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 Inside Secrets on How To Write a Great Cover Letter

Imagine that an employer has over 800 resumes to weed through, each with a cover letter. They pick up the next letter and it says “I am writing in response to your advertisement #50541 regarding your Project Manager position”. Pretty boring… and you just missed your chance to grab their attention. Here are some tips on how to make your cover letter really stand out.


 How Sales Executives are Measured

Most people know that one of the measurements of a sales person’s effectiveness is whether they beat quota. I thought it would be useful to share the other key metrics employers look at when they are evaluating sales professionals.


 Your Name on a Resume– Formal or Informal?

The very first thing someone sees on your resume is your name and the way you put it subtly positions you. For example, do you put Donald L. Goodman or Don Goodman at the top? Here’s some schools of thought on that question.


 Using Numbers in Your Resume

You have probably heard a dozen times that your resume needs to quantify your accomplishments as much as possible. However, people still are not clear on how to do this effectively.


 Want A Good Resume? Write an Ad

Every day I get dozens of resumes from people who want me to critique their resume. And in most cases, they all have the same problem. They are written from their point of view, listing the roles and responsibilities they have had over the years. They assume that someone will read their resume and then figure out how they can be used in their company. You have all probably heard that someone will spend a mere 7-10 seconds scanning your resume. So that means that the only people who will actually read your resume is usually you, your significant other and maybe your mother.


 CareerBuilders' View on Resumes

Here are some statistics from a research study conducted by CareerBuilder. The good news is that it is a candidate’s market: 55% of recruiting managers said it was difficult to find good candidates last year – and 81% said it is equally or more challenging this year. And here is what a hiring manger is looking for in a resume.


 How Much Should A Resume Cost?

Everyday someone either asks me why I am so cheap or so expensive (yes, many folks wonder why my prices are so low). If you search on the internet, you can find resume writing services priced from $39 to $1,500. So I thought it would be a good idea to describe what I think a reasonable cost would be for a resume.


 Rip Off Resume Services

I have often stated that it makes sense to use a professional resume writing firm. After all, less than 1% of the population uses one and having a professionally crafted resume gives you a competitive edge. Having said that you need to be more careful than ever who you choose, because unfortunately, there are a number of new scams out there.


 Writing Your Resume Using the “So What?” Trick

The simple purpose of your resume is to tell potential employers what you can do for them. Yet people still fall into the trap of writing sentences that describe their job duties instead of their skills. A simple way to avoid this is to use the “so what” trick.


 Why Should I Hire You?

Elevator pitch, personal branding message, profile summary – they all mean the same thing and that is the 20-30 second pitch you give to an employer as to what you bring to their table. Absolutely the core message for any resume and job seeker, yet extremely few people bother to figure their message out.


 Rules for Reviewing Your Own Resume

I recently had an individual who asked me to give him a detailed critique of his resume. In doing so, I found myself giving him the most important rules for writing a good resume. You might want to use this same technique to review your own resume.


 The Best Resume Writing Process

Especially in the beginning of the year, people are calling me and asking me how long will it take to create a resume. Apparently these people have been thinking about creating a resume for weeks and now a headhunter has called, or they saw a job posting, and they want a resume in 24 hours or less.


 Resume Writing: When to Use a Functional Resume

I am often asked whether a client should use a functional resume. The simple answer is almost never. There are 3 reasons why people use a functional resume and only 1 reason is valid.


 Writing a Resume: Should I have an Objective?

I would say that more than 90% of my client’s old resumes start with an Objective. They often ask, “Should I have an Objective in my new resume?” The simple answer is “No”, and here is why.


 Writing a Resume - Attitude Counts

I recently wrote a resume for an entry-level IT professional who had very little experience in computers except for what he had learned in school. He had few hands-on courses, no certifications and a mediocre GPA. His prospects for gaining a job interview were slim. Jumping to the end of the story, the resume I put together for him resulted in 3 calls from employers in the first 24 hours. So what magic did I perform? I stressed his attitude.


 Writing a Resume

The very first thing you need to do when writing a resume is decide what name should be at the top. You might think that's a silly question, but consider that it is the very first thing that is seen by a potential employer.


 Resume Help

Every week I see hundreds of resumes sent to me for a free evaluation. Most of them start with an Objective indicating what that individual is seeking. Then they list the various roles and responsibilities they have held in the past. Where this style of resume was successful 5 years ago, it isn't going to work in today's market.


 Lying on Resumes

Today I got a call from a desperate man. He had gone through 3 interviews successfully and was about to be offered the job of his dreams. He wanted to know if we did reference checking. I gave him some advice and directed him to many of the good firms that do this as a service. He called back and said that the firms I directed him to would not do what he wants.


 Positioning Yourself in Your Resume

I recently had a senior executive who lamented how difficult it was for him to reenter the job market as he had left a significant corporate position for a job in academia where he has spent the last 7 years. He was concerned that his strength in creating and executing a company vision/mission would not be perceived because of his “sabbatical”. In short, he lacked confidence and was willing to settle on any position he could get to reenter the job market.


 Before You Write Your Resume

Writing your resume is more than just articulating your skills and accomplishments. Perhaps the most important part of the resume writing process is to define your positioning statement or "elevator pitch". (An "elevator pitch" is what you would say to Bill Gates if he got on an elevator with you and you had 20 seconds to tell him why he should hire you before the elevator doors open at the lobby). And in the process of defining your positioning statement, you need to give some thought to your overall search strategy.

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I've had my new resume for 1 day and I already got a response from the resume!!
J.T. – Financial Analyst
I am very happy with the results. I have had 1 offer and 2 interviews since I made the resume available 2 weeks ago.
C.P. – IT Project Manager
I just wanted you to know that I got an offer from (Big Pharmaceutical firm). I got the job! The resume you did was very impressive and key to my getting the interview.
S.K. –Pharmaceutical Sales

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