Though “functional resumes” (organizing your info by skills as opposed to jobs) are popular among job seekers trying to change careers or trying to camouflage a less-than-tidy work history, lots of hiring managers DO NOT LIKE THEM.

What to do?  Check out these ideas over at U.S. News & World Report.

Oh, and please recall that the best and most effective job search involves lots of networking!  Just sending out resumes is probably not going to get you a job.

Have you done any of the following at job interviews:

• slouching
• sniffling
• yawning
• nail biting
• knee jiggling
• hair twirling

If so, this is not good.  Find out why these things, and more, are bad and what to do about them in 15 Ways to Annoy Your Job Interviewer.

Have you ever taken one of those career tests?  It’s a tempting idea, isn’t it, that a test can tell us who we are meant to be and what we are meant to do.  How handy. 

A reasonable place to start, if you are in college, is your school’s career center.  Of course there’s no shortage of private career counselors; check out the National Career Development Association for a directory.  For online career assessment, there’s always the reliable and thorough Quintcareers site.

But do they work?  Well, to a point.  You might find out something new about yourself.  You might learn about jobs you never even knew existed.  You might get some help differentiating between interests and aptitude.

However, if the results feel really offbase to you, take them with a grain of salt.  It’s only a test.  It’s up to you to evaluate the results for yourself, in light of what you already know about yourself.  There are no shortcuts!  You gotta do your homework.  You gotta be honest with yourself.  And, often, you will have to take a few “wrong” paths before you discover the right one.

Meanwhile, if all else fails, take the famous Drew Carey Career Aptitude Test. 

(Every time WG takes this test, she gets the same results.  Receptionist.   What the……)

Could not resist running this insightful post by Jessica Holbrook over at Great Resumes Fast.  Love what she has to say about rules, or absence thereof, and ”experts.”  Ha.

As part of my job I frequently research what my competition is doing and what other career experts have to say. I would love to think we’re all like-minded but I suppose today I got my first real reality check. I was going along in my glory thinking with my experience I have the answers to it all when I abruptly found out that something I had developed was ‘inconsistent’ with another writer’s standards. Said writer has a Ph.D in Career Management and a laundry list of other credentials to go with it. Once I got over my natural pangs of rejection any human feels when such an event occurs I frantically began my research. Being the researcher that I am… I wanted to know what about my work was inconsistent with this extremely educated and seemingly overqualified writer (on paper at least). What I discovered was there are no rules… only guidelines…

I frequently find myself frustrated by the large amounts of misinformation out there on the net today about resume writing and interview coaching. Everyone has an opinion and thinks they are the expert. What I judge an expert by is not only their credentials but their real world experience and results.

So how do you know if the information you’re reading is right or wrong. Well, first off – there are no rules. I heard this from an amazing person in the resume writing industry, in fact I read it from her book Expert Resumes for Managers and Executives. Her name is Wendy Enelow. She is what I aspire to be as a resume writer in my career. I can only hope to create for my career what she has for hers. When I first read this statement I said, you must be kidding! No rules? That is insane! But what I have come to realize is there really are no rules and it is all a guessing game. But whose guess hits the target the closest? This is what sets us all apart.

Personally, I believe writers and companies that employ former hiring managers, recruiters, top decision makers, and human resources experts have the advantage. While resume writing training, courses, and books can teach you everything you could ever want to know about the craft what they can’t give you is real world experience on the playing field – reviewing thousands of resumes and deciding who gets the interview and whose resumes will go in file 13.

I think having a background in Human Resources Management and recruiting is what sets us apart and gives us the lead on the playing field. I know what hiring managers are looking for because I’ve been there and done it for the past ten years. And while there are no set rules, there are general guidelines that anyone should follow when crafting a resume. I know what sets me apart as a writer and business owner but have you thought about what sets you apart as a job seeker? What can you offer a company that no one else can?

Answer that question and you are well on your way to creating your personal and professional brand, and developing a killer resume.

Jessica Holbrook is a former Executive Hiring Manager for Fortune 500 companies and President/CEO of Great Resumes Fast. She creates powerful, customized, and targeted resumes that are guaranteed to get her clients interviews. For a free resume analysis visit Great Resumes Fast for a free phone consultation call 1.877.875.7706.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Okay, while our Internet service seems to be working (has been VERY spotty around here lately), here’s some thoughts about how to handle a job interview when your interviewer is….how can we put this kindly?….incompetent. 

(Yes, it’s true, Virginia, not all interviewers know how to interview.  Sometimes you have to take control of the thing yourself.  But this can be good!)

There are those who think Working Girl is the job hopper extraordinaire (’cuz of the 59 jobs and all). Did it ever make it harder for her to find a job?  Nope.  It never seemed to hurt her. 

If you’ve had multiple short-term jobs there’s no reason it has to hurt you either.  Check out today’s post over at U.S. News & World Report for 5 Resume Tips for Job Hoppers.

And don’t feel bad/guilty about having had a lot of jobs.*  It can be a good thing!  Having numerous jobs had made you smarter, more tolerant, more versatile, and more resilient than someone who’s stayed in the same place for 30 years.  All that added experience is good for you.  All you have to do is frame it in terms that show potential employers how it’s good for them….

*However, if you’ve had a lot of jobs because you just keep getting fired, then you should figure out what the problem is and fix it!

Some encouraging, and some surprising, numbers from the Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project (comments f/WG):

Older adults are staying in the workforce longer, while younger people are delaying their careers.  (Are young people having trouble entering a workforce dominated by oldsters?)

Most older people aren’t keeping jobs because they need the money, but because they want to work.  Only about half who retire do so because they want to; the rest go either because of health reasons or because they feel “forced out.”  (Have older people reached some sort of work nirvana that younger workers should envy?)

Younger people are staying in school longer, or are discouraged at not being able to find a job.  In 2000, 66% of young people (aged 16-24) had jobs.  Now it is 57%.  (Because they’re not looking hard enough?  Because everyone tells them, Stay in school?  Because older people are hogging all the jobs?)

Unlike older workers, younger & middle-aged workers say they work primarily for the money.  (Giving younger workers something to look forward and/or aspire to–working for the love of it!)

59% of women work; 72% of men work.  (Huh.  Thought these numbers would be higher.)

This 72% figure for men is a new low.  In fact, the proportion of American men who work has dropped every decade since the Bureau of Labor Statistics starting keeping records in 1948.  (Yikes.  What are men doing instead?  Thought: the proportion of women who work has increased since 1948.  Are they supporting the men?)

In this recession men lost two-thirds of all the jobs that were lost.  (Because firing men, who make higher salaries, saves more money?  Because women are more valuable workers?  More likely: industries dominated by men were hardest hit by recession.)

Most people prefer a job that offers high security over one that pays more but is less secure.  (There will actually be some people who are surprised at this.)

However, nine of ten adults say they are either completely or mostly happy with their jobs.  (In light of all the above, this is a hard number to believe!  But it’s a nice thought…..)

Dress up.  Smile.  Hide your nerves.  Be positive.  Listen.  Send a follow-up note.

Sure, you’ve heard all of this interview advice before.  But never so succinctly, or from such a variety of sources.  Check out Career Rocketeer’s post today: Interview Tips from the Experts.

(Full disclosure: WG is there, too.  Her advice?  Don’t babble.)

When deciding on a career, you have one huge limitation:

You can only pursue fields of work you know about.

This is why, in WG’s nsho, so many young people announce they want to be an ”athlete” or “actor” or even (eek) a ”politician.”  Girls who like fashion want to be runway models.  Boys who like sports picture themselves playing for the Dodgers. 

The problem being, of course, that the higher profile the job–the more you see it portrayed in the news and at the movies and on TV–the lower the chances are of you, dear reader, ever actually making a living this way.

But guess what?  Most people earn decent incomes and lead happy fulfilled lives doing work you have never heard of.  So here is Working Girl’s advice for finding your (hidden) dream job:  Read widely.  Talk to many different kinds of people from many different walks of life.  Note carefully what subjects turn you on.

Now here’s the hard part.  Determine what it is about those turn-on subjects you like the most. 

Example:  Say you love the ballet.  Your bedroom is swathed in pink tulle, you wear a tiara on a daily basis, and you can hum the entire score of  Swan Lake.  Should you become a ballerina?  Well, maybe.  But think harder.  What is about ballet that thrills you?  The music?  The physicality?  The sets?  The teamwork?  The costumes?  The attention?

Once you know what you like about ballet you will know more about yourself and you can start to get creative about careers.  For instance, if it’s the costumes you adore, maybe you’d find joy being a department store buyer, a hair stylist, a “sourcer” for apparel manufacturers, a merchandiser, or the owner of your own boutique.  If you like the sets–well, have you considered interior design or architecture?  Is it the being-on-stage that you crave?  You may be a born teacher.  The physicality?  Consider sports medicine, fitness trainer, nutritionist, or any of a billion facets of health care.

You get the picture.  It’s a huge world out there with infinite possibilities.  You can find success and job bliss in so many ways.  Weirdly, lots of these ways are hidden.  But now that you know they are, have fun hunting….

When you are working away at something really hard and not showing any success, the last thing you want to be told is to “stay positive.”

But that’s just what this week’s U.S. News post is all about.  Check out these words of cheer for jobhunters everywhere.