Category: Resumes

4 GREAT REASONS WHY...

12/2/2018

#1: Wages Aren't What They Used to Be

Yes, it true that today's unemployment rate is the lowest it’s been since around 1969. But look under the hood, and the news is less cheery. Among the findings established by various studies:

More people are back to work, but many of them have had to settle for jobs paying considerably less than they were making before the Great Recession.
Wage growth is not only nearly stagnant, it’s running behind what it was in 2016-2017 when inflation was lower.
Median income of the middle class in 2016 is about the same as it was in 2000.
Even in the tech sector, long seen as the home of high-paying jobs, wages are slipping. A study published in November 2018 found that 9 out of every 10 Silicon Valley jobs pays less now than when Netflix first launched in 1997.
A 2017 analysis of Federal Reserve data found that with a median household income of $40,581, millennials earn 20 percent less than boomers did at the same stage of life, despite being better educated.

The message is clear: if you want a higher paying job in 2019 and beyond, you’re going to have to fight for it…and a strong resume and LinkedIn profile need to be your weapons of choice.

#2: You Work in a Salary Ban State

As of August 2018, 11 states and 9 cities in the US have enacted salary history bans to help fight the gender pay gap. A growing number of companies - including Amazon, Wells Fargo, American Express, Cisco, Google and Bank of America - are staying one step ahead by proactively changing their hiring practices and eliminating questions about pay history.

If you're looking for a new job, salary bans offer you an opportunity to negotiate a pay rate that fairly reflects your value. But first, you have to win that interview...and in the absence of being able to look at your salary history, employers will be examining your resume much more closely. Regardless of your gender, if your resume does not have a strong, clear and compelling value proposition, you won’t get called for interviews…or win a seat at the negotiating table as a finalist candidate.

#3: You Have Job Challenges

Once again, today's low unemployment rate is not all roses and rainbows. Maybe you are already unemployed and are trying to get back to work...but face challenges like gaps in your employment history, fighting off age bias, or change careers.

Even if you are employed today, you might become unemployed tomorrow through no fault of your own. For example, in late November 2018, GM announced it will cut 15,000 jobs and Bayer recently announced it will cut 12,000.

Now that corporations have reaped from benefits of the 2018 Tax Cuts & Job Act, their focus will return to protecting profits more so than protecting jobs. Sadly, more and more long-service employees are getting caught in the layoff net…which includes people who haven’t given a thought to updating their resume in 10, 15 or more years…if they ever even had a resume at all. Dealing with the stress of unexpectedly losing your job is bad enough – you don’t want to add the stress of trying to figure out what your accomplishments have been for a long employment period.

Today's economic conditions can change quickly without warning....so you need to keep your resume current, powerful and at the ready. Job challenges like those mentioned here make coming up with a compelling resume very difficult – but not impossible - if you have the right professional help.

#4: The Season is the Reason

If you are working for a company that pays annual bonuses in December, you may be waiting until the New Year to change jobs...which is coming up fast. January and February are two of the best months for long-term, full-time jobs because these are the months many employers receive their updated budgets and sales forecasts. Many recruiters also return to work after taking time off for the holiday season, which further helps speed up the hiring process in quarter one.

Are you a college student? Then any time between January and April is when you'll be applying for that coveted summer internship. Many students underestimate the enormous competition that exists for some of these internship positions. The competition is especially fierce in fields with high-demand jobs like data science and business intelligence. Colleges today give students little more than cookie-cutter guidance on creating an effective resume, let alone the professional, individualized help needed to produce a compelling resume despite limited work experience.

Dream jobs don't exist, but great jobs do...so whether you’re a seasoned professional looking for a new job for a new year or a college student planning your summer, the question remains: when a great job opportunity finds you (or vice-versa) will you have an updated and powerful resume ready to tell your story?

No matter what your profession, job goals or employment challenges, PhoenixHR LLC can help you manage all of the above situations…and more. Our 30 years of experience in human resources and hiring adds a unique strength to our resume and LinkedIn writing services. While there are many good resume writers out there, not every resume writer has deep HR experience or has done actual hiring across a wide range of positions and industries…but PhoenixHR has. Explore our company website and find out more about our LinkedIn, resume writing and career coaching services today.

Related: LA Times: Job growth beats expectations
Related: Mercury News: Silicon Valley wages have dropped
Related: USA Today: Millennials earn 20% less than Boomers did at same stage of life
Related: CNBC: GM CEO Mary Barra to meet with US lawmakers over job cuts
Related: Fortune: Bayer AG Is Cutting 12,000 Jobs

This website (including its blog posts) is a service provided by PhoenixHR LLC, its partners, affiliates or subsidiaries (collectively, "Provider"). This website does not provide legal advice and Provider is not a law firm. Although we go to great lengths to make sure our information is accurate and useful, we recommend you consult a lawyer if you want legal advice. No attorney-client or confidential relationship exists or will be formed between you and Provider or any of our representatives. The graphic in this post was designed by Freepik.

Hate Your Work Commute?

2/11/2018

What Remote Employers & Job Seekers Look For In Each Other
& How to Land That Remote Job Interview

The Incredible Shrinking Remote Workforce?

What do IBM, HP, Bank of America, Aetna and Yahoo have in common? They are among the growing ranks of employers who were once big advocates of working remote, but have reversed course and recalled employees back to the office. At the same time, remote work isn't going away (a full 43% of employees in a recent Gallup survey reported working remote) and there are still many remote employers looking for qualified remote workers. This mixed environment tells you 2 things:

1. After seeing big companies rollback their remote strategies, the remaining remote employers are more selective than ever about who they hire.

2. The rollback in remote job means the competition between candidates is fierce. Candidates who don't bring their A-game to the remote job search will get passed over for interviews.

What Remote Employers Look For

Remote employers want remote workers who are:

Focused & Disciplined, with a track record of being highly organized and who know how to prioritize. Remote workers who can show they have sufficient discipline to stay focused on their work, regardless of distractions (such as being in a different time zone or goings-on at home).

Self-Motivated & Trustworthy, who can consistently deliver quality work on time without being reminded. Remote workers that they can trust, especially if the manager has other remote workers to coordinate and oversee. Establishing and developing trust starts with the remote worker...in a healthy remote work relationship, the greater the worker's track record of strong performance, the greater the trust returned by the remote employer.

Super-sized Communications, used to make up for remote workers having less "face time" than their office counterparts. Remote workers who not only know how to communicate clearly verbally and in writing, but also know when to "over communicate" and bridge the distance that goes with remote work.

Resourceful Problem Solvers that can take ownership of problems, analyze them and find creative solutions on their own.

Tech-Ready, which means possessing not only basic tech knowledge to work remote (how to use Windows, Word, Excel, Outlook) but the basic tech tools (a desktop or laptop, a printer, a landline or cell phone). There are still many remote workers who remain "tech-challenged"...prefer to keep all their records on paper because they don't feel comfortable using their computers....who can't print an important document because they don't have a printer...who don't know how to manage a PDF or use basic office productivity software. Those are the remote workers who are not getting calls for remote job interviews....or if currently employed remote, won't be employed for long.

What Remote Job Seekers (SHOULD) Look For

Seek out credible remote employers. Don't assume every remote employer is good at being a remote employer - or is a good employer. Beware of remote job postings whose only real content are claims like, "Make $1,000 a week in your spare time!" Do your homework on the company that placed the ad...do they have a website? If yes, what does it say about them? Are there reviews from current or former employees on sites like Glassdoor? (Be particularly alert for mention of things like the company paying its remote workers on time - or not).

Look for Clear Job Descriptions. The less clear a remote job posting's duties are, the greater the likelihood that the remote employer does not have a clear idea of what it wants out of its remote workers. That in turn means you may have difficulty meeting the company's expectations (which is already tough enough to do when working remote).

Examine The Employer's Remote Culture. Research the company's history as a remote employer...do they have other remote employees or would you be the only one? Try to find out why the company prefers remote employees and how their philosophy of remote work is different from their philosophy of office-based work.

Salary Bans: A growing number of states and cities (most notably CA and NY) have passed laws which make it illegal for employers to ask about salary history. Remote job seekers should be aware of the details of these laws, including the fact while employers cannot ask about your salary history, if you volunteer the information, they can use it. For a plan-English overview of the CA and NY salary bans, see the related link at the end of this blog post.

How to Land That Remote Job Interview

Today's reputable remote employers are selective, so the same best practices that win interviews for office-based work apply double for remote opportunities:

Have a Powerful Resume. If your resume doesn't powerfully answer very 3 specific employer questions, it'll get overlooked.

Have a Powerful Cover Letter. If you send the same cover letter to everyone or repeat your resume in your cover letter, it will get overlooked.

Have a Powerful LinkedIn Profile. If your LinkedIn profile is just a copy/paste your existing resume, your profile is not as powerful as it needs to be to grab a recruiter's attention...and you're not taking advantage of the special "hacks" that make it so.

PhoenixHR LLC understands that it's difficult for many job seekers to create a powerful resume, cover letter or LinkedIn profile on their own. For remote job seekers, it's even tougher. The qualifications you've just read about that matter most to remote employers are mostly 'soft' traits. Unlike 'harder' qualifications (like a degree or specific years of experience), 'soft' traits are difficult to express briefly but powerfully in a resume, cover letter or LinkedIn profile.

Job seekers who use our LinkedIn & Resume Solutions can not only stay focused on their careers, but get resumes and LinkedIn profiles infused with over 30 years of HR management and hiring experience. This is a critical value-add for our clients....for while there are many good resume writers out there, not many also have experience in HR management or as hiring managers.

How We Can Help

For popular sources of remote jobs, see the Job Placement Specialists section of our Resources page .
To explore our Resume Solutions and find out how you can get a customizable cover letter solution (a $25 value) for free click here or the "Interview In Progress" image below.
To explore our LinkedIn Solutions and find out how you can get 50% off your new LinkedIn profile click here or on the "Missing Link" image below.

Related: The California Salary Ban
Related: The NY Salary Ban
Related: Gallup Poll: "The State of the American Workplace"

Warning: This Is Not Your Father's Job Market

1/24/2016

Hiring in 2015 ended on an upbeat note: December saw 292,000 workers added to payrolls, well above analysts' average estimates of 215,000. October and November saw jobs increase month-over-month and unemployment held at 5.0% through the quarter. Now that 2016 has begun, looking under the hood of that rosy picture reveals emerging trends that carry opportunity, challenge and peril for both job seekers and employers.

The 10 Toughest Jobs to Fill in 2016

What makes these jobs hard to fill? A variety of reasons such as government-projected talent shortages in each field, retirements due to an aging workforce and above-average employer demand. So here are the winners...

The Takeaway for Job Seekers

If you are a candidate in any of these fields, you have a strong opportunity for multiple job offers and above-average earnings (if you land the job).
As the number of graduates in these high-demand fields grow, so will the competition between applicants. Job candidates in these high-demand fields should ask themselves, "Does my resume promote my skills effectively?" Since recruiters spend as little as six seconds to decide if a resume is interview worthy, resumes for these tough-to-fill jobs must be crisp and identify directly applicable skills quickly and precisely. A resume that also effectively communicates translatable skills can you help beat out your competition (see "Takeaway for Employers and HR" below to understand why.)

The Takeaway for Employers and HR

In markets where employers have difficultly finding the exact mix of skills needed for these in-demand jobs, it may be worthwhile for their HR and recruiters to maintain some flexibility: consider hiring candidates with translatable skills and doing in-house training to mold and develop their talents to meet your business needs. Done right and properly integrated into a positive and supportive corporate culture, the "translatable skills" approach can also enhance employee loyalty and retention.
If filling these in-demand jobs will be tough, retaining the new hires will be even tougher: your competitors will try to steal them. HR should partner closely with Legal to ensure that employment agreements and related key documentation strikes the right balance by protecting human capital investments without making valued employees feel like a shackled commodity.
With the number of millennials in the workforce poised to surpass baby boomers in 2016, it's quite possible that many of these hard-to-fill jobs will be won by millennials. Is your HR and your corporate culture ready? As an employer, do you and your HR know the top 3 things millennials around the world look for in a job? Has HR audited its policies and aligned company resources (benefits, compensation plans, etc,) with a corporate strategy for retention of millennials?

The Hottest Job Skills of 2016

LinkedIn analyzed the hottest job skills of 2015 and re-ranked them for 2016. The results below show the ranking is largely unchanged. Not surprisingly, "the hottest skills" align with at least 5 of the "10 Toughest Jobs to Fill" listed above. (Path to the full LinkedIn article appears at the end of this post).

The Takeaway for Job Seekers and Employers / HR

All the same takeaways we listed for the "10 Toughest Jobs" apply.

The Tech Sector: Hot or Not?

With so many of the "toughest-to-fill" jobs and "hottest skills" for 2016 relating to technology, you might think the tech sector is "where it's at"...but let's take a closer look:

Compared to 2015, venture capitalist funding of tech start ups is plummeting.
More and more tech companies are looking closely at their costs. That means cutting back on hiring, being more selective about hiring and in many cases, implementing layoffs. A sample of recent notable layoff activity:

Mixpanel, a company specializing in data analytics company (yes, one of those "hot" skills" we just talked about) cut 20 jobs in January alone.
Wearables firm Jawbone cut 15% of its staff and closed its New York office late last year.
Makers of the very popular app Evernote cut 47 jobs and closed 3 offices last September.

The Takeaway for Job Seekers

Don't presume that having in-demand skills or an in-demand job guarantees your employment. No matter what the skills or job, performance still matters and you can rest assured your employer is always looking at your performance.
The more selective employer screening becomes through resume software and other practices, the more precise and compelling your resume has to be in order to properly communicate the skills and value you bring to the table. Whether it's s traditional resume or a LinkedIn profile, make sure your skills content is optimized to grab the attention of the employers you want to interview with.
Do you homework: research the companies you apply to carefully and know how to tailor your resume cover letters accordingly. Review whatever information about their financial standing may be publicly available. Once you win an interview, be prepared to turn the tables and interview the perspective employer with a set of well-thought out questions that you've prepared beforehand.

The Takeaway for Job Seekers and Employers and HR

Now more than ever, performance management is key if employers are to succeed in maximizing employee productivity and controlling costs.
Your HR function has to be sufficiently adept to look beyond headcount costs and partner with management at all levels to develop and implement strategies for retaining talent and maximizing performance levels. There is a whole range of issues for HR to look at here: optimizing on-boarding and training, getting the most from the increasingly popular dynamic where more and more millennial managers are supervising experienced baby boomers and formulating creative strategies that help employees understand, embrace and achieve company objectives.

Wreck-It-Ralph Meets Your Retirement Fund

The good news: studies show more Americans are saving for retirement than 2 years ago. The bad news:

There are signs economic growth is slowing. In the last couple of years, many of the 75 million baby boomers have stepped up their investments to catch-up their retirement portfolios. Projections of slower growth and market turbulence may cause them to cut back. Similarly, the 75 million millennial population, though more willing to invest in their retirement but often saddled with debt, may become more reluctant to spend, also hurting economic growth.
The stock market has brutalized many investment portfolios thus far in 2016. It seems that almost every day that China sneezes, Wall Street catches a 200-400 point flu and major tech stocks are no longer the investment darlings they once were. To name just 2 of many major examples, Apple has recently become one of the biggest wealth destroyers in market history and Amazon stock saw a 16% drop earlier this year. Even with the market's latest rebound as of last Friday, January 22, 2016, it's still down about 7.6% overall for the year.

The Takeaway for Job Seekers

Ongoing concerns over economic growth is likely to further sensitize employers to maximizing employee performance and cutting / controlling costs; for public companies, stock performance most certainly will sensitize them to these same concerns even more. When hiring does occur, the emphasis on quality candidates will pick up steam as employers get pickier and the time-to-fill requisitions increases.
This economic and market turbulence translates into an opportunity where job seekers can win a place in the workforce by bringing their "A" game..as candidates with effective resumes that win them interviews and later as new hires whose performance establishes them as essential to the business no matter what the economic climate.

The Takeaway for Employers and HR

Once again, creativity and flexibility on the part of your company's HR function is key.
Employers are encouraged to closely examine existing 401(k) plans, giving special attention to the performance of their portfolios and administrative fees borne by your company and/or your employees.
If you are a start-up company still developing your benefits package, give priority to evaluating and installing a quality retirement plan as one benefit of major importance to talented baby boomers and millennials in today's job market.
In the case of millennials, consider creative solutions that can help attract and retain them, like making contributions to reduce any student loan debt.

We hope you enjoyed this post and encourage you to share it... and remember: if you are facing any of the challenges cited in this post as either a job seeker or a small-to-medium sized employer, PhoenixHR LLC has the skill and experience to help you today.

Click here to explore our website's Human Resource Consulting and Resume Services.

Related Links:

The Fight for Jobs

10/7/2015

Recent news reports describe a job market that is both contradictory and Halloween-scary: more jobs but slower hiring mixed with job growth worries and more planned layoffs. Some sample headlines:

09/09/2015: “US job openings soar to record highs in July, yet hiring is slow to follow” - Associated Press
09/16/2015: “HP to shed up to 30,000 jobs as part of restructuring” - LA Times
10/03/2015: “Global woes squeeze U.S. job growth” - LA Times

From these mixed messages comes one overarching message: the competition for jobs remains fierce and the job seekers who win interviews are those with compelling, powerful resumes that grab the attention of increasingly cautious employers.

As we assist our clients with recruiting, the PhoenixHR LLC staff is surprised at how many resumes remain in circulation which don’t even come close to doing their owners justice. Fatal flaws typically fall in one of two categories: content that *should* be in a resume (but isn’t) and content that *should not* be in a resume (but is).

Crafting content that *should* be in a resume is half-art (the art of effective writing) and half-science (insider knowledge used to clearly identify your unique skills and align those skills with the qualifications hiring managers are looking for). PhoenixHR LLC has both the "artistic" knowledge and the "insider" knowledge to help serious job seekers with content that *should* be in their resumes….so this post will focus on the top 5 things that *should not* be in your resume. Once you get rid of what *should not* be in your resume, we can work together to take that new (and very valuable) blank space and reinvest it on what *should* be in your resume and help win you interviews.

1. Lose the Selfie. Don’t put a head shot in your resume. A resume photo can lead to discrimination issues for prospective employers by giving clues to criteria which are protected by US employment law (such as nationality, race and religion).

2. Bye, Bye "Objective". It’s surprising how many resumes still state objectives that go something like this: “Seeking a challenging position where I can utilize my skills and grow with the company.” Duh. Such statements tells a prospective employer nothing. Ditch the “Objective” and reinvest that space to build a specific and meaningful summary of what skills you possess which fit the job you are applying for. (There's that "art and science" thing again which we can help you with,)

3. No “Cute” Email Addresses. A resume is a business communication, so keep your email address business-appropriate. Regard your email address as a a small (but important) opportunity to promote your unique professional brand. For example, if you’re going for an accounting position, substitute that “hotbuns@gmail.com” email address with something like “accounting-professional@gmail.com”.

4. Avoid“Anti-ATS” Content. These days, before your resume can get in front of a human being who can call you for an interview, it often has to get past resume scanning software (known as an “Applicant Tracking System” or “ATS”). ATS systems will typically reject as much as 75% of the resumes they scan, often because the rejected resumes have content that an ATS cannot read. Translation: your resume should have NO logos, NO tables and NO unusual colors or fonts. (Resumes by PhoenixHR LLC are not only custom-made to reflect your unique background and abilities, but use universally readable and ATS-friendly formats.)

5. Just Say No to "References Upon Request". Like “Objective”, this statement is another well meaning waste of space because its a given. If prospective employers want references from you, they’ll ask…if and when the time is right and if and when you (and your resume) make it far enough in their interview process.

We hope you found this post helpful and thank you for sharing it with your friends.

SPECIAL OFFER NOW THROUGH NOVEMBER 30, 2015: Order your resume from PhoenixHR LLC and we will include our customizable cover letter solution for FREE (a $25 value)

Are Cover Letters Dead?

10/2/2015

Only a couple of years ago, a Fortune magazine article all but declared the cover letter dead when it said, “...90% [of hiring managers and recruiters] ignored them and 97% made a decision whether to interview or not based only on the resume.”

One reason given for the cover letter’s decline: technology.   An ever-growing number of companies were (and still are) adopting software (known as “Applicant Tracking Systems” or “ATS”) to automate their resume review process. (See the link to our earlier blog, "A Robot Wrecked My Resume" at the end of this post). The increased efficiency came with the limitation that many ATS programs could not read or interpret a cover letter. That was then, this is now.

As with technology in general, ATS solutions continue to rapidly evolve and this constant evolution makes for “survival of the fittest” in the current job market. Today, the job seekers who "survive" and win interviews are those who leverage the best practices that keep their covers letters (and resumes) effective.   Not only are ATS solutions emerging which are able to read and interpret cover letters, but it remains true that many jobs are won through person-to-person networking...a human forum where crisp and clear cover letters still have a place and a purpose. Some tips to take advantage of the cover letter's "revival"…

Stick to the Purpose. A great resume effectively communicates to multiple employers what your skill set can do for them. A great cover letter supplements your resume and effectively communicates to a specific employer what your skill set can do for their specific job opening.

Don't Repeat Your Resume. This is perhaps the most common (and fatal) flaw of most cover letters. Take the time to analyze the job posting you are applying to, Select the most posting's important duties and qualifications then focus your cover letter on highlighting your experience and skills which meet those specific duties and qualifications.

Keep It Short. Let your resume be the document that communicates the more complete story of your value.   For cover letters, PhoenixHR LLC recommends a 3-paragraph approach:

Paragraph 1 - Introduce yourself with passion. Avoid "generic" and "template" cover letters; instead grab your reader's attention with your enthusiastic identification of why you want to work specifically for them. Look for some connection between you and the specific employer from sources such as reviewing their job posting and company website.
Paragraph 2 - This is the key paragraph where you sell your unique value-add as tailored to the specific job opening, then refer them to the resume for further details.
Paragraph 3 - A strong call-to-action closing paragraph where you suggest next-steps or (especially if networking) suggest a date and time for follow-up.

Think Like An ATS Robot. There are still many ATS systems that won't let you submit a cover letter. For those that do, remember that all ATS’ basically look for a match between your content and "keywords" which are usually taken from the job posting. All ATS’ also have rules on what formatting they can (and cannot) read…use the wrong format, and the ATS will scramble your data. To keep your cover letter ATS-format friendly, your all-important paragraph 2 should use a simple bullet-point structure (not tables!) similar to the following:

Your Requirement: text. (This is where you quote the relevant language right out the job posting.)
I Offer: text. (This is where you briefly state your value-add experience and/or skill that fulfills the requirement).

When read by an ATS, the above format creates an instant "keyword" match by giving their job posting's key requirements. When read by humans, this format quickly communicates the match between the posting’s qualifications and your unique skills and/or experience.

We hope you found this post helpful and thank you for sharing it with your friends.

SPECIAL OFFER NOW THROUGH NOVEMBER 30, 2015: Order your resume from PhoenixHR LLC and we will include our customizable cover letter solution FOR FREE (a $25 value).

A Robot Wrecked My Resume

8/20/2015

With each passing day (for better or worse) our lives become increasingly entwined with technology...

Research shows that on average, users grab their smart phones over 1,500 times a week for various tasks from emails to playing games and posting to social media.
Windows 10 – rolled out to rave reviews and installed on 67 million PCs as of the date of this blog – has been found to "spy" on almost everything you do by default unless you change the settings.
Apple and Google are quietly going to war over developing and getting you into a self-driving car.
And an ever growing number of companies are using resume "robots" - formally known as “Applicant Tracking Systems” or "ATS" - to evaluate your resume before it ever reaches a human being.

A time-saving model of computerized efficiency, ATS software strips your resume to plain text (how depressing after you did all that nice formatting work) and "ranks" it based on its "relevancy" to the company's description of the job you are applying for.

The theory is that an ATS frees up its human users – recruiters, HR staff and hiring managers – to focus on the most "qualified" (read: "highest ranking") resumes.

The reality is that in deciding who is sufficiently “qualified”, these ATS "robots" reject some 75% of all resumes submitted.

So how do you get your resume past the ATS resume "robots" and in front of the human being who will call you for an interview? This question resonates with anyone who has ever felt the frustration of applying for multiple jobs they felt they were “perfect” for, but never getting called for an interview. Ditto for those who know they have the skills for their desired job but feel they can prove it better in person than they can on paper.

The short answer to getting past ATS “robots”: your resume should use plain text formatting and relevant keywords...much the same way that a good website uses relevant keywords to get a high ranking when you search for it on Google. Details are readily available online (assuming you have the time to find and digest it all...and can tell the good advice from the bad). But frankly, such details are not the intended focus of this post.

This post is about looking at the big picture: even if you researched all the best practices for getting past an ATS, an effective resume still comes down to effective writing: what your resume says and how it says it.

Are you hunting for a job as a resume writer? If yes, no worries…then you got this. But if you are part of the other 99.999% of job hunters, you need a resume that won’t get rejected by a machine. And once you succeed in getting past an ATS, your resume still needs to be strong and meaningful enough to convince the human reader to call you for an interview.

Bottom line: writing resumes that survive today's ATS “robots” requires human knowledge and skill (not templates, on line searches or software). Cover your bases with professional writing services that not only get your resume past the resume "robots" but have the hiring experience which can prompt a human reader to call you for that job interview. Click here and let us help you…and thank you in advance for sharing this post with friends.

Regards, PhoenixHR LLC

Truth in Advertising...

6/15/2015

The Best Candidate for the Job Isn't Always the Typical Candidate

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this photo - taken by Francine Orr of the Los Angeles Times for a compelling article on homelessness written by Steve Lopez - speaks volumes. As the PhoenixHR staff debated the photo's many messages, two ideas topped the discussion:

Always keep your sense of compassion. The Dalai Lama said, "Our prime purpose in this life is to help others. And if you can't help them, at least don't hurt them."
If you are going through a difficult job search, don't give up hope. Take a minute to count your blessings and remember that there is always someone out there fighting an even tougher battle than you are.

As for what the billboard says about "Best Candidates", the consensus at PhoenixHR is that it's absolutely true. How do we know? Partly from our decades of experience identifying Best Candidates and partly because we write the resumes that "Best Candidates" use.

4 GREAT REASONS WHY...

#1: Wages Aren't What They Used to Be

#2: You Work in a Salary Ban State

#3: You Have Job Challenges

#4: The Season is the Reason

Hate Your Work Commute?

What Remote Employers & Job Seekers Look For In Each Other
& How to Land That Remote Job Interview

The Incredible Shrinking Remote Workforce?

What Remote Employers Look For

What Remote Job Seekers (SHOULD) Look For

How to Land That Remote Job Interview

How We Can Help

Warning: This Is Not Your Father's Job Market

The 10 Toughest Jobs to Fill in 2016

The Hottest Job Skills of 2016

The Tech Sector: Hot or Not?

Wreck-It-Ralph Meets Your Retirement Fund

The Fight for Jobs

Are Cover Letters Dead?

A Robot Wrecked My Resume

Truth in Advertising...

Archives

Categories

4 GREAT REASONS WHY...

#1: Wages Aren't What They Used to Be

#2: You Work in a Salary Ban State

#3: You Have Job Challenges

#4: The Season is the Reason

Hate Your Work Commute?

What Remote Employers & Job Seekers Look For In Each Other​& How to Land That Remote Job Interview

The Incredible Shrinking Remote Workforce?

What Remote Employers Look For

What Remote Job Seekers (SHOULD) Look For

How to Land That Remote Job Interview

How We Can Help

Warning: This Is Not Your Father's Job Market

The 10 Toughest Jobs to Fill in 2016

The Hottest Job Skills of 2016

The Tech Sector: Hot or Not?

﻿Wreck-It-Ralph Meets Your Retirement Fund

The Fight for Jobs

Are Cover Letters Dead?

A Robot Wrecked My Resume

Truth in Advertising...

Archives

Categories

What Remote Employers & Job Seekers Look For In Each Other
& How to Land That Remote Job Interview

Wreck-It-Ralph Meets Your Retirement Fund