While recently sitting in a seminar on social networking, it occurred to me that job seekers have a tool today that didn’t exist a few years ago; Social Networking. With so many opportunities out there to increase your online presence, it’s crucial to make sure that your online presence is consistent.

Let’s face it, employers know about these tools and regularly use them to research candidates as part of the reference check. If you’re on LinkedIn and have a professional presence but have information about you on your Facebook profile that contradicts the professional presence you established on LinkedIn, employers may question your character.

So as to ensure a consistent social presence, try applying these tips:

CHECK YOUR PROFILE ON EACH SOCIAL NETWORKING SITE
Ensure you’re sending the same message about yourself by reviewing your profile and sharing the same information.

SET GOOGLE ALERTS ABOUT YOURSELF
This is one of the easiest and most effective ways to make monitor yourself online. This way if someone else posts something about you, you’ll receive an alert and can take action quickly.

CHECK WHO YOU “FOLLOW”
If you’re on Twitter, who are you following and who is following you? Check to see if you’re following industry experts relative to your field so it will be evident that you stay “in the know.” Also, are others who are considered industry experts following you?

CONTRIBUTE TO GROUP DISCUSSIONS
What kind of information or questions are you posting into various groups? LinkedIn and other web sites offer the opportunity for you to be in groups where you can ask and respond to questions. Build up your professional profile by asking relevant questions and providing helpful responses to questions that others post.

AVOID THE DESPERATION MOVE
I can’t tell you how many posts I have seen that say Professional (fill in job title) seeking job in (fill in area). Are there any jobs left out there and why won’t anyone hire me? I’m not sure if people who do this just don’t know any better, think they’re being funny, or are really that desperate. Let’s face it, whining doesn’t work for most people or in the work place, so avoid making a total desperation move like that. It’s ok to post your credentials and to alert your followers that you are actively seeking work, just be professional about it.

FOLLOWING THESE SIMPLE STRATEGIES will help you maintain a solid and consistent web 2.0 presence. If you don’t have an online presence there are many ways to go about creating one, but that’s another article.

Now that there are more unemployed recruiters out there than gainfully employed ones, they’re taking stabs at Professional Resume Writers. Some unemployed recruiters and HR professionals, and life coaches struggling for clients have even begun to supplement their income by writing resumes. So, in defense of all the negative comments out there, I’m posting my In Defense of Certified and Professional Resume Writers comments.

1. Two Words, Certified and Professional — For those of us who have taken the time to better educate ourselves in the field of job development, recruiting, and career coaching, we have chosen to specialize in a niche market; Resume Writing. Many of us with the words Certified and Professional to our credentials earn a minimum of 10 CEU’s a year, most of us earn triple that, better educating ourselves.  I agree, thanks to a growth in our industry, there are many Certifying organizations, but the good thing is that all of them require a review of the resume writer’s work, and we do meet specific standards. It’s obvious to even the novice professional resume writer whether or not one has used a template, and recognizing such would be an automatic, failure for certification.

2. Pricing: Many people argue that our prices are too high and that $400-$800 dollars is a sham. Well let’s say I make $550 from writing a resume and the job seeker lands a position that pays him $7,000/month. Interesting…I have to continue to seek out new “jobs” at $550 a pop while the job seeker’s job is over.  What’s more interesting is that your typical recruiter would make 20% of that $84,000 a year salary, making their cut $16,800. Why is everyone picking on the resume writer who lives client to client for charging a mere $550.00? If you ask me, we’re the least greedy of them all.

3. Personal Branding: Let’s face it, not everyone works at a Fortune 500 company. The majority of the employers in this wonderful country of ours are entrepreneurs who had an idea, developed it, and turned it into profit. I’ve worked with clients who had incredible talent and accomplishments but didn’t work for a “household name” company. Does this mean they have anything less to offer? Should I slight them because they don’t fit into a specific box?  I was recently working with an HR Executive who’s resume screamed strategic development, even contained the words strategic development in the top 1/3 of the first page, and a recruiter who didn’t bother READING anything other than the bold print, had the audacity to tell this client that they didn’t see any strategic development in the resume. My client was exasperated with this recruiter who actually called himself a professional.  How many CEU’s have they earned in their field in the last year? I bet, less than 25!  To all recruiters out there who only look at resumes for 5 seconds, be proud that I’ve made your job easy. I’ve put all the key information where you’ll see it.

4. Let’s call a truce: Look, I like recruiters. I have several friends and professional contacts who are recruiters. What their real gripe with Certified Professional Resume Writers is that we leave out all the negative stuff in an individual’s career. We’ve learned how to strategically hide the bad stuff and accentuate the positive. Recruiters should be thankful that Certified Professional Resume Writers can actually help them effectively market a candidate from an unknown company to a client. Why dump on us? We’re not the one’s charging 20% of an annual salary.

5. Recruiters and Professional Resume Writers should develop strategic partnerships rather than slam each other. I’ve developed several within my community. Recruiters could cut their candidate selection process time in half by talking with a local Professional Resume Writer and seeing if there’s anyone who meets their qualifications. Resume Writers love to see their clients get jobs, and I do everything I can to personally help mine. I actually network more for clients at a networking meeting than I do for my own business! How’s that for value add?

6. The competition: The competition on the internet for resume writing services is fierce. There are several frauds out there and I even went out of my way, for free, to try to assist someone who got ripped off by a company that profits millions off producing crap work. It made me angry that this firm charged her three times what I would have. Any search online regarding that particular company was listed in fraud and rip off reports.  That’s why when someone is considering have a resume written professionally, they should always look for minimum qualifications. I’ll even provide a few tips.

A. Check for CREDENTIALS and MEMBERSHIP from reputable non-profit organizations such as Career Directors International, National Resume Writing Association, Career Management Alliance, or Professional Association of Resume Writers. These are the most reputable and legitimate organizations. If your resume writer is not a member or credentialed from at least one of these organizations, keep looking. If a company says that they have certified professionals on staff, but requires exorbitant deposits and up front fees, keep looking. In defense of this, most Professional Resume Writers do require fees up front, however, you should be talking directly to the resume writer and you should have an idea of the strategy and process they use for the resume development. Are they personable, will you have an interview or telephone meeting with the writer, will they provide revisions as part of the initial service? Those are the kinds of things you should ask.

B. What kind of response do you get? I’ll admit, I can’t always answer my phone, but I do return my calls. Most of us in this industry are sole proprietors and we live by our reputation, service, and word. Ask us questions about the kinds of clients we work with, what are our specialties, and turn around time. Please don’t expect a turn around of 48 hours, it’s just not possible. Those of us who take our craft seriously take time, gather as much information about you as possible, and work several hours on your project. It doesn’t happen in 20 minutes, not by the kinds of resume writers I’m talking about.

C. Ask if they have works that are published. Please don’t think that if they haven’t been published in resume writing books, that they’re no good. I know many colleagues who are great resume writers, they just haven’t been able to find the time to submit works for books when people are soliciting for materials. Sometimes there are very tight deadlines for book submission and when our focus in on our clients, we just can’t meet them. I know that personally, I missed two deadlines last year because I had such a huge client load.

D. Ask when their last professional development was. If the resume writer you are talking to hasn’t participated in recent online training or at least a convention within the last 16 months, then find someone who has. Those of us who are Certified, Professional, and have thriving resume writing businesses take our education and training seriously.

So in defense of Certified Professional Resume Writers, understand that we are practitioners in a rapidly growing professional careers industry. We get lumped in with life coaches, executive coaches, recruiters, and fake resume writers. We are not magicians, we’re not super hero’s, but we do sometimes work magic and leap multiple barriers to employment. Our primary goal is to further advance individuals careers and if we have to charge between $400-800, or even more to do it, then so be it. Be thankful that we’re not asking for 20% of your annual salary.

When talking to clients on the initial front I can always tell who has done their homework and who hasn’t.  For instance, one client may say, “I may need a generic resume that I can use for sales, consulting, medical billing work, and launching a pet grooming business.”  Obviously, this makes no sense. Why would someone want to use the same résumé for sales, consulting, medical billing, and launching a pet grooming business?  Those are four completely separate types of work. 

On the same hand, if you’re talking to an experienced financial advisor and you say, “I’d like to participate in as many short term investment plans as possible. What kinds of get rich quick schemes can I get involved in?”  A typical response from your financial advisor would be, “There is no such thing as ‘short term’ investments and you’ll only get burned with ‘get rich quick’ schemes.” 

Typically, you’re going to listen to your financial advisor and decide he knows best and let him talk you out of doing anything stupid. Eventually you’ll come to the conclusion that get “get rich quick” schemes don’t work and that there is no such thing as real short-term investments.  So, now, as your professional résumé writer, I’m going to tell you, there is no such thing as generic résumés. 

So to answer my question – What do generic resumes and short term investments have in common? Nothing, because there’s no such thing.

Generic résumés equate to one thing; bad résumés with no clear target.  Résumé writers and career coaches will always tell their clients that the résumé needs to have focus, just as your job search must have focus.  It’s certainly possible to target a few closely related industries and create a résumé that can be targeted to those industries, but a “one size fits all résumé” will not be effective.  Even when clients are targeting a few different industries, I’m still going to advise changing the professional profile or summary, at the very least.

A credentialed professional résumé writer who is an industry professional will help educate you in the process of what an effective résumé should include and what kind of strategic approach will make the most sense for you personally.  All résumés will contain the basics, a professional profile or summary, accomplishments, and job history.  The writer can take many different angles in determining what the best course of action should be, for example, whether a chronological or combined résumé should be used and what kind of information to include in the résumé, but the result should be the same; a strong résumé targeted toward a specific profession or industry. Many writers today are even including branding statements or at least ensuring the résumé is branded for a particular industry. 

Why should we be branding résumés and targeting specific industries?  For the same reason some people drink Coca-Cola and some people drink Pepsi.  Different industries require different flavors.  Let’s go back to the scenario of using one résumé to target jobs in sales, consulting, medical billing, and pet grooming.  On a cognitive level, there are similar skill sets involved in all of these jobs such as communication, problem solving, and creating a course of action.  However, I don’t want a medical billing professional trying to sell me a mutual fund. I want a financial advisor to sell me a mutual fund.  On the same note, I don’t want a sales professional to groom my dog; I want a pet groomer to groom my dog.  We are looking for highly sophisticated skill sets and accomplishments within specific industries.  This is what distinguishes one professional from another. This is another reason why there is no such thing as a generic résumé. 

Let’s take the dog groomer for instance:  Here are some questions I would ask of the dog groomer, “Have you won any awards for your pet grooming? What percentage of your clientele are repeat customers? How many referrals do you get from existing customers? In what ways do you educate you customers about how to care for their pets?”

Again looking at the sales professional I would ask: “Have you won any awards for sales? What percentage of your clientele are repeat customers? How many referrals do you get from existing customers? In what ways do you educate your customers about the products you sell and compete against?” 

I realize these are the same questions, but I’m looking for very different answers from the job applicant. Also, the employer, or the person reading this résumé is looking for something specific from each answer. 

An award, regardless of industry shows a level of expertise that only few people achieve.

Repeat business shows that people like you and the product or service you provide.

Referrals show that others value and appreciate your products or services.

Educating customers shows a certain level of passion and expertise in your field and provides a value added service.  Résumé writers strive for the exact same thing.   

Typically, a generic résumé, which really doesn’t exist, can’t capture expertise in a specific industry, client appreciation, client value, or passion for what you do as a professional. 

It’s, well…generic.  According to The Merriam Webster Dictionary, generic means “not specific”.  If your résumé is “not specific” then the reader will be “not impressed”.  If the reader is “not impressed” then you will be “not a good candidate” and if you’re “not a good candidate” then you will be “unemployed”. 

Hopefully, I’ve convinced you to give up the idea of a generic résumé, which doesn’t exist, but let’s take it one step further. First, what kind of job do you think you will be applying for with a generic résumé (which doesn’t exist)?  Let’s say you look in the classified job listings under generic job and apply.  What will you do in this generic job?  Let’s take it a step further and try negotiating your salary for this generic job. What kind of salary do you think you’ll be able to command?  Perhaps just…generic.  I imagine that the salary negotiation will go something like this:

Employer: So what kind of salary are you looking for?

Applicant: I was thinking of something along the lines between generic and generic.

Employer: Hmm, I’m not sure we’re capable of doing that. How about generic?

Applicant: Can we throw in a generic signing bonus and generic benefits?

Employer: I’ll have to double check, but I think the generic pay, generic bonus, and generic benefits could work.

Applicant: Email me a generic offer and I’ll sign it on generic paper.

Employer and Applicant shake hands

Here’s a formula to highlight the point: Generic résumés = Generic jobs = Generic pay.

Is that what you REALLY want?  

Just because the job market is a bit tight right now, it’s important to keep your salary demands where they should be once you start negotiating the offer. Employers who are hiring, need to hire good people. It’s important to remember, that employers know what they can pay, and they wouldn’t be talking to you if they didn’t know what you were worth.

Don’t low ball yourself, just because you think that they company can’t pay. If you feel that their offer is low, ask how much room there is to negotiate, and find out where they can negotiate. I have had numerous conversations with clients who will accept a salary at a lower level because they’re afraid to ask for more because they think the company will go to the next person. It’s important to establish your needs too.

I’ve worked with many clients who feel like they’re caught between a rock and a hard place. They’re in a position where they desperately need a job, but stuck with an offer that’s too low. Other times they consider taking a position that might not be the best opportunity, or even yet, a career demotion. Remember this, if it’s right, you’ll know it. If the job offer isn’t right, you’ll only be second guessing yourself within a matter of months.  Perhaps you won’t be able to fully dedicate yourself to the position and will continue looking for another job. You’ve got to be fair to yourself as well as the employer. In some cases, you may find yourself unemployed again within six months due to unsatisfactory performance or voluntary resignation.

Ok, so I guess you need a solution, that’s what I always try to provide. The solution here is to perform an individual assessment of your career goals, determine the hard core values and strenghts that you bring to an employer, and place a fair dollar amount on yourself. Then you assess the company’s goals, how you fit into the picture, determine if the core values of the company match yours, and see if there’s a match. I’m not trying to over simplify this, I realize that there are many things that factor in to that; it’s not a black and white issue. The point to remember is that you need to know what you are worth, set your standards, and command the salary that you require for your level of experience. In a nut shell, keep your salary demands where they should be.

Thanks for reading,

Beth Colley, Chesapeake Resume Writing Service

Thank You Notes are a crucial part to the interview process that far too many people overlook.  Writing a proper thank you note following the interview can provide a much needed boost in positioning you over another candidate for a position. Some of the most often asked questions that I receive include What do I say in a Thank You letter? and How do I send it?

Let’s start with what should you say.

1. For starters “Thank you for taking the time to interview me for the (fill in the blank) position on (fill in the date).  Hiring managers are very busy people. When they are down a person or two they may be required to pick up the slack. Their time is extremely valuable.
2. Reiterate your understanding of the requirements of the position. This shows that you have a clear understanding of their expectations.
3. Show how you can meet their expectations while providing solid examples of how you have exhibited those particular skills and knowledge in real life situations; ideally professional situations.  Career changers should list examples of how they have demonstrated these skills in other leadership scenarios.
4. Draw on a connection made during the interview. Whatever connection you were able to make during an interview, whether it was a mutual friend, a reoccuring technical problem related to the job, former employer, alma mater, interest in a sport/favorite team, social organization…whatever; just draw attention to that connection or common interest.
5. Indicate level of interest — Caution, be original. Don’t just say you are very interested in the position…indicate why you would be a strong fit for the position. Show your level of experience and interest in the position by giving valid reasons as to why you are a good fit citing company culture, business motto, work ethic, or other valid reasons for your enthusiasm.
6. Keep it Brief — there’s no clear written rule on this, but in my opinion, 8 sentences should suffice.  They already should know all about you…you are simply showing gratitude for their interest in you as a candidate.

The next question I typically encounter is, How do I send it?  With so many methods of communication available to us today, what form is the most acceptible means of communication?? 

1.  Hand-written notes win the points with more experienced (i.e. the over 50 crowd) decision-makers. That’s not to say that managers under 50 don’t appreciate the hand-written note; I’m just saying, it’s a generational thing. The feeling is, people rarely actually take time to hand-write a note today because we have conditioned ourselves to using email for business purposes. However proper and more formal etiquette tout the hand-written note as always being best. *Note* Make sure the note arrives within 1-2 business days of the interview.
2. Email thank you notes are certainly faster. If you know the decision is being made within 24-48 hours my personal feeling is that time is of the essence. A well-written thank-you email is acceptible in any case, but if time is crucial, any kind of heart-felt thankyou is better than none arriving at all.
3. What about a faxed note? In my opinion, the fax could work, but it could look sloppy or not get delivered. I would say Email rather than fax, because at least with email, you can request a read receipt and in some cases, you might get a response back.

Hopefully, these nine suggestions for Post-interview Thank You Notes have provided some kind of clarification as to the process.  As always, thanks for reading.

I had the opportunity to share some advice with job seekers on a local cable access station in my area today. The last question in the interview was what kind of advice would I give to serious job seekers. The first thing that came to mind was to tell job seekers to build their network.

Today, more than ever, we have new ways to build a professional network. Professional organizations hold regular mixers, there are coffee shops on every corner for brief one-on-one meetings, and we have numerous online opportunities through social networking. I strongly recommend building your network utilizing these tools on all fronts.

In my opinion, personal one-on-one, face-to-face networking is always the best way to go. It allows people to get a true sense of who you are, how you behave in certain circumstances, and how candid you are during a conversation. If your job search is primarily local, I would be working diligently to get out on foot and meet people face to face.

On the other hand, if you’re doing a national job search, the online social networking front is going to be just as crticial as the face-to-face. My advice though, is to reach out and create as many personal contacts as possible. Use the resources that are available to you to improve your presence. I would recommend going ahead and using that telephone and reaching out to someone on a personal level. Schedule getting to know you conference calls with people whom you can contact in your online network just as you would schedule a one-on-one meeting at your local coffee shop. Heck, share a virtual cup of coffee while you’re sitting at your desk on the telephone. If you have a reliable web cam, microphone, and internet connection, why not schedule a virtual meeting using SKYPE or another online web conferencing service?

One of the reasons the virtual networking sites have taken off is because it allows people to get a deeper sense of someone that they don’t really know. If you want to leverage your linkedin network, see if it’s possible to schedule a telephone call with someone at a company on your “A” list for career prospects. I can’t imagine someone being able to provide a strong referral for a candidate that they haven’t even had a personal conversation with. You see, there’s still a sense of safety and distance in relying on a virtual network. There is still a disconnect. Sure they are real people and contacts, and yes, they might help you, but building a network is still about building contacts and relationships. Your network is still about who you KNOW. In my opinion, it’s still easier to get to know someone through face-to-face meetings and telephone calls.

So as I wrap up this post today, please understand that I AM advocating building your personal and professional network on as many fronts as possible. What I am EMPHASIZING is that a virtual contact is still very different from a live contact. Utilize ALL the skills and communication systems available to you today to continue to build your network so that you can make it a viable network.  

In light of the “new economy” as I like to refer to things, I think that it’s time we came to a new understanding about interviewing.  In the past, interviewing has been looked at as a “sales call” with the employer taking the “Why should I hire you approach” and the prospective employee taking the “Why you should hire me” approach. 

Today, I think interviews should really be viewed in the light of making connections.  Webster’s defines connection a few different ways, but I think the ones I will focus on today are “bond, link” and “relationship in social affairs or in business.”  So if you’re trying to establish a connection with an employer you need to create a bond, link, or relationship.  This could still be looked at in the light of a sales perspective but in this case it’s a softer sales approach.

This is going to be the most valuable thing job seekers can remember as the competition for available jobs increases in the upcoming months…relationships matter and good ones are valued.  My point here is that companies are now going to be scrutinizing candidates a little differently. They’re going to be wondering more along the lines of “how will this person fit in AND what can he contribute?” When companies are only looking at one side of the picture they may not be as choosy. Now they can be choosy and can ask the question, we know he can contribute, but can he work with ______________? (named employee around the corner) 

I think at this point, it’s going to be important for me to say, “be yourself.” Is it ok to be nervous? Sure, it’s natural, and homework still needs to done on how to answer certain kinds of questions and how to master the various kinds of interviews out there, but I think it will be more important now to say the kinds of things that will help people connect with you. Let’s take this approach.

Rather than rattling off about the successful things you have done in your career, ask some business related questions. “Has there ever been  a situation where it seemed like no matter what this company did, it wasn’t going to be able to please the customer?”  Hopefully the person would say yes, and go into detail.  Then when he is done with his story you say, “Yes, I had a similar situation when I worked at ______________ (previous employer) and here’s what I did to make it work.  Even though you’re sharing different stories, you’re telling stories; typically when stories are told, connections are made; when connections are made, people bond; when people bond, they form relationships. 

We’ve all been there…You pull up to the office, walk in the door, wait a few minutes to get to the person you’re interviewing with, go into the room, sit down, and then after you sit down and unbutton your jacket, they drop the bomb…”So tell me about yourself.” Ugh, that’s not even a question, it’s a statement, and if you do interviews; quit stating it. 

Ok, here’s a little creative amunition for handling it; the only place you will read it is here. You respond with “Wow, you know, there are so many ways I could respond to that…I have 16 years of sales experience and I’ve received numerous sales performance awards, but I’m really here today to find out what the employees at “Corporate Central” value most about this company.  I’ve been doing my research and I like what I see so far, but I want to know more because I could be making a decision that could impact several people. Have you ever felt that way before? ” Whoa! 

Ok, I can’t even begin to think of how an interviewer would respond to that question because it’s most likely never been asked.  They certainly wouldn’t be looking for it. The hope would be that all the person’s guards would go down and he/she would probably go into some explanation of how they felt when they were making a similar decision about their career. That might get them talking about all of the positive things about the company which made them want to work there in the first place.  Then you can ask, “So what has made you stay?”  Whoa! You want to know about them!

Do you see what’s going on with this tactic? You’re now interviewing them, but because they are talking about themselves, they feel that you want to know stuff about them.  To keep things on track, you can certainly interject with various accomplishments and say, “you know when I worked at Company XYZ, I had to overcome this huge problem with a project…and in the end here’s what happened.  But the … that I left out of the above sentence would refer to areas where you’re making connections that have universal themes to the person who is interviewing you. We’ve all dealt with difficult projects, people, had to make last minute changes…what you’re selling isn’t terribly unique, but the fact that you’re making connections is.

Thanks for reading,

Beth Colley, Chesapeake Resume Writing Service 

I can understand that with the increase of uncertainty in the economy and job security that people are cutting spending in all directions.  Cutting back on discretionary spending makes sense right now.  However, one place where you certainly can not afford to be bargain hunting right now is on career development and career service expenses.  Expenses made to improve your career options are a very wise expense right now. 

When you can invest money in your career, that is one place where you can be assured that the long-term rewards will pay for themselves.  Let’s say you’re in sales and there’s the opportunity to attend an all-day training event, but it’s around $700.  If you go to that sales training seminar and it’s one that you know will be good, that $700 you spend today will pay for itself many times over because you will learn new sales strategies and deal closing techniques. If you improve your skills in this area, then you will be closing more deals and earn higher pay outs.  That $700 you spend today could help you earn $17,000 over the next 4 months.

Investing in your career for professional services and career training can come back to you by at least ten-fold.  If you spend money on professional development, that is one way to keep your skills current.  Investing in your career is not like buying a new car. Any car will get you from point A to point B whether it’s a BMW or a Toyota. Both cars will depreciate in value and parts will wear out. It’s a constant expense. 

However, if you invest in your career wisely, your expertise will improve.  If you get better, then your value as an employee goes up. If your value as an employee goes up, you can get paid more. If you get paid more, then let’s face it, you could afford the BMW rather than having to settle for a Honda. 

Go ahead, make the decision to invest in yourself right now, it’s the only thing (other than fine wine) that can improve with age.

Thanks for reading,

Beth Colley — Chesapeake Resume Writing Service

When conducting a job search, I think a crucial strategic point that is often overlooked is goal setting.  We get caught up in this rut of work for pay and rarely consider our true career goals until something forces us to to do that, such as a major life changing event or a lay off.  Even in those cases, I find that most seasoned career professionals tend to go into panic mode and they forget about pulling out the typical road map that is required for a successful job search.  Here are a few strategies that I’d like to share with you.

First of all, set your goal.  If you could work for any one company what would that company be? Name the company? Why would you want to work there? Next, are there other companies that you know of that are similar to that company where you would be a good fit?

Next, build your network. There are so many job search tools out there that didn’t exist five years ago that will make building your network a little easier. As effective as online social networking tools can be, nothing replaces good old fashioned networking.  It doesn’t hurt to get out and pound the pavement, so attend the face to face networking events and join appropriate professional associations that offer networking opportunities and online job postings.

Third, promote your subject area expertise. You are now in sales and you are marketing YOU. By utilizing the various social media outlets available today, one can become recognized as an industry expert simply by answering questions and blogging. Perhaps I’m oversimplyfying this concept just a bit, but my main point is leverage your knowledge and earn recognition by using the internet technology available today.  Also, share your contacts with others. A referral given is a referral earned. People will help you when you help them.

Fourth, as you build your network, your reputation as an expert will grow, so as your network grows you will have more opportunities to share your expertise with others. 

I wouldn’t be able to end this post without saying something regarding the resume, after all I am a professional resume writer.  Since I’m talking about goal setting, you must target your resume to meet your employment goal. You’d be amazed at the number of people who just want a generic resume. There’s no such thing so don’t ask for one. Your resume must be targeted to meet your employment goals. If you have no specific employment goals then start over and find one.  A good place to start is by asking four and five year olds. Even most pre-school children usually have some inkling of an idea of what they want to be when they grow up, and they’re usually pretty noble careers. 

Seriously though, if you’re conducting a job search, evaluate your life, determine what your values are, set your goals, build your network, sell yourself as an expert, and get a great resume together. Then, market yourself in as many creative ways as you possibly can.

Thanks for reading,

Chesapeake Resume Writing Service  

It’s interesting in that I get most of my ideas for this blog from other people who call me for advice.  Recently a career coach called me asking for advice on how a client should manage the education issue.  This particular professional had a very successful track record in her industry, 20+ years, but no formal degree.  It’s a common problem that requires a simple, creative, yet honest answer.  Here goes…

First, rather than putting the heading “Education” on the resume re-name the heading.  Using something like Professional Certifications and Training works fine or use Professional Development.  Undoubtedly, you have some kind of professional training whether formal or informal.

Within that heading include your professional certifications. 

Next, separate out your professional certifications from professional development or training.  If you have taken various seminars, Dale Carnegie courses, or any of the other national training programs, include that as “Professional Sales Training – Dale Carnegie Institute”.  Please only include the course name and length of time of the training if it’s something notable or recognizable.  Xerox or IBM corporate training is notable and recognized world-wide.

If the bulk of your professional development and training has been through in-house courses, short seminars, or hands-on training, you can still make this training sound impressive.  First, calculate the estimated number of training hours you had over the last several years.  Then make a list of what areas that training focused on.   Finally state it in the resume as:

Accumulated more than 120 in-service professional training hours over a five-year period in the areas of team management, problem solving, sales, and communication. 

THAT my friends, resolves an age-old problem.  As always, I hope this advice helps.

Thanks for reading,

Beth Colley