Doesn’t every job search start with Google?

A long time ago in another life, I was looking for a job after one of my startups failed. Conveniently, it all went to hell in the early 2000s. I’ve always had a good time.

Google was the place to start. She knew that all she needed were some free resume samples.

Not everyone?

I mean, come on, I had been writing in a business setting for years by then. When she was at Andersen Consulting, keeping his “internal resume” up to date was a cottage industry. If you were on a lot of short projects, you had to update it at least once every quarter!

He was convinced that he was an expert at writing resumes. If he could find some free resume samples, you know, to see the state of the art, he could put together an impressive resume in an hour or two.

I found a few in no time. Most of them were on websites yelling at me to use their template. They almost (but not quite) guaranteed to be rich in 10 minutes, if you’d just look at their free resume examples… and then buy their product, whatever it is.

Very little has changed.

The web is like a big carnival. There’s a barker around every corner of every search promoting this or that. The job search has become particularly carnival-like, especially five years ago when the economy tanked.

How do you know if the claims on a particular job search website are true?

It is very simple. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Free resume samples are good tools. However, I’m here to tell you that looking at a sample resume (free or not) and suddenly thinking you’re the best resume writer in the world is crazy.

In 2000, I wrote a resume myself and it wasn’t bad. Then I called, went online and interviewed for six months with bupkis to prove it.

Was it the resume? Not completely. Remember, the economy crashed and Donald Trump probably would have had a hard time getting a job in real estate.

But I know two things for sure.

First, I made some mistakes on my resume. Those often simple mistakes cost me time. Copying those free resume samples didn’t work as planned.

Second, good or bad, pretty or not, my resume obviously didn’t force anyone to call me for a job interview. That means it stank.

In the end, my job search lasted seven months. The typical job search now takes 4-6 months. It was probably a bit longer back then. But that doesn’t excuse being stupid.

I found some free resume examples, saw dollar signs, and turned my brain off. just dumb. You can avoid my mistakes.

I recommend that you hire professional help to shorten your job search and help you find a great job.

However, if you’re going to do it yourself, be smart about it.

By all means, look at free resume examples. But at least invest the $20-$50 it normally costs to find some high-quality products to help you avoid silly resume mistakes that will lengthen your search time.

Those products won’t give you untold wealth or career fulfillment in 10 minutes, but they could give you a fantastic resume very quickly.

Every minute your search takes costs you money. Do not entertain!

(c) Copyright 2005 by Roy Miller