Confessions of a Job Seeker (and Recruiter)

Recruiter Chris Brablc fresh off his own job search shared the highlights of what he learned from the process for both sides of the job-search fence.

Cover letters still matter. They were a differentiator for him on several occassions.
Stalk a company. More and more advice says to target a company then break into the social networks [...]

What Font Should You Use on Your Resume?

Keep it safe and consistent when it comes to which font you use on your resume, advised professional resume writer Steve Burdan in the article “Top Nine Executive Resume Mistakes” for TheLadders Career Advice. Too many resumes are riddled with multiple font styles after people cut and paste  from past resume files, their LinkedIn profile, [...]

How to Customize Your Resume to the Job Listing

If you want to be included in a recruiter’s call back pile keep your resume’s chronological information static, but tweak the language in the top section, advised professional resume writer Steve Burdan in the article “Customize Your Resume for That Plum Job.”
Burdan believes strongly in the importance of customizing the top third section of a [...]

The Downside of Functional Resumes

Functional resumes can be a means to avoid drawing attention to a gap in your career, your age or a lack of experience. It can be a great way to highlight your skills over your work experience.
But they have a downside too, wrote Dawn Hrdlica, the Human Resources Manager at MailSouth in a blog on [...]

Write Resume Job Titles That Are Clear and Alluring

Craft a clear and specific job title for your resume and aim to grab the readers attention in a matter of seconds, said Beth Colley, principal of Chesapeake Resume Writing.
You only have a few seconds to grab the attention of a resume reader (that is, after it’s made it past ATS resume scanning software), so [...]

Don’t Use Your Picture in a Resume

Don’t put your head shot, company logo or any sort of picture on your resume. If you do, your resume is more like to see the trash pile than a recruiter’s hands, said ATS experts interviewed by TheLadders.
Most companies scan every resume, whether sent by e-mail, fax or hand delivered, into a Applicant Tracking System [...]

Guess Which Resume Got Ignored

Secrets of the Job Search shared the tale today of a hiring manager at a small company with no human resources department to rely on who managed to screen through 77 resumes and discard most in just a few days.
How she did it offers a lesson in how to submit your resume, right down to [...]

How Many Resumes are Full of Crap?

How many resumes are full of crap? Between 45 and 70 percent of job applicants told outright lies on their resume or supplied some sort of false information during the application process, according to screening firms that perform employment background checks.
The firms were polled by @work, according to the New York Post.  The discrepancies range [...]

Why a $90,000 Job Goes Unfilled

Despite record unemployment, recruiters said they can’t find enough candidates to fill certain jobs, according to a survey of recruiters by the Human Capital Institute (HCI) and TheLadders, which operates Career-Line.
The trouble for recruiters isn’t finding willing applicants. They can’t find candidates with the necessary skills and industry experience to fill the positions, several recruiters [...]

Indiana Woman Outflanks 500 Resumes to Land $13-an-Hour Job

The C.R. England truck-driving school, in Burns Harbor, Ind., received more than 500 resumes for the $13-an-hour administrative assistant job it posted in July. Nearly half of the 500-plus resumes never even made it to consideration, but Tiffany Block, a 28-year-old who submitted her resume late in the application process, managed to steer her resume [...]