It just amazes me how unprepared people are these days to start a successful job search. The majority of my clients have conducted no research or self-evaluation despite the fact that it may have been 20 years since they last looked for a job.

Before you get started:

- Find out wherer the jobs are.

- Self assess what skills you can bring to the table.

- Find a certified resume writer with whom you can work collaboratively.

- Identify / hire a good career coach.

No, no, no no! A resume template is not all right. A template has little or no flexibility so will, most often, not properly highlight your value to a prospective employer.

But it’s the easy way, isn’t it? And that’s just what it says to the employer — “This guy takes the easy way out.  What will he do in the workplace?”

It only takes a little more time to construct a resume in Microsoft Word — Take that time!

I saw in Sunday’s Arizona Republic that Fountain Hills is hosting a resume workshop using Microsoft Word’s Resume Wizard. What a disservice to the public!

On August 12, I spent three hours at University of Phoenix stadium reviewing resumes for job seeks at the Jobing.com job fair. I was so disappointed in the resumes I saw. What with all the free help out there these days, I’d think the self-prepared resumes would be much better than they were.

I asked some of them “why?” when they presented formats that were ten years out of date with objective statements or no summary statements or meager education at the top of the page — or all three at once. It seems there is no consistency of information for these job seekers. The Workforce Connection tells them one thing, their relatives tell them another — and then, here I am giving them a very different opinion.

Lord knows those of us who are professionally trained and certified in resume writing try to educate — but does anyone listen?

If you’re copying and pasting your resume to a job site, you must use an ASCII or plain text format.  If you try to copy and paste a MS Word doc, the reader will have nothing but a jumbled mess of words and funny symbols.

And don’t try to simply save a formatted MS Word version in text. You must clean it up and test it in Notepad. Try to lay out the very plain document to make it as aesthetically pleasing and easy to read as possible.

You know, the unemployment rate may be nearing 10%, but that also means that there is a 90+% employment rate.  The glass is more than half FULL!

There are lots of jobs out there, you just have to present yourself so the employers will see the value in hiring you. That’s where a certified professional resume writer comes in.

Don’t try to take the easy way out. Invest in yourself. If you’ve been laid off and you can get back to work even a couple of weeks sooner, will a $300-500 investment be worth it?

At today’s H.R. forum sponsored by the Resume Writers Council of Arizona, I was energized by the comments of the 3 H.R. professionals who reinforced much of what I’ve been telling my clients for years.

One of the biggest things for them is the lack of research and preparation. Candidates can’t just slap a resume together and expect a recruiter to get excited. Find out what the recruiter is looking for and persuade the reader that you can meet the requirements.

Recruiters are getting 750 resumes over a weekend for ONE JOB! How can you stand out? A professional resume writer knows how to highlight your strengths. Give me a call.

I wonder how much real value there is to attending a job fair with only 100 employers and 15,000 other attendees.

I’d guess that in this economy that most of the jobs offered are the low-pay-scale, hard-to-fill jobs. And there certainly isn’t going to be any face time with decision makers.

A job seekers best bet is to take advantage of the seminars offered as well as any resume reviews and interviewing assistance.

I’ve always believed a good resume is a true representation of the individual. If the resume isn’t presented articulately in a professional format — what does that say about the candidate? Not everyone can write. Not everyone has spent 20 years in the job search industry with ongoing training and development to be sure the resume presentation will knock the socks off the reviewer.

Do you have any idea how much competition there is out there for the good jobs? It has always been competitive, but now, with the poor economy, just a piece of paper with a history of your career will not  do the trick. 

It amazes me how many people refuse to invest in their futures by hiring a good resume writer. A good resume will get you in front of the interviewer and into a job much faster. I wish I had the statistics in front of me — but it is true.

And, if you’re working with recruiters … how many times have they passed you by because your resume didn’t properly highlight just the skill set … expertise … experience that the employer was looking for, but the recruiter didn’t know?

It is your responsibility as a job seeker to sell yourself — no one will assume you’ve got what it takes. No one cares about you — but you.

Get back to work faster by hiring a certified resume writer — it’s an investment in your career. If you get back to work even two weeks sooner, won’t the investment be worth it?

I’ve found in working with my clients that one of the most difficult elements of the resume process is understanding that the resume is NOT a history of their careers. Until I get their thinking turned around, all I get for information is job descriptions. A resume is not about the job; it’s about the candidates performance within the job parameters.

The resume is a sales pitch! You must convince the prospective employer that you will bring value to the organization.