As I lay in bed at 3 a.m., distracted by dear hubby’s snoring sounds erupting in my ears, I realized a correlation between this not-so-gentle disruption and the disruptive tenor of today’s job search.From unrealistic resume expectations to the run-rampant highways of the digital media highway, the din of multimedia job search in 2010 is, at times, earsplitting.During daily conversations with job seekers, I often am asked ho...

Okay, I get it: the ‘traditional resume is dead.’ May we put a stake through this aging topic and just bury it, along with the tombstone resume?Savvy resumes, by contrast, are not only alive and well, but they have matured, become more sophisticated and muscular, and are more essential now, than ever.Just yesterday I witnessed a resume that had been forged like a finely carved weapon doing battle for a soldier in job searc...

I’ve known loss. Haven’t we all?A blizzard storms through our lives, creating paralyzing white-out conditions.In my life, a painful storm from which I not only survived but from which ashes I arose to rebuild a new and BETTER life, occurred when my first husband requested a divorce. Within months, I was thrust into life-altering decisions that, even under the best of emotional situations, would have been difficult.Initially...

FIRST IMPRESSIONS MATTERFirst impressions matter in dating and job search. I know this all too well as I have moved through dozens of first-date impressions during the seven years following my divorce and before I remarried in 2008.My husband, Rob, and I met online via Match.com. Besides the first-impression story he wrote in his profile that resonated with my personal needs and priorities for a great mate and life-long par...

According to Altan Khendup, senior technology leader, strategist and advocate in Silicon Valley, California, when people think you’re interesting, they start listening; they become engaged, and then you can inject your pitch and your value.I’ve had the pleasure of keeping in touch with this forward-thinking technology leader (oh, and by the way, a client of mine!) for the past nine months. An active Tweeter, blogger and Lin...

Feeling Adrift at Sea in Your Job Search?Adrift in Job Search, (but I Don’t ‘Get’ Resume Writers)I get it: most professionals do not understand, until well into the job search process, the impact and importance of their resume nor the complexity of the process and complex strategy involved in creating a meaningful resume. Though some professionals embark on a job search with an appreciation for the value of partnering with...

Never so much did the term, “Resume Real Estate” resonate until I was tasked to sell my home.“I want to sell my home ‘as-is,’” I firmly asserted to my real estate agent. It’s a beautiful home in a great neighborhood and is an ideal opportunity for the right buyer. Standing head and shoulders among its peer group, I felt, this home offered a unique opportunity that would be obvious to the right buyer, and they would know to...

I understand the impulse to flesh out one’s career value with sweeping generalities:• I’m a people person (or, I’m really good with people; or, I like people).• I’m very strategic.• I’m attentive to detail.• I’m very organized.• I’m results oriented.• I’m innovative.• I think outside the box.• I’m a change leader.• I’m a team leader.• I bring people together.I discourage this approach in favor of a more specific, focused me...

As co-coordinator with my colleague, Miriam Salpeter, I am proud to help launch a new community of expert career advisors and resume writing professionals called the Career Collective. This article is one of many responses to the question, “Are you a cookie cutter job seeker?” Please follow our hashtag on Twitter: #careercollective.So, you are the guy with the master’s degree in the same thing your job competitors have a ma...

After a recent consultation with a job seeker, I was inspired to post the following on Twitter (via @ValueIntoWords): Often hear re: job target, “I don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.” Take a stand, be somebody~focus on a bullseye.Harry Urschel, also a Twitterer via @eExecutives and founder of the recruiting company under the same name, followed with this value-add post: No one can help you find a job if you can’t...