5 ways to give your résumé a makeover

Fashion and what’s in style change over time—and so should your résumé. What may have been a trendy way to format five or 10 years ago could now be considered outdated. And with technology changing how jobs are found and applied for, being current is more crucial to your job search than ever. Whether you’re just putting together your résumé or feel like your job search is in a rut, take the time to update your résumé’s look with these five tips.

1. Swap out dated categories for modern informationRésumés used to serve as a very different form of introduction than today. While hiring managers used to wonder who you were and what you were looking for, as well as if anybody could vouch for you, today’s hiring process is much more streamlined. “Today, like the understanding of the unspoken objective, everyone knows that a job candidate will provide references when and if they advance to the next stage of the hiring process,” says Karen Southall Watts, business coach, consultant and author.

Instead, find a way to use your résumé’s valuable space more wisely. “The top third of your résumé is prime real estate and should not be home to something as obvious and outdated as an objective statement,” says Watts. “The reader already knows you are looking for a job like the one advertised. It’s better to put a personal branding statement or skills summary in this key area.” Below your contact information, write a short summary of your achievements, years of experience and highlight your skills.

2. Use the latest technology to your advantageWhen designing your résumé, keep in mind both who and what will be receiving it.Bruce Blackwell, managing partner of Career Strategies Group in White Plains, NY, says, “Rule number one is to keep your design simple! Make sure it is compatible with the résumé database programs used by employers and recruiters. Called applicant tracking systems, these programs electronically ‘read’ incoming résumés, parse their keywords and slot them into a database file. Résumés with headers on the name and address lines, with bullet points in the contact area, with fancy lines and other graphic effects, often cannot be read and end up in the garbage.”

Having more than one format of your résumé is crucial to your search. Watts says, “There should be a résumé that works no matter where you need it to go: A printed paper version for traditional employers, a PDF version that can be scanned and a hyperlinked version that ties to samples of your work or your social media links.”

[find 3 more ways here]

Take a Look: Small Changes to Your Resume Can Make a BIG Difference

Do I Look Old in This?

It’s a fact.  Before I ever see you, I see your resume.  If done right, a cursory glance should tell me what I need to know; the result will either draw me in for more detail or send me back to the drawing board.

Your resume is an incredibly powerful document; it should be a thoughtfully crafted record of your career path and accomplishments.  It should convey your personal style, your qualifications, your value, your “brand.”  And when you’re writing it, it’s one of the only times in your entire life that it’s not impolite to brag—sales and marketing folks, I’m talking to you.  But even if you’re doing everything else right, adhering to outdated rules about resume writing can make you look outdated, past your prime, out of the loop, even irrelevant…

In an age when culture (as in “fit”) is as important as qualifications, image matters.  If you want a resume that stands out from the crowd, let your accomplishments, not the uniqueness of the document, be the key differentiator that separates you from the competition.      

Has it been a while since you last considered an updated resume format? 

Dead giveaways:

T.M.I. or Superfluous Personal Details: Your age, date of birth, social security number, marital status, the ages of your children, your hobbies, and your religious or political affiliations, do not belong on your resume (neither does your photograph).

Object of My Objection, Your Objective Statement: Your resume’s headline, the first (and therefore most valuable) part of the page I will read, is the very last place you should consider putting a generic throwaway statement to confirm what any hiring manager already knows—you want a job in your industry that allows you to grow and make a valuable contribution to the organization.  Instead, use this space for an executive summary; craft a brief, but inclusive, statement that encapsulates your skills, experience, and achievements. 

You Know What Happens When You Assume: 
1. You went to college?  So did 95% of the other qualified applicants for this job.  Again, don’t waste the headline space on something I’m going to assume you did, anyway.  Leave Education & Training for last.  2. For future reference: don’t include your references with your resume—if I want them, I’ll ask for them.  And I won’t wait for your written permission to do so, so you needn’t bother ending the document with “References Available Upon Request” because, of course, they are.
3. Accomplished, Dynamic, Detail-Oriented, Team Players don’t misuse prime resume real estate with buzz words; they demonstrate their marketable qualities through quantifiable, easily describable achievements, which they list in context throughout their resumes. 

Colors, and Fonts, and Graphics (oh my!): Unless you are an artist or graphic designer, your resume is not the appropriate place to demonstrate your affinity for a decorative flourish.  Remember that YOU are the main attraction.  The goal is to create a document that is consistent, accurate, well-written (not overwritten; don’t be glib), aesthetically inoffensive, and easy to read.

My One and Only: There is still an incredibly prevalent misconception that resumes should not exceed one page in length.  While I will be the first to agree that sometimes less is, in fact, more (see above, don’t be glib), the one page rule was created for a time when your resume was read on paper, not a computer monitor.  The idea was to prevent pages from becoming separated and leaving a hiring manager with an incomplete profile.  You don’t need to leave out important details, edit out half of your work history, use a microscopic font, or drastically reduce the margins to create a resume of acceptable length.  Write until you’re done.  If I’m looking at it on paper, that’s because I printed it out (and I printed it out because I felt it was strong enough not to delete from my email, where I can easily find another copy should the pages become separated).

Enough is Enough: Words for the sake of length suggest a lack of substance or that you paid someone else (by the word) to write your resume.  The more you write, the harder it is to find the information I need.  The harder it is to find, the less likely I am to look.  Hiring managers look at a steady stream of resumes—don’t expect to get many phone calls if you have buried your skills, accomplishments, and background in needlessly verbose paragraphs.  Respect white space on the page.  Don’t make me squint.  Don’t make me read for comprehension.  Use bullet points and make the reasons I should hire you so obvious it’s practically impossible not to see them.

-Contributed by Kate Harlow

How To Redesign Your Resume For A Recruiter’s 6-Second Attention Span

by mark wilson @ fastcodesign.com

 

THE AVERAGE RECRUITER SPENDS SIX SECONDS ON YOUR RESUME. 

SO THIS IS WHAT YOU DO.

It’s frightening. You’ll spend most of your waking life at a job, yet, according to a new study by TheLadders, the average recruiter spends just six seconds looking at your resume. By the end of that time, they’ll determine whether you’re “a fit” or a “no fit.”

“The only research that had been done in this domain was self-reporting surveys, which simply was not good enough for us to understand what drives recruiters’ decision-making,” Will Evans, Head of User Experience at TheLadders, tells Co.Design. So Evans led a study that followed 30 recruiters for 10 weeks. Or, more accurately, it followed just their eyes. Using eyetracking gear, Evans’ team measured what recruiters really see.

 

The result is this heat map tracking six seconds of someone’s attention span. (The darker the spot, the longer a recruiter’s eyes sat on that part of the page.) It’s absolutely jarring to see such a clinical view on resume analysis--a clinical view that Evans refers to simply as “a design problem.” Namely, it’s up to job seekers to design a resume that can fit within what are now known restraints.

“Both resumes and online profiles should have a clear visual hierarchy, following a format that matches recruiters’ mental model,” Evans advises. “To reduce the strain of visual complexity, focus on a balanced, grid-based design that gives affordance, has a natural rhythm, and tells a compelling story of steady progression in your career.”

He recommends liberal use of both typography and white space to enable effortless scanning of titles, company names, and education. And that approach makes sense when you return to our trusty heat map. The hot spots are routinely those left-aligned bold headings, and the recruiter’s entire workflow just cruises through the left side of the page. Meanwhile, any big blocks of texts aren’t read whatsoever.

So don’t consider headings pedantic; consider them what Evans calls “quick bursts of information,” or the type of information you can convey in a matter of moments. But at the same time, he also recommends to cut whatever you can.

 “A resume is not the time to write a screenplay or jam every activity or responsibility you have ever done in your previous roles,” writes Evans. “We firmly believe that a minimalist approach to the design that focuses on the most important data and removes all information that does not solve a recruiter’s or hiring manager’s need should be removed.” This minimalist approach should be supported from content all the way through formatting. And that means something very strange: To stand out, you actually want your formatting to conform. Even clever infographics should be cut. 

“Avoid unnecessary embellishment, or as Edward Tufte might call it, ‘chart junk.’ Visual elements that do not solve a recruiter’s need or goal should be removed,” writes Evans. “This may be somewhat controversial, but we have proven data revealing that visual resumes, images, and infographics are not a good idea--at least not at the initial screening part in the process. Save those for the hiring manager when you can present your portfolio and showcase your design acumen.”

http://www.fastcodesign.com/1669531/how-to-redesign-your-resume-for-a-recruiter-s-6-second-attention-span

Capture Your Personal Brand in One Sentence

By Abby Locke of The Ladders

Describe your value, then convince others.

Your personal brand is the keystone to communicating your value during a job-search campaign. Once you have a clear statement to describe your value to an employer, you can start convincing others to believe it.

Gain a competitive advantage by honing a personal brand statement. Include it in your resume; revise it to create an attention-getting, 30-second elevator pitch; expand upon it through career success stories in an interview and communicate it frequently to others at networking events.

The following examples use the same personal branding statement, which was developed for a manufacturing executive.

I employ cutting-edge technologies to speed manufacturing so companies can grow revenues, cut costs and increase profits.

How best can you use this simple statement of value? While you don't want to repeat it word for word, you can improve your perceived market value by weaving this message into every phase of the job search.

1. Incorporate it into your executive summary

With only 20 to 60 seconds to catch a recruiter’s or hiring manager’s attention, you can draw them into your resume and set the tone in your header and executive summary:

Example:

SENIOR MANUFACTURING EXECUTIVE
Senior executive with broad-based expertise steering multimillion-dollar, global manufacturing companies. Strategic thinker able to identify new technologies that make manufacturing more efficient and revenues stronger, improving profit margins. Creative leader with proven strengths in P&L management, product innovation and turnaround operations.

2. Add power to your elevator pitch

As you network, you'll need a brief, memorable elevator pitch that sells your value, not just your experience.

Before:

“Hi, my name is Carl Brown, and I am an executive with 15-plus years’ experience with global manufacturing companies.”

After:

“Hi, my name is Carl Brown. I'm an experienced manufacturing executive who deploys new technologies for global companies seeking efficiency and revenue growth. Some of the top companies I have worked with include ABC Plastics, Newform Manufacturing and TechNec Corporation.”

3. Make an impresion in interviews

Understanding the core of your personal brand will help you answer critical interview questions with authority.

Question: “So Carl, tell me about yourself.”
Possible answer: “OK. As you've seen from my resume, I've got more than 15 years’ experience in P&L management, product innovation and turnaround management for global manufacturing companies in the plastics industry. Throughout my career, I have employed innovative technologies to manufacture products more efficiently. That's helped my employers achieve aggressive business goals.”

Once you can articulate your unique value to your next employer, you can leverage that personal-branding message in creative new ways.

Brain Dump and Brainstorm Your Way to a Resume

By Lisa Vaas from www.theladders.com

If you’re not a professional writer, writing about yourself is hard, but brainstorming techniques can get the ball rolling and the creative juices flowing.

How can you perform your own resume brain dump? First, stop weeping. Stop staring blankly at the questionnaire your professional resume writer has asked you to fill out. Most of us have ample skills and qualities that can shine in a well-done resume. TheLadders spoke to professional writers for their tips on how to mine that gold and brainstorm your resume.

Brain-dump prep
Professional writers recommend job seekers take these steps before sitting down to brainstorm resume writing:

1. Analyze the job posting. What specifically is the employer looking for? This will come in handy when a job seeker analyzes which of his own skills and qualities will match the job description.

2. Get organized. Before tackling your resume, Heather Rothbauer-Wanish advises job seekers to make a list of previous employers, dates of employment and job duties. Know the official names of schools and dates of graduation. You'll use all this information when you sit down to write the resume, said Rothbauer-Wanish, a professional resume writer and owner of Feather Communications.

Brain dump
McDaniel's brain dump is a simple technique that should take about 15 minutes but "yields incredible results," she said.

1.Brainstorm First, set a timer and write without stopping for a minimum of 5 minutes. The key to success is to keep your pen flowing without stopping; just keep writing, no matter what garbage you cough up, even if it's, "This is stupid," or "I don't know what to write," MacDaniel said. The technique, familiar to creative writers who've worked through the Zen techniques Natalie Goldberg teaches in her book "Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the Writer Within," breaks down your internal filter, "opening the way to fresher ideas and deeper insights," MacDaniel said.
If this is too loosey-goosey, try this exercise from Rothbauer-Wanish: Ask yourself, "What did I really do at that job?" Many times, she said, people don't give themselves enough credit for the tasks and responsibilities they've had in the workplace. Detailing a typical work day and writing down your activities "may spark ideas and help you recall additional job duties," she said.

2. Find the nuggets. Next, McDaniel said, set the timer for 5 minutes again. Go over what you've written, and sift out the key points. If most of it is chaff, don't worry: "Even the rejects are part of the process and lead you from one point to the next."

3. Outline. Assign each key point a number. Make the best information No. 1. That's the material that you'll feature at the top of the resume. Go through and label the rest of the key points in this manner, from most to least important. This form of outlining is "organic," McDaniel said, because it evolves from the material and "helps to cut down on procrastination."

4. Write. Using the key points from the outline, start adding to the meat of the resume. Make sure you prove your worth in quantifiable ways. Amanda Collins, chief of staff for The Grammar Doctors, suggests using the CAR (Challenge, Action, Result) formula.
She provided this example:

Sales were down (C), so you implemented training and employee recognition programs (A), which boosted sales 25 percent in six months (R).

"Of course, quantitative results are best, but qualitative are great too," she said. "Consider things like increasing revenue, decreasing costs or improving customer service/employee relations."

LinkedIn's top 10 overused résumé phrases

 By Mark Milian, CNN

With national unemployment at 9.8 percent, Americans are looking for ways to make their job applications stand out.

However, peppering résumés with tired or empty buzzwords probably isn't the recipe for becoming a standout job candidate.

LinkedIn, the social networking site for professionals, has compiled a list of the 10 most overused terms and phrases within the profiles of its 85 million members.

"We wanted to reveal insights that help professionals make better choices about how to position themselves online," DJ Patil, LinkedIn's lead data analyst, said in a statement.

Job seekers may want to search through their résumés and cover letters and reconsider using any instances of these words:

1. Extensive experience

2. Innovative

3. Motivated

4. Results-oriented

5. Dynamic

6. Proven track record

7. Team player

8. Fast-paced

9. Problem solver

10. Entrepreneurial

Jessica Holbrook Hernandez, president of Florida-based Great Résumés Fast, recently compiled her own list of throwaway phrases. She says she cringes when coming across things like "great communication skills" or "attention to detail."

These terms, she writes, "are frequently used on résumés, often by candidates who really don't even possess them. Instead of using these throwaway terms to describe yourself, attempt to outline specific accomplishments."

Weekly Wisdom: October 18, 2010

Smoothing Out a Bumpy Work History

Ten jobs in 10 years might look like a job hopper or a committed consultant, depending on how you present your work history in a resume.

By Lisa Vaas, http://www.theladders.com/

It didn’t make sense.

Doneé had been searching for work in the digital media industry for nearly eight months by the time she hooked up with career coach Adriana Llames, author of "Career Sudoku: 9 Ways to Win the Job Search Game". Doneé had in-depth industry knowledge, plenty of contacts and is good at networking.

Then Llames saw her resume. Whoa.

Ten jobs in the past nine years? No wonder she wasn’t succeeding. Llames called a few executive recruiters in the digital media industry and asked if they knew, or had worked with, her client. They all said that they wouldn’t represent her because of what they called her “unstable work history.”
Llames, like all career coaches, doesn’t have the luxury of passing on such a problem child, so she rolled up her sleeves. Here’s what she did to help position Doneé’s unstable work history in a positive light, and some of the techniques professional resume writers often employ for those like Doneé with bumpy histories.

List Contracting Positions as One “Consulting” Job

In the course of reviewing Doneé’s resume, Llames found that nearly 65 percent of her positions starting in 2001 were consulting roles. Doneé is, in fact, currently consulting. So Llames grouped the consulting gigs together and focused all of Page 1 on her client’s consulting expertise and clients.
Cheryl E. Palmer, a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW), noted that many people use their names for the name of their consulting organization (i.e., James Smith Consulting Group). “It makes the resume much crisper and cleaner to summarize consulting jobs under one position and combine the dates for all of the consulting work rather than listing them all separately.”

Llames followed suit and listed the other positions, even though they each lasted about 12 months, on Page 2. But, Llames told her client, she was still concerned that what she called “her career ADD [Attention Deficit Disorder]” would come across even with the revised resume.

That makes networking all the more important. Llames suggested that, whenever possible, Doneé should try to “keep her resume to herself until she’s across the table from someone and they’re already in love with her and ready to go.”

When to Delete a Gig

It’s OK to omit those full-time positions with extremely short tenures. Palmer said that the rule of thumb for full-time positions is to omit those that last less than three months.

Account for Your Time Away From Work

Shel Horowitz, ethical marketing expert and author of eight books, advised one client who'd been out of the workforce raising children for 10 years. As many resume experts advise in such cases, he highlighted her volunteer work as if it consisted of paying positions (without, of course, saying that they were actually paying positions, which would have been a lie). The client got a job as director of a local human services agency. (Click on the link that follows for our in-depth look at transitioning from full-time parenting to full-time work.)

For another client, he accounted for a two-year gap by talking about the travel he did in that period.
Many professionals also mask short employment gaps by using whole-year formats for dates instead of month/year, but many hiring managers report that this raises suspicions and few resume experts recommend trying to hide gaps in this manner. Stick to the month/year format and come up with something relevant to insert into the gap, whether it’s family illness, sabbatical, professionally relevant courses, volunteer work, working on a book, etc. — just make sure it’s accurate and truthful. If you’re unemployed now and lack such justifications, immediately start working on being relevant in one or more of these ways. (Click on the link that follows to learn more about handling negatives on your resume.)

Weekly Wisdom: October 11, 2010

6 Steps to Put Your Resume in the Right Hands

E-mail and snail mail your resume and cover letter to the source

By Mark Bartz of The Ladders

Put away your wallet. You don't need to drop hundreds, or many thousands, of dollars to blindly blast your resume and cover letter to the right employer. Here are six easy steps that will save time and money, and land you interviews in the unadvertised job market. This information comes from your peers, especially sales and marketing professionals: We followed up with (literally) hundreds of them during their job searches to learn the latest best practices for resume distribution. This information also comes from major employers who source us for America's top sales and marketing talent.

If you follow these steps you can expect a 6 to 9 percent response rate as opposed to the 1 to 2 percent response rate using the normal resume distribution methods. 

Step 1: Submit your resume initially by e-mail. Set e-mail type to HTML, not plain text. Don't convert your resume to a PDF. Set your spell check so you can't send anything out without first spell-checking your message. And don't use an e-mail stationery; use a white background — no color or graphics. E-mail each employer individually — anti-spam software is set to recognize and reject mass e-mail sends. Word-wrap your sentences at 60 characters — this prevents those awkward-looking e-mails with fragmented sentences.

Send your cover letter (with contact information) in the e-mail body and your resume as an attached document. Be sure the cover letter is addressed to the recipient or Attn: HR. Your subject line should be  "Resume of (Your Name) for (Job Title)." If you can, set your e-mail options as follows: the importance to 'high,' the sensitivity to 'confidential' — almost no one does this and it gets you noticed. In the body of the e-mail, be sure to state that "I am pursuing a (fill in the blank) role with your organization." And, "I've attached my resume for your review and look forward to your response." Finally, run anti-virus software frequently! Annoying little viruses may be interfering with your "open rates" as most companies run server-side anti-virus products. 

Step 2: At the same time you're e-mailing the employer, mail them a hard-copy resume. Print using a laser printer on 24-lb. white paper with a lumens rating of at least 90. Don't use 'resume paper' unless you're presenting the resume in person (it doesn't scan as well as plain white paper). Mail it flat in a gray envelope: Folds don't scan well and white envelopes may become soiled moving through the mail. Hand-write or computer-print addresses on mailing labels — and be sure to use a waterproof (non-smear) pen. 

Step 3: Send a follow-up e-mail to the same e-mail address you used in Step 1. In the e-mail subject header, put: "Follow-up to resume of (your name)." In the body of the e-mail, paraphrase the following:

"Attn: Human Resources: I am following up to be sure you received my resume, and to see if there is an opportunity for an interview. I am seeking a role in (fill in blank) with your organization. I look forward to meeting you in person, and I welcome your referral to any colleagues who may be interested in my unique background and skills." 

Step 4: Mail a follow-up card, using the verbiage above; hand-write the note. If your handwriting is like mine (terrible!) then slow down and print the note. Use the 'thank you' blank cards they sell at stationery-supply stores like Staples, Office Depot, etc., which price out to about 50 cents each plus postage. You should get a better response with those notes vs. not using them! 

Step 5: Some discreet guerilla marketing tactics: If you find an employer asking for resumes by fax but not disclosing who they are, call that fax number but change the last digit in the phone number (it will likely be a person sitting next to the fax machine); use your finesse to ask that person for an appropriate contact name within HR or the division you're targeting. If you must fax, set your fax mode to "fine." You'll likely find your fax machine currently in the "standard" mode — switching to fine mode will slow down the fax but typically doubles the clarity of the recipient's fax — test-send once to see the marked improvement for yourself. 

Call the department you're considering working for and ask them to recommend a professional association for you to join. Attend meetings of that professional association as a visitor, but be sure to get training on the latest techniques in networking and informational interviewing before you try this! This sort of networking requires a light touch, particularly for the full-time job seeker.

Even if you have a contact in the organization, always phone the front lobby of the company to ask for names of HR or the appropriate hiring manager — it goes without saying to get names and titles correct. Remember there's a high turnover rate of employees at all levels these days — 50 percent every 2.4 years according to the Department of Labor — so gathering accurate contact names can be a chore but makes a much bigger impact. 

Step 6: Resend your updated resume every few months while you're conducting a search, because most employers purge their resume databases at regular intervals. How often? It depends on the employer. We've seen Fortune 1000-level employers purge resumes older than 90 days; they need to because they receive an average of 400 resumes daily. A second reason they purge their files is to avoid legal discrimination (EEOC) suits. Regulatory compliance is also one of the major reasons larger employers use resume scanning software called Human Resource Management Systems (HRMS) or Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS).

Happy hunting! And of course, if you still want to spend that extra resume distribution cash, there are always charitable funds. Please let us know if you have your own insight to add to the above...we're always looking to refine our most current information.

Weekly Wisdom: 9/13/2010

What's in a name?

When it comes to resumes, resist the urge to use overly inflated or ambiguous job titles.  Clarity is the one characteristic shared by all great resumes; it doesn't matter that you're good at something if I have to spend five minutes figuring out what that something is and why it's important to me!  Was your title "account manager" but you were doing outside sales, generating 100% new business?  Do they call you a "sales manager" even though all your work is over the phone and you've never left the office or brought on an existing account?

The most effective way to get recognized in a saturated candidate pool is to be clear about who you are and what you've done and what you have to offer a potential employer.

Weekly Wisdom-August 23, 2010

10 Ways to Get Your Résumé Tossed

CareerBuilder.com writer

Writing a résumé isn't exactly a speedy process. First there's the brainstorming. Then, you have to write -- and rewrite, and rewrite -- your educational and work histories until your résumé perfectly boasts your background. Plus, there's all that proofreading.

Even though your résumé took you hours to write, hiring managers will typically spend less than one minute reviewing it. If your résumé has any glaring errors, however, employers will waste no time deleting it.

To ensure your résumé gets proper attention, avoid these 10 all-too-common blunders:

1. Not bothering with a cover letter. Cover letters are so important to the application process that many hiring managers automatically reject résumés that arrive without them. Make the most of your cover letter by expanding on a few of your qualifications, explaining any gaps in employment or providing other information that will entice the employer to read your résumé.

2. Giving your résumé format a little "flair." Unusual fonts or fluorescent pink paper will certainly make your résumé stand out -- in a bad way. Keep your résumé looking professional by sticking with standard white or cream-colored paper, black type and a common font like Arial or Times New Roman.

3. Going long. Since your high school job scooping ice cream probably isn't relevant to your career anymore, it shouldn't be included on your résumé. Your résumé shouldn't be longer than two pages so only include your most recent and relevant work history.

[**be careful...stopping short on your job history can also be viewed negatively; don't go into great detail about your job scooping ice cream, but if you did it for three years after college, don't leave a gaping hole in your work history either]

4. Focusing on duties, not accomplishments. Instead of writing a list of job duties on your résumé, demonstrate how each duty contributed to your company's bottom line. For example, anyone can plan the company fund-raiser, but if you note that your fund-raiser brought in 50 percent more money than the previous year's event, the hiring manager will be take notice.

5. Having a selfish objective. Employers are trying to determine whether you're a good fit for their organizations, so everything on your résumé should point to your experience. A summary of qualifications that conveniently displays your accomplishments and background is far more effective than a generic objective statement ("To gain experience in...").

6. Being too generic. Always customize your résumé and cover letter for each job and employer to which you apply. This way, you can tailor your materials to show how you will be a perfect fit for the position.

7. Guesstimating your dates and titles. With the proliferation of background checks, any "upgrades" you give your titles or stretching of employment dates to cover gaps will likely get caught -- and eliminate you from consideration.

8. Tell everyone why you left. Never put anything negative on your résumé. If you left the position due to a layoff or you were fired, bring it up only if asked.

9. Include lots of personal information. It's fine if you enjoy fly fishing on Sunday afternoons, but unless your hobby relates to your career, it doesn't belong on your résumé. The same goes for your height, weight, religious affiliation, sexual orientation or any other facts that could potentially be used against you.

10. Assume spell-check is good enough. Spell-checkers can pick up many typos -- but they won't catch everything (manger vs. manager, for example). Always proofread your résumé several times, and ask a friend to give it a final review.

Weekly Wisdom: July 12, 2010

Top 5 Unforgivable Resume Errors (in no particular order): HIT Edition

1. You cannot be CCHIT certified
2. It's HIPAA--not HIPPA
3. Leaving HER in place of EHR (your MS Word autocorrect function will 'fix' EHR every time)
4. Not enough detail: while employers value generic skill on some level, in a rapidly-growing industry, your experience is a tremendous asset, so providing details that paint a clear picture of your breadth of relevant knowledge is essential to making sure you don't miss out on your dream job
5. Too much information: don't overwhelm your reader with non-essential information--you don't win a prize for using the most acronyms or strategically peppering your resume with today's top industry buzz word

Weekly Wisdom: July 5, 2010

Looking for a job when you have been out of work is tough.  It's exhausting.  Some days it feels as if the forces of the universe are working against you.  Looking for a job if you're 55 or better can feel nearly impossible, but only if you let it. 

Here are some additional tips for older job seekers:

Step 1.
Don't walk into the interview a victim.  Shed previous negative interview experiences and thoughts of age-discrimination; focus on what you bring to the table instead of all the reasons why they may not offer you a seat.  Connect, be enthusiastic, your experience is an asset--don't downplay your resume, use it to demonstrate that you've got what they're looking for.

Step 2.
Talk about (and think of) your experience in terms of skill sets; not lengthy stories about relationships with past employers.  Highlight your accomplishments instead of your years of experience; what you did is far more important than how long you were there.

Step 3.
Shatter stereotypes: be flexible, energetic, tech savvy.  Buy a Blackberry or an iPhone, use a laptop, spend time brushing up on your computer skills.  Hang out on Linkedin.com, visit the company website and make full use of the available online tools.  If you are a true novice, acquire basic computer skills: start with Microsoft Office applications and learn to do Internet research.

Step 4.
Your resume should be honest (really honest, not technically true but purposely misleading), however, don't feel obligated to share every detail.  If you don't feel comfortable listing the year you graduated, leave it off--but don't bristle when someone asks you to confirm your year of graduation.  Try a functional resume; group your skills, highlight your accomplishments, pull out what they need to know if they don't get past the first half page of your resume and list your employers and tenures separately.  You don't have to go all the way back with dates, but list all the companies.

Step 5.
Be prepared for questions you won't want to answer such as "How long do you plan to work?" and "Do you believe you are overqualified for this job?"

Step 6.
Seek out age-friendly employers and look for organizations that will be a good cultural fit; you should probably limit your applications to young, hip technology startups where the entire executive team was born after 1980.  Check out the executives and middle management online, find out who your peers would be--look for the people you want to work with and work for.

adapated from SFGate.com (with additional notes by HITRecruiters)

Ask a Recruiter: Playing to Your Audience

Help, I'm overqualified!

Being 'overqualified' is a common challenge in today's job market and one that can be overcome with the correct approach to your job search.  Here are a few tips:

1. Don't lie.  The quick fix might seem to be leaving jobs, titles, even degrees off of your resume--don't.  Being caught in a lie, even a tiny lie of omission, is one of the quickest ways to lose an offer and destroy any credibility you had with your potential company and the employer.  Instead, re-write your resume to frame your experience in a way that more directly relates to the job you are being considered for and be prepared to address the question of why you want the job when you get to an interview.
2. Look at your resume from the employer's perspective.  Does your resume scream "this guy is going to take the next job that comes along"?  If it does, don't expect a phone call.  If your resume looks like a clear career path and this job isn't on it, your potential employer will view you as a bad investment.  If you don't appear to want the job, if there's no logical reason why a person with your background would want the job, you won't get the job; unless it's a part-time or contract position, the company is looking for a long term fix.  A smart employer won't hire a band-aid.
3. Consider a functional resume.  By highlighting your skills and accomplishments and by separating them from impressive job descriptions and intimidating titles you can clearly and easily demonstrate what you have to offer in spite of the fact that you were a Senior Vice President at your last company and this is a Director-level position.  If you don't want people to get hung up on your title, don't give it top billing.  Pair that with a thoughtful, well-crafted cover letter that speaks to the needs and culture of the company and follow up with a phone call to dramatically improve your chances of getting the interview.
4. Be selective.  Don't look at full-time permanent positions that will have an expiration date on the day you start.  Limit your search to relevant opportunities that interest you, companies you can see yourself growing with. 
5. Remember that meeting the qualifications is just over half the battle.  The perfect candidate on paper rarely gets the job; if you have half of what the company is looking for, you have the opportunity to land the job if you demonstrate that you are interested,  you understand what the company looks for, how your skills are a match and why you would be a great hire, a great fit for the company and a worthwhile investment.