Tips for Writing a LinkedIn Summary

LinkedIn is one of the most powerful professional job sites to showcase your skills in unique ways beyond the traditional resume. Taking the time to put together a strong personal summary is not only important; it is a major part of your online presence. Follow these steps to get the most from your LinkedIn summary and position yourself for the best results.

Sell Yourself in 30 Seconds

How long you make your summary is entirely up to you, but make sure it is relevant and creates an impact in the beginning. Like a good novel, you want to keep the reader moving through your content, answering the important questions along the way. Use this space effectively by breaking up your sentences in inviting pieces, never assuming that they will read the entire piece. Make it work effectively in the first paragraph, then back it up with specific accomplishments and share your personal goals.

Medical Assistant Cover Letter - How to Write a Great Cover Letter for Medical Assistant Jobs

Writing a great medical assistant cover letter is not that hard if you know how. All cover letters actually follow a set format whether you use email or print out your letter. The first paragraph is the introduction, the second lists your achievements and qualifications and the last concludes your medical assistant cover letter by thanking the reader for their time.
Since you are applying for a medical job which may include administrative duties such as answering correspondence, it is very important to write a very professional medical assistant cover letter. A letter that is full of grammatical errors, misspellings, missing information and other such mistakes will make you look lazy or incompetent. It is better to send a well-written letter to help you get a job interview.

Powerful Resumes

Job search campaigns involve countless hours talking with people, on the internet, and attending networking events. In the total scheme of things, many job seekers hurriedly write their resume so they can transfer their attention to mining for jobs. After all, it's just a resume - right?
The results of this hurried effort tends to be a generic resume with a plain vanilla flavor that lacks impact. And the likely consequence of such a cavalier approach is that those coveted interviews will be few and far between. The way to overcome this trap is to learn the techniques that lead to writing a powerful resume.
Resume 101 - The Basics
What is a resume? A resume is a sales tool designed to sell you to a hiring manager. Its purpose is to get you noticed and generate an invitation for a personal interview. Its purpose is NOT to get you a job.
How long should a resume be and why? One-page resumes are best and two-page resumes are acceptable for seasoned workers. Three or more pages are generally the norm only for people in academia or a similar profession where research or published material need be noted. Due to the volume of resumes received, resume screeners take about 15-30 seconds to review a resume and look for key words to screen-in a candidate. That's right, you get half a minute to make an initial impression.

4 Great Reasons To Change Jobs

Making the decision to change jobs in the middle of your career can be one of the toughest choices you'll have to face in your working life. It's stressful to have to give up close personal connections and daily routines that you have established after years of working in a particular environment. Despite these complications, over 57% of UK residents have noted in the past Job Survey that they have switched careers at least three times in their lifetime. That's a new job once ever ten years at that rate! The following guide explains 4 of the best reasons to switch jobs and makes the whole sticky situation much clearer for those who are undecided.
The ability to make more money.
Not all careers will provide the same pay rate and certain industries pay a significantly different amount when compared to others. If your looking to change jobs from a spot in advertising to finance, you're looking at earning over 20% more than you had in the past. This is only in the first year. Some smaller companies will not have as much consistent work as larger ones so you'll find exclusively higher pay being given at a more international firm. Even if you're an employed within the same field but just want to work at another company, you may find the scope of moneymaking opportunities to be much larger.

Top 10 Resume Writing Myths

At first glance, landing your next dream job should be easy - write a great resume or CV, send it out and post online, and start fielding phone calls and emails for job interviews. However, many people consider the resume writing process to be one of the most challenging aspects of a job search.
In addition, there are many different myths out there about resume content and creation. With many years on the sourcing side of executive recruiting, I have seen some common myths and mistakes made over and over again. Here are my top 10 resume writing myths, to help make the process as easy as possible.
1. My resume will be read from top to bottom. No, not even close. The reader will be quickly scanning your resume, with approximately 30-60 seconds to grab their attention. Don't get too wordy or bury your qualifications, make them easy to find.
2. I should only include relevant career history, or only include the last 10 years. Recruiters and hiring managers want to know your entire employment history. The most content will be limited to more recent and relevant employment, but you need to tell your entire career story.

7 Video Resume Tips That Will Get You Hired

A video resume is a short video that explains your skills, experience and educational background and is intended to be an applicant’s first interaction with a potential employer. If you’re comfortable using a computer for day-to-day tasks, you should already be able to make a video resume by yourself. If not, it might be worth asking a relative or friend help you. There are also professional videographers who can probably contribute a higher skill level, although this choice may be an expensive one. Many basic digicams today record video of a high enough quality that they can be used for a video resume. Simply download the video to your computer and review it for audio quality and image focus.

Video Resume Tip #1: Take care of audio quality

Audio quality is very important, because anyone who sees your video resume must be able to clearly hear what you are saying from the very moment the video plays, or they probably won't finish watching it. Microphones on video cameras or digicams can pick up noise from almost any source, so the room where you do the video recording must be very quiet. For example, the sound of a dog barking outside or a plane flying over just when you are talking will be recorded in your video. These extra sounds will be distracting to viewers, and it will make you look less professional. Any distracting sounds, such as a loud car or truck driving by, a crying baby, talking in the next room or a toilet flushing can show up as background noise, so it is very important to only record in a quiet space. To achieve the best sound, place the camera close to you or talk into a microphone that is plugged directly into your camera or computer. A lavalier microphone clipped to a shirt will work very well for picking up your voice.

LinkedIn Is Preferred by Executives

In a recent survey conducted by DHR International and Modern Survey, Linked In remains the top social media site for business executives (Directors and above). While LinkedIn holds on to this top billing, executives indicated that Twitter (27%) and Facebook (44%) were sites that they use often.
Respondents were questioned about their preferences, awareness and usage of social media tools and comparisons were made to a similar survey conducted in 2010.
While LinkedIn has increased its lead as the favorite tool, several popular sites have had broader awareness topping over 80%. Pinterest and Google+, considered "newer "sites, were a distant second tier in awareness levels. Despite the increased awareness and "noise" about Twitter and blogs, very few executives consider them to be their preferred social media vehicle.
Executives are modest users of social media, with most ~60%, using it one hour or less per week. However, while they may not "live" on the sites, over 60% use it daily. The executives also indicated that they would use social media more if (top 2 box agree and strongly agree):

How To Convey Unemployment On LinkedIn

Let's call a spade a spade, being unemployed can be quite stressful. Nothing ever prepares you for being unemployed which makes it harder to deal with. However, with the right attitude, you can navigate out the unemployment waters. Part of that navigational knowledge requires knowing how to deal with LinkedIn. Here are a few tips to help you out.
Don't Say You're A Freelancer/Consultant... : Unless you are actually doing it! This means you can provide references from actual real clients. However, the sad truth is, that most people just change their title to consultant anyways. The problem is that this can be more detrimental to your job search than just listing "unemployed". Once the hiring manager or recruiter call you and question you on your consulting activities and they realize you don't have any, it's all over.
Professional Title: This is the section that is below your name. Most people put their current title here, but what happens when you are unemployed; what do you put? Simply put, you add your best and strongest professional skills. Determine what you are best at and put those skills on your profile. This way when a hiring manager or recruiter looks at your profile, they know right upfront what you are good at. Also, they are keywords to make your profile more searchable.

What to Include in an Email Cover Letter

An email cover letter is an important tool for anyone applying for a job. When applying for a job, you need to get the attention of the hiring manager in some way. Since many people apply online today, rather than applying through the mail or in person, it is critical to use the content of your email to get the hiring manager to open up the job resume attached to it. That's not as easy as it sounds when there are so many other people competing with you for the job.
What to Put Into It
There are several key things to do when creating an email cover letter. When applying for a job, start by addressing the job number or other job description in the subject header along with your name and the word resume after it. For example, you might say, "Hiring Manager Position, John Doe Resume." Be specific about what the email is about and leave out the sales language.

Quantifying Your Resume: Numbers Matter

When applying for a job, many factors make a big difference, including the numbers you use on your job resume. In short, people are very number-oriented. This means that they are interested in learning what you have to offer in the way of job skills and work experience, but they want to know how you rate against other people. It is not always easy to do that especially if your previous job experience is not in a management position. Nevertheless, there are plenty of ways to quantify your resume.
How to Quantify Your Resume
Look for numbers that help to show what you have accomplished and incorporate those into your resume. This may be easier to do than you realize, though. For example, as a sales manager, you can easily talk about the figures related to the sales you helped to make. Did you see an increase in sales any of the years you were there? Did you, personally, increase your sales from one year to the next? Determine the percentage or the dollar amount of increase and include those numbers in your job resume. This is just as important as the job experience and job skills you gained in those positions.

Is Your Cover Letter Working As a Marketing Tool?

Your cover letter is one of the more important components to your job application. While the details on your job resume matter, they do not make one bit of difference until someone opens the file attachment to your email and reads it. In other words, they have to be convinced by the first message that you are worthy of a job interview. To make sure that happens, your cover letter should be treated as a marketing tool.
Are You Selling the Numbers?
One of the first changes to make to your cover letter is to focus on numbers. The numbers on your cover letter will get attention because, by nature, people like to quantify things. Consider your previous work experience. What have you helped to accomplish or accomplished yourself? For example, you may have helped to increase customer count at your previous position by 20 percent. You may have increased your sales rate by five percent year over year. Look for ways to showcase what you did personally first. But, don't stop there.