ResumeBridge

How much to write my resume? This should not be the first question a job seeker asks when talking to a professional resume writing service. What is your point of view on this?

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3 Steps for Telling Resume Achievements

When writing a resume, most people don’t clearly state bullet point accomplishments. When this happens, the power and value of the resume quickly declines and the full story of the achievement does not come through in the communication. Fortunately, this can be easily fixed. The hard part is for you (the job seeker) to step back from your own situation and be objective about what you’re wanting to say in your resume.

Here are 3 steps to improve how you present your achievements in your resume.

1. What was the situation?… Every task or project you work on has a reason it is being done. What is that reason? What problem is the situation causing that needs to be improved or what is the goal for the outcome? Even if you were in a support role, your support was being provided for a bigger cause. What was that cause and what was the situation.

2. What were your actions?… What was your personal role in the project or task? Did you lead the entire effort? Did you manage teams? Did you ensure quality communication? Did you bring in new technology or introduce new procedures? Again, even if you were in a support role, you still played a part of the outcome of the project or task. Think thoroughly about the actions that you performed and how that fits into the overall big picture.

3. What were the results?… This loops back a bit to step #1 and what was the situation you were trying to correct or improve. When you took a part in the project or task, there was a desired outcome. What was that goal and was it achieved? More important, can you measure the benefit of the outcome. Any time you can quantify the outcome of a project or task, the more powerful that statement becomes. Always know how to talk about the benefit of what you’ve done.

Once you’ve followed this model for explaining your achievements, your resume writing will come easier and will become more valuable to the reader. And if it is more valuable to the reader, then you become more valuable and your opportunity for a higher pay is better.

Bottom line, you improve your chances of getting more interviews and a higher salary when you tell a good story about your achievements and your career.

When going through a job transition, there are many things to sort out. The biggest pitfall I’ve seen across the 1,500+ clients I have helped, is that people begin the job search underselling their skills and abilities. This happens because people are very close to their own situation and they have an extremely hard time articulating their value to employers.

This leads to a longer job search, and eventually people are more likely to “settle” for anything. You may need to compromise on some things like office commute time, company size, or company travel time. But, don’t compromise on the type of job you take. And, if at all possible, don’t compromise on a salary that does not meet your skill-sets for your geographic market.

Don’t take a lesser job for lesser pay. If you’re not getting quality interview opportunities, then take a closer look at your job search plan, because there is a flaw somewhere that is holding you back.

You’re Worth More™.

I read an article today that really hits home on the things I do to educate my job search clients. I really emphasize these main points as things that make a huge difference in the job search process. There are many other aspects that wrap around job search, but I wanted to share this short article as it is good information.

Read the full article here.

I recently asked the question “What do you feel is the most important part of the job search” on Linkedin. The responses I received included things like networking, the interview, attitude, and following up on leads. These are all decent answers. In my professional opinion, there are two core aspects of the job search that many people overlook, and I am going to share those with you now.

Part one of the core (and the second Pillar of my 4 Pillar Job Search System) is positioning yourself with your job target. It’s about knowing what you’re worth in the employment market and making sure your resume and your message shows that you are worth the market value. If you are worth $100K+, then you need to make sure your job search is not positioning you for a $70K job. Part of this positioning is making sure your message of value is crystal clear. And, your resume and your message uses the right words for resume software scanning and Internet search engine optimization (SEO), including searches done on job boards or social networking sites.

This brings us to the second part of the core (and the third Pillar of my 4 Pillar Job Search System) which is making connections to get interviews. Yes, this is networking, but how are you approaching networking? There’s the traditional way of asking family and friends who they know, and going to local face-to-face networking events. There’s also the new-age technology way of using social networking sites to meet new people, create new leads, and learn about new job opportunities. You really need to have a positive and professional online presence these days to be considered as a top job candidate. Hiring managers are hanging out on the social sites like Linkedin, and they are searching for you, so you need to enable them to find you. You have to push yourself out there to pull back new contacts.

For example, if you go to Linkedin and do a people search with keywords of “executive job search help”, you will find my profile at the top of the list among more than 2,900 results, and this is from more than 40 million people who are on Linkedin. This is what you want your profile to do when someone searches for a Marketing Director or a SAP FI CO expert (or whatever your area of expertise may be). Push it out there to pull back activity – enable people to find you while you are trying to connect with people to get interviews. If you’re not leveraging technology in your job search, then you are missing out and you may be overlooked entirely.

Bottom line is that you’re worth more than what you might settle for, so don’t overlook your positioning with your job search and don’t fall behind the trends of job search networking.

Nope, not talking about a 3-pointer at the buzzer where the game was won with someone draining the basketball through the net while having a defender’s hand in their face.

I’m referring to a job search report I read today that talked about how job search is different today than it was just a few short months ago, and how significantly different it is from a few years ago.

Things aren’t done the way they were in 1999 or 2008. With the way companies, HR Professionals and Recruiters are embracing technology to make their jobs easier, it is putting more of a challenge on job seekers to adapt.

More and more efforts to find good job candidates are taking place on the Internet, and job seekers who don’t adapt to that change may struggle hard to find opportunities for the kinds of jobs wanted at the pay deserved.

$100K+ job seekers could suffer the most because of the number of job candidates. That’s why failing to plan a job search is surely planning to fail.

Can’t predict the future, but trends sure do point to “nothing but Net” at some point in the future.

If you do the job search wrong, then three things happen…. 1) You don’t get the chance to show hiring managers what you are worth…. That leads to… 2) You start losing confidence in your ability and start thinking that you aren’t worth anything to an employer, and this starts spilling over into your self-esteem… This leads to… 3) Just taking a job that you don’t really want at a pay less than you are qualified to get.

”You’re Worth More”. It’s not just about the resume, or the networking, or the interviewing – it’s about the whole job search working together, leveraging the power of the Internet to reach people, and then showing them what you are worth to them.

I would be happy to explain this simple 4 Pillar Job Search System to any jobseeker. It is a proprietary system I’ve developed that builds confidence while moving people through the job search smarter and faster, with more fun.

I had an exciting breakthrough today with a client. I’m talking about a mental breakthrough that will completely change the way this person approaches the job search as well as the fun and success that comes with it!

My client had the job search light bulb come on. When that happened, I could hear the confidence in the voice and feel the motivation in the air! I could not see the confidence in the eyes because my client is located in South Carolina, and we were talking on the phone, but I’m positive the eyes showed the confidence too.

This client is a $100K+ person. My client came to fully understand that the resume, the networking, the interview – all the pieces of the job search – would not bring a job offer at the pay he deserves unless all the pieces work together as one.

AND, my client now embraces using the Internet to pull networking and interview opportunities his way instead of him hunting through job postings, finding things that are below his abilities, and struggling to make good networking connections. What a concept!!

The message of the story is that “You’re Worth More”, as long as you do the job search the right way. Does that make sense? Let me explain.

If you do the job search wrong, then three things happen…. 1) You don’t get the chance to show hiring managers what you are worth…. That leads to… 2) You start losing confidence in your ability and start thinking that you aren’t worth anything to an employer, and this starts spilling over into your self-esteem… This leads to… 3) Just taking a job that you don’t really want at a pay less than you are qualified to get.

”You’re Worth More”. It’s not just about the resume, or the networking, or the interviewing – it’s about the whole job search working together, leveraging the power of the Internet to reach people, and then showing them what you are worth to them. Make the job search light bulb come on for you just like it did for my client.

I would be happy to explain this simple 4 step process to any jobseeker. It is a proprietary system I’ve developed that builds confidence while moving people through the job search smarter and faster, with more fun. Click on the “Contact Us” link above for contact information.

Significant transformations in how you do a job search are becoming reality. Due to the Internet and technology, job seekers need to consider changing the way they approach job search and career change, or run the risk of being left behind.

Did you know that a large number of HR departments are using automated scanning software that looks for keywords in your resume? If these pre-determined keywords are not in your resume, your resume may not be reviewed by a human. Did you know that the scanning software is becoming more sophisticated and may be using a form of artificial intelligence to make sure the keywords are used in a relevant sentence?

Cast aside the belief that the resume is about you - because it isn’t. Though the resume is your “story”, the heart of it should focus on the needs of the employer. When developing your resume give thought to the person who will be reading it. What are his or her immediate concerns? How will you be able to solve that person’s problems?

Letting go of job loss is hard to do. In life, there are many situations we just have to let go.

It’s natural to have an attachment with a job. When you have this attachment that has been part of you for awhile, it can be a painful experience and feeling when it’s not there anymore.

Even though old job situations are not all fun and games, you might hold on to the past. By not letting go of the fact that your job situation has changed, then you are putting up a roadblock to something new.

Let go of any anger, self-blame, or lack of understanding that holds you back from doing a job search the right way. It might just reveal what you are truly capable of becoming.