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A Reason for the Season or How To Keep Your Sanity During the Holidays
Typically most business leaders and entrepreneurs face the
same challenge everyone faces during the holidays--too much to
do and too little time! You need to keep your business
going, at least for the majority of December, yet you have...
Best Workplaces
The Best Workplaces report (Financial Times, April 28, 2005) notes many factors in common with Managing Creativity and Innovation.
Material reward is not the sole factor in determining satisfaction. Microsoft UK offers acupuncture and deep...
Creative People - Stop Going to Networking Events and Get More Business
A few days ago I returned from my annual National Speaker's Association (NSA) conference in Atlanta. The educational sessions were OK, the hotel was so-so, and the town was lacking in exciting things to do, but my experience was stellar. How is that...
Ten Reasons to Implement Choice Theory in Your Organization
What is Choice Theory (CT)? CT is a theory of the explanation of human behavior. CT has applicability to both a person’s personal and professional life. It teaches us about our five basic needs, how to meet those needs in a responsible way, and how...
Wrong Product? or Wrong Marketing? You Decide.
Many new business owners feel overwhelmed about what product to sell. Once they finally choose a product they start to notice every Tom, Dick, and Harry trying to sell the same exact product. Is the market over saturated? Probably not considering...
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Resume Success Factors--What Exactly is a Resume Anyway?
You know you're good...real good. The problem, though, is that you are struggling to demonstrate just how good you are on paper.
Ah...the resume. If you've ever written one you know what a challenging task it can be.
The Gregg Reference Manual tells us some fundamental facts about resumes:
* The purpose of your resume is to get you an employment meeting. An interview. Your resume will not get you a job.
* Your resume is not a medium for telling prospective employers about your long-term goals and aspirations. It is where you appeal to their hiring motivations by demonstrating what you can do for them, communicating the experience you have acquired and skills you have developed.
With these basic concepts in mind, let's summarize several other elements that your contemporary resume must include:
R = Review of your qualifications E = Essential information only S = Showcase your value U = You are Unique! M = Market yourself E = Effectively gets you noticed
-------------------------------------------- R = Review of your qualifications -------------------------------------------- What skills, education, or experience (paid or unpaid) do you have that make you the ideal candidate for the opportunity, industry, or career you are pursuing? These data bits are the building blocks of any resume. They are absolute musts.
Most self-written resumes do a pretty decent job of listing skills and education, but fail miserably in the Experience section. More on how to address this challenge when we get to the "S" below.
---------------------------------------- E = Essential information only ---------------------------------------- Your resume should not be a voluminous listing of everything you have done, everywhere you have done it, and every club or association you've ever been affiliated with. Chisel your copy down to content that is relevant to your target job/career path.
Suppose you are a marketing professional. Your memberships in the American Marketing Association, the Direct Marketing Association, and the Public Relations Society of America belong on your resume.
Your memberships in the local dog trainers club and the American Dog Owners Associaiton can clearly be left off (unless you are applying for a marketing position with the Humane Society).
------------------------------------ S = Showcase your value ------------------------------------ Value. Employers want to know specifically what value you can bring to their organization. If you earn an hourly wage, you are not paid by the hour -- you are paid by the VALUE that you bring to that hour. If you are salaried, you don't get paid by the month -- you are compensated for the VALUE that you bring to that month.
One of the most effective ways to communicate value on your resume is to address the burning
question, "Why should we hire you?" You must identify what specific contributions (that is, verifiable accomplishments) you have made at previous employers. This critical information is proof that you can do the same at your next job.
Showcasing you unique accomplishments is simultaneously simple and complex. It is simple because the best contributions are somehow related to the bottom line (money, profits). The challenge lies in how to reframe what you've done relative to increased profits, reduced costs, or productivity enhancements.
How can your resume show that you've helped previous organizations solve a specific problem, be more competitive, expand business, attract new customers, or retain existing ones?
---------------------------------- U = You are Unique! ---------------------------------- Your resume must be unique in content and in format. The information will be unique because, as mentioned above, you will have pinpointed those accomplishments that will set you apart from other applicants.
Unique formatting means not using those templates that came packaged with your word-processing software! A cookie- cutter resume will not do justice to you or your career. Bookstores are full of excellent resources with samples of compelling resumes to ignite your creativity.
------------------------------------ M = Market yourself ------------------------------------ A superior resume utilizes proven marketing concepts such as headlines (rather than boring objective statements). It stresses the benefits you have to offer (how you can contribute), not just features (what you were responsible for).
Catch the attention of prospective employers on the first page with a powerfully written Profile or Qualifications Summary. Resumes are initially scanned for roughly 15 to 30 seconds. If you've lost the reader's interest at the top of the first page, he/she will not read further. Your resume will go in the "no" pile.
------------------------------------------------ E = Effectively gets you noticed ------------------------------------------------ There is no such thing as a "good" or "bad" resume. There are only "effective" or "ineffective" ones. By weaving the concepts above into your resume, you can increase your odds of getting noticed by those with the authority to recommend you for the next step in the hiring process -- a telephone, teleconference, or in-person interview.
You know you're good...real good. You are now challenged to prove it on your resume.
About the Author
Peter Hill is President of Distinctive Resumes in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is a Certified Professional Resume Writer and is nationally recognized as an expert resume strategist. Peter publishes "Career Brainfood," a monthly career-related e-mail newsletter. He can be contacted through his Web site, http://www.peterhill.biz.
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Creativity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
Creativity (or creativeness) is a mental process involving the generation of ... Wallas considered creativity to be a legacy of the evolutionary process, ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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Creativity For Life |
An exploration of creativity in everyday life, with articles, quotes, reviews and other creative resources to awaken creativity in daily life. |
www.creativityforlife.com |
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AdCritic.com: Commercial Ads |
FROM CREATIVITY: Emerging Directors, Unite In the time it took to write this, three new directors popped up. Here are twenty to get acquainted with. ... |
www.adcritic.com |
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National Curriculum in Action - Creativity - |
Ordering Creativity packs: print and video materials. This website gives practical ideas on how to promote pupils' creative thinking and behaviour. ... |
www.ncaction.org.uk |
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Ten Steps for Boosting Your Creativity |
Experiments performed by the JPB Creative Laboratory show that watching TV causes your ... a weekly report on creativity, ideas, innovation and invention ... |
www.jpb.com |
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Category:Creativity Techniques - Mycoted |
This is a general category of Creativity and Innovation Techniques, ... I like to think of these creativity techniques as tools in a toolbox in much the ... |
www.mycoted.com |
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Creativity at Work: The interplay of business, art and science |
A resource for training and development in creativity and innovation in organizations. Has a newsletter, and some articles and essays by 'Corporate ... |
www.creativityatwork.com |
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Crayola Creativity Central |
Crayola Creativity Central offers kids arts and crafts ideas for rainy day fun. We also have coloring books and pages, art and craft projects, games, ... |
www.crayola.com |
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Pages tagged with "creativity" on del.icio.us |
All items tagged creativity ??? view popular ... Perspective for Creative Leaders · save this. by aromay to creativity business management ... 1 hour ago ... |
del.icio.us |
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Creativity Web - Resources for Creativity and Innovation |
Creativity Web Home Page Resources for Creativity and Innovation ... The Creative Process · Multiple Intelligences · Idea Recording · Your Creative Space ... |
members.optusnet.com.au |
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gapingvoid: "cartoons drawn on the back of business cards": how to ... |
So you want to be more creative, in art, in business, whatever. ... Companies that squelch creativity can no longer compete with companies that champion ... |
www.gapingvoid.com |
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Creativity Quotes | Creativity Quotations | Creativity Sayings ... |
Quotes on Creativity - part of a larger collection of Wisdom Quotes to challenge and inspire. Find Creativity quotations and links to quotes on other ... |
www.wisdomquotes.com |
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Ideas by Creativity Pool |
A free database with new ideas and possible inventions. Add your own, or bring an existing idea to life. |
www.creativitypool.com |
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CREATIVITY |
Creative problem solving depends on using the right tools, tricks, ... Search for the latest books on Creativity (or anything else) in the Quantum Books ... |
www.quantumbooks.com |
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Creativity Tools, Creative Solutions & Creative Problem Solving ... |
This page explains a wide range of techniques which can help you generate creative solutions to your problems. |
www.mindtools.com |
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The 6 Myths Of Creativity |
A new study will change how you generate ideas and decide who's really creative in your company. |
www.fastcompany.com |
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CreativeClass.org |
Richard Florida's "The Rise of the Creative Class" examines creativity and its effects on economic development. |
www.creativeclass.org |
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TIP: Concepts |
The relationship between creativity and intelligence has been always been a central concern of psychology ( Guilford , 1950). Much effort has been devoted ... |
tip.psychology.org |
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American Creativity Association (ACA) |
An incorporated non-profit organization promoting personal and professional creativity. Association membership is represented by four multidisciplinary ... |
www.amcreativityassoc.org |
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CREAX - Portal for creativity and innovation |
A resource for links on creativity and innovation on the web. A selection of 690 links is divided into 67 categories for the visitors convenience. |
www.creax.net |
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