• Resume Tips
• Action Verbs
• Focus

• Interviewing Tips
• Interview Q&A/ Company
• Interview Q&A/ Candidate
• Creating a Network

• Dealing with Change
• Choices in Transition
• 29 Things To Do
• Networking Tips

• Finding Your Passion
• Living Your Passion
• Hiring Qualities

TIPS FOR AN EFFECTIVE RESUME

Tips For Best Results On Paper

HEADING

• Include your name, address and telephone only.  Include your email account if doing searches online.  Never include your work phone. 

OBJECTIVE

• Know the direction you want to take your resume before setting it up.
• Clearly state your objective in short, concise terms. Be specific in what you have to offer vs. what you'll benefit from receiving.
• If you don't use an objective, ensure your resume has an overall theme.

SUMMARY OF STRENGTHS

• Summarize your relevant strengths, skills, qualifications and abilities.  
• Include "Key Words" in your summary relevant to your objective.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

• Acceptable employment dates include only going back 10 years (15 at most).
• Show experience that is relevant to your career direction.
• Show the dates for each employer. Month and Year or just Years.
• By listing no dates for employers, indicates you are hiding something.
• Provide highlights of your career accomplishments, showing progressive responsibilities, and responsibilities with results..
• Stay away from telling your life history. Sell the Sizzle!!!! Give the reader a reason to interview you.

EDUCATION

• Do not include dates on education unless recently degreed.
• If you have a degree, flaunt it. List degree, name and location of school.
• No degree? List education and training programs relevant to your objective.
• Education goes after your professional experience unless you are new college graduate or applying to academia.

OTHER HEADINGS 

• Show other headings for "Computer Skills," "Technical Expertise," "Licenses," "Associations," "Awards," etc.

REFERENCES

• List "References Available" as visual closure to the resume, ("The End").
• Furnish 3-5 references who are familiar with your career and will give you a glowing report.  Have these references available on a separate sheet of paper.
• Provide references at the interview, unless specifically asked to provide prior to the interview.

OTHER IMPORTANT TIPS

RECOGNIZE DATES EQUAL AGE

• Age discrimination still occurs, so be aware that dates equal age.
• Employers still add up how old your are based on when you graduated college.
• Seek employers who welcome your level of experience.  
• Do not show 30 years of work history or the year you earned your college degree if more than 10 years ago.  
• Let employers view your qualifications vs. judge you based on age.

USE ACTION WORDS

• Create verbal impact. Let the words jump off the page.
• Maximize the use of: managed, designed, directed, developed, implemented, prepared, created, coordinated, etc.

SHOW BULLET POINTS

• Use concise one line (maximum two line) bullet points describing a responsibility or career accomplishment.
• Limit the number of bullets per employer in proportion to the rest of your resume.

NO HOBBIES, INTERESTS AND PHOTOS

• Provide these only if it relates to the position or if the duties and responsibilities require it.
• An example is a school teacher with an opportunity to coach. Never include your picture unless you're a model and seeking a modeling position.

PROVIDE AN EASY FORMAT

• Keep your resume to a one or two page format, highlighting your strengths, skills and accomplishments based on the career direction you want to go. Create visual impact.
• Use easy to read fonts and keep to 12pt type.  Recommended fonts include Times Roman, Helvetica, Univers, Ariel, CG Times or equivalents.
• Keep margins at approximately 1" margins for effective use of white space.  
• Use a chronological format or a combination style of functional and chronological.  Never use a traditional functional style resume.
• Caution in using strictly a functional style resume, again, it indicates you're hiding something.

Please Note: The average employer takes less than 10 seconds to review your resume. Remember, more pages doesn't mean more review time! Many employers are now machine scanning resumes and searching your qualifications based on "key words."  Include "Key Words" for your Occupation / Objective.

Action Verbs

The following are highly effective action verbs to use on a hard copy of your resume to designate action and achievement.

• administered
• analyzed
• assigned
• attained
• chaired
• consolidated
• contracted
• coordinated

• delegated
• developed
• directed
• evaluated
• executed
• improved
• increased
• organized

• oversaw
• planned
• prioritized
• produced
• recommended
• scheduled
• strengthened
• supervised

WHY FOCUS IS IMPORTANT

So, you want a job, with a stable company, making good money! Isn't that what most people want? However, all to often we jump the gun and take a job just to have the income and lose the challenge and growth in the process. Hence becoming bored with the position soon after starting. Only beginning the job search once again, and time after time repeating the process.

By creating career focus, you identify the crucial sense of direction you want to go, ultimately finding the job you really want.

• Take a look at the entire picture of your life, from the day you were born until now. Find the common thread from birth to present day. Analyze your strengths, patterns, and of course, skills. What is the common thread?
• Find your passion. Can you follow your passion with conviction? Take a serious look at what interests you on a regular if not daily basis. What are those interests that you enjoy doing the most, on a regular or daily basis?
• Ask yourself five basic questions.
  1. Who do you want to work for (company or industry)?
  2. What do you want to do for them?
  3. When do you want to start?
  4. Where are they located?
  5. Why do you want to work for this company or industry?

The secret to creating career focus is once you have identified what you really want — only then will you be able to achieve it!

TIPS IN DEALING WITH CHANGE

Tips in Dealing With Change

• Change is a healthy process - Recognize that change is very good for us and is a regular part of life. Depending upon your perception of change, whether negative or positive, you choose how change will shape your future. Work toward shaping it into a positive direction.
• Separate you from your thinking - If you identify with your occupation, then you are less likely to associate with other titles in your life. Recognize and identify with the whole person not just the occupational title - you are not just the Vice President of an organization.
• Let go of fear - Fear is the number one obstacle that will control your overall positive self-perception of you. Fear will also paralyze you by interfering with your ability to achieve success. We fear change because it is an unknown entity. Fear driven individuals keep with the past because it's comfortable, and they know what to expect.
• Stretch outside of your comfort zone - This means taking risks! Most individuals are comfortable with certain risks until the comfort zone is challenged.
• Network! - Make use of all the contacts you've made throughout the years. With your existing contacts and any new ones, suddenly you have more opportunities available to you.
• Be persistent - Know when you cross the line of professional persistence, it can vary from individual to individual.

YOUR CHOICES IN TRANSITION

Most people in career transition encounter many obstacles in the job search. When asked, "What obstacles do you find in your way during transition?", the individual will respond with a long list of daily obstacles.

However, "are these really obstacles or opportunities?" Obstacles are merely opportunities in disguise — an opportunity to turn something negative into positive and shape your future.

The following are a list of obstacles offered to me by job seekers, with the corresponding recommendation to achieve opportunity:

OBSTACLES ARE OPPORTUNITIES

Yes! Obstacles do help shape your future. Your thoughts are your choice and can be very powerful regardless of whether positive or negative thoughts. In addition, with a positive or negative self perception, you create positive or negative choices when developing your self image and attitude — do you thrive or just survive? Are you recipient of opportunity or a victim of transition?

Turn obstacles into opportunities. Create positive thoughts as your choice. Address your self image (how you perceive yourself is how others will perceive you).

Understand the choices you make and the results they create all through the power of thought.

29 THINGS TO DO

When You Think You Have Nothing To Do!

When in a job search there are always things to do. However, we often get sidetracked and just sit and stare out the window. There are a lot of things we can do, like balance the checkbook or take a nap. But it doesn't get us closer to a new position.

How do we motivate ourselves? What can we do when we think we have nothing left? Whether it takes you 15 minutes or all day, it's your choice. Here's a list of 29 things that will help when you think you have nothing to do:

1. Call a friend or associate to have coffee with that you haven't seen or spoken to recently.
2. Have coffee by yourself at a specialty coffee store.
3. Listen to a motivational tape.
4. Call your network of friends and give a status report.
5. Call you agency network and get a status report.
6. Find a new company you've never contacted and call for an informational interview.
7. Read excerpts from an inspirational book.
8. Re-write your goals and list 5 new ones.
9. Develop 3 new daily affirmations and incorporate them into your existing list of affirmations.
10. Read the business section of the daily newspaper and find 2 new leads.
11. Locate a new contact for job referrals.
12. Critique your last interview: list 5 things you did right and 3 things to do differently next time.
13. Schedule or attend a new exercise class.
14. Walk an additional 2 miles that day.
15. Plan a weekend getaway with a friend to rejuvenate yourself. Actually make reservations.
16. Have lunch with a former co-worker who is now working for a new company.
17. Plan a few hours at a book store and find new books and tapes relating to your industry.
18. Develop a position you would like to have then find a company who will hear your proposal.
19. Write an ad for the ideal position you have in mind.
20. Call companies that recently sent "thanks, but no thanks" letters and follow up regarding future positions.
21. Go to a new networking function you've never attended before.
22. Have a picnic in the park with a friend and do a mock interview.
23. Practice conversations for salary negotiations.
24. Review your job search habits for new and fresh ideas and directions.
25. Polish your 2 minute commercial for when you first meet someone.
26. Practice creative visualization and visualize yourself in your new position.
27. Research your contact file, weedout, update, and make a new appointment.
28. Make a list of all the new businesses in your area and contact them for leads.
29. Plan tomorrow's activities!

NETWORKING TIPS

Networking is the #1 most effective way to finding any type of employment! We hear a lot about networking and it is absolutely crucial whether starting a business or in a job search. In today's competitive job market, 80% of the jobs are found through networking. But just what is networking?

Networking is making contact with the people you know and the people they know in order to obtain information.

Remember, when networking, you are not asking for a job, you are merely asking "who do you know that I should contact ...".

It's important to have a clear objective in mind when you're networking — be focused in your career direction:

• What occupation are you pursuing?
• What information are you seeking?
• Which companies are you trying to reach?
• What would be an excellent lead for you?

Be very clear and specific about this before you go to your next association or business meeting, networking event or cocktail party. The results will surprise you.

If you're not sure what you want, try saying, "I'm in transition and looking at different opportunities available to me," instead of saying "I just need any 'ole kind of job."

Use every opportunity to network. Networking is an ongoing process, even after you get a job, and it helps you obtain future jobs. Keep building your network.

Additional Networking Tips:

• Assume everyone is important, because they are!
• Play The Host in a room full of strangers.
• Develop your small talk conversation skills.
• Listen carefully.
• Introduce the person you just met to someone else.
• When departing say, "I've enjoyed talking with you, I'm going to continue to mingle."
• Always Carry Business Cards. Even if you're between jobs!
• Periodically follow up with people you've met with a phone call or note.
• Always say thank you for any leads or suggestions you receive.

INTERVIEWING TIPS

• Prepare a 2 minute commercial describing your qualities and experience in relation to the position you are applying for.
• If your resume was professionally prepared, know its contents thoroughly, and make sure you can stand behind the statements.
• Be prepared to answer many types of questions about your experience and occupation.
• Relax and Listen to each question being asked. Answer the question.
• If you don't understand the question or feel that it is legally inappropriate, say so.
• Suggest that discussions of salary not be brought up during the first interview.
• When asked about salary requirements, ask: What salary range have you budgeted for this position?
• Dress appropriately for your industry or occupation. Know when a suit is appropriate or inappropriate. Examples:
  • For women: a dress or business suit with basic accessories and plain colored hose are suitable, with a minimal amount of jewelry. A skirt and blazer or dress slacks and blazer are appropriate for more casual occupations.
  • For men: a suit and tie. For certain occupations, a blazer, dress slacks, dress shirt and tie. For some casual occupations, eliminate the tie.
• Be aware of your body language and what it says to the prospective employer. Look for eye contact, have a firm handshake, be aware of your facial expressions, movement in chair etc.
• Relax and emulate self confidence.
• At the close of the interview, ask for the job!

QUESTIONS THE COMPANY WILL ASK IN AN INTERVIEW

What is the company trying to discover?

• Tell me about yourself.
• What are your short or long term goals?
• What are your strengths?
• What are your weaknesses?
• How do you prioritize?
• What are you looking for in a position and company?
• What is it about our company that interests you?
• Describe the ideal job.
• Describe the most difficult boss you've ever worked for.
• What is your greatest accomplishment during your career?
• Describe your qualities as a team player / manager / etc.
• Where do you want to be in five years with your career?
• How do you plan to get there?
• What is your availability?
• What is your salary history?
• What are your salary requirements? (give a range)
• Be prepared to describe specific industry knowledge, computer or software experience.

QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD ASK IN AN INTERVIEW

Why would these be important?

• Describe a typical day
• Is there a job description for the position?
• Is this a newly created position?
• What is the reason for the previous person vacating the position?
• Was the previous person promoted?
• What is the potential for promotion?
• Where is the company headed in terms of growth?
• Any possibilities of a merger, buy-out or relocation?
• What type of training will I receive?
• What resources/tools will I have to do the job? Important to know, especially if you are a secretary or programmer and will share a computer or printer.
• To whom will I report?
• Will I be interviewing with the person I will be reporting to? (If not, why not?)
• What is the timetable for filling the position?
• What salary range have you budgeted for this position?
• How frequent are performance and salary reviews? and what are they based on — are they standard or weighted toward merit and performance?
• At the close of the interview, ask for the job! "When offered the position, I will be pleased to accept." Or a more direct approach: "when can I start?"

CREATING A NETWORK

Statistics show each person knows approximately 250 people. You can create the beginnings of your own networking file by listing the people you know in the following categories:

· Professionals — · employers · employees · vendors · customers · union members · professional association members · volunteer organization members · college alumni · other business associates

· Personal — · family · friends · neighbors · classmates · friends of relatives · business associates of relatives · doctors · lawyers · health club members · local business owners · parents of your children's friends

Remember, you are not asking your neighbor or anyone on this list for a job, you are asking "who do you know that I should contact ...".

Use every opportunity to network. Networking is an ongoing process, even after you get a job, and it helps you obtain future jobs. Keep building your network. Surprise! You really do have a network of contacts!

Lost your passion? Not sure how to find it again?

Here are tips On Finding Your Passion:

• Look at your interests with long-term vision.
• Develop forward thinking into the 21st Century.
• Recognize that we are a service oriented society.
• Advance your technology skills immediately.
• Exercise global thinking.
• Have a genuine concern for the environment.
• Identify your value system.
• Look for the common thread that intertwines throughout your life.
• Ask yourself: If I had the career of choice and guaranteed never to fail, what would I choose?
• Identify any obstacles including fear and note how those obstacles (especially fear) impact your success.
• Look at options, choices and trade-offs balancing career with passion.
• Be willing to take the risk to live and work your passion.
• Take action, embrace change and shape your future.
• Focus on what your passion is and move toward it.

Top 10 Reasons Why...

YOU SHOULD LIVE AND WORK YOUR PASSION!

1. Someone once told you NOT to.
2. No one else will do it for you.
3. If you don't, you'll regret it one day.
4. When you're kids are older, they'll thank you.
5. You'll be healthier.
6. You'll live longer.
7. You'll know your purpose.
8. You'll live and work within your value system.
9. You'll have peace of mind.
10. You'll have a reason for being.

What Hiring Managers Look For in a Quality Candidate.

These tips are a result of constant research on this subject as well as networking with Human Resource Managers:

• FOCUSED individuals!
• Who can add value to an organization
• Who are organized with their thoughts
• Who communicate well with thoughts, ideas and concepts.
• Who possess team spirit.
• Who exhibit flexibility in the job.
• Who display commitment to the job.
• Who are on time for the interview.
• Who do not complain in the interview.
• Who display no anger or resentment to past employer.
• Who display confidence.
• Who demonstrate ability to follow instructions.
• Who have an educational background or comparable experience.
• Who exhibit entrepreneur / intrapreneur abilities.
• Who demonstrate proactive vs. reactive abilities.
• Who offer creativity and versatility in the job.
• Who offer innovative ideas.
• Who offer leadership abilities.
• Who communicate well - oral, written and interpersonally.
• Who know how to work smarter not harder.