Cover Letters

As the calendar turns to 2017, think about the things you can do to make it great — like landing a new job. At the beginning of a new year we’re full of resolutions — lose weight, exercise, be a better person. But what are your career resolutions? Ladders asked recruiters, career coaches, resume writers … Read More

Don’t reduce the font size and increase the margin on your resume to shrink it to two pages. How long should you resume be? Three-page resumes are certainly not extinct, but they should be rare. Professional resume writers urge their clients to first try to trim their resumes down to a maximum of two pages. … Read More

Hiring Manager Jillian Zavitz unveils her brain and what she looks for when she reviews a resume. It was succinct, and on target. In short, the teacher’s resume was perfect for a job teaching English as a second language (ESL) online. The resume worked. It caught the attention of Jillian Zavitz, programs manager for TalktoCanada.com, … Read More

If you’ve looked for a job in the past few years, you’re likely aware that employers are finding new ways to use resumes as screening tools. Web sites (Ladders included) devote thousands of pages to discussing the best practices of resume writing. Meanwhile, a cottage industry has grown up around certified professional resume writers (CPRWs) … Read More

Business doesn’t stop, nor should you. These job seekers became entrepreneurs to demonstrate that they were still strong employees. Tim Wood is a career software engineer who has ridden the technology-employment roller coaster for years. During the 2001 to 2003 downturn in tech, Wood went through a two-year period of unemployment and considered leaving the … Read More

A proper video bio that tells your story, and doesn’t simply repeat your resume, requires more than you and a video camera. By William Arruda and Catharine Fennell   When you strip away all the basic requirements that are expected in any given role — hard skills and experience — what’s left? Everything that cannot … Read More

Understanding the typical schedule and purpose of each round can prepare you to face each and give you an advantage in the hiring process.   Before you hear the words, “You’re hired,” you will typically sit through three separate interview sessions … at least. You prepared for the first interview. So you’re prepared for the … Read More

Leverage your alumni association to find and win a job, but know the rules about what is and isn’t fair play. “Jamal,” a young finance executive, just two years out of business school, applied for a business analyst position at a large bank. He met with the bank’s recruiter at a job fair in Los … Read More

Resume length, font, and an old-fogey e-mail address are just a few ways to label yourself as antiquated. Remember mulling over whether to buy pure-white or ivory paper stock? Remember the satisfaction of printing your resume on that creamy, heavyweight, Strathmore pure cotton watermark paper? Remember washing your hands so you wouldn’t get marks on … Read More