Sample Resume & Career

It’s June 2009. Jobs in most sectors of our economy are scarce. If you are looking for a job, it is likely you’ve experienced your share of “thank you but no openings” responses. Or what’s worse, no response at all. You need a job now. “What is the point of setting up informational interviews,” you ask.

In more prosperous times, you might want to set up informational interviews for two reasons: (1) to gain information you need to help in your career choice; and (2) to make connections.

But, in this economy, it’s a buyer’s market and you are the seller. You want to use the informational interview process as part of your long-term job search strategy. Your goals should be (1) to build relationships for the future, (2) to ask for advice and contacts for your job search, (3) and to leave a positive impression. Here is how you start the process:

• MAKE A LIST OF PEOPLE YOU KNOW THROUGH YOUR OWN CONTACTS, CONTACTS FROM FAMILY, AND CONTACTS FROM FRIENDS, with phone numbers and email addresses (placing the information in chart form with a column for comments/ follow up.
• MAKE A LIST OF PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO MEET.
• PREPARE A SCRIPT TO TAILOR FOR EACH CONTACT.
• CALL OR EMAIL EACH CONTACT AND LET THEM KNOW: (1) your job status and area of expertise (or that you are a graduating student seeking an entry level position); (2) that you are looking for a position; (3) why you are searching; (4) where appropriate, the name of the person who referred you.
• TELL THEM YOU ARE NOT CONTACTING THEM TO ASK FOR A JOB, BUT RATHER TO ASK FOR 15 OR 20 MINUTES OF HIS OR HER TIME AT HIS/HER OFFICE TO TALK WITH YOU ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE CURRENT MARKET AND JOB SEARCH SUGGESTIONS.
• FOR THOSE CONTACT YOU REACH BY TELEPHONE, YOU SHOULD HAVE YOUR PRESENTATION AND QUESTIONS PREPARED IN THE EVENT THE CONTACT SUGGESTS THAT YOU TALK AT THAT TIME.

Keep notes of your conversations, follow up, and the contacts recommended. Then, send a thank you note or email. Include something you found helpful during your conversation. Contact each person to whom your contact referred you, going through the same process.

Keep an open mind, cast a wide net, and maintain a positive attitude.

For more information on informational interviewing, contact Randi S. Lewis, Founder, Resume Boutique LLC, at rlewis@resumeboutique.com or 410.602.2500.

© 2009 Resume Boutique LLC. All rights reserved. http://www.resumeboutique.com/

Blogs, facebook, My Space UTube, Twitter, Diggs, and more. Millions of people use social media outlets to share personal information, some minute-by-minute. To some of us, they have become addictions, like the “Crackberry!”

• Whether we are obsessively connecting on facebook or responding to Tweets delivered to our iPhones, we seem to forget - or disregard - the fact that we have no expectation of privacy in this manner of connecting.
• That’s particularly true when we are at work or looking for work.
• Last September, I gave job seekers eight tips for using facebook. Take a look. http://resumeboutique.blogspot.com/2008/09/no-privacy-on-facebook-8-tips-for.html.

Job seekers aren’t the only ones who need to be mindful of their postings. We know employers increasingly use these new technologies to check the backgrounds of job applicants. But, senior management also read blogs, monitor their facebook accounts, and follow Twitter. Clients and customers - the same.

• Have you ever written that you had too much to drink the night before and called in sick? Posted photos that could be offensive to others? Used profanity in exchanges with others? Probably.
• Have you thought about who’s reading your musings? That’s right. Co-workers. Clients. Customers. Are they laughing? Maybe not so much.

Employees and job seekers take note:

1. When in Doubt, Take it Out!
2. No bare skin photos or videos. That’s right. Lose the skimpy bathing suits.
3. No photos or videos of excessive drinking or partying.
4. No foul language.
5. No negative comments about co-workers, customers, or clients.
6. Remember, the standard is NOT what you think is appropriate. It’s what employers, clients, colleagues, and customers think.
7. Be smart. Keep your job.

Randi S. Lewis Founder, Resume Boutique LLC ~ 410.602.2500 http://www.resumeboutique.com/ ~ info@resumeboutique.com
© Resume Boutique LLC 2009. All rights reserved.

The word, “HEY,” is an informal way of saying, “HELLO.” When you are in the job search process, should you use that word to address your potential employer? Our clients have asked us that question more frequently in this competitive economic climate - particularly in the context of exchanging emails.

Always be safe. Address people as Dear Mr. or Mrs. You can’t go wrong with that. If your professional setting is much more informal, then use the words, “Hi” or “Hello.” To be sure, we asked employers who are on the front lines of the hiring process to tell us their thoughts. Here’s what five of them said:

1. Fifty year old lawyer and former Recruitment Committee Chair: “I am old school so my answer is no way.”
2. Forty-something Recruitment Manager for Professional Services Firm: “Using ‘hey’ to address an employer is too informal and an immediate turnoff. It leaves me with a bad impression.”
3. Thirty-something New York Casting Director: “I use it all the time, including in my emails to full-time job and summer internship applicants. I went back and looked at my emails after you posed the question and I noticed that most young people responded with a word other than ‘hey’ even when I used it as a greeting. I am fine with the word but I guess it’s more respectful to use ‘hi’ or ‘hello’ when you are not in the driver’s seat.”
4. Forty-something Medical Practice Administrator: “I absolutely detest when people use that word and I would find it very disrespectful if an applicant sent me an email addressing me with the word, ‘hey.’”
5. Forty-something Human Resources Director for Fortune 100 Business: “Hey is for horses. Don’t ever be that informal in the interview process and don’t write that in any email or correspondence if you want to work with our company.”

For more interview tips and advice, contact Randi Lewis, Founder, Resume Boutique LLC, at rlewis@resumeboutique.com 410.602.2500 http://www.resumeboutique.com/.

© 2009 by Resume Boutique LLC. All rights reserved.

Some businesses, organizations and governmental agencies are hiring. What you need to do is take your job search up a few notches. Make yourself standout.

1. Federal government jobs are on the increase. Check out http://www.usajobs.gov/ weekly. Search trade organization websites. Send your resume and a brief note asking for any leads to any one who might be in a position to help.
2. Pick up the telephone, Where appropriate call the contact person and try to introduce yourself. You can’t do that with federal government jobs but you may be able to make the connection in the private sector.
3. Polish your resume. One size doesn’t fit all. Try not to use a template.
4. Use Keywords. Study job postings online and create a list of common words and competencies used by the employers. They’re called, “keywords.” Place key competencies that include key words in a core competency section at the top of your resume just below a profile section that defines/summarizes your professional achievements.
5. Lock your fear of rejection in a box. Stop planning, revising, and re-writing. Perfect your resume and just start looking for suitable positions. Send your resume to headhunters that post positions.
6. It’s likely to take longer to find a position in this economic climate. Therefore, patience and determination are critical.

For a free resume critique, please contact me, Randi Lewis, at 410-602-2500, or by email at rlewis@resumeboutique.com.

© 2009 by Resume Boutique LLC™. All rights reserved. http://www.resumeboutique.com/

“Why?” you ask. “It’s the economy, stupid,” to quote a line often stated by President Clinton’s campaign officials when he was running for President in 1992. I know you live in an insulated environment and that most of your parents support you. But, the economy is contracting every day. In this economy, it’s hard to find work for interns when companies have less work for their paid employees. People are getting laid off from their jobs - more than 1.2 million in January and February alone. Some newer professionals are taking unpaid internships just to stay in the working world and in the hope that they might turn into paying jobs. I have completed resumes for many young people in that position, including 2008 college grads without jobs.

If you are fortunate enough to land a few interviews for unpaid internships, do your best, learn as much about the company as you can. Know WHY you want that job and be ready to discuss YOUR CAREER GOALS and how that internship aligns with those goals. There are no certainties that you will land that internship. After all, there are hundreds of students just like you lining up for those couple of jobs.

So, if you are telephoned on Friday from one of your interviewers who calls to give you the good news, JUST SAY YES!! And sound very excited and honored. You don’t have the luxury of sounding non-committal and asking when you have to let them know. You might find yourself in a situation where your offer is rescinded and given to one of the 99 people anxiously waiting behind you. That’s the real world. Operate from a place of gratefulness and you will do very well in this environment.

[Do I sound like your mother or father? I hope so!] Randi

By Randi Lewis

1. Carefully review everything posted on your Facebook page including postings by others.
2. Remove postings by others that may be funny to you (inside jokes) but could be perceived as immature or unsophisticated by employers.
3. Remove all photos and videos of yourself and others that are at all sexy or seductive (no low cut tops for girls; no bare chests for boys).
4. Remove all photos and videos of yourself and others that show excessive partying or the use of alcohol.
5. Remove all other photos and videos of yourself and others that depict anything that might offend your parents or their friends.
6. Remove all content (words) that contain foul or unsophisticated language.
7. Stop writing what you are doing or feeling at any moment (i.e., “Dave is hungover and not going to classes today”; or “This new Facebook layout sucks!”).
8. When in doubt, take it out!

Randi S. Lewis Founder, Resume Boutique LLC ~ 410.602.2500 http://www.resumeboutique.com/ ~ info@resumeboutique.com

© Resume Boutique LLC 2008. All rights reserved.

• By Randi S. Lewis, Executive Resume Writer and President of Resume Boutique LLC

Executives at all levels need powerful, up-to-date resumes in substance and in format. But more often than not, some of the most accomplished CEO’s, VP’s, Directors and others in top management don’t. And when another business opportunity presents itself, they often send their current resume - the format of which they haven’t updated in 8 years, 10, years, 15 years, 20 years - to a retained executive search firm that posted the position.

Twenty years ago, we used personal typewriters. Fifteen years ago, Word Perfect was the program of choice. Now most of us use an updated version of Microsoft Word and we’ve become more sophisticated in our ability to market everything, including people. Even if their credentials get them past the search consultant, the resume is unlikely to wow their true target audience: the entity looking for top talent.

Other top executives have skeletal resumes, relying instead on their biographies written by their company’s marketing departments. Bios are different from resumes. We’ve worked with many top executives who have submitted bios in applying for corporate positions only to be asked to submit a resume. Then they search the web for a company to help with their resume. We believe that’s not the best time to be looking for a skilled resume writer.

Below are ten executive resume tips from Resume Boutique:

1. Hire a professional to revise your current resume and to draft or punch up your company bio at the same time. It’s easier for someone else to tout your accomplishments and be a bit more bold about them.
2. Talk with the actual resume writer - the person who will be revising or drafting your resume - before you engage the company to determine her/his:– Process for working on your resume.
   – General comments on the current resume and what types of changes she/he anticipates.
   – The total cost and the precise services you will receive [e.g.: are cover letters or other ancillary documents included; is there any period of time for free updates or consultation after the resume is completed; the charge for a resume and a bio].
   – Establish a comfort level with the writer. Use your instincts to determine if this writer is the right one for you.
3. Once you have an updated and professional format of your resume and your bio, it will be ready at a minute’s notice to present to the next professional opportunity.
4. Update it every 5 years even if you have no intention to seek new employment.
5. Although I am not a fan of the functional resume, we suggest a hybrid between that and the traditional chronological resume. It will be different for each of you.

   [The next suggestions relate to your experience and accomplishments.]

6. At your level, you have significant accomplishments, success is typically measured in return on investment, exceeding projected margins, cost savings and more. Your resume should feature prominent accomplishments.
7. Your resume also should feature your leadership and management skills and achievements as well as your ability to collaborate well with colleagues in your organization and organizations past.
8. It also should contain a brief summary paragraph of 3 or 4 sentences below your name and contact information but above your list of experiences. Think of it as an introductory marketing tool.
9. In some cases, a section on representative skills/competencies or something similar should follow to help the reader understand who you are and what value you’d bring.
10. Then you would present your experience chronogically but in a manner that groups and organizes your experience in each position.

Although your resumes and achievements vary dramatically, at the end of the resume writing process, we hear the same thing from every top executive: “I should have done this years ago. ”

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Source: Resume Boutique LLC

My colleague emailed me a resume the other day and commented that the applicant did not place her contact information on it. I opened the resume and indeed the information was not there — until I clicked on VIEW and then on HEADER AND FOOTER. The applicant had made a common mistake. She placed her name, address and contact information in the header.

Placing your contact information in the header 15 years ago, when it was common to send resumes through the U.S. mail, was a style choice that had no consequences. But today, when you are emailing your resume to a busy professional who has only seconds to look at your resume and decide whether to read on, it is unwise to place your contact information in the header. Why? Because it is hidden on the document that appears on the computer screen. And that sometimes is enough for the reader to hit DELETE.

So, the resume tip for the day is: place your name and contact information in the text of your resume, not in the first page header.

By: Randi S. Lewis

© Resume Boutique LLC 2007. All rights reserved. http://www.resumeboutique.com/

Source: Resume Boutique LLC

By Randi Lewis, Resume Boutique LLC

In April 2007, I provided free resume critiques at a law school job fair sponsored by the Maryland Daily Record (http://www.mddailyrecord.com/calendar.cfm?fuseaction=event_details&eventID=263). A few of the students I met knew I both owned this resume business and was a recruiter at a large law firm in town but most did not. Yet, everyone I met acted very professionally even though they were asking me for help on resumes and more. This is something that I, in my role as recruiter, will remember. And if one of their resumes lands on my desk in the future, my vision of their professionalism will be foremost in my mind.

• I also was struck by how well-groomed and professional looking the vast majority of the students appeared. The few who forgot to “dress up” stuck out. The people who dressed professionally did absolutely the right thing. You always want to dress for your audience - and they did.
• Don’t forget to dress up or dress for your audience when you attend a job fair. In addition, prepare your “elevator speech” about yourself, your academic record and your professional goals and have it ready to use at the proper time. Your next employer could be in the room.

http://www.resumeboutique.com/ ~ info@resumeboutique.com ~ 410.602.2500

Source: Resume Boutique LLC