Create a Rappin’ ResumeWritten by Barbara Snyder
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R - Review, rewrite, and re-read are three R’s in "Review Your Resume" step. Did you use action verbs, and were you consistent in voice used throughout document? Did you use a bullet format or other easy to read style that leads decision maker through "your story"? Did you use a thesaurus and choose each word wisely so that key words were not overused? Did you look at it from reviewer’s perspective? Would you be impressed by this document if someone sent it to you and you were decision maker? Getting initial information written out in previous step is not nearly as difficult or demanding as this self-reflective step. Take your time with this. A - Analysis and awareness of completed product is next area to be tackled. A basic checklist for this step includes: choose an off white, high quality paper; use a font size of 10, 11, or 12; choose a professional looking style font such as Arial or Times Roman; leave out graphics, underlines, and italics; and use spacing that is appropriate and pleasing to eye. This is step where you want to scrutinize overall look of document, asking yourself if it could be improved in any way. Never, ever, ever have any kinds of smudges, folds, corrections or other visible elements that detract from your resume. What would that say about you? Just remember neat, neat, neat. P - The final step of proofing and proofing again cannot be over done. One of most difficult things to do is find your own errors. You just don’t sea them. (See what I mean.) This is where you need to get others involved. Show final product to your spouse, significant other, trusted colleague, or your best friend. Pick any two. Ask them to be brutally honest. That is only way you will go away with a document that is as near perfect as you can get. Writing about yourself and expounding upon your desirable qualities and characteristics is not something a person does easily or naturally. Keep in mind that what employers want are candidates who have good communication skills, are honest, display integrity, have great interpersonal skills and are highly organized. A resume, if done effectively, can provide a prospective employer with positive impressions linked to attributes an employer seeks. Ask yourself one final question, "Am I trying for perfection in my resume?" Good! You should be because employers can tell if you are. Read more about writing a killer resume at http://www.sbmag.org/resumes Copyright usage: No permission is needed to reproduce this story. The About Author statement must remain in tact. We also request notification of where article is being used so reciprocal links can be considered. mailto:barb@sbmag.org
About the Author Barbara Snyder is a retired California Distinguished School Principal and Coordinator For Human Resources. She has a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She holds elementary education, secondary, community college, and administrative credentials. She is currently the publisher of http://EducationResourcesNetwork.com, co-publisher of Strictly Business Magazine, http://www.sbmag.org.
| | 5 Simple Strategies for Keeping Your Life StuckWritten by Mary Ann Bailey
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Taking Life (and Yourself) Too Seriously Most of us were raised to believe that key to success was hard work. Recently that belief has been revised to include hard work and very long hours. I would like to challenge that belief with another old adage: "All work and no play makes Jack/Jill a dull person." To keep our lives flowing we need to intersperse fun, laughter, and creativity with our work. We need to be able to take time to enjoy and reenergize ourselves without feeling guilty or irresponsible. It is during these times of rest and fun that our minds are free to dream and imagine. This is when we very often come up with solutions to our problems, new ways to hit life's curves balls, and new strategies to enliven and enrich ourselves. Living Life from Middle One of easiest ways to keep our life stuck is to live it from middle rather than closer to edge. Living life from middle means to remain safely in your comfort zone. It means to do things same way, avoiding change at all costs, and eliminating all spontaneity from your life. As boring as this may sound, it is way a majority of people live. And, as a result, middle is an extremely crowded place and it is very easy to feel stuck when you are there. By encouraging yourself to take small, yet consistent, steps toward "edge" you will find that life has much more room in which to move around. And edge is not as scary as you might think. As you begin to try new things, new perspectives will open up and you will begin to see more possibilities and opportunities. You will meet people who are also stepping outside their comfort zone and who can be supportive in your journey. As your life begins to open and flow, you will wonder how you ever stood living in middle. Falling Prey to Fear of Unknown Fear is a powerful emotion. It protects us and keeps us from doing dangerous things, yet it can also keep us from doing new and wonderful things. Most of us get a little nervous when we are not sure about what is around corner. Yet, sometimes getting our life unstuck takes a leap of faith and a strong belief that fear really does just stand for: False Evidence Appearing Real". Have you always dreamed about starting your own business, becoming a sculptor, or sailing around world? To give any chance to those dreams coming true you must face fears that are holding you back head on and put your trust in you and your dream. Will you be successful? Maybe yes, maybe no. But at least you have opened door to possibility of your dream coming true. If you let yourself get frozen by fear of negative things that might happen and never open that door, you will have no chance of realizing your dream and you will always be left with question of what could have been. Our lives, like rivers, will always experience a few log-jams. The issue is not whether we get stuck. The issue is how we get ourselves extricated from jam and get our lives flowing again. Becoming more aware of which behavior patterns are responsible for keeping us stuck is a great place to start that process.
Mary Ann Bailey, MC, is a life coach who works with people who are feeling stuck or out of sync in their lives. She specializes in helping professional women who are struggling with midlife career changes. Visit her website at: http://www.baileycoaching.com for free articles and resources that will help you get your life moving forward in the direction you want.
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