Proven Resumes: Strategies That Have Increased Salaries
Provides all the tools you need to write a powerful resume!
 

Chapter 1 - Image Control: The Key To Higher Salary Offers This chapter takes you through the analysis of two complete sets of before and after resume examples. You'll see how and why each resume was improved and resulted in elevating each person's image substantially. The first example shows how Fran went from a 0% to a 100% response rate and elevated her image and salary level by $9,000. The second example shows how Tammy also went from generating no interviews to sending out two resumes, landing two interviews and then accepted a position paying $20,000 more per year. Detailed explanations and graphs, like those illustrated on the home page of this site, show how each title and skill heading was changed to bring Fran's and Tammy's image in line with their salary goals. Next, you're taken step by step through worksheets and a final checklist to help you determine if a skill-based resume or a chronological resume will work the best for you. You'll also complete worksheets to analyze each of your job titles to see if they match the jobs you want, or if they weaken your image. If you find that they weaken your image, you'll then use our examples and worksheets to strengthen them or replace them with skill headings that do project an image that matches the jobs and salary you want. Chapter 2 - Improve Your Self-Confidence and Expand Your Comfort Zone Chapter 2 shares a wide variety of success stories to build your confidence. Here you'll read dozens of stories about real job seekers who not only created much better resumes but learned that they had a wealth of skills employers want. This section discusses the fact that employers really are more interested in your skills rather than specific titles. This is true since job titles often have little meaning outside of the company where you've worked. If you're like many job seekers creating a powerful resume can make you feel uncomfortable and this chapter helps you expand your comfort zone so that you accept the full range of skills you do possess ... and goes even further to show you how to market them fully. Chapter 3 - Resumes REALLY are That Important? This chapter discusses the fact that employers receive hundreds of resumes and spend very little time reviewing them. Therefore, your resume must grab an employer's attention and sell your top skills in seconds. Resumes also lay the foundation for employers to ask you questions during interviews ... therefore a weak resume results in weak interviews and a strong resume results in automatically taking your interviews to a higher level. Chapter 4 - 6 Steps to Create a Powerful Resume This chapter forms the heart of your being able to create a much more effective resume. It takes you through 6 Easy Steps to Create Your Resume, whether it's a skill based resume or a chronological resume. A set of before and after resumes are included that illustrate both types of resume formats and are used as examples to show you how to complete the worksheets. Once you've reviewed the examples - you're then able to complete the worksheets to create your own resume. Chapter 5 - Skill Lists and Sample Sentences To Create A Proven Resume This chapter includes over 2,000 skills, skill headings and sample resume statements for 45 career fields. The skill lists and statements make it easy for anyone to flip to the career fields in which they have experience and check off information that matches their background. You can view a complete list of the career fields by clicking the link at the bottom of this page. Chapter 6 - 12 Questions to Expand and Control Your Image This chapter provides the top questions I've found that I ask whenever I write resumes with job seekers - no matter their income level or the industry they're in. Each major question includes a set of additional questions to help you describe your experience fully and to create an image that markets you to the highest level. Chapter 7 - Creating Powerful Design and Content This chapter teaches you how to create a resume that uses design to control and direct the employer's eye path to your top skills and sell you in seconds ... a must when you know that employers spend as little as 30 seconds glancing at resumes before discarding them. Several sets of resumes are analyzed to teach you how to use design elements that will make your resume stand out. The second section of this chapter teaches you how to write strong content. It's important to know that the design of your resume must get attention but it's really the content that will convince employers to call you. Chapter 8 - What You Should and Shouldn't Tell Employers This chapter answers many of the nuts and bolts questions people have about describing their employment history (and related problems), education, professional affiliations, and other issues. It also takes you step by step through the process of creating objective statements. Examples are provided of the type of objective statements I prefer in which your objective and three to four of your best achievements are combined and placed at the top of your resume. Two examples are included from resumes that landed a $400 a month increase and a $42,000 salary increase. Step by step worksheets are provided to take you through the process of creating powerful objective statements. Chapter 9 - 60 Proven Resume Examples This chapter contains 60 resume examples.   It provides an extensive cross reference list of skill headings contained in all 60 resumes and is grouped by industry/skill categories. For example an accounting resume may contain skill sections for accounting, customer service, supervision and operations management however the resume skill sections can be useful to a wide range of job seekers in other career fields. The resumes are grouped into these career categories: Accounting/Bookkeeping; Administrative/Clerical; College & University Students; Curriculum Vitae; Customer Service & Retail; Education; Healthcare/Medical; High School; High Tech; Hospitality & Food Service; Human Resources; Social Services; Licensed Professionals; Military; Parts, Production, Warehouse; Real Estate/Property Management; Sales & Marketing; Management/Executive; Trades; and Writing/Journalism. In the left and right hand margins facing each resume example are questions to help identify and describe skills and achievements, targeted specifically for that career field. For example, next to the accounting resumes is a question about total number of A/R and A/P accounts managed and the dollar range of A/R or A/P that was managed. Next to the construction resumes is a question about the type of construction projects worked on or managed such as industrial, commercial or residential projects. Each group of industry related resumes includes a dozen or more questions or tips for that particular field. This is a great help in understanding why and how the resumes were developed and serves as a guide in helping you create a powerful resume. Chapter 10 - Cover Letters: Strategies That Have Increased Salaries! This chapter teaches you why most cover letters fail and shows you how to create a cover letter that works by understanding how employers screen cover letters and resumes. Just as with your resume, you'll learn how to use cover letter design that directs and controls the eye path, and saves employers reading time. You'll be taken step by step through an analysis of three job ads and shown the difference a great cover letter can make in the impression employers have of your skills. You're shown how to analyze ads to identify keywords and create powerful keyword headings for your letters. You're then guided in how to write powerful statements for each paragraph of your letter. You're guided in understanding how to identify your audience, what they want to hear and what you have to tell them to land an interview. You're shown what to put in each paragraph of your letter from the opening to closing paragraph and are provided with opening phrases that make writing your letter easy. You'll also learn how to use powerful strategies such as a P.S. to grab attention. The importance of follow up is also emphasized and you're guided through this important strategy. You'll be shown how to tweak your letter and customize it for specific positions as well as how to write cold call or generic letters to inquire with companies that have not advertised. Tips on how to provide salary information, answer ads, fax your resume and apply for jobs you think you may not be qualified for. Chapter 11 - Interviewing: Strategies That Have Increased Salaries This chapter teaches you how to analyze and thoroughly prepare for each interview you receive. You'll do this by learning how to analyze want ads and job opening descriptions in order to anticipate the questions each employer will ask you, how to sell your top skills and address any concerns that may pertain to each individual job. In contrast, many interviewing books provide dozens of interview questions and sample answers that job seekers must try to memorize. Many of these questions and answers may not be applicable to a particular job or applicant and therefore are not targeted. As a result, they are often so general that they lack the impact needed for job seekers to present themselves with power and convince employers they are indeed the top candidate. By learning how to analyze each job you'll interview for, anticipating specific questions each unique employer will ask and preparing answers that sell you best for that particular job -- you'll put yourself ahead of the competition who have merely memorized canned interview answers. This chapter addresses 13 criteria that many employers judge applicants by to determine if they are overqualified, qualified or unqualified. Cynthia's unsuccessful interview is critiqued and graphed using the 13 criteria. The graph shows why Cynthia appeared unqualified in 10 of the criteria and qualified in only 3 of the criteria discussed. This helps to explain why Cynthia didn't land the job and helps job seekers pinpoint problem areas in their own interviews. Next a synopsis of Cynthia's successful interview is provided and graphed, and shows how Cynthia was able to subsequently present herself as qualified in all 13 criteria that employers look for when hiring. Phase I: Introduction & First Impressions - This section discusses the importance of first impressions and stresses that employers begin judging you the minute you walk in the door. Phase II: Questions You'll Be Asked Based On The Employer's Review of Your Resume - This section discusses the wide range of questions employers may ask you during the interview, how to anticipate and answer such questions. It covers: Questions Employers Will Ask To Judge Your Skills and Experience, Questions About Your Bottom Line Contributions, Questions You Can Ask To Direct and Control The Interview, Questions Employer Ask to Assess Personality, Values and Coping Style, Questions About Your Work History, Questions About Education and Training, Questions About Your References, and Questions About Salary Requirements. Phase III: Interview Closure - This section teaches you how to close your interview with impact, probe to determine if you're a top candidate and identify when second interviews will be held and when you should follow-up. Post Interview: Follow-up and Thank You Letters - This section teaches you how to follow up on your interview. It also discusses the importance of using thank you letters as another opportunity to sell your top skills or to introduce new information that was not covered in the interview. Excellent thank you letter examples are included. Tips are provided on how to identify and de-emphasize your weaknesses during each interview. You'll be shown how to provide answers that demonstrate your technical knowledge as well as your skills and abilities to do the job. You'll learn how to use power words and quantify. The fact that employers hire enthusiastic applicants and how you can show your enthusiasm during interviews is also stressed. Tips and examples are also provided on how to answer the 10 Most Common Interview Questions. Chapter ends with an Interviewing Checklist so that you can test yourself to see how well you understand and how well prepared you are for each phase of the interviewing cycle. A graph is also provided to rate yourself in the 13 criteria which have been described at the beginning of this chapter. Using this graph you can assess how employers will perceive your qualifications as being overqualified, qualified or unqualified for the job. Chapter 12 - Electronic Resumes, Online & Offline Job Search Strategies  This chapter teaches you how to identify keywords that are critical to creating an effective electronic resume. Keywords are how electronic resumes are sorted in order to find candidates with specific areas of experience, skills and education. The Electronic Resumes & Job Search chapter takes you step by step through the process of creating ASCII, scannable and e-mail resume formats. Chapter opens with a written testimonial/success story from Doug, who found an ad for a leading management consulting firm. Using the steps you'll learn Doug posted his new electronic resume on the internet and out of thousands of resumes that exact employer found his resume. Doug was was then called for an interview and ultimately hired! It's one thing to have a company find your resume at random on the internet but an entirely different and impressive situation to have the exact company you targeted your resume for--find it, contact you and then hire you! You are shown how Doug followed simple strategies to analyze the ad and then create powerful keyword headings for his electronic resume. Next, you're shown how Robin analyzed 8 ads for customer service positions which contained more than 160 keywords. Robin then grouped these keywords and areas of experience into major skill categories and used the top keywords to create powerful headings for her resume. She then developed sentences using all of the keywords for the content or text of resume. A 6-Step process shows you how to do the same with your resume. In addition to the excellent information and examples provided for creating effective electronic and keyword resumes, you're also provided with information on how to launch your electronic job search. You'll also be taken through strategies to help you with your offline or traditional job search. This section discusses the importance of having the right mind set during your job search. And, for reassurance you're provided with a Job Search Success Sheet that takes you through problem areas that you may need to correct if your resume isn't generating enough interviews .... or if your networking isn't paying off ... or if you are land interviews but don't get the job offer .... or if you are offered positions beneath the salary you want .... or if employers don't think you're qualified enough for management positions or the career change you'd like to make. Statistics are provided on the top job search methods and you're given detailed information on how to use each one. Whether it's applying directly to employers, networking, answering ads, working with your unemployment office or with an employment agency you'll find phone scripts and worksheets to help you track each step of your job search for maximum success. Success Imagery If you're like many job seekers you may want a better job or higher salary or hope to make a career change ... but you may also feel somewhat intimidated about pursuing your goals. This chapter provides the Success Imagery, I and many of my clients, have employed to achieve our career goals. These strategies have taken me from being a receptionist making $12.25 an hour to become an author of 13 resume and career books, public presenter, master trainer for college instructors and career professionals, and professional resume writer charging $100 an hour. Like many job seekers, my career goals did not match my self image. Before writing my first book if someone had told me I'd be where I am today I'd never have believed them and probably would have been so intimidated that I wouldn't have tried everything I've tried. You're taken through the process of understanding your intangible desires--those desires that really motivate you. When first asked, many people say money is their top motivator but most often is not. It's intangible rewards such as helping people, receiving respect from others, achieving a difficult task and accomplishing those things we love which actually result in a higher salary. You'll be guided through exercises to help you identify the pain of not moving toward your goals in contrast to the pleasure you'll have when you do achieve them. You're then taken step by step through a series of worksheets that show you how to create your own Success Imagery scripts that you can either read or listen to on a cassette. Free - $8.95 Value Job Search Organizer   If you're like most job seekers the idea of hunting for a job is bad enough in and of itself--let alone adding to the problem by having to keep track of all the places and people you've contacted when applying for jobs. Yet, it is imperative that you identify which job search methods are most successful for you--and the only way you can really know that is by keeping track of what you're doing and what's working. You'll be given many tips in the Job Search Organizer that help you do just that! For example, many job seekers report that they don't keep the ads they respond to but then also admit they don't market themselves well when employers call them. Without organizing and keeping ads, it's extremely difficult to remember what skills you should market to each particular employer. Keeping a job search organizer notebook allows you to instantly turn to a particular ad you've answered, look at the worksheet you've completed, and instantly know which skills you should market when talking to that employer. All of these tips and more are included in the free organizer you're about to receive! What's in the Job Search Organizer - Overview of the Financial Value of Your Resume - Instructions for Getting Started Using the Organizer - 8 Steps to Plan & Launch Your Job search - Your Job Search Planner - Weekly To Do Calendar - Daily To Do Calendar - Monthly Planner - Evaluating Your Performance During Pre-Screening Interviews - Employer Research and Data Worksheets - Networking / Referral Data Worksheets - Worksheets to Track Resume Posting at Internet Sites - Worksheets to Track Ads & Job Openings You Respond To - Worksheets to Track Job Fairs & Career Events - Worksheets to Track Openings from Career Placement Offices - Worksheets to Track Contact with Employment Agencies - Address Book to Enter Employment Related Information ALL FOR ONLY $9.95 ... by Master Resume Writer ... Proven Resume Strategies That Have Increased Salaries by $2,000 to $80,000 more per year. Click to Order Now.  Download - Receive Immediately  $9.95