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College Students: Combining Passion with Career

If you are a rising senior in college, you have probably heard a confusing chorus of “follow your passion” and “pay the bills.” It often seems as if a paying job is incompatible with a passion.

As a Master Career Director and a Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC), one of my goals is to fill your resume with information that lets you progress in both your career and your passion. For example:

  • If your passion is cars and your degree is in finance, you might search for a financial position with an automotive company.
  • If your passion is writing and your degree is in engineering, you might become a sought-after technical writer.
  • If your passion is selling and your degree is in dentistry, you might consider starting a career based on selling medical or dental equipment or supplies.
  • If your passion and your major are in history, but you do not want to teach or enter politics, then be advised that many a history-making CEO started their career as a liberal arts major.

You may feel your degree and passion are at odds, but that is seldom true and does not “condemn” you to a life of unhappiness. If your resume emphasizes your skills, accomplishments, and education in both areas, you may find that the perfect job is within your reach. It helps to have credentials in your passion: even air guitarists have a championship season.

As you enter your senior year in college, I recommend that you begin searching online for careers that combine your passion and your major. There are far more career paths out there than you may be aware of. I also recommend that you begin a brag book for your achievements and milestones as a student, volunteer, or intern in both your career path and your passion. This brag book will form the backbone for developing your resume.

Many college students need help figuring out how to define their career, acknowledge their passion, and write a resume that will get them the job they truly want. If a Master Career Director, a Job and Career Transition Coach, and a professional resume writer will help, please contact me today. Let’s explore your opportunities together.

Resumes for Career Transitioning

Many types of transitions can occur in just one career: from unemployed to employed, from a large company to a small company, from college student to first-time employee, from for-profit to nonprofit, from one field to another, from self-employed to a corporate employee, from supervisor to executive—up, down, sideways, and roundabout.

These days, employers set fewer barriers to hiring job applicants who are making a transition. They even value the broader experience, skill set, and perspective that come with an unconventional career path. They know that those job applicants probably have strong adaptive skills; that is, they are trainable, able to grow as the company grows, can meet the challenges of constant change, and can communicate with others both inside and outside their job description.

As a Job and Career Transition Coach, I am certified to help transitioning job seekers understand both their goals and their options. I help them explore their past career path and find the best path forward. I help them articulate their strengths so that their value as a transitioning employee comes across in job interviews as well as in their resumes.

Here are four ways to make your transition go smoother:

  • Prepare yourself for the transition in advance by getting necessary certifications, training, or degrees. Pursue volunteer, Board positions, and consulting jobs that provide opportunities to exercise or develop skills you do not use on your current job.
  • Ask for endorsements and recommendations that you can post on LinkedIn and other professional sites, to show how others value your contribution.
  • Make sure your resume is written for the job you want. Focus on accomplishments that show your transferable skills and how they benefited your past employers.
  • Network in person as well as online, especially at professional associations and gatherings where you can connect one-on-one with potential employers and those who can give you referrals.

If you need help with your transition and your resume, please contact Robin’s Resumes® today.

Your Job Search Strategies and Your Resume

As a Certified Job and Career Transition Coach and a certified 5 Steps to Rapid Employment coach, I understand the many different strategies that go into a successful job search and how your resume fits into each one.

Job Search Strategy One: Pleasing Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS). If you are first applying for a job, whether online or through the mail, you must make sure your resume is ATS-friendly. Remove all tables, text boxes, and other design elements—they merely confuse the ATS. Today, over 97% of Fortune 500 companies use ATS (the other 3% are holding companies that do not hire employees). Even if applying to a very small company, it is probable your resume will be sent to an ATS.

Job Search Strategy Two: Engaging Family and Friends. When you speak to family and friends about your job search, ask them if they would be willing to read your resume so that they know exactly the type of position you are looking for. They may also provide unsolicited advice about the content and format of your resume; always thank them, but decide for yourself if the advice is valid.

Job Search Strategy Three: Networking. The best networking starts with a genuine interest in the other person, not with your plea for help in finding a job. If the other person eventually expresses an interest in your resume, ask for the best way to send it. Some people will not open email attachments.

Job Search Strategy Four: Posting a Profile Online. Your profile on LinkedIn or similar professional sites should support and line up with your resume, even if they are not exact duplicates. Make sure your online photo is professional.

Job Search Strategy Five: Interviewing. Take a paper version of your resume with you to interviews. That version can contain design elements like graphs and tables. Make sure the version of the resume that you take with you and the version you sent to the company do not conflict on facts or content, even if the format is different. You also may consider having a long version for ATS and a shorter networking/interview version.

Do you need a certified coach and resume writer to help develop your job search strategy and creating the right resume? Contact Robin’s Resumes® today.

Resume Advice from a Marketing Writer

I have often mentioned that resumes are not life stories but marketing documents, intended to “sell” you to a company who will then invite you in to an interview. This is exactly the way marketing brochures, websites, and other collateral are intended to work: a customer becomes interested and contacts the company for more information on the product or service.

So I thought it might help to have a marketing writer’s perspective on what a marketing document—in this case the resume that markets you—should and should not do.

Marketing documents should always address a specific customer—not the world at large. In resume terms, this means that you should focus your resume on meeting the specific requirements of the job and position you are interested in. You cannot possibly be all candidates to all industries. Even shoe stores are sectioned off in athletic, dressy, comfort, men’s, women’s, and children’s shoes.

Marketing documents should offer a solution to the customer’s problem. In resume terms, that means your resume should let the company know what value you will bring to the position. A dozen people might have your background without ever accomplishing what you accomplish. Only you can offer your special combination of skills, insights, and achievements to solve the company’s problem.

Marketing documents should be clear and concise. In resume terms, this goal holds up exactly as stated with short, punchy bullet points outlining your career.

Marketing documents should be interesting. “Interesting” in resumes means, in part, that you vary your verbs. “Responsible for” is one of the most boring constructions; try “leads” or “improves” or “enhances” or “facilitates” or any number of other verbs.

Marketing documents should be specific. In resume terms, this means you should provide specifics about your achievements such as the number of people affected, the revenue produced, or the improvement generated. You should also be specific about the size, location, and primary business of the companies you worked for in the past, especially for little known companies.

Marketing documents should sound and look professional. A professional resume writer not only helps create a professional look and content for your resume, but keeps up on the latest expectations of hiring managers, recruiters, and electronic applicant tracking systems.

Marketing documents start working when they are sent out. The longer you struggle with your resume and fail to send it out, the longer you will wait for invitations to interview. As a professional electronic career coach and job career transition coach (JCTC), as well as a professional resume writer, I can give you the advice and support you may need to send your resume out into the world.

Please contact Robin’s Resumes® today for resumes that are strong marketing documents and personal statements.

Resumes That Get You What You Want

Before you start the resume writing process, you should answer one question: what do you want?

You must know the position and the industry you are aiming for, because hiring managers and recruiters will not spend time thinking about where they could use you. That is your job: to write a resume that shows them you are the right person for the opening they have and you want.

How do you find out what you want?

First, allow yourself the freedom to consider what you want without restrictions such as the size of your mortgage or student loans. For this stage of the exercise, you are without any obligation but pleasing yourself.

Second, make lists of the things you do well, the things you like to do, and the things you really hate to do. Do not edit these lists because you are afraid the things you like are trivial or the things you do well have no value. The value of each item on your list will depend greatly on the industry, the position, and even on the individual hiring manager.

Third, list your skills, education, and previous achievements.

Fourth, put those lists aside for at least a day and then begin to play with the lists—again, giving yourself the freedom to do nothing but please yourself. Your goal is to combine the information you have in as many new ways as possible, maximizing the things you do well and like to do. Look through job postings and advertisements for words that match your lists; there are probably many more matching careers than you have realized.

Fifth, build yourself a supportive team. Now that you know what you want and you know your goals, you need people to help you. You may want to talk to others who have the type of position you’re looking for to find out about their career path. You may want to join professional groups or online sites like LinkedIn where you can network for the job you want. Talk to family and friends; you will need their support, too. However, be prepared that sometimes family and friends may limit you; they may see you how you are, not how you may be.

You may find that your perfect career requires adding some skills, experience, or education. You may find that you are willing to take on one of things you hate (a change in geographic location, for example) to gain all the things you like. You need a supportive team to help you make those changes.

Sixth, build a powerhouse resume that aligns your background with your career goals. For that, please contact Robin’s Resumes®.

As a certified and professional Resume Writer, certified Career and Job Transition Coach, and certified 5 Steps to Rapid Employment coach, I know many folks need professional guidance for this process. I have helped many others take these steps. I am ready to help you also.

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