What is the purpose of a resume?

Sidestepping the question of “are resumes relevant,” I want to talk about something else: what is the purpose of a resume?
In my job search I thought my resume was to help me get branded, and help me in my networking efforts.
It was also to impress people that I gave the resume to.
I think that those [...]

Job Search Interviews

I just saw a tweet from Jacqui Poindexter linking to a terrific post from Jeff Lipschultz, a partner in a Dallas recruiting shop.
If anyone knows the ins-and-outs of success in a job search interview, it would be a recruiter, right?
Jeff’s post, Successful Interviewing: Part 4 – How to “Shine” During the Interview, is an amazing [...]

Why do hiring managers hire people?

The question is, what is going to influence a hiring manager to actually hire someone?  You need to be able to answer this question – in generally, and hopefully specifically as it relates to the hiring manager who is interviewing you.
Last week I wrote The underqualified candidate, which I’ve had on my mind for quite [...]

Job Search Ethics

Have you come across any ethical issues in your job search?  I’m not referring to the company’s stuff, I’m referring to what a job seeker does.
This week I saw a blog post (I can’t find it now) that talked about a job seeker who wanted to apply for a job, but wanted to get more [...]

There is power in being prepared

What if, when you got laid off, you had a resume that was ready to go.  Completely updated, with all the right wording, all the right statements, and the right message.
What if, when you got laid off, you had a strong, large network of professional contacts who were ready and anxious to help you find [...]

What are you Job Search tools?

Career-Resumes writes resumes.  That’s obvious.  So you got your resume, and it’s great!  What are the rest of your job search tools?  Here are some that I try and keep on-hand:
Your resume is the industry standard document which everyone knows and accepts.    You may make progress in your job search and networking without one, but [...]

Internalize Your Resume

I have to share a rather embarrassing story with you.  In my job search I was interviewed by a handful of companies… so each one was like gold.  There was a company I was very, very interested in.  They were a high-tech startup, focusing on hardware (as opposed to software).  They had just received 8 [...]

From resumes to interviews of all stripes

This is the seventh in a series of eight posts, each linked to one of eight categories in the Career Resumes blog. These posts sum up the best pieces of advice, tips, direction, insights, and answers discovered and shared on the blog by Allen Voivod, Chief Blogger for Career-Resumes.com from October 2006 to September 2008.
In [...]

When was your last gold medal performance?

Yes, it’s time for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and like any good blogger, I’m going to tie a current events theme into the content of a blog post.
I keep hearing about swimmer Michael Phelps and how he’s going for an unprecedented medal record, and hearing athletes talking about how they don’t fear the pressure [...]

Resumes and interviews: Using Google and social networking to your advantage

So you got the interview. Great!
Psst – who’s it with?
What…you don’t know? Uh-oh.
These days, you need every advantage you can get. So when you get the request to set the date and time of the interview, ask the name – and get the spelling right – of the person(s) who’ll be interviewing you.
Now you’ve got [...]