CAREER DOCUMENTS
Resumes
Your resume must stand out from the pile. Recruiters and HR departments receive lots of resumes. The objective of a resume is to get an interview so you can sell your unique qualifications and demonstrate how you can help an organization move forward. We develop marketing documents to serve as your "ambassador" to make you memorable.
The development and production of a resume has undergone critical changes as the job search environment has changed.
Candidates must create a "marketing document" that communicates their value, competencies, and personality to the potential employer or recruiter in a scant 6-9 seconds and get selected for review according to a computer’s logic. A historical listing of bullets showing past job duties and responsibilities will not get noticed.
Brenda Goburn Smith helped me redo my resume, to attract new possibilities in the job market. Her ability to strategically enhance the qualities I have to bring to potential employers through first glancing at a resume is nothing short of excellent. — M. Russell
How Today's Resumes Work
Today’s resumes focus on talent, quantifiable achievements, core competencies, and your personal brand. Yes, you must be "packaged" so that your attributes, working style, values, attitude, and expertise leap off the page at a glance. Communicating all of this in a Twitter-style world…"tell me quick and make me care” is our challenge.
The purpose of the resume is to get you the interview, it is then up to you to "sell" yourself, but first you must get noticed.
The question is how to capture the essence of "you." At Resume & Career Services we probe to understand your motivations, validate your goals, values, natural talents and then shape an image to promote you.
The Ultimate Goal
The ultimate goal of developing the resume is to capture you as the brand. Creating that brand is often the most valuable portion of our services because we help clients put into words, sometimes for the first time, what’s important to them in a job, in their life, and where they want to be in the future, career-wise and personally.
And this is just the development of the resume. We also offer other supportive documents, cover letters, LinkedIn profiles, presentations, and biographies.
Profiles
As a part of the Resume Package, or separately, we write LinkedIn profiles and biographies.
The Internet, social media and technology have all changed job search techniques. Yes, people are really finding jobs on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Monster, Simply Hired and other job posting sites. Each has its own set of rules, protocols, and benefits. No, you cannot simply paste your resume in a LinkedIn profile, at least you should not; it is a different product, different audience, different purpose. Learn the conventions of each outlet.
The crafting of your profile summary and headline statement is almost as critical as the resume itself.
These social media outlets are one of the major resources that corporations and recruiters access to identify and screen potential employees. It is also a prime resource for you to network and connect with people who can hire and introduce you to interview opportunities.
You must give particular attention to how you position your profile. Companies and recruiters apply the same amount of time to a profile…about 6 seconds, before they make assumptions, draw conclusions, and move on. None of this has anything to do with how accomplished or distinguished you may be.
Cover Letters & More
We give you tips and strategies for drafting personal important documents that make you memorable. Although not delivered through the mail, we still call them cover letters. The cover letter or email message should not be a repeat of what is in the resume. It can promote your value as a worthy viable candidate. Even if not used, they become excellent talking points for your interview.
Hopefully, you will have a great interview. Remembering to follow up with a thank you letter helps the decision maker who reviews available candidates. We give you guidance to capture the salient points of your job search encounters.
Presentations
In the course of job searching and interviewing you may encounter an occasion requiring a presentation to a company, panel, or interviewer to demonstrate your approach, capability, or expertise with a skill or issue. We can help you create your script, PowerPoint slides, or documents.
We Speak "Business"
We communicate in each unique industry’s language to create appropriate biographies, board positioning biographies, and company capability statements.