These days, the professional cover letter has taken a backseat to its much more popular cousin, the resume. Although it is often seen as stuffy, antiquated, and even frivolous, the cover letter actually has the power to establish the all-important first impression (at least for employers that accept them). And what you put in that letter could be the catalyst that sets you apart and gets you an interview. Though many people...

“What makes you want to work for us?” “What was a challenge you were met with and how did you approach it?” “Do you have any questions you would like to ask me?” Lack of preparation to answer these deliberate interview questions is among the top corporate hiring manager and recruiter pet peeves. There are very specific reasons interviewers ask you these questions and how you answer them says a lot about you. Weak or incompl...

As an executive resume writer, I often speak with clients who are either at a career crossroads out of their choosing or by circumstance (e.g. recession, life change, etc.), and these clients are simply looking for an answer to the toughest career question: What should I do? While a simple question, the answer is certainly different for everyone and can vary based on skills, experiences, and passion. Focusing on passion, I...

Giving your resume a polished, professional look and feel proves to employers that you are detail-oriented, take your job search seriously, and know what it takes to stand out. Sloppy or boring resumes (e.g. too much white space, generic wording, errors, etc.) are the ones that end up lost somewhere in HR or in the trash. But, there are several steps to make your resume stand out as polished and professional. Here are just...

When you are job searching, you want to be prepared from all angles. Once you apply for a job, the microscope zooms in and you must be prepared to be examined. Putting your best foot forward when you are being so closely inspected involves more than presenting an error-free resume and wearing a nice smile. Here are the three pieces that fit together to shape how employers see you. Are you lacking in any of these areas? 1....

If you are like most professionals (myself included), you have submitted the same resume for multiple positions without much thought to whether your skills or experience matched well with the position. However, unless you are in a trade where your responsibilities are largely the same with each company (e.g. roofing, housekeeping, etc.), your resume should not be identical for every position. Also, hiring managers can almos...

You bet! In the current job market, people must be flexible and resourceful. No longer can you blast one resume out for 10 different jobs and expect phone calls. The simple fact is that the job market is flooded with highly qualified professionals with the exact skills needed for any given job, and the competition is heated for many of them. Plus, employers are increasingly accustomed to seeing resumes that fit job descript...

While we have good intentions when we use common phrases to describe our abilities, the fact is we are only serving to bore hiring managers and recruiters! Many of these skills - teamwork, dedication, enthusiasm - are ones that are simply expected in today’s workplace and don’t do the job of making you stand out to employers. In fact, hiring managers see them so often on resumes that they often don’t even notice them anymo...

I have written resumes for many clients who were not moving companies and some who weren’t even moving departments – they were simply asked to present an updated resume to apply for a higher-tiered position within their company. The funny thing is they were surprised that they would even need a resume for the same company that hired them years earlier. If you are thinking of applying for a higher position in your company, b...

Whether you are writing a book, article, thesis, letter, or a resume, the same basic rule applies: Write for your audience (in this case, recruiters, hiring managers and your future boss). In the world of resume writing, that translates to two things. First, make your resume easy to read for everyone. If it is sloppy, crowded, disjointed, confusing, or overly advanced (e.g. using uncommon acronyms without spelling out their...