6 Quick Resume Updates in 5 Minutes or Less

6 Quick Resume Updates in 5 Minutes or Less Your resume is your first impression on a hiring manager;looks do matter!An employer only spends about 10-20 seconds looking at your resume.Updating your resume is usually viewed as a long process.As such, people often put the task off for as long as possible.But what if I told you that you can make a few quick updates to your resumethat will take 5 minutes or less?These small things, which may seem insignificant, actually make a huge impact on how your resume is viewed, increasing your chances of getting an interview.1. Get Rid of the “Objective”The objective, usually right on the top of a resume, is redundant.Why?The person reading your resume knows that the end goal of your application (your objective) is to get a job at their company.Instead, replace the objective with a summaryas these are generally preferred by recruiters.If you don’t feel comfortable with writing a resume summary, skip it altogether.There are two main reasons you would not choose to write a summary:You a re a recent graduate with no work experience to summarize. You are changing careers and have no relevant work experience.Let's assume, however, that you choose to write up a simple summary.Hopefully, you have a decent idea of what your target audience is looking for.You should be able to draft out a few sentences that introduce you in a way that aligns with the type of job or industry you are looking for.This summary should be brief: 50 to 60 words; no more than100 words. It should showwho you are and what you offer. It should be placed at the top of your resume to set the stage. 2. Use a Consistent FontUsing a consistent and readable font looks professional.Choose a font that is easy to read. Avoid comic-style or script;these are distracting and difficult to read. Make sure it is available on most computers and programs. The last thing you want is a resume that looks completely different to your reader because they don't have the unique font you chose. The font size should be bet ween 10 and 12. The one exception is for your resume titles; these should be a larger size. To a hiring managerwith a huge pile of applications, a resume that is easy to read catches the eye over those that aren’t.They are more likely to pick up a resume with good readability than a resume that is a strain to look at or one that is inconsistent with varying fonts and sizes.3. Avoid AcronymsSometimes the person doing the hiring won’t be in the same industry as you.Using acronyms that are company or industry-specific can be difficult to understand and frustrate the hiring manager.If you must use an acronym to save space, expand the acronym in the first use of it. Then you can shift back to the abbreviated version in later uses.This way, the recruiter or hiring manager knows what it means when reading your resume. Here's an example:“ERP - enterprise resource planning (business management software that a company can use to store and manage data from every stage of business).”The n you can shift back to ERP for any additional uses.Making simple choices like this shows that you are a thoughtful job candidate.4. Use Spell CheckMaybe spelling and grammar isn’t your strong point. Use an app like Hemingway, Grammarly, or Typely to double-check your resume for any potential typos or spelling errors.A single typo in your resume can make you seem unprofessional and uneducated to a hiring manager or recruiter.Using one of these useful tools will ensure your resume looks elegant and professional by avoiding any spelling or grammatical errors on your resume!5. Full Disclosure Is UnnecessaryGet rid of things like your references, graduation year, and GPAs.You don’t have a lot of time to make an impression with your resume.Wait to give references until they are requested by the employer.This allows you to give a more accurate time range to those you havelisted. It prevents catching them off guard or them possibly missing a reference call.Additionally, graduation year and GPA are irrelevant unless you are fresh out of college with no experience or are applying based on your score.Some rare positions do request or prefer to see your GPA.If this is the case, it is often stated on the job description.If not, leave it out.These choices will help tokeep your resume clean, simple, and easy to read.6. Full Disclosure Is UnnecessarySometimes a company will request a specific format for your resume.It’s always a good idea to save your resume in more than one format (usually .doc format as well as PDF format).These are the most commonly requested resume formats and will make it simple to send it over when an employer requests a specified format.Always be sure to open and close your document in both formats a couple of times to make sure they open properly and look correct in both.What Are You Waiting For?It’s time to fight your fears.Go ahead, turn on your computer and open up your resume file.Read over your resume and see if any of these quick 5-minu te fixescan be used on your resume.Following these basic resume rules will make an impact and improve your chances of getting a callback.Closing ThoughtsHere at Find My Profession, we would love to help you land the perfect career.We offer resume writing services aimed at helping you get callbacks and interviews.Our legendary career coaching service offers the full gamut of job search help! In short, we do the heavy lifting so you can focus on what's important.Get in touch today and let us help you navigate your career change.Our goal is to help you find vocational success.

Shawn Achor Whey We Should Take Others On Our Journey To Success - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Shawn Achor Whey We Should Take Others On Our Journey To Success - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career I spoke to Shawn Achor, author of Big Potential: How Transforming the Pursuit of Success Raises Our Achievement, Happiness, and Well-Being, about why he wrote the book, the connection between his last book and this one, how our potential is influenced by who we surround ourselves with, how to unlock your true potential, how different countries view potential and his best career advice. Shawn is one of the worlds leading experts on happiness, success, and potential. His research has graced the cover of Harvard Business Review and his TED Talk is one of the most popular of all time, with over 15 million views. Shawn spent 12 years at Harvard before bringing this research out to nearly half the Fortune 0, including places like the Pentagon, impoverished schools in Africa, and the White House. His interview with Oprah Winfrey and his PBS program have been seen by millions. He now serves on the World Happiness Council and continues his research. Dan Schawbel: After writing The Happiness Advantage, why did you decide to pursue this new book on human potential? Whats the connection between the subjects and what was the inspiration behind Big Potential? Shawn Achor: I have now spent nearly a decade sharing positive psychology research showing that creating and sustaining individual habit changes can significantly increase our levels of optimism and happiness. During this time, the CDC has found that depression rates have doubled and suicide rates for every age groupâ€"including 8 year oldsâ€"have doubled as well. When I read that study, my heart broke. We are going the wrong direction. I believe some of that change is due to hypercomparison on social media and hypercompetition for zero sum success in our schools and work. During this time, I became a father, which changed the focus of my happiness from me to another. And I became fascinated with Big Data and how it reveals that nearly every dimension of potential is interconnected. The conclusion I came to was this: while I believe happiness can be a choice, it is not an individual choiceâ€"it is an interconnected choice. When we choose to be grateful or optimistic even when life is hard, we give others the license to be grateful and we make it easier for them to be positive around us. This creates a virtuous cycle where it is easier to choose happiness. Happiness is a team sport. But, it wasn’t just happiness, if we stop trying to pursue success individually, we can lift the burden of feeling like we are alone. The pursuit of happiness and success must not be a lonely road if we are going to see our full potential. And thus Big Potential was born. Schawbel: Why and how is our potential influenced by those we surround ourselves with at home and at the office? Achor: If you stop smoking, your health improves, but if everyone around you is still smoking, you will never see your full health. Similarly, initial research coming out of the famous Framingham heart study revealed that not only was happiness “contagious” so was obesity, heart disease, divorce, smoking habits, and depression. Thus, our happiness, health and success are interconnected with others. Moreover, think about it, you are more creative around certain friends. You are funnier or more extraverted around certain people. Yet, when science has measures you, we make you take creativity and personality tests alone and in isolation. We have been measuring potential incorrectly. Now with Big Data we can see that even moral choices spread. If you donate a dollar with a group of strangers, those strangers give a quarter more in their next group, and that group then splinters out into third tier groups that give a nickel more. You may never meet those people two degrees separate fr om you, but you have influenced them, and they you. We also know that productivity, energy, sales are all interconnected traits. And from the Happiness Advantage we know that the greatest competitive advantage in the modern economy is a positive and engaged brain. Now that’s contagious too. Schawbel: What are a few of your strategies for unlocking our potential, while not giving up our happiness? Whats the trade off between potential and happiness? Achor: First, surround yourself with people who bring out the best in you not the stress in you. In other words, look at the eight people you spend the most time with and see if they deplete or supply energy to you. Then spend more time withor recruit more people intoâ€"the part of your social support network that supports your success. The goal is to not separate ourselves from others. Stars in isolation collapse in on themselves. You can see this in sports. You can see this with kids who ace exams at Harvard in isolation then can’t manage a team or bring a product to market because it requires others. Second, if your “ecosystem of potential” predicts your success, you need to activate them. When we do this we usually praise, but in my work, I’m finding that we don’t praise, we compareâ€"you were the best sales person, you worked harder than anyone else, you’re the smartest kid. Bringing only the top performers up on stage diminishes the 95% who are not on stage. The wor st kind compliment I get is “you were the best speaker today.” Sometimes I’m standing next to other speaker friends who were just diminished, and often I won’t be the best speaker, so now I’m unbalanced in the future. It is better to praise qualities (like comedic timing) rather than engage in comparison praise. And we need to refract the light; if you receive praise, accept it but also shine it on someone who got you there. You like my book? My wife Michelle Gielan is an amazing editor. Your daughter scored a goal…thanks to mom getting us out on a rainy day and her brother cheering her on. We need prism praise not comparison praise. Finally, all the happiness habits from my TED talk can be done WITH others instead of alone. Share your gratitudes at the dinner table. Exercise with someone instead of alone. Meditate with a group, etc. This magnifies the benefits. Schawbel: After studying 50 countries, what have you learned about the differences and/or similarities by how different cultures measure their own potential? Achor: I’m only starting to understand this, but with my limited knowledge now, I’d say that some Western cultures often judge potential by how much better you are than everyone in a group. Whereas I believe a better approach is to not just see who the fastest on the team is, but who makes everyone around them play better. At BYU researchers found that shooting percentage did not predict wins nearly as well as the ratio of assists to turnovers. The better you are at assists, the stronger the team. I don’t just want my son to be creative, I want him to make others around him creative too. Schawbel: What are your top three pieces of career advice? Achor: Don’t try to pursue happiness and success alone. Happiness is a team sport, and the majority of our potential can only be unlocked with others. If you want to do something, tell everyone. I learned this from my mentor Tal Ben-Shahar. I have found this really opens doors. Happiness is not pleasure, it is the joy we feel pursuing our potential. If you know this, you’ll be okay feeling discomfort and having to push hard because we can find joy and growth even when life isn’t fun.

The 5 Key Traits Your Team Needs to Succeed

The 5 Key Traits Your Team Needs to Succeed How does your team work together? Is there trust and collaboration? Or  is there poor communication and frequent conflict? You could be a group of the most qualified and hard-working individuals, but if  there is a lack of cooperation you will struggle to meet your common goals and the business could suffer. Google recently conducted a study  to find out just what it takes to be a successful team, interviewing 200 of their employees over the space of 2 years, to identify some of the common  attributes and skills their staff possess.   Here are some of the top traits they found make for a productive and harmonious team at work. How many of these apply to your team? 1) Psychological Safety It is important that your team trust all trust one another and you feel comfortable in each others company. Team members must feel safe to take risks, suggest new ideas, or express their opinions. Not feeling comfortable to do so can lead to low contribution from certain members who could offer valuable and creative suggestions. 2) Dependability When there is a deadline to be met, it is essential that all team members can rely on others to get their share of the work done on time and to a good standard. It is the whole team that will be held accountable for poor time management or sloppy work, so you want to know that no one member is going to needlessly let the team down in any way. 3) Structure Clarity If you set clear team goals and plans then everyone has a specific focus at work. You can help each member to concentrate on the task in hand, or general running of the company by assigning specific roles and jobs among the group, so that everyone knows where they fit in. 4) Meaning If your team do not have an interest in the work you are doing, or arent enjoying their job for one reason or another, then its likely they may lack enthusiasm and focus. Allowing each member of the team to have a say about what they would enjoy working on the most, to give their work a bit more meaning. 5) Impact Nobody wants to be the office skivvy, so make sure everyone is given important tasks that directly impact the success of the business or project. Appreciating hard work will also make your team members feel more valued. [Top Image Credit: Shutterstock]

Get Resume and LinkedIn Writing Services to Help You With Your Job Search

Get Resume and LinkedIn Writing Services to Help You With Your Job SearchMany people hire resume and LinkedIn writing services to make sure that their online presence is much more professional and attractive. It can be difficult to create a website of your own but you can get assistance from some of the best companies in the field of resume and LinkedIn writing services.Many employers like to see job applicants that are updated with the latest news releases about the company they are applying for. Job seekers do not want to repeat the mistakes they made during their undergraduate school years. Employers want people who are aware of current trends in the market and updated on the latest job postings.Resume writing services can be used by those who are looking for new jobs or to update their resume. Some people might think that hiring resume and LinkedIn writing services might not be worth the money, but many successful job hunters tell the same story. They often tell stories of how th eir resume went viral within a short period of time. They tell of how they took a job offer from a competitor within hours of having their resume published on LinkedIn.An applicant's resume will go viral if it is written by a writer that knows how to use LinkedIn and its site to its advantage. LinkedIn is so powerful that even if your resume is not very good, a recruiter who finds it will still use it as a source of information on you. When an applicant has written a very compelling resume, he or she may be able to convince a company to have a second look at their first choice candidates. In order to get the maximum benefits from resume and LinkedIn writing services, applicants need to spend time doing research on companies they are considering.Companies such as Amazon are very popular with recruiters because of their consistently high ranking on the site. Job hunters must keep in mind that a potential employer can look up the history of a company before making a final decision abou t hiring them. While there are many employers who are not familiar with LinkedIn, it is still possible to find the right fit for the job if an applicant knows how to use the site's advantages.Recruiters and human resource professionals alike want to hire applicants who are the right type of person for the position. They do not want to waste their time with people who are unqualified for the job they have posted. Before an employer decides to hire someone who is not right for the job, they should have a better idea of what kind of person they are hiring.Resume and LinkedIn writing services help candidates with this because they will make sure that the CV or cover letter is relevant to the job post. Once the job posting is done, they will be contacted by a recruiter who will be able to provide a thorough understanding of the work environment. It will allow them to understand the applicant's experience level and current skills. Resume and LinkedIn writing services can help keep the rec ruiter from wasting their time by reviewing the wrong candidate.A recruiter will be able to get a better idea of whether or not an applicant is right for the job by reviewing their resume and LinkedIn profile. This will give them a clearer idea of whether or not the job will be a good fit for the applicant. If the employer does not feel that the candidate is the right fit, then they should have an idea of the applicant's skills so they can decide if they are appropriate for the job. If this happens, resume and LinkedIn writing services can be used to rewrite the resume.

10 Signs That You Actually Have a Great Boss - Cubicle Chic

10 Signs That You Actually Have a Great Boss - Cubicle Chic 10 Signs That You Actually Have a Great Boss Career, Corporate Life January 30, 2018 12 CommentsTop: Equipment Embroidered Stripe Blouse // Handbag: Palla A-BagHorrible Bosses Are EverywhereIn the corporate world, there is one person that has the power to make your work experience a living paradise or living hell. This person is your manager or ze boss (cue weird foreign accent) as I’d like to say.   We’ve probably all heard horror stories involving a sadistic, lazy, incompetent and all the while demanding boss that ruined someone’s life at work, or their life period. We don’t nearly hear enough stories about the great bosses.   In fact, between 13-36% of American workers report that they have a dysfunctional (abusive, inept, malicious, etc) manager.  Honestly, I can probably write a book based on my own experiences and all my friends and families’ stories combined. But that wouldn’t be news to anyone, would it? The truth is, it’s easy to be a bad manager and very difficult  to be a great boss. I sometimes think that perhaps by default, if we don’t try hard, we are all bad managers. After all, we all have what it takes to be a little self-centered, or insecure, or lazy, or just not giving a shit sometimes, amirite?Top: Equipment Embroidered Stripe Blouse // Handbag: Palla A-BagGreat Bosses Are Rarely Talked AboutThis is what brings me to today’s post â€" let’s talk about the qualities that actually make a great boss! In my 10 years of corporate career, I’ve had my share of bad as well as great bosses. But almost every single one of my manager has qualities that I respected and appreciated. I reflected on my experience working with all these managers  (and perhaps wondered what they wished I’d known but they wouldn’t tell me…) and came up with 10 signs that indicate you actually have a great boss at work.How many of these great boss qualities does your current manager have?Top: Equipment Embroidered Stripe Blouse // Handbag: Palla A-BagDisclaimer: I use the pronoun SHE because I like the way it sounds. In my career, I’ve had exactly 6 male and 6 female bosses so far but the ones that have impacted me most deeply happen to be female. That’s also why I am using the pronoun She. Some of these characteristics actually belonged to my male bosses.1. She asks you for your opinion in your area of expertise and values your expertiseIt’s an incredibly empowering thing when your manager defers to you in areas of your expertise.   This great boss of mine always managed to do this to give me opportunities to shine and to have the chance to make an impact instead of telling me what to do.2. She expects a lot from you and trusts in your ability to complete thingsIt’s not that she is simply laisser-faire and doesn’t like to interfere with your day-to-day. A great boss actually expects a lot from you. She knows that you will put 100% into everything you do and that you will deliver on time. A great boss doesn’t need to constantly check in with you, ask if you ’re making progress, or monitor how you’re doing things. She simply trusts you to deliver when the results are due.3. She protects her people from outside criticism but delivers it individually and tactically when neededThis is an important character in a manager if she wants a loyal team with members that trust her. She shields her team from others who have directly negative feedback or criticism to her team’s performance. But this protectiveness doesn’t’ mean she would never deliver criticism. A great boss will still let you know where you need to improve, but her feedback is delivered tactfully, purposefully, and with context.4. She respects her employee’s timeThis is a big one for me, personally. A great boss is a good time manager and respects everyone’s time around her. She shows up to meetings on time, doesn’t set up excessively long meetings, and always has an agenda for her meetings. She also shields her team from outside projects that are time-sucks or with unclear/indefinite timelines.5. You look forward to your 1:1 meetingsAs an extension of sign #5 â€" a great boss makes sure your 1:1 meetings are productive and your time together is well utilized. This means when you have questions, she has solutions or at least suggestions. This means she is an insightful and intentional person and that she respects your time.Top: Equipment Embroidered Stripe Blouse // Handbag: Palla A-Bag6. She makes it a point to always talk about your development goals and how you are progressing toward themIf there is one quality that all of the great bosses have, it’s this one. At the end of the day, managers manage people, and people need the motivation to keep performing, improving, and evolving. A great boss works with her employees to craft ways to be motivated, i.e. set up development goals. Even when you’re not 100% clear on what your career goals are, a great boss would guide your thinking and help you find your goals.7. She creates an environmen t such that the team can thrive inA great boss creates a strong team. She knows how to provide social glue and bring people together. She brings people closer, not farther apart.8. She always makes time for you and is there when you need her within a reasonable timeframe (this requires them to be a good time manager herself)A great boss doesn’t push your meetings off indefinitely or tell you “I don’t have time” without hearing you first. A great boss is there for her employee in times of need whether be it a meeting or a simple phone call. This, however, requires that she is a good manager of her own time, to begin with.9. She supports your career moves even if it means you move away from her teamThis isn’t about being selfless, or caring and empathetic about others’ goals. A great boss knows that her ultimate job is to develop a person as a whole, and not just to develop a member of her team. Any person’s development, if it goes well, will surely extend beyond what he r team’s function requires of any person on her team. If she sees this, she will be supportive and happy for you when you one day tell her that you have to pursue bigger or different goals or simply goals that don’t fall within her team.Top: Equipment Embroidered Stripe Blouse // Handbag: Palla A-Bag10. She asks for a 30-60-90 day plan at the beginning of a new jobWhen you are starting a new job, the impact of a great boss is immeasurable. She has the power to set you up to have a thriving future at this new company. An average manager appreciates a 30-60-90 day plan, but a great manager asks for one. Either way, you should always be prepared to do one, but know that if your manager asks for one, it’s likely that she will turn into a great boss.Does reading this list make you appreciate your current boss more? Did you just realize you have a pretty decent boss yourself? Tell me more below in the comments section!All photography by Natalie Alvarado @ StylenfuseP.S. If you’re wondering why this bag looks so familiar, it’s because you saw it in my last post... except it was the pink side showing. This is a reversible, genuine leather bag!  Palla Handbag is the company that makes this bag and has generously agreed to give me a unique discount code for Cubicle Chic readers “@cubicle_chic” â€" use it to get  15% off  if you wind up purchasing one of the Palla bags.Handbag:  Palla A-Bag  use my 15% off code “Cubicle_chic” (P.S. They’re also available on Amazon!)

What Not to Wear to the Interview

What Not to Wear to the Interview Every year after the big celebrity awards shows, the pundits weigh in on the best and worst dressed of the evening and Sunday nights  Golden Globe Awards  was no exception. Many of the popular style columns and blogs are already dissing Renee Zelweggers dress, Susan Sarandons sunglasses, and Beyonces poorly contained cleavage. And while an interview isnt quite the same as a walk down the red carpet, hiring authorities are paying attention to what candidates wear to job interviews. Here are some of the biggest fashion mistakes I see job seekers make.Women  Long fingernails with bright or distracting nail polish. Nails should be clipped short and it is recommended that you wear clear or light polish.Short skirts. Make sure you can sit and cross your legs comfortably. If your teenage daughter thinks your skirt is the right length, it is probably too short.Too much jewelry. Multiple bangle bracelets can be noisy and distracting during an interview. Only wear one pair of earings (and only in your ears).Too much perfume. An overpowering scent can quickly turn a one hour interview into a 20 minute interview. Go easy on the perfume or skip it altogether.Inappropriate footwear. It is fine to wear a shoe with a heel, but stay away from stilletos and open-toed shoes.Big Hair. If you plan to wear your hair down, try to keep it off your face. Otherwise opt for a neat style that pulls the hair away from your face.MenUnruly facial hair. Clean shaven is preferred. If you have a moustache or a beard, get a trim before the interview.Long Hair. Off the face and ears is best.Unkempt fingernails. Nails should be trimmed and clean.Too much cologne. Same reasons as stated for women.Unpolished Shoes. Its not just about having a nice suit. Clean, polished shoes complete the look.Lose Change. Jostling change in your pocket can be noisy and distracting. Clear out your pockets before the interview.During an interview you want to be remembered for what you said, not what you wore. By chosi ng styles that are appropriate for your age, industry, and professional brand you can ensure that your candidacy is judged on your accomplishments, rather than what you wear to the interview.

CRAVE NYC (aka Im in a real live book!)

CRAVE NYC (aka Im in a real live book!) Wanna hear the coolest? Im in a real live book! CRAVE NYC is the NYC version of the super-popular Urban Girls Guide thats available in major bookstores. From CRAVEs mouth: CRAVE new york city innovatively connects urban gals to the sassiest, gutsiest, most inspiring people they need to know in NYC. Our modern marketplace of soirees, gatherings and online networking serves as your ambassador to everything there is to CRAVE about the Big Apple. What I love about CRAVE as a company and why Im extra thrilled to be included in the pages of its very first NYC edition is that they only feature local, female entrepreneurs. Girl power at its finest. Its also a super gorgeous book with shiny paper and pop-y photos and its founder, Melody Biringer, is the bomb diggity. Whats that? You wanna see my spread? Well, OK!: And big fat kudos to Erin Wigger for taking such a beautiful photo, and for making it such a good time, too! If you want your own CRAVE NYC guide, I got a few that Im happy to sell for $12 (it usually retails for $19.95)  including shipping. Just contact me with your info and Ill make sure a pretty lil CRAVE guide gets into your pretty little hands! ____________________________________________________________________