Job Search Advice, Resume Writing Tips from a Career Consultant

First, make a copy of your existing resume. Give this new document a different name, then make any needed changes (such as adding your e-mail address or incorporating keywords). Next, use your word processor's SAVE AS function to save the resume as a plain text or text only file. You may get a warning about losing your formatting enhancements, but that's okay - that's what we're trying to do.

After saving it in text format, exit your word processor, then open the document again. In doing this, you'll find that the formatting enhancements have been stripped from the resume. Bolding, italics, ruling lines and such are gone. Some programs will automatically replace bullets with asterisks (*), but if not, you can make these replacements yourself.

It's also a good idea to spell out ampersands and percentage signs (& and %), because some scanners have difficulty interpreting these symbols. This can quickly be accomplished by using your word processor's find and replace function.

Finally, you'll want to clean up any extra spaces or awkward gaps caused by tabs. When you're done, your name should be at the top, flush left, with your address, phone and e-mail address stacked underneath.

Regardless of your original format, your categories should be left flush and the body text directly underneath. You can add one hard return between paragraphs that are not separated, but if you add more returns, they won't "hold" and may cause problems later... so don't doctor things up too much. To check your changes, simply save the document, exit and open again to review the results.

Before e-mailing this resume, it's a good idea to check and see how it holds up. To do this, simply send a copy to yourself, and print it out and see what it looks like. In most cases, some additional "cleanup" work will be needed before it's ready to use.

Last week in Columbus, Ohio we had a winter storm warning. Impending danger was predicted because we were to have up to 7 inches of snow turning to rain and then turning into ice. As always it was kind of exciting. And scary!

Able to work from my home office I looked outside my window at a winter wonderland that, according to my TV, I didn't dare confront. Danger would be everywhere so, judging from what I could see from my view of my window and the anchor on Channel 4 News, (how'd HE get to work?) I was convinced to stay in for the day.

Being a news junkie all day I watched TV while I worked from my home office. The news was pretty consistent... don't go out! Other news included layoffs and a gloom and doom prediction of recession. So I sat and sat and watched and watched. Each time I looked outside the window I saw desolation and ice. No cars going down my street and it appeared that Ohio was literally frozen in time.

Then it happened... I ran out of Diet Coke and my printer cartridge went dry. I was forced to drive the store and with the Weather Channel and the CNN Business report streaming from my Sirius radio, and with proof of insurance on the seat next to me, I headed up the street.

Imagine my surprise when I saw normal life as soon as I left the neighborhood! People, cars, stores and restaurants all busy!

Last week I learned an important lesson... the narrow view from my window might not be real. And while the media is valuable, they just might not be talking about your street... or your job search!

Those of us who coach and mentor job seekers know that the greatest challenge in getting hired isn't a tight job market, lack of a college degree or old age. In fact, the one issue that prevents success in anything we attempt is our own self-defeating human nature.. specifically pride and self-doubt.

Do one of these statements capture how you are feeling?

• I just don't have the confidence to move ahead. I can't imagine myself doing something new--I've been a _____ [fill in the blank] my whole life.
  
• I have feelings of unworthiness--I just don't deserve to pursue this new direction. People will likely think I'm being presumptuous and wonder, "Who is she to think she can do that!"
  
• I am being pressured by parents, family, or colleagues to pursue a career course that just doesn't fit with who I am.
  
• I'm avoiding moving on an opportunity because it seems beneath me--I've paid my dues and shouldn't have to lower myself to that level.
  Antidote: Don't let your human nature dictate your decisions and whatever you do, never let self-doubt in your presence!

If you've lost your job on Thursday you're no less valuable on Friday! Only when our identity is rooted in the significance of being a human being and not based solely on what we do for a living (the lie of "I'm valuable because I'm an attorney/manager/engineer") can we maintain our inner-worth no matter what happens on the outside!

In 1961 the day after my father lost his job, my mother, a practical woman and far from a psychologist, made him put on his black pin-stripped suit and took him to the best restaurant in Cincinnati. They could barely afford it. While there she had a photographer snap a photo of them and hung it in our living room. When she would find my father still in his bathrobe as she returned from work she would hand him the framed photo as a reminder of who he was not who he had been. He went on to start a small business that sustained us for the next 20 years.