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Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish

2011-10-06T12:50:00.001-07:00

It gets better...but we have a lot of work to do

2011-02-10T08:53:00.000-08:00

8 Career Lessons I Wished I Knew Before Graduating

2009-06-27T16:39:00.000-07:00

It has been a few years since my graduation day and I still remember the excitement; I was relieved that the ”exam phase” of my life was over; I looked with enthusiam towards my first job. Little did I know that the ”working world” would require an extraodinary effort and loads of other skills!

My journey on the career ladder would have been smoother, had I known a few important lessons. While there are many ”on the job” lessons, some things in life must be experienced, to be truly understood. What follows are 8 such career lessons, I wish they’d handed out to me along with my diploma.

1. Your career is not your life. Many of us rely heavily on our careers for satisfaction in our lives. We get immersed in the day-to-day rush of our work and discover that we no longer have the time, energy or inspiration.
For some people (my former self included), it’s as if our jobs are part of our bodies, and if we don’t see ourselves as successful in them, we feel almost physically unhealthy. As a result, we question ourselves when things aren’t going in the direction we hoped. Consciously separating your self from your career allows for a greater perspective on both.

2. Be indispensible (at least one area)
There are certain things that you can do, or that you can learn to do, that can make you extraordinarily valuable to yourself and to others. Identify your special areas of uniqueness and then to commit yourself to becoming very, very good in those areas.
Take stock of your unique talents and abilities on a regular basis. What is it that you do especially well? What are you good at? What do you do easily and well that is difficult for other people? Identifying what separates you from thoses around you, and concentrating on those skills will make your unique skill set invaluable and hard to replace.

3. Don’t grow stale in your careerWe live in a world where technology is evolving rapidly. This has a direct consequence on your career. Stay up to speed on the latest happenings in your field. Read various articles and books to keep your mind sharp. Attend seminars at your present job if offered. Seek out mentors who can advise or educate you. Don’t become confortable with the status quo or complacent about things you are already good at – you can always be better, so taket he time to find out how.

4. Guard your time like a hawk. At work, we often find ourselves bombarded with ‘urgent’ requests. All of these urgent requests can disrupt the thinking processes. Sometimes it may take twice as long to get something done, simply because of the interruption. Learn to say No (with good reason!) and prioritize your tasks.

5. Polish your people skills. You may do your job well, even so well that no one can complain. But you never seem to get ahead. Sound familiar?
People issues can be one of the main reasons people leave jobs. It can also be a cause for dissatisfaction and reduced productivity. Bottom line: you need people skills to move up.

6. Communicate effectively. No matter what career path you choose to follow, you have to have good written and oral communication skills to get ahead in your career.
Make a real effort to listen to everything that’s being said to you. Observe and learn from others who make it seem effortless.

7. Keep your cool. We sometimes forget that we are in a professional environment and tend to curse and behave like a teenager. Whatever happens, don’t explode or throw your arms up in resignation. Keep your mind clear at the worst of times and you’ll be able to handle anything. There’s nothing more respectable than being calm under fire. So take a deep breath, or a walk around the block, and find away to diffuse your frustration before you address whatever the problem is.

8. Shield your reputation. The people you hang out with will add value or break your good name. Also, if you spend time with people who gossip and tear others down, you are likely to catch it too.
So, identify ways to develop and maintain a professional image that is positive and genuine. Surround yourself with positive people who seek to grow and improve.
Looking back at your career, what has been most responsible for your success? Any lessons you would like to add to this graduation day handout?

Recent Graduate? - It's tough to find a Job, but you can do it!

2009-04-09T12:15:00.000-07:00

Too bad universities don't hand out career positions with those expensive degrees! Today's recent graduates are dismayed to learn that record layoffs across the economic landscape are leaving available positions few and far between. But here are some nitty-gritty truths:

You are cheaper to employ than an older, experienced, laid-off worker. Therefore, you need to make sure you market yourself as the deal that you are! Recent university graduates are highly appealing because they are more likely to relocate, won’t participate in pension plans and typically accept the low end of the salary range. Now is not the time to quibble over small benefits issues, such as number of vacation days or flex-time, or engage in a salary war. Instead, you should let your interviewer know you are interested in the work first and foremost, and can compromise on anything the employer needs.

Volunteer if you can't find a job. If you absolutely cannot find a job in your major field of study, find a place that you can volunteer. While this is fairly easy for those with social science degrees, it can be tougher for anyone with a highly technical degree. Even seriously pursuing a hobby, such as being contributing member to a computing user group for computer science graduates is better on a resume than nothing. It's important you show you have kept up your skills and interest in the field. Participation with many volunteer or hobby organizations also lead to great networking opportunities.

Get your resume into the pool. Major Human Resource offices keep pools of resumes for up to 6 months in case a position opens up. Employers are pinching pennies too, and not paying advertising costs for an open position is worth it when they possess a qualified candidate in the filing cabinet. For resume pools or Job Banks as they are called, you should submit a two-page resume if you can fill it with qualified information. A cover letter highlighting the types of positions you are looking for and how compromising you can be on salary, relocation, or travel time will probably move your resume right on top of the pile.

For every Goliath, there is a David. Make a list of larger companies you would die to work for. Now, list all of their competitors. Go for a position in the second list. There are certain companies every graduate applies to-- the Digicels, the major government agencies, the Gleaners. By applying at smaller competitors who don't have the advertising budgets of the giants, you are far more likely to find an opening. Looking for local companies in similar sectors will yield even more lesser-known vacancies, and there will be less competition from highly-qualified candidates.

There is no reason to get gimmicky with your resume or job search, in other words, there is no need to lie about your accomplishments, because that often backfires. Remember you are the one desperate for a job, the company is not desperate to hire you. Savvy graduates will be smart in their employment search, and go beyond the normal university job fairs and big name companies. Additionally, there are right ways and wrong ways to kill the time until your dream job. Do anything you can to beef up your resume with skills employers are looking for. Even if it means taking a low-paying position for six months, or a free position to do it. Finally, remember you are a recent university graduate and the best bargain out there for any employer with an open entry-level position! It's tough, but with a little savvy, you can find the job.

The Power of a Positive First Impression

2009-03-24T18:03:00.000-07:00

You’ve landed that exciting new position that you’ve sought for the past few months. Tomorrow is the first day on your new job. What can you do to ensure that you will be successful? The best way to get started on the right foot is to give a positive first impression.

The initial impression that you give people affects their assessment of your knowledge and skills. To ensure that their first impression of you is positive always be on time or slightly early to meetings and appointments. Also, prepare ahead and organize your thoughts and notes so that you demonstrate your ability to manage your resources and tasks. Being late and fumbling to find information erodes other people’s confidence in your abilities.

In the initial tasks that you are assigned, show your self-motivation and self direction as much as you can. Granted, there will be situations early in yor employment when you will need to check with your supervisor or a colleague to verify your understanding of company procedures or standards, but be aware of how often you seek assistance and try to minimize any interruptions. Perhaps it would be convenient to schedule your requests for assistance so that they are less disruptive. Of course, the primary measure of any employee’s success is the degree to which tasks are completed correctly and on time. Build your supervisor’s and colleagues’ first impression of your work on your competence and habit of consistently following through on your assignments. Double check your work for errors. Plan enough time in your schedule to allow you to review your writing or calculations before submitting them to your supervisor.

Throughout your employment maintain a high energy level and a positive attitude about your work and environment. This is especially important while you are learning the details of your responsibilities and the work ethic and processes of your new company and
department. You are the one who will need to learn and adapt to a new way of working. Don’t enter a new position with the initial impression that you can dictate changes to match your expectations or previous experience. Even a well-seasoned top executive first surveys the current situation before implementing changes.

Finding a Job in a Slow Economy

2009-01-05T16:20:00.000-08:00

Finding a new job can be difficult and nerve-racking, particularly in a slow economy. Social networking helps you bypass the anonymity that accompanies submitting your resume amongst thousands submitted for one job opening through an online site or recruiters or in response to a classified ad. Social networking can bring you closer to finding a job by allowing you to establish a relationship with the people who are looking to fill a job position or with friends, colleagues and peers who can otherwise give you an “in” or even a head start. You just may be able to get that great job faster by distinguishing and making yourself known earlier in the race - through the opportunities afforded through online social networking.

The vast majority of Resumes end up in the Trash.

2008-12-29T16:37:00.000-08:00

You probably know too that statistically speaking, you could go up against a few, a dozen, or several hundred others holding the same, or similar, skill set as you. How will you stand out?

Now there is an affordable professional service for people like you who understand the value of a great first impression. Peak Writing Services specializes in creating Job winning résumés.

In a recent survey, we found that more than 75% of persons don’t know how to write a résumé that stands out. The reason is simple; most people are not sales people, and a resume is a sales document. You heard right. Your résumé sells the skills, traits, and qualifications that make you worth hiring.

How do you avoid landing your résumé in the trash?

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Get your Job Winning Resume in 3 easy steps:

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Does your Resume Answer the Questions?

2008-10-11T14:15:00.000-07:00

Who are you?

To determine how well your résumé addresses this, Kursmark suggests having friends or colleagues read it. Within five seconds of them looking at the résumé, snatch it back from them and quiz them on what they know about you as a job seeker based on what they read. If they can't offer a quick answer that truly describes you, your résumé's summary needs some work.
What can you do for me? The most effective way to show employers the value you offer is to show them how you've contributed to an employer's success elsewhere. Kursmark reminds that to be truly compelling, these examples must be specific, measurable accomplishments that cite numbers and other details.
Do you have the skills I'm looking for? Scan job ads and job descriptions to discover which skills are most relevant to the employers and recruiters receiving your résumé. Then strategically place them throughout your résumé to ensure it makes it past computer scans and into the hands of employers and recruiters.
Where have you worked before? This one should be simple. Employers want to know where you worked, for how long and which job titles you've held that may indicate how prepared you are for a role at their organization.
Is your experience relevant to my needs? Sometimes it's necessary to expand upon a job title or job description to truly demonstrate that you have experience that applies to the job you're seeking. Consider using bullets to present brief and interesting information that is relevant to the employer.
Do you have the right education and credentials? If you have the education, credentials and training needed to qualify for the job, be sure to say so! Use commonly accepted terminology and keywords in this section to ensure your information isn't misinterpreted or overlooked by employers or résumé scanners, Kursmark reminds.
What kind of person are you? "Adding insightful information about what makes you special can be a definite plus on your résumé and help decision-makers discriminate between you and another candidate, even before you've met in person," Kursmark says. She suggests including "extras," such as a branding statement and including relevant information about foreign languages you speak, computer proficiencies or activities you enjoy.
Do I see any "red flags" in your background? Gaps in employment (an indication of job hopping), spending too much time in the same job or résumé errors may alert employers and recruiters that you are not the type of candidate they're looking for in their organization. To avoid drawing attention to "red flags" on your résumé, make sure you make your accomplishments and skills stand out as strongly as possible.
Can I easily get in touch with you? After all your hard work in putting together a powerful résumé, don't forget the essentials! It doesn't matter how great your résumé is, if you don't include a phone number, address and e-mail address somewhere on the résumé, you'll never hear from the employer or recruiter. Just be careful not to include too much contact information. This can be overwhelming for people wanting to know that the number they call first is the one that puts them directly in touch with you.

Selena Dehne is a career writer for JIST Publishing who shares the latest occupational, career and job search information available with job seekers and career changers. Her articles help people find meaningful work, develop their career and life plans, and carry out effective job search campaigns.

GET YOUR FOOT IN THE DOOR!

2008-10-05T09:30:00.000-07:00

In today's highly competitive marketplace, your resume and cover letter are probably the most important elements in the job search process. Unfortunately, the resume is also the great "disqualifier." By reviewing your resume, a potential employer can summarily eliminate you from consideration. It would be ideal if you could make an appointment with the new employer without a resume. Unfortunately, those times are long since gone. So, it is essential that the resume be prepared thoughtfully, carefully and with a view toward "getting the interview."

Writing effective, "door-opening" resumes and cover letters can require a larger effort than it appears. Firms receive dozens of resume weekly, and during periods of economic downturn, many more. The following is a brief guideline on how to construct an effective resume and covering letter, what to say, what not to say and how to stand a better chance of having it read.
Getting your resume read has become more difficult because it is often read by computers. Large, medium-sized and increasingly, small organizations are employing an "applicant tracking system" strategy of pre-qualifying resumes. This technique selects key words and phrases and enables the hiring company to eliminate more unqualified candidates. It is a highly selective system that will eliminate your resume before it is read unless it is formatted properly and contains the relevant structure.

An important element to remember is that a resume is not the interview, but merely a means to the interview. A common error in resume preparation is trying to say it all in the resume. This usually results in an uninteresting, wordy document that probably says too much. By putting it all in writing, you are not giving the employer good reason to want to see you. The resume should be constructed so that the employer's interest is aroused and you become a candidate for the interview.

The resume is written only to get the interview!

Keep the resume to one page, two at most. Most firms don't want to be bothered reading about you if it takes too long.
Make your resumes "accomplishment-oriented" and keep it that way, consistently.
Chronological resumes are preferable to functional ones because the format is more traditional and easier to follow. Use functional resumes only when you must minimize gaps in employment and erratic career advancement.
Take particular pains to avoid typographical and grammatical errors. As a reflection of intellect, a resume with typos or poor grammar may be discarded on that basis alone.
Don't lie. There is nothing wrong, however, with "event glorification."
It is acceptable and perhaps beneficial to respond to a job advertisement more than a week after it appears. Your resume has a better chance of being read if it is received in the "trickle" instead of the "flood" of responses.
Never write "Health: Excellent." No one has ever written "Health: Poor."
Always accompany your resume with a personalized cover letter. This indicates that the job has enough interest for you so that you took the time to personalize your response.
An effective cover letter should also be short, precise, accomplishment-oriented and end with a request for an interview. Wherever possible, address the letter directly to the individual who makes hiring decisions. Avoid addressing it to "Human Resource Department" or "Personnel Department." Ask for the interview! Close the letter with that request.
Research! You can find the name of the individual you seek usually by making a telephone call. If that doesn't work, consult on-line directories which are easily available on the Internet.
When you respond to a classified or display advertisement, you are usually in competition with hundreds of applicants with similar qualifications. Therefore, directing a cover letter to a specific individual will bring greater returns.
Whereas the resume features accomplishments in your employment, the covering letter should emphasize personal characteristics (tenacity, communication skills, rapid promotions, etc.) and how your qualifications meet the advertiser's requirements.
Persistence Beats Resistance! One, two or even three follow-up letters may be necessary to penetrate your target.
Ignore requests for salary history or requirements. That request is an attempt by employers to either disqualify you or assume an unfair advantage during salary negotiations. If your resume and letter are interesting enough, that should be more than enough to provoke a response.

Negotiating your Entry Level Salary

2008-08-20T09:37:00.000-07:00

Even in the best of economic times, salary negotiation is a risky proposition for most new college graduates pursuing entry-level positions.

Sure, you might have some bargaining leverage these days if you’ve majored in a hot field like accounting or engineering, or if you’ve developed some rare skill that is very much in demand among prospective employers. But in more cases than you probably care to acknowledge, starting salaries are basically set, and you just don’t have enough to offer at this stage in your career to make employers budge.

“You can negotiate if you have something extra special to negotiate with,” says Terese Corey Blanck, director of recruitment and placement for Corporate Interns, an internship and entry-level placement firm.

But a college degree and a couple of internships aren’t enough, Corey Blanck emphasizes. “If you’re bringing some special experience or expertise to the table, then give [negotiation] a try,” she says. “But nine times out of 10, the company has to invest more money just to get you up to speed, so negotiating an entry-level salary really shouldn’t be your first priority.”

Use Your Head

That doesn’t mean you can’t attempt to negotiate an offer you’ve received, especially if you really do think you have something above and beyond to offer a prospective employer. But be careful -- very careful.

“You’ve got to have a rationale for why you believe you should be paid more,” says Sheila Curran, Fannie Mitchell Executive Director of the career center at Duke University and coauthor of Smart Moves for Liberal Arts Grads.

Moreover, you need to use your head when it comes to how you approach the negotiation itself, says Brad Karsh, president of JobBound and author of Confessions of a Recruiting Director.

“Try once, and only once,” Karsh says. “If they say, ‘We don’t negotiate,’ then end it right there. You run the risk of damaging your reputation -- and risking your offer -- if you go too far.”

Do Your Homework

If, on the other hand, the employer you’re dealing with appears to be open to some negotiation when it comes to your salary and/or other benefits (e.g., bonuses, relocation allowance, tuition reimbursement), feel free to take a shot at it. Know in advance, though, that you’ll need to have completed some pretty extensive research ahead of time to make a compelling case for yourself.

“The key to any negotiation is to do your homework,” Karsh says. That means tapping your school’s career center, professional associations in your field and Internet salary sites to get an accurate sense of starting salaries in your industry, in your geographic area and at your level of education and experience.

“Know the market and whether you have the skills or experience that might warrant being paid differently than your peers,” Curran says.

It’s also important to pursue your negotiation activities respectfully, employing thoughtful, strategic questions and not overbearing “show me the money” types of demands.

“You can’t go in with an attitude of ‘I’m entitled,’” says Corey Blanck, “But, rather, ‘I have this specific experience and expertise -- is this something that’s worthwhile to you and, if so, are you open to negotiating a higher starting salary?’”

You may not get what you want. But at least you won’t lose what you already have.

Writing a Better Executive Resume

2008-08-08T18:03:00.000-07:00

It is a common practice among the world’s biggest organizations not to advertise executive positions in journals or newspapers. The reason for that is when an executive position is advertised in the media; approximately 100 to 1000 resumes are received at the employer’s end, which makes it quite hard for the employer to go through each resume and select the most suitable ones.

For this purpose, many big businesses hire recruiting agencies. Recruiting agencies begin the hiring process on behalf of the businesses. However, the employer, the big businesses’ executives still need to be involved in the process, not completely though.

This means that the number of resumes a recruiting agency receives combined with the limited amount of time executives have to go through the resumes and conduct interviews are the factors that make you write your resume that needs to market your top skills and motivate the reader to call for an interview. Following are the proven ways to just do that:

Look at the job descriptions and model your resume accordingly
Make your headers stand out and highlight your top achievements

The body of the resume should be filled out in the same way i.e. well thought-out words describing you and mentioning your information that meets the job requirements in the most influential way imaginable while accurate

Your resume should be career oriented and excluding all your religious affiliation, board & country club membership and the like’s information

No useless adjectives or filler words

Any or all of your ten years previous career experiences that add value to your executive resume must be included by all means

There is nothing more impressive than addressing the problems that are being faced by the industry of your employer in your resume and in last, but not the least:

Do not be afraid to go above the imaginary two page boundary because it is impossible for people with 20 years of experience to compress their job history with different companies into just two pages

How to Write a Good Resume

2008-08-08T17:40:00.000-07:00

Whether you’re looking for a job or outlining your life, having a resume that actually gets read and acted upon is critical. A vast majority of resumes end up going from the envelope or “in-box” into the trash. Creating a resume that rises to the top of the selection pile, and stays there, requires a few key points. Know your objective

As you go about creating your resume, understand what you are trying to accomplish. Are you trying to tell the reader what your job skills are or do you want to present your life’s work. These two ideas may appear the same, but when you start to think about it they take on two differing ideas. Once you pass this idea, select those aspects of your skill-set that highlight your skills and present them as they relate to the desired end. Get to specific skills that address the end you want and remember that your space limitations.

Narrow your skill set

You may have a wide skill-set, but do all those skills apply to the position you are applying for? Narrow your skill-set down so that the skills you list apply closely to the end you are looking for. If you have a skill-set of 15 abilities, narrow the list to the top 5 or six most applicable to the position in question. The rest can wait for a personal interview. Do the same limiting exercise for the interview with the remaining skills but make sure to remember to work them into the interview conversation.

Highlight your strengths

Once you have your skill-set under control stick to those skills through the resume. In essence, these skills are the theme of your resume. The theme can change from position to position, depending upon the position, but these skills are the ideas you want to “punch” throughout the résumé.

Be clear

Remember that you are competing for the attention of the reader. The reader will spend very little time reading your resume the first time around. Don’t over complicate the issue with longer words of concepts. In this respect, consider yourself an advertising copy writer. Hit them hard with a short description and move on. Generally, think about a smart person with a very short attention span.

Use grabbing techniques

Since you are trying to get noticed, you need to use ideas that will stand out from a distance. Use visual cues that might be noticed if a person is walking past a desk and glances at a pile sitting on it. But remember, just because the resume is on top of the pile doesn’t mean that it will stay there for long. Ideally, you want your resume to be picked up and read by a person just sitting down or quickly thumbing through a folder that was just opened and begun to be looked at. Use %, #’s, $ or bullet points for a noticeable quick read by the person making the first “cut.” Another great idea is the use of action words. Interestingly enough, action words not only say that you are a “doer” but they stand out on a page within a sentence. Visual flow is important

Give some close thought to the layout of the resume. If the reader has to think about picking up the resume to read it you have likely lost the battle right from the start. Your name, of course, needs to stand out and be right at the top of the page because that is what gets the call back made easily (if they want to call don’t make it hard), but remember that you need to start the readers eye working down the page. Consider how you might use fonts to attract and move the readers’ eye and attention. Remember not to muddle up the resume with to many fonts. Two at most is best with a readable size. Don’t go below a 10 point font size. The big thing is that you do not want the reader to have to work at getting through the highlights of the resume.

Use “white space” to advantage

Many people believe that they need to cram as much information as possible into a resume. In reality, it is often the abundance of “white space” that gets the resume noticed. This does not suggest leaving out your strengths and theme but rather using the space you have to advantage. An extra line space here or there makes the readers eye travel toward that next relevant item on the page easier.

Know your audience

Although you may feel that you need to stick with one resume, don’t, there is absolutely no reason why you cannot use more then one resume. Create several resumes using different skill-set themes and layouts for differing types of positions. The closer you can get to the skill-set that attracts that type of person associated with that type of job the better. Each person expects certain words to appear on the resume outlining the person for that job. Finding and using those “right words” is the trick.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Blogs

2008-05-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

Effectively communicating ideas and building relationships takes some discipline. I have always liked Steven Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The principles make sense and are applicable both in your personal and professional life.

A blog is a highly personal refection of the people and/or companies writing it. These principles can be perfectly applied to blogging and other two-way communications.

1. Develop content based on principles and values. While a blog cannot deliver “key messages” in a canned and contrite manner (this isn’t a soundbite medium), it can be written from the values and principles of its writer or company. Knowing these values for yourself is the key to developing a “voice” for your communication. For example, I value honesty, building meaningful relationships, learning new things, and fun.

2. Have a vision or purpose statement. Part of my personal mission statement includes these action items that I developed in under four minutes at the Covey Website:

I will always seek to improve the depth and quality of my relationships in my personal and professional life
I will never be afraid to stand up for what I believe is right
I will be committed to lifelong learning and self improvement
I will seek to treat others as I would wish to be treated
I will not take myself too seriously and will have a life filled with laughter and fun

You can see how the values I have in #1 expand to become my action items. My mission statement, which could be lived out through my action items is to: “Explore how public relations can find an authentic voice in today's social media.”

3. Prioritize. Be sure to put first-things-first and don’t be driven by the agenda of forces around you. I notice that when I apply this principle regularly across-the-board I don’t have as much trouble with balance. My goal is to get one post out each weekday to “feed” my blog and extend the relationship with my readers. If I get that done, I don’t feel bad about turning my back on the blog for a few hours to get work done, spend time with my family, etc.

4. Think win-win. Blogs and other social media are meant to be a two-way conversation and that conversation often includes vehement disagreement. However, thinking win-win requires that we disagree with ideas and not the people that generated them. This helps to facilitate the discussion about the idea and possible come up with a solution that is better than the ideas of one person alone (see habit 6). This is the “magic” of social media.

5. Seek first to understand…then to be understood. This principle is best lived out in the comments section. Many blogs have the best discussions in the comments section include a back and forth between blog author and visitors that refines understanding of the idea. This is likely because the blog author seeks to understand the comments about his or her idea and incorporate them in the final.

6. Synergize. By building a community of respect, problems can be solved in a way that wouldn’t otherwise be possible. The refining of an idea by many can lead to the “magic” of social communication where 1+1=3.

7. Renew yourself. You don’t have much to offer if all you do is sit in front of a computer. We all need to renew in the areas of physical health, social networks, spiritual renewal and mental improvement. When you do this you have something new and interesting to bring to the conversation.

Content Management Basics

2008-04-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

The first step to creating your site whether it be a personal home page, a business intranet site, or a website for your business, is planning. Many developers don't write down their ideas or don't plan for the future. Ever been to a large site and had a "We are currently down due to maintenance" page? That's because they didn't plan on their site becoming so big and they weren't equipped to deal with the increase in content.

Step One - Content Types

Write down the types of content you will have for your site. Remember just because you only have a few articles so far that doesn't mean that you can't expand to tutorials, news, image-galleries, forums and the whole shebang. The secret is to plan for the future! What kind of content would you like to write? Write them down in a big list, or do what I do and write them in Notepad like this:

Articles
News
Tutorials
Image-Galleries
Forums
Links
Profile Pages

Step Two - Content Within Types

Once you have a list of the kinds of content you'd like in your site, think of the sections for each content type, for example in Articles you might like to have articles about ASP or articles about what's happening in the business at the moment. For each content type write out your ideas.

Articles
- ASP
- Site Design
- Writing Scripts
- What's Happening

News
- Local News
- Network News
- Global News

Tutorials
- HTML Tutorials
- ASP Tutorials
- Image Tutorials
- Software Tutorials

Image-Galleries
- Email Attachments
- Company Party 2008
...

... and so on. Now you have identified what kind of content your site will have and now you also have the basics of how your sites directory structure should be

Step Three - Directory Structure

Now that you have a list of content you could quite easily create a structure from those. Many sites also include and Images directory and a Scripts directory or cgi-bin. If you are going to use ASP for your site you may want an Includes directory for your header, menu or footer files. Create your directory structure on your hard drive first, before you even think about making files.

C/My_Site/

Articles
/ASP
/Site_Design
/Writing_Scripts
/Happening
Images
/Library
/Backgrounds
/Logo

Image_Gallery
/Emails
/Xmas_2003
Forum
Scripts
/Link_Tracker
/DB_Conn
Tutorials

Remember that you shouldn't have any spaces between directory names or file names, instead why not put a _ ? That way the name is still readable and you won't end up with ugly characters in your URL's.

Step Four: Getting To Work

Start writing those articles! Or if you'd prefer start writing down article ideas. Ideas are the most important thing in any site, no ideas=no content it's as simple as that. Now you have a structure to work from and if/when your content increases you can easily create more sub-categories to deal with it. Much better than having all your files and images in the root directory don't you think? Now you create your content and your site working within the structure and hope that your visitors will read your content. Need help planning and developing your content? Contact Peak Writing Services at peakwriting@gmail.com or 876-578-7798

What's in it for me?

2008-04-26T19:41:00.000-07:00

One of the most challenging parts of resume writing is creating an objective.

Of the dozens of resumes we have received, we often notice that people have a tendency to write resume objectives from a “what’s in it for me” perspective, which is quite the opposite of what one should do. I see objectives like these every day:

I am seeking a job where I can use my skills that I learned in school to become better skilled.
To obtain a job where I can learn more about my chosen field.
To get a job where I can move up to a better position after learning everything I can.

Do you see anything wrong with these objectives? They are definitely focused on “what’s in it” for the job applicant. Employers want to hire people who can benefit them and their companies, not the other way around.

Here is the cardinal rule of resume writing: The word “I” does not belong anywhere on your resume. If it is there, take it out. Now. That alone isn’t enough to change the tone of your resume, but it’s a great start.

Now about that objective… try something like this:

To obtain an entry-level position in an office environment that requires strong computer, bookkeeping, and organizational skills.
Seeking an entry-level position in the computer technical support field with a stable and growing organization.
To obtain a management position that requires experience in retail operations, customer service, and strong organizational skills.

Remember, if you want to sell yourself to employers, write about “what’s in it for them!”