How do you get feedback and improve your resume and cover letter writing skills?

I encourage my coaching clients to set up Google alerts for their target companies. This will allow them to stay up-to-date with what's happening with those companies to better prepare their marketing materials and interviews.

It's so important to think about the reader when writing your resume and cover letter. The average resume scan time is 6 seconds, so you want to make sure that you are clearly demonstrating how you can add value. Review target job descriptions closely and integrate quantified results that show your strengths to catch the reader's eye.

A few considerations here: 1. Most resumes and cover-letters are not read by a human, sorry. Especially in large companies. They get scanned by the ATS (Applicant Tracking System) which looks for keyword matches. Stop wasting your time customizing your resume (beyond optimizing for the role keywords) or word-smithing your cover letters. 2. Focus your energy on the channels that are likely to be seen by a human - these are 1) your LinkedIN headline, photo, about section and first sentence of each work experience description, 2) the messages that you send through LinkedIN (ideally you're sending them to 1st degree connections, asking for referrals and introductions to your target person).

In addition to the aforementioned, I recommend, especially for beginner resume writers, using an online labor market research site like ONetOnLine.org, where one can get an idea of what verbiage to use for their resume. They can copy and paste the tasks that apply and then modify them to include accomplishment statements.

The key here is to seek feedback from people with HIRING experience in your industry. Too often, job seekers get advice from well-meaning contacts who haven't interviewed or worked in the same capacity. Hiring audiences want to learn about your unique value proposition, personal brand, and achievements. Your resume strategy, content, and format must clearly convey your stature and imply strong future contributions. This isn't a simple task! As the expert on yourself, it's worth your time to conduct deep research on your successes and gain anecdotal feedback on how you're perceived in the workplace. Spend the bulk of your time fleshing out your accomplishments and conferring with experts who know what employers seek in your field.

Buyers be aware! Resume writers who claim to write resumes that "Beat the ATS" could be preying on your fear. The keywords referred to are based on what hiring authorities will search for resumes stored in the applicant tracking system. These systems are rarely automated. Therefore, writing for human consumption is most important.

Many of my executive clients have been with the same company for 15+ years and haven't had the need to update their resume. Even if you don't feel that you *need* a new resume, take time every 6 - 12 months to update your resume so that you are keeping track of all of the great work that you are doing. Make sure that you are updating your LinkedIn profile too - so much hiring and recruiting is happening on LinkedIn and keeping your profile updated will make it easier for opportunities to find you!

You should not only update your resume based on your experience and skills but also tailor each resume (that you can) to the jobs for which you apply. This will show the reader that you understand the requirements of the job. It will also ensure that your resumes contain the keywords for the ATS process.

In my opinion it’s good to write about your motivation for the job. Here’s a formula to help you: ? Write WHAT the motivation is ? HOW you know it will be fulfilled in the role (here you can show you’ve done your research) ? WHY that motivation is important to you I’m this way, it will sound specific to the role you are applying to, and personal to you - you avoid the pitfall of sounding generic.

Make sure you act after collecting the feedback. Just having the feedback is not enough; making the relevant changes is what counts.