This is the second of our issues we're
calling "RESUME-BUILDER" issues, with
"resume-builder" carrying a double meaning.
In this issue we talk about temping as a way
to build the experience you list on your resume
-- and we also offer some additional tips for the physical
composition of your resume.
Temping Offers a Way to Build Your Resume -- and Much More
If you're ever in a transitional period in which
you are not working in your career field -- or you
don't yet have enough experience to work in your
career field -- working temporary gigs through a
temporary employment agency can be the best thing
that ever happened to you -- and a fantastic way
to build your resume to boot.
Online since 1995, the goal of Rebecca Smith's
eResumes & Resources, the site states, "is to be your single
source for information on electronic resumes and
online networking."
Smith's goal is to teach visitors how to become
"jobpreneurs" and how to use electronic résumés
in a way that lets them measure their job-search
and job-networking activities based on the kinds
of feedback that these activities generate. Smith says a
paper résumé and traditional job networking can't provide
the same kind of measurable feedback.
Smith asserts that her Web site is NOT about résumé
writing. "It is about taking the content of an existing
résumé and transforming it into electronic form," the site
states. "Much of the stuff that you'll find on these
pages is about things that you probably already do online,
but don't quite know how to translate it to your career."
The tutorials, articles, and links found throughout
Smith's site are meant to serve as guidelines, and
illustrate proven techniques that get jobseekers
started in the right direction. Smith says these
techniques evolved from the number of e-mail inquiries
she received and articles she wrote to address
these inquries.
According to the site, "Once you've created your
perfect eRésumé, you can refer to links to track
down your dream job by industry."
ArtCareer.Net
-- a great resource for art professionals, from entry level to senior management. Job-seekers can search for
full-time, part-time, and project jobs, as well as competitions and exhibitions -- as well as post your
resume. Also includes links to other helpful career resources for visual art professionals. Free to job-seekers.
CollegeLink --
provides a range of pre-college articles, resources, and services, including college searches,
test preparation, tips for getting into top schools, finding scholarships, electronic college applications, and more.
Free.
LegalClarity.com
-- where legal professionals can search for jobs and/or post your resume. Also includes some great career resources for
finding a new job (and for advancing your career), including career fair listings, seminars, and more.
Free to job-seekers.
Temping.com
-- a free service that enables job-seekers who are looking for temporary employment to find a staffing service
that fits your needs. You can also post your resume and search for temp jobs.
Also includes useful information to help you understand the industry better
as well as succeed in your career in general. Free to job-seekers.
Find even more additions to Quintessential Careers by visiting our
Latest
Additions section.
Alison writes: "I'm a bright 39-year-old just
completing my first Web Development Course
online. I would like to move into Web design
as a career. I am currently a manager at a
non-profit museum overseeing a large gift shop.
My question is, given my limited experience,
do I have a chance at getting a job in
this field? Is there such thing as an
apprentice position for Web design so that
I can learn on the job? What do you suggest
should be my course? More study?"
Siuliano writes: "I am an elementary teacher.
I've been teaching for 16 years, mostly at the
same campus and district. I am feeling very
burned out with the profession. I was wondering
how marketable I am in the rest of the world.
I have had computer training in many different
programs, as well as managing a classroom.
What kind of jobs should I be hunting for
that are out of the teaching field?"
Greg writes: "I would appreciate getting feedback
to the following questions concerning classified ads:
- do you recommend replying to blind box ads?
- do you recommend replying to
ads that only
list a first name and fax number?
- do you recommend replying to e-mail addresses
that don't include a company/firm name?
I can appreciate addressing correspondence to a
specific person, but in the event no specific person
can be discovered, is the salutation 'Dear Madam or Sir'
acceptable?"
Erika writes: "I have had three different
jobs in three years. My job-hopping has been
because of extenuating circumstances that have
been out of my control (one employer declared bankruptcy;
I left another to take care of my grandmother who was
terminally ill; currently I am in job #3 and am planning
to move in the next couple of months because I am getting
married). I am concerned about this moving around. People have said that
since I am young and in the telecommunications industry
that this moving around is expected. But I have also heard
that employers frown on job-hopping, and my erratic job
history looks on paper like I can't stick to one thing.
What can I do to offset this liability and change it
into an asset?"
Q TIPS: Quick and Quintessential Career & Job Tips
Our last "Build Your Resume" issue focused on
volunteering as a way to build the experience
section of your resume. Ginny Rehberg, a Boston-based
career consultant and executive coach, recently listed five
ways that volunteering can boost your career and resume:
You can make new contacts -- so important since
the majority of jobs come from networking.
You can develop new skills, including the so-called
"soft skills," such as teamwork and awareness of diversity.
You can hone your ability to manage time.
You can learn to influence others without possessing
and exerting power, which Rehberg cites as an important
skill in the less hierarchical workplace of today.
And finally, the bottom line consists of great
experience to list on your resume, especially
important if you've been out of the workforce for a while.
There's building your resume, and then there's
building it with gimmicks. Kemba Dunham recently noted
in The Wall Street Journal that some job applicants
are willing to try anything to find employment.
Instead of mailing out resumes, one creative
job seeker in New York printed his resume on two poster
boards. Sandwiched between the displays, he stood on a
Manhattan corner and handed out 1,000 paper resumes. And
his off-the-wall stunt paid off, landing 45 interviews and
20 job offers.
A less successful resume gimmick involved a graphic
designer who applied to a Web site for pet owners
by wrapping her resume in a dog collar and inscribing her
name on a bone-shaped ID tag. Also placing a coffee
stain on her cover letter to Starbucks, she hoped her
mailing would stand out from the rest. Both gimmicks
generated responses, but no job. Employers advise
job applicants to play it safe by sticking
with traditional resumes.
They emphasize that stretching the truth or
falsifying information on a resume can lead to
dead ends as well, reported Dwight Hamilton
in CA Magazine. Infocheck, a reference-checking firm,
conducted a survey indicating that false or erroneous
information now appears on 33 percent of all resumes,
a 9 percent rise over the last year, according to Hamilton,
who also noted Infocheck's finding that more employers
are checking references than in previous years. Employers,
too, are discovering an alarming rise in the number of resumes
containing false information.
The news about the stock market and the economy gets
gloomier by the day. Job cuts announced by U.S. companies
almost tripled in February from year-ago levels,
international outplacement firm Challenger, Gray &
Christmas recently reported. Every day seems to bring new
headlines about layoffs. Despite these signals
that employers are losing confidence in the slowing U.S.
economy, columnist Jane Bryant Quinn claims that if you
have to lose your job, be glad it's now. "New positions
are cropping up faster than old ones are being chopped,"
Quinn wrote recently. "The employment rate -- meaning the
portion of working-age people holding jobs -- remains
at a historic high."
Still, Quinn advises a number of steps to prepare
workers in case the axe falls:
Network like mad by going to trade shows and
conventions and collecting business cards.
Make sure all your personal information is off your
office computer since you may have very little time
to vacate the workplace if you get pink-slipped.
Evaluate your skills and their marketability.
Take some courses if you think your skills could
use updating.
Jump back into jobhunting right away if you're
downsized; don't waste time feeling sorry for yourself.
Change careers if it's realistic to do so, but
don't assume a career change will be a magic bullet.
Have some cashed stashed to see you through your
time of unemployment.
Don't panic.
Our own suggestion: Check out the resources on
temping in this issue. Temping has seen many a
laid-off worker through to the next job.
Quintessential
Career Profiles: Have a Career Story?
Quintessential Career Profiles features QuintZine
readers and visitors to Quintessential Careers
who have interesting career stories.
Did you obtain a job in an unusual way? Has
your career path been out of the ordinary?
Have you held one or more unusual jobs? Has
your job search been especially troublesome,
inspirational, or remarkable? We'd like to
tell your story. Tell us a little about your
career saga, and we may contact you for a
full profile. Write us at
kathy@quintcareers.com
and let us know about you.
QuintZine: Topics in Upcoming Issues
WATCH FOR feature articles on these topics in upcoming
issues of QuintZine:
* Case-based interviews
* Phone etiquette in the job hunt
* Guide to the company visit
* Researching your next job
* Letters of recommendation and references
* The art of follow up
* Career Portfolios
* How to handle a request for a salary history
* Completing a job application
* How to land an internship
* How to get a promotion
* Should you go to grad school/get an MBA?
* 10 easy ways to improve your resume
* Quintessential Career Profiles of YOU, our readers
* Q&As with well-known career experts
. . . and much, much more!
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QuintZine
A publication of
Quintessential Careers
Publisher: Dr. Randall S. Hansen
Editor: Katharine Hansen
ISSN: 1528-9443
