Blog
Debra Wheatman, President of Careers Done Write, provides expert insight to the job search process that puts your career in gear with tips for interviewing, networking, job search strategies and how to create a winning resume and cover letter.
Resume Help: Key Words Are Great, But You Better Back Them Up!
Today’s candidate wrote me asking if I could help him identify more key words to put in his resume. Kendell was concerned that his resume did not contain the right key words and that’s why he was not getting invited to interviews. He shared a few postings representative of his target job. Honestly, he had…
Resume Help: How to Make a Good First Impression
You have probably have heard that your resume is read very quickly. If you don’t make a positive impression in a few seconds, you are eliminated. That’s the cold reality. When Brenda presented her resume to me, I knew why she was not getting interview invitations. At a glance, the reader can see that her…
Resume Help: Improving Your Profile
Today’s candidate presents a very bland resume. That can easily be corrected with more sophisticated formatting. The biggest improvement that she could make is to revamp the top third of her resume. You guessed it! A new profile would take her from unnoticed to “in demand.” Let’s look at three major updates for this candidate. Objective…
Resume Help: Overcoming Short Term Jobs and Career Gaps
Today’s candidate, Ben, has sent his resume to dozens of firms over the last six weeks and has not had a single response. He asked me to assess his resume. My first reaction was that these were just rough notes and not an actual resume. The multiple short-term jobs and career gaps are one…
Résumé Help: The Headless Horseman
We can truly call this candidate, “anonymous,” because the candidate’s name and contact information was not on the resume received. We will call today’s candidate, the Headless Horseman. Every so often, this happens and it is very discouraging. Never take the risk of sending a headless résumé. Placing your name and contact information in the…
Résumé Help: Core Competencies
Lydia has not had any response after sending out her résumé. She had a smart idea to list her core competencies. This section is effective on a résumé because it give the reader a quick checklist to help assess if the candidate is a match. Unfortunately, Lydia chose to include 37 of her top skills. …
Résumé Help: The ABCs of Credentials on Your Résumé
Today we examine the top of Paul’s résumé. In fact, we are looking at just the very first line on his résumé, the title line. Paul has a few qualifying credentials, including two degrees and an industry certification. He has listed these credentials after his name. Is this right? Is it pretentious? What is appropriate? …
Résumé Help: Show Me the Money
Today’s candidate presents an uninspired list of job functions. The tenses are not consistent. Some items are merely a statement of a function, like “Stakeholder management.” Many items hint that the candidate may be holding back and not sharing the real accomplishment. Overall, the candidate does not quantify the scope of her responsibilities, such as…
Résumé Help: There’s No “I” in Résumé
One of the common résumé mistakes is to use a non-conventional format. The problem is that the reader will assume that you either don’t know how to write a professional résumé or that you thumb your nose at résumé standards and go your own way. Either impression is not good. Professional résumés are written in…
Résumé Help: Recent High School Graduate
Today we take another look at the résumé of a recent high school graduate, Henry. Henry has never had a “real” job. He’s done odd jobs and chores for family and friends. One summer he painted houses for neighbors and family members. He is interested in a career in technology sales, specifically an entry-level position at…