Resumes Etc.

How To Land A Satisfying Job

2012-02-26T21:28:00.000-08:00

People often spend more time planning for a vacation than in preparing to land a satisfying job! Put some thoughtful preparation into finding a job and you can be happy in it day after day, 40 hours a week, year after year. The secret to finding a job you love is in preparation.

Four-Step Process For Preparing for Job Finding: Make a plan, Invest in a professionally prepared resume, Prepare for interviews, Follow-up after interviews.

Step 1: MAKE a plan.
♦ So you want to be an accountant - but what kind of accountant, and in what kind of industry? And where in the world would you like to live? Is it important to stay close to home, or do you want to live in a different climate, maybe in the mountains or near the ocean? Do you want to work for a small, local, mom and pop widget manufacturer? in health care? aerospace? for a large well-known, global accounting firm? in a federal position? Would you like to eventually be a manager?
♦ Work out a preliminary five to ten year plan for your career. Write it down. You can always change it as you go along, and maybe the best thing is to just take a job, any job, at this point - which is fine - and then change your plan as you go along and discover other career interests. But get relatively clear about what you'd like to do.
♦ The "What Color Is Your Parachute? Workbook" can help you zero in on what's important to you in a career.

Step 2: INVEST in a professionally prepared, powerful, confidence-building resume.
♦ Most 'did it myself' resumes are substandard documents that poorly represent the candidate. You need a good resume to get noticed. It's probably a waste of your time and energy to try to create your own resume.
♦ Employers often look at resumes for ten seconds or less before delegating the resume to the 'call' or 'do not call' pile.
♦ Professional resumes stand heads above all homemade resumes. They get attention because they make a great first impression. They get interviews faster, which speeds up the job finding process. And they inform the entire interviewing process, and can secure the candidate more money.

Step 3: PREPARE for interviews.
♦ A good resume will get you interviews, then, interviewing well will get you job offers.
♦ It's not the person who's best qualified that gets the job - it's the person who interviews best!
♦ You CAN learn how to interview well - it just takes practice, and doggedly overcoming your own personal interviewing fear hurdles.
♦ A great way to prepare is to read two of Carole Martin's books: "Interview Fitness Training" and "Boost Your Interview IQ". Read "Fitness" through two or three times (you can read it through in an hour or so). Read at least the first 20 (or so) pages of "Interview IQ" to get the general idea of how to actually respond to interviewer questions. These books cover it all, from how to dress to salary negotiations and everything in between.
♦ Prepare extensively for the interview. Research the company through Google. Hunt down their annual reports. Make up a list of questions (in your mind) to ask at the interview.
♦ Realize that the company needs you at least as much as you need a job, and that all employees are hired to solve problems for employers. A good interview question is always "What do you feel is the biggest challenge your company is currently facing?"

Step 4: FOLLOWUP after an interview, immediately sending a Thank you Letter.
♦ Statistically, three out of five employers say they are influenced positively by thank you letters sent by candidates after interviews, and only one out of ten candidates sends a thank you letter.

Are you Linked In?

2012-02-25T13:23:00.001-08:00

If you're looking for a job, you want to have a LinkedIn page, and it's as easy as going to LinkedIn and setting up a page for yourself - http://www.linkedin.com/

LinkedIn has become a very respected, professional (quite a bit different from Facebook) networking site. You can add lots of information into it, but for starters you can just use copy/pasted parts of your resume or put your whole resume on it.

One of the big things that can create an advantage for you on LinkedIn is to add a decent photo of yourself. Doesn't have to be a studio or stuffy photo, just not super casual like you might post on Facebook.

Use something that makes you look like a reasonable candidate for an internship or regular professional job. Sometimes someone has taken a great photo of you at a wedding or other social event that you can crop/clean up a bit, and use. You want your photo to make you look smart, friendly and capable.

Once you've created a LinkedIn page, add a link to your LinkedIn page to the bottom of your resume. That way, if someone gets through your resume and is still interested, they can click on your LinkedIn page and see what you look like, and then your resume is not just a sheet of paper or a Word .doc, now the reader can see that you're a real person.

Speaking of Facebook, you need to be aware of and to control what's out in cyberspace about you. Google yourself to see what comes up. Employers, more and more, do that to candidates they're considering for positions. They do it even before they contact you the first time and may decide to NOT contact potential candidates because of what they've found about them on line. Eyebrow-raising stories abound about what employers have discovered about their employees at Facebook, and the varying degrees of damage Facebook revelations have created to employer/employee relationships.

Make sure whatever is on line about you is stuff you'd be okay with a potential employer seeing. You can set constraints in Facebook so that not just anyone can access your Facebook page.

If there's other stuff that you don't want to be in cyberspace about you, often you can email the site you find yourself at and ask them to take it down and they will. That doesn't always work but usually it does.

Great Networking Ideas for the Unemployed

2012-02-22T10:04:00.000-08:00

The unemployed have two challenges; how to find networking opportunities when you’re not in “the loop” anymore and how to successfully network once you find those opportunities.

Here are five ways of creating opportunities:

Don’t just sit there, volunteer! It’s tempting to treat your period of unemployment as a well-earned vacation, sleeping in, catching up on your reading, etc. but unless your goal is to remain unemployed it can be very helpful to get out of the house every single day. One excellent way to get out, keep your skills sharp and meet new people is to volunteer. Pick a cause that you can get excited about and give them a call to see if you can help. Not only will it provide a wealth of networking opportunities, it will add to your references and you’ll feel good about yourself.

Unemployed? Join “The Club!” You’re not alone and perhaps you know other unemployed people. Create your own “Job Club” and you’ll all cover a lot more ground together than you can alone. Pick a day and plan to meet somewhere for coffee and to swap stories and support. Each of you have undoubtedly uncovered jobs that perhaps you weren’t qualified for or know of companies that aren’t a fit for you but could be for someone else.

Have some fun! Resist the urge to be a hermit—you won’t meet new people hanging out in your jammies all day. Go to anything you find even slightly entertaining. Every community has flea markets, poetry readings, open-mic nights and other free events where lots of people gather. You may run into someone you haven’t seen for a while or strike up a fruitful conversation with a stranger.

Spend even MORE time on Facebook! Social networking sites like Facebook are fantastic methods of getting yourself out there beyond the professional networking sites where you’ve already posted your resume. Spend a little less time on Farmville and a little more time looking for groups and individuals from your industry or where you might like to work. Get creative; write a professional blog, offer your professional services as a consultant through Craigslist or other advertising mediums.

Arrange some informational interviews! This is a lost technique from your college days—it still works for grown-ups. Call a manager in a company where you’d like to work and explain that you’re exploring what it takes to be someone in their position. Ask for a 20-minute appointment to interview them. Remember to treat it as if you were being interviewed. Dress the part and put your best foot forward. Before you leave, ask for the name of one of their associates who they would recommend that you speak to in order to enhance your knowledge.

And now here are five ways of maximizing those opportunities:

Dress for success! Never has it been so important to make a good impression—EVERYWHERE you go—than when you’re networking. Place a reminder on whatever mirror you check before you leave your house. A large sign reading, “Would You Hire This Person?” will do nicely.

Leave reminders! The professionals will all advise you not to hand out your resume like candy and that’s good advice. You want to get your message out there but you also want to appear to be a somewhat exclusive property. To accomplish both, create a good old-fashioned calling card. This is a little like a business card on steroids. It can be a fold-over version giving you more room to list some career highlights or your desired title with your skills, etc. Any print shop can help you create and print professional-looking cards or you can use a site like Vistaprint.com that will do it online at a very affordable price.

Don’t be a Party Pooper! We all know that someone who arrives too early and eager at every party, stays too long, can’t take a hint, talks about inappropriate topics, is overly friendly to people they’ve just met, etc. When in doubt about how to conduct yourself when meeting people for the first time, think about meeting someone’s parents. Your language should be pristine, not full of slang or inappropriate words. Your topics should be minus any controversial subjects, and a smile goes a long way toward letting them know you’re happy to meet them.

To be interesting, be interested! It’s a huge compliment to be asked about yourself so as much as you’d like to cut right to the chase and recite your entire resume to your new associates, don’t. Instead, impress them with your curiosity about their lives, jobs, or even opinions (as long as you’re not bringing up politics or religion).

Keep in touch! I have a friend who schedules 20 phone calls each day to just say hello to people she’s met. It’s not a long call and she always finds something to say such as, “I just went by that restaurant we had lunch at and thought I’d call to see how you’re doing.” She also has made a mental or physical note of any topic that’s been an ongoing discussion so she has more to say than just, “How are you?” She might ask about the recent fundraiser they’d discussed or how the visit with their parents went. She does this all the time and I cannot imagine she’d be unemployed for very long if each and every time she made a call she ended the call with, “It’s so nice to catch up with you. Don’t forget, if you hear about any opportunities please let me know!”

How's the job market?

2010-11-11T16:23:00.001-08:00

“How’s the job market?” new clients frequently ask. The underlying question is: How quickly do you think I can find a new job?

Those might seem like tough questions. Here’s another one: How is it that many people move swiftly from old positions to new, while others get stuck in between indefinitely?

The answers are that the job market is as good or bad as you decide it’s going to be, and you can change jobs very quickly if you decide to do so.

There are lots of reasons why people leave jobs. Sometimes it’s voluntary – they’re exercizing their right to move on. Some clients leave jobs under less than perfect circumstances—they were, for example, ‘let go’ for whatever reason. That can be devastating! Even so, here’s the thing: It’s not what happens to us that determines our level of happiness or sadness, it’s how we choose to respond to it.

Lounging on the couch all day in pajamas watching TV is certainly an option, but chances are high the new job won’t simply show up at your door and you’ll never leave the living room.

Using time between positions to research—on the internet, at the library, by talking to others, through a self-evaluation such as is available in the book “What Color Is Your Parachute?” or just by listening to the song coming from your own heart—will begin to magnetize a new job to you. Put the energy out there, and you’re sure to create what you want. Treating the job search as a full-time job—even as a part-time job—at which you spend 20, 30, 40 hours per week, will rapidly bring you and your next employer together.

Like everything else in life, jobfinding is what you make it. It never ceases to amaze me how often people are deep down not surprised that they’ve been let go from a job. They could see it coming, but maybe ignored it. Or they didn’t like the job/boss/industry anyway, so the shock of having been let go is mixed with a great sense of relief.

I’ve also come to believe—from watching happen over and over again—that there’s ALWAYS a new/better job awaiting those who need to (or want to) change jobs. That’s why the old one ended, because the new one became ready for you to make your way to it. You do have to make your way to it, though.

You can track the gloom reports in the news and resign yourself to the couch, or you can approach jobfinding as a great adventure. Choose to believe that what you want IS out there for you and make up your mind that you're going to find it. It's possible that the new job will exceed even your wildest expectations - why not?! It happens to other people, why not you!

Toast Of The Resume Industry Awards

2010-11-11T15:09:00.000-08:00

For a resume writer, the big prize is a Toast Of The Resume Industry—TORI—Award. It's a global competition, and resume writers from all over the world submit their best work for review and judging by a jury of their peers. Only nine First Place/Best-In-Class TORI Awards were conferred this year, in October, and I won one..!

Career Directors International hosts the TORI competition, which is recognized as the resume writing industry’s most prestigious and difficult contest.

In a recent press release, the President of CDI, Laura DeCarlo, stated “Winning a TORI Award represents the pinnacle of resume writing expertise within the industry. Being recognized as ‘one of the best’ by your peers is an accolade that very few get to savor. We are proud of the achievements in the resume writing and careers industry, because it encourages our members to strive for excellence.”   

Professional resume writers submitted entries for the TORI Awards in June, and a panel of the industry’s top writers judged the submissions. Up to seven entries were nominated in each category, and CDI officers made the final ruling. Winners were announced on October 16th in San Diego during CDI’s 10th annual convention.

CDI administers continuing education, testing, and certification to professional résumé writers and career coaches, raising the bar and setting new standards for career professionals worldwide.

Three Advertising Sales Positions Available - Dewitt & Binghamton Offices

2010-06-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

Position is full time with salary plus uncapped commission, sales bonuses, and full benefits. Company is looking for high energy, high performing sales individuals, minimum undergrad degree preferred, with a proven track record and positive attitude -- marketing/advertising background a plus.

Openings in the Dewitt and Binghamton offices.

A full description of the position can be found by following the link below:

http://careers.peopleclick.com/careerscp/client_idearc/external/jobDetails.do?functionName=getJobDetail&jobPostId=5910&localeCode=en-us

Have you recently 'lost' your job?

2010-06-03T19:13:00.000-07:00

Fired. Laid off. Let go. Downsized. Terminated. Got done.

You ‘got done’ at your job today, recently, last month, last year. You say you still don’t really know why. Or, you do know really why and it’s not fair. And you’re falling into a downward spiral, headed toward the (dreaded) Pit of Despair. Or maybe you’re already there, in the Pit, and can’t figure out how to get out. Can’t think straight. Don’t even know who you are any more.

If it’s any consolation, it happens to just about everybody at some point in their lives.

We all get done at something we didn’t think we wanted to get done from. Somebody pushed us out somehow. Lost job, failed business, dissolved marriage.

Somewhere along the way, we all experience some of these things, either personally or through someone we’re close to, so close to that their experience becomes ours.

And the good news is that most of us live to see another day. We rally, even, we make successful comebacks. Often we’re even better off than we were before.

That can be what happens to you, too.

A visit to the Pit of Despair isn’t the end of the world. Quite the contrary. The end of the old is the beginning of something new. Life goes from good to better. It does! It’s all about perspective.

Face it: what’s done is done. Something has ended that you didn’t want to end. Yes you deserve to feel sad / angry / furious / wounded / etc. etc. You need time to grieve, lick your wounds. But ask yourself if that’s where you want to spend the rest of your life – grieving and wound-licking. You certainly may stay there if you wish – there’s nothing wrong with it for the rest of the world if there’s nothing wrong with it for you. But, ask yourself: did you really come to the planet to spend months or years wallowing in self-pity?

You could look at it this way: life is about seasons – a time to be born, a time to die, and then a time to be born yet again. Life is like a northeastern U.S. garden. Flower gardens are at their lushest in summer – bursting with flowers – exactly what gardens are all about. But six months ago, the beauty and wonder of the flower garden was nowhere to be found. The ground was covered with snow and ice. Trees were bare of leaves. It was cold out, too, and the days were short. Remember? What a difference a few months can make!

Maybe you could just try trusting the process. Think about this: you’ve been through difficulties before, and lived to tell about them, maybe even flourished because of them. They make us bigger, stronger, more. It amazes me how often clients tell me about how they got fired/laid off/whatever, and once we get past the initial shock/anger/hurt of it, they say, “I’ve gotta say, I really don’t miss the stress of the place / of my boss / of the work .. I hated that job.. hated going to work every day.. was so burnt out. I don’t miss it.”

Sometimes somebody does us a favor by pushing us out the door.

Get ready to find some new doors, a new path, the new road. Your Next Big Adventure is right there -- waiting for you to find it. And you know what? That’s why you got pushed out the door to begin with -- because it was time for this new thing. Someday you’ll be grateful to the person who helped you on your way, because you’ll find yourself in a much better place.

It’s a great world. Something new is ready for you and is calling you to itself. Relax and let go. Trust your instincts / gut feeling / intuition. Clearly you're not in Kansas any more -- might as well follow the yellow brick road. You'll be glad you did.

A new resume can give you the confidence boost you need after leaving a position under difficult circumstances. It can also get you interviews faster and get you into your new job faster. I’ll handle the tough parts of putting together your resume, making it very very easy for you, and making you look great on paper. Call me: (315) 676-3315. I create resumes that work!

Why You Shouldn't Write Your Own Resume

2010-06-02T15:33:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me the other day, "So, what are the biggest mistakes that people make when they write their own resumes?" My immediate response was "People just have no idea about how to create their own resumes," which I pretty quickly realized wasn't much of an answer. I've been thinking about what the better answer would be, and here it is:

What are the biggest mistakes people make when they write their own resumes? The biggest mistake people make in writing their own resumes is that they put into their resume what they want the employer to see, to know about them, instead of creating a resume filled with what the employer really does what to see.

When we're composing our own resumes, we're getting advice from all kinds of well-meaning people - family members, co-workers, the next-door neighbor. "Be sure to put in there how smart you are!" your mother says. "Put on there that you bowled two 300 games!" your bowling team mate suggests. "Say that you've been at the same job for 26 years! that you can do ANYTHING! That you'll take ANY JOB!"

And so the whole process can be a bit confusing...

For the greatest chance at success in landing your next new great job, your resume should have:

• Your goal, clearly stated, at the top, so the employer can see what you're offering. The target/goal needs to be (1) of interest to the employer and (2) backed up by supporting evidence that you either have done this type of work in the past, or that you have the skills/experience/training/motivation to do it now;

• Terminology that is key to your industry.

• Thoroughness. It's a big mistake to create a bare-bones resume and assume the employer will be able to fill in the rest of the story. And yet, you also want

• Brevity. In a resume there's a fine line between too much and not enough, and at the same time, less is more. Nobody wants to read lots and lots of stuff these days. Aim for short, sweet and powerful.

• No unexplained employment gaps.

• Lots of success stories and accomplishments.

Additionally, you want your resume to be able to pass through three potential screenings: the computer screening (computer searching for key words), the junior person/intern screening (the boss has asked him to whittle a half dozen good looking resumes out of the pile for her review -- will the junior person find your resume compelling enough to make the short stack?) and the hiring manager, who - studies show - may be giving resumes between five and ten seconds of attention before deciding whether the candidate looks worthwhile or not.

I see amazingly sad 'self-made' resumes all the time owned by fabulous people with big backgrounds/skills/potential. "I haven't gotten any interviews," they say during the first phone call they make to me. They don't understand it, but I do: their self-made resume doesn't work on their behalf.

Would you change the transmission in your own car? Cut your own hair? Do your own dental work? You probably get professionals to handle those things for you. Is your resume getting you the interviews you want? It might be in your best interests to get a professional to write your resume, to reduce the time it takes you to get interviews / get a new job. A great resume is the key to opening the door to interviews!

Need help with your resume? Not sure if you're on the right track? Not getting interviews? You can reach Terrie for a free phone consultation at (315) 676-3315, or visit her website — http://www.cnyresumes.com — for more information.

Network Your Way To A New Job

2010-05-19T20:39:00.000-07:00

Jobfinding can be a challenge, but generally speaking, the best way to find a new job is through networking and searching proactively. In other words, instead of only posting your resume on an on-line job board and waiting to be found, connecting with everyone you know personally and professionally about your job searching, and reaching out to others you may not know but who may be in a position to help you.

People who network and who work proactively (contacting employers directly whether a job is posted or not) to find a new job, change jobs much sooner than those who only post to job boards or apply to positions that are posted.

The reality is that when you're applying for posted positions, you're competing with dozens/hundreds/maybe thousands of others applying for the same positions. And when you post to a job board - same thing: few jobs, hundreds/thousands of people applying to them or uploading their resumes hoping to be found for the same single available position.

When you proactively job search, and network to find a new job, you're looking for the 'hidden job market' -- jobs that haven't been posted yet because the employer hasn't quite gotten to that point yet, and by 'showing up unannounced', you have no competition. Proactively networking/seeking a position is a different approach from waiting to be found - it takes different skills - but it works much better.

It may happen that you will post your resume on a job board and be found, but we suggest you consider the posting of your resume, and sending it out in application for positions, as just part of your job search.

These articles may be helpful to you in networking:

The Art of Job Search Networking: http://www.job-hunt.org/job-search-networking/art-of-job-search-networking.shtml

Successful Job Search Networking: http://jobsearch.about.com/cs/networking/a/networking.htm

Job Searching In Unlikely Places: http://jobsearch.about.com/od/onlinecareernetworking/a/jobsearchbond.htm

Social Networking: http://jobsearch.about.com/od/networkingsites/a/networkingsites.htm

Employment 2.0: http://jobsearch.about.com/od/networking/a/employment20.htm

Networking: http://www.rileyguide.com/network.html#netprep

Nine Tips For Improving Your Networking Skills: http://www.careerdirectors.com/members/articles/J01.pdf

Also, lots of good information about how to network can also be found in the book "What Color Is Your Parachute?" Fortune Magazine said, "Parachute remains the gold standard of Career Guides." http://www.amazon.com/What-Color-Your-Parachute-2010/dp/1580089879

by Terrie Osborn • http://www.cnyresumes.com • Resumes that work!

Facebook: Friend or Foe?

2010-05-09T11:04:00.000-07:00

Networking can be a jobhunter's best friend, and social networking is a big part of networking in general these days. When it comes to information you're putting out on line about yourself, moderation is the key—especially on Facebook ... http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/fashion/09privacy.html?adxnnl=1&ref=general&src=me&adxnnlx=1273428109-5Hn8ypB6gBgKcVwgu7XULA

Tips For Creating A Great Resume

2010-05-07T21:04:00.000-07:00

Be honest with yourself about your resume.

Is your resume getting you the interviews you want? Are you proud of how it represents you? A good quality resume opens the door to interviews. Statistics say resumes get a first glance of less than ten seconds from an employer. Amateurish-looking, un-focused resumes containing poorly presented information and/or incorrect formatting, wording, grammar, and spelling, quickly end up in the ‘do not call’ pile. If your current resume is getting you interviews—great! But if it's not, consider hiring a professional for a dramatic improvement.

Think about what an employer wants to read.
Most people create resumes that they think make them sound impressive. While certainly you should feel proud of shooting an 8 point buck, starring in the high school play, and being the all-time roller derby champ at the local roller rink, if an employer isn't looking for a hunter or championship roller skater, it might be better left off. You want a resume that demonstrates the knowledge, skills, experience, and especially accomplishments, that your prospective employer is looking for. A credentialed resume writer knows what employers want to see on resumes, and will position you in the most favorable light to an employer. They can focus you in a way that offers huge payoffs and makes all the difference between getting the interviews you want and not getting interviews at all.

Include everything relevant to the position you seek.
If you think your first job out of college is irrelevant because it’s in a different industry than you are in now, think again. Employers look at more than just titles held—they look for initiative, and transferable skills. Sometimes it’s better to show jobs that are slightly off your chosen career path in the interest of reporting your complete job experiences. Include all the background information you can think of—job history, accomplishments, educational achievements and professional affiliations. A professional resume writer can help you spin a job held long ago or a short career with a certain company into a bit of gold. It's better to include everything, to start, and then tailor the presentation according to the job you seek.

Leverage technology to look your best.
Resumes have become increasingly dynamic and sophisticated over the past 10 to 15 years, mostly due to advances in personal computers. The sophistication of word processing programs, in addition to increasing printer quality, has emboldened many job seekers to try to create resumes on their own. Many of these do-it-yourselfers may look good on paper, however, they lack the writing skills to create resumes that land interviews. A professional resume writer provides both the writing skills to ensure your skills are well represented and a well formatted, nicely designed resume, rich with content and compelling details. In addition, pros stay current on new techniques, developments and improvements in the resume writing and career management industries and then apply this knowledge to all the resumes they create.

Look for a credentialed resume writer.
Anybody who can type can say they can write resumes, but can they? There are several, equally good, resume writer credentials in existence today and accreditation indicates the writer knows her stuff. Resume writer credentials are achieved through proven abilities at mastering the English language, grammar and spelling, combined with dedication and commitment to the art and craft of resume writing.