One of the cool things about my career expert partners is that they are thought leaders in the career space. One of my partners, Louise Kursmark, is well-known as a thought-leader amongst her peers, recruiters, etc. She has the uncanny ability to combine the “very nice person” characteristic with astute businessperson. And she has a bunch of books that she has authored…
Her latest, 30 Minute Resume Makeover, is a great read. At only $9.95, this 200+ page book has a ton of valuable information for you to understand the how and why of an excellent resume. Louise includes a number of example resumes, picking them apart and explaining what makes them effective, what can be improved, etc. If you are a “do it yourself” type, I’d say this is an essential purchase.
The tagline is “Rev up your old resume in half an hour”… here are the chapters:
- Chapter 1: Resume Diagnosis
- Chapter 2: Resume Repair: The 30-Minute Resume Makeover
- Chapter 3: Proofread and Polish to Perfection
- Chapter 4: Before-and-After Resume Transformations (has 18(!!) resume transformations, including a situation, the before version, the after version, and strategic thoughts)
- Chapter 5: Create a Killer Cover Letter (this is an awesome chapter)
- Chapter 6: Find a Job Fast
- Appendix: Resume Development Worksheet
If I had this book, my resume probably would not have sucked, and I would have gotten a job in 2006 (thank goodness that didn’t happen :p).
You can find her book on Amazon here, or at Wendy Enelow’s bookstore here.
If you want to find resume writing information on this blog, check out “The Resume Experiment,” a five-post series where resume experts and recruiters pick apart a resume and suggest their revisions. Louise Kursmark was one of the expert resume writers contributing there.
Great review, Jason!
Louise truly is an accomplished career professional! She certainly has solid expertise when it comes to resumes, yet she is truly a thought leader in the career space. If folks need top notch help in managing their career transition, I think they would do well to find out more about Louise at her website:
https://yourbestimpression.com/index.html
Job seekers should definitely pay attention to their resumes. I used to work in HR and we used to collect really bad resumes and have a good laugh at the end of every month by sharing them with each other. Don’t end up in the laugh pile.
The book has great examples that leads the writer of the resume through the resume writing process.
In my experience most people when it comes to writing their own resume lack the required creativity to really sell themself. They are looking for the easy template. They do not do the required research on the prospective job and employer and approach the job hunting effort as one size fits all.
Hopefully after reading and studying this book they will be better equiped to really write a creative resume that will get them the right interview for the right job.
I talked to a senior recruiter and she says she only spends 15 seconds on a resume. She scans a cover letter real fast, while some of her co-workers don’t read even read cover letters. What ever is on the resume has to jump out and jump out quick.