Résumé Writing

(An edited excerpt from the book “Confessions of a Résumé Writer”) My buddy Andy Bridgeman is enjoying success from his first fiction novel, Fortunate Son. He recently published an article in Writer’s Digest called “My First Ideas Aren’t My Best—And AI Only Makes Them Worse”. Here are some highlights that resonated with me: “The more […]

Of course, you use announcements and, if you can get them, position descriptions (PDs) to guide your AI tools to help you write for and coach your clients. Supposedly, announcements and PDs capture what the hiring officials are looking for…except when they don’t. First, what’s asked for is often shown in “key words.” They’re little […]

Last month, we talked about how résumé writers and attorneys share the ability to convey persuasive messages without all the emotional attachments that clients bring to the situation. The other side of the same coin is worth mentioning as well.  The over-correction for emotionally overattached résumé writing is when the client’s presentation has become so […]

A strong legal argument and a strong résumé both rely heavily on the ability to project believable claims that don’t sound exaggerated, defensive, evasive, inflated, or emotionally loaded. Neither profession merely “records facts”; rather, the interpretation of those facts makes all the difference. Lawyers and résumé writers understand that people rarely describe themselves objectively under […]

As usual – I was on the phone with one of my dearest friends. She works for a well known not-for-profit organization and one of her responsibilities is hiring.  “Why is it so hard to hire someone?” This was a rhetorical question. “It’s TikTok. TikTok has made people stupid.”  I laughed because she meant it […]

I am a bit fuzzy about the most important project I ever worked in my previous career—except it shapes the way I run my business. I remember the project directly affected national security, was classified above Top Secret, and would be read by people whose names I saw regularly on the front page of the […]

Put five résumé writers in a room, and I’ll show you five different versions of the truth. Put five résumé writers and a decision-maker in a room, and I’ll show you one version of the truth. Five plus one equals one. That’s résumé writer math.   In a world where denominators are neither low nor […]

I found this recently on the back end of an online job application. The employer apparently uses ADP as their ATS, and the artificial intelligence link on the application revealed this disclosure:   “ADP’s Candidate Relevancy and Profile Relevance tools use artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to conduct an initial review of an application, […]

You work so hard with that top notch client. They had a great record of accomplishment. You guided them to apply for what seemed like a perfect job. Then came the email. Your client wants to know why they didn’t get the job. It’s so natural for them to blame themselves and you! I wrote […]

It is widely reported that most résumés get 6–10 seconds of reader attention on their first pass. Combine that thought with this one: the average adult reading speed is around 300 words per minute, which means a human reader processes about 5 words per second. A recruiter is not reading your résumé; they are sampling […]

“Admiration must be kept up by the novelty that at first produced it; . . .  there must always be the impression that more remains.”  Samuel Johnson (1709 – 1784)   I’ll bet every client you have ever served is different from any other. I will also bet that, in one important sense, every client you […]

“All know the way, few actually walk it.” – Bodhidharma If the 5th century Buddhist monk I just quoted was alive today, I suspect he’d understand more about how to use LinkedIn than many of our clients, and if truth be told, many of us. When it comes to that gold standard for professional networking, […]