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Opinion Summary
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Not worth the money
by agnacious | Jul 11 '08
I have been a member of the Ladders now for 3 months. I paid for a 1 year subscription because given the economy I was not sure how long I might be searching. Here is what I have found: The first thing I did was post my resume. I had the resume ...Return to opinion
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You may have saved me some money! (Reply to this comment)
by marsko
Thank goodness there is a website like this.
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Sep 26 '11
11:16 am PDT
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THE LADDERS RESUME CRITIQUE / REVIEW IS A SCAM (Reply to this comment)
by melissamarket
THE LADDERS RESUME CRITIQUE / REVIEW IS A SCAM TO GET YOU TO PAY FOR THEIR SERVICES! WE SENT IN 6 DIFFERENT RESUMES AND RECEIVED THE "SAME EXACT CRITIQUE" BASHING OUR RESUMES EXCEPT FOR A FEW PERSONALIZATIONS! HERE IT IS!
Michael,
My name is Michael, I am an Executive Resume Analyst and have reviewed over 20,000 resumes throughout my career. Because many candidates have difficulty viewing their resume objectively as a marketing tool, it is my job to evaluate how well your document distinguishes you from your competition.
Before I begin the critique, I would like to warn you about my style because my comments can seem frank. But the reality is that the job market is very competitive now, so I find it beneficial to help you develop your resume by being direct.
In the analysis below, I have outlined the weaknesses I currently see in your resume, which include the lack of focus with regards to accomplishments and missing introduction, but these are not all. Overall, I am concerned that your resume doesn't effectively communicate your value as a Marketing Director - the resume lacks the ability to capture an employer and make him/her say, "I must have this person in for an interview"
Now, here are the major issues I see on your resume:
SUMMARY / INTRODUCTION
There is a monumental problem glaring at me in the top section of your resume. You are completely missing the most important part of a resume: the summary statement! The summary statement is the most-read section of an entire resume; it is your ticket to the interview. By not having a summary, you are not providing the hiring manager a quick peek into your past, present, and future to see where you've been, where you're at, and where you want to go professionally.
A requirement for any top-tier professional resume is a "Core Competencies" section. This section both provides a quick and comprehensive look at your strengths from the beginning of the resume and acts as a keyword-rich area that enables your resume to be quickly found by HR technology on the internet.
Michael, this introductory section is increasingly important to employers as the job market becomes more competitive, and they have to read through more and more resumes each day. This is a great opportunity to stand out from the crowd right from the start and you haven't taken advantage of it.
CONTENT
Let's look at your experience section next...
Where are all of your powerful, hard-hitting job descriptions? Your job descriptions are much too generic and unexciting to support your extensive and impressive background as a high-caliber Marketing Manager or Director. Employers want detail, and need to clearly see how you are better than the other candidates with similar experience.
One of the main issues right now is that from the way the resume is worded, you seem to be more of a "doer" than an "achiever". Too many of your job descriptions are task-based and not result-based, meaning they tell what you DID-not what you ACHIEVED. To be effective and create excitement, it needs to be results-based: What was achieved as a RESULT of what you did? Employers are looking for results. They want to know you have solved problems similar to theirs and that you achieved the results for which they are looking. Look at these:
„« Support other marketing and advertising professionals for company events.
„« Build and generate marketing collateral and materials while managing budgets.
„« Research and obtain information on marketing trends and competition to drive and formulate change.
What are the results? What are the tangible outcomes? This is the focus that your resume lacks. You need to paint a vivid and informative picture that successfully captures the full scope of your achievements and value in an effective and logical manner. Believe me, your competition is not hiding their lights under baskets, so neither should you.
Because you are targeting Manager or Director level positions, where you need to be focused on strategic thinking along with many other different constituents, your accomplishments need to put more emphasis on specific, measurable highlights that reflect your ability to produce great results regardless of external factors. Employers look for potential in the quantitative evidence you show of your success. You need to make sure you get that type of information in the resume in a highlighted way and a way that is going to convey the extent of your caliber to someone that does not know you.
Overall, the content of your resume is too bland. The "WOW" factor isn't there. It does not generate interest or show how you are any different than the other candidates against whom you are competing. Employers need to see clearly how you are better than the other candidates with similar experience. The employer will only call the candidates who have the best qualifications that are presented in the most convincing way on their resume.
MECHANICS
Moving on, we really need to work on elevating the language throughout the document! The document's verbiage doesn't support your goals. It's "average" - not what you want when you are trying to sell your abilities and position yourself above the competition. Step up the language by using stronger action verbs to create excitement and keep your reader engaged!
I spotted an issue that undermines your resume's effectiveness here: sentence structure. Most of your sentences use what I call "procedural structure." Terms like "Other duties include..." or "Prepare..." are not the most powerful verb phrases to use. Not only do these introduce a task rather than a result or success, but they make your job descriptions sound more like obligations rather than opportunities. By making your resume task-oriented, you're obscuring your best work.
DESIGN AND FORMAT
Your resume isn't formatted and organized to give the reader what he/she seeks quickly. Resumes aren't read start to finish like a book. Instead, the summary is read and then the rest of the document is scanned quickly with job titles, bullet statements, and other highlighted material being read first. The primary interests of hiring managers come in the following order: summary, job titles, experience, bullets, education.
I highly recommend a more professional design to provide a more executive impression. A lot can be done with the formatting and design to improve first visual impressions while still maintaining a conservative appearance. It's crucial that your resume stands out from the pack, in a polished, executive way. Keep in mind that your resume goes first, it's their only initial impression of you, make it appear as you would walking through their office door.
OVERALL IMPRESSION/STRATEGY
Michael, go back and reread your resume, and you will see that this document is selling you short.
The bottom line: Your resume simply does not fully reflect your professional caliber, and you are not making the first impression count. You are clearly a strong candidate, but that is simply not enough to get an interview! Frankly, your resume positions you for a lower-level job and salary than you desire-or deserve.
Only the BEST RESUMES-NOT CANDIDATES-get the most attention and eventually an interview. www.theladders.com
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Mar 15 '11
7:12 am PDT
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The same happened to me! (Reply to this comment)
by momtokamalii
I think too that they give employers the people who have purchased resumes, or sort them by resume service customers. I simply couldnt afford the $700 they wanted to do my resume.
I ended up doing some research on other freelance resume writers (the major companies, while they may be good, were out of my budget)and ended up hiring fishbowlresumes which is either a small company or an individual (I'm not sure which). Either way, I was happy, saved a TON of money and (even better) got a job within a month!
The ladders may provide good resumes (although like the reviewer, I also received a form letter) but I was not willing to pay that much when I feel that you can get the same or better elsewhere.
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Jun 27 '10
3:05 pm PDT
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The Ladders Sneaks In Auto-Billing (Reply to this comment)
by saleswhisperer
The Ladders, www.theladders.com, has a sneaky little policy of auto-billing you so be careful to either de-select that option or mark your calendar to cancel your membership. The last thing you want to do when you're out of work is pay money to some job board you're not using. They were billing me 4 times for something I only wanted once. The service is pretty good but be sure you only pay for what you want.
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Mar 27 '10
3:19 pm PDT
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Ladders Nickle & Diming (Reply to this comment)
by mccvii
I had the same experience. I used it for one month. Nothing new in my area. I don't remember being harassed about my resume being outdated but I generally don't close out the popups and marketing mails.
For the price of a 1 yr sub with Ladders, you can find a for-profit career coach to help you with networking and personal marketing. These are much more valuable than a few "exclusive" listings.
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Oct 26 '09
6:01 am PDT
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I totally agree - THE LADDERS is a RIP OFF (Reply to this comment)
by dngcal
The Ladders offers nothing that Monster or DICE can. Most recruiting firms swear by DICE. Also, try INDEED.COM they consolidate most job boards.
D.
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May 08 '09
1:59 pm PDT
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