You're Only as Good as Your Samples

I'm reminded of a comment Louise Kursmark once made at a resume writing conference -- it was something about the shoemaker's kids not having shoes — meaning, resume writers are often the worst when it comes to updating their own resumes ... and, in my case, their samples.

I was thinking about this today as I sent off a quote for a prospective new client and pasted in my usual list of sample resume links from the template quote response e-mail I use (samples of which can be found in my Write Great Resumes Faster book). The client loved them, and committed to the project, but my inner voice reminded me that it's been a while since I updated the samples. Another item for the to-do list.

I've written before about resume samples -- including whether you should or should not include them on your web site ... but the fact of the matter is, you'd better have samples of your work because SOMETIME a client is going to ask for them. You may do all of your work from referrals (hey, those are your samples talking too — only they're not fictionalized!), but not everyone is going to believe that you can transform their dull, ordinary resume into something extraordinary.

That's another of my goals — to create a set of before-and-after resumes. I've got plenty of the “befores” (I request the client’s existing resume as part of the quoting process), but I haven’t taken the time to match them up with the “afters” and update my sample portfolio. Yet another item for the to-do list.

Take a look at the samples you're using. Are they from two years ago? Are they out of date? Now may be the time to work on that. That may have to be the subject of a future post for new resume writers — how to fictionalize samples.

Comparing Resume Distribution Services

I've written and spoken extensively on the subject of resume distribution services in the past ... and I just keep finding out about more and more of them.

Today, I received a phone call from Martin at ResumeTarget, pitching me on a pre-paid partnership program designed for resume writers and career coaches. I'll write more about the specifics of the program at a later date (I want to call a colleague who is using the program to find out more about her experience with it), but I gave it a test run myself to see what it's all about.

The program is similar to ResumeSpider, an affiliate service I already recommend to my clients. Both firms use an "opt-in" method to recruit hiring managers, recruiters, and employers to receive unsolicited resumes. Instead of just blasting your client's resume to 25,000 contacts (who may or may not be interested in receiving it), these services have your clients narrow down their search, usually by industry and/or geography.

The problem with this, as I found in doing my search, is that you can come up with an impossibly small number of contacts. In the case of a search in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and Kansas for a marketing, public relations, or publishing job, the number of available contacts was ZERO.

The good news is, you can preview the number of contacts (and even the list of contact names/firms) before purchasing. So my client wouldn't be disappointed that her resume did not match up with any of the opt-in recipients.

These services, then, are only as good as the lists they are able to compile.

More on ResumeTarget in a future post...

Easy Computer Backups

It's been a weird weather year around the U.S. -- in addition to the normal hurricanes and tornadoes, there have been huge wildfires, an earthquake in California, and extensive flooding throughout the Midwest. Even if you've personally been unaffected by any of these natural disasters, you may be thinking about what you would do if it happened to you.

Even something as simple as a power outage can be enough to zap your work. So how do you protect yourself? You can use an online service or backup your work using a CD or a flash drive -- but if you're pressed for time (and want a free alternative), e-mail your work to yourself.

Yahoo, Hotmail, and Google all offer free Internet-based e-mail accounts. Sign up for one that you use only for backups. When you're working on a resume, e-mail a copy to your "storage" e-mail account. Then, even if disaster strikes, you can borrow a friend's computer (or go to the library) and access your work.

Affluent Are Networking Online

According to the latest Wealth Survey from the Luxury Institute, 60% of wealthy Americans participate in online social networks, compared to 27% a year ago. These individuals have an average income of $287,000 a year and an average net worth of $2.1 million.

According to the survey, these individuals belong to average of 2.8 social networks, with roughly 110 connections. The most popular of these are LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and ExecuNet.

Source: ExecuNet, April 2008