Resumes and Job Interviewing Expert Martin Yate

New Articles

• Win the Job Offer Even with a Bad Interviewer
  Everyone has left an interview feeling they could do the job but that the interviewer didn't ask the questions that would allow them to showcase their skills. This problem could cost you a job offer.
• Should You Turn Down a Job Interview?
  I must ask clients this question a thousand times a year – the answer reveals a lot about that person's overall career management savvy. The question always generates a lot of thoughtful answers, but hardly anyone ever gets it right -- can you?
• Doing the Salary "Dance" in Job Interviews
  When you think about the most important skill needed for success in your career, you will realize that, bottom line, it's your ability to turn interviews into offers. This skill, the one that puts food on your table, is also likely to be your weakest professional skill, because you have so little experience doing it successfully. Winning job offers is a bit like dancing -- all you must do is learn the steps.
• How to Handle Illegal Questions in a Job Interview
  Questions at job interviews are meant to address your ability to do the work. Questions that delve into your personal life are deemed illegal. Nevertheless, illegal questions do get asked. They can make you uncomfortable and can negatively impact your interview performance. That is something you want to avoid because your ability to turn interviews into offers is probably not one of your greatest strengths.
• How to Fight Age Discrimination in Job Interviews
  While questions about age rarely get asked (they're illegal, as if you didn't know), that doesn't stop the curse of age discrimination playing out at job interviews. It can occur when you are in your 50's, 60's, and older, but it can also occur when you are in your late 30's and 40's.
• The Smartest Strategy for Timing Your Next Job Interview
  There are good times to interview and bad times to interview. Determining the best times to schedule your job interview requires understanding the psychology of hiring managers.
• Returning to Work After Caring for a Parent
  Most people express no regrets about taking a career hiatus to provide eldercare for a loved one. But once their parent transitions, they are faced with a lot of questions about how to re-enter the workforce.
• Resumes for the Unemployed and Overqualified
  When you started your career the problem was that no one wanted entry-level candidates. Now, when you have a wealth of experience, the problem has reversed itself.
• New Requirements for Resume Success
  An effective resume is a finely tuned document that has to pack a lot of relevant information into a limited amount of space. It cannot simply be a recitation of your work history. This isn't your father's resume, because that strategy no longer has traction.

Cover Letters

• Are Cover Letters a Waste of Time in a Job Search?
  There have been claims recently that cover letters are a waste of time and that you'll get more interviews if you stop using them. A study also came out that implied the exact opposite: it said that "only" 93% of hiring managers like to see a cover letter with a resume. No wonder you're confused. Let's clear up that confusion.
• What Should Your Cover Letter Contain?
  There are really two steps in the creation of a polished cover letter. The first happens now. You want to make sure that all the things that should be included are, and that all the things that shouldn't, aren't. On the fence about sending a cover letter?
• Executive Briefing Cover Letters
  Cover letters can kill opportunities or create them. When Opportunity Knocks...

Guide to Effective Resumes

• Resumes for the Unemployed and Overqualified
  When you started your career the problem was that no one wanted entry-level candidates. Now, when you have a wealth of experience, the problem has reversed itself. The challenge now becomes what to do in a job search when you are rejected, not for lack of experience but for too much experience.

LinkedIn and Your Resume

• Do You Need a Resume AND a LinkedIn Profile?
  LinkedIn has transformed networking and how smart professionals of every age find jobs and leverage careers. It has also transformed the way recruiters find talent. Some "experts" are saying that with a LinkedIn profile you don't need a resume. Is this true? Simply put, no! Each has a specific and fully differentiated role to play in a maximally effective job search.

Making Your Resume Effective

• New Requirements for Resume Success
  An effective resume is a finely tuned document that has to pack a lot of relevant information into a limited amount of space. It cannot simply be a recitation of your work history. This isn't your father's resume, because that strategy no longer has traction.
• Why a General Work-History Resume Doesn't Work Now
  Your resume will not work if it is too general and too unfocused. It is a big mistake to omit the critical step of understanding exactly what the customer is buying and customizing what you have to offer to their expressed needs.
• Integrating Your Professional Brand into Your Resume
  Your professional brand is communicated throughout your resume, but especially with opening and closing brand statements. The first place you begin to establish a professional brand is with your target job title - where you consciously decide on the job that best allows you to package your skill-sets and create a professional brand.
• What Recruiters and Hiring Managers Want in a Resume
  Recruiters want to fill a job opening as quickly as possible and get on to the next assignment. Hiring managers similarly want to hire someone as quickly as possible and get back to their work. Your resume is the tool that gets you in the door.
• Why 95% of Resumes Don't Get Read and What You Can Do About It
  Ninety-five percent of resumes today never get read, and the reason is surprising: it's because they are honest recitations of everything the resume writer has done and thinks important. Let's look at why this doesn't work.
• 4 Killer Tactics to Get Your Resume Read
  Standing out from the crowd and being memorable are the keys to moving forward in a tough job market.
• Supercharge Your Response to Six Key Phrases on Job Postings
  Understanding the secret language of job postings can supercharge your resume, your cover letter, and your answers to interview questions.
• Keyword Secrets to Get Your Resume Noticed
  No recruiter ever searches a resume database or reads resumes for the fun of it. Whenever they search for resumes, job titles and skill sets from the formal Job Description make up their primary search terms. Here are five secrets that will dramatically improve your resume's results.
• To Change Industries, Make These 5 Tweaks to Your Resume
  All companies and all industries develop unique priorities, language, and "ways of doing things" as a natural response to the challenges presented by the services they provide or products they deliver. Consequently, every company you approach is engaged in challenges specific to its industry, and when you want to change your industry sector as part of a strategic career move, you and your resume should reflect an understanding of the new target industry's issues and challenges.

Unemployed Job Seekers

• How to Handle Employment Gaps on Your Resume
  A resume without employment dates considerably underperforms a resume with dates. This means that if you want to get job interviews you need to use dates in your resume. Employment dates are some of the facts most frequently checked by employers.