No discussion of resumes and cover letters is complete without info on fonts. At least, that’s what I’ve come to understand after years of helping people with their resumes. The question pretty much always comes up. In the past, my advice has been not to overthink it, but today I’ll get a little deeper into…
Is your old resume format hurting you? One of the things that can make your resume get rejected by a reviewer right away is outdated formatting. It indicates that you’re possibly out of touch, older, and potentially even less competent. These are all assumptions that employers can make without even being entirely conscious of…
Can you use AI tools likeChatGPT to help you write your job applications? Yes you can —with caution! According to some studies, nearly 50% of job-seekers are now using generative AI to help them apply for jobs, meaning a huge surge in applications, but not necessarily of noteworthy ones. This is because platforms…
I know there’s a lot of debate out there, and much of it sounds extremely authoritative. But is it right? Who can you trust? As is so often the case, there isn’t actually a definitive answer to this question. Yes, there are many one-pagers who are apparently willing to die on that hill. …
Are you back at full capacity? This is a great time of year to do lots of those annoying little things like updating your resume and LinkedIn profile. I like to set the beginning of the year for those tasks because it’s easy to remember, and because things are still getting settled after the holidays…
Has it been a while since you updated your resume? Now would be a great time to get started! When you’re updating your resume, start by taking a quick look at it so you remember what’s on that you’d like to keep and what might drop off so that you can add new info. …
Do you need a fancy resume with colors, call-out boxes, and bar charts? Or should your resume be plain and straightforward? There are lots of opinions on the subject, but mine has always been that content is king. In other words, I favor a classic, simple style of resume that highlights your accomplishments and…
Did you see the video of Lauren Boebert (sorry, she’s from my state) reading the Bible passage about “wonton killing”? The phrase, of course, is wanton killing, meaning, in this case, deliberate and unprovoked—not, in fact, filled dumplings, as tasty as those are. But it made me think about how often I…
How do you address gaps in your resume? There are a lot of reasons there might be a period without paid experience in your work history: a health issue, world travel, family care, struggling to find something after a layoff. A generation or so ago, that gap could cause huge problems for future employment,…
One thing to keep in mind is your particular audience for the resume. For example, you’ll want to be sure you’re layering in the appropriate jargon and terminology for your field, and you’ll also want to get a sense of how long resumes typically are for your industry. But don’t panic if you don’t…