The following blog was written by Kelly Olin, Certified Career Coach and Trainer. Read her bio after the post!
With the smell of spring in the air, many people are feeling re-energized to not only spring clean their homes, but their job search as well!
Here are a few ways you can ‘spring clean’ this year:
1) Update your Resume and Online Profiles:
This is the perfect opportunity to take a look at your resume and update your skills and experiences to reflect your current state. Identify any “holes” in your resume, such as lack of experience or educational qualifications and set a goal to fill that hole by addressing it by the end of this summer. Login to hiredmyway.com and any other social media sites you use and make sure to update your profiles to best reflect your qualifications and job search needs. Search engines only work off the information you give them, so remember that garbage in, equals garbage out!
2) Organize and Re-connect with your Network:
This is also the perfect time to review your networking connections and reach out to those you have not connected with in a while. You don’t have to get together with everyone for coffee, but simply sending a quick note or forwarding on a relevant periodical can really show that connection that you care. On the flip side, review your connections and purge any that are not genuine. It isn’t going to help your job hunt or career development if you have 500+ connections that you have never met or corresponded with.
3) Update Your Image:
Finally, this is a great time to refresh your look with a new hairstyle, makeup, and a few new statement pieces in your professional wardrobe. You don’t have to break the bank, just add in a few new spring and summer accessories to renew a tired old suit or collared shirt. These little details can go a long way and will project the image that you are up to date and on trend.
Send me photos of your spring hairstyles, makeovers and statement pieces and I will post them to my Facebook page – Kelly Olin Coaching & Training! Happy Spring Everyone!
You may also like:
- How to Avoid Job Search Burnout
- Can Facebook Really Help Your Job Search?
- Make Your Job Search a Habit!
- How to Use LinkedIn in Your Job Search
- 100 Job Search Tips
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
The formatting of your CV is not really the problem, as long as it is clear and concise and has the main headings that will be fine. You need to make sure that you put the right information in there clearly, detailing out things correctly and removing all waffle . Also dependent on your experience or what you do, please try to keep this as short as possible. Might I suggest that under your personal details at the top you include a few lines of summary explaining who you are, what you do and what you are looking for. Under that I would include a Career History, putting in the company name, the position and the dates you were there. Perhaps include one line as to what they do i.e. manufacturer of pencils etc. Add a paragraph on your responsibilities and then on your achievements. Do this for all your positions.Towards the end include your education, what qualifications you got and where you got them from. Then detail out any extra curricular activites you may have/do i.e. manage a kids football team, school governer, chair of a charity etc. Finally add the bottom References then under that Available on request. There is no reason to give them references from the very beginning on a CV unless their specific job applicaiton that you have to fill out requires it.I look at CV’s all day every day, so I have an idea as to what works.. I hope these suggestions help!