One thing that I could add that HR no longer looks at resumes, they just sent them to relevant departments. Agencies even don’t care, they just parse, this is true
@@ALifeAfterLayoff your team is your business, like me while working in business/startup company. Size matters. Soon HR will no longer exist in terms of making decisions. A lot of agencies just provide a CVs then it goes to related persons and decisions made by them not by recruiters. Final decision is not done by team of recruiters that what I want to say. All your advices works on the first step to get parsed by recruitment agencies no more (in this video)
Every business is different. The recruiter for the agency I work for conducts the initial screening process for all applicants. If they meet the initial requirements of the position, the applicants resume is then forwarded to the appropriate hiring manager where their resume is reviewed, and the hiring manager will schedule an interview.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff I completely redid my resume and LinkedIn profile, using your template and suggestions. I have much experience and knowledge but my resume was long and wordy. I have for a very long time wanted to be a FTE at a great company, since 2000 I have been a consultant. I am so excited and pleased with my new position, just started on Monday
I try to keep my resume job bullets to 3-5 at a time. I notice if there’s an older person recruiting that oldschool way works better. But a lot of the time I have to adapt for the younger people. Now that I have the bachelor degree I’ll let the job/volunteer experience I have speak for itself.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff One common question I don’t believe was addressed was if it’s frowned upon to have a one page resume vs. being continued on two or more pages. Thoughts?
Video was very helpful, I think one thing that would really make it stellar is if you could include some more quick examples of what to do and what not to do for your points. Some of them you mention a bad example, like the fluff words versus actionable words, and I am left wondering what a good example is of what to do. Thank you for the video
I don't think I'm alone in this but in addition to posting fake, phantom or ghost jobs, companies are now using candidates to create presentations inclusive of elaborate strategic entry plans, to only retrieve the document / plan and ultimately ghost the candidate. This is insidious!!!
yeah they've been doing that a while. I remember at the end of GFC around 2010 a couple hiring managers were adamant about me sending training content and other materials, like they were clueless in their current role and needed the material to jumpstart things.
Don't do them. I'd only do one if there's something in your background you really need to explain that isn't conveyed by your resume alone. But generally a waste of time I think.
When I first saw the thumbnail and saw below "resume", "stop doing this" I thought you were going to tell us not to bother applying for jobs anymore because everything's gone to crap lol
The best part would be write simple resume yet make catchy one and include the keywords u worked for...that would be easy for HRs to recognise your potential
@ALifeAfterLayoff One question I don’t believe was mentioned was if it’s frowned upon to have a one page resume vs. being continued on two or more pages. Thoughts?
Don't get hung up on the number of pages - but rather the quality of the content. If you need 2 pages to tell your story effectively (and concisely), then go for it. I'd avoid anything longer, not because it will be rejected, but rather it tells me you have too much junk in there.
Takeout: - don't use templates, stick to a simple one-column format with just one or two colours. why? Applicant Tracking Systems don't parse them well. - don't use terms that are measureless, like "team player" - don't use terms that are only known to your organization. - and most importantly: customize your resume to the job that you're applying for.
Does the college education matter? when you get a degree or not? can you make a video or send me a ink of one addressing the education part on a resume. thanks.
Good tips, but then comes the next long step. Had an interview today, It all started with a phone interview over 1 week ago. Had the interview, the HR said that IF i make it further I will have one more interview with the sales manager to get to know more of the team. On top of that I was going to give references IF i make it to next step. So three interviews for a regular inside sales job. Decided not to continue the process since it takes way too long and I will most likely not get it anyways. Besides I think Lifeafterlayoff is not a huge fan of references himself?
With those long text blocks, I genuinely don't know how to fix that. I use two services that scan my resume to make it compatible with job posts, and despite going for very similar jobs each time, the systems tell me to insert around 10 new keywords each time. One service even recommends whole sentences to insert but never adjusts my score up OR down based on the length of the experience section. I do get recommendations to trim things like summaries, but never the pullet points. So what should I be aiming for? Short and to the point, or cramming in keywords/sentences? I'm already at 76 applications, with 19 rejections, and 0 interview requests in the past two weeks of a new search.
I actually have a question; I am trying to start a side busines, and am only looking for part time jobs right now. However, whenever I'm asked why I am looking for part time I DON'T want to tell them this. I usually just say it aligns with my lifestyle right now. HOWEVER, I realize I'm throwing people off when I talk like that. Some employers are REALLY trying to ploy the answer out of me (which I am refusing, which pisses them off and I dodge a bullet). How do I respond to this question while keeping my goal to myself?
Recruiters don't like side hustle. Don't mention your little side-business if you want to get hired! An interview is about THEM! The company. How you fit them. It's not about YOU and your side-stuff.
@@istvantoth7431 I asked what I should do because I DON'T want to tell them that. It's none of their business. Please reread the comment if you want to give advice. Otherwise, go away.
@@SnowSunFun That's what the plan originally was- but I was having trouble landing interviews for any full time jobs in my area. So I kind of just gave up on those for now.
My resume is still long…4 pages. I reduced it to 4 but it’s sounding like I need to reduce further to 2 pages. I’ve been in the nuclear industry for over 20 years so I’ll have to summarize anything beyond 10 years. I listed I’m a published author and own 2 UA-cam channels but removing this after listening to you. Great info you’ve provided. Thanks
Consider reducing roles to just keywords. Only your two most recent roles need descriptive text. The exception here is if there's an achievement on a past role that you have hard numbers for such as "Improve efficiency by 10%" (obviously better than that)
How do we reconcile keeping the resume concise but still trying to hit the keywords they are looking for on their ATS? To me, if your resume doesn't hit enough keywords on their ATS, humans will never read them. So we should try to get as many words in as possible. True?
@@petofisanyi2420 this was my first thought too. If a recruiter only spends 5 second on a resume, it sounds like they aren't doing their job. No wonder they are being replaced by ATS. It's probably just as good as they are at guessing what the hiring managers are looking for.
I served in the military for 20 years. Should I just summarize that somewhere, or list it like my other jobs? Listing it as it is now makes it hard to keep the resume to the recommended 2 pages, but I'm an executive, so it's hard to stay at 2 pages anyway without leaving out something that may be important. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
I do contract work which lasts a short 1-3 years per contract, and I'm hired through recruiters. However, going THROUGH recruiters NEVER worked for me. What works is reaching out to the company directly, not on their job board or HR department, but rather to a hiring manager. What you want is for the hiring manager to redirect your resume to HR or the recruiter. If your cover letter / resume is good they will request HR or the recruiter include you in the interviews. Keep in mind in-house HR and outsourced recruiters are not the same thing. In the majority of cases recruiters pre-screen based on a mathematical equation of (job requirement * years of experience, + education), they award points and whoever has the most points get presented to the hiring manager. Whereas HR want the to see quantitative results in your work experience and ensure you are a good fit with company culture.
Bryan, I personally love your videos and I'm writing this as I'm watching it on my TV so don't take this as I am saying it to you. If you and Madeline came to Wisconsin (preferably Appleton or Green Bay...please and thank you) I would be there in a heartbeat!! You'd rank right up there with John G Miller and David Goggins....for obviously different reasons...lol. While this no doubt differs somewhat to what you did in your former corporate position, my role as a recruiter (on top of my Driver Manager duties) at Swift Transportation, I have come to the conclusion that there should be a couple different assortments when making piles. As I said, it's probably a little bit different for me but I think as a whole, it's not just a black & white decision so to say. I could give multiple examples of people who did something earlier in their career but if that recruiter doesn't see that's the previous job or even two before that; or even if there are transferable skills; that is pure laziness. I have gotten former Lawyers, Doctors, Police Officers, Cooks, Hair Stylists, Sales Professionals and Shipping & Receiving Managers that wanted to drive a truck for whatever reason. That's just the short list and the last one would technically be the most qualified by their resume because of their familiarity around semis and route scheduling on a daily basis. If I were to look at these people's resumes where technically I would see nothing that I would call "transferable" to truck driving, and don't offer them a chance to get their CDL through our school -- that in itself eliminates at least 50% of potential drivers and I shouldn't be in that position because of my incompetence. Personally, I'd rather have an electrician come in for 3-4 months and then call me to say he's going back to being an electrician because his job was called back, like the professional he is ....instead of an abandoned truck that needs to be recovered who knows where. That is actually something that happened and he became my electrician on my remodeling project a few years back, and we still talk to this day. I see a massive problem with recruiting in HR and what companies are trying to push with all this woke inclusive equity garbage. There are places where I live in N.E. Wisconsin that are paying $26-29 an hour for just a forklift/material handling positions that literally can't keep people. It goes up the chain too with the Warehouse Coordinators and Warehouse Supervisors...they're not growing; I keep track of this stuff because I've thought about applying for all of them -- on a 2-2-3 schedule with 1 day of OT each week, I would literally make twice what I make now and that's including my bonuses. Something I did in my positions prior to becoming a Driver Manager and Recruiter -- but I would most certainly be overlooked the way these companies are hiring even though I could get on any forklift put in front of me; at McCain Foods as a Materials Coordinator for Shipping, myself and the Receiving Coordinator ran the Train the Trainer program for our shift. Based on what I see from recruiters and hear from so many people -- it's too much work for them to look 2 employers down my resume. I've hear of people applying online and also going to the employer to drop it off physically; only to receive a "virtual interview" and then rejected. Virtual is a ridiculous idea should have never been a thing because the world was afraid of a cold... and personally, I think it's absolutely lazy on the part of these companies still pushing that kind of nonsense. What if someone only has a flip phone? No internet, or even just a house phone? Should they be disqualified because they don't want a smart phone or have a need for internet? Believe it or not, those people do exist and they don't deserve to be counted out for such reasons. I see all the complaints and almost always, it seem to blame management for one reason or another. That most certainly has something to do with it, no doubt, but there is also the problem with who is actually getting hired and the lack of personal accountability those people have. The HR staff that's doing the hiring clearly are just putting candidates through because of this ridiculous ideology with "equity and inclusion" instead of going after people who are far more qualified. Inclusion and anything race, gender or whatever else doesn't need to be said in 2024 but if that person is being picked over someone who is CLEARLY more qualified based on those reasons -- that is a HUGE part of the retention problem. Maybe places like this will finally figure it out when they start going under because every turnover is at least $5000 -- by then, it'll be too late. The one I'm talking about in particular is a $500 million a year company when it should be 5 billion a year -- it's a coffee company for godsake! 😆 Most of the adult world LOVES their coffee... Honestly, I am seriously considering starting a side business as a consultant to get these CEOs, Presidents and HR people to remove their heads from their @$$ and learn about how to actually retain their people -- it's clear that something different has to be done because what they're doing is not working. It's not just this company, it's everywhere across the board. If it gets to the point where automation & robots take all the jobs because they can't retain anyone; what the hell do we need them for? Their job is gone too so this is something everyone in those positions need to start thinking about.
For anyone who's struggling trying to fit their whole resume consider printing on both sides if it HAS to be a physical copy -- It took work, some finagling with the formatting, but I was able to fit 4 employers with a good number of bullets from the year 2000 to present on the front page; including extra education & training I've done for myself. Initially when I redid my resume years ago, I had a professional's help and have kept the same format since. The last time I was looking about two years ago -- I had no problem getting interviews and had two offers that were pretty good; they just weren't the right fit and it's not worth leaving a company I've been at almost a decade if it doesn't sit right in my gut. Reading some of the comments; I wonder if I would have the same luck and kind of want to try it out just to see what happens.
Do you have a video talking about horizontal pullet point on Skill or Certification section? Like those side by side bullets. And about links, should links contain the whole URL showing on the resume or can I just enter the name of the platform as a clickable link? For instance, having the word LinkedIn as a link as opposed to the whole URL as a link. Just let me know if you have a video like that and I'll look for it. Thank you.
For the fluffy terminology part, team player, organizational skills etc. you said that you will access that during the interview. Can you make a video on that to see what tactics you or anyone would use. All that information would be a gold mine
Great video but honestly it has triggered huge amounts of frustration as it looks like he keeps rejecting almost everything which is otherwise contemporary.
In hindsight, I could have watched before writing my long comment but things like this HAVE to start being addressed. It's possible someone like myself will read it, have similar thoughts, and an idea will be sparked by something I said. There are relevant points made here but I think these ATS systems are also overused when they don't need to be. Overall -- Great tips; maybe you could give a few more examples to those who just can't afford your program at the moment. I can honestly say that if I would start applying again and didn't have the success I had previously, I'd would be all over that as soon as possible....before I couldn't afford it.
Alberta here 3 am moon 🌙 stressed and worried can’t sleep. 💤 can you go over some examples of a cover letter. Places here seem to put more weight on the cover letter. Even seen write 3 points on how our requirements fit your specific skill credentials degree. As example. Also please do a mock up of bad poor cover letters and poor bad resumes. That is another way to teach instead of do and don’t. Not trashing you but as an RN instructor I found samples worked well with adult learners seeing if they could pick out the glaring mistakes vs subtle errors. I heard some are not reading past the cover letter. Thanks for your help. I appreciated the time and hard work preparing these videos. Can you do one on setting boundaries on unreasonable workload almost 24/7 like the boss got you and working you to death No union in finance in mid pay mgr job involves too too much travel in Canada said at interview. Some travel once a mt. Travelling via air and car almost every week Am looking feels like I ppay you this salary so I expect you 16 hr days when not travelling. To answer all emails 24/7 Any ideas 8:34
Hey, what is your best advice for someone struggling to get into tech jobs? I tried to apply a lot of IT jobs and couldn’t land a single role. I ended up taking an offer at my university as a testing specialist at their testing and learning center for the time being until I can find something better. I’m going to refine my tech skills and at same time gain experience while still finding a better opportunity. Maybe seek out a certification or two. Maybe I could transfer to my school’s IT department if an opening is available. I appreciate finding your channel. I’m still learning as a fresh graduate out of college. I have gotten a bit better at my interviewing skills after landing an offer at my school, but there’s always room for improvement for both resume and interviewing skills.
I tried multiple layouts and found that AI SUCKs at reading even the most important key words! It can't find my highest level of education, my contact information, etc. Plus, the one thing that really pisses me off is when I have to select something from a list on the application form and nothing fits, or they fail to write in the job description which field a generic occupation is (e.g. Quality Control or Project Manager). I keep getting job postings recommended that have nothing to do with my specialisation (I'm a chemist and get job recommendations for programmers and electrotechnicians, etc.). Again, this seems to be the combination of bad AI and data input.
As many relevant examples as you can think of. • Financial institution? How do you organize your bills? How do you organize your calendar? • Custodian role? How do you organize your cleaning tools? How do you know when to order new chemicals? How do you keep track of keys? Do you label stuff?
I always find it funny how you talk about giving a 5 second glance over resumes. To me, to a certain extent, it just sounds like your lazy and you want people to cater to your laziness; and you can do so because you're in a position of power. "Oh I have so many resumes to go over." Yeah, read them, that's your job.
The recruiter’s job is to find candidates for the job, not the other way around. Keep that in mind. It’s easy to call a recruiter lazy and then also complain when your resume is ignored because you make the mistakes I’m highlighting or refusing to adapt your approach. But it’s YOUR job to market yourself. Recruiters are still filling the job. Just not with you. (I don’t intend to come across snarky here, but I’m highlighting the reality of recruiting. You can like it or not and it wont change anything)
@ALifeAfterLayoff I know; I've played the game; I don't get to choose the rules. I just have to say it's stupid though, and the game should change. You should be looking at people's resumes because that's what you're paid to do. If it's hard, if it takes time, so what? That's what a job is. In my opinion, far too much power is given to the recruiter, and it's made them picky and lazy. It's like you need to bring them McDonald's because "that's the candidate's job." You can fill in the blank with any absurdity you like there. I'm certain plenty of good people slip through the cracks out of laziness. If I'm managing a bunch of recruiters, why shouldn't I slap them upside the head for not taking the time to find the best candidate?
@@pondering1716 Ultimately, recruiting is not that crucial of a role at the moment. No one really cares if you got the best candidate who applied or not as long as the person you hire can do the job.
@vyaas_v So you're saying they could be doing a better job but they're not? Maybe anyone struggling to find a job should apply to be a recruiter then - seems pretty easy to provide a better service
@@pondering1716 I'm trying to say that there is no incentive in finding the best candidate. If it's any sports team, they want to scout the best player and if they don't do a good job, their rivals succeed but the same scenario is not applicable for the vast majority of job seekers. There is literally no way to tell if a recruiter hired the best candidate or not. The only way I can think of is keeping track of how other candidates have progressed in their career to the employee you hired over a period of time and check if they have missed out on a great employee or not. For instance, my friend is working as a hardware engineer and he applied to so many companies, even mid and small range companies. They all rejected him, either in one of the interview rounds or didn't even bother to call him for an interview. A month or so later, he got a job in Google. This clearly shows that he is capable and atleast warranted an interview but the recruiters missed out for various reasons.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff Yes, it makes sense But currently, job positions are bombarded with hundreds of applications anyways. It'd feel like a waste of soul-time to customize each CV for a bet in the roulette.
Please don't gaslight the audience by calling it "lazy" or "uncomfortable" to not do customization every time. The amount of nonsense barriers before your resume reaches a human, and the sheer volume of applications you need sometimes before you find a job, is exhausting.
You're clearly giving mixed messages. You said in another video not too long ago that the job market is broken and recruiters are being unrealistic about their hiring practices. Now you're saying it's our resumes. News flash, a lot of us (including me), have done all of that (customization, not cluttered, buzz words, etc) and still aren't even being considered. Recruiters/HR are just inundated with job applicants. I can't even get a job with the same title or a step above. Hell, I even directly reached out to a recruiter and he said that he was impressed that I reached out to him and that he would push my application/resume to HR. After that, crickets. I could've been rejected for things that had nothing to do with my resume: geography (I'm in Los Angeles when they are in Iowa) or asking for too much money (range is 64-110, I wanted 86). So, there could be a whole slew of reasons why people aren't getting called when it has nothing to do with the resume, even it matches 90+%.
The job market is broken...but you still need to market yourself. Think of it as the Hunger Games, and you need the best weapon. (maybe a bad analogy, IDK)
@@ALifeAfterLayoff I think that's a cop out. I don't think we have never had to market ourselves before; we've always have had to. But I understand that the job market has gotten super competitive and we're all fighting for scraps. Recruiters/hiring managers don't know what they're doing (especially with job descriptions) and that's translating to applicants not knowing what to do.
HR is the weakest functional group in every business. If you can’t make it in any other functional group, try HR. Sad but true. This guy lives up to the HR reputation.
Soon AI will be able to read thousands of CVs in seconds. You HR people, with your rock solid "5 seconds" work ethic will be made finally redundant, forever. Becuse you know what? I would rather have AI reading (scanning) through ALL the CVs, than having a lousy human ignoring half of it and making vidoes about how hard their life is in the office! Lets bring AI in I say.
A recruiter suppose to read the resume and hire based on what is in there and now how it is written, it is not a writing skills test... period...Your damn job is to read not glace for 5 seconds, they are paying you damn for it.
Any data indicating that your templates or the ones in Word are any better than a 'nice looking' one? This all sounds like a personal preference to me - and frankly, who cares what it looks like. If an ATS can;t read resumes formatted in one or more of the typical established formats, then it's not fit for purpose. How did htey even sell a program that doesn't work properly? It's on the person buying and using that software to procure something which actually does what you need it to do. Does the recruiting world seriously expect every single applicant across the world to work within the limitations of their shitty software, just to have a hope of getting an interview? Pathetic
1. DON'T put two columns or multiple things per line (for the ATS) 2. DON'T put it into the one column format. 3. DON'T mention transferrable skills. 4. DON'T have that short 'Who I Am' paragraph at the top introducing who you are as a person and a prospective employee and member of the workplace culture. ... 5. I DON'T know why I'm subscribed to this channel. All I ever hear from you is DON'T without hearing any positives. After you revert to one column, it's going to look like the thing you crossed out, dude, come on! And if you remove the personality paragraph from the beginning as well as the single column as well as the transferrable skills all you're left with is a business card worth of data - perhaps less because you don't even get to have a slogan like "Consistency, accuracy and data integrity!" on this half-page vision of yours. This find a new job stuff obviously stirs a lot of frustration and temper from people including me, it's so VERY inconvenient, reminding me that my life never turned out the way I expected it to no matter which way I turned and I will never EVER get to that imaginary 'there'. People feeling like shite don't need to hear a bunch of DON'Ts, they need to hear moralising stuff about what they CAN DO. So while I'm already feeling like dogspit, here you are to say DON'T on everything and you can't even offer some solace or comraderie in the misery. FACT CHECK: buzz words are picked up by the online recruitment portals so they DO COUNT when they are trying to match you up to new job openings. Make sure your profile on your recruitment portal profiles is accurate because when you upload a new resume it can double add and confuse some of the data. I don't know if employers would ever read that stuff but regardless it's pretty gross if you don't give it enough attention. Also the single column WILL probably help with ATS if the portals are anything to go by. And you can go halfway on lazy and hav a differently tailored resume ready to go for each different type of job you're trying for. Make sure you answer the job advertisement in your cover letter. Doing these things should make a positive difference... much unlike this video. Unsubscribed. I could make a better video on this topic. That's how bad this video is.
Some I'd add: 1. Do NOT include your address. First, the recruiter or hiring manager can now see how long your commute is and they are more likely to toss your resume if they feel it's too long. Second, you don't know who is receiving the resume and there are psychos in the workplace. Finally third they can potentially profile you simply based on where you live. 2. Use a second phone number strictly for work. Like I mentioned before, there are psychos in the workplace and you don't want them to know your personal number that would be a LOT harder to change. 3. If you have a name like LeSean, DeSean, LaMichael, etc. drop the first two letters to prevent any racial profiling.
The hell they aren’t. Being a butt hurt unemployed wyt guy doesn’t mean someone with a name like that isn’t getting it way worse than you because they are because riddle me this: when was the last time you worked with anyone with a name like that? There’s literal data that shows people are forgoing unique names so their kids can be hired in the future. Gtfo.
If you are not under 50 years old you have no chance of getting a job. This guy is clueless!!!! Just write a good s resume and at 63 employers will hire you. Give me a break!!! This guy is clueless!!!!!
@ALifeAfterLayoff Have you ever had a person looking for a job, where the job was visible to you for the company they currently work for? e.g. person X works for company Y, and in your job search (for them) see that company Y has "anonymously" started searching for their position without person X knowing?
Learn how to write a better resume here: www.alifeafterlayoff.com/career-resume-training-courses/
One thing that I could add that HR no longer looks at resumes, they just sent them to relevant departments. Agencies even don’t care, they just parse, this is true
Recruiters look at resumes. I and my entire team spent all day reading resumes.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff your team is your business, like me while working in business/startup company. Size matters. Soon HR will no longer exist in terms of making decisions. A lot of agencies just provide a CVs then it goes to related persons and decisions made by them not by recruiters. Final decision is not done by team of recruiters that what I want to say. All your advices works on the first step to get parsed by recruitment agencies no more (in this video)
Every business is different. The recruiter for the agency I work for conducts the initial screening process for all applicants. If they meet the initial requirements of the position, the applicants resume is then forwarded to the appropriate hiring manager where their resume is reviewed, and the hiring manager will schedule an interview.
@@ALifeAfterLayoffdo you actually read them or do you just hazily glance at the 2% of resumes for a few seconds that made it past the ATS?
Its all about WHO YOU KNOW NOWADAYS
It's not even that; it's who you blow.
or who "likes" you
@@jackcarraway4707 And that’s why we have Harris
It always has been. You don't need to know hot shot people to get something good
I understand the last point, but if you see the position open time and time again, it really makes you wonder what the hell they are looking for
probably a ghost listing
Purchased your resume rocket fuel, it was definitely worth it. I finally landed my dream job with a great company- Thank you
Great to hear and glad it worked!
@@ALifeAfterLayoff I completely redid my resume and LinkedIn profile, using your template and suggestions. I have much experience and knowledge but my resume was long and wordy. I have for a very long time wanted to be a FTE at a great company, since 2000 I have been a consultant. I am so excited and pleased with my new position, just started on Monday
I try to keep my resume job bullets to 3-5 at a time. I notice if there’s an older person recruiting that oldschool way works better. But a lot of the time I have to adapt for the younger people.
Now that I have the bachelor degree I’ll let the job/volunteer experience I have speak for itself.
The number of bullet points shouldn't matter - it's more what the quality of them are.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff True. I look good on paper. It’s just the interview part and the “working interview” part that I often get lost in the cracks.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff One common question I don’t believe was addressed was if it’s frowned upon to have a one page resume vs. being continued on two or more pages. Thoughts?
great tips! making some of these changes today!
Video was very helpful, I think one thing that would really make it stellar is if you could include some more quick examples of what to do and what not to do for your points. Some of them you mention a bad example, like the fluff words versus actionable words, and I am left wondering what a good example is of what to do. Thank you for the video
I don't think I'm alone in this but in addition to posting fake, phantom or ghost jobs, companies are now using candidates to create presentations inclusive of elaborate strategic entry plans, to only retrieve the document / plan and ultimately ghost the candidate. This is insidious!!!
yeah they've been doing that a while. I remember at the end of GFC around 2010 a couple hiring managers were adamant about me sending training content and other materials, like they were clueless in their current role and needed the material to jumpstart things.
Would you go over Cover Letter tips?
Don't do them. I'd only do one if there's something in your background you really need to explain that isn't conveyed by your resume alone. But generally a waste of time I think.
@@bobbobertson7568 I agree but many employers ask for both.
Thank you, I appreciate you
When I first saw the thumbnail and saw below "resume", "stop doing this" I thought you were going to tell us not to bother applying for jobs anymore because everything's gone to crap lol
Thank you!!!! I needed this.
love the background LP!
When I hear your voice I always think how Michael Scott hates Toby so much and it totally makes sense.
Why do you watch then? Makes no sense at all.
When you’re a graphic designer creating those outdated resumes and also applying for graphic design jobs 🥺… this helps a lot, thanks!
The best part would be write simple resume yet make catchy one and include the keywords u worked for...that would be easy for HRs to recognise your potential
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A very important excerpt from Resume Rocket Fuel!
@ALifeAfterLayoff One question I don’t believe was mentioned was if it’s frowned upon to have a one page resume vs. being continued on two or more pages. Thoughts?
Two pages is fine, I would keep it to two tops. For younger people or people who have a minimal work history, one page is fine.
Don't get hung up on the number of pages - but rather the quality of the content. If you need 2 pages to tell your story effectively (and concisely), then go for it. I'd avoid anything longer, not because it will be rejected, but rather it tells me you have too much junk in there.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff Thank you! Valid points.
Takeout:
- don't use templates, stick to a simple one-column format with just one or two colours. why? Applicant Tracking Systems don't parse them well.
- don't use terms that are measureless, like "team player"
- don't use terms that are only known to your organization.
- and most importantly: customize your resume to the job that you're applying for.
Does the college education matter? when you get a degree or not? can you make a video or send me a ink of one addressing the education part on a resume. thanks.
Can you make a video on salary negotiations.
Good tips, but then comes the next long step. Had an interview today, It all started with a phone interview over 1 week ago. Had the interview, the HR said that IF i make it further I will have one more interview with the sales manager to get to know more of the team. On top of that I was going to give references IF i make it to next step. So three interviews for a regular inside sales job. Decided not to continue the process since it takes way too long and I will most likely not get it anyways.
Besides I think Lifeafterlayoff is not a huge fan of references himself?
With those long text blocks, I genuinely don't know how to fix that. I use two services that scan my resume to make it compatible with job posts, and despite going for very similar jobs each time, the systems tell me to insert around 10 new keywords each time. One service even recommends whole sentences to insert but never adjusts my score up OR down based on the length of the experience section. I do get recommendations to trim things like summaries, but never the pullet points. So what should I be aiming for? Short and to the point, or cramming in keywords/sentences? I'm already at 76 applications, with 19 rejections, and 0 interview requests in the past two weeks of a new search.
AI resume services can help make your resume more customized, but it may just be easier to do it yourself.
Protip, The resume acts also as a way to filter potential employers/customers. If they can't read it, they won't be reading anything else.
Need to check if resume is machine readable. Not always it is, as PDFs are created differently depending on software
I actually have a question; I am trying to start a side busines, and am only looking for part time jobs right now. However, whenever I'm asked why I am looking for part time I DON'T want to tell them this. I usually just say it aligns with my lifestyle right now. HOWEVER, I realize I'm throwing people off when I talk like that. Some employers are REALLY trying to ploy the answer out of me (which I am refusing, which pisses them off and I dodge a bullet). How do I respond to this question while keeping my goal to myself?
@@vigglarodz u could make something up like u have people at home to care for
Recruiters don't like side hustle. Don't mention your little side-business if you want to get hired! An interview is about THEM! The company. How you fit them. It's not about YOU and your side-stuff.
@@istvantoth7431 I asked what I should do because I DON'T want to tell them that. It's none of their business. Please reread the comment if you want to give advice. Otherwise, go away.
The answer you don't want to hear is to start your side business while working a full-time job.
@@SnowSunFun That's what the plan originally was- but I was having trouble landing interviews for any full time jobs in my area. So I kind of just gave up on those for now.
My resume is still long…4 pages. I reduced it to 4 but it’s sounding like I need to reduce further to 2 pages. I’ve been in the nuclear industry for over 20 years so I’ll have to summarize anything beyond 10 years.
I listed I’m a published author and own 2 UA-cam channels but removing this after listening to you.
Great info you’ve provided. Thanks
Consider reducing roles to just keywords. Only your two most recent roles need descriptive text. The exception here is if there's an achievement on a past role that you have hard numbers for such as "Improve efficiency by 10%" (obviously better than that)
@@codeman99-dev ok. Do you at least summarize the last 8-10 jobs after the 2 most recent jobs?
How do we reconcile keeping the resume concise but still trying to hit the keywords they are looking for on their ATS? To me, if your resume doesn't hit enough keywords on their ATS, humans will never read them. So we should try to get as many words in as possible. True?
Shame on you as an Employee if you really spend 5 secs on getting familiar with someone's resume. No wonder literally everyone hates HR.
@@petofisanyi2420 this was my first thought too. If a recruiter only spends 5 second on a resume, it sounds like they aren't doing their job. No wonder they are being replaced by ATS. It's probably just as good as they are at guessing what the hiring managers are looking for.
I would agree with this.
Lmao, cry more noob.
your resume is not The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner. be sincere
7:27 - 7:32
you could put all the key words in white that are cheesy. the software will pick it up, but they won't be visually present.
Unless they are only graphics, "white" characters will be picked up by the ATS. Font color won't matter.
Keyword "stuffing" doesn't work.
I served in the military for 20 years. Should I just summarize that somewhere, or list it like my other jobs? Listing it as it is now makes it hard to keep the resume to the recommended 2 pages, but I'm an executive, so it's hard to stay at 2 pages anyway without leaving out something that may be important. Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
I do contract work which lasts a short 1-3 years per contract, and I'm hired through recruiters. However, going THROUGH recruiters NEVER worked for me. What works is reaching out to the company directly, not on their job board or HR department, but rather to a hiring manager. What you want is for the hiring manager to redirect your resume to HR or the recruiter. If your cover letter / resume is good they will request HR or the recruiter include you in the interviews. Keep in mind in-house HR and outsourced recruiters are not the same thing. In the majority of cases recruiters pre-screen based on a mathematical equation of (job requirement * years of experience, + education), they award points and whoever has the most points get presented to the hiring manager. Whereas HR want the to see quantitative results in your work experience and ensure you are a good fit with company culture.
Bryan, I personally love your videos and I'm writing this as I'm watching it on my TV so don't take this as I am saying it to you. If you and Madeline came to Wisconsin (preferably Appleton or Green Bay...please and thank you) I would be there in a heartbeat!! You'd rank right up there with John G Miller and David Goggins....for obviously different reasons...lol.
While this no doubt differs somewhat to what you did in your former corporate position, my role as a recruiter (on top of my Driver Manager duties) at Swift Transportation, I have come to the conclusion that there should be a couple different assortments when making piles. As I said, it's probably a little bit different for me but I think as a whole, it's not just a black & white decision so to say. I could give multiple examples of people who did something earlier in their career but if that recruiter doesn't see that's the previous job or even two before that; or even if there are transferable skills; that is pure laziness.
I have gotten former Lawyers, Doctors, Police Officers, Cooks, Hair Stylists, Sales Professionals and Shipping & Receiving Managers that wanted to drive a truck for whatever reason. That's just the short list and the last one would technically be the most qualified by their resume because of their familiarity around semis and route scheduling on a daily basis.
If I were to look at these people's resumes where technically I would see nothing that I would call "transferable" to truck driving, and don't offer them a chance to get their CDL through our school -- that in itself eliminates at least 50% of potential drivers and I shouldn't be in that position because of my incompetence.
Personally, I'd rather have an electrician come in for 3-4 months and then call me to say he's going back to being an electrician because his job was called back, like the professional he is ....instead of an abandoned truck that needs to be recovered who knows where. That is actually something that happened and he became my electrician on my remodeling project a few years back, and we still talk to this day.
I see a massive problem with recruiting in HR and what companies are trying to push with all this woke inclusive equity garbage. There are places where I live in N.E. Wisconsin that are paying $26-29 an hour for just a forklift/material handling positions that literally can't keep people. It goes up the chain too with the Warehouse Coordinators and Warehouse Supervisors...they're not growing; I keep track of this stuff because I've thought about applying for all of them -- on a 2-2-3 schedule with 1 day of OT each week, I would literally make twice what I make now and that's including my bonuses. Something I did in my positions prior to becoming a Driver Manager and Recruiter -- but I would most certainly be overlooked the way these companies are hiring even though I could get on any forklift put in front of me; at McCain Foods as a Materials Coordinator for Shipping, myself and the Receiving Coordinator ran the Train the Trainer program for our shift. Based on what I see from recruiters and hear from so many people -- it's too much work for them to look 2 employers down my resume. I've hear of people applying online and also going to the employer to drop it off physically; only to receive a "virtual interview" and then rejected. Virtual is a ridiculous idea should have never been a thing because the world was afraid of a cold... and personally, I think it's absolutely lazy on the part of these companies still pushing that kind of nonsense. What if someone only has a flip phone? No internet, or even just a house phone? Should they be disqualified because they don't want a smart phone or have a need for internet? Believe it or not, those people do exist and they don't deserve to be counted out for such reasons.
I see all the complaints and almost always, it seem to blame management for one reason or another. That most certainly has something to do with it, no doubt, but there is also the problem with who is actually getting hired and the lack of personal accountability those people have. The HR staff that's doing the hiring clearly are just putting candidates through because of this ridiculous ideology with "equity and inclusion" instead of going after people who are far more qualified. Inclusion and anything race, gender or whatever else doesn't need to be said in 2024 but if that person is being picked over someone who is CLEARLY more qualified based on those reasons -- that is a HUGE part of the retention problem.
Maybe places like this will finally figure it out when they start going under because every turnover is at least $5000 -- by then, it'll be too late. The one I'm talking about in particular is a $500 million a year company when it should be 5 billion a year -- it's a coffee company for godsake! 😆 Most of the adult world LOVES their coffee...
Honestly, I am seriously considering starting a side business as a consultant to get these CEOs, Presidents and HR people to remove their heads from their @$$ and learn about how to actually retain their people -- it's clear that something different has to be done because what they're doing is not working. It's not just this company, it's everywhere across the board. If it gets to the point where automation & robots take all the jobs because they can't retain anyone; what the hell do we need them for? Their job is gone too so this is something everyone in those positions need to start thinking about.
For anyone who's struggling trying to fit their whole resume consider printing on both sides if it HAS to be a physical copy -- It took work, some finagling with the formatting, but I was able to fit 4 employers with a good number of bullets from the year 2000 to present on the front page; including extra education & training I've done for myself. Initially when I redid my resume years ago, I had a professional's help and have kept the same format since. The last time I was looking about two years ago -- I had no problem getting interviews and had two offers that were pretty good; they just weren't the right fit and it's not worth leaving a company I've been at almost a decade if it doesn't sit right in my gut. Reading some of the comments; I wonder if I would have the same luck and kind of want to try it out just to see what happens.
Its not WHO you know anymore, its WHO KNOWS you
Do you have a video talking about horizontal pullet point on Skill or Certification section? Like those side by side bullets.
And about links, should links contain the whole URL showing on the resume or can I just enter the name of the platform as a clickable link? For instance, having the word LinkedIn as a link as opposed to the whole URL as a link. Just let me know if you have a video like that and I'll look for it.
Thank you.
No charts or tables. You can add "LinkedIn" as a clickable link to your profile.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff Ohh good to know, that's also considering tables, thank you so much for your attention.
Is PDF better than Word for scanning?
For the fluffy terminology part, team player, organizational skills etc. you said that you will access that during the interview. Can you make a video on that to see what tactics you or anyone would use. All that information would be a gold mine
The elaborate vocabulary is to get past ATS, not to impress anyone
Great video but honestly it has triggered huge amounts of frustration as it looks like he keeps rejecting almost everything which is otherwise contemporary.
In hindsight, I could have watched before writing my long comment but things like this HAVE to start being addressed. It's possible someone like myself will read it, have similar thoughts, and an idea will be sparked by something I said. There are relevant points made here but I think these ATS systems are also overused when they don't need to be. Overall -- Great tips; maybe you could give a few more examples to those who just can't afford your program at the moment. I can honestly say that if I would start applying again and didn't have the success I had previously, I'd would be all over that as soon as possible....before I couldn't afford it.
Alberta here 3 am moon 🌙 stressed and worried can’t sleep. 💤 can you go over some examples of a cover letter. Places here seem to put more weight on the cover letter. Even seen write 3 points on how our requirements fit your specific skill credentials degree. As example. Also please do a mock up of bad poor cover letters and poor bad resumes. That is another way to teach instead of do and don’t. Not trashing you but as an RN instructor I found samples worked well with adult learners seeing if they could pick out the glaring mistakes vs subtle errors. I heard some are not reading past the cover letter. Thanks for your help. I appreciated the time and hard work preparing these videos. Can you do one on setting boundaries on unreasonable workload almost 24/7 like the boss got you and working you to death No union in finance in mid pay mgr job involves too too much travel in Canada said at interview. Some travel once a mt. Travelling via air and car almost every week Am looking feels like I ppay you this salary so I expect you 16 hr days when not travelling. To answer all emails 24/7 Any ideas 8:34
Hey, what is your best advice for someone struggling to get into tech jobs? I tried to apply a lot of IT jobs and couldn’t land a single role. I ended up taking an offer at my university as a testing specialist at their testing and learning center for the time being until I can find something better. I’m going to refine my tech skills and at same time gain experience while still finding a better opportunity. Maybe seek out a certification or two. Maybe I could transfer to my school’s IT department if an opening is available.
I appreciate finding your channel. I’m still learning as a fresh graduate out of college. I have gotten a bit better at my interviewing skills after landing an offer at my school, but there’s always room for improvement for both resume and interviewing skills.
What would a recruiter for an MBB like to see?
Do you have a coupon code for your resume template?
Well done as usual! Thank you.
I tried multiple layouts and found that AI SUCKs at reading even the most important key words!
It can't find my highest level of education, my contact information, etc. Plus, the one thing that really pisses me off is when I have to select something from a list on the application form and nothing fits, or they fail to write in the job description which field a generic occupation is (e.g. Quality Control or Project Manager). I keep getting job postings recommended that have nothing to do with my specialisation (I'm a chemist and get job recommendations for programmers and electrotechnicians, etc.). Again, this seems to be the combination of bad AI and data input.
Does anyone know how much it costs to write a CV in the United States and England??
for free if you use AI, make sure you reference the job posting and resume so that the CV makes sense
If a potential employer asks me to demonstrate my organizational skills, what's the right answer?
As many relevant examples as you can think of.
• Financial institution? How do you organize your bills? How do you organize your calendar?
• Custodian role? How do you organize your cleaning tools? How do you know when to order new chemicals? How do you keep track of keys? Do you label stuff?
I always find it funny how you talk about giving a 5 second glance over resumes. To me, to a certain extent, it just sounds like your lazy and you want people to cater to your laziness; and you can do so because you're in a position of power. "Oh I have so many resumes to go over." Yeah, read them, that's your job.
The recruiter’s job is to find candidates for the job, not the other way around. Keep that in mind.
It’s easy to call a recruiter lazy and then also complain when your resume is ignored because you make the mistakes I’m highlighting or refusing to adapt your approach.
But it’s YOUR job to market yourself. Recruiters are still filling the job. Just not with you.
(I don’t intend to come across snarky here, but I’m highlighting the reality of recruiting. You can like it or not and it wont change anything)
@ALifeAfterLayoff I know; I've played the game; I don't get to choose the rules. I just have to say it's stupid though, and the game should change. You should be looking at people's resumes because that's what you're paid to do. If it's hard, if it takes time, so what? That's what a job is. In my opinion, far too much power is given to the recruiter, and it's made them picky and lazy. It's like you need to bring them McDonald's because "that's the candidate's job." You can fill in the blank with any absurdity you like there. I'm certain plenty of good people slip through the cracks out of laziness. If I'm managing a bunch of recruiters, why shouldn't I slap them upside the head for not taking the time to find the best candidate?
@@pondering1716 Ultimately, recruiting is not that crucial of a role at the moment. No one really cares if you got the best candidate who applied or not as long as the person you hire can do the job.
@vyaas_v So you're saying they could be doing a better job but they're not? Maybe anyone struggling to find a job should apply to be a recruiter then - seems pretty easy to provide a better service
@@pondering1716 I'm trying to say that there is no incentive in finding the best candidate. If it's any sports team, they want to scout the best player and if they don't do a good job, their rivals succeed but the same scenario is not applicable for the vast majority of job seekers.
There is literally no way to tell if a recruiter hired the best candidate or not. The only way I can think of is keeping track of how other candidates have progressed in their career to the employee you hired over a period of time and check if they have missed out on a great employee or not.
For instance, my friend is working as a hardware engineer and he applied to so many companies, even mid and small range companies. They all rejected him, either in one of the interview rounds or didn't even bother to call him for an interview.
A month or so later, he got a job in Google. This clearly shows that he is capable and atleast warranted an interview but the recruiters missed out for various reasons.
Hard to make simple resumes knowing so many technologies in IT and had done too many advanced things, also for the certs
Focus on what the job posting you're applying to is asking for.
@@ALifeAfterLayoff Yes, it makes sense
But currently, job positions are bombarded with hundreds of applications anyways. It'd feel like a waste of soul-time to customize each CV for a bet in the roulette.
I would rather submit 50 modified resumes for a 86% interview rate than submit 200 same resumes for a 46% interview rate
@@flippy1589 86% interview rates, nice one. Neurosurgeon?
Please don't gaslight the audience by calling it "lazy" or "uncomfortable" to not do customization every time. The amount of nonsense barriers before your resume reaches a human, and the sheer volume of applications you need sometimes before you find a job, is exhausting.
There can be exceptions...I had a recruiter tell me that my QA Analyst resume needed to be more detailed...and I mean detailed!
You're clearly giving mixed messages. You said in another video not too long ago that the job market is broken and recruiters are being unrealistic about their hiring practices. Now you're saying it's our resumes. News flash, a lot of us (including me), have done all of that (customization, not cluttered, buzz words, etc) and still aren't even being considered. Recruiters/HR are just inundated with job applicants.
I can't even get a job with the same title or a step above. Hell, I even directly reached out to a recruiter and he said that he was impressed that I reached out to him and that he would push my application/resume to HR. After that, crickets. I could've been rejected for things that had nothing to do with my resume: geography (I'm in Los Angeles when they are in Iowa) or asking for too much money (range is 64-110, I wanted 86). So, there could be a whole slew of reasons why people aren't getting called when it has nothing to do with the resume, even it matches 90+%.
The job market is broken...but you still need to market yourself. Think of it as the Hunger Games, and you need the best weapon. (maybe a bad analogy, IDK)
@@ALifeAfterLayoff I think that's a cop out. I don't think we have never had to market ourselves before; we've always have had to. But I understand that the job market has gotten super competitive and we're all fighting for scraps. Recruiters/hiring managers don't know what they're doing (especially with job descriptions) and that's translating to applicants not knowing what to do.
Remember: Brian is an HR person. Being wishy washy and not being straightforward is a requirement for the field.
@@JSolar590 can you help me get a job. No? Next!
@@ALifeAfterLayoffNah, it's the charismatic people that know how to BS effectively or the CEO's kid 😂
With temporary workers 🇨🇦 it doesn't matter if i had the best resume in the world, there aren't jobs.
HR is the weakest functional group in every business. If you can’t make it in any other functional group, try HR. Sad but true. This guy lives up to the HR reputation.
Soon AI will be able to read thousands of CVs in seconds. You HR people, with your rock solid "5 seconds" work ethic will be made finally redundant, forever. Becuse you know what? I would rather have AI reading (scanning) through ALL the CVs, than having a lousy human ignoring half of it and making vidoes about how hard their life is in the office! Lets bring AI in I say.
A recruiter suppose to read the resume and hire based on what is in there and now how it is written, it is not a writing skills test... period...Your damn job is to read not glace for 5 seconds, they are paying you damn for it.
Any data indicating that your templates or the ones in Word are any better than a 'nice looking' one? This all sounds like a personal preference to me - and frankly, who cares what it looks like.
If an ATS can;t read resumes formatted in one or more of the typical established formats, then it's not fit for purpose. How did htey even sell a program that doesn't work properly? It's on the person buying and using that software to procure something which actually does what you need it to do.
Does the recruiting world seriously expect every single applicant across the world to work within the limitations of their shitty software, just to have a hope of getting an interview? Pathetic
forest whiteaker
1. DON'T put two columns or multiple things per line (for the ATS)
2. DON'T put it into the one column format.
3. DON'T mention transferrable skills.
4. DON'T have that short 'Who I Am' paragraph at the top introducing who you are as a person and a prospective employee and member of the workplace culture.
...
5. I DON'T know why I'm subscribed to this channel. All I ever hear from you is DON'T without hearing any positives. After you revert to one column, it's going to look like the thing you crossed out, dude, come on! And if you remove the personality paragraph from the beginning as well as the single column as well as the transferrable skills all you're left with is a business card worth of data - perhaps less because you don't even get to have a slogan like "Consistency, accuracy and data integrity!" on this half-page vision of yours.
This find a new job stuff obviously stirs a lot of frustration and temper from people including me, it's so VERY inconvenient, reminding me that my life never turned out the way I expected it to no matter which way I turned and I will never EVER get to that imaginary 'there'. People feeling like shite don't need to hear a bunch of DON'Ts, they need to hear moralising stuff about what they CAN DO. So while I'm already feeling like dogspit, here you are to say DON'T on everything and you can't even offer some solace or comraderie in the misery.
FACT CHECK: buzz words are picked up by the online recruitment portals so they DO COUNT when they are trying to match you up to new job openings. Make sure your profile on your recruitment portal profiles is accurate because when you upload a new resume it can double add and confuse some of the data. I don't know if employers would ever read that stuff but regardless it's pretty gross if you don't give it enough attention. Also the single column WILL probably help with ATS if the portals are anything to go by. And you can go halfway on lazy and hav a differently tailored resume ready to go for each different type of job you're trying for. Make sure you answer the job advertisement in your cover letter. Doing these things should make a positive difference... much unlike this video.
Unsubscribed. I could make a better video on this topic. That's how bad this video is.
Some I'd add:
1. Do NOT include your address. First, the recruiter or hiring manager can now see how long your commute is and they are more likely to toss your resume if they feel it's too long. Second, you don't know who is receiving the resume and there are psychos in the workplace. Finally third they can potentially profile you simply based on where you live.
2. Use a second phone number strictly for work. Like I mentioned before, there are psychos in the workplace and you don't want them to know your personal number that would be a LOT harder to change.
3. If you have a name like LeSean, DeSean, LaMichael, etc. drop the first two letters to prevent any racial profiling.
The shaniquads aren't the ones being profiled against anymore.
It's true. Change job, change number. But now many ask for references from the old job
I refuse to remove my name. It just shows that an organization is that petty based on name, no thanks
The hell they aren’t. Being a butt hurt unemployed wyt guy doesn’t mean someone with a name like that isn’t getting it way worse than you because they are because riddle me this: when was the last time you worked with anyone with a name like that? There’s literal data that shows people are forgoing unique names so their kids can be hired in the future. Gtfo.
Nothing
Dang people sure can get downright mean with their comments. 😅
If you are not under 50 years old you have no chance of getting a job. This guy is clueless!!!! Just write a good s resume and at 63 employers will hire you. Give me a break!!! This guy is clueless!!!!!
@ALifeAfterLayoff Have you ever had a person looking for a job, where the job was visible to you for the company they currently work for? e.g. person X works for company Y, and in your job search (for them) see that company Y has "anonymously" started searching for their position without person X knowing?