How to Write a Resume - Step No. 3 - Strategy Wins the Battle

How to Write a Resume - Step No. 3 - Strategy Wins the Battle This is the 3rd post in my ‘How to Write a Resume’ series, you can read the other steps here: 1) Feel The Employers Pain 2) Know Your Value to the Employer It’s maybe the most important of them all. Learning how to strategize your resume is the absolute #1 secret to opening doors and getting interviews. No exaggeration. What is a Resume Strategy? Developing a resume strategy means sitting down and figuring out exactly what message you want to convey. Most people think of resume writing as documenting their career history but that’s absolutely the wrong way to think about it. A resume isn’t a history paper â€" it’s a marketing tool. By developing a clear strategy, you can then shape a message that will sell. A message that will make recruiters and employers want to call you as soon as they read your resume. That’s what your strategy is â€" it’s the overarching message you want to communicate. How Do You Settle on a Resume Strategy? We’ve already laid the groundwork for your strategy in the first two posts in this series. So far, I’ve talked about how important it is to understand what employers need (“Feel Their Pain”) and also why you then have to fully understand what you bring to the table (“Work Out Your Value”). To decide on your resume strategy, you simply put the two together. You look at your ability to add value and you match that to the needs of your target employers. Where the two meet, is your unique value proposition, and that’s the basis for your resume strategy. So for a sales person, the key message might be to show how much money he has made for various employers over the years. A marketer might be targeting companies who sell emerging technologies, and therefore his strategy will be to position himself as the ‘emerging technology guy.’ A web designer might have identified her biggest strength as her ability to delight clients with her designs, and she decides this is what she wants to communicate. This may all sound very obvious, but the mistake most people make is trying to communicate too many different messages in one document. Decide on your strategy and then stick to it! (By the way, it’s OK to have several different resumes, each with a different target audience and strategy in mind). Translating Your Strategy Onto Paper: OK, so you know what you want to communicate. Now you can make some decisions about how to do that. Consider the following: What will your resume headline say? How will you communicate your core message right upfront? What evidence can you provide (all the way through the resume) to support your core message? How might you use testimonials from performance reviews or LinkedIn to bolster your message? What career accomplishments can you highlight that will support your message? Are there creative ways to communicate your central message? Conclusion By keeping your strategy in mind as you structure your resume, you’ll have not just a boring career document, but what one of our clients called ‘a strategic masterpiece.’ And more importantly, you’ll have a document that will press all the right buttons for your target employers and will therefore give them a compelling reason to pick up the phone and call you. Louise Fletcher co-founded Blue Sky in 2002 after a career as an HR executive. She admits to being a ‘wordnerd’  at heart and loves to write. She developed the Blue Sky resume approach, has written two books, and has been a featured expert for sites such as Monster, The Ladders and HR Guru.  Image:  Shutterstock. Now read: How to Write a Resume â€" Step No. 4 â€" Design to Inspire

7 No Investment Online Side Hustles You Can Start Today

7 No Investment Online Side Hustles You Can Start Today Side hustles are your best friend whenever you need money fast. Debts and bills don’t look like problems anymore. You don’t need money to kick-start your side hustle. And you can convert your side business to a full-time business if it works well. Statistics show that more than 66% of millennials want to start their own business. It gets easier to start a business if you already have knowledge of running a side business. Here is a list 7 no investment online side hustles that you can start today. Online paid surveys You can get paid for participating in online surveys, focus groups, and interviews. You don’t have to leave your home. There are several online paid survey sites that you can join for free like Inbox Dollars, Swagbucks, MySurvey, Toluna, and OnePoll. Not all survey sites will pay you cash. Most of them will pay you in the form of redeemable points, vouchers, and gift cards. OnePoll, for instance, pays you through PayPal while Toluna will pay in the form of Amazon vouchers. In any case, you get paid for sharing your opinion. Stock photos You can make money by selling photos online. You don’t have to be a professional photographer. You don’t have to buy equipment. Your smartphone camera will work. There are stock photography sites where you can sell your photos. Some of the leading stock photography sites include Fotolia, Shutterstock, and iStockphoto. You can also sell photos directly by creating a free website on WordPress.com or you can find sellers on Facebook groups and Instagram. Youll always find people who will be interested in buying photos from you. Affiliate marketing Selling other people’s products for a certain commission works great. You don’t need a website and you can start immediately. The best affiliate network for beginners is Amazon Associates Program because Amazon is fairly famous and a well-known marketplace which makes selling easier. You don’t have to try hard to convince someone to buy a product from Amazon. Register free today, get your affiliate link, and start sharing and promoting it. You can ask your friends and family members to use your affiliate link to order their next product from Amazon. They won’t have to pay extra but youll get a commission. It doesn’t hurt the buyer so most of the people from your social circle will willingly do it. You can visit niche forums and share your affiliate links with an intention to help people. You can use Facebook groups to promote your affiliate links. There are hundreds of affiliate networks out there such as ClickBank, ShareASale, Rakuten Marketing, JVZoo, and more. But Amazon Associates is best to start off with. Mechanical Turk Amazon Mechanical Turk is a freelancing platform where you can register as a worker to accept HITs (Human Intelligence Tasks). Youll get paid for completing small tasks like transcription jobs, completing a survey, data entry, internet research, celebrity recognition in a video, etc. Anyone can do these tasks so it isn’t hard to make money as a worker on Amazon Mechanical Turk. This is a perfect side hustle for students. Amazon Mechanical Turk isn’t the only marketplace for micro workers. There are several alternatives such as MicroWorkers, ShortTask, and ClickWorker. You can register as a worker on all these (and many other) sites and work on all of them to earn quick bucks whenever you’re short of cash. Sell on Fiverr Fiverr is world’s leading marketplace that connects buyers and sellers. You can sell pretty much anything on Fiverr ranging from products to services to eBooks to presentations to videos to photos and more. Think of anything and you can sell it on Fiverr. You can register as a seller for free and can create your first gig in no time. Set your own price and terms, and wait for the orders. The best thing about Fiverr is its massive reach and popularity. You don’t have to market your gig. It will sell on autopilot. Write reviews How about writing reviews of products and getting paid? There are websites that you pay you as much as $50 per review. You have to test a product, an app, a tool, or a software, and write an honest review to get paid. Software Judge is one great site to start off with. You can submit 3 reviews a day and the minimum rate per review is $1. This means you can earn at least $90 a month from this site only. And there are hundreds of similar sites out there that need reviewers. Here are a few leading sites you can join today: Vindale Research User Testing Review Stream PayPerPost Get paid to write Just like websites that pay you for reviewing a product and writing a review, there are sites that will pay you for writing articles. And these sites pay a lot. Of course, you have to be a good writer or a subject matter expert to write and get paid. Ordinary articles won’t be accepted. If you’re a good writer, this is the best side hustle for you. Here is a list of some of the leading websites that will pay you for writing an article for them: Freelance Mom Cooking Detective Barefoot Writer Great Escape Publishing Christian Science Monitor Choose a side hustle that best suits you and get started today. I’d recommend starting as an affiliate marketer or as a writer if you can write exceptionally well. You can easily scale these two side businesses. All the best. Author Bio: Sabih Javed is a T-shaped digital marketer who helps businesses grow sales and boost marketing ROI. He is the founder of Digital Marketer PK â€" a Pakistan-based digital marketing blog. Follow him on Twitter @sabihjavedd.

Google Earth and Google Flight Simulator Tips

Google Earth and Google Flight Simulator Tips Google Earth Pro comes with powerful tools that enable you to perform several functions while capturing geographical data. These extra tools improve the capabilities of Google Earth, making it suitable for individuals that are studying satellite images for various reasons. One of the many features that people rarely use is the Google Earth Flight Simulator which gives users a 3D video tour of several spots on the planet. After launching Google Earth Pro, simply go over to the Tools menu and select the “Enter Flight Simulator” option. It may also be launched using the shortcut keys Ctrl+Alt+A. Launch Google Earth Flight Simulator Setting up the Flight Simulator Once the flight simulator window opens, you get to see a wide range of options to choose from for the desired experience. You can either choose the slower Cirrus SR-22 plane which is easier to control or the F-16 which is a lot faster. Users can also choose a starting position which could be any airport or their current view which makes the simulator start mid-air. The Joystick Support feature makes it possible for you to use the simulator with a joystick. You can continue with your keyboard and mouse if that is what you prefer. After the initial setup is complete, clicking Start Flight will start the 3D video tour. It features a Heads Up Display (HUD) with green readings that may be seen on the screen. They make it easy for users to navigate the globe with ease. A good understanding of the HUD readings ensures that your flight is smooth, as you can see the aircraft speed and altitude, among other important information. HUD with green readings. (Image Source) Controls The controls are quite straightforward. The Page Up key on your keyboard allows you to power-up your aircraft. As your speed increases, it may be seen through the throttle indicator that is displayed on your screen. While on the ground, you may turn left or right using the comma and period keys. They allow you to engage the left and right brakes while navigating on the runway. If you do not have a joystick, your mouse would come in handy when flying the plane as using the keyboard alone for navigation may be difficult for most people. Move your mouse cursor to the center of the screen and click once. Immediately the cursor turns to a “+” sign, it can then be used for take-off, landing, and controlling the aircraft mid-air. Immediately the speed of your plane increases on the runway and you are ready for take-off, move your mouse slightly downwards, away from the center of the screen. As your aircraft starts to get off the ground, try to balance its wings using the mouse until you get to the desired altitude. Ensure that the cursor stays within the Google Earth window to avoid losing control of your aircraft. While in the air, you can move your mouse in any direction you want to fly to the desired location. Try to keep the mouse cursor at the center of the screen.   That will ensure that you do not lose control and crash the aircraft. The spacebar on your keyboard can be used to pause the simulator. Hit the key again when you are ready to resume with your navigation.                                                                                                (Image source) Navigating in air. You can eliminate the entire taking off process if it is difficult for you. Just click Exit Flight Simulator and relaunch it using the “Current View” option. Conveniently fly over various locations and discover new attractions using your mouse. You can exit the simulator at any time or try landing the plane without crashing. Landing is not as easy as it sounds. Once you get to your preferred landing spot, ensure that the aircraft is correctly aligned to the runway before attempting to land.   Once the flaps are adjusted to 100 percent with a decrease in thrust, engage the landing gear and move the mouse cursor slightly upwards. While on the ground, press both comma and period keys to bring the plane to a halt. Conclusion The Flight Simulator feature on Google Earth Pro provides an exciting experience for users as they travel through different terrains and discover interesting tourist sites across the globe. They also get hands-on experience of some basic principles and the forces that act on an aircraft.

Social Media Calendar for Busy Entrepreneurs - Classy Career Girl

Social Media Calendar for Busy Entrepreneurs If you get stuck with what to post on social media  every day, this will help.  The biggest thing about social media is to be authentic and to share the real you. I created this social media calendar because I realized that some of my posts were getting much more engagement than others. I dived in deeper to my analytics and discovered why. The posts where I shared the real me and really put time into the purpose behind the post, THOSE were the posts that did the best. This social media calendar below is the collection of posts that I continue to share on social media for the Classy Career Girl brand again and again with the same great results. Join me and complete the social media one month challenge! You can totally  do it! Click here to download the one-month social media profit calendar and my must-have social media scheduling tools. Note: These posts can be used for your blog posts too. Remember to re-purpose your content as much as possible. This social media calendar could even help you outline your next video on YouTube or create a beautiful quote for Instagram. My favorite part about this calendar is the writing prompts. Writing prompts have really helped me in the past find my purpose in growing this business and be able to connect with my readers and clients more. Growing this trust with your readers will grow your business too. One Month Social Media Calendar for Busy Entrepreneurs Day 1: Link to a new blog post. Day 2: Writing prompt: The reason I started my company is…. Day 3: Throwback Day 4: Share a behind the scenes update and photo. What are you working on? Day 5: Writing prompt: The moment I decided to start my business was… Day 6: Ask a question to your audience. Day 7: Text quote with your logo with a quote you say over and over. Day 8: Share a free resource you have. Click here to download the one-month social media profit calendar and my must-have social media scheduling tools. Day 11: Share a relevant article and your thoughts about it. Day 12: Share a helpful tip. Day 13: Introduce yourself. Day 14: Writing prompt: I am grateful for…. Day 15: Share your favorite quote. Day 16: Link to an old blog post. Day 17: Writing prompt: I believe that….. Day 18: If you had only one final thing to say on social media, what would it be? Day 19: Link to an optin page, lead magnet or application for a free session or product. Day 20: Say thank you to your fans! Day 21: Shout out to an entrepreneur or author who inspires you. Day 22: Share a quick 1-minute video with a quick tip. Day 23: Share a personal photo of you working in your business. Day 24: Share about a success of one of your clients. Day 25: Offer a discount. Day 26: Run a poll and get feedback from your audience on future article topics. Day 27: Writing prompt: What I love most about my work is…. Day 28: Writing prompt: You may think my company does_____, what you might not know is____________. Day 29: Share your thoughts on recent news in your industry. Day 30: Share a picture of what makes you happy. Day 31: Share what your favorite book is relevant to your topic and industry. Let me know how it goes! Leave a comment below!

What Does Burnout Syndrome Mean and How to Deal with It - CareerMetis.com

What Does “Burnout Syndrome” Mean and How to Deal with It You were doing just fine a while ago. Your performance at work was great, although you were under a lot of stress and you had difficulties to find a balance between your professional and personal life. Suddenly, you found yourself feeling utterly exhausted, disillusioned, unmotivated, and practically helpless.Congratulations, you’re having a first-hand experience with the burnout syndrome!evalThis phenomenon was first described in the 1970s. It’s a state characterized by reduced productivity, depersonalization, and exhaustion.We’re not talking about a simple loss of productivity. We’re referring to the feeling of being insufficient to perform, reduced self-confidence, and an unbearable state of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion.The feeling of depersonalization is serious on itself. It’s manifested as an indifferent attitude not only towards work, but towards all other aspects of life as well.So yes; this isa serious issue. If you feel like you’re on the path towa rds burnout or you’re already experiencing its symptoms, it’s time to take action before the condition drags you down.How to Recognize a BurnoutevalThere are few telltale signs that indicate you’re on your way to a burnout:The work gives you no joy at all; you even feel slightly depressed by the mere thought of work.You feel that every workday is a bad day.You’re overwhelmed by the new tasks at work.You feel hopeless when you think about your future in this organization.You experience different physical symptoms of stress, such as shortness of breath, heart palpitations, or even chest pain.You withdraw from social contact. You’re not interested in hanging out with colleagues or friends, and you prefer staying in isolation.You and the people who surround you notice that your behavior has changed.There’s a terrible feeling of inner emptiness when you’re alone.When you don’t recognize the signs on time, the burnout syndrome will bring you to an emotional and physical co llapse. In extreme cases, the situation can lead to a deep depression and even suicide.Medical students and practicing physicians often report symptoms of depression and suicide thoughtsthat result from being burnout.How to Prevent Burnout from Happening and Deal with It When It Happens evalMost people have days when they feel unappreciated, overloaded, and helpless. They drag themselves out of bed and don’t feel like working. When you notice these days occur more often than usual, however, you have the first sign that you’re driving yourself to a burnout.You don’t have to wait for the physical signs of exhaustion before you start thinking about prevention.There are few activities that will help you with that:1. Write!There are few ways for you to use this method, both in the prevention and the treatment of a burnout.Whenever you accept another task at work or you’re told to do something, write how you feel about it. Getting your thoughts out on paper will give you the feeli ng of instant relief. It helps you identify your point of view, so you won’t pile up emotions that could cause a burnout.Note your ideas, too! The feelings of hopelessness, helplessness, and apathy are part of the burnout. When you have ideas about professional progress and you write them down, you feel like you have a plan for your future and you’re being useful.Make plans! Plan the major activities on a monthly basis, and then create to-do lists in accordance with them. If you notice you’re doing too much work and there’s no personal space in your plan, it’s time to say noto some of the tasks being offered to you.One of the reasons why burnout occurs is conflict in values. When your personal values are not in line with the goals and values of the organization, you don’t feel like your work is meaningful. Sometimes you don’t even know what your personal values are. Writing can help you identify them.Hey; you can even start a blog, which will inspire you to write on a regular basis. It will help you get in touch with other people who are going through similar symptoms and feelings, and you’ll support each other2.Value Your Personal TimeevalWhen you feel like you’re letting time slip away from you, it’s hard to relax, isn’t it? You have to understand something once and for all: rest is productive! When you’re fully engaged in work and you don’t have time to rest and do the things you love, you’re driving yourself towards the edge.When you do too much exercise, your muscles burn for a week and you can’t work out when experiencing such pain. The same thing happens when you burn yourself out with too much work. You’re spending your entire mental and physical strength and you’re not doing anything to recover it.The problem is: the effects of this burnout don’t last for just a week. If you don’t get your rest when you really need it, you may push yourself in a long-term burnout situation.Rest! Even a 20-minute power nap will tak e your energy levels up!Do not sacrifice your healthy sleep unless it’s an absolute necessity.Cook your own meals. You’ll enjoy the feeling that you’re doing something good for yourself.Go shopping, do some yoga, get a manicure, read a good book, or do whatever you feel like doing.Spend time in nature. It has an incredible power to recharge your batteries.3. Make PrioritiesWhen you’re overwhelmed with tasks on a daily basis, it’s difficult to recognize the priorities among them. You feel like everything is important, and you end up sacrificing your personal space and hobbies for the sake of completing the work on time.In reality, there are few types of tasks on your list:Important and urgentImportant, but not urgentNot important, but urgentNot important and not urgentIf you use a simple color-coding scheme in your to-do list, you’ll easily categorize the tasks.The important and urgent tasks have a priority. Do your best to get them done first, so you’ll minimize the st ress levels throughout the rest of your day. The not important, but urgent tasks should be done next. Then, you’ll focus on the important, but not urgent tasks. As for the not important and not urgent tasks, you may as well leave them for tomorrow and have some rest.Prevention Is Way More Effective Than TreatmentIt’s possible to get out of a burnout situation when you’re already too deep in it, but it takes a lot of commitment and effort. Recognizing the signs and preventing the burnout before it occurs is a much more effective way to deal with it!Hopefully, you’ll start taking this issue more seriously and you won’t allow your work to drain you out.

Exercise Being and becoming - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Exercise Being and becoming - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog We define ourselves by what we are. This goes for individuals as well as groups of people. But life is change and learning. Everything is always in flux, is always developing. So shouldnt you define yourself at least as much by what youre becoming? I think, that if you derive your identity solely from what you are right now, youre missing something crucial. Basing your identity only on what you are right now, may narrow the way you think about the future. In the future you will be changed. You wont be exactly as you are right now. So if your thinking about yourself is limited to what you are now, it may be difficult to see all the potential the future holds. This might lead to anxiety about the future and change in general. Ive come up with an exercise that can shed light on this issue. Its quite simple: Define who you are. Write down the most essential characteristics about you, each on a separate line. Then try to think of what you are becoming. Not necessarily what you want to be, just what youre on your way to be. Put each of these on a line ot its own. Next to each of the lines, put down when and how long that particular characteristic is true for you. Your current job for instance: Consultant: 1997-2007 (if 10 years is how long you think youll last) If you want to go further, you could add the things you have been. I would argue thats a better definition of you, than just what you are right now. You could do the same exercise for your company, your country or any group of people. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

How to Write a Cover Letter - Your Work Experience Comes First

How to Write a Cover Letter - Your Work Experience Comes FirstOne of the most effective and highly effective way to get a job is to know how to write a cover letter. The right thing to do is to come up with a letter that will make an employer curious to hear your real thoughts and ideas about the job.However, there are some things that need to be kept in mind when you write a cover letter. First of all, you should use proper grammar and spelling in your letter. Grammar and spelling are one of the most important components in a good letter. Do not worry about the fact that the writing skill in your hand or your knowledge of the English language is not that high because it is your attention to detail that will help you write a good letter.Make sure that you include all the right topics in your letter. Most employers want to know what interests you and what motivates you to work. This is something that can be easily discerned through reading the contents of your letter.You also need to remember that the job description on your resume is for the interviewer to have an idea of what you are looking for. By including some information in your cover letter that you may be able to include in your resume, you are lessening the chances of being put off by something that does not seem to fit into the job description.Secondly, you should include in your letter that you are interested in applying for the job. People usually look more into the candidate who is asking for the job. By writing this information on your cover letter, you will show the interviewer that you have confidence in yourself to perform the job.Lastly, your cover letter should also be your resume. It should contain information that is relevant to the job. Besides, by giving out some of your most cherished experiences about your work history, you will add credibility to your application.As you start to write your cover letter, you should make sure that you are doing it in the right manner. In order to do so, you must take time to read through the sample cover letters that were written by some top recruiters.By reading through these sample letters, you will be able to understand the correct structure of a cover letter. Take note of these instructions, and then start to write your own cover letter that will surely attract the attention of the employer.