Your Most Important Marketing Tool

Employers and recruiters are bombarded with resumes every day. And, while the job market is opening up, it is more competitive than ever. Your success hinges on the quality of your resume. Most people’s resumes are poorly organized, badly formatted. That’s good news for you – because if your resume is well conceived, you could instantly become a frontrunner.

What You Need To Know About Crafting A Resume

1. Your resume is your personal marketing tool.
You are the product, the prospective employer is the buyer. Your resume is your marketing piece. Content, theme and formatting need to be impeccable. Employers average 20 seconds looking at a resume. Your message has to jump off the page.

2. The purpose of a resume is to get you the interview.
Your resume speaks for you when you’re not there. It must successfully answer the employer’s most burning question: “How can this applicant solve my problems?” If it works, you get the interview. And, if it’s well thought out, it will prepare you for a successful interview.

3. Focus, focus, focus.
Your resume needs to demonstrate that you know yourself, your strengths, and what you want. You must identify specific job targets and industries. This is the result of a thorough self assessment process. If you have multiple resumes, it could indicate that you are not clearly focused.

4. How you present your skills is the key.
People have difficulty writing a resume because they’re not clear enough on what they have to offer. Your past accomplishments and qualifications form the backbone of your resume. You need to articulate your strengths with clarity. Words need to be powerful. How you present your assets can make or break your resume.

5. A resume is the most critical component of the job search.
You may be excellent at your job, at the top of your field. But that doesn’t mean you know how to write a resume. If it isn’t done effectively, you may never realize your goals. Whether you are sending it to employers, recruiters, posting it on the Internet, or using it as a networking tool – your resume is the most valuable credential you have.

I urge all of you to review your resume with a sharp and objective eye. If you need help, I would be happy to talk to you about the process. Creating a powerful resume makes all the difference in the world. Feel free to call me with any questions you may have.

Are Internal Barriers Keeping You from Career Satisfaction?

Many people blame their career problems on the economy or the job market, but so often the real obstacles come from within. Unrecognized internal barriers can become impediments to success as they keep us from moving forward and block us from getting what we want.

Only by discovering the real issues can we transform ourselves from feeling victimized and take control of our own job fate. This clarity is what leads to a strategy for success and career satisfaction.

Here Are Some of the Most Common Internal Barriers I Work With:

Value Conflicts:
People often become locked into an internal tug-of-war between conflicting values – making lots of money versus time for personal life; freedom versus security; independence versus structure; stability versus change. With deeper understanding, you can break free of these conflicts and actually put them to use in constructing an appropriate career strategy.

Messages We Get from Our Parents:
Many people live their lives trying to achieve a set of goals and objectives that come from their parents and have no relationship to who they really are. This is a recipe for career unhappiness. The messages we get from our parents have enormous influence on how we live our lives. Only by identifying those messages can we let them go, and begin to live our lives as who we truly are — rather than who we’re told we ‘should’ be.

Your Self Image Doesn’t Measure Up to Your Talents:
I see this so frequently. People devalue their own skills and talents — precisely because they come so naturally — causing them to be blind to what they have to offer. But, by recognizing and identifying your own strengths you can turn this cycle around and begin, for the first time, to move into a satisfying career that truly expresses your talents and gifts.

Unrealistic Expectations and Unclear Priorities:
Whether it comes from one’s parent, co-workers or friends — many people are caught in the grip of unrealistic expectations about careers. They are trapped between fantasy and reality. This can lead to unclear priorities. In life we can’t always get everything we want, so it’s important to find out which trade-offs you’re willing to make, and which you’re not.

Fear of Risk or Change:
Are you locked into an unhappy job situation because you’re not willing to take risks or accept change? There are many solutions for transforming your career prospects — and they don’t all require huge risks. Some of my clients have been amazed to see how small shifts — done with deep insight and understanding — can achieve big results. Not every move needs to be earth shaking.

Self-knowledge is the key to overcoming your barriers. Once you see through these internal resistances, you are in a better position to move beyond them towards a more satisfying and rewarding career.

If you feel that you would like to identify and work through any of the internal barriers that are keeping you from getting what you want, I would be happy to assist you.