1st Rate Blog

New Years’ Resolutions

If your New Years' resolution involves changing careers, then here's some information to help you out. I've changed jobs, and careers numerous times by the time I turned 45 years old. Believe me, even with a fractured resume, I have been able to find a job that served...

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How Much Do You Charge for a Resume?

I get this question a lot from people I meet, who are interested in getting a resume done, but ask upfront about the fee. The fee is determined by several factors, including length of time employed, number of former jobs, level of responsibility, and number of college...

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Common Resume Mistakes

I critique about 50 resumes per week for executive job seekers. And after picking up this gig last year, I've figured out what common errors are still being committed when it comes to these vital documents. Here's the first 5 on my exhaustive list. 1. Including office...

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Please Don’t Plagiarize!

When it's time to do your taxes, do you ask your neighbors or co-workers if you can see their return so you can have an idea of what to do? I'm sure you don't. It's not only confidential information, but your co-worker/neighbor has a completely different background...

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The Starbucks Rejection Tour

I heard on the radio show "Marketplace" tonight a story about man with a dream to get his song distributed by Starbucks. He was inspired by a Starbucks Barista to write the song, about his personal Starbucks experience, that came to him while sitting in a Starbucks....

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What’s in Your Desk Drawer?

A common response I hear from my clients when I ask to see copies of their performance evaluation used to write their resume is, "oh, those are in my desk at work, I'll have to get those to you later." That is scary to me, and here's why. You never know what prying...

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Are you ready to to jumpstart your job search?