Job Search Advice, Resume Writing Tips from a Career Consultant

No one needs to be reminded how little control we have over our lives... especially our work lives. Your career can be thrown totally off-track by a corporate merger, a new boss or brick and mortar relocation. So how can we begin to control our job search? By assuring we have an out-performing resume. The impression we present to the world is actually within our control so why don't we control it and increase out odds of success? September is "Update Your Resume Month," so consider the following...

We do not realize the importance of the resume. Somewhere in some classroom we were taught that if the employer wants to know more about you, he will invite you in to find out what your "sneak preview" didn't express. Resume practitioners know better. They promise a competitive edge and tend to deliver. But the ability to successfully craft a resume that actually surpasses mere vocabulary, sharp graphics or elegant paper lies in one word... strategy. A strong resume has a well-thought out strategy, specifically based on the best message any one candidate can deliver to drive an employer to action. A good resume is not a list of where you worked, what you did or even what you did well. It is a document meant to send a message of strong future performance based on indicators of expertise and meaningful scenarios. Most candidates with whom I meet are failing because they either don't know or can't accept the fact that they have to outperform. One of the two biggest causes of job search failure is an inferior resume. You can be sure that strong candidates will never be granted interviews based on the poor resumes that precede them. If you're not getting interviews.. get help!