Tag: Resume

Just How Do Keywords Work in a Resume

So many people are put off by the idea of writing a resume, and ignore doing it until the absolute last possible minute, many times when it is too late. Using a resume that is written properly will save you a lot of heartache in the end, though-and is worth the time investment. Taking advantage of keywords to write a resume is an excellent idea, particularly if it is done well.

One of the main reasons keywords is such a hot topic is because of company scanning machines. Employers use scanning machines to search for keywords in a candidates resume that match their requirements, weeding out everyone else whose resumes don’t match that.

In the last decade or so, it has become the norm for resumes to be sent out over the internet through search engines-particularly the job hunting search engines. Employers will take advantage of these particular search engines, and feed in the required information for each job posting, and a set of tags. In other words, the tags are the keywords that they are looking for in resumes. These tags not only help the companies, but they help you by permitting you to select categories that you feel fit your skill level better. By knowing what category you picked the job from-operations, finance, sales and marketing-you can re-word your resume using relevant keywords to fit the job description (posting) you are interested in. So, how do you know what keywords to add in a resume?

Make a rough list of what you need to add to your resume. Consider the jobs that are on your resume already. What things do they have in common? Start to think about what words you could conveniently place to attract prospective employers’ attention throughout your resume-words that are part of your past experiences–and relevant to the next position. Previous experience managing a manufacturing company can be turned into a keyword, or two-manufacturing operations or operations executive.

Place the keywords appropriately in your resume. Make the sentence or title that they are in seem natural, yet the placement of the keyword will gain attention, especially in the search engines. Consider a bulleted keyword list under your career summary. Grabbing the attention of human resource managers or the hiring person is easier if you have a keyword list.

Now that you know how keywords work in a resume, take the time to rework your resume. A little bit of extra effort quite often pays off in the long run-especially when you’re looking for the job of your dreams.

Don’t Be Conned By A Resume Writer

A Professional Resume Writer or Resume Service can indeed help you land a new job or receive a job promotion. However, there are a lot of scams on the internet. My goal in this article is to help you know how to identify a resume scam. While nothing is foolproof, learning what to look for in a resume writer can help you avoid the resume scams!

The Cost of a Professionally Written Resume

A professionally written resume is an investment in your career. And… professionally written resumes are tax-deductible!

Just because it is an investment does not mean that it will cost you $1,000. However, It also does not mean that a resume writer selling ‘professionally written resumes’ for $25 will do a good job. Your job as a job seeker is to hire the best you can afford. A strong, well written resume for a mid level career should not be more than $150 TOPS. A high-end executive, however, should expect to pay more. The majority of resumes that I write are for those mid level job seekers. I am not afraid, or ashamed, to admit that I do NOT feel comfortable working with a high-end – big whig- CEO of a multinational conglomeration! I know my limitations. Which leads us to my next point…

Your Resume Writer Knows Their Limitations!

As I said, I do VERY FEW Senior executive resumes. I have done them, but that is on a case by case basis. I often turn down work because it is not in my realm of knowledge. No resume writer can know everything about every career! A resume scammer will tell you they DO. For the record, I also do not do resumes for attorneys, actors, federal resumes or resumes for physicians. You can be in sales, IT, construction, education, management, or any number of other fields and I am more than happy to assist you. I know my limitations. Every resume writer SHOULD.

Guarantees (Money Back or Job Placement)

If a resume writer guarantees that their resume will get you a job within a particular period of time, FIND ANOTHER WRITER! I am a resume WRITER, not a HIRING MANAGER (been there, done that!). I cannot guarantee you get a job any more than you can guarantee me work for the next 6 months. Your interviewing skills, personality, networking skills, career background and sometimes – sheer luck- are what will GET you a job. MY JOB is to create and write a resume that markets your skills and accomplishments and makes you more attractive and valuable to companies!

Resume writers that offer a money back guarantee typically make it so incredibly difficult to get it, that they RARELY give refunds. And, any resume writer can tell you how easy it is for clients to scam THEM. I have a friend who is a resume writer (I used to work for her, coincidentally) and she had several instances of clients simply saying they did not like it, in order to get a refund. The problem with this is that we live in a VERY small community. The client ALSO lived in the SAME community. She received a phone call one day from a local business who had just hired this client. The gentleman who hired him, recognized her style of writing and called with a ‘hey- you’ll never guess who I just hired’ message. She never did recoup her money. She could have cost him the job. She chose NOT to tell her friend the scam his new employee had pulled on her. I’m just not sure I’d be able to keep my mouth shut. So no… unless there is some type of critical error or incomplete order, most resume writers will NOT offer refunds.

No Revisions

While a good resume writer will not offer refunds, they SHOULD offer revisions! My clients get as many revisions as they need. Any company or resume writer who is not willing to work with you and ensure your satisfaction is definitely a scam!

Questionnaires

In and of themselves, questionnaires are not a bad thing. I use one myself. HOWEVER – I will also call or email with questions, and offer my phone number for you to call me if you need to! If there is a major issue with your resume, I will ALWAYS call to speak with you.

Upselling

Many resume scams will hook you with a low or reasonable price, then upsell you on other features or services and/or tell you your resume will be longer and make you pay for a ‘2 or 3 page’ resume. I can’t STAND this practice! I charge a flat rate because (mainly) it’s easier for me! Sure, I may lose money on the occasional resume that takes longer or is more difficult than I estimated, and yes, some are easier and take less time. It all balances out. I believe in keeping my pricing fair – for my clients and myself. And the last thing I want to do is spend my time trying to talk you into buying something you don’t want. I can’t stand pushy salespeople! And if I wanted to be in sales- I would be! There’s a reason I’m not!

Top 10 Resume Writer/ Top 10 Resume Service Lists

To the best of my knowledge, there is no such (legitimate) site! In most cases, these sites are owned (directly or indirectly) by these resume service sites themselves! They give ‘reviews’ with 5 star ratings to their companies, or to companies which have paid (usually several hundred dollars per month!) to be included on this list!

There are professional resume writing certifications and organizations, and you can find a legitimate resume service there. Keep in mind though; there are also many good writers who are NOT in these organizations for one reason or another. The cost of them is often a primary factor. So, just because your resume writer is not part of these groups, does not mean that they are not very good at what they do.

One thing you should do is check to see if the resume writer or service is listed on RipOffReport.com, which is a popular site where disgruntled customers can log their complaints.

Guaranteed Quick Turnaround Time

At the most, I only write 1-2 resumes per day. It takes several hours for each resume. A good resume takes hours to write and the best resume writers produce only 1-2 resumes per day. Be wary of resume writers that will not provide at least a few different samples of resumes they have created. Any resume writer promising 24-48 hour turnaround and charging $99 or less, generally produces 6-8 resumes a day. They all look the same. The information is put into a template and they shoot it off to you. Generally speaking, my turnaround time is a week to 10 days. Sometimes more. I am always honest about how long it will take me to send your resume. I do offer same day and next day service, but on a very limited availability and it comes with a price. Your time is valuable and so is mine. If I am doing a rush order for you, it means I am taking time away from my family and personal life. This is true of any competent resume writer!

Their Website

This is a double-edged sword here. The website should be attractive and easy to find information on. However, just because it is ‘pretty’ doesn’t mean that they produce high quality resumes. Look at their samples. If you don’t like their samples, you probably won’t like their work. Make sure their samples are of different styles and industries. A resume for a teacher will not look the same as it does for a sales executive or engineer! Look to see if they are focusing on skills and accomplishments as opposed to producing pretty resumes that just list job duties. Also look to see if they are using advanced techniques like color, testimonials and highlights to make your resume stand out from the crowd.

By using your common sense, you can reduce the odds of falling into a resume scam. Some resume scammers are very good, and even with these tips you may fall victim. But by being educated and diligent, you significantly reduce that chance and increase the odds of you finding the best resume writer for you! Google the resume service name and the resume writer’s name, look them up on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Just as employers will check you out before offering you a job, check out your resume writer before you hire them!

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