What Does Your Personal Brand Say About You

NetworkingSocial Marketing/Online Branding

Personal Branding
Since a lot of businesses now use the internet to check potential employees, it’s very important to know what your personal brand says about you. So, how do you do that.
For starters, search for your own name on Google to see what comes up about you. Sometimes, there will even be other people with the same name so you need to make sure you know which searches are relevant to you.
Google will find you especially if you have any Google accounts such as email, Google Voice or Google plus. Additionally, make sure your social networking pages are more professional than casual.
Be careful of the things you post on networking sites. You don’t want it coming back to bite you, and it will if you aren’t careful. It doesn’t matter what others are posting on their own sites, but if you are trying to build a brand, yours needs to be more professional than that.
Register for online forums that are relevant to your type of skills so that you can build your personal brand better. Forums are an excellent way to find business relationships and information.
The more you keep your presence alive on the internet, the easier it will be for potential employers to find you and to become acquainted with who you are.
Last, but not least, tailor your resume so that it details all the relevant skills you have and your expertise. Once that is done, post your resume in as many places as possible on the Internet. Before long, you will have built a professional brand that others will contact you instead of you always having to seek job positions.

Standing Apart From The Crowd
It’s funny how job titles have changed over the years. You know, titles like “nurse’s aide” are now called “patient care representative” and “janitor” is now called “sanitation engineer.” The newer job titles of the 1990s had all positions sound much more glamorous than they really were.
Other phrases that were popular on resumes in the ’90s were “team leader,” “coordinator,” “communication manager,” blah, blah, blah. Employers of today do not want to see those types of phrases on executive resumes. While you may very well have developed skills in these areas, it is important to word your resume a little differently so it won’t sound as boring as the other resumes.
Instead of using a catch-all phrase like the ones listed above, employers are now looking for pieces of information within your resume. You need to tailor your resume to be more specific about your skills and accomplishments.
For example, team leader. Detail what you were a leader of or what you coordinated. Not just the phrase “team leader.” It is important to be much more creative with resumes because that more than anything else will make your resume stand apart from the rest.
And with the job markets the way they are and more people competing for the same jobs, you have to have something on your resume that will catch the attention of a recruiter so they will stop and really read your resume.
Resources and resume examples are available for you to help you transform your resume into a completely new one – one that will stand apart from the crowd.

Professional Resume Writing – Can You Do It?

Executive ResumesProfessional ResumesResume WritingResumes

Job Careers
Professional resume objectives receive a lot of criticism. Some say the goals are usually poorly written, and have no real point. Others say that if it’s well written, then it will make the potential employer continue to read the resume. He or she will know what you wish to attain in your profession and your feelings for their organization. Here are some guidelines about writing expert resume objectives.
Goals need to be short and powerful sentences, letting the employer know what value you can offer to the company. It’s not necessary to express your dreams in an objective, but instead you need to relate to a particular responsibility.
Even though resume objectives can grab the attention of the hiring officer, in some situations these might not be very good methods to sell yourself. For example, if you need to apply for more than one job or you need to submit your application on line or a job fair, an objective statement can be too restrictive.
As a rule, objectives for entry-level job hunters and professionals should consist of short sentences about their objective in the profile section, not as an isolated heading towards the top of a resume. People with a lot of professional experience will notice that expert resume objectives do not always give them their greatest benefit.
Writing a profile part at the top of your resume is probably the best way to handle this problem. This has to be a 2 or 3-sentence outline of your major areas of expertise, unique talents and skills, as well as your profession goals. If you can write an expert resume, you will probably catch someone’s attention for a job interview.
If you don’t think you can, search online for resume writers who can get your resume tailored to put you in a very favorable light.

job skills list
What are transferable skills? They are the skills and abilities that transfer from job to job no matter which position you have held in the past. One of the things that make these skills so valuable is that they can be used in such a wide array of work settings. For instance, everyone needs problem solving skills, whether you are a general contractor or a financial analyst. That skill transfers from position to position regardless of what the job title is. How can this be used to benefit your resume and your job search in general? When you create or revise your resume, there are a number of things to consider.
The first and most important consideration is how you are going to ensure that your resume specifically speaks to the prospective employer’s needs. This could be if you are qualified to do the job, can you get along well with people, mutually agreed on salary and will you stay with the company.
As is true with all aspects of writing a resume, each and every word on your resume should be tailored to the position you are applying for. If you are seeking a job as a computer programmer, you probably will not want to list your public speaking ability. You would, however, want to emphasize your ability to organize, plan and/or work well under pressure. Each job has certain qualifications that are best suited to it.
Job duties may differ from job to job, but there are a myriad of skills needed that transfer well from one to another. Being able to identify and clearly relate those transferable skills to a prospective employer is a huge benefit to you. When you can incorporate these transferable skills into your resume and cover letter, you will be making the job of a hiring manager much easier. He or she will see that you have a lot to offer that will be over and above your specific job qualifications.

What Do You Do Before The Resume?

Resume Writing

Thinking Outside The Box
Most job applicants today believe that they should first write their resumes in order for them to land a career. Yes, resumes are truly important and highly critical in one’s professional/corporate success. It plays a significant role for someone to achieve their career goals. But, writing your resume is not the first step.
What you should do first is to look for the most appropriate job for your skills, competencies, and needs. After listing down the job opportunities you found that fits your needs and skills, it is then when you move on to writing your resume.
Always keep in mind that for a resume to be successful and outstanding among all other resumes being submitted for the same position, it should be personalized, specific, and targeted to the job you are applying for. This means, one personalized resume for every job opportunity.
To ensure this, you must first look for the most appropriate job for you and read through the job posting. As you are reading through the posting, make sure your skills, knowledge and ability match that of the posting. Make sure these skills are listed at the beginning of your resume. The person viewing the resumes will see it faster than having to sift through it.
The keywords you use in your resume need to be specific to the job posting. For example, if the job posting is requiring someone with department management skills, make sure these keywords are in several places on your resume and highlighted. And, use them in the cover letter as well.
Standardized resumes and those written using templates no longer succeed to catch the attention of the primary reviewer of resumes. If you want to make your resume stand out among all the piles of resumes submitted for review, it has to be highly specific with contents that have not been seen before by anyone.
Hiring a resume writer to tailor your resume to fit your skills and those of the marketplace is an excellent option. You can then know that your resume will be professional and will take you places.

Overwhelmed With Updating Your Resume?

Resume Writing

Try Something New
Everyone needs a resume. However, not everyone is very good at building a very good resume and get overwhelmed. It can be boring trying to get it just right and it never seems to be right. That’s where a professional can help.
Professional resume writers can sit down with you and discuss your resume needs. They can then build an excellent professional resume that will reflect your jobs skills the most.
Yes, there is a cost involved, but you have spent many years cultivating your job skills and expertise. But, with so many looking for jobs in today’s world, it would be in your best interest to invest in yourself so you won’t get lost in the shuffle.
Because resume writing is what they do, they will be able to create your professional resume into something that will stand out from the crowd and get you noticed.
It’s not the same as it was several years ago and a generic resume was all you needed. Today, however, potential employers are looking for that “thing” that will set that particular resume apart from the others. If they don’t see it, the resume gets tossed aside.
Doing research on the internet will give you multiple resources in which to find a resume writer and possible job openings in various venues.
It can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Consider investing in yourself. It is the most important thing you can do to make a change for 2012.

How To Get Your Resume Past Resume Screening Software

Career & WorkplaceJob SearchResume KeywordsResume Writing



Did you ever consider that the resume you just sent to a prospective company would have computer software that screens your resume before any human person can see it? More companies are using these types of software due to the sheer number of applicants per job opening.
Automated resume screeners or applicant tracking systems are regularly now being used to separate resumes into ones that fit the job and discarding the others. All regardless of how spiffy your resume is.
These programs work just like SEO does for websites, keywords. The screener programs will take keywords from your resume and match it to the job requirements of a position. But wait, it’s not just about keywords in general like accounting or website design.
The program is designed to watch for those generalities. You will need to get more creative about the keywords you use on your resume, even an executive resume. Use keywords that list a number of different job skills.
Make sure you have researched the job position well and if you do have the skills, be sure to list something about the job requirements on your resume.
Again, make sure your years of experience in a related field match the job requirements so you don’t have your resume kicked out.
It is also a good idea to have a resume writing service work out the details for you. They will know just what to do to get past the computer screeners and get your resume in the right hands.

Blog Your Way To That New Position

BlogJob SearchSocial Marketing/Online Branding

Word Spreads
With all the new technology available on the Internet today, there is absolutely no reason anyone should simply stop once a resume has been completed and sent. There is a wide world of other venues just waiting for you to use them to market your personal brand. Blogging is only part of it.
Some may think blogging and job searches are two different things. They are, but they aren’t. There has never been a better time to be able to talk to people, to get the word out about you and your skills than blogging.
Build a blog site that highlights your job skills and your previous jobs. Talk about something every day. Add links to your resume and use the social networks to retweet or repost your site.
There are numerous job boards for you to use to post your resume, whether it’s an executive resume, professional or entry level. And there are people who will retweet your blog post so others can see it. Before long, you have reached thousands of people. Before, you would have sent it to only a few. So, what’s smarter?
Twitter has a very easy way to help individuals with their blog posts and to be able to integrate both together. Facebook does as well, and LinkedIn too.
Now, you can increase your visibility and get more options available to you during your job search. Take a chance and see how much fun it is and how much it will help at the same time.
Before you send your next resume out, give blogging and social media sites a try. You just may have more opportunities than you originally thought.