Using the C.A.R. method on your Resume June 2, 2009

Have you heard me talk about the C.A.R method? If you are a client of mine, you have. It’s a method I use in every single resume. It is, to me, the single most important factor when writing about your accomplishments.

OK, so what does C.A.R. stand for and what does it mean for you?

C.A.R. stands for:   Challenge   Action   Results

When consulting with clients and proceeding with the data mining process, I always ask them about their C.A.R. stories. What were the stories behind their accomplishments? What was going on in the company before they took on the issue? Give the reader some background, not a novel, just a hint of what the environment was like.

So ask yourself, what was the Challenge I faced when either a) I joined the company or B) I took on the new situation or C) I was promoted?  Briefly discuss the Challenge. Again, it doesn’t have to be super lengthy. You  just want to get your message across.

For the Action portion, this is where you can talk about what you did to resolve or change the situation. What action or steps did you take? For some jobs, it might be quite detailed, but I wouldn’t advise talking about every single thing. Summarize as best as you can. Remember, HR people have lots of resumes to review and not a lot of time.

For the Results portion of C.A.R., talk about the results. What was the percentage of production increase? How much did you increase sales or people productivity? Use numbers and percentages whenever possible.

These are the things that stand out and make you more employable as employers want PROOF of what you are capable of doing… it shows them what you can also do for them as well.

C.A.R. is the easiest way to pull out your accomplishments if you are having a hard time thinking of what you did/do.

Good luck!

Keeping it Relevant on your Resume April 10, 2009

It is very important to keep the information on your resume as relevant as possible. Remember, the hiring person is only going to take around 15 seconds to scan your resume, so yours has to be “quick and dirty”. In other words, keep your information current and pertinent to the job you want. If the reader has to weed through loads of extracurricular activities, you may find your resume tossed aside which takes you right out of the running.

 

Many times a client will send me “extra” information to put on their resume. Or, it is already on their existing resume. This “extra” information consists of things like:

 

- Church Involvement

- College Activities / Fraternity/Sorority info

- Sports Teams or Leadership

- Marital Status/# of Children

- Political Affiliations

- Scouts

Now, in certain circumstances you DO want to add college info, i.e. relevant coursework, volunteer activities, intern/externships, etc.  This is good to add if you are fresh out of college and looking for your first “post-college” job. However, when you are in your 40′s, it isn’t necessary to talk about your fraternity. I get this a lot. I know it was a great time for the client and they learned a great deal about life, service to others, and brotherhood. But if you have been in the workforce for 5+ years, you’ve really built up a good amount of experience that will warrant it standing alone on the rez without the aid of your college courses or social clubs. The exception to this rule is, if in this short amount of time after college when you tried your hand at say, sales, but your degree was in finance and now you want a finance job, THEN adding your relevant college courses would work in your favor.

 

In truth, sometimes extracurricular information can work against you. As important as your church or religious affiliation may be to you, it is never a good idea to add it to your resume. Why? Well, many reasons. One is– what if the reader is a different religion… one that doesn’t care for your religion at all (and you know we all have our differences!)? Right there it is a strike against you. Same goes with politics. Not a good idea to say your “volunteer” involvement was to work on so-and-so’s campaign. Now, if you have actually WORKED in a campaign/political environment, of course you would add it. I’ve had many clients who worked in PR or journalism-type fields for certain candidates and it was OK for them, because it was relevant to the PR/journalism job they were trying to land.

 

Obviously here in the States, adding marital status is not a good idea. In fact, people just don’t do it here like they do in some other countries.

 

You may think, “but I’ve heard it is good to add my community involvement, or that I coached soccer”. Really, it’s not relevant to your job search. Yes, you can handle a team of 8-year olds, but does that compare to running the operations of a multi-million dollar manufacturing facility? No.

 

If you are questioning what to add or what not to add, please, ask a certified resume writer. Let us be the ‘reader’ for you. We can help you decide what needs to stay or go. Our goal is that you get put into the “YES” pile, not in the circular file. Just remember that even though it seems important to you, or if it was at the time, if it isn’t going to help you get the job, then leave it off the resume.

Color is Back! March 22, 2009

The Use of COLOR on Resumes… dare we?

Folks, a new day has dawned.

I never thought I’d say it or believe it, but color is here. Hopefully to stay.

Way back when I started my resume writing career (10 years ago), color wasn’t used. I was trained by an executive resume writing firm almost 6 years ago, and at that time color wasn’t even something we would say out loud! It was only on resumes that most certainly WOULD NOT land the job.

But times have changed, finally, and color can come out of hiding and proudly show itself.

Now, when I talk about this, you don’t want to have every header and subheaders different colors. What I mean is, color in small doses is good. Perhaps a deep red or navy blue for bullets or subheading titles.

An example can be like this:

JOHN SMITH………….Business Development Executive

or in a branding statement like this:

John Smith
Provide Leadership through Innovative Marketing Styles and Strategic Business Sense
(see just a hint of Navy Blue?)

I will also use it to emphasize a value-added bulleted list. I never overdo it and use it sparingly. Too much of a good thing can be just that– too much.

So, good people of the job seeking world, REJOICE, and add a touch of color to your resume.

Erin Kennedy, CPRW, CERW
www.proreswriters.com

Free Resume Printing/FED EX March 7, 2009

FED EX offers FREE RESUME PRINTING

Need your resume printed out?

On Tuesday, March 10
Federal Express is offering FREE Resume Printing at any one of their 1,600 offices nationwide.

Take advantage of this generous offer and save yourself some $$

Your Brand February 20, 2009

YOUR BRAND

Do you have a brand? Do you solicit it? Do you use it to promote your goods/services? Or are you not really sure what your brand is at all? Don’t worry, if the latter is your answer, you are not alone.

Creating a brand for yourself is a fantastic way to ensure you always leave a lasting impression to whomever you are communicating with. It points out very quickly what you specialize in, what your niche is, and what you are “known” for.

Take “Campbell’s” brand soup for example. “Mmm Mmm Good!” Does it bring back childhood warm and fuzzies? Daydreaming of tomato soup and grill cheese sandwiches? Well, then. The marketing team’s job is done. You know the brand, can hear the jingle, and it elicits an emotional response from you.

Don’t worry that your brand has to elicit an emotional response from your reader, but consider having a tagline in your resume that will help you stand out and keep you fresh in the reader’s mind. For example, if you are a Senior Executive of an IT company and want to keep your focus on what you know best– Business Development– than THAT could be your brand and what you could add to your tagline. Something like: John Smith::: Business Development & Channel Management Executive, IT INDUSTRY… that could be a possible tagline to showcase your brand.

Think about what you are known for at work, what you excel at, what people depend on you for and make that your brand.

Top 10 “Green” Jobs February 11, 2009

TOP 10 “GREEN” JOBS

A big shout of ‘THANKS’ to Laura DeCarlo of Career Directors International (www.careerdirectors.com) for posting this link from GreenCollarHiring.com.

The Top 10 Green Jobs

Should you Hire a Resume Writing Service? February 6, 2009

REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD OR SHOULD NOT HIRE A

RESUME WRITING SERVICE

If you live in Michigan, or anywhere else in our country, let’s face it. The economy stinks. People are getting laid off and companies are closing down or outsourcing to other countries practically on a daily basis. So, what good would hiring a professional resume service do for you? EVERYTHING.

It’s understandable to be cautious about hiring a resume writer, especially online where you can’t visually shake a hand or see an office full of certificates, awards, books, or anything else that might prove credibility. Here are a few reasons you SHOULD hire a professional resume writer:

1- PROFESSIONALISM – A professional resume writer knows what he/she is doing. I’ve had clients tell me over and over that having it professionally written got them the job. They had sent in the old one previously, and at my urging, resent the new one and got the job!

Make sure whomever you hire is CERTIFIED. If you are unsure whether or not your writer is certified, go to www.parw.com and type in their name. If they are certified, it will come up as such. A certified writer has gone through extensive training and was tested on it, ensuring their work meets the standards of the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches. If you are going to spend the money, you want the best.

2- BRANDING/PR – A professional resume writer acts as your personal cheerleader, your brander, your public relations firm. You want someone who knows how to present your qualifications in your best light. They will gather the relevant information (career goals, experience, training, etc.) to create a professional image for you. Something you will be proud to hand out to a hiring manager.

3-GHOSTWRITERS- A professional resume writer knows how to craft content that gets people interested. They create a resume that sounds and feels like YOU. A professional resume writer constantly updates their skills and abilities by keeping up with the latest in career news, and attending webinars, teleseminars and conferences.

4- FORMAT – How bored are you when you see a resume that is bullet after bullet of a position description? Would you call that person back? Neither will the hiring person. Professional resume writers are TRAINED in creating unique documents with appealing fonts, borders and styling that is all YOU.

5- RESOURCE CENTER – Your professional resume writer is a career one-stop-shop! Chances are they have a wide range of resources to offer during your job search. Many are also Certified Career Coaches and remain well informed of career events and other services helpful to their clients. Many times employers will contact resume writers for suitable candidates.

Reasons NOT TO HIRE a professional resume writer:

1- They offer you a resume package for $19.95. Most likely this company is a printing or secretarial service that will rewrite everything you gave them, or dump your info into a pre-written template.

2- They tell you they are certified, but you check on the PARW site and they are not. WRONG. Turn around and go back. They are misrepresenting the truth and God knows what they will do with your money.

3- They offer a 30-day guarantee if you don’t get an interview. I know this is a touchy one, because many of my colleagues do it, but here is my beef with that: with each client, I put my heart and soul into the resume. I am already writing a resume that I think will knock the socks off any reader. So how can I possibly offer a rewrite on that? I already wrote a killer resume and I stand behind it. I would rather sit down with the client and go over job search because I guarantee that is where the problems lie.

So, to sum it up, it’s important to find a solid and reputable resume service. Check for memberships to professional career organizations with writers that are certified.

A professionally written resume is a good investment and is worth it’s weight in gold, not to mention it will get you noticed immediately.

Have you hired a resume writing service? What was your experience? I’m interested to know what you thought. Talk to me…

My 10-Year Rez-i-Versary! January 28, 2009

MY 10 YEAR Rez-I-Versary!

I woke up this morning and thought, hmmm, what’s different? Then out of nowhere came a flash of memory– 10 years ago this month I started at the Career Center and everything in my career life changed.

Up until then, I had been in college and worked as a manicurist at a salon (and at home). It was great money and put me through school… well that, and many, many, thousands in student loans. Not saying college wasn’t worth the money, because it was. That is where I discovered my interest in careers, job search, and resumes. It’s just a lot of money, as many of you know. But I digress.

So, January of 1999 is when I started writing resumes. I admit, when I first started I was not great at it. It was a good thing that I was working for a non-profit center and no one had to pay for my services. I helped people, or “walk-ins”, who had just been laid off from their jobs and had to come in and put their resume on the “talent bank” in order to get compensation from the State. Most didn’t have resumes, so we started from scratch. I was great at putting everything in order chronologically, but not great at career summaries–still in the mindset of “objectives”. Ewww. I would then go very heavy on bullet points. Bullet after bullet of whatever they did. Not great, but learning. This process grabbed my interest, so I started rifling through our many resume books we had at the Center. I was “wow’ed” by so many of the resumes that I saw that I just devoured the books, joined the PARW/CC (Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches) and was off and running, honing my skills and practicing like crazy.

One day a fellow came in and showed me his resume. He said, “I just paid $250.00 for this and the one YOU did for my friend for FREE was so much better!”. Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather. I could GET PAID FOR THIS? OHMYGOSHHHHH! Those weren’t my exact words, but you get the drift. $250 was big money for a resume in 2001. I set up a website, quit my job at the career center, put out my shingle, and here I am today. I’ve earned my certifications, gotten my work published in various best-selling career books, been nominated for several awards, and have written thousands of resumes since then.

So, that’s my story. Happy Rez-I-Versary to me! Hmmm. How shall I celebrate? Maybe I’ll start by finishing up this CV for a Professor that I have been working on, and then get started on the VP of Business Development resume that is next on my list… and so on.

Still learning, still loving my job, and still helping job seekers land the jobs that they want.

I’ve always felt like I sort of “fell into” writing resumes. Many of us fall into our jobs, or they fall into us. Do you have any upcoming Job-I-Versary stories you’d like to share? Did you fall into your job? I’d love to know.

The Ladders January 22, 2009

THE LADDERS…

Lately, I have become more and more disillusioned with “The Ladders”, the source for $100,000+ jobs and $100,000+ candidates.

It all started with the critiques. I had been getting clients that were coming to me saying they had gone to The Ladders who had written a scathing review of their current resumes, but would happily remedy that for a mere $1,000 (some were more, some were less). So, for the cost of an average mortgage payment they would turn it around AND THEN find you a job for $100,000 and up. The thing was, I was having clients say, ” I don’t like this resume at all–can you fix it?”. I had one fellow who paid upwards of $900.00 for his resume that looked like something my 5-year old would write.

But, it didn’t start out that way. Back when it first came onto the internet scene, The Ladders really was busting out some nice resumes. They had qualified, certified resume writers. People were happy and everyone was talking about it. I was one of the first to jump on The Ladders bandwagon, telling my clients what a great site it was. Then we see commercials about it. Wow. It’s big time, now.

Then, things started to change. It was first pointed out to me through my professional association (PARW/CC) about the negative critiquing and not-so-good resumes coming out of that place. I was very optimistic though… not me, I still love it. Still believing in the dream. After all, the majority of my clients are senior-level execs, so I was thrilled to be able to have something promising to tell them. “Just go to The Ladders… they have $100,000+ jobs there”.

Soon I started hearing about false advertising, jobs that were way under $100K, barely starting at $30,000, sometimes The Ladders did not even know the pay range of the jobs they offer.

I don’t mean to bash another company in the careers industry, but I am leary about The Ladders now– and am hoping the founder, Mark Cenedella, will dump some of the writers he scrounged up, get some honest-to-goodness $100,000 jobs back in there, and restore it to it’s former glory.

What have your experiences with The Ladders been? Talk to me…

Resumes vs. CV’s October 1, 2008

Resumes versus CV’s– What’s the difference?

I get asked often by clients if they need a CV. Then the next question inevitably is, “What IS a CV?”

A CV is a Curriculum Vitae. It is generally used by college professors, physicians, researchers, lawyers and any profession where lists of information are required. Examples include publications, presentations, conferences, residencies, education, etc. They can even be over 20 pages long in some cases.

Internationally, in some areas of the world resumes are called CVs, but they really are resumes. Other countries require a CV type of a format (lists) from candidates. Those are usually the countries where pictures on resumes are required as well.

If you are planning on staying in the United States and do not plan on going into medicine, law or academia, chances are you will only need a resume.