Let’s Try This Again…

A couple of the subscribers mentioned that they tried to get an email subscription to the new version of Moving Forward and were unable. Sure enough, there was an issue, but now it’s fixed. Go to the new URL now and press the SUBSCRIBE BY EMAIL button you will succeed!

www.momentumadvantage.com/blog is the address, by the way!

We Moved!

In order to add both bells & whistles to this blog, I moved to a self-hosted version. This probably means nothing to you, but to keep getting the career-related content you’ve grown used to (now new & improved!), you need to go on over to www.momentumadvantage.com/blog (click on it! easy!) and subscribe.

At the new site, you can also sign up for my free e-book, “Don’t Lie Down When You Get Laid Off: Your Guide to Getting Over It & Getting Back to Work,” which will be coming out in January.

See you at the new version!

3 Best Tips for Career Survival During the Recession

Okay, so there’s no more spinning it, there’s no more if-we-don’t-say-the-word-it-isn’t… There’s only the truth. As in, we are in a recession. See, that wasn’t so hard, was it? To borrow Rule #1 of AA, The first step is admitting you have a problem. Now, breathe deeply, and let’s get to it…

Here’s my best advice for survival- and for some, even thrive-al- as we go through this challenging time.

# 1. Think Short-Term and Long-Term

This economic downturn will pass. Sooner or later, it will be one of those things we look back on, like 9/11 and then like the dot-com bubble and then, eventually, like the gas crisis (which happened way back in the 70s, for all you young people out there). In order to keep your wits about you and not despair, you must consider two things:

What do I need and want to do now to survive and make the best of the current situation?

Where do I want to be when this is over and a little time has passed for the new reality to set in?

#2. Own Your Power

Yes, even in the most dire situations, there is power. If you don’t have a job- or you fear you won’t have a job for long- you can get your resume in top-notch shape. Unless you are a really strong writer with knowledge of how best to market yourself on paper, I recommend that if you can afford it, you pay for a resume rewrite. (I say this not just as someone who writes resumes professionally, but also as a veteran hiring professional. It pays to have the strongest resume possible, especially in a market like this.) 

And, of course, you should network. Reach out to former bosses and co-workers, to people who you met at professional events, and to recruiters and others in the business of knowing the market. And you can network with people you like in your industry. Your friends and friends-to-be. Plan coffee get-togethers where you each invite a couple of people so it’s a bigger group. Exchange resumes and resources. You never know what that might lead.

#3. Look for Opportunities

This is another one where short-term and long-term comes into play.

The wonderful woman who brokered our home purchase a couple of years ago, Jasmine Aimaq, is one of so many people in her field dealing with a market slump. Before the housing slowdown, she was focused on helping people buy and sell homes in the Los Angeles area, and establishing herself as a specialist in eco-friendly real estate, advising people on purchases of “green” homes and on renovating homes to make them more “green.” She even appeared on HGTV’s ”My House Is Worth What?” as an expert appraiser of a “green” house being featured on the program.

A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from Jasmine. She is now providing a property tax reduction service for homeowners. For a flat fee, she will provide an analysis of the market the home is in, along with comps supporting the reduction of the appraised value, and submit the report to the county for consideration. She even does a free preliminary search before you sign up for the service to see if it’s likely to be worth it for you.

I was thrilled to get this email, as I had wondered how one would go about getting their property value- and thus, taxes- reduced. I contacted her immediately and eventually sent others her way. Not surprisingly, she has gotten a lot of business for this new service.

Now, I am sure she would rather be helping people buy and sell homes, ”green” and otherwise, but she has found a way to add value, make additional income, and widen her circle of contacts during the short-term economic downturn. Knowing her, she is also using this time to position herself for her long-term career goals in light of changing global circumstances.

How can you adapt to the current economic situation and have an opportunity for the short-term?

Looking down the road, how do you see your career path evolving and how can you capitalize on it?

Bonus Non-Career Tip: Do Things that Don’t Cost Much (or Anything at All)

So it’s not exactly the free-spending days of yore (a couple of years ago). Not by a longshot. But there is still a lot you can do.

Look for cheap and free fun in your local community. Public holiday concerts, green spaces to hike in, galleries and museums with open days. You’d be surprised how much is out there if you just do a little research.

Trade services. This can be anything from you and a girlfriend helping give each other home hair color treatments if salon visits aren’t in the budget right now to trading off babysitting nights. Get creative.

Help the Less Fortunate. Figure out what you like to do, whether it’s visiting with seniors, feeding the homeless, or reading to kids in the hospital. There is always a need for volunteers in the community.

No one knows how long it will be before things get better and there is a lot that is out of our control when it comes to the current economic situation, but hopefully, you will find ways to pass through this time that will leave you better off in the long run, both in your career and personally. Albert Einstein said, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” I hope I have shown you ways you can find yours and take advantage of it.

 

Career Resolutions for 2009, Anyone?

That’s right. It’s November already. (Don’t shoot me. It’s not my fault time goes by so quickly.)

Are you happy with your job? If so, good. If not, think about what you are unhappy about and change what you don’t like. And if what you are unhappy about is unchangeable (the owner of the company is intolerable, you can’t make the salary you want to make, you are bored or burnt out), maybe it’s time to make a plan.

Just a thought.

Let Yourself Shine

Just a brief bit of resume advice. If you take away nothing else in terms of guidance in this area, take this: Don’t be boring- or undersell yourself- in your resume.

This is your place to really express who you are in your career. Yes, you can (should) use colorful words (if you are a colorful person). Be bold on paper if you are bold in real life. There is even room for a little gentle humor (if that is who you are). Be creative. Be proud.

In short: Let yourself shine.

Guest Post: Don’t Keep It In… Relief Comes When You Let It Out

I just finished reading an article in Conde’ Nast Portfolio Magazine by Michael Lewis who moved his family into a New Orleans mansion they could ill afford. He pointed out the problem with the upper middle-class, the problem that has gotten us where we are today. A problem I lived through my whole life growing up.

A problem Lewis so clearly illustrated by describing the story of Lilia and Jesus Garcia of Stockton, California. A middle class couple making a combined $130,000 a year each who moved into a mansion-like house they bought for $535,000.Of course they ended up in foreclosure. They couldn’t afford the house. It was a symbol of how well they were doing. But, they really weren’t doing that well at all. Not well enough to live in a mansion.

I knew it was time to sell my house when someone offered $625,000 for it (it was 850 sq. ft.!) and my hairdresser and her bartender husband bought a $750,000 townhouse in our neighborhood.

These people couldn’t afford the houses they were buying. I could see what was coming because I’ve been there. I lived this reality.When I was 7 years old, my parents moved into a show house, like the Garcias’. It was the Old Spanish house at the corner of Old Cutler and Ludlum in Miami, Florida. Everyone knew the house. I never had to use my address. I could just give the cross streets and people would know my house.

I felt special. I’m sure my parents did too. And they bought it to make up for the fact that they had less money and less security and less of a future than the rest of their friends who truly were upper middle class and some of whom were uber-rich.

What people didn’t know about our house was that the kitchen was full of cockroaches. The electricity would frequently get turned off when my dad didn’t pay the bill. We couldn’t really afford to live there. My dad had to borrow money from my grandparents to buy the house. Money he never was able to pay back. My mom always blamed him for that. Didn’t she know they couldn’t afford it? If not, why?

Something tells me my dad didn’t even want that house. My mom pressured him to keep up with the Greenberg’s, the Markowitz’s and the Little’s. That’s why they bought the house.

So, what do you do when you take on a lifestyle you can’t afford? You either find a way to make more money or you take a big step back and start to rebuild.

It’s not the end of the world. You aren’t going to die. Well, maybe a part of you will.  Your ego. It may die. But, that’s not such a bad thing.

You move into a rental in a less desirable neighborhood (in Miami, that was Kendall where the solidly middle class live) and you give up your fancy cars. Your kids get jobs and buy their own first car. Mine was a 9-year old Honda Civic I paid $1,600 for out of my work money and loved. You start shopping at Target (back then Kmart) instead of Nordstrom’s or Saks. You do more with less. And you find out that it’s okay. You are alive. You don’t need all that stuff.

Now that you’ve tasted the good life, you can have it again if you really want it. You’ll just get there on a solid foundation next time. If your marriage is built on deep love and trust, you keep your family together. You don’t blame each other. You take responsibility for your part.

If your marriage is built on the same facade that your life was built on, it falls apart too. My parents’ marriage did. My mom’s crumbled expectations were too big a burden to bear on their marriage. My dad could never give her what he had promised. And on the other side of all of it, you find something new and fresh. You find the truth of who you are. You find what matters.

With any luck at all, one day you look back on all of it and thank God for it because you realize it took losing everything to find yourself.

Written by Alexis Martin Neely, America’s Personal Family Lawyer and the bestselling author of Wear Clean Underwear! A Fast, Fun, Friendly – and Essential – Guide to Legal Planning for Busy Parents. Alexis makes it super easy for your family to talk about and  plan for sticky subjects like money, death and taxes. Get Alexis’ humorous, enlightening, and often quite revealing “Family Wealth Secrets” at: www.FamilyWealthMatters.com 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Putting it All Together and Writing the Resume

Being a professional resume writer, I’m all for people hiring professional resume writers to do this chore for them. Hire one, compliment the finished product, and then pay them promptly. 1 – 2 – 3 – DONE!

But sometimes you need to try to do it yourself first. I get that. So here is my best practical advice for the actual process of writing the resume.

1. Take advantage of the free consultation. I mean it. It’s free. As a veteran hiring professional, I have spent many years of my life looking at the bad (or just not as good as they could be) resumes of job candidates and not being able to give feedback because of the situation. I am happy to be able to now. Email me your current resume and then we’ll have a short conversation wherein you will most likely get either three to five usable tidbits or high praise for an already-perfect resume (it could happen).

2. Get samples off the web. Google “marketing resumes” or whatever your field is. Hopefully, you’ll get some good examples of resumes for people at your level in your field which you can use for formatting guidance.

3. Pretend you are writing about someone else. If you have a hard time confidently conveying your own talents and accomplishments, try to remove yourself from the process. Otherwise, you are likely to undersell yourself or disregard information that should be included.

4. Use an actual job desciption for a position you would want. Your target job is out there and your resume should be geared toward getting you that job. Go on the web again and find an example of a job you would want and write your resume as an ad for you in that specific job.

5. Break it down. If the idea of actually writing the whole resume is too daunting, take it, as Anne Lamott would say, Bird by Bird. Commit yourself to writing the description of your current job, for instance, or setting up the format. Hopefully, that will trick you into starting the process and you will find yourself feeling more at ease once you have begun.

6. See Resume Rules #1, #2, and #3. Read the resume advice I have provided on this blog, keep it in mind when writing, and then reread it when you are done and make necessary revisions.

7. Show and tell. When you have finished writing your resume, send it to your five smartest, most career-savvy friends along with an explanation of what job you’re looking for. Ask them, “Would you call me in for an interview?” If the answer from more than one of them is anything other than a confident, “YES,” get detailed feedback and do a rewrite.

And then, of course, when all else fails, there is surrender…

8. Know when to get help. Lots of perfectly lovely, talented, and intelligent people lack either the aptitude or the inclination to write a really good resume. If what is keeping you from getting a more satisfying new job is the lack of a good resume, admit it and reach out. A half-written resume or a resume that gets you no replies when submitted for jobs you know you are qualified is not going to get you where you want to go.

Hopefully, you find all of this advice helpful. Regardless of how you get it, an expertly-written resume is the key to getting you that job you’d wake up in the morning happy to go to. Even in this wobbly economy, good jobs are out there. Give yourself the best chance to get one.

Free Resume Winner

The free resume is going to a single mom with three kids who lives on the east coast. She was nominated by someone on 29 gifts and she is also a participant. If she is okay with it, I’ll give you more details of her story later and let you know where this fabulous new resume leads her.

Thanks to all of those who nominated others and who threw their own hats in the ring. I am always willing to do a free consultation so email me your resume if you want some solid feedback.

I’m Giving Away a Free Resume Rewrite

As part of my 29 Gifts participation, I want to write or rewrite/upgrade/revamp/turbocharge a resume for someone for free.  This is a service worth up to $260 depending upon the professional level of the person and whether I’m writing it from scratch or rewriting an existing version.

Problem is, how do I find the person to write it for?

That’s where you come in. Please circulate this offer to anyone who you know who either hates their job or has no job and really needs one. Tell them to send their story to me (what makes their job so heinous, for instance?) at movemeforward@yahoo.com, putting “free resume” in the subject line. On Saturday morning, I will choose the winner.  I will announce why their story won, but not their name (confidentiality is often key in my biz). You can also submit your own story, of course, or the story of  someone you feel is worthy. Just make sure they really want a new & better job because my resumes get results.

Thanks for your help!

Rule #3- Your Resume Should Be Easy to Digest

This is the difference between ending up in the YES (contact them now for an interview) or MAYBE (read later) pile. We don’t worry about the NO pile. If you followed Rule #1 and Rule #2, you should be able to stay out of the NO pile for any job for which you are reasonably qualified. The MAYBE pile is a killer at this point.

The MAYBE pile is for resumes that are comprised of huge blocks of text, that have over five bullet points for each job, that use the same nine words over and over again, that have no headlines at the top briefly describing key qualifications so the reader knows something about the candidate as they skim through the professional experience section.

“I’ll read that later,” the hiring professional will say when faced with having to decode a resume with these characteristics. Too much time, too much work. But here’s the thing…

Most hiring professionals NEVER get to the MAYBE pile.