Tag Archives | resume tips

Resume & Cover Letter Mistakes You Don’t Want To Make But Others Have!!

By on October 10, 2014 in Career Advise

Sometimes you just have to stop and laugh at what the universe sends you but we can actually learn from these humerous errors as well.

Below are just a few laugh out loud errors that have been sent my way. Happy Laughing. Happy Learning.

In Cover Letter: Benefits currently include…”Ham at Christmas” That was conversation I will never forget. I had to call him confirm it was real…it was!! “Ham can be expensive at Christmas, you know?” Was his response…for the record this was a 90k figure guy!

Email address: missyshakes@*******.com Your email address should be professional…Missshakes might agree…and it does exist!!

A gap in employment because…..”Dog Was Sick” I understand people love their pets but not everyone is a pet person this smells like a person with serious issues

“Perfectly Bilingual Written/ Spoken English, French Spoken, Some Italian” Umm..Perfectly bilingual in itself doesn’t make sense but then to break it down to not being bilingual at all???

Sent out a resume on the back side of a draft cover letter to another firm with the words “Pays attention to detail in the cover letter” Just Pay Attention!!

Wrong Name And Company In The Message. Hi, I’m Jessica, Not Jennifer, Not Jasmine, Not Stacey, Nor Susan or Marissa or Nancy…although nice names, they are not mine. My name is Jessica and my company name is MindHR, pretty simple 🙂

Send Cover Letter On Current Company Letterhead! I get you are working but can you at least have the decency to NOT use your current company’s property…it makes me very uneasy

Including Naked Pictures/Half Naked Pictures- If you think you are hot save the gogglers for the beach…I am not Candy-Dating. I am trying to get the best of the best for my clients not the egocentric, narcissistic ones.

Bachelors In Arts 1990 to present…Ummm so when are you going to be finishing that???

Reason for leaving for 4 careers in a row Layoffs but all companies are still in working order and there are no references RED FLAG!!

“Turnaround Consultant- Turned X Y Z companies around” And let me guess you are also a well educated, articulate person with many words!!

15 Page Resume!! I didn’t think it was ever going to end!! DO NOT DO IT!! Send a 2-3 page MAX!

Gardenview Elementary School I really never need to know when you went to elementary school…I’m trying to think of a time I need it, but nope…never…I don’t even need to know when you went to high school…keep to college and above and should we know people in common let’s figure it out when we speak.

Write THIS Resume To Land Your Dream Job!

By on August 28, 2014 in Career Advise

The time will come when you want to leave your snug job and when that time comes you have to ask yourself: “Is my resume parallel to the career I am looking for?” That resume you put together in college landed you your first office job but as you try to scurry up the food chain that resume sink right into the interweb trash can. So as you grow up, so should your resume.

1) Write about your achievements. You had x job and did a, b, c. But NO you didn’t just do a,b,c you accomplished x, y, z!! You save the company money, you opened multinationals, you led a team of all sorts of trades, you negotiated off the ying and the yang to reach the end of the earth for the company you worked for and THIS IS HOW!! Explain what you did and how you did it! Your new hiring manager wants to see numbers and names. Throw them!

2) You didn’t just reach targets you went above and beyond because you did THIS!

3) Add color and spice and everything nice. You need to stand out on paper. Your resume is you selling yourself on paper. Cap where caps go, italic where italics go, use small and large fonts, use graphs and diagrams BUT ALWAYS BE CONSISTENT!!

4) You are one person with many talents who may have a few jobs that are of interest to you. You may want to be a GM, a Director of Operations or a VP. Whatever the case may be do know it’s okay to have more than one resume for more than one job.

5) Say goodbye to your objectives on the top of the page. Your applying for a job, we get it you are motivated, highly educated, and a thought provoking team leader. Instead brand yourself, add information we can’t find anywhere else on your resume, add things you did but be sure you actually did them.

6) NEVER LIE!! I don’t care how great this all reads to you, don’t you dare lie. Liers get caught in one way or another….Karma baby karma!

7) Date your work. If you are senior go about 15-20 years but not more! DO NOT add high school but add dates to all other places and if you worked at one place for many years, break it down to what you did when. And don’t tell me you have to think…we all have to think!

8) Just because you are out of school doesn’t mean education isn’t important. Add all relevant degrees, affiliates and certifications. And do know if you are applying to certain careers a scuba certificate can be interesting BUT for others and most…keep it out! (Point 8.5, Know your audience. Do your research about what works and doesn’t work with the company, figure out if and where they volunteer, perhaps not only are your interests are the same but you have both been to the same event at the same time.)

9) References upon request is old school. Of course you will give references if requested. If not what’s the matter with you?? And with that though don’t add your actual references here, wait until asked or bring your glowing letters to an interview. It’s manners 🙂

10) Your information on the top of the page can be limited to your name, your phone number, your email address, your twitter, linkedin link but after that no need to add more. You can leave your actual mailing address out, it won’t be used until you are hired.

11) If you are too lazy to do this all yourself. There are resume writing agencies that can help….including ours but do know no resume will guarantee you a job. It will hopefully get you an interview but after that it’s all you.

Do know, the bigger the job, the more humanistic the process will be. You will have multiple interviews with multiple people. It may all be for nothing but you don’t know what you can or will have until you try. So fix your resume and get on out there!