A group of MIT students in a project competition created an application that enables you to manage data across multiple sites from any computer and altered the way you and I manage and store files forever. This application is not another multiple website integration application. This is an application that will put ever file you have any place into one browser and instead of uploading files, you will be able you to drag and drop files from your personal computer onto your social network or your other computers or any other place a computer is connected to the Internet. For a clearer understanding of this new software see MIT News.
Month: May 2012
Red and Green Lines: Good for Links, Bad for Resumes
Have you ever noticed how some word documents are lit up with red and green lines?
Those lines are the method word-processing software uses to call attention to errors in a document. To most of us, that information is common knowledge. Therefore, I am surprised when I see those lines show up so often in business letters and resumes.
There are settings in MS Word to prevent those lines from appearing. Using those settings, however, puts the writer at the disadvantage of not having the lines to help catch mistakes.
The most common mistake that creates the lines is an incomplete sentence. Some examples might read like the following statements:
A better way to make the same statements is to make bullet point lists and leave off the period at the end of each listed point:
- Led the nation in sales
- Promoted three people
- Reduced operating costs
I hope this helps some of you find that you have less red and green lines on your resumes and more interviews offers from the people who read them.
Network, Even When There is no Apparent Reward
Network, Even When There is no Apparent Reward
He had been unemployed for over a year. He told me that he had not had one interview in over a year, because there was nothing worth his time. When I pressed him as to what he meant by things that were worth his time, he explained that he had been an executive vice president and the jobs he was seeing were two or three levels lower.
I suggested that he might consider just getting out and meeting people. Be more open about taking interviews. Just suit up and get out to see if he might have some ideas for helping companies build their business.
In this case, the networking paid off. He received a call regarding a company that had managed to make its sales goals but was struggling to make money. He suggested that perhaps he could come in as a sort of sales manager on special assignment or contract employee. In six weeks, he called me to tell me that he was the executive vice president of sales of a Midwest food company.
All he had to do was get out and meet some people.
Resumes: Experience Counts but Accomplishments Count More
Resumes: Experience Counts but Accomplishments Count More.
Is the purpose of your resume to get a job? Of course it is. The best way to ensure that your resume helps you get a job is to write a resume that will set you out from the pack.
Quite often I receive resumes from job seekers people who state in the heading of the resume how long they have been in a certain industry. I understand the value of experience. However, a resume gives job seekers just a few words to tell a convincing story to get a job interview.
I wonder if how stating how long a person has been working is nearly as important as a person stating accomplishments or as valuable as stating names of accounts, positions a person has held, percent increases accomplished, software mastered, and other keywords that staffing personnel and hiring managers pick up visually and in computer searches.
As an illustration, if you watched Kenny Mayne, Jerry Rice, and Steve Wozniak compete in ballroom dancing in recent years, you probably know that for them to dance longer would only make them worse dancers.
In their specialties on the other hand, Kenny Mayne the sportscaster, Jerry Rice the pro’ athlete, and Steve Wozniak the computer inventor piled up great work on top of great work to the point where they are recognized as leading professionals in their field. Their list of accomplishments is a matter of public record.
If I were to write Steve Wozniak’s resume, I would not say “Worked forty-two years in consumer electronics.” However, drawing on material from Wikipedia, I might write something like this for Steve Wozniak’s resume:
Co-founded Wheels of Zeus 2001
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- Created wireless GPS technology
- Brought the first programmable universal remote control to market
- Concurrently taught fifth grade students
Co-founded Apple Computer 1976
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- Created the Apple 1 computer
- Co-created the Apple II computer
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University of California, Berkeley, CA, Bachelor of Science Degree, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1986
In conclusion, I recommend that people not use precious space to state how many years they have worked in an industry. I do recommend that job seekers use valuable key words such a accounts, initiatives, software tools, and other keywords that will be picked up visually and in computer search as staffing people and hiring managers are looking for their next hire.