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It's Hard To
Identify & Market The Benefits of Our Skills!
Most of us have such achievements in our backgrounds but we never
stop to think about them. Ask yourself what your skills and abilities
mean, in bottom line results, to employers.
I regularly
spend 2-3 hours, and frequently more, helping each person write
their resumes and identify their top skills.
Having spent more than 10,000 hours counseling job seekers I've
learned that we
all tend to discount our skills and de-emphasize them. It's hard enough just
listing them let alone trying to figure out what they mean to
employers. Having to go through a similar process to help each
and every job seeker, at all income ranges pull out their skills,
use numbers to describe them, and create powerful resume statements,
I developed an
extensive set of questions that anyone can use to help them document
their experience!
For example
the secretary above could add much to her resume by answering
questions from my book such as: How many staff did you support
and what were their titles? How many departments did you coordinate
with to do your job? Answers to questions like these add
meat to a resume, make it stand out and present the job seeker
as a top candidate--since most resumes provide statements like
the before examples above. Here's another testimonial that speaks
of the value to be gained from purchasing and using my newest
booklet of 148 pages, Proven Resumes:
Strategies That Have Increased Salaries! It provides you with over 60 questions
to help you describe and sell the benefits of your skills! Click
the title below for a full description!
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A typical example
that shows the success of this book is from one of my students
who had
no experience in a new field. By using Regina's strategies she was able to market
herself effectively for a management position in that field.
I remember
she was so excited because there were over 30 applicants but
she made
the top three to be interviewed and subsequently landed the job. Instructors and counselors
at our college have seen hundreds of success stories like
this one in the last five years. Linda Gojenola, Career Development
Instructor |
As you've
been learning throughout these workshops, identifying top skills,
learning how to solve employer needs and sell the benefits of
your skills results in resumes that can put you in the top 5%
to 10% of applicants. My Increase Salaries booklets really are jam packed
with strategies like these that can help anyone write an excellent
resume!
Now let's
move on to the next workshop and talk briefly about the importance
of creating Targeted Resumes!
Click
here for NEXT
WORKSHOP or
ORDER
NOW!
$9,000
Salary Increase
The
first resume workshop in this site shows how Fran's after resume resulted in
a $9,000 salary increase. Fran
wanted a $33,000 Corporate Customer Representative job but her resume
created an image of her being at a $20,000 to 24,000 salary level -- that's
$9,000 to $13,000 beneath her goal.
What
Level Does Your Resume Market You At?
If you
are curious to see what level your resume is marketing you at
then be
sure to read and use the graphing techniques in my first workshop.
By graphing the job titles used in Fran's resume it's easy to see why
her resume failed
and once you understand this
you will understand
why the majority of resumes fail. You'll then understand how to analyze your job titles and see
if you are better off using them or replacing them with skill headings that
market you more effectively.
Most
People Have Job Titles that Weaken Their Image
I
estimate that at least 85% of all job seekers have job titles unrelated to
their current career goals
and that they are much better off using skill
headings rather than job titles to land higher salaries and double and
triple their interview rates.
For
example, Fran had been a Directory Operator but in most people's minds that
doesn't sound like she's at the level of a Corporate Customer Representative
making $33,000
that's because most people don't view directory operators
as providing true customer service. Most
people say that Directory Operator sounds like someone making only $20,000.
However, by using the 12 Questions in my Proven Resumes Series, Fran
wrote a new description of her duties as a Directory Operator that described
her being selected out of 100 Directory Operators to provide specialized
Customer Service to the Governor's Office and Political Dignitaries in the
Washington State Capitol
now that information begins to change our image
of Fran doesn't it? That makes
her sound much more like someone being able to command $33,000.
Which
sounds like a better match for the $33,000 Corporate Customer Service
Representative goal
her old job title of Directory Operator
or a skill heading like Customer Service Representative to State
of Washington Account. In
Fran's actual resume we used the heading of Customer Service Representative
but you can see how you can play with skill headings to control and elevate
your image
this is one strategy I explain in detail with examples
throughout my book, Proven Resumes: Strategies That Have Increased Salaries,
and one of the strongest things I can offer you as a resume writer
just
in case you don't have the time or patience to write your own.
Going
from 0% to 100% Interview Rate
By
using skill headings that matched her goal, Fran went from a 0% interview
rate to a 100% interview rate -- meaning none of her prior resumes had
landed an interview but her new resume landed an interview for each position
she applied for.
Click
here to learn other ways we
improved Fran's resume and landed her a job paying $9,000 more click
here to read my first set of
resume workshops!
If you've entered my site via this page, be sure to go to my home
page for an overview of more than 60 Free Resume & Job Search Workshops
that include tons of Resume Tips for 45 Career Fields, Job Search,
Electronic Resume, Cover Letter, Interviewing, Networking and Confidence
Building strategies.
The
testimonials at the top of this page and throughout my site describe salary
increases ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 and more. Here's one of my most recent ones:
| Regina,
the resume you wrote caught the attention of the world's leading
software manufacturer. Thanks for helping inspire me through
your thoughtful questions and objective interpretation of my work
history.
I'm
sure it made a big difference in my ability to be recognized in a
competitive environment and cross the $100,000 threshold. By
the way, the offer I accepted was an increase of $25K annually (21%
increase).
Rachel Pizarro, Senior Sales Account Executive / Operations Manager |
In Summary
If you are
in the process of writing a resume---or have already written
one but not gotten the results you want it may be because your titles or skill
headings are creating a weak image of your skills---if so consider
purchasing my Strategies That Increase
Salaries series written for job seekers in the $20,000 to
$100,000+ range. This powerful trio shows you how to create resumes
and cover letters that use powerful skill headings that control
and elevate your image to match the jobs and salary you want---and
there are no other books available that teach you this! You can
then learn how to carry these powerful strategies into your interviews
by using my interviewing booklet so that you position yourself
as a top candidate!
You may also want to supplement the Strategies That Increase
Salaries booklets with one of the Career-Specific Resume
Booklets described below in order to obtain resume samples
written just for your career field.
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Website
Contents, Regina Pontow, 1997-2005
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