Want to bore someone to death? Treat them to the worst 30 seconds of their life with your 30 second elevator pitch … Many career experts teach you to practice a 30 second elevator speech – So that if Warren Buffet is trapped in an elevator with you, you’ll be dully prepared to bore him [...]

There’s a reason job seekers face common problems and common frustrations. Job seekers have gained the majority of their job search knowledge from the same basic source. Since you’ve learned how to search for a job from the same place, you conduct your job searches in much the same way. Sure there are some minor [...]

Today’s career advice gives job seekers tips to use Twitter information while researching companies and hiring managers prior to interviews. This is an update of an earlier article, making it relevant for 2012. Twitter’s not just for following every earth-shattering thought of Lady Gaga, Justin Beiber, or Brittany Spears. Twitter is a tool that can make [...]

Family leave affects more than just working moms. Family leave can affect anyone with a sick or elderly family member, especially one who needs care for longer than 12 weeks. The problem for job seekers on an extended family leave or to raise children, is that you’re out of the workforce for a long time [...]

If it seems like employers have gotten pickier than ever before … it’s because they are. In fact, they have to be – because their teams are almost always understaffed, even when they are at full headcount. Here’s why … We’re in what’s called a slow recovery. Companies are making profits, but are reluctant to hire. [...]

I was speaking to Dan, a possible business associate the other day, when we realized we were both about the same age and were born in adjoining counties. Needless to say, we immediately bonded. I described to Dan how I help job seekers, run job search sites, manage career communities and produce career webinars. Dan remarked [...]

Resumes do lie. According to Steven Levitt, University of Chicago professor, and one of my personal favorite authors (Freakonomics and Superfreakonomics), over 50% of resumes contain lies. SHRM (The Society for Human Resource Management) studies showed 53% of resumes lie. Other studies have shown that somewhere between 30-50% of resumes contain mistruths. I’m not describing taking [...]

This is the second part of a series explaining how to fill gaps on your resume. Today, we’re going to talk about using volunteer work to fill gaps. You’ve read it and if you’re in career transition, you’ve experienced it. It’s not right, it’s not fair, but it is the harsh reality of today’s job market. [...]

It doesn’t matter if your resume is written in English, Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, German, Dutch, or Arabic. What does matter is whose language is on your resume. It’s just as important how you communicate on your resume, as what you communicate. Take a good hard look at your resume and ask the [...]

You’re probably asking “How could my resume be as bad as junk mail?” But chances are … your resume looks just like junk mail to your recipients … and therefore gets treated like junk mail. No one thinks their own resume is junk mail, because people throw out junk mail. You’re thinking “How could my [...]

At the end of my Resume Revolution complimentary webinars (enroll at http://ResumeWebinar.com), I open up the floor to job search questions … from you. Occasionally, I’ll also answer especially interesting questions posted on my Linkedin group, Career Central ( http://linkd.in/hyZz6a) or reCareered’s Facebook page ( http://facebook.com/reCareered). This was an interesting job search question asked by R.H. during a recent webinar:

“Should [...]

This is the first part of a series explaining how to fill gaps on your resume. Today, we’re going to talk about filling gaps between contract, project, freelance and/or temp work. If you’re in career transition, you’ve felt it … you know employers discriminate against the unemployed. Resume gaps kill your chances before you even [...]

Does your resume describe all the things you could do? … Or does it describe what you do better than anything else? What you put at the top of your resume brands you – it forms your readers’ first impression of you. These first impressions are nearly impossible to change when the average reader spends [...]

That’s an eye-opening number if you’re looking for a job. But a CareerBuilder study last year projected that 84% of currently employed workers are searching for a new job … and the numbers haven’t changed much this year. Let’s examine CareerBuilder’s projection. In 2010, CareerBuilder reported that 35% of currently employed workers were searching for [...]

Being qualified isn’t good enough anymore. This is a tough thing for most candidates to swallow. It’s tough because we’ve been taught to present our qualifications when we try to sell ourselves for a job … but it’s just not enough anymore. … It’s not enough because there are many qualified candidates. This is really [...]

At the end of my Resume Revolution complimentary webinars (enroll at http://ResumeWebinar.com), I open up the floor to job search questions … from you. Occasionally, I’ll also answer especially interesting questions posted on my Linkedin group, Career Central ( http://linkd.in/hyZz6a) or reCareered’s Facebook page ( http://facebook.com/reCareered). This was an interesting job search question asked by M.M. after one of my [...]

This is the third article in a multipart series on job search research … Superior information is one of the three things successful job seekers use to win in the 2012 job market. Superior information doesn’t just appear … you need superior research to get superior information. Information is power. Superior information can separate you [...]

We were taught how to write a resume that focused on our responsibilities. This is traditional job search 101. This made sense for a long time, from WWII until 2007, when there were candidate and skills shortages. When there were skills shortage, it made sense to focus on your skills. However, when a shortage of [...]