Resume Writing

Of all the questions that are posed to me often, the one that always gets me is “do you really think it is necessary to pay for someone else to write my resume? Couldn’t I just write it and have you critique it?” “Well, sure. If you cannot afford a full rewrite, professional advice is better than none,” I respond. (But, I ask you all now, is that enough?) With times changing and the added competitiveness of the job market, will an average or “good” resume be enough? I DON’T THINK SO… 

Take a look at another aggressive, courageous, and creative job seeker and you be the judge! Is the normal job search tactic enough?

BETTER SIGN OF TIMES

Rosa E. Vargas

Certified Resume Writer

Much information out there for Job Hunters / Careerist / Entrepreneurs. Here are a few blogs I found interesting and thought I might share with you. Besides, I am sure you are tired of hearing only from me… [wink]

(No priority to list order).

1. The Linked-In Blog:  I enjoyed the practical and sound advice provided ”The Getting Back-to-Business Checklist for Job Hunters.” If you have not established a Linked-In account/ profile, what are you waiting for? An online presence is an absolute must!

2.  About.com: This page contains links to many online tutorials, articles, tips. I found the videos (lower right of your screen) entertaining  while they provided effective interview strategies that I agree with.

3. Personal Brand Blog: Being a believer in the power of personal branding myself, I strongly suggest you read this blog. As I often tell my customers “set yourself apart by allowing your passion, unique talent, and differentiating quality to spill onto your resume, branding you superiorly qualified.”

4. Marketing Diva: I always enjoy this blog. It takes a Diva to recognize a Diva? Perhaps I should have called my blog the Resume Diva? Nah! I’ll leave it as is — Diva is a really difficult brand to maintain! Marketing Diva lives up to her brand. Check it out.

5. Career Management Alliance Blog: This blog is written by the members of an organization I belong to. You will find useful and expert information here.

6. Job Search Debugged: I learned about this blog via one of my Twitter friends. No nonsense advice as to what you can do to improve your job search efforts.  

Those are it for this week. Will keep you posted on others as I pencil in some time to read through the many blogs out there that I find interesting and relevant to the information I wish to bring you.

Best,

Rosa

Rosa E. Vargas

Certified Resume Writer

Taking a deliberate approach and calculating the time you spend job searching will help you keep your sanity, nurture a positive outlook, and will be a more effective way to conduct your job search. Here are a few tips to help you worry less and keep your spirits up during this tough time.

1. Schedule Your Job Search Time: Decide how many hours a day you will devote to searching for jobs online or via any other source. Yes, schedule it. Just like you had a job before, well job searching is a job. Of course, I understand that it will be a full-time job and that if you are in desperate need, it is difficult to relax.  All I am saying is take some time off.

Set your own hours (that is a perk); but do standardize those hours, and take a lunch break. Believe me that taking a pragmatic, organized, and healthy approach to job searching will yield better results. Speaking of organized, take a look at Jibber Jobber for a great career management tool that will help you keep your job search campaign organized.

2. Track Your Household Expenses and Set a Budget: Many people are afraid to look at the facts and don’t write down their expenses so the truth is not staring back at them. I tell you though, you must write them down your budget plans. Once you get over your initial shock (or maybe a surprising relief), you will feel much more in control.

Scrutinize your spending habits. If perhaps there is only one household income now and you find that your expenses are way too high– it is time to say goodbye to some unnecessary expenses. Don’t let this cutting down of expenses get you down; It is temporary. Also, schedule this budgeting and tracking activity (perhaps once or twice a week). You decide how often you will jot down your expenses, but when it is not time to track and budget — don’t do it. Take a bit of time for yourself, friends, and your family.

3. Workout:I know. I have a hard time with this one myself. But, I tell you this: It truly does help release stress and bottled up frustration (not that I have much of it).  In addition, it helps to decrease depression since your body has natural chemical releases of endorphins that are initiated when you workout. A simple walk daily or a low-cost exercise video you can followat home (Yoga? Pilates?). I am positive  your local public library carries exercise videos/DVDs. If you can find a way to workout in front of your computer, there are tons of exercise videos on You Tube. Personally, I enjoy Yoga Weight loss for Dummies . (Yes, it has worked. Thank you very much.)

4. Nurture Your Spiritual Side:Whether it’s appreciating nature, reading positive self-help books, or participating in an organized religion, feed your spirit. I recently received this PDF by email. I am sharing it with you hoping you find it enlightening. It was written by Janet White. Download Your Layoff the Law of Attraction

5. Network Cards: And of course, be prepared wherever you go with mini resumes (Network cards). If you need help preparing this, you know who to call! : - )

This is a time for all us to pull together, share ideas, and roll up our sleeves and work our magic. If you have any information to share with others, feel free to post. Everyone has been unemployed at one point or another. Perhaps you can share tips on how you are planning to keep your spirit up a bit during this challenging period.

Bless,

Rosa E. Vargas

Certified Resume Writer

Have you grasped the concept yet that you truly need an online presence? Be it Linked-In, VisualCV, Ecademy, Facebook, interview on You Tube, a web resume, whatever! Just get started promoting yourself online. Here, take a hint from Santa. Click on image below.

Regards,

Rosa E. Vargas

Certified Resume Writer

Online Resume Service

So you have your new resume, you have posted your ASCII/Plain Text resume to top Online Careersites, emailed your resume to companies in response to ads, but you still have not landed the right job and have not seen the number of opportunities you wish – let’s do more. 

Understanding that there has always been competition but even more so now, and so you need to plant seeds and nurture these job opportunities into fruition. Of course, professional resume writing will place you ahead of others who have not been so resourceful — but because of the current job search market, it is even more imperative that you network in person and on-line.

The following are some on-line sources that came to me from my Twitter friends. You will find their Twitter account name next to the link they passed on to me (in case you so wish to follow them; they are always very informative). Of course, you can also follow me!    

Keep a positive outlook, perform the necessary research, enhance your on-line visibility with a dynamic resume. Happy Holidays!

Helpful Job-search links supplied to me via Twitter contacts:

(Twitter contact: KrisColvin)

http://www.visualcv.com/webinar/

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/networking/a/linkedin.htm

http://jobsearch.about.com/od/jobsearchtips/a/bestips.htm

(Twitter contact: Lndseypollak)



http://mashable.com/2008/12/16/find-jobs/

Rosa E. Vargas

Master Resume Writer

Creatingprints.com

Another year has gone by and I am sure we can agree that it has been a pretty challenging one. I wish you all the best for the upcoming year and much like the state of our country, personally, we all have challenges we have tackle and overcome. One very common challenge right now is job hunting and securing our financial future.

Are you ready? Have you already revamped your resume and created a robust marketing tool? Have you created an on-line profile?  I have said it before, but I will emphasize again that you should utilize the Internet and strengthen your on-line presence. Writing a resume that lures your new employer is essential –but first, you must create an opportunity to capture attention! Job searching on-line is the new thing and you should not fall short of utilizing this new job hunting medium correctly. Please visit the links below which came to me via Twitter connections. Happy New Year Everyone!

Rosa E. Vargas

Certified Resume Writer

Creating Prints Resume Service

http://howtosplitanatom.com/news/finding-jobs-online/

http://abcnews.go.com/OnCampus/story?id=6510948&page=1

Are you thinking of changing careers in 2009 in fear of your own industry’s downturn? Before you commit to a new industry, please extensively research. According to Miriam Salpeter, Career Builder forecast a less gloomy job market than expected (check out her post “Best jobs for 2009″). She further references other great sources for career enhancement / job searching. One of the many things in her post that made me truly hopeful is the prediction that Green jobs will be in the rise! Great news for job seekers and the environment. Alright!

About Updating Your Resume for a Career Change

The following instructions will help you edit your resume for a career change:

1. Remove all the words (verbs, nouns, and phrases) that brand you in your current career. Of course, be careful not to remove too many nouns or your sentences will make no sense at all. Keep in mind that because resume writing is telegraphic, you don’t need complete sentences and so sentence fragments are acceptable (so don’t worry about the wiggly green lines in your MS Word doc.); however, you still must make sense. If you find you need to keep some verbs/nouns in, replace them with words less relevant to the industry you are trying to get away from. The ideal situation would be to use words that are closer in relevancy to your new career goal. But if you are new to this industry, this will be somewhat difficult to do; in that case, use more general nouns.

2. Create a Qualifications Highlight, Summary, or Strengths section. Before you get into your work history, since all your work history will be outside of this new target career, create a Highlight section so that you can list vibrant, action-oriented, and convincing sentences as to why you would be a great candidate for this new job. To create this section, reflect on why have you pursued this new career. Is there experience in your past that has prompted you to seek this career change? What skills are transferable into this new industry?

I love to create Qualifications Highlight sections because it allows me to bring my clients’ most qualifying information to the forefront, even if that experience happened a long time ago.Take a look at this nursing resume sample and see how key qualifications were introduced immediately: http://www.creatingprints.com/Resume-service/Review-Resume.html

3. Be brief about your non-relevant experience.The more you elaborate on achievements and experience not related to your new career, the further away from the ideal candidate for a career change you will become! Still, infuse your resume with achievements–just put a spin on it so your new boss can envision you working for them!

4. Be creative. Use a graphic, logo, design, style, fonts that will help create that new image. I am strong believer in creative, yet professional resumes. All my clients receive something visually dynamic. Occasionally, I will have a client who wants no color or graphics on the resume — yet, I still create something a bit on the modern side. Of course, content is king! And, I am not suggesting that the format replace the message. All I am saying is that dressing up counts. Take a look at this resume I created for a student with no experience in non-profit http://www.creatingprints.com/Non-profit-student-resume.html

I know times are a bit scary and challenging — the most honest advice I offer you is that you must be resourceful, creative, persistent, prepared, and try and keep a positive outlook. Below I have linked back to a few post from last year that will provide a bit more helpful information. If you have any questions, please call me at 407-802-4962 or email me at 

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Ok. So I am working on a post to help you all “grab the bull by the horns” or is it “pull the bull by its horns”? I can’t remember. You get my point. I want to help you take control of your job search. While I roll out this new post (hopefully by the end of this week); I wanted to offer my assistance, FREE. That’s right! Take advantage.

Let me know what obstacle you are trying to work out as you create your resume. What are you trying to hide? How can I help you sidestep it (politically correct way to say avoid). What are you trying to balance? Promote? Common, don’t be shy. I am here to help.  

So what can we discuss? To name a few: avoiding age discrimination, hiding gaps in employment, not enough experience, too many unrelated jobs, been fired many times, have been out of work for a long time, etc. Perhaps how to post your resume on-line? What format to use? How to increase your resume hits? I am all ears!

Rosa E. Vargas

Certified Resume Writer