By Marcia Powers
Contributor, Career Services

You’re ready to apply for a job. You possess all of the required skills and qualifications, and you’re sure that you are the best candidate for the position. You’ve polished up your resume, but you’re still a bit hesitant to submit it. What if the employer scans over some of your qualifications? If only there was a way to immediately highlight who you are as a professional and why you are the ideal candidate for the position. Fortunately, there is, and it’s called a profile statement.

By Cathy Francois
Contributor, Career Services

I believe that tenured professionals have a lot to offer employers, and many hiring managers appreciate the experience and knowledge that “seasoned” professionals bring. However, let’s face it: we live in a culture that values youthfulness – as shown by our billion dollar beauty industry. Given that there are laws to protect workers age 40 and older against age discrimination, I think job seekers owe it to themselves to keep age off of their resume and avoid unintentionally aging themselves.

By Jessica Bigger
Online Career Tips, Guest Contributor

The job market has gotten more competitive. Hundreds of applicants are applying for each job and those same job applicants are expected to not only meet the minimum requirements, but demonstrate significant skills related to the job description. Tailoring your resume will increase your chances of getting an interview, but like anything else there are no guarantees.

By Ann Eastham
Contributor, Career Services

If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent hours on Pinterest searching for recipes that you never make, crafts you never start, and workouts that you never, ever intended to complete in the first place. While Pinterest allows us to ignite creativity in our personal lives, it can also help us in our professional lives! Below are just a few ideas on using Pinterest to benefit your career:

By Marcia Powers
Contributor, Career Services

Holiday baking is a big business in our household. In order to keep up with the seasonal demand for sweets, I tend to spend many hours in the kitchen, pressing cookie cutters into dough, and baking little masterpieces that will be distributed, examined, and (hopefully) enjoyed by many.

While obviously different, writing a resume is much like baking a cookie, both needing to win the approval of those who sample it. If you don’t want your resume to leave a bad taste in the mouths of prospective employers, consider following a little resume recipe for success.

By Adrienne Erin
Contributor, Online Career Tips

No prospective employer wants to read a dry, detailed-yet-vague laundry list of job duties from your recent employment. Chances are that you find your job duties as boring to list as employers find them useless to read. If you’ve never been taught to quantify your accomplishments on resumes, it may seem a confusing and daunting task. Luckily, it’s really quite straightforward.

By Dr. Deanne Larson
Faculty Member, Information Technology at American Public University               

The global economy has recovered slowly since the economic crisis of 2008, but this recovery has brought increasing demand for skilled and talented IT employees. In the sea of qualified individuals, how do you boost your IT profile and get noticed?

By Jill Kurtz
Online Career Tips Contributor

LinkedIn is the premiere online business networking site. As such, it is tempting to see your profile there as your online resume. There are a few key reasons why that thinking is off target and will prevent you from getting the most out of LinkedIn.

Opinions vary on what a job seeker should skip when preparing a resume. A focused objective is an excellent strategy for a job seeker who wants to make the screening cut, especially with today’s technology.