In fact what I said at the time was; "In a world dominated by ‘average’ and ‘ordinary’, the easiest, fastest and most efficient means to show how remarkable you are is to stand out alongside ‘average’, and show it for what it is.  Be close enough to warrant comparison. Far enough apart to stand out."

At the time Seth Godin said "If you rely on your resume, you’re playing the wrong game…" (see post comments); albeit he admitted he was being particularly hyperbolic in his original post to make his point.  I think he was right on both counts.

And yet just 7 months later - here we are.  For many, job hunting is a stark reality.  There's doom,  gloom,  stocks tumbling and low low confidence.  Plus the heady mix of redundancy and competition.  And probably confusion with CV's & résumés flying about amid posts like "Can LinkedIn win from losers?" and sort your CV cropping up left right and centre.  So what should you do if you need a job (remarkable or otherwise)?

My advice is read Seth's original post as well as another by Robert Scoble who recently offered more advice just very recently.

A pinch of Godin + a dash of Scoble will get things moving in the right direction for you I am sure - and it will certainly help you begin to market your personal brand much more effectively.

Email me at rpmurphy@gmail.com. Thanks!

But if I tried to listen to every suggestion I’ve received about my résumé, my head would explode.

Don’t get me wrong (especially if you’re one of the people who made suggestions): Any help is appreciated.
But like I said, for the most part, there’s no right and wrong. If I tried to incorporate everyone’s ideas, I’d never finish my résumé, which would make finding a job sort of difficult. And my head would explode, which would significantly diminish my qualifications.

I’ve definitely listened to some suggestions. It’s tough: I’m old-school when it comes to résumés. The last time I updated mine, I wrestled for weeks with the concept of letting it go past one page. It still seems strange to me.

I guess I’ll just treat it like a work in progress and, when I agree with someone’s suggestion, make the appropriate change.

My head hurts.

Fast Company TV is hiring an administrative assistant. We advertised the job Friday morning on Craig's List (which is where I got my job at NEC in the depth of the last tech bust back in 2002). So far I've received more than 90 resumes for a job that'll pay $12 to $15 (not much, I know, but for a starter job not too bad -- my first job back in 1993 paid $10 an hour and this one should be a good launch to a fun career in journalism or PR or any number of jobs).

It's very possible that in the next two years YOU will need a job too and will be facing that kind of competition (when I got my job at NEC, it was even worse, they said I beat 500 people for the job that I got). How do you get past the first stage?

First, based on the resumes I'm seeing, realize that 80% are crap and will be rejected out of hand. How do you get put into the crap pile? Here's some ways.

1. Include only an attachment and don't write anything in the body of the email.
2. Include a misspelling.
3. Apply for a job which you are clearly unqualified for (it stands out like a sore thumb).
4. Include a Word document that can't be opened (one person sent one in Microsoft Word 2007 format).
5. Include only a resume and don't explain why you think you are qualified for the job (believe it or not, a well written letter puts you to the top 20% pretty quickly).
6. Send it from an email address with a goofy name. You should see some of them that I've gotten.
7. Apply for a job for which you are clearly overqualified for (I got one resume from a software engineer).
8. Have your friend send in a resume for you (I got one of these, actually).
9. Don't test your email on a variety of clients (a bunch that I received were poorly formatted, had characters that didn't display properly, etc).
10. Send it from free version of Hotmail, which puts an advertisement at the end of your email. Looks very professional when all I see is the ad and nothing else.

OK, I assume most people reading this will be in the 20% of those who didn't screw up in some way and get rejected outright.

So, now how do you get into the final two or three pile which is what will earn you an interview? You need to stand out from the crowd somehow. Here's some ways to do that.

1. Blog. Only one out of 98 included his/her blog address on the email. Make sure your blog's content matches the job you are applying for, though. If someone had a blog showing how to be a better administrative assistant you can bet that I'd read every word. Same for a Twitter or Facebook or FriendFeed profile. But don't send those along if they aren't professionally-oriented. Do assume that I'll Google you and search around for what you've done online anyway.
2. Include a customized video that demonstrates your skills and personality. No one did that yet.
3. Demonstrate you did some research on us. One person said "hello Scobleizer." That was one of the few that was customized and demonstrated that there would be a human being on the other side who'd read all these.
4. Make sure you write for a human, but include tags and things for electronic scanners too. Do some searches on Google for "how to write a resume" and you'll find tons of tips on how to do this. But always assume there's a human reading these things first.
5. Don't just apply for the job, apply for the career. I'm looking for people who don't want to be stuck in a $15-an-hour job forever. I want someone who I can get out of that job as quickly as possible and into something more fun and higher paying. Even if that doesn't work out, I'm looking for people who have a career in mind, not just a "job."
6. Demonstrate that you'd be fun to have around. In this case you're applying for a job at Fast Company with someone who does videos with innovative people around the world and who loves talking tech. No one put in there anything about their skills in using travel services like Tripit. No one put anything in there about their love of technology to be more productive. An administrative assistant who mentioned that they used David Allen's programs, for instance, would get noticed.
7. Make sure your email is perfect in every way. Have tons of friends look it over for mistakes. I'd even pay a professional editor to do that because of how bad most of these resumes were. Even little mistakes get noticed instantly and usually get you rejected outright (there's no excuse for sloppiness here).

Anyway, these are just some ideas. I remember at NEC that it was my cover letter that got me noticed (they had highlighted what caught their eyes) and my blog (they had printed out lots of my blogs and wanted to talk to me about why I wrote what I did).

Hope this helps one of you get a job quickly. Do you have any other ideas for how to help job seekers?

Jag tycker det är fullkomligt fantastiskt. När allt annat felar, när det kanske är total medietorka eller kanske skugga, när hoppet överger en om någonting nytt och läsvärt...

Då kan man a l l t i d lita på att det finns något att läsa på Resume. Med största sannolikhet skrivet av Viggo. Om inte skrivet av Viggo, så med bild byline av Viggo. Viggo tycks helt enkelt älska sitt eget anlete så pass mycket att han är beredd att göra precis vad som helst för att exponera det för läsare på Resumes hemsida eller i papperstidningen.

Fler chefredaktörer som Viggo, tack, som skapar nyheter om sig själva när det inte finns något att skriva om.

Not.

/ Krigsstigen

Sulla prima sono ancora in attesa, la seconda spero sia risolta. Ma procediamo con calma.

Una volta entrati a far parte dei volontari del TIFF si viene iscritti ad una newsletter, in questi messaggi vengono fatte comunicazioni di servizio, spostameni di orari, uffici, richieste di volontari, internship, ecc..

Qualche settimana fa in una di queste newsletter facevano richiesta per una internship (stage) per il supporto tecnico ai loro uffici, come requisiti chiedevano piu' o meno il mio profilo.
Mando il mio cv (che il resume' mi pareva limitato) la mattina ed il pomeriggio mi rispondono, mercoledi' pomeriggio sono a colloquio con questa Roberta.
Mi accomodo, si fanno due chiacchere, mi chiede un po' cosa faccio, cosa ho fatto, cosa voglio fare, esperienze, le solite cose di un colloquio insomma. Il tutto con un velo, un piumone, di informalita', il giro sembra tutto molto giovane.

Entro la fine della settimana mi fara' sapere, se dovessero prendermi un po' di progetti andrebbero a modificarsi, ma bene cosi'.
Sto aspettando.

La seconda cosa e' una menata, la mia sistemazione abitativa.
Ottobre si stava avvicinando e quindi la data del pagamento dell'affitto. Come ben sapete se avete seguito un po' questo blog ci sono un sacco di cose che non vanno, per questo volevo parlare col tizio che mi ha affittato la stanza. Riesco a parlarci per telefono solo una volta, poi non risponde, devo nascondere il numero del cellulare per riuscire a fissarci. Scopro che non e' piu' lui il manager della casa (doh!), ma i miei accordi erano con lui, per farla breve riesco ad abbassare il prezzo dell'affitto mensile, pero' devo anche parlare con la T.D.C. di Peter, oggi riesco a beccarlo e "spunto" (per modo di dire) 50$ piu' di quanto avevo proposto, non ho insistito perche' qui devo viverci.
Quando gli elenco le cose che non vanno la sua risposta e' "e cosa ti aspettavi?" questi studenti confraternitari megalomani non li reggo (trogloditi qualcuno ha detto, concordo :).
Questo per spiegare in due parole gli scorsi 2-3 giorni piuttosto intensi e stressanti, c'ho pure dormito male.

Vediamo che succede, se succede qualcosa, nei prossimi giorni, che secondo me non e' finita qua.

Detto questo domani pomeriggio alle 6.52pm inizia la Nuit Blanche di Toronto, per qualche ora mi sono messo volontario per l'evento europeo che quest'anno (sfiga!) si svolgera' al consolato italiano.

Morale delle favole: aspetto
nota: ieri mentre andavo al lavoro il cane al guinzaglio di una tipa si e' messo a farla in mezzo di strada, sulle strisce, lei imbarazzatissima. stonzate ma ci vogliono.

After I'm done mowing you down to steal that interview from you, that is, I'd love to offer some support. ;) Hey, it's a tight market.  Give me that offer, I was here first!

In addition to what I like to call the "Holy Trinity" of online job search tools in Ottawa (Jobbank, Workopolis and Monster), I have discovered a few other tricks of the trade, thanks to my experience in HR and my extreme love of researching things on the Internet.  I'm sharing this in hopes of giving myself a little Karma Boost...

• Eluta - an awesome way to search for job postings, not necessarily found in the trinity.
• Ontario Job Watcher - sign up for a free week of alerts, many of which are for jobs not posted on any of the "big sites".  Heck, if you have more than one email account, sign up for a few weeks *wink wink*
• AllStarJobs - great collection of company websites, recruitment agency links, and so on.

And, a few words of wisdom from yours truly:

1. Align yourself with at least 3 placement agencies/recruitment companies. One should be BIG and see high posting frequency - OfficeTeam/RobertHalf, Hays, Randstad.  Based simply on numbers, you should hope to see some offers quickly.  One should be INDUSTRY-SPECIFIC...an agency that focuses on staffing positions in YOUR field.  A lot of them specialize - Accountemps (financial) and Aerotek (engineering/tech) are two that come to mind.  The third should be with a headhunter who you feel truly connected with - someone who is in your personal network, or someone you just "jive" with and you feel is looking out for your best interests.  Perosnally, I've connected with someone at Hunt Personnel as well as Manpower.  I also used to like ExcelHR, but they've been really touch-and-go lately.
2. Look DAILY. Government postings, especially, can change on a daily basis.  I personally wait until 6pm so that I only need to look ONCE (rather than skim through multiple daily updates). Apply regularly.  Keep track of the jobs to which you apply...you'll need to keep 'em all straight.
3. Pick two or three specific career directions, tailor a version of your resume to that field, and apply to any and EVERYTHING that is applicable. Read job requirements carefully and ONLY apply if you can make a forseeable stretch into the role. Don't waste time applying for a job that not only goes against the grain of your resume, but that is OBVIOUSLY not your career focus and interest.  Employers will just keep walking, trust me.  If you really care about wastewater management, you're gonna need to prove it.
4. If you're employed, for the love of all that is good...keep your resume up to date. It'll save you infinitely if you find yourself looking for work.  I like to review and revise mine monthly.
5. Network like it's going out of style. If someone turns you down for a job but you feel as though you made a connection, ask to keep in touch.  Follow up a month later to see if the person they did hire is working out in their role.  Go hang out with those friends you haven't seen in months because you've been balls-deep in copy paper.  Former employees of your company are a good resource, as are any sympathetic mentors - whether you quit or were fired. Take a period of unemployment as an opportunity to network and develop your social skills.  Consider it all training pants for an interview.
   
6. Stop thinking that a job interview is "mutual". Until you have that offer in hand, there is no negotiation on your part.  You are not looking for the best "fit".  You are trying to sell yourself, and do not forget that.  Ask informed questions, but always remember that the ultimate goal of a cover letter, an interview, a follow-up email, is to convince a potential employer that you are the BEST person for their company.
7. Follow these simple doctrines, EVERY TIME. Send a personalized cover letter.  Do not copy and paste the company name and job title into your letter, lest you display some wonky formatting errors and reveal that you are simply copying from a letter template.  NO SPELLING ERRORS. Before your interview, ask if there is anything you are to bring (a hard copy of your resume, references, your pet monkey, etc). When possible, reconfirm your interview time via email - it shows attention to detail.  Arrive to your interview no more than 25 minutes and no later than 10 minutes before your interview.  BE POLITE TO THE RECEPTIONIST.  Practice your handshake.  Write a thank you email (yes, email is quick and therefore acceptable) to everyone you meet at the interview.  Remember, they share and compare.  Seriously, the goal here is to fall all over yourself with compatibility, capability, and congeniality.  Whatever you need to do to showcase these three things, do it.

In closing, being unemployed sucks.  Despite volunteering and spending hours watching Xena and Mad Men (more on that later) it still really blows.  The sooner I find a job, the better for everyone...and I'm sure the same goes for you.   One last offer before I go - if you'd like me to critique your resume, please leave a comment with your email address and I'll send you mine.  I've seen like a billion resumes, so it's pretty easy for me to spot what works and what doesn't...and if I can help you out with my brutal honesty, you might be able to kill 15 minutes of my day.  We both win...:) The offer is there, good luck either way!

One of the challenges of an economy in turmoil is finding the next job. As firms shed jobs or slow hiring, looking for the next position can seem like a fruitless pursuit. If only you could read minds! Like someone with telepathy, or the very least a mentalist.

Unfortunately, no such capabilities are widely available to the job seeker. Fortunately there is something else that is actually much better – data. CareerBuilder.com in the middle of Summer this year, well before the economic crisis we are now sliding into, conducted its regular survey of hiring managers. While some of the findings were quite remarkable: like the number of people who lie in interviews, (my favorite being the person who submitted samples of work that the interviewer actually did – nice one!); there was a body of evidence that pointed to a long understood set of skills that most business need to survive. And, wouldn’t you know it, the set of skills at the top of the list of most desired attributes were…

Problem Solving & Decision Making skills

Which at 50% makes these skills desired over an above “oral and written communication” by 6% and even above “leadership” by 20%. Why is this the case?

One of the key drivers for any business is doing more of the right things, with less and less resources. Less time, money, people. To that end, it means that the people who are in the business have to be able to rapidly prioritize problems, identify their root cause, make decisions about what to do to correct it, and manage the associated systems risk and potential. Critical thinking skills are not only desired, they are a fundamental skill necessary for a business’s long-term strategic and operational success.

]]> http://web2search.wordpress.com/?p=15 Fri, 03 Oct 2008 21:01:38 +0000 web2search http://web2search.ar.wordpress.com/2008/10/03/38-more-beautiful-resume-ideas-that-work/

Using the emotion of a beautiful resume will always help recruiters and managers remember you. Get inspired now with these great resume ideas.

First thing first, A&E attachment.

Alhamdulillah, my AED attachment is over.

Was really really fun participating in the care of patients.

First day I was stationed at orthopaedic/OT, second day at critical care/resuscitation, forth day at emergency observation and last day, which was today, at the triage.

Triage-ing was fun and best lor. And nope, I won’t tell you what’s so great cause I’m sooo malas.

Break break here you come J

Secondly, Disney Live! Is back again laa!

Waaa.

This time they will be featuring 3 princess (and the prince); Cinderella, Snow White and Belle.

Lucky no Aurora.

If not confirm I’ll go.

Hehe

Bluek.

Thirdly, anniversary

Happy anniversary dear.

I’m so sorry dear, for being SLOW. Thanks for reminding me though.

And dear, thanks for taking your time off to fetch me from work for the past 1 week.

It’s exhausting, I know, but I just wanna let you know, I enjoy without the –ed, every ride home with you J

Here is the basic rundown:

NAME:
ADDRESS:
SCHOOL:
MAJOR:
GPA:
INTERNSHIP:
SCHOOL CLUB:
SUMMER JOB:

and great....

YOU KNOW MICROSOFT EXCEL, WORD AND POWERPOINT!

Is that depressing or what? I ask job seekers: What’s Your Story? Visually display your story to me as a potential employer.

Yes, the structure of the traditional resume exist but every recent graduate tells me about these phenomenal experiences from college, the places they traveled, the endless hours of time they spend playing a sport or involved in an activity. Or, my favorite, a graduating senior from the University of Maryland system led a guide of 105 people through the fantasy game, World of Warcraft. He basically ran a 105 person company with virtual employees from all over the world. He spent 35 plus hours a week researching, managing, developing, recruiting and building his guild. John’s guild was ranked in the top 1% in the world for World of Warcraft which has 10 million active players from 175 countries.

Guess what?

The did not appear anywhere on John’s resume. The career center at Maryland missed the opportunity to leverage these fantasy game experiences and translate them into unique, authentic and epic stories that very few people ever have heard.

Moral of the story: Leverage your strengths, go against the grain and share your story with the world in a creative way. Especially if you are looking for a new job!

I am currently a student at ITT Technical Institute in Little Rock, Arkansas. I am about to obtain my associates degree at the end of November and start the bachelors program in December. My ambition is to combine my experience in logistics with my education in Computer Networking Systems to consult, design and implement warehouse automation.

I am currently working at the Arkansas Health Center as the Maintenance Storeroom Secretary. I have been with Arkansas Health Center for one year. I take care of reviewing and writing requisitions to purchasing for parts and services needed by the Maintenance Department. I receive, stock and pull parts as needed for work orders. I maintain a 10,000 part storeroom with a 99.9% accuracy using an ICP database and working with the state's AASIS program. I fill in for the office manager secretary when needed.

My previous employer was Carlton-Bates Company, an industrial electronics distributor in Little Rock, Arkansas, who was recently acquired by Wesco. I worked for Carlton-Bates for approximately seven years. I learned packaging parts, shipping packages using UPS and FedEx software, pulling orders and stocking via handheld computer guns, and receiving parts on the AS400 system. I was team lead assistant and backup and worked on rejections generated by receiving.

For five years I lived in Austin, Texas and worked for Applied Materials three of those years. My title was Material Coordinator, which entailed using a BPA gun with a UNIX OS. We used Oracle for the parts database in the warehouse. I was responsible for stocking and pulling parts from various locations, like the carousel and Hanel storage units. This warehouse was partially automated with an intelligent belt system for sending parts from receiving to stocking and pick tickets to consolidation areas. I was assistant lead for the carousel area. We averaged a 98.9% accuracy for our department.

I feel strongly that my education at ITT Tech in Little Rock, Arkansas will advance my knowledge, so I may have the opportunity to obtain a higher level of employment with an Arkansas corporation in the computer networking field.

I would like to personally thank you for taking the time to view my on-line resume.

Christine Willems - Little Rock, Arkansas                                                                                                   email: cwillems@mail.itt-tech.edu

ITT Technical Institute Little Rock, Arkansas - ITT Tech Arkansas - Little Rock ITT Technical College

So I might have exaggerated a bit (though she has done voice overs for Radio Disney), but Holly took the usual 'resume' section on her blog, and instead of posting her actual resume, Holly provided a new range in entertainment. Literally. Check out Holly's "Sing-A-Long Resume" below. Who wouldn't hire someone with this innovative creativty (and bravery)?

You can get catch more of Holly on her blog and at BrazenCareerist. What other unique ways have you or your friends done to re-frame and refresh your resume?

Liked what you read? Feel free to share with others:

]]> http://managermama.wordpress.com/?p=15 Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:49:13 +0000 webschmidt http://managermama.ar.wordpress.com/2008/10/02/resume-tips-for-college-students-or-anyone/

When my stepson asked me to help him with his resume, I asked to see his current resume.  While I was impressed with his formatting and choosing to use the widest margins I had ever seen, I found the content of the resume sloppy.

In addition to a few typos, a sentence that was never completed, the biggest error took me a while to figure out. Under his landscaper entry, he had a few sentences about preparing and serving coffee and keeping the shop clean. It didn't seem necessary to highlight coffee-making skills for a landscaping job, and when I questioned him on it, he confessed that he had copied and pasted from his girlfriend's resume (she had worked at a coffee shop) but forgot to delete that part!

So between working on his resume and his girlfriend's resume, I came up with the following tips:

• Target your resume for the job you want. Every resume should have an objective or summary. Your objective will likely be different depending on what job you are applying for. You can also highlight your skills which are more suited to the job you are seeking in a targeted resume. 
• Be inspired! If you are at a loss for words, seek examples. There are plenty examples of resumes on the internet.  For example, if you search for "sample retail resume" or "sample marketing cover letter" you can get examples to see how to word your job experience or format your resume. Do not copy and paste!
• Highlight skills instead of jobs. Chances are, if you are in college, you may not have a lot of jobs to list. Be sure to list volunteer positions.  Consider writing a functional resume. (See this post on About.com for a discussion of different types of resumes.)  Think about what you have excelled in at school, volunteer organizations, social groups, etc. Are you great at organizing groups? Are you the person everyone in your family goes to when they need computer help?  Try to list your skills with details. For example, "Created family website using Wordpress and HTML."  Think about the skills that a prospective employer want and try to come up with examples to show you have those skills.
• Talk it out. So you've written down all your jobs and there's still a lot of white space on the page. 
• Use strong verbs.  One resume I reviewed literally had each bullet point start with "Responsible for". Everywhere you have the words "Responsible for", look for the closest verb.  For example, instead of writing "Responsible for managing cash and closing store", write "Managed cash and closed store nightly."
• Proofread your resume.  Read, and reread every sentence.  Read it out loud.  Run spellcheck. Don't trust spellcheck to find all mistakes! Just because a word is spelled correctly doesn't mean it's the right word to use. Have someone you trust read it. If you are concerned and can't find help, use a resume service. Some job placement agencies can help you with this.
• Don't lie.  Really.  Just don't. As a mother and a manager, I know it's just wrong.

Ok, I know a thing or two about landing pages. I've tried short ones, long ones, 1 pagers, 2 pagers and even 3 pagers. I've worked on landing pages that are a thing of beauty and butt ugly. Some landing pages have links to get other information and some just funnel straight to a "order now" button. Some landing pages have action devises like survey questions or check boxes. I've designed landing pages with testimonials, comparison charts and quotes from an "expert" or authority on the subject (aka subject mater expert). At this point you may be wondering, what's your point here Kip? Well, in all of my landing page design and the technique used, I've never tried to combine everything - the old kitchen sink approach. Nor have I seen one like that.  Well as luck would have it I came across the mother load. A landing page that has everything you could imagine. It even has a image of what the actual order form will look like on the next page. 

Take a look and share your thoughts on it. I wonder if it's successful or just something that seems to work better than the last one they did. Or maybe they just kept adding in more and more stuff (cause it seem to work better) until it looks like it is here: http://www.resumeandcoverlettersecrets.com/

Share your thoughts!

Cover Letter Problem #1: Mystery Hiring Manager

Here’s the situation: the job posting has only the title of the hiring manager or simply "Hiring Manager." Frustrating, isn’t it? Many times job seekers don’t do much, if any, digging around to see if they can up with that ever-important name. Are you one of them?

For job seekers who really want to impress and get noticed when they submit their resume packages, there are some ‘secret’ ways to find out the name of the elusive hiring manager so you can address your cover letter to the correct person in charge.

Tip #1: Search Online

This may seem pretty obvious but some people forget to check the company website for personnel information. If you have the title, many times you can find out their name, phone number and email. Wouldn’t that be great? Definitely utilize the Internet for this search.

Also on the company website, check out to see if they have open positions posted. They may have more contact information available on their website than on general job boards where you originally found the job opening.

Check out the Media page for their latest happenings (this will also help you get more familiar with the company as a whole and give you an edge during interviews). See who is quoted in the press releases as they usually give the person’s name and title.

Tip #2: Call the Company

There are some sneaky ways you can try to find out the name of the hiring manager in charge of the open position for which you are applying. Pick up the phone and call the company. Ask the receptionist the name of ‘X Position’ (for example: Marketing Manager for Soft Goods). This can obviously work if you know the title of the hiring manager.

There’s also a trick that I used to use when working in the corporate world. You can call and ask the receptionist for the spelling of the person’s name in the position you are trying to contact. So you might say something like, "Hi, I am sending the Public Relations Manager a piece of important information and need to confirm the spelling of her/his name. Could you please spell it for me?" While you have them on the phone, you can even try to get their email address so you can follow-up. If there is no phone number listed, you might want to hold off on calling them directly. You don’t want to get on their bad side.

In most instances, where there’s a will there’s a way. That’s not to say there won’t be situations that, despite your best effort, you absolutely cannot find out the name you so desperately need. That’s when you just have to applaud yourself for giving it your best effort…then let it go. And maybe that phone will ring anyway with the mystery hiring manager on the other end wanting to interview you.

- Heather Eagar

Recognized as a leading expert in the employment search industry, Heather Eagar is passionate about providing working professionals with current, reliable and effective job search tools and information. 

I always recommend reaching out to your network when you are passively or quietly exploring opportunities before you actually need to look. I'm pretty sure the folks on Wall Street (the top folks who had ample warning that is) started reaching out to people they knew because they saw the writing on the wall. Starting before an impending threat of lay off or your resignation is the best time because you are not under as much pressure and you already have a job. It is easier to find a job when you already have one. Chalk that up to the law of attraction. When you’re passively looking, you are in a better position to see what’s out there and shop around without any pressure to make a quick decision. Start by targeting the companies and industries you want to explore. Then check within your network to see if there are any direct people you know who work at these companies that you can reach out to. In this instance, I would recommend picking up the phone and making a call to catch up with the person and suggest meeting. Whether you meet for coffee, breakfast or lunch it doesn’t matter. You want to get that face time. Ask for a time and location that is convenient to them. Remember, you don’t want to inconvenience them.

When you meet, keep the conversation light on business. It is an informational meeting not a job interview. Ask your contact about the state of the industry (which you should already know) and how it affects their company. Let them know that you may be considering a change and ask their opinion about what direction you should take. This leaves an opening for them to tell you about opportunities they know of in their company or with other companies where they know someone. And if there aren’t any opportunities now, at least you’ll be in the forefront of their minds when one does come up. Be sure to highlight a few of your best accomplishments and how you feel they translate into being qualified for other roles. Have a clear idea of what it is you want to do, otherwise you're really just wasting your time and theirs. If you have a specific goal, then you can have a focused meeting.

Keeping up with what people are doing is in your best interest. Suppose you know a Recruiter who works for a Fortune 100 company you'd love to get into. And you know talking with her will at least get a foot in the door for you to meet the IT Director. But she has changed gears a couple of times since you spoke to her 3 years ago and is now the Director of Communications for the company. Technically she is still a ally, but she is no longer in the same capacity to get you any face time with the hiring manager. Sure there's a small chance she may know this person and could help you somewhat. But you haven't kept in touch with her so you don't know what her relationships are within the company. By keeping up with people in your network, at least annually, you can better plan your approach when looking for leads.

Updating your resume at least annually is critical. Even if you've been with your company for 9 years, you never know what might happen. Ask the folks on Wall Street who lost jobs at their 100+ year old legacy companies. Nothing is guaranteed. Even if you don't want to do a formal resume (which I think you should) keep a journal. Note any projects, accomplishments, promotions, increase (or decrease) in responsibilities, project outcomes, training, etc. Keep track of conferences, continuing education or workshops you were required to attend. All of this helps build the foundation of your resume. Also keep note of salary increases, bonuses and reviews. By keeping a journal it makes it easier to put together your resume the correct way. Remember, a resume is not a regurgitation of job descriptions. It is a tool to show your best professional self.

Finally keep your brand fresh. Continue aligning yourself with projects, volunteer work and events that are in sync with your authentic self. If you do not create or define your brand, someone else will. You always want to be in control of your brand and how people see you. Position yourself as a subject matter expert (SME) by using the appropriate forums and mediums to display your knowledge.

Career management is a long term thing. You can't just focus on it when you feel you may lose your job or want to quit. The more time, effort and thought you put into it, the less time you will have to look for a job or be unemployed. Keep your network warm and it'll be easier to pick up the phone when it's time to look. If you only contact them when you need a job, don't expect a warm reception. Build those relationships and make them work for you. I promise you will love the return on investment you'll receive.

Til next time.

Adrienne Graham

1. Chronological Layout
Chronological is preferred by most employers because it clearly demonstrates your work history and professional growth. The chronological format focuses on the chronology of your work history by highlighting dates of employment, places of employment, and job titles. This format directly ties responsibilities and accomplishments to companies and time frames. This is usually the preferred format if you are applying for a similar or more advanced position in the same field.

Use this layout if:

• You want to highlight stability, consistency, growth, and development in your career.
• Your most recent position is the one most likely to impress prospective employers.
• You are looking for a similar or more senior position within the same industry.

Advantages:

• Enables an employer to determine, at a glance, where and when you’ve worked and what you accomplished at each job.
• Is the most common and widely accepted format. Provides the employer with a clear sense of your career progress.

Disadvantages:

• Limited work experience and employment gaps are obvious.
• Could reveal a history of changing jobs frequently. Could reveal if you were in the same job too long or have held the same type of job too long.
• Does not highlight skills and accomplishments as much as it highlights work history.

2. Functional Layout
If you are changing careers, or have gaps or other inconsistencies in your work history, a functional resume is recommended. The functional format emphasizes your skills, capabilities, and accomplishments, and de-emphasizes your job titles, employers, and dates of employment. The functional format allows you to prioritize your experience and accomplishments according to their impact and significance, rather than chronology.

Use this layout if you:

• Have changed jobs frequently in the past few years.
• Have gaps in your employment history. Have limited work experience in your job target.
• Are changing careers.
• Gained significant experience outside your career path.

Advantages:

• Highlights accomplishments, skills, and experience most relevant to your career objective.
• Takes focus off gaps or inconsistencies in your work history.
• Draws from a range of paid and non-paid experiences.

Disadvantages:

• Experience is not directly tied to specific job titles and dates of employment which can lead employers to suspect you’re trying to hide something.
• Does not emphasize promotions and career growth.
• Makes it difficult for hiring managers to tell exactly what the candidate did in each job.

3. Combined Layout
To highlight specific skills, abilities, or accomplishments, you could choose a combined format, which adds sections for the areas you would like to emphasize at the top of your resume. The combined format includes the traditional Experience section of a chronological resume as well as the skills and accomplishments sections of a functional resume. This format is the most flexible, allowing you to highlight those sections of your resume that are most relevant to your career objective. This is an increasingly popular format for resumes.

Use this layout if you:

• Are a senior-level professional or executive and have significant accomplishments.
• Want to highlight your relevant abilities during a career transition.
• Are targeting your resume to fit specific job requirements while displaying the continuity of your career history.
• Want to emphasize skills and abilities you have not used in recent jobs. Have been free-lancing, consulting, or performing temporary work.

Advantages:

• Highlights your primary skills and accomplishments at the top of your resume.
• Format can be arranged to emphasize either skills and abilities or work history, whichever is most appropriate for your career objective.
• Groups qualifications into categories that relate directly to your career objective.

Disadvantages:

• Resume could become longer than necessary and may lose the employer’s interest.
• Resume may contain redundant information or lack focus.

Research the job responsibilities and requirements for each position. You can find this information by browsing through the job advertisements for your occupation. Determine what your responsibilities will be, what skills, abilities, and knowledge you’ll need, and what personal and professional characteristics are required for success. Once you have determined the requirements of the position, analyze your past experience, accomplishments, education, skills and personal characteristics, and begin building your resume in a way that demonstrates your ability to succeed.

The best resumes describe your accomplishments and experience in terms of an Action- Benefit statement, which is a precise description of an action you took that produced a tangible and measurable result that benefited your company.

Writing Powerful Action-Benefit Statements
Action-Benefit statements use your accomplishments and experience to demonstrate the positive impact you can have on a company’s bottom line. An Action-Benefit statement consists of:

Action: A job responsibility or specific action that you took when faced with a situation, problem, or opportunity that enabled you to achieve a positive result.

Benefit: The positive result or benefit to the organization, such as an increase in revenue, a reduction in costs, streamlined processes or systems, or improved morale.

An Action-Benefit statement might read “Analyzed declining sales and developed campaign that increased orders by 30% in less than one month.” This statement describes the situation or challenge you faced (declining sales), the Action you took (developed a campaign), and the Benefit of your actions (a 30% increase in orders). Always quantify or qualify the accomplishments and achievements described in your Action-Benefit statement. When you are quantifying results, consider the impact of your work in measurable terms and include the numbers, percents, dollars, and other values that represent your experience in the best possible light.

Before: Supervised a large staff of retail employees covering multiple territories. Effectively managed business unit P&L and consistently grew profits.

After: Ten years experience managing 15 employees across multiple territories. Effectively managed P&L of $10 million business unit. Consistently generated 30-35% gross profit.

Alternatively, when you are qualifying accomplishments, consider describing the process, depicting the environment, and including the personal characteristics that a future employer would consider valuable.

Before: Increased sales through cold-calling, follow-up, and account management.

After: Consistently grew revenue and profits in a rapidly changing environment through aggressive cold-calling, persistent followup, and relationship-focused account management

When writing an Action-Benefit statement, it is unnecessary to provide details on how you solved the problem. You can provide this information at the interview. Focus on the results as opposed to the process. If your Action-Benefit statements are powerful enough, employers will invite you in for an interview just to see how you achieved the results.

1998-1999 John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY

1999-2004 New Jersey City University, Jersey City, NJ (B.A. Media Arts)

2008-present The New School University, New York, NY (M.A. Media Studies)

EMPLOYMENT
7/06-present    Media Planner/Scheduling Coordinator, On-Air Promos:  MTV Tr3s

2/06-7/06       Copy Specialist, Traffic/Commercial Operations:  MTV Tr3s

9/04-present   Photographer, Partybuddys

7/04-2/06       Scheduling Specialist, Traffic/Commercial Operations:  MTV2

5/04-7/04       Traffic Assistant, Traffic/Commercial Operations:   MTV

2/04-5/04       Department Assistant, Traffic/Commercial Operations:  MTV Networks

9/02-2/04       Photo/Visual Arts Assistant, New Jersey City University (Work Study)

1/02-6/02       Photo Intern, Fairchild Publications (Jane Magazine)

8/00-2/04       Digital Imaging Product Specialist, BEST BUY CO.

SKILLS
Bilingual, Mac and PC proficient, Photoshop, Illustrator, Final Cut Pro 3, Microsoft Office, OACIS, PTS, Gabriel

Gmail is great, because it normally stops SPAM cold. I spend most of my day with my real email just deleting junk. Gmail was so good, that I had not received any letters from Nigerian businessmen begging for checks and, especially nice, no come-ons to make my penis bigger. Thank goodness for the latter, because I don't have a penis and if I did, I would be trying to hide it, not make it bigger.

I was happy and spamless. Until today.

A glaring email that stuck out amid all of my Wordpress notifications said "Quit Your Boring Job! Work for Google!"

I'd love to quit my boring job (actually, it's not boring, anything but, but I've had a snoot full over the last ten years or so), but I don't think that Google is going to save me.

If it were that easy, I would have sent them a resume years ago.