I have screened thousands of résumés, hell, tens of thousands. And yet, not much has changed. I still see about the same percentage of mistakes as when I started. What mistakes, you might ask? The ones demonstrated by that age-old haunting question–should I list responsibilities or accomplishments? There are plenty to choose from, but, in…
There are plenty of ways to format a résumé; I’ve seen a million (slight exaggeration). And there are almost as many opinions about how to do it right. But there aren’t many ways to format a résumé that aren’t distracting. And that’s what you want to aim for. You want a résumé that is so…
Numbers On Résumés Before we get started, I’m going to briefly discuss numbers and numerals. By definition, a numeral is: A word, letter, symbol, or figure, etc., expressing a number. There are rules regarding when to use the word umeral versus umber. I’m going to ignore those rules and use number/s for everything. Now back to the looking…
Words That People Misuse Have you ever heard someone say “ain’t”, and thought—they should improve their grammar? Most of us have probably thought that at some point. But perhaps we shouldn’t judge too harshly, because there are many words that are misused on a daily basis. They might not seem as bad as ain’t, but…
Resume Mistakes Can Kill Your Chance For An Interview Scoring an interview is difficult, but a lot of people make it tougher by presenting an inferior resume. A good job posting typically draws at least 100 resumes, and quite often as many as 300–500. In mid- to large-sized companies, a significant number of resumes are…
Clarifying What We Mean—When Is Midnight? During one of my book promotions, the people running the ad sent me this message: Hi Giacomo, I will be posting your book, Murder Has Consequences, as a bargain book on Wednesday, 7/17. Please leave your book on sale until midnight 7/18. Thanks, Administrator I thought to myself, but…
What To Say When You Don’t Know The Answer To An Interview Question Interviews are easy, especially when you’re prepared for them. Some people, however, grow anxious as interview time approaches. They are unsure how to answer interview questions. Relax. Take a deep breath. I know you may be nervous, but there’s no need to…
3 Important Sections of Your Resume I have been reviewing resumes for more than 30 years. During that time, I think I’ve seen it all—from one-page resumes to ones that looked more like small books, weighing in at 30 plus pages.The crazy thing is that the vast majority of people continue to include things that…
Behavioral Interview Questions—Tell Me About Yourself Before we get started with this section, let’s talk a little about how to answer questions. Yes, (said with a sigh) there is a method to everything, especially when dealing with behavioral interviewing questions, and especially when dealing with the seemingly innocent “tell me about yourself” question. Most companies…
How To Close the Job Interview Your Way There are a gazillion (I know I keep using that word, but I love it) ways to close the deal, and if you read enough articles and books, you’re bound to encounter conflicting opinions on how to do it and what the most important thing to do is. My…