INTRODUCING THE RESUMES THAT SHINE BLOG!

Welcome

Congratulations on signing into the Resumes that Shine Blog. If you’re here, chances are you were searching for resume help online or someone suggested we could help you advance your career.

We Are Here to Help You Improve Your Job Search Communications Strategy.

The mission of our Blog is closely related to the mission of our Resumes that Shine service. We want to help you create job search communications that will help you advance your career. Additionally, we’ll suggest strategies to enhance your job search, then advance your career once you land the job.

The first series of Blog posts will walk you through resume and cover letter basics. We’ll cover strategies for content and format, in addition to answering age-old questions, such as whether your resume must be only one page long. Also, we’ll address newer questions, such as helping you ensure that employers’ applicant tracking system (ATS) software can scan your resume.

Our First 3 Months Will Focus on Resume Basics

Initially, we’ll focus on resume essentials. You may be able to fix something relatively simple in a few moments if your resume is not working for you. Your return rate may improve with small changes even if you are already getting good results, too. The topics and tentative publication dates are listed below:

1.	Introduction (this post)	1/11/16
2.	Why Do We Need a Resume?	1/18/16
3.	Reverse Chronological & Functional Resume Formats.	1/25/16
4.	Start with Contact Information & Major Headings.	2/1/16
5.	Use a Summary Statement Instead of an Objective.	2/8/16
6.	Outline Your Professional Work History.	2/15/16
7.	Tout Your Accomplishments, not Your Job Description.	2/22/16
8.	Include Your Professional Certificates and Licenses.	2/29/16
9.	Remember to Include Your Education!	3/7/16
10.	List Your Computer Skills.	3/14/16
11.	Post or Send Your Resume in Electronic Form.	3/21/16
12.	Write a Brief 1-page Cover Letter.	3/28/16

The topics and dates are, of course, subject to change, based on reader comments and job market conditions. Please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions, or if you are interested in contributing a guest post.

This Spring We’ll Cover LinkedIn.

Today, we’re not done once we have a resume and basic cover letter ready to be distributed. We need to disseminate the documents online, then create documents no one heard of ten years ago. So, after covering resume and cover letter essentials, we’ll move on to LinkedIn profiles. LinkedIn, or another e-portfolio or professional social media site, could become the primary source for employers seeking job candidates and consultants in the next few years, in my opinion. We should all start developing our strategies now. Don’t be left behind with a paper resume or an online profile that looks like a resume.

Some of the topics we may cover include writing the conversational summary, discussing work experience, adding projects and links, LinkedIn job lead searches, and selecting connections.

Later this Year We’ll Focus on Specific Careers through Guest Posts from Experts and Professionals in their Fields.

Resume writers and other career professionals do not have all the answers, especially after you start your next job. The best advice to help you advance your career may come from people that have succeeded. We’ll offer experts in specific fields an opportunity to share their comments and suggestions.

Please let us know what fields you would like to hear about, or if you would like to share your expertise in a specific industry, employment sector, or profession.

Let’s advance our careers together in 2016!