I've worked with a broad range of professionals within the social and human services fields including counselors, case managers, court guardians, hospice workers, non-profit agency managers, grant writers and home health care providers...to name a few.

I've found that job seekers entering or leaving the social and human services fields often feel they can't use numbers to describe their job responsibilities. Yet, they can and such a strategy greatly strengthens their resumes. In addition, many get locked into using chronological resumes that do little to market them for higher level positions in the social services field.

Dorothy was a good example of this. While completing her Human Services degree she served as an intern with a mental health counseling agency. In this capacity, she managed and counseled a case load of 25 teenagers, reviewing her counseling strategies with the Senior Counselor. She had also been a volunteer with Big Sisters and helped to manage their new member recruitment campaign which involved interviewing and assessing new program volunteers. Prior to that she had managed an office. Take a look at her before resume and see how well it markets her for a Counseling position. Does this information present a strong picture of Dorothy as already having had 6 years of counseling and related experience?

Now take a look at the skill headings and content that Dorothy and I created while writing her resume. Does this new resume information present her as being much better qualified and worthy of a higher salary offer? Of these two examples who would you call to interview for a counseling position?

Counseling / Case Management, Mental Health Counseling 1995 - Present Client Needs Assessment Family Systems Counseling Case Documentation and Reporting Client Education & High Risk Prevention Counseling Mentor Assessment & Program Placement, Big Sisters 1992 - 1995 Interviewing and Placement of Volunteer Mentors Program Coordination / New Recruit Orientation Administrative Management, Frampton Construction 1988 - 1992 Office Systems Administration Staff Training and Supervision

Now let's look at how Dorothy can use numbers to describe some of her most important responsibilities. Notice that quantifying paints a much broader image of Dorothy's skills and capabilities:

	Managed a case load of 25 adolescents from culturally diverse, socioeconomic levels, many of which were at high risk for delinquency, teen pregnancy and drug usage.
	Commended for high success rate in decreasing poor school attendance and preventing drug usage problems in high percentage of clients counseled.

As Dorothy's after resume illustrates, identifying your unique skills and abilities and slanting them to sound like the positions you want is critical to landing more interviews and higher salary offers.

$9,000 Salary Increase
The first resume workshop in this site shows how Fran's after resume resulted in a $9,000 salary increase. Fran wanted a $33,000 Corporate Customer Representative job but her resume created an image of her being at a $20,000 to 24,000 salary level -- that's $9,000 to $13,000 beneath her goal.

What Level Does Your Resume Market You At?
If you are curious to see what level your resume is marketing you at … then be sure to read and use the graphing techniques in my first workshop. By graphing the job titles used in Fran's resume it's easy to see why her resume failed … and once you understand this … you will understand why the majority of resumes fail. You'll then understand how to analyze your job titles and see if you are better off using them or replacing them with skill headings that market you more effectively.

Most People Have Job Titles that Weaken Their Image
I estimate that at least 85% of all job seekers have job titles unrelated to their current career goals … and that they are much better off using skill headings rather than job titles to land higher salaries and double and triple their interview rates.

For example, Fran had been a Directory Operator but in most people's minds that doesn't sound like she's at the level of a Corporate Customer Representative making $33,000 … that's because most people don't view directory operators as providing true customer service. Most people say that Directory Operator sounds like someone making only $20,000. However, by using the 12 Questions in my Proven Resumes Series, Fran wrote a new description of her duties as a Directory Operator that described her being selected out of 100 Directory Operators to provide specialized Customer Service to the Governor's Office and Political Dignitaries in the Washington State Capitol … now that information begins to change our image of Fran doesn't it? That makes her sound much more like someone being able to command $33,000.

Which sounds like a better match for the $33,000 Corporate Customer Service Representative goal… her old job title of Directory Operator … or a skill heading like Customer Service Representative to State of Washington Account. In Fran's actual resume we used the heading of Customer Service Representative but you can see how you can play with skill headings to control and elevate your image … this is one strategy I explain in detail with examples throughout my book, Proven Resumes: Strategies That Have Increased Salaries, and one of the strongest things I can offer you as a resume writer … just in case you don't have the time or patience to write your own.

Going from 0% to 100% Interview Rate
By using skill headings that matched her goal, Fran went from a 0% interview rate to a 100% interview rate -- meaning none of her prior resumes had landed an interview but her new resume landed an interview for each position she applied for.

Click here to learn other ways we improved Fran's resume and landed her a job paying $9,000 more click here to read my first set of resume workshops! If you've entered my site via this page, be sure to go to my main website's home page for an overview of more than 60 Free Resume & Job Search Workshops that include tons of Resume Tips for 45 Career Fields, Job Search, Electronic Resume, Cover Letter, Interviewing, Networking and Confidence Building strategies.

The testimonials throughout my site describe salary increases ranging from $10,000 to $30,000 and more. Here's one of my most recent ones:

In Summary
If the examples above make sense, then you may want to consider purchasing my booklet series, Proven Resumes: Strategies That Increase Salaries. It will take you through the steps that Dorothy followed to create the skill headings she used in her resume as well as statements like those shown above.

It is targeted for job seekers with a salary range of up to $100,000+ and provides over 2,000 skills, skill headings and sample sentences including a list for social / human services positions as well as lists for 39 other career fields. It also provides extensive resume examples and worksheets to help you identify your skills and market them to match the jobs you want. For a complete description click on the link below.

Or, hire Melissa Pontow to write your resume.  Melissa has been trained extensively by Regina Pontow, author and owner of this website.  Melissa has been writing resumes online since 1997.  Please click here to review Melissa's resume writing services, or qualifications listed in Melissa's resume. 

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