interviewers are looking for reasons to rule you out as a candidate for the position. Perhaps some of them aren’t but most are and […]
Seven Worst Résumé Mistakes There are a lot of mistakes people make when writing résumés. Some are forgivable and some not. But instead of talking about all the mistakes, let’s just discuss the seven worst résumé mistakes. What Is a Résumé’s Purpose? We’ve talked about this before also. A résumé has only one purpose—to get […]
It Takes a Great Résumé to Get an Interview Before we begin, let’s look at a few things that take a résumé down a peg or two. Spelling mistakes. This may be the number one reason why résumés go into the trash, and yet they’re so easy to fix. A quick run with a spellchecker […]
Four Things You Don’t Need on Job Descriptions Responsibilities Responsibilities—The first of the four things you don’t need on job descriptions is a long list of responsibilities.We discussed this on a , but it won’t hurt to mention it again. No one I know of gets excited by the thought of responsibilities. Instead of listing […]
Why I Didn’t Read Your Résumé When you’re searching for a job, not much is more frustrating than submitting your résumé for a job that you know you can do, and then never hearing back from the company. You’re left wondering why. Wonder no more. I’m going to tell you the five reasons why I […]
Does Anyone Read Cover Letters? It might seem ridiculous to ask Does anyone read cover letters? Because it’s like asking if anyone drinks coffee. The answers to both are simple: Yes, people drink coffee if it’s good. Yes, people will read a cover letter if it’s good. The key words to those answers were “If […]
There Are Three Interview Questions You Should Never Ask If you’re fortunate enough to be invited to interview with a company, do yourself a favor and do not waste their time. What do I mean by that? It’s simple. Most people who are assigned to an interview team probably don’t want to be there. To […]
For everyone reading this, I’ve got news for you: good résumés do not earn you interviews. Only great résumés get interviews. How do you get a great résumé? Read on, and you’ll see. First, let’s look at the differences between a good resume and a great résumé. Good Résumés Get Looked at. Great Résumés Get […]
Every résumé needs a cover letter. Cover letters are your chance to shine (or look like an ass). The following is an excerpt from my book No Mistakes Resumes. I know that most people don’t use cover letters. That should make you happy. Why? Because that gives you an edge. Using a cover letter is like […]
I’ve mentioned time and again about making no mistakes on your résumé, but there are certain grammar rules you should break when writing a résumé. Résumés have their own set of rules, and they should be adhered to if you want your résumé read. Rule Number One Don’t Include the Articles “The”, “A”, or “An” […]
When to Use Compound Modifiers on Résumés Compound modifiers play an important part in the English language, particularly when written. Many people pay no attention to them, but it’s important to know when to use compound modifiers—especially on résumés—because some of the people who screen résumés do pay attention. And of all the places where […]
How to Make Your Résumé Perfect It sounds ridiculous to say writing a résumé is difficult, but it is—difficult, not ridiculous. I realize that it shouldn’t be. It’s your life that the résumé reflects, and it’s only a couple of pages. But it’s your life encompassing many years, and you need lots of facts and […]
How to Read a Résumé Waiting to hear back from a company regarding your candidacy for a job can be frustrating. Sometimes the days stretch into weeks, and before long you’re convinced that they’re not interested, and you’re getting pissed off that they didn’t call or write to let you know. What could they be […]
An Interview Is Like a Date I think it’s safe to say that the majority of people reading this have been on a date before. It may have been a long time, but I’m sure you remember the drill—or most of it. Your time for dating may be over, but probably not for interviewing. I […]
Formatting a Résumé If you want to know about formatting a résumé, the best way to do it is to make it as unobtrusive as possible. Don’t use special fonts or eccentric styling and, for God’s sake, don’t use pictures. Make the résumé as plain and simple as you can. The content is what’s important […]
How can a cover letter do that? Suppose you want to apply for a position working for a medical device company that designs and manufactures devices for diabetics to monitor their blood sugar. The job description calls for experience that you don’t have, but you do have the skills. Don’t fret. Great cover letters can […]
Use or Utilize This post is more for the professional crowd. I may have mentioned that I worked as a headhunter for more than thirty years. During that time, I got a lot of résumés—more than twelve thousand of them. One thing that used to jump out at me was how people tried so hard […]
Make Sure Your Résumé Isn’t Wasting My Time When companies need to hire someone, they resort to what they feel is a process that works, and all too often, it’s a black-and-white decision. It has to be. The person screening résumés has a stack of 200–400 or more applications in front of them, and they […]
Ten Best Words to Put on a Résumé A while ago, I did a post on the ten words to avoid on your résumé. You can see it here. In that article, I mentioned how many of the “go-to” words people typically use are useless. I’m including a table I used in that post to show […]
Rules You Shouldn’t Break When Writing a Résumé The easy answer to that statement is “all of them” but that wouldn’t be correct. As we saw in a previous post, there are a few rules you want to break. The majority of them, however, should be adhered to. So read on for a quick rundown […]
Seven Worst Résumé Mistakes There are a lot of mistakes people make when writing résumés. Some are forgivable and some not. But instead of talking about all the mistakes, let’s just discuss the seven worst résumé mistakes. What Is a Résumé’s Purpose? We’ve talked about this before also. A résumé has only one purpose—to get […]
It Takes a Great Résumé to Get an Interview Before we begin, let’s look at a few things that take a résumé down a peg or two. Spelling mistakes. This may be the number one reason why résumés go into the trash, and yet they’re so easy to fix. A quick run with a spellchecker […]
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