Don't Follow Outdated Advice

Things have radically changed in the job market in the last couple of years.  Besides being a lot more competitive, the way you go about applying for a job is very different.  And if you follow outdated advice, it could cost you an interview.  At Career Dragon, our focus is keeping your online professional presence up to date.  And what better way to do that than to address some of the questions we're asked most frequently by our clients.

First, let's talk about references on your resume.  Don't do it.  Don't even put the phrase "References available upon request".  Not only is that an outdated practice but it's not very considerate to the nice people who agreed to be your references.  When you give out their contact information to everyone you apply with, you're opening them up to a lot of unwanted and unnecessary queries.  You may not know if one of the positions you applied for is planning on contacting your references.  It's better to know ahead of time so you can give them a heads-up and tell them how much you appreciate their willingness to say nice things about you.  You don't need to let anyone know your references are available if they ask.  They know.  It's assumed that if you apply for a job, that you can provide references.  Just make sure you can.  And always remember to thank your references afterward.


Another bit of outdated advice is that cover letters aren't all that important. Hiring managers do read the cover letters.  A well written cover letter could mean the difference between your resume being seen and not. Take the time to write a well thought out, interesting and engaging cover letter. Indicate the position you're applying for and why you're interested.  Take a couple of lines to talk about the company and why you want to work for them.  The trick here is to keep it short and sweet but memorable.  If you give them what they want to hear, and do it without taking up too much of their time, that's exactly what you'll accomplish.  A great, memorable cover letter.

The last one we'll talk about is using some cheesy gimmick to make your resume stand out.  I know, I know, I saw the guy's resume that looked like an Amazon product ad and I thought it was cute, too.  But that isn't going to work for you. Trust me on this.  Mostly this tactic is found to be annoying.  And the last thing you want your resume to do is annoy anyone.  The way to stand out is to have a professionally written resume that provides links to your online presence.  They aren't going to spend a lot of time on your resume but they are going to want to see your LinkedIn profile and career website. And they are going to Google you. So make sure your profiles and sites are well written and professionally presented and you've taken care that only positive results come up in search results.  If you're not sure how, just ask us.  That's what we do for you.


You'll find much more success in your job search if you make sure you're using modern methods and strategies.  Things have changed even just in the last two years and it's up to you to make sure you're keeping up.  Looking outdated or out of touch is especially dangerous today.  With the focus on Social Media in every aspect of a company or business, you appearing to be in tune with what's going on right now is essential.  If you use outdated job search methods or advice, you'll appear to be outdated yourself.  Keep up, stay relevant and use the Social Media tools out there to your advantage.  You'll get that job, you just have to make sure you're looking for it in the 21st Century.