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The primary purpose of a cover letter is to convince the employer to read your resume.

Many job seekers mistakenly use cover letters to try and convince employers to hire them. They write long letters detailing their skills and experience and how they apply to the employer’s situation.

Less is more when it comes to cover letters. With often hundreds of candidates for a single position, employers have stacks of resumes and cover letters to read. Drowning in information overload, they can find themselves skimming or even skipping documents.

Wouldn’t it be great if resumes came with flags that popped up and said  “I match what you are looking for in these ways! Read my resume for more information!”  Read more...

What do movie trailers and cover letters have in common?

They are both advertisements. And their goal is to persuade you to take action:

• Go to a movie
• Read your resume

Could you use a more persuasive cover letter?  Take some cues from Hollywood movie trailers and you’ll be getting five-star reviews in no time.

Keep it short and sweet

Producers know that there is a limited attention span for previews. A good movie trailer has to be short to get its message across.

Limit your cover letter to one page. A short cover letter lets the reader focus on your message, and reduces the tendency to skim or ignore your letter.  Read more...

Does your education appear front and center on your resume?

That may not be the best location.

At graduation, students are encouraged to put their education first on their resumes – and that’s good advice.  Education is a new graduate’s strongest asset. 

If you have experience, it’s a different story.  Throughout your career, you’ve developed more assets – skills, accomplishment, capabilities.  Education may no longer be your biggest strength.  It could even be a liability. When that happens - education does not belong at the top of your resume!

Put your Education Where it Best Supports Your Case

Emphasize a strong Education Section by locating it in the top half of your resume’s first page. Putting your Education above the fold gets it noticed by HR and hiring managers.   Read more...

God invented word processing so that we can create a tailored resume every, single time we apply for a job.  I am absolutely certain of it.

In ancient times –  B.W.P. – (before word processing)  there was no “insert”; no “delete”; no “search and replace”. Imagine…an entire world without “undo”!  It was so sloggingly slow to modify a resume that pretty much everybody wrote one resume; end of story. 

Inexplicably, even in our modern, A.W.P. times, most  job seekers still use just one resume.  And it is easy to understand why. The thought of it is just so deliciously, temptingly easy: you write your resume once – and you’re done.    

Sadly, easy is one thing; effective is another.  Read more...