Resource Center

Please see the below resources from The Barrett Group.

Myth Number Three: A recruiter’s advice about your résumé signifies an informed, professional review that will help your marketability.

Greek Mythology holds that Zeus commanded two eagles to find the center of the Earth. One eagle flew east, the other west. They bumped heads in Delphi. Eventually, the spirit of Apollo came to reside in Delphi, which, according to the eagles, was the center of the Universe, at the juncture of heaven and Earth. A boom in tourism soon followed.

The big attraction was the storehouse of information possessed by Apollo, who was not averse to sharing his godly wisdom with mere mortals. When queried through an intermediary, called the “Oracle,” supplicants would have their most important, profound and vexing...

The Carnival's In Town!

Being in a job search can sometimes feel like a trip to the carnival:

They have a gut wrenching roller coaster with extreme twists and turns
Side shows include Carney Barkers and it’s all about the money (yours, leaving your wallet):
Games of Chance!
Games of Skill!
Games of Strength!
Goofy, worthless prizes!
There’s always the Freak Show, and these babies are the real thing!
Don’t forget the Music Express, the superfast cars where you’re always stuck going as fast as you can in back of a random person who got there ahead of you, blasted with noise and shooting round and round in a circle, ending up...

When is the best time to begin my search?

Your active job search should begin soon after you have selected your major field of study in college. It extends up to the day you retire then winds down after that as you transition your network into your new situation.

If you’re not on this timetable, you need to do some catching up. Your job search should continue every day you are in the job market, that is, your entire career.
That said, is there a “Hiring Season?” Yes, there are two clearly discernible ones you should keep in mind. At least in corporate America, they are driven...

Employment Intelligence

Employment Update April 2009
Oil prices are down, if anyone can tell down from up nowadays, to $46 a barrel. This figure determined the world’s economy just a year ago; now it’s hardly mentioned in the press. Inflation worries have been muted by our new “don’t spend a dime” culture: what does it matter what cars, homes or shirts cost, because we’re simply not buying. The American consumer fueled the world economy with the perenially popular ethos of Conspicuous Consumption; that engine has simply run out of gas.

Here are some of the results of the American driven economic...

Why it’s Easier to Get a Job When You Already Have a Job – And Why It Isn’t

Ralph Libsohn, Business Consultant, Senior Career Consultant

You’ve heard it said hundreds of times. “It’s easy to get a job if you already have one.” It’s one of the oldest clichés in the book, right up there with “it’s easy to get a loan when you don’t need one” and “never get involved in a land war in Asia.” And like many clichés, it just might be true. But why is it easier to get a job if you have one? Here are five good reasons:

No Pesky Questions to Answer: It’s a lot easier to explain why you want a...

Myth Number Four: The focus of your resume should be your responsibilities.

What nonsense. Focusing on your responsibilities as an employee certainly will drive your resume… right over a cliff.

Check out the following responsibilities (gleaned from the extensive Career Change historical archives), contrast the responsibilities with the results, and decide how impressive the responsibilities really are:

Responsibility: “Directed defense of West Point against British attack.”
Result: Turned traitor, plot discovered, escaped country in disgrace, became a Redcoat.
Employee: Benedict Arnold, General of the Continental Army: Involuntarily Retired.

Responsibility: “Master of vessel, responsible for transporting 53 million gallons of crude oil from Alaska to California.”
Result: Crashed vessel, dumped 11 million gallons...

Myth Number Six: A reference must provide all details!?

By definition, a reference will answer any question an employer or executive recruiter may ask and promises to say only good things. Do not confuse serving as a reference with the completely different process of employment verification.

If you do not feel this way, or cannot answer some questions, do not offer to be a reference.

Because verbal references are the most effective, responding by telephone works MUCH better than e-mails. If you have a choice, be certain to follow up with a telephone call within 24 hours if not sooner. Turn on your “do not disturb light,”...

Myth Number Five: A Great Resume is a Guarantee of Success

What have we here?
A carrion Death, within whose empty eye
There is a written scroll! I’ll read the writing.
All that glitters is not gold…

- William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, 1596

William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, 1596 Shakespeare, the VP HR of Stratford on Avon, LLC, knew the truth over five hundred years ago. All that glitters is not gold, including your resume.

At its best, a resume can be a door opener. But be careful. The door swings both ways.

Certainly, your resume is the most important document in your career-changing arsenal. Just as certainly, if...

Myth Number One: The proper length of your résumé should be one page.

Of all the nonsense that has been written about résumés, this is the most spurious.

Your résumé is the principal marketing tool for repositioning your career and obtaining the job you crave. The focus of your résumé is to present your strengths, abilities and accomplishments in the most attractive way. If this can be done in one page, then your career is either brief (recent grads, take note) or unimpressive.

Greek mythologists wrote of a character named Procrustus, an evil son of Poseidon who preyed upon weary travelers along the road to Athens. Procrustus would offer travelers a place to sleep. Unfortunately...

Myth Number Two: About Executive Resume Writing: Every résumé should have an Objective.

Here’s a quote to think about in the context of executive resume writing: “To sing the Magnificat at matins.” To do things at the wrong time, or out of place. The Magnificat does not belong to the morning service, but to vespers. ?E. Cobham Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898). Quoted in Bartleby.com.

When writing your resume for application to an executive position, should you include an Objective? No, because it doesn’t belong there.

Your executive resume writing should be guided by thinking of it as a marketing piece. It contains employer-centric statements that demonstrate what you bring to the table...