Also some of the laws do play against each other – for example, Law #16 and Law #18 to a certain extent contradict each other.

I have since changed careers, and view the book as a valuable learning experience that taught me who I didn’t want to be. Your cautionary disclaimer is appropriate!

By K. J. Gardner (Idaho)

This review is from: Proven Resumes: Strategies That Have Increased Salaries and Changed Lives (Paperback)

I purchased the pdf version of this book online in 2000. It is not the complete version of the book this one is and has only 142 pages of text, but it may have been the wisest purchase I I’ve ever made! Unlike the last reviewer, I believe Proven Resumes is worth every single penny and much more!

I would like to note that I am in a career field that does, in fact, require a chronological resume, and yet I use the wonderful self-selling techniques Ms. Pontow shares on my own resumes consistently, and it has truly paid off, not only financially, but in my belief in my own abilities. In just the four years since applying this system, my income has increased by half, paying me back a thousand fold, yearly, of my initial purchase price!

I have also used Proven Resumes to help other people with their resumes, and MOST of them have used the skills-based format, and MOST of them have achieved their employment objectives with these resumes. For instance:

A part-time teacher aide with teaching credentials but no professional teaching experience is now a full-time kindergarten teacher. A grocery store cashier obtained a position as a paralegal secretary. Another grocery store cashier, who had worked at the same store for 20 years and had never written a resume before, is now happily settled in a full-time bank teller position. A veterinarian friend who was applying for a year-long leadership training project was rejected the first year she applied, but the second year, after I re-wrote her resume using Proven Resume techniques, she was accepted. Oh, yeah, and I helped my teenage son with his skills-based resume, and he is now working as a website technician / reporter… an incredibly amazing first job!

I would like to make one more plug: These techniques can be used for more than just job resumes. I write up a skills/project based “annual report,” if you will, for my annual reviews, so that I can prove to my boss that my skills are growing, and I’m consistenly making the workplace better (You don’t stop selling yourself just because you’ve landed a job). I’ve used the quantifying and qualifying techniques to write persuasive proposals. And I used a skills-based resume to apply for, and obtain, a position on a state-wide board of directors. It’s not just about GETTING a job!

For just a few dollars more, this book has nearly twice as much information as the still-available-online version. It’s a bargain!

Thanks for the suggestion – however many of the Windows/PC based applications are very good and offer a great number of features. Where the distinguishing factor comes into play are apps for the iPod Touch, iPhone and now for the iPad. Can developers build PC level functionality into smaller apps?

Regards,

Mohamed