SuperStar Careers Presents . . .

The Top 5 (FREE) Resume Hacks To Revive Your Job Search

(Hint: 90% Of Job Seekers Don’t Know About These)Is it taking waaaaay longer than you thought it would to find your next job? If so, here are 5 valuable resume hacks to revive your job search.

1. WORDLEWordle.net is a free website that lets you create key-word-based word clouds. A word cloud is an image composed of words used in a particular text, in which the size of each word indicates its frequency or importance. A picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s an example.

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Job Seekers can use Wordle as a validation step in the job-hunting process.

You can copy and paste a job description into Wordle to see what key words come up most frequently – and to see if those key words are within your skill set. This may help you clarify if you are – or are not – a good match for a position.

You can also use Wordle to figure out what messages you are sending to potential employers about your skills and talents. Simply copy and paste your resume content into Wordle. The words that are largest are the words you have repeated most frequently in your employment history. Now ask yourself if those words are the best reflection of your strongest skills and talents.

If you are applying for sales roles, and your resume’s Wordle results show that “engineering” and “information technology” are being emphasized, you may need to adjust your resume (unless of course, you aspire to sell engineering and information technology services).

2. Powerful Action Verbs to VERB-alize Your ResumeBusinesses want to hire people to take actions that will help the organization achieve its goals. To show that you’re a person of action, each bullet on your resume should start with a powerful action verbs.

This list of Powerful Action Verbs to VERB-alize Your Resume comes from my Resumes for a Richer Life: Stand Out from the Crowd class.

HINT: There are some risks with using Wordle. To learn more about the pros and cons of using this technology to position yourself for your next role, check out my

blog post: Just in Time for Thanksgiving: Resume Keyword Stuffing

Fun Fact: My undergraduate degrees are in English & Communications. Which means, I actually enjoyed putting this list together. Yup, I’m THAT girl. J

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3. LinkedInI strongly encourage all Job Seekers to create a strong and professional profile on LinkedIn.com. Why? First, it’s the social networking site for professionals. Next, 94% of recruiters who use social media prefer LinkedIn. As of February 2015, there were 3 million active job listings posted on the site.* Finally, the Powers-that-Be have made LinkedIn such a powerful tool to find job candidates, that it has become the resource of choice for Hiring Managers and Recruiters.

* Retrieved 6/17/15 from http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/linkedin-job-statistics/

4. The LinkedIn Jobs AppDid you know that applicants who apply to job opportunities on the first day they’re posted are 10% more likely to land the job? ** Unfortunately, many Job Seekers are incredibly overworked, and by the time they finally get home they’re too exhausted to focus on their search. So, they wait… and wait… and often miss opportunities.

When you hate your job, the workday seems excruciatingly long. We all know that it’s not professional to search for a new job while you’re still at work in your existing role. With the LinkedIn Job Search App, you can search for positions discreetly on your iPhone while you’re at lunch, on your tea/coffee break or, if you’re in dire straights, in the restroom. Taking these covert actions may give you the hope you need to get through the workday.

HINT: You can learn exactly how optimize your LinkedIn presence in my blog post How to Fix Your LinkedIn Profile: 3 Tips to Optimize Your Online Presence.

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One particularly brilliant feature is that for certain positions you can click the “In Apply” button and the app will automatically send in your job application using your LinkedIn profile. To learn more about

all the features of the LinkedIn Job Search App, click here.

** Retrieved 6/17/15 from http://blog.linkedin.com/2014/06/19/new-job-search-mobile-app/

5. Vizualize.meVisual resumes can be a great supplement to the classic resume. These colorful versions of your career history can really help you get noticed by a potential employer.

Vizualize.me is a neat, free website that lets you produce a resume in the style of an infographic. The tool integrates with LinkedIn, so it can automatically populate your visual resume based on the information in your LinkedIn profile. Or you can manually fill in the required sections (e.g. education, skills). There are several styles, themes and color schemes available. I love how it lets you rate your top 5 skills – with stars no less! (My company is called SuperStar Careers, so I love star-related things and people.)

Another bonus is you get a personalized URL which points to your Vizualize.me resume. Recruiters and Hiring Managers often Google job applicants before deciding whether or not to invite them to interview. Your online visual resume can be another source of digital information that leaves a positive and professional impression about you.

I’ve been watching Vizualize.me evolve since its inception, and I’m impressed. This tool is still in Beta mode and when its finalized, I think it’s going to help transform the Job Search process.

Want to see a live example? Check out the snippet below and my full visual resume @ http://vizualize.me/MichelleCBraun#

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SuperStar Careers helps mid-career professionals live the career of their dreams through SuperStar Career Coaching, Career Management training and resume & LinkedIn profile creation.

Special One-Time-Only Offer:

FREE “How To Get Your Dream Job & Life-Work Balance” Coaching Call.

If your work situation does not enable you to flourish and reach your full potential, you deserve better. It’s past time to make a change. Schedule your complimentary “How To Get Your Dream Job & Life Work Balance” career coaching call by e-mailing Info@SuperStarCareers.com with the subject line

“I’m ready for my dream job.”

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