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Friday, May 30, 2014

Be Careful Who You Use

There are a lot of individuals and companies that advertise their skills in making you a great resume.  Some of them are actually very good, but there are a lot of them out there who simply re-format what you already have into a more aesthetically appealing document without adding any substance that really makes it any better.

If your resume is like most of them out there, you don't need just some lipstick and perfume...you need some substance that organizations are looking for in your document.  Before you commit to paying someone to make your resume better, ask them a few questions about what, exactly, they can do to make it better:

1. How will you change what I already have in the document?
2. What new sections will you add, and where will they be in the new resume?
3. Are you going to make the new resume in a way that it can be easily modified for each specific opportunity I pursue?

Once you get it, here are a couple of other caveats to observe:

1.  Always send it to the recipient in pdf format...not in Word or Pages format.  If you send it in Word or Pages format it can change how it looks on the receiving end.  If you send it from a PC to another PC, there are usually no problems...same for Mac to Mac...but if you send it from a PC to a Mac or vice versa, there's good chance that it will not look the same on the receiving end that it did on your end when you sent it.
2.  Get a gmail account (don't get cute with it...just a simple ''name@gmail.com") that you dedicate exclusively to your job search.  Don't give it to your friends/family.  Gmail is rejected less as spam than any other format, and if you use an exclusive email address just for your job search, you can be assured that anything that goes out or comes in from that address is job-related.

Before we do any new resume for anyone, we ask them to take a simple, 7 minute, online personality assessment that we use to identify and list your marketable strengths.  It's a great tool for matching your personality to the type of job that is the best fit for you, and the strengths we list in your resume are authentic and really represent who you are.

Contact me at ken@newwaveresumes.com if you have any questions, or check us out at www.newwaveresumes.com.

Good luck in your job hunt!

by Ken Murdock

Thursday, May 29, 2014

The Rules Have Changed

If you are actively looking for a job, whether you are currently employed or not, it's important to understand that the ways you need to market yourself in today's economy are radically different than they were even just a few years ago.  Prior to the beginning of the recession that actually began in early 2008 but became apparent in October of that year when the banks began failing and the housing bubble burst, we were in a strong seller's market.  That means that there were more great jobs than great candidates to fill those jobs.  Jobseekers could be very selective about where they wanted to work, and they often had multiple offers from which to choose.

Everything changed after the steep stock market decline and the investment banking company failures.  Almost immediately we went from a strong seller's market to one in which companies were laying people off instead of hiring at all for several months.  Every news headline spoke of layoffs, "reductions in force," and outsourcing.

There is a basic, fundamental rule in marketing that says that when your demand conditions change, you must also change your promotional strategy.  However, in just about every instance I have seen, most online resume templates, and certainly most universities, have not adapted to this new demand structure.  They keep on with the same, old, tired formula for resumes that lists the basics of contact information, job history, education, and references.

That protocol will not get it done in today's market.  Organizations are very selective because in this market, they can choose from a much deeper talent pool than when we were in a strong seller's market.  They want to know all the information that the old resume format has, but they also want more than that.  If you don't give them the information they need and want to see (especially on the first page), they will not read the rest of it...and your chances of getting the interview just disappeared.

A resume has one, and only one, real purpose...and that is to help you get an interview.  The best way to get an interview is to know someone in the organization.  The second best way is to know someone who knows someone in the organization.  But the method that most of us must rely on is to have a great resume that makes the reader think, "This is someone worth my time to bring in for an interview."  Hiring managers are busy running their businesses in today's economy.  They don't make money by taking time out of their day to interview someone, so they are very selective about who gets that time.

In my 15 years of recruiting experience, I have asked my client companies what they wanted to see in a resume that would get their attention...and it isn't what most people think.

Our mission at New Wave Resumes is to help people get noticed so that they can get the interviews that they want, and in today's job market, you cannot afford to put forth less than your best effort.  If you are ready to get serious about your job hunt, we can help you separate yourself from the crowd, rather than blending into it.

Let us know if we can help you.

by Ken Murdock
ken@newwaveresumes.com
www.newwaveresumes.com
512-422-8258