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:

• ·       http://www.businessinsider.com/why-this-is-an-excellent-resume-2013-11
• ·       http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-what-recruiters-look-at-during-the-6-seconds-they-spend-on-your-resume-2012-4
• ·       https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/
• ·       https://intelligencecareers.com/resumes-for-defense-employers-keep-it-simple
• ·       https://www.theladders.com

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

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

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.

Finding a New Career When You Least expect it

Go to http://swothunters.com/Let_Go-Pat_Flynn.htm

Transitioning Careers - Military to Civilian

Transitioning careers can be a challenging task. Transitioning from a military career to a civilian career may be more complex.

Transitioning careers, especially when you are in your late middle-aged years can be a stressful endeavor. You have to assess your value with respect to the current market place. You begin to look for something more stable in terms of a steady income. You are getting older and competing with people a generation or more younger than you who potentially have more skills, specifically technical skills, that are more to the to the liking of business wanting to expand their profit margins and operational reach.

If you are transitioning from the military to the civilian world, you have additional challenges. I experienced this myself more than concerns expressed in the aforementioned paragraph.

Military persons are not used to selling themselves, and justifying their own value at the expense of others in terms salary and compensation. Employers play on this sense of humility, even former military members who are now business leaders. I observed this in person myself…don’t fall for it.

I found myself missing camaraderie; seeing associates hold themselves accountable for shortfalls; developing team members and subordinates to become better performers and better people to work with. There’s more, but these are just some of the biggest changes. These changes come with some razor cuts and blood-letting…you learn how to survive on the streets…without a team at your back…securing and justifying your own existence where God and country are automatically made subordinate.

As a military member, you are transitioning cultures and societies with a different optic on life and relationships. You must understand this in order to move forward.

So the first challenges you must really deal with are embedded internal known systems, such as the following:

·      Recognize who you really are as a person and in terms of values; then correlating and applying those observations to the outside world in a way that is value-added. This may sound too esoteric for some, but here are a few examples.

o   Take initiative to excel whenever opportunities surface, to include creating a self-education program. At the same time, being self-aware and socially aware of your actions and their impacts on your local environment. Some people will appreciate your energy and you may be promoted, or justify the employer retaining you. Other people may see you as a threat (competition), whereby you need to begin watching your back to potential subversive actions, and adapting to potential subversion with carefully applied interpersonal skills and social intelligence.

o   You need to prove you are adaptive, able to learn and grow. This may mean starting from a low position and slowly working your way back up the chain of influence you once achieved.

o   Being a team player and building teams. You likely know how to motivate and lead people into action…leading to highly functional teams.  

o   You are your own command structure:

§   You are your own S1 (Administration),

§  S2 (Intelligence/Marketing/Competitive Analysis/SWOT),

§  S3 (Operations/Planning/Execution/Metrics/Training),

§  S4 (Logistics/Resource application and Managements) and

§  S6 (Communications- interpersonal and technical). You know how functioning systems work, how to create and shape systems, and how to allow systems to run on their own without being micro-managed.

§  Medical – you have to take care of yourself emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually.

Apply this knowledge and expertise as opportunities surface over time.

These are just some considerations when preparing to transition jobs, specifically if you are military. There’s more that I hope to add later.

Air Filters, Fire Alarms, Garage Door and Water System- Fall/Winter Checks

Think - Air Filters, Heating System Inspections, Carbon Monoxide Detectors, Water Systems and Garage Door Openers
Hello everyone, its time to start preparing your house for the winter. There are several things you need to do to ensure your house runs well, and safe.
First, you need to arrange to have your heating system checked out to ensure it is running efficiently by a local heating and cooling technician. Second, you need to go outside and ensure there are no obstructions around your heating system so that way air is flowing freely.  Once you do that, you want to go inside the house and change out your air filters. Air filters should be changed out about every 90 days unless you have some kind of specialized filters that can be reused.  
Next thing you want to do, is change out all the batteries on your emergency warning systems. I'm talking about changing out batteries for your fire alarms, carbon monoxide detectors, and smoke alarms throughout your house. And also, don't forget about changing the battery to your garage door keypad. I can't tell you how inconvenient it can be on the batteries run out on your garage door keypad on a cold rainy day - the door will not open.
And, one thing you might want to consider while you change out your batteries and your filters. If you have wood floors I highly recommend using rubber mats you could purchase through Amazon or through Walmart. I'm talking about the pads the people like to use for gyms or weight rooms. These pads are about 1 inch thick and they protect your floor from anything you might drop such as batteries or tools, or even the filter door covers so you don't hit your floor and scratch them up. Depending on the size your home, floor repairs can run anywhere from a few hundred dollars to about $4000… Very expensive.
Last, if you live out in the county, you want to make sure that if you use a well water system for your home that you fill up the salt supply. You should check on your salt levels frequently that way your water system doesn't corrode because of hard water.
Cheers