Are Resumes Still Relevant in Today’s Job Market?

(11 Tips for Resume Writing)

It is crushing when we put in a great deal of time and effort in our resume, but we don’t get an interview or any acknowledgment it reached the intended recipient. We craft the resume, hoping that the potential employer will see the skills and value we will bring to the company.

With all the effort you put in, you might be wondering if resumes are still relevant in today’s job market. The quick answer is yes, and we’ll give you ample reasons as we cover how to write a resume that gets you the desired job.

Resume writing requires its own set of skills. Resume writing, like fashion, has trends that you need to be aware of if you want to be successful, whether you are actively looking for work or just curious about what’s out there.

You can increase your chances that your resume will be selected by hiring a resume writer. According to a quick online search, you can expect to pay $100 to $1000 for the service. If you’re seeking a corporate or high-paying job, the expense could be worth it. But if you’re on a budget, you may want to update your resume based on some tips from this article.

Here are 11 tips on how to write an effective resume and some resume trends to keep your eye on during your job search.

Resume Trends: What’s In, What’s Out

Resume writing has changed over time because of technology and other reasons, such as our views on what we consider discriminatory. 

Only a few decades ago, when we still mailed our resumes, we could resort to gimmicks such as selecting a color and style of paper that made our resumes stand out. (Think of the remarkable pink resume in Legally Blond.) 

Access to word processing programs and email have made it easier to design good-quality resumes that we can send to potential employers. In some countries, including your photo could get your resume thrown out for fear of discrimination based on your appearance. 

Despite the changes in trends, resumes are here to stay and are a bare basics summary of your work experience and work-related training. Here are some tips to follow writing an up-to-date resume.

Tip 1: Check the content of your resume is up to date for today’s trends

  • Use keywords that make the content searchable by resume AI
  • Only include the most recent ten years of experience, no more
  • Don’t say “References Available Upon Request”

Tip 2: Follow the trends in the industry and country where you seek employment

  • For some jobs, personalized logos, colorful palettes, and eye-catching designs are the key to getting hired (such as marketing jobs and design jobs), while less colorful designs are preferred in other industries
  • Some countries expect personal information on a resume (such as gender, nationality, and a photo), while others require less personal information (such as general location, mobile number, and no photo)

Tip 3: Follow general design trends

  • Lots of white space to keep the page easy on the eyes
  • Use action verbs to describe what you accomplished

Resume trends will continue to evolve over time, so whenever you need to update your resume, first, do your research. 

Resume Searchability and ATS 

Technology has greatly influenced the structure of resumes. Some companies use an ATS (Applicant Tracking System) to comb through the contents of your resume. In some cases, you could be qualified for the job, but your resume could be rejected before reaching human eyes.

The type of file you use, the formatting, and the keywords all affect the readability of your resume with this AI system. For this reason, you could preserve your resume’s appearance using a PDF file, but you should also consider a format that makes it AI friendly. If possible, you may want to upload both a PDF and an ATS compatible resume. Some additional tips:

Tip 1: Use standard text and formatting

  • Your text is easier to read if you use a Word or plain text file
  • Simple, round bullet points are easy to read
  • Standard headings such as Work History and Work Experience
  • Formatting such as tables, graphics, headers, and footers should be avoided. Putting your contact information in a header, for example, will make the information hard to read.

Tip 2: Optimize your content using keywords

  • Job titles and hard skills that match the job description increase the chances that your resume will be selected
  • Refer to your skills several times throughout your resume. The ATS determines your total years of experience at a skill by how you mention it in your resume. For example, if you worked as a social media manager at a company for three years, then you have three years of social media experience.

In addition to these tech-savvy considerations, the content of your resume affects your chances of getting hired.

Resume Content that Showcases Your Skills

Resume writing, like many things in life, goes through different trends. Over time, the objective of writing a resume has stayed the same: to summarize your work experience for a prospective employer. Employers want to find candidates with well-written resumes who are also effective on the job so employers get the best ROI.

Following resume writing conventions can increase your chances of getting hired. Start by catering each resume to each job you apply for. Use the same keywords that appear in the job ad. List your key accomplishments for each job.

A one-page resume will suffice if you are applying for an entry-level position or have five or fewer years of experience. If you have ten or more years of related work experience, a two-page resume listing your most recent ten years (or less) of experience is appropriate. 

Avoid outdated content such as an Objective section at the top of your resume, listing your references, or writing “References Available Upon Request.” If your references are needed, someone will ask you for them.

The opinion on cover letters is divided. Some recruiters and employers don’t read them. Others read them to get a better sense of the candidate. Some employees have gotten jobs without writing cover letters. The safest advice is to write a cover letter, just in case someone involved in the hiring process does decide to read it. 

To summarize:

Tip 1: Include the necessary content in your resume

  • Contact information
  • Professional experience
  • Skills and qualifications
  • Education
  • Content relevant to the job description

Tip 2: Check trends on what to include in your resume content

  • Some sections are now outdated, such as Objectives
  • Highlighting your soft skills has become more commonplace after the pandemic
  • Focus on metrics and specific statistics when highlighting your accomplishments instead of describing your responsibilities
  • List your jobs in reverse chronological order

Applying for a job involves more than writing a resume during this digital age. You must also review your online presence and do a quick check in the mirror, so to speak. How do you appear to people who look you up online?

Social Media and Job Searching

The internet changed the job search process. Previously, all the prospective employer knew about you was what you wrote on your resume, which you printed on paper and mailed in an envelope.

Now, you save on postage, but your resume cannot exist only on paper. In addition to the resume you emailed, your prospective employer expects to find you online. They may ask for a link to your LinkedIn profile. 

They will also search for any and all information about you. Does your LinkedIn profile include a portfolio of your work? Have you written any articles? Posted any videos? If you have a publicly accessible Facebook profile, what does it say about you? 

The rare job ad may even request that you send a video of yourself as part of your application. 

Having a social media presence is expected, especially for some jobs, such as marketing, social media, or graphic design.

Focus on these tips when working on your online presence: 

Tip 1: Have a professional profile on social media

  • Update your LinkedIn profile to match the content on your resume
  • Check that your Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other social media accounts are not publically accessible or have publicly accessible content that will aid, not harm, your job search
  • Build a portfolio online with samples of your work, such as an article if you’re a writer, or a graphic design project if you’re a graphic designer

Tip 2: Set up your professional profiles to make yourself searchable

  • LinkedIn has features to help recruiters find you, so use those settings
  • Use keywords in your current or past job titles
  • Create a portfolio with samples of your work 

After you have checked your online presence, the next step is to increase your chances of being hired by building connections. The adage, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know, ” has real implications.

Networking: It’s Not What You Know, It’s Who  

Many people have commented in job hunting social media posts that they apply to hundreds of jobs without getting a single response. A single job posting on Indeed or LinkedIn can result in hundreds of applicants. 

Even if you’re the best candidate and the best fit for an organization, it is difficult to stand out in a crowd. Especially with ATS, your resume may blend in with all the other applications like it has acquired camouflage. That’s disappointing. 

It isn’t enough to just apply for jobs if you’re a serious job searcher. You need to build a network of connections. Even if you have a job, you benefit from connections. 

Tip 1: Connect with others on social media

  • Create an updated, professional profile on LinkedIn
  • Connect with others in your industry and create relationships with them by getting to know what they do and how you can help each other

Tip 2: Attend networking events

  • Attend online or in-person networking events with people in your industry. Follow up by staying in touch with them on social media
  • Take classes related to your job and create connections

When you build connections with people in your industry, you increase your chances of getting hired if someone in your network has a job opening, or you apply for a job at a company where your connection works.

Key Takeaways

Resumes are still relevant in today’s job market, although resume formatting and content have changed. As technology evolves, the importance of a resume changes as well. A job application involves more than crafting a well-written resume. These days, a professional online presence and networking are equally important to your job search. It’s unknown what will happen to the resume in fifty years’ time. But for now, the resume is the most concise summary to get us in the door for most jobs.

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10 Signs of Ageism in the Workplace

When you hear the term “discrimination in the workplace,” what comes to mind? Common forms of workplace discrimination include gender, race, religious, and sexual orientation. Another type is age.

Examples of age discrimination (ageism) at the workplace are: not hiring someone because they are too old, or only providing training to younger workers because the older ones will be retiring.

Some industries are more prone to ageism at the workplace than others because the industry is constantly evolving and requires its workforce to be highly adaptable.

Kally has provided a checklist, 10 Signs of Ageism in the Workplace on her blog, MiddleMe. It’s worth checking out to build awareness of this issue in the workplace!

Workplace discrimination happens on various fronts, one of which is on the age front. Ageism primarily targets employees in their 50s, with the younger employees and employers having negative stereotypes towards their older employees... Continue reading.

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Virtual Meetings: Best Communication Practices

Virtual meetings existed as far back as the 1960s, but the pandemic made them a household word that people tend to love or hate. 

Zoom, Google Meets, Microsoft Teams, and WebEx have become a regular part of our vocabulary as we conduct work meetings and job interviews online. Zoom parties have become a way to network and socialize. However, are virtual meetings more or less effective than meeting in person?

For every benefit to meeting online, there is a benefit to meeting in person. Overall, since 2020, organizations have increased their use of video meetings. Here are some revealing statistics from Modality Systems, a technology solutions company:

  • Video meetings improve productivity by 50%.
  • Video conferencing has seen a 535% rise in daily traffic in 2020.
  • The value of the global video conferencing market in 2021 is estimated at $6.03 billion.
  • 90% of people find it easier to get their point across on video.
  • 76% of employees use video conferencing for remote work.
  • 40 million users are conferencing on Skype daily during the first half of 2020.

The statistics imply that virtual meetings are here to stay. People can connect and network with people in other cities and time zones. They can save time on commutes. 

However, these meetings are not the same as connecting in person. To create efficient meetings, people tend to cut down or cut out small talk. There is no time for side conversations or getting to know people in a group meeting. 

However, virtual meetings can be an effective way to communicate with team members, get things done, and meet those company objectives. Here are some best practices for conducting efficient and productive virtual meetings. 

Who should attend… and who to invite to meetings

For those of you who dislike virtual meetings – the good news is not everyone should be invited to every one. For those of you who like to participate and talk in meetings, the good news is people who should attend are those who have something to contribute.

Many professionals who have done the research have concluded that the optimal number of participants is eight. Department-wide meetings or company meetings with more than eight people become ineffective. Not everyone has a chance to participate and not everyone needs to be there.

Eight or fewer should be invited to a meeting. The objectives of the meeting (more on that later) determine who should attend. If the meeting is about a project progress update, the key people involved should attend, for example. 

A department update may be more effective as an email or report update, and only key members will attend the update. Instead of meetings, one company sends updates or newsletters to the entire department using a paper copy that each person must sign to show they have read the update.

A one-to-one meeting is usually the most productive – if you nod off at that meeting, you’ll be noticed. Also, for a two-person meeting, you only cover what you need to cover, and the meeting can be over sooner than the scheduled time.

How to avoid Zoom fatigue (virtual fatigue)

Some people groan at the mention of another Zoom call. They don’t want to spend time getting dressed up (from the waist up) to go on camera. For others, having to speak makes them nervous. (Especially if the meeting is being recorded – your words are immortalized forever.)

Virtual meetings have created new issues and situations that didn’t exist when people met in person. “Zoom fatigue” or “virtual fatigue” have become the term to describe the tiredness and burnout from too many virtual meetings. 

It’s just not natural to maintain constant eye contact or see yourself. Constantly staring at others can seem confrontational. And looking at yourself during the meeting can make you painfully aware of what you look like and what you’re doing. 

One solution is to turn off the camera. Mentally, it will be less stressful because you won’t feel like you’re being watched. But without the camera, it may feel less personal, like walking into an empty room and conducting a meeting with a bunch of disembodied voices. You can’t read facial expressions or judge people’s reactions from their body language. 

A perfect solution to remedy Zoom fatigue isn’t out there. It’s possible to do both: to have a combination of on and off camera meetings.

How long should the virtual meeting be?

The average meeting is about the length of a regular TV show: 30 minutes to an hour. Scheduling a meeting can be a challenge in the first place – getting people to stay for 60 minutes can be near impossible for various reasons. 

People who juggle multiple meetings in a single day may not attend each meeting they are invited to or stay for entire meetings. Another issue is time zone differences. A meeting to start the day for some may be a lunch break meeting for others.

These virtual meetings can become a game of Tetris, in which you’re trying to get as many key people to be available at a time that works best for everyone. 

Many agree that meetings should be between 30 to 60 minutes, but not exceed an hour. Having a moderator helps keep the meeting on track and finish on time. 

According to Modality Systems, “Bad meeting organization leads to a loss of over $399 billion per year.” Like buying a ticket to watch a good movie, that meeting should be worthwhile and productive for everyone attending.

What qualifies as an effective virtual meeting?

Let’s start with the most fundamental question. Should a meeting be called in the first place? And if the answer is Yes, will every attendee leave the meeting thinking, “that meeting was a solid use of my time”?

Some meetings don’t need to take place at all. It may be more efficient to send everyone an email to read at their earliest convenience. Another possibility is to use a video messaging tool such as Loom. You can record yourself talking while you share your screen. This method is effective for providing instructions for one or more team members without coordinating everyone for a meeting.

If a virtual meeting is the best way to achieve some objectives, establish clear goals and objectives for the meeting. A moderator will monitor the time remaining to ensure that enough time is allocated to achieve the objectives. 

Each person at the meeting should also have a specific role. For example, lead the meeting, provide progress updates, take meeting minutes to provide a report, or give feedback or insight on a topic.

To evaluate the effectiveness of a meeting, all participants should fill out a brief survey, such as questions in which you select a number from 0 to 10. They rate items such as meeting duration, the purpose of the meeting, their participation, and how the meeting was conducted.

Someone who gives low scores because the meeting was a waste of their time should not be at the meeting. Everyone should be giving scores from 7 and up.

Should people socialize at virtual meetings? 

What do you prefer: getting down to the business of eating at a fast food joint, or having a social dining experience at a sit-down restaurant? 

Virtual meetings are so precisely timed that socializing doesn’t happen. When you attend in-person meetings you have the chance for small talk when you run into someone in the hallway. Or you can do a quick catch up with people as you file out the door.

But when you have a virtual meeting, you really do “jump on a call.” You jump in, discuss what needs to be discussed, and then leave with the press of a button. Even if you want to have a social conversation as you wait for stragglers, everyone present is part of that conversation. You can’t chat quietly off to the side.

Some people lead their meetings with a brief check in, which is the only social touchpoint. They ask a general question, such as how is everyone doing, or make a neutral remark about the weather or something happening in their city. These moments are a brief window that humanizes people into more than Meeting Participants. 

People have used these meeting openings as an opportunity to reveal something personal about themselves or share a joke. At one meeting I attended, the meeting lead commented on the construction crew lifting a porta-potty in the line of sight of her condo window. During the meeting, she shared a photo of her view in the chat. It was an off-topic moment, but a nice break from project objectives.

Working with remote teams makes it difficult to build relationships through emails, messages, and to-the-point virtual meetings. Team members seem to have no personal life because you don’t know any details about them outside of work. It does benefit everyone to spend at least a minute or two to have a social moment before getting down to business.

Key Takeaways

Virtual meetings will permanently be a part of the work culture as we continue to be a global community. As a best practice, the meetings we schedule should continually be evaluated for them to be effective and productive. 

Meetings should have value for all who attend; otherwise, they should not be there. The number of attendees and the meeting length are also important factors. In some cases, a meeting may not be necessary because the information can be more effectively conveyed with a different medium.

Best practices will constantly evolve as our technology evolves. In the future, if we can virtually attend a meeting in 4D without having to physically be present, we may face new problems (virtual travel fatigue?) but the upside is we must always be open to new and better solutions for communicating in this ever-changing world. 

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International Women’s Day: Celebrating Achievements

March 8 is a day to celebrate the achievements of women around the world. It is a day to recognize their socioeconomic, cultural, and political achievements and celebrate the advancements in women’s rights and gender equality issues.

The number of women trailblazers is numerous, so this article will focus on high-achieving female entrepreneurs and famous female educators. Women entrepreneurs and educators paved the way for women today who have jobs or businesses in academic education, education consulting and freelancing, and workplace education.

Successful Women Entrepreneurs

This article highlights the achievements of entrepreneurs such as

  • Real Estate
    • Zhang Xin
  • Biotechnology
    • Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
  • Workforce Management
    • Janice Bryant Howroyd
  • Entertainment and Media
    • Oprah Winfrey
    • Beyoncé
    • Arianna Huffington
  • Fashion and Beauty
    • Tory Burch
    • Sara Blakely
    • Katie Rodan and Kathy Fields
    • Rihanna

How many of these women do you recognize? Do you know a rock star female entrepreneur who should be added to this list?

Successful Women Educators

This article highlights the achievements of educators such as

  • Schools and curriculum
    • Maria Tecla Artemisia Montessori – known for the Montessori philosophy of education. 
    • Mary Jane McLeod Bethune – started a private school for African-American students in Florida.
    • Buffy Sainte-Marie – founded the Cradleboard Teaching Project, an educational curriculum devoted to better understanding Native Americans.
    • Silma Ihram – pioneer of Muslim, founder and former school Principal of the ‘Noor Al Houda Islamic College’ in Sydney.
    • Septima Poinsette Clark – developed the literacy and citizenship workshops.
  • Professors, teachers, and consultants
    • Roberta Bondar, a female astronaut and the first neurologist in space, was a consultant and speaker in the business, scientific, and medical communities.
    • Elizabeth Ellery Bailey professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
    • Jesmyn Ward, associate professor of English at Tulane University, assistant professor of Creative Writing at the University of South Alabama.
    • Susan Hockfield sixteenth president (and first woman to serve as president) of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Professor of Neuroscience in MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences.
    • Cathleen Synge Morawetz, mathematician and professor emerita.
    • Patricia Hampl lecturer, and educator who teaches in the MFA program.

How many of these women do you recognize? Do you know a rock star female educator who should be added to this list?