By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter Just the idea of writing a resume paralyzes many careerists. The fear of writer’s block, the angst associated with offending someone’s ambiguous rules, the frustration in trying to recall what you did, and when you did it — all of these feelings mix and meld to create a strong dislike for not only […]
How to Compare & Select a Resume Service to Ensure a High-Value Investment
By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter Today’s post is blatantly self promotional; at the same time, I am aspiring to provide value in identifying critical traits, experiences and qualifications you should look for when setting about to hire a resume writer. Revamping my website home page with a value-focused comparison of my (CareerTrend) resume services versus others, I […]
Unraveling the Resume Keyword-Packing Myth
By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter Analyzing applicant tracking systems and stuffing your resume full of keywords are popular activities right now. In reality, the purported “science of resumes” and the idea you must perform a hairsplitting task of gaming your resume to meet algorithmic settings are both exaggerations, in my experience. While you certainly must sprinkle words […]
Are There Cracks in Your Career Communications Strategy?
By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter Shedding light on your target audience, becoming intimate with your own value and drumming up muscular career stories that transport your reader all are essential action steps to forge a rock-solid resume. This foundational aspect of today’s job search helps prevent job-search flops and missteps and keep your career messaging infrastructure solid. […]
How To Resolve Conflicting Resume Advice
By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter I’ll readily admit that I am one of the writers in the blogosphere who consistently spouts resume advice. With 15 years’ experience owning my own resume writing business, I feel qualified to focus in on this area of tip-giving. Having endured through my trial-and-error start-up years, having invested in years of training, […]
How to Draw Your Resume Billboard
By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter Hooking the reader during the initial scan of your resume is key to cinching a job interview. Your professional and/or executive summary positioned in the top one-third to one-half of your resume is the billboard, if you will, meant to entice your audience with a hint of things to come. It’s the […]
The 6-second resume scan is hogwash
By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter Hat tip to Dawn Lennon and Dawn Bugni for unwittingly spurring me (via our chat over at Google Plus) to write this post discussing a recent survey on resumes. I admit to being highly concerned about TheLadders’ survey and the sweeping comments encouraging ‘minimalist’ resumes, asserting that resumes are only reviewed for […]
What to Say on Your Resume to Get a Leg-Up
By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter Are you telling prospective employers what you think they want to hear? Or, are you giving them the facts? As human beings, and especially human beings trying to land a job, we all tend to err on the side of saying what we believe will give us the best chance for success. (Watch […]
Graduate: Are You Shortchanging Your Resume Story?
By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter A flurry of recent resume inquiries by new grads or their parents inspired my latest blog post. After investing 4+ years and 10s of thousands of dollars in advanced education and training it is natural to want to hit the ground running to conduct an effective, interview-netting job search. Unfortunately, the misperceptions about […]
Sail Into Career Dreams With Cathartic Resume Process
By Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter This post originally published at CourtingYourCareer’s blog. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “I have invested hours and hours in the attached (resume worksheet). I found the process everything from cathartic, to exciting, to tedious and insightful.” These were the words of a recent client, (we’ll call him ‘Ben’) in an email he wrote me, after completing […]