Five Purposes of Resume

Five Purposes of Resume Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, Master Resume Writer, wrote a great post titled I disagree with career experts who claim the resume has just one purpose. I have heard, and have probably written about, the one purpose for a resume: to get you into an interview.  But Jacquis post brings up some great points.  She says the five functions of a resume, in addition to getting interviews, are: Equips interview conversations. Focuses your career message and saves you time. Conveys your value to interview committee members. Supports professional reputation. Spurs deeper interview conversations. Check out her post for deeper thoughts on each of those. One of the most important things to understand about a resume is that the resume writing process is a process of self-discovery, understanding what value you bring to potential companies, framing your value proposition(s) in appropriate and compelling ways, and even gaining self-confidence that is grounded in fact. If you didnt get any of that from your resume writing experience, you might want to call a resume professional. Five Purposes of Resume Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, Master Resume Writer, wrote a great post titled I disagree with career experts who claim the resume has just one purpose. I have heard, and have probably written about, the one purpose for a resume: to get you into an interview.  But Jacquis post brings up some great points.  She says the five functions of a resume, in addition to getting interviews, are: Equips interview conversations. Focuses your career message and saves you time. Conveys your value to interview committee members. Supports professional reputation. Spurs deeper interview conversations. Check out her post for deeper thoughts on each of those. One of the most important things to understand about a resume is that the resume writing process is a process of self-discovery, understanding what value you bring to potential companies, framing your value proposition(s) in appropriate and compelling ways, and even gaining self-confidence that is grounded in fact. If you didnt get any of that from your resume writing experience, you might want to call a resume professional.

6 Ways to Manage Your Energy for a Maximum Productive Workday - Classy Career Girl

6 Ways to Manage Your Energy for a Maximum Productive Workday When people talk about productivity, most immediately jump to the thought that it’s about being more efficient with your time, and getting as much stuff done in as little time as possible. In my personal, honest opinion, this is a mindset that will not take you very far when you want to be productive in the workplace. Managing your time is important, but what’s even more important is that you learn how to manage your energy if you want to always be productive. No one says that you can’t work for 15 hours a day, but it is undeniable that such a tempo will quickly drain you of your energy, and if you’re drained and tired you’ll actually get less done because you won’t have the right kind of mental focus that you need when performing problem-solving tasks. Today, I want to talk about a few important things that you should look out for if you want to learn to manage your energy better, so without further ado, here they are. 6 Ways to Manage Your Energy for a Maximum Productive Workday 1. Sleep Napping Next to food and water, sleep is our body’s most vital resource, and if we don’t get enough of it our performance can quickly go down and our health can deteriorate. Most adults require anywhere from 7 to 9 hours of sleep on average, but it’s really important to emphasize that everyone is different in this matter, so whatever amount you need, make sure that you give your body the opportunity to rest adequately every single day. Alternatively, a lot of people succeed in having more energy during the day by taking multiple power naps â€" short periods of sleep between 5 and 30 minutes that can really help energize you and give your brain a chance to take a breather from all the hard work you’ve been doing. Try it â€" it works. 2. Exercise The less you expend your energy, the less your body will be inclined to spend it at all, so it’s highly recommended that you get some exercise in each day in order to combat this. Exercising daily can improve the flow of oxygen to your limbs as well as your brain, and it also releases the feel-good hormone dopamine, which is always a plus if you want to stay awake and be energetic. If you can’t find the time to exercise, then doing some deep stretching right after you get up and before you go to bed can do wonders for your energy levels. Fatigue can often come from a physical place, and if you’re stiff in the shoulders and back your body’s instinctive reaction will be to lie down, rest and relax, which is not always something you can afford to do during the workday. 3. Drink More Water Dehydration can often contribute to exhaustion, which is why it’s always a good idea to have a glass of water on your table. A recent study targeted a small group of 25 women and measured effects of mild dehydration on their cognitive ability and mood. The study proved even slight dehydration can contribute to a degradation in mental focus and a higher chance of headaches. It’s highly recommended to drink at least 10 cups of water every day, and if you don’t like the taste of water (like a lot of people do these days), you can opt out for natural, unsweetened fruit juices or tea instead. Just make sure that you keep yourself hydrated throughout the workday, and you’ll definitely find that you won’t get fatigued as easily. [RELATED: Sit Up Straight and Relax! Productivity Tips for Digital Nomads] 4. Frequent Breaks Research shows that people who take breaks every 30 minutes to an hour of their work even if it’s just a 5-minute break to drink some coffee, stretch your legs and get some fresh air â€" are far more productive than those who do not. Even as little as five minutes is enough for the mind to kind of let go of all that built-up tension. When you come back to your desk, you feel invigorated with new energy and focus and ready to tackle your tasks once again. 5. Make Your Work Fun A wise man once said, “Find a job that you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” And although that might be a bit of an exaggeration, if you can make your work into something that you genuinely enjoy, even if you don’t love your job, it’s going to seem like it’s a lot easier to do and won’t take as much of your energy. Having to do something that you know you hate and always reminding yourself that you do is very fatiguing and draining. If you can teach yourself to not do that and instead try to find a way to make your work fun, it‘s going to be much more enjoyable and you’ll find that it’s way easier to be productive this way. 6. Productive Environment I don’t know about you, but I can’t even think about starting work if my desk is a mess and I don’t have my morning coffee, among other things. I also have a problem focusing if there’s a conversation going on in the room, or if there are a lot of people that are constantly walking from place to place in my vicinity. So I remove all these distractions, I put my phone on airplane mode, I tell everyone that I don’t currently need to be present to vacate my office, and only then can I actually get to work. This is called creating a productive environment, and I believe that it is the key to keeping your energy levels up and being as productive as possible. Do everything you can create this sort of environment for yourself, and I promise that your productivity will skyrocket. Well, that’s about all the advice I have for you today. I hope that some of it was helpful at least, and wish you the best of luck in harnessing your energy and being productive every single day!

Metrics to Measure Your Personal Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Metrics to Measure Your Personal Brand - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career How well branded are you? One way to find out is to use metrics â€" something you can measure against. The metrics below dont necessarily measure how effective your personal brand is (go to a personal branding consultant for that), but they do measure your online visibility and engagement. 1. Do a Google search for a leader in your field. Try searching for their name, plus: [First Last] +blog [First Last] +article [First Last] +author This gives you an idea of how your content creation efforts stack up against theirs. It also shows what they’re writing about, and where they’re doing it. You may want to piggyback off their efforts if theyre publishing on popular niche sites you havent heard of. Next, do same thing for your name and compare your results. How well are you doing? If they have twenty more blog posts under their belt, set out to bridge the gap. Also, where are they showing up that you aren’t? 2. Use grading tools to measure your engagement. If you use Twitter, measure your Klout score. Compare it to an industry leaders score. If you have a website, measure your website grade with WebsiteGrader. Compare it to an industry leaders grade. Calculate your Google Grade. Compare it to an industry leaders Google grade. 3. Set goals for yourself. Now that you have tangible metrics to measure against, its time to set goals. You may want to set a goal like: I will post one new article on a website in my field every week I will comment on two blog posts in my field every week I will read the latest bestseller in my field and write a review on Amazon.com once a month Start small and work your way up. It’s   easy to gain momentum if you set concrete, achievable goals. The more you start achieving smaller goals, the more youll be motivated to continue onto bigger goals. Start getting out there in front of people in your field and demonstrating your value in a memorable way! Author: Pete Kistler is a leading Online Reputation Management expert for Generation Y, a top 5 finalist for Entrepreneur Magazine’s College Entrepreneur of 2009, one of the Top 30 Definitive Personal Branding Experts on Twitter, a widely read career development blogger, and a Judge for the 2009 Personal Brand Awards. Pete manages strategic vision for Brand-Yourself.com, the first online reputation management platform for job applicants, named one of the Top 100 Most Innovative College Startups in the U.S.

THE BEST WAY(S) TO LEARN

THE BEST WAY(S) TO LEARN ‘Learn something new every day’ is an old saying.   When a new topic comes up, are you all ears? Do you want to see the latest information about it? Are you eager to get your hands on it? Or do you look forward to talking it through? If you use phrases like these, you may have a preferred learning style. Do you know your learning style? Knowing how your brain processes new information can be the difference between struggling to learn and making it look easy. Figuring out how your brain processes new information can be the difference between struggling to learn and making it look easy Four Learning Styles Learning is an aspect of personal growth and career development that lasts your whole life.  Difficult work projects require new skills; a new hobby  can teach you a whole new way to look at the world. After years of learning and helping other people learn, I define 4 basic styles of learning. I can usually tell a person’s learning style by their words. Which is most natural for you? Learning by Listening: You like lectures, or someone telling you about a new idea. You remember spoken words clearly; sometimes you can even hear them again in your head. Reading is a chore that quickly puts you to sleep. You use phrases like ‘tell me more’ and ‘I’d like to hear about that.’ Learning by Reading: Unlike your listening sister, you can’t stand hearing someone drone on. Give you a written explanation and you quickly start absorbing. Words and concepts flow easily from the page to your memory. You say that you’d like to ‘read into’ a new topic, or ‘look at it in more detail.’ Learning by Talking: Listening and reading are too passive. You want to ask questions about the new idea and explain it in different ways until you understand it. Speaking clarifies the concepts. Your expressions of interest are ‘let’s talk about that’ or ‘I’d love to discuss it with you.’ You’ll settle for talking to your dog if she’s the only one available! Learning by Doing: Forget reports, lectures, and endless conversations. You want to jump in and try  it yourself as soon as possible. You might make some mistakes, but you learn quickly. Do something once and the knowledge is firmly planted in your brain. You use phrases like ‘rolling up your sleeves’ or ‘jumping in.’ All of the learning styles are equally valid; use your dominant style Honor Your Learning Style All of these learning styles are equally valid. You might even have a mix! My friend Karin is a mix of talker and doer; she’ll tell me a few times about something she plans to try, then go do it. I’m more of a doer, myself. Sure, I make a few embarrassing mistakes, but never the same one twice!   It doesn’t matter which kind of learner you are. Just recognize it, and use the knowledge to your advantage.  Listen, look, or talk about the comments you usually make, find your dominant learning style and watch your knowledge grow. Learning More About Learning Want to learn more about learning? There are websites, books, podcasts and videos galore. I recommend Barbara Oakley’s great  MOOC on Coursera â€" I took it and was amazed at how much useful, practical information I learned about learning. And it’s free.  (I have no affiliation -I’m just a satisfied and enlightened student). You’ll be learning your whole life. Make it easy on yourself. . Image credits. Main.  Learning.  

4 Steps to Successful Career Mapping - CareerMetis.com

4 Steps to Successful Career Mapping Source : res.cloudinary.comAlthough we’d often like to believe we’re in control of our destinies, the facts of life can sometimes say otherwise. We can plot and plan until the sun goes down, but sometimes the temptation to go with the flow and wash up wherever the tides of fate land us professionally can be hard to resist.However, this is not a habit that ought to be encouraged. Those of us who are willing to actively map out a career path and stick to the plan can enjoy a much more dynamic professional trajectory â€" that puts us where we know we should be â€" when we refuse to sit anywhere else but the driver’s seat.For anyone looking to take their career to the next level: don’t worry, you’re not alone. With the emergence of short-haul labor situations typified by modern developments in employment, many people find themselves stuck in an employment situation that’s less than ideal.evalNevertheless, it’s still possible to reap the benefits of an organised career plan that can provide a roadmap to your ambitions and redirect the narrative of your employment path on your own terms.Career Mapping in the 21st CenturySource : res.cloudinary.com Previously, creating a career map meant preparing a route through the winding maze that is the corporate ladder: setting a path from one department to another, whilst aiming for the appropriate promotions along the way, right up until retirement becomes a feasible proposition. However, these days things are a little less clear cut.Freelancing is on the rise, especially in the realms of ICT and startup entrepreneurship. People’s professional habits have taken on a much more individualised nature as more and more of the workforce migrates to the freelancing format.Whilst this affords more flexibility, it also makes it a lot easier to fall into a myopic cycle of gig work that doesn’t provide a great deal of constituent opportunities to develop a coherent blueprint to career development. Nor does it necessaril y leave one’s CV with many achievements that will make you stand out when it comes to applying to competitive positions.With that in mind, it is still possible to weave through this unpredictable employment landscape and stick to a progressive career map that can get you to where you want to be.Maintaining PerspectiveevalSource :res.cloudinary.comOne of the key factors to focus on in developing a practical career map is the ability to prioritise the right work in terms of one’s ability. If you’re working within a commercial undertaking and the opportunity presents itself to employ cooperation to get a task completed more efficiently, don’t be afraid to put your work in more capable hands.The aim is to avoid roadblocks at both a micro and macro level, to enable you to reach a level where you can engage with work professionally that better caters to your strengths. By releasing yourself from tasks that don’t suit your skillset you can expedite your career progression much fa ster.evalNot all career mapping will be a challenging affair, but it pays off to take a more lateral approach to handling your workload.With that in mind, here are four rules to play by when coming up with a practicable career map for your professional development.1. Make Your “Good” GreatSource : res.cloudinary.comMany of us have areas where we can excel without overexerting ourselves. Find out what you’re good at and build upon that foundation to become great.By playing to your strengths, you will find that it’s possible to develop yourself professionally with passion and enthusiasm, instead of banging your head on the wall trying to accommodate responsibilities that don’t suit your talents.evalYou’ll be able to do more with less effort and put yourself in a position where it’ll be easier to excel professionally.In addition, if you’re finding work easy, you’ll probably be making it look easy, which will make a better impression of assured confidence on others, es pecially when the time comes to take your career to the next level.2. Keep Moving ForwardSource : res.cloudinary.comBy pledging to develop yourself incrementally over a sustained period of time, you’ll find that you can generate tangible improvements in your professional situation without your efforts plateauing.Try and spend at least half an hour everyday broadening your outlook, whether it means arranging to network with a superior over coffee, or reading a book that’s relevant to your area.By maintaining constant pressure on yourselfto keep developing personally and professionally, you’ll improve in these areas over time, and won’t be so likely to plateau your development by trying to reach for the stars all at once.Slow and steady wins the race, so be sure to keep at it, and you may be surprised with the progress you’ll see eventually manifest itself.3. Visualize SuccessSource : res.cloudinary.comIt’s important to establish your own personal criteria for what you vie w as success. Are you interested in starting a business? Making a positive impact in people’s live? Assume leadership positions?Clarifying these in your own mind will focus your ambition and help you better work towards a more tangible end goal. Bear in mind that you don’t necessarily have to sprint towards your professional destiny all at once.Volunteering, moonlighting and otherwise pursuing your goals on the side can still be achievable alongside your current employment, and means that when you’re ready to make the next leap forward, you’ll be doing so from a position of strength and stability.4. Nurture Your Own Support SystemevalSource: res.cloudinary.comevalAs humans we rely on professional and personal relationships to help bridge the gaps between what we have and what it’s possible to accomplish. Simply put, the broader the reach of a trusted social circle you have access to, the more options you’ll have to execute on.Cultivate your interpersonal situation, and y ou’ll find you will get out much more than you put in with the help of a robust and positive support network. These relationships can often make the difference when it comes time to reach your full potential.The thing to avoid is becoming a passive observer of your own career arc. Keep the destination in mind at all time, regardless of how far off it seems, and the journey will fall into place much more easily.When it comes to mapping your career, determination, patience and vision will see everything eventually fall into place.

Key Words and Phrases That Get You Found

Key Words and Phrases That Get You Found Before you read this, you have to promise me that you will think of yourself as a business of one! In order to get the most out of this post, you have to be open to the idea that you are a brand- not a job seeker and not an employee. Most of the really good SEO information is written for businesses, not individuals who want to manage their personal SEO.   As you read some of the resources I list below, replace business with your business of one.   You will have to think about how the advice and recommendations would apply to you and I guarantee you, it all does! SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Here is how Wikipedia defines SEO: Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via the natural or un-paid (organic or algorithmic) search results. This term is used by techies, businesses, web developers, etc. and it MUST be a term you become familiar with. Embrace it because you want to be found in search results.   You want to be visible! Getting a baseline Google your name.   Put it in quotes like this your name Where do you find the first reference to something that is really YOU? Page 1, page 2, page 3??? If you need to rank higher in Googles Search results, go learn about  BrandYourself.com  in this article I wrote: Job Seeker: Get On Page One. Key Words What are the words you use most on your resume and in your LinkedIn profile? You can use a fun tool like wordle.net to get a visual of this. I saved my LinkedIn profile as a pdf and copied and pasted that into the wordle.net box to get this image of what key words appear. The words that are larger appear more frequently. If you would like to see the word counts in their raw form, while you are in Wordle, click on the language tab and look at the very bottom of list for show word counts and this is what you will see: Are these the words that you would expect a hiring professional to find you in their search? Thinking Like a Recruiter, Sourcer, HR Pro They do think differently than you and I.   Thats what makes them great at their job.   They know the correct key terms to search by to find what they are looking for.   Whether they search via their companys resume database, Monster, CareerBuilder, LinkedIn or just plain Google, you have to know, they are searching for candidates using specific key words and terms. Just read ERE.net, HR Bartender,  Workology  or listen to Drive Thru HR and you will see the frequency by which they are talking about tools and techniques for finding great talent and SEO comes up! Most importantly, they are your customer!   They are the ones buying YOU! It is important to understand what they are looking for and what they want! Your Next Steps: Get yourself to appear on page one  of a google search! Heres how. Discover the key words you are using and see if they align with the key words being used by professionals searching for the type of talent you deliver.

Skills for Writing a Resume - How to Outshine Everyone Else

Skills for Writing a Resume - How to Outshine Everyone ElseIf you're in the process of making a resume, then you know that to keep your job search going, your resume needs to be good. So, what can you do to make it? First off, if you're like most other people who aren't skilled at writing resumes, you need to go online and learn some basic skills for you to start producing quality resumes. Here are some of the basic skills you'll need to develop if you want to ace your job hunt.The first thing to understand about resumes is that the jobs you're applying for don't all have to be exactly the same. For example, if you're in the position of a teacher, you don't have to write a resume to apply for a teaching job. Likewise, if you're working as a salesperson, you don't have to write a resume to sell a particular product. However, you do have to write a resume to stand out from the rest of the applicants. So how do you do this?Begin by defining what you're looking for. This is an essential part of any resume so don't let anyone talk you into avoiding it. It's simply a statement of what you are specifically looking for in a job and this has to be conveyed to the person who will be reading your resume.Next, you need to get familiar with the format of a resume. It doesn't have to be long and boring and it doesn't have to contain all your personal information. What you do have to include is what you want the reader to see. There's nothing worse than finding a job you really are qualified for only to realize that the company's advertising tells them otherwise.One of the most essential skills in writing a resume is presentation. In other words, it's the things you say to the hiring manager or human resources person that determines whether or not they'll hire you. It's hard to say no to someone who is willing to pay your salary. They want your resume, so what better way to present yourself than by giving them a resume that tells them why they should hire you.Lastly, a great way to keep the writing flowing smoothly is to develop a business plan. Although it sounds fairly boring, keep in mind that the most important decision a hiring manager will make is whether or not you're a good employee. Even if it's not their primary reason for hiring you, you should include it anyway because it's something that everyone asks for on a resume.Whether you're trying to land a job in business, education, health care, retail, or any other field, you need to take into account the fact that not everyone looks for the same things. So no matter what field you're applying for, there's a huge difference between someone who can write a good resume and someone who can write a bad one.Do you have wild hair and a tendency to display it more than the rest of us? You can learn to control it if you want to make it appear on your resume. All you need to do is follow these simple tips for writing your own resume.