The Single Biggest Resume Mistake

The single biggest mistake you can make with your resume also happens to be the most common. No, it's not leaving off the months of your employment dates, using poor grammar, or even having misspelled words.

The biggest resume mistake is not customizing it for each position you are interested in. On the bright side, stop making this mistake and you'll have no problem standing out amongst stacks and stacks of other resumes.

The number one rule to remember when it comes to the words you use in your resume is this: it doesn't matter what words you want to use; it's not about you, it's about what the hiring manager wants.

Sound easier said than done? Here are three simple ways to customize your resume.

Use their language. Print out the job posting, pages from their website (the "about" page is a great place to start), press releases. Read through what you've printed and highlight keywords. How do they refer to their customers and employees? If they say "clients" and "team members", you should, too, rather than saying "customers" and "co-workers".
Use their units of measurement.Using the same print outs from the step above, look for clues that tell you what metrics are important to the company. Does the job posting reflect a focus on ARPU (average revenue per user)? If so, you should re-work your resume to show your improvements in ARPU; even if your current employer doesn't measure it.
Highlight your achievements that most closely match the needs of the company to where you are applying. Having many more achievements than you can fit on your resume (because it's only one page) will help you in the area in the future. On a related note, you can use Evernote to track your accomplishments.

Does this mean it will take more time to prepare each resume? Yes, it will take longer than just sending the same exact resume to everyone but you will have much better results.

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.

defense, job search

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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