Hiring Managers Reveal 12 Worst Resume Mistakes

Learn from these real-life blunders.

• By CareerBuilder

 

By Debra Auerbach

In the movie "Legally Blonde," the main character Elle Woods does some pretty memorable things to secure an internship at a law firm. One such stand-out tactic she uses is writing her résumé on pink scented paper. While her maneuvers worked to land her the job in the movie, in the real world, unusual résumés can quickly go from being memorable to a misstep.

CareerBuilder recently surveyed hiring managers, asking them to share the most memorable and unusual applications they've received. They gave the following real-life examples:

1. Résumé was written in Klingon language from Star Trek
2. Résumé was submitted from a person the company just fired
3. Résumé's "Skills" section was spelled "Skelze"
4. Résumé listed the candidate's objective as "To work for someone who is not an alcoholic with three DUI's like my current employer"
5. Résumé included language typically seen in text messages (e.g., no capitalization and use of shortcuts like "u")
6. Résumé consisted of one sentence: "Hire me, I'm awesome"
7. Résumé listed the candidate's online video gaming experience leading warrior "clans," suggesting this passed for leadership experience
8. Résumé included pictures of the candidate from baby photos to adulthood
9. Résumé was a music video
10. Résumé didn't include the candidate's name
11. On the job application, where it asks for your job title with a previous employer, the applicant wrote "Mr."
12. Résumé included time spent in jail for assaulting a former boss

The length debate
Sometimes it's not what you write on your résumé, but it's how much you write that can turn an employer off. If you're a new college graduate, 66 percent of employers think your résumé should be one page long. For seasoned workers, the majority of employers (77 percent) say your résumé should be at least two pages.

Interestingly, employers and job seekers may have different ideas of appropriate résumé length and content. Thirty-nine percent of workers ages 45 and older reported that their résumé is only one page long.
The survey also showed that, although more than half of employers say they only want to see work experience that is relevant to the job at hand (53 percent) and primarily within the last 10 years (57 percent), 41 percent of workers ages 45 and older include their first job on their résumé.

Costly resume mistakes
When asked to identify the most common résumé mistakes that may lead them to automatically dismiss a candidate, employers pointed to the following:

• Résumés that have typos - 58 percent
• Résumés that are generic and don't seem personalized for the position - 36 percent
• Résumés that don't include a list of skills - 35 percent
• Résumés that copied a large amount of wording from the job posting - 32 percent
• Résumés that have an inappropriate email address - 31 percent
• Résumés that don't include exact dates of employment - 27 percent
• Résumés printed on decorative paper - 22 percent
• Résumés that include a photo - 13 percent

"Your résumé is the primary deciding factor for whether you will land a job interview," says Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. "It's important to project a professional image. Keep it succinct, personalize it to feature only skills and experience relevant to the position you're applying for, and always include specific, quantifiable results that showcase the value you can bring to an organization."

Paper becoming passé
While Elle Woods may have found success with her pink résumé paper, some employers won't accept your paper résumé, no matter what color it is. More than one quarter (26 percent) of employers only accept digital résumés, leaving hard copies sent via the mail unopened.

How to Write a Resume Career Summary

Generate Interest with a High-Impact Summary Statement

By Kim Isaacs, Monster Resume Expert

Hiring managers are busy people. A single job posting might attract thousands of resumes. To get noticed, create a career summary (AKA career objective) statement. The goal of this section is to develop a hard-hitting introductory declaration packed with your most sought-after skills, abilities, accomplishments and attributes. In the Monster Resume Builder, use the Objective section to present your summary. 

Take these six steps to create a winning career summary:
1. Conduct Research on Your Ideal Job
The more closely you can target your profile to the employer's needs, the better your results will be. Start by searching jobs for your ideal position. Compare the ads and write a list of common job requirements and preferred qualifications.
2. Assess Your Credentials
Based on your research, how do you measure up? How would you help potential employers meet their goals? Besides the qualifications described, do you offer any added bonus? If you are lacking in one area, do you make up for it with other credentials?
If you are having a hard time assessing your skills, get help. Ask your colleagues, instructors and supervisors what they see as your key qualifications. Review your performance evaluations. What do others say about the quality of your work? Then write a list of your top five marketable credentials.
3. Relay the Value You Bring to the Table
The next step is to weave your top credentials into your summary. Keep in mind that the summary helps the hiring manager determine if you should be called for an interview. Include a synopsis of your career achievements to show that your dedication to results is transferable to your next employer. Explain how you would help solve their problems. Ask yourself, "How will the employer benefit from hiring me?"
4. Add a Headline
A headline, or resume title, hooks your readers and compels them to continue reading. A headline should include your job target as well as the main benefit of hiring you.
5. Focus on Your Goal
The most effective summaries target one career goal. If you have more than one possible objective, consider drafting different versions. Your profile can also include a bulleted "Key Skills" section, which provides an easy-to-read listing of your core capabilities.
6. Proofread, Refine and Perfect
First impressions are lasting impressions. Is your summary persuasive and free of errors? Is your tone appropriate for your career field? Avoid empty, generalized statements such as "excellent communication skills."
The Finished Product
Here is an example of an effective career summary:
Corporate Real Estate Executive

Increasing Bottom-Line Profitability Through Real Estate Strategies
Professional Profile
Accomplished executive with a proven ability to develop and implement real estate strategies that support business and financial objectives. Have led key initiatives that reduced operating budget by $32 million and contributed to 550 percent stock increase. Recognized as an expert in applying financial concepts to asset management decisions.
Respected leader, able to build highly motivated management teams focused on achieving revenue goals. Keep up-to-date with changes in the industry through continuing professional development (earned an MBA in finance/real estate and master of corporate real estate designation).
Areas of Expertise

• High-Volume, High-Dollar Negotiations  
• Strategic/Tactical Planning  
• Multimillion-Dollar Operating and Capital Budget Administration  
• Analytical and Financial Skills  
• Statistical Modeling and ROI Analyses

Ask an Expert: How to Write a Reference List

• By Barbara Safani

Job seekers frequently ask me where they should list references on their resume. The answer is that you shouldn't list references anywhere on your resume. References belong on a separate sheet of paper that you can offer to the employer when they ask.

While many employers will ask for your references on the job application, few will call them unless you are a final candidate for the job or are offered a position. At that point in time, you may need to offer them your reference list. Here is what that list should include.

1. Reference name and job title
2. Company where you worked together
3. Company address (if reference is still employed there)
4. Phone and/or cell number
5. E-mail address
6. Relationship to applicant

It is acceptable to use a reference of someone who is no longer employed by the company where you worked together. The most important factor in a strong reference is that they can vouch for your character and job performance.

Once you know that your references may be contacted, it's important to contact each reference as soon as possible and let them know that they will receive a call from a human resources representative or from a hiring manager. Inform your references of the following:

• The name of the company considering you for hire
• The title of the position for which you are under consideration
• The primary requirements of the position
• Your skills and accomplishments that make you a fit for the position
• Key statements you would like your references to offer in the reference interview

Be sure to send a thank you letter to your reference contacts after they have provided the reference to a potential hiring manager.

How to write a résumé for the manufacturing industry

Susan Ricker,

The keys to writing a winning résumé in any industry are to demonstrate your knowledge and experience, position yourself as a skilled individual who is a good match with the company, and show that you know and understand the field. But when it comes to manufacturing, hiring managers are looking for more. Not only do they expect you to know your industry, but they look for résumés that are formatted a certain way, demonstrate specific experience and prove that a candidate fits with the industry's culture.

Experts weigh in on how to write a résumé in the manufacturing industry, as well as what mistakes to avoid.

General formatting and length
In manufacturing, it's essential to keep the process moving and ensure that every piece works well together. Apply the same logic when writing your résumé. Keep it streamlined, avoiding lengthy and unnecessary work. Generally, the rule for résumé length is that one page is standard, and it's acceptable to add another page for every 10 to 20 years of experience you have. However, social media and abbreviated attention spans have changed how we communicate. "In the Twitter age, less is more," says Vanessa Smith, career services director of Employment Boost, which provides professional résumé writing services. "We constantly see résumés that are four to six pages long, when they should only be one to two pages in length. Long résumés convey the image that you have a hard time articulating your point. Hiring managers often say individuals who have long résumés are likely to talk too much instead of listening."

One way to save some space is to ditch unnecessary résumé sections, such as references or an objective statement. "Having an objective statement rather than a professional or executive summary is the next mistake," Smith says. "The summary is intended to 'sell you' to potential employers. It is usually the only section of a résumé that a hiring manager will read word for word, so it is absolutely imperative that it is written well, pushing you into the top 5 percent candidate range."

Experience
When it comes to the experience section of your résumé, if you've got it, show it. "In manufacturing, experience is always a plus," says Lyndsey Ellis, general manager at Country Leisure Manufacturing. "When employers find someone with experience working on a manufacturing team, regardless of whether or not that candidate has worked to build the same or similar product that the manufacturer produces, that application typically gets a second look. It is important for an applicant to elaborate on all prior manufacturing experience. Details of the specifics of each job held, quality control standards, safety records and inventory control are all important aspects that interest a recruiter."

Ellis also notes that manufacturing isn't a one-man job, so it's important to display a strong element of teamwork on your résumé. "Hiring managers want to know that an applicant understands that his or her role in the process affects many other aspects and that the applicant is dependable and accountable. Be sure to pay special attention to any required licenses or certifications. It is always important to list any training and/or educational programs attended."

However, if you lack manufacturing experience or are looking to join the industry, there are other ways to prove you're ready for the challenges and responsibilities that come with the job. "If no prior manufacturing experience can be listed, some advice for any applicant would be to read the job description thoroughly and highlight aspects within the résumé that closely relate to the main functions of the job," Ellis says. "The manufacturing industry as a whole places a large importance on safety, so listing an excellent safety record is always helpful. Any recognition received from previous employment regarding things such as attendance, production standards, output or quality is important to list on a résumé."

Cover letter
If you're worried that a one- to two-page résumé isn't going to convey your experience or enthusiasm for the industry, a cover letter is the solution. While hard skills such as certifications or equipment knowledge are more easily conveyed on a résumé, soft skills are better left to the cover letter. Paint yourself as someone with passion for the industry and include soft skills that depict you as a team player and someone with solutions. "Manufacturing companies are often seeking 'lead by example' and 'roll up your sleeves' individuals," Employment Boost's Smith says.

No matter how much experience you have, the cover letter is your opportunity to explain why you're the best fit for the job. "Manufacturing hiring managers -- from those seeking production workers to leaders -- are looking for problem solvers," Smith says. "They want someone who has hands-on experience in an environment where things are being built and problems are being solved during production. We've seen lots of individuals make industry changes from medical device to consumer electronics and then to automotive, by leveraging their knowledge of how things are being built."

Vouch For Me? 3 Things Job Seekers Should Know About References

• By Come Recommended  

By Gerrit Hall

"Will you vouch for me?"

If you're a job seeker, you've probably asked that question at one point. After all, what is more valuable than someone agreeing that, yes, in fact, you are the best employee for the job?

Your landlord probably asked for a reference, the local coffee shop wants one too, and the large firm where you'd like to get your foot in the door wants three.

Considering that references are so valuable, I think it's time to share three important bits of info about them:

1. There's a vocabulary.

If you've ever had someone vouch for you, you probably called them your reference. After all, that's what the employer says and just about everyone else. However, this isn't exactly correct.

Strictly speaking, the person who vouches for you is the referee while you are the referent. The reference is the actual information given to an employer. Unless your referee is a real stickler for semantics, this probably won't come up. However, it's good information to have on hand.

2. They don't like surprises

How would you like it if someone were to call you and quiz you about someone you worked with some time ago? You probably wouldn't like it. The same goes for the people who vouch for you. Prevent any surprise-induced mishaps by following this two-step process:

• Ask the person before you submit their information as a referee.
• Hold onto their information until an employer asks for it, then give your referee a head's up that a call might be coming.

Add this to the long list of reasons why your resume should never include reference information. This makes it oh-so-easy for prospective employers to call up your referees whenever they see fit. Trust me, they will.

3. Help them help you.

As you progress in your career, you'll probably start serving as a referee for your colleagues. As much as you want to, there's only so much information that you'll be able to remember when that fated phone call comes in from Mr. Bob from XYZ Inc.

Instead of leaving your referees in a pinch to find good information to share about you, give them a cheat sheet. Your resume is excellent for this purpose. Your referee will be able to study up on your career goals, experience and skills without having to scour your LinkedIn page.

What do you think? What else should job seekers know about references? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The Virtual Handshake: Making And Taking Email Introductions

• By Young Entrepreneur Council  

By Nathan Lustig

I get asked to connect people all the time. I also ask others to connect me to people every single day. Introductions are an incredibly powerful way to get to know people who can help you with your business or in your personal life. It's also great to be able to give an introduction to two people who will mutually benefit from knowing each other. Email introductions are the most common intros these days, so it's important to know how to both introduce two people and respond to introductions, just like a virtual handshake.

Introducing Two People

I like to keep it really simple. Here's a mock introduction between my business partner Jesse Davis and our friend/Madison entrepreneur, Steve Faulkner of Real Time Txts.

To: Jesse Davis, Steve Faulkner
From: Nathan Lustig
Subject: Introducing You
Jesse, meet Steve Faulkner. Steve is, among other entrepreneurial endeavors, the founder of Real Time Txts, a service that texts subscribers free drink offers at local bars in real time. He also wrote an awesome article about Madison entrepreneurship that was featured in Techcrunch.
Steve, meet Jesse Davis. Jesse is the cofounder of Entrustet, a website that allows you to decide if you'd like your digital assets transferred to heirs or deleted when you die. He is also active in the Madison startup scene and Capital Entrepreneurs and writes a great entrepreneurship blog. Jesse is interested in connecting with you to see if there is a potential partnership for Real Time Txts and Entrustet.
I wanted to connect you guys so you could figure out how to make it happen. I'll let you take it from here.
Thanks,
Nathan

Key Points to Remember

• Use the format above to introduce both people to each other
• Include links to each person's business, unless the person is well known
• Include a sentence at the end to say why you're connecting both people to each other
• Include a sentence that tells the two people you've just introduced that it's up to them to take it further

Responding to an Introduction

Responding is fairly straight forward. Click "reply all" and thank the introducer for making the intro. Introduce yourself to the other person and go from there. It's important to include the introducer in the first reply so that they know that you've actually responded. If I've taken the time to introduce two people, I want to know that they've actually taken the next step to connect. After the first email, feel free to leave the introducer off further conversations.

Here's a sample reply:

To: Jesse Davis, Nathan Lustig
From: Steve Faulkner
Nathan, Thanks for intro.
Jesse, many people have told me that we should meet as well. As Nate said, I'm the founder of Real Time Txts, a service that sends people texts about free drinks at Madison area bars. Do you have some time this week to chat via phone or meet up for coffee so we can discuss a potential partnership?
Thanks,
Steve

Just because an introduction hasn't happened in person yet doesn't mean that it shouldn't happen at all. Embrace the email introduction; virtually shake hands and let the partnerships begin!

2013 Resume Writing Trends

By Jose Sanchez

A new year has begun and that means new job hunting trends. While the resume has also played an important role, there are also new trends to which we must pay attention. The most important thing to remember in writing your resume is that 2013 is the year of showing, not telling. What are some other resume writing trends for this year?

2013 Resume Writing Trends

If you want to write a resume that will help you stand out, you should pay attention to these tips:

1. Social Resumes

If you are serious about landing a job in 2013, then you’ll have to realize that resumes are no longer static pieces of paper. One of the most important changes in 2013 is the sociability of resumes. Resumes are becoming living entities online. Social Media means that the type of communication between hiring managers and prospective employees has also changed, is more direct and closer.

Prospective employees have the opportunity to interact with, and sometimes befriend, hiring managers before applying for a position. Companies are increasingly likely to use social networks and your social media accounts are now the true first impression.

2. Twitter

The popularity of Twitter is growing astronomically. The good news is that you are probably already on it. Job seekers can harness the power of a tweet by explaining why they are an excellent candidate in 140 characters or less.

Fortunately, you have 160 characters to describe yourself in your Twitter biography. Your Twitter biography section is the online version of your elevator pitch. If you find the task of condensing your qualifications daunting, then you just have to view this as an opportunity.

It is your opportunity to figure out what really makes you different. Brands refer to this as their Unique Selling Proposition (USP). Twitter is your chance to figure out your USP and develop your personal brand. Once you’ve hooked your prospective employee with your amazing biography, then you need to link your website, resume or other professional networking site, i.e. LinkedIn.

3. QR Codes

If you are applying for a technology related position, then QR codes might help you stand out. A QR code is that small, square, barcode-looking image that you’ve probably seen in publications, advertising, and some product packaging. It shows that are aware of technology trends and that you know how to use them too.

It’s not mandatory, of course, but it can be a good way to add some coolness factor to your resume and make it stand out from the crowd.

Some tips for using QR codes on your resume:

• Take into consideration the type of position and the “audience”: QR codes will be more accepted by maketing-oriented employers
• Include your website’s URL in addition to the QR code
• Make sure that the website to which your QR code goes is fully accessible and mobile-friendly

4. Infographics

A picture is worth 1000 words. Infographics are popping up everywhere online and on print. Candidates most likely applying for visual or creative positions can use the popularity of infographics to highlight their qualifications and skills.

Since infographic resumes do not cover in-depth details (they tend to be more simplistic than the standard resume), job seekers can use them to supplement their resume. In some cases, an infographic resume could catch the employer’s attention, but probably they will never replace the traditional text CV.

5. Other Useful Tips

Resumes should always be targeted, specific and quantifiable. Make sure that your resume is not only tailored to the position that you are applying to, but it should also be tailored to the company that you are applying to. Numbers, figures and percentages show what you can do. Quantifying your experience, where possible, also makes you appear more professional.

Hate to break it to you, but the standard “References Available Upon Request” is really outdated. Instead of using that overused phrase, consider showing managers what others have to say about you in 2013. You can pull your strongest third party testimonials and put them at the very top of your resume. The easiest place to find testimonials is from LinkedIn recommendations.

The debate of one or two page resumes continues. If you are making a resume that is tailored to that specific job description and company, then hiring managers can overlook the length. Edit your resume where necessary. Hiring managers are busy and have limited time. An important tip is to make sure that your resume is readable on a computer and another mobile device.

Try reading your resume on a phone or tablet because hiring managers can quite possibly be reviewing your resume on a mobile device. Readability with bullets, bold fonts and short paragraphs matter more than resume length.

44 Resume Writing Tips

Having a solid and effective resume can greatly improve your chances of landing that dream job. That is beyond discussion. How does one make sure that his resume is top notch and bullet proof, however? There are several websites with tips around the web, but most bring just a handful of them. We wanted to put them all together in a single place, and that is what you will find below: 44 resume writing tips.

1. Know the purpose of your resume

Some people write a resume as if the purpose of the document was to land a job. As a result they end up with a really long and boring piece that makes them look like desperate job hunters. The objective of your resume is to land an interview, and the interview will land you the job (hopefully!).

2. Back up your qualities and strengths

Instead of creating a long (and boring) list with all your qualities (e.g., disciplined, creative, problem solver) try to connect them with real life and work experiences. In other words, you need to back these qualities and strengths up, else it will appear that you are just trying to inflate things.

3. Make sure to use the right keywords

Most companies (even smaller ones) are already using digital databases to search for candidates. This means that the HR department will run search queries based on specific keywords. Guess what, if your resume doesn’t have the keywords related to the job you are applying for, you will be out even before the game starts.

These keywords will usually be nouns. Check the job description and related job ads for a clue on what the employer might be looking for. You can read more about resume keywords on the article Tapping the Power of Keywords to Enhance Your Resume’s Effectiveness.

4. Use effective titles

Like it or not, employers will usually make a judgment about your resume in 5 seconds. Under this time frame the most important aspect will be the titles that you listed on the resume, so make sure they grab the attention. Try to be as descriptive as possible, giving the employer a good idea about the nature of your past work experiences. For example:

Bad title: Accounting
Good title: Management of A/R and A/P and Recordkeeping

5. Proofread it twice

It would be difficult to emphasize the importance of proofreading your resume. One small typo and your chances of getting hired could slip. Proofreading it once is not enough, so do it twice, three times or as many as necessary. If you don’t know how to proofread effectively, here are 8 tips that you can use.

6. Use bullet points

No employer will have the time (or patience) to read long paragraphs of text. Make sure, therefore, to use bullet points and short sentences to describe your experiences, educational background and professional objectives.

7. Where are you going?

Including professional goals can help you by giving employers an idea of where you are going, and how you want to arrive there. You don’t need to have a special section devoted to your professional objectives, but overall the resume must communicate it. The question of whether or not to highlight your career objectives on the resume is a polemic one among HR managers, so go with your feeling. If you decide to list them, make sure they are not generic.

8. Put the most important information first

This point is valid both to the overall order of your resume, as well as to the individual sections. Most of the times your previous work experience will be the most important part of the resume, so put it at the top. When describing your experiences or skills, list the most important ones first.

9. Attention to the typography

First of all make sure that your fonts are big enough. The smaller you should go is 11 points, but 12 is probably safer. Do not use capital letters all over the place, remember that your goal is to communicate a message as fast and as clearly as possible. Arial and Times are good choices.

10. Do not include “no kidding” information

There are many people that like to include statements like “Available for interview” or “References available upon request.” If you are sending a resume to a company, it should be a given that you are available for an interview and that you will provide references if requested. Just avoid items that will make the employer think “no kidding!”

11. Explain the benefits of your skills

Merely stating that you can do something will not catch the attention of the employer. If you manage to explain how it will benefit his company, and to connect it to tangible results, then you will greatly improve your chances.

12. Avoid negativity

Do not include information that might sound negative in the eyes of the employer. This is valid both to your resume and to interviews. You don’t need to include, for instance, things that you hated about your last company.

13. Achievements instead of responsibilities

Resumes that include a long list of “responsibilities included…” are plain boring, and not efficient in selling yourself. Instead of listing responsibilities, therefore, describe your professional achievements.

14. No pictures

Sure, we know that you are good looking, but unless you are applying for a job where the physical traits are very important (e.g., modeling, acting and so on), and unless the employer specifically requested it, you should avoid attaching your picture to the resume.

15. Use numbers

This tip is a complement to the 13th one. If you are going to describe your past professional achievements, it would be a good idea to make them as solid as possible. Numbers are your friends here. Don’t merely mention that you increased the annual revenues of your division, say that you increased them by $100,000, by 78%, and so on.

16. One resume for each employer

One of the most common mistakes that people make is to create a standard resume and send it to all the job openings that they can find. Sure it will save you time, but it will also greatly decrease the chances of landing an interview (so in reality it could even represent a waste of time). Tailor your resume for each employer. The same point applies to your cover letters.

17. Identify the problems of the employer

A good starting point to tailor your resume for a specific employer is to identify what possible problems he might have at hand. Try to understand the market of the company you are applying for a job, and identify what kind of difficulties they might be going through. After that illustrate on your resume how you and your skills would help to solve those problems.

18. Avoid age discrimination

It is illegal to discriminate people because of their age, but some employers do these considerations nonetheless. Why risk the trouble? Unless specifically requested, do not include your age on your resume.

19. You don’t need to list all your work experiences

If you have job experiences that you are not proud of, or that are not relevant to the current opportunity, you should just omit them. Mentioning that you used to sell hamburgers when you were 17 is probably not going to help you land that executive position.

20. Go with what you got

If you never had any real working experience, just include your summer jobs or volunteer work. If you don’t have a degree yet, mention the title and the estimated date for completion. As long as those points are relevant to the job in question, it does not matter if they are official or not.

21. Sell your fish

Remember that you are trying to sell yourself. As long as you don’t go over the edge, all the marketing efforts that you can put in your resume (in its content, design, delivery method and so on) will give you an advantage over the other candidates.

22. Don’t include irrelevant information

Irrelevant information such as political affiliation, religion and sexual preference will not help you. In fact it might even hurt your chances of landing an interview. Just skip it.

Read More... 44 Resume Writing Tips

7 Tips To Make Your Profile Picture Professional

• By CareerBuilder

By Justin Thompson

In past posts, we've offered up best practices for using social media in your job search. That's because more and more recruiters and hiring managers are utilizing social networks to learn about and even contact potential candidates.

While most know how to lock down their profiles through privacy settings on sites like Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn is a little different. The point there being that the information you're putting on the site is critical and relevant to your job search; therefore, your picture should also be professional and relevant to your job search. Even with your career transparency on LinkedIn, for all three sites (or however many you may be using), your profile picture is the one constant that's nearly always visible.

"Your image is conveyed through your photograph, and it's part of the first impression you make on others," says Barbara Pachter, a business communications and etiquette expert who's authored numerous books on the topic of social media professionalism. "You want to post a photograph that is professionally appropriate. You want to look like a credible, approachable person, not like you just came from the beach."

The beach would be a treat, honestly. Some of the photos I see? For shame, people, for shame I say. So let's go through some examples of what you should and shouldn't be doing in your profile picture.

1. Use a head shot. This means that it should be head and shoulders, highlighting your face. It should not be some weird photo from a party.

2. Your photo should be flattering. Who wouldn't want to be portrayed in the best light? However, this doesn't mean you should use butter on the lens to give that soft glamour-shot style effect.

3. Your face is the focus, not the background. Again, this is a headshot. That means you posing near the Great Wall is probably not the best choice for a main picture. Is it cool? Absolutely. Professional? Not unless you're an ancient bricklayer. Keep your face in focus too – there's nothing worse than a blurry photo. Well...

4. Be fully-clothed. The amount of people I've seen without clothes or who post images of others sans clothing is appalling. Remember, your profile is seen by everyone, so clean up your act and keep the more risqué photos for "Missed Connections."

5. Don't make any funny faces. Pachter says, "If you are frowning or scowling, why would someone want to hire or work with you?" This is equally true for those who try to use more suggestive pictures. What kind of work would an employer assume you're interested in? So while this ties in with No. 4, I still see photos of people with clothes on who are making weird goofy faces. A smile will work nicely, thank you.

6. Keep your photo current. Make sure your photo actually looks like you. Stop using a photo that you love from 5+ years ago. Again, not only is this off-putting, but if people meet you and realize you're being deceptive, why would they trust you as an employee?

7. Find a photographer. Whether you pay or find a friend or student to take your photo, it'll be better than your mirrored self-portrait with your phone or a webcam shot. Trust me, the effort in having a professional shot will be worth the trouble in setting it up.

The moral of the story is this: If your account is locked down, put up any drunken/Halloween/inappropriate photos you want in your "Shameful Moments" gallery. But keep your profile image respectable, even if you are not using it as part of your job search. Google and other search engines will pull in your profile images when recruiters or managers search your social profiles (especially Google+).

Please note all the photos above are of me, even though I so wanted to put certain people on blast for their awful photos. You know who you are.

Tell me about the worst profile picture you have ever seen or if you've ever judged candidates based on their profile pictures in social media!

Ridiculously Clever Resumes

• By AOL Jobs Contributor  

If you've read our resume tips, you might think every resume consists of one white piece of paper, with 10-point Times New Roman as the font of choice and a carefully-selected smattering of numbers, statistics and accomplishments.

We set out to find examples of resumes that broke the norm in one way or another. Obviously, these outside-the-box resumes aren't for everyone, or every job. Have you ever submitted a "not quite normal" resume to a job posting? Tell us about it in the comments.


Please find Infographics Resume here: Ridiculously Clever Resumes

Tips for Improving Content of Targeted Resumes

Source: Dummies

There are several tips you can follow to improve upon the content of your targeted resume, such as eliminating anything that doesn’t support the job you’re after and making your objective specific.

Follow these tips to add sparkle to your targeted resume:

• Match your resume to the job: To dart past job software filters, a resume must closely meet the requirements in the job description. If you know what company recruiters are looking for, make sure you put it in the top quarter of your resume. If instead you’re posting your resume in databanks, research the career field for typical requirements and include those that apply to you.
• Use bulleted style for easy reading: Using one- or two-liners opens up your resume with white space, making it more appealing to read. Professional advertising copywriters know that big blocks of text suffocate readers. Let your words breathe!
• Discover art of lost articles: Although using articles — “a,” “an,” and “the” — in your resume isn’t wrong, try deleting them for a crisper and snappier end result. Recruiters and employers expect to read resumes in compact phrases, not fully developed sentences.
• Sell, don’t tell: Forget sticking to the old naming-your-previous-responsibilities routine. Merely listing “Responsible for XYZ” doesn’t assure the recruiter that you met your responsibility or that the result of your efforts was worth the money someone paid you.
  Try to imagine what’s running through a recruiter’s mind when you relate that you were responsible for XYZ: So what? Who cares? What’s in it for me? Anticipate those questions and answer them before a recruiter has a chance to toss your resume.
• Show off your assets: Recruiters are wild about snaring the cream of the crop. If you’re in the top 5 percent of any significant group (graduation, sales, attendance record, performance ratings) make sure that fact appears prominently on your resume.
• Make sure your words play well together: Use action verbs to perk up reading interest in resumes and include nouns — the keywords that ward off anonymity in resume databases. Just don’t mix noun and verb phrases in the same resume section. Writing instructors call this agreeable notion parallel construction.
• Reach out with strength: Highlight the qualifications and past job activities that speak to the kind of job you want and the skills you want to use. If, for instance, you want to transition from military training to civilian training, remain riveted to your training skills without diluting your message by mentioning your ability to use several simple computer programs.
  Don’t muddle your resume’s message with minor skills or skills you no longer wish to use; stay on message.
• Trash a wimpy objective: Avoid weak construction that leaves everyone wondering whether you’re a washout. Your statement can be simple, yet effective: “Management position in finance where more than ten years’ experience will strengthen the bottom line.”
• Ask about resume submission procedures: Call the HR department where you want to work and are about to submit your resume. Ask: “Before I send you my resume online, I want to get the facts. Do you accept MS Word attachments, store them as formatted documents, and route them to line managers as images?” If the answer is yes, send the attractive version of your resume instead of the ugly ASCII plain text version.
• Eliminate clutter: Remove useless information from your resume that doesn’t support reasons you’re a qualified candidate. These include: references, your Social Security number, the date your resume was prepared, your high school — if you're a college graduate, and dates spent involved with college extracurricular activities or civic organizations.

Spelling and Grammar Tips for Resumes

9 of 12 in Series: The Essentials of Preparing a Resume

When developing your resume, always pay attention to grammar and spelling throughout the document. A resume with proper grammar and no spelling errors is essential in a job search. Of all the reasons causing recruiters and hiring managers to shoot down resumes, carelessness with spelling, grammar, and choice of words rank close to the top.

 

Get a grip on resume grammar

Resume language differs from normal speech in several ways. In general, keep the language tight and the tone professional, avoiding the following:

• First-person pronouns (I, we): Your name is at the top of each resume page, so the recruiter knows it’s about you. Eliminate first-person pronouns. Also, don’t use third-person pronouns (he, she) when referring to yourself — the narrative technique makes you seem pompous. Simply start with a verb.
• Articles (the, a, an): Articles crowd sentences and don’t clarify meaning. Substitute retrained staff for retrained the staff.
• Helping verbs (have, had, may, might): Helping verbs weaken claims and credibility — implying that your time has passed and portraying you as a job-hunting weakling. Say managed instead of have managed.
• “Being” verbs (am, is, are, was, were): Being verbs suggest a state of existence rather than a state of motion. Try monitored requisitions instead of requisitions were monitored. The active voice gives a stronger, more confident delivery.
• Shifts in tense: Use the present tense for a job you’re still in and the past tense for jobs you’ve left. But, among the jobs you’ve left, don’t switch back and forth between tenses. Another big mistake: dating a job as though you’re still employed (2008-Present) and then describing it in the past tense.
• Complex sentences: Unless you keep your sentences lean and clean, readers won’t take time to decipher them. Process this mind-stumper:
  Reduced hospital costs by 67% by creating a patient-independence program, where they make their own beds, and as noted by hospital finance department, costs of nails and wood totaled $300 less per patient than work hours of maintenance staff.
  Eliminate complex sentences by dividing ideas into sentences of their own and getting rid of extraneous details:
  Reduced hospital costs by 67%. Originated patient independence program that decreased per-patient expense by $300 each.
• Overwriting: Use your own voice; don’t say expeditious when you want to say swift.
• Abbreviations: Abbreviations are informal and not universal — even when they’re career-specific. Use Internet instead of Net.
  The exception is industry jargon — use it, especially in digital resumes. Knowledge and use of industry jargon adds to your credibility to be able to correctly and casually use terms common to the industry in which you’re seeking employment.

A few words about spelling in resumes

Employers especially recoil from impaired spelling when the job seeker botches the interviewer’s or the organization’s name. You can Google your way to the company’s Web site to spell the organization’s name; you can call to confirm the spelling of the interviewer’s name.

Use a computer spell checker and the dictionary, in print or online at Dictionary.com. Ask someone to carefully proofread your resumes to pick up grammar mistakes or misused words.

Here is a sampling of frequently misspelled words to watch for.

accommodate	guarantee	personnel
address	immediate	recommend
all right	independent	referred
bureau	its/it’s	reference
calendar	judgment	relevant
category	maintenance	schedule
column	millennium	sergeant
committed	miscellaneous	their/they’re/there
conscientious	misspell	truly
definitely	nuclear	until
experience	occasionally	your/you’re
government	occurrence	weather/whether

How to back out of being a job reference

• By Debra Auerbach

In the later stages of the hiring process, it’s common for employers to ask candidates for references.

If you’re asked by a job seeker to serve as a reference, you may get a call from the employer, who will ask you some questions about the job seeker. It sounds simple enough but can become more complicated if your view of the job seeker isn’t as rosy as the job seeker may think.

If you’re asked to be someone’s job reference, but for various reasons, you don’t feel comfortable doing it, you may wonder whether you should decline or go ahead with it and give the employer your honest opinion. It’s a sticky situation, because you don’t want to cause friction between you and the requester, but you also don’t want to be put in an awkward position when faced with the employer’s questions.

The circumstances surrounding the situation may impact your decision — how well you know the person, what policies your company has about giving references, the depth of information you’ll need to provide. Yet the general consensus is that if you don’t have something nice to say, it’s probably best to say nothing at all.

“If you are approached to be a reference, but you feel you cannot speak appropriately or positively about a person’s work ethic and supporting skills, the best possible thing you can do is politely decline,” says Adrienne Tom, lead résumé strategist at Career Impressions. “If you do not feel 100 percent confident addressing someone’s work history or working style, you should never offer to be a reference for them.”

As Tom points out, references play an important role in the recruitment process and may even make or break a job offer. “Since references are a chance for employers to add to the information they learned from the candidate’s résumé and in the interview, what they find out from the references will either confirm their desire to hire the job seeker or make the decision not to extend the job offer. You do not want to be the one that prevents someone from getting a job offer simply because you don’t know them well enough or because you had a difficult working relationship to them.”

Consider your company’s policies
Sometimes, it may not be you who has the problem with giving a reference. It could be your employer. “Employees need to be aware of their employer’s policies regarding giving references,” says Keith Wolf, managing director at recruiting firm Murray Resources. “Some employers prohibit their employees from giving negative references, while a growing number of companies restrict giving any information at all, other than confirming the former employee’s dates of employment. Beyond the legal implications, it comes down to a matter of preference.”

Consider the level of the job seeker
Charley Polachi, partner at Polachi Access Executive Search, says that the impact your recommendation has may depend on the level of the job seeker. Polachi notes that for junior to mid-level employees, references may only be asked basic questions, such as dates of employment, positions held and compensation. In situations like this, you may be more inclined to agree to serve as a reference. However, you won’t always know what types of questions you’ll get, so keep that in mind when making your decision.

When it comes to references for senior-level executives, more information is often requested. “References are a critical component of vetting top-level candidates,” Polachi says. “In some cases, as many as 14-15 professional contacts can be approached for a finalist. Since the basics of these types of leaders are basically in the public domain, the value-add of in-depth reference checking can be a game changer in selecting the best candidate.” So if the job seeker requesting your reference falls into this category, and you’re not completely comfortable speaking on his behalf, you may want to find a way out.

Declining the request
If you’ve decided that you don’t want to serve as a reference, you may be tempted to come up with some sort of excuse. Resist that urge and lead with politeness and honesty. “When asked to give a reference that one would rather not give, the best policy is to be honest with the requester,” says Arron Grow, author of “How to Not Suck as a Manager” and founder of business consulting company Workplace Sanity Group. “How open to be about this will depend on the rapport between the two individuals. If there is not a close connection, a simple, ‘I’m sorry I wouldn’t be comfortable doing that’ should suffice.”

Grow goes on to say that if you do feel comfortable sharing more, you should. It will only help the job seeker in the long run. “A better way to go … would be to explain why there is hesitation about giving a reference. People cannot grow if they do not know what areas they need to work on. Hearing about an area that might be in their blind spot will likely hurt at first, but not knowing where they could do better will hurt them even more in the long run. For this reason, people should rather want to know than not, so if the conditions are appropriate, share your reasons for not being willing to give a reference. Tact and diplomacy are the keywords in this situation.”

While the hope is that any request you receive to give a reference will be from someone you had a good working relationship with, it may not always be the case. By assessing the situation and being open and honest with the requester, you should exit the conversation with your relationship intact.

Man Gets Job When He Adds 'Mr.' To His Resum

• By AOL Jobs Contributor

By Kim O'Grady

It was the late '90s, and I was at an interesting phase of my career. For the first time in my life, I possessed relevant qualifications, experience and could also show a successful track record in my chosen career path. I had the job seeker's trifecta. It was also summer and my current employer was pissing me off with their penny-pinching ways, so after three years of ball-busting effort I decided a break and a job change was in order. Displaying characteristic overconfidence in myself, I quit my job (without burning any bridges) and set about applying for others.

I was experienced in managing technical and trade-supply businesses. I also had engineering experience and sales experience and had demonstrably exceeded every sales and profit target I had ever been given. I started applying for roles that would stretch me and lift my career up a notch. There were plenty of opportunities around and I usually had a few applications on the go at any one time. I was an experienced guy in an experienced guy's world, this wouldn't be hard. Then the rejection letters trickled in. I could take rejection, it goes hand in hand with business, but after the first few months I was frankly confused. I hadn't had a single interview. Instead of aiming high I lowered my sights and started applying for jobs in which there was no career advancement. Now I had everything these employers could possibly want, I would be a shoo-in. But still not one interview came my way, not even a phone inquiry.

Somewhere after the four-month mark my confidence was starting to take a hit. The people rejecting me were business people too. How could my reasoning that I was perfect for these jobs be so different from theirs? Putting on my most serious business head I went back and scoured my curriculum vitae. It was the only contact that any of my potential employers or their recruitment companies had had with me. My CV was the common denominator and if something was wrong it must be there.

I had fortunately seen a number of CVs in my time. I was happy with the choice of style and layout, and the balance of detail versus brevity. I was particularly pleased with the decision I made to brand it with my name, with just enough bold positioning to make it instantly recognizable. And as I sat scouring every detail of that CV, a horrible truth slowly dawned on me. It was my name.

My first name is Kim. Technically it's gender neutral, but my experience showed that most people's default setting in the absence of any other clues is to assume Kim is a woman's name. And nothing else on my CV identified me as male. At first I thought I was being a little paranoid but engineering, trades, sales and management were all definitely male dominated industries. So I pictured all the managers I had over the years and, forming an amalgam of them in my mind, I read through the document as I imagined they would have. It was like being hit on the head with a big sheet of unbreakable glass ceiling.

My choice to brand the CV with a bold positioning of my name actually seemed to scream that I was a woman. I could easily imagine many of the people I had worked for discarding the document without reading further. If they did read further, the next thing they saw (as politeness declared at the time) was a little personal information, and that declared that I was married with kids. I had put this in because I knew many employers would see it as showing stability, but when I viewed it through the skewed view of middle-aged men who thought I was a woman, I could see it was just further damning my cause. I doubt if many of the managers I had known would have made it to the second page.

I made one change that day. I put "Mr." in front of my name on my CV. It looked a little too formal for my liking, but I got an interview for the very next job I applied for. And the one after that. It all happened in a fortnight and the second job was a substantial increase in responsibility over anything I had done before. In the end, I beat out a very competitive short-list and enjoyed that job for the next few years, further enhancing my career.

Where I had worked previously, there was a woman manager. She was the only one of about a dozen at my level, and there were none on the next level. She had worked her way up through the company over many years and was very good at her job. She was the example everyone used to show that: It could be done, but most women just didn't want to do it. It's embarrassing to think I once believed that. It's even more incredible to think many people still do.

No. 1 Way To Make Your Resume Irresistible To Employers

• By glassdoor.com

By Donna Fuscaldo

Resumes are a dime a dozen, so making yours stand out is critical. But the way to capture the attention of hiring managers isn't through graphics, colorful language or a headshot. Employers care about what's in your resume, not how it looks. "It's really all about content as opposed to style," says Pamela Skillings, co-founder of job coaching firm Skillful Communications. "Substance comes over style." When it comes to substance, the number one way to ensure your resume gets looked at is to use the same terms in your resume that's in the job description. Often, companies use automated software to scan resumes before an actual person looks at them, which is why using keywords is so important.

"You need to make sure you address all the requirements for the job in the resume," says Robin Schlinger, a career expert and founder of Robin's Resumes. "Applicant tracking systems check for the relevant keywords so if you don't put the phrases in your resume, yours may not be selected."

Equally important is the way you describe your experience in your resume. Conventional wisdom says a resume is a marketing tool and thus should have lots of adjectives and colorful descriptions, but hiring managers are trained to look beyond the fluff. "Everybody is a hands on executive and results driven," says Mark Jaffe, president of Wyatt & Jaffe, the executive search firm. "Tell me what you've been responsible for, tell me what you accomplished and leave off the poetry."

Many people make the mistake of listing all their skills, but don't explain what they were able to do with them. Listing your accomplishments instead of a bunch of fluff will help your resume stand out because it lets the person know you have a proven track record, and not only possess the skills needed for the job. If you've managed 100 people or boosted sales by 25% in a year, make sure that's in the resume, says Schlinger.

Given the current state of the job market, employers are inundated with thousands of resumes, so another way to have your resume stand out is to keep it short, simple and easy to read. "The whole world has a bad case of ADD. Attention spans are down to two or three seconds," says Jaffe. "The way to stand out is to be elegant and concise and keep things very simple and clean."

According to Skillings, since employers are known to quickly scan resumes having a summary section on the top of your resume is a great way to capture the hiring manager's attention. Skillings says the summary should pull the "greatest hits" of the resume and put them up top in a bullet format or in short paragraphs. You can have an introductory sentence telling a little bit about your experience and then bullet points of your greatest achievements and accomplishments. "People are lazy and have a short attention span," says Skillings. "They are going to look at the first few sentences and if they don't see what they want they are going to move on."

One area of the resume that is hotly debated is whether a cover letter is necessary anymore. One thing they agree on is that if you are sending a cover letter, keep it short. According to career coach Dorothy Tannahill Moran, use the cover letter to whet the appetite as to what the person will see in the resume. Your resume should speak for itself and the cover letter should inform the person of what job you are applying for. "Don't spend too much time on it," says Tannahill Moran. "A lot of companies simply ignore them while other companies may electronically store them but not access them," she says.

Get your résumé in shape

• By Susan Ricker

Staying in shape is good for your body and your résumé, and in both areas you want to push yourself. Just like fitness, not every approach in job-searching works for everybody. Some people do better with groups, others have personalized goals or sometimes an old routine has worn itself out. Decide which goal you want to focus on and you’ll learn how to find a job without breaking a sweat.

You’re just getting started
If you’ve been out of the job search for a while or are just getting started, begin with the basics. Most job-searching is done online now and requires a résumé that can be uploaded. Many positions require a cover letter as well. Establish a list of references you can count on for support and check in with them. Keep your job search organized by tracking the jobs you apply to in a spreadsheet document, as well as the date applied and the materials you sent. Also investigate social media tools and mobile apps that can help job seekers.

You need immediate results
Sometimes the most important factor in job-searching is how quickly a paycheck will be available. If your focus is on the money first, entry-level positions and jobs that provide on-the-job training are a good place to start. These roles are more lenient about prior experience requirements and often can lead to new career paths. If you do have prior experience and have a specialized talent, consider freelance, consultant or contract work, which gives you the power to choose your clients and salary, as well as how often you want to work.

You’re trying to bulk up your résumé
Is your résumé on the lean side? A crowded page doesn’t necessarily equal a qualified job candidate, but hiring managers do look for candidates with experience and demonstrated knowledge. Include education and relevant experience and know the importance of résumé keywords. Also look for ways to add muscle to your résumé by finding relevant volunteer opportunities, related certifications you can complete and professional associations or groups you can join. Your goal should be to create a balanced, well-rounded résumé that highlights your experience and capabilities that are relevant to the job you’re applying for.

You’re trying to slim down your résumé
If your résumé has gained excessive information over the years, it may be time to cut the fat. The first step is to remove all content that’s not relevant to the job you’re applying for. If you can’t make a direct connection to how a previous role prepared you for the prospective job, it shouldn’t take up your résumé’s valuable room. Also cut out dated résumé categories like your “objective” or the inclusion of references—even the line “References available upon request.” Your goal size should be keeping your résumé to one page, as hiring managers rarely take the time to do more than skim your information and likely won’t look at a second page.

You need outside support to see progress
Having the discipline to dedicate time and effort to job-searching can be tough, and making the right contacts to find a job can be equally challenging. Sometimes outside help is the answer. If one-on-one might work better for you, consider finding a job-search mentor or working with a recruiter. These options can provide the same discipline and encouragement as working with a personal trainer, and offer equally impressive results. Also consider networking, volunteer opportunities or group workshops to make potentially beneficial connections and learn new skills.

Your old routine isn’t working and you want something new
Sometimes a dramatic change is just the answer for a stale routine. If you’re feeling burnt out from your current role or industry, a career change is worth considering. Identify your strengths and interests and strategize how you can connect your current skill set to a different industry. Try volunteering or shadowing roles that you may be interested in to find out what you do and don’t like, then start switching careers.

Just like any fitness routine, a commitment to progress and hard work will be the most successful way to see success and transform yourself. Find what approach works for you and dedicate your time to your plan. You’re sure to see impressive results.

Presumes: An Unconventional, Yet Effective, Way To Land An Interview [Infographic]

• By David Schepp  

In today's competitive job market, even the most finely honed of resumes can wind up in the recycle bin. To better the odds of landing an interview (and a job!) some workers have turned to a more inventive way to get the attention of hiring managers: the presume.

The presume, pronounced just like résumé, is essentially a visual introduction, produced using slide-show software that features the applicant's voice, describing personal and work history along with a cogent pitch that highlights why the candidate should be hired.

 Hanna Phan recently used a presume to apply for a job with SlideRocket, a San Francisco-based maker of presentation software, similar to Microsoft's PowerPoint.

Having been laid off in 2008 from her position as an IT engineer, Phan was keen on finding not just a new job -- but the right job.

With that in mind, Phan, 32, started to examine what it was she wanted to do and began targeting companies that had those kinds of jobs. That led her to SlideRocket, which recently was looking for a product manager.

Phan tells AOL Jobs that the idea for her presume began with "something that didn't work" -- her resume. "And when something doesn't work, over and over again," she says, "you decide you have to change up your game plan."

Phan produced her presume using SlideRocket's software and then sent the presentation via Twitter to company CEO Chuck Dietrich.

Dietrich received Phan's presume just as he was boarding a plane for New York, he tells AOL Jobs. Upon viewing it, Dietrich was so impressed with the presentation, "If I had time to call Hanna before I took off I would have," he says. "But I called her right when I landed."

Phan's presentation and the method by which she reached out to Dietrich "was indicative of a successful entrepreneur," Dietrich says.

In today's economy, he says, employers are increasingly looking for employees who think and act like entrepreneurs, by finding ways to get things done more efficiently.

Still, Phan says that putting together her presentation took a lot of soul-searching and risk-taking.

It took about two weeks to hone the concept and write several different scripts, says Phan, who was hired as a product manager at SlideRocket in early September.

"But it all came down to one week of just pouring my guts out, and putting myself out there," she says.

Phan's approach at identifying one company and going after it with her heart and soul, served her well, Dietrich says.

For anyone looking for work, focus is key, he says. "Spending more time on getting the job you want will probably serve you better than the [scattershot approach] that a lot of job applicants take."

Along with the presume, SlideRocket offers these five unique ways that can help job seekers stand out from the crowd.

Developing Portfolios, Video Resumes, and Web Resumes

11 of 12 in Series: The Essentials of Preparing a Resume

Non-traditional resume formats such as portfolios (with work samples), video resumes, and Web resumes are often effective in career fields such as arts or technology. Take a look at some possibilities that aren't mainstream methods but may be just the format you need in your job search.

Portfolios

Samples of your work, gathered in a portfolio, have long been valuable to fields such as design, graphics, photography, architecture, advertising, public relations, marketing, education, and contracting. Often, you deliver your portfolio as part of the job interview.

Some highly motivated job seekers include a brief version of a career portfolio when sending their resumes, although recruiters say that they want fewer, not more, resume parts to deal with. If you must include work samples to back up your claims, send only a few of your very best.

The portfolio is a showcase for documenting a far more complete picture of what you offer employers than is possible with a one- or two-page resume. Getting recruiters to review it is the problem. When you determine that a portfolio is your best bet, take it to job interviews. Put your portfolio in a three-ring binder with a table of contents and tabs separating its various parts.

Mix and match the following categories in your portfolio:

• Career goals (if you’re a new graduate or career changer): A brief statement of less than one page is plenty.
• Your resume: Use a fully formatted version in MS Word.
• Samples of your work: Include easily understandable examples of problem solving and competencies.
• Proof of performance: Insert awards, honors, testimonials and letters of commendation, and flattering performance reviews. Don’t forget to add praise from employers, people who reported to you, and customers.
• Proof of recognition: Attach certifications, transcripts, degrees, licenses, and printed material listing you as the leader of seminars and workshops. Omit those that you merely attended unless the attendance proves something.
• Military connections: The U.S. military provides exceptionally good training, and many employers know it. List military records, awards, and badges.

Your portfolio should document only the skills that you want to apply on a job. Begin by identifying those skills, and then determine which materials prove your claims of competency.

Make at least two copies of your portfolio in case potential employers decide to hold on to your samples or fail to return them.

Video resumes

A video resume (or video podcast) actually is a canned video interview in which a candidate speaks about her qualifications, goals, and strengths. Employers shy away from video resumes because they fear a candidate’s image and sound could bring discrimination charges against them.

Web and multimedia resumes

A Web resume (or e-portfolio or HTML resume) is an electronic document that you post on a personal Web site. The format may simply display credentials, or it may go glamorous with links to sound and graphics of your work samples. Job seekers in cutting-edge technology fields, theater, marketing, and design are attracted to the presentation.

A multimedia resume is similar to a Web resume, but it's on a disk that can be sent by postal mail. An attention-getting novelty in the 1990s, multimedia resumes are rarely used today.

Avoiding Common Resume Blunders

By Amanda McCarthy

 

If you want to write the perfect resume for modern recruiters you need to know what irritates them as they sift through piles of job applications. Here’s a list of resume mistakes that really irk recruiters.

• Omitting contact details: This sounds like a no-brainer but always include your name, address, telephone numbers, email address and URL (if applicable) in your resume. List your contact details at the top of the page, so they stand out.
• Putting in unnecessary personal details: Leave out information such as date of birth, marital status, gender and religion in your resume. This information is irrelevant and not job-related.
• Telling all: Don’t divulge personal information in your resume. Nobody cares what your partner does, how many children you have, what schools they attend, the number of pets you own.
• Using silly email addresses: Stick to using conservative email addresses that sound professional.
• Sending your resume off to the wrong person: This creates a bad impression and recruiters won’t take you or your resume seriously.
• Including photographs: You may have been blessed with good looks but that won’t get you a job.
• Including salary information: Remuneration matters are best brought up in the interview.
• Making typos and grammatical errors: Recruiters have zero tolerance for spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. Don’t rely solely on the spellchecker to catch errors.
• Making your resume too long: Recruiters don’t want to read a novel. Limit your resume to around four pages (unless you’re an executive).
• Attaching wads of paper: Only attach certificates and reference letters when requested.

Think Outside The Box: 4 Creative Resume Ideas

• By Come Recommended  

By Sean Weinberg

Let's visualize, shall we? Close your eyes (on second thought, don't close your eyes), clear your mind, and imagine a resume.

What do you see?

Do you see a piece of paper? Nice paper? Bullet points? Times New Roman font? You might be something slightly different, but probably only slightly.

While 99.9% of the world sees a resume as a document, that last .01% saw it completely differently. Check out these four offbeat resume ideas:

1. The "Hire Me" Webpage Resume

When trying to get hired by a dot-com superstar, why not get a .com yourself? Since Jamie Varon started Twitter Should Hire Me, many job seekers followed suit with creative blogs. My favorite has to be Squicky for combining a MIT PhD with Microsoft Paint.

2. The Artsy Resume

Like to draw? Ditch writing your resume and start doodling! Great examples of illustrated resumes include Jonathan Wong's Curriculum Vitae, Pau Morgan's Pie Chart Timeline and Ben Fogarty's LifeChart. If you're looking for a job in design, why not combine your resume and portfolio?

3. The Quirky YouTube Resume

The job search is a lot like dating, so why not outwardly woo a potential employer? Matthew Epstein has been trying to land an interview with Google HR, so he came up with a simple idea: woo Google through YouTube. If you're going to have a video resume, make it memorable.

4. The Business Card Resume

Probably the least outlandish resume of the bunch (yet probably the most effective) is the resume business card. When networking, you hand out so many business cards, so why not cut out the LinkedIn-stalking process by including your entire resume in a cleverly origami-ed fashion?

DISCLAIMER: These ideas are supremely neat and definitely one in a million, but remember this: if everyone starts using a quirky, out-of-the-box resume to apply, HR folks are going to be overwhelmed and desensitized – and that quirky, out-of-the-box resume might not seem so unique anymore.

What Not to Include on Your Resume

By Joyce Lain Kennedy

A well-crafted resume contains only the information that proves you're a qualified candidate. Eliminate resume clutter by removing useless information that potential employers often view as filler and a waste of their time. Here's a short list of the worst offenders:

• "References available on request." Listing the actual references on your resume is even worse.
• Your Social Security number or driver's license number.
• The date your resume was prepared.
• Your company's telephone number.
• Your high school or grammar school if you're a college graduate.
• Dates you spent involved in college extracurricular activities.
• Dates you were involved with professional or civic organizations unless using them to fill in gaps or add heft to your claims.
• Names of (human) past employers; put these on your reference sheet with contact information.