========================================== "Achieve Your Dreams" - Volume 5, May 2004 ========================================== Greetings! Welcome to "Achieve Your Dreams", a bi-monthly newsletter for people with a dream - - whether it's accelerating a career, changing careers, building a business, securing a new job, achieving that long-desired goal, or discovering a new life vision and direction. Each newsletter will offer 1-2 noteworthy articles, a section on "Office Happenings" and "Helpful Resources", and some favorite quotes and sayings to motivate and inspire you. In this issue: 1. "Finding A Job on the Internet - Hype Vs. Reality" 2. "The Buoy Factor: How Mindset Can Support Or Sink You" 3. Office Happening (Office Closed Monday, 5/31) 3. Helpful Resources (Fun and Interesting Websites) 4. Favorite Quotes Feel free to forward this to those you believe would find it helpful. Feedback is encouraged and appreciated. If there is a specific topic you'd like covered, please send the suggestion to me via the e-mail address below. Enjoy ... ================================================ Finding a Job on the Internet - Hype Vs. Reality ================================================ Are you looking for a new job or consulting assignment? Will you be looking in the near future? No problem. Just post your resume on the Internet, sit back, and wait for the offers to come pouring in. That's the hype, anyway. The reality is quite different. In September 2003, the big job board, monster.com, contained more than 25 million resumes, but only 800,000-plus job listings. That's a ratio of about 30 to 1. Competition for jobs is stiff, even on the Internet. But that doesn't mean you should forget about doing an online job search. You could be putting your career at risk if you did, because, according to a 2002 iLogos Research study, 70 percent of Fortune 500 companies listed jobs on at least one of three major Internet job boards. So what can you do to improve your chances of getting a job online? Here are some tips to get you started. 1) RESUME FORMAT. Before posting your resume on a job board, read the instructions. Most boards require a plain text (also called ASCII) version of your resume that contains only the characters found on a standard keyboard - nothing fancy like centering or bold text. If you paste your word-processed resume onto one of these boards, the formatting will be lost or, worse, translated into meaningless characters. An ASCII resume, on the other hand, will retain its formatting and readability. Creating an ASCII resume can be tricky, so make sure you know how to format it correctly to maximum its effectiveness. 2) KEYWORDS. The resume you post online must have the appropriate keywords throughout it. Keywords are just the buzz words that describe the skills and experience relevant to your industry and profession, like 'accounts payable' and 'cash flow analysis'. Employers and recruiters use keywords to search for resumes, and yours won't be found unless it contains them. 3) UPDATE YOUR POSTING. When you post your resume on a job board, make sure you update it every week or two. You don't have to make any changes to the content; you just have to go through the update process to have your resume stamped with the current date. All else being equal, the resumes with the most recent dates will show up at the top of an employers' search results - and that's where you want your resume to be. 4) NICHE BOARDS. Although it's important to post your resume on a few of the big boards, don't stop there. According to a CareerXroads survey, 21.2 percent of Internet hires in 2002 came from other job sites, including niche job boards. To find a specialty board that's right for you, go to the websites of associations that represent your industry or profession. 5) CORPORATE WEBSITES. The largest number of Internet hires in the CareerXroads survey, 58.9 percent, came from corporate websites. To take advantage of this fact, come up with a list of companies you might like to work for and find them on the Web. Then submit your resume directly to every company that has an application form on its site. Most will want your ASCII resume but read the instructions to make sure. 6) WEB RESUME. Last but not least, try combining Internet tools with more traditional job search techniques. One powerful combination is to use a Web résumé (a résumé displayed as a website) with the networking method. Include the address of your Web resume on a business card and give it to prospective employers and other contacts you meet. If you spark their interest during your conversation, they will be sure to look for your résumé online. ==================================================== THE BUOY FACTOR: HOW MINDSET CAN SUPPORT OR SINK YOU (Part I of II) ==================================================== Buoys - those bright-colored objects that aid in nautical navigation - remain afloat, day in and day out, whether calm seas or rough waters. Buoys have two things in common. They float, and they are anchored in some fashion. What allows you to stay afloat? What are you anchored to? The Buoy Factor is a measurement of how quickly you regain your self-confidence and recover from discouragement. The operative word here is recover - not that you won't encounter days of discouragement (you will), but how fast you'll make a comeback (you can). To gauge your Buoy Factor, score yourself on each of the following items (scoring key: 1=True; 2=Mostly True; 3=Occasionally True; 4=Mostly False; and 5=False). Lately, I find that I am . . . 1. Feeling overwhelmed about what needs to be done 2. Lacking energy to do the important things or procrastinating about the important things 3. Dealing with stress in ways that aren't healthy for me 4. Forgetting what really matters in life; losing the ability to laugh at myself 5. Impatient with people; yelling at my kids or the dog 6. Over-reacting to things that aren't that important 7. Doubting my abilities or value 8. Fearful or anxious about the future; discouraged or lacking hope 9. Focusing more on the negatives than I do the positives in my life 10. Unable to give myself fully to roles as spouse, partner, parent, or close friend 11. So focused on one compartment of life that other areas have suffered 12. Not making the time or finding the energy to care for my physical needs (exercise, nutrition, regular medical checkups, etc.) 13. Lacking enthusiasm or inspiration; not involved in anything that excites, stimulates, or challenges me 14. Feeling isolated or lonely; withdrawing from people and situations 15. Lacking the support I need to accomplish my goals 16. Lacking calmness and peace of mind 17. Distracted by issues that I have no control over 18. Complaining about circumstances but not taking action 19. Blaming others for my circumstances 20. Having trouble being grateful for much Add up the scores for each line. A total in the 90-100 range indicates that your focus, energy, peace, and optimism are at a peak and you bounce back instantaneously. Your Buoy Factor is high - you're a beacon of hope and optimism for others. If your scores are lower than you'd like, do not be discouraged and do not disparage yourself. Instead, view them as a signal that it's time to act. The good news is that once you become aware of your mindset, you are in a position to do something about it. In the next issue of this newsletter, Part II of this article will cover what you can act on! ================= OFFICE HAPPENINGS ================= The office will be closed on Monday, May 31 in celebration of the long Memorial Day weekend. ================= HELPFUL RESOURCES ================= Here are some fun and interesting websites that I wanted to share with you... GET ORGANIZED: You'll find plenty of articles, tips and advice on how to get better organized, plus you can sign up for a weekly e-mail newsletter at www.getorganizednow.com QUICK AND EASY CONVERSIONS: Need to convert meters into miles, bytes into megabytes, teaspoons into cups - or make some interesting calculations - like the number of days until you can retire? You can do all that at www.onlineconversion.com BIOTECH CAREERS: Interested in breaking into biotech? Find over 1,500 top companies in the pharmaceutical and bio-technology industries that are hiring at www.biotechcareers.com NOT YET RETIRED: Not quite ready to retire, but looking to find more flexible work? This site contains articles, statistics, and links on defining new career options: www.notyetretired.com. =============== FAVORITE QUOTES =============== "Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get." -- Dale Carnegie "I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate." -- George Burns "A good hockey player plays where the puck is. A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be." -- Wayne Gretsky "There's always a way - if you're committed." -- Tony Robbins "Make sure you visualize what you really want, not what someone else wants for you." -- Jerry Gillies, American Author, Speaker "Do or do not; there is no try." -- Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back Enjoy the long holiday weekend everyone! In support of you, Jeanne ** If you would like someone added to this newsletter distribu- tion list, please forward their name and e-mail address to me. They will be added promptly. ** If you would like to be removed from this list, please reply to this e-mail and I will remove your name promptly.