Online Career Tips

By Courtney Bousquet
Career Services Contributor

Has it been awhile since you’ve updated your resume or even considered searching for jobs? Perhaps you should take another look at how you’ve worded your experience sections. NBC News shares those turns of phrase job seekers should immediately jettison from their resume in the article “Top 10 Phrases to Ban from Your Resume.” Learn about the common phrases to delete from your resume, to show your best in this two part-series. Continue Reading

By Kristen Carter, Guest Contributor

Your resume is, by far, one of the most important components of the job application process, and if done wrong, could become an obstacle standing between you and your dream job. You want it to accurately reflect your experience and accomplishments in a concise manner, while also grabbing the attention of a hiring manager. At the same time, there are likely many other qualified candidates applying for the same positions that you are. So, how do you get your resume to stay at the top of the pile? While there are many resume tips out there, Donna Fuscaldo mentions three points in her article titled, “How to Make Your Resume Better Than the Competition,” that I would highly recommend implementing in order to increase your chances of landing an interview. Continue Reading

By Susan Adams
Special to Online Career Tips

The toughest thing about putting together a résumé? Figuring out what’s special about yourself. In other words, defining your personal brand.

I’m a journalist with 30 years of experience, but how do my skills differ from countless other 50-something media folk toiling in the editorial trenches?

It had been 10 years since I’d edited my résumé, past time for an update. So I decided to do a résumé fix-up story, using myself as a guinea pig.

My first step was to find a couple of sources who have worked extensively with professionals in my field. I turned to James Borland, a New York career coach affiliated with the Five O’Clock Club, who has done outplacement for clients at The New York Times, Newsday and Time magazine. I vetted Borland’s advice with Eileen Wolkstein, a veteran coach I greatly respect and whom I’ve quoted numerous times.

In Pictures: Seven Ways To Perfect Your Résumé

Borland started out by confirming my suspicion that it makes sense to seek help from a coach who’s worked with others in your field. If you’re going for a job in financial services, for instance, use someone who’s critiqued lots of Wall Street résumés. Do not let a coach write your résumé, however; you have to do it yourself. “An H.R. person or a recruiter will immediately pick it up if a résumé has been written for someone,” Borland says. “All they have to do is spend five minutes with the person, and they can tell the words on the page are not words the candidate would use.”

Both Borland and Wolkstein agree that your résumé should not be a mere list of jobs you’ve had, followed by brisk summaries of the work you did and your college and graduate degrees. That was problem No. 1 with my old version. It wasn’t a marketing document. “Your résumé should entice the reader to want to see you,” says Borland. “It should be designed to sell you as an interesting person to talk to.”

Wolkstein agrees. She also thinks a résumé should tell a story about the résumé-writer, a narrative that captures the reader and makes her want to know more.

Borland told me I had to figure out three reasons someone should hire me, and put that at the top of the page in the form of a summary. That was another element my old version lacked. I just had the word “Experience” underneath my name and contact info, and under that, my current job title and responsibilities.

Borland criticized my old version as too dense. Break up the Forbes section into bullet points, he advised. Pick four to six accomplishments during my tenure, and pull them out, using details and active verbs. I took a stab at that, and Wolkstein pushed me further. I had used the words “write,” “edit” and “create” too many times. I felt mortified, given that I make my living as an editor, when she suggested, “What about other verbs?”

At least Borland liked the fact that I’d mentioned a couple of cover stories I’d written that piqued his interest, including a piece on South Africa’s first black billionaire.That line did what both Borland and Wolkstein wanted me to do: It invited the reader to be interested in me, and it sold me as someone who could produce a substantial piece of work on an intriguing topic.

Borland also exhorted me to describe the reach of the media companies I’d worked for. My old résumé simply said, “Senior Editor, Forbes.” He insisted I include the circulation (900,000 for the magazine, and Forbes.com reaches 30 million people a month). I should do the same with the other places I’d worked.

Still, when I showed Wolkstein my rewritten draft, she pronounced it “essentially good,” but not quite there yet. “What is your place in the world of journalism that makes you special?” she challenged me. Which brought me back to Borland’s point: I should write a marketing document. Hopefully my latest rewrite does the trick.

In Pictures: Seven Ways To Perfect Your Résumé

This is an update of a story that ran previously.

By J. Mason
Online Career Tips Staff

If you want to get your foot in the door, you need to make sure your resume is on point. Being sloppy with your spelling, organization, or not bothering to customize it to the position you’re applying for can seriously hurt your chances. What you need are some simple tips to keep your experience in line with the job, and to get yourself noticed within the pile of applicants.

I recently sat with a Senior Recruiter from American Public University System, Beth Adams. She gave her top 5 resume mistakes, how to avoid them, and a few pet peeves from the HR side of things. Listen to her podcast below for advice on applying, functional vs. chronological resumes, and if a cover letter is necessary.

Common Resume Mistakes & How to Avoid Them by APUS