Saturday, May 16, 2020

Resume Writing Guidelines - 5 Tips For Using Your Resume

Resume Writing Guidelines - 5 Tips For Using Your ResumeUsing your resume in a professional manner and following the proper resume writing guidelines will make it very easy for you to impress your potential employer. A good resume is the first thing they see, so be sure that it is written very professionally. To avoid wasting time or money on hiring a professional, you can learn how to do it yourself. Here are five key resume writing guidelines to consider when using your resume:o The main point of a resume is to provide information about you. Since resumes are written to catch the eye of the reader, you should be clear and concise about your strengths and your objectives. You want the person reading your resume to know what you are looking for, so focus on how you can make your life better, not the details of your previous work experience.o Use the section to help give your resume structure. If you only have one reference, use it as an opening line. If you have more than one, then u se one as the main point of your resume. You want to emphasize your previous employment experience with references to give the reader an idea of your level of expertise. You can also include a link to the references.o Include bullet points in your resume. There are two kinds of bullet points: internal and external.o Internal bullet points show the reader what you have done that is worth mentioning. External bullet points show what you will do for them if they hire you. The formatting should be clear, so that the reader can easily understand what you are trying to say.o Format your resume in a PDF format. It is more efficient and easier to read. If your job requires you to submit your resume electronically, such as to an online application, then use PDF format.o Add some bold text. It makes the reader's eyes turn the second they get the first sentence. You can place it at the top or on the right side of the page, depending on which way the reader is viewing the document. You can also use the font color to highlight the part of the text that the reader needs to read further.You can use these five guidelines when you create your resume, but you can also use them when you are preparing to send it. Remember that a good resume will show your skills and knowledge clearly, and this is the first impression that a potential employer will get from your resume.

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Find Your Quitting Point - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Find Your Quitting Point - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Check out this comment from a reader in Hong Kong: I?ve been visiting your site on and off for quite a while now. I?ve been miserable at work and, although it took me almost a year, I eventually built up the courage, and I?ve finally quit my job!! I think it?s one of the best decisions I?ve ever made! I?m now working out my one-month notification period?then hopefully go on a vacation to Europe with my family?then travel to Beijing to visit my love?. And most of all, I?ve found a new job too! No one knows how it?ll go, but a change is definitely due and I?m looking forward to a fresh start. Your site has definitely pushed me on. :) One happy Office Lady in Hong Kong First of all: Wooo-hooooo! Good for you, Office Lady, and good luck in the new job! This of course raises an interesting question: How do you know its time to quit a bad job? Should you quit at the first sign of trouble? As in The cafeteria doesnt have Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee and besides the boss gave me a funny look at the last staff meeting Im outta here! Or do you only quit when all hope is gone. Yes, I know my boss is a total jerk, my salary is lousy and my co-workers just covered my cubicle in mayonnaise-smeared saran wrap for the third time this week. But you never know things might get better tomorrow! When is it time to quit? Its a question I keep getting and no wonder. Leaving a job has become one of lifes biggest decisions. Its something that may affect every aspect of your life including your finances, your work life, your identity, your family and possibly even your social status and friendships. Ive quit three different jobs in my career and in every single case my only regret is that I didnt do it sooner. In two of those cases I quit without having the next job lined up it was simply time for me to move on NOW! It seems most of us tend to stay in bad jobs waaaaay too long. I have talked to any number of people who have told me some variation of I quit my job last year and my only regret is that I didnt do it sooner. However, not a single person has ever told me that I quit my job last year and it was a huge mistake. I should definitely have stayed on. This does not mean that its always the right decision to quit, but it does show that when in doubt, most of us stay on in bad jobs. Perhaps longer than is good for us. Weve been told that quitting your job is bad because: It makes you look less dependable to your next employer. It costs you money. It reduces your status. Quitting means giving up and thats bad. You should stay and slog it out. And this may all be true or not, but heres a question you must also ask yourself: What will staying in a bad job cost you? Because make no mistake: A bad work situation can cost you your energy, motivation, self-worth and even your health. Worst case, it can kill you. Worst of all, staying in a bad job where you repeatedly feel demeaned or useless robs you of precisely those things you need to move on and find a new job. To actually get up and go out and find new work or finding the courage to quit without having the next job lined up takes energy, motivation, passion and confidence. How do you know..? Which brings us back to the original question: How do you know? First of all: You will never know for sure. Its not like you can calculate the exact optimal moment to quit your job. It will always be a judgment call, and like any other major decision in life, its not so much about making the right decision its more about making a decision and then making it the right decision. Secondly: You probably do know. Call it intuition, gut feeling, inner wisdom if its time to quit, then somewhere inside of you a voice is probably going I hate my job. Its time to quit. The trick is to listen to that voice. That voice is often very quiet and very easy to quell. Youre maybe at work, in the middle of a meeting or an important task when suddenly you get the feeling that you really, really need to find a new job. Thats certainly not productive in the moment right then you need to focus on whatever it is youre doing. Also, as mentioned above, having to quit is a scary proposition. So you ignore that feeling and focus on work. I firmly believe that youre doing no one a favor by staying if youre not happy at work. Not yourself, not your family and certainly not the company. The rare exception is the case where your or your families survival or fundamental welfare is at stake. If quitting a bad job means your family becomes homeless, the choice is clear you stay until you have a better job lined up. Barring this, its simple: If your job does not make you happy you should first try to fix it. If theres no realistic hope that you ever will, its time to get out of Dodge. The upshot So here are my top six tips for finding your quitting point: Give up the idea that you can know for sure whether or not its time to quit. Its always going to be a leap. Listen to your intuition. Your gut may know before your mind. Remember what quitting can cost you but also remember what staying in a bad job can cost you! Remember that the longer you stay in a bad job, the harder it gets to leave. Most people stay too long in bad jobs mostly because they fear the uncertainty that comes with quitting. Most people, once theyve quit, find that their situation improves. Maybe not immediately, but certainly after a few months. What about you? Have you tried quitting a job? What was your quitting point? What happened did you end up regretting it or being happy that you finally quit? Write a comment Id really like to know! Related: How to lose your fear of losing your job Some killer questions to ask in your next job interview How to find a job youll love Never stay in a bad job. Fix it or leave. How to turn around a bad day Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Friday, May 8, 2020

Plan for slack - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Plan for slack - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Workplaces must give employees unscheduled play time. If work days are overloaded, there is no learning or creativity. Plan for slack. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Five networking fundamentals to land a job -

Five networking fundamentals to land a job - If I had a dollar for every job seeker who told me he or she was networking til they were blue in the face, but had made no progress in the job hunt, I could take a very nice vacation! The fact is, many people think they are networking, but all they are doing is telling everyone they know that they are looking for a job. That is not networking. That is telling everyone you know that you are looking for a job. (Lets ignore the questionable grammar there you know what I mean.) In fact, I volunteered recently at a non-profit job fair. I was waiting to have a word with the organizer, but one of the job seekers was speaking to her. He introduced himself and said, Id love to talk to someone in your organization about sales, as that is my specialty. I watched the organizerShe looked like she wasnt sure what to say or how to respond. The request was so broad and non-specific. I could hear her thinking, What does he want from me? (Or, at least that is what I imagine she was thinking!) I know what I was thinking That is NOT a way to ask for a networking meeting or informational interview. In a conversation with a client recently, we discussed networking. He considers himself introverted and wonders if in-person networking is for him. My advice to introverted job seekers is the same as it is for my extroverted clients. To successfully network, you need to do five things: Research Ask questions Be interested in the replies Have a story Follow up Stay tuned for more details and how to successfully leverage these steps for your networking enjoyment! photo by Light Play

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Free Resume Now Reviews - How to Find the Information You Need For Free

Free Resume Now Reviews - How to Find the Information You Need For FreeThere are a variety of free resume now reviews online that can help you determine if the information you need is available for free. These reviews provide a detailed look at the services and programs available, as well as the services offered by those who may be able to offer the assistance you need.It is always best to seek out the type of information you need from a company before contacting them, especially if it is their first time giving any sort of information to a potential customer. This will ensure that you do not waste your time and effort because you could have been given the information you needed in a way that may not have been easy to read. Instead of wasting time, you may want to consider looking into a more direct form of assistance from someone who has handled this before.If you would like to find out how to get a free resume now review, you should search the internet for the names of agencies tha t have been in business for a while. You may find companies that are still in operation that might be willing to assist you. Many of these companies will offer you the chance to review the information that they have about the companies they work with, so you will know that you will be getting accurate information.Many people can attest to the fact that free resume now reviews can be beneficial, even if you only need some information on the agency. If you would like to make sure that the information you need is available, be sure to make use of the tools at your disposal.You may find some agencies that are willing to give you information about free resume now reviews and may provide a variety of information. You should be aware that there are many people who would love to help you get the information you need, but would not have the proper training or knowledge to make this happen.If you want to review a variety of resources to get a free resume now review, make sure that you look at those resources that are operated by actual people. People who have earned a living doing what they do are the best people to approach, as they will know what they are talking about and what information is of interest to the person who is looking for the service.This can be one of the best ways to get the free resume now reviews you need. In order to make sure that you are not wasting your time, you may want to consider making use of some of the advice that will be provided by an individual who has dealt with the same situation before.

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

U.S. Unemployment Rate Is Low. Why Cant People Find Jobs

U.S. Unemployment Rate Is Low. Why Can't People Find Jobs Nathan Bonds’ breaking point came after 19 months of unemployment, 23 interviews, and 200 applications. His résumé had been rejected by a string of minimum wage jobsâ€"including the local L.L. Bean and J. Crew outletsâ€"and Bonds, who lives in Cranston, R.I., was scraping by on temporary construction work. By the time a friend offered him a $10-an-hour delivery gig, he could barely afford rentâ€"much less the fees needed to update his license. So he didn’t get that job either. “That was my lowest point,” the 41-year-old father of five says. “It was like my life was in a vise, and I could not move forward.” Bonds, a former quality manager at a manufacturing plant, is a highly skilled worker in an industry in need of highly skilled workers. His long bout of unemployment, and his struggle to find work even at minimum wage, flies in the face of the stellar jobs reports that have dominated headlines over the past several years. It’s also not that uncommon. As of April 2017, 1.6 million unemployed Americans have been out of work for six months or longer, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nearly a million have been jobless for over a year. “Long-term unemployment,” as it’s called, isn’t a new phenomenon. In 2010, it peaked at 6.8 million and has been trending downward in the wake of the recession. But those numbers offer little comfort to the 22.6% of jobless Americans who fall into that category todayâ€"a ratio that remains stubbornly high compared to pre-crisis levels. Ever since economists started tracking this figure in 1948, the share of long-term unemployed to total unemployed has topped 20% only at the height of a recession or in its direct aftermath. If the official unemployment rate included the millions of people working part-time because they can’t find full-time work, or those who want to work but haven’t looked for a job in at least four weeks, the ranks of long-term unemployed would be even higher. Now experts worry that a large percentage of long-term job seekers have been pushed out of the market completely â€" and that the new presidential administration is ill-equipped to rope them back in. “It’s uncharted territory to have this level of long-term unemployment this far out of recession,” says Ofer Sharone, a sociologist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst who studies employment trends. “Something new is going on, making it harder for people who have been out of the market for a long time.” *** Nathan Bonds spends time at home with his daughter Lily, wife Tamara, and daughters Ava and Sierra (from left). Rebecca Greenfield for MONEY It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what’s keeping people out of work for so long, but economists have a few theories. Hiring discrimination is one possibility. Often, job seekers with long career gaps face inherent bias from employers, who assume their skills are rusty or that they are otherwise unemployable. On top of that, new technology, like applicant tracking systems that sort through the high volume of résumés each job posting receives, can negatively impact the long-term unemployed. Certain screens, like those that ask applicants for dates of employment, can filter out candidates who have been looking for work for many months. “Bias happens all the time,” says Linda Sharkey, coauthor of The Future-Proof Workplace and an HR expert who has overseen hiring for companies like HP and GE Capital. “If someone doesn’t show employment for a period of time, their application can get kicked out, never to see the light of day.” Another commonly cited culprit is the so-called skills gap, the idea that millions of jobs go unfilled because of the disparity between the skills employers want and those applicants have. Not everyone agrees that such a gap exists, and there’s a range of opinions about how to fix it among those who do. If the gap does exist, though, the long-term jobless are more likely to fall into it, says Princeton economist Alan Krueger. “Skills deteriorate the longer job seekers are out of the workplace,” Krueger says. “That often leads the long-term unemployed to face particular difficulties.” Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics Whatever the reason, mounds of research show that the odds of landing a new job are demonstrably harder for the long-term unemployed than it is for others. One study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston says a job seeker’s chances of finding work drop dramatically after six months of unemployment. Another study from the Brookings Institutionâ€"led by Krueger and two other researchersâ€"found that after 15 months, the long-term unemployed are more than twice as likely to have left the market as to have settled into steady, full-time work. Older workers are at a particular disadvantage, says Joseph Carbone, president and CEO of the Bridgeport, Conn., jobs development group The WorkPlace. “If you’re 50 or older, you face an almost impenetrable wall of discrimination,” he says. “Companies have a very narrow view of what they want. When you walk into an interview with a lot of gray hair, it’s usually over very quickly.” For 60-year-old Stephen Wayman of Landing, N.J., who has two degrees in mechanical engineering and more than 20 years of experience, the gap on his résumé is like a scarlet letter. Wayman lost his job as director of facilities and real estate in 2015 and has struggled to find another one. To keep busy, he teaches a class on project management at a local university and takes online courses in computer programming. “I’ve been asked, Why should we hire you when we have other applicants who haven’t been out of work?,” he says. “I tell them I’ve been using this opportunity to learn new things. I have new knowledge of computer science; I’ve gotten into teaching.” These interviews go well, or he thinks they do, but he has yet to get an offer. Stephen Wayman conducts a Skype meeting with his career coach, provided to him for free through the Rutgers University New Start Career Network. Rebecca Greenfield for MONEY “Who knows what people really think, and why they don’t bring you on,” he says. “I suspect younger [hiring managers] don’t give me the benefit of the doubt.” Wayman doesn’t have young children to provide for, but he’s living off his pension and savings accountâ€"something he didn’t plan on doing at age 60. But more than the lack of a salary, Wayman misses having an opportunity to grow. “I feel like I have a lot of gas left in the tank,” he says. *** Nathan Bonds (right) talks with Christian Cowan, the center director for Polaris MEP. Rebecca Greenfield for MONEY Nathan Bonds’ story has a happy ending. In March, he landed a role as a project manager for the manufacturing consultancy Polaris MEP, with help from Platform to Employment (P2E)â€"a program from Carbone’s The WorkPlace, which uses government and private funding for job training and wage-subsidy efforts. Other workforce agencies, like the Rhode Island Department of Labor and Trainingâ€"whose Real Jobs RI program gives companies grants to hire and train job seekersâ€"rely heavily on a mix of state and federal funds. Bonds’ new employer benefits from such funding. If President Trump’s federal budget passes as proposed, states will be forced to do more with less. Workforce agencies, job centers, and ultimately the long-term unemployed could suffer. Under the administration’s most recent 2018 budget proposal, the Department of Labor would lose $2.4 billion, or 19.8% of its operating budget. The budget specifically calls for less federal support for job training and employment service formula grants, a move that puts the core programs at more than 2,500 American Job Centers at risk. Those centers provide a range of free services for all job seekers, like career counseling, résumé building, and job-search assistance. Some centers also provide specific outreach and coaching for the long-term unemployed and space for long-term-unemployment development groups to meet. A number of additional grants that fall under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which was signed by President Obama in 2014 and funds state programs for dislocated workers, would also be reduced. The proposal also decimates federal funding for the Department of Commerce’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), a private-public partnership that helps small and midsize manufacturers like Bonds’ new employer compete.   Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2015 In addition to the cuts, the budget blueprint does expand some programs designed to assist the unemployed, like the Reemployment and Eligibility Assessment program, which helps people receiving unemployment benefits reenter the workforce. The president’s proposal isn’t set in stone. But it does shine a light on what long-term unemployment could look like in the Trump eraâ€"and it’s very different from what was promised on the campaign trail. In a July 2016 tweet, then-candidate Trump acknowledged that long-term unemployment is indeed a problem (“We are suffering through the worst long-term unemployment in the last 70 years. I want changeâ€"Crooked Hillary Clinton does not”). But experts say his actions prove otherwise. “The message that comes across is we don’t care,” Carbone says. “A lot of the folks who need assistance to help overcome barriers to opportunity are just not going to get it.” *** Unemployed lawyer Karen Johnson vacuums her family room while her husband and children are at work and school. Susana Raab for MONEY The mundane, day-to-day scripts that dictate a modern job huntâ€"online applications, follow-up emails, résumé updatesâ€"can be particularly draining for the long-term unemployed. For many, the mystery of why they’re rejected is a confusing constant. Karen Johnson, 47, is running on fumes. In 2015, Johnson’s executive legal position was cut from the technology company she had worked at for 10 years. At first the Washington, D.C., resident wasn’t worried. “I thought it was going to be easy,” she says. “I hadn’t looked for a job in 20 years. I didn’t get it at all.” Karen Johnson and her son Robert Mitchell wave goodbye to her husband, George Mitchell, before taking her son and daughter to school in northwest Washington, D.C. Susana Raab for MONEY Since then, Johnson has applied to a range of positions, but nothing has materialized. Her family’s resources are thinningâ€"her iPhone is duct-taped together (“I’m afraid to spend money on it,” she says), and her daughter, a senior in high school, is taking a gap year before college until the family gets back on its feet. Johnson is an optimist, but she’s starting to burn out. It’s frustrating to spend two decades climbing the career ladderâ€"working nights, weekends, and through every vacationâ€"with little to show for it. As a black woman, Johnson is worried she faces an extra layer of discrimination in a job market that’s already stacked against her. For now, Johnson is updating her résumé with a skill set worthy of today’s landscape. She’s learning to code and is practicing soldering, welding, and laser cutting at a local do-it-yourself community “makerspace.” She’s the proud owner of a new 3D printer. But she feels uncertain about the future. Johnson watches how our new President talks about jobs and how blue-collar workers are driving the conversation. So far there’s been no message from the top about the highly skilled, highly educated workers who are also struggling to make ends meet. That troubles her. “Where do I go?” she says. “I’m not going to be a coal miner.” Despite having advanced degrees and years of professional experience, Karen Johnson (right) has been unable to find a job in the traditional market for over a year. Here she meets with her friend Karen Jennings Crooms at Soapstone Market on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, D.C., to talk about options. Susana Raab for MONEY   Update: This story has been slightly changed from the original to reflect current projections from President Trump’s 2018 budget proposal.

Monday, March 16, 2020

These Netflix Jobs Will Pay You to Watch Movies - TheJobNetwork

These Netflix Jobs Will Pay You to Watch Movies - TheJobNetworkEver joke about how your dream job would be to get paid to sit around and watch Netflix all day in your pajamas? Turns out thats not as far-fetched as it sounds. You could turn your dream job into a real job. Honest. googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1467144145037-0) ) Netflix employs people called Taggers to watch upcoming content and help flag it into proper categories, i.e. Indie Movies with a Strong Female Lead, or Critically Acclaimed TV Dramas. This is done mostly by choosing words from a pool of 1,000 to best describe the program. These tags then interact with the larger algorithm that generate personalized recommendations for viewers.In 2014, Netflix advertised widely that they were looking for a new tagger in the UK or Ireland. Recently, in the U.S., they were looking for a Kids Content Taggersomeonepassionate about childrens programming able to deftly sort different shows and movies int o different categories based on age, theme, interests, etc.The original Tagger job wasa part-time, one-year stelle that allowed you to work remotely, for 15 hours per week, on the Enhanced Content Kids team. Bonus points went to those withcritical or analytical experienceor better yet, experience in childrens education or entertainment.While these positions are likely to have tons of applicants and quickly fill up, keep your eye openon NetflixsCareers pagein case a similar opportunity becomes available. Make those Work From Couch dream a reality