If you are job hunting after a long and successful career, you may not have updated your resume during the last five, ten or fifteen years. Some of your ideas about unemployment, job searches and resumes may also have become dated. Do any of the following ideas sound like your own?
- You are ashamed to let any family, friends or close business associates know that you are now unemployed. In the last decade, more and more people have experienced joblessness through no fault of their own. If people know about your situation, they can help.
- You have been unemployed for more than 2 months; you’re convinced the situation is hopeless. Nowadays, a job search can easily take 6 months, regardless of age or work history.
- You updated your ten-year-old resume by simply adding your most recent employment. The format and content of resumes have changed a lot in ten years, if only in response to the widespread use of electronic resume readers. Above all, your old resume is not targeted to the job you want now—and targeting has become very important in the job market.
- You do not want to have anything to do with social media. Social media is not frightening and not difficult to learn, once you know how to use it. It can truly advance your search for employment. You do not need to have a presence on every possible social media site, but you should join at least one professional site, like LinkedIn.
- You have responded to all the newspaper ads and now you are simply waiting for a response. These days many employment opportunities never appear in the papers. Invitations to apply or interview are made in person during industry or networking events or online through professional sites. Instead of passively waiting, find new opportunities to network or volunteer in your field or take a course to sharpen your skills. Keep active.
- You believe professional resume writers produce cookie-cutter resumes and do not add any value. An accredited professional resume writer helps you target your resume, elicits from you information about accomplishments you may have forgotten or under-valued, understands what recruiters and hiring managers are looking for, and strengthens your qualifications by identifying transferrable skills.
At Robin’s Resumes® we work with individuals at every stage of their careers, from recent college graduate to C-level executive with more than 25 years of experience. Regardless of your age, background, education, or industry, contact us for resumes that work in today’s job market.