I was reading an interesting blog post by Don Fornes, CEO of Software Advice in Austin, Texas.

Three things about the article I found noteworthy: first, they are hiring. Second, these are ten tips to improving your resume (written honestly for more of the entry to mid level job seeker) from a presidents point of view which I though was well worth sharing.

Finally – the last point about staying on the job for longer than two years – I think this might raise a few eyebrows . Perhaps he is speaking primarily to Gen Y. Most job seekers I know would be delighted to “stay on for longer than two years” providing the company was a fit.

Read the entire blog post here.

Oh, and if you want to check out some resume samples just click here.

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I would like to share a personal story with you. I remember a couple really lean months after I started my business. My husband and I would sit down at the table and I would start to tick off all the things I had done to market my business properly. “I have done everything right…so, what’s WRONG!?” I would exclaim.

The truth of the matter was, I hadn’t done anything wrong, per se, it just felt like that because I didn’t have the amount of clients that I had expected.

Interestingly enough, in all other ways I had succeeded in meeting all of my business goals and timelines. However, those achievements were overshadowed by the anxiety caused by not having a long line of clients waiting to work with me.

Turns out after about 6 weeks (which felt more like forever), I had plenty of wonderful clients.

You would think as a job search coach I would not fall into this trap! But the point is, when we are going through “the fire” it’s easy to panic and quickly loose perspective.

When you are in a job search it’s not much different. There are highs and lows. Sometimes the phone never stops ringing; sometimes it may feel like all potential employers are purposefully avoiding you. Inevitably one wonders, “What have I done wrong?” No doubt, it can be a confusing time. So here are some tips that provide the job seeker with a very helpful dose of reality.

Tip #1: Expect the peaks and valleys

It’s true. Every job search or career transition has its peaks and valleys. And yes, its uncomfortable.

If you are experiencing a dry spell in your job search you need to look at a few things before you can accurately determine the cause. These include:
Is your resume powerful enough to get you attention? Have you had it professionally written?
Do you have a plan to focus on a particular industry and position? Does that plan include strategies that you are implementing?
Have you investigated the health of the industry you are targeting? Is it in a growth mode or is it shrinking?
Do you know how to tap into the unadvertised job market and, if so, are you been using those strategies consistently and persistently?
Have you given your job search enough time? The average search in a good market can take 2 to 4 months for a mid level professional and 6 to 12 months for a senior executive.

Tip #2 Get realistic about marketing figures

Direct mail campaigns do the heavy lifting for you and I recommend them. They usually yield a 1% to 7% return.

Unadvertised job market strategies can take your positive responses to 20% to 60% in a good market and slightly less in a bad economy. Regardless, pursuing the unadvertised market beats out job boards by a long shot. Job boards are the toughest job market in which to compete. Period.

The bottom line: even still, most companies are not going to respond to you. I am not trying to be negative, but rather to demonstrate that it doesn’t mean your not good enough or not doing something right. Job searching is marketing. Job searching is a numbers game. The solution? Check your search against tip #1 and then increase your numbers.

Tip #3 Don’t Get Down On Yourself

There are loads of things you can do that actually do help emotionally, mentally and physically in a job search. A few of these include:

Use a coach to keep you motivated, make sure you are using the right techniques to leverage yourself in the market and to keep you on track with setting and reaching your goals on a weekly basis.

Work (i.e. job search) and life balance are incredibly vital! Set several hours aside each day to work on your job search and write out what your main activity is for each day. Take the rest of the day off (yes you heard me right!) to rest, relax, to be with your family, to enjoy sports or other activities, work on continuing education read or whatever else you like to do. This will keep you sane and balanced while you are waiting for your efforts to pay off.

Join a church group or a support group. The positive support helps, just trust me on this one.

If you hit a dry spell, remind yourself that its not you and its not personal. Getting depressed and feeling desperate is not the vibe you want to be taking into your upcoming interviews.

Do what you have to do. One executive client I know took a part-time job in a grocery store while he was looking for a full-time executive position. He said it helped him feel like he was still contributing monetarily to his family and just getting out and working part-time kept his head clear.

The wise job seeker and career changer know that dry spells in a job search don’t signal the end of a career as it is known . They use the time to market even harder.

Remember that every marketing effort is an accomplishment in and of itself and does contribute to action, forward movement and future activity. By looking at the situation realistically, using techniques to boost your activity and keeping your focus on what you want (not what you are afraid of) you will maximize your leverage and move consistently forward to the results you want.

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This is a very common question I receive from new clients. There is no one right answer, but there are some quick and easy steps you can take to make sure you are assessing your situation correctly.

Usually when a professional isn’t getting responses or quality interviews from their resume, the reason falls within one of these categories:

• The resume is poorly written

• The resume hasn’t been distributed widely enough to generate interest

• The methods with which the resume is being distributed are generally poor methods

Let’s take a look at each category:

The resume is poorly written
The problems I see with resumes are too extensive to go into too much depth here, however basic reoccurring problems include resumes that are too wordy, resumes that are not laser focused on the preferred industry and resumes that aren’t loaded with quantifiable achievements.

Unfortunately it’s not uncommon for me to see resumes that were “written professionally” by a resume writer or outplacement agency that just don’t cut it.

In short, if you can’t afford a resume writer, look for up-to-date resume samples via print or online media and do your best to use them as a template. Read several how-to articles on resume writing basics so you know what to emphasize.

Finally, if you hire someone to write your resume for you, make certain they are certified through a reputable association (CMI or CDI for example) and that they have ample experience. Prices can range from as little as $300 to $3,000. Hire the best you can afford. You are worth it.

The resume hasn’t been distributed widely enough to generate interest
It’s a common error to feel that a submission of 10 to 20 resumes via a job board is a good call to action. Unfortunately most people will find that this produces little, if any results. Yielding slight higher results (optimistically 5 %+) include niche job boards, paid job boards, association job boards and direct-to-company websites.

The methods with which the resume is being distributed are generally poor methods
Do you want to see better than a 5% response rate? Then you are going to want to learn basic techniques to tap into the unadvertised job market.

Many people mistakenly believe this means “networking”. It does not, though learning basic networking techniques (that don’t involve calling everyone you know to ask them if they know who is hiring) will both boost your confidence, lower any contact-anxiety you may have and increase your overall results.

A final word about professional help
A certified resume writer and/or job search coach isn’t just for the 6-or-7 figure professional with money to burn.

In fact, a good resume writer and job search coach can save you a substantial amount of money, and that’s not hype. A few of the results a professional can help you achieve include:

• More interviews
• Bigger offers
• Shorter job search

If you are in between jobs, then the sooner you land your next position, the sooner you can regain your monthly income. Just saving one month of wasted effort in a job search can easily translate to savings of thousands of dollars.

A good job search coach knows how to help you identify and reach your goals. They have a goody bag of resources you probably would be hard pressed to find on your own and don’t forget that this help is often tax deductible (check with your CPA for details).

You can take what you learn and apply to your long term career strategy and future career transitions. Bottom line, an effective and meaningful investment in yourself and your career.

Before you decide what your next best step is in your career search, take a few minutes to apply the points in this article to your current situation. This will help you determine the solutions right for you so you can move forward with confidence.

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When I ask my clients to give me success stories of their various career achievements I often hear the following comments:

I can’t really quantify my successes

It’s just my job

I don’t think of myself in that way

I can’t recall accomplishments “like that”

It’s really hard for me to give you that information

Can you relate? Its Okay first of all – you see, you are not alone! But I will let you in on a secret: there is a simple trick to recalling and creating your accomplishments and once you master this little technique you too can create “jaw-dropping” accomplishments that will have potential employers really excited to talk with you!

So here are several tips to get you started:

Tip #1: Key Word Your Strengths

Start with a blank sheet of paper. Now begin to brainstorm on all the things you love to do the best. Just have fun with it. If you are feeling stuck take a break for a day (which gives your subconscious mind a chance to bring these thoughts to the surface). These are the things you love to do and they are usually connected to those skills and functions you are doing when you are really doing your best work.

Tip #2 How to Turn Your Strengths into Stories

Now look at your list and for each keyword ask yourself “why do I feel this way?” For example maybe you wrote “Motivating” as one of your strengths. Asking yourself “why do I feel I am motivating?” will trigger your memory of an event you are connecting that determined strength to. Maybe it was the time you motivated your boss to let you take on a project that generated a certain amount of revenue for your company or perhaps you motivated a national sales team with incentives that increased the companies client base.

Tip #3: Write a Simple Template for Each Story

Your template is really easy and it goes like this:

Problem:

What I Did:

The Result:

A key here is not to make this complicated at all! Keep your answers short (think of how products are marketed…less definitely increases your impact!)

Bonus Tip: Don’t be tempted to fall into the trap of thinking your successes aren’t important enough to write down or share! This is a common trap you definitely want to avoid. If it shows off your strengths is generally worthy of sharing.

It’s hard to be objective about our successes because of our internal rationale that “oh, that’s just what I do” or “anybody could do it really”. If you catch yourself thinking this way then know you are devaluing the unique, amazing and honorable skills and strengths you bring to the table. Give your skills and aptitudes their due and you will find as you grow confident in communicating them – it can and will result in more interest and bigger offers from potential employers!

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Most professionals would love to land their dream job but when it comes to writing a resume that would qualify them to make the jump; they end up stuck with what to say and how to say it.

Not knowing how to create an interest-generating opening statement is a common problem and can quickly lead to job seeker discouragement before the job search even begins!

Here are 3 tips to creating a powerful opening statement that will quickly get you positive attention:

Tip #1 Do Create a Qualifications Summary

A qualifications summary should go at the very top of your resume. It does not explain what your professional objective or goal is, but it does give a clear and powerful overview of who you are and what you can do. Why don’t you want to use a professional objective? Because your resume needs to be focused on what you can do for a company versus opening with a statement that leans towards what YOU are looking for.

Tip #2 Create an Authentic Opening Statement

To maximize your focus and clarity try a simple writing trick:

Begin to write about what you are doing when you are at your very best, followed by your other key strengths and attributes. Do not edit yourself as you freely write up to a page of information. After a quick break, return to what you wrote and begin to highlight the key words and phrases you feel are the most powerful. Your document should be reduced to about half at this point. After another break return to your document a second time and repeat this exercise. Now you have a powerful, authentic and compelling draft statement describing where you really shine!

Tip #3 Use Universal Language

Another common mistake professionals will make is to load their opening statement with industry jargon. Yes if you are a CIO, corporate counsel or a VP of Finance you have very specific language that you use. However your resume has to be written for multiple people in multiple departments. In many cases your resume is being viewed (and thus must be equally compelling) to directors of human resources, division presidents and various managers.

Scan your opening statement for red flags including acronyms that are not spelled out, information on specific companies, too much detailed technical information and sentences that are only decipherable to people intimately associated with what you do.

These key tips will help you to easily create an authentic statement about who you are when you are at your career best, and command the attention of the companies that are looking for someone….just like you!

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Making sure your résumé is a powerful marketing document is a wise investment in your career. It can set you apart from your competition, maximize the amount of interviews you land and ultimately play into how much a company offers you.

 After all, you are negotiating with potential employers from the moment you connect with them to the time the offer is made. So everything that happens in that window of time plays into your offer…including how well targeted, well designed and compelling your resume is.

Here are five elements you will want to make sure your resume has:

Number one: Targeted format

Your resume must be compelling for the type of position you are focusing on. If you are a sales executive of course you are going to want to quantify your sales skills in terms of territory development, revenue generation, and types of skills associated with sales and secondary support skills such as client management customer service, public relations and marketing.

Number two: Value proposition statement

Under the heading of your resume you should have a value proposition statement. An example of a value proposition statement is a 3 to 4 sentence overview of your focus and your strengths. Here’s an example of a VP Statement for a technology executive:

Innovative & highly competent business and technology leader with 15+ years experience developing creative technology solutions that enhance performance, effect change, drive profits and growth. Proven reputation to:

     Note: A value proposition statement is different from a personal objective statement. A personal objective statement is not the best to start out with on a resume simply because it’s a statement about what YOU want. Rather, share with your potential employer what skills and strengths you have to offer THEM.

Number three: Quantifiable achievements 

This is one of the most important components to your resume. You need to communicate in your resume not just what you do, but what HAPPENDS when you do what you do! This technique also helps employers envision you working with them, helping them with similar challenges and issues.

Number four: Key-word rich content

Key words organized in a group called something like “core competencies” for instance, will do two things for you. It serves to potentially qualify you for more interviews, assuming those companies you are submitting your resume to use key word scanners. Second, key words. i.e., your strengths that stand alone allow the reader to view your competencies independent of any past company associated with it. This has a positive psychological affect as again, it enhances the reader’s ability to picture YOU in the position they are working to fill.

Number five: Two resume versions

You are going to want two versions of your resume. One in ASCII text format and one clean word version. Your ASCII text version is one you will use for all your electronic submissions. This plain text format will hold it formatting and thus look much cleaner on the receiving end. Once you save a copy of your resume in this format, you will want to go in and clean up all the symbols and spacing so it’s readable. Your word version is your clean word copy you can both print out as a hard copy or attach as a word document in an e mail.

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