return to regularly scheduled blogging

Last week was a little hectic, to say the least. But now the bad news has had a chance to sink in and I will return to my regularly scheduled blogging- whatever that was/is. In the wake of potentially being laid off, our HR person, who used to be a headhunter for national corporations, hosted a resume building/ interview workshop for us. I thought I would share a few pointers from it, as some of the things I had not heard before.

-You must have a 1 page resume = lie. The 1 page resume of a skilled person looks the same as a 1 pages resume of someone who was not good at their job, there is only room for a bare description of the duties performed- so don't be afraid to have a longer resume, just make sure you are filling it with worthwhile information.

-Instead of just putting a job description under each job, put the description in paragraph form and then...

-Under that paragraph put bullet points that list your accomplishments, skills, etc. Brainstorm accomplishments before you work on your resume- try to save 1 to 2 pages, and swap out bullet points as necessary for the job you are applying for. Use the rest of the accomplishments you don't use on your resume in your cover letter or interview.

-When answering questions in an interview, use the StAR method- Situation, Action, Result. Start with a situation, and then progress through the acronym. This will ensure you give complete answers to their questions, even if you get a bad interviewer who only asks yes and no questions.

-Practice a firm handshake.

-Call a day or so after a job application is closed to be sure they got your application.

-When interviewing, ask what the process is so you don't become a stalker who calls every day if you don't hear back right away.



In other news, this is what I woke up to this morning:

It made me incredibly thankful for my day off- I heard the commute was a beast. And this means Christmas is basically right around the corner which is a plus, although it is going to make cleaning up the rest of the leaves in the backyard a little difficult.