Whether the groundhog sees his shadow or not, you probably need to get your resume in shape! Here are some tips:

Content:

• Look at samples of resumes you like for content and appearance (I like the books by Martin Yate, Knock ‘em Dead Resumes, Knock ‘em Dead Cover Letters)

• Beyond what your responsibilities were, you want to include accomplishments—what did you do that will help this employer! Do that by quantifying your work. Every job can be quantified: What was the scope of the project? How many people did you manage? How large was the organization/department? How much money were you responsible for? How much money did you save? By what % did you decrease turnover?

Include:

• 7 to 10 years of work on your resume—the exception is if you want to return to work you’ve done prior to this time frame; then you will have to include those years and experiences.

• One to two pages is best

• Include your name and contact information on the 2nd page in case it gets separated

• You can include a separate Client List if you have been self-employed or worked as a contractor. Do this alphabetically.

• If responding to a job description, include words related to it. Read the job description carefully!

Omit:

• Graduation dates on schools (unless you are a recent grad)

• Hobbies and interests (unless it relates to this job)

• Marital status

• “References provided on request” This is a given.

• Be sure to spell check! This is important and if your resume is scanned for key words—misspellings will be ignored by the scanner!

Volunteer Work that uses your Skills:

• Choose these projects carefully—especially if you have a lot of time on your hands—organizations will all want you!

• It’s a way to keep your skills current and make a difference

• It’s a self-esteem boost!

Temporary Work that uses your Skills:

• You can register with one or more temp service companies—the general rule is go to an assignment, and do the best you possibly can in order to get more assignments.

• Some of these positions can turn into full-time (or temp to hire) positions.

Addressing Gaps in Employment:

• Be honest with yourself and an employer about the gaps—you don’t need to provide all the details if personal. Maybe you were a stay at home mom; maybe you were caring for an elderly parent; maybe there were health related issues.

• Volunteer & temp work are both legitimate work experiences to address some gaps in employment.

References:

• Include as a separate sheet, not in your resume.

• Be clear when you ask for references what you want them to emphasize. Check in advance that they will give you a good reference—don’t assume!

• Be sure to use the Recommendations in your Linked In to get and give referrals.

Review of your resume—by two different kinds of reviewers~

• Ask someone to review it who does resumes in general; Usually someone with an HR background is very good at this.

• Then have someone review it who is in your field of work or the work you want to get into! There might be key words or concepts you have missed, but they won’t.

• You have to like it! In the end analysis you make the call. If you are getting interviews, or you are getting good comments about your resume, it is working for you!

• It used to be you had one or two resumes and your Cover Letter was tailored to the job…that simply is not good enough in this job market! Your resume should be tailored to this job opening.

Style/Appearance:

• White space—leave margins and some white space—some hiring managers like to take notes on a hard copy of your resume

• Size of letters shouldn’t be too large or small

• Font (for a lot of text you want Times New Roman (anything with seraphs or ‘tails’ like a book or newspaper because it is easier to read).

• Arial or Verdana are sans seraph fonts and are better for headers or sections of your resume.

• If you are including a resume in an email, select plain text & use sans seraph fonts

Finally, use a good quality paper when you print it.

Perhaps my favorite quote on resumes is from Tom Jackson, who wrote Guerrilla Tactics in the Job Market: “Make it Beautiful!”

And so you should since your resume represents you!

The example she gave was a candidate being asked a question by the prospective employer. He replied with, “It’s on my resume!” Needless to say, this person did not get the job. I suspect this response might be indicative of frustration on the part of the candidate for what seems like the obvious: yes, it is on the resume.

Stepping back from this, it’s worth looking at why the employer might ask a question that seems so obvious to you as the candidate.

The employer–

1. Might not be very good at interviewing or didn’t review your resume in detail before the interview and is filling time by asking you this question.

2. Is interested in seeing how you answer the question and express yourself relative to what is on your resume.

3. May be looking to see that what you wrote in your resume is a match & is in sync with how you are answering the question!
   

 So here are some tips to develop the right attitude for your job search:

1. Refresh Your Job Search! Review the job description before you go on the interview and review your resume. Practice answering what seem like “it’s on the resume” type questions with a new approach. Try answering some difficult questions with a buddy or ask yourself these questions and say your answers while looking in the mirror. What does your face tell you about the attitude you are “reflecting” to the employer? Would you hire you?

2. Consider doing volunteer work related to the field you’d like to be in. It might boost your confidence and you might gain some new skills or use ones you already have. It will give you a “sense of purpose” while you do some good. Be careful not to devote too much time to volunteering if you can’t afford to do that!

3. Learn a new job-related skill—take a class in person or online. Check your library or Workforce Development Center for free courses or sign up at a local community college or your alma mater. Some temp services provide skills training, too.

4. Keep your spirits up—it’s likely the search may take longer than you’d like and maybe already has. Keep up your exercise and watch what you are eating…both of these will help keep depression at bay.

5. Learn to love your job rejects—they are a source of further contacts that few people use.

We’ll talk more about volunteering and handling rejects in upcoming blogs.

Here’s to You and a New Job Search Attitude in this New Year!

Here’s are some of the reasons to continue your job search in December:

1. You can get some appointments that are ready to go after the first of the year rather than lose some precious time. You will feel a lot better about facing the New Year if you already have some irons in the fire!

2. People’s calendars are full! Yours should be, too. I connected with a colleague last week who said the earliest she could meet was February. So getting those calls made now will put you ahead of the game before you have a January calendar that has lots of open spaces!

2. If you are looking to do some informational interviews (see Richard Bolles, What Color is Your Parachute?) now is a good time to schedule those 20 minute interviews with an employer over a cup of coffee. They just might welcome the distraction (after all, you are asking for advice, and who doesn’t like to give that?). You, on the other hand, will have gained information about making a better career decision, may learn of some potential job openings, and you will have made some contacts as well!

3. If getting started on a career change is important to you, you could also use this time with your local library, Workforce Center, community college or alma mater and see what is available for free on career search testing. If you start to sort some of this out in December, you’ll be ahead of the game come the New Year.

I like to think of the job search process as similar to the way people need to dress for cold weather–in layers! Start the layers of your job search by setting time each day to look at what you are doing to get clear on what you want to do work-wise, make the contacts you need to make, and keep the momentum going in the month of December!