Unfortunately professionals coming from all levels will often be uncertain why their resumes and LinkedIn profiles are ignored by hiring managers, recruiters and HR professionals. Yes, sometimes we have a shortage of vacancies or hiring. It could be that your field is mired inside a downtrend or maybe you are located in a very depressed area. However, I can assure you why these are the reasons why your resume isn’t helping you earn interviews:

Resumes with Personal Photographs – You might be sufficiently lucky to get be beautiful/handsome therefore you want to let people know it. Yet as being a hiring manager, I do not care that which you look like or your actual age if you are a top performer. This is just bad method to be honest because doing so increases an employer’s liability to discrimination lawsuits. Photos are acceptable for your LinkedIn profile though because a personal networking website first.

Vague and Ambiguous Resumes – This weak writing that will not add value to you and also it actually repels employers.

Resumes with Non-Standard/Hard to Read Fonts – Inappropriate fonts include handwriting style, Old English (really?), Western style, Calligraphy and extremely artsy fonts. First, your resume should be able to be easily scanned. Second, it should be located and readable by technology (search engines like yahoo, ATS software, database searches, etc.).

Objective Statements – Especially those which will make demands or tell employers what we want. These resumes are instantly dismissed unless it really is on an entry-level resume.

Novel Length Autobiographies – I frequently get 5-10 page resumes that individuals actually use for months without results. Sure the extremely gifted and talented can offer longer resumes and find away by it. However, editing is usually a universal requirement because hiring managers have become busy people. You must respect that.

Functional Resumes – Hiring managers know already that functional resumes are typically designed to conceal significant issues/problems. Avoid this style if at all possible, though sometimes a functional resume is advisable or is actually preferred in the field.

All Purpose Resumes – Show absence of desire and intelligence especially in the recession for you is little hiring happening and the employers hold the many cards. Let’s face it people, were in the information age now. Using one generic all-purpose resume today is the identical too taking on sky diving like a profession and expecting affordable medical care insurance.

Resumes Focused on Responsibilities – Not only are these boring however they ignore the proven fact that employers normally want the most effective talent they can find versus a warm body.

Resumes with Frequent Changes in Employment – Job hopping is evidence employers don’t especially like you, your performance otherwise you do not like employers.

Resumes with Long Employment Gaps – Because of the Great Recession, long employment gaps are becoming more common, specifically in down industries. Yet, they are still ignored is that hiring managers, recruiters and HR professionals feel that if everybody else already offered you for 18-24 months already, how come I waste time investigating and interviewing you. Other valid reasons they’re ignored include it shows laziness, low initiative, no flexibility, you are in prison/home confinement, have a very drug, alcohol or gambling habit and also a general deficiency of intelligence.

About a month ago a friend of mine approached me with a business opportunity, it was with a company called Adzoo. Now this particular friend is not internet savvy to say the least. To be honest I don’t even think he owns a computer. He told me that the company affiliated of Google and even went so far as to refer to them as “Google’s little brother.” Now I knew something was wrong, I could smell it from a mile away. If this company was in any way affiliated with Google I would have surely heard about it.

Maybe around a week later I was invited to a conference being held by a large insurance company that had decided to go into business with Adzoo. I only went out of curiosity and I have to admit, I was not impressed.

Now I myself have never been into MLM (multi-level-marketing) not to say that there’s anything wrong with people who are, but it is just not my preferred business model. I have learned through experience that for the most part MLM businesses can’t afford to provide a very good service and pay everyone in the down line to, but there are maybe a few exceptions.

The service that Adzoo provides is referred to as SEO when dealing with their customers. What the customers do NOT know is that Adzoo is merely over charging them for ad cost on some very poor ppc campaigns. They promise customers that they will get them on the first page of Google for the key words that they want to rank for within a 7 to 14 day period. This is done mostly on a local scale, and pricing is based on the radius that the person or company want’s to cover. Their targeted consumers are small business owners who are having a hard time with sales due to the emergence of internet shopping.

Now I do agree with one thing that Adzoo has to say in their pitch, and that is that any business that want’s to succeed in today’s market needs to have a strong presence online. However, that is all I agree with. Needless to say, I declined the “business offer” as I was not interested in promoting the organization in any way. I mean after all, if I wanted to make a couple buck overcharging people for adwords I could do it on my own couldn’t I.

So to answer the question, is Adzoo a reputable company? In my personal opinion; no! I checked out some of there work and realized that the businesses that have paid them for services are on the first page of Google, in the ad section! And not for any good keywords related to the industry at that, but the cheaper keywords and the actual company’s name!

If you are a business owner and you are interested in gaining more income via an online presence, I would have to advise you not to do business with this company but rather pay a real SEO consultant. It will probably cost you more upfront but it will definitely be cheaper in the long run (especially seeing as how Adzoo charges some pretty high monthly rates. If you want the true long term benefits that come with having your business online the only way is to get targeted, and organic traffic directed to your business, trust me you’ll be glad you did.