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News, tips, and updates from RedRocketResume.Why You Shouldn’t Use Your Professionally Written Resume to Apply for a Job
You’ve paid good money for a professionally written resume. It’s modern, clean, readable, and accomplishments-driven. It’s perfectly error-free, and it represents your unique professional brand. You’re ready to shoot that resume to the next good-fit job opening you see, right? Wrong. No matter how well-crafted your resume, it isn’t yet ready for prime time. The reason is simple: ATS. Head here for a quick refresher on what ATS is and how companies use it in the hiring process. In short, you...
How to Use LinkedIn to Connect with a Real Person When Applying for a Job
Most people know how to find jobs online and apply for the jobs they find. But one of the biggest frustrations I hear from job seekers is the difficulty of making sure your application reaches a real, live human being—and that that person will actually give your application some real consideration. Fortunately, you have a powerful weapon in connecting directly and personally with the hiring manager of your target position. LinkedIn is a huge resource for companies posting jobs and recruiters...
Why (and How) to Tweak Your Resume (It’s not as hard as you might think!)
Have you heard the advice that you should customize your resume each and every time you send it out? This is great advice in theory. But in the real world, spending hours re-constructing your resume for each job application isn’t practical. And what exactly should you be tweaking anyway? Here are some targeted tips on why and how to tweak your resume. The good news is that a few minor changes can have a big impact on the effectiveness of your resume. Tweak Your Headline and Summary Section...
Open Sesame! How to Use Keywords to Get Your Resume Past ATS
One of the resume questions I get most often is regarding keywords. People hear stories about a mysterious computer system that screens resumes and discards those that don’t have the magic words! The stories are true. Many companies, particularly large companies doing high-volume hiring, use Applicant Tracking Systems (known as ATS) to streamline the hiring process. An ATS scans incoming resumes to measure how well the resume matches the job posting—simply by comparing how many keywords from...
Checklist for a Great Resume
One of the challenges for many people in preparing a great resume is…knowing what exactly makes up a great resume. Here’s a handy checklist of the major components of a strong resume. How does your resume measure up? Does it look sharp? Good looks aren’t everything, but they certainly help. Make sure your resume is easy to read—clean, not cluttered; sharp, not confusing. Does it have a well-designed letterhead with your name larger than surrounding text? Does it include your contact...
