On November 10, 2011 the U.S. Census Bureau issued a report concerning working mothers, including levels of paid maternity leave and details of working mothers’ return to work. Interestingly, about 8 of 10 mothers returned to work with their same employer and 7 of 10 returned to a position at the same skill level and pay. Of the 20% that did not return to their same employer, 25% worked in a position at the same skill leve...

The candidate we are helping today is an executive sales manager with retail experience as well as experience in the mortgage industry. He has some notable accomplishments, but his résumé does not convey these in a way that highlights his strengths. Todd should have a headline, a summary statement, and a core competency section to build up his key areas of expertise and let readers know his value as a prospective manager....

Matthew is an accomplished account manager, but we would not know this by reading his résumé. His résumé is similar to many candidates early in their career who have not crafted a new résumé since college graduation. Many times a candidate will simply add on experience without a holistic view of their résumé and current career goal. An early sign of this are the words “Permanent Address” in the contact section. As we rea...

If you don’t know the answer to this question, it may be time for you to figure out the true differentiators that make you #1 in the job market. Creating a professional brand image for your career growth is not something that happens overnight. It is something that you build over time. How can you create a personal brand and a professional brand image that is unique, if you are not sure what it is about YOU that makes you...

I recently completed a rush project for a client and I can tell you definitively that he regretted not having revamped his résumé sooner. My team worked a lot of overtime to create a stellar document. During the process, the client was nerve-racked; he was worried that we would run out of time for him to submit his résumé for a great opportunity. Had he updated his résumé sooner, he would have been able to appreciate the p...

By nature human beings like to experience new things; but most of us also have a need to maintain the status quo. To attract the attention of hiring managers who may already know you, but have overlooked you in the past, you will need to step up your professional brand. There is no need to totally reinvent yourself. The fact that you are a known entity can and should be used to your advantage.The trick lies in how to convey...

Just before I sat down to write this article, I decided to do a little research. I thought to myself, what will I see if I Google my own name? It was an interesting experiment because I found out that my website came up as the number one hit with my name. I was pleased to see this as I have spent a great deal of time working to elevate awareness of my brand. However, I did notice a few old links and posts that were very ou...

Creating a winning LinkedIn Profile is becoming nearly as important as having a professional looking r¨¦sum¨¦. With over 100 million users internationally, it has become THE social media site for business networking. In fact, according to the most recent Jobvite Index which measures social media employment trends, in the six months between January 2011 and June 2011, 73% of all social hires came from LinkedIn.If that isn¡¯...

Every time you send out an email, you have the opportunity to promote your personal brand. The way you communicate in email is important because every message you send tells the recipient something about you. If your email messages are curt or contain too many errors, this can be a big negative and detract from your personal brand.We all get busy, but it is important to exhibit the same level of business acumen when creati...

Who are you and in what type of workplace do you thrive? A personality assessment can tell you a lot about the sort of environment that might best suit your personality and work style. Will you function best at a large international organization, or at a smaller firm with satellite or home-based offices?Using Myers Briggs or a DISC assessment, you can gain valuable insight into the things that drive you, in turn enabling y...