Happy About My Resume

50 Tips for Building a Better Document to Secure a Brighter Future

by Barbara Safani

Many great job candidates have poor resumes that are merely a laundry list of job tasks that do little to distinguish them from their competition. The average recruiter or hiring manager spends less than 15 seconds reviewing a resume. Most people's resumes fail to "wow" the reader and quickly end up in the "no" pile.

Writing a resume can feel like an overwhelming task. It can seem like a Herculean effort to consolidate so much important information about a career into a one or two page document. But it doesn't have to be that way! In 'Happy About My Resume', Barbara Safani offers 50 tips for creating compelling copy and presenting it in a powerful way to grab the hiring authority's attention and get them to pick up the phone to call you in for an interview. Safani provides practical and easy-to-follow advice as well as numerous samples that show each of her tips in action.

The book will help readers learn how to quickly create a resume that is professional, gets them noticed, minimizes the amount of time they spend in a job search, and maximizes their earning power. The book is for anyone who wants to proactively manage their career and improve the quality of their current resume or create a resume from scratch.

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Praise for this book

"'Happy About My Resume' is an excellent guide to creating the perfect resume. Barbara is considered a top resource for job searchers in NYC and has shared her wealth of knowledge in this book. The resume is an essential part of any job search and Barbara's step-by-step approach helps to build a resume that will attract the attention of recruiters. With easy to follow tips, great samples and clear job search tips - every job seeker should have a copy!"
Brian McComak, MSM, PHR, Director, Human Resources, L'Oreal

"Happy About My Resume is the book you need by your side as you prepare your own resume. Barbara walks through every aspect of a resume with important issues that come up and masterfully addresses best practices, with real examples. I think these tips and secrets are exactly what professional resume writers don't want you to learn!"
Jason Alba, CEO, JibberJobber.com

"'Happy About My Resume' is a down-to-earth, practical resource to help you create a resume as compelling as you are. Barbara gives straightforward advice about how to articulate your accomplishments and present them for today's busy hiring manager. Her 50 Tips tell you precisely how to craft your own powerful marketing tool from headline to footer."
Liz Sumner, Director, Career Management Alliance

"A 'solid read'. 'Happy About My Resume' gives its readers many examples of constructing their resume and backs it up with solid, thorough advice. Those who follow will benefit."
Timothy Finney PHR, CSP Regional Manager, Superior Staff Resources, Inc

"Barbara has written a career navigational tool that transcends industries and professional levels. She helps the resume writer take a step back, cut to the chase and deliver a real picture of their skills, knowledge and abilities. I am giving this book to clients and students because Barbara's unique, truthful approach and style will aid them in their career journey."
Jeanne Stewart, SPHR, President, Human Resources Association of New York, President, HR on the Move, LLC.

"Barbara makes a complex topic very clear and concise. Her thorough understanding of the subject matter helps the reader understand what and how they need to go about crafting a strong and salable resume. Her suggestion that the resume is a sales tool is 100% accurate. As a retained executive search consultant, this is the type of book I would recommend that many candidates should read before they commence their job search."
Allen A. Geller, Managing Director, Raines International, Inc., http://www.rainesinternational.com

"In a competitive field, Barbara is able to offer exceptional clear, concise and practical job seeking advice. Coming from executive search, I often hear career counselors provide academic recommendations that may work in academia, but do not translate into corporate America and gain the attention of hiring managers. Barbara never misrepresents but finds a way to bring out the best in everyone personally and professionally. Her keen advice can impact all industries and levels. A must-read for any job seeker!"
Lorri Zelman, Managing Director, Human Resources Practice, Solomon Page Group

"This book is worth the introduction alone. Barbara presents a real-world and step-by-step overhaul on the resume that everyone wrote 20 years ago and has been suffering with ever since. Straightforward and crystal clear, it is a much-needed wake up for any serious job seeker. If a fraction of the resumes that crossed my desk included what is in this book, most of those people would be hired and retained long term."
Chason Hecht, President, Retensa Retention Experts, http://www.retensa.com

"I'm not surprised that Barbara Safani has such a fantastic approach to making the resume development process something that a frustrated job seeker can be 'happy about'. As CDI's former Director of Resume Certifications and a multi-resume competition award contributor and judge, Barbara has provided excellent advice in the form of informative and strategic tips for introducing your candidacy, formatting, and creating dynamic experience sections.
Laura DeCarlo, President, Career Directors International, http://careerdirectors.com

"Barbara Safani's book, 'Happy About My Resume' is absolutely on message about resume development, resume headlines, and core resume accomplishments. With clear and concise language, she describes and demonstrates the truly important concepts, strategies, and tactics of writing a resume. Barbara has written a wonderful book for career counselors and coaches, job changers, and business consultants - she has provided an important tool for everybody facing downsizing or voluntary job change in this economy of uncertainty to help real people."
Bettina Seidman, President, Career Counselors Consortium, http://www.careercc.org

"'Happy About My Resume' is a valuable guide to writing the most fundamental marketing document you'll ever create---and more important, to thinking about your professional choices, which will in turn shape the quality of the information you are able to write on your resume."
David Teten, CEO, Teten Advisors (http://teten.com)