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How to Write a Resume to Increase Salary

Just about every job that pays better than the minimum wage will want a resume for your application.  If you are applying for a job that requires an application, the best thing is to be ready with all of your information and to write neatly.  You can put together a good resume if you work at it.  You can hire professionals to help you out in the process and prices can average around $125 for a cover letter and resume.

The cover letter is a brief introduction of yourself and is a lead into your resume.  It is a quick statement as to why you would be perfect for the position that you are applying for and should be short and to the point.  Do not write about anything about yourself that might be negative.  Put your best foot forward and be positive but also keep it simple.

It is not recommended to state salary requirements on the cover letter.  If a company requires you to list your previous salaries you can state a historical salary range. You should also mention that you are willing to be flexible on the salary if you see working for their company is an opportunity.  If you are not able to work on a smaller salary you might not want to tell them you are flexible.
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Maximize Your Internet Job Search

We frequently hear from job-seekers who are frustrated with job-hunting on the Internet. (See our article Are the Major Job Boards All They’re Cracked Up to Be? Observers and Users Speak Out). They have posted their resume on the major job boards or searched for and responded to job postings — but have heard nothing back from employers.

Let’s face it — the sheer volume of resumes and job postings on the major job boards like Monster.com (about 35,000 resumes a day for Monster) make it hard for the individual job-seeker to get an employer’s attention. When the Internet began to be widely used in the mid-1990s, it seemed as though it would be a magic bullet for job-hunting. And, while the Internet makes many aspects of job-hunting a lot easier than they used to be, it also means that employers are being inundated with responses to their job postings. A single job ad can attract thousands of applicants. Add to the mix a souring economy, and you have a lot of job-seekers who are fed up with Internet job-hunting. The aim of this article is to help you get the most out of job-searching on the ‘Net and to make you aware of Internet job-search techniques you may not have known about.
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Art of phone interviews

Q. I’ve heard that some employers conduct telephone interviews before deciding which job applicants they will meet in person.

Why do they do this? How can I prepare for a telephone interview?

I’ve applied for several jobs. I’m worried that an employer might call at an awkward time and I’ll stumble over my responses to whatever questions are asked.

A. Telephone interviews are an inexpensive method for reducing the size of an applicant pool. They save money and they save time.

Some telephone interviews are brief. By asking just a few questions an employer can determine whether an applicant has skills and experience worth pursuing.

Others are lengthy and thorough. This is most likely to occur if the applicant pool is small.

You don’t need to fear being caught off guard. Most interviewers will contact you in advance to arrange for an interview time that is mutually convenient. If an interviewer does call, expecting to interview you immediately, and it is a bad time for you, say so and suggest an alternate time.
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A recruiter comes clean

Brad Karsh has thrown away stacks of resumes with barely a glance.

He has judged people in an instant, based on what they were wearing and the strength of their handshake.

And he still expected them to send him a thank-you note.

World-class jerk? Nah, just a former recruiting director. And if you’re looking for your first job, you might want to listen to what he has to say.

His book, “Confessions of a Recruiting Director: The Insider’s Guide to Landing Your First Job” (Prentice Hall Press, April 2006), walks recent grads through the basic steps of getting that first job, including writing a good resume and cover letters, networking, interviewing and what comes after.
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Ten Reasons for Not Accepting A Counter Offer
Ten Reasons for Not Accepting A Counter Offer
1. Question how much the company actually values what you do. Would they have made the counter-offer if you were not leaving?

2. From where is the money for the counter-offer coming? Is it your next raise early? (All companies have strict wage and salary guidelines which must be followed).

3. Your company will immediately start looking for a new person at a lower salary price.

4. Your loyalty will always be in question in the future.

5. When promotion time comes around, your employer will remember who was loyal, and who wasn’t.

6. When times get tough, your employer will begin the cutback with you.

7. The same circumstances that now cause you to consider a change will repeat themselves in the future, even if you accept a counteroffer.

8. Statistics show that if you accept a counteroffer, the probability of voluntarily leaving in six months or being let go within one year is extremely high.

9. Accepting a counteroffer is an insult to your intelligence and a blow to your personal pride, knowing that you were bought.

10. Once the word gets out, the relationship that you now enjoy with your co-workers will never be the same. You will lose the personal satisfaction of peer group acceptance.

Get job, not fleeced

With a click of your mouse, you can post your résumé for millions to see. You can store five different cover letters at once and send out different versions without printing a single page. You can apply to hundreds of employers without ever getting in a car or picking up the phone.

You can also expose yourself to scammers.

Some con artists use the popularity of online job boards to find victims for their financial schemes. By scouring through résumés and sending e-mails to job seekers, or posting their own ads, scammers can lure job seekers onto bogus sites or entice them to pay upfront fees for phantom jobs.

It even happens on the big-name sites: Monster.com states in its “Be Safe” section that fraudulent job listings are sometimes posted to collect sensitive data from unwitting job seekers.
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Search for a new job won’t be a cakewalk

Question: For someone new to the job search, could you answer these three questions, please? What is the best way to find out who’s hiring? What is the best way to market myself to employers? What is your advice on the best approach to get employers to give a person an opportunity?

— Tyrone

Answer: You’ve hit on three key areas to address in an effective job search:

# Uncovering existing openings and hidden opportunities.

# Getting employers’ attention.

# Persuading them to hire you.

The answer to your first question, how to uncover openings and find out who’s hiring, is more involved than one might think. Many job seekers understandably yearn for a single source of job openings. Seems like a simple request, but nothing could be further from what you will find as you pursue opportunities.
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Job hopes flame out

A bartender looks for a new place to serve drinks because she wants to get as far away as possible from someone who was once near and dear. “Due to issues with my x-husband, it is time for me too move on,” she wrote.

A bodyguard wants work that “keeps me busy but at the same time, let’s me keep having a good time like I always have.”

A sales manager boasts that he “consistently tanked as top sales producer for new accounts.”

Welcome to the wacky side of employment recruiting, where it’s common for companies and employment agencies to encounter what former job recruiter Jon Reed calls “Resumes from Hell.”

Besides being the name of a book Reed co-wrote chronicling flubs spotted while he was hiring information technology workers, it’s the type of resumes Inland area recruiters and career counselors run across — typos, weird comments and all.
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How you can make a portfolio career work

“You should write a column about portfolio careers,” my breakfast companion Ed said.

Why?

“Because I think they are becoming more common, and the idea is especially appealing to baby boomers,” he said.

As we discussed it, I decided Ed was right. (Of course, we’re both boomers and portfolio careerists, so we have similar views on this.)

Broadly speaking, a portfolio career consists of doing several different jobs part time, all of which add up to full-time work.

For example, I am an executive coach, a writer, a facilitator, owner of a business, a public speaker and a salesman.

Some people work at a variety of jobs because they must, piecing together several sources of income to make ends meet.
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