Social Media Etiquette at Work | Brand-Yourself.com Blog

social mediaYou’ve heard the rumors, the horror stories and the success stories. You know the positives and negatives of using social media for promoting yourself and your business. Though it may seem obvious at times what you should and shouldn’t do, people are breaking the rules left and right.

The ABSOLUTE Do Not’s

Never ever, no matter how bad of a day you’re having, no matter how miserable you are, no matter what life debacles you’re facing, under any circumstances write about how much you hate your job or hate an employer or even fellow employee on the Internet. It doesn’t matter if you’re not Facebook friends or that they don’t follow you on Twitter. The Internet is public domain, and certainly no place to post your every thought and feeling. Even if you think you’re stuck at the worst job in the world, if you value keeping that job and receiving money, don’t complain! Well, you can complain but in private, in person—which can sometimes be a little risky as it is. But there’s no reason to tweet out for all to see that you think your boss is a spawn of the devil. That’s just a do-not-enter zone.

On the other side of the spectrum, don’t become a harbinger of all things work-related. Regardless of whether or not you love your job, your social media accounts shouldn’t revolve around what you’re doing at work this minute, or asking people to spotlight your company on their blog. You’ll quickly go from someone very pleased with their working situation to someone other people on the Internet see as an annoying spammer. Don’t be the person to friend request anyone you see of any importance on Facebook who could bolster your career or promote where you’re currently working. Social media has one key word that’s often forgotten: social! While you should definitely dedicate some time to promoting your business and tweeting articles, it’s also important to interact with people on a friendly or helpful basis. Find people asking questions, and give them tips or strike up the occasional conversation with a friend. It’s not the end of the world to use social media for some entertainment and potential connection making.

Social Media is Your Friend

While some people cower in fear at the thought of tweeting or posting helpful articles on Facebook—especially after hearing about people getting fired because of what they post—it’s important to remember that social media is more beneficial than it is negative. If used correctly, social media can even land you a job! Really, all it takes is some common sense, a friendly attitude and a proactive mindset to make the most out of social media. You need to take your accounts outside the realm of just spamming or delving more into your personal life than necessary. It’s important to remember that although you’re writing and interacting on your personal accounts, you shouldn’t treat it like a free for all. Think of the online world as an extension of the everyday real world. Proper grammar, talking to others with respect and actually providing useful and insightful information is a must if you want social media to work in your favor. Don’t cower away from the Internet, but immerse yourself into blogs, forums, and what have you to promote yourself and your business in a positive way.

Right from Wrong

It’s as simple as right and wrong when it comes to using social media at work. Don’t say anything bad about your business in any way. Even if it’s just teasing, it could still cause some harm. Don’t spam everyone you know constantly with what you and your business is doing; it’s not helpful, it’s annoying. Remember that the Internet is an open forum; people can access basically anything they want, so while your unsettled tweets about your job might not cause any problems now, they could in the future. Make your English teachers proud and spell correctly with complete sentences as much as possible, and use your best manners online. Live by the rule, if you wouldn’t say or do it in the workplace, then definitely don’t post it online.

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

Designing Perfect Cover Letters | EmploymentDigest.net

When it comes to applying for various jobs, you want to have a cover letter that will make you stand out above other applicants. Your cover letter is how you introduce yourself to the company so you want it to be professional.

The first thing you need to do with your cover letter is the heading. You should try to have the cover letter heading match that of your resume. This presents a more uniform look and is much more professional. If you can find out the name of the hiring manager, use it. Address the letter to him or her to make the letter personalized. You should try to do this for all jobs that you apply for but if you do not know that name then you should address in general to the head of the department.

After your heading and introduction you will need to write your opening paragraph. You should keep this specific. Tell the hiring manager exactly what job you are contacting him or her about and why you are the one they should hire. You do not need to go into details here as this is the paragraph that leads you into more specifics.

The main body of the letter should describe your special qualifications and skills that you have pertaining to the job in which you are interested in. To draw more attention to this are, you should use bullet points for your skills, qualifications and special awards as it helps the manager to easily skim through the letter to see if they are interested in you. It also makes it much easier to read, giving just little chunks of information rather than having to read through a paragraph to get to the point.


Bulleted example:

My enclosed resume details the 10 plus years that I have in Customer Service Management which includes the following experience in:

* In house collections

* Training of new employees

* Creating and implementing new policies and procedures


You do not want to make the list too long but as the same time you want to give them a taste of what they will be getting should they hire you. You are showing them what you can bring to the table and what sets you out above the rest. For the most part, your cover letter is how you sell yourself to employers for possible careers with the jobs that they have available.

Your closing paragraph should wrap up the cover letter, pointing out that you will be in touch so that you can set up a time to meet in person. You should also thank the person for their time and consideration. Keep the closing paragraph short and to the point just as the opening. You do not want a letter that will drag on as the employer will lose interest and move on.

When looking into various careers, check out the details of the jobs that are offered in each field. This way you are allowing yourself to have more than one option where employments concerned. The final thing that you need to do with your cover letter is to send it off to the company or more specifically, the hiring manager.

You can do this either by faxing it, emailing it or mailing it my regular mail. If you are mailing the cover letter with your resume, be sure to print the resume and the cover letter on crisp, clean paper. A good bond to go with is about 20lbs. Watermarks are also good to use as they help to make your resume stand out. You should go with white paper but cream colors also work well.

Many people have started their careers by sending out the perfect resume and you can do this too. You just need to make sure that you personalize each cover letter to be specific to the jobs that you are applying for. For the most part, your cover letter can be a universal one so that you can just plug in the name of the company and the hiring manager where needed. This helps a great deal as you will not have to constantly rewrite your cover letter for every application you turn in.

Landing the perfect job starts with making a good and lasting first impression. You can do this by writing the best resume.

By Marcus Lim – Find jobs, careers, and employment info at Seek4Jobs.net.

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

Social Media Etiquette:Ways to Lose Your Job Via Social Media | Brand-Yourself.com Blog

The World Wide Web is a vast place with users from all over the world, but that doesn’t mean what you post privately won’t come back to haunt you. Here are five cases of ex-employees who should’ve just kept their mouths shut.

social media horror stories 1. I’m too sexy for my job…

A female working for a St. Louis area not-for-profit organization led quite the double life. She was the average, presumably “normal” employee during the day, and a sex blogger by night. She describes herself as being “Clark Kent” with keeping her extremely secret sex blog private. Her undoing was using Twitter. I have to hand it to her, as a single mother and keeping her blog anonymous, she probably could’ve gotten away with her unconventional lifestyle had she steered clear of social media. The reasons behind her being fired should be quite interesting to explain to future employees.

social media etiquette 2. Guilty or not guilty? Take my poll!

This has to be without a doubt, one of the worst decisions ever made in making use of social media. A juror in a child abduction and assault case–which is clearly a very sensitive matter and a private issue–in the UK was uncertain of whether or not the defendant was guilty. She was so conflicted with making her decision, she took to her Facebook and asked her friends: “I don’t know which way to go, so I’m holding a poll.” It goes beyond the stupidity of revealing secret case details to a bunch of 200 Facebook friends. With non-existent privacy settings at the time, the information was laid out for any Internet users to see! She was obviously dismissed for breaching a fundamental rule of jury service. Next time, make the decision on your own or with the persuasion of the other jurors.

Social Media Etiquette3. Attention Internet, I want to be fired!

A woman clearly misjudged the innocence of updating her Facebook status to a rant about why she wants to be fired–I mean, why her job is awful. Either thinking her privacy settings would keep her boss and co-workers from seeing her hate-filled post, or simply forgetting they were friends, she was in for quite the surprise to see a few hours later she had in fact been fired. Though for her it was likely a dream come true since she allegedly had the worst boss ever, she’ll go down in social media history of what not to do. It just goes to show you, swearing at your boss and vocalizing your hate for work in a public domain will not make you employee of the month.

social media etiquette 4. Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous

Don’t try to take down the celebrities. It surely will never end well. Waiter Jon-Barrett Ingels found out the hard way when he took to his Twitter to complain about actress Jane Adams, who allegedly skipped her bill on account of having forgotten her wallet. It was later paid, but without tip, to his horror. Well, Jane Adams isn’t one to stand for defamation. She returned, with tip and complaint in tow. Diss a celebrity, get fired. Yet Mr. Ingels definitely didn’t see that one coming, since he bitterly continued to complain on Twitter. Guess it would’ve been smarter to keep your comment off the Internet in the first place. Point one goes to celebrities.

Social media etiquette5. Art is great, no ifs, ands or butts

One of my personal favorites is the story of Stephen Murmer, also known as “Stan Murmur”, whose love of art took him to do unusual things on the web. Though YouTube isn’t always on people’s radar, it can still cause quite the stir, especially if the video goes viral! For this art teacher, his strange…talent and poor disguise branded him a “teacher gone wild on the web” and lost him his high school art gig. While his fame as a “painter” grew, Stephen was able to keep his identity quiet until an interview came out with his true identity revealed. Though he wasn’t fired outright, the board voted to fire him unanimously, saying as a teacher he really wasn’t setting the positive example for students that he should’ve been. The lessons to be learned from Mr. Murmer: don’t post your butt on Youtube for the world to see, even if it is for the sake of an art piece (especially if you’re a teacher, but that should really go without saying) and perhaps keep certain odd talents to yourself.

So there you have it, a list of just some of the weird, the wacky, the equally horrific stories of being fired from social media. Don’t let this be you! Take these ex-employees as examples of what not to do (unless you’re a really good butt artist, but then you should open an art gallery or something and save yourself the extra drama) and there’s no reason Twitter, Facebook or even YouTube can bring you down.

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

The Pivotal Point: Not Giving Up Too Soon

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. — Thomas Edison

There comes a point when being a business owner gets really hard (and I mean really hard). You’ve come up with your big idea, you’ve done all the initial legwork to set it up, and now comes the hard part: Getting the word out about your business and, more importantly, hanging in there while you get the word out about your business. The hard part now becomes not giving up too soon.

The Real Work

When you start a business, when you start a new product or service, when you launch anything really, that’s when you feel like you’re working really hard. That’s when you’re willing to stay up late and get up early to get all the groundwork completed so that you can start making money. As hard as it can seem during this time, you generally know what to do, or you can at least figure out what to do, and you just plow through getting the work done. Then you finish the work. (Cue sound of crickets.) Now what?

All right, now you figure out that you need a marketing plan. Great, that gives you something else to do! You finish the marketing plan and begin implementing it. (You believe in this plan. You’ve given it a lot of thought. You feel really confident about it. It’s going to generate the business you need.) You run through your plan for several days, maybe even several weeks, and then … nothing. Nothing happens, and in our instant-gratification-seeking world, this is where things start getting testy:

  • When you’re over the rush of your big idea,
  • When you’ve completed the work of creating it,
  • When you need to pay the bills, and
  • When it feels like you’re sitting on your laurels.

When you’re doing all that initial setup (building your website, creating the product, etc.), it feels like real work. Marketing doesn’t feel like real work, and it gets harder to justify and explain to those around us, particularly those who don’t have businesses. Marketing? What’s marketing? Building a website people get; that sounds like real work. Marketing? Marketing on Facebook and Twitter? All right, now you’re just playing around. Those are the conversations you have, both with yourself and with others, for justifying what you’re doing.

Writing posts for your blog, replying and posting on social networks, doing interviews, commenting on other sites and forums, searching for opportunities to guest post — all these things don’t feel like work, but they’re very necessary for building a successful business, and sticking with these activities for the bulk of your time each day for the six months or year it’s going to take you to gain some traction seems impossible.

Not Giving Up

So, how do you do it? How do you avoid giving up too soon?

  1. You make a commitment. Do you want to do this? Are you willing to bet the next 6-12 months of your life on it? You have to be willing to say, “This is my commitment. These are the milestones I intend to reach. This is my intention.”
  2. You maintain discipline. Each and every day, you have to say, “This is what I’m committed to doing. These are my top priorities.” You have to focus on what you believe to be the “highest and best use” tasks that will get the word out about your business and start generating income for you. You stay focused, not only on what you’re going to do, but also on what you’re not going to do (compulsively checking email, surfing the Internet, taking a dozen breaks each day, etc.).
  3. You trust your plan. You’ve given a lot of thought to the best way for promoting your business, and now you just have to believe in it. Don’t keep switching plans and changing things up. It’s going to take time to see results. Give yourself at least a 90-day test with your current plan before doing any tweaking.
  4. Be willing to stay up late and get up early. Although it’s not easy to think about, success isn’t just going to be handed to you. You’re going to have to roll up your sleeves and do the hard work to get things going. No one’s going to do it for you. As you start to get more successful, you still have to continue getting the word out, and juggling priorities can be a challenge. Know that handling incoming work and generating opportunities for future work are equally important.
  5. Find support. Get an accountability partner to help you stay the course. It’s a lot easier to waiver when you don’t have someone else holding you responsible and accountable for your original plans and intentions.

Finding a way to hang in there and not give up on your vision can be the hardest thing you ever do to see your business to success, but you have to figure out how you’re going to stick with it for the time it will take to gain some momentum and start seeing results.

In the past, how did you find ways to hang in there until your idea took hold?

Photo by Flickr user ground.zero, licensed under CC 2.0

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

Lemons, Job Seekers & Opportunities | JibberJobber Blog

I like reading success stories so an artilcle on AOL titled Richest Americans You’ve Never Heard Of piqued my interest.  Maybe it’s too cinderalla or pollyanna, but I found something interesting in the article.  It talks about:

  • Fred Deluca, who opened his first Subway (not called Subway back then) store when he was 17, as well as his investor, Peter Buck, who invested $1,000 to get Fred started.  They are both worth 1.8 BILLION today (good investment, eh?)
  • Jack Crawford Taylor (rich people get their entire name used, apparently), who started Enterprise Rent-a-Car (not called that back then) in 1957. His net worth is 7 billion.
  • David Murdock, who dropped out of high school and now is the chariman of Dole (the food company).  Worth 2.5 billion.
  • Min Kao and Gary Burrell, the founders of Garmin (think: GPS) just a few years ago in 1989.  One is worth 1.6 billion and the other is just worth 1 billion.
  • Clayton Mathile who joined Iams (pet food) in 1970 and became the CEO and chairman, eventually purchasing the entire company.  Worth 1.7 billion.
  • Donald Hall, chairman of Hallmark (son of the founder).  Worth 1 billion.
  • Truett Cathy, owner of Chick-fil-A, worth 1.5 billion. I read his autobiography (delighful).
  • Daniel Abraham, the guy who invented Slim-Mint gum and later launched Slim-Fast, which was sold to Unilever for 2.3 billion. Daniel is now worth of 1.6 billion.
  • William Kellogg, who was a store manager at Kohl’s and eventually become the chairman (good career path, eh?).  He’s worth 1 billion.

As I was reading the brief stories about these people who are worth more money than I can imagine I thought about their early days.

What did they have in common (except for Hall, who was born in the family business)?

  • They took risks.
  • It wasn’t always glamorous.
  • They (probably) went through some very hard times, personally.
  • Some of them may have borrowed and leveraged themselves beyond what they “should have” (or, more than what any family or advisors told them).
  • They were probably lonely many times, working towards a vision that only they understood.

We may see billionaires today but we weren’t with them 20 or 50 years ago when they were struggling, trying to find purpose, believe in a vision, etc.

Right now YOU are struggling, trying to find purpose, believe in the vision of who you are, etc.

DO NOT GIVE UP.  Even if you are a hundredaire or a thousandaire right now you have a journey ahead of you that will take you to different places.   It might not be money that you are after, but if you are in a place where you feel you can’t make a difference, and you want to, just keep on the journey, one foot in front of the other, and you’ll get there… you just have to get through some hard times (and these won’t be the last of them).

One foot in front of the other…

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

Three Ways to Demonstrate Your Value in a Job Search | CareerEnlightenment.net

Great Value PeasWhen I train career advisors and job seekers on the strategic approach to the online job search, I make sure to mention that a résumé is an obituary.

Résumés do a great job telling people what you did. Where you worked. What things you’ve done in your past that made a difference.

And résumés have a place in the job search as well. They are requirements in many HR departments’ intake process. They help hiring managers to remember you after an interview and pass you along the chain.

But to really stand out from the rest requires that you demonstrate the value you can bring in the future, not the past. Remember that you are being hired to solve someone’s problems.

Here are three easy ways to help you demonstrate your value with a potential employer.

1. Have Something to Say

Even if people don’t agree with you, they will respect you for being brave enough to voice an opinion. No one likes to hire a “yes” man.

No matter what industry you go into, there is always an opportunity to indulge in some controversy. For example, if you are in marketing, you might have an opinion about Gillette’s Old Spice campaign.

If you are in finance, you might have some insights into why the banking industry is doomed to yet another failure. If you are a project manager, you might have some issue with Agile.

Having something to say shows that you are motivated. And having motivation for your job means you are a low-risk candidate.

2. Have a Place to Say It

Today there are thousands of bloggers, and many of these bloggers are job seekers. In fact, I have several clients who have been able to find work based on their blogs.

A blog is a wonderful platform to show the world that you have something to say. It shows that you can write. It shows you are tech savvy. It shows that you are not afraid to take a stand.

You might document your job search.

You might follow a topic.

Here are some examples of some great job seekers who found work from their blogs:

Karen Bolipata (Writer)

Danny Cox (PR)

Jenny Blake (HR)

Terry Shultz (Engineering Design)

Norm Elrod (Marketing)

3. Be a Leader, Start a Community

The majority of blogs are dead within three months. Most never get more than 50 people to read them. The comments section develops cobwebs.

When you pass two restaurants, and one is full with a line, and the other is empty, which one are you going to assume is the better place to eat?

When an employer is checking you out online, if you’ve linked to your blog from LinkedIn and from your email signature, and the employer sees you ranting and raving online with nobody giving a crap, you might not get the result you hoped for.

A blog is a community. Having comments shows that you, as a thought leader, are provoking discussion and that people care about what you have to say.

Apart from begging your friends to comment, this can be one of the most disappointing parts of starting a blog. And, I suspect, a major reason that they don’t last long. No one likes the feeling of talking to a wall.

Having comments also tells Google that you are special. And with your name on the blog, your smart articles will soon begin to dominate Google search results for your name.

To solve the comment problem, I’ve started a Comment Co-Op for career-minded bloggers.

A Comment Co-Op (noun): A Comment Co-Op is a group of people who support each other by commenting on each other’s blog posts in order to improve ranking and traffic.

Basically, members can ask other members for comments, tweets, and links at any time. In return, members can respond back with comments, tweets, and links to other members.

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

Unemployed Need to Take Time Off from Job Hunt - Careers Articles

job-hunt-time-offStephen Rood is so busy looking for a job that it's a full-time job -- he spends 40 hours a week on the job hunt. He's busy enough that he considers his travel time of one to two hours of drive time to a few networking meetings each week as "breaks."

"I don't take breaks at home to watch TV or movies," he wrote to AOL Jobs in an e-mail. "I don't go out shopping." His breaks are his drive time, along with one exception: weekends. He keeps those free to relax.

That's the least amount of time that job seekers should take off, said Matthew Beck, managing director of the Mergis Group's Miami office, who advocates stepping back and taking a mental break every now and then, but not to drop out of the search for more than a week.

"I don't think summer is good time to completely shut down your search. You never know when you might miss the right opportunity," Beck told the Miami Herald.

Recruiters typically advise job seekers to treat a job hunt like a full-time job. Rood said he's been doing that since being laid off in October 2009 after a consulting gig didn't lead to a full-time job that he expected when he took the gig 10 months earlier.

But since a job search is so much work, workplace psychologist Dr. Janet Civitelli recommends against spending so much time and says it's wildly unrealistic for job seekers to attempt to spend 40 hours per week trying to find a job.

"Few people could sustain a focused and productive job search for 40 hours per week, week after week," Civitelli wrote in an e-mail exchange with AOL Jobs. " A job search is usually emotionally exhausting, so good self-care is essential. Most job search campaigns end up being more like a marathon than a sprint, so job seekers should pace themselves."

Civitelli, who also works as a career advice coach, advises her clients to spend an average of 20 to 25 hours per week on their job search, and the rest of their time on outside interests.

"Exercise, meditate, relax with friends and family, learn new skills, enjoy your hobbies," she said in an e-mail. "You'll make a much better impression when you finally land job interviews if you are happy and refreshed vs. miserable and burned out."

Diana Voigt, who is looking for work in her profession as a marketing consultant, recently took a few months off from her job search so she could recoup from the endless searching on the Internet. In an e-mail with AOL Jobs, Voigt said it takes hours to "differentiate" her resume and cover letter once she finds jobs worth applying for, and that the search for good job listings can take all day to sift out four or five possibilities.

In the meantime, she's making a living as a bartender -- a job where people come to take a break from work.

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

Starting Out in Social Media: Blogging and Social Networking for Business | Brand-Yourself.com Blog

The business case for leveraging social media as a business tool has been made time and time again. Startups to big business use the platform of social media to spread ideas, connect with their audience, and ultimately drive sales.

When working with clients I often am confronted with glossy eyes when talking about the topic of social media. Chances are they’ve read about it in the mainstream media, however, putting it in to action is another thing all together. If you consider yourself a social media fan boy shout hooray and jump to the comments below and give us your fill after skimming this primer, but if you are fall into the glossy eyed category or want to read this basic primer, read below for a primer on how to start out in social media for business.

Social media in itself comprises of many different elements, but two of the most common and important categories:

Blogging for business

Social since inception, blogs were designed and still hold strong as great publishing platforms to create useful content and share it with a wide audience. With built in web feed abilities (RSS/Atom), blogs make it possible to publish content and “push” it out to other services. For an example, see this explanation on Facebook how to import your feed as Notes.

Find your target audience using social mediaPicture your website, and blog in particular, as a hub where all of your social media activity and presence across the Internet should point back to. This is important, as all of the content and important information about your business is no good if no one ever hears about it. Don’t shamelessly self-promote every chance you get, but rather use social media etiquette.

If no one already told you, get your own domain name. Don’t use the subdomain from a service, no matter how much you like it. To sum up other people’s experiences, once you build a great following around and get massive amounts of links to yourawesomewebsite.wordpress.com and then decide to migrate to your custom domain later, its a pain and you lose traffic and followers.  Start off fresh, and get a domain name now. Its cheap and easy, and you will not regret it later. Its OK to have your website hosted on a service like WordPress.com, if that is what you prefer, but use custom domain features.

Social networks for business

No matter what industry you are in, social media can work for your business. It just depends however, on how you choose to use it and where your audience is. If you are speaking to an older generation, you may have to be crafty and see where they are hanging out. With valuations on the larger social networks sometimes coming out at us with mind boggling numbers (such as LinkedIn’s over $2 Billion valuation), you can bet that the social media research companies are still spewing out reports and research about how consumers and business use these services.

Facebook isn’t just for the cool kids anymore. With over 500 million active users, and 900 million objects made up of pages, whether business or community, and events, they clearly have a lot of activity happening there. Accordingly, businesses are leveraging their platforms to attack their target markets more effectively. Although in the spotlight for concerns over privacy and changes to the way advertisers and marketers can access information, Facebook remains adamant that the information is still in your control.

Twitter boasts a flurry of activity happening each day with many millions of updates from around the globe. From fast breaking news, to still the good old lunch tales, it has a lively and active community of people ready to speak their mind. Businesses may find it challenging to have active “conversations” with their audience on Twitter, only because it seems personal connections make for better success, but many businesses still use the platform and thrive, assuming they are active listeners and are useful.

LinkedIn remains the premier business networking social network. With a thriving advertising system, and active groups, there isn’t anything bad to say about using LinkedIn for business, other than it can sometimes be confusing to newbies. I often see profiles that aren’t filled out properly or people let LinkedIn invites build up for eternities before accepting. LinkedIn isn’t just a great living “resume” or CV, its a platform that needs to be used daily, or as often as possible to do things such as connect with other like minded professionals, or find clients and partners. Companies can use it as an excellent passive recruitment tool. It still is the best kept secret in that realm. Spend less on your job searching and just see who is already in your network, connected to your friends and partners.

How to make it happen for your business

As a business, it’s important for you to focus your time on what works best for you. Leveraging these platforms will depend on available talent, time, and resources. Do a bit of research to find out where your target audience is, and spend time with them. You already likely have a great network of contacts, invite them to join you on social networks, make sure they know about your blog, and keep it fresh and alive with relevant content of their interest. Don’t be afraid to experiment: that is what it’s all about. Try new things, don’t let the same old processes get in the way of exploring new ways to communicate and do business. The payoffs are far too great to miss out.

About the Author: An avid inbound marketing strategist, Mark Mathson gets to live his passion every day while consulting on social media marketing.  He enjoys conversing on Twitter and growing and adding value to his network on LinkedIn

Posted via email from AndyWergedal

25 Resume Tips That Help Make a Great First Impression - Careers Articles

resume-tips-first-impressionFrequently your resume is your first chance to make an impression on a recruiter or hiring manager. And you never get a second chance to make a first impression, so the importance of the resume cannot be underestimated. Here are my top quick tips for creating a resume that makes a great first impression and gets hiring managers to take a second look at you.

  1. Include a professional e-mail address; even your e-mail is part of your brand. (i.e., partygirl7@aol.com won't cut it)

  • Include a phone number that is attached to a professional voice-mail message. A goofy voice mail will encourage recruiters to walk away.

  • A resume objective describes what you want, and employers don't care about what you want. They care about problems you can solve for them.

  • Create a profile at the top of your resume to prove your value proposition to a hiring authority, instead of an objective.

  • Refrain from using subjective words like "loyal" or "trustworthy" to explain your candidacy; you are a job seeker, not man's best friend.

  • Omit phrases such as "responsible for" or "duties included" from your resume; opt for stronger language such as "managed" or "oversaw."

  • On your resume, your professional experience section is about where you've been; your top profile section is about where you want to go.

  • Your resume profile is the 40,000-ft. view of what you can do; your experience section is the granular proof of this based on past success.

  • List core competencies, keywords, or buzzwords for your job function/industry on the resume to please recruiters and resume-parsing software.

  • Include months and years on your resume for any positions you were at for less than two years; omitting the months in short-tenured positions is deceptive.

  • If you were let go from several positions with short tenure due to a downsizing, explain that briefly right on the resume. Transparency is always better than obscurity.

  • If you left the workplace to take care of a child or aging parent, explain that right on the resume. Don't make the reader guess what you were doing during that gap. Their assumptions will rarely work in your favor.

  • Minimize descriptions of job tasks and maximize descriptions of accomplishments. Sell it, don't tell it.

  • Quantify your accomplishments: Show numbers, dollars, and percentages to prove impact in a job.

  • List hobbies and volunteer experience when relevant to your job target. Leave your passion for stamp collecting off the resume.

  • Include graduation dates; omitting them raises suspicion and calls more attention to the very thing you are trying to hide.

  • If you are a recent grad, list a high GPA and relevant coursework, school projects, and internships. Unpaid experience still counts.

  • Omit "references available upon request." With Google and other search engines, references are available whether you want them to be or not.

  • Use charts and graphs on your resume to demonstrate impact. A picture is worth a thousand words -- and a bit of "bling" is not a bad thing.

  • A longer read that is readable is better than a quick read that is not. Pick a font of at least 10 point so the resume is easy to read.

  • For a U.S. resume, omit references to age, marital status, or religion. Employers cannot request it; offering it makes you look clueless.

  • Create a text-only version of your resume to preserve the formatting when uploading into a company text box. Word documents will quickly turn into gibberish when placed in a text box.

  • Treat every word on your resume like expensive New York City real estate. Square footage is at a premium; so make every word count.

  • Half of hiring managers read cover letters, the other half do not; but you never know which half you are dealing with -- so always send one.

  • Use the cover letter to match your skills to the job spec. If the job requires eight skills and you only have two, don't apply.
  • Posted via email from AndyWergedal

    Get an Interview Before Showing Your Resume | EmploymentDigest.net

    - Find out who is hiring. - Submit a great resume along with a killer cover letter. - Follow up in a couple of weeks and ask for an interview.

    This has never worked for me.

    What has worked has been the uninvited interview with the hirer. Not the Human Resources gatekeeper, but the CEO, chief pilot, or the director of operations. Emphasis on “uninvited”. At the end of the interview, I have a resume to hand to the hirer.

    For those of you who are unbelievers, I have done this for the last several jobs that I have gotten. My business is Private Military Contracting. The contracts change often. Some change every year. So, I have had to move from job to job more often than a normal worker. This is what I have learned.

    Don’t wait until you hear that a company is hiring. By the time that the word gets out or an ad is posted, the decision has already been made. Often, the ad is posted just to fulfill legal responsibilities. Instead, find a growing company that you would like to work for, and then go after the top guy in the department. The one who will make the final decision.

    It is easier if you already know your business. If you are a geek, you can make that computer sing. If you are an accountant, you count with the best. But if you are young or changing fields and lack experience, crank up the confidence and emphasize your personal references, loyalty, integrity, and trainability. But even if you are the most experienced in the world, you will still need to make some preparations.

    Number One: Be employed. Don’t be needy for a job. It’s a killer. Even if the boss never asks you about your employment status, your bearing and tone of voice will be screaming out: “I really need this job!”

    I have been a pilot since 1980, and many times I have been unemployed as a pilot. But I have always had a job when I have gone to a big interview. I have worked construction, mopped a convenience store, and walked the beat as an armed security guard. That way I had an income, even if it was meager. You must be able to hold your head up and truthfully tell the interviewer that you have to give your current employer notice before you can come to work. Many bosses use this as a test. If you will jilt your current employer, you might leave him in the lurch, too.

    Number Two: Find a way to get to your target. Of course, one must first find this target. That means research, and it might involve travel. The first time that I used this strategy was 1987. I wanted to get a pilot slot with a specialty airline owned by the CIA. After repeatedly sending resumes, I called and asked to talk with the chief pilot. This is the conversation as best as I can remember:

    “Yes, son, I’ve seen your resume and you don’t have the experience we’re looking for. You’re too young. Call me back in a few years.” “Couldn’t I come out there and talk with you?” “No. I am really busy this week.” “Thank you, sir.” I hung up and immediately called his secretary. “Dawn. This is Dave Johnson again. The chief pilot said that he’s too busy to see me this week. Can you schedule me in sometime the following week?” “Yeah. How about next Tuesday at 10 o’clock?”

    Nine days later I got on an airliner and flew halfway across the country. At 1000 I walked into the chief pilot’s office.

    “Hello sir. My name is Dave Johnson.” “What are you doing here?” the chief pilot said. “I have an appointment to see you at 1000. Check with your secretary.” “How did you do that?” “When you said that you were busy all week, I asked Dawn to find a day that you were not busy, and I came over to see you.” “Well, you have some gall.” He checked with the secretary, and I was scheduled for an hour. I got the interview. The end of the story is that I got the job.

    In 2002, I called about a pilot job with the State Department. The HR department told me that I was to wait for them to call me back. Instead, I drove 600 miles to a secure military base. The guards wouldn’t let me in, so I called from the gate to see if the chief pilot would see me. He did. I got the job.

    In 2005, I could not get to the Director of Operations for a company I wanted to work for. I knew him socially, but just barely. He was to meet with one of my friends at a local bar. As planned, I walked in about a half hour after they arrived, and my friend invited me over to their table. The Director of Ops cringed knowing that I was going to ask him for a job. I wanted to in the worst way, but I knew that it was not the right time. I had one beer, talked about sports, and left. I never mentioned anything about work or getting a job. As I got up to leave, he pulled me close and invited me to come up to his office Monday morning. I got the job.

    What is the point of these stories? Research the company. Go directly to the hirer. Avoid HR until you are hired and you need to get an ID badge and fill out a W-4. Even when the company is not hiring, get in and get the interview. The boss might make a position for you. Or you will be the first in line when something opens up.

    By doing so, you differentiate yourself to the boss. You prove that you are resourceful, that you take initiative, and that you will solve problems. These attributes are highly prized by the big guys. Never give up.

    D. Alan Johnson has been a private military contractor for over 24 years. I write about my adventures in my novels and a job guide to the contracting world. Visit my website http://www.dalanjohnson.com to learn more about PMC’s.

    Posted via email from AndyWergedal

    Resume Help & Career Advice by Career Expert Jessica Holbrook Hernandez : CAREEREALISM

    By CAREEREALISM-Approved Expert, Jessica Holbrook Hernandez

    I’m sitting in front of my computer trying to think of a new way to say the same things I’ve already said a million times. I think I’m beginning to feel border line preachy with my resume and cover letter advice. But I also feel a duty to share with job seekers the blunders and mistakes they make that prohibit them from getting the interview and ultimately the offer. After ten years of working as a human resources manager and recruiter – I’ve seen my fair share of job seeker mistakes. So here’s my list of the five biggest mistakes job seekers make on their resume.

    MISTAKE #1: Outdated formatting

    The first impression your resume gives is critical. How do you want the hiring manager to perceive you? Professional and accomplished? Or sloppy and disorganized? Old and outdated formats only reflect poorly on you as a viable candidate for the position.

    MISTAKE #2: Using and Objective

    If your resume has an objective please stop. That is an outdated practice no longer relevant in today’s job market. Objectives will only land you in the “bland, just like everyone else pile” not the “oh yeah, don’t let me forget to call them today pile.”

    MISTAKE #3: Forgetting important keywords

    Don’t forget to use industry specific keywords. Also make sure you know where to put them. The top section of the resume is the best place because that’s where the hiring manager’s eyes will be drawn. Short keywords are a great way to tell the employer about your expertise.

    MISTAKE #4: Length and text density

    Too long or too short and you’ve lost your hiring manager. Keep paragraphs to 3-5 sentences and the same goes for the number of bullets you use in your resume. Why? Any longer and you lose the audience in information overload…and shorter, you appear under qualified.

    The hiring manager doesn’t want your resume to be an exact repeat of the job ad. They already know what they need. What they need to know is how you’re going to meet their needs. Utilize statements that demonstrate your expertise and accomplishments in a given area. Certainly there was a challenge you faced while working for your current or previous employers. How did you address these challenges and what were the results? The answers to these questions make for GREAT bullet points on a resume.

    Did you enjoy this article? You can read more articles by this expert here. Also, check out all of our free webinars!

    CAREEREALISM Expert, Jessica Holbrook Hernandez is an expert resume writer, career and personal branding strategist, author, speaker and President/CEO of Great Resumes Fast. She creates high-impact, best-in-class, resumes and cover letters that transform job searches into interviews and ultimately job offers. For more information about professional resume writing or to read more career and job search related articles visit www.greatresumesfast.com or call 1.800.991.5187. Follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn.

    Posted via email from AndyWergedal

    10 tips for interview success - Career blog - Position Ignition - taking you to the next step in your career

    The first 30 seconds of a job interview are the most important - so if you want to be a cut above the rest you need to be on the ball. Rob Yeung, a business psychologist, maintains that an interview is all about the three Ps. "You need to prepare, you need to practise, and then, on the day, you need to perform."

    Here are 10 tips for interview success.

     1. First impressions count

    Greet your interviewer with a smile and firm handshake. Give eye contact. Try to make small talk during the walk from the reception area to the interview room. Liz Anderson, a human resources manager says, "You have to sell yourself before you can sell anything else and the first 30 seconds are when the interviewer subconsciously makes decisions about whether they like you or not and whether you will fit into the team."

     2. Be prepared

    Re-read your CV and the job advert just before the interview. Do your research thoroughly: Look at the company Web site or obtain literature. You may be asked about the salary you are after so make sure you research that as well.

     3. Don’t waffle

    Answer questions properly - even if you need a few moments’ silence to collect your thoughts. Anderson advises, "It’s better to say you need a minute to think about your answer rather than speak instantly and regret it afterwards."

     4. Why should they hire you?

    Most job adverts will list qualities they’re looking for - a team worker, a good communicator – so it’s up to you to think of examples of how you can demonstrate these skills. Be ready to talk about your knowledge, experience, abilities and skills. Have at least three strong points about yourself that you can relate to the company and job on offer.

     5. Be positive

    Your interviewer will be thinking about what it would be like to work with you, so the last thing they’ll want to hear is you talking about your boss or current colleagues behind their back. Interviewers like to see someone who enjoys a challenge and is enthusiastic.

     6. Remember your body language

    It is not what you say, but how you say it. During the interview, do not fold your arms and lean back or look to the floor! Sit upright and try to maintain good eye contact. Use your hands and lean forward when making a point. Many people cannot think and control their body language at the same time, which is why you need to prepare.

     7. Expect the unexpected

    Your interviewer may try to catch you off guard: A survey by OfficeAngels has revealed that 90 per cent of employers ask 'killer' questions in interviews. It is impossible to plan for every difficult question, such as “How would your colleagues describe you?” but try to appear relaxed and in control. Ask the interviewer to repeat the question if necessary but do not evade it. Hopefully you will not befall the fate of those job candidates at B&Q who were asked to dance to “Blame it on the Boogie”!

     8. Develop rapport

    Show energy, a sense of humour and smile. Jean Smith, a social anthropologist says: "It's infectious, being positive and enthusiastic." Ask your interviewer questions about themselves and any issues the business is facing.

     9. Clarify anything you are unsure of

    If you are not certain what is meant by a particular question, ask for clarification. At the end, ask the interviewer if there is anything else he or she needs to know about. Do not be afraid to ask when you are likely to hear if you have been successful or not.

     10. Remember your manners

    It is better to choose than to be chosen. Tell the interviewer why you are interested in the company and job opportunity. Ask them for a business card and follow it up by sending a "thank-you" e-mail or letter, saying how much you enjoyed meeting them and how interested you are. Take the opportunity to detail the key advantages you bring.

    By following the three Ps - prepare, practise and perform, you can turn yourself into a candidate who would not look out of place on “The Apprentice.”

    Author: Kate Lorenz,  CareerBuilder.co.uk editor

    Posted via email from AndyWergedal

    10 Things a Career Advisor Shouldn't Do - Career blog - Position Ignition - taking you to the next step in your career

    Careers professionals, such as advisors, coaches, mentors, counsellors, and guides can be helpful, but, like everything else in life, they are good ones, bad ones and ones in between. If your careers professional does any of these things you know you've definitely got someone who is not the best at career consulting!:

    1) Says 'You've got 10 minutes' as you sit down and then spends the whole of that 10 minutes checking his watch.

    2) Listens to you pour your heart out as you explain your career issues and then replies, 'I don't see what the problem is, everything sounds ok to me'.

    3) Says 'I can't help you and I don't know anyone who can'.

    4) Tells you to lie on your CV

    5) Advises you that your ideal career is 'being famous'.

    6) Rolls her eyes when you tell her which career you’d like.

    7) Suggests you flirt with interviewers to get a job

    8) Makes your decisions for you.

    9) Applies for jobs on your behalf.

    10) Applies for jobs on your behalf without telling you.

    Here at Position Ignition we can safely say our Career Guides would never do any of those things! That's because not only do they have professional qualifications in the career transition field, they all also have a wealth of life and career experience under their belts. Their various skills and qualities equip them for relating to our clients as well as providing fresh, knowledgeable and objective perspectives. If you think you'd like to work with a Position Ignition Career Guide, get in touch and we can give you more information.

    Posted via email from AndyWergedal

    The Personal Branding Email Signature Formula | Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel

    How to get the most out of that often-seen personal branding space: your email signature.

    Create your well-branded email signature according to this formula. Required elements are bolded, the rest are recommended when relevant:


    Salutation,

    Name
    Tagline
    Title(s), Organization
    Association Membership
    Phone numbers (mobile/land/fax)
    Website/Social media profiles
    Image


    Where:

    Salutation – using your email signoff to only say goodbye is a wasted opportunity. Either use an expression that’s relevant to your personal brand or wish the person something positive. The best result is a combination of both that doesn’t sound too cheesy. In my email signature, I usually say “To your job search success.”

    Name – your full name.

    Tagline – your personal branding tagline.

    Title(s) – your current job title, your position within the organization you most associate yourself with, or just the (credible) way you want to be known.

    Organization – the organization you most associate yourself with, typically your employer, a professional association you’re prominent in, or your own company.

    Association Membership – any brand-related association that you are at least a member of, worth mentioning especially to people who are likely to recognize it (in the past or later in the future).

    Phone numbers (mobile/land/fax) – some people include both their landline and mobile/cellphone numbers, but that’s overkill- just put the one number you want to be reached at. If you have a compelling reason to include more than one number, put each on its own line with a label to indicate which it is such as “Tel: 555-1234″ and “Cell: 555-5678″. If most people who contact you are on Skype and you prefer it, use the Skype callto syntax so that calling you is just one click away.

    Website/Social media profiles – use the one url (at least) that most builds your personal brand. This might be your blog, your organization, or association membership profile (see above), social media resume, or one of your social media profiles. At minimum, list your LinkedIn vanity url.

    If you’re not sure which urls to use, list 2 or 3 but use a url shortener like 3.ly that lets you customize the shortened url (e.g. http://3.ly/jstwitter) while also counting the clicks so you can measure which url people clicked more. Check the click statistics after a month of usage and then decide which urls to leave in your signature. Like with LinkedIn, use your Facebook vanity url if you decide to include your Facebook profile in your email signature.

    Important: include ‘http://’ in each url in your email signature so that the recipient’s email software will automatically make the url clickable.

    Image – the brand-relevant image that best represents you, such as your personal logo, a picture of your latest book or other product, or even your avatar.

    Author:

    Jacob Share, a job search expert, is the creator of JobMob, one of the biggest blogs in the world about finding jobs. Follow him on Twitter for job search tips and humor.

    Posted via email from AndyWergedal

    NEW Launchpad: Career Search Strategy Guide | Career Rocketeer - Career Search and Personal Branding Blog

    Launchpad Vol. 3Career Rocketeer is proud to "launch" the third issue of its print publication, Launchpad: Your Career Search Strategy Guide (Volume 3).

    Launchpad is YOUR ultimate career search strategy guide, published quarterly with exclusive articles by the top career experts in the industry.

    Our goal is to bring you short, relevant and actionable advice to save you time, energy and sanity in your pursuit of your next job opportunity. Launchpad covers topics including: resume optimization, interviewing, personal branding, career search strategizing, relationship building, professional networking, the use of web 2.0 search tools, and much more.


    Advertise in LaunchpadFREE GIFT: Career Rocketeer is proud to offer you a FREE, downloadable version of Launchpad: Your Career Search Strategy Guide (Volume 1). Get your free copy today!



    Featured Experts

    This volume's featured career experts include (pictured and listed alphabetically):

    James AlexanderPaula CaligiuriCarol Fishman CohenJohn Crant
    Kristi DaedaMeg GuiseppiJessica HolbrookJulie Jansen
    Diana JenningsDan MillerDorothy Tannahill MoranFord Myers
    Cheryl PalmerChris PerryBrent PetersonTodd Rhoad
    Steve RothbergRick SaiaMiriam SalpeterBillie Sucher

    James Alexander, Paula Caligiuri, Carol Fishman Cohen, John Crant, Kristi Daeda, Meg Guiseppi, Jessica Holbrook, Julie Jansen, Diana Jennings, Dan Miller, Dorothy Tannahill Moran, Ford Myers, Cheryl Palmer, Chris Perry, Brent Peterson, Todd Rhoad, Steve Rothberg, Rick Saia, Miriam Salpeter and Billie Sucher


    Sponsors

    On behalf of Career Rocketeer and Launchpad, we would like to give special thanks to all of our contributors, but also to all of our sponsors. Without their time, expertise, and generous support, none of this would be possible.

    Posted via email from AndyWergedal

    Dress for Success: What to Wear in an Interview | Career Rocketeer - Career Search and Personal Branding Blog

    You’ve heard it before. Your first impression can make you or break you when it comes to a job interview. And when it comes to making a dynamic first impression, it’s key you dress for the job you want. Making sure you look the part not only packages you as a ready-to-hire employee, but it can boost your confidence as well.

    Here are five things to keep in mind when you’re choosing the right outfit for your big day:

    1. Err on the side of dressing up, not down.

    It’s important in a job interview that you stay more conservative and look like a professional so the employer interviewing you sees you as one. Stay on the safe side. If you’re a woman, wear a solid-colored blouse, black pencil skirt or dress pants, and black heels. If you’re a guy, put on solid-colored dress shirt, a pair of button-down dress pants and polished shoes. If you’re wondering whether you should also wear a blazer and tie, look at the industry you’re in. If it’s more creative, the blazer and tie probably aren’t necessary. But if you’re interviewing at an investment firm, it’s mandatory. And again, it’s better to be over-dressed than under-dressed; it’s pretty hard to grossly overdress (at least for people with a decent amount of common sense), as most employers really appreciate the respect you showed by taking your interview seriously.


    2. Good grooming is mandatory.

    You don’t want to look like you just rolled out of bed after a night of partying. Take the time to fix your hair, trim your nails, iron your outfit and make sure nothing is out of place. You want the interviewer’s focus to be on you and not your bad breath and bed head.

    3. Don’t distract.

    Make sure when you’re planning your outfit that nothing is distracting to the interviewer. Keep in mind that employers interview multiple candidates for each open position, and if they’re too busy focusing on your bracelets clunking together, they’re not going to pay attention to what you have to say. It’s also a good idea to stay away from wearing a strong perfume or cologne. You want to leave a lasting impression, just not the kind that smells.

    4. Keep comfort in mind.

    Just because you dress up, it doesn’t mean you should sacrifice utility. It’s not uncommon after a job interview to have a tour of the office, and you don’t want to be the girl who can barely walk in her five-inch stilettos, or the guy who winces in pain with every step from a blister. Make sure the outfit you choose is comfortable because once it’s on, it should be the last thing on your mind.

    5. Don’t forget the final touches.

    It’s ok to add a little personality to your interview ensemble in the form of accessories, and it’s essential if you’re entering a creative industry where personality is king. Just make sure that the creative touches you add don’t distract. If you’re a man, a nice watch could add to your outfit. If you’re a woman, a sleek purse or pearl earrings might be the way to go.

    Dressing for success isn’t all that difficult, and it could be a deal-breaker if you don’t pay attention to it. As long as you stay away from things that distract, lean on the conservative side and present yourself nicely, you’re positioning yourself for an interview that focuses solely on you. And if all else fails, turn on CNN or SportsCenter and copy what the anchors wear.


    Guest Expert:

    Brianne Burrowes is the editor-in-chief of CareerSparx, an online course that helps recent college graduates begin their careers. For more information, download their free 61-page guide on how to start your career and check out the CareerSparx blog. Prior to CareerSparx, Brianne was the editor-in-chief of the Montanan, the alumni magazine of the University of Montana. She is also the founder of IWantHerJob.com.

    Posted via email from AndyWergedal

    TheWiseJobSearch: Tracking Your Targets with Google!

    image In your job search, outside of LinkedIn, I believe Google can be your best friend online!

    Google has many tools that can make it easy to find and target the jobs and information you need to run ahead of the pack at the companies you want to pursue.

    Used wisely, some of these tools can help you find job postings, company news, contact information and many other valuable pieces of information that can help you set yourself above the crowd.

    Here are some ideas to consider:

    Do an X-Ray! Google allows you to use it’s search engine not only to search the entire internet, but also to do a search on a specific site alone. This is usually referred to as an “X-Ray” search. In your search string in the Google search box, you can simply specify the site you want to search, using a format like:

    You can then add whatever additional search terms you may want to add. For example, say you don’t have many connections on LinkedIn yourself, so you don’t get many results when you do a search within LinkedIn’s own search tool. Perhaps you are looking for a company contact in your job search… like an Engineering Manager at Seagate Corp. in the Minneapolis area. You could enter:

    site:www.linkedin.com “Greater Minneapolis” “Engineering Manager” Seagate

    Among many directory pages and others, you will also find the public profiles on LinkedIn of anyone that has “Engineering Manager” and “Seagate” in their profile that’s registered in the “Greater Minneapolis-St Paul” area. With more sophisticated parameters you can eliminate the non-profile results, however, this can get you started.

    You can also do an X-Ray search of specific companies you may be interested in pursuing, to find information on their sites that you are seeking… more on that next.

    Set up Alerts! Google Alerts are an excellent way to be made aware of new information that gets posted, as it occurs. Perhaps you are a Programmer that specializes in Java development and one of your target companies is United Health Group (UHG) in the Minneapolis area. You can set up Alerts to notify you of any news that gets published about UHG, and Alerts to let you know as soon as a relevant new position is posted on their site.

    For news, you can simply set up an Alert searching “United Health”, and anything posted anywhere with that string will trigger a notification to you.

    For jobs, you can set up an Alert using an X-Ray search of their site’s career pages. As an example, if you are looking for Java related position that they post on their own site for Minnesota locations you can set up an Alert string like:

    site:careers.unitedhealthgroup.com minnesota java

    Most companies post positions on their own site before they are posted on any external job boards, and many times they don’t post a position on external job boards at all. The notification you will get of the new posting will make you aware of it before most everyone else!

    You can set up as many Alerts as you’d like, for as many companies as you’d like, and with as many variations of search words as you’d like… be creative! You can also choose whether to have them emailed to you (as they happen, or once per day), or have them sent to Google Reader…

    Consolidate your information! Google Reader is an excellent way to keep track of all this information, and more. Google Reader allows you to keep track of new postings on sites you’re interested in following… like this blog! (Click on the “Subscribe to…” “Posts” icon in the right column of this page) It’s also a great place to direct all of your Google Alerts so that you can read and follow up on them all from one central place. Google Reader receives and posts information as soon as it’s found by Google and keeps you up to date without filling up your email box.

    Efficiently finding information from your target company sites, setting up automatic notifications, and reading all the relevant updates easily in one place makes Google an extremely powerful online resource for your job search that most job seekers don’t use. Be ahead of them all by taking advantage of the power available to you!

    Posted via email from AndyWergedal

    Subtle Ways to Tell Your Story in Your Resume » Blog | Great Resumes Fast

    A frequent theme of our blogs is limiting your resume to information that’s truly relevant to the position for which you’re applying.  You should feel free to leave off your high school job serving fast food or your college job working retail if you have years of subsequent work experience.  Also, listing only the achievements from your previous jobs can actually omit an important component of your career: your personal story.

    Many of the clients I work with put themselves through graduate programs years into their career, while they were working full-time.  This is no small feat!  If you know anyone who has gone to grad school while they were working, you probably remember that period of their life as one of high stress and limited play.  However, making this career move almost always pays off with greater career opportunities and a higher salary.  It requires (and displays) real ambition to return to school when you already have a job.  So, if you’re one of the many people who has done this, one way to highlight it on your resume is to stick it right into the job summary:

    Manager, ABC Company

    Managed a department of 20 employees.  Directed all sales and billing.  Earned MBA while working full-time.

    Many job seekers have also performed years of consulting services on the side.  Some do not include this on their resume, as they think of it as irrelevant additional information.  Not so!  If you have the business wherewithal to handle some amount of self-employment in addition to your regular job, that’s a valuable skill.  And even if you don’t end up getting the job for which you applied, you may just gain yourself a new client!

    Another way to spark great interview conversation is by including any education or work relevant to your personal passions or hobbies.  I’m not suggesting that you put “likes to play golf” on your resume, but if you’re good enough to have won numerous tournaments, that shows dedication and skill that most people don’t possess.  I recently worked with a woman who had taken more than 30 classes at her local culinary school over the years.  I jokingly asked her if her retirement plan was to open a restaurant, and guess what … it was!

    Ninety-nine percent of your resume’s content should relate directly to the position you’re targeting.  However, don’t be afraid to sprinkle in a few sentences that differentiate you from the other candidates in the pile.  After all, hiring managers want to work with interesting people!

    For more information about professional resume writing or to read more career and job search related articles visit http://www.greatresumesfast.com

    Posted via email from AndyWergedal