Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters Tips Blog

Presenting another excerpt from the excellent blog post, Ten Reasons Why Your Resume Isn’t Working by our colleague, Barbara Safani. Here’s another reason your resume may not be working:

You are uploading a Word version of your resume into a database that requires a text version. Many people make the mistake of taking their formatted Word document and uploading it into a text box on a company website. The format is generally not preserved when you do this, and your document will end up looking sloppy and unprofessional. Here are instructions on how to create a text resume.

Not sure how you could benefit from a professional resume writer? Check out Joan's experience: "I cannot believe what a difference this made. I have had 3 calls for interviews and just accepted a job that pays me 15% more than I made before!" See Joan's resume before -- and after -- the pros at Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters transformed it into a powerful marketing document. Get a FREE resume evaluation from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service. Or order a resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document.

Our colleague, Laura Smith-Proulx, has an excellent article on Careerealism entitled 3 Strategies for Writing a Bold, Branded Executive Resume. Here’s the first of her three strategies:

Demonstrate strategic, not tactical, value.

Employers are not only looking for your leadership skills — they’re intent on finding an executive champion that will impact growth, retain top talent, and impress their competitors.

Therefore, your executive resume has to take your brand message a step further than just results, and talk about context.

Consider whether the following situations apply to your background:

Heading a new growth strategy

Conceptualizing and leading the release of new products

Reacting to the threat of competition in the industry

Addressing the effect of the economic downturn

Next, write a short success story that pulls in the challenge and explains the reasons you got involved, plus the outcome, as shown in this example for a COO resume:

“Produced 142% increase in net income by transforming focus to life sciences markets; won contracts at AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, and Johnson & Johnson.”

Repeat this exercise for different situations, and create condensed summary versions of each story for your executive resume.

Not sure how you could benefit from a professional resume writer? Check out Joan's experience: "I cannot believe what a difference this made. I have had 3 calls for interviews and just accepted a job that pays me 15% more than I made before!" See Joan's resume before -- and after -- the pros at Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters transformed it into a powerful marketing document. Get a FREE resume evaluation from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service. Or order a resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document.

Presenting another excerpt from the excellent blog post, Ten Reasons Why Your Resume Isn’t Working by our colleague, Barbara Safani. Here’s another reason your resume may not be working:

You have no clue what keywords are. Keywords are the buzzwords or industry terminology that is relevant to your job function or industry. You can source keywords by reviewing job descriptions for positions you would consider applying to and looking for the consistency in these keywords from posting to posting. Many employers use ATS or Applicant Tracking Systems to source candidates and they will only find your resume if the words in your resume correlate to those posted in their job specs.

See also our article Tapping the Power of Keywords to Enhance Your Resume.

Not sure how you could benefit from a professional resume writer? Check out Joan's experience: "I cannot believe what a difference this made. I have had 3 calls for interviews and just accepted a job that pays me 15% more than I made before!" See Joan's resume before -- and after -- the pros at Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters transformed it into a powerful marketing document. Get a FREE resume evaluation from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service. Or order a resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document.

Today’s resume establishes a brand relevant to targeted employers. The branding expressed in your resume should capture your career identity, authenticity, passion, essence, and image. With objective statements currently unpopular with hiring decision-makers, job-seekers and resume writers are turning to branding techniques, especially branding statements, to sharpen the focus of resumes. Several methods of communicating your personal brand on your resume are available. Look for more about them on this blog in the upcoming days, or read our article Branding Your Resume.

Not sure how you could benefit from a professional resume writer? Check out Joan's experience: "I cannot believe what a difference this made. I have had 3 calls for interviews and just accepted a job that pays me 15% more than I made before!" See Joan's resume before -- and after -- the pros at Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters transformed it into a powerful marketing document. Get a FREE resume evaluation from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service. Or order a resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document.

Presenting another excerpt from the excellent blog post, Ten Reasons Why Your Resume Isn’t Working by our colleague, Barbara Safani. Here’s another reason your resume may not be working:

You don’t show a clear connection between your past achievements and your future direction. If your resume merely represents your chronology it may be difficult for a hiring manager to understand how your past experience relates to their current position. This is especially true if you are trying to transition to a new job function or industry. Your resume needs to be idiot proof. Be sure to connect the dots between past performance and future value to the organization (I recommend a profile at the top of the resume to accomplish this). No one will connect the dots for you. Take the time to create a clear roadmap from past accomplishments to future value.

Not sure how you could benefit from a professional resume writer? Check out Joan's experience: "I cannot believe what a difference this made. I have had 3 calls for interviews and just accepted a job that pays me 15% more than I made before!" See Joan's resume before -- and after -- the pros at Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters transformed it into a powerful marketing document. Get a FREE resume evaluation from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service. Or order a resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document.

Executive resume writer and branding specialist Deb Dib notes that “the best use of the Web from a job-seeker’s point of view will be to research companies for networking and interview purposes.” In the Q&A interview Dib did with Quintessential Careers, she observed, “With the proliferation of company Web sites, it [has] become increasingly easy to become acquainted with companies’ power structures, corporate cultures, directions, and challenges. Interviewees who want to out-compete the competition have only to do their homework and interview armed with suggested strategies to help meet corporate challenges.”

Not sure how you could benefit from a professional resume writer? Check out Joan's experience: "I cannot believe what a difference this made. I have had 3 calls for interviews and just accepted a job that pays me 15% more than I made before!" See Joan's resume before -- and after -- the pros at Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters transformed it into a powerful marketing document. Get a FREE resume evaluation from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service. Or order a resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document.

Presenting another excerpt from the excellent blog post, Ten Reasons Why Your Resume Isn’t Working by our colleague, Barbara Safani. Here’s another reason your resume may not be working:

You have copied and pasted your previous job descriptions into your resume. The reality is that people in similar jobs perform similar job tasks. An accountant in company A may not have job tasks that are that different than the accountant in company B. Yet the value that each brings to their organization may be totally unique. Minimize content about job tasks and focus on more compelling accomplishments.

Consider our Accomplishments Worksheet for brainstorming your achievements.

Not sure how you could benefit from a professional resume writer? Check out Joan's experience: "I cannot believe what a difference this made. I have had 3 calls for interviews and just accepted a job that pays me 15% more than I made before!" See Joan's resume before -- and after -- the pros at Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters transformed it into a powerful marketing document. Get a FREE resume evaluation from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service. Or order a resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document.

Because of massive downsizing, employers are less likely to use job-hopping (or what appears as job-hopping) as a reason not to interview someone. On the other hand, keep in the back of your mind that the purpose of your resume is to get you an interview — and you want to remove as many roadblocks as possible. Be prepared to explain the short job stints in your interviews — and how you are now in a position to settle down and make a long-term commitment to your next job.

Not sure how you could benefit from a professional resume writer? Check out Joan's experience: "I cannot believe what a difference this made. I have had 3 calls for interviews and just accepted a job that pays me 15% more than I made before!" See Joan's resume before -- and after -- the pros at Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters transformed it into a powerful marketing document. Get a FREE resume evaluation from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service. Or order a resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document.

Presenting another excerpt from the excellent blog post, Ten Reasons Why Your Resume Isn’t Working by our colleague, Barbara Safani. Here’s another reason your resume may not be working:

You are using a resume template to convey how special you are. A resume is all about showcasing your unique value. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot by using a stale Microsoft resume template to explain your unique value proposition.

Not sure how you could benefit from a professional resume writer? Check out Joan's experience: "I cannot believe what a difference this made. I have had 3 calls for interviews and just accepted a job that pays me 15% more than I made before!" See Joan's resume before -- and after -- the pros at Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters transformed it into a powerful marketing document. Get a FREE resume evaluation from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service. Or order a resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document.

We bring you a final excerpt from an excellent blog post entitled Never underestimate the importance of your companions by Kelly Blokdijk of TalentTalks, which discusses — by offering real-life examples — the important role that cover letters and thank-you letters can play in the job search:

You might want to start writing a thank-you note as soon as you have an interview scheduled. You can add the custom touches after your meeting. That is when you take the time to recap the critical skills you bring and reemphasize any pertinent discussion points. Don’t delay building the foundation of your thank-you note until after you’ve interviewed.

Blokdijk goes on to describe a job-seeker who contacted her in a panic, having still not sent a thank-you note a day and a half after her interview. Planning out the framework of a thank-you letter before the interview is a great idea so that right afterwards, you can add some quick (but thoughtful) customization and send the letter right away — within 24 hours of the interview.

We know that thank-you letters are an item that job-seekers truly struggle with because — of all the content on Quint Careers — thank-you letter samples are the second-most searched for item.

Our Thank You Letter Worksheet can be a big help, too.

Not sure how you could benefit from a professional resume writer? Check out Joan's experience: "I cannot believe what a difference this made. I have had 3 calls for interviews and just accepted a job that pays me 15% more than I made before!" See Joan's resume before -- and after -- the pros at Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters transformed it into a powerful marketing document. Get a FREE resume evaluation from Quintessential Resumes and Cover Letters, powered by About Jobs Resume Writing Service. Or order a resume, cover letter, or other career-marketing document.