Three Biggest Resume Red Flags

To increase the likelihood that your resume will earn you an interview, you may want to spend as much time looking for red flags as you do documenting your achievements.

What is a red flag? A red flag is a warning, they can be seemingly insignificant things, nasty little buggers that pop up in your resume, application, or interview that, if not accounted for and dealt with, can ruin your chances.

Here are the three biggest red flags:

Dates of employment without months - makes me think you are hiding something. Without adding the months it is easy to hide how long you've actually worked somewhere.
Replacing the company name on your resume with a generic description of the company - again, looks like you're hiding something.
No address on your resume - with all of the focus on privacy on the internet, job-seekers are getting more nervous about sharing personal information. Don't list your address on your resume and I will think, you guessed it, you're trying to hide something.

Red flags can be difficult for the subject of the resume to see. Share your resume with a trusted friend and ask the question, "What are things on my resume that might make you flinch?". If you're having a hard time finding any red flags on your resume, e-mail it to me (mb@mattbeckwith.com). I'd be happy to take a look.

job search

How To Be Successful At A Job Fair

A job fair can be an effective way to meet hiring managers and recruiters in your community and learn about many job opportunities in one day. If you are prepared and use your time wisely, you can walk away with many strong job leads. Many job seekers make careless mistakes that can hurt their chances of success at a job fair. Here are 16 simple tips to make your next job fair a success.

my job story

My Job Story - Jenny-Faye Klooster

In this week's My Job Story, we hear from Jenny-Faye Klooster, a Photo Stylist who runs the photography department for Gibson Overseas, a large kitchenware company, a job she has held for almost four years.

career, communication

How To Be A Better Public Speaker

Do you want to differentiate yourself from your peers at work? I have a simple suggestion. All you have to do is speak up! That's right. It's time to work on your public speaking skills.

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Stop Networking!

Networking is a terrible verb to describe human interactions. For some people, networking still has that cheesy sounding ring to it. I've spent countless hours reading newspaper and magazine articles, blogs, tweets and Facebook posts from recruiters from all over the country and nearly all of them say that one of the most important job search strategies is networking.

How To Introduce Yourself Once You're Referred

Asking for a referral is important. How you handle that referral is even more important. If you want to work at XYZ Company and you know someone that works there, you should ask them to refer you to a hiring manager. Ideally, your contact will make a personal introduction, or copy you on an e-mail introduction. Sometimes, you'll just get a phone number or e-mail address of the hiring manager.

Know Your Risks, Don't Settle

Even if you've been without a job for some time, it is generally best not to settle for a job that you may not enjoy. Having said that, there are a couple of questions you should ask yourself when evaluating a job, or when determining what companies to target.

High Demand, Low Supply Blog

Welcome to High Demand, Low Supply, a career and job-search blog written by Matt and Dawn Beckwith.

Finding a job can be stressful. Here, you'll find tips to increase your odds of success with finding a new job.

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