Your Resume: special skills and knowledge

This section comes near the end of your resume. In some ways, it parallels your summary of skills which appeared near the top, but may contain more specifics. This is a place to highlight special computer or language expertise, or knowledge that is specific to your occupation.

Examples:

• fluent in spoken and written Spanish
• experienced in the design and creation of spreadsheets for construction projects (using … software)
  
• experienced in CAD programs for multi-media use (name the programs)
  
• have held current CPR certification for 12 years

Caution: not everyone needs this section. If you feel that you have covered the use of your special skills in your position descriptions, it can look redundant to keep repeating them. But if you haven’t used these skills in your current job, particularly if they are skills you are developing as part of a career change or retirement planning, feel free to use this section to promote yourself. You are reminding the reader of your intelligence, knowledge and expertise.

To discuss the role that skills and knowledge can play in your job search, please visit www.anneheadley.com to be in touch with a certified career counselor who can coach you in their effective use.

Your Resume: the summary of skills

The summary of skills is a cluster of skills you have acquired on and off the jobs you have had, arranged in a way that is useful and relevant to the position you’re applying for. Don’t put something in this section that you don’t want to do. Do highlight a special skill that won’t be readily apparent from your current or recent job. This can be thought of as a snapshot of what you would like to do on your next job. These skills can include language and communication, unusual computer skills, and attributes of job success, such as timeliness or creative problem-solving.
Here are some examples:

* Spanish speaker (excellent conversation, basic written)
* word processing and CAD
* experienced presenter
* jazz choreographer
* hold current CPR license
* creative solver of tough problems

Which part of speech should you use, nouns or verbs? I think you will know when you start compiling your list of skills for this section. Many people use nouns. The most important thing is to be consistent.
• Does everyone need this section? No, everyone does not. If your current position includes the tasks that are most important to you, and if you know you are going to be having an interview, it probably isn’t necessary. But the summary of skills is another opportunity to highlight your strengths in a way that is easy to read and hard to ignore.
• If you would like to discuss your resume with a professional career counselor, please leave a comment below or go to www.anneheadley.com for contact information. Career coaches and counselors are prepared to critique your current resume, help you write a new one, or refer you to an experienced specialist. As always, questions and concerns about resumes are welcome.

Your Resume: the job objective

After your contact information at the top, what is the first thing on your resume? It is usually a job objective, and there are several kinds of them described below.

The first one, and the easiest, is targeted. You know what you are applying for, you know what it is called, you may even have a coded number for the opening. In that case, your job objective is the Research analyst, GG7/9. Play it straight, look like you know what you are doing!

A somewhat targeted approach is when you know what you want to do and believe the organization may have such a position and even an opening. In this case, you won’t have the specific job title and number, but you can be specific in your use of the language. You may state that you wish to be a technical writer in the Defense Department, specializing in report writing, using your fast turn-around time in researching, writing and editing.

Many people have an untargeted resume. I suspect it may be a waste of your time to develop this document, because it reads like it is addressed to whom it may concern. However, it may be useful to have such a general resume because it keeps your work history handy and up-to-date, ready to tailor to your next opportunity.
The untargeted job objective can be challenging to write without descending into vast generalization. Here’s the worst kind of writing:
Looking for a position with upward mobility, in an enlightened company where I can use my management skills.
Everyone wants that job! It screams unfocused. You can do much better. If you must write an untargeted resume, at least lead with your skills:
Searching for a research position in an environmental field, where I can draw on my 10+ years of writing for the web and newsletters (samples available for examination)
A final thought on the job objective: make it about the job with no apologies. This is not the place to reveal that you are making a career shift. It is a real turn-off to employers. You have to feel that you can learn to do the job you’re seeking, and this must come across in the objective. Remember that this line is used to screen resumes, to forward the paperwork eligible candidates to the right place. Don’t be too personal here. And don’t limit yourself.
If you have questions or comments about the job objective or this resume series, please let me know. You can post a comment here or you can go to my website at www.anneheadley.com for contact information.

When you can’t stand the job another day…

Are you at the breaking point? Do you feel unappreciated day after day, doing the work of several people, rarely getting to work in areas of your expertise?
Are you dreaming of saying what you really think or feel, walking out the door into happiness?
Stop! There are many things to consider before you leave, and one of them is to stay.
I don’t think everyone should stay in a miserable situation. But if there are financial reasons, and your retirement eligibility makes it worthwhile to stick it out another year or two, please stop and consider your options.
There are often ways to create some fun for yourself and maybe gain some recognition in the meantime. Take a small piece of your job and decide to do it differently and better. Learn a new skill while you are at it.
Asked to collect pledges for next year’s charity campaign? After you groan, stop and think. What could make this bearable? What could you use in this assignment that could make your job better? What can you do to amaze yourself and your co-workers?
While you are making yourself laugh, you can also reward yourself by getting some information about your future. You can consult with the benefits person about your pension. Sometimes understanding what awaits you can make the job seem more acceptable.
However, if you are determined to leave, you can use this time to begin the job search, carefully, discreetly, and with confidence. Don’t lose your temper, do detach from the people who are making you crazy (or trying to), and do accomplish one more thing on the job that you can discuss with pride. If you are too distraught to plan your escape with finesse, seek out some coaching on how to do it right. Please contact me through www.anneheadley.com.

Life’s To-Do List

Have you done it? Have you compiled a list of those things, large or small, silly or significant, that you’d like to experience? A significant birthday recently prompted me to go through this exercise, and I’m glad I did. From a week in Paris (done!) to having friends over more often (somewhat) to weeding out books that I don’t need (working on it), I have found this to be a valuable exercise in what is truly important to me.

Job seekers need to do this. If you write down all the things you’d like to do sooner or later, the list can be very helpful. You can assess your current job and see what goals it addresses. And just as importantly, you can use your list as a template to evaluate future job possibilities. If the position you’re interviewing for doesn’t address one or more of the items on your list, you need to either amend your list to include a few new job skills or re-think why you are even considering this humdrum job.

If travel is on your wish list, there are several ways to go about achieving that goal. You might look for an organization that has international offices or clientele, you might learn a second language and then look for ways to use it, or you might look for a place with generous leave possibilities and take a wonderful vacation.

I don’t think one often finds the perfect job that contains your heart’s desires, but I hope you find something that brings you closer to checking off an item or two from your list. Would you like to talk this over with a career counselor? Would you like to write a job objective that states one or more of your goals in professional terms? Please visit my website at www.anneheadley.com for contact information. Your future is waiting!

Good news for the older worker

Yes, there are obstacles. Yes, there is age discrimination. Yes, you are being interviewed by someone years younger than you.
But this is a time to remember the good news that you have to offer. Let’s review five assets of the older worker:
People over 50 can spell. Probably untainted by years of instant and text messaging, you don’t spell you with a U. Back when Friday afternoons meant spelling bees instead of movies, we learned clusters of sounds and rules of spelling (along with the exceptions to the rules).
We also know our grammar. When speakers from radio, tv and movies bombard us with atrocious grammar, we cringe because we know better. The language that is presented on a daily basis would never have passed the eagle eye and red pencil of our fifth grade teachers and we know it.
We are often the go-to-people in a work situation – the ones who will be glad to peruse the important correspondence, supply the elusive word that’s just right, explain a political reference from the past, or even translate the Latin phrase which has appeared in a trade journal.
We have a sense of perspective. We have experienced failure and rejection before and have survived. We want the job, but won’t fall apart if we don’t get it. A debriefing over coffee with a friend will put us on the path to recovery. A job rejection is not really a tragedy.
We know that we are there to work. Probably not in search of new friends or week-end pals, we are able to look an employer in the eye and state confidently that we want to work there.
There are good reasons for presenting ourselves confidently at a job interview. What have you experienced that makes you proud to have achieved your years?
If you need to practice your answers to get in touch with your pride and confidence, contact a career counselor and request a practice interview session. A good place to start is www.anneheadley.com.

A Question of Age

You may have on a fashionable suit and you sport a new haircut. You can be physically au courant, yet you open your mouth and prove their fear that you are “too old”, or more tactfully, “overqualified”.
Stop! I have a suggestion which can minimize the impact of your 30 plus years in the workforce. Here’s the first one: when asked about your experience, please do not tell them everything. They really don’t want to know. Follow the guidance that we career counselors give in any discussion of interviews: speak briefly (about the size of a short paragraph), pause, and inquire if they would like you to go on. You’ll be amazed at how many times (most of the time), they do NOT want you to continue. They will simply say, “no, that’s fine”.
• You think you need to persuade them you are qualified – please get over that idea. They already see that you are qualified. You could be working hard to sell yourself, and be selling yourself right out of the job offer. No one is going to hire someone who is perceived to be better qualified than the boss.
• In addition to being brief when talking about the past unless being urged to go on, you can follow your summary of skills by asking how they do things there. When someone describes the way things are done in this place and how well it is working for them, you can be enthusiastic and say you look forward to learning that. If what they are doing is not working for them, follow up with asking what they are doing to find solutions. Look thoughtful and suggest that you would love to be part of that problem-solving dialogue. If you have other ways of showing that you are young in your attitude, not fossilized in how you work, I hope you will share your secrets and strategies with other blog readers.
• “I’ve been in this business 36 years. I’ve learned a lot and most of it doesn’t apply anymore” – Charles E. Exley

If you would like to discuss job interview strategies for the older worker, whether for moving up in your job, making a major transfer, or planning for a new direction in your retirement, please contact me through my website at www.anneheadley.com.

Creative career options over 50: getting it right this time

How did you choose your career direction in the past? If you were like most of us, it had something to do with opportunity and availability. There you were, just getting out of the military. Or graduating from college. Or ending school at some other level. Just growing up. A friend was going to work. Other people who majored in your field were working at… A family member said there was an opening. So you got a job. One thing led to another. Promotions occasionally came by; new opportunities opened themselves up for you. There were good years and not so good years. You may have wondered about what else was out there, but you had obligations.

Anyway, here you are: AARP has come calling, Medicare is available or soon will be, and Social Security is headed your way.

Wait! This is the time to do things differently. This time, you know that you have choices. This time, you know that you will consider money, the stress level, the sociability factor, ease of commute, flexibility. Only you can prioritize these factors, only you know that you can’t have it all, only you know what will keep you engaged and growing.

As a career counselor, I know what questions to ask to elicit people’s dream jobs, but I may not know of the special circumstances that will shape their decisions. Please visit my website at www.anneheadley.com if you wish to discuss your own situation. What is important to you in your next career?