I recently attended an online webinar on “the resume for the well-rounded student” presented by well-intended career services veterans. Unfortunately, at a time when near-graduates and students need all the high-quality counsel they can get, the webinar was not likely to help anyone find work – ever.

Why? The entire focus of the resume template featured in the webinar was about academic achievements – what the student DID in school. The presentation barely mentioned the need for the resume to demonstrate readiness to enter the workforce – or what the young professional can DO for an employer.

Huh?

To hire the right person, I don’t need an entire resume section dedicated to GPA. Nor do I need one-third of a page listing “relevant coursework”. And, I absolutely do not need objective statements describing how book smart applicants may be. Yet, these three academic sections alone accounted for nearly one full page of resume content – when many feel entry-level resumes should only be one page total? One full page… and I would still know nothing about the candidate’s ability to do the job?

Epic Fail.

Is being a good student and citizen important? Of course; first and foremost, we look to hire good people.

However, in the initial 30 seconds I, as the recruiter, am going to give your resume what really matters is not what you DID in school. What matters is what you can DO for the company, including:

1. How the experience you’ve gained so far stacks up against your job seeking competition
2. How quickly I believe I can get you up to speed – and become a contributor
3. How well you’ll fit in with the existing team

Of my top three criteria… academics is nowhere to be found.

In fact, when I see a resume dedicated to telling me what a good student you are – with no mention of transferable skills, leadership ability or quantified real world experience – I (and many other recruiters, as well) will delete your resume (and it won’t take anywhere near 30 seconds to decide).

Your schoolwork is important – to your professors, parents and to you while you’re in school. It may also be important to those who hire “top of their class at Harvard” type talent. And, if my decision comes down to you and another top-notch candidate where every other decision criteria seem equal, your schoolwork will be a difference-maker.

If you follow the old-school advice given to those who attended that webinar, however, and present a resume that shows you as an “academic” student – and nothing else… you won’t stand a chance.

Why?

No one hires students. We hire young professionals capable of doing the job, right now. And your resume should reflect what you can DO for me now – and not what you DID in classroom.

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Cover letters have a language all their own… often made worse by overly-verbose authors, dispensing TMI or not doing their homework. So, to help you get much closer to an interview, here are the 7 phrases – or facsimiles thereof – we never want to see in your cover letter…

To Whom it May Concern

When unemployment sat at 3.2% perhaps this generic header – and others like it such as “Dear Sirs” – was acceptable. Now, with the availability of internet based research… there is no excuse. Through LinkedIn, Glassdoor and many other resources it is easily possible to determine the primary recruiter for most any position. At the very least, we can determine the name of the Human Resources director at a larger firm or the CEO of a start-up or non-profit.

Do your homework – and personalize your cover letter – or don’t expect an interview.

I Just Need a Chance

Maybe no one uses these exact words. However, this is the exact perception a recruiter gets when reading a cover letter written by someone dejected by circumstance, more than hungry for a chance to prove themselves – and those who have crossed over into full-blown “victim mode”.

Recruiters are looking for positive team members – to get an interview, you need to be that guy. Don’t allow your cover letter prove anything different.

Salary Expectations

Another left over from a different economy, the inclusion of salary requirements in a cover letter is a huge red flag – and usually the death of your consideration as a candidate. Recruiters often laugh this off as “premature negotiation.”

Get your foot in the door and survive the first interview, and then have the money conversation – and not before.

The Reason I Left…

This phrase comes in many forms – although almost every veteran recruiter has seen this exact phrase in a cover letter. Sometimes, the phrase is harmless. Other times, these words signify a less-than-desirable candidate who… in the next few words… is going to give away too much, deliver a therapeutic (for them) monologue or bash a former employer.

You’ll have plenty of time to discuss this issue with the recruiter. For now, talk about what you can do at this job – not about what happened at the last.

Objective Statement

This archaic sentence from the 1970’s only serves to show how out-of-date you may be as a candidate. Perhaps even worse, instead of helping you get the interview, objective statements can provide a reason for the recruiter to reject you. The worst offender: generic objective statements not tailored to a specific job or application.

Just don’t.

References Available Upon Request

This one is right up there with the “objective statement” – and should only be seen in an Applicant Antique store. After all, what is the opposite: that you have no references available to support your candidacy? In our digital world, if you don’t have several superb references already lined up for the recruiter… well, you can’t win.

Just don’t, part 2.

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night…

Okay. No one would ever actually use this phrase in a cover letter. Instead, think of this as a metaphor for every attempt to tell a long-winded story to either sell the candidate through analogies or a biography that begins at childhood. Trust me, when a recruiter sees even a hint of a story like this, their eyes go into “scan only” mode. Not good.

Resist all temptation to tell a story. Instead, write about your ability to solve their problems – and why you are the best candidate for the position.

Go take a look at your cover letter. Are any of these mistakes present? More important, what will you do differently next time you craft a cover designed to help you earn an interview?

This article was graciously contributed by

More about YouTern:

YouTern advocates high-quality, mentor-based internships and connects emerging talent to dynamic leaders and mentors at start-ups, entrepreneurial small businesses and non-profits! Visit YouTern.com to get more helpful tips.

Now you don’t have to be a registered user at Kareer.me to search millions of job postings. From our job search page you can search by keyword, company name or job title and sort your results by relevance or date, distance and even job type. Check out everything from full-time, to part-time, and even internship positions! We’ve got it all. When you’re ready to take the next step in your job search, you can easily start a Kareer.me resume for any job in just a few clicks.

Check out all your job search options at Kareer.me Job Search. We wish you the best of luck on finding the job of your dreams!

Webification recently interviewed the founder of Kareer.me to discuss some interesting topics regarding the process of starting a tech startup. The article discusses inception of the idea for Kareer.me, why it exists and where Kareer.me is headed. Get an inside look into how Kareer.me was built, how long it took to get off the ground, and why Kareer.me wants to create the best tool to help job seekers get hired.

Webification has been doing a great series of interviews with tech startup founders and is pleased to be featured as one of the startups.

Click to see the interview with founder of Kareer.me.

Kareer.me is a website that offers a way for job seekers to create beautiful, trackable, online resumes for free.

Words matter. It’s not often that most of us have to communicate how awesome we are to others using only words. The task is even made more difficult when you’re being compared to other job candidates solely based on these words alone. Scary….yes. The good news is that if you are careful with the words you do choose, then you will have a much better chance at standing out against the other candidates.

Crafting words in your resume is all about leaving out the vague and turning up the heat on specific actionable examples. Here are some tips to help you work through your resume and improve the way you communicate your awesome-ness.

Replace this…
“Experience working in a fast-paced environment.”
With…
“Reduced customer checkout time from 90 to 45 seconds. The fastest avg. checkout time at XYX company.”

Replace this…
“Excellent written communication skills.”
With…
“Write a highly followed blog on the topic of X. Increased follow base from 100 to 1,200 readers in under 3 months.”

Replace this…
“Team player with the ability to take on a variety of tasks.”
With…
“Coordinated with my local team and over ten clients to increase A/R and sales by over 25%.”

Replace this…
“Demonstrated success in evaluating client needs.”
With…
“Created and implemented comprehensive client survey that lead to an increase in customer satisfaction and retention.”

The demonstrations above should give you a good idea of what is meant by crafting actionable examples in your resume. If you are looking for a good guideline to know if you are on the right track, check out this list of words and avoid them at all costs. Sure they sound good, but they don’t give the resume reviewer any insight into what you actually did. Here is a list of words that should key you into vague phrases that may hurt your resume.

Words to avoid.

• Aggressive
• Ambitious
• Competent
• Creative
• Detail-oriented
• Determined
• Efficient
• Experienced
• Flexible
• Goal-oriented
• Hard-working
• Independent
• Innovative
• Knowledgeable
• Logical
• Motivated
• Meticulous
• People person
• Professional
• Reliable
• Resourceful
• Self-motivated
• Successful
• Team player
• Well-organized

Looking to improve your chances of getting hired? Check out Kareer.me to see how you can create beautiful web resumes that will get you noticed and…..you can start completely FREE.

Drawing attention to your resume is usually a good thing, but be mindful of spelling and grammatical mistakes, otherwise you might find yourself conveying the wrong message. Don’t let this happen to you.

You can find more funny resume one-liners at http://resumehell.blogspot.com/

Start creating awesome online resumes for free at Kareer.me.

It’s sort of a given that I think the idea of the video resume is a great concept, considering I went on to found Kareer.me. However, the best video resumes I have seen have had a lot of production quality or have been extremely creative. Not everyone can be as creative as the google guy, or spend as much time, effort and money as he did for one specific job opportunity. Don’t get me wrong, I think its awesome when someone can create an interactive video resume like Graeme Anthony did, but again, this obviously isn’t within the capabilities of most people. Let’s face it, it’s just not that easy to create a stand-alone video resume that can really capture the attention of a variety of different employers.

So what can you do? I would highly recommend creating a “Video Pitch”, or what you could think of as a “Video Cover Letter”. Similar to how you would create a personalized cover letter for each job application, you would also create a personalized “Video Pitch” for each employer. Here are some ways that a “Video Pitch”, or “Video Cover Letter”, is different from a Video Resume.

Shorter
It’s shorter. Your video pitch should be between 30 seconds and 1 minute and by no means go over 1 minute and 30 seconds. Don’t talk about details on your resume, or the “personal activities” that you enjoy. Instead, recount a quick story of perseverance, or creative problem solving experience from your previous job that will leave the employer/recruiter wanting to hear more. If you have a connection to the reviewer that they may not know about, then you can talk about that. Perhaps you have read an article or blog that the reviewer has written and you could make an intelligent comment about the article that shows your perceptive thinking and how it could benefit the potential job. Whatever you do, just keep it short and leave them wanting more.

Personalized
Video resumes are purposefully meant to be generic, so that they can be used to send to lots of different employers. Herein lies the problem. Because you aren’t sending a specific message, you aren’t really directly communicating with your audience. If you know the person’s name that is going to review your video pitch, then address them personally. If you don’t, then perhaps address the company and job position specifically. Try to keep things personal to really get the attention of the reviewer.

Less formal
By no means do I suggest that you create a video pitch wearing your awesome tuxedo t-shirt, or your favorite pajamas, but you don’t necessarily have to wear a suit and tie either. Be comfortable, but take the time to do your hair, makeup, or whatever you need to do to look “put together”.

Personality
While you would also want to show your personality on a video resume, you have a bit more freedom to show different parts of your personality with a video pitch. Since you are addressing a company or a person specifically, you can tailor your personality more than you would in a video resume. For example, if you are applying for a quirky company like Facebook, you may have a little more freedom to let the quirky side of your personality show through. If you are applying to a large corporation like Boeing, then you may want to tone down your personality a notch. Again, be creative and thoughtful and leave your reviewer wanting to know more about you.

Check out Kareer.me to create personalized, unique web resumes that grab the attention of potential employers. Add a video pitch or work samples to really put your best foot forward and track your resumes so you know when they’ve been viewed.