FAQs - Master Executive Resume Writing Service

FAQs - Master Executive Resume Writing Service How do I contact you?If you would like to explore working together, please complete this form:  https://careertrend.net/resume-quote.For other inquiries, email jacqui@careertrend.net, for quickest responses. Or, you may call 903.523.5952. What are your processes?Our processes are highly collaborative and thought stretching. After clarifying your target goals, we partner through several steps: 1) Introspective worksheet process; 2) In-depth phone or Skype interview; and 3) Writing Strategy. How long does the process take?Our quality vs. speed mantra requires we take as long as we need to get it right. That said, the average end-to-end collaboration is generally 4 to 5.5+ weeks, longer for more elaborate or complex portfolios and multiple deliverables. We allow flexibility, for example, if you need extra time to think through your homework.As well, we handle each project with the right blend of creative artistry and pragmatism, meaning we start with an end-goal in mind and map mileston e goals and delivery objectives until we reach the finish line. How do I know if were a fit to work together?We may be a fit if you are:* Stuck In your job search. * Using a dull and lifeless resume. * Not cinching interviews with your current resume. * Securing interviews, but not for the types of roles you desire. * Noticing a disconnect in what your resume says and what hiring leaders seek. * Blinded by your own perspective and needing an objective viewpoint. * Wanting to break through to the next career level. * Frustrated with doing it all alone. * More than 30 days into your job search and spinning your wheels. * Ready to take charge of your career! * Motivated and self-propelled. You dont mind doing the hard yards and thought-work to get to the next level. * Ready to make your career goals a priority!We likely are NOT a fit if you are:* In a rush to get your resume, fast. * Uninterested in collaborating (i.e., just want to hand off your old resume and a pile of performance re views for a writer to spiff up). * Opposed to a more modern, creative approach to content strategy. * Receiving numerous opportunity inquiries with the perfect, target companies. * Unable to see the value in the investment. * Unlikely or unable to relinquish control of the writing process. * Unable to make your career goals a priority. What is your success rate with your clients?Our success rate is calculated on the high percentage of returning clients and referral business. After 18 years owning CareerTrend as a full-time, self-sustaining entity, the referral rate is at an all-time high of more than 80%. You can read why clients found success collaborating with CareerTrend at our testimonials pages, HERE, and HERE. Why choose you? What makes you different?Our clients say it best (while completing resume worksheet): “You were right, answering the questions really opens up all corners of a soul.”Durable Experience.  After nearly 18 years  operating CareerTrend full time, I know r esume writing HOW to help you focus your message to the RIGHT audience.Passionate About, and Educated in Writing.  Impassioned focus. My reason for rising and going to work every day is to create word stories. Early on, I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Writing, with a Journalism emphasis. I can tell a client’s nuanced story by pursuing your ‘who, what, where, when, why and how.’ My stories generate interviews.Perspective.  Client engagements are exclusive and pre-qualified to ensure quality and success. Eighteen years crafting more than 1,500 career stories equips me with a repository of strategic knowledge.I know intuitively how to help you gain perspective on your job search. Career messaging is at the heartbeat of your transition or breakthrough role. Without focused perspective, everything else you do in your search will be like traveling without a GPS.Unparalleled Results.  I remain current on career marketing and communication trends while also setting you apart with an u ncommon outcome. I do this by breaking from archaic and unsubstantiated resume regulations.As in all marketing, there are no hard-and-fast rules. While you don’t want to be ‘different’ just for the sake of being different, you also don’t want to mimic. Don’t let fear force you to follow everyone else.A Career Writer Who Writes Resumes.  I write influential copy that generates interest and gets job interviews! While The Wall Street Journal, Glassdoor,  US News World Report, and many others have tapped me for career insights, my PRIMARY role â€" and working theme â€" is performing as YOUR career-writing strategist.A Partner Who Will Make You Feel at Ease.  A client wrote, “I love the energy in your emails!”  She added, “You have a very clear and easy-to-read communication style.”  A fellow writer noted  that I offer a  â€œwarm, friendly personality” enabling you to feel at ease  through this opening-up process while divulging your career story, feelings and fears. jQuery(document).ready(function() { jQuery('.faq-accordion [data-accordion]').accordionfaq({ singleOpen: true, transitionEasing: 'ease', transitionSpeed: 300 }); });

How to Clean Up Your Facebook Profile for College Admission

How to Clean Up Your Facebook Profile for College Admission Many experts warn new college graduates about the harm a Facebook profile could have on employment opportunitiesâ€"too many inappropriate photos or statuses, especially any defaming  your employer, and you could definitely get your resume thrown in the trash or get fired. But what many high school graduates arent aware of is that their Facebook profile can actually hinder their chances of getting into the college of their choice. Just how employers use social media sites to determine whether an applicant looks promising, college admission officers and recruiters use the social networking site in a similar fashion. In fact, about 24% of college admission officers admit to tracking applicants on various social media sites, including Facebook, YouTube and Google, to check an applicants digital trail, according to a 2011 Kaplan Test Prep survey. And those that snooped typically found something that hindered the applicants chances of acceptance, including photos of alcohol and drug abuse, vulgarity, and evidence of a plagiarized admissions essay. How Many Admission Officers Do This? The number of college admission officers who check an applicants digital trail may be small and hasnt grown much since 2008 reports say, but with more and more colleges using social media as a recruitment tool, that number may increase. Another 2011  survey even showed that 80% of its pool of 150 surveyed schools use social media for recruitment. That said, social media is definitely a front runner in marketing and recruitment realm for colleges. So if youre planning on returning to school to pursue a masters degree or higher, beware! How to Safeguard your Facebook Profile from Prying Eyes? Does that mean you should delete your entire Facebook page altogether? Not necessarily. College admissions officers are extremely busy and dont really have the time to visit all of their applicants profiles. But if they are on the fence about youâ€"they want to really verify that you are a member of a certain organization for example or you may be one of two finalists and they want to get a better idea of who you areâ€"dont hold checking your Facebook account against them . Thus, its important to clean up your digital trail and delete any incriminating information or photos. Here are some tips on how to do that: Set Your Profile to Private. This is an automatic given. Click on the arrow tab near home at the top of the pagescroll down to privacy settingscontrol your default settingsswitch from public to friendsâ€"this will only allow the people you friend to view your page. Or you can click on custom and specify your restrictions even furtherâ€"for example, you can type in The University of Mexico so no one affiliated with the school will be able to see your profile. Delete Unnecessary Apps. Dont think that simply putting your account to private is enough. Many colleges have a way of getting around this. One of the more popular options is making those interested go through a Facebook app in order to ask questions or get more information. If you read the fine print, terms and conditions will tell you that the app will have access to certain features on your Facebook, such as photo albums. If you add a school-affiliated app, make sure to delete it as soon as its served its purposes. On the left tool bar, scroll down to Apps and Gamesclick the pencil icon next to the app you want to removeclick remove. Set Albums to Private. If you know you tend to post inappropriate and incrementing photos, it would be a good idea to set those albums to restrict view or simply delete them entirely. Restrict Tagging. You cant control which photos your friends want to post on your Timeline, but you can control which ones actually get a comfy (and permanent) spot on your page. Under the Privacy Settings go to Timeline and TaggingEdit SettingsReview Posts Friends Tag You in Before They Appear on Your TimelineOn. This will help control any inappropriate photo-tagging mix ups. Stop Uploading Albums. While restricting albums and restricting tags can help, the truth is that every photo you upload can be uncovered in some form or fashion. Thus, you might want to refrain from using Facebook as a way to store all of your photos. Instead, use other sources as SnapFish and DropBox to upload all of your backup photos. Worried that people wont be able to see them? Trust us when we say your friends dont really care to see your photos from your two week vacation in Hawaii as might as you think they do. Keep the photos as memories, but you don’t have to share your memories with everyone. Restrict Public Search. Last but not least, you want to make sure that you make it difficult for people to find you on the social media site. After all, the harder it is to locate your profile the less chances an admission officer has of finding anything to hinder your acceptance.  To do this go to Privacy SettingsApps, Games, WebsitePublic SearchEdit Settings Disable Public Search. That said, while your social media account shouldnt play that big of a role in determining whether you get accepted into you school-of-choice or not, the fact that its a possibility should motivate you enough to make it presentable. This guest post is contributed by Barbara Jolie, who writes for onlineclasses.org. Barbara Jolie is an avid writer and blogger, interested in all things education.

Should Recruiters Use Klout

Should Recruiters Use Klout A little while ago, there was a lot of chatter in the blogosphere when the CEO of Klout, a social media analytical tool which attempts to measure influence, tweeted a Salesforce job post that required a Klout score of 35 or above. This kicked off a debate about whether a Klout score is a useful requirement when recruiting. Social media has revolutionised the way that recruiters work, so is Klout the next step in gaining an edge when sourcing the best talent? For those who have never heard of Klout, it is one of a new breed of companies that uses the big data available on social media and attempts to analyse it to deliver insights that may not be immediately obvious. In this case, Klout attempts to work out how much influence you have online. To do this, you register your social media accounts to the application (e.g. Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook) and it then applies a complicated algorithm to give you an influence score of between 1 and 100 the higher the score, the more influential you are. Klout isnt the only company doing this, Kred is another company with a similar product. At first this sounds great from a recruiters perspective, as it is another tool to give you insight into the quality of your candidates. After all, who wouldnt want a candidate with a high level of influence? Everyone knows how important influence is in your professional life; one of the best selling books of the 20th century was Dale Carnegies How to Win Friends and Influence People. An influential candidate must be a good candidate. Unfortunately, there are several things wrong with this picture. Frankly, the idea of being able to quantify something as qualitative as influence is laughable influence as a concept is about as nebulous as a sparrows fart. To create a score of influence makes several false assumptions: Influence is a linear scale (i.e., a score of 40 is a consistent amount better than a score of 20). This dramatically oversimplifies the nature of the world and human interactions. This assumption has to be made because otherwise the score would be meaningless. Influence is objective. This assumes that we will all be influenced to the same extent by someone. Influence is about as subjective as you can get Justin Bieber has an incredibly high Klout score (the first person to briefly achieve a score of 100), but I couldnt give two hoots about what the annoying Canadian teenager is up to. To one of his fans however, his every word is gospel. Influence can be accurately measured online. This assumes that as social media becomes more and more ubiquitous, our lives will increasingly be lived online. However, the average time we spend on social media each month is measured in hours the rest of the time, we are out in meatspace, interacting in the real world. What happens in the real world is far more important than what happens online, and that is where real influence is to be found. What we do on social media may have no bearing on our professional and real-world selves: one software developer I know only uses his Twitter account to post bad puns. Even ignoring those critical errors in assumption that Klout makes, there is one big reason why you should avoid using Klout: we have no idea how its algorithm works. We do have some details about how Klout works for example on Twitter it measures how many people are talking about you, what you talk about and what gets retweeted. But, for the most part, we have no idea what calculations go on to arrive at that score. My most retweeted tweet ever, for example, was a story about my wife playing a dirty word in a game of Scrabble with my gran and mother to get rid of her Q tile. It was retweeted by Neil Gaiman (a very influential figure on Twitter) and received dozens of retweets and dozens of replies. Unfortunately, that tweet has nothing to do with my professional experience (recruitment or management studies). Klout, however, may well assume that I am therefore most influential in the fields of Scrabble and [dirty word]. Without being able to see Klouts algorithm and critically appraise it, any number is completely arbitrary and, as a result, meaningless. There are stories of Twitterbots being given high Klout scores despite only being an automated feed. And, despite the fact that we dont know exactly how the algorithm has worked, a number of people have come up with various ways to game the system and artificially inflate their Klout scores. If it can be manipulated that easily, then it loses whatever shred of credibility it had left. Network theory, the academic subject that studies how humans interact with one another, is incredibly complex. In networks, all the vagary, irrationality and chaos of human nature is multiplied and refracted in our interactions with one another. People have been studying it for years and we are still yet to come up with a consistent model of human networking behaviour. Yes, there are patterns that we can pick out, but there is no mathematically consistent model to predict human behaviour in networks to a reasonable degree of precision and accuracy. The idea that a company in California has managed to do in a few brief years what decades of some of the worlds best academics have failed to do is something I find very hard to swallow. So, for the recruiter wondering whether to start using Klout as a metric as a recruitment tool, please think again. It isnt going to make your job easier or improve your candidate quality.

Five Scary Actions that Haunt Your Reputation

Five Scary Actions that Haunt Your Reputation Have you ever been so frustrated by someones bad habits that the very thought of communicating with them scares you? Do you go into hiding when you see a rude coworker coming your way? What if YOU are the one everyone with whom everyone fears communicating? Is it your reputation that is sinking? What you think others believe is not always the truth. While many professionals  believe they are perceived  as uber-professionals, they dont realize how all of the mistakes they make that cost them influence. People dont see us based on who we are, instead how they observe us in the day-to-day. Uncover the hidden mistakes you make that frighten off your ability to influence others: Meeting Monster Professionals are overwhelmed with meeting madness, so much so that they take for granted the common etiquette necessary to attend. Arrive on time. Running late is bound to happen occasionally. No matter how much we want to avoid it, situations arise that cause us to get behind. If this happens to you, enter the meeting in progress with grace. Quietly open the door and take your seat. Quickly review the materials and catch up on your own without interjecting or asking others to catch you up on what was missed. Don’t interrupt. When a presentation is in progress, acknowledge the rules established by the presenter. If there is a QA session at the end, make notes of what youd like to ask and save it until then. If someone is sharing an idea, dont interrupt with yours. Allow whoever is speaking to finish their thoughts before interjecting with yours. Stay on track. We’ve all attended a meeting with a coworker who has a penchant for derailing conversations. It’s irritating and confusing. Be the one who asks questions and suggests ideas inline with the topic of discussion. Anything off topic must be saved for after the meeting ends. Terrifying Texts Text messaging is a way of life for all professionals. Whether youre sending a quick message to coworkers, your boss or clients, there are guidelines for this digital dialogue. Keep it simple. Text messages need to remain short â€" no more than two sentences. If the need to text requires more than three back-and-forth exchanges, pick up the phone and call instead. This will reduce the risk of confusion and miscommunication. Pay Attention. No matter  how effective you think you  are at simultaneously texting and listening, you aren’t. Sending text messages during a meeting or personal conversation is rude and trying to hide it doesn’t fool anyone. Everyone knows if you’re trying to text under the table when you’re supposed to be paying attention. People get offended and feel unimportant if you’re texting as they’re talking. Aimlessly Floating We have become overly present with technology and absent-minded to others in our space. Stop aimlessly walking while paying more attention to your phone than where you are going. Don’t walk and talk.   No matter how efficient you wish to be,  youre going to make a mistake. Weve all seen the hilarious videos of others walking into objects because they were paying more attention to their device than where they were going. Imagine how your coworkers feel in their attempts to avoid being your next hallway victim. Eyes dead ahead. Until we are born with eyes on the top of our head, put your phone down. Pay attention to where youre going. If you must answer a call or respond to a text, simply step aside or wait until you return to your desk. Make it a point, instead, of acknowledging peers you pass in the hallway. Its easier to build a positive influence by saying good morning rather than knocking someone to the floor. Eyes are Everywhere Someone is always watching.    Whether it is a camera overhead  or a person sitting across from us in their car, we are always under observation. Know your surroundings. The car is not the place to do your makeup, dance or change clothes. Your office is not the place to pick your teeth or your nose. When walking into work, limit the number of bags you carry. Youre not moving; youre only going to work. You’re never alone. Even when you think youre alone, youre not. If there are grooming matters to attend to, handle them before you arrive. If thats not possible, head to the nearest restroom and get situated. Be aware of what you look like walking into the office. Maintain strong posture and stride. Afterhours Fright Few things generate dread like seeing the name or number of your boss on the phone after hours. Nothing can create animosity and frustration like an always-on leader. Avoid Afterhours. Nothing scares people more than an after-hours work-related text message. If there is something on your mind you wish to share,   write it down and save it for the next day. Allow your employees time to decompress without fear or worry of unexpected messages. Terrifying timing. If there is something urgent to share, start by first apologizing. Ensure the recipient you would not have called or messaged under any other circumstance. Acknowledge you respect their time and will do your best to limit the interaction. Put fear aside in others by being mindful in your communication methods and manners. Increase your credibility by being respectful of others and avoiding scary bad habits that cost you influence. This Halloween guest post was authored by Stacey Hanke Stacey Hanke is the founder and communication expert of Stacey Hanke Inc. She is the author of Influence Redefined: Be the Leader You Were Meant to Be,  Monday  to  Monday  and Yes You Can! Everything You Need From A to Z to Influence Others to Take Action. Stacey and her team have delivered thousands of presentations and workshops for leaders of Fortune 500 companies, including Coca-Cola, Nationwide, FedEx, Kohl’s and AbbVie. Learn more about her team and company at:  www.staceyhankeinc.com.

5 Things You Should NEVER Say To Your Boss!

5 Things You Should NEVER Say To Your Boss! Honesty is certainly the best policy. However, being way too honest in the workplace can put your job at risk. There are always a few exceptions.According to career experts, no matter how casual a relationship you share with your boss, there are certain things that you should avoid saying in front of him. You can always find alternate ways to express yourself if you are stuck in a situation that goes against your nature or will.Photo Credit â€" Pexels.comYou need to be very careful with what you say to your manager at your workplace because even the slightest blunder can make or break your career. There are certain things you should hold back from saying to your manager no matter what. The aim should be to ignore the little things while interacting.evalMake sure you know how to communicate in a professional manner. Before uttering something that you might probably regret in future, a good practice is to pause a little and think what you are actually trying to accomplish and what can be the possible reaction of your boss.Knowing how to communicate professionally and what to say to your boss plays an important role in your professional career. Career experts say that even your way of writing e-mails can make or break your job.Therefore, we’ve compiled here a detailed list of the phrases or sentences that you should never say to your boss:1. “I don’t know”Whenever your boss inquires you about something or asks you a question, never say “I don’t know” as it shows you are least interested in the question asked. Even if you don’t have an answer at that time, make your best guess about it or promise to find out the answer later and then work on it.2. “No, I can’t do that”Saying a direct “no” creates a negative perception in mind of your boss, especially when you say it in a blunt manner. For example, if your boss asks you to complete a certain task, do not say only a “No.” Instead, phrase it appropriately with a polite explanation of why you won’t be able to do the task.Moreover, organizations prefer a can-do attitude. Simply saying “I can’t do it” shows that you lack the self-belief and, therefore, affects your reputation in the eyes of your boss. It also shows that you’re not willing to take a challenge even if you’re being honest at that time.3. “That’s not the part of my job. I have other priorities to look after.”Avoid saying statements like “This is not my job” or “That is not my priority” in front of your boss. This shows that either you’re not serious about your work or you don’t care about the company’s priorities.evalNot willing to go beyond your role also shows that you’re not likely to grow professionally. Refusing a task straightaway will only put your position at risk. You should instead ask your boss for help to prioritize the tasks without being offensive at all.4. “You should give me a raise/that project/ that title…”Never ever say phrases like these to your b oss as they sound way too childish and senseless too. It sounds like you’re a little kid demanding his choice of toys. If you really feel that you deserve a raise or a promotion or an increment in your salary, or some other deserving job title, use a rather mutual, problem-solving and discussing tone.5. “I’ll try.”You should never say things like “I’ll try…” or “I’ll attempt to do that…” to your boss because it will leave your boss in an uncertain situation. This might be considered as an acceptable response in our daily life because we all “try” to get our tasks completed to our maximum, but it’s not appropriate to use in a professional setting.Imagine how would you feel if you ask your boss that will you be getting your paycheck on the 10thof the month, and your boss replies that he will TRY?

Personally Bland to Personal Brand

Personally Bland to Personal Brand 0 Flares 0 Flares Confession.  I know jack balls about personal branding.   I could research some popular top authors on branding like Dan Schawbel or Jacob Share but Im doing just fine, no offense  fellers. You see, in a relatively short period of time, Ive gone from being personally bland, to having myself an increasingly growing personal brand.  The best part about saying that is Ive made it happen simply by being me. Nine months ago I was gearing up for a shit ton of unemployed experiences, something Ive coined FUNemployment.  It began with a few trips to tropical islands, and then on July 11th, 2009, Corn On The Job  was born.  One of the first things I noticed about blogging was an abundance of buzzwords, including personal branding.  Thank god I was directed to Penelope Trunks blog, she advised me to ignore those buzzwords and come back to them later. Thanks, Penelope! What have I done right? Blog Name Im quirky, kinda nerdy, maybe humorous, and my blog and blog name match that.  I wanted my blogs name to make people smile, laugh, but mostly be something they couldnt forget.  I really dont toot my own horn often, but cmon, how cool of a name is Corn On The Job?    People can easily assume that my blog presents the lighter side of career advice.  I feel like they arent  disappointed  in their assumptions once they find themselves drifting through my posts. I write what I know I have heavy experience in recruiting, both in agency and corporate settings.  Ive worked in corporate HR, just about completed a Masters in Human Resources Development, and have felt the sting of an acquisition.  Why write about anything else?  Gary Vaynerchuk speaks a lot about how your passion should drive what you do, and this is my passion.   I make connections For two years I worked in agency recruiting, selling people to clients on a daily basis.  You must really love people and making connections to survive that business, and I certainly do have that passion.  Whether people comment on the blog, reach out via social media, email, or meet me face to face, I always do my best to engage.  Life is about connections.  Life is about helping one another.  Life is about learning and improving on previous experiences.  I incorporate those things into my blog whenever possible, and its mostly done through connecting and engaging with people.  Matt Cheuvront responds to each of his 500,000 commenters on his blog posts, and that is something that I try to emulate on Corn On The Job. Im very confident in saying that 99.9% of the people I interact with on Corn On The Job, My  Facebook Fan Page, Twitter, and Brazen Careerist had no idea who I was just five months ago.  Flash forward to present time, and via computer screen, youve welcome me into your office, family room, kitchen, local starbucks, and even your bed room.    The connections Ive made with all of you have been incredible, and its continuously the most rewarding benefit of running my blog.   Conclusions  Dont try to create a personal brand.  Lately, more than a couple people have mentioned that my personal brand is increasing.  Ill say it again, the best part about hearing that is Ive done it all on my own, without research, and without changing who I am.  Ive taken who I am, what I know, and what Im passionate about, and used that to create a name for myself.  Its been a lot of hard work, but work that I love doing.  It all starts with passion. What are you passionate about?  

The Best Resume Writing Service Available Online

The Best Resume Writing Service Available OnlineOne of the best resume writing services available online is that of McCombs. The company offers a complete resume writing service that will make your resume stand out from the rest. Their quality is perfect for professional and busy professionals looking to create a great resume. This company also offers many other services including professional resume editing, personal interview coaching, job search assistance, personalized cover letter writing, and much more.What makes McCombs so great? They offer different types of services designed to make your resume stand out from the crowd. Their resume writing service includes consulting with you on the overall layout of your resume. This ensures that the resume reflects your goals and accomplishments well. In addition, they will help you create a custom cover letter that matches your resume perfectly.They also offer a free resume review and will help you determine if you have a resume that nee ds improvement. There are many free services that offer this type of service but this does not mean they are good. Most of these free services will tell you what is wrong with your resume only to offer it up for sale in the future. This is not the case with McCombs as they want you to be successful with your resume.Another service offered by McCombs is professional resume editing. They are experts when it comes to editing resumes. Your resume can be improved with their expert editing skills. This can save you time and money since they know exactly what areas need to be fixed.A free personalized cover letter is another service offered by McCombs. This is one of the best features for a resume service because you get to pick a highly professional but brief cover letter. This will save you time and money since they know that most employers are not going to want to read a boring cover letter.Another benefit of using McCombs is their customer support. When you use this company for your re sume writing services, you will receive help 24 hours a day. That means if you are stuck and cannot seem to find the answer, you will receive help immediately.Another benefit is the unique templates that McCombs offers. These templates can be used for every type of job that you apply for. This includes entry level positions, mid-level positions, and senior level positions. There are no limits to the number of resumes that you can submit using their templates.All in all, the company of McCombs is a great service for your resume writing needs. They offer great looking templates, free resume reviews, and many other useful services. You will be able to make the most of your resume. This is an excellent option for anyone who is busy and wants to impress a potential employer.