Excelle

I find this article very confusing, since Excelle is a website owned by Monster, which is a job board, yet this article clearly suggest not to use any job boards??!!

Very good article..I agree with screening the incoming call. As a person who spent 30years as the caller - talking with someone whom you have interrupted is not using your time or theirs wisely. Use commonsense when to "reschedule" the call. Good points as to using LinkedIn and networking as tools for your follow-up and getting someone's name.

Very enlightening. And I found the comments to be just as informational; pohpohsmom. I didn't know that the email resumes went through a computer screening process. I've been out of the job hunt for many years.

Confirming appointments/meetings is always a good idea and gives a good impression. And always arrive about 5-10 minutes early.

Don't use "fake" words like "alot" (should be 2 words) or slang in your resume.

I've never used corporatespeak in my resume, but I do put in some of the keywords from the job description. So if the job description has corporatespeak in it, and you have experience doing the work, then if you wnt employers to notice your resume instead of putting it in the shredder, then you have to use keywords just the way they want. (But don't lie, of course)

Unfortunately, a computer (not a human) screens resumes submitted online or forwarded by email. These computers scan documents for keywords that fit the position. If the job description says: "cross functional facilitation of multi-level teams", then you better state something similar in that resume or it won't reach the recruiter. In most cases the recruiter reads the "hits" or how many times a keyword or phrase shows up in your resume before referring it to hiring party. Yes, they look for keywords that show how many years of experience, etc.

For those of you who consider writing an objective juvenile, try something new! Instead of objective and/or summary. Try "accomplishments". Most companies are looking for folks who can focus in on the bottom line ($$$). So dig deep and write up those instances where you saved the business money, time, or solved a problem.

Here's a laugh about a phone screen interview: While listening to a recruiter describe their company, my brother walked passed the room and made comments about my cat who from time to time whittles near his old stinky shoes in the closet. He said: " If your cat comes in my room one more time, I'll cut off his head and feed it to the dog outside!" I tried to waive him away before he began to describe what he would do with the cat's head, but he was too emotionally wrapped up in the moment to read my nonverbal expression in time. Luckily, Pohpoh (the cat) nabbed a mouse that night and won back one of his lives.

Good Job Hunting!

As a former legal recruiter alot of the time I told my Attorneys to leave off the Objective unless they could tailor it to the position that we were working on. Most of the Attorneys that I worked with were Intellectual Property Attorneys who had special skill sets. Most objectives were written that they were a team player goal oriented and so forth which if you were not you would not have had an Attorney position to begin with. When working with a recruiter let them get your resume to the hiring manager but make sure that you take at least 3 copies with you to the interview in a nice folder on "nice" paper. ALWAYS write a thank you note to each person that you spoke with and send it to them in regular mail...trust me it will make you stand out as very professional, you may not get the job but they will remember you. I have had clients tell me how impressed they were with getting the note.

This is terrific advice. I particularly liked item #1, about not leaving off a "Summary" section on your resume. The only thing I'd add is that if you're going to use an "Objective" statement instead of a "Summary" statement, that you make sure it does contain language in it that neatly wraps up your experience and aptitudes (not just - "here's what I want in my next job")- AND - I believe that you should think about slightly tailoring this statement for each different job opportunity (where appropriate.)