Resume Revamp

Guest post by Natalie Joan (http://www.nataliejoan.ca)

So, when are you too old to include your high school accomplishments on a resume? I have been asked this question many times, but as I just finished a resume workshop with a group of 17-21 year olds, it is back in my mind. No, there was no one in my group who was too old to have high school listed. But what got me thinking was the amount of other experience a 20-year-old can have, whereas I still see resumes from people 30 years old or older listing high school credentials.

One of my first edits with most resumes is removing “high school diploma” from the education section. (Note that I said most, not all.) Basically, if you have a college or university education, the high school bit is expected. Why use valuable resume space?

You may have a trade or diploma which didn’t require you to complete high school, and it is a good idea to list this to distinguish yourself from other candidates. If you do, make sure it is not at the expense of anything else you could include. If you have been in the workforce for 10 years or more, you may have more relevant professional development to be included under education. Remember, space is at a premium on your resume.

What about other accomplishments from your high school days? If you are just entering the workforce, or while in college or university, by all means list your high school honours, awards, committee affiliations, and any other experiences you have gathered. You are still young, still building experience, and these pieces help to define who you are and what you can do.

Generally speaking, once you have achieved a new level of education, high school becomes less relevant. Once you begin to transition out of school (or into grad school) you should drop your high school experiences and focus on accomplishments made more recently. Employers are interested in your work related training and skills, not the fact that you co-edited your high school yearbook.

The same tips can be applied to your university and college experiences about 5-8 years down the road. Always list your degree or diploma, but your involvement with the student union becomes irrelevant once you have built up more valuable and recent work experiences.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Let recruiters, colleagues, and potential employers view files related to your job search—resume, cover letter, samples, images, presentations—without having to send email attachments or create an online portfolio. File-sharing service drop.io allows users to upload numerous files, links, and notes, and then share them via email or social networking outlets. Each “drop” is easy to set up, private (options include password protection and expiration date), and free.

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Guest post by Deborah A. Bailey
Coach Deb Bailey supports her clients as they transition from employee to entrepreneur (http://www.dbaileycoach.com; contact@dbaileycoach.com).

Are you growing frustrated with your job hunt? Or have you been procrastinating because starting the process seems too daunting? To see your search start yielding results, try these methods:

Focus Your Search
Sometimes job seekers don’t narrow their search because they think they may increase their chances of landing a job by applying for several types of positions. Since employers are looking for candidates who have proven skills that are in line with their requirements it’s usually not effective to apply for a job only because it might be a fit. Instead, focus on positions that are in step with your skills and your career direction. You want to be seen as an expert—someone who will be an asset to a prospective employer.

Update Your Resume
Does your resume have the right keywords? details about your present (or last) position? the job title you’re applying for? Look at job ads for the position you want and note what is mentioned in the job requirements. Use those phrases and keywords in your resume to increase the possibility that your resume—but only if they relate to your experience—will be found in database searches.  Often, if you are applying for more than one position, you should have a resume tailored to each one. Although some positions require related types of skills, you may want to play up certain accomplishments in one version or the other.

Spend Time Networking
In spite of the popularity of online job boards, most jobs are found through networking. When you network you can find out about jobs before they are posted—or connect with jobs that never find their way to the boards. Tell everyone in your network that you’re looking. If you don’t think that you know enough people, grow your network by attending business and social networking events. The point is to build relationships. As people get to know you (and you get to know them), you’re more likely to find out about opportunities.

Search Consistently
Set up daily and weekly tasks in your calendar to insure that you are on track with your job search. Follow up with leads and contacts, and set up a schedule so that you’ll follow through. Have a vision for where you want to go, and don’t be discouraged if it takes longer than you expect. With more people out in the market looking for jobs, there’s increased competition. Looking for a job is a job, and you have to bring the same commitment to it as you would to your job responsibilities.

Copyright © 2009 Deborah A. Bailey

For job seekers in particular, chatting up a roomful of strangers can be intimidating: Whom should I speak to first? How do I strike up a conversation? Though workplace experts stress the importance of networking while job hunting, many times it’s the tool used least by candidates.

At one time, I was put off by the concept of networking (and sometimes still am). To me, networking conjured up images of stuffy business people milling around Conference Room A at the local hotel, watered-down cocktail in one hand and a stale hors d’oeuvre in the other.

But then I realized my own power in the situation: I can decide how and where to network. My kind of networking is low-pressure and low-key, just people talking with other people. So I chose a professional/industry organization whose goal and vibe resembled my own (in this case, the women’s entrepreneurial group Ladies Who Launch) and started attending its events. And something terrific happened, I got to know the other attendees as people as well as businesswomen.

Lifehacker recently blogged about a talk on networking given by Alexis Bauer at an Ignite event. Bauer’s down-to-earth five-minute presentation, “How to Work a Crowd,” not only takes some of the worry out of working a room but also offers a how-to on getting that room talking.

VisualCV is the best easy-to-use option I’ve seen yet for converting a resume to, or creating one in, an online format. Plus, it’s free. The company’s Internet-based resumes support several types of media, including audio and video, and provide users with their own URL (e.g., www.visualcv.com/yournamehere).

For job-seekers who are interested in building an online resume but don’t know HTML and would rather not deal with the hassle of setting up a domain and Web hosting, VisualCV is a practical, nicely designed choice.

Guest post by Deborah A. Bailey
Coach Deb Bailey supports her clients as they transition from employee to entrepreneur
(http://www.dbaileycoach.com; contact@dbaileycoach.com).

It’s the end of the day and you’re feeling overwhelmed because you haven’t accomplished everything that you set out to do. So, where did the time go?

Even though we all get the same 24 hours in a day, we all might not be using that time as efficiently as we’d like. If you find yourself wondering why you’re not getting things done, it may be time to change how you’re managing your time:

• Don’t answer every call as it comes in. Screen your calls and return the lower-priority calls at a later time.
• Close your email program. Reading and replying to emails all day long is a major time-stealer. Choose two or three times during the day to check your mail.
• Keep a list of things to accomplish for the day and stick to it.
• Take time for breaks in order to keep your energy level up. Working for hours without clearing your mind will make you less productive.
• If you work from home establish boundaries. Don’t get stuck on the phone with friends or family who feel that if you’re at home you’re not working.
• Create systems to handle repetitive, day-to-day tasks.

If you plan out your day and create systems to stay on track, you’ll be able to accomplish more. At the end of the day, you can look back on all the things you’ve completed and not be frustrated by what’s been left undone.

Copyright © 2008–2009 Deborah A. Bailey

If your resume hasn’t been revised since MS Word 2003, it may be outdated in both content and style. The following tips can help modernize most any resume:

1. Add relevant links—your website, blog, online portfolio, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook—along with your contact information. These links should have a professional tone and be appropriate for your field.

2. Choose a format that fits your career goals—whether it is the time-honored chronological format, the adaptable functional format, or a hybrid of the two.

3. Back up personality traits, such as detail-oriented, with achievements.

4. Reach for good design. Be consistent in the style of your section titles (Education, Experience, etc.). Don’t underline. Use bold and italics sparingly. Use a single typeface in a few different sizes and styles.

5. Make it Web-ready. In addition to PDF and MS Word versions of your resume, create an ASCII (plain text) version to use when copying and pasting your resume into the body of an email and for posting online.