Simple Tips To Improve Your Resume And Cover Letter | Brand-Yourself.com Blog

I’ve had a few conversations recently with a wide range of individuals about resumes and cover letters, and I was finding a common theme: whatever the career services people at their school taught them is not really in line with what businesses are looking for today.

To be clear, this is not a knock or insult to the university/college career services department.  They have an enormous value to many students (the ones that actually take the time to seek their input and guidance, anyway).  I am looking to provide further insight into and clarification about a few key issues.

Having said that, I think there are a few areas they miss, or do not stress enough.  The resume and cover letter are about you, but are not just about you.  They are about how you are the best candidate to help the company.  It’s about making a match!

Cover Letter

• 3 Paragraphs – This may seem short to most of you but, for the most part, recruiters don’t want to spend their day reading your cover letter.  Three paragraphs is the perfect length.  First paragraph should be an introduction to you and the role you are applying for.  Second paragraph is to discuss your experience related to the role.  Third paragraph is to close strong with a lead towards an interview.  Do not send a full page cover letter.
• Keep it simple – Please do not give your life or career story.  Convey your message in succinct sentences that highlight your experience related to the role.  Do not write a 10 sentence paragraph either.  Get to the point and show your…
• Value Proposition – You need to convey why your experience makes you the ideal candidate for the company in the particular role.  Companies do not care how they can help you achieve your personal or career goals, companies care about how you will help them achieve their goals.  You may ultimately get a lot out of the opportunity, but that is not why a company will hire you.
• Include all of your contact information

Resume

• Mission Statement – Similar to how companies create their own mission statement, you should consider creating a personal mission statement.  This is a nice way to highlight your experience and provide a little insight into you.  A nice resource to look at is from Randall Hansen that provides a 5-step plan for a personal mission statement.
• Action Words – This is such an easy point but one that so many of us don’t do well.  The majority of us use passive words such as “participated” or “assisted” instead of true action words.  This may lead you to a little revision on your resume but it is a must to highlight the work you actually performed.  Consider the action words from SeekingSuccess.com to help get you started.
• Value Proposition – Again, you must continue to assert why you are the ideal candidate for the particular role.  Your resume should reflect the work you performed and how it relates to what the position you are applying is seeking.  You will probably need to revise your resume for each position to highlight the particular experience.  This is not lying, this is responding directly to each position and treating it like an interview question.

As you can see, value is the critical thread for both the cover letter and the resume.  However, value is most important to the company to which you are applying.  Express your personal interest and why you are the right person for the job but always focus on how you will make the company better.

Image credit goes to MinorityJobs.net

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Keith McIlvaine manages the recruiting social media strategy for a Fortune 500 company and is an avid networker.  He is a social media advisor, coach, speaker, blogger and an all around fanatic.  Connect with Keith on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.  (The statements posted on this site are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer)

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Encouragement For You

“I don’t measure a man’s success by how high he climbs but how high he bounces when he hits bottom.”

- Patton

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Dressing For Success For the Job Interview | EmploymentDigest.net

Your application and resume pleased the prospective employer and he has asked you to come in for an interview. You are confident that the interview will be a success except for one concern. What do you wear? You know from experience that first impressions are of the utmost importance. First impressions start with how a person looks. I have read somewhere that a first impression takes under thirty seconds to make.

What you wear to an interview is largely based on the position, the company’s preference, and your wardrobe. Dressing formally can give the impression of being rigid and uncomfortable if it is not what you are used to wearing. Dressing too casually can give the impression of laziness and that you really do not want the job.

Call or visit with an employee about the dress code and how strict the policy is. If it is not possible to get this information, then the best choice is business casual. Make sure the clothes are clean and ironed. Dress slacks and a button up shirt would be fine. Again, this would depend on the type of company it is. If you are applying at a lawyer’s office, you might consider wearing a suit and tie. Remember to use common sense. If you do not look good in green then do not wear green.

Always: – Be clean and tidy. Make sure your hair is appropriate for the position. – Many people are sensitive to scents so do not wear a perfume or cologne. Try to use unscented or lightly scented antiperspirant. People tend to sweat when they are nervous. – Cover as many tattoos as possible and remove facial piercings, including inside the mouth.

MEN: – Wear trousers with a button up shirt that has a collar. A sport jacket may also fit the bill. – Wear neutral colors such as tan, brown, or grey. – Even if you do not wear a sport jacket, you should wear a tie. – Black leather shoes are best. Cleaned and polished, of course. – Hands should be very clean with neatly trimmed nails. – Make sure your mouth is clean and breath is fresh.

WOMEN: – Wear a ladies business suit or a dress with a jacket. There is no need to show cleavage. – Wear neutral colors like tan, navy blue, grey, or burgundy. – Being stylish is okay but do not try to dress better than the position calls for. – Avoid tight revealing clothing, it shows disrespect for yourself and for those around you. – If painting your nails, stick to tasteful colors. If your kid sister likes the color then choose something else.

When choosing clothing, it is best to pick pieces that can be mixed and matched. This will give you more choices with fewer pieces. Once you have gotten the job you should gradually add appropriate clothing to your wardrobe. You would not want a promotion to pass you by because you did not look the part.

Searching for work is usually an overwhelming undertaking. With all the competition quantity usually needs to be coupled with quality to hit the goal. Take a look at Lowes employment for practical options as well as Lowes job application. Having sound information avoids wasting your time searching for what may work through having to look through what does not. Getting solid direction often will boost one’s chances of separating yourself from the competition.

The employment marketplace is always changing and the people who are able to change the quickest will be the people that get first pick in the greatest opportunities. Through the accessibility of information and the advancements in technology, searching for a job is not what it was.

By Timothy Mason. The rules have changed in a huge way and at the moment you have got to not only manage to deliver a total package of expertise and experience for the occupation but have got to also master supplementary expertise to even secure an job interview for the profession you want.

via employmentdigest.net

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Using A Macbook From An iPad With iTeleport

Since I saw the first real photos of the iPad and its gorgeous screen, I wondered how many developers would start developing VNC clients for it. I mean, back then it was pretty clear that the iPad’s screen was perfect to access your computer remotely, and it’s more than clear now that we’ve tested a bunch of applications to do so.

I’ve downloaded and tested many VNC clients for the iPhone and the iPad, and I think that many of them show good ideas and possibilities, but most of them fail in the most important aspect: providing a stress free and easy way to just show your computer’s screen on a mobile device, and interact with it. They overwhelm the user with tons of useless features but, fortunately, iTeleport is nothing like that.

iTeleport is now available as a universal app, so if you buy the iPhone app you’ll be able to install it as a native app on the iPad as well. I was a previous customer of the iPhone version, and I got the iPad update for free. Also, let me say this straight up: it’s not the cheapest app ever. It comes at $24.99 in the App Store, so think about it very well before clicking the buy button.

Read the Rest Here from AndyWergedal

What's Your Personal Network Worth To You? | Brand-Yourself.com Blog

It would be safe to say that most of us value the connections we have in our personal networks.  That’s why we make them in the first place, right?  Some people have even attempted to put a monetary value on them.  But take a minute to think about it. Do you appreciate the quality of your connections, or is it the quantity? Maybe you have thousands of connections and can send out a quick ping to the group and get many responses. That is one aspect of the power of social media! Or you could be focused in on a tiny niche, with less than a hundred contacts, but they are worth gold, each one of them.

Before we go any further, let me explain what I mean by “personal network.” For the sake of this post, let’s take it in the context of an online personal network. This may consist of your Facebook friends, LinkedIn connections, or those whom you follow on Twitter.

Now imagine what you would do if that entire personal network that you took some serious time to build it up, just, disappeared? Sound like a scary scenario? It might be, depending on how you look at it. The value of a personal network can be hard to put a tag on.

I just did something that may surprise many of you. I just set my social online personal network back to zero (yes, 0), and did it on purpose!

Here are my reasons for doing what some would call a bad move:

• Experimental – It’s taken me a few years to build up the contacts I’ve made on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. I’m curious to see how long it will take me to build it back up, and I might do it slower this time.
• To make a point (to myself) – That I won’t really miss that much. The details that are very important to me will still rise to the top. Cream always rises to the top.
• Quality over quantity – Think organic. I have some wonderful contacts and people I talk with on a frequent basis on the social media wave. They will probably be some of the first people/brands I add again. But there is no rush. I can always do an old fashioned email or phone call in the mean time.
• Gives me a fresh perspective – Everyone has their own method of social network contact discovery. For some it’s annoyingly uploading their entire address book to every site and hitting invite to all 800 of their contacts. Others it’s more organic, just let it happen. I’ve done both. I was almost stopped from doing any more invites on LinkedIn once because I invited so many people at once. I learned a good lesson and will never do anything like that again.

By the numbers

For posterity:

• LinkedIn – removed 401 connections
• Facebook – removed 306 friends
• Twitter – unfollowed 486

This post isn’t about me!

Although I focused a large portion of the post on my experience, and why I did it, I’d like to focus it back on you, the reader. You may be thinking a few things right now, but if you can take away anything take this. The value of your personal network is what you can offer to it. I am confident that I will rebuild my personal network even stronger than before, meeting new contacts along the way. I know this, because I am focused on adding value to it through quality over quantity.

Question: What can you do, today, to add value to your personal network?

About the Author: Mark is content with chinking away on the process of re-building his online personal network. He enjoys conversing on Twitter and growing and adding value to his network on LinkedIn. Mark likes how links come across in his Facebook news feed.

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Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom: Can You Lead Without Authority?

In a business world of shrinking hierarchies and individual contributors, one of the toughest challenges for the high-achiever is learning to lead without authority.  In my years in the workforce, I’ve been responsible for several large, multi-departmental initiatives with only a few direct reports to engage.  Here’s what I’ve learned through my own experiences:

Let your passion shine through

It’s hard to be critical of someone earnest, and if you infuse your communication with a genuine sense of excitement about the challenge ahead, your colleagues will naturally want to follow your lead.  Show them – through your behavior – why you got into this field in the first place, and what your experiences (good and bad) have shown you about what needs to be done next.

Appear humble

It’s bad enough when your boss has an ego that needs some serious downsizing, but it’s even less appealing when someone without power thinks too highly of himself.  The manner and content of your communication must demonstrate that you are pursuing this approach because it’s the right thing to do for the organization, not because you will receive personal credit or rewards.

Develop deep relationships

There is no shortage of psychology and business research out there showing that people like to work with individuals they like and to whom they can relate.  Before you attempt to lead your colleagues, get to them know first.  Spend time with them outside the office and show sincere interest in their personal and professional lives.

Help them help you

Your colleagues will be more likely to come on board if you make it clear to them why your idea’s success is tangibly tied to their own.  Take steps to understand the pain your colleagues are facing (an inefficient process, etc.) and create solutions that will make everyone’s lives easier.

Don’t be overcontrolling

Since you don’t have official authority, don’t get caught up in acting like you do.  Use your expertise to guide and support your colleagues, but release the need to micromanage every aspect of a project.  If you share your ideas and then allow your co-workers to take partial ownership of their implementation, they will gradually put more trust in you and the approach.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

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5 Reasons Why You Hate Your Job - Blog - Position Ignition - taking you to the next step in your career

1. You are bored out of your mind

You can do your job fine and actually do it pretty well but the fact is that it just isn't interesting to you any more! There is no passion, no motivation, no inspiration in the role. Nothing new really happens and you could do it in your sleep. Perhaps it is time to move on?

2. Your boss or manager has no idea what you do

Too many times is this the case that a manager or boss has no clue what you or the other team members are actually doing or what you are capable of. You will have annual reviews in which you do not receive any decent feedback or recognition for the good work and achievements that you have done. Is your boss too busy doing their own thing to notice the great work you are doing? Do they actually care about you at all? Is this the sign of a good manager?

3. You have gone as high as you can go

Have you reached a ceiling at this company? Will it be another X (too many to wait) years before the next promotion? When you have reached a stand still it is completely understandable to be de-motivated. Without any goals within reach or forward movement there can seem to be little point in continuing. When we feel like we have reached a block career-wise, many of us try to make adjustments to clear the block – find new momentum, new opportunities, new drives and options to enable us to progress. If we do not – we can get frustrated, bored or even depressed.

4. There is no reason, meaning or point to it

Doing a job that your heart isn't in can be very unsatisfying. You might be the best person in the world at doing your job but if it isn't purposeful, meaning and aligned with what you are all about – it will feel pointless. By 'what you are all about' – I mean, what you are really passionate about, what you care about, what you value and what you will find rewarding and purposeful work-wise.

5. It stops you doing what you really want to

If you have chosen to do a job that you aren't really passionate about or interested in – there is most likely something else that you would rather be doing. This is probably something pretty different to your current role and because your current job is taking up all of your energy, effort and time – you have probably grown to resent it and hence 'hate your work'. Given that we spend so many hours of our lives 'working', if we don't enjoy our careers and we would rather be doing something completely different – we are going to feel very frustrated and annoyed at ourselves and or the world for it being this way! So – why not take control of your career and make the changes necessary to do what you actually want to do.

The above summarise just a few reasons why you may hate your job. There are of course several reasons why you may hate your job and each person will have their own distinct set of feelings and reasoning behind it. However, what you might like to take away from this is that if you are in a job that you greatly dislike – you don't need to put up with it! Yes – even in this recession – there are alternatives and better options that will work better for you if you are willing to invest the time, energy and effort in getting it. If you want the perfect or dream job handed to you on a plate then forget it. If you are willing to get clear about the type of job, industry, role that is right for you and that you would find rewarding – then you have every chance in making that career happen. It's what we do everyday with numerous individuals. The results are amazing!

Author: Nisa Chitakasem - Founder of Position Ignition - taking you to the next step in your career

via positionignition.com

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