[TriLUG] looking for resume writer/improver

[Maxwell Spangler]

On Fri, 2011-01-21 at 11:45 -0800, Joseph Mack NA3T wrote:
> I was looking around today to find

> I'm happy to pay for someone's time to check that my resume 
> passes the 10sec desk check, but I think I have the job 
> interview part covered. Please contact me off-list if you do 
> this for technical people.

I'm happy to review anyone's resume and provide helpful, constructive
suggestions.

I was unemployed and actively seeking work from Fall 2009 to Fall 2010.
I found the process of seeking work to be very painful as a result of
conflicting information about how the process works and many, many ways
in which the process is broken.  So I'm happy to share what I learned
and help good people find good jobs.

When you are a job seeker desperately looking for work, you do research
on how to find the shortest path between you and your next employer.
You read and hear ideas about resumes and these ideas often conflict
with each other: how many pages?  what style of voice?  bullets or
narration?  how many years to go back?  There are many opinions with 
equal amounts of supporting information for each.

BUT,

The only thing that really matters is that your resume communicate who
you are and what you can do in a way that connects with the people **in
your area of work** who have jobs to offer.  So one of the most
important things you can do is shop your resume around to people **in
your line of work** and get their comments on it.

Each industry and line of work should require different things from its
workers, so the resume that communicates you as a tech worker should be
different from a nurse, a project manager, an executive, a restaurant
manager, etc.  Your future employer is looking for skills and talents so
you need to know what they want and how to communicate it effectively.
The things that work for other industries can be discarded because for
you, they don't matter: they won't get you hired, so skip them.

I've observed with professional resume writers that because their
clients are anybody -- in any line of work who wants to pay them -- they
tend to try to make every client's resume into a dry, classic, standard
style.  It's lowest common denominator and that doesn't make you shine
above the other resumes people are considering or make them want to
interview.  You have to stick out and shine, but only in the ways that
your future employer is interested in.

To do this, find people who work in or hire in your line of work and ask
them for a light review.  You'll still get your share of opinionated,
conflicting information, but you'll be able to choose for yourself what
you want your resume to say and how.

It's your job to revise your resume until **you** are comfortable with
it and then send it out, letting the chips fall where they may.  The
process is still very difficult but at least you'll know you're truly
putting your best effort forward.

If you're [still] reading this and you're employed right now one of the
most productive suggestions I can give you is to revise your resume
while you still have a job.  When you have work you have a more
confident and relaxed spirit than when you are unemployed and starting
to forget and fill your mind with doubt.  As you work, when you have
successes, accomplishments and learn new things, go back to your resume
and do a quick update.  This way, when you need to wave that resume
around and feel comfortable that you have accurately portrayed who you
are you will know you haven't forgotten anything.

hope this helps,

-- 
Maxwell Spangler
========================================================================
        Linux System Administration / Computing Services
        Photography / Graphics Design / Writing
        Boulder, Colorado
        http://www.maxwellspangler.com