5 Ways to Improve Your Resume In One Hour

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smart-watch-821557_1920If you’re anything like me, quite often you wish for more time. More time to finish a project, go to the movies, take a vacation, go to the gym, or spend time with family and friends.

You might say “falling back” with Daylight Savings Time is like receiving the gift of an extra hour. Despite my desire for more time, I have a love-hate relationship with this particular extra hour.

Love it because I get an extra hour once a year and the sun shines earlier in the morning so I’m not trying to pry myself out of bed in the dark. Hate it because it’s dark by five o’clock and it feels like midnight when I’m eating dinner at my usual hour.

Honestly, I will spend the next five months counting the days until we switch back and I lose an hour. I love the daylight that much. Not to mention I love warm weather. Hate the cold.

Right now, we’ve got an extra hour and we should use it to our advantage. Here are five ways to improve your resume in one hour:

  1. Add Social Media Links. Include a link to your LinkedIn page, as well as your website and other relevant social media accounts.  This is a good time to personalize your LinkedIn address too – www.linkedin.com/firstnamelastname. Reminder: make sure any links are live and connect to the correct page.
  2. Update Your Personal Statement. At the top of your resume should be your personal statement that tells the hiring manager who you are and what you can do to solve their problems.  If the top of your resume still says, “Seeking a job in X industry”, it’s time to start over.
  3. Highlight Career Wins. Show hiring managers what you bring to the table by sharing quantifiable success stories from each of your jobs. “Reduced operating expenses by eight percent in first quarter” or, “Developed and executed consumer program resulting in ten percent sales increase”. Show the hiring manager you mean business.
  4. Add New Skills or Awards. Did you take a course? Earn a certificate? Receive an award or other recognition?  Be sure to include any new skills, education or awards.  Remember, though, it must be relevant to your career.
  5. Out With the Old. There comes a time when our first job(s) need to be removed from our resumes. Same for irrelevant information such as street address (list only city and state), the words “cell phone” or “home phone” (simply list the number, preferably your cell phone), hobbies, personal information (age, height, political affiliation, etc.), anything related to high school, and the phrase, “references available upon request”.

Should Flawless Execution Be Your Goal?

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“Flawless Execution” – I guess it’s appropriate to say that I’m haunted by this phrase since Halloween is this month.

Companies, hiring managers and – gasp – even I have used this term to describe what we expect from employees or ourselves when it comes to performance.

But is “flawless execution” really what we want?

To clarify, once we have identified a project, set goals, worked through the “kinks” and it’s now show-time – which in my world of marketing would be execution of an event, a major PR announcement or a product launch – then yes, the goal would be flawless execution.

When I was a college summer intern with another student at a chemical products plant (yeah, that was memorable), our job was to re-wire the electrical burners in a very long oven that was the entire length of the plant. Why they entrusted us with this job, I’ll never know. After working on this for about four weeks, we announced we had finished and all of the workers came to see us pull the switch to start the burners. Only one third of the burners started.

In this instance, flawless execution would have been a good idea, as well as testing it ourselves first.

Where I challenge us in our expectations of flawless execution is when we expect ourselves and/or our companies to be forward-thinking and to grow beyond what we are currently doing. To do so, we have to make allowances for “flawed execution”.

Without trial and error, we will never discover the next “big thing” or move beyond our current status.

Employees who are afraid to fail will not take the necessary steps to bring the company new ideas and test new concepts if their reviews are based on flawless execution. Would you take risks if your job was on the line? Maybe, but then again, maybe not.

It’s easier just to take the safe route.

I understand that we are all held to bottom lines and delivering results and budgets and pleasing shareholders. Really, I do. Been there, done that.

Yet there has got to be a way to allow for some calculated risk that allows the company and the employee to grow, with both reaping benefits.

The chemical company definitely took a risk allowing two college students to re-wire the electrical on a major piece of equipment. We thought we were in big trouble. But the company had taken a calculated risk, knowing we would probably not get it right the first time, choosing a slow-season in which the second oven could handle production needs.

As hiring managers we should rethink using the phrase “flawless execution” when reviewing potential candidates or developing job descriptions, and use that instead for a particular project. We should want to hire employees that will use critical thinking to take calculated risks, especially when developing new ideas or planning for the company’s future.

There really are ways to take risks and still meet goals, allowing some wiggle room for “flawed execution”.

And the Award Goes To: What To Do When You Don’t Win At Work

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The awards were all sitting in front of me. A large screen flashed accolades, written by readers of the newspaper and submitted anonymously, praising the work of the columnists sitting in the room with me. We all watched anxiously for comments about our work.

I’m not gonna lie; I counted the number of times my name appeared on the screen, even taking photos of each comment with my phone.

To say I’m competitive is an understatement. I’ve always strived to be the best at everything I do. Whether I succeed or not is beside the point; I have an inherent desire to do my best.

Who am I kidding? It’s all about winning! I want an award and all the recognition that comes with it, including bragging rights and the photo for social media.

But today I was not a winner.

Thank goodness I learned a hard lesson when I was younger: not everyone gets a trophy just for participating.

When I was a child, we learned the value of winning but more importantly we learned the value of losing, and losing with grace. It didn’t matter if it was softball or dance or debate or any number of competitive activities. There could only be one winner; possibly a second and third place. But that was it. We didn’t receive a trophy simply for participating, a practice common today.

We learned to accept defeat graciously, and we learned to separate the loss of the event from ourselves. Just because we did not receive an award for our hard work did not mean that we, personally, were losers. It simply meant that someone else had performed better than we did at that given moment.

I believe we became more resilient. If we wanted to succeed next time, we evaluated the winning entry or the winning team’s strategy. We took notes. We practiced more. We set a goal, developed a plan to achieve that goal, and went to work.

My biggest lesson in defeat and winning came in high school. A life-long dancer, when drill team tryouts came I thought it would be no problem to make the team. I practiced and had the routine down pat. Piece of cake, I thought.

What I didn’t count on was the strong desire of others to secure one of the limited spots on the team. They may not have had the same years in the dance studio as I did, but they made up for it in determination.

Defeat hit me hard. I was devastated.

After twenty-four hours of solid tears, I held my head up, walked past the smiling girls who made the team and met with the director to ask for constructive feedback for next years’ tryouts.

Once I understood my areas for improvement, I developed a plan to master those skills by the next years’ try-outs. I was determined to win.

Was it hard to sit on the sidelines for a year? Yes. Was it difficult to practice alone while waiting for my next chance at redemption? Absolutely.

What will happen to kids today when they grow out of the “everyone gets a trophy” phase and experience true defeat? Will they know how to separate the loss based on skills without thinking, “I’m a loser”? And will they have the determination to develop a plan to win next time?

My losing experience taught me no matter how good I am at something, there’s always going to be someone better. I learned how to develop a plan to get from point A to point B.

Second time out, I made the team. Got the award, the bragging rights and the photo.

As for today’s events, I’m proud of my fellow columnists who received recognition for their work. It’s an honor to work with such skilled writers.

And the graduation gift we all received was lovely; a leather writing journal to capture our thoughts, which I know I’ll put to good use.

But I still want to win.

What is the Best Career Advice You’ve Ever Received?

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What is the best career advice you’ve ever received? According to Jason, my former colleague and longtime friend, it’s “Feed the Bear”.

I had to think about this for a minute.

People living in areas prone to bears know better than to leave food or trash outside, where it’s easily accessible. When bears haven’t been fed and are having a hard time finding food, they will come looking for it. Bears will walk right up to the house, knocking over the trash cans looking for what they want – food.

The bear usually leaves a mess to clean up and a frustrated homeowner. It’s better if the bear is full, so he doesn’t come around looking for food.

Sometimes at work we get so busy with a project that we forget to update the boss with our progress. We figure we will tell him/her at the weekly staff meeting, or simply wait until we hit a milestone when we “really have something to share”.

Wrong! We should constantly provide information to our manager about the work we are doing.

We need to “Feed the Bear.”

We should always be one step ahead, providing updates on our project status; information that the manager can share with his boss that will make it look like he is “in the know.”

One thing you never want to happen is to have your boss’s boss ask a question that your boss is unable to answer.

Talk about one hungry bear visiting your desk.

Here’s what happens if you fail to feed the bear at work:

  • Your manager will catch you off guard, asking questions about your work that may or may not be relevant to the success of the project
  • Your manager may lose trust in your abilities if you are not prepared with an answer
  • Once engaged, your manager may get creative as he asks questions, deciding to add side-projects that may take your efforts off-focus
  • Frustration may set in as you feel like you are being micro-managed with these additional projects and drive-by meetings

Yes, we all need to remember to “Feed the Bear.” It makes perfect sense.

The Easiest Way to Hurt Your Career

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What’s the easiest way to hurt your career?

Ruin the one thing that you own; the one thing that no one can take away from you except yourself: Your reputation
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We forget that we own our reputations; we manage them. A good reputation can open doors; a bad reputation is difficult to repair.

I’m sure there are times when you have want something so badly that you would do almost anything to get it. I know I’ve been in those situations.

What would you do to get what you want?

  • Walk over hot coals to get a date with your dream guy or gal? No problem.
  • Stay up all night waiting in line to try out for a TV show? Sure! Who needs sleep?
  • Lie to the hiring manager by accepting a job knowing that you intend to quit after only a few months in order to start working at your dream company when a position opens? Hmmm.

Let’s see where this career decision might lead, if you acted on it.

You try desperately to rationalize the career decision in your head. “Well, the job pays really well and I need the money since I just quit my other job.” “I will work really hard for the company, making sure to exceed their expectations.” “Just looking out for number one in case something happens with the other job.”

Deep down you know that this is wrong on so many levels. But the job is so good, you accept and hope things will work out.

And it does work out well – for you.

In a couple of months the dream company calls with an offer; you resign from your current position and are excited about the future. The current company is not so thrilled to find out they’ve been played, having invested time and money into training you. They’ve seen this happen before, so they move on, making a note in your file.

Fast-forward a few years.

You have achieved success at the dream company and now it’s time to expand your horizons. Through your network, you learn about an awesome opportunity with a new company and your resume gets passed to the corporate recruiter.

This is where it gets interesting: the corporate recruiter at this new company happens to be the same person who was the corporate recruiter at the company you worked at for only a few months. The one you “played”. Kind of doubt she’s going to ask you to come in for an interview. Why should she trust you? She certainly doesn’t want to get played again.

Yes, it’s a small world when it comes to business. People move around to different companies; you never know when you might run into them again.

With social media it’s super easy to find someone who knows you as well. Recruiters know each other, and even if it wasn’t the same person it wouldn’t take much networking for your name to pop up in the recruiter’s LinkedIn account. Your story would be uncovered and the same results.

Your reputation is worth protecting, especially with situations that are within your control such as lying or other questionable behavior. As I said before, a good reputation can open doors; a bad reputation is difficult to repair.

Ruining your reputation is the easiest way to hurt your career.

Is Your Age Holding You Back From Achieving Your Dreams?

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I’ve got a question for you: How old would you be if you didn’t know your true age?

For me, I’m probably about thirty-six. Why that age? First, it was simply a great year personally and professionally. On a broader note, thirty-six is an age where we are old enough to have confidence and experience, yet young enough to be, well, young.

In my mind, I’m still that age. Despite a few more years of experience and the fact that my body is not as physically fit.

What remains the same is that I continue to try new things and look forward, both in my personal life and career. Hubby and I are still setting career goals when friends are desperately counting the years and months until they can retire. Many scoff at us as we talk about our next career moves, asking why we don’t have a plan to stop working so we can spend time on the golf course.

First, I don’t play golf. Even if I did, and if I played every day, what would I do after lunch?

As long as everyone has a plan, golf or otherwise, huh?

What really bothers me is that many people hit a point in their life where they seem to almost give up. Maybe they realize that whatever dream they had when they were twenty did not materialize and now they don’t know what to do. Or maybe where they are now is not at all where they thought they would be at this stage of life. Or maybe they simply hate their jobs and either don’t know how or don’t want to make a change.

When I speak with these people, they all have one thing in common: they are paralyzed by what “should have” been or “could have” been. Instead of focusing on what they have accomplished and what they could still succeed at, they focus on what they did not achieve.

Many times age comes into our discussion. “I can’t do that at my age”; “I’m too old to make a change”; “My skills aren’t good”; and my favorite, “No one will hire me at my age”.

And that turns into paralysis; an inability to see that there are opportunities available, to set new dreams, to achieve great things.

I get it; I had dreams too. One was to buy my parents a new house or at least a new luxury car. Although I realize now that this dream was a bit unrealistic given my career path. It could have been achieved if I had done things a bit differently, made some different career moves, spent less money, invested differently, etc.

Another dream I had was to be CMO of a company. Again, if I had chosen to accept different jobs or if I had chosen to stay at certain companies rather than accept new offers, that dream may have become a reality. But why look back? The jobs I accepted led to some awesome opportunities that I would not trade for the world.

I’m still charting my career course. No reason to stop now! From where I sit, I see a world of opportunity and things do fall into place as long as I put myself out there. Sitting still leaves me paralyzed, and doing nothing is not going to get me where I want to be.

If you or someone you know is struggling, thinking that they are not where they want to be at this stage of their career, talk to them. Help them realize their potential. The years of experience they have can be translated into other professions; it’s just a matter of thinking about it in a different way and seeing themselves through a different lens.

Wherever you are in your career and life, continue to dream big and find new avenues to share your skills. Don’t let your age or your perception of your age hold you back. You’ll be surprised at what you have to offer.

Successful People Have This Characteristic

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What makes some people successful and others not so much? Luck? Intelligence? Money?

I’m guessing successful people have this characteristic: they are driven.

I like to think that I have a special relationship with all of my nieces and nephews. This is especially true of my sister’s kids, simply because I was single when they were born and had lots of free time to spend with them during formative years.

That last statement speaks volumes about my dating life during that time. But I digress.

Now they are young adults and I’m in awe of their smarts and capabilities. Each has different interests and is driven to succeed in different ways. There is no doubt in my mind that all will be successful.

My oldest niece is particularly driven. From the time she was a little girl, she’s wanted to be a veterinarian. The time is now; this fall she will enter vet school to fulfill that dream.

I’d love to say this has been an easy road: go to college, get degree, apply to vet school, get accepted, and off you go.

Anyone with any knowledge of vet school knows that it’s easier to get into medical school than vet school. Barely into her bachelor’s program, professors told my niece as much; not-so-politely suggesting that she give up her dream and head over to the med school.

Many of her classmates gave up quickly, letting one or two people’s opinions shatter their dream.

Not my niece. She pushed and worked and kept staring them down when they’d tell her “no”.

She completed a rigorous masters’ program, graduating summa cum laude while working at the veterinary hospital on campus to prove herself, even managing the large-animal ICU as a tech after graduation.

Still, no acceptance from her dream school.

Determined – DRIVEN – to succeed, she applied to multiple schools, received several offers and accepted one from an outstanding program where she will begin this fall.

This young lady is intelligent, mature and knows what she wants. She has worked her butt off to get to her dream; now it’s happening.

I am so proud of her. For having a strategic plan to get from point A to point B. For staying positive and gaining experience wherever she could. For NOT GIVING UP.

How many of us would more easily give up when searching for a job?

I speak with job seekers frequently about their dreams, their searches and what they are doing to achieve those dreams. Even if the dream is simply to find employment.

  • When I suggest developing a strategic plan, many say “I don’t need that; it’s just a job search”.
  • When I forward a job opening for them to consider, I’m met with, “I’m probably over-qualified”.
  • When I suggest that perhaps they take a lower-paying job or a volunteer position in their field that will keep them working and cover gaps on their resume, they say, “I’m better than that” or “That’s a lot of work for little reward”.

Wow. So many times I’m met with such negativity that it’s hard even for me to maintain a positive attitude.

And then my niece reminds me that sometimes dreams are worth fighting for, no matter what it takes or how many lower-level jobs you have to endure while you wait.

Makes me think that successful people are more driven than others. Or at least they don’t give up as easily.

Swimming With Sharks

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Did you see the news about the pro surfer who found himself accidentally swimming with a shark?

It was during a competition off the coast of Africa. There he was, paddling on his board, patiently waiting for the next big wave, when a fin suddenly appeared behind him in the water. He couldn’t see it, yet the viewing audience saw it clearly.

The television announcers were shocked, their words “bleeped” out as the shark attacked the surprised surfer. There was a moment when we lost sight of both surfer and shark, which was terrifying, as rescuers jet-skied over, grabbing the stunned surfer and the other remaining competitor from the water.

Once on dry land, it was plain to see the surfer – despite being a seasoned professional – was clearly shaken. He kept repeating that he did not see the shark coming at all; it was a complete surprise. Luckily, his instinct took over and he punched the shark as he broke away and the rescuers swooped in.

I’m sure you’re thinking, “So glad that I don’t have to swim with sharks at work”.

Don’t be so sure.

Every once in a while we run into a shark at the office. Usually, office sharks are hard to spot. They are very good at disguising themselves as friendly, gentle creatures, similar to dolphins. They have friendly demeanors, are fun to eat lunch with and can be very smart.

The problem with an office shark is that they want something; usually recognition, credit, glory or information. The office shark wants something from you for their own personal gain and will stop at nothing to get it, including stabbing others in the back.

This happened to me once. (Note that I said “once”. I have been careful to not let it happen again.)

I had befriended a colleague who was nice, creative, smart and fun to be with. I was taken in by the generous spirit; we had fun at lunch. I thought this person had my back.

Others tried to warn me, saying this colleague was up to something. They even gave me examples of how this colleague had made shark bait out of others. Yet I defended my friend, saying others misunderstood. Clearly they didn’t see what I saw.

Apparently I was the one who needed glasses. Did not even see the knife coming.

Luckily, it was not a serious wound to my career, but it was to my ego and definitely broke any trust I had. We remained friendly, yet the relationship was never the same.

Thank goodness this doesn’t happen often. Most of the time, the office waters are calm.

Remember two things: First – never be the office shark. It’s a stain on your reputation that is almost impossible to erase.   And second – always keep your eyes open, in case one is lurking nearby.

Trust Is A Very Important And Powerful Part Of Your Career

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Interviewing is a lot like dating. Job seekers and employers alike are searching for Mr. or Ms. Right.

Similar to Match.com, companies and candidates post their profiles online in hopes of making a connection.  Candidates are much more anxious to find a steady date than companies seem to be, browsing online dating sites LinkedIn, Career Builder, Indeed and others daily, looking for just the right mix of strengths, capabilities, salary and commute.  When we find a “match”, we submit our resume and wait for our “date” to ping us back.

Sometimes we wait in vain, which is so annoying.  Just when we are about to give up, we receive a message from a company that wants to meet us.  A real date!

Being experienced daters, we know that this meeting is really more of an interview to see if we get along.  A feeling of trust is part of it. If the candidate and company are unable to build a relationship based on trust, there will be no second date, and certainly no job offer.

Here are two examples of “Work Dates” to learn from, one good and one, well, that is just wrong.

Jordan Spieth

In case you don’t know, he’s only the hottest up-and-coming golfer on the planet.  This young man seems to have his head screwed on correctly.

He’s an excellent golfer. He appears to be very bright and level headed.  From what we’ve seen and read, he acts like a gentleman at all times – no need to worry about putting a mic close to his face; have not seen him mouth a curse word yet.  He’s humble and caring, especially when it comes to his sister with special needs.

Jordan has won two major tournaments and is on his way to the British Open; if he wins he will set some sort of record.  Having just come off a tournament, most players left for Scotland to get acclimated and start practicing.  Yet over a year ago Jordan had committed to play in a lower-tier tournament the weekend prior to the British Open. 

Most in the golf world have said that it would have been perfectly acceptable for Jordan to apologize to the lesser tournament, explain that he had no idea he would qualify for the British Open so early in his career, and catch a flight to Scotland.

Jordan played in the tournament, stating that he made a commitment and he intended to honor it. He won the tournament too.

#honor #trustworthy

DeAndre Jordan

DeAndre is in the NBA; played for the Los Angeles Clippers who were “this close” to winning the championship this year.  But DeAndre was not 100% happy with his job so at the end of the season he became a free-agent in order to “change jobs” – move to another team.

Enter Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks, who together with his crew wooed and wined and dined DeAndre, showing him what life would be like if he accepted a job with the Mavericks.  They offered him exactly the job he wanted.  After a lengthy party/interview, DeAndre accepted the offer to become a Maverick.

After a few days, apparently reality sank in and DeAndre realized he didn’t want to move to Dallas for whatever reason.  Except that he already told his boss (LA) he was leaving and Mr. Cuban (Dallas) he was coming.

He did some fancy talking and got his old job back. Word got out to Mark Cuban that DeAndre had cold feet.  Things got weird.   Mark got a Tweet from DeAndre that said “Hope we can still be friends”.

#interviewfail  #nottrustworthy

Trust is a very important and powerful part of your career. Job candidates and employees who misuse or abuse trust will find out quickly that once trust is lost, it may be impossible to regain.  It’s a mistake that can haunt you for the rest of your career.

Think about it when you are making career decisions.

And whatever you do, always speak to the hiring manager about your decision.  Even if it means telling them you’ve changed your mind. It’s more respectful and simply the right thing to do.

A Phone Call Changes Everything

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The past week has been tough; it always is when a loved one is in the hospital.  The post below is a rerun from 2013 and it’s similar to what I’m going through now.  This is a great reminder of what’s really important, even when work is swirling out of control or we’ve had a bad day at the office.

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It’s usually not a good thing when the phone rings before 8:00 am.  Mom sounded nervous, telling me she didn’t feel well.  Hubby and I raced her to the doctor, and then to the ER.  Losing feeling and movement in any part of your body is not good.

Tests were started in the ER and when it was determined her condition was stable, we transferred to a room and waited while they took more tests.  And waited, and waited….

The waiting seemed so long.  My only solace was texting Hubby who had gone to work, or watching TV, scrolling through Facebook or playing solitaire.  I had rushed out of the house that morning with just my handbag and phone; thank goodness I had a charger with me.

The good news is that her hand showed improvement within hours.  Bad news is that this happened on a Friday and weekends are definitely not a good time to be in a hospital – ask anyone who’s been there.  Skeleton staff makes it almost impossible to get tests done and read.   Not sure why they don’t have a full team that works weekends too.  Illness doesn’t take a holiday.

More good news; mom is improving and is now at our house.  Her hand, while not 100%, continues to show signs of improvement.  Tests revealed no major issues.  This was clearly a fluke, and she was lucky.

I had lots of time to think during those days in the hospital.  Too much time, in fact.  Thinking about mom, wondering how I’m going to help her without taking independence away; how am I going to “not worry” about her?  It’s sobering to realize that her life – my life – changed with one phone call.

What I didn’t think about during this time was work.  Funny how that happens.  I had worked late for three nights leading up to this, completely stressed-out about things. While I was sitting in the hospital, I honestly couldn’t tell you what I had been working on that week or why it had seemed so important.

A phone call, that’s all it took to get perspective.  Suddenly I would have given anything to simply be stressed out from work.  That would be easy.  Sitting in a hospital with your loved one is not.

There’s not even any hospital drama or shenanigans like you see on Grey’s Anatomy.  At least that would have been a distraction!  Where’s a hot doctor when you need one? And the Grey’s Anatomy hospital seems to be fully staffed every day and at all hours.  Hardly real-life.

So what’s my point?  I guess I don’t really have a fun business story today.  Except to say that wherever you are in your career – happy with work, not happy, laid off and looking – remember to keep work in perspective.  It’s important, but other things are more important.

One phone call is all it takes to change your life in an instant.  And trust me, you won’t care anymore about work, the stress, the pay, the coworkers, the clients – anything.