A Great Resume Blog

Cover Letters - Do I Need One?

"YES," you need a professional cover letter. In fact, if you don't send a cover letter to a company, the decision makers won't review the resume, 98% of the time. I have spoken to thousands of hiring managers and recruiters in the last 13.5 years and all but one said cover letters were critical and they would not read the resume unless there was a cover letter.

I spoke to a Hiring Manager yesterday employed by IBM, and she told me that resumes without a cover letter don't stand a chance! She said if a candidate is too lazy to write a cover letter, she doesn't even want to talk to them, let alone hire them.  Well, "lazy" may be a strong word, but I get her point! :) Perhaps the job candidate was not aware they needed a cover letter.

Not only do you need a cover letter to go with your professional resume, but you need all types of letters! Don't think you can simply write one letter, and you are done. :) Not in today's job market.

If you are searching for a job, you will be writing all types of letters --- follow up letters, networking letters, letters to recruiters, letters for job openings, hiring proposal letters, introduction letters, letters to venture capitalists, private equity firms, CEOs, Board of Directors, resurrection letters, etc. The list goes on and on!

The fact is cover letters are a primary document in your job search.  Don't be fooled in believing that one cover letter will be the only one you need. It doesn't work that way. Letters are used to respond to all types of and opportunities.situations

Most people find cover letters exceedingly PAINFUL and difficult to write. If you are confused about letters or struggle writing your cover letters, I can help. I've written thousands of successful cover letters as a Certified Professional Resume Writer. If you need help, contact me at 1-800-265-6901 or info@agreatresume.com and let's talk about the letters you need.

7 Things To NOT Include In Your Resume

As a Certified Professional Resume Writer with 13.5 years of experience, I review countless resumes every day, and the majority of the resumes contain information that should never be included. I thought you might be interested in knowing some of this information.

Personal Information

1.   Employers should never know you are married, single, or have children. The majority of professionals have children, particularly young children. Young children are prone to getting sick, which means the employee will have to make trips to the doctor, take off work to go to school and talk with the teacher, attend school events, and so on. The bottom-line is that it is never a wise strategy to tell prospective employers in the resume you have children.

2.   Moreover, employers do not need to know you are single: ("Great, we'll get him/her to work l-o-n-g hours!). They don't need to know you are married either: "(Great, his/her spouse won't be happy with him traveling or working late!")

3.   Your height/weight. It is certainly not a selling point to announce your height or weight. Who really cares? :) Adding this screams "1960s!"

4.   Moreover, no one cares that you like to bowl, go dancing, read books, use the Internet, chat with your family and friends, sleep late on Saturdays, or play golf. Again, this dates back to the 1960s. Your interests and hobbies are not selling points, and this should not be part of your resume.

5.   Religious affiliations. It is never, ever a good idea to include any religious information in your resume! Never. Ever. People are prejudice and can use this against you, no matter how great you are in the business world.

6.   Political affiliations. The same principles apply here - don't announce your political beliefs; it will most likely work against you and it has no connection to your career.

7.   Personal photographs. It's never, ever a good idea to include your photograph in your resume. It's simply not done. Here's the reason - if you were to place your photograph on your resume, it is prejudicial. I want to be delicate on this issue, but the fact is there are many prejudices in the world, and you don't want that to stop you from getting interviews.

These are seven things you should avoid including in a resume. This type of information adds no value to your professional resume, and doesn't make your resume comply with 2006 guidelines.

If you need help writing a professional resume, contact me at info@agreatresume.com. I'd be happy to help you. JoAnn Nix, www.agreatresume.com, 1-800-265-6901

"To Whom It May Concern"

When sending your resume to a company, have you ever written a cover letter that begins with this salutation? If so, you're not alone - this is a universal phrase.

However, this is not a good strategy for your letter. People love to see their name in print, even in cover letters. If you want to advance in your job search, do everything in your power to make sure you address your letter to a particular person!

Most people have no idea how to find out the person's name who will  receive the cover letter. But it's really very simple. You need to put on your detective hat and conduct research. You will truly impress your audience if you address the cover letter to the right person. Here are some ways you can do this:

1. Call the company and ask the receptionist, "Who's the Director of XXX Department?"

2. Call the company and speak to someone in the Human Resources Department and ask, "Who's the Director of XXX Department?"

3. If you receive automated messages when you call the company, do what you can to connect to ANY department and then ask that person who's the Director. If they don't know, ask them to transfer you to the Marketing or Public Relations Department. Call the company back as many times as you need to.

4. Visit the company's website, many companies have a roster of employees. Use that as a bridge to identify your reader.

5. Use Google, Vault.com, Hoovers.com - if you find the person's name, you need to make sure that person is still employed and still holds the job title.

6. Network with other people. Ask everyone you know, "Who's the Director of XXX Department over at ABC Company?"

This is a very important strategy for you to use. Don't send your resume "To Whom It May Concern" - send it to the right person. They will be very impressed that you took the time to do your research! It could take you 5 minutes or several hours, but the payoff is handsome...especially when no other job seeker is willing to go the extra mile!

JoAnn Nix, CPRW, JCTC, CEIP, CCMC, CPBS

info@agreatresume.com

Why You Need a Career Journal

Maintaining a career journal is a great way for you to keep track of your achievements, problems you resolved, and ways you contributed to a company. You need this information when you update or rewrite your resume.

I realize it is sometimes difficult to remember all the details about specific projects, business problems, and your success stories. Career journaling is the answer! By writing down the specific information, you will be able to have a more powerful resume filled with high-caliber accomplishments and specific results.

I recommend you create an electric career journal and you enter your messages on a Friday afternoon before you go home. If you wait until Monday morning, you probably will not be able to do this because Mondays are very busy days. Friday afternoon (after 5:00) will give you time to reflect over your work during the week. Writing in your career journal over the weekend may not be a good idea either. Therefore, I've always suggested to clients they write in their journal every single Friday afternoon.

One word of caution, if you do set up an electronic journal make absolutely sure you print out your work, post it in a binder, and make a couple of backup copies. You never know when your hard drive or CD-ROM may encounter problems.

You will be surprised how helpful this will be the next time you need to rewrite or update your resume and/or cover letter.

Happy journaling!

Why Do-It-Yourself Resumes Don't Work

As a Certified Professional Resume Writer who has written more than 8,000 resumes and evaluated several thousand resumes, I know exactly why do-it-yourself resumes never work.

The primary reason these resumes fail to work is because there is no strategy and your value is not being featured. This type of resume is always focused on "responsibilities". The downfall of this approach is prospective employers are simply not interested in reading a "job description." They already understand the responsibilities they expect someone to fulfill. What they don't know is the value the job seeker brings to the table, how they will contribute to the success and growth of the company, etc.

Nearly every job seeker that attempts to write their own resume fails to be strategic or write for a target audience - they center the resume on jobs, functions, and responsibilities. Moreover, they don't think about the problems the target company may be facing and demonstrate how they can resolve their issues.

Another issue do-it-yourself writers face is the fact they don't keep abreast of the resume writing and careers management industry. They do not know "what's in" and "what's out." For example, objectives haven't been used in decades, but most do-it-yourself writers begin the resume with this meaningless statement. Others add personal interests, hobbies, weight, height, marital status, number of children, and so on. This is also very, very outdated information... and employers know it!

Your professional resume is one of the most important documents you will ever possess. If you think about it, it's the basis for most things you have - after all, you need a job to earn money to support you and/or your family. Therefore, in order to get a great job and/or earn a great salary, the resume is the basis for this. You can't get an interview without a resume, and can't get a job offer without an interview.... so the resume starts the entire process and leads to a job that enable you to support yourself and/or your family. So knowing this, wouldn't it sound logical to work with a professional resume writer?

Teaming with a certified professional resume writer will ensure you have a very competitive and value-driven resume that sells your credentials and opens the doors to interviews. Sure, you will make an investment but it will be worth it and you should expect a strong return on your investment.

If you are using a do-it-yourself resume and not getting interviews, maybe it's time to make a change. I'd be happy to discuss your professional resume with you if you like. Just call or send an e-mail: 1-800-265-6901 or info@agreatresume.com.

How Long Should a Resume Be?

Great question! I answer this question every day. There are no real rules concerning this topic, but there are sensible guidelines. Here's what I tell my clients... The resume should be as long as it needs to be to sell your value and successes, without being too long or too short! Here's what I mean.

An executive's resume should never be one page long. I mean, how can an executive with 10, 15, 20, 25 years of experience really portray his lengthy career if he has a one page resume? It's impossible! Can he/she have a one page resume? Of course, but will it successfully sell the candidate to the Board of Directors and CEO of a company? Absolutely not, particularly when the the Board of Directors, CEO, and other senior level executives are reading powerful executive resumes of other candidates and forming a picture in their mind of each candidate.

Senior executives lead businesses through challenging times, resolve monumental problems, are involved in start-ups, turnarounds, business consolidations, joint ventures, partnerships, international projects, and more. How could they discuss those highlights in one page? It can't be be done... successfully.

On the other end of the spectrum, I've seen senior executive resumes that are 8, 10, 12, 15 pages long. Think those are going to be read? No! Who has the time or interest? So, I would state that senior executive resumes should be two to four pages long. Other critical information can be presented via other formats.

Now, let's think about a college student who is 22 years old. Rules don't apply to them either. Many college students are highly ambitious and successful despite their young age and have a lot of value to add to a company. They've been involved in everything imaginable at school, are already leaders, have worked hard, and participated in internships. Should their great experiences but left out because of an "unwritten rule?" No. So, these job seekers can have a two page resume also.

Resumes are highly subjective and everyone seems to have an opinion. But after writing 8,000+ resumes, I believe resumes should be two to four pages, for most job seekers. All that really matters is you are getting job interviews, right?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject!