RésuMom

What are You Telling Yourself about Your Job Search?

2010-08-26T06:21:00.000-07:00

What are you telling yourself about your job search? Are you thinking thoughts and speaking words that may inhibit your enthusiasm to search, post, and ace the interview? Or, are you feeding yourself destructive, negative, exhausting thoughts that result in lack of energy and a depressed outlook/mood? You are the master of this process. Monitor what you tell yourself. Control it. Be disciplined and vow to only let the good in. Simply refuse to entertain a less than positive thought, about your job search or about anything for that matter. Just try it for week. See what happens.

What's Your Résumé Age?

2010-07-23T15:46:00.000-07:00

1. Is the phrase "References Available On Request" printed on your résumé?

2. Do you include a "Career Objective" statement on the document?

3. Are you a professional who lists your education before your experience?

If you answered "yes" to one or more of these questions, your résumé could be outdated.

To bring your qualifications up to the present, delete any reference to references. For maximum impact with hardcopy submissions, type professional references on matching letterhead and paper and submit with your qualifications package.

Next, replace the "Career Objective" statement with a small paragraph describing your best characteristics and attributes as they apply to the job in question.

Last but not least, experience should always appear ahead of education for those in workforce more than one year.

These simple steps could very well make your document appear 10 to 20 years younger!

The Rule of 10

2010-07-09T04:26:00.000-07:00

Are you an established professionals with a dozen or more years of experience under your belt?

DO NOT fall into the “never ending résumé” trap.

Like it sounds, the "never ending résumé" goes on and on, listing bullet point after bullet point of job duties and responsibilities. It continues for two or more pages with little or no consideration of how past experience applies to the job in question.

Generally, it is best for experienced professionals to highlight the last ten years of career accomplishments, limiting the document to just one page.

How?

Provide a short summary your primary duties. Use the majority of the available space to communicate how well you completed them. For the biggest impact, be sure to focus on the skills and characteristics most relevent to the job you are posting to and most beneficial to the prospective employer.

Of course, as with all things in life, there are exceptions to this suggestion. For example, career changers who have experience within the industry they are applying to should consider representing that experience on their résumé. In these, and other instances, two page documents are acceptable.

This “Rule of 10” does not always apply. Highly educated professionals in medical, academic and other fields are encouraged to prepare curriculum vitae, a qualifications document for which page counts truely commiserate with experience.

For all others, use the "Rule of 10" to ensure your qualifications package is a Perfect 10.

Ideal Hardcopy Headers

2010-07-01T05:20:00.000-07:00

Construct a résumé that communicates your individuality and professionalism. Begin the process at the very top. Design a unique, one-of-a-kind header.

Here’s how to complete the process for one page résumés in Microsoft Word :

1. Select the “Insert” button on the toolbar

2. Select “Header”

3. Click in the text box and type the following contact information:

a. Name

b. Address

c. City State, ZIP

d. Phone Number (work number not recommended)

e. Email address

f. Website URL, when applicable

Highlight the information and play with font types, spacing, font sizes, colors (mainly gray), and justifications until the finished product is something you love. Use the “bold” and “underline” buttons to emphasize and draw attention to the header, as well as to work to separate it from the remainder of the document.

Advice on Headers:

1. Not all word processing programs contain all fonts. When attaching your résumés to emails, be sure to convert your .DOC file to PDF to ensure that the integrity of your choice font is maintained as it travels through cyberspace from your PC or notebook to your prospective employer's. There are several free online programs that provide PDF conversion services.

2. Don’t copy and paste fancy headers into online applications. Always use an electronic resume when applying online.

3. If you must copy and paste, you must do the header separately from the rest of the document. Simply click on the header, highlight, copy and paste. Then, right click in the document, choose “select all” from the window, copy and paste.

Happy header creation!

Allison Wasko maintains a successful professional résumé service in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Northeast. Through the magic email and phone consultations, she helped clients all over the country land their dream job, including clients in Philadelphia, NYC and California. To contract with her, please email IMPACTNEPA@aol.com. Follow her on Twitter @ResuMom.

Getting to Know You

2009-11-27T05:32:00.000-08:00

The interview is a professional, one-on-one meeting designed for a prospective employer to see, first-hand, the value and talents applicants bring to the table.

Make sure you’re prepared for your next interview.

How?

Start by taking out your pencil and making a list of your top 15 characteristics, AS THEY APPLY TO THE JOB IN QUESTION. Are you reliable? Articulate? A finance wizard? A customer-service genius?

Then add those characteristics to your list.

Let it stew a day or two and see if anything else comes up. When you’re satisfied with your list, return to it. Now write down specific examples of how you consistently displayed the characteristics in your previous experience.Try to answer how, what, when, why for every characteristic.

When were you reliable?

When were you recognized for your communication abilities?

Specifically when did your finance capabilities save or make your company money?

How did your customer service skills save the day, what was the situation, and what was the result?

Doing this exercise will allow you to brainstorm and recall your talents and the specific ways you applied your talents to benefit your former or current employers. Furthermore, taking a few moments to list your strengths will give you the confidence necessary to communicate to your prospective hiring manager why you’re the best applicant for the job when the question arises, as it surely will in one form or another, in the interview process.

Do You Have an Electronic Résumé? You Should.

2009-09-16T09:01:00.000-07:00

It’s 3 AM. Your eyes are droopy, and you have to get up in four hours for a job that pays too little money, and respect.

The good news is you’ve found the perfect job surfing the web a few hours ago. The bad news is, you’re still trying to cut and paste your résumé into the company’s online application bank. And, it’s not going well. The document’s spacing is all wrong. The bullet points have disappeared. And what’s worse? Unrecognizable symbols have littered the text, making it unreadable.

What’s an (exhausted and highly frustrated) job seeker to do?

A.) Go to bed and try again tomorrow. Maybe there is something wrong with the company’s webpage and one of their IT workers will notice and fix it in the morning.

B.) Cross your eyes, pull your hair out and cry (quietly, of course. You wouldn’t want to wake the neighbors).

C.) Go to your hard drive and retrieve your electronic résumé. Open. Copy. Paste. Celebrate!

If you answered A or B, chances are you either haven’t heard of an electronic résumé, or you haven’t made the time to draft and save one.

What is an Electronic Resume?

When I first herd the term “Electronic Resume” a few years ago, I envisioned advanced digital documents that would replace the need for paper résumés. Perhaps that’s what you thought of when you first heard the term, too.

An Electronic Résumé, however, is nothing more than a “bare-bones” copy of your existing résumé. In other words, it’s your résumé (same content), only plainer (no special font, formatting, borders, or bold, italic or underlined text).

Tips on Drafting Your Electronic Résumé

Open your original document, hit "File", "Save As". Rename the original document to “Electronic Resume” so you don’t loose it, and save it in Plain Text.Next, Highlight the text and choose the Courier New, Times New Roman, or Ariel font. These are acceptable fonts for drafting Electronic Résumés, as they are easy on the eyes and nearly all word processing programs can recognize them. Make sure the Header includes your name, address, phone number and email address, all on separate lines.Omit bullet points, bolding, underlining or italicizing. Edit for format (Is the spacing uniform? Is everything where you want it to be?) , as well as for content (is everything still accurate and spelled correctly)?

Professional help is available for drafting electronic résumés. In many cases, I can have one completed within 24 for my clients.

Please contact me if I can be of help to you.

Résumé Blitzing

2009-08-18T03:56:00.000-07:00

In the days of typewriting, a common practice for job seekers was to hire a résumé writer, mimeograph the document and then mail it out to every Tom, Dick, and Harry in town.

I often receive a request for a hundred hard copies of a general qualifications package.. Unless you're planning to circulate it at an event like a career-fair, mass mailing a general resume in today’s highly competitive job market may not reflect the best use of your time and resources.

Why?

Considering that many, if not most, applications are required to be made online today, you'll have to request the electronic version of the document, or you'll have retype it and save it on your hard drive.

A general qualifications package could also potentially waste prospective employers’ time.

No busy hiring manager wants to read a page of information if most bullet points have little or nothing to do with specifics of the job they are trying to fill, even if you're perfect for the job. Let the manager know your fitness by speaking their language and crafting a document that reflects how you have displayed the qualities and characteristics and have mastered the skills they seek.

A better approach is to carefully target your résumé to the company and position in question.

Folks often complain to me that this approach takes too much time, especially when considering multiple applications.

In the scheme of things, it’s time well spent. In my experience, applicants who take the time to target, and do it correctly, get the interview.

More about how to effectively target your résumé in upcoming posts.

Résumé Material?

2009-08-14T04:51:00.000-07:00

It comes up with my clients time and again.

Whether volunteer work; musical talent; fitness awards/certifications/abilities, or; social affiliations like fraternities and sororities; it's clear that certain life experiences raise questions about their appropriateness on a résumé.

What is my answer when asked if such information should be included?

“Yes.”

And, “No.”

Each situation must be individually examined within the context of the application; the industry in which the client seeks employment; as well as the company to which the client is applying.

If, in your best judgment, your life experience enhances the perceived value you have to the employer, then yes, by all means, include it.

If the life experience is completely irrelevant to your ability to perform the job inquestion, it’s a definite “no.”

For example, should you find yourself applying as a sales specialist at a veterinary product supply company, by all means, list your volunteer experience with the ASPCA. It demonstrates your passion for animals, an intangible bonus for the employer.

If, in contrast, you are applying for a C++ programmer at a dental implant manufacturer, such experience may be irrelevant.

The best reccomendation I can offer is to exclude it unless you are able to specifically provide an explanation on how working with injured and neglected animals has made you a stronger programmer.

In the end, including such information is really up to you.

When deciding, it's a good idea to consider all the pros and cons; consult at least three trusted friends on their opinion, and; as in all things career-related, exercise your very best judgment.

Eagle or Seagull?

2009-08-13T03:24:00.000-07:00

Eagles are mighty predators. They soar high above their territory. Eagles see the whole picture and from that global view, zone in on their target. With one confident, effortless swoop, an eagle dives to the mark, and then lands a large prize.

Seagulls, on the other hand, are known scavengers. They aimlessly roam the beach in droves. Without a plan, they peck at scraps (and the occassional unfortunate crab scuttling by) .

Following an afternoon fighting amongst themselves for skimpy meals of soggy popcorn and cracker bits, seagulls strut off to the boardwalk to see what casts-offs they can be first to claim.

Apply this analogy to your job search.

Are you wondering around during the week, looking for “Help Wanted” signs in shop windows? Do you scan the job classifieds and then fire off your qualifications to each and every company within a 50 mile radius? Do you gaze at shooting stars, wishing somebody would just interview you already?

If you are guilty of any of the above, you may be a seagull.

Sure, every now and again a toddler may drop 2/3 of a soft pretzel, and you'll get lucky. In the long run, however, not you're not focusing in on the goal.

In addition, you may not be doing enough to distinguish yourself from the pack to secure a bigger piece of the pie.

How do you ensure you're approaching your job search like an eagle?

For starters, sign up today for advanced, targeted, specific job alerts through internet search free services like http://www.indeed.com/. You'll get a good overview of what's happening jobwise in your industry and specified geographic location.

If you are already doing this, consider yourself well on your way to conducting your job search like an eagle.

If, however, your currently finding yourslf more in the seagull catagory, no worries.

Just check back here often. I’ll share tricks and tips in upcoming posts to help you spread your wings and soar.

Building the Perfect Résumé

2009-08-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

Supplies

A good word processor.
Bright white paper, in the heaviest weight you can afford.
Action verbs and the vocabulary of a seasoned marketing professional.
Hours to spend.
Buckets of patience.
The ability to toot your own horn

Directions

Summarize years and years of work experience and education in a format that can be read in under thirty-seconds.
Effectively answer a prospective employers‘ most pressing question …“Why should I hire you?”
Leave plenty of white space.
Play by established rules (write in third person, omit all descriptions of physique, never ever embellish). Explain unemployment gaps, or minimize their impact using formatting techniques.
Eliminate all grammatical and spelling errors.
Ensure formatting is uniform and professional.
Leave plenty of white space.
Choose words and phases for power and impact.
Avoid redundancy.
Pair with an expertly written cover letter on matching paper and letter head.

If all this seems a bit overwhelming, ResuMom is here to help.