"I’m looking for a job.”     “Good luck with that!  It’s tough out there.” “Well, you found a job.”     “Yeah, but it took a while.” “Well, I’m just beginning to look.   I’m sending out my resume and answering a lot of ads.”     “Well, you’ll have to do more than that.  You’ll have to do some networking.”

Begin at the Beginning Starting a job search with ONLY a resume in hand is like starting a road trip in the middle.  You haven’t prepared a route, you haven’t planned what to take, and you’re not sure where you’ll end up!  This unplanned and un-strategized approach will have you wandering aimlessly down the highway on a road trip, and doing the same thing on your route to a new

I often ask groups, or clients, I'm speaking to: “Have you ever been in sales?”        In a group, a few hands generally go up.    I then ask the group:  How many of you ARE in sales?  Again, a few hands go up. I then ask:   How many of you are looking for a job?        As the light bulb goes on, all

One of my clients walked into our job search team meeting one day and declared:  “Persistence.  I think it just really takes being persistent to get a job today.”  The comment started a discussion among the members of the job search team!   And, it started me thinking.  What had I noticed about the traits of successful job seekers?  What did they seem to have

Have you decided to look for a new job or find a new role for yourself?  If you have, I am here to tell you that you can do it! However, if you are like many of my clients, and it’s been a while since you sought a new role or job, I am also here to tell you that going about finding a job has changed.  As you begin to think about and plan your search, here are some things to think about

Your resume is a lifeline to your next position!   It is a particularly acute lifeline if you are out of work or miserable in your current position. Yet I’ve talked with job seeker after job seeker who delays producing this all-important marketing tool.  Why?  Why is it so hard to get started? Why is it so hard to get started? There are lots of reasons job seekers put off writing

Here is a quick look at some truths about resumes as evidenced by their use and role in today's employment marketplace. Resumes get seconds - not minutes - on the first read-through.  Some recruiters now say as little as “7" seconds for a first-time read-through!A resume presents a “snapshot” of you. Resumes should be focused and tell the reader what you want to do.Resumes should be relevant

What is the job of your resume?   When you think about it, . . . . . its job is simple: To get you into the employment game and keep you there until you land your ideal job! However, a well-crafted resume that is a strategic, focused, future-oriented, relevant, and succinct written representation  of you and your career history is anything but simple!  It is quite a complex document. 

Everyone knows what a resume is –  Right? . . . . . . .  .. . . Wrong.   After 20 years of teaching and preaching about resumes, and the role a resume plays in a job seeker’s success, I still see job seeker after job seeker producing resumes that are too long, unfocused, and irrelevant to the position for which they are applying or to the company they are targeting. I still meet