Your Communication Style Hinders or Greatly Increases Your Success - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Your Communication Style Hinders or Greatly Increases Your Success - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career What are you really saying? We have all done it on occasion and its a bad habit that should be avoided in the future. The habit is subliminally delivering a message that touches upon a sensitive subject. We dont want to confront another or tell them they are wrong. So when an opportunity presents itself to say something to a group just hinting at the subject, we hope the message will be received by the one individual. The compounding effect of bad vibes Unfortunately this type of communication backfires in a big way. The targeted person receives the comment, becomes annoyed and then discusses with another in the group as to what previously transpired and the entire history of what was actually said. Now you have a third person in the middle of the two of you who becomes equally annoyed at best. But the compounding effect of bad vibes continues. You now have the potential for bad word of mouth among peers and potential disintegration of the group. If you personally have ever been guilty of this, promise yourself that from now on you will never stoop to this type of communication. The far better approach is to use direct and honest communication. This stops any type of rumor that might otherwise spread. You may wonder how this could also apply to interviews. Bringing in business and demonstrate your work Last year, in the middle of a very down economy, my good friend, “Charley” interviewed at a company of interest. Within a short week, the CEO from that very company requested consulting from Charley’s company and was led to Charley. The circumstance was truly coincidental and created much stress for Charley. Charley knew his current employer was counting on him to bring in this company as a partner. He also recognized tremendous opportunity to demonstrate his work. In the selling process to create interest in him as the job candidate, Charley needed to “market” his expertise to make the “sale” or land the job. Only after delivering his proposed program to the CEO, making certain a high level of satisfaction was expressed did Charley candidly share what previously took place. The intention in this case was to prevent fallout should the CEO discover this on his own, as well as to be perfectly clear about everything that previously transpired. This honest dialogue led to two benefits. The Chairman was very appreciative of the thought laid out in regard to the impending partnership between their two companies. It looked good on all fronts. The two men then further delved into conversation as to where Charley saw his strengths and what his aspirations were for his next career move. The Chairman concluded by telling Charley he was so impressed by his work and integrity that he would discuss the entire matter with his advisory board to possibly create a special position for Charley based upon their discussion. Charley may have landed the best job of his entire career! Once again, direct and honest communication wins. Speak confidentially and communicate in a way that is beneficial to all Speak confidentially to individuals as if it is attorney client privilege. Communicate to groups in a manner that you know will be of benefit to all, and include a question and answer portion so that targeted specifics may be addressed as requested. From a selling and branding standpoint it is best to use succinct communication with a smile on your face and in your heart. Honestly portray you are there to serve your prospects and clients. Your results will soar and you will enjoy the Smooth Sale! Author: Elinor Stutz, CEO of Smooth Sale, LLC authored the International Best-Selling book, “Nice Girls DO Get the Sale: Relationship Building That Gets Results” and “HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews”. Elinor provides team sales training, private coaching and highly acclaimed keynotes for conferences.

The Impact of Employee Engagement on Performance and Results CareerMetis.com

The Impact of Employee Engagement on Performance and Results Photo Credit â€" Pixabay.comNowadays, employee engagement statistics are almost difficult to avoid. Galluprecently reported that a meager 33% of employees are engaged in the U.S., with an Aon Hewitt studyindicating that engagement has recently dipped for the first time since 2012.Understandably, companies are overhauling performance management systems in response, using tactics like OKR goal-settingand feedback apps to improve engagement levels.Yet, with the near-constant stream of updates surrounding employee engagement, there comes a point at which we might begin to wonder: is it really that important?evalNot only is the answer an unequivocal “yes,” but it’s possible that employee engagement is even more important than we originally thought.Let’s take a look at how it specifically impacts company performance and results.What Is Employee Engagement?To fully understand the impact employee engagement has on an organization, it’s important to first get some clarity on what it truly means.Definitions vary from one source to the next, but we’ll take a look at how some credible sources describe it â€" while also describing what it isn’t â€" for a more concrete definition.The Society for Human Resource Management Despite variations in definitions, one thing most sources agree on is that engaged employees are more likely to contribute discretionary efforts to an organization. That means these employees aren’t simply there to make a paycheck; instead, they’re actively committed to their role in achieving organizational goals.Clearly, then, having engaged employees is important. After all, having teams that are actively dedicating their efforts to your company goals will yield better results than having employees who simply “show up.”So, Employee Engagement Matters â€" But to What Extent? evalThe degree to which employee engagement will impact an organization’s performance will obviously vary by company.Still, there’s some compelling evidence t hat indicates it can wield significant power over your business outcomes, regardless of your industry, business size, or other differentiating factors.evalLet’s take a look.Research links employee engagement directly to productivity. A 2009 studyby the University of Iowa and Gallup revealed an 18% drop in productivity among most and least engaged employees.The same survey also noted a connection between absenteeismand engagement: it’s 37% higher among employees with engagement scores in the lowest quartile. To put into perspective just how much absenteeism impacts productivity: a Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index surveyshows missed worked days cost U.S. organizations upwards of $84 billion in 2013.A study from Glintshows the turnoverrate of disengaged employees is 12 times higher than that of highly engaged employees. The implications of losing top performers can significantly impact productivity, not to mention the potential financial ramifications of trying to replace them: t he University of Floridastates the cost of turnover can reach up to 150% of an employee’s salary. Aon Hewitt datashows highly-engaged employees are 36% more likely to stay with their company.Raising employee engagement can help improve your operational efficiency. The same Aon Hewitt findings referenced above indicate that organizations with higher engagement levels tend to have 75% fewer quality defects, along with 26% fewer workers’ compensation claims related to safety.Perhaps the most compelling evidence of employee engagement’s impact on performance is its link to stock performance.Forbes describes a 3.9 times earnings per share growth rate between companies with employees who have the highest engagement levels versus the lowest.As you can see, measuring the impact of employee engagement on an organization is near impossible, but with links to productivity clearly evident, it’s time for employers to find more effective solutions to the problem â€" and quickly. What you can measure is employee engagement itself. And, you can act on that information, putting improvement strategies in place.How Can We Improve Employee Engagement?Strengthening employee engagement can be improved in a few different ways, but it’s important to take an all-encompassing approach instead of selecting just one method.Here are the strategies that have the greatest impact on employee engagement:Frequent Communication With ManagersGallup shows that managers could be responsible for as much as 70% of the variance in employee engagement levels. In order to stay engaged in their work, employees need to feel that their managers genuinely care about their achievements and have their best interests in mind. One way to achieve that is to ensure your managers are regularly checking in with their teams.For best results, encourage managers to meet for one-on-one meetings with each of their direct reports for a brief check-in session weekly. This succinct yet powerful meeting should be used to discuss any impending obstacles, small wins, and overall progress on goals, which brings us to our next point.Clear, Measurable Goals Aligned With Company PrioritiesWhile check-ins give managers the opportunity to give employees feedback â€" which employees need in order to stay engaged â€" they must have clear, measurable goals in place against which they can gauge progress. Without clear, measurable goals, managers won’t be able to provide actionable feedback to help employees grow and develop.evalMoreover, when goals are clear, measurable, and linked with larger organizational objectives, employees get a direct line of sight into how their efforts impact company success. This helps them identify a clear role in overall business performance, which can also support engagement.Survey Your TeamsFinally, there’s no way to really know where your organization stands in terms of engagement if you’re not measuring it. Using employee surveys on a regular basis can allow you to retrieve data that you can then apply towards future decisions.Just be sure to ask employees specific, relevant questions to clearly assess engagement levels, and consider making surveys anonymous to retrieve the most honest feedback.Most importantly, remember that employee engagement should be factored into your overall performance management framework, and is thus an ongoing activity â€" not a one-time event. With this approach in mind, you can apply strategies to continuously improve engagement, and enhance performance as a result.

Choosing A Career Can Be Overwhelming

Choosing A Career Can Be Overwhelming Choosing a career, either for the first time or later in life,   can be overwhelming, confusing, frustrating and/or just a pain in the ass. So how do you go about making the best choice? There are three assessments, that when combined, can help you assessunderstand your values, interests and personality so you can align them with a better career match. Theres no magic wand. Once youve completed the assessments, theres still work to be done, but I spell it all out below. Youll find links to the 3 free assessments. Be True To Your Values What guides you more than your skills and interests are your values. If you havent taken time to assess what these are, you should.  Take a short assessment and determine what motivates you!  Might I suggest Career Anchors. It was developed by Edgar H. Schein, an MIT professor. There is an online version, a book, and you can find a free version online. There are eight career anchors: Technical/Functional Competence General Managerial Competence Autonomy/Independence Security/Stability Entrepreneurial Creativity Service/Dedication to a Cause Pure Challenge Know Your Type (MBTI) Dont stop there. You need information about your personality, style and how you process information. Another assessment to help pin this down is MBTI. Again, you can pay or find a free version online. This is a summary of the 16 types by Wikipedia Image via Wikipedia by Jake Beech RIASEC No, dont stop self-assessing yet. Theres one more. You can take a self-assessment via Onet which correlates your interests and skills with occupational titles. Youll get your RIASEC score. Realistic  â€" Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others. Investigative  â€" Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally. Artistic  â€" Artistic occupations frequently involve working with forms, designs and patterns. They often require self-expression and the work can be done without following a clear set of rules. Social  â€" Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others. Enterprising  â€" Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business. Conventional â€" Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually, there is a clear line of authority to follow. Pull The Pieces Together It isnt enough to self-assess. Youll have to interpret the parts and piece it all together. This is where the heavy lifting comes in. Keep these things in mind as you begin to explore and test new career option. Follow these steps and Be true to your anchor Your values are incredibly important to your career satisfaction. By the way, money is not one of the career anchors. Your goal is to find a career that aligns with your anchor, however, if you choose not to, you may face challenges. Passion Passion doesnt trump money, but it cant be dismissed. Ask successful professionals what contributed to their success, and theyll likely answer that they love what they do. So is searching for passion so wrong? Eric Stutzke, executive vice president of finance operations at OneWire, a career site for finance professionals, says those who truly love the financial world will easily adapt and thrive. Having a passion for financial services is the secret ingredient for his long-term career happiness and success. Company culture and people Your skills, interests and values can be used a in wide variety of industries and jobs. Once you have discovered a career, begin looking at the company culture and people who work in that area. Conduct informational meetings and research companies to learn how people are rewarded and promoted. While the job or industry might fit, some  company cultures  may not line up with what is important to you. The best way to uncover this information is to speak with people who currently work for the company or recently worked there. Learn by doing All your research can help steer you in the correct direction, but sometimes experience is the best teacher. An internship, job shadowing or temporary job can give you hands-on experience that can go a long way in helping you make the right choice. If you dont like the work or company, it is better to uncover this sooner rather than later. Dont rule it out altogether, though, because your experience may not have been typical. Ask trusted advisors or friends to help you assess the situation before eliminating some of your options. Stay interested Having passion for the industry or work you do will certainly give you fortitude to face stormy situations. Interest also brings out the desire to learn more and work harder. Some experts will say that hustle and going above and beyond are vital elements for career success. While nothing comes too easily, it is easier to put in the extra effort if you like what you are doing. How do you define success? Working extreme hours or obsessing over climbing the decaying corporate ladder may not be  your  path to success. Todays definition of what success looks like might be different. Arianna Huffington, president and editor-in-chief of the Huffington Post Media Group, wrote in the Wall Street Journal, Ultimately, success is not about money or position, but about living the life you want, not just the life you settle for.

Using Your Resume As Part of Your Marketing Strategies

Using Your Resume As Part of Your Marketing StrategiesYou have your resume written, but you are not sure how to use it. You want to market yourself and you don't know how to use it. You need a good marketing strategy for your resume, but you are not sure how to start. A good way to use your resume is to include it with other materials such as business cards, letters of intent, and proposal letters.If you want to start out by using your resume, take a look at your sales letters, proposal letters, and proposal templates. Take a look at how you use these items in order to get the best results. Use your resume as another piece of material that goes along with all of these other pieces.If you want to sell yourself and you are a beginner, consider doing this as a part of your ongoing sales efforts. If you need a new job, you may want to contact recruiters or HR staff. Your resume is your entrance ticket to this situation. Having a job with you now is a big confidence booster.A great way to write your resume is to write it at home. You will be able to make changes as needed, or just work on something else while you write. You can add a cover letter to your resume that explains your interest in the position you are applying for and describe why you are the best person for the job. If you need an interview, you can create a supplemental job search plan that includes your resume and cover letter.Using your resume as part of your marketing efforts will bring your networking efforts to new levels. If you are planning a marketing effort, you can use this to get the ball rolling. It makes your plan work, and it also gives you a higher level of connection to the person you are trying to reach. This makes your job easier, but it also gives you a better chance of landing the job you want.Using your resume to market your network is a good way to market yourself as well. If you are running an Internet marketing business, you may use your resume to get links to your sites on the I nternet. If you are running a business, you may find that your networking relationships will be more successful if you are using your resume to sell them. Each time you send out a resume, you are building your network relationships, and you are building your resume as well.Your resume writing on the side is a great way to use your creativity. You can use it to build business relationships, or to help you market yourself. It is a good way to communicate your ideas about you and your products. If you are creative, you can make a few extra dollars by using your resume as a marketing tool.Using your resume as part of your marketing efforts is one of the best ways to generate new sales strategies. It has helped thousands of people get a job in their industry. It can help you get a job in your industry. It can help you get more business, and it can give you a good way to connect with other professionals and clients who you want to help.

How to Make Sure Your Resume Has Everything You Need

How to Make Sure Your Resume Has Everything You NeedWriting a resume is one of the most essential and important things you can do when it comes to your job search. In fact, the importance of a resume is so high that it is considered a defining factor in the hiring process. What makes a resume even more important is that it gives employers an overview of you as a person and what it is that you have to offer in terms of qualities that employers look for in employees.So how can you make sure that your resume has everything that you need? The answer lies in two aspects. First, you must make sure that you are writing the resume with the right mindset. While the ideal resume should have structure and flow, a resume that has not been written properly will not be effective. There are two ways to ensure that you are using the right mindset in your resume.The first is to follow a general rule that any successful business requires people who will be able to write well. In other words, it is imp ortant to find people who are able to communicate in a clear and concise manner. The second way to determine if you are following the correct mindset is to know how the resume needs to look like. Remember that a well-written resume is what helps you get noticed and what will help you gain a job, so make sure you are hiring the best candidate.Of course, it goes without saying that you will need to be able to generate great content on the resume itself. While there are plenty of resume templates available online that are quite impressive, they are not necessarily the best option for you to follow. So the first tip is to spend time looking at different templates before deciding on which one to use. After doing this, you can start spending your time looking at different samples that you can use to write your own.While there are templates that may be of no use to you because of the lack of creativity within the writer's content, there are some free resources that can allow you to have al l the benefits of a professionally designed template with the features you need. The idea is to learn to write in your own voice. One of the best ways to do this is to start looking at different samples. It is important to make sure that the sample contains the kind of content that your own resume would have.Another good way to learn about good writing is to hire a professional resume writer to do it for you. These professionals are people who have knowledge of how to craft compelling content on resumes and can prove to be beneficial to you. However, make sure that the professional writing service you hire does not charge you for this service and that it can actually give you results.In conclusion, remember that the most important thing when it comes to creating a resume is that you can write it well. This means that you need to do as much research as possible in order to understand what it is that makes a resume work and what it is that will help you gain an interview. It also mean s that you need to be able to make a strong impression by hiring a resume writer, and this can be done by learning the right way to write the resume and writing skills.

Resume Format in Technical Writing Can Be Fun for Everyone

Resume Format in Technical Writing Can Be Fun for Everyone It is possible to download our finest works for you to have the application paper you needed the most. In addition, be specific in regards to the documents you have written, especially in the most current experience. The majority of the document is going to be based on your abilities and your employment history, so let's start from that point. Although it's tempting to believe that all resumes are made equal, that's just not the situation. To prevent that possibility, you have to learn as much as possible about the Canada resume format. Make certain that your Canada resume format emphasizes the technical skills required to carry out the job. If you're interested in an infographic format, below are some infographic samples to check out. What Is So Fascinating About Resume Format in Technical Writing? Put simply, technical writing doesn't need to be Shakespeare, but nevertheless, it shouldn't bore an individual to t ears either. There are only a few costs involved to open a technical writer company, especially if an individual isn't planning to take extra classes to get ready for their job. While technical provides a window in your personality, it does not have any business value. Understanding how to tailor your resume will obviously offer you an advantage. Resume Format in Technical Writing - the Conspiracy To find out more on what it requires to be a Technical Editor, have a look at our complete Technical Editor Job Description. Writing a resume for employment in the art industry can be difficult. To find out more on what it requires to be a Technical Writer, have a look at our complete Technical Writer Job Description. Technical writers should put money into an internet presence, but they don't necessarily should devote money on online advertising. A Startling Fact about Resume Format in Technical Writing Uncovered Continue reading for ourtips and ideas on how to construct a funct ional resume to create a winning resume which encompasses all your skills, achievements and experiences pertinent to the work vacancy. Also, make certain you re-read the job advertisement to make certain your resume addresses the significant qualifications it's asking for. By way of example, include the particular months and years that you worked at your prior jobs. Make certain you highlight technical wisdom and certifications. Resume Format in Technical Writing - Is it a Scam? Technical writers and company analysts are almost similar with regard to job descriptions and techniques needed to work in a sure small business company. A number of the info is subjective. Technical support jobs call upon a wide selection of technical and interpersonal abilities, and a summary statement is the ideal opportunity to showcase them in a skilled and compelling way. A business website makes it possible for customers to learn more regarding your company and the goods or services that you of fer.

2016 Resume Trends The New, The Now What You Must Know - Work It Daily

2016 Resume Trends â€" The New, The Now What You Must Know - Work It Daily An interesting study was published by Microsoft in May of this year about how our attention spans have changed over the past several years. In 2000 we had a 12-second attention span, and in 2013 a mere eight-second attention span. We now, as a whole, have a one-second-shorter attention span than a goldfish. Isn’t that interesting? Ok, shocking is probably more like itâ€"and also not very comforting to know when you’re job searching and trying your hardest to get a hiring manager/employer/recruiter…someone…to pay attention to resume trends. Related:Top 7 Resume Trends For 2015 So what exactly does this shortened attention span mean for your job searchâ€"and more specifically, your resume? It means trends and times are changing and so should your resume. Here is my top-ten list of resume trends for 2016, which, as you’ll notice, will be largely impacted on this year’s findings. 2016 Resume Trend #1: Get In, Tell Your Story, And Get Out Make every word count when you’re writing. In an article like this one I’ve chosen to use bold subtitles for those who like to scan or skim an article to get the main points but don’t want to dig in deeper for the details. I’ve also provided my opinion and the extra details for those who like context and an explanation to go with the points in bold. Consider doing the same with your resume. Use short, tweet-sized sentences to communicate key accomplishments, your branding statements, facts you don’t want the employer to miss. Ideally, you want critical information CALLED OUT on the resume. 2016 Resume Trend #2: Be A Ruthless Editor Create a master resume and then go back and edit it until you have a leaner draft. Then go back and cut even more out. When you write your resume ask yourself, “Is this critical to my story or what I’m trying to convey to the employer?” If it isn’t, cut it out. Save the discarded content in a master file so you have it if you decide later you really do need it. However, consider yourself a ruthless editor, evaluate every word, every sentence for how you can make it shorter and more conciseâ€"then slash and trash what you don’t need. 2016 Resume Trend #3: Write For Scanners/Skimmers Write for scanners and skimmers. You know the people who go through and only read the headlines of articles and newspapers or scroll through articles and only read the bolded bullet points to get the general gist of what it’s saying? This reason is exactly why newspapers and news articles start with a great headline, give the most critical facts/details first, and then gradually fill in the not-so-critical details further down in the story. They know you want the important information first and don’t want to wait for it. Do the same in your resume. Start with your branding statement and make it answer the decision maker’s questions: “Why should I care?” or “What’s in it for me?” When time is of the essence, answering these questions first gives readers exactly what they need to know up front; then they can choose to keep on reading for any details. I think the strategy of using a profile summary or career summary is now history. Instead, I think it should include a personal-brand snapshot. Give the reader newsworthy information in short, effective statements so they can get the facts and move on. 2016 Resume Trend #4: Use A Formula To Help Flesh Out Your Story In resume writing we call them CAR or SAR statements. I’ve also seen the acronym PARI. Essentially, you’re sharing a challenge/situation/problem, the action you took to address it, and what the result was. Ideally you want to frame the result by sharing how it positively impacted your employer or client. These are the kinds of statements that make impact and tell a story but also give the reader context. Remember to keep it short; mercilessly edit it down to the least common denominator. In resume writing it’s also a wise practice to lead with the result/impact to the client or employer because this is usually quantifiable. Here is a quick example of what I mean by a S.A.R. statement: Situation/Challenge/Problem: Company operated at a loss of $960,000 in 2014. Action: Personally vetted by CEO for company turnaround. Cut costs by 30%, revamped hiring practices to reduce turnover, overhauled budget and spending practices. Result/Impact: Delivered $650,000 profit in 2015. Now you can take the content from the answers to these three questions and put together a great bullet point for your resume. Fill in each with your own experiences and expertise. 2016 Resume Trend #5: Neuroscience Says Pictures Win Ninety percent of information transmitted to the brain is visual, and visuals are processed 60,000X faster in the brain than text. (Sources: 3M Corporation and Zabisco) and 40% of people will respond better to visual information than plain text. (Source: Zabisco). Use graphs, charts, and visual presentations whenever possible to share content with your audience. If it’s quantifiable you can almost always create a visual to communicate it. On social media platforms, images or photos are shared or liked more than text. In this article they share research that states photos on Facebook are shared 75% more than articles, links or text. Although this isn’t research on resumes in particular, it does speak to how much our brains and eyes are drawn to visual stimuli. I wrote an article this autumn on what employers see when you apply on LinkedIn. The content was revelatory for many job seekers and received great praise for its insightfulness. Be that as it may, when I created an infographic of the same content within the article and posted it on LinkedIn it was shared significantly more than the article itself. The article was published by LinkedIn on several of its channels, but was shared only four times and viewed 700. The infographic was never published on any of LinkedIn’s channels, yet it was shared 53+ times and has been viewed 2,000+ times. Evidence that visual content gets more attention. 2016 Resume Trend #6: Personal Branding IS Visual TOO In resume writing (and the job search business in general) we tend to get hung up on the idea that our brand is all about the words we useâ€"and it is. As career expert Deb Dib calls it, your personal brand is your “why buy ROI”. However, it’s also communicated visuallyâ€"not just in words but with word pictures and with images. Certain colors have specific meanings to your personal brand! Check out this video from Personalbranding.tv to find out what your personal branding color is and consider that it may be time to include your color brand in your resume: As a side note that’s not resume related, your LinkedIn profile is also a good place to incorporate visual branding and your personal brand color. 2016 Resume Trend #7: Bite-Sized Sentences Funny how twitter causes us to communicate our thoughts in 140 characters or fewer. Even Twitter knows our attention spans are waning in the digital age. Our brains have adapted to new ways of absorbing content and interacting with the Internet. Now you’re forced to keep your point short and sweet. For a superfluous person like me who loves the details, I used to get so mad at Twitter for making me convey my thoughts in such short, bite-sized portions, but it really has become the necessity of our society. With ever-decreasing attention spans, writing tweet-sized resume sentences is a sound strategy. And it’s not a trend I see fading away in the coming years either. The next time you write a sentence for your resume, see how many characters are included. And then see if you can get it down to 140 characters or fewer without losing impact. Consider what is essential and what is critical. Ditch the essential and run with the critical. 2016 Resume Trend #8: Money, Money, Money How you made it, generated it, contributed to, saved, or helped someone else in the processâ€"it’s all about the almighty dollar. A great example for a direct contributor is how their actions impacted the bottom-line profitability of the company. For an executive assistant it may be how her initiative and foresight allowed her boss to save money or increase billable hours. Whatever you do, find the connection to dollars and share it. If nothing you did in some way affected costs savings or revenue generation, find the bleeding need your target company/audience has and communicate how what you’ve done in the past has stopped the bleeding! 2016 Resume Trend #9: Infographic Resumes Infographic resumes are growing in popularity! Don’t believe me? Just search them on Pinterest. Does an infographic resume replace a traditional resume? No. Does it work for everyone? No. In some situationsâ€"and for many job seekersâ€"there is a time and place to use an infographic resume. I’ll let you in on a little secret tooâ€"you can make your own! There is a plethora of sites you can use to design your own infographic resume, including Visme, Visually, Venngage, Piktochart, Infogr.am, and easel.ly. I’m confident you could use these sites to create graphics to incorporate into your resume too. There are some important points you need to consider when you’re evaluating whether an infographic resume is right for you. They’re not for every industry or position. However, they can work very well for industries like marketing, sales, technology, social media, graphic design or telecomm. You may find that innovative companies, smaller organizations, or start-ups are even drawn to infographic resumes. I can see infographic resumes being a great tool when tapping into the hidden job market as you’re bypassing traditional HR departments. A January 2015 survey stated 68% of people would look at an infographic resume, 32% said it depends. Interestingly enough, not one person said they wouldn’t look at one. 2016 Resume Trend #10: Say Goodbye To ATS The demise of applicant tracking software is upon us. Employers are discovering that computer software systems may be great at scanning keywords on a resume, but they’re not so great at discerning talent, loyalty, dedication, hard work, and most importantly FIT. While I understand ATS has its usefulness (there’s no way an HR representative can feasibly read thousands of resumes that pour in every day) their practicality and validity are waning. Resumes, which used to function as your “first impression” to an employer, are now quickly becoming the second or third thing an employer will see about you. With the rise of social media sites such as LinkedIn, website resumes, portfolios, video resumes, and job-search strategies allowing job seekers to tap into the hidden job market and bypass sending a resume as a first introduction, the human eye is quickly becoming the #1 gatekeeper. Keep these trends in mind when you sit down to write your resume, and you’ll be ten steps ahead of your competition. Having a hard time writing your own resume? Let’s chat! Visit my website, call my office at 1.800.991.5187, or connect with me on LinkedIn to discuss how I help busy job seekers create interview-winning resumes, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles that cut their job search time by 50% or more and secure interviews in two weeks or less. WANT MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS? Check out: 2016 Cover Letter Trends INFOGRAPHIC: What Employers See When You Apply on LinkedIn I’d love to know what you think the most important resume trends for 2016 will be! Share your thoughts! In the meantime, let’s network! Feel free to send me an invitation to connect on LinkedIn Related Posts 3 Tools For Creating An Attention-Grabbing Resume Optimizing Your Resume With Keywords How To Get An Employer’s Attention In 20 Seconds About the author Jessica Holbrook Hernandez, CEO of Great Resumes Fast is an expert resume writer, career and personal branding strategist, author, and presenter. Want to work with the best resume writer? If you would like us to personally work on your resume, cover letter, or LinkedIn profileâ€"and dramatically improve their response ratesâ€"then check out our professional and executive resume writing services at GreatResumesFast.com or contact us for more information if you have any questions.   Disclosure: This post is sponsored by a CAREEREALISM-approved expert. You can learn more about expert posts here. Photo Credit: Shutterstock Have you joined our career growth club?Join Us Today!