Resume Advice
Below are some very serious mistakes followed by some not so serious commentary!
How Not to Advance Your Career
- Assume that you will never need to look for another job. Prepare accordingly.
- Burn bridges with your current employer. Nobody will talk with them anyway.
- Keep your job search a secret from trusted professional contacts. Who do they know?
- Hold out for the perfect job in the perfect location. You’re so good you can wait!
- Don’t search. Wait for them to come for you. There are probably only 10,000 others qualified for the position.
- Send your resume without a cover letter. They expect it that way!
- Better yet, send a generic cover letter with your resume.
- Riddle your resume and cover letter with spelling and grammatical errors.
- Provide no, or incorrect, contact information. They’ll send a posse to find you!
- Be late for your interview. What does their time matter!
- Dress inappropriately for your interview. Wall Street needs more shorts & sandals!
- Complain about your previous employers. Everybody knows you really love them.
- Don’t ask questions or show any real interest in the new position. Play it cool!
- Go in cold. Don’t waste time researching the position or the employer. They’ll tell you everything!
- Precede and follow the perfect interview with inconsiderate, sloppy behavior. It speaks to your professionalism.
- Talk about money right away! That’s what it’s all about!
- Don’t attempt to understand the border between confidence and arrogance. Borders are meant to be crossed.
- Do not admit to learning from your past mistakes. Sorry, I didn’t realize that you never make mistakes!
- Assume you have the job before it is offered. Bring your favorite photos to the interview and place them on your desk (or better yet, the interviewer’s desk!)
- Forget the lessons you learned during your previous job searches. Last year is ancient history!
Top 10 Reasons Why Job Searches Fail!
- Inadequate Networking
- No, or poorly written, cover letters.
- Generic cover letter that illustrates no knowledge of the position.
- Undisciplined and Untimely Search Process
- Focusing on Internet Job Boards
- Poor Research
- No Marketing Plan
- Poor Follow Up
- Lack of Focus
- Shy, reserved approach
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