Here are several key actions that are vital to the ultimate success of people in each group:

1. Get in shape.
It is critical for many reasons to care for your self physically.  To find new work or fully enjoy your current job for the long term, your schedule and hours must include some time for allowing you to stay physically fit.  See your doctor and agree on an exercise plan aligned with your age and build.

2. Get fit financially.
Smart athletes manage their money well and invest wisely during their years of high-earning potential so that they can maintain their standard of living when they retire from the game.  Financial fitness is less about income than outgo.  To be financially fit, focus on what you keep as well as what you earn.  Get some outside help to put your financial house in order.  Keep your eye on what’s happening in the world and how that might affect investments.  No matter the size of your income, you need to educate yourself about financial matters: personal net worth, insurance, estate planning and wills, and investing. Read, listen to financial TV, and stay current on laws and regulations affecting you.  The more finances are in check, the less stress and better your fiscal future.

3. Keep learning.
Continuous learning has many benefits.  In our culture, access to learning is everywhere and need not cost a lot.  You can read, take a class, study online to learn a new skill, pursue a hobby, or attend lectures.  Intellectual growth deepens your expertise and broadens opportunities.

4. Maintain social skills.
When work overtakes all social activity, quality of life suffers. Inevitably, work friends talk about work. Stress from work spills over into conversations so that you can’t get away work, even after hours. You need friends involved in other pursuits and interests who can offer different perspectives.

5. Keep your resume current.
People currently working might need a resume at a moments notice.  An internal job may open or a position of interest elsewhere becomes available.  Professional resumes must be carefully written, and every word used for maximum impact.  

To the extent that you stay fit physically and financially, continue to learn, maintain good social connections, and have a good professional resume, you improve the quality of life and chance of success whether currently employed or not.

7. Use good grammar with all words spelled correctly.
This best practice almost goes without saying.  I guarantee that many resume readers will immediately set aside a resume or cover letter that has misspellings or poor word usage.  Unfair?  No.  We live in a time when people at all organizational levels are expected to be able to communicate verbally and in writing.  Use spell check and have someone else review your resume and cover letter for you.

8. Demonstrate that you are ready for and enjoy a challenge.
Many jobs worth doing these days are challenging.  Resume readers are not just looking for candidates with solutions to problems (see Part 1) but also candidates who thrive in such conditions.  It doesn’t need to be extravagant, but a display of quiet confidence is a good thing.

9. Personally sign letters to be posted via U.S. mail.
Use pen with contrasting ink with pleasing color.  These small personal touches communicate that you value this job opportunity and took some extra time to show it.  Use of black ink may get lost in the other black print.  A nice shade of blue ink on your signature causes it to stand-out nicely.

10. Indicate how and when you will follow-up.
Rather than simply “dropping off” your resume and cover letter, when you state a follow-up date, it shows that you are organized and intentional.  Whether you intend to call, send an email or regular letter, indicate it accordingly.

11. Send unsolicited cover letters and resumes early in the week.
Traditionally, resumes flow in greater quantities early in the week because people have time over the weekend to devote to job search activity.  People inside hiring organizations budget their time to handle the surge of resumes early in the week.  Therefore, time your mailing to effectively take advantage of a resume reader’s time and attention.

12. Print each letter individually.
Please resist the temptation to mass-print your letters when sending paper copies.  Print them on good paper and show care in how they are folded (or not) and placed in an envelope.  This extra care will help prevent mistakes in sending letters and once again showcases extra effort and attention to detail.

With these 12 tips, you can produce an effective cover letter for your next resume.  If you have questions or would like a professional to write or review your next cover letter or resume, please contact us.  We’d be happy to help.

We live in a knowledge-sharing world, and this fast paced four hour program will introduce participants to why knowledge awareness is vital to organizations of every size, and effectively managing it will lead to cost avoidance, savings, improved efficiency and continuous improvement.  There is a strong social element to managing knowledge and the human resource function can play a very active part.

What Will Be Discussed?
The workshop will provide participants with a practical working definition of Knowledge Management (KM), an understanding of KM behaviors and their relationship to cost avoidance, savings and continuous improvement.  In addition, it will key on the social side of KM and the significant human resource role to be played in leading, coordinating, teaching, prompting and documenting knowledge sharing efforts.  It is also critical to understand and measure results-oriented KM.  If done properly, any costs associated with knowledge sharing efforts will more than pay for themselves. 

It is not an exaggeration to say that most leading companies use some combination of KM tools to facilitate managing their knowledge.  Depending upon the organization, these tools can include use of networks, intranets, and digital storage options. 

The phrase “where there’s a will, there’s a way” certainly applies to managing knowledge.  KM objectives at some level can be achieved on small budgets or none at all.  While it is true that the more you invest the greater the return is still valid.  But entry-level KM efforts within an organization will yield surprising results.  The more you understand KM and exhibit KM behaviors, the more successful you will be.

Participants will also explore the relationship between effectively managing knowledge and innovation, and simple things you can do to get your organization’s creative juices flowing.  Another key area of focus is measuring KM results and ROI.  How can you measure knowledge sharing efforts and does savings and cost avoidance really go the bottom line?  Workshop attendees will leave with a template for creating a knowledge management project plan.

How Do I Attend?
To make arrangements to attend this workshop, contact AAIM management association via the Internet at aaimstl.org, or by telephone at 314-968-3600.  Not going to be in St. Louis but like to know more?  Let us bring the workshop directly to you and your organization by contacting manageourknowledge@gmail.com. 

The facilitator of this workshop is Gordon Walter, SPHR, who has a background in both human resources and knowledge management.  Gordon is currently Managing Member of GENESYS Management Company, LLC, and Reliableresumes.com.

Don’t Be Afraid To Sell Yourself:
A job seeker is essentially a product and, like a product, they need to be represented in the best possible light in order to be “bought” by the potential employer. The truth is that it is hard for some people to talk about themselves, let alone sell themselves to others. It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to get over that inhibition when making a resume. You need to see yourself as the best person for the job and not be afraid to tell the employer that.

Put Your Best Foot Forward:
Seeing that your resume can either open or close the door to the career you want, you should consider hiring someone who makes resumes as their profession. Think of it this way.  When you want to get a portrait of your family done, you go to a photographer.  When a company wants to create a product brochure, they don’t print them out on their Lexmark printer, they hire a professional printer and designer.  They do this because they want it to look as good as possible and make the best impression they can.
Professional resume makers know not only how to sell you but how to write the resume to get noticed in the first place. This is an art that not everyone understands. Having someone who knows what information to present and what format to present it in can take the stress off of you and help you get that interview and the job. Think about it like a lawyer. If you were being sued would you go to court and represent yourself? Probably not, because you don’t know the proper etiquette and rules required in court to best present your case. Same thing with resume creation, you are not an expert so why not get an expert to do it?

Yes, It Can Make A Difference:
Professional resumes can be the difference between getting the job you’ve always wanted and having your resume tossed into the trash heap. When an employer sees a professionally crafted resume they see someone’s commitment to finding the right job. They see that an effort was made to make that person look their best and will assume that person will have the same attitude in their job.  They will also see the specific information they are looking for.  You may have a lot of experience and have trouble knowing what experience to include on your resume.  You may also have experience that you hadn’t considered, but a professional resume maker would know to ask you about. Professional resume makers know what information is needed, what isn’t, and even what words can be most effective.

Take The Next Step:
Employers seek out professional resumes when going through the stack of resumes they get from job seekers. Usually, the first part of the process is weeding out resumes that have poor presentation, don’t have the qualifications they are looking for, have grammatical and formatting errors, or are simply too long. This might not even be done by the person doing the hiring, but rather an assistant.  A poor resume may never even be seen by the person doing the hiring. A professional resume maker knows how to present the job seeker in the best light. They will make sure that the resume gets read and is put on the top of the pile. It may cost a little more to have your resume crafted by a professional, but then again, how much would it cost you if you don’t get the job?

Short And To The Point:
Executive resumes, like all resumes, should be short and to the point, only containing the most important and pertinent information to your rise to the executive level. The one page rule still exists. If you can possibly get your resume to one page then you are doing well. Two pages are acceptable if absolutely necessary but staying away from multiple pages will always be the best bet. Your potential employer is looking through a lot of resumes and if your resume looks like work to read then there’s a good chance its next home is in the circular file. No one wants a laborious resume read. The smart executive will make his resume short but replete with the right information.

Be Job Specific:
With all that said, it’s not just about how short your resume is, but what information is included.  Consider the job for which you are applying.  What skills and experience do you have that specifically applies to that job.  If the skill or experience doesn’t directly apply to the position, it probably doesn’t need to be included.  This means that your resume needs to be different for each job to which you apply.

Sell Yourself:
It is still important to remember that this is the ultimate sell job. You are a product and that may be the best way to think about it. Pick out your best product attributes and add those to your resume. That will ensure that only the very best of your skill and achievements make it onto the resume. It’s good to include skills and experience that have that are common to most executives to show that you are as capable as everyone else, but it’s even more important to make yourself stand out.  Why should the employer remember you?  Why should they call you and not the next person?  You may want to talk to former bosses or friends and see what they think stands out about you. That can be very helpful as well as enlightening.

To sum it up, brevity will always be appreciated and keeping a resume short may be the difference between the resume being read or not.  After you have created your resume, read through it and look for places where you can shorten phrases by using more precise terms.  Look for information that on review seems superfluous.  A little extra effort to shorten your resume with precision and by removing excess information can help you get the interview and get the job.