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A good resume has many elements.  Content is important but layout and fonts are really important too.

Keep in mind that most resumes are read on a screen.  It might be a superwide tiny pixel monitor but it might also be a smartphone.

This means you need to keep it crisp and clear and easy to read.  Try sending your resume to yourself as an attachment.  Open it on your phone and see how it looks.

1.  Use a sans serif font.  Serifs are the little tails on letters in certain fonts.  Try to avoid those typefaces.  They add clutter and can be hard to read, especially in the smaller sizes.
2. Be reasonable with your font size.  10 point or 11 point are good.  Anything smaller and you are taxing the reader.
3. Keep a standard margin.  The temptation is always to use the narrowest margin possible to squeeze in more material.  If you have that much to say, use another page.  The reader will keep scrolling if the content is engaging and scrolling down is way better than scrolling across.
4. If the printer asks if it’s okay to print even though it’s outside the margins, don’t say yes.  Fix it instead.
5. Use plain bullets or a dash.  Fancy characters turn into long bits of code when they get sucked into recruiting software packages.  It can be pretty distracting.
6. Use crisp language and be concise.  Your resume is the thing that teases the reader and makes them want to get to know you better.  It’s not the place for your life story.  Focus on highlights and successes.

Once you have made modifications, send it to someone you trust.  Ask them to check for grammar and spelling along with readability.

Review it often and don’t be shy about adding accomplishments.  It’s the best brag sheet we have!

Imagine you are nearing the end of a great interview and the manager asks if you have any questions.  You feel like everything has been covered so you say thanks and leave.

You have missed a really important chance to cement the fact that you are a thoughtful and smart candidate and to learn more about the role.  Do not let this chance go to waste.

Here are some questions to have in your back pocket.

• How will you know if I am being successful in six months?
• What challenges lie ahead for this department?
• What are the characteristics of your top people in this role?
• Why did you join this organization?
• Is there a sense of community here?
• How would you describe the style of the senior leadership team?

I am sure there are lots more but this should be enough to get you started.   Feel free to customize these for your interests and situation.

Here’s the icing on the cake:  work at least one of the things you learned into your thank you note.  Bazinga!

I am working on an assignment that’s pretty cool.  A lot of candidates are interested in learning more about it after they read my posting on LinkedIn.

For some of them, it would be a clear departure from the work or the environment they have been in for the last number of years.

As I listen to them get more enthusiastic about the role, I have to caution them.  Sure it sounds fun now.  But in 3 years or 5 years, will it still be fun?  And if not, how will you explain it as part of your career journey?

Will future interviewers look at you with their head tilted to the side and a quizzical look on their face?  “And you took that role because…?”

Don’t get carried away just because a job sounds fun.  In the end, it is still work.  Really picture yourself down the road.  Will you be proud to explain to your neighbours what you do?  Will your kids actually want you to come to career day?

Those measurements are just as worthy of consideration as the tasks, salary, manager and compensation.

In light of this, you may want to rethink applying to that landscaping, lifeguarding or barbeque pit master job.  Just a suggestion.

You have gotten through the phone interview and now you have been confirmed for a face to face meeting with HR and the hiring manager.  You are short of breath and sweaty.  A bit of panic is fine, but here’s a list to help you get focused and constructive.

The day before:

• Check out the company’s website
• Look up the people you are going to meet on LinkedIn (don’t invite them just yet)
• Search Google for the latest news about the company
• Address the hairiness of your eyebrows and/or neck
• Iron two shirts ( in case you spill some coffee)
• Print and review your resume
• Call a friend and tell them about a difficult situation at work and how you dealt with it
• Check out the address and decide how you will get there and when you need to leave

The day of:

• Shower and dress (easy on the cologne)
• Brush and floss
• Pack your resume, something to read (Forbes, The Economist), a comb, gum in to your briefcase
• Make sure to eat something.  Passing out in an interview is not cool

When you arrive:

• Stop by the washroom to check your teeth and your zipper
• Turn off your phone
• Go to reception no more than 10 minutes early
• Check in with a smile that goes up to your eyes
• Sit down and pretend to read while you take deep breaths through your nose

Now you re ready to knock it out of the park!

If you are starting to get itchy but not sure what your next move might be, here’s a research strategy using LinkedIn that might help.

Go to the Advanced search page (Click on Advanced – it’s in little letters to the right of the search box at the top of the page).  Look for the title field and fill it in with your title. As you start to type, a box will appear to select whether you want to see people who have your title or people who have had your title in the past. Click “past only”. You can put in some geographical criteria or select your industry specifically if you would like to narrow things down a little.

This will give you a list of folks who have done what you do and give you an idea of what they are doing now. You can also see what paths they have taken and maybe even gain some insight into their education and credentials.

If no one with your title comes up in your search, then you need to figure out what your job is called in the rest of the world. Try searching for specific technical terms or activities unique to your job. This knowledge will be very helpful when you are ready to look for real.

When you find the profile of someone with a way cool career path, don’t hesitate to connect with them. Maybe they will be able to share some of what they have learned on the way.

I have to do it – I am sorry but I have to write about Rob Ford today.  He is in the news once again  and I just have to comment.

First of all, I do feel sorry for him.  He is clearly having a pretty tough time handling the stress of his job.  He is not the first, nor will he be the last politician to have substance abuse problems.

But here is the lesson for us all :  social media makes everything stick to everything.  And this can affect you and your career.

The same video camera technology that captured Ford’s escapades can capture your antics at the company picnic or your drunken rant at the Muskoka retreat.  We all have smart phones that can record anything.  And posting to the internet is easy and fast.

Don’t think it can’t happen to you.  That’s what got Ford into this mess.

I know a guy who sent an off colour joke to his buddies at work.  The trouble was that one of his buddy’s names came just before the Presidents name in the email directory.  Yep, you guessed it.  The joke went to the President.  Now, if the President had opened it, he might have found it funny but his assistant opened it and she was not amused.  He was walked off the premises later that day.

In the end, this is not about political correctness; it’s about conducting yourself with consideration and respect.  Because you never know who is watching, listening or recording.

May is just around the corner. If you are thinking of doing something new this spring or summer, now is the time to put those wheels in motion.

Lying on the couch complaining will get you nowhere. Trust me.  I know. I am a veteran couch potato. I can spend an entire evening clicking through my movie channels while scanning Twitter. Dinner to bedtime…..gone…..

The couch, I think, is attractive because figuring out what to do first is usually pretty overwhelming.

Here’s the secret:  just start. It’s like priming an engine or warming up before running. There is no wrong way to do it.

Some suggestions:

• Call a former colleague. Start the conversation with “Hi. I thought about you today. How are things?”
• Check the jobs tab on LinkedIn. Find a job that you think one of your friends might be suited for and send it to them.
• Look up the summer offerings at your local college or your professional association. If you see something that catches your eye, sign up.
• Send three thank you notes to people who have done nice things for you. Hand written is best but email will do in a pinch.

These are little steps that will get you going. They are neither difficult nor intimidating but they will get you paying attention to the world outside your living room and that’s the key.

So take the batteries out of the remote and do something!

I had lunch with a friend this week. She is in a bit of a career lull and wanted to get my opinion on her options.

First, I applauded her efforts and not just because I make my living helping people get new jobs. I cheered her on because looking for a job when you have a job is really hard but really necessary.  We cannot take for granted that our jobs will still be there tomorrow or that our employers will look out for our best interests.

So we have to take the bull by the horns and do it ourselves.

I started off by asking her a simple question: what do you do?  She rhymed off a seven word job title.  I had no idea what it meant.

A job title is pretty meaningless outside of your own organization. It does not give any indication of scope, scale or responsibility. You could be a director and look after 200 people or you could be a director and look after 2000 people

By the time dessert rolled around, we had distilled her job into a lovely sound bite that could be universally understand. It was fantastic.

Now she has a solid way to introduce herself and her skills to new people.

Try it when you have a few minutes. Think about the essence of what you do and how to describe it to a knowledgeable business person outside your industry.  No acronyms.  No slang.  No buzzwords. Use only real, meaningful words.

For example, here’s what I do:   I listen to my clients problems and then go out to the market to find the people who can fix those problems.

So, what do you do?

Networking schmetworking. We are constantly told that to develop our career, we need to get out there and network.

But how?  Where do you start?  How exactly do you get out there to meet people and discover new things?

Here is the answer: lunch.

I learned this technique from my colleague, Linda Clark yesterday.  She said she makes it her practice to never eat alone. It does not matter how busy she is, she makes her way to our lunch room and chats with whoever is there.

Even if it’s only a few minutes, she is able to connect, share and learn.

This is a great way to start your networking adventure. You can start gradually.  Resolve to eat with people twice next week. You can plan ahead and actually make a date with
someone that you don’t see often or just drop in to see who’s aro
und.

Lunch is terrific because there are lots of potential conversation topics. You can do the usual “how’s your day going?” but I prefer using food as my opening salvo as in “Gosh that looks good.  Did you make it?”  That opens the door to all kinds of non-work conversations.

See, that’s real networking.  Creating opportunities to learn about what other people do and how they do it.  That, in turn, lets you talk about what you do and how you do it so well.

All kinds of new and common threads start connecting you to people. Suddenly, your network is fresh and dynamic and brimming with new opportunities.

And to think, it all started with lunch.

It feels like the dark days of winter are still here. I know that it is getting lighter earlier (my dog is pretty happy about that) but it’s still cold and the wind still blows right through me.

It is really tough to feel inspired. Usually, at this point, soft spring breezes are causing grins, patios and a general loosening of our cranked up shoulders.

But trust me, there is inspiration everywhere.  You just have to look for it.  Here are some ideas on where to look.

TED Talks – I went to bed last night feeling great.  Rather than reading my email before turning off the light, I watched a TED talk given by a stand up comic with cerebral palsy from New Jersey.  She was gracious, forward and frankly, hilarious.

My husband went to a gala in Oakville last night that recognized men in the community who have made a difference in raising the awareness about violence against women.  These men have gone out of their way and sometimes, against the norms to really help people. (You can read about this at oakvillenews.org)

I met a candidate yesterday who has been very active in Toastmasters. He joined his local group as a way to get to know some new people and maybe improve his personal presentation style. It turns out that he has not only met some cool people but been coached by those very same people.  He has faced lots of his fears about public speaking and is now starting to help others do the same.

So look around. Talk to people in your network. See what’s going on. I bet it won’t take long for you to find something that makes you smile.