Back to School!

It’s back to school this week here in Nashville! I remember when I was in school, especially in college, I didn’t have the appreciation I have now for education. I remember only caring about what I needed to know for my exams, and not much about anything extra.

But, there was always that one older (non-traditional aged) student in my college classes who would ask questions about stuff we didn’t need to know for the exam. You probably had a classmate like her too.

I remember rolling my eyes and thinking to myself, “Quit asking so many questions so we can get out of class early!” But now, I would so be that student if I was back in college again. I totally would.

Lifelong Learning

The older I get, the more I love to learn. I’m sure I’m not the only person who feels this way. So many people grow in their appreciation for knowledge and learning as they get older. I guess this is why George Bernard Shaw said,

“Education is lost on the youth.”

Lifelong learning and continuing education is very important. And not just for satisfying a thirst for knowledge or broadening your knowledge base. With changes occurring rapidly in the way we work, it’s necessary to learn new approaches to the job search in order to keep up in today’s job market.

In doing so, sometimes we first need to focus on the basics and learn (or re-learn) the nuts and bolts (i.e. the stuff we know will be on the “exam”).  This includes the nuts and bolts of writing a resume.

The Nuts and Bolts of Resume Writing

I get so many clients who haven’t had to write a resume in about 10-20 years. Things have changed since then, despite all the outdated resume advice still floating around out there on the Internet. There are new resume writing basics today’s job seekers need to learn if they want to successfully land more interviews. This includes how to get their resume through the resume-filtering software to a pair of human eyes.

Not too long ago, I taught a continuing education class on resume writing. Many of the students in my class were surprised at how many new “nuts and bolts” things they needed to know for their resume (the “exam”).

Now I’ve taken the same info from the class I taught, and packaged it into an online course called Resumes That Get You the Interview: Surprising Secrets to Getting Your Resume Noticed. It’s perfect for anyone who only wants to learn the nuts and bolts of how to write a marketable resume for today’s job market.

And for those of you who want to learn more than just what’s going to be “on the exam,” there is a copy of my e-book Get Your Resume Read! included for free with your purchase of the on-demand program.

Welcome Back to School: Resume Writing Course Preview

Want a course preview? There are five lessons/episodes in this on-demand program:

In addition, there are several downloadable handouts to help you create the best resume possible for your unique career situation:

• The paNASH Resume Makeover Guide
• Chronological Resume Sample
• Skills Resume Sample
• Targeted/Hybrid Resume Samples (for career change and for executive level)
• E-book: Get Your Resume Read!

So if you just want to learn what’s going to be “on the exam” or you want to know more, I invite you “back to school” by registering for Resumes That Get You the Interview for $87. You can work at your own pace and skip around so you can get to the parts you care about the most.

A recent user had this to say:

“While going through the videos and handouts, I kept blurting out ‘Ah, that’s good advice!’ every two to three minutes. That’s how much information I learned – something new every two minutes of watching! Thank you Lori for this program. I can say it is worth the money!” Chris D.

What’s NOT Going to Be on the Exam

In addition to the on-demand program, here’s a recent video I posted on LinkedIn describing one of several things you should NOT include on your resume:

Want to learn more about what not to include on your resume? Click here to purchase the on-demand program now.

Related Posts:

• How to Know What Resume Format You Should Use
• How to Write a Resume: Make It About THEM, Not You
• Think You Know How to Write a Resume? Think Again!

Welcome to “Sunday Inspiration,” a bi-weekly devotional for those seeking spiritual encouragement in the pursuit of their passions. Each post comes from an outside resource (as referenced). I hope these posts will inspire and motivate you in your life and career in addition to our weekly original blog posts. Enjoy!

In the ninth chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon writes about the importance of seizing life, living in the moment, and learning to enjoy each day.

Which introduces the question: what are you waiting for? To graduate? To get married? To have children? To retire?

Life is about the journey, not the destination!

Your life is here and now, your family is here and now, your marriage is here and now, your career is here and now.

The journey takes place every day, and you can find meaning when you search for a greater purpose. You can find small joys every day if you have eyes of faith.

Solomon recognized that ultimately we all end up at the same destination-the grave. The only difference lies in how much we enjoy the journey.

Instead of obsessing over the things you can’t control, focus on what you can control and leave the rest to God.

Phil Cooke writes:

“I have to believe that God’s in control, and for me to always demand answers is to assume His role. I’ve decided to sit back and let Him be God and let me be me.”

That’s a philosophy we would all do well to adopt!

Source: https://www.jentezenfranklin.org/daily-devotions/enjoy-each-day

Patience. They say it’s a virtue. Probably because it’s something rare. In today’s world, we don’t have to be as patient because we’ve grown accustomed to technology that provides instant results.

But patience is something I’ve been trying to learn for a very long time. I’m definitely seeing improvement, but I still have a long, long way to go.

Others have noticed and often commented on how patient I am in certain situations. What they don’t know is sometimes I’m just good at hiding my impatience (except when I’m on hold with the cable company). While my demeanor is calm, I’m still thinking in my head, “Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up!”

In other situations, I’ve just learned over time (often times the hard way) to exhibit true patience. This means staying peaceful when things don’t happen in my own time or I start to feel restless or worried.

5 ways to learn how to be patient during the job search

My clients often experience worry and restlessness when they’re between jobs and they’re not getting the results they’d like from their job search as soon as they’d like.

It’s easy to panic during this time when there’s no money coming in and the savings account is dwindling. Perhaps you’re currently in a similar situation.

So how do you be patient in the midst of such career and financial stress?

#1. Practice patience.

We all have an unlimited amount of opportunities to practice patience, whether it’s something small like sitting in traffic or waiting in the only open checkout line at the store. Or, whether it’s something big like trying to figure out your purpose in life or looking for a new job.

You can begin with the small things to start to practice patience. When you find yourself in those small annoying scenarios where you can choose to be patient or not, always choose patience. If you decide ahead of time you’re going to choose to be patient in these scenarios before they pop up, it will be easier to react patiently. If you mess up and become impatient, it’s okay. Trust me. You’ll soon find another opportunity to try again.

Once you start to become intentional in your patience, you’ll find it becomes easier, even for the big stuff like waiting to hear back from your last job interview.

#2 Be realistic in your expectations.

If something isn’t happening the way you wanted or in the time frame you hoped for, ask yourself if you have realistic or unrealistic expectations of the situation or the other party involved. And be honest with yourself.

The part of the job search where I see most of my clients having unrealistic expectations is in networking. They think they can just tell everyone they know they’re looking for a job and that should be it. This is not how networking works. So if this is your expectation, you’ll want to read my blog post “How to Be Realistic About Networking” and then readjust your expectations.

And when it comes to interviews, keep in mind companies are starting to take more time in making hiring decisions.

In addition, most companies tend to underestimate how long the hiring process will take. They may say they hope to have a decision by the week after your interview, but stuff happens and their work still has to get done during the hiring process. This sometimes pushes the process back a bit.

Just last week I had a client ask me how long she should wait to follow up with a company after her interview. She thought two to three days was reasonable. I told her it’s more like two to three weeks! Two to three days isn’t nearly enough time for a company to complete the other interviews, discuss among all the decision makers and check references, all while having to do their other work.

Always try to put yourself in the other person’s shoes to help you maintain realistic expectations.

And be open-minded enough to accept how things might happen in a different way or different time frame than you think they should.

#3. Do what’s in your control.

When I was coming out of grad school, I wasn’t too picky about geographic location for my first job. So, I applied all over the country to about 75 jobs. And I only got about a 10% positive response rate which is the norm. Therefore, there were a lot of negative responses.

How did I deal with those negative responses?

I told myself every rejection just meant I was one step closer to the right job for me.

This mantra helped me to be patient, stay focused on the things within my control and let go of the things not in my control.

The only thing I could control were my networking efforts, sending out resumes by the closing dates, and my emotions. I couldn’t control anyone else’s timeline and I couldn’t make them like me over a more qualified candidate. Trying to would’ve been a waste of my time.

#4 Don’t make important decisions when you’re emotional.

Speaking of emotions, it’s never good to make important decisions, especially career decisions, when you’re experiencing extreme emotion.

I once heard of something called the “SHALT” decision-making method. The premise of this method is to never make decisions when you’re sad, hungry, angry, lonely, or tired. I would also add to this list scared or afraid.

Fear is one of the biggest causes of bad career decisions. But taking a job out of fear of not making ends meet or because it seems to be the only offer available can often lead to going through the job search process all over again the following year (or sooner).

There are other ways to make ends meet and buy some time to avoid making a rash decision that could negatively affect the rest of your career. This can include cutting unnecessary expenses, selling or renting things you don’t use anymore, renting out your spare room, and working a side job or as a freelancer.

#5 Relish the time you have between jobs.

While you may be anxious to find your next opportunity, don’t forget to relish this extra time you have by spending it with your family, working out more and improving your health, and exploring your passions.

It’s also a great time to learn some new skills through online courses that will build your resume and make you more marketable.

Consider this time a gift to take advantage of while you can.

Be patient with yourself!

By following the above tips, you’ll find you have more patience than you thought you had. And, you’ll learn to replace the worry and frustration of impatience with the hope and peace of anticipation.

But it’s important to not beat yourself up if you fail at patience every once in a while. It will happen because you’re human. So remember to also be patient with yourself!

Related Posts:

• How to Be Realistic About Networking
• Feeling Trapped in Your Career? Here’s How to Cope
• What You Need to Know About a Job Loss
• Maintaining Positivity in the Face of Job Loss or Job Rejection

Welcome to “Sunday Inspiration,” a bi-weekly devotional for those seeking spiritual encouragement in the pursuit of their passions. Each post comes from an outside resource (as referenced). I hope these posts will inspire and motivate you in your life and career in addition to our weekly original blog posts. Enjoy!

“I thought about my ways.” 
Ps 119:59 NKJV

One of the great keys to success in life is having the right approach. But to improve your approach you need to assess where you’re starting from.

This may take some time. And depending on how self-aware you are, it may even be difficult.

The key is to look at yourself objectively, to separate yourself from your attitude. Your goal isn’t to condemn yourself; it’s to see yourself clearly so you can make positive changes in the way you think.

When professional loggers discover a logjam, they climb a large tree near the river so they can look over the problem and find the cause. What they’re looking for is the “key log” creating the jam. Once they remove that, the river takes care of the rest. An inexperienced person could spend hours, days, even weeks moving logs around without results.

The point is you don’t necessarily need to change all your thinking—just the few items that keep you from having the right approach to life. Once you do, your life will begin to flow in the right direction.

Here are some questions that may help you discover the “key log” that’s holding you back.

• How do you feel about yourself?
• When do you feel the most negative about yourself?
• What causes you the greatest problems when dealing with others? Insecurity? Resentment? Inferiority?
• What negative thoughts constantly control your mind?

These are important questions, for “as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Pr 23:7).

If you want to change your life for the better, ask God to make you aware of what’s impacting it for the worse.

Source: https://www.jentezenfranklin.org/daily-devotions/find-the-key-log