How to Get a Job?

Young job seekers have always faced this dilemma. In today's shrinking job market, people with years of experience also struggle with it. Whether they face the reality of a layoff, or merely the threat of one, many older workers are trying to reinvent themselves in order to become marketable in a changed economy.

It’s funny that when people reach a certain age, such as after graduating college, they assume it’s time to go out and get a job.  But like many things the masses do, just because everyone does it doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.  In fact, if you’re reasonably intelligent, getting a job is one of the worst things you can do to support yourself.  There are far better ways to make a living than selling yourself into indentured servitude.

Each time you look for jobs in the newspaper or hear friends discussing them, you will be working out your own suitability for that job. Whenever you write a job application (or attend an interview) you will be making an assessment of yourself and your potential.

The Two Toughest Things About Writing a Resume

I've spent countless hours writing resumes over many years in my roles as a web/software developer and project manager. In that time I've discovered that there are two areas that cause me the most trouble. First is deciding where to start. Second is knowing when to stop.

When faced with a blank page it's easy to become a victim of analysis paralysis. You end up thinking about all of the things you could do rather than actually doing something. So my first piece of advice is to start writing. As ideas come in to your head, let them flow into your resume. At this point there is nothing that is wrong so just keep writing. Eventually you'll hit a point where you're out of ideas and you have nothing left to write. It is at this point that you should begin the editing process.

Knowing when to stop working on your resume is also a tough call. There always seems to be some portion that you can rewrite or some design phpect you can tweak. What you need to realize is that such continuous changes have diminishing returns and eventually are not worth doing. Save the file, close it, and start working on the actual process of landing interviews.

I think a professional resume should be like this:

Name

Street Address

City, State, Zip

E-Mail Address

Professional Profile

Type professional profile here.

Education

Name of Institution, 199X

Degree, Area of Degree

Concentration

Relevant Skills

•     •     •

•     •     •

•     •     •

•     •     •

•     •     •

Career Highlights

• Type highlight here.

• Type highlight here.

• Type highlight here.

• Type highlight here.

Professional Experience

Name of Company            Month and Year - Present

Job Title, Group (if applicable)

• Type responsibility here.

• Type responsibility here.

• Type responsibility here.

• Type responsibility here.

Name of Company            Month and Year - Month and Year

Job Title, Group (if applicable)

• Type responsibility here.

• Type responsibility here.

• Type responsibility here.

• Type responsibility here.