Keep your spirits up when job hunting

I think this quote says it all.  Keep your spirits up!  Job hunting is hard work, you will find a job you love

Good Luck Job Hunting!  O:)

Successful Job Hunting takes effort every day

Unless you are very lucky, trying to find a job, must sometimes feel like chipping away at a stone cliff.  It takes a ton of effort so make sure you are:

• updating your resume and sending it to your recruiters, your networks/connections, your friends and family
• ask them to forward it to anyone they know who might be in the market for your skill set
• use your social media, LinkedIn and Twitter are great vehicles for you to sell yourself
• send your resume in to jobs you are qualified for and then FOLLOW UP.  

Chances are companies aren't going to be knocking down your door looking for you.  So be prepared for some hard work to find the position you've been waiting for.

Good Luck Job Hunting!!! O:)

Your resume stands alone - make sure it packs a punch

Remember when you send your resume in to a company, it stands alone.  Make sure your resume packs a punch, you need to stand out from the other 100's of resumes the company receives:  

• use key words from the job description
• start your achievements, etc off with action words
• highlight your education especially if it is one of the job requirements
• make sure your cover letter tells them that not only are you a fit for the job, but that you really want the position.

Good luck job hunting! O:)

Eleanor Roosevelt - Dream

Eleanor Roosevelt, what a remarkable women, born in 1884, she was the longest serving First Lady of the US.  Serving as First Lady from just before the start of WWII and ending in 1945, not an easy time for the US administration or for women in politics.  

She believed in following her dreams, something we can all learn from.  For more info on Eleanor check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Roosevelt

My quote comes from Eleanor this week and it seems only fitting that it is paired with the Grand Canyon.  Enjoy

Never Give Up

Job Hunting getting you down, take a break but don't give up.  Switch direction for a day or two.  If you have been focusing on job boards, switch to your networks.  Join some groups on LinkedIn. Start a blog and share it across your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.  Try researching companies directly to see who is hiring.  Take an on-line course to upgrade/update your skills.  OR just take a break for the day and you'll be rejuvenated and ready to go again.

Good luck job hunting!
   

Ability, Motivation, Attitude

Three important traits to have when either looking for a new job or thinking about changing your career.

Resume Spelling Mistakes

Spell check is an amazing tool, but it has made us all very lackadaisical about proofreading our resumes.  Here are a few of my favourite errors that spell check does NOT pick up.

• Implemented enchantments to the Customer Billing System.   As much as I would like to think that there are developers out there who use enchantments to update their systems, I am pretty sure the word was supposed to be enhancements
• After 2 years was put in-change of the ...  this one should definitely be in-charge.  
• Updated widows on 20 desktops.  Sounds interesting, hopefully they meant windows
• 20 years experience on Linus.   When doing a key word search for Linux this resume won't get picked up.
• Over night years of experience.  Yes this is supposed to be eight.

Some of my other favourite errors include:

• Preformed or Performed
• Manger or Manager
• Onside or Onsite 
• Senor or Senior
• Revolve or Resolve

It is especially important to go over your key words in the resume and cover letter.  Companies scan for these words, if they aren't correct then they won't get picked up by the ATS (Automatic Tracking System).  Humans might ignore some of these errors but ATS systems won't.  They just scan and reject.  

No one likes proofreading and it is easy to miss something you have written.  You tend to skim more than actually proofread so this is when family and friends come in.  Ask them to ready (oops read) it and if they aren't sure to ask you for clarification.  

Would love to hear about your favourite spelling mistakes.

Good Job Hunting O:)