Weekend Job Search Week 10: Research Your Interviewer Like a Pro

The Weekend Job Search Assignment #10: Do your research to ace the interview—and land the job

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

3 min read • Originally published May 27, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By John Lombard

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

3 min read • Originally published May 27, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

Welcome to week 10 of The Weekend Job Search, our ongoing series that breaks the whole job-search process into 13 totally doable to-do items.

Last week, you had a mock interview with a friend or family member, and with any luck did a lot to anticipate any tricky questions, and allay your jitters.

This week, to really impress hiring managers and stand out against the competition, you’re going to really get to know the company and position you’re interviewing for by doing your research. And if there’s no interview on the calendar, no worries—you’ll just use a company you’re targeting for this exercise.

The Weekend Job Search Assignment #10

Research the Company and Interviewer

Every time you go into an interview, you have to remind yourself there are at least three other candidates vying for that same position, all working just as hard as you to impress the hiring manager and land the gig.

And while most candidates spend a great deal of time formulating the perfect responses to questions, many forget to do the most important prep—learning everything they can about the company and the people who are interviewing them. And that’s how you will show them up.

Let’s start today—and remember, if you have no interview on the horizon, use a company you’re targeting for this exercise.

1. Start with the basics.

The best place to kick off your research is with the “About Us” page. Right now, take notes on things such as:

Number of years in business
Number and location of offices
The client roster (if it’s an ad agency)
Type of work the team you’re applying for does
The company’s mission statement

Want even more help on your interview preparation? The counselors with Mediabistro’s Career Services can help you refine your interview skills in a one-on-one session.

2. Dig into company news, reviews and people.

Make notes on what you find on the Web and the company blog about recent news stories about the company. Did it recently win an award? Merge with another company? Hire a new vp or creative director? Anything you can mention or congratulate people on will go a long way.

Search LinkedIn for the hiring manager, as well as for people who have or had the role to which you’re applying. Check out their backgrounds and how they describe their roles. Use this information to get a better picture of the position and the person you’ll be interviewing with.

Who knows? Maybe you and the hiring manager both went to the same college, or have volunteered at the same organization. Even a small connection can help to break down barriers and foster better connections in the interview.

3. Develop smart questions.

During the interview, the hiring manager is going to eventually say, “Do you have any questions for me?” This is where you knock their socks off with your well-researched information.

Use your notes to formulate three questions; these should spark conversation with the interviewer, but also demonstrate that you took the time to research the company.

Let’s say you found out the company recently won Clio’s Independent Agency of the Year award. You might say, “Congratulations on winning the Clio award; how has this high-profile award affected business?”

Or, if you discovered the hiring manager is also Inbound Certified, you might say, “I noticed you’re also Hubspot Inbound Certified; how much of what you learned is implemented in your team’s marketing?”

And that’s week 10!

Next week, we’ll work on telling your story, otherwise known as your elevator pitch.

Start from the beginning: #WeekendJobSearch Assignment #1

Share your progress on Twitter: #WeekendJobSearch

Topics:

Get Hired, Job Search

Job Search

What Hiring Managers Really Want in Today’s Marketers

Nail these skills if you want to be desirable to employers

By Molly Folse

@MollyFolse

Molly Folse is a marketing leader with 20 years of experience in content strategy and social media, currently serving as Director of Content and Creative at Protective Life. She has led award-winning content and digital campaigns across financial services, higher education, travel, and consumer brands.

3 min read • Originally published May 31, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Molly Folse

@MollyFolse

Molly Folse is a marketing leader with 20 years of experience in content strategy and social media, currently serving as Director of Content and Creative at Protective Life. She has led award-winning content and digital campaigns across financial services, higher education, travel, and consumer brands.

3 min read • Originally published May 31, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

We’ve all been there. You walk into an interview feeling on top of the world. You know you have mad skills. But then the questions start and all that confidence disappears faster than that selfie on Snapchat.

While dressing the part, making eye contact and being a team player still count, the increased focus on everything digital has forced new marketers to up their game. Take the guesswork out of your next marketing interview—here are five skills hiring managers want to see.

1. Social Media Prowess

Social media pervades all areas of marketing. It’s not enough to have a personal Instagram account (unless you’ve done something really interesting with it, like getting 100,000 people to follow your dog). No matter your role, you should have in-depth knowledge of all the major platforms—Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn and, yes, even Snapchat and other emerging apps, like Kik.

“The ones that really know [social media] inside out, it makes them valuable for these companies,” says Hilary O’Keefe, senior communications manager at Core77 Design Awards.

Find entry-level content-marketing jobs

2. Solid Communication Skills

Good communication skills never go out of style, even as people spend more and more time with machines. Hiring managers look for people who can deliver messages to consumers and effectively communicate with their coworkers in new and traditional ways.

“Learn your own communication style and the style of those around you,” says 360i CEO Sarah Hofstetter. “It will foster greater self-awareness and improved collaboration and productivity—inside and outside of the office.”

Being a good communicator doesn’t just mean being comfortable speaking to others. It also means being able to clearly express yourself in writing.

Says Hofstetter: “Crisp writing skills are essential for roles across an agency.”

3. Above-Average Agility

Marketing is fast-paced, always on and ever-changing. New marketers need to follow suit by being quick on their feet and able to jump from one task to another without missing a beat. These days, marketers are often asked to fail fast, revise quickly and test often.

This can be a hard pill to swallow, especially for the perfectionists out there. But coming up with an example of how you can be flexible on the fly can mean the difference between getting hired and getting left behind.

4. Technical Ability

We’ve moved beyond Microsoft Office being a special skill. Way beyond.

“Especially in media,” says Mark Herschberg, CTO at Flashpoint, “if you stay tied to old technologies, you’ll go the way of the printing press.”

Hiring managers want to know that a candidate can quickly master the tools and software marketers may use for things like social media management, updating website content, keyword research and media monitoring. Bonus points if you stay ahead of the game and can identify new technologies to solve problems.

5. Proven Results

You need to show hiring managers you’re a numbers person, even if you chose a field in communications simply to avoid having to do math.

“Things are becoming more measured and focused on the return on investment,” says Simon Yi, growth marketing lead at Reserve.

Even people in more creative marketing roles like content development have to track results of their efforts in order to regularly revise their approach and prove their value. Wow your interviewer by asking questions about key metrics. Have you ever helped a company get leads at an event or increase their Facebook followers? Be sure to mention that, too.

Topics:

Get Hired, Job Search

Journalism Advice

How to Actually Land a Job Through Social Media

This marketing pro used her social presence to land an agency gigs; here’s how she made it happen

By Molly Folse

@MollyFolse

Molly Folse is a marketing leader with 20 years of experience in content strategy and social media, currently serving as Director of Content and Creative at Protective Life. She has led award-winning content and digital campaigns across financial services, higher education, travel, and consumer brands.

3 min read • Originally published June 2, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Molly Folse

@MollyFolse

Molly Folse is a marketing leader with 20 years of experience in content strategy and social media, currently serving as Director of Content and Creative at Protective Life. She has led award-winning content and digital campaigns across financial services, higher education, travel, and consumer brands.

3 min read • Originally published June 2, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

You’ve no doubt heard about social media gaffes—inappropriate newsjacking, personal posts ending up on company accounts—that get marketing professionals fired. But what do people do on social media that can help them get hired?

According to Pew Research Center, more than one in 10 social media users say information they’ve posted on social media has helped them get a job. A separate study by Jobvite revealed that 93 percent of recruiters look at a candidate’s social accounts, and 42 percent have reconsidered a candidate, both positively and negatively, based on what they found.

For Suzanne Marlatt, an early job with a leading marketing agency began with a simple tweet. She had followed Edelman’s global strategy director David Armano for over a year, but hadn’t engaged with him beyond an occasional fave or reply. Until one of those replies led to an interview for a community manager position with Edelman Digital.

“It started with one witty reply, and a few days later I had a job offer,” Marlatt says.

During her in-person interview, Armano mentioned Marlatt’s Twitter account and anecdotes from her blog. (It’s now defunct, but you can check out her current efforts at Being Brauns.) Her social media and digital footprint had made an impression.

“Even though I knew my blog was public and out there for everyone to see, I really didn’t consider that my writing style and topic choices would help me get a job,” Marlatt says. “I blogged for my own personal enjoyment. To employers, blogging showed that I had passions outside the cubicle, and I could build an audience around the things I loved.”

When Marlatt recently took a new position as a senior strategist with social media software company Spredfast, she turned to social media in a different way.

“When my dream job popped up, I researched—just some light social media stalking—all the team members to learn their backgrounds and understand a little more about how they ended up at Spredfast,” she says. “To take it a step further, I looked at hashtags used most frequently by their employees to see how they share company stories and experiences on social.”

If you’re in marketing, advertising or any related field, your social media presence is a critical part of the job search equation. Just as you would update your resume, you should make updates to your social media channels to make sure they are the best representation of you and your objectives.

Keep these five things in mind when using social media to land a job:

1. Network, even when you aren’t job-hunting.
2. Strike up conversations; you never know where they may lead.
3. Post content that showcases your abilities, and do it often.
4. Research potential employers to see how they use social media.
5. Be yourself, and you’ll attract opportunities that fit.

Ultimately, you aren’t using social media effectively if you turn on your social channels exclusively to look for jobs and hit up your network only when you need something from them.

“Social media can be a powerful tool during a job search but only if it’s used authentically,” Marlatt says. “Social is ‘always on,’ so you should keep your networks engaged before, during and after a job search.”

Topics:

Get Hired, Job Search

Job Search

Weekend Job Search Week 11: Nail Your Elevator Pitch

The Weekend Job Search Assignment #11: Get to the point and impress your interviewer with a carefully constructed personal story

By John Lombard

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

3 min read • Originally published June 3, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By John Lombard

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

3 min read • Originally published June 3, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

Welcome to week 11 of The Weekend Job Search, our ongoing series that breaks the whole job-search process into 13 totally doable to-do items.

Last week, you got to know the company and position you’re interviewing—or hoping to interview with—by doing your research.

This week, you’re going to develop a job-landing response to the holy grail of interview questions: “So, tell me about yourself.”

This open-ended stumper is one of the most common interview questions and can leave some job seekers speechless. Fortunately, there’s a way to nail your response and start your interview out in the best light possible: with an elevator pitch, a quick, compelling career story that can be told in the time it takes to ride with someone from the lobby to their floor.

The Weekend Job Search Assignment #11

Compose Your Story/Elevator Pitch

The good news? Developing your pitch is relatively simple: You want to express what you do in your current role, how you contribute, and where you’d like to be and why.

Keep it short, around 30 to 45 seconds, and targeted to the role and company to which you’re applying. If you can organically fit your accomplishments into your story, so much the better.

1. Develop your story.

Right now, take a few minutes to write out a draft of your elevator pitch. Need some help getting started? Use our Mad Libs–style cheat sheet below:

Currently, I’m working/studying as a [job/education description], where I [briefly explain what you do, listing transferable skills to the job you’re applying for, if possible].

One of my greatest strengths is my ability to [list your greatest workplace strength and possibly have it lead into a recent workplace accomplishment].

Now, I’m looking to [explain the direction you’re looking to go]. The opportunity to [something that excites you about the role] really drew me into this role as I believe/my goal is/because [back up why the role excites you].

Let’s see that played out in an example:

Currently, I’m working as a social media manager, where I curate content, analyze the effectiveness of posts and develop social media campaigns for our clients.”

One of my greatest strengths is my ability to stay on top of digital trends. Just recently, I developed a campaign inspired by a trending topic and upped our Twitter followers by 25 percent, while increasing engagement by over 35 percent.

Now, I’m looking to take my skills in social and expand into a marketing strategy role. The opportunity to develop social- and content-heavy marketing campaigns, as your company does so well, drew me into this role.

I believe there is a strong need for campaigns that, while also targeting traditional channels, work hard to build and nurture a brand’s online community.

2. Edit your pitch.

Whether you used our template or developed your pitch from scratch, a short pitch can always using some trimming.

Use a timer and read your pitch. If it goes over 60 seconds, see what you can do to shorten it. Ask yourself: Am I showing my transferable skills? Is it clear I developed this pitch specifically for this interview (is it targeted)? Does it make me stand apart from the competition?

If needed, make your revisions now.

3. Practice aloud.

You don’t want it to be spoken for the first time in the interview. Practice saying your pitch aloud and really get it down.

Speaking at a casual pace, make sure you’re not going over time. And remember to smile!

And that’s week 11!

Next week, you’ll learn a new skill to add your resume—from the privacy of your apartment, at a coffee shop or even at a park with Wi-Fi!

Start from the beginning: #WeekendJobSearch Assignment #1

Share your progress on Twitter: #WeekendJobSearch

Topics:

Get Hired, Job Search

Skills & Expertise

#MBJobChat: Building a Social Video Content Strategy

Get a crash course in social video content during our Twitter #MBJobChat

By Franny Goldberg

1 min read • Originally published June 6, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Franny Goldberg

1 min read • Originally published June 6, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

Everywhere you look, there is a new video platform popping up. The popularity of Periscope, Facebook Live and Snapchat proves social video is here to stay.

So for all you marketers and media professionals, how does the emergence of social video fit into your marketing strategy?

Get the answer to this question and more by joining us on Thursday, June 9 at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT for our next Twitter chat!

Social media strategist KiKi L’Italien and your fellow media pros will break down the strategy, skills, equipment and platforms you need to successfully market your brand using social video content.

And there’s more! Halfway through our #MBJobChat, join L’Italien and Mediabistro for a Facebook Live stream on Mediabistro’s Facebook page. Make sure to like us ahead of time so you can get in on the stream seamlessly!

Who: @Mediabistro, @kikilitalien and YOU
What: #MBJobChat
Where: twitter.com/mediabistro
When: Thursday, June 9, 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT

Topics:

Climb the Ladder, Skills & Expertise

Job Search

Social Media Dos and Don’ts Every Job Seeker Must Know

Here’s the next step after deleting the party pics from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

By John Lombard

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

3 min read • Originally published June 8, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By John Lombard

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

3 min read • Originally published June 8, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

If you’re looking for a job in media, you probably know you have to clear your social media accounts of anything that would raise a hiring manager’s eyebrows. Deleting the party pics and political rants are a great start, but there’s more work to be done.

We talked to Talia Williams, a CNN recruiting manager, to find out what you should be doing more of, and what to avoid, on your social profiles when job hunting—or any time for that matter.

Don’t Do This

Display a Lack of Judgment: Recruiters check your social sites for your ability to make judgment calls on what’s appropriate content to create, like and share.

“Overtly political, wildly inappropriate [content] or anything else that suggests you might not have the judgment to know where to draw the line,” says Williams, can raise major red flags for a recruiter.

Talk Negatively About Your Boss: If you’re looking for a place to vent about your workday, keep it offline. “Believe it or not,” says Williams, “I’ve also seen people post negative things about their boss, teammates or company. Not good.”

Employers want to know they can trust you to uphold the company’s brand inside and outside of work, so posting negative information not only hurts your company, it portrays you as someone unable to make good judgment calls. And in case you didn’t know this was an actual issue, just Google “lost my job because of Twitter” and you’ll see what we’re talking about.

The next time you think about sharing your opinion, make sure it’s about something related to your industry or your passions, rather than how you feel about the upcoming elections, your radical view on a current policy issue, your boss or anything else that starts with, “You might unfriend me for posting this, but…”

Do This

Engage With Your Industry: The main thing recruiters look for when scoping out potential candidates is their level of activity on social media, Williams says. “It’s an easy way for us to see you as multidimensional person, rather than just a resume,” she adds.

This doesn’t mean you have to be posting, liking and retweeting everything you read about digital media. “It’s not about being prolific, it’s about showing that you’re interested,” Williams says.

If you’re engaged with your industry, Williams says, “it helps to show you as someone who is curious, who cares and who wants to be doing this.”

Demonstrate Your Best Qualities: Along with liking and sharing content, another thing recruiters look for is how you show your perspective on content, news and events. Especially in media, where it’s important to be able to conduct messaging in a mature and sensible style, your social profiles are great platforms to show off this skill to potential employers. With your social posts, it’s important to, as Williams puts it, “be the person you’d be in front of your future boss.”

Take some time to engage with companies and brands that you admire, maybe sharing or liking a post every day or so, or when you read something compelling enough to share.

And when developing your post’s content, think about how you want to write it. Ask yourself: Does this demonstrate my ability to share news in a balanced and thoughtful way?

Get Started: If you’re looking to up your social media presence into something recruiters are looking for, Williams shares a couple of easy steps to getting started.

Get your feet wet by sharing industry news that interests you. You don’t need to overdo this; it’s all about showing you’re interested in the field.

Next, start following media professionals whose careers you admire. “Take note of what they are doing and how they are engaging,” says Williams. “Learn from it and then develop your own social style.”

Topics:

Get Hired, Job Search

Job Search

Weekend Job Search Week 12: Learn New Skills to Stand Out

#WeekendJobSearch: Assignment #12: Take an online course

By John Lombard

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

4 min read • Originally published June 10, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By John Lombard

John Lombard is a content strategist and writer with over a decade of experience creating interactive and video content for brands like Apple, IBM, and Samsung. He previously worked at Mediabistro and now serves as a Client Strategist at Ceros.

4 min read • Originally published June 10, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

Welcome to week 12 of the #WeekendJobSearch, our ongoing series that breaks the whole job-search process into 13 totally doable to-do items.

Last week, you developed an elevator pitch to up your interview game.

This week, you’re going develop a new skill to add to your resume and Linkedin profile.

The #WeekendJobSearch Assignment #12

Learn a New Skill

Gaining a new skill—or several—is a great way to stay on top of industry trends during your job search, while also showing hiring managers you are invested in growing your career.

Here are several learning options for you, ranging from quick-and-easy to more involved course loads:

1. Mediabistro’s Skills in 60

These one-hour online courses—with in-demand topics such as content marketing, Twitter analytics and goal setting, Instagram for business and mobile optimized marketing—give you the skills needed to stay competitive in a super-short amount of time and for a decent price of $49.

2. Google Certifications

You can earn certifications for Google AdWords and Google Analytics via these free training opportunities. An exam is required for each certification, and afterward your employer can qualify for Google Partner Status—a highly regarded status for Internet marketers that gives you total bragging rights.

3. Diploma in Social Media Marketing Course

In this course—the only thing you pay for is access to your diploma—you’ll learn concepts and execution strategies for social media marketing, including email marketing, affiliate marketing, blogging and using social media tools.

4. Project Management

If you’re looking to add project management to your resume, consider this your one-stop shop for the skills and a certification. In this course, you’ll learn the fundamentals of project management to guide a digital project from concept to completion. Taught by a leading tech project manager, this online course starts at $124.

5. American Marketing Association PCM

This certification may be pricier than the others on the list—$525 for members; $725 for nonmembers—but it’s well worth the cost. With this highly regarded credential, you’ll be able to show you are dedicated to staying on top of your field and have mastered core marketing concepts.

6. Introduction to Journalism

In this class led by scholars and journalism practitioners, you’ll gain a real-world feel of journalism by studying core concepts as you play the role of a journalist in a fictitious and escalating story. This six-week course is free, and has no formal journalism requirements—all that’s needed is an inquisitive mind.

7. Fundamentals of Digital Marketing

Taught by entrepreneur and marketing guru Jeffrey Yamaguchi—known for leading digital campaigns for best-selling authors, among other notable achievements—this Mediabistro class teaches the essential components of marketing online and how to use paid, owned and earned channels. Whether you’re new to the field, or looking to up your skills, consider this $124 course a must-take for any digital marketer.

8. Hubspot’s Inbound Marketing Certification

If you’re a digital marketer, this is a must-have certification that teaches the fundamentals of inbound marketing—marketing that attracts attention versus paying for it. It’s completely free and the videos are fun to watch and super-informative. This is a great certification to help you identify areas where you need or want to learn more.

9. WordPress for Beginners

If you’re looking to break into the world of content management systems, then check this out. In this two-hour video-based guide, you’ll learn how to develop a WordPress-based website starting from acquiring a domain name all the way through publishing your live site. It’s not free, but it definitely won’t break the bank at only $14.

10. Copywriting Fundamentals

Every good marketing campaign starts with the copy, so learn to craft words that sell, and you’ll be priceless. In this course—led by a veteran copywriter with 15-plus years’ experience in the field—you’ll master the fundamentals of what makes good copy, such as powerful headlines and taglines, and the basics of compelling storytelling through copywriting. This course starts at $104.

11. Social Media 101

This email-based social media course sends you seven daily emails, each one covering another aspect of social media and giving you an actionable to-do at the end of the lesson. It’s quick, it’s free and you can’t go wrong with a two-minute daily lesson.

12. Advanced SEO: Tactics and Strategy

In this course led by SEO consulting company Moz, you’ll learn advanced SEO tactics, as well as how you can integrate SEO strategies into your overall marketing campaign. This skill is highly in-demand for all marketers, so if you already have a solid understanding of search engine optimization, consider taking this free course to level up your skills.

13. Brand Writing

Show companies you not only have a strong understanding of brand development, but can also implement strategies to maintain an organization’s brand internally and externally to attract the right audience. Starting at $104, this course—taught by a copywriter with work experience at top ad agencies—gives you the foundation to build a brand from the ground up.

And that’s week 12!

Next week, the final installment of the #WeekendJobSearch, you will be putting it all together, creating a schedule for success that works for you.

Start from the beginning: #WeekendJobSearch Assignment #1

Share your progress on Twitter: #WeekendJobSearch

Topics:

Get Hired, Job Search

Job Search

#MBJobChat Recap: How Video Is Shaking Up Social Media

By Franny Goldberg

1 min read • Originally published June 10, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Franny Goldberg

1 min read • Originally published June 10, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

Mediabistro partnered with social media strategist and instructor KiKi L’Italien to discuss how video platforms like Facebook Live, Snapchat and Periscope are shaking up the social media industry. See some of the highlights, and our Facebook Live video stream, below:

Topics:

Get Hired, Job Search

Resumes & Cover Letters

Is Hiring a Professional Resume Writer Actually Worth It?

Here’s what eight pros have to say about hiring someone to give your resume the edge

By Mediabistro

The Mediabistro editorial team draws on 25 years of media industry expertise to cover jobs, careers, and trends shaping the industry.

3 min read • Originally published June 14, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

By Mediabistro

The Mediabistro editorial team draws on 25 years of media industry expertise to cover jobs, careers, and trends shaping the industry.

3 min read • Originally published June 14, 2016 / Updated March 19, 2026

If you’ve spent hours on your resume and have yet to book any interviews, you’re probably wondering if it’s finally time to hire a resume pro. And you’re probably also wondering if the fee you’ll pay is worth it.

Wonder no more. Here’s what eight professional resume writers have to say about the power of a hand-crafted resume, and how a small investment can have a huge payoff.

“A consistent weakness I see in job-seeker resumes is a lack of focus. Job seekers tend to forget that employers review resumes extremely quickly—often in just a few seconds. An employer taking such a quick glance should be able to immediately grasp what you want to do and have a sense of the value you can contribute to the organization. If your resume cannot convey that information extremely rapidly, consider hiring a professional to sharpen its focus.” —Katharine Hansen, Ph.D

“A resume isn’t a biography or a simple listing of what you’ve done professionally and academically. It’s a marketing tool. Trust me, if you know zip about marketing and branding yourself in this new employment market, you can’t compete—no matter how well you write.” —Darlene Zambruski

“For an investment of less than a week’s pay, I have helped my clients cut months and even years off their job search.” —Anne-Marie Ditta

Want even more help on your resume? Get started with a FREE resume evaluation from Mediabistro’s Career Services. Our counselors and writers can help you update and upgrade your resume so you can confidently apply for the job you want.

“Having your resume written by someone highly qualified in that line of work will ensure that your resume doesn’t appear dated, in either form or content, and also doesn’t read like an exercise in self-aggrandizement.” —Michelle Dumas

“Your resume is your entry point and first impression with an organization. It’s a marketing tool and is what stands between whether an employer will call you for an interview or put you in the ‘no’ pile.” —Lisa Mahar

“It’s tricky to figure out which parts of your experience are useful to recruiters. As professional resume writers, we can discern what needs to be on your resume—and what doesn’t—and express it all in a professional format.” —Sandra Morgan

“And with most employers, human resource managers, recruiters, and hiring managers saying that at the very least that 80 percent of all resumes suck, having a well-done document that you don’t have to agonize over is worth the investment made into a professional writer.” —Dawn Rasmussen

“Professional resume writers understand what a resume really is, a marketing piece, and what is effective to grab the attention of the hiring manager within seconds. This is important for you to get to the next step of the hiring process.” —Michele Unangst

Topics:

Get Hired, Resumes & Cover Letters

Weekend Job Search Week 10: Research Your Interviewer Like a Pro

The Weekend Job Search Assignment #10: Do your research to ace the interview—and land the job

The Weekend Job Search Assignment #10

What Hiring Managers Really Want in Today’s Marketers

Nail these skills if you want to be desirable to employers

1. Social Media Prowess

2. Solid Communication Skills

3. Above-Average Agility

4. Technical Ability

5. Proven Results

Top 10 Journalism Career Advice Articles Every Writer Should Read

Pitching, writing, getting paid—here are the burning issues for freelance writers you love

Weekend Job Search Week 11: Nail Your Elevator Pitch

The Weekend Job Search Assignment #11: Get to the point and impress your interviewer with a carefully constructed personal story

The Weekend Job Search Assignment #11

Weekend Job Search Week 12: Learn New Skills to Stand Out

#WeekendJobSearch: Assignment #12: Take an online course

The #WeekendJobSearch Assignment #12

Is Hiring a Professional Resume Writer Actually Worth It?

Here’s what eight pros have to say about hiring someone to give your resume the edge

Natalka Burian