How to best present your credentials (via a resume, online profile, or via your personal website) is a hot topic in the career world. Recently, several sites have come on the scene to help job seekers create infographic resumes. These completely visual (graph based) documents usually draw on information you either input into a form or they rely on existing information about you, for example your LinkedIn or Facebook profile. The resulting resume, conventional wisdom suggests, will help the job seeker stand out from a crowd of “boring,” conventional resumes.

I’ve written about this subject and taken the position that, while fun and visually stimulating, an infographic resume cannot be read via the Applicant Tracking Systems most companies are using, so would be completely useless to use to apply for most jobs. For networking purposes, it can certainly be eye-catching to have a graph-based version of your resume to share, and you may be able to get some millage from sharing a PDF of an infographic resume on your social resume, or personal website.

My opinion is, anything you can do by entering information into a form or connecting an application to your LinkedIn profile and pressing a button does not really illustrate any specific skills you have! For now, you may get some attention with an infographic resume as an accompanying document if a human being reviews it — for example, when mailed — which is very rare.

As I explain in my Job-Hunt.org article on the subject, as with anything related to your job search, consider your target audience and their needs. Unless your resume infographic will be unique and appeal to the employer, think twice before assuming your “outside of the box” approach (and how unique is it really once all of the career bloggers are blogging about it?) is going to be the thing that lands you a job.

These are the tools I mention and evaluate in my post on Job-Hunt.org:

• Vizualize.me
• Kinzaa
• Re.vu
• Brazen Careerist
• Slideshare 

Read the full post on Job-Hunt.org here.

sample infographic resume from Devign Elements

The post Should you create an infographic resume? appeared first on Keppie Careers.

What about the biggest resume mistake? My reply:

Most job-seekers don’t realize one important fact: the resume really isn’t about them; it’s about making a connection to the targeted employer. Most people don’t completely understand this key strategy. Instead, they incorporate materials not relevant to their audience and hope potential employers will read between the lines to identify their qualifications.

Since most resumes are either evaluated by an Applicant Tracking System — a computer that scans for key words — or are visually scanned for 10-20 seconds by a busy recruiter or hiring manager, if you don’t make it clear why you are perfect for the job, you don’t stand much of a chance at landing an interview.

It’s not difficult to target a resume. Find keywords in the job description and in the organization’s Website. Focus on job requirements and make it clear you have what it takes to solve the employer’s problems. Incorporate skills accomplishments and results in your resume; don’t just write a laundry list of “stuff” you’ve done. Always consider the employer’s perspective. Will he or she know why you are a good fit based on your resume? If not, revise your materials.

For other responses to this question, click through to Quint Careers.

photo by  elycefeliz

The post Common job seeker resume mistakes appeared first on Keppie Careers.

Have you been spending a lot of your job search time online, looking for job postings and applying for opportunities listed on large job boards? Do you ever believe that your application is going straight into a black hole?

I discourage my clients from spending very much time replying to online job boards. Some recruiters post jobs they may not be filling immediately (or ever), and applications actually may be going into resume limbo.

While there are people who land jobs from sending an online resume, the majority of successful job seekers find opportunities via networking.

Another important point to remember: Organizations like to hire people who AREN’T looking for a job! How ironic is that? Passive job seekers are desirable for the same reason that some people like to date a partner who is “hard to get.” Obviously, posting on a job board isn’t a great way to attract passive job hunters! I’ve written about how linkedin is filling this need for a passive job seeker database for many employers. Some expect it to replace big job boards such as “Monster.”

Yesterday, I read compelling information from Alison Doyle, who just celebrated 10 years of writing the Job Search blog for about.com. Alison reported that job posting online is declining. She points out that the Conference Board notes that is is the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year decline.

Alison says:

Monster’s job postings were down 18% in April and 21% in May. Overall, The Conference Board reported that online job postings dropped 13% in May.

Some of it is, of course, due to the difficult economy and less hiring in a soft job market.

That’s only part of what’s happening. There is also a trend towards actively recruiting candidates on professional networking sites like LinkedIn. Which is why it’s important to make sure employers can find you when you’re job searching.

(Regular readers know that I love to link to other experts who agree with my advice!)

Keep this in mind the next time you sit down to apply for 100 jobs online – employers are shifting their focus, and so should you! This is yet another reason to enhance your linkedin profile. You don’t want a typo or sub-par linkedin description to discourage potential employers from contacting you. Keywords are just as important to your linkedin summary as in your resume! Keppie Careers is happy to help enhance your profile for success….Just email your inquiry to: results@keppiecareers.com.

In a rapidly changing job seeking environment, it is hard to keep up with the latest trends to conduct a well-designed job hunt. Who has time? We do! Keppie Careers will write your resume and navigate you through the difficult waters that a job search may present. Contact us: results@keppiecareers.com.

photo by: jurvetson

The post Another Reason Not to Spend A Lot of Time on Job Boards appeared first on Keppie Careers.