4 Job Hunting Tips From Professional Resume Writers

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1. Be Prepared – great resume, good interview skills, clean online profile

The Boy Scouts were not kidding on this one. Being prepared is always the smartest course of action. Before you begin hunting for a new job, it is best to have all of your ducks in a row, so to speak. As professional resume writers, we can craft an amazing, dynamic resume and this is something you absolutely must have prior to the job search. You never know when someone might ask for your resume. Perhaps you’ll be at a social event and be chatting with someone who is a potential employer. If he or she asks for your resume, you should be able to email it to them directly.

Along the lines of being prepared, you also need to be prepared for interviews at the drop of a hat. This means you need to have a few professional outfits ready to go, and it means you need to practice your interview skills and be ready to answer questions. Online professional resume writers also sometimes offer interview preparation consultations, so consider taking advantage of this service and polishing your skills.

Before you head out and job hunt, be sure to clean up your online profile, as well. As professional resume writers, we know that interview skills and a great resume can only take you so far. If you have a silly email address or tons of inappropriate stuff on social media, this can cost you a great job. Create an email just for business purposes and tame yourself on social media. Google yourself and see what comes up. If it’s something you’d rather not have a prospective employer see, it might be wise to clean up your online presence prior to seeking a job.

2. Be Willing To Temp Or Freelance

The perfect job is not always available, and while you might have professional resume writers create your perfect resume and you might be prepared for the job hunt, be willing to take a temporary position if necessary. After all, at least a temp position will pay the bills while you search for a permanent job. In some cases, a temp position might even lead to a permanent job. Even if it doesn’t, chances are you will meet people within your field and expand your network. In addition, you might be able to pick up some new skills that will make you even more valuable to prospective employers.

Freelancing also might be an option is you have skills that are in demand. For a freelancer, it can be wise to create a website or blog that describes your skills and includes services you can provide as well as some testimonials if you have them. You might be able to build this into a solid career or keep freelancing after you find a permanent job to earn some extra cash.

3. Networking Can Help

As professional resume writers, we find that people are often unsure about how to network. Networking is all about making connections, and there are plenty of opportunities out there. For instance, consider using sites such as LinkedIn, Plaxo, Meetup or BranchOut to help you with networking. In addition, consider your circle of friends or family. Perhaps you know someone who knows someone who works in the industry in which you seek employment. You might be able to arrange a meeting or attend a social event in which this person will be attending. It’s a good opportunity to just introduce yourself and very briefly describe your career goals.

4. Pay Attention To The Details & Listen

Too often, our team of professional resume writers encounters people who just don’t follow directions or truly listen during an interview. If a hiring manager asks for a cover letter and resume and wants these items to focus on specific information, give this person exactly what they want. If they don’t want a cover letter, don’t include one. If they ask for references when you submit the resume, include those. If they don’t ask for references, just bring them to the interview and be able to provide them if asked.

When you head to the interview, be sure to bring a few essentials including a few copies of your resume just in case they ask for an extra copy for some reason. Bring a pen and paper as well in case you need to take notes. Turn your phone off and wear your most professional attire. Beyond that, the single most important piece of advice we can give as professional resume writers is to listen to the person who is interviewing you.

Many times people are nervous or anxious during an interview and they don’t truly listen to the questions or comments from the hiring manager. Listen closely and provide thoughtful, concise answers to questions. When they ask you to tell them about yourself, stick to work-related characteristics and don’t provide your life story. It’s also wise to know a little bit about a company prior to an interview.

Interview Tips From Resume Builder Experts

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As expert resume builders, we know that a great resume will get you in the door, but a great interview can truly win you the big job that you seek. It’s natural to be nervous prior to an interview, but we have a few tips that might ease your anxiety and ensure that you make a great impression.

1. Practice Makes Perfect

Being prepared helps you feel more relaxed, and this will help lessen your anxiety during an interview. In order to prepare, print out a list of typical interview questions (you can find these all over the internet) and practice answering them. Ask a friend or family member to act as the interviewer rather than just practicing on your own. Be sure to also practice your posture and how you sit as well. You don’t have to sit ramrod straight and still, but you should sit up confidently and not slouch.

Keep in mind when you are answering these generic practice questions, that you need to tailor your answers to the job for which you are applying. For instance, if you are asked to name your strengths, come up with a solid list of strengths that complement the job. Also, practice giving answers that are neither too brief nor too verbose. One-word answers aren’t inspiring and few employers have time to listen to your entire work and life history. A resume builder service can provide you with a great resume, and some also can even provide career coaching, which can help you prepare for interviews.

2. Know The Company

While using a resume builder service and practicing for the interview are important, it’s also always a good idea to do some corporate research prior to your interview. Learn a little bit about the organization in general. Study the corporate website and learn about the company goals and what seems important to management.

The amount of research that you need to do depends upon the type of job for which you are interviewing. For instance, if you are seeking a marketing position at a firm, take a look at some of the company’s previous campaigns, and take a look at what competitors’ have been doing as well as some industry trends. If the job is managerial or financial in nature, study the quarterly earnings and financials from the company so that you can speak to that during the interview.

3. Dress For Success

Dressing for success means different things for different jobs. But for any job interview, you want to look neat, clean and polished. Your clothes should be ironed and fit well. Your hair should be well-groomed. When you look your best, you will feel better about yourself and this helps keep you more relaxed during an interview.

For a formal business office, you will want to wear formal business attire. For a more casual job, you can dress down a bit more. However, don’t wear jeans, t-shirts or anything too colorful or brightly patterned. It is best to tone it down for a job interview. You want the interviewer to focus on you and not on what you are wearing. As resume builder experts, we know the importance of looking just as good as what is on your resume. Also, it can be good to bring in a briefcase or professional bag that contains copies of your resume, letters of recommendation and perhaps a portfolio of your work, as well as a pen and paper in case you need to jot anything down. However, don’t bring anything else, such as coffee or a water bottle, and be sure to turn your phone off.

4. Don’t Be Late

Ok, this one probably seems obvious, but it’s as crucial as not having errors on your resume. Being late basically just gives the impression that you aren’t reliable. Leave very early for a job interview to accommodate for traffic issues. Even if you end up killing time in a local coffee shop, at least you know that you won’t be late. In addition, keep in mind that “on time” really means about five or six minutes early. It’s really not necessary to arrive more than 10 minutes ahead of schedule, but provide a few extra minutes so that you can check in and get situated prior to the interview.

These are just a few tips that we, as resume builders, have found helpful for our clients seeking a variety of different jobs. Perhaps the best advice we can give is to be as prepared and professional as possible. We highly recommend that you hire a professional resume writing service to create your cover letter and resume. This will ensure that you have a dynamic, error-free resume tailored to the specific job that you want. Take a look at our resume writing recommendations and then select the best possible writing service.

5 Things You Won’t See On A Professional Resume

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In most cases, your professional resume provides a potential employer with a first impression of your skills and capabilities. As the saying goes, you will never get another chance to make this first impression and if your resume has problems, you are unlikely to be chosen for the job. Before you submit it, take a careful look at your professional resume and see if you’ve made any of the following mistakes.

1. Careless Mistakes

This is an obvious one, but it’s always worth repeating. When writing a professional resume, it hardly looks professional if there are spelling and/or grammar errors. Aside from simply running your resume through the typical word processing spelling and grammar check, be sure to have at least two other people look it over carefully.

Another careless mistake that might not seem obvious at first but could cost you a job is to misprint telephone numbers and email addresses. After all, if a potential employer cannot contact you or a reference, your resume could end up in the circular file doomed to oblivion. Also, set up a professional email just for business purposes with a professional, simple address, not the quirky fun email address you use for friends and family.

2. Inconsistent Style

Professional resume writers and professional writers in general understand that there should be a consistent style throughout any written work. For instance, if you decide to boldface the name of one of your education institutions, be sure to boldface all of the other names as well. Make sure everything has a consistent margin style, as well. This gives your resume a tidy, polished look, and hiring teams are more likely to notice the actual content rather than the glaring style inconsistencies.

3. Cookie-Cutter Style

Often, people are nervous about writing resumes, so they simply grab a template off the internet or from a word-processing program and copy it. A hiring manager can spot these types of resumes from a mile away, and they typically get tossed into the “no” pile. Basically, by using this type of resume, you are telling employers that you either don’t really care enough to craft a decent resume or you aren’t creative enough to figure out how to design an original, engaging resume.

4. A Dull Or Vague Objective

There are few things that kill an otherwise solid resume faster than a dull objective. Don’t be blah, sell yourself a little. A blah, vague objective might sound like this: “Dedicated, hard-working professional accountant seeking mid-level position with growth opportunities.” That’s not exactly inspiring. Instead, tailor the objective to the specific job for which you are applying and then quickly state your experience and goals. For instance: “CPA with 5 years of experience looking to apply high-level financial analysis and organizational skills to help clients maintain and improve their accounting systems.”

In many cases, it isn’t necessary to include a resume objective at all. This is especially true if your objective speaks only about what you hope to get out of the job experience. Employers generally do want employees to be happy, but they are more concerned with how you will promote the company’s success. If your objective fails to quickly describe how you and your skills can benefit the company, then it fails as an objective statement, and it might simply be best to omit an objective statement entirely.

5. A List Of Skills Rather Than Job Experience

It’s just fantastic if you are a great organizer and good with people and hard-working. It’s also great if you have experience with software or programs that are needed for a specific job. Listing your skills can be very important, but employers really want to look at your job history. Employers want to see that you successfully have applied your skills in a work setting.

Obviously, when you are just starting out after graduating college or trade school, your work history will be fairly sparse and your knowledge of different software or programs can be of more importance, but it is still important to list job experience. When you are seeking entry-level positions, employers understand that your work experience may be limited. What might be more important is your work ethic. Perhaps you just have a few part-time positions on your resume that you held during college. That can be just fine if your references are very enthusiastic about your skills, work habits and attitude.

Hiring professional resume writers is an excellent way to avoid these pitfalls. At Top 5 Resume Writers, we assess the skills of a variety of professional resume writing services. Selecting the best possible service can be a great first step toward securing the job you’ve always wanted. Take a look at our top picks and consider using one of these services. Not only can the create resumes tailored to specific jobs, they can write cover letters and help you write a biography for business networking and much more.

3 Things All Resume Writers Know

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A resume isn’t just a piece of paper that lists your qualifications for a specific job; it’s your chance to make a first impression on whoever might be hiring you. Nothing cuts your chances faster than a poorly crafted resume, which is why so many people come to us to locate the best possible resume writers. Over the years, we have discovered a few resume tips that you might find valuable.

1. Keep It Simple

No resume should be longer than two pages, and professional resume writers are trained to create a resume that includes all the important information without being verbose. A person who is looking to hire is probably sorting through dozens of resumes, and most only get a quick glance. It’s more important that your resume is simple and strong and meets the criteria for the job you are seeking.

Resume writers understand the importance of organization. For instance, when listing job experience, be sure to start with the most current position you have held. Employers might look at all of your job experience over the years, but they are much more likely to be interested in your experience during the last five years.

When writing your objective, keep it short but not too vague. It’s hard to be impressed by someone who wants an “engaging, challenging position with growth possibilities.” Doesn’t everyone want that? Instead, tailor the objective to the job. For instance, a person seeking a job as a computer technician should succinctly list their years of experience and knowledge of a wide variety of software and hardware. An engineer might briefly list certain certifications they possess.

Along the lines of keeping it simple, keep the design of the resume simple as well. You don’t need four different fonts and graphic designs cluttering up your resume. Use one font, skip the extra design elements and simply state in concise, clear language who you are and why you are qualified for the job. Professional resume writers understand that content is more important than design when it comes to a great resume.

2. Use The Right Words

One of the reasons why people hire resume writers to craft a resume is because these professionals know how to write and know how to make you appear to your best advantage. It’s all about presentation and language.

You could state on a resume that during one work experience, you were “responsible for 25 employees,” but it sounds better to state that you “managed 25 employees.” You could list that you “worked on a wide variety of personnel tasks.” However, it would be better to be more specific and state that you “handled payroll tasks, organized employee seminars and used Microsoft Excel for inventory management.” Employers wish to know what you can do, so don’t make vague, passive statements on your resume.

Also, it is imperative that all of the information on your resume is correct. Obviously, you don’t want any spelling or grammar errors, but other types of errors can be just as costly. For instance, perhaps your phone number or email address is incorrect or maybe the phone number of a reference. If employers can’t get hold of you or your references, it’s kind of difficult for you to actually get the job. If you hire resume writers, be sure the information you provide them is correct, otherwise, you will be wasting your time and money.

3. Network Your Resume

Finding a new job is a job, so treat it seriously. Once professional resume writers craft a great resume for you, it’s time to get out there and network. Talk to previous managers and co-workers and, if necessary, enlist the services of a head-hunter. In many cases, when it comes to job hunting, it can be all about who you know.

Once you hand in a resume, be sure to follow up with a quick, friendly phone call or email. Chances are good that many people handed in a resume, but only a few followed up after handing it in, and these might be the people who get the job. Give the hiring team a few days to look over the resumes, and then call or email and ask if any decisions have been made. If the job posting has a specific closing date, be sure to give the hiring team or manager a week to look over resumes before you call. However, if the job listing states that you should not call to follow up, be sure to respect that request.

It never hurts to consider hiring professional resume writers. These are experts that truly know what hiring managers want to see and how to make your resume stand out from the pack. Our goal at Top 5 Resume Writers, is to provide you with the best possible information about the resume services out there and help you choose resume writers that will provide you with the best possible resume.

Why Resume Writing is Better Left to the Professionals

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Resumes – they are one of the most important things we’ll ever write. Resumes are your first impression (aside from a cover letter) to any prospective employer, and if they are not a clear reflection of your awesomeness, you won’t make it to the next stage. You’ll make it into the trash can.

Learning to craft an irresistible and well-written professional resume can take hours and hours of expertise and know-how. Relying on professional resume writers to do the heavy lifting for you is a stellar way to land at the top of the heap. Why? Because all resumes are simply not created equal.

Why DIY Doesn’t Always Work

Few things are more frustrating than never hearing back from volumes of job submissions. If this is your reality, your resume is probably the culprit. It’s paramount that you find an expert resume writer to fix your resume before you lose yet another opportunity.

Why are resumes so difficult to master? Because, for one, editing your own work is always challenging, no matter the specific content. Your resume is highly personal, it tells the intimate story of your professional experience, and you’ve likely been using it for months if not years. That makes it exceedingly difficult to be objective, and to properly analyze. You may have glaring errors that you’ve missed through multiple edits, and working with a professional resume writer can eradicate many of these errors on the first pass.

Language and Formatting are Essential

Without significant research and obvious writing skills, knowing how to format and craft a resume is not innate for most people. Presenting your objectives, work history, and overall skill set in a well-crafted resume requires writing finesse. Furthermore, resumes have to look clean and polished to garner any attention – those that look messy and poorly put together won’t even receive the luxury of a read through.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, puts off potential employers more than misspellings and grammar errors in a resume either. A single mistake can cost you an interview. Employers wisely feel that if candidates can’t spend the time to be detailed-oriented in a perfected resume, they likely won’t exude the care and attention the position requires either.

As you can see, resume writing is tricky business; if you’re in the market for a new job, don’t trust this imperative element to landing your ideal gig to anyone other than  bona fide resume writing experts. You deserve the job of your dreams; make sure your resume reflects the best you possible!

Tina Courtney-Brown has been writing for the web for almost 20 years.  She possess a writing degree from Loyola Marymount University, and has advised writing across multiple formats – including resumes – for companies like Disney and JDate. She has produced and marketed innovative content for major players and boutique startups , with fortes including social media, SEO, massively multiplayer games, social networks, resume writing, and project management. Tina is also a certified Reiki practitioner, herbalist, nonprofit director and published author.  Learn more at her personal website, or find her on Facebook and Google+.