Resuming my resume

A resume is always a work in progress, and never a done deal.

We're advised to customize them for each and every job application, adding key words that will connect you to the job you're seeking. 

Look through your resume for accomplishments that will be most meaningful to a given employer, the experts say, and find a way to highlight them or bring them to the top part of your resume.

Inevitably, as much as you've been tweaking and improving this all-important document, the day will come when you realize a weakness or an error in your resume and think, "I've been sending out that?"

I had a good start on my resume with the help of DBM, the outplacement firm hired by my former employer. But in its latest incarnation, after some in-person scrutiny by veteran recruiter Maureen Walkinshaw of the Career Solutions Workshop, my resume is looking even better.

In the newspaper business, the biggest, most important news of the day is deliberately placed "above the fold."  That means the top half of the newspaper, where the day's headlines and photos might capture the attention (and pocket change) of those who walk by a streetside newsrack or a stack of papers  at 7-11.

Well, hello! A resume is no different. "There's prime rib in there, but it's buried," said Ms. Walkinshaw, after she spent a few minutes looking at my resume. She let me know which statements on my resume would be most impactful to a potential employer, and advised me to move them up to a highlighted location on the top third of the page. She also recommended some deletions.

Now the "prime rib" on my personal menu is spelled out in bullets under "Accomplishments" on the top third of my resume, right before Professional Experience.

Employers are getting a lot of resumes these days, and spend only an average of 10 seconds looking at yours before deciding whether it goes in the "Yes" or "No" pile.

Don't make them look too hard for the good stuff.

Career Solutions Workshop is a 12-week free course for the job hunter. More at http://www.careersolutionsworkshop.org/.

Becoming a foodie, of sorts

Throughout this not-yet-too-terribly-long journey of job searching, I've received one constant word of advice in all of the workshops, outplacement classes and networking events that I have attended.

Job hunting is be hard work, probably the hardest you'll ever have, say the experts...but in your spare time, while you still have some, do spend a little of it volunteering in your community.

And so I am.

Next week, I'm scheduled to work my first session as a volunteer for the Tarrant Area Food Bank. The marketing and public relations staffers there have been kind enough to take a look at their to-do lists to see if there are some projects where my own professional experience can be useful. And while I'm there, I also want to help box up donated food in their quality control area.

As I drove away from the Food Bank today, I felt a definite uptick in my attitude. Now I've got something on my calendar that puts me back working with people on something that's not all about me, getting a job.

And I have to admit, it feels good to get a "Yes" response from an organization for a change.

Visit the Tarrant Area Food Bank, which serves 13 counties, at www.tafb.org.