Posts Tagged ‘resume tips’

Hiring managers routinely receive hundreds, perhaps thousands, of responses from applicants for any given job. To avoid having your resume sink into this sea of paper, it’s imperative to stand out from the crowd and make a good first impression. A compelling cover letter that meets five essential requirements will convince a hiring manager to read an applicant’s resume.

Rule #1: Create appealing appearance
The resume and cover letter must be aesthetically pleasing and consistent in appearance. This includes using the same heading and fonts for each.

Rule #2: Target your audience
Always use the hiring manager’s name in the salutation. If the contact’s name isn’t provided in the job posting, a bit of Internet research or a well-structured phone call can produce results.

Rule #3: Produce a strong opening
A dynamic opening paragraph is essential to capture and retain a hiring manager’s interest. Pared down to essentials for a quick and effective read, it should reference the position you are seeking and include a brief statement as to why you believe you are qualified to fill the job.

Rule #4: Showcase accomplishments
Include a bulleted area to emphasize accomplishments pertinent to the targeted job.

Rule #5: Close with a proactive statement
Always initiate further action at the end of a cover letter. A proactive closing indicates that you will call within a few days to see if a time might be scheduled to meet. Then, be sure to follow through on the action you include in your letter.

If your resume is not getting you results, put the experts at Resume Edge to work for you. Is it expensive? Not at all! People who use Resume Edge get hired three times faster than those who do it themselves. Contact them today to find out why.

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Guerilla Resumes – A Top Executive Recruiter Reveals How To Build A Resume Guaranteed To Work!

The author of Guerilla Resume’s, David Perry, has been an executive recruiter for over 15 years and has read over 400,000 resumes in that time! He understands how employers think and how to create a resume layout that will get you interviewed.

Here’s just SOME of what Guerilla Resume’s gives you:

  • Which should you emphasize more in your resume - accomplishments or skills? Or neither?
  • No college degree? No formal education? No problem! How to describe your education and training with simple writing secrets that work every time
  • Discover how to get other people to help write your resume - FREE. Plus, you’ll get FREE networking help at the same time, which could open up the “hidden” job market to you, overnight
  • Learn the “7 Deadly Things” to leave out of your resume.

This is just a sample of about 20+ things you’ll learn with the Guerilla Resume’s package.

PLUS Dave Perry is going to give you FREE copy/paste resume and cover letter templates in Word format!

Guerilla Resume’s is confident that you’ll get a job using his techniques. So sure in fact that he’ll give you two guarantees!

Guarantee #1: You MUST get a job within 90 days of ordering or you will get a full refund. No questions, no hassles.

Guarantee #2: If you follow his method and don’t get hired during the next 90 days, he’ll send you an EXTRA $50.00 as penalty out of his own pocket, on top of your refund!
Now if that isn’t worth the $29.97 investment then I don’t know what is!

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Getting proper resume help is the one step in your job search over which you have total control. It is your personal career marketing document. You will either be selected for an interview from among potentially hundreds of other candidates – or passed over; depending entirely on the strength of your resume.

The Resumes Function

The purpose of a Resume is not to get a job! Its purpose is to get an interview. The competition is fierce so the better this document is, the quicker you get hired.

Job recruiters spend approximately 15 seconds looking at each Resume. In that short time, they make a decision to place you in the “yes” pile or in the “no” pile. This decision can be based on the overall appearance of your Resume template, the format, and the three or four key selling points you have listed in your Qualifications Summary at the top of the resume.

If you make it to the “yes” pile, your resume will receive a detailed reading. From that initial pile of Resumes that come in the mail, the recruiter’s goal might be to narrow the list to only five, ten or twenty candidates who will be called for an interview. So even if you survived the first screening and made it to the stack of 20, you still have a 50/50 chance of being cut from the final selection.

Remember, this entire process happens solely on the strength of your resume. That’s why your resume format is so important. And if you survive this process, your resume then becomes the basis for your interview. The recruiter will use your resume as an outline to discuss your career history, accomplishments, and qualifications for the position she/he needs to fill at the company.

After the interview, your resume continues to represent you, as your qualifications are weighed against those of other candidates who have also made it through this interview stage. Assume that only the five or ten best and most qualified candidates were interviewed. The department heads involved will meet and discuss which candidates they want to consider. Even here, your resume plays an important role in reminding the company of your qualifications, the impression you made during the interview, etc.

Should You Write Your Own Resume?

Probably not – unless you are a skilled professional writer who can also honestly look at your own strengths and weaknesses objectively. While there are dozens of “do-it-yourself” resume books on the market, the truth is that if you do your own resume, it is being prepared by an amateur.

Does it make sense to spend four years and $40,000 to earn a college degree and then market that investment to employers with a do-it-yourself Resume? Or to have solid credentials and a salary level of $30,000, $60,000 or $100,000… and use a less than professional resume to represent you?

Think of a company like Coca-Cola. The executives who work for Coca-Cola know that product better than anyone else. Yet Coca-Cola uses a professional advertising agency to create the messages that are designed to sell us on buying Coca-Cola.

The Professional Resume Writer

Hiring a professional Resume writer serves the same purpose in selling you to a potential employer as Coca-Cola’s advertising agency. You’re getting the benefit of an expert who writes resumes every day and who knows how to present a client’s background and credentials to best advantage.

There are three options open at this point;

  1. do it yourself,
  2. hire a professional resume writer or
  3. use resume software.

I would never recommend to even my worst enemy that they write their own resume so that leaves #2 and #3. Number 2 is the best option but costs some money, sometimes $200 – $400, however it is an investment in YOUR future.

Resume software is a less expensive and was written by professional resume writers. Resume templates and Interview help is also available. Is it equal to option #2?  Very close but not quite as good but still far ahead of writing your own resume.

I would recommend that if your budget will allow, go to the professional writer route. However if you have been out of work awhile then the #3 option makes sense. That’s why our site Resume On A Budget was created, to help people on a budget. By the way the resume software has a money back guarantee so you can’t go wrong.

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