image by Rob!

I can’t tell you how many clients come in with resumes that are clearly created from the templates you find in Microsoft Word. It’s a beginner’s mistake. It is easy to assume that since Word is the top of the word processing software applications, the templates should be just what you need for your job search.

When I tell new clients that I start every resume with a blank page, they sometimes look at me funny. I believe that because the job seeker is unique, their resume needs to be created to fit their talents, accomplishments, and past experience. I do this best with a new document that uses the features that the job seeker and I select for their resume not a template created in mass as part of a software package by people who probably don’t write resumes as their career.

What’s even more scary? Bad Career Center Advice!

A client of mine who went back to school came in with the instruction book from his career center. Every example comes right out of those same templates. The format is boring, the content is boring, and the advice is totally unwise for today’s job search. And yet the career center is demanding this templated resume to be submitted for student’s to pass their classes.

In this case, my client was already getting job offers and interviews from his former resume. He went back to school as a non-traditional student after being downsized. We recreated his resume to match his new goals in school and he was ready to start using it. Unfortunately, we had to redo it one more time to meet the career center objectives which included shrinking his value-infused resume from a 2 page to a 1 page resume because “that’s the rule.”

I need their version of the resume to pass the class

When I told him that I didn’t think he was getting the right advice, he said, “I know but I need their version of the resume to pass the class. Let’s just do it for them. I won’t ever use it.”

Sad, huh? I know there are some great career centers throughout the United States that offer cutting edge services to their students and employ certified professional resume writers and career coaches to craft the direction of their programs. But this one doesn’t.

When the goal of an educational institution is to create new workers, the career advice has to match the goal. The handout is dated September 2010 but this information is included:

First, the likely possiblity that the shrinking labor pool of employment-ready personnel may create worker shortages during this decade.

Wrong job search crystal ball

I don’t know what crystal ball they are using but I don’t see worker shortages in the near future. Did they look out the window? Even in our own community, the global recession is still creating havoc with the recent loss of more than 1000 jobs in just two companies.

If the advice you are getting says your resume MUST be one page and you need an objective statement, go find someone who teaches cutting edge job strategies because you aren’t getting the right advice. Your resume must answer the question, why should I hire you? Your job search can’t be based on online only strategies. Your first assignment as a job seeker is to figure out your accomplishments in your past positions, your past education, and other experiences. Your second assignment is to define the network that will help you find a new job.

Where is your job search advice coming from? Make sure that you aren’t getting advice that would have been ok in the 1980′s but falls short in 2012.

image by Reportergimmi

Wisconsin is the hot bed for angry people lately and the Occupy movement has moved that anger nationwide. I know that the recession has caused havoc for many people and it is easy to throw blame. I think some people who were affected by the latest financial and economic crisis lived on the other side for a very long time.

By other side, I mean that some of the people never lost a job and were never self-employed or entrepreneurs so they had no concept of what it is like to not have everything they wanted. Moreso, they were unprepared for the hard times that could make everything worse.

Do they want a world with no incentive to succeed?

But my question is what do they really want?  I talked about my stance about a question of what is right yesterday. I stand firmly that everyone, corporations, small businesses, and people in general must act in integrity and honesty but I find it hard to believe that every business that has an occupy movement encamped by it had a goal of cheating people. I know some did, I don’t doubt that, I just don’t think it is as universal as you would think from the news.

Do we want a country of entitlement?

I also don’t think that I want a country of entitlement. Let me explain. I have gone without health insurance for the past 6 years after self paying for the prior almost 20 years. In 2005, when our family premiums hit $500 a month with a $5,000 deductible per person, I dropped the policy. We have had some expenses and even a surgery for my husband but we managed to set up payment plans and handle the expenses ourselves. I am getting a policy for me now because at 55 being the major income source, I think it is important to our family but it is catastrophic only.

I have made missteps with our finances and even with the job choice I made but I never gave up or declared bankruptcy. I negotiated, worked harder, looked for resources, and started spending smarter.

In the midst of the recession, I chose to drop my stable contracts with non-profits to go it alone as a solo entrepreneur. I guess it never occurred to me that I could fail. I didn’t do it without expert help which made a huge difference but nonetheless my timing could have been better.

I still have not come close to all my goals. My kitchen was in bad shape when we moved in the house in 1992 but it has been pushed to last on the list. In November 2009, I ripped out the old floor because it was such bad linoleum that I couldn’t live with it. Since then the subfloor has been our floor because I keep thinking the full remodel can be funded soon but the roof leaked and so that came first.

Yes, I have a roof over my head and I have many blessings but I think that sometimes people fail to realize that if they work as hard at solving their financial and employment problems and stretch harder, they can succeed.

I think we all have a responsibility to help others. I tithe on the basis of my income to my church. I also look for opportunities to help out. I don’t see that as the government’s job either. Christian or non-Christian, if all of us help someone else, I think we can solve many people’s problems.

What if you don’t have a job?

I have been in the career industry since 1983 and I have never seen such an extensive resource for finding out how to best find a job or change your career. My colleagues blog, there are so many free resources out there from blogs to websites to job resources like LinkedIn. You can access all of this at public libraries and some of those libraries have beefed up the job search resources and put more computers available.

If you want to make an investment and shorten your job search, you can find hundreds, maybe thousands of professionals like me, ready and able to help you do just that.

I also think that there have never been more resources and opportunities for individuals to be the CEO of me. Do you have a great idea you have been sitting on for years, maybe it is time to dust it off and launch it.

Build your own empire

Then you can get  out there and build your own empire and create your own opportunities. Life has not been a bowl of cherries for me even in the best economies when many people in the occupy movement were thriving. But I welcome a challenge. I don’t want anyone telling me to stop trying. Maybe I am a little angry too… but it makes me work harder, it makes me think carefully about how I spend the income I do have, not just blame someone else.

I will probably never be a millionaire or billionaire but I want to be able to set my goals as high as I want. Don’t limit me and don’t entitle me.

You may not agree with me. You may think entitlements and government regulations and programs for everything in your life makes more sense. I think I would rather do it myself!

Ups and downs are part of life

Anyone who has read this blog regularly will know that I have had my ups and downs and this year has had more than usual. In just this summer alone, I shared:

1. Roll with the punches — about challenges with our car, my back, and the start of my laptop problems.
2. What do you do when the unexpected happens — about my mom’s fall down the stairs and subsequent hospitalization.
3. When faced with challenges, have a backup plan — about how to plan for disasters or unforeseen trouble.
4. And the end has come — about Mom’s death and our celebration of her life.
5. How to cope with the unexpected — about how a sudden electrical storm created new problems to solve, broken equipment and interruptions.
6. How to face starting over again — about how my laptop problems increased and how we solved them while at the same time, my blogs were hit with malware.
7. How getting a new puppy relates to your job search — about the new puppy coming into our lives after the death of our Teddy in January.

If I chose to list them, I could come up with a long list of other posts that talk about my other life challenges. I do tend to share them here and hope that each post relates to some reader’s challenges. But today I would like to remind myself and you that you really need to treasure the moment and give you 5 easy and free tips to do so.

1. Go outside every day just to be outside. Walk about, listen to the birds, look at the seasonal happenings such as  flowers blooming or leaves falling. Those moments will fly by, cherish them. The photo in this post was taken when I took Buddy, our new German Shepherd puppy, around the house early in the morning as the sun was rising.
2. Get some exercise every day. I try to do some crushes, push-ups and other exercises daily. I also take longer walks to the river when I can. Buddy is just starting to walk with me now so it will be a new adventure. Exercise in any form makes you feel better and I treasure that time.
3. Do some thinking so you can act and not always react. When I am walking or in my office, I try to keep working through my plan so that I can get things done. Treasure the moments you have to just ponder your next step.
4. Read. I still find reading books to be both fun and educational. Whether you read a regular hard cover book or use a Kindle or Ipad to read, take time to read and treasure the knowledge and fun it provides.
5. Treat yourself. I said free but this might mean just having your coffee on the deck or cooking a special meal at home. It doesn’t have to be a fancy dinner out or even a trip to Starbucks.

Life will have challenges, it is a guarantee. There will be disasters and you will experience some of them in your life. Health problems will plaque you or someone you love. You or someone you care about will lose a job. You will experience relationship problems. But if you practice treasuring the moment, you will be better as you face the challenges and you will bounce back quicker.

image by rgallant_photography

You’re going to see a common theme for a little bit here on this blog. I am focused on getting my laptop and blogs working again and every time something comes together, I breathe a sigh of relief.

Every step though is challenging. You never realize how many things your computer knows until you don’t have it. As I have been putting things back together, I realize more things (passwords, website links I took for granted, other files that I never notice I am using) are needed to make things work the right way.

Just to write this blog post, I need certain things. Obviously, I need WordPress and Headway working. But since I use Flickr for my photos and images, I need to get in to it. More passwords, more thinking. Where is the creative commons page I always use? Oh, I knew who to ask but being stubborn, I found it on my own.

Confusion when there is change

When things change, you often feel confused like the little boy in the photo at the left. This challenging technology period has made me feel that way many times.

Today I realized that I didn’t have the right drivers for my keyboard and mouse. I found those after studying model numbers and images and got it installed and configured. Then I still am struggling with why my en dash short cut no longer works, the one that changes my hyphen into the longer en dash. All the fixes I tried didn’t work.

When a friend on Skype shared a PDF file, I realized I needed to download a new Adobe Reader. See the pattern?

When you lose something whether it is technology, a job, or experience any other loss, you need to adjust. You have to put things back together. Things you take for granted might not be there anymore. Sometimes you can recover them like I am loading new software, downloading drivers, and finding the way back to the tools I used and took for granted. Other times, you are going to have more hurdles and the process will take much longer.

I know I have multiple experts to contact if things don’t function correctly and when I get to the point of needing help, I will ask. For some people, asking for help is very hard and they find themselves more and more confused.

Sometimes when we feel battered, we need to roll with the punches but other times, we really should just ask for help.

If you are in need of help with a problem, ask someone. It will definitely help you move forward.