It’s true. Since I write about jobs and careers, it’s not surprising that I’ve been fielding calls from friends and colleagues, who want me to take a look at their résumé to see what’s missing, give some pointers.

I try to help. They agonize over the details. They’re frustrated beyond belief. They shoot their résumés off in a flick of a button when they hear about a job opening, and then silence-no response.

Sound familiar?

I offer my two cents. (For more strategies to land a job when you’re over 55, read my post here.) But to get some deeper insight, I asked Tony Beshara, author of Unbeatable Résumés (Amacom, 2011), aDallas-based recruiting and job placement powerhouse and president of Babich & Associates to share his secrets.

KH: Why are people so obsessed with their résumé?

TB: The primary reason people spend so much time, money, and effort in writing a résumé is that this is the one activity within the job search that they can control. Instead of picking up the phone and calling a prospective employer to ask for a face-to-face interview-risking potential rejection-people agonize over their résumés.

Here’s the truth–it is rare to get hired by simply submitting a résumé –the purpose of the résumé is to help get you an interview. And at the interview, remember that 40 percent of a hiring decision is based on personality. You’ve got to get the interview and sell your pitutee off.

KH: What makes an unbeatable résumé?

TB: It has to be simple. No more than two pages. The average résumé gets read in 10 seconds. Be sure the content is on a level any high school senior could understand. In other words, the person looking at your résumé should be able to easily understand exactly who you have worked for and what that company does. Just because you know the company or it’s a big name likeIBM, Boeing Corp, or Ford Motor Co, doesn’t mean everyone is familiar with what your specific division does.

• Avoid the fancy-schmancy layout, font, and other special effects. Stick to traditional font of Times New Roman, 9 to 12 point size, and black type against a white paper. You might try a different type size for your name and the companies you have worked for, perhaps your title. But try to be consistent. Go easy on boldface type, italics, and underlining.
• Prepare it in a simple Word format that can easily be viewed on most computers. Not a table format or template.
• Use a reverse chronological order. List your present, or most recent job, first, and then work backwards. You state the complete name of the company you work for, or have worked for, and what they do, how long you were there–month and year. Then list the position you held and your accomplishments. You don’t have to use full sentences. Begin with verbs. “Managed company tax reporting, finance, invoicing, purchasing,” for example.
• Get rid of objectives and summary and all that silly stuff. It’s all fluff. An employer doesn’t care about your objective. He cares about his.
• Skip personal information such as married with three kids. Sounds stable to you. But to a hiring authority looking for someone to travel, it may keep you from being interviewed.
• Stories sell. Numbers, statistics, percentages get attention if you put in bold type. Increased profit by this 28%. Came under budget by 30%. If you were born and raised on chicken farm, note it on your résumé.
• Fuzzy key words and phrases should be avoided. These include customer-oriented, excellent communications skills, and creative. These words lack meaning and do absolutely nothing to help you get an interview.
• Use words that refer to titles- customer service, controller, manager, accountant,
• Get the photos off your résumé. You are looking for a job, not a date.

KH: Does “age” stop people over 50 from landing a job?

TB: Let me be real blunt. People over 50 think they aren’t getting hired because they’re over 50. People who are short think they aren’t being hired because they are short. There is a tendency for people to imagine that what they are works against them.

The question the employer is asking is can you do my job right now and are you a big risk? Most candidates don’t think they are a risk. But if you hire somebody who made more money than this, had a bigger job than this, has been out of work for six months, has had three jobs in three years–these are all risks. Some of those risks come with age, but not the age itself.

I don’t think there’s as much age discrimination as there used to be. The real reason they aren’t getting hired–it’s a rotten, lousy job market out there. With so many candidates to choose from, hiring authorities are compelled to seek out the perfect candidate. They want to hire someone where the job is a step up to them. Not someone who has surpassed the positions, who will walk in six months later and say he or she found a better job.

KH: Sure a great résumé helps, but what’s really at the heart of getting a job?

TB: Networking. You have got to pick up the phone and call everybody that you ever knew, everybody that you ever worked with, every employer that you ever worked with. That’s the way to get an interview. It is estimated 60 percent who find jobs have located them through networking. Sending a résumé to a web site is a joke. It ain’t going to happen. If you don’t establish any personal connection to them it’s is a waste of time.

Brainstorm. Sit down with a spouse and friends and ask for help. Write down the names of previous employers and former colleagues, immediate and extended family. Don’t be embarrassed to call family members when you’re out of work. Get over it.

Call friends of friends, people in your church, athletic club, volunteer organizations, parents of children’s friends. Contact trade and professional associations you belong to–many have job boards. Alumni associations, fraternity and sororities are worth reconnecting with. You never know who will know someone who is hiring. College and university placement offices are there to help no matter how long ago you graduated. Canvas local lawyers, accountants, bank officers in town and see if they know if any clients hiring. In short, you really have to “kiss a lot of frogs’ to find a prince. Leave no stone unturned.

KH: And the biggest frustration when it comes to getting a résumé noticed?

TB: People overestimate who is reading it. Most of the time the people who are reading the résumé really don’t have anything to do with the job and have no direct experience with it. It’s an internal recruiter, somebody in Human Resources, the “Hiring Roadblock” department. Just know if you get relegated to the HR departments, your odds of getting an interview, let alone a job are drastically reduced. That’s just the way it is.

KH: How useful is social media networking?

TB: LinkedIn actually does seem to help people in their job searches. It’s easy to create a profile and begin linking to new contacts. You can update regularly and get recommendations from colleagues, previous bosses, and clients. You can research companies and individuals you want to target, connect with former associates, and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.

KH: Any tips for those who think changing careers is the ticket?

TB: Most people who successfully change careers either go into a profession not saturated at the time, like teaching or healthcare, or they open their own business. A lot of new businesses fail because the people who start them have absolutely no idea how to run a business. Be prepared to start at the bottom, no matter what you decide to do. The probability of being hired in a business you know nothing about, by someone who doesn’t know you, at a decent salary, isn’t very high. So to change careers, you’re most likely going to have to make it a good business deal for a perspective employer-worth the risk involved in taking on someone without proven experience.

KH: What’s the magic ingredient for jobseekers?

TB: Guts. Don’t be bashful. You have to take the risk of picking up the phone and having someone say no, and, maybe hell no. No matter how good your résumé might be, unless it helps you get face-to-face interview with hiring managers, your efforts are wasted.

Getting interviews is hard work. It requires tenacity, persistence, determination, and courage to thrust yourself upon people, even if that doesn’t come naturally to you.  No one likes being rejected. The sooner you face this reality and prepare for rejection, the sooner you will be able to find a job.

KH: Swagger counts.

I’m the author of What’s Next? Follow Your Passion and Find Your Dream Job, available here www.kerryhannon.com. To learn about great jobs for retirees, check out my column on AARP. Follow me on Twitter, @KerryHannon

From Forbes.com

Share and Enjoy

Share and Enjoy

1. Have I had any effect on operating costs? Have I reduced them in some way? What about general overhead for the business; have I reduced that in some way?

2. What responsibilities or results have I had with key accounts?

3. Have I had any involvement in new processes, procedures, or technologies that have been used to automate processes or save the company time or money?

4. What about quality assurance or performance review results? What have others said about the quality of the service I offer?

5. What scores, if any, have I contributed to positively? Have the company rankings/scores increased—or mine personally?

6. Have I contributed to any form of sales revenue for the organization? If so, what was my part?

7. How have I improved the experience for those I work with and the clients, customers, or patrons that I service?

Take the answers from these questions and create accomplishment-based statements that you can use throughout your resume for hard-hitting, memorable impact.

An exceptional resume authority, Jessica Hernandez and her team of credentialed writers partner with professional- and executive-level candidates to open doors to jobs at prestigious corporations, achieving over a 99% interview-winning success rate.

For additional job search and career related advice, check out our blog or follow us on Twitter @GreatResume.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Share and Enjoy

Share and Enjoy

President of CareerJimmy and Author of the new,  Amazing Cover Letter Creator

A cover letter is like a calling card. It's the hiring manager's first impression of you—before you walk into his or her office. In fact, you're not likely to get your foot in the door unless you first introduce yourself through a cover letter that delivers the goods—your name, background, skills, education, and work experience, as well as your interest in competing for the available job.

Keep in mind that in today's job search market, interviews are hard to land, and jobs are scarce in many industries. But that doesn't have to count you out unless you let it. You'll be noticed if you create a professional, eye-POPPING cover letter that nabs the hiring manager's attention, showing clearly the person you are—someone eager to work hard, get the job done, communicate clearly with fellow employees, foster the company's mission, and promote its goals.

Making a Difference—in a Different Kind of Way…

Imagine the response of a hiring manager to someone who can communicate clearly in writing and in person what he or she can accomplish if hired. Such an individual is rare in today's world where many people are more concerned with being taken care of than of taking care.

If you can show that you're willing to align with the company values, come alongside fellow workers, deliver leadership when called upon to do so, and offer creative solutions to problems, you will be snapped up. Hiring managers are looking for people with a strong character and human emotion—individuals who express a team spirit, family values, and a high work ethic.

Therefore, draft a cover letter that will stand up and deliver—your talent, your job skills, and your personality traits, as well as your earnest desire to fulfill the requirements of the position you're competing for.

Example: "I'm eager to join your team and am dedicated to serving your clients, increasing company profits by providing the best possible service, and living up to your impressive mission statement—"to serve and satisfy our clients with honesty and integrity." I've worked in this industry for five years, have had successful relationships with customers and fellow CPA's, and have been acknowledged for increasing the company's profile and profits in a way that reflected well on everyone concerned. May I come in for an interview to discuss how I can add my time and talent to your firm and learn from those of you already in practice?

When a hiring manager reads a professional cover letter of this quality, he or she will take a second look for sure. In fact, such a "stand up and deliver" cover letter will greatly increase the odds of a phone call for the job interview.

It takes extra effort to land jobs in these tough times. Your cover letter can work for you and with you, delivering a compelling reason why YOU should go to the front of the queue for an upcoming interview. And when you do, be ready to stand up and deliver what you promised!

Jimmy Sweeney is the president of CareerJimmy and author of the brand new, "Amazing Cover Letter Creator." Jimmy is also the author of several career related books and writes a monthly article titled, "Tough Times Job Tips."

Visit our friends at Amazing Cover Letters for your "instant" cover letter today. "In just 3½ minutes you will have an amazing cover letter guaranteed to cut through YOUR competition like a hot knife through butter!"

Share and Enjoy

Share and Enjoy

By Stephen Van Vreede

Companies are continually trying to make a commodity of the candidate selection process. They use resume submission (ATS) systems to strip resumes down to the bone. How do you go about distinguishing yourself from the rest of the pack?

One way is to have a QR code on your resume.

What is a QR code?

A QR code is similar to a bar code. The technology has been around for a while, but mostly used in Asia. It has become more popular in the United States within the past several years. Many retailers are placing QR codes in catalogs or with their merchandise so you can scan the individual code and have it link directly to their online information system to provide details about the product offering.

How important is having a QR code on a resume?

The importance of having a one on your resume depends on your situation. For IT and technical candidates, having this code on your resume or business card can help to show that you are in touch with technologies and trends that are current. Think about it...companies are looking to hire tech savvy people. Being able to create one and populate it with meaningful information will give the impression that you are savvy technically.

What information will someone see when they click on my QR code?

When you set up your code, you are going to direct your audience to your personal website, blog, or other Web page communicates that you are up to speed on "new" technologies.

Of course, as a job seeker, you must have online content that you want a prospective employer to see that adds credibility and improves your value proposition. If there is nothing relevant to point them toward, having a code doesn't aid your cause. You can prioritize and control the information that people see about you through a "Google Me" service.

How Do I Get a QR Code on My Resume?

There are several websites out there that enable you to create a QR code that you can add to your resume, business card, email signature, etc. Services also exist to help establish an online portfolio for you so that you have relevant information to your job search to link your code to.

If you like this post, then please "Like" it on StumbleUpon, "Tweet" it through your Twitter account, or post a link to it on your LinkedIn account. Thanks!

Share and Enjoy

President of CareerJimmy and Author of the new

Amazing Cover Letter Creator

When it comes to writing a cover letter, the experts advise you to make it short—using fewer rather than more words, succinct––clear and focused on your key points, and sincere––writing from your heart and mind.

Good advice! But how are you to accomplish this task? Here are some KILLER cover letter tips to get your noticed and hired:

•  Greet the hiring manager.

Dear Mr. or Ms. . . .

•  Give the location of the job ad where you learned about the position.

I appreciate your posting the job description on CareerJimmy.com. I knew at once when I saw. . .

•  Introduce youself to the hiring manager.

I'm a Certified Public Accountant looking for a new position in your city . . .

•  Present your skills.

In addition to my accountancy skills I am known as an excellent communicator and a strong leader with business savvy and tech know-how—abilities that I recognize are important to you.

•  Mention your prior work experience.

I was employed at the Adams-McKinley Accountancy Firm as Vice President for the past five years . . .

• Display your ability to communicate clearly.

Mastering creative problem-solving skills is one of my primary goals. My priority is to examine information, interpret it, and find creative solutions within a framework of responsibility, ethics and honesty.

• Demonstrate your knowledge of the company.

I have wanted to work for Preston and Bates Brokerage House for the past five years and have groomed myself so that when an opportunity to interview for an opening came up, I'd be ready. I respect the vision of your firm—to serve the customer first, last, and always.

• Refer to your enclosed resume.

For specific details about my work experience please see my enclosed resume.

• State your educational background.

I earned my CPA degree from San Diego State University in San Diego, California in 2003.

• Request an interview.

May I meet with you to talk over this important position and how I can contribute to your company and take care of your customers?

• Include your contact information and availability.

I'd be happy to meet you at your convenience any afternoon from one o'clock on. Please phone or email me at my home using the contact information above.

• Express your gratitude for reading the letter.

Thank you for taking time to read my cover letter and for considering me for an interview.

Call For Overtime If Needed

As soon as the cover letter is complete, review it once or twice to see if it did the job. If not, call for overtime. Go through it again step by step, making sure that every word, every sentence, every paragraph and every point is written in the clearest way possible so that when the letter reaches a hiring manager, he or she will know at a glance that you are the person most fit to fill the job opening.         

Jimmy Sweeney is the president of CareerJimmy and author of the brand new, "Amazing Cover Letter Creator." Jimmy is also the author of several career related books and writes a monthly article titled, "Job Search Secrets."

Visit our friends at Amazing Cover Letters for your "instant" cover letter today. "In just 3½ minutes you will have an amazing cover letter guaranteed to cut through YOUR competition like a hot knife through butter!"

Share and Enjoy

Share and Enjoy

Share and Enjoy