But the so-called "improvement" in U.S. unemployment announced on Friday 12/1/11 is a farce — a statistical aberration created almost entirely by workers abandoning their job search. According to John Williams' Shadow Government Statistics, which has been dead right in finding holes in the official numbers, "the employment circumstance generally is getting worse — not better."

The outlook for hiring in 2012 may be much better. With the slight uptick in consumer spending, retailers and automakers are hiring. Manufacturing hires are also up. Other job postings on the increase include accounting, health care, consulting, and telecommunications.
But, consumers just polled by the Conference Board said it was harder to find work now than at any point since 1983!

WHAT KIND OF RESUME ARE YOU USING? Did you write it yourself? Is it generic or focused for specific jobs? If your self-written resume and cover letter are too weak to generate job interviews, YOU CAN'T BLAME THE JOB MARKET! Frankly, it may be YOUR fault! Why? Because you are probably NOT able or qualified to write a strong resume.

Every day I EVALUATE RESUMES THAT ARE NOT WORKING. Worried executives and managers ask me why their resumes don't generate interviews. Many homemade resumes are very boring to look at; some have used outdated resume templates; others were done by well-meaning spouses trying to help. (But even leading resume writing services are farming out work to their "teams". The owners or chief writers of larger services only write the $695+ resumes.)

HOW IS YOUR RESUME DOING? Most job seekers need to wake up and smell the coffee while there is still time to compete and get hired for a well-paying job. Read the daily newspapers. Time is NOT on your side.

The official U.S. unemployment rate is 9.1% BUT IT IS REALLY 16.5%.

PICKY EMPLOYERS are facing a daily avalanche of hundreds of boring, basic, generic, vague, crowded, and poorly constructed resumes. These are accompanied by amateurish and weak covering letters that DON'T "sell" the applicant.  These get screened out in only 5-10 seconds!

SUZY THE SCREENER needs to know immediately what you are seeking and what you are offering. Don't be vague or ask for "any job". There are no "any jobs" being advertised. "BE SPECIFIC" is the rule for 2011. Suzy will be ruthless with any resume or cover letter that does not grab her attention at first glance (or that looks exactly like dozens of others who used the same template). Each day she needs to drastically reduce her pile of hundreds of incoming resumes. What would you do if you were in her shoes? 

What will happen to yours in 2012? Will it survive the screening process?

DON'T DELAY. TIME IS NOT ON THE SIDE OF JOB SEEKERS. MATTHEW GREENE'S CLIENTS ARE GETTING HIRED! MORE EFFECTIVE RESUMES ARE GETTING PEOPLE INTERVIEWS AND JOBS IN ONLY A FEW WEEKS! (TESTIMONIALS ARE AVAILABLE.)

For 50 years, we've been told to write our own resumes and then ask an English teacher or placement officer or business executive or friend to critique it. This is terrible advice.    Are such persons qualified to help you sell yourself on paper? Of course not.  How can they be?  They are neither resume nor SELF-MARKETING experts! They know very little about a job market like we have today.

The result?  Thousands of self-written resumes do have "eye-appeal" because they are laser printed on good resume paper and today's fonts are very attractive  But most of them are UNFOCUSED, CARELESSLY ORGANIZED AND POORLY WRITTEN. If office buildings were to be constructed like most job resumes that I have seen, the Son of King Kong could destroy New York City in a single day. Today's resume must be focused and, like a rifle, take aim at a specific target

Because they lack "sell",  95 percent of those resumes will end up in File C -- the circular file. Even if your home-made resume does help you find a job, it probably WON'T be the one you deserve.  That, in turn, will cost you tens of thousands of dollars in lost earnings and opportunities for advancement!  Unfortunately, even the best resume-writing software will NOT add "SELL" or "keywords" to a basic resume.

In 2011, a resume has to be tailored to address the SPECIFIC needs of employers.  Today's super-picky employers exercise their own options -- to screen and scan you out for being so vague about what you are offering to do for them!   A "GENERAL" resume does NOT work today. We are in the Great Recession of 2011. BUT MATTHEW GREENE'S CLIENTS ARE GETTING HIRED! MORE EFFECTIVE RESUMES ARE GENERATING JOB INTERVIEWS!

 

"I don't have time to write a resume!"

"I don't have the time to do it myself." 

This is what millions job seekers have already said to professional writers during the past 40 years.  Among those who have "apologized" for not writing their own resumes are Human Resources Managers, Personnel Officers, Newspaper Editors, Journalists, Administrative Managers, English majors, Doctors, Social Workers and Lawyers.

In fact, resumes have been prepared by professional writers for nearly every level and type of position you can think of.  Some of the busiest resume services are located near Ivy League universities!  Wouldn't you expect such individuals to be able to write their own resumes and cover letters?  The vast majority gave up trying to do it themselves and decided to seek professional help.  Why?  

What does it take to create a winning resume or cover letter or personal statement?  Why do so many job seekers find it so difficult to do? 

 

10 Questions to help you decide if you'll benefit from professional help in 2012:

Do you feel that good English and writing skills are all you need to compose a "winning" resume or cover letter?

Resumes and cover letters are intended to market and sell you to employers. In 2012, do you feel that all it takes to write them is a knowledge of English plus good writing skills?  Sadly, this won't be enough to create a paper that impresses a busy reader and explains why many English majors, lawyers and others have hired professional writers.  Perfect English, grammar and spelling are not the only things you need to create a good resume or cover letter.

I have often heard clients say something like:  "Matthew, I can write term papers, reports, a feature article, a speech or even a short story. But writing my own job resume is something else.  What should I include?  What can I safely omit?   What must I emphasize?  How do I focus it?  What is the best FORMAT for me to use?"  And so on.  Important decisions need to be made and a knowledge of good English and writing skills are only the basics!  (This is why English teachers CAN'T help you much.)

Can you be objective about your own plusses and minuses? 

Can you analyze your own skills and strengths -- fairly and objectively?  To find out what these might be, you would need to be able to see yourself as other people see you.  Unfortunately, it is very difficult to do this on your own. 

The Scottish poet, Robert ("Auld Lang Syne") Burns recognized the problem when he wrote (in English):

"O would some Power give us the gift

To see ourselves as others see us."

This is where a skilled resume writer can help -- someone with strong analytical skills who has already uncovered the skills and strengths of hundreds of job seekers.  Such a person will help you discover what you are able to offer that employers might also need in the Recession of 2011.  (Career changers and returning-to-work homemakers, please note!)

Are you comfortable writing about yourself?

Writing about one's own skills, achievements or abilities is seldom easy.  At home and in school we were taught NOT to praise ourselves -- not to "brag".  So how should you present your best self on paper now?

If you are reserved or modest by nature or shy or you might have a serious problem.  A resume or cover letter is meant to be YOU on paper but humility or understatement doesn't sell!   The answer?  Hire a skilled professional to prepare a good resume for you -- one that you'll be comfortable with. You will provide the input and he or she will figure out the best way to present your credentials to employers in 2011.

Above all, an outside party can usually be more OBJECTIVE about you and what you have to offer.

Do you know the special language of skills?

EFFECTIVE words, phrases and sentences should be included in a resume and cover letter.   For example, you might need to compose statements like:  "Able to work well under both time and accuracy pressures" or  "Able to handle several projects simultaneously" or "Proven ability to complete projects on-time, within budget and according to specification." 

Writing in the specialized language of skills is what a skilled resume writer does all of the time.  He or she knows the keywords that scanners (both human and computer) will be looking for.  Those words and phrases will be business-like and expressed in the employer's language.  They will be drawn from the world of work -- not from English literature.  (Always be on guard against writers who use "flowery" language.)

How well can you present yourself on paper?   

To "sell" oneself on paper is not easy.  Isn't it the same as "peddling one's wares" or "bragging" or tooting one's own horn?

The main purpose of a job resume and cover letter is to market  you and your credentials.  If you don't know how to do this, hire a skilled professional, preferably one who does it full-time.  To continue to sell yourself short is to invite failure unnecessarily.  As the saying goes:  "IF YOU FAIL TO PREPARE .... YOU ARE PREPARING TO FAIL"

Job search experts advise you to "sell" yourself to employers -- on paper and in person.  You see, plain facts seldom sell themselves.  They need to be organized, presented and highlighted so that a busy reader can see how his or her company will benefit from having a person like you on board.  It is your "sizzle" that must come across.  Plain facts have little or no sales-appeal.  If you omit to mention your accomplishments, your resume will actually be NEGATIVE.  Why?  Because employers may conclude that you don't have any.  That's a huge negative!

As regards "tooting your own horn", women tend to be more reticent about their accomplishments than their male counterparts and therefore don't sell themselves as well as men do. (Men have learned to do it over a longer period of time.)  In our competitive, marketing-oriented society, humility simply doesn't  pay!

How about having had  "too many jobs", "too little education" or being "too old" or "overqualified"?  Do you know what to do?

Many job seekers have less-than-perfect credentials for the jobs they apply for.  But some also have potential negatives or turnoffs in their resumes that are not always obvious.  Can you identify all of these "red flags?"  Do you know what to do about any other blemishes?  Or how to avoid discrimination? 

As Bernard Haldane advised, do you know how to select which truths you ought to be telling?

Checking out your resume involves far more than searching for elusive typo's. That is only proofreading.  There are many possible negatives that could be fatal resume mistakes.

Do you have the skills of a master baker, plastic surgeon, cosmetologist and advertising copy writer all rolled into one?

Do you have the skills of a designer, master builder, baker, plastic surgeon, cosmetologist, English teacher, and sales/marketing brochure writer—all rolled into one?

Creating a good resume in 2011 requires a constellation of skills that very few people possess. This includes the ability to select or design a suitable resume format for presenting your value on paper, the experience to know what materials to use in order to construct a strong document, the skill to select and “bake” the right ingredients in the right way (to focus or tailor your resume), “plastic surgery” to downplay or trim unwanted job or personal information and “cosmetics” to cover up or omit any blemishes or “red flags” that could get you screened out in seconds!

Above all, you need to be able to write a good Direct Mail piece that grabs the reader’s attention. A resume is NOT an “advertisement” or “calling card”. It is a kind of DIRECT MAIL that is designed to market your value and impress perfect strangers.

If your resume fails to impress, it will be treated like junk mail! It is not enough to have your name in big black letters and a round black dot or other bullet at the beginning of every line. That will not impress anyone!

FIRST CLASS professional writers acquire such complex skills through experience. They create hundreds of resumes and need to find suitable answers for every client. They also hear how quickly their clients get hired.

In short, such skilled resume writers have learned how to impress a wide range of employers. They do know what WORKS—from actual feedback.

How do employers feel about  professionally written resumes?  

Employers are always pleased to read a well-written resume, one that is intelligently organized and tells them what they need to know.  They love a  resume that is easy-to-scan-or-read and prefer it hands-down to amateurish home-made efforts.  What they do object to is the flowery language and exaggerated claims that some writers churn out.  (You'll find them in most printing shops.)

In the field of resume writing, there are skilled professionals who are worth every penny they charge but also amateurs who may harm your career!  Unfortunately, you get hacks and quacks in every profession.

The low cost of a professionally written resume

What you will never know is what job opportunities or bigger salary or chances to advance your career you might have lost by not asking a professional writer to prepare a better resume for you in 2012.

In the job market, competition is the name of the game and a skilled resume-writing professional will often give you a competitive edge.  That could well mean the difference between being hired or coming in second or third. Don't let skepticism, personal pride or an excess of self confidence persuade you otherwise.  I, myself, have often seen how a professionally-written resume helped to beat 300-400 other applicants who replied to the same classified ad in The New York Times.

Here are a few typical success stories:

Catherine O. paid $150 for her new resume as an Administrative Assistant.  She did so with a great deal of hesitation and skepticism.  However, a single accomplishment that was discovered by her resume writer and highlighted in her new resume, resulted in five interviews and five job offers within one week.  Her new salary was also $6,000 p.a. more. 

A single but impressive sales "hook" also helped David R. to be hired by Merrill Lynch as a Physical Security Specialist.  David was a cum laude graduate in Criminal Justice but, with an excellent self-written resume, he had had no interviews at all!

On a certain Friday morning in Journal Square, New Jersey, a senior sales executive paid a very happy resume writer only $300 to revamp/improve/refocus TWO executive resume versions for him.  These were to be presented to his own pharmaceutical company in Chicago.  The improved presentation set out all of his achievements over a period of ten years -- in New York and New Jersey.  The strategy worked.  He landed a job as National Brand Manager at a commencing salary of $100,000 per annum plus a terrific package. What a return on his $300 investment! 

After assisting nearly 14,000 clients over the past 23 years, I can only ask:  In 2012, can you afford NOT to seek professional help?  To spend $75 or $150 or even $250 or more for a well-written self-marketing document is very little because the future benefits to you could amount to tens of thousands of dollars. (To be out of work for even one or two days less will probably cover the entire  cost of your professionally written resume.)

Every  resume-writing  professional has his or her own stable of success stories.  They can be believed because such writers know how to discover and present your best sales "hooks."  They have valuable expertise in the area of self-marketing and daily feedback from clients keeps them on track.  

When other "experts" tell me how many hundreds of resumes they have read (and rejected), I am NOT impressed.  They are like baseball catchers who receive but can't pitch or like football receivers who don't know how to throw a ball like a quarterback.  Writing a good resume requires you to "pitch" your best self to a critical reader.  A skilled writer offers you that kind of "pitching" expertise.

DON'T DELAY. TIME IS NOT ON THE SIDE OF THE JOB SEEKER.

To hire a highly skilled resume-writing professional would be a very smart move on your part.  He or she will give your resume a competitive edge, greatly increase your chances of being hired for a better job (and more money) and dramatically shorten the time your job search takes.  Moreover, the process of interacting with someone who has already assisted many job seekers in similar situations will usually benefit and advance your own career.

All in all, it will be one of the best and most profitable investments you will ever make!

Austin Kiplinger, publisher of the Kiplinger Magazine, agrees about the importance of making an investment in your own career: “Look at your career as your primary investment.  Keep your earning power at its highest level.  The money you spend doing this will return more to you than all other investments you’re likely to make.  You are your own best investment!”

[ Visit WINNING RESUMES BLOG for valuable recession "tips".]

E-mail or call me for a free consultation or price quote.

mattgreene@aol.com
Tel.: 1-718-436-3504

---

Copyright ©1999-2012      All rights reserved.

URL: http://www.winning-resumes.com