Updated 10/16 Resumes, Letters, and Other Important Documents

[Don Lubach]

GREAT Session last night on October 15, 2009. Hugh Marsh was in top form and the side comment he made about our class will stay with me always, "this class really runs itself."

I so appreciated the good comments that the group made to the brave three who shared their resumes.

I promised the group I'd share my "favorite cover letter of all time." I am attaching it now to this discussion as a .DOC file. I hope you can make use of it. Warning, it was for a faculty job, something only a small % of the population will ever apply for. But the elements in this letter will work for most positions.

D





I'm getting some great resumes in response to my challenge on 10/8 asking for folks to send me their resumes if they want them critiqued "LIVE" on 10/15. It's not easy to upload on the site, so you can send the resume to me privately if you'd like. You can send to [e-mail].

Don


Update on Feb 8, 2009.
I added a PDF from the Massachusetts One Stop organization that has some fine resume tips. It's large, so you'll have to give it time to download, but it is one of the three attachments to this forum.


Don


Update: The slide deck I used for last fall's class is available below. It is in "PDF" format and less than 1MB in side. I hope you can view it if you wish review. There are also samples we did not discuss.

Don


Age-of-Work classmates,

In this discussion, I will store samples, tips, and documents that relate to resumes and other important documents.

There are parts of job hunting that we can control and parts we cannot. Writing great resumes and letters is something we can control. With just a bit of care and courage, you can produce a resume that will stand apart from the average.

WHAT NOT TO DO:
Let's start with what NOT to do. Here's a list that I agree with, for the most part.

GATHERING YOUR SKILLS & EXPERIENCES
It can be very challenging to gather the information from a lifetime of experience, sort it all out, and choose the right stuff for the resume. A couple of tricks to this. First, try writing a customized resume that responds to a single job announcement or job description -- before you write each sentence read over the job description and make sure every word strives to point back to what the employer is looking for. If you start to feel lost about what employers are looking for, you can consult with lists like this one. I found this on a great blog about mature workers. It is very practical. Here's another good post about "21st Century Skills." This kind of reading can really help if you have not worked on your resume for a long time (or if you've never written one).

FOLLOW BASIC TIPS:

We'll cover basics during our session. Here's a concise tip roundup from the AARP website.

[Don Lubach]

We'll show of this résumé or some version of it on Friday. It is a minimalist model with a built in table to show your availability. This would be a good one if you are seeking something part-time. The fact that you are willing to work on Saturday might be just the thing to catch a manager's eye for an interview. And that's the primary purpose of these documents -- to get you in the door for an interview.

[Don Lubach]

We won't have the time to get into Video Resumes. But, in rare cases, I think that a video resume can be a good idea--especially for your performers. There are some very interesting good and bad samples here.

[Don Lubach]

Dear Age-of-Workers,
One of our great panelists, C. Hugh Marsh was packing some GREAT slides that we didn't get to share at the resume workshop. These four slides (attached as a PDF) cut right to the essence of resume dos and do-nots. This is one of the things I like about having this site, it is giving me a chance to say, "Oh, by the way..." long after the class has ended. Don

[Don Lubach]

Dear Age-of-Workers,

I'm getting a lot of questions about to convert a regular resume into an ASCII or TXT resume. I just found a pretty good treatment of the subject here. For those searching locally, the ASCII resume is probably less called for than the typical, marketing model. But, as I said during class. Everyone needs a txt or ASCII resume.

Don

[Don Lubach]

Dave P just sent me this fresh link from the WSJ. Good tips on getting a cover letter into an electronic submission.

Thanks, Dave!

[Don Lubach]

Here's one of the most creative resumes I've seen in 27 years of looking at resumes. Wow!