Try these professional resume writing techniques to resurrect your resume and your job search today:

Problem #3:    Resume Is Blind

In your eagerness to cut your job search work load have you reduced your objective statement to something grandiose and vague, something that you hope speaks to every employer but which, in fact, communicates to none?  A resume with no focus is blind; without a clear focus in your resume an employer cannot perceive what you’re offering them; without a concisely stated vision in your resume an employer cannot grasp the big picture of how you fit into their organization.

Solution#3:   Give Your Resume Vision So Employers Can See You

• Craft a creative career summary statement.  A career summary statement is just that  -  a summary or profile of your career to date.  Remember that your “career” includes all the paid and unpaid things you’ve done and that even if you don’t value this experience, an employer will.  Claim your career focus in your summary, then in 2-3 sentences profile your most relevant skills and experience.
• Describe your creative gifts in terms that relate to the employer’s needs.  Whatever your specific creative gifts (and you do have them), describe them in the body of your resume.  Use adjectives and nouns to describe yourself in your summary, mini job descriptions or success stories. 
• Match your resume’s layout, font style, graphics and paper to your career goal.  If you are seeking work in a conservative industry like banking or insurance, then choose a traditional layout, a formal-looking font, few graphics and conservative white, beige or gray paper. 
• If you are looking for work in a highly creative industry like advertising or graphic arts, then choose a creative or functional resume layout, an unusual but readable font, creative graphics and expressive textured paper, perhaps with a colorful border around the edge. 
• How do you know what is right for you and your preferred industry?  Conduct informational interviews with hiring professionals in that field and ask them what fits and what does not.
• Use your resume to hint at your responses to interview questions.   If you’re like most job seekers, you hate having to prepare answers for interviewing questions.  A resume acts like a template for your interviews, so if you consider the typical questions you will be asked and succinctly weave bits of your responses into your resumes, you will be leading the interviewer in the direction you choose. 
• Use your resume’s content to design a powerful cover letter to match.   Do not send resumes without cover letters!  Do not take shortcuts with cover letters!  Do not send the same generic cover letter to every employer you contact!  Doing so will guarantee you failure.  If you prefer success you will have to work for it, but it will pay off.  
• Select the 3-5 most critical points you made in your resume and restate them in the second paragraph of your personalized cover letter.  Weave some of the same adjectives and nouns you used in your resume into your cover letter.

Problem #4:   Resume Has No Personality

One of the greatest weaknesses of most resumes is an almost total lack of personality.  You are selling you, not a piece of wood!  Nothing adds life to a lifeless document like uniqueness, so talk about yours.

Solution #4:  Give Your Resume Personality To Attract Employers To You

•  Draw attention to your uniqueness.  Consider carefully the 5-7 adjectives or descriptive phrases that best describe you, your qualifications, your values and your personality and weave them into your career
  summary, your success stories and your cover letter.  
• Take those same 5-7 adjectives and identify other words that mean the same thing.  Use your second set of adjectives and phrases and use them to describe yourself in interviews.  
• Express who you really are, not who you think you should be.  Select graphics, font style and paper that express your essence as well as they match the industry you hope to join.  Know what makes you you and describe it in writing for your resume/cover letter and express it verbally for interviews.
• Stress your people skills. Interpersonal skills are critical for many jobs; possessing them can be your ticket to great opportunities, but you must a.) honestly possess them; b.) know how/when to use them; c.) be willing to learn what you don’t know; and d.) be prepared to demonstrate your skills in your resumes, cover letters and interviews.
• Be personal and warm rather than impersonal and objective.  There is a difference between being personal and intimate in writing and conversation; strive for the former, yet avoid the latter.
• Read company literature and web sites and quote their own words back to them as you use their words to demonstrate the match between you.  Use quotes from other sources as appropriate. 
• Be quotable. Let
  Improving Your Interviewing Skills In Seven Steps
  Even with all of the technological advances available these days, you still need to keep some old rules in mind when applying for a job. Whether you are applying for a job at a fast food restaurant or a multi-million dollar corporation, you need to understand that when you interview for a job you are selling yourself. Presenting yourself correctly can help you to get or not get hired.After you have determined what job you want to apply for and you have given out your resume, you need to call the company to request a job interview.When you schedule the interview either by phone or in person, you will come into contact with the receptionist or an assistant to the person who may possible hire you. It is important to be courteous and friendly to this pe
  reative career summary statement.  A career summary statement is just that  -  a summary or profile of your career to date.  Remember that your “career” includes all the paid and unpaid things you’ve done and that even if you don’t value this experience, an employer will.  Claim your career focus in your summary, then in 2-3 sentences profile your most relevant skills and experience.
• Describe your creative gifts in terms that relate to the employer’s needs.  Whatever your specific creative gifts (and you do have them), describe them in the body of your resume.  Use adjectives and nouns to describe yourself in your summary, mini job descriptions or success stories. 
• Match your resume’s layout, font style, graphics and paper to your career goal.  If you are seeking work in a conservative industry like banking or insurance, then choose a traditional layout, a formal-looking font, few graphics and conservative white, beige or gray paper. 
• If you are looking for work in a highly creative industry like advertising or graphic arts, then choose a creative or functional resume layout, an unusual but readable font, creative graphics and expressive textured paper, perhaps with a colorful border around the edge. 
• How do you know what is right for you and your preferred industry?  Conduct informational interviews with hiring professionals in that field and ask them what fits and what does not.
• Use your resume to hint at your responses to interview questions.   If you’re like most job seekers, you hate having to prepare answers for interviewing questions.  A resume acts like a template for your interviews, so if you consider the typical questions you will be asked and succinctly weave bits of your responses into your resumes, you will be leading the interviewer in the direction you choose. 
• Use your resume’s content to design a powerful cover letter to match.   Do not send resumes without cover letters!  Do not take shortcuts with cover letters!  Do not send the same generic cover letter to every employer you contact!  Doing so will guarantee you failure.  If you prefer success you will have to work for it, but it will pay off.  
• Select the 3-5 most critical points you made in your resume and restate them in the second paragraph of your personalized cover letter.  Weave some of the same adjectives and nouns you used in your resume into your cover letter.

Problem #4:   Resume Has No Personality

One of the greatest weaknesses of most resumes is an almost total lack of personality.  You are selling you, not a piece of wood!  Nothing adds life to a lifeless document like uniqueness, so talk about yours.

Solution #4:  Give Your Resume Personality To Attract Employers To You

•  Draw attention to your uniqueness.  Consider carefully the 5-7 adjectives or descriptive phrases that best describe you, your qualifications, your values and your personality and weave them into your career
  summary, your success stories and your cover letter.  
• Take those same 5-7 adjectives and identify other words that mean the same thing.  Use your second set of adjectives and phrases and use them to describe yourself in interviews.  
• Express who you really are, not who you think you should be.  Select graphics, font style and paper that express your essence as well as they match the industry you hope to join.  Know what makes you you and describe it in writing for your resume/cover letter and express it verbally for interviews.
• Stress your people skills. Interpersonal skills are critical for many jobs; possessing them can be your ticket to great opportunities, but you must a.) honestly possess them; b.) know how/when to use them; c.) be willing to learn what you don’t know; and d.) be prepared to demonstrate your skills in your resumes, cover letters and interviews.
• Be personal and warm rather than impersonal and objective.  There is a difference between being personal and intimate in writing and conversation; strive for the former, yet avoid the latter.
• Read company literature and web sites and quote their own words back to them as you use their words to demonstrate the match between you.  Use quotes from other sources as appropriate. 
• Be quotable. Le
  You’ve Lost Your Job - How Do You Cope?
  “I can’t believe I lost my Job!” If this statement isn’t one of your worst nightmares, you don’t know what is…How prepared are you for an unexpected turn of events? What would happen if the foundation upon which your income was based suddenly crumbled—how would you cope?In these tough economic times, the unemployment rate is high and job scarcity is a common problem. The importance of securing a job to guarantee some form of financial security can’t be underestimated. Having a steady job is as relieving as drinking a cold glass of water on a hot summer day. Knowing this, you probably can’t afford to lose your job, especially since the key word is bills, bills and more bills! The only way to settle the “bills” issue is to stay hired.Most people a
  esume layout, an unusual but readable font, creative graphics and expressive textured paper, perhaps with a colorful border around the edge. 
• How do you know what is right for you and your preferred industry?  Conduct informational interviews with hiring professionals in that field and ask them what fits and what does not.
• Use your resume to hint at your responses to interview questions.   If you’re like most job seekers, you hate having to prepare answers for interviewing questions.  A resume acts like a template for your interviews, so if you consider the typical questions you will be asked and succinctly weave bits of your responses into your resumes, you will be leading the interviewer in the direction you choose. 
• Use your resume’s content to design a powerful cover letter to match.   Do not send resumes without cover letters!  Do not take shortcuts with cover letters!  Do not send the same generic cover letter to every employer you contact!  Doing so will guarantee you failure.  If you prefer success you will have to work for it, but it will pay off.  
• Select the 3-5 most critical points you made in your resume and restate them in the second paragraph of your personalized cover letter.  Weave some of the same adjectives and nouns you used in your resume into your cover letter.

Problem #4:   Resume Has No Personality

One of the greatest weaknesses of most resumes is an almost total lack of personality.  You are selling you, not a piece of wood!  Nothing adds life to a lifeless document like uniqueness, so talk about yours.

Solution #4:  Give Your Resume Personality To Attract Employers To You

•  Draw attention to your uniqueness.  Consider carefully the 5-7 adjectives or descriptive phrases that best describe you, your qualifications, your values and your personality and weave them into your career
  summary, your success stories and your cover letter.  
• Take those same 5-7 adjectives and identify other words that mean the same thing.  Use your second set of adjectives and phrases and use them to describe yourself in interviews.  
• Express who you really are, not who you think you should be.  Select graphics, font style and paper that express your essence as well as they match the industry you hope to join.  Know what makes you you and describe it in writing for your resume/cover letter and express it verbally for interviews.
• Stress your people skills. Interpersonal skills are critical for many jobs; possessing them can be your ticket to great opportunities, but you must a.) honestly possess them; b.) know how/when to use them; c.) be willing to learn what you don’t know; and d.) be prepared to demonstrate your skills in your resumes, cover letters and interviews.
• Be personal and warm rather than impersonal and objective.  There is a difference between being personal and intimate in writing and conversation; strive for the former, yet avoid the latter.
• Read company literature and web sites and quote their own words back to them as you use their words to demonstrate the match between you.  Use quotes from other sources as appropriate. 
• Be quotable. Le
  How HR Works to Get the Job Done
  Human Resources is just what it says: resources for humans – within the workplace! Its main objective is to meet the organizational needs of the company it represents and the needs of the people hired by that company. In short, it is the hub of the organization serving as a liaison between all concerned. Depending on the size of the company, the HR Department might be called Personnel with a manageable workforce that can be handled by a personnel manager and a small staff. For larger, more complex organizations with hundreds of departments and divisions, the task is much more demanding, taking on a life of its own.Some companies have more than one HR Department - Corporate and Union. For example, a food service industry might have a Corporate HR Department th
  I>Select the 3-5 most critical points you made in your resume and restate them in the second paragraph of your personalized cover letter.  Weave some of the same adjectives and nouns you used in your resume into your cover letter.

Problem #4:   Resume Has No Personality

One of the greatest weaknesses of most resumes is an almost total lack of personality.  You are selling you, not a piece of wood!  Nothing adds life to a lifeless document like uniqueness, so talk about yours.

Solution #4:  Give Your Resume Personality To Attract Employers To You

•  Draw attention to your uniqueness.  Consider carefully the 5-7 adjectives or descriptive phrases that best describe you, your qualifications, your values and your personality and weave them into your career
  summary, your success stories and your cover letter.  
• Take those same 5-7 adjectives and identify other words that mean the same thing.  Use your second set of adjectives and phrases and use them to describe yourself in interviews.  
• Express who you really are, not who you think you should be.  Select graphics, font style and paper that express your essence as well as they match the industry you hope to join.  Know what makes you you and describe it in writing for your resume/cover letter and express it verbally for interviews.
• Stress your people skills. Interpersonal skills are critical for many jobs; possessing them can be your ticket to great opportunities, but you must a.) honestly possess them; b.) know how/when to use them; c.) be willing to learn what you don’t know; and d.) be prepared to demonstrate your skills in your resumes, cover letters and interviews.
• Be personal and warm rather than impersonal and objective.  There is a difference between being personal and intimate in writing and conversation; strive for the former, yet avoid the latter.
• Read company literature and web sites and quote their own words back to them as you use their words to demonstrate the match between you.  Use quotes from other sources as appropriate. 
• Be quotable. Le
  Avoiding the Look With Automotive Advertising
  We’ve all had it happen.We’re pushing for a sale, really laying down the work and convincing a customer that our car, our prices, are the best deal they’ll ever get.We’re being honest and fair, trying to help the customer out, even disregarding the fact that we probably won’t make a buck of profit on this one. That today we probably will lose our shirt and maybe even our pants.But today we don’t care. Today we’ll go shirtless and profitless because today we’re focusing on the customer and selling him/her this amazing vehicle that we just know will enhance their lives, their jobs—heck, their overall driving experience!So we’re set on the sale, on the customer, and then it happens: they shake their heads and give us the "look". You know the
  be yourself in interviews.  
• Express who you really are, not who you think you should be.  Select graphics, font style and paper that express your essence as well as they match the industry you hope to join.  Know what makes you you and describe it in writing for your resume/cover letter and express it verbally for interviews.
• Stress your people skills. Interpersonal skills are critical for many jobs; possessing them can be your ticket to great opportunities, but you must a.) honestly possess them; b.) know how/when to use them; c.) be willing to learn what you don’t know; and d.) be prepared to demonstrate your skills in your resumes, cover letters and interviews.
• Be personal and warm rather than impersonal and objective.  There is a difference between being personal and intimate in writing and conversation; strive for the former, yet avoid the latter.
• Read company literature and web sites and quote their own words back to them as you use their words to demonstrate the match between you.  Use quotes from other sources as appropriate. 
• Be quotable. Let your research show:  Let your reader know that you know something about their organization and its needs. 
• Consider your personal style as a job seeker and as a professional.  Do you know that how you job search conveys to an employer how you will perform on the job? 
• Reflect on your personality and work-related values and design a job search and work style that expresses them.  Make sure all your written materials, thank you letters included, convey that style.

Dead resumes create lifeless results!  Work is too important in life to allow your search for it to drain you.  Resurrect your resume with these simple solutions and you will revitalize your job search and your work life.