Posts tagged with “resumes”

You've read the blogs, you've commented, you check back weekly, but there still seems to be a burning question that you haven't seen addressed yet. I am sure our readers all have unique situations that have effected their job search, career, and/or unemployment and now is your chance to get your questions answered.

What is happening in your job search that has prevented you from attaining suitable employment? What kind of crazy stories do you have? Feel free to submit your questions to the comments section of this blog post or to email Emurse directly for help. We will take the best questions that are universally accepted across most job searches and answer them for you here.

Examples of some good questions would be the following:

• Should I include references on my resume?
• When promotion times rolls around what is the best way to ask for a promotion? How much should I expect for a raise?
• When is is appropriate to bring up the salary negotiation in the interview process?
• How can I mange a long distance job search if I plan on re-locating?
• I have background "A" and want to do job "B", how do I transition?

Feel free to post your responses here and we will answer the best ones on a future blog.

In a job market that's growing more competitive every day, having an effective, impressive resume that stands out from the crowd is key. Looking to fine tune yours but not sure where to start? No worries, our Resume Rescue series is here to help!

Headline or Objective?

Is it better to start your resume with an objective that states what you're looking for or a headline that says what you have to offer? Some experts argue that an objective is redundant because by submitting a resume it's obvious that both you want a job and that you want a job at whatever company you've sent it to. So wouldn't it be more effective to catch the reader's eye with a headline about what you bring to the table that other applicants might not? On the other hand, an objective gives a potential employer a better idea of what you want, which is just as important in determining a good fit as what you can do.

What do you think? Would love to hear arguments for both sides (objective vs headline) in the comments!

In a job market that's growing more competitive every day, having an effective, impressive resume that stands out from the crowd is key. Looking to fine tune yours but not sure where to start? No worries, our Resume Rescue series is here to help!


If you want your resume to stand out you can't use the same stale and overused phrases that have been used by applicants for years and are all but beaten to death. Some common phrases, like "team player," have become so automatic that they not only mean nothing but can actually harm you by portraying you as boring, run-of-the-mill, and totally uncreative. Instead try describing yourself in a more conversational way, using language you would use if you were just talking to somebody.

Here are some common resume phrases to avoid:

• Excellent communication skills
• Team player
• Strong work ethic
• Works well with all levels of staff
• Results or objectives oriented

Basically just try not to sound stuffy or "canned." Professional, yes. Articulate, yes. Stale and common? Not so much.

In a job market that's growing more competitive every day, having an effective, impressive resume that stands out from the crowd is key. Looking to fine tune yours but not sure where to start? No worries, our Resume Rescue series is here to help!


Employers skim over resumes so fast it's surprising anybody ever gets a job, usually it's about 5 seconds or less for each one as they get sorted into the sought after "take a closer look" pile or the unfortunate but common "paper shredder and then trash bin" pile.

So you only have 5 seconds to catch a manager's eye, what to do? No, neon paper and sparkly ink is not the answer, but you should use the power of effective titles. Tell them what they need to know and they'll want to read more. So don't say simply "Accountant," but something like "Management of A/R and A/P and Recordkeeping" instead. See? Already they know so much more about how awesome you are.

Ever lied on a resume?

Statistics show that as many as 40% of us have -- that's almost half! So what are we all saying when we stretch the truth in an attempt to land a job? Employers say it's usually one of these:

• Stretching dates to cover gaps in employment
• Claiming to have a degree that you don't
• Inflating job titles and/or previous salaries
• Exaggerating technological/computer skills
  
• Claiming fluency in a foreign language (being able to count to 10 does not make you fluent!)

Just remember: while putting a little white lie or two on your resume might seem pretty harmless (you're a catch of an employee, right? Why not make it look that way on paper?) most employers and HR reps are onto the scheme and if they catch you in a lie, no matter how small, your entire application is likely to end up in the trash bin.

Bullet points might be one of your resume's closest friends, but do you know how best to use them to maximize their effectiveness? Here are some points on how best to use bullets:

• Use them in moderation. Like most things you can get too much of a good thing, meaning that a page full of nothing but bullet points isn't much better than a page full of paragraphs.
• Prioritize and put your best points first, because the first thing they read is what a person is most likely to remember. Burying achievements several levels down in a list means they might not even be seen, let alone remembered.
  
• Bullet consistently, i.e. don't use them in one section and not another. Creating a clean, organized resume not only leads the reader to relevant information quickly, but also showcases your communication and presentation skills.
  

In a job market that's growing more competitive every day, having an effective, impressive resume that stands out from the crowd is key. Looking to fine tune yours but not sure where to start? No worries, our Resume Rescue series is here to help!

Ah, the bullet point. Avoided like the plague by some and used to death by others, what's the real value in this unique little typographical tool?

Recruiters and hiring managers spend very little time reading resumes (as little as 3 minutes or less in many cases) and large blocks of unbroken text are likely to get skipped over and may even land your entire resume in the trash bin. But using bullet points can make your resume more reader-friendly, encourage concise and to-the-point writing, and help highlight the things you most want employers to see. They're one of the easiest tools for improving your chances at landing an interview!

In a job market that's growing more competitive every day, having an effective, impressive resume that stands out from the crowd is key. Looking to fine tune yours but not sure where to start? No worries, our Resume Rescue series is here to help!

We've all seen the sitcom scenerios where some character gets caught lying on a resume because they're suddenly expected to speak a foreign language they don't know or be able to perform some crazy stunt they've never done before. Of course sitcoms are full of outrageous exaggerations but one thing about lying on a resume is very true on both TV and in real life: it's not worth the risk of getting caught.

According to this article on CNN 57% of employers report finding lies on resumes, and then 93% of those didn't hire the offending applicant. Not getting hired kinda defeats the purpose of fudging the truth on a resume in the first place, doesn't it?

If you think employers aren't doing their homework and don't check the facts, think again.

In a job market that's growing more competitive every day, having an effective, impressive resume that stands out from the crowd is key. Looking to fine tune yours but not sure where to start? No worries, our Resume Rescue series is here to help!

How many times have you found errors on something after you had already finished proofreading it? It's something that happens to everybody but it's not something you want happening on a resume. What if an employer only has time to interview three candidates but is stuck after whittling it down to four nicely qualified candidates? He might play eenie-meenie-miney-moe, or he might just toss the one that mentioned their wonderful "accointing" skills.

I came across a great list of proofreading tips here with some particularly good ones being:

• Eliminate distractions so you can concentrate
• Read it backwards (to prevent your brain from automatically correcting as you go)
• Switch mediums (i.e. if it's on the computer print it out)
• Get a friend to proofread it

In a job market that's growing more competitive every day, having an effective, impressive resume that stands out from the crowd is key. Looking to fine tune yours but not sure where to start? No worries, our Resume Rescue series is here to help!

This resume tip comes from a comment left by Stephen on a previous post. It was such good advice it seemed worth giving it a post all its own:

"The best resume tip anyone could receive is the following: 'Do NOT use the same resume to apply to every job, adapt your resume for each specific position and make sure to highlight your experience as it relates to the intricate details found in each different job's responsibilities and requirements.'"

So no more cookie-cutter resumes sent out in mass mailings to every business in your neighborhood. Taking the extra time to tailor each resume for each specific job application will pay off in the long run by helping you to stand out from the crowd, and by showing that you really do want that job (not just any job).