if youre not getting interviews, heres how to fix your resume and cover letter

if youre bedrngnis getting interviews, heres how to fix your resume and titel letter if youre not getting interviews, heres how to fix your resume and cover letter I did a version of this post in 2012, and its become one of the posts that I link people to most frequently, so I figured it welches time to update it.I talk to a lot of people who arent getting interviews and who cant figure out what the problem is. They tell me that they know their resume and cover letter are fine. They often mention that theyve had people look over their materials and that those people agree that their resume and cover letter arent the problem. So they cant figure out what theyre doing wrong.Ill often ask to see their resume and cover letter anyway despite their confidence that those arent the problem. And you know what? Nearly always, those are the problem. The people who told them that they were fine were wrong they didnt have the experience or the insight to know what would make a really great resu me or letter. And as a result, these job-seekers have been continuing to apply with mediocre materials and continuing to not get interviews, and are frustrated because they cant figure out why.This is highly likely to be true for you if (1) your resume mainly lists your job duties rather than talking about the outcomes you achieved at each job, and/or (2) your cover letter basically summarizes the information in your resume (in which case its not adding anything at all to your application).If this sounds like it might be the case for you, stop listening to the people telling you that your materials are fine Instead, read theseResumesthe 1 question your resume should answerhow to rewrite your resume to focus on accomplishments, not just job dutieshow to list accomplishments on your resume when your job doesnt have easy measureshow can my resume demonstrate initiative, problem-solving, work ethic, and other qualities?10 mistakes youre making on your resumestop claiming subjective trai ts on your resumethose big paragraphs of text on your resume are putting people to sleepthis is a resume and cover letter that workhow to create a resume from scratchhow long can your resume be?the whole resumes section of my archives (There are 106posts in there read them.)Cover lettershow to write a cover letter that will get you an interviewwheres the line between necessary self-promotion and overconfidence in cover letters?how do I write a compelling cover letter when I dont have much work experience?heres a real-life example of a great cover letter (with before and after versions)heres another example of a great cover letterthe whole cover letters section of my archives (There are 56posts in there read them.)And yes, thats a lot and it will take time. But the alternative is to continue not getting interviews, and thats not a good alternative. Seriously follow the advice in these posts, and you should have a dramatically better resume and cover letter and if my reader mail is any guide, you should start getting calls for interviews once you do.Want more help finding a job?Get my e-book How To Get a Job / Secrets of a Hiring Manager If youve ever wished that you could look into the brain of a hiring manager to find out what you need to do to get hired, this e-book is for you. Ill give youstep-by-step help through every stage of your job search, explainingat each step what a hiring manager is thinking and what they want to see from you. Learn more here.