How are leprechauns able to achieve such great success? With a great resume, of course. Here’s our take on a resume for Lawrence “Lucky” Leprechaun. While the resume sample was written in fun, there are some good resume writing lessons: Include a career goal, emphasize accomplishments, include volunteer activities, and downplay deficiencies (no mention of mischief here).

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Kim Isaacs

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My first computer was a RadioShack TRS-80. When my father brought the computer home and plopped it on the dining room table, my love affair with computers began. Visitors to our house didn’t know what the monstrosity was, but I spent my spare time eagerly typing programs and testing its capabilities.

I was happy as a clam, until it happened. I had devoted countless hours entering data for an MS-DOS “guess the state capital” program and must have been on line number 20,040 or so when “blammo” — the screen went dead and I was left staring at my faint reflection in the blackness of the screen.

This was no namby-pamby, modern day blue screen of death (BSOD). Computer crashes are annoying, but expected, on today’s PCs. This was far worse. My first experience with a computer crash took me by surprise, and the incident almost ended my love of computers. Indeed, the “stupid thing” (my new nickname for the computer) had no recollection of the data I had entered for days on end.

I thoughtfully deliberated about what I should do, asking friends for advice about whether or not I should give the computer a second chance. People didn’t understand my dilemma, even when I cried about what line number I was up to before the screen went blank. The computer sat in an “off” position for days, perhaps remorseful that it had betrayed me.

But I was transfixed by the computer, and it was just a matter of time before it would lure me in and I would click the “power” button again. When I did, it was like reuniting with an old friend. I never did re-enter the state program (”Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me”), but I moved on to other, more fun programs and cultivated a passion for technology that has lasted for 30+ years (I was just a baby when I got the TRS-80, ha ha).

Love, betrayal, breakups…did you notice the correlations with human relationships? I realize computers can’t feel (or can they?), but that’s what work should feel like — something that you are so passionate about, you realize you can’t live (or don’t want to live) without it. Work might not be all roses and daisies all of the time, and there will be obstacles and maybe even doubts, but it’s your passion for your career that will fuel your day-to-day happiness and ultimate success.

What about you? Have you faced career obstacles, but were able to get back on track to pursue your dreams? If so, drop me a note or a comment, I would love to hear from you!

Best wishes,

Kim Isaacs

Photo by Jeff Kubina via Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons. Thanks, Jeff!

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Personal branding expert and networking guru Wendy Terwelp wants job seekers to think about and improve their brand messages. According to Wendy, “Job seekers already have a brand, whether they know it or not. What do people think about them? Are they known for a great sense of humor, or maybe for being a savvy networker?” Wendy says that job seekers can edge out their competition by defining and communicating a consistent brand message throughout the job search.

What are you known for in your industry, and how can you improve your brand message? Wendy offers a Personal Branding Quiz so you can assess your brand message’s status. Click here to take the quiz.

Best wishes,
Kim Isaacs

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I visited Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia this week, and even though the prison is rich with history and housed some famous inmates (including Al Capone), I was most intrigued by the story of Leo Callahan. Leo and five other inmates escaped from the prison in 1923 by holding up guards and scaling the prison wall (a wall worthy of Spider-Man!). His buddies were later caught, and more than 100 other inmates attempted to escape during the prison’s 142 years of operation. Leo was the only one who was never recaptured.

Do you feel trapped like Leo did, only you are trapped in a dead-end job? Are you eager to taste freedom? Are you willing to take the time to plan your escape, using the resources at your disposal to permanently break from your current employer? Like Leo, you need to put in your time for now, but create and implement a foolproof plan of action that will ensure your successful escape. Of course, your escape won’t involve criminal behavior and a search team, but if you’re lucky you might get a nice good-bye party and a chance to enjoy going to work each day.

The first step is to figure out what kind of career, job, and employment situation would make you happiest. This could be the hardest step because it requires a significant amount of introspection. Career books are a good starting point, and one that I like is I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It by career counselor Barbara Sher. A visit to the library or local bookstore should yield books that would work for you, and I recommend that you pick up a bunch of books and dig in. If you are making a career change as well as a job change, you will need to do industry-specific research to learn about your new career. It’s also a good idea to talk to people in the industry — consider asking for informational interviews to glean insider information that will help you make informed decisions about your career transition.

This post is about resume tips to escape your dead-end job, so why so much talk about pinpointing your career goal? Because you can’t create a dynamic resume if your job target is fuzzy. When you’re clear about your career goal (or goals), it’s time to tackle your resume. Follow these tips to create a resume that will work hard for you:

1. Target a specific goal: I frequently talk about the importance of creating a targeted resume, and this is key to creating a resume that will get noticed. It’s not a good idea to let hiring managers guess your career goal. Use a tagline and Qualifications Summary to highlight your objective and important qualifications.

2. Define your brand: What differentiates you from the other job seekers in the candidate pool? What if an employer receives 1,000 resumes — how will you stand out? That’s where your brand message comes in. You need to figure out why you are more desirable than your peers, and then make sure that every word on your resume supports your brand message.

3. Highlight accomplishments: If your resume outlines how you went above and beyond your daily duties to really contribute to your employers’ operations, employers will be interested in talking to you and seeing how you would do the same for them. Be sure the focus of your employment history is on accomplishments, not basic job duties.

4. Show passion: One of the problems with being stuck in a dead-end job is the lack of passion that it induces. Don’t let that translate to your resume. If you’re emotionally detached from your job, you might inadvertently use dull, lifeless language to describe your position. I recommend putting a positive spin on your job, and focus on the tasks and accomplishments that you do enjoy. For example, if you’re in accounting and crunching numbers makes you pull your hair out, don’t focus on the numbers aspect of your job. Instead, think about special projects or other assignments that are related to your goal and highlight them. If your resume is focused on the boring tasks that you hate, hiring managers will pick up on those tasks and think you would be perfect to do the same for them. Escape this fate by demonstrating passion for your current career goal.

5. Be proactive: Don’t just send your resume out and wait for the phone to ring. Build relationships, network within your industry, and follow up on resume submissions. Keep a log of your job search activities — check out JibberJobber for excellent tracking tools.

6. Be innovative: More and more job seekers are getting noticed by using web resumes and social media tools to present their qualifications. You could be left in the dust if you don’t have an online career folio, career-related blog, and profiles on social networking sites such as LinkedIn.com. Resume styles and techniques are constantly changing, so stay on top of cutting-edge strategies so that you’re poised to grab a great opportunity…and escape your dead-end job.

Best wishes for a successful job search,

Kim Isaacs

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Even leprechauns need resumes - check out the resume of Lawrence “Lucky” Leprechaun.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Best wishes,

Kim Isaacs

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I spent the weekend in NYC and saw the hysterical Broadway musical Avenue Q. The show follows a new graduate named Princeton (a puppet) who doesn’t know how he will get a job and make ends meet with his useless degree in English. Princeton realizes that he’s got to find his purpose:

“I don’t know how I know, But I’m gonna find my purpose. I don’t know where I’m gonna look, But I’m gonna find my purpose.” - Avenue Q, Purpose

I know one thing — when Princeton finds his purpose, he will need a dynamic resume if he wants to move from Avenue Q to Avenue A (the nicer part of town). If you’re like Princeton and just starting out, here are a few tips to help your resume get noticed:

• Include a career goal. Many new grads try to keep their resumes “general” so they can apply to a number of different jobs. Show hiring managers that you have focus by incorporating a specific career goal in the resume. You don’t have to create a separate Objective section; you can weave your goal into a Qualifications Summary. If you have more than one objective, create a different resume version for each goal. Yes, it’s more work, but you should see better results if your resume is targeted to one goal.
• Reveal your passion. One thing that new grads can offer is passion to succeed in their new careers. You’re not yet burned out like some experienced workers — wide-eyed and enthusiastic, you are willing to do what it takes to get the job done. Express your passion for your new career in your resume’s Qualifications Summary, as well as in your cover letter.
• Don’t necessarily limit yourself to one page. That’s right, you may have heard that new grads should always have one-page resumes. But that doesn’t work for everyone, and it’s okay to develop a two-page resume if you need the space to adequately communicate your qualifications. Consider a two-pager if you have lots of relevant information like internships, school projects, extracurricular activities, volunteer work, jobs, multiple degrees, publications, technical skills, and public speaking. Just make sure that the most compelling information appears on the top of page one.
• Emphasize education. If your related work history is minimal, your Education section should appear before Experience. Expand your Education section to include courses that are related to your goal, special projects, academic honors, and extracurricular activities. As your career progresses, you can move Education to the end of the resume and cut down on some of the activities listed.
• De-emphasize unrelated experience. If you spent summers waiting tables and are seeking a chemistry lab technician job, it doesn’t help to go on and on about your food service duties. Include the positions to show that you worked while attending school, and highlight any stand-out accomplishments (like awards won or leadership roles such as training new-hires), but limit the space you use for unrelated jobs.
• Incorporate keywords. More experienced professionals have keywords appear naturally throughout the resume. For example, job titles are often used as keywords when employers are searching resume databases, so an experienced pharmaceutical sales representative will have that keyword listed under Experience as a job title. If you’ve never held the job but want to enter the field, you have to find a creative way to incorporate the term or your resume may never be found. One way is to add the keyword to your Qualifications Summary — you can say that you are seeking a position as a pharmaceutical sales representative. This post provides more information on finding the best keywords for your field.

Photo courtesy of Michael Schamis via Flickr. Licensed under Creative Commons. Thanks, Michael!

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I just finished writing two resumes for a Presidents’ Day feature on Monster.com - the resumes of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. While these presidents won’t need to use their shiny new resumes, I really enjoyed learning more about their fascinating careers. One fact that particularly struck me was the level of failure experienced by “Honest Abe,” our 16th president. Early in his career, Abe lost his campaign for Speaker of the House of Illinois, and lost his run for Congress twice (after he did make it to Congress, he lost the re-election). He lost two more runs for Senate as well as a vice-presidential election.

Yet Abe hung in there, overcoming his failures to become one of the greatest U.S. presidents. We have all faced failures in our lives and careers - some failures have knocked us right off our feet. But there’s always a chance to do better, to find a new way to overcome and succeed. Maybe you’ve been fired, or are dealing with a bad performance review. Or you blew that important sales meeting. Whatever you feel your failure is, do what Abe did - dust yourself off and move forward with your eye on the goal.

Abe said it best: “I will prepare and some day my chance will come.” (–Abraham Lincoln)

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I hate New Year’s resolutions, and I didn’t even make it to February with my 2007 Stamp Diet. Yesterday, I had to go to the P.O. for a perfectly legitimate reason, and the clerk was taking quite some time analyzing my boxes and trying to figure out shipping. I tried to divert my eyes, but the sparkly displays with the DC Comics Super Heroes stamps and the Valentine’s Day With Love and Kisses stamps were talking to me. I asked for the stamps in an addict’s voice, almost seeking permission to buy them when the clerk asked, “Do you have a problem with stamps?” Yes, I do. And in a sick kind of way, he wanted me to have them and gladly sold them to me. Enabler! He did say that if that’s my worst addiction, I’m in good shape. That works for me! Here’s to a fresh start in 2008.

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