As the deadline approaches

It's getting ever closer to my This American Life submission date and I've only got one thing left to finish - My Resume!
Is there really anything more daunting than staring in the face of resume yet unwritten? Writing out accomplishments and all those skillz that have been accrued throughout the years of work. The only thing I've found more frustrating than a resume is the cover letter to go atop it. Making a cover letter and resume standout in pools of applicants these days is a lot like finding good Mexican food in Seattle, difficult.

Yesterday morning I decided to stare my enemy in the face and go all in because the worst that could happen is I come out at the end with yet another crappy unusable resume, but at least I'll have learned something throughout the process.

I googled at least forty different phrases that I thought might lead me to the description of the perfect resume and what I found at the end of my search is what I found at the beginning that "one size does not fit all." The articles told me that one resume is not enough and that I should have at least five resumes tailored to a variety of positions that I would like to pursue. Many compared it to having different outfits for different job interviews. Would you wear the same outfit for all of them they asked? My answer to this question is "hell yes!"  I know that's the wrong answer, but they are asking me, a girl that can barely pick out my own daily outfits because fashion sense isn't one of my gifts; I barely know how to match black with other blacks. I mean come on... if I can interview in one outfit, then that's definitely what I'm gonna do, but... I do see their point. I decide to think of it in terms of what other people would do and I suppose that means they surely would have separate interview outfits, so I guess this means that I need to start working on a variety of resumes.

Things to know about the resume I'm about to write: 
1. I have decided to "change careers"
Technically I don't know if I'm changing or actually starting. I've been stuck in admin positions for the past few years and it is definitely not where I want to stay it was mostly a place I landed when trying to make enough money to pay off some student loans after college. Now I'm changing to the career field of "writing, publishing, advertising, marketing, etc." in order to utilize my writing background a little more.

2. I don't actually have a varied background in my newly chosen career field so what do I do about the resume. Do I lie? 
Well that was a big question for me as I was writing because what does one do to spruce up a sparse resume?  It was in this instance that I realized I actually did have to rely on transferable skills. These are skills that you have already acquired via all of your other occupations, hobbies, volunteer experience, etc. I decided to create a list of all the skills that I am at least 70% sure I already have and even added a few that maybe I'm a little iffy on (because I'm 100% sure I could learn them quickly if needed). If you need a quick place to find lots of these skill sets checkout ONET.com.

3. I'm not sure if it should be a functional, chronological, or combination resume. 
After reading through a variety of articles for the career changer I decided to go with combination. A combination resume has the ability to show off your transferable skills as well as help you focus on all the practical things that apply to your future career. Going chronological keeps you a little more boxed in because it only showcases what you have already done, while going functional apparently scares some employers off because it looks like you've done nothing.

4. 1 page or 2? 
My previous chronological resume that was getting me no interviews was two pages long and I'm pretty sure that I've had enough career experience at this point to have two pages, but as I said the resume has gotten me nowhere. I decided to google search "best resumes of 2013" and came to this page. All of these beautifully designed resumes are only one page long and are probably getting more interviews than mine, so I decided to stick to a one pager. My favorite is the resume on fabric, I am contemplating getting at least one of those, but for this one I decided to go for design #7.

Once I picked a design I decided it was time to start going for it. I had my old resume in hand and was able to transfer at least a few things over, but for a majority of it I decided I needed to redefine some of the responsibilities I had, using better key words. There are plenty of skills checklists you can use, but here is an easy go to one provided by Rogue Community College.

After some researching and writing I came out with a resume in about four hours. The only thing I realized at the end was I didn't actually finish a writer's resume, I wrote one that's more tailored to Sales & Marketing, which is fine because I do in fact need those five resumes. Sales & Marketing is a direction I'm definitely okay with going, but this leaves me with a vacant writer's resume spot, which I will be attending to today.

This all just means that This American Life is going to have to wait another few days for my application, but my goal is to have it in by March 1st anyhow. By the way, if you know any TAL staffers, please feel free to put in a good word for me!

Anyways, here is yesterday's finished product sans my contact info!  Sample Resume

Are you listening? Receiving critique in the workplace

 I am the last to say that my friendships and relationships are perfect cherry topped sundaes, but I have learned a lot through the years to help me navigate them in more healthy ways and what I had to learn was more about me than the person I’m in the relationship with. To some this seems counterintuitive, but in the long run it has helped me to communicate and let others communicate more effectively with me.

Why? I can’t control another person’s anger, tone, or communication style, but I can control mine and that’s key in maintaining an open dialogue with others.

Listen and Think before you speak       

We’ve all heard this old axiom, but many of us subconsciously believe this doesn’t actually apply to us. I have at times been one of those people, wanting my opinion to be heard before the person I’m talking to and likely about to fight with can get another word in. One of the number one ways to think first is to listen to what someone is trying to say to you before inserting your input into the situation.

It’s tough to listen to someone tell us what is wrong with a project that we’ve turned in, a presentation we’ve done, or worse, something that might actually fall into the “personality problem” category.

I’m an optimist, so I generally believe that when a coworker, friend, or loved one comes to me with a critique then there are probably some words of wisdom that I should glean from it even if all I want to do is yell slurs at them or slink back to my cave and curl in a ball.

With this said, I want your next unforeseen run-in with Colonel Critique to be as productive as possible. How?

Ask yourself:

Can I repeat what this person just said back to me? If not, then you probably weren’t listening and became defensive as the first few words came out of their mouth. The key to listening before responding is taking a second to repeat what you just heard and rephrase it for yourself.  Then ask yourself, is the accusation true or untrue without making excuses or blaming others if it is.

This means if your boss comes up to you and says, “Sam, you screwed this up, the edits aren’t correct. It looks like we’re going to have to delay production for another day because of you.”

What you may have heard was, “Sam, you’re an idiot, I’m going to fire you.”

What you should be hearing is, “Sam, the edits weren’t quite right and you need to fix them, just make sure to review them more thoroughly the next time.”

      If True:

Your response should sound more like this, “I’m sorry I have delayed production, I understand the errors and will make sure to be more thorough next time around.”

Just make sure that next time around you actually are more thorough so that this same conversation does not happen again and escalate.

If False:

Still continue to be civil. You still need to respond to why something that was your responsibility was not well handled. Keep a calm and steady tone in order to keep the dialogue open and both of you as composed as possible. If it was not your responsibility at all let your boss know. ** As a reminder, if you delegated the task it was still your responsibility to follow-up.

Changing the way you hear people and speak doesn’t happen in a day; it takes practice and can be a life long process. It can ultimately help you become a better listener and make you a more trust worthy person. If people believe they can come to you and express their views without you going off the deep end then it will make all your relationships a little better.

Does this all mean that you should just let people yell at you at the office? Of course not! You will know when something is necessary feedback and when it’s not. If someone is criticizing you and you just can’t figure out why, pull them aside and ask them what or how these things relate to your job and if it’s something that needs to be escalated to higher authority. Generally you can alleviate some of the tension just by listening and talking it through.

Have any comments or questions about critique at the office? Let me know!

nicolecpeoples@gmail.com