This is a question we’ve been getting a lot lately at our professional resume service. I suppose it’s a sign of the times. It’s almost impossible to imagine a world without social networking. Facebook is so much a part of our everyday lives that it’s almost natural that job seekers – young professionals especially – feel like it’s a natural thing to put a link to their Facebook page on their resume.

But is this a good idea? Is it something you should actually consider doing?

I hate to hedge here, but my answer is: probably not.

My logic goes like this: for the vast majority of us, Facebook is a personal thing. It reflects our personal lives. So Facebook doesn’t reflect our professional lives, nor should it. You’ve all heard the horror stories about people getting fired because of something that was posted on their Facebook page. Even if you don’t face something that drastic, I still think you should keep a bit of a distance between your Facebook life and your professional life. Your Facebook page probably doesn’t belong on your resume. The hiring manager doesn’t care about your vacation photos, even if everyone is fully clothed in them.

Now, I know you can do all sorts of things to customize your public Facebook profile. If you’re a wizard who can outsmart Mark Zuckerberg’s constant tweaking of the privacy controls, in theory you could have a public Facebook profile that is all propriety and professionalism. But even if you do do this, I still say your Facebook profile is not professional enough to go on your resume. Facebook is just not assumed to be in, or appropriate for, the professional realm. So you run the risk of coming off like a naive kid if you put your Facebook link in at the top of your resume along with your email address and cell phone number.

But what about Twitter? Well, Twitter is a slightly different story. Twitter is used for personal stuff, but more often, it’s used for personal, professional branding. Building and cultivating an audience.

I’ve even recently made the case that Twitter handles are the new business cards.

So if you’re one of those life 2.0 people who has a Twitter account and you use it specifically as your professional face to create a brand, then yes, I think you should put @yourtwittername on your resume.

One final word on all of this. It should be obvious, but there’s a great service that from day one was designed to be the place you went to do professional social networking: LinkedIn. Your linked in profile can be like your professional Facebook profile. If you haven’t set up a LinkedIn profile, do it now, and add THAT link to your resume!

Related posts:

1. Your Facebook Resume
2. Busting The One Page Resume Myth
3. Twitter Accounts Are The New Business Cards

I got this question from a client this morning, and at first I thought the answer was obvious, but then when I thought about it some more, I can see how people might be confused. In this day and age, and all… So, I figured I’d take a crack at answering it here.

Should I Include My Address On My Resume If I’m Submitting Online

I understand. An online submission is just a number. Your email address is probably how they’re going to get back to you. If you’re logged into a site like a Monster or something, they already have your contact info connected to your submission.

However, I’d still say it’s important to include your physical, home street address on your resume in all instances.

Why? Well, for the simple fact that if it’s not there, it could look odd. I know if a resume crossed my desk without a home address on it, my first though would be: why? Is there a reason this person doesn’t want me to know their home address?

For the simple fact that it looks funny if it’s not there, I would always include your home address on all versions of your resume. Sure, they’re most likely going to get back to you over the phone or email. Sure, it’s highly unlikely they’ll contact you via a formal letter in an envelope.

But why not have it on there? You don’t lose anything by including it. And excluding it just leads to questions.

Now, I can hear you say, “But Brian, what about identity theft and spam issues?”

Frankly, you’re more likely going to regret putting your email address out into the internet void than your personal address.

All in all, I’d consider the risk of some bad person knowing your home address to be minimal. And it certainly balances the risk of looking odd by not including your home address.

Bottom line: if you’re resume is in a pile with 30 others, you don’t want to give the hiring manager ANY reason to reject you out of hand. So anything that makes you look odd or puts a question in the hiring manager’s mind is something to avoid.

Related posts:

1. Best Job Search Tip In Months: Your Voicemail As A Supplementary Resume!
2. Don’t Include These Skills On Your Resume
3. How Do You Address Possible Red Flags On Your Resume?

What is the best paper to use when printing up your resume to present in an interview?

What is the best paper to use when mailing a resume as part of a job application?

I guess this goes along with my post concerning the best font to use for your resume.

I actually have a very specific answer to this question.

For more than a decade now, we’ve been printing hard copies of people’s resumes as an add-on feature to our resume writing service.

And in all that time, we’ve used the same paper.

I’ll tell you all about it, but first, let me make clear: I’m not getting paid or receiving any other consideration for the endorsement I’m about to make.

Having said that, in the resume writing industry, Southworth is the only paper brand most of us use. You can find a wide range of Southworth paper products at most of the “big box” office supply retailers like Staples or Office Depot.

The specific type of paper I recommend using is Southworth Business Paper, 32lb, 100% Cotton, 8 1/2″x11″ and WHITE.

Here’s why:

• It’s simply the best paper. It’s thick and hearty enough to feel and look professional, but it’s still easily used in most printers. The paper is clear and the texture makes the text legible.
• 24lb paper is “ok” in my opinion, but a little on the light side. It feels too much like high quality laser printer paper. I prefer something that feels higher class. And 32lb does that.
• Southworth sells paper that they specifically brand as “resume paper” but I prefer the business paper just because of the look and feel. You’ll do fine with the resume paper, but aim for 32 lb if you can.
• I don’t like the linen paper. It’s too grainy and a bit to “showy” for me. The cotton paper has the heft and the texture without the visible grain.
• I always and only recommend going with white paper. The ivory is too much like a college diploma, and to me that reads as a bit to formal.
• At ResumeWriters.com, we buy paper by the boxful, but if you look around, or order online, you can get the paper I’m describing in smaller boxes of a few dozen sheets.
• You WILL have to pay more, but you’re paying for quality.
• If you’re paying for this sort of paper, you owe it to yourself to print your resume using a laser printer. Trust me, it will just look better.

Related posts:

1. How To Print On Both Sides Of The Paper
2. FedEx Office To Offer Free Resume Printing On March 10th
3. How To Bind Paper Without Staples Or Clips

I don’t particularly like to “review” or speak ill about other employment services or companies on this blog. If people are genuinely try to help others find new and better work, then god bless I say.

But in this particular case, I think I’ve stumbled across something that is such a bad idea, I feel compelled to talk about it.

The site is called CareerExcuse.com (or, probably better named, Careercheat.com… both urls return the same site). What they will do, if you can believe it or not, is sell you fake career references.

How do they do this? For a (seemingly inexpensive) monthly fee they claim they will go to the trouble of setting up a fake company, fake letterhead, fake 800 number… the whole ball of wax. Then when your prospective employer calls to get references, they will of course give you glowing reviews, based on your desired background/expertise level.

Is it legal to do this?I would guess in a strict, grey-area kind of way, it’s probably not illegal. But I guarantee when your employer finds out you lied, they will fire you and they will have cause to do so. And then you’ll have created a definitively bad employer reference for yourself going forward.

The website jumps through hoops to try to convince you that this is on the up and up and a good idea. Believe me, it is not. They have a lengthy but not very legal sounding disclaimer in their terms of service… but you can’t even read to the end of it. The text cuts off before it reaches the end.

And heck, the website looks like it was designed in 1995. If you can’t tell from the weird, shoddy scam-like feeling the website gives you, let me reassure you again: this is a bad idea. Stay away.

Related posts:

1. The 6 Most Effective People To Use As References For A Job Application
2. Ask Brian – Who Should I Use For My References?
3. $25 Buys You A Fake Doctor’s Execuse

Here’s a very basic resume writing question: What font should you use for your resume?

It’s not an insignificant issue.

First of all, you want your resume to be legible. And you want your resume to be legible (easily readable) not just for human eyes, but also for computer eyes… in case your resume might be scanned into a database. You want your resume to be legible if faxed, scanned, transmitted, emailed as a photo attachment, etc.

But secondly, and just as important, the font you chose can communicate a lot about your professionalism and intentions. If you’re an accountant, you want to stick with normal, conventional “professional” fonts. But if you’re a graphic designer, you want to and probably need to be a little more adventurous in your font choice.

So what are the fonts I would recommend using for most professions in most cases?

Your choices are basically between traditional serif fonts (Times New Roman) and sans serif fonts (Arial, Helvetica, etc). Here are the fonts I’d feel most comfortable using:

Times New Roman-

I’d say this is the safest bet for most people. It’s the most common professional font for a reason. It’s highly legible and professional looking. The downside: you risk looking just like everyone else.

Century Old Style-

A good font to use for very traditional or “stuffy” jobs.

Verdana-

Arial-

Veranda and Arial are both excellent Helvetica substitutes. Highly legible and familiar to most people.

Tahoma-

Another common and legible choice.

Courier New-

An excellent and very common font, but I find that it looks too much like an old type writer font (which it’s intended to do) and… this is just a personal preference… I feel like that makes a resume look a bit dated.

Here’s a list of fonts I found on a resume template website. This is a good list that I’d stick to pretty much exclusively.

In the end, resume font choice can be a personal decision. Go with what looks best and makes you feel the most confident and professional. But don’t go too far afield. Unusual or showy fonts can make your resume stand out in a bad way.

And of course, if you need some resume help with your resume writing, you know where to go.

Related posts:

1. What Font Size Should I Use For My Resume?
2. Resume Paper – What Paper Should I Print My Resume On?
3. Resume Tip- 4 Quick Ways To Make Your Resume Stand Out

Sorry I’ve been away so long. Business has been busy. Let’s not get into it.

But I’m ready to get back in the regular posting saddle. Over the past 2 years, I’ve written 500-odd posts sharing various bits of job search and career advice. But, looking back over the archive, it occurs to me that I haven’t written very much on my area of expertise, which is resume writing.

Part of the reason for this, of course, is that I believe that a professional resume service is something everyone should consider, no matter what your writing skill level might be.

But there is plenty of resume help I can give to help guide you in the right direction even if you don’t take my advice and work with a professional.

So, for the next several posts, I’ll dig into my bag of tricks and post a few resume tips that you might find helpful.

Consider this post an index post for the topics I’ll be posting below over the next few weeks:

Resume Help

Related posts:

1. My New Resume Writing Book Free For 2 Weeks! Help Me Edit It!
2. Best Job Search Tip In Months: Your Voicemail As A Supplementary Resume!
3. Resume Help – Why It’s Necessary, And Where To Get It