Saturday, October 8, 2016

Targeting Your Resume – Baseline Considerations


Your resume is not about you. Your resume is about what you can offer the employer. 

Employees help employers make a profit, or enhance government operations. While you may have the desired skills a business/government organization needs, it does not ensure your longevity in a business/organization over time. Keep your resume polished, you may need to find another job.

Your resume should answer the needs identified in the job opening; nothing more.  Being clear and concise increases the odds of your resume landing you a job, or an interview. Resumes indicate how you communicate, as well as how you think and organize information.

Resumes do not necessarily win you a job; resumes get you interviewed for a job. Interviews test what you know about the hiring organization. Do you fit in the organizational culture? Do you really have the qualifications you say you have, etc?

Your resume should clearly address the following considerations:
  • ·       Your experience relative to the job
  • ·       Vignettes on how you provided value to employers in prior jobs.
  • ·       Ensure you include the key words identified in the job requirement in the resume. Machines and recruiters are looking for key words matching the job requirement.
  • ·       Ensure you put the key job requirements at the top of the resume.
  • ·       Each resume you submit, needs to be specifically tailored for the specific job requirements.

Other references regarding resumes:





Friday, October 7, 2016

Blogging Your Way to a Job

Blogging Your Way to a Job

Getting a job can be challenging, especially if you do not have the right points of contact in the right circles you want to gain access. And, even if you did get a job without this kind of access, you may be offered low pay due to a lack of credibility, experience and trust…all three being inextricably linked.

From the employer side; employees are liabilities. Employees want certain types of pay and benefits. Employees can be unpredictable, unreliable and untrustworthy. Employees often take on a job from a what’s in it for me perspective, without considering what the employee can do for the employer. This means one thing to an employer in its totality; it’s called risk. And, any risk that prevents an employer from achieving a profit is an intolerable risk.

There’s a way to mitigate the impact of these challenges through the use of social media. This approach allows you to gain exposure, build some trust, and well as some credibility. Social media can be an ice-breaker that can gain you face-to-face access to a person, or community of people whereby you can increase the odds of getting the employment opportunity you seek.

Exposure

Blogging affords you an opportunity to display your level of expertise to an audience. Like-minded professionals may gain interest in what you convey and begin to follow you. You can amplify your blogging by having your posts disseminated via the variety of social media tools that can lead to the creation of a tribe. Tying your blog post to professional sites like LinkedIn, related online professional media, etc can extend the range of your audience, by sharing with your professional connections, and any professional online communities associated with the site, as well as other sites for that matter.

Build Trust

People follow you when they begin to trust you. When people trust you, you then have the basis for establishing relationships. This can be especially true if your blog posts provide solutions to problems, challenges and touchpoints your followers are contending with. Trust is amplified when you are consistent and focused. Don’t let your message get lost in the minutiae of a website; ensure your posts are aligned with your theme. Additionally, keep relevant posts grouped in some type of form to amplify your message and broaden the benefit of your knowledge and experiences. It’s a challenge, but one not to be ignored. 

Eventually, people may want to hire you for small jobs, which can lead to other building block opportunities.  This is where you start building credibility.

Build Credibility

This is your real goal. If you are credible, you are going to be desired. If you are desired, you gain a reputation as a provider of goods and services. If you have a job already, your value can increase exponentially. But your value is tied to the value of the services you provide. And, as you continue providing quality work, your credibility will sustain itself.

Additionally, credibility can serve as a form of inertia. Your reputation spreads, opportunities surface that lead to more opportunities.

However, when you fail to connect to other people, via mediums like blogging, you start to become an unknown quantity again. This can be a problem should you be in the need to seek growth elsewhere.

All along the way you are building relationships. And, it’s relationships that get you the jobs and opportunities you seek. Blogging is just one mechanism to help you build relationships.

Some great references regarding these types of issues are:

Linchpin by Seth Godin – This book is about how to make yourself a need, not a want. Seth gives readers tips and reasons why they need to make themselves indispensable.

http://www.smartpassiveincome.com by Pat Flynn. I’ve been watching this gent’s business grow over the last six years. Pat is real deal, and he responds to emails and tweets.  He started his online business when he received word he was going to lose his job. He eventually made Forbes magazine without his parent’s help.


Cheers

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Transitioning from Military to Civilian Two Years Out

Transitioning from Military to Civilian Two Years Out

There are many considerations to take into account before leaving military service to join the civilian world; even more if you have a family you need to settle as well.  Many service members go through the required separations classes, but few really give my thought to what they can expect once they get out.


For some, transition is easy; transition is difficult for others. Service members sometimes find themselves unemployed; struggling in a changing job market; short on skills, certifications and education; lack of camaraderie; limited ability to adapt to market changes and/or the more me-centric environment, etc. Some of these changes continue for the remainder of your life, so a person needs to learn how to prepare for these kinds of changes.

Each person is different. As a former transition assistance specialist and career planner, here are some considerations when you are two years out. 

Thinking two years out involves is to aid you in your strategic thinking. Strategic thinking is about developing sustainable capacity in order to meet long-term critical goals. For most people, this means finding employment at an entity and location of your choosing.

Identifying the environment and the capacity you need to generate to be successful

1.     What do I want to do?

2.     Where do I want to live?

3.     How much do I need to make to enjoy life on my own terms?

4.     What is my growth potential?

5.     Who can help me get to where I want to go?

6.     What education do I need?

7.     What certifications do I need?

8.     What training do I need?

9.     Will my job become obsolete/devalued?

10.If my job becomes obsolete/devalued what is my bump plan?

11.What is my bump plan?

·        A-If I lose my job?

·        B-If my job becomes obsolete?

These are just a few considerations to take into account two years out; there are many more.


Post updated: 2Oct16

Friday, January 29, 2016

Create and/or Extend the Reach of Your Home WI-FI Network

Here are links to three separate videos that will teach you how to establish, and to extend the capability and capacity of your home Wi-Fi network. These videos focus on Apple products.








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