Career Articles
Robin Ryan, known as America’s Top Career Expert, is a prolific writer of articles and books. She has four #1 Wall Street Journal and Amazon bestselling career books with four others top sellers.
She currently publishes a column in Forbes.com covering a wide range of job search and career topics. Below is a selection of her most recent and popular articles.
The articles below are also organized by topics for Resumes and Cover Letters, LinkedIn, and Interviewing.
Top Job Interview Mistakes New Graduates Must Avoid
Whether you graduated from college a year ago or just received your degree, are an undergraduate, a new MBA, or a graduate student, you are facing a challenging job market. As a career counselor, I help many grads prepare for that all-important job interview. That has
New College Grad’s Guide to a LinkedIn Profile that Gets Attention
Most colleges fall short in preparing soon-to-graduate students for their job search. While they often stress the importance of having a solid resume, too often they miss offering detailed help on how to build another critical tool for landing a job today: a LinkedIn Profile.
5 Proven Strategies To Ace Tough Situational Interview Questions
During your next interview odds are high that you will be asked to describe how you previously dealt with a work situation. Known as situational interview questions, these are challenging to answer in a way that reassures the employer that you are a top candidate
10 Resume Trends: What You Need To Know To Stand Out
Job hunters wonder about how to improve their resume. Mary, a director at a large company, called for help with resume writing because she was losing her job. She said, “I’m sure my resume doesn’t represent me very well. I want it to be impressive,
Career Advice for Recent or Soon-To-Be College Graduates
In this interview with Robin, she offers career advice aimed at recent and soon-to-be graduates. She covers graduate studies, internships, career networking, LinkedIn, helpful websites, interviewing, and more.
Employers Are Restarting In-Person Job Interviews: 7 Mistakes To Avoid
Are you ready to interview live, face-to-face, in an employer’s office? Employers increasingly hold a final interview in their office rather than online. And I am hearing from HR and hiring managers that people are often making mistakes when in person that cost them getting
The Secret Weapon To Ace Your Next Job Interview
Answering interview questions can be very stressful. You want to do your best and impress the employer. The outcome you wish for is to get hired; yet, many times that doesn’t happen. The best career advice you can apply to improve your interviewing skills is
LinkedIn Job Search Strategy You Should Be Using But Probably Aren’t
Are you overlooking an excellent way to network on LinkedIn when searching for a job? Connecting with your college alumni can be very effective.
How To Close An Interview To Land The Job
“How do you end an interview?” asked Ken, an over 50-year-old. “Should I be bold and just say hire me, no one is better? Will I sound too cocky or demanding and lose the job?” Good questions…
One LinkedIn Trick That Enables Recruiters To Find You
At first LinkedIn’s #OpenToWork tag feature was ignored. But now it is being frequently used. Here is how to use this feature to get recruiters’ attention without telling the universe you are job hunting.
A New Way To Answer The ‘What’s Your Greatest Weakness?’ Interview Question
One of the most challenging interview questions is, “What’s your greatest weakness?” Here’s a new approach for answering this question strongly.
Want Recruiters To Find You On LinkedIn? Do Two Critical Things
Yesterday, Pete, a sales director in his late fifties, called to say he was discouraged that no employers were reaching out to him through LinkedIn. He knew that his friend Steve had received several calls from recruiters via his LinkedIn profile to discuss a job
15 Job Search Strategies That Work
Elizabeth called yesterday inquiring about career counseling services saying, “I read about all these job opportunities available now, but my job search is going nowhere. It’s been over ten years since I looked for a new job. I must be doing something wrong, but I
Before Your Interview, Do This To Ensure You Land The Job
Too many job hunters say they don’t know how to get insider information before applying for a job or heading into an interview. It may be easier than you think to get that scoop if you use a few effective techniques to learn what the
Most Job Hunters Fail When Answering this Question
A recent discussion with an HR Director at T-Mobile centered around defining the top mistakes people make in the interview. He said: “I judge candidates by the questions they ask. That’s what’s most revealing to me. I want someone focused on succeeding in the job
Critical Job Interview Mistake You Cannot Recover From
I talked to a couple of HR directors, and we got to talking about serious mistakes individuals make in the job interview. When I pointed out one of the errors I saw, everyone in the group said, “Yes, that’s the one you can never recover
How To Write An Impressive LinkedIn Work Experience Section
Too many people on LinkedIn have outdated profiles. It’s a big mistake. Here’s how to create an up-to-date and impactful work experience section.
HR Reveals What You Should (and Shouldn’t) Wear to a Job Interview
A frequent question that comes up when I’m teaching Job Interview Skills is, “What should I wear to the interview?” A recent class I led had a few Baby Boomers, both men and women, saying that with the business causal environment, they wondered what does “professional
Here Is A LinkedIn Secret Weapon To Land A Job
Kathleen contacted me because this over-50-year-old professional needed career assistance. Her husband had gotten an executive position in a new state, and they were moving halfway across the country for his opportunity. That meant that she was going to be leaving her program manager position
How To Create An Impressive LinkedIn Personal Brand
Not everyone using LinkedIn is looking for a job. Today, John sought my help as he is the CEO and Founder of his own company. His goal was to take the skeleton profile he’d had up for years and make it a fantastic marketing tool
Answers To Tough Employer Job Interview Questions
“Interviews seemed to be a lot harder than I remember,” says Nick, an over-50 executive who called for Interview Prep Coaching. “I was so unprepared for some of their very difficult questions. I know I blew it.” With more employers hiring and more jobs being
Age Discrimination Worries? Resume Changes You Should Make
“I’m over 60 and I worry that I’m not landing a job because of my age,” said Ann, a Senior HR Director who called me seeking resume writing and LinkedIn Profile writing help. “I have been in HR my whole career,” she continued. “I know
Salary Negotiations Can Be Tricky In Today’s Job Market: Here’s How To Secure Top Dollar From An Employer
The largest salary increase you are likely to obtain in your career comes when you quit your job and go to work for another employer, but only if you avoid the minefield of mistakes people often make. Whether you are a Baby Boomer, a Xer,
How To Hire A Resume Writer And Not Get Duped
Sarah called today because she said her friend’s friend in HR recommended me. She had previously paid $500 to have her resume “professionally written.” She lost her job back in March. To date, she has not had one response from the resume. The company that
What Employers Want To See In Your Resume And Most People Aren’t Doing It
Resume Writing is never easy. You must understand how to craft your resume to quickly grab an employer’s attention in 20 seconds or less. Most people make this critical mistake. They write long, drawn-out job descriptions. This revelation came as a surprise to several of
Time To Update Your Resume — Here’s One Secret To Use
Valerie, 59, is a human resources manager, working at a prominent company, who had asked for my help in writing her resume. She said, “I think now is the right time to polish up my resume. I see resumes all the time. Thousands have passed
Resume Quiz To See If Employers Will Respond To Your Resume
Writing a persuasive resume is challenging for most people. Yet, a top-quality resume that effectively sells your skills and accomplishments to an employer is essential to your success. Is yours good enough to grab a recruiter’s attention? Employers report that when candidates apply for a
