Any advice on Resume Help/Writing??

[Ghost]

I was laid off back in June, and I'm still looking for a job.

Since I'm on various job search sites, I get bombarded by the various resume-writing services.

All of them are fairly expensive, all claim to be amazing.

Anyone here have any experience with a resume writing service and/or any opinions on them in general?

[Sully]

There are quite a few websites that probably have examples in your industry/profession that might be helpful

[~Barn~]

What kinds of jobs are you interested in applying to? Knowing that basically decides the "theme" your resume shows off.

[mtnairlover]

Get on LinkedIn as well. The more people you can link to, the more jobs you see. I'm there, just look for my FB name. There are other CSC'ers there as well.

As for resume...hell, I've only ever interviewed one person in my career. It was just recently. The guy was one of the two top picks for the same job title I have. I wanted to not only see some sort of portfolio, but wanted to know what he knew and how he could translate his education to real world. He did a pretty darn good job answering all of my questions. They were heavily job description-type questions...a lot of what I do on the job.

Anyhoo, so try to align your resume with the job you really want. Highlight your skills in that field if you do not have enough work experience. If you have a lot of work experience, not only highlight your skills, but highlight your job duties that translate to the job you want.

That's all pretty generic, but hope something stands out.

Oh and with LinkedIn, you can also ask your connections there to take a look at your resume and offer up bits of advice.

[Ghost]

Thanks Sully, will do/been doing.

What kinds of jobs are you interested in applying to? Knowing that basically decides the "theme" your resume shows off.

Heh, given my oddly diverse background I'm looking in both the Automotive/Motorcycle (OEM/Manufacturer) area and I'm looking in professional academia.

I've been tailoring my resumes to each job, but even with key words supposedly optimized for search engines I'm just not getting the phone to ring like I'd hoped.

Get on LinkedIn as well. The more people you can link to, the more jobs you see. I'm there, just look for my FB name. There are other CSC'ers there as well.

Oh and with LinkedIn, you can also ask your connections there to take a look at your resume and offer up bits of advice.

Yeah, I'm on LinkedIn (same as FB, just like you), still have a bunch of Connections from my corporate days, but they've been of surprisingly little help.

However, I didn't think to have them look at my resume, maybe I'll pester them.

Thanks all!

[~Barn~]

I'll talk to one of my recruiter friends to see if he can take a look for you. He's more of a tech recruiter in general, but he's done it all. If he's willing to take a look and give you some pointers, I'll PM you his contact info.

[Ghost]

I'll talk to one of my recruiter friends to see if he can take a look for you. He's more of a tech recruiter in general, but he's done it all. If he's willing to take a look and give you some pointers, I'll PM you his contact info.

Sweet, and whether he helps or not, thanks for asking!

[mtnairlover]

Also, check out your local Workforce center. Jefferson Cty Workforce has free workshops where you can get a lot of help with various things, like resume writing, job hunt, etc.

Jeffco Workforce workshop calendar:
https://www.jeffcoworkforce.org/work...p_calendar.cfm

[~Barn~]

Great call Cathy!

Ghost, I totally spaced out that my girl works for for A/D Works! The recruiter friend that I have does it specifically for just one company, and I'll still make a point of asking him if he'll take a look for you. How I forgot Tanya's job, I have no idea!

In the meantime though, if Arapahoe or Douglas county is your neck of the woods, hit up A/D Works and see how they can help you. The stuff that she tells me they do for serious job seekers, is pretty incredible. Gas/Transportation vouchers, interview clothing allowances.... really tangible stuff like that, in addition to the resume help!

EDIT: P.S. If you want to send me the current version of your resume, you can. Send it over to: itsbarn at yahoo dot com

[drago52]

I have manned booths at career fairs and interviewed engineers for employment at my company and getting your foot in the door with a personal contact is more successful than just spewing out resumes and cover letters. One of our recent employees attended a local tech lunch meeting (ASHRAE) and met with one of the partners in the company. He had a resume in hand and got an interview shortly thereafter. He's a good worker and smart, but looking at his resume alone without meeting him face-to-face, he would not have been offered an interview.

[Ghost]

Thanks again guys, I'll check out A/D Works (I'm in Arapahoe).

Barn, I'll also send you the resume, thanks for the offer.

Drago, yep, I've got into both gradschool and jobs on the shake of a hand, it's just not been easy to get that foot in the door to get that interview lately. I'll look at the local career fairs though, good idea.