It should be obvious that the seductive words contained in a Harlequin romance novel may differ greatly than those found in a professional resume but the purpose of the words is identical;

to win over, attract, lure and entice!

Your resume must be capable of attracting the attention of the HR professional or recruiter. A professional appearance, free of spelling and grammatical errors, an enticing tag line, star quality accomplishments and key words which will be targeted in the scanning process; all are necessary for the reader to give consideration to your resume over the competition during the process of elimination!

If your resume does not eliminate you as a potential candidate on first review, it will be the words used in your resume to describe your soft skills, hard skills and experience that will attract the reader and secure the opportunity you are competing for; the job interview.

Give careful consideration to the words necessary to win over, attract, lure, entice the reader to take action and contact you! Consider the impact of the following words:

“Wrote the performance review…” vs. “Conceived and authored the performance review…”

“Establish sales strategies…” vs. “Devised and executed captivating sales strategies…”

“Committed to using my skills to succeed.” vs. “Situational leader and tactician; charismatic team builder, provides staff with the tools to succeed and deliver.”

Seductive, enticing, impressive words. These are words that are capable of winning over the potential employer and landing you a job interview. Would you go fishing without a lure?

It’s that time of year again! Santa has his professional resume perfected, (click on picture to view), and is looking forward to flying out to his next assignment.

Ho Ho Ho!

The next step for most would be a job interview but Santa will be able to skip this step in the process as his expertise eliminates any potential competition. Even the Grinch was no match for Santa. And so it is, with full confidence that Santa is ramping up for the busy season ahead!

Santa Claus is admired by children everywhere, but for those mature individuals who are currently in career transition, you may also want to look up to him as an ideal role model. He has a clearly defined career path, a professional resume filled with accomplishments and a never ending list of references,  which have all contributed to an outstanding reputation. He acknowledges the importance of personal branding, consuming cookies and milk at every stop despite his expanding physique. Santa has also been successful in establishing his online presence. Google Santa and review 1,880,000,000 search results!

Do you need a free resume critique, advice on personal branding or perhaps some ideas on how to increase your google ranking? Make your New Year’s resolution today to find out about the executive career management services available at Elite Resumes.

Please take a look at your resume and ensure you have provided the necessary contact information. If you are not sure what the contact information should consist of, please consult a Certified Professional Resume Writer, (CPRW) before sending out your resume!

Over the past 17 years I have invested as much time providing free resume critiques as I have in writing them. Of the thousands of resumes that have come across my desk, the most surprising occurrence is the lack of a phone number. Since no one has ever admitted to intentionally excluding a phone number, I have attributed it to an oversight. In the past, a home number and a cell number were required on every resume but as many choose to eliminate a land line opting for the flexibility of a mobile connection, it is reasonable to believe that eventually many will only have one phone number available to share.

In addition to including a phone number on your professional resume, it is also necessary to add your mailing address, email address and Linkedin address. This is the minimum resume contact information that must be included in your resume. There are no exceptions!

Send your resume for a free resume critique from Martin Buckland, Certified Professional Resume Writer.

Your professional resume must be a fact-based, historical account of accomplishments. As the years pass, so should your qualifications continue to be enhanced by additional experiences, achievements and education. Your resume should clearly identify these ever increasing details which contribute to enhancing your qualifications and the ability to present an impressive resume.

Managing a successful executive career requires a continuous and conscious effort to seek out those initiatives that will contribute to enhancing your qualifications, maintaining a competitive edge as a potential candidate. Each position you hold will offer the opportunity to achieve results. Be sure to document all details of quantifiable accomplishments upon completion of tasks or projects. Do not wait until you need your resume written years down the road to test your ability to recall events! Reducing costs or increasing sales will not impress without corroborative numeric details.

Experience, accomplishments and promotions are sure to enhance your qualifications but there are other ways to beef up your resume. Do you have a continuing and consistent history of education? Enhance your qualifications by seeking out suitable courses or an accreditation to add to your educational background.

In addition to work history and education, volunteer work and community service will also enhance your qualifications. Focus on groups, organizations or municipal causes avoiding those with any inference towards politics or religion to avoid the risk of discrimination.

Continued attention to detailed and quantifiable accomplishments, further education and volunteer work or community service will all serve to enhance your qualifications on your resume. When was the last time you updated your resume?

If you are interested in acquiring an MBA, Canadian Business has provided an extensive report in their 2011 MBA Guide, which includes 39 institutions across Canada.

September brings out the competition. If you put your job search on hold during the summer months, you are not unlike many others who are now back to work, back to school or readying their resume to engage in a full time job search.

HR professionals and recruiters are receiving double the number of resumes than what would have been submitted over the summer months. With an average time of 30 seconds allocated to review a resume, it is safe to say that the months of September and October will receive much less attention in order to manage the flood of resumes. How competitive is your resume?

In a matter of seconds, it will only take the glimpse of a minor mistake, one wrong move and the decision maker will have reason enough to send your resume to the recycle bin, if it even gets printed. The limited time available will not allow for a detailed examination of content until the number of resumes has been reduced to a manageable level putting your resume in a highly competitive process of elimination.

It is a rare occasion that a resume is not sent via the Internet. What program are you using to send your resume? What font are you using? What format? First and foremost your resume and cover letter must be accessed in order to be reviewed. Send it to yourself, a friend, colleague or family member as a test to ensure it can be opened and read and remains in the format created. If you choose to use a .docx rather than a .doc, it is possible that someone will not be able to download it. If you choose a font which is not commonly used, it is possible that someone will open it that does not have that font available. If you are not careful with formatting your documents, you could have someone open up a 2 page document that spans 4 pages. A competitive resume will be easily downloaded and viewed as sent.

Competitive resumes will look professional with a consistent font type, size, limited white space and free of underlining or shading. 2 to 4 pages is the acceptable length in addition to a cover letter addressed to an individual which relates to the position and highlights the necessary experience and qualifications which will be supported in your resume.

Minor typos and grammatical errors will not be overlooked. If you do not put the time and effort in to preparing your resume without mistakes it will be seen as a reflection of your work. A competitive resume will have been spell checked, grammar checked and reviewed by a Certified Professional Resume Writer prior to being submitted for consideration as a potential candidate.

Is your name clearly displayed with the necessary contact details including a Linkedin address? Do you have an enticing tag line? Are soft skills and hard skills clearly defined? Beginning with your most recent position, is your title highlighted? Are accomplishments noted in bullet form beginning with an action verb and explained clearly as a situation, task, action and result? Have you included all of the relevant keywords and explained any significant employment gaps? Are all dates displayed for degrees, diplomas or other accreditation’s?

How competitive is your resume?

You would think sales and marketing professionals would know what an impressive resume looks like, after all, a resume is simply a marketing tool. HR professionals, with extensive experience reviewing resumes should also know how their own resumes should look in order to positively influence decision makers. However, this is not the case and after 18 years as a Certified Professional Resume Writer providing over 15,000 free resume critiques, I can confirm that the worst resumes I have critiqued have consistently been submitted by sales and marketing professionals and HR professionals.

Perhaps those producing the worst resumes are relative to various professions where  often the emphasis is on the clients needs rather than their own such as the lawyer who prepares wills but doesn’t have one or the plumber with leaky faucets. Regardless of the profession, the fact is most people are not good at selling themselves, which is why it is imperative that a professional review your resume before you ever send it out. Don’t sell yourself short by submitting one of the worst resumes.

Submit your resume for a free resume critique from Martin Buckland, Certified Professional Resume Writer.

Although you may choose to offer a resume with differing tag lines or a reworded “Projective”, you really only have one resume when sharing your career history and your education. There is no room for any lack of consistency regarding titles, dates or degrees as facts are facts. You either worked for the company during that time period or you didn’t! You attended a specific education facility and acquired a diploma or you didn’t. If you choose to write more than one resume you could be risking your credibility whether intentional or not. A typo on a graduation date that varies from one resume to another could be conceived as an attempt to misrepresent the facts.

HR professionals and recruiters consider potential candidates for many reasons including experience, education, testimonials, personality and referrals. In addition to every qualification an employer is seeking there is one critical element, CREDIBILITY! If you are sending out resumes without consistent information you are jeopardizing that credibility. If you have created your Linkedin profile and it consists of varying information from the resume that a potential employer is verifying, you will eliminate yourself as a candidate. Your resume shows you were the VP but your Linkedin profile, which is linked to the company clearly shows you were a Manager. It will be an easy decision not to waste any more time if the facts are not clear.

The wide range of online information pertaining to individuals and companies available on Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook are being utilized by recruiters and HR professionals to seek out and verify potential candidates. Your name, personal brand, career history and education must all be consistent and verifiable. Any variances could be construed as a misrepresentation. Review your resumes and your online profiles to ensure your brand and career history are clearly and concisely represented. If you have a professional resume, simply cut and paste the applicable information to your online profiles to ensure accuracy.

Contact Elite Resumes for a free resume critique from Martin Buckland, Certified Professional Resume Writer.

The following blog was posted over 3 years ago and yet is still as much a relevant issue today as it was then, DO NOT Use a Microsoft Word Resume Template. If you want to impress a recruiter or HR professional there are many basic rules that must be adhered to and this is just one of them.

Professional Resume Writing 101-28 also provides pertinent information and basic rules regarding the content of your resume and what should and should not be included covering everything from volunteer work and references to age and marital status.

If you have any questions regarding a professional resume, you will find the answer here simply by searching hundreds of blog posts that are available for your perusal. Some of the top posts include, A STAR Resume, General Principals and Not Your Life Story.

Take advantage of the immense information available from a Certified Professional Resume Writer and submit your resume for a free resume critique from Martin Buckland, CPRW and executive career management expert.

What is a STAR resume? It is a professional resume that highlights your greatest accomplishments; an impressive document that will influence the decision maker within a matter of seconds to call you for a job interview.

As with the brightest star, it will be a STAR resume that is noticed and will stand out from all the rest. Descriptions of positions held that consist of a general list of responsibilities is simply a waste of space. Everyone is faced with a long list of responsibilities but what we are responsible for and what we actually accomplish are two very different issues. So too, is what will have a positive influence on the decision maker and what will not.

Your greatest accomplishments for each position held must be clearly relayed and quantifiable. The breakdown of each success by situation, task, action and result will ensure any HR professional or recruiter recognizes the potential in you to succeed in the position they are seeking to fill.

Contact Elite Resumes for a free resume critique from a Certified Professional Resume Writer.  

There is one very important criteria to consider before submitting your professional resume; will it impress the right people? Your professional resume is a single document that will influence the direction of your career and it will be judged by HR professionals and recruiters, those with the power to decide if you will be a potential candidate and grant you a job interview or eliminate you from contention.

In order to please the majority of judges it is important to know what will impress them. American Idol presents three judges and although they don’t always agree, we can be assured that they are all looking for serious talent. Why is it then that so many candidates show up in ridiculous costumes? We know as soon as they walk in the door that the judges will not give them a ticket to Hollywood. It is not any different when you submit your professional resume. We know what the judges are looking for and how to present a resume that will get you the ticket to a job interview.

You’ll be pleasing the judges if your resume:

• has a professional appearance – star quality
• begins with a compelling projective – overture
• correct grammar and spelling – harmony
• quantifiable accomplishments – tempo
• continuous work history - beat
• education with dates – tone

Your recital will be the influence behind an encore just as your resume will be the influence behind a job interview. Pleasing the judges will determine your success! 

Contact Elite Resumes for a free resume critique from the maestro of resumes, Martin Buckland.

Love is in the air on Valentine’s Day but if you are in career transition you won’t let this day or any other prevent you from an active job search. Your commitment and determination will impact the success of your job search but if they don’t love your resume you won’t have the opportunity to find out if the decision maker will love you for the job.

Here are a few tips to ensure they love your resume:

Provide full contact details including home address, phone #’s, email and Linkedin addresses

Ensure work history is complete and there are no gaps in dates

Use action words to start point form quantifiable accomplishments

Clearly note title of each position held in bold caps

List the dates for each position from year to year

Do not exceed 3 pages

List all graduation dates by year

Check for any formatting issues before submitting online

Edit and edit again to correct typo’s or grammatical errors

Use consistent font types and sizes

Ensure page borders are even top/bottom and right/left

Seek additional advice by contacting Elite Resumes for a free resume critique from a Certified Professional Resume Writer.

What do the stars in the sky have in common with job seekers?

There will always be some stars and some job seekers that will stand out from the others.

photo credit: write_adam

As a job seeker your challenge is to stand out from the competition and a STAR resume will make you shine bright by highlighting your greatest accomplishments. Your resume may contain some high profile companies and some impressive designations but it is your accomplishments that will have the greatest influence on a hiring professional setting you apart from the competition. Education does not guarantee drive or motivation just as a successful company is not proof that you as an employee were a confident leader. However, your accomplishments are a clear representation of your ability and potential value to an organization. If you were hired to reduce costs and increase profits and can provide details of your success, you will shine brightly in the eyes of a potential employer. 

What is a STAR resume? It is a resume containing accomplishments that are clearly defined by the situation, task, action and result. 

What are your successes that will impress a  decision maker to take note and select you as a potential candidate? Remember, anyone can say they increased profits so it is imperative that quantifiable details are provided. What was the situation? What task were you given? What action did you take and what were the subsequent results? If you follow this format to describe your accomplishments, you will succeed in standing out from the competition.

Contact Martin Buckland, Certified Professional Resume Writer for a free resume critique from Elite Resumes to ensure you have a STAR resume!

There are few investments that are entered into without first evaluating the potential for a return on that investment. A decision to invest in renovating your home may result in an increase in property value or simply a more comfortable atmosphere to live in. In order to realize a significant benefit or a measurable return you will need to rely on your own due diligence to secure the best company for the job. You may choose to volunteer for a charity event or fundraiser, in which case the return on your investment of time will be a boost to your self-esteem, unless you discover it was not a reputable organization. A professional resume will also provide a significant ROI if you exercise your due diligence in hiring the right Certified Professional Resume Writer. As with any product or service, the best recommendation is word of mouth but don’t stop there. Verify company history, certifications and review testimonials. Invest the time in discussions with the individual who will be writing your resume to ensure there is a comfortable exchange of information. After all, this professional will be working with you at great lengths to ensure you receive a professional resume that represents your brand, your value and your achievements to position you as a potential candidate who will stand out from the crowd.

Investing in a professional resume from a Certified Professional Resume Writer can provide a significant return on your investment by:

Increasing confidence and self-worth

Reducing the time required to find a job

Generating several job offers

If you have a substantial work history, you may find it difficult to recall all of the many accomplishments and successes you have achieved in your career. A professional resume writer is experienced at delving into your background and uncovering your most influential, significant and quantifiable accomplishments. Relaying these achievements in your resume and emphasizing your value to a potential employer should result in a boost to your self-confidence. HR Professionals and recruiters agree that confidence is one of the most significant factors in their decision making process.

It is not unusual for an executive job search to take up to 12 months or longer. A rule of thumb that continues to provide a reliable estimate is to allocate one month for each $10,000 in salary that is earned. Every month you are out of work is a significant expense and the sooner your resume gets you noticed, the better. Recruiters recognize a professional resume and the investment you have made in the management of your career adding to your credibility as a potential candidate. There will be no risk of elimination due to spelling, grammatical or formatting errors and HR professionals will acknowledge it as a professional document that warrants their attention. 

Getting noticed in this highly competitive job market is imperative. In addition to reducing the time in career transition, which could be a significant return on your investment, a professional resume will generate more job interviews increasing the potential for multiple job offers and the opportunity to negotiate an increased salary. 

What is the potential ROI in securing a professional resume from a Certified Professional Resume Writer? If a professional resume results in a higher salary and reduces your job search by as little as one month, what is the value to you? The potential for a significant monetary return on your investment in a professional resume is evident but it is also an investment in you, your career and your future. Your personal and professional success is priceless!  

The following resume writing tips are well known in the industry but for those who find themselves returning to the job market after a lengthy tenure, it may be worth reviewing to ensure you are aware of some of these do’s and don’ts of resume writing.

These 10 tips represent what NOT to do:

• Do Not use colourful or glossy paper, fancy fonts, symbols or underlining.
• Do Not leave blank white spaces or go beyond a 3 page document.
• Do Not add your photo to your resume.  There are only a few positions that would require a photo such as a model or an actor.
• Do Not use an  outdated or silly Hotmail or AOL email address. It only takes a matter of seconds to establish a professional email address.
• Do Not complete contact details without including your customized LinkedIn address and a phone number that you can be reached at.
• Do Not use, “I”, “My”, “He”, “She”.  This is your resume, not a cover letter.  Use bullet points and begin each accomplishment with an action verb.
• Do Not lie about your past jobs or qualifications.  It’s not worth getting the job today just to lose it tomorrow.
• Do Not leave out graduation dates or leave gaps in your work history. Leaving it out will only send a red flag. If you’re not willing to tell the whole story on your resume, should you be trusted to reveal it in an interiew?    
• Do Not include religious or political affiliations or personal interests and hobbies on your resume.
• Do Not list references on your resume and there is no need to note that they are “available upon request” as any recruiter or human resource professional expects that they will be available.

Send your resume to Elite Resumes to receive a free resume critique from a Certified Professional Resume Writer.

Are you able to answer the following, frequently asked questions about resume writing?

How many pages should my resume be?

Do I need to list references on my resume?

Should I list all 20 of my previous jobs?

Is there a particular font that is more acceptable than others?

I’ve heard that you shouldn’t underline anything on a resume.  Is this true and why?

Is it acceptable to use abbreviations?

Do you include high school info in a resume?

Should I include the political and religious organizations I am involved with?

Should a resume for an undergraduate be kept to one page?

Is it necessary to include an objective?

Should the education section always appear at the end of the resume?

What type of results should I be expecting from my resume?

Is it acceptable to have more than one type of resume?

How should I list the degrees I have acquired from other countries?

Should I list my hobbies and interests to let a potential employer get to know me a little better?

What is the difference between a Functional and a Chronological resume?

How do I show my personal brand in my resume?

Is a tag line important?

Why shouldn’t I use resume.doc when naming my resume?

Do I need to include my customized Linkedin url on my resume?

If you are writing your resume and are not sure how to answer any one of these frequently asked questions STOP now!  You do not want to give a hiring professional any reason to discard your resume. Contact Elite Resumes for the answers to these questions or submit your resume for a free resume critique by a Certified Professional Resume Writer.

How much feedback did you acquire before sending out your resume? Never send out a resume that has not been reviewed by at least a dozen people! Your resume is your key marketing tool. It will either get you in the door or it won’t. Don’t miss out on an opportunity!

Every HR Professional and Recruiter will see your resume differently so it is impossible to have a perfect resume however, a resume that will positively influence the majority of decision makers is possible. Will your resume impress upon a decision maker to call you in for a job interview? It is often difficult to have an objective opinion about a document that is all about you. The accomplishment that meant the most to you may not be the one that will have the most influence on the reader. The appearance of your resume may be pleasing to you with bold fonts and graphics but could be seen as aesthetically offensive and lacking professionalism to someone else.

Your due diligence in obtaining as much feedback on your resume as possible from a variety of sources will help you to prepare a resume that will open doors. You do not want to be passed over as a potential candidate due to typos, formating issues, grammatical errors or missing information. 

Most people will be happy to take the time to review your resume. Of course your mother’s opinion may not be quite as objective as that of a colleague but don’t dismiss feedback from family and friends. After all, who cares more about what is in your best interest? Exchange your resume with other professionals at networking events and share your impressions and advice. Have you maintained good relations with those from your previous position? Do you know what your boss and the company admired most about you and is it clearly noted in your resume? Have you provided them with your resume and asked for feedback?  

Finally, take advantage of a free resume critique from a Certified Professional Resume Writer!

Are you prepared for a job search if you lost your job tomorrow? Randy Woods writes, You may want a new job, but are you ready? He provides results of a recent poll which showed over 80% of respondents were either “somewhat prepared” or “very prepared” to start searching if they lost their current job tomorrow. That’s good, right? It might be if those believing they were prepared had a current resume! Only 20% said they had updated their resume in the past 3 months and 44% hadn’t touched their resume in more than a year. These results are from the many polls and surveys conducted by Robert Half International, the world’s first and largest specialized staffing firm. Their investment in the ongoing development and success of their clients is evident and most recently they developed the Job-Hunt Readiness Evaluator, an automated tool that asks a series of questions about job-search prep work and assigns a point score on overall readiness and provides tips to help improve your chances of landing a new job.

There are many job search tools and strategies that could be discussed or implemented but there is one single component that is critical to any job search and that is a resume. A single document that represents your soft skills, hard skills, work history and education that must be kept up to date and ready to submit online for a potential job opportunity at any time.

Are you prepared? Is your resume ready to send? Submit your resume for a free resume critique from a Certified Professional Resume Writer and be prepared.

“Success is when opportunity and preparation meet” ~ Robin Ryan     

Quantifiable accomplishments are critical to producing a resume that will get you noticed but equally important is clearly identifying your hard skills and soft skills. 

Most people have invested a great deal of time establishing the following hard skills;

project management, financial management, budget P&L, contract negotiations, executive leadership, program management, business development, matrix management, outsourcing, merchandising, strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, GAAF-IFRS, risk management, recruitment, talent development, product launch, direct sales & B2B, marketing, customer service, sales forecasting, technology management, systems migration, mechanical engineering, production management, process improvement

Hard skills represent the experience and education you have gained and will be very significant criteria to hiring managers but equally important are your soft skills. A candidate with the right soft skills has the potential to acquire the hard skills an employer may be seeking.

Soft skills represent personality traits, social graces, communication and include dependability, concientiousness and optimism. Here are a few examples:

ambitious, tenacious, technically minded, articulate, analytical, inquisitive, patient, methodical, collaborative, persistent, diligent, competitive, honest, intuitive, bold, innovative, optimistic, leader, confident, intellectual, passionate, inspirational, adaptable, goal oriented, cooperative, dependable, caring, conscientious, detail oriented, focused, dedicated, organized, strong aspirations towards gaining knowledge, achieving results and exceeding expectations

Have you clearly articulated your hard skills and soft skills in your resume?

Send your resume to Elite Resumes to receive a free resume critique from a Certified Professional Resume Writer.

Professional Resume Writing 101 is a series of blog posts covering a variety of topics related to resume writing.

The following topics are covered in the first five blog posts:

Professional Resume Writing 101-1 Professional Resume Writing Styles

Professional Resume Writing 101-2 Basic Elements 

Professional Resume Writing 101-3 Do’s and Don’ts

Professional Resume Writing 101-4 Soft Skills

Professional Resume Writing 101-5 Opportunity or Elimination

Contact Elite Resumes for a free resume critique from a Certified Professional Resume Writer.

The recruitment for the new Chief of Police for Barrie, Ontario began with an advertisement in the Globe and Mail on February 6th, 2010. Usually the response to an ad in the career section of the Globe and Mail results solely in applications from potential candidates but this job opening is generating a lot more attention. The Barrie City Council Meeting brought up concerns from councillors regarding the origin of the job posting and many questions to Mayor Dave Aspen regarding his involvement. The controversy doesn’t stop there. With Rick Jones’ resignation as chairperson of the Barrie Police Services Board, Mayor Aspen becomes acting chairperson. One board member is absent due to assault charges and three of the four remaining have denied any involvement in placing the ad, which appeared two days after Police Chief Wayne Frechette threatened to resign.

Despite the political turmoil, there is an opening for the position of Chief of Police in Barrie, Ontario as the current Police Chief is expected to retire on September 1, 2010.

Martin Buckland, Principal of Elite Resumes has been providing executive career management services for the past ten years, working with many clients in Law Enforcement, as he himself has had an extensive career in this industry, specifically with the renowned Metropolitan Police and Scotland Yard as a police officer before immigrating to Canada. If you are interested in a Professional Resume and cover letter or a free resume critique, contact Elite Resumes to speak with Martin Buckland, Certified Professional Resume Writer.