================================================= "Achieve Your Dreams" - Volume 19, September 2006 ================================================= 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. "Does Your Resume Need a Fall Face-Lift?" 2. Office Happenings (NEW! COMING SOON - INTERVIEWING DVD!) 3. Helpful Resources (Cool Tools for Internet Job Search) 4. Favorite Quotes Feel free to forward this to those you believe would find it useful. 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 ... ======================================= Does Your Resume Need a Fall Face-Lift? ======================================= With the arrival of fall, days spent at the beach with family are now memories sitting on your screensaver and the kids have turned their attention to school. What better time to review your resume to ensure it's consistent with your career goals and marketing you to its fullest potential. In fact, most experts recommend updating your resume from once a year to as frequently as every six months. As distasteful as this may sound (and, believe me, you wouldn't be alone!), there are several good reasons to make a resume evaluation and update a priority on your to-do list: 1. THE DREADED L-WORD IS MAKING THE ROUNDS AT THE WATER COOLER Layoffs. They've been occurring over the last several years and continue to be many employers' way of meeting the bottom line. Unfortunately, downsizing decisions are often based more on dollars and cents than the quality of the employees being let go. It may seem harsh, but you don't want to count on company loyalty or performance excellence to spare you if signs are pointing toward layoffs in your firm. So make a point of updating your resume while you're still employed and feeling confident in your skills and accomplishments. That way, you'll be prepared for the worst case scenario should it occur. 2. YOU'RE STARTING TO WATCH THE CLOCK If you're unhappy in your job and wondering if it's time leave, it's best to update your resume now before your dissatisfaction becomes too great. Over time, boredom or frustration at work can lead to severely diminished confidence in your own skills and performance. To attempt a resume update when questioning your own worth, even subconsciously, could result in a document sure to undersell you. So beat boredom to the punch. If you're starting to wonder if the grass might be greener elsewhere, don't hesitate to update your resume to reflect your skills and accomplishments while your self-confidence is still high. 3. YOU'VE EARNED BRAGGING RIGHTS Employers aren't simply looking for candidates who can do a job. They're looking for candidates who will excel at that job. So if you've recently completed a significant accomplishment, now is the time to feature it on your resume. Whether you've received an official recognition, completed a relevant training, carried out a large project, or overcome a major challenge, including your achievements in your resume will show potential employers that a job description is more than checklist to you; it is a springboard for initiative and success. Above all, make sure to update your resume while details of your accomplishments are still fresh in your mind. Don't allow the passage of time and its companion, fading memory, to steal your thunder. 4. WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS, IT OFTEN DEMANDS A QUICK TURNAROUND Employers usually don't have the luxury of a long, leisurely search for the perfect candidate to fill a newly vacant position, as the work the position requires doesn't stop with the departure of the person who occupied it. Consequently, rapid application deadlines are often attached to new job opportunities. Avoid the undue stress and lackluster results that rushing to update your resume could cause. Update your resume when you can do so thoughtfully and at a reasonable pace. Then make sure it's easily accessible, and in all the right formats, so you can swiftly seize opportunities as they arise. 5. YOUR RESUME IS OLDER THAN THE PERSON INTERVIEWING YOU Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration. But if you haven't updated your resume in a while, chances are it's displaying some tell-tale signs of neglect. So, blow off the dust, break out the red pen and start editing: - If your career spans more than a decade, it's time to bid adieu to any references to your sorority days or to that first job out of college and focus on more recent experiences that reflect your current career goals. Companies are typically interested in what you've accomplished in the last 10-15 years, so focus on that timeframe. And be selective about what you include - information that may have helped you land your last position might not be relevant enough to help you land your next job. - Make sure your resume includes technology and industry key words that are relevant to today's market. As well, you'll want to eliminate any references to outdated skills or industry terminology, especially in the area of technology. Unless you invented BASIC, it shouldn't be included on your resume. - Things that were once resume "do's," like references to hobbies and personal interests, are now absolute "don'ts" and should be removed. In fact, including information that was once standard resume fare, such as age, marital status, and health, could actually hurt your candidacy. - And, finally, by all means make sure that your contact information is current. Nothing will turn a potential employer off quicker than discovering the phone number you supplied is out of service or your email address is undeliverable. Whether your resume is in need of a little tweaking or a complete overhaul, make a point to tackle it in the coming weeks. Then promise yourself that you will give this portrait of your professional self the attention it deserves with yearly (or more frequent) tune-ups. When a new opportunity arises or a development in your current position necessitates change, you will be prepared with a resume that communicates a complete, up- to-date representation of your skills, expertise and accomplishments and showcases your value to a potential employer. ================= Office Happenings ================= COMING SOON! DVD - "10 Steps To Interviewing With Confidence" I'm thrilled to announce the upcoming release of my new DVD, "10 Steps To Interviewing With Confidence" - Your Guide to Acing the Interview. In this 60-minute video, with its comprehensive (over 65 pages!) companion Study Guide, I coach you on how to outshine your competition and get the job you deserve. Drawing on my 20+ years of experience in Human Resources and as a Career Coach, I capture the most common interview challenges faced by candidates and provide key strategies and step-by-step proven methods for overcoming those challenges and convincing a potential employer that YOU'RE the right person for the job. "10 Steps To Interviewing With Confidence" will teach you how to: "sell" yourself on an interview, answer the trickiest interview questions, tackle the dreaded salary question, manage the phone screen... and more. I'm incredibly excited about this product and can't wait to share all the details with you. Look for its release and more information in early October. FEATURED INSTRUCTOR - LEXINGTON ADULT EDUCATION Once again I'm honored to be a featured instructor for Lexington High School's Adult Education Program. This fall I'll be teaching two classes: "Networking Your Way to a New Job" - Tuesday, 10/24, 6:30-9:00 pm "7 Steps to Creating a Great Resume" - Wednesday, 11/1, 7:00-9:00 pm For those of you in MA who may be interested in attending, you can register at: www.lexingtoncommunityed.org. ================= Helpful Resources ================= COOL TOOLS FOR INTERNET JOB SEARCH A few years back, FlipDog.com pioneered a recruiting search tool that scraped the Internet for jobs. It was purchased by Monster and still exists as a decent tool to show candidates the availability of jobs by zip code, state, or region. New on the block are www.Indeed.com, www.WorkZoo.com (now www.Jobster.com), and www.SimplyHired.com. Indeed.com offers job seekers a simple way to search for jobs aggregated from more than 500 websites, including major job boards, newspapers, professional associations, corporate websites, Monster, and Craigslist. WorkZoo.com/Jobster.com is an aggregator of jobs from a fixed number of job boards, rather than a complete Internet search tool. SimplyHired.com has over 5 million job listings drawn from online classifieds and company websites. It also lets users filter their search by company type, such as Fortune 500, Working Mother's 100, dog-friendly, etc. =============== Favorite Quotes =============== "For the first time in the human experience, we have a chance to shape our work to suit the way we want to live instead of always living to fit in with our work... We would be mad to miss the chance." -- Charles Handy "It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult." -- Seneca (Roman Philosopher) "I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." -- Angus Grossart Enjoy the beautiful fall season 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 me via this e-mail address. I will remove your name promptly.