How to Beat the ATS – Learn the Tricks!

With the current administration purging unnecessary contracts and agencies, job losses mean increased competition for jobs in the federal and private sectors, especially for federal workers in some fields. The hottest new federal jobs hiring in 2025 are homeland security, information technology (cybersecurity), and the medical ...

Painful New Rule for the Federal Resume

‘Back in the day,’ when one applied for a job in the federal government, one was encouraged to load a long resume to cover all the vital data – decades of experience, skill sets, education, training, certifications, publications, and more.  There was no limit to the ...

Tiffany Johnson – Paralegal, Legal and Bookkeeping Administration

Tiffany J. Johnson Hampton, VA  23664 / tiffany.johnson3870@gmail.com OBJECTIVE:  Legal Administration, Bookkeeping, Paralegal, Payroll CAREER SUMMARY 06/24 – present, Volunteer Treasurer Kilgore Gifted Center, Parent Teacher Association (PTA), Hampton, VA 03/21 – 08/25, Legal Department Supervisor, Legalman Chief (E7/LNC) US Navy, USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74), Newport ...

Five Vital Resume Elements.

There are five elements often overlooked in writing a professional resume. I am not referring to mandatory hard-core data such as telephone number, email address, education, backwards chronologically listed job descriptions, and a bulleted list of years of general job experience. The five unique writing elements ...

Job search is a common sense, not a secret, process.

You ask yourself, ‘What do they know that I don’t that I must know to succeed?’ There are no ‘secrets’ to the process of job search. The word ‘secret’ implies something known only to the marketer. These are psychological operations (psyops) marketing words used to coerce ...

Converting the DEI-based ‘red-flag’ resume

Once the new government administration started in January, the flurry of government employee actions and corporations scrambling to exit corporate policies related to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives resulted in hundreds of DEI workers ‘out on the street.’  Their core experience, skill sets, and education ...

Writing the dreaded cover letter

While the requirements of supplying cover letters are waning in the digital world of employment tasking for most hiring companies, about 5%-8% of potential employers may still ask for this communication. The recruiter wants an example of the job seeker’s ability to write a succinct and ...

Bad Resume Advice: 16 ‘don’ts’ for Resume Writing

What is some of the worst resume advice you’ve ever gotten? Did you naively use suggestions from someone you thought knew best (or worse, you paid for the advice)? Some resumes I’ve reviewed recently make me shake my head. Where on earth did the resume owners ...

Convincing Future Employers to Allow Work From Home (WFH)

A recent Statistics’ Time Use report by the US Bureau of Labor showed a whopping ~35% of all employed persons in the US spent the average work day WFH — up from the previous year (2022) after a slight peak of ~38% (2021). Statistics show ~16% more employees ...

Are you about to start moving on in your career?

Are you looking to move on from your current career position? (Tips # 3 and 4) Are you about to give notice to your current employer to move on in your career? (Tips # 1 and 2). There are Four Top Actions you need to consider.

Metricize Your Resume into a Capability Statement

Metricize Your Resume into a Capability Statement. Many job seekers are unaware their resumes are ‘boring’ and tell the recruiter nothing other than providing a copy-and-paste version of a job seeker’s most recent job description. The job description from the most recent company’s compensation plan may ...

Ian Kevorkian

Ian S. Kevorkian Suffolk, VA 23434 / (757) 567-8637 / docs1016@yahoo.com Objective: Mechanical Technician, Management, Business Development, Technical Maintenance Contracting, HealthCare Management, Facilities Maintenance EXPERIENCE SUMMARY EXPERIENCE PORTFOLIO 08/15 – 02/23, Service Team Leader (STL) Damuth Trane, Chesapeake, VA 02/12 – 08/15, Flight Line Maintenance/Chief F-18, Manager (Certified ...

Noting new COVID-related skills and responsibilities in your updated career resume

Noting new COVID-related skills and responsibilities in your updated career resume. If you haven’t heard of the Corona Virus 19 (or the Wuhan [Chinese] Virus or COVID), you are truly living under a rock.  Folks do not realize COVID has directly or indirectly impacted every employee ...

How often should I be posting resumes for my job search?

When searching for a new career position, the job seeker has two options – as an active search or passive candidate.  A passive candidate will update their resume, ensure their LinkedIn profile is robust and complete, and post their resume online to the big resume databases ...

How Long Should Your Resume Be, According to 25 Experts

Dawn D. Boyer, Ph.D. CEO, D. Boyer Consulting |Author, Human Resource Professionals in Government Contracting Guidebook The 20th Century advice that a resume should only be one or two pages is no longer valid It’s great if you can get all your valuable information across in one ...

Christopher Grotke – Mechanical Engineering Manager

Christopher J. Grotke Yorktown, VA 23691 My69dodge@hotmail.com   OBJECTIVE:  Mechanical Engineering Program/Project Manager  and/or Maintenance Manager   EXPERIENCE SUMMARY   15+ years, Mechanical Maintenance Engineer / Analyst and Propulsion SME (marine / heavy vehicles) 12 years, US Army, Chief Warrant Officer, Honorable Discharge: July 2018 12 years, Senior Project / Program ...

Job Seeker’s 57 Interview Questions for the Interviewer

Job Seeker’s (57) Interview Questions for the Interviewer   Interviewers are more impressed with questions you ask them versus any selling points you try to make about yourself.  Create questions before each interview you can pose to the interviewer(s) during the process.  Either interject the questions ...

WHY YOU NEED A PROFESSIONALLY WRITTEN RESUME

WHY YOU NEED A PROFESSIONALLY WRITTEN RESUME: IT’S A BUYER’S MARKET NOW WITH A LOWER POOL OF QUALIFIED CANDIDATES   NATIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATES | 2017  Jan.  Feb.  Mar.  April  May  June  July  Aug.  Sept.  Oct.  Nov.  Dec.  2017   4.8   4.7   4.5   4.4 ...

Descriptive wording in a resume increases recruiter’s interest

  Using descriptive wording in a resume increases the ‘richness’ of the the accomplishments and achievements to document and demonstrate a job seeker’s capabilities.

Showcase SME for Job Search or Business Consulting

Becoming a Subject Matter Expert for business or job search via HARO (Help a Reporter Out)   Many job seekers – especially business consultants – have a hard time explaining why their background and experience is important and useful to others.  The best way to showcase ...

Focus on Leadership Capabilities in Resume

How to focus on leadership capabilities in resume for a career change. Are you describing yourself as a Director, Manager, Supervisor, or a Team Lead on your resume? It doesn’t matter if you are child care professional ‘supervising’ young children, or a nuclear physicist who ‘manages’ ...

Steven L. Williams – Executive Director, Retail Management & Sales

Steven L. Williams Grand Prairie, TX swils7223@gmail.com   OBJECTIVE:             Executive Director, Program Manager, Retail Management & Sales   EXPERIENCE SUMMARY:   25+ years, Senior Management (Retail; GovernmentServices) 5+ years, Senior Human ResourcesTraining & Development (Retail; Government Services)   CLEARANCE:             DoD, Secret (last adjudicated: 07/06, expired: 07/16) PASSPORT:    ...

AIRS 2015 Recruiting Resource Book

AIRS 2015 Recruiting Resource Book   If you are seeking direct links to recruiters and recruiting job boards, this may be one of the most valuable documents you can find ‘out there’ on the Internet to start your job search.   Free – Downloadable – Enjoy! ...

Research You Must Do Before You Write Your Resume

 Research You Must Do Before You Write Your Resume Yeah – you gotta do it, research your next job before you rewrite your resume for your next job search. But – it’s all good – you’ll be amazed at what you find out, and what you ...

120 Powerful Resume Words

120 Powerful Resume Words For Your Next Job One of the issues I encounter, as a resume writer, when reviewing amateur job seeker’s resumes are descriptions loaded with subjective, misleading inclusivity, or passive language.  Examples are … performed ‘flawlessly;’ … conducted ‘all’ tasks; or ‘hand-picked’ to be ...

Do You Know the Difference Between Old Fashioned and New Methods for A Job Search?

Hunting for jobs is not the same as when your parents and grandparents looked for jobs. There are differences between ‘old fashioned’ job hunting methods and new methods used today in a new world of advanced technology.  

Common Sense Job Search – No Secrets

Job search is common sense, not a secret process.   Marketing gurus advertising ‘secrets’ are selling to fears they are putting in your mind. You are asking yourself, ‘what do they know that I don’t that I simply must know to succeed?’ There are no ‘secrets’ ...

Do You Know What You Need To Know Before Starting a New Job Search

  Do you really know what you need to know before you start searching for that next job search? Watch this video to know what objectives you need to learn before you start your job search …

How to Shop for a Resume Writer

Do you know what you need to know before you hire a resume writer? Find out more here:

Building a Government Service Resume

Building a Government Service Resume   Working a government services (GS) job is a dream for many. Everyone is familiar with the outstanding pension and health plans, as well as vacation days as standard packages working for a federal agency or department.  What is not well ...

Four and a Half Inches and Six Seconds

Four and a half inches and six seconds.   This is the average amount of time and the space at the top of a resume read by the average recruiter to scan a resume for qualified candidates. And, that is after they obtain the resume that ...

Using Multiple Social Media for Job Searches

The 21st Century job seeker needs to cover all the bases, and ensure their resume or curriculum vitae is branded in more than job boards, but also in multiple popular social media platforms.

LinkedIn: Why you don’t want to miss out on the activity

Do you ever ask yourself – what good is LinkedIn? How can it help me pursue business development or a new career search? What effort do you put into learning about LinkedIn and its advantages? How much time do you spend on LinkedIn daily? What do you do while actively reviewing your account; what sections do you ‘lurk’ in more? Where do you go when you have a LinkedIn question? Do you search in the Q&A, do you ask others in groups, or do you go straight to the Help Desk & FAQs pages?

How to handle gaps in your employment resume.

That dreaded hole – the one where you were out of work for several months, or years, through no fault of your own – the glaring employment gap when a full time student as a mature adult to get through the degree faster. How do you explain legitimate absences without getting ‘dinged’ for a spotty work record?

Recommendations Up May Get You Positively Noticed

Recommendations from others on your social media profiles gain you attention, but the third type of recommendation can also bring you lots of attention. This is the lateral or upward recommendation. And you are able to manipulate the recommendation to bring attention back to yourself and potentially obtain more eyes looking at your own job qualifications.

How Volunteering Equals Work Experience on Your Resume

Whether you are a teenager with little work experience, but plenty of time to offer charity organizations or a local NPO, or a corporate executive that volunteers on a NPO Board of Directors, the participation and experience gained is a vital and valuable work experience.

Using your network to find a job

The best method to start your advanced career position search is to reflect back on the people you have encountered over the past year and how you have kept up with them. Write notes for a loose script of what information or favors you are asking them for, and keep meticulous notes of the data to refer to if those calls are returned.

Before you lose your job

Hearing whispers in the office corridors about layoffs or future terminations strikes terror and instills worry in everyone – especially in the current economic crisis. If the job is in jeopardy, start taking steps to ensure readiness for that final HR call.

Differences between a resume, a bio, and curricula vitae

Job seekers are somewhat confused with the semantics of what a resume is versus a short biography versus the curriculum vitae. Each has their strengths and weaknesses, depending upon the end goal or objective of the owner. Let’s examine the definitions and the differences.

8 LinkedIn First-Time User Mistakes

LinkedIn is now becoming the norm for job seekers to post profiles as well as recruiters looking for and using the ‘inexpensive’ platform as a sourcing tool. Recruiters are just as discriminatory on what they see on profiles, as they would be in reviewing resumes. Those using LinkedIn for the first time can be in a rush, make minor or major mistakes, and don’t realize they have set themselves up for failure. Here are a few mistakes that can be easily corrected and will assist job seekers in getting the attention more easily from headhunters.

Job competition – staying in or getting in.

Suppose your boss called you into their office and said, “We have to cut back 50% of our work force, it’s between you and one other person. What would you do?

Top 10 things not to have on your resume and 10 alternatives

Many job seekers naively stuff too much information into a resume to attempt to communicate their qualifications for a position. Unfortunately this ‘extra information’ may hinder efforts. Recruiters look for hard facts in a resume – the warm, fuzzy, “…tell us more about you…” comes later in an interview. Here are some facts about how too much information in a resume could hinder a job seeker.

The recruiting game (the real world ‘Hunger Games’)

There is no ‘fair’ to the game – it’s play by the rules or don’t play. Job seekers are desperate to get hired and want to play the game, but need to understand the rules – as they are played by the recruiters – to understand how to play the game successfully as a job seeker.

Can company and recruiter social media and customer service relate to ‘Employer of Choice’ decisions?

Recruiters might be fighting a losing battle convincing the potential new hire to come on board with a ‘loser company’ (unless the job is to fix the company image!). Recruiters need to work hand-in-hand with marketing and PR to ensure job applicants see a positive side of the business and the result is the business is an ‘employer of choice.’

Recruiters Are Not Your Personal Job Finders

It sounds harsh, but it is reality. Finding a job is not a matter of justice or fairness or luck. No one owes anyone a job. Recruiters are your ‘friend’ only if you meet the requirements they need ‘right now.’

Endorsements On LinkedIn Help Build Subject Matter Expert Status

I was checking my profile page today and found that I had more endorsements for my resume writing status than I ever imagined! Great SEO, but also acknowledgement from my peers and LinkedIn connections that I DO have great skills when it comes to resume writing!

Sequestration: Fierce competition for current and future job holders

Competition for those few jobs are going to be fierce. You must show you have more and better job skills to compete against others who are trying for the same position. It will revert back to a ‘hiring manager’s advantage’ when it comes to picking and choosing whom to interview and whom to leave on the back burner after the sequestration ends or peters out after the next six months.

LinkedIn Training for Beginners

OBJECTIVE: You walk out excited and have a more than basic understanding about what LinkedIn can do for your business, branding, business development, building relationships with other business owners, and to start your quest for more B2B sales in the future.

LinkedIn Profile – Vital for a Job Search

Is your LinkedIn Profile at 100%? LinkedIn has just celebrated reaching 200 million users on their business professional platform within the last few weeks (remember when Facebook got excited about reaching their half a billion users?). In researching this social media platform after LinkedIn recently dumped ...

How To Shop For a Resume Writer

There are hundreds of professional resume writers ‘out there’ looking for hungry job seekers.  Some resume writers are very good. Others are so concerned with making the resume ‘pretty’ they don’t do the job seeker any favors. What do you look for in a professional resume ...

Resume du Jour – Stephen P. Terveer – Non-Profit Executive

STEPHEN PHILIP TERVEER Virginia Beach, VA  23454 (757) 869-8037 / (757) 481-1199 steveterveer@verizon.net   OBJECTIVE:   Non-profit Development Leader / SME Consultant / Food Bank Expert   EXPERIENCE SUMMARY:   25 years, Manager/Executive Director, Non-Profit Organization 20 years, Grant Writing, Capital Campaign Leadership 14 years, Food Bank Management and Organization Supervision 4 years, Peace Corps ...

Resume du Jour – Kenneth Miller – Procurement, Finance, Operations, Logistics, or Project Management

Kenneth L. Miller Virginia Beach, VA (757) 814-3760 KennethLMiller@hotmail.com   OBJECTIVE:               Procurement, Finance, Operations, Logistics, or Project Management   EXPERIENCE SUMMARY:   12 years, Logistics, Buyer, Vendor Contracts Portfolio Manager 9 years, Program Management / Project Management (Senior Level) 8 years, Lean Six-Sigma, Black Belt (Instructor/Program Manager) 8 years, ...

Resume du Jour – Kent T. Leipold

Kent Taylor Leipold Austin, TX  78748 (512) 284-1904 KentTaylorLeipold@gmail.com   OBJECTIVE:   Sr. Auditor / Financial Analyst / Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Analyst EXPERIENCE SUMMARY: 25 years, Bookkeeping, Auditing, Accounting (15 years, Senior Auditor) 6 years, Bank Operations and Bank Compliance and Consulting – Small Banks (commercial space planning, leasing, and lending) 4 years, Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Analyst ...

A critical ROI for business owners: Well-written resumes versus bios

Critical ROI for Business Owner Resumes (Listen to the MP3 – click on this link!) Entrepreneurs should realize one of the most critical pieces of advertising is showcasing the knowledge, skills, and experience of the most important person (or people) at the helm of the company.  ...

Bad resume advice: 15 ‘don’ts’ for resume writing

In light of the new wave of layoffs around the country, and in anticipation of those workers who will get downsized after holiday sales die down, it is productive to review what to avoid when writing resumes. These tips will help career seekers to avoid the ‘round file’ when creating or updating their resumes.

Ask yourself…

Two thousand hours. That’s the average amount of time a person spends at work each year. Over the span of a career, that adds up to more than 90,000 hours. Two thousand hours annually of getting up in the morning, driving home in the evening, and ...

How to make oneself more marketable to the defense industry

I recently received a request for information from a job seeker with a Masters in English and a Bachelors in Political Science. This job seeker was having a hard time finding a position in the Northern Virginia (NOVA) area. Either she was told she had too ...

History of the Resume – Evolution Since 1482!

I got a kick out of seeing the historic evolution of a resume from it’s initial form and format back when Leonardo Da Vinci created the first, to today’s social media link packed versions. One thing that is definitely following a trend – if you are ...

The Importance of a Good Resume – How Are You Going To Write One?

Are you asking yourself, “What do I do first to find a job?” or “What do I do first to write a resume?”  Some dream of financial freedom, and others are simply trying to find a job to help them pay the bills.  Are you needing ...

Turn a resume job description into a capability statement.

Many job seekers are not aware their resumes are ‘boring’ and tell the recruiter nothing other than providing a copy and paste version of a job seeker’s most recent job description. The job description may be word-for-word from the most recent company’s compensation plan.  Resume owners ...

Writing the Dreaded Cover Letter

Writing the dreaded cover letter I have customers who beg me to help them write cover letters, and I’m amazed how grownups cower in fear of writing this simple communication.  If you remember the rule of threes, then it should be easy to do.  You want ...

Why Companies At Job Fairs Don’t Accept Hard Copy Resumes – find out why…

Ever wonder why those recruiting representatives or hiring / program managers you introduce yourself to at job fairs don’t want to actually ‘accept’ your hard copy resume. Click on the video below to find out why.  

Hilarious Spelling Mistakes on Resumes and Cover Letters

Here is Our Top 20 of the Most Hilarious Spelling Mistakes on Resumes and Cover Letters by Andrew Kucheriavy 20. “I have a known track record and excellent experience with accurancy and fixing erors” 19. “Strong Work Ethic, Attention to Detail, Team Player,  Attention to Detail” 18. “My experience include filing, billing, ...