Professional Cover Letter Design [Examples + Expert Tips]

Professional Cover Letter Design [Examples + Expert Tips] Youve just written a cover letter with content thats going to make you stand out like a race horse at a donkey convention.Theres just one problem. Its the most boring cover letter design ever. Good old 12 point Arial on a plain white background is so vanilla it could sing Ice, Ice, Baby.But then again you dont want to put employers off with something too outlandish either. And the extent of your document design skills was the time you used lime green Comic Sans and glittery clipart for a school project.How do you strike that balance? Like so.This article will show you:13 cover letter design templates better than 9 out of 10 others.How to design a cover letter in no time.Want to write your cover letter fast?Use our cover letter builder. Choose from20+ professional cover letter templatesthat match your resume. See actionable examples and get expert tips along the way.Sample Cover Letter for a ResumeSee more cover letter templates and create your cover letter here.One of our users, Niko s, had this to say:[I used] a nice template I found on Zety. My resume is now one page long, not three. With the same stuff.Create your resume nowA good cover letter design template has to meet the following requirements:Use a clear and readable font.Use good layout to keep it easy on the eye.Keep any graphics simple so ATS software can read it.Youre going to see 18 templates that tick all those boxes. All you need to do is enter the text and our cover letter builder takes care of the design for you.But if you want to try designing a cover letter yourself then keep reading, weve got some tips to help with that, too.And dont forget, the cover letter designs come in matching sets with our 18 resume templates that will also work for a CV.1CubicCreate my cover letterWere starting off fancy with our first cover letter template. Cubic by name, this design shows you why its hip to be square. Lets take it from the top. Theres your name in lights, white text on a dark header. Then weve got a ll of the must-haves in terms of design. Clear font, great cover letter layout and ATS scannable. But theres a twist. It freshens things up with your personal info in a calming duck-egg blue sidebar.A design this perfect demands the perfect cover letter. Youll learn how to write it with our guide: How to Write a Cover Letter in No Time2CrispCreate my cover letterCrisp as a new banknote, and youll have plenty of those babies rolling in when you use this design for your cover letter. There are no fancy colors, but this cover letter design stays fresh with a two-column design and a subtle circular icon.Its also just the thing to make the recruiter remember your name. Putting it in the top left corner is the best place for it. Its been proven thats the first place your eye lands and where you pay the most attention to.3ConceptCreate my cover letterA very simple text layout with two discreet icons to add a subtle accent. But the real star of the show is the bold color stripe to the left of the page. It really elevates the whole look of this cover letter design and is just the sort of thing to make a bored recruiter stop and pay attention.Dont like the color? Change it! Weve got hundreds of color options and you can customize the cover letter font size, margins, and spacing, too.Ever wondered whether you even need a cover letter? Get the answers in our guide: Do I Need a Cover Letter? Are Cover Letters Necessary Anymore?4VibesCreate my cover letterThe hiring managers going to get good vibes only from this classic design. Its a great example of how white space is the best friend of cover letter and resume design.Personal info is placed discreetly to the right in a pure white sidebar, so theres no visual distraction. Combined with the white space next to the cover letter header it forms a frame for the text. People prefer plenty of white space when theyre reading and it improves their understanding, too. Thats a win-win for your cover letter!5DiamondCreate my cover le tterHeres a design thatll make you stand out like a diamond in a world of rhinestones. Theres a nice chunky top bar to fit your header in. In a nice twist the surname is in bold. Its subtle, but thats just the sort of styling tweak you need to help you stand out. Then youve got the benefit of the full page width below to fill with cover letter goodness.6EnfoldCreate my cover letterThis cover letter design will enfold recruiters in a warm hiring-friendly glow. Its unique selling point is in the sidebar. See where it says personal info. Theres a darker tone there for emphasis. The effect is one of pure professionalism and elegance.Its an elegant design, but what if youve got writers block so bad, you dont even know where to begin? Get started with our guide: How to Start a Cover Letter: Introduction and Opening Line Examples7MuseCreate my cover letterAnother example of white space as an effective frame for the body of the letter. Its almost a mirror image of Vibes, except the contact details go to the left, in a more traditional position.Its another two-column cover letter that looks great with its two-column resume twin. Also more in keeping with tradition, there are no graphical elements. This design would be a great choice for a conservative, corporate job application.This cover letter design looks exactly like our Modern cover letter template. Its another double up, but the resume template that it accompanies is unique.8CascadeCreate my cover letterCascade should look familiar, its a mirror image of Enfold. If you like this look then why not build your cover letter with both designs and see which you prefer. Print them out and put them side by side for a better feel of which one suits you.9IconicCreate my cover letterIconic is another design that offers you maximum space to craft the perfect cover letter. No sidebar, no top bar. Just a clean, one-column canvas. Theres also a delicate bit of graphic design to give it a hint of modernity. Can you spot it? That s right, two neat little icons for the contact details.10PrimoCreate my cover letterPrimo is Italian for first and were sure itll be the first choice of cover letter design for job hunters who want to make an impression. It uses a bold monogram style graphic for the header which brings to mind a seal of approval. What better way to send a subliminal message to the recruiter to approve you for the job vacancy.11InitialsCreate my cover letterYou may think weve just done a Missy Elliott on our Primo design. But we didnt just flip it and reverse it. There are two round icons in the personal info section instead of one. Being quite similar you might want to try swapping the cover letters. Try Primo letter with Initials resume and vice versa. Either way, theyll look great.12SimpleCreate my cover letterIts so simple you could name it Simon and introduce it to a pieman. The cleanskin two-column design makes a tasty appetizer to your resume main course. Clean cover letter designs like this a re something of an all-rounder in fact. Theyll look good with any resume template so feel free to mix and match.13MinimoCreate my cover letterThis design sounds like Mickey Mouses pet name for Minnie, but its actually another super simple cover letter layout. It has a distinctive matching resume but its so simple itll go with anything.Minimo strips back the formatting to the bare minimum for a look thats more classic than a 1964 Ford Mustang.How to Design a Cover LetterAre you confident enough to try designing a cover letter yourself? Read on. Heres some tips to make sure you get it right.Its all about striking a balance between making your letter stand out, while keeping it ATS readable and following standard business letter format. Heres the basics.Follow Cover Letter Design RulesSet one-inch margins on all sides.Set your spacing to 1 or 1.15.Choose an easily readable font set at 11 or 12 point in size.Double space between paragraphs.Use a digital copy of your handwritten signatur e to end your cover letter for an extra professional touch.Save your cover letter in PDF with the right cover letter title. Its the best cover letter file format because it keeps the design intact.Find more tips here: Proper Cover Letter Format [20+ Examples]Optimize Your Cover Letter HeaderYour cover letter header is the first place people look when they read your letter so it has to be perfect. Your cover letter is just like an advertisement for you so youve got to make the product stand out.Emphasis is key. Write your name in a large font. 46 points bigger than the body text and bold.Try out font pairing. Set your name in a different font to the rest of your cover letter. Fontjoy is a very cool tool to show you what fonts can look good together.Immediately below your name, enter a headline, which should be your job title. If your experience backs it up, use the same title listed in the ad for the job youre applying for.Heres how it should look.Header Design ExampleMichael Sanchez Business AnalystThen move onto your contact details. For a classic feel use the template below, and put the details in the top left corner just under your header.Contact Details Design Example[Street][City, State][Phone Number][Email][LinkedIn Profile][Date][Hiring Managers Name][Hiring Managers Job Title][Company Name][Street][City, State]Feeling fancier? Take your design lead from our templates.Create a separate section for your contact details with the title Personal Info and make use of icons.Place this section directly under your header or at the top of a sidebar like many of our two-column designs do.Keep the hiring managers contact info simple and address your cover letter correctly. Make this info left aligned, immediately above the body of the letter.Make use of color, but make sure your letter stays readable. If in doubt, print a test copy on your resume paper of choice, screens can be deceptive.Choose a color scheme of dark, complementary tones. No more than three shades on a page, sorry E.L. James. Try this color calculator if youre stuck.Read more:How to Start a Cover Letter?Now lets design the main text, your cover letter body.Find the Best Cover Letter Body DesignKeep it plain. You need a nice simple block of text laid out according to basic cover letter format rules.Left align. Dont use justification as its against standard business letter rules.Lastly, lets take a look at your cover letter ending.Explore Cover Letter Closing IdeasUse an alternative to sincerely, try Thank You, Best Regards or Kind Regards instead.Include a digital signature when submitting online and sign by hand with a good quality pen when submitting on paper.For an email cover letter you can skip the signature.Make sure to include your cover letter enclosure.Last of all, use a P.S. to include a powerful call to action.See more cover letter ending ideas: How to End a Cover LetterThats all there is to it. And remember, always print out a copy of your letter to check how it lo oks on paper. Career fairs and job interviews are two situations where you need a paper copy.The last thing you want is to print out your cover letter, find out it looks awful on paper and have to redesign it in a panic.Want more of a deep-dive into different resume styles? Check out our guide here: Resume Styles Best Suited for Your Needs [20+ Tips]Need more design guidance? Want to discuss a design youve come up with yourself? Ask away in the comments section and thanks for reading.

Why an Audit Resume Writing?

Why an Audit Resume Writing?Do you know how to audit resume writing? You should.Resume writers can be professional or personal. Professional writer would take some lessons from having previous writing experience. On the other hand, a resume of a personal resume may not have any writing experience or care. In both cases, resume writers need assistance in order to produce a quality resume.The primary obligation for resume writers is to properly write a resume. There is no point in putting effort into an amateurish job. An inexperienced person cannot stand out among a group of professionals and if they do something that catches the eye of the hiring manager, they will be fired immediately. Be careful to be specific about what you are looking for. Make sure your writing skills are good enough to deliver your message.Before you start writing your resume, you need to gather your credentials. Record them accurately. If it's not possible, enlist the help of your parents, coworkers or friends . Include as much relevant information as possible.Also, research is a must if you want to have the necessary information on your resume. Avoid writing resumes with incomplete or inaccurate information. Use experts' resources to find out the job requirements for each position, including what the requirements are for the open positions.After the essential information, now you are ready to apply for jobs. Have a well-developed profile. Include all the details that would let your prospective employer identify your skills and talents. A detailed job description will also help you land the job you want. The more you want to disclose, the better.Follow this strategy religiously. Include the skill sets that are required for the positions you are applying for. Don't forget to put in accomplishments and educational achievements.This is how a professional writer can complete an audit resume. Try to go through these tips. Auditing resume writing will make you a more effective candidate for the job you want.

Personal Branding Adds New Angst to Getting Married - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Personal Branding Adds New Angst to Getting Married - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Its that time of year again. Spring is in the air and the wedding invites are in the mailbox. And, I dont know about you, but my friends are dropping like flies. All this wedding mania has made me think though: how does getting married affect your personal brand. Right now, there are a lot of young women out there who are building blogs, forging relationships worldwide, establishing ourselves as experts and getting name recognition. Were putting hundreds of hours of effort to make sure that people all over the internet know who we are. Were personal-branding like crazy! So, I want to know, what happens when we get married? For hundreds of years, women have taken the last names of our husbands. Its originally how we were branded as a part of the family. Its only in the last decades that women have strayed away from this tradition and its usually seen as a more radical feminist statement. When I was younger, I was definitely not one of those women who wanted to make a statement by keeping my maiden name! I may even have practiced my signature with my current crushs last name just in case I ever needed to use it. (Which, if anyone ever confronts me about, I will deny to my dying breath.) I was convinced it would be utterly romantic to have the same last name as my husband. Now, Im not so sure. Not because I want to defy outdated marriage traditions, burn my bra, or prove my independence. Those factors are all irrelevant to me. Im very seriously thinking that I will keep my maiden name throughout life for one reason: its my personal brand! The issues with I do There are tons of issues that we personal-branding women have to be aware of when were considering taking the last name of our future husband. First of all, how much effort have we already put into our maiden name? Ive already spent 4 years getting my name out there and I dont want to throw that away. (Thats a lot of lost sleep!) If I changed my name, how much recognition would I lose? Would people get confused when they follow a link from one of my articles and come across a different person? How many social media sites would I have to go to in order to change my old name to my new one? (Its a LOT more difficult today than just the drivers license, bank account and passport.) And, I know many of you personal branding aficionados will be horrified at this thought too: What if the vanity url and essential screennames were already taken????? With this name I thee wed? This is a big deal, because one of the first steps of personal branding is securing your vanity url. If you own yourname.com, you get a head start on being THE most visible person with your name. (Which could be big if you have a common name.) So, for women hoping to take their future husbands last name, it would be smart to snatch that url up as soon as possible. But whats the protocol for that? Do you wait until you get the ring? But what if someone else snatches it up before you? On the other hand, if youre the proactive sort, there could be opposite problems. The relationship could go sour and you could be left owning a vanity url that youll never need and worse yet, one that reminds you of your heartbreak. (You could even end up with more than one!) And, what if you buy the url early in the relationship and your significant other finds out? Many guys are skittish enough about settling down. How do you think theyd react to learning that youre trying to assure your future personal brand-ability by buying yourmarriedname.com after a great first date? There are other issues too: what if your future husband has such a common name that 400 other women ended up having the same name as you do? (Due to Murphys Law, at least one of them is guaranteed to be a swimsuit model or porn star, by the way.) You could struggle for years to get your name close to the top of the search engines and still fail. What if your husbands name is something complicated like Csíkszentmihályi? No one will EVER be able to find you online! (Or introduce you properly at a conference.) As compensation though, youll probably have no trouble getting the vanity url. If youre doing personal branding, taking your husbands last name is no longer the simple decision it used to be. And keeping your name is no longer a feminist statement. Its now about your personal brand how much youve already invested, how much youre willing to redo, and where you want to go in the future. Author: Katie Konrath writes about “ideas so fresh… they should be slapped” at getFreshMinds.com, a top innovation blog.

Social Science Graduates University of Manchester Careers Blog

Social Science Graduates University of Manchester Careers Blog Top 5 online resources for Social Science graduates To give you a helping hand as you head out into the big bad world of job seeking I thought it would be useful to list our top 5 online resources for Social Science graduates. I hope you find them useful. Prospects ‘options with your subject’   Includes a range of job profiles and information on typical employers, work experience and a breakdown of what graduates in this area have gone on to do in a range of subjects. Starting Point Series   A range of helpful job seeking resources including help on applications, interviews and specific help on careers in economics, political international relations and charity international development. Sector Pages   Really useful information and links to further resources and job sites. Get an insight into different sectors such as government, charity international development and management, consultancy admin. Civil Service   Find out about entry routs and working in the Civil Service. Includes details on the five Fast Stream schemes you may want to apply to. The Economist  Keep up to date with developments in the sector and search for business related vacancies. Remember although your studies are over your contact with the Careers Service doesn’t end now. As a graduate youll receive full services for the next 2 years. This will include information, advice and guidance as well as access to vacancies and events listed in Careerslink. Find out more about eligibility and services here. Graduate

How To Choose the Best Resume Writing Service

How To Choose the Best Resume Writing ServiceThere are many talented resume writers and service providers who can offer the best resume writing service in India in 2020. Resume writing is one of the most important activities that an individual should get involved in as they go about their career activities. It is also the most time consuming activity to write a resume as it needs to be compelling, helpful and must be presented in an attractive manner so that the candidate can stand out from the other applicants and get noticed by potential employers.A professional resume writing service in India would be better equipped with the resources of an in-house career coach who can give ideas and suggestions about resume writing. This will make your resume more professional in appearance as it will blend with your profile as a professional. There are many other services which do not have these coaching facilities but can offer some expertise to the candidates in resume writing.A good resume writing service would be able to hand over your resume to an in-house career coach who can help you become more knowledgeable about resume writing. The advice of the coach would guide you through the entire process of creating a resume. It is always better to choose a resume writing service that can make a good first impression.You can make a choice based on the in-house coaching of the in-house career coach. You can search for a service provider who can provide you with the latest trends in resume writing. Resume writing service providers who are popular and have achieved the recognition of all the professional associations would be able to provide their clients with an updated resume package which can be further customized.A professional resume service provider would always strive to give their clients the best of all services. They would go for the best options and techniques to make the best use of the provided resources and are well aware of the latest techniques and trends of resume writing. As per the latest trends, aprofessional resume service would start with the first page of the resume and move on to the second page to finish off the whole resume.The client has the liberty to decide on the format of the resume and the words to be used to make the best impressions on the prospective employer. Since there are many competitors who are offering excellent resume writing services, the best services provider must ensure that you are not just the first client they have offered, but also the last one. You should be confident about the entire service provided and not feel any sense of embarrassment in asking for a full blown template.A professional resume writing service in India can offer a selection of templates and sample resumes that can be used by the candidate to learn how to prepare a resume. The best services provider would provide an example of the sample resume to you so that you can look at it and decide on the style and format of the resume that b est suits your requirements. These samples are ready made and can be easily modified to suit the requirements of the client.There are many things to consider when choosing a resume service provider. The service provider should be professional and above board and should be familiar with the latest trends in resume writing. The best services service provider should also offer you the flexibility to personalize the resume according to your requirements.

5 Ideas for Building a Positive Office Environment - CareerMetis.com

5 Ideas for Building a Positive Office Environment Source: Pexels.comWork is challenging when you don’t enjoy going to your job every day. Whether it’s the temperature, the distractions, toxic employees, feeling overworked, or underappreciation, all of these things can create a negative work environment that can turn employees away.A positive work environment can help foster a feeling of belonging and being fulfilled by what you do.Building a positive work environment isn’t something that happens overnight, and it’s not just about eliminating toxic employees or having plants in every corner.evalA positive work environment is about creating a culture of appreciation and advancement for employees as well.1. Making Aesthetic Changes to the Office EnvironmentevalThere’s no denying the appeal of an organized, comfortable, beautiful and safe office environment.Walking into a room that feels welcoming is essential when employees spend so much of their days in their office. To create an office environment that feels aesthetically p ositive it’s important to pay attention to the look and feel of the office.Things like functional and modern desks, up-to-date technology, plants, photos, and good lighting are all important in how an office looks and feels for employees.However, it’s not just about the look, but also the feel of the office. Temperature, sounds, and smells all play a part in aesthetics as well. Keep the office at a comfortable temperature, offer alternative workspaces for a reprieve from sounds and smells, or encourage employees to be cognizant of others when being loud or eating potent meals.When you’re creating a positive physical environment, it’s about comfort, practicality, and beauty.Plants: It might seem cliche, but plants add color and life to space.Natural light: Harsh fluorescent lighting can be unwelcoming. Instead, focus on soft light or natural lighting.Workspace ownership: Allowing each employee to have some say over their area will allow them to create an aesthetic that works best for them.Solitude: If your office is open, supplying spaces for solitude can be helpful for productivity and a break from any distractions.Comfort: Comfortable chairs, temperature control, and workspace flexibility are all important in keeping employees comfortable with their environment.2. Offering a Remote Work PolicyIn reality, it’s hard to create a positive work environment that will work for everyone. Each employee has different preferences for a positive work environment, so it can be difficult to cater to everyone’s needs. For that reason, a remote work policy can be constructive. This way, employees can create the environment that works best for them.evalA remote work policy is the pinnacle of flexibility regarding creating a space to enhance each employee’s potential. However, it’s important to remember each person’s remote capabilities when outlining a remote work policy.A home office is ideal for a remote work situation. Each employee can design it themselv es, control their lighting, set their temperature, and have some say over their environmental distractions. However, not every living situation is ideal for a home office.Some employees may not own their own home and may not have the capabilities to create their own office. Especially for younger employees, buying a house with student debt is not always easy.To help those employees, consider keeping the office open for those employees who need it. You can also open a remote work policy to include coffee shops or libraries, not just a home location.3. Vetting Employee and Management PersonalitiesevalOften, a positive office environment has a lot to do with the people in the office. It doesn’t matter what kind of welcoming environment you have if your employees don’t jive with each other.A toxic employee may rely on others to complete their work, can be resistant to change, complaints often can be distracting, or bullies other employees. Poisonous managers can be condescending, te nd to micromanage, ignore employee concerns, or play favorites.For these reasons, it can be essential to vet employee and management personalities to be sure you’re not filling your office with toxic people.There are plenty of ways to vet employees, though it can be hard to prevent a toxic employee or manager from the office if that side of them doesn’t show in an interview â€" in which case it’s just as essential to rehabilitate or remove toxic employees as it is not to hire them at all. There are various personality tests you can give an employee to understand the type of personality you’re having to handle.Discuss the importance of your culture, and remember that it’s not just about their qualifications; it’s also about having their presence add to a positive office environment â€" not take away from it.4. Encouraging Work-Life BalanceWork should be a part of life â€" not something that encompasses someone’s life. Sometimes employees can feel overworked or pressured to work as much as they can, all to be a star employee.However, the best employee is happy, rested, and focused employee. For that reason, it’s best to instill a healthy work-life balance within employees. This not only helps employees to be the best they can be at work, but it also encourages a more positive attitudeWorking for a company who cares about their life outside as well as inside the office creates a healthy relationship between an employee and their employer. Encouraging work-life balance is possible in a few different ways depending on the company:Provide flex hours: This provides flexibility for work hours that allows an employee to easily schedule around specific events like a doctor’s appointment or child’s swim lessons.Promote health: Gym memberships, employeewalks, and healthy company-sponsored lunches are all great ways to encourage health inside the office as well as at home.Provide time off: Paid time off, or unpaid time off should be provided to employee s at a reasonable level. This allows employees to feel okay about missing work due to sickness, emergencies, or just vacation.eval5. Prioritizing Advancement, Appreciation, and CommunicationEmployees should have a few necessities to experience a positive office environment: the right tools to be successful, the ability to move up within the company, and an appreciation for their work.evalAdvancement opportunities are so crucial for a positive work experience that a lack of opportunity is one of the reasons for high employee turnover.Everyone wants to feel like their job can keep them moving forward. This goes hand in hand with employee appreciation and an obligation by management to let an employee know when they are doing well and rewarding hard work.Communication and providing necessary tools are other requirements for promoting positivity in the workplace. Providing an employee with training, communication tools, and a collaborative environment will allow them to feel like they h ave all the things they need to succeed in their job.Fostering communication between employees as well as prioritizing transparency between management and employees is paramount as well. Employees want to feel trusted and appreciated in their office environment.There are a lot of things that go into a positive office environment. Providing a welcoming and safe office environment or allowing employees to work in their own space is one way. Or hiring employees and promoting managers who are a good personality fit while avoiding or firing toxic personalities.evalIt’s about valuing and celebrating a positive work-life balance instead of encouraging burnout or overworked employees. It’s about making sure employees feel fulfilled, valued, trusted, and provided with the tools they need to succeed.When you foster a culture of positivity, you are building an environment that makes an employee proud to do their best for their company.

Make Your Resume Stronger by Showing Numbers

Make Your Resume Stronger by Showing Numbers For those of you who sent me comments following my last blog, Writing a Results Oriented Resume, thank you! Given some of those comments, I wanted to expand more on crafting strong achievement statements on resumes. Quantify Your Achievements To make your results stronger, quantify your results. For example, saying that you saved the company money by implementing a process improvement initiative is an okay result. Stating that you saved the company $50,000 by implementing a process improvement initiative is much stronger. For many people, they cannot remember the results from their prior jobs and therefore cannot quantify their results. It goes without saying that you should not lie on your resume. Going forward, while working at your current or next job, keep track of all the great results you produce. That way you can have solid, quantifiable data to include in your bullet points. Results aren’t always about numbers Also remember that sometimes your results cannot be tied to numbers. Being awarded additional client contracts because of the efficient team environment you created is a very solid result that does not have a number tied to it. Being awarded Employee of the Month for your work on the marketing campaign is a strong result that is not tied to a number. Dont get caught up in a numbers game when trying to write your results think broader. Please expand on my thoughts above by commenting below!

What your cousins-friends-bosss wife WONT tell you about your resume

What your cousins-friends-bosss wife WONT tell you about your resume Every once in a full moon a client will say to me, I love this. I love how it sounds. I am so happy with this resume, I would hire me! and then, I told my brother-in-laws friends bosss wife that I would let her look at my resume when you finished it. She manages Applebees and she has seen a lot of resumes in her time. Okay. I get that people want to show off their resume and hear what others say. I do. If a person tells me that someone they know is in HR and they want to send it to them, I understand. You want to show your friends. You want to hear their take on your resume. But not all friendly advice is good advice. Case in point: I had a person call me up and ask me questions about my process and my resumes. She was referred to me by a senior level client of mine. This person was in IT (network analyst) and had 5 pages of experience and technical jargon as her current resume. She said, I dont see any objective statements on your sample resumes. I said, True. You wont. I use a career summary and branding statements. I then started to explain career summaries to her when she stopped me dead in my tracks and said, I dont want a career summary. I need an objective. I asked her why she thought she needed an objective and she said because her friends aunt worked as an HR person for a small manufacturing company and she said that a resume was no good to her unless it had an objective. I had heard of this company, so I was surprised that the HR person had such strict, outdated, and ineffective rules regarding the types of resumes she wanted to see. As I was trying to educate her about the power of branding and career summaries vs. objectives, she was pretty adamant that she wanted the objective statement. So we moved on to a couple of other things and I was surprised at her demands which werent really demands, just antiquated resume rules. I absolutely CANNOT have 2 pages and I have to list every application, hardware, device, etc (even though most she said she hadnt used in 10 years), and It HAS to have the little references upon request thingy at the bottom, etc. because her friends aunt said so, and so on. I think you get the gist of the conversation. Finally, I gently asked her, Why dont you have your friends aunt write your resume? Or at least you write it and have her add her two cents? and she said, But I was referred to YOU and I want YOU to write it!! I politely declined the job and vaguely suggested a few other sites that might appeal more to what she wanted. Im sure she will find someone who will give her an objective and keep her 15 yrs IT experience to 1 page. So my point is this your friends/colleagues may have great intentions to help steer you in the right direction, but may not be doing it effectively. Their advice might actually hinder your efforts, not help. Better to leave it to those of us who are trained and have built careers around writing dynamic and effective resumes. Do your homework. Call around and talk to different writers until you find someone who you are comfortable with. Let them know what your expectations are and listen to what they have to say. Your friends aunt might be trying to help, but her help might stop you from getting the job.