The Career Coward’s Guide To Resumes: Sensible Strategies for Overcoming Job Search Fears
The Career Coward’s Guide To Resumes: Sensible Strategies for Overcoming Job Search Fears
This third book in the Career Coward’s series helps readers tackle the Herculean task of assessing their strengths and creating a paper “sales document” about themselves. In her friendly and comforting style, career coach Katy Piortrowski walks readers through all the basic steps of writing a resume and cover letter that fairly promotes their strengths and experiences without sounding like “bragging”.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Best Resume Book Ever
I first got this book at the Library and was so impressed by it that I had to buy it. The title says everything. This book really gives you the strategy, in baby steps, to building your resume and your best self. Who needs a career counselor with this book. Don’t walk to buy it….run.
5 Stars OUTSTANDING, SENSIBLE STRATEGIES. GREAT INFO!
I haven’t been on a real job search in 20 years and I didn’t realize how much I didn’t know about searching for a job in the new millennium. So much of what I thought I knew was either outdated and/or just plain wrong.
I enjoyed the clear organization and logical breakdown of the necessary steps to effectively looking for a job AND the clear and easy process of learning to overcome the irrational fears that plague me about approaching people I know, and don’t already know, about the job search I am conducting, and stopping myself from doing the self-defeating, advance worrying about what I think that OTHERS will think about me and my job search.
Ultimately though, where the rubber meets the road is putting this great information into ACTION and making it work for me. I am now pointed in the right direction and now taking the correct steps that this book directs me to take. Action is up to me. A new job/career awaits me. Employers are out there looking for ME (and YOU!) and they don’t even know I (we) exist and am available. It’s my job to introduce myself.
5 Stars Wish I had purchased this book months ago! (updated)
After 5 months of unsuccessful job hunting (6-8 hours everyday, 50-100 resumes sent a week, resulting in only 5 interviews in 5 months)…I checked out your book “The Career Coward’s Guide to Resumes” from my local library… I was inspired and sucked in immediately! I immersed myself in your easily approachable process right away with a sense of accomplishment at each step. I probably took longer than necessary [I tend towards procrastination and caution] with the added step of asking friends and colleagues for feedback, [all were impressed] thus incurring late charges which were well worth it! I have since purchased your book,(now that I am finished I plan on donating it to a local battered women’s charity). I recommend this book to all… everyone will benefit from this highly approachable step by step process that, before you know it, presents you with a completed resume in which you can both identify yourself and feel proud about. The best part is… it is incredibly effective…I am getting multiple quality responses immediately.
Thank you for creating and sharing this invaluable tool, I cannot wait to get my paws on your other publications!
Sincerely,
Dawn Reilly
UPDATE: A zillion thanks…It worked! I have been interviewing non-stop since sending out my NEW resume…and I just landed my dream job in less than a month! I credit Katy Piotrowski and her dynamic book for my success!
4 Stars Good place to start
In today’s marketplace, you need a great resume, even if you’re relying primarily on networking. This book is one of the best I’ve come across.
Liked: Easy to read, chatty but information-rich style, comprehensive. You’ll get tips for every aspect of writing a resume for a productive job search. Excellent section on writing follow-up letters for interviews. Excellent advice for cover letters (especially what to omit - p. 175). I tend to suggest that cover letters follow an ad or job description, point for point. But other styles work effectively.
Questioned: , target markets, opening summary, functional resumes, and “bump yourself up”
Who’s the target market for this book? Senior executives have different challenges than administrative assistants. Experienced managers face different questions than beginners. The examples run the gamut.
Opening summary: It’s a good idea to focus your opening on how you meet your employer’s needs. Focus on them as the “all about me” approach can turn off an interviewer. I also wondered if someone with advanced degrees, applying for a managerial level job, would need to note that she knows Microsoft Word.
Functional resumes: The author just says they “work.” But what does that mean? I’ve heard applicants and career counselors say they were asked, “OK, this is nice, but where’s your real resume?” HR managers assume functional means “you’ve got something to hide.” To get a foot in the door, I’d rather see a classy sales letter to a hiring manager.
Bump yourself up (p 37): Nice if you can do it. If you’ve got the moxie to pull it off, you don’t need to be reading resume books.
Disclaimer: I don’t know much about keyword blocks. Sounds like a good idea. And as I tell my own clients, before hitting the boards with a resume, show it to some folks in your network in your own field. Every industry and profession has rules, mostly unwritten.
Would I recommend to friends, acquaintances and clients? You bet.
4 Stars Helpful for today’s world
This book, like the rest in the Career Coward series that I have read, offers easy-to-follow, logical information and exerices. The real life examples are helpful and encouraging, especially if you have not tackled a new resume for quite some time. If you don’t know where to start, this is a good place.
Filed under: Resume Writing Book Reviews