“Within a day of posting my new resume from you my searches and reviews online increased dramatically. I was immediately getting hits and requests for interviews.” – Chris K. Savage, MN
Professional Résumés that Perform in the Marketplace
Posts By: Nadine
Is a chronological résumé versus a topical résumé the best strategy?
People often wonder if they should use a topical rather than a chronological résumé and ask if I can prepare a topical or (functional) résumé for them. But is that the best strategy? Of course, having written thousands of résumés, I can do so. But before I do, I like to share a few insights […]
Discovering Our Natural Gifts and Talents.
I believe that all of us are richly endowed with natural gifts and talents. Isn’t it obvious when we sit in a performing arts center and listen to a voice like that of Pavarotti or Sarah Brightman? These are people who discovered and used their gifts to bring joy to others, and ironically, they have […]
Acceptability Versus Unacceptability in our Interview Process
What Is Acceptability Versus Unacceptability in Our Interview Process? What is it about an interview that connects with all the youthful messages we carry about acceptability versus unacceptability? Somewhere in time, someone indelibly impressed on our souls that, as we lived our academic lives, there was some kind of transcript of life we were recording […]
How Much Should You Invest in Your Résumé?
People often wonder how much they should invest in their résumé. In harder times, we are forced to cut back and analyze every purchase we make. The question is, can we afford to cut back on our advertising, our résumé, and our outreach to the marketplace? Can we afford to cut back on the key […]
Is Interview Frequency or Customer Traffic a Measure of Talent?
In slow times, we may be tempted to wonder if our interview frequency or customer traffic is a measure of our talent. My daughter is an entrepreneur and a talented, gifted artist, and I am a professional writer. Often, I remark on how God gave us different gifts so that we could help one another. […]
Use Relevant Keywords and Navigate Applicant Tracking Systems
Keywords help establish the relevance of your résumé and improve the likelihood that Applicant Tracking Systems will interpret your experience accurately. Applicant Tracking Systems help employers collect, organize, search, and review applications. Once associated primarily with larger companies, they are now widely used across organizations of many sizes. Because these systems may search résumé content […]
What Makes a Distinctive and Impactful Résumé?
A well-performing résumé must be distinctive, impactful, and accomplishment-focused. Résumés have evolved from simple employment summaries into professional marketing presentations designed to communicate value, credibility, and fit within a competitive marketplace. A résumé can no longer function as a simple job description. It must be an accomplishment-rich presentation that showcases the best of your skills […]
Collaborative Writing – A Vital Résumé Writing Tool
As a professional writer, I discovered early that collaborative writing was a vital résumé-writing tool. When I began résumé writing 25+ years ago, I hired a front-line representative who booked appointments and completed questionnaires with callers. When I tried to write from that material, I realized very quickly that I still had many unanswered questions […]
Should You Write Your Own Résumé?
Should you write your own résumé? Today, that question has become more complex. Some people still prefer to write entirely in their own words, others rely on templates, and many now turn to AI tools for help. All of these approaches can assist with organizing information, but none automatically solves the harder challenge of recognizing […]
What Makes a Résumé Successful?
There are many diverse ideas about what makes a résumé successful. People can be very dogmatic about what to do—and what not to do—when preparing a résumé. There are also many different résumé styles, including chronological and functional approaches. Ultimately, however, the final judge of what makes a résumé successful lies in the perception of […]
Do I Need to Create a Résumé to Target a Specific Job?
People frequently ask me to write a résumé to target a specific job. While some believe this is a viable strategy, it can be a very risky and expensive proposition. Unless a person has had two distinct careers and corresponding experience, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to do this. The truth is, our […]
Skiing the Giant Moguls of Unemployment and Career Change
Unemployment can present a daunting, discouraging, and formidable challenge to a job seeker. As a professional writer, I have had the privilege of preparing 12,000+ résumés for people from every walk of life. Over 25+ years, much of my work has involved helping people pursue better jobs, professional opportunities, and challenging career transitions. Economic conditions […]
Success Is a Blend of 90% Persistence and 10% Talent!
It occurs to me that although success is truly a blend of persistence and talent, I would rate persistence as a 90% success factor. I say this because talent is like a raw material, a gift that can only be transformed into value by relentless effort, without which there can be neither results nor success. […]
Become a Chameleon in Today’s Job Market
When I visited Florida, I became fascinated with the remarkable ability of chameleons to adapt their appearance. We can learn from them! It’s not that they become something they are not. Instead, they use resources within themselves to become what they need to be at a given moment. That’s a marvelous lesson for us. We […]
Navigating Career Transitions
Over the years, I have had the privilege of working with thousands of clients who were endeavoring to navigate career transitions—some weary of their career path, others interested in pursuing a lifelong dream, and others still looking for a life change. One young man told me that he had all the accountabilities of a manager […]
Should Résumés Have an Objective?
Years ago, résumé writers routinely crafted objective statements intended to define what a candidate was seeking. Today, the traditional generic objective has largely given way to a professional profile or qualifications summary that tells the employer who you are, what you have accomplished, and what value you bring to the marketplace. But career direction is […]
Fighting Discouragement During a Job Search
How can we fight discouragement as we embark on a job search or career transition? Discouragement can be a natural response to pain, setbacks, uncertainty, or loss. Clinical depression, of course, may require professional support and should never be minimized. But all of us face times when we must find a way to keep moving […]
What Makes a Winning Cover Letter?
A winning cover letter is our introduction to a prospective employer. It must be rich in content and motivate our reader to want to meet with us. A cover letter can be a successful complement to our résumé. We therefore must give careful attention to how we write it. Over the years, I have reviewed […]
Should You Have a One- or Two-Page Résumé?
There is much controversy about the one- versus two-page résumé. I recommend a common-sense approach. What will it take to differentiate yourself and demonstrate to your audience how you have brought real-world value to the companies you have represented? If you can do it in one page, that’s great. If you need two pages to […]
12,000 résumés and counting!
