Take these job seekers for example. Tifani and David have gone above and beyond to get noticed with their billboard, which was placed off of Hwy 80 in Sacramento, CA:

Tifani Goldsmith, a Sacramento native, states that the billboard idea originally came from David, when they both agreed that the investment to market themselves was priceless.

A billboard can be a very creative way to get the word out that you are looking for work when a resume is not enough. Think of it as a unique, if not very expensive, cover letter. But as Tifani pointed out, it can be well worth the investment, especially if it only takes a month instead of four months to land a job.

Since both Tifani and David’s websites are no longer active we can only hope that their investment paid off.

Pasha Stocking was also ‘unemployed and seeking employment’:

After being unemployed for over 10 months, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She created a website and rented a 14×48 foot billboard that was located on Interstate 95 in Fairfield County, CT. Although the campaign was a media success, Pasha was unable to gain ‘suitable employment’ and decided to venture out on her own. She now runs her own Public Relations and Marketing firm called PR Bar.

Although we are unsure if Tifani and David’s investment actually paid off, Pasha’s billboard did not seem to attract the type of work that she was looking for. So what was wrong with these billboards? The features, benefits, and the unique selling propositions are all “I am unemployed”. You wouldn’t focus your cover letter or resume on your status as being unemployed. Why not put a more effective message, like “Hire Me – results driven sales manager between assignments” or “Hire Me – full-time accountant available immediately”.

Here is an example of billboard that sends the right message:

Mark Heuer rented his billboard in, what he describes as a time of “desperation as he was seeking his next career opportunity”. The beginning of the economic downturn in 2008 was hard on everyone, but instead of letting it overtake him Mark came up with a creative way to change careers with his 16×60 foot billboard that was located in Milwaukee, WI, and with the right message, he successfully made that change.

Experts say yes, and increasingly so, though online degrees given by traditional brick and mortar schools may be better for your resume over degrees given by for-profit online schools. Overall, PayScale says, people with online MBAs earn as much as people with traditional MBAs, and there may even be some advantages to the online process above and beyond convenience. While there is a sacrifice of face-to-face time with peers and faculty, the online MBA might be a solid career move for anyone who can’t afford the time and money involved in getting a traditional degree.

One disadvantage of for-profit schools such as the University of Phoenix and Kaplan University is that they are not, USA Today says, accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which the academic community looks to as the benchmark for business school quality.

But several traditional schools which are accredited by the AACSB have developed online programs in recent years. Online programs offered by the University of North Carolina, Pennsylvania State, and Indiana University, among others, are comparable to the programs these schools offer on campus; the admissions standards are the same, or in the case of Penn State, more rigorous for online. The programs are also generally taught by the same professors who teach on-campus courses, in the interest of maintaining consistency between graduates. And, apparently, a diploma from such a program usually won’t indicate whether it was received for online work, which does away with one potential drawback.

But there are advantages to all online degrees. Online learning, which requires self-motivation, is seen by many as more rigorous than traditional learning, and it draws a type of student who is more disciplined. According to wahm.com, while the interactive classroom environment of traditional programs, where students may work together on assignments, mimics the real world, so, in our technological age, does online learning. Students interact with each other and professors by e-mail, chat, and sometimes telephone, much as a business executive might interact with clients from his office.

Chris Consorte, who, according to PayScale, teaches both online and traditional MBA students, says that in his experience there’s no difference in salaries. “I find it depends on the person. A very aggressive student usually leverages his or her degree and finds a job making more and more money.” As time goes on, online MBAs will probably be seen as more and more legitimate by employers, making the convenience of pursuing one even more advantageous.

Guest post by Drew Hendricks, who is a really neato dude (he even admits it himself).  Catch him at @AdvertisingBlog on Twitter

Although the articles made HR professionals look a little, as one commenter put it, slimy, those HR people that were quoted in the articles made a host of valuable points, and we’ve picked the top 10 HR secrets that will help you to get hired.

#1 – Customize your professionally written resume for each application, highlighting your relevant work experience and skill set as it relates to the job you are applying for. And as HR Consultant Emma Worseldine puts it, “Never lie – you will be found out.”

#2 – Proofread your resume, whether you get it written by a professional or you’ve updated it yourself. HR consultant Marianne Wilkinson “won’t hire someone who has a ‘Batchelor’ degree”, and neither will the majority of hiring managers.

#3 – Explain periods of unemployment on your resume or leave dates off entirely, because as former HR executive and author Cynthia Shapiro points out, “We assume other people have passed you over, so we don’t want anything to do with you.”

#4 – Use a professional email address for correspondence, because as Shirley Watt, director of a recruitment agency, explains nobody will to take you seriously with an email address like, “sexykitty@hotmail.com” or “doomsday_slayer@yahoo.com”.

#5 – Record a professional sounding voicemail message, because as Bonnie Currin, director at specialist recruitment company PAG, East London, explains, with “a voicemail that is far from acceptable for a potential employer to hear” you will likely lose out on a chance to be invited in for an interview.

#6 – Do extensive research on a company before attending an interview, because as one New York City HR professional explains, “It’s amazing when people come in for an interview and say, ‘Can you tell me about your business?’ Seriously, people, there’s an internet. Look it up.”

#7 – Practice your interview skills ahead of time, paying particular attention to your body language and your ability to make eye contact. An HR manager of an undisclosed finance corporation advices that you should never “stare out the window as you’re talking, even if the view is magnificent.”

#8 – Keep your answers simple and concise. Although the interview is your chance to wow the hiring manger, you do not want to bore them. Take HR consultant Sharlyn Lauby’s experince for example of what not to do, “One time I said to a candidate, ‘Tell me a little bit about yourself.’ An hour- and-a-half later, I was afraid to ask question No.2.”

#9 – Be flexible in your work schedule and availability. As Laurie Ruettimann, an HR consultant and speaker in Raleigh, North Carolina, explains, “If we ask you to travel for your job or attend a conference, it’s not a question. Say no, and it can be career-ending.”

#10 – Prepare a list of potential questions to ask the interviewer, leaving the discussion about wages until the end. Bonnie Currin, director at specialist recruitment company PAG, East London, feels that it can be “off-putting to ask a candidate if they have any questions and the first thing they ask is ‘What’s the salary?’ Surely there are more profound questions they can think of to leave a lasting impression?”

Phil Rosenberg, President of reCareered, recently discussed this the importance of keyword rich resumes in a post entitled, Why You’re Not Called When You’re The “Perfect” Candidate. Rosenberg answers the question quite simply, “It’s likely the reason you weren’t called is because one or more major criteria weren’t on your resume. And if it’s not on your resume, it doesn’t exist.”

When you submit your resume to a company ‘s application system, your resume is immediately scanned for specific criteria in the form of keywords. This is why it is so important to have a keyword rich resume that is specifically tailored for each application.

Writing a keyword rich resume is not as difficult as it sounds, especially with the help of a professional resume writer. The following guidelines will assist you with drafting a keyword rich resume, as well as what to do with it once it is complete.

#1 – Keyword Research
Before you can begin drafting your resume, you first need to do some research on the keywords the scanning software will look for. The best way to do this research is by carefully reading the job posting, paying particular attention to the keywords that are used in the job description. The scanning software will look for keywords that describe such categories as degrees, industry certifications, job titles, computer knowledge, and personality traits.

#2 – Keyword Density
Once you have an understanding on which keywords will likely be required, it is time to develop a list of variations of each of those keywords. For example, the education requirements for a particular job posting may require an MBA. In order to increase the keyword density in your resume, without sounding redundant, use the different variations, such as, master’s degree, Master of Business Administration, and MBA. The more keywords the scanning software finds, the more likely your resume will get passed on to the hiring manager.

#3 – Readability
Not only must your resume be keyword rich, so that the scanning software accepts it, but it will also have to read well. Once your resume has passed the virtual gatekeeper it will be sent off to the hiring manager. If it is packed solely with keywords and doesn’t read well, the hiring manager is likely to dismiss it.

#4 – Formatting
There are times when a hardcopy of a resume may still be required to be sent the traditional way, i.e. through the mail or fax. However, this does not mean that your resume will not be subject to the computer scanning software. Many times the hard copy is still scanned into the system so the program can look for keywords. In order to ensure that your resume is properly scanned you will want to take the following formatting guidelines into consideration:

• Font choice: Use simple recognizable font styles, such as Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana or Courier
• Font size: Keep the font size between 10 and 12 points
• Font style: Do Not use italics or underlined text
• Headings: Format all headings in bold or ALL CAPS

#5 – Posting Your Keyword Rich Resume
Once you have a keyword rich resume, whether you have written it yourself or with the help of a professional resume writer, your next step is to post your resume so that it can be passively searched. Yes, sometimes the job offers come to you. Recruiters are known to search the popular job boards using the same keyword scanning techniques that the hiring company’s application software uses. Post your keyword rich resume on all the popular job boards, on your LinkedIn profile, and even your personal blog.

A resume is your chance to make a first impression to the decision makers of the hiring company. Ensuring that your resume is not only keyword rich, but also fine-tuned to meet the specific requirements for each job posting you are applying for, will enable you to get past that first crucial barrier, the virtual gatekeeper.

A professionally crafted resume that also reads well will help you to pass the scrutiny of the hiring manager, sending you well on your way to the first interview. After that, it’s up to you.

Conant, the former President and CEO of the Campbell Soup Company, recommends that the “time to think about building a highly effective team is when you recruit people into the organization in the first place”.

According to Conant, when interviewing prospective employees, he suggests to look for the 4 C’s: competence, character, courage, and collaboration.

Many hiring mangers are already incorporating these ideals into their interview style. Therefore, today it is no longer just about showing that you possess the skills and knowledge that are required to do the job, both on your professionally written resume and at the interview, but you also have to prove that you are a good fit for the company.

Meaning that you will need to show that you will be an integral part of the team.

If you are preparing for an interview in the near future, the following tips will help you to display the 4 C’s to a hiring manager:

#1 – Competence

When it comes to competency-based questions, a hiring manager is looking to find out about your character, your soft skills and your personal attributes. They will ask questions to see how you acted in real life situations, similar to the scenario type interview questions post we did last year.

To prepare for this type of interview you should:

1. Write down a list of your attributes and characteristics, such as, creative problem-solver, or logical thinker.
2. Next, for each attribute think of two real life situations where you used your creative problem-solving abilities, or logical thinking skills to solve a problem.
3. Don’t try to answer what you think the hiring manager is looking for; rather it is better to be honest about the attributes you possess.

#2 – Character

Along with the competence-based questions, hiring managers are also trying to determine your character. They will ask character-discerning questions, which are also similar to the ones above, during the interview process in order to weed out those applicants that may have the proper skill set, but are not the right fit for the team. As in the first C, preparation is key. You may also want to take the following into consideration:

1. If you have not actually experienced the situation the hiring manager has posed to you, don’t make it up; they will know when you are lying. It is better to explain that you have never experienced that type of situation before and describe what you would do if you had.
2. If your only example puts you in a negative light, you will have to make a decision either to use the example from above, or spin the story to a positive by demonstrating that you have learned from your previous mistakes.

#3 – Courage

Hiring managers employ courage-based questions during the interview process in order to determine which applicants possess leadership skills and leadership potential. These type of questions are typically posed in the scenario/situation type format. Some examples include:

1. How would your co-workers describe your leadership style?
2. What are the most important values and ethics that a leader should demonstrate?

You want to be able to display your courage and leadership abilities to the hiring manager; so again, preparation is definitely the key to answering these types of questions.

#4 – Collaboration

Not only are hiring managers assessing your courage with your ability to lead, they are also looking at your ability to collaborate and be part of a team as well. Collaboration-based questions will come in the form of specific examples, usually with some form of problem and resolution tied into it, such as:

Give an example when you were part of a team. How did it go? Did you face any difficulties and disagreements? If so, what was the resolution?

In a perfect world everyone would get along together, in reality, this rarely happens. Unless your only example as being part of a team would make utopians jealous, then give it, but include the ‘This is what I would have done if there were problems’.

If your experience of working in part of a team was the norm, i.e. rife with difficulties and disagreements, then be honest. Focus on how you helped to resolve the conflicts within the group and were able to bring the team project back on track.

Just remember, preparation is key with any interview, especially if your goal during the interview process is to display that you possess the 4 C’s to a hiring manager.

It may sound shocking, but this is something that has become common practice, so much so that states such as Illinois and Maryland are now putting through legislation that would ban the practice.

Just when you thought setting your privacy settings was enough to dissuade potential employers from creepin’ out your Facebook profile, in order to now land that job, you may have to actually hand over full control of your Facebook account.

Since setting your privacy settings to limited will no longer be sufficient, the only recourse is a complete overhaul of your Facebook profile. Here are some areas to pay particular attention to:

Profile Picture
This should go without saying, but if you are looking for a job, your profile picture should reflect the mature, educated and responsible person you are trying to portray. A picture of you half naked, or doing a keg stand, (or both), probably won’t help your cause.

Photo Albums
It may be kind of fun to share pictures of you getting wasted at a tropical resort with your friends, but if your potential employer now has full access to your account, these types of albums may be safer on your home computer, where only you have access to them.

Tagged Photos / Places
Isn’t it great that Facebook basically allows anyone to tag you in a photo or sign you into a place? Your friends might think it is funny to see pictures of you passed out or know that you just went into the local strip bar, but I’m sure your hiring manager won’t. Before you begin your job search remove any tagged photos that can be incriminating and turn off the ability for others to sign you into places.

Info Page
This is one spot that typically gets overlooked. When you first opened your Facebook account you may have put a whole slew of interests, quotes and other nonsensical garbage on your info page. Remember to clean up the page as well, and just because it is a quote from a movie, it doesn’t mean your boss will know it, understand it, or not be offended by it.

The Wall
Finally, we’ve reached hit dreaded Wall. When it comes to Facebook, it’s not only your own actions that you have to worry about, but also those that leave comments on your profile. Delete any unsavory comments made by friends, and don’t forget to clean up your own status updates as well. If they are anything like the samples below, they can be just as bad, if not worse:

If you are not a big fan of self-censorship, you have two final options:

1) Create a second Facebook profile used solely for business interactions
2) Delete your Facebook account altogether

You can read the full transcript of Robert Siegel’s interview with Robert Collins here.

Whether you are looking to have an entry level resume, a professional level CV, or an executive level bio written for you, a professional resume writer will be able to provide you with the competitive edge you need.

Here are a few other reasons why you should use a professional resume writer:

You Only Have One Chance To Make A First Impression
Your first impression starts with you resume. Whether you are submitting it online, through fax, email or snail-mail, your resume is your introduction and the hiring manager’s first impression of you. It can make or break your ability to get an interview; so ensuring that it is professionally written, polished and free of any errors is of the utmost importance. A professional resume writer can ensure that your first impression, is your best impression.

Cheaters Never Prosper
Although this idiom rings mostly true, most of the time, when it comes to using a professional to write your resume, it is by no means cheating. You may be an expert at whatever group of skills you possess that makes you perfect for the position you are applying for, but no one expects you to be an expert at something you will only do a few times in your lifetime. So, leave the resume writing to the professionals, let them use their skills to help you prosper.

Satisfaction Guaranteed
Many professional resume writers offer some form of satisfaction guarantee, whether it is a free rewrite, a money-back guarantee, or some combination of both. A profession resume writer will use their skill to create a resume that will help to open doors for you and get you that interview. After that, it is all up to you.

So, what do you have to lose when using a professional resume writer? Absolutely nothing.

The top career in Shatkin’s list was teaching, specifically a career as a post-secondary teacher. Careers with the lowest satisfaction rates included servers, retail and administrative assistants.

So before you go and update that teaching resume you might want to consider our list as well. Our list is not as extensive as Shatkin’s, we based ours solely on the 2011 numbers that took into consideration average yearly income and the percentage of women are represented in the field:

1) Doctor
In 2011, women doctors earned an average yearly income of $84,000. With only 31% of women representing this field, there is definite room for growth. This is why Doctor takes our #1 spot for top 10 careers for women in 2012.

2) Pharmacist
Following closely behind, pharmacist is our #2 spot with an average yearly income of $83,500 and 48% of women are representing the field.

3) CEO
In 2011, women who held the role of Chief Executives pulled in an average yearly income of $83,000. With only 26% of women are representing CEOs, there is much room for advancement.

4) Lawyer
In the field of law women, who on average earned $76,000 in 2011, represent 35% of American lawyers.

5) Computer Software Engineer
Only 21% of women make of this industry, however, on average they earned $75,000 in 2011, so it might be worthwhile to update that engineering resume after all.

6) IT Manager
Since only 30% of women are currently represented in this field, IT is a growing industry that is hoping to attract more women in its ranks. Since the average yearly income is $73,500, it might not be a bad idea to get your IT resume updated.

7) Physical Therapist
In 2011, the average yearly income for a Physical Therapist was $63,000. As 62% of women already dominate this field, choosing a career as a physical therapist is #7 on our top 10 careers for women in 2012.

8) Speech-Language Pathologist
Women make up the majority of Speech-Language Pathologists in America with representation of 97%. Last year on average, a Speech-Language Pathologist earned a yearly income of $61,500.

9) Computer Programmer
Only 22% of women are represented in the field of computer programming, however their yearly average income of $61,000 makes this a pretty viable career choice.

10) Human Resources Manager
In 2011, the majority of human resource mangers were comprised of women with 71%. In 2011, they earned an average income of $60,500.

If you are looking for a career in the Accounting, IT, Engineering, Sales, Nursing or Education sectors, take a look at the tips below for some information that may help you to customize your resume for your profession:

Accounting Jobs

Your resume, regardless of profession, is the first opportunity to capture a hiring manager’s interest. When it comes to an accounting, your resume should reflect your in-depth knowledge of accounting and your ability to judge financial investments.

To stand out from the crowd, make sure you incorporate a hard-hitting opening statement into your accounting resume. Followed by your accounting skills, abilities and accomplishments. These include such things as certifications and licenses you have aquired, such as your CPA and brokerage licenses.

Furthermore, you should also include a section for your Areas of Expertise as it relates to accounting. It is in this section where you not only want to convey your expert skills, but also write in a manner that is rich with keywords, making it that much easier for hiring companies to find you.

IT

When it comes to Information Technology, or IT, the industry is always changing. New technologies come out every few months. This is why it is so important to write a specifically tailored IT resume that showcases your knowledge and understanding of the latest technologies used in the industry.

You will want to highlight any certifications and levels that you have acquired in all applicable programming languages, applications, software and hardware on your resume. Most companies know what they want when they are looking for an IT professional, so determine what your strong points are and build your resume around them.

Engineering Jobs

There are more than 25 different fields in which an engineer can specialize, so when you are setting out to tailor your engineering resume, it is important to keep in mind the specific field in which you are applying for. Just as the one-size-fits-all resume longer works in today’s job market, the same applies to your engineering resume, and a simple template resume is also bound to fail when applying to different fields within the industry.

Your engineering resume must illustrate your skills in the particular field that you are applying for. The more qualified you are for the specific field, the better your chances will be to be invited in for an interview.

Just as in the accounting resume, your engineering resume should include a Areas of Expertise section that will help you to not only showcase your specific engineering skills, but will also be an area to add keyword-rich writing that will help you to be found on the internet by hiring managers.

Sales

Your resume is a sales pitch for yourself, and this is why it is extremely important to have a specifically customized sales resume when applying for a career in sales, regardless of the field you are applying for.

There are many opportunities in sales, as almost every industry requires a sales force of some kind. The biggest growth industry today, in regards to sales careers, is the pharmaceutical industry.

When it comes to your sales resume you definitely want to include all of your past employment that illustrates your best sales experience. Your resume should also demonstrate your particular areas of expertise, and list your strongest skills, but by far the most important aspect to include are the tangible achievements you have accomplished.

Hiring managers need to see how successful you are at sales, so include all the numbers you can. A great success story will go a long way to prove that you are the right person for the position.

Nursing Jobs

Nursing is not only a career that is in high demand; it is also a very demanding job, but as anyone working in the healthcare field can tell you, it can be very rewarding.

Your nursing resume should reflect the latest industry trends and address the evolving roles that nurses are expected to fulfill in today’s society.

It is also very important to list all the various positions you have held. For example, if you have been a charge nurse in various units, you should not only list those units you were part of, but you should also include an explanation of the different duties you have been responsible for.

Additionally, make sure your resume highlights any significant licenses, degrees and certifications that you have acquired, as well as the dates that you obtained them.

Teaching Jobs

The growing trend of professionals seeking to further their education in the hopes to advance, or enhance, their careers has led to a demand in teaching jobs.

Today there are many academic fields in which you can specialize as an educator. In order to show that you are the right fit, you will first need to have a professionally written teaching resume that effectively communicates your qualifications as an educator.

Your resume should not only demonstrate that you have experience teaching, but it should also show that you have been involved in making a difference in the lives of your students. Your teaching resume should also highlight any special skills and any training that you have received, including any awards, accomplishments or accolades.

Regardless of your chosen career path, the most important aspect of a professionally written resume is to customize it to your specific field or industry. Getting away from the template one-size-fits-all resume will help you to grab the attention of the hiring manager. With a professionally written resume we can guarantee you an interview, after that, your success is up to you.

Hopefully this advice has helped you to prepare, and ace, your job interview. Today we are going to discuss the Top 10 signs that you won’t land that job… and why. It doesn’t matter how well written your professional resume is, if you have a habit of doing these 10 things during an interview, you are NOT going to land that job:

#1 Dance around an interview question
This can either be interpreted as having poor listening skills or you may come off as cagey and untrustworthy. Always answer the questions directly and as concisely as possible.

#2 Walk into an interview cold
Walking into an interview without first doing your research on the company and the position you are applying for is a sure fire way to have your application thrown right into the circular filing cabinet. To an interviewer, this is evidence that you are not serious about the position and company.

#3 Ask about pay too soon
Wait until you get an offer; otherwise, you’ll seem more concerned about what’s in it for you than the company.

#4 Talk disparagingly about other co-workers or employers
Interviewers realize that those you don’t care for may have poor views of you.

#5 Be arrogant
There is a definitive line between arrogance and confidence, so make sure you don’t cross it, otherwise the interviewer may assume that you are too judgmental and not a good fit for the company.

#6 Cut an interviewer off in mid sentence
If you think you’re more important than the person who might give you a job, you might not be a team player.

#7 Take too long to answer a question
This can be considered as another avoidance tactic, or that you are not prepared. Either way, taking too long to answer a question will not land you that job.

#8 Oversell your abilities
Overselling yourself can be just as bad as underselling. With overselling you can come off as too needy or desperate.

#9 Avoid direct eye contact
People see it as a lack of confidence, so make sure that you are always making eye contact with the person who is speaking with you and those that you are speaking to. If multiple people interview you, make sure you address each one as you answer your questions.

#10 Speak with poor diction or grammar
It’s a strike against your pitch to be an effective communicator, one skill that most jobs have in common. So take your time, prepare and speak properly. It is best to work on eliminating your crutch words as well, such as the um’s and uh’s that so easily find there way into our speech when we are nervous.