One of the main questions asked about resumes is, “Do I have to include everything on one page?” The most common misconception of resume writing is that your entire professional history has to fit within one A4 page of white paper.

The truth is, the resume should be well written and concise, and should promote your qualifications in the best possible light. This is sometimes impossible to do in one page. Thus, a resume can extend to multiple pages, with some consideration depending on your career level.

1.Be concise.

This is critical. Do not use lengthy sentences and paragraph forms to disclose your experience and your education. Employers want straight forward statements that highlight your qualifications. A resume is not a place to show your creative writing skills.

2.Perfect your resume.

You have second to catch your potential employer’s attention. Make sure that your resume is properly formatted, and you are not trying to fit too much copy on a single page of paper. Create appropriate and professional sections for your resume. Your potential employer is more concerned with the look and content of your resume than with its length.

3.Keep it short and focus

Longer is not better when you don’t have the experience to meet your career objective. If you are new to the job market, are changing careers, or you’ve only had one job, stick to a one page resume.

If you don’t have the experience to meet your career objective, no matter the reason, do not apologize for it. Don’t try to fill up your resume with irrelevant content; instead do your best to highlight your transferable skills, and stick to the short and sweet.

3.Do not exceed two pages

Unless you are applying for an executive-level job, or are composing curriculum vitae, your resume should not exceed two pages.

The purpose of a well-written resume is to sell you as the best candidate for the job with a confident and a straight-forward approach. Do not oversell your skills. Do not list more than three to five previous positions you’ve help.

Stick to those skills and experiences that best meet the job requirements and your career objective. The most relevant information has to be included on the first page.

The second page should be numbered, with your contact information included as well (just in case the pages are separated when printed, you don’t want your potential employer to discard the second page of your resume completely).

If you find yourself going over two pages, review your resume and make sure that you are not incorporating information that is irrelevant to your goals or to the position you are seeking.

4.Statements should be applicable to the job

Make sure that your professional history warrants a resume that is three pages or longer. As mentioned above, unless you are a senior- or executive-level professional, or you are composing curriculum vitae, your resume should not extend to over two pages.

If you have a longer resume, you will have to make sure that every statement on the resume is applicable to your career goals.

If you have had decades of leadership experience for example, demonstrate that using the reverse chronological resume style and only list those jobs that best qualify you for the position you are seeking. If you need to include an extensive list of publications or certifications, your resume can take up more than three pages.

Make sure that the important information is still listed on the first page. This includes your career objective and professional profile, and your current or most recent professional experience. All subsequent pages need to be numbered, and include your contact information in the heading.

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esume generating disappointing results? Have you been sending your resume for positions that you know you are qualified for, but the phone remains silent? If so, you might want to check it and revise it against these ten common errors.

1. Including an objective statement that tells the reader what you want.

If there is one major rule to keep in mind as you write your resume, it is that all of the content should be written to be employer-centered. Objective statements that tell the reader what you want are inherently self-centered. The more modern way of providing focus for your resume is to include a summary or profile section. A profile is fundamentally different from an objective in that it is employer-centered, conveying to the reader what you offer them, rather than what you want from them.

2. Writing your resume to be intentionally broad in scope.

Many people will write a broad resume out of fear that focusing too precisely will exclude them from certain opportunities. Unfortunately, this strategy almost always backfires. Resume readers are notoriously lazy and give your resume only a few seconds at most before making the decision to screen it out or screen it in. If you are lucky you have 15 seconds to clearly convey your focus (level and type of position you are seeking) and how you would add value within their organization. If your focus is ambiguous and you haven’t made it crystal clear how you will “fit” in the company, you certainly expect the reader to make the effort to figure it out.

3. Including a generic profile/summary statement.

While it has become common and even expected that your resume will include a profile/summary statement, far too often they are just generic statements that do nothing to differentiate the individual from their competition in the job market. What is it that differentiates you and make your contributions to the companies you have worked for better and unique than your peers? What is the value proposition that you are making to the reader of your resume? What sets you apart from the competition and what uniquely qualifies you to meet the needs and solves the problems of the employer? Additionally, it isn’t enough to tell a reader that you have certain abilities or traits; you must show them through examples of past achievements. Prove impact! Forget about cliches and jargon. Soft skills are often important, but even those should be backed up by specific accomplishments that illustrate them.

4. Describing your job scope and responsibilities in detail.

Think about it: Being “responsible for” doing something certainly doesn’t mean a person does it. What a person is supposed to do and what they actually do are two different things. Many people make the mistake of selling features (responsibilities) rather than benefits (achievements/results) in their resume. It is very important to place the emphasis on achievements, quantifying results whenever possible. Document the ways in which your work have benefited your employers and quantify whenever possible. By including past achievements and results, you demonstrate your future potential. Always remember, you won’t get hired for what you know how to do, you will get hired for what you do with what you know how to do.

5. Focusing solely on the achievement and forgetting about the results.

Just telling the reader that you have achievements isn’t very effective unless you present them in terms of the results and benefits they have produced for past employers. You should always try to think in terms of the “so what” of your achievement. What did you improve, save, increase, enhance, etc? What impact did the work you do have on the companies? At the root, every single job is designed to solve a problem, save money, make money, or improve efficiency. It is crucial that you understand and be able to communicate the impact of your performance. Whenever you can do so, you should use numbers to illustrate your results, but even if you are unable to quantify achievements, the emphasis should still be on the results/benefits of your work.

6. Writing an autobiographical style resume.

Your resume is a marketing document. It is not an autobiography. While the decision about how far back to date your resume really depends on the individual circumstances, generally it is standard to go back 10-20 years. If experience earlier than that is still relevant, you can always summarize it in a couple of sentences without the use of dates. Always think in terms of relevance and impact. Does a particular piece of data or achievement support your personal brand and value proposition? Does it help promote your qualifications in relation to your current career goals? If not, you probably should not include it. In fact, by including irrelevant data, you dilute your focus and make the recipient wonder if you truly understand the position you are targeting. If you feel really strongly that particular data may be relevant to at least SOME recipients, you can always create an addendum that you choose to use selectively.

7. Including personal information.

If your resume is meant for the U.S. market, it should not include a photo, your birth date, mention of unrelated hobbies or interests, info about your family, info that reveals your religion, or any other similarly personal data. Including such data in a resume meant for the U.S. market may actually eliminate you from consideration, as hiring decision-makers may be concerned about discrimination suits.

8. Using a template design for your resume.

You should never use a template to create a resume. Your resume should be uniquely designed to highlight your unique qualifications and selling point and to set you apart from other candidates. If you use a template (or a format that looks like a template), you ensure that your resume will simply blend in with all the rest. To really compel action, your resume MUST attract immediate attention and present an unquestionably professional appearance. Create an eye-catching design, but forego the templates!

9. Using the same structure and resume writing techniques that you were taught in college ten years ago.

A common error made by experienced professionals is overemphasis of education. As an experienced professional your history of accomplishments and proven ability to produce and deliver results is far more important than your degrees. Only new graduates with very little or no experience should list education at the beginning of the resume. The most important thing is that you prioritize and organize your selling points, listing categories of primary importance first. The best structure in almost all circumstances is a combination reverse chronological order. This includes a profile/summary section, a reverse chronology of your work history and achievements, education, and other qualifications such as professional affiliations.

10. Listing all your achievements in a section separate from your career history.

It is critical to show progression and a consistent, repeated ability to produce results. By listing your achievements separately from your career history, you lose this. Go ahead and use specific achievements to illustrate the value proposition and personal branding that you convey in your profile. In fact, it is crucial that you do so. But, for the most part, the majority of your achievements are best presented within the chronological and situational context in which they happened. In other words, go ahead and include a SUMMARY of achievements that are selected to illustrate your value proposition and brand, but the body of your resume should also include achievements and results that illustrate your impact in each company or each position.

Do you still feel at a loss about how to improve your resume, even after reading these tips? If so, consider hiring a professional resume writer. Hiring a resume writer is an investment, but it is an investment that will often pay you back many times over by dramatically shortening your job search, positioning you to win coveted positions, and preparing you with the pitch you need to negotiate top compensation.

Nationally certified resume writer and career coach, Michelle Dumas is the director of Distinctive Career Services LLC. Through Distinctive Documents http://www.distinctiveweb.com and her Executive VIP Services http://www.100kcareermarketing.com Michelle has empowered thousands of professionals all across the U.S. and worldwide. Michelle is also the author of 101 Before-and-After Resume Examples http://www.before-and-after-resumes.com

“Without the strength to endure the crisis, one will not see the opportunity within. It is within the process of endurance that opportunity reveals itself.”

Chin-Ning Chu

Crisis is often an entry point; an opportunity to get real, tell the truth about our selves and our business. Definition of Crisis -The moment in which we know without a doubt that if we don’t make changes with ourselves and in our business we will lose. Unfortunately, at this point we usually have already lost quite a bit, which is what makes it a crisis! 

 

Understandably no one hopes for a crisis. Certainly this applies to our business or organization. Most of us as leaders would probably say one of our primary responsibilities is to prevent a crisis from ever occurring.

However, I have found that powerful lessons for all of us can be found in the middle of a business crisis. It isn’t uncommon for a leader to say, “Our staff has never pulled together more than when we were facing a crisis.” Possibly it’s the very real prospect of going out of business, facing a public relations catastrophe or even a natural disaster that causes people to unite.

And although this may not seem surprising, it does beg the question, “why?” Why do people set aside their usual disagreements and petty politics in the midst of a crisis?

I found one possible answer while contemplating teams and organizations that live in a perpetual state of daily crisis. Consider firefighters or soldiers in the midst of war.

 

At those moments, these are certainly some of the least political and divisive teams that you’ll find. For them, disagreement about budgets and lines of responsibility are ludicrous, or even worse, deadly. And that’s the point. When the stakes are clear and high, you know …life or death. Well-intentioned people can’t help but focus on the prevailing task at hand. Which is exactly what happens to businesses in crisis: they get focused around a compelling, over-arching goal. They put aside their egos and differences for the common good of the team or business.

 

We innately know this about ourselves and people which is why I personally believe some businesses create an ongoing atmosphere of chaos or crisis. Consider that there is another way, another option for focusing on the important and the common good. A way to stop avoiding the issue(s) and address what is not being said.

 

It starts with clear purposeful reasons to be in business, to do the job and to get the result. As the leader, it is your job to make sure your people have these:

 



A Vision

A Business purpose

Goals

Key measures for success in their own roles

Individual plans for growth and development 



 

 

“The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis’. One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger-but recognize the opportunity.”  John F. Kennedy

 

About the Author Alicia Fruin

 

Owner of Profit Consulting Co., Alicia Marie Fruin has become a leader in the field of coaching, consulting and training for small business. She has designed more than 80 custom training programs for hundreds of business owners in a variety of industries across the country. In addition, Alicia has coached managers, presidents and sales professionals on how to build a business truly worth having! www.profitconsultingco.com

Alicia Marie brings a wide range of experience to Training, Consulting and Coaching! As owner of Profit Consulting Co., Inc. Alicia has designed over 80 training programs and led custom training programs for hundreds of business owners in a variety of industries across the country. http://www.profitconsultingco.com

The United States of America is divided into 50 states and each state has its National Guard. The National Guard is primarily divided into two categories: the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard. The role of the National Guard in United States is twofold; first, it is a national force that serves the country at times of emergency or war, and second, it is a state force, under the control of the governor, ready to assist citizens in times of domestic crisis or catastrophe.

Almost all of the positions within the National Guard are part-time, as members are expected to serve just one weekend a month, and are trained for only two weeks in a year. Hence, the members can enjoy both lives; as full time civilians, while getting the benefits of a military career, which has excellent benefit packages, like the waiver of school and college tuition, enhancing career skills, and a regular salary. In return, they have to be ready to serve the country when the need arises. The members of the National Guard serve the people closest to them and society as a whole.

Primary Duties

The primary duty of the Air National Guard as well as the Army National Guard is to help protect the people at times of crisis, and serve the country in emergencies. Natural calamities like earthquakes, storms or floods, and communal disturbances such as riots, are some of the emergencies wherein the National Guard is expected to come to the aid of the people.

The Air National Guard is responsible for the air defense of the entire nation. It also serves as a backup force to the regular United States Air Force. A person who wants to enroll for the Air National Guard must comply with some academic and non-academic constraints like being in the age group of 17 to 34, having a high school diploma or GED, being free of major law violations, being free of illegal drug use etc., to be eligible.

Aside from that, he or she must pass a physical test and clear the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery Test (ASVAB). Once this is done, a recruit can choose a specific career interest and reserve a position before the start of the training program. In addition to paychecks and fee waivers at some schools in their state, the other benefits enjoyed by members are life insurance at very low premium rates, and shopping benefits at military canteens and base exchanges, where they can buy electronic goods and other commodities at cheaper rates.

Career Options

The state as well as the federal government is in command of the Army National Guard. The career options in the Army National Guard can be primarily classified into three sections - combat, combat support and combat service support. Combat can be further classified into infantry, armor, artillery, aviation and air defense, while combat support can be subdivided into engineering, chemical, military policing, signaling, military intelligence and civil affairs, combat service support can be sub-grouped into finance, personnel, public affairs, maintenance supply and transportation.

Enlisting in the National Guard is not only patriotic, but can prove to be very useful for those pursuing higher education and seeking to enhance their career skills. While it provides a regular paycheck and free education, it also opens the doors to other job opportunities that require experience and expertise.

Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution’s Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.

What is your career resolution for the new year?

Is your career strategy still intact? Are you still looking for a better job?

With news of world recession, worsening economic forecasts, retrenchments and corporate bankruptcies bombarding our senses everyday, it does not take a genius to see that traditionl jobs are gone!

For career seekers, it is a time to rethink what is the most viable career strategy today.

We all know that the world is in the midst of possibly the worse recession in history, but what are you doing about your career?

Continue to work harder and look out for another job?

Yes, we all need to work hard.  This is good work ethics.  It is a given whether in good time or bad time.

How about looking for another job? Let’s be realistic about what is happening in the job market: Jobs are disappearing by the millions, faster than the world can cope.

If you are still hoping to find a job or to change job, stop dwelling in the old mindset of “job”.  Whether you care to face it or not, the reality is: Jobs are gone for good!

There is no doubt that we are living in one of the toughest times now, and there is a crucial need for radical thinking to chart new career strategy.

For the discerning, the writing is on the wall: A secured career is no longer found in a “job”. Diversification of income portfolio will be the career strategy of the 21st century.

The New Reality Ahead

As I was surfing the internet casually, the headline in Yahoo News on 23 Dec 2008 caught my sight: “The World Economic Crisis Could Put 25 Million People Out Of Work”.  This is a warning sent by OECD following Japan’s iconic Toyota auto’s first ever operating loss forecast and subsequent European stocks slip.

News like this is commonplace today. The world is now bracing itself for the worse ever recession since the great depression in 1928.

Today, everyone’s hands are full. From politician, businessmen, academics, lawyers, doctors, police to ordinary folks, everybody is busy with tons of problems triggered by the wall street financial debacles.

Is the future really as bleak as it looks?

Again, it depends on your perspective on a crisis situation.

If your job is at stake, don’t be daunted because history has shown that human spirit is capable of overcoming great adversities.

How To Prepare Yourself For The Future

To prepare yourself for the future, it is important to take a peek at what the future is likely to be. With the foregoing events radically transforming the global marketplace, there are some fundamental changes that will alter the life of people forever:

Millions of jobs will be gone in the next few years, and will not return even after recession.

With the relentless transformation in the global marketplace, the nature of “job” will be changed dramatically on a global scale.

People will have to seek out new means of livelihood by leveraging on new technologies that empowers small resource-scarce businesses.



It may sounds like a cliché but it is true: Opportunities abound in times of crisis.

If you are skeptical about this, it is best to read history for evidence.

What Opportunities Can Be Found In This Economic Recession?

Opportunity No. 1:

Companies are cutting jobs desperately to stay afloat. The impact on individuals is the need to look for income opportunities. Unfortunately this will no longer be found in the traditional job market. If people have to make a living, but can’t get a job, what option does the individual has? Realistically, I would say to start a home business!

Some people may think that a starting a home business is difficult, particular in bad time like now. The common thinking is: Where can home business find business opportunities when corporations are cutting cost? Now, read on ….

Opportunity No. 2:

Corporations will be looking for professional services from free agents to maximize operational flexibility and cost-saving. The trend of corporate outsourcing will be even stronger when keeping lean and mean is the only way to ride through this economic storm. Individuals with professional skills (writing, marketing, technical, design, etc) will be in demand by companies looking for cheaper service alternative than maintaining a full-time staff.

The first opportunity alone is enough to create a global economy of home business. This trend has started years ago as described in “Free Agent Nation” by Dan Pink in late 1990s.

There is a good reason to expect the “Home Business Economy” to grow stronger with the following additional trends:

“The Wellness Revolution” as pointed out by economist Paul Zane Pilzar, where the baby boomers’ demand for health, fitness and wellness lifestyle creates huge wealth opportunities for network marketers engaging in “intellectual distribution”. The internet offers a powerful platform for network marketer to expand their business more effectively and efficiently to the global market.

The proliferation of internet technologies has created an economy of its own. Building an online business has become the “Gold Rush of the 21st century”. This is a huge opportunity in itself as “gold seekers” need the necessary skills, knowledge and tools for starting a home business.

The rise of online social networking has created a new lifestyle of socializing, leisure, learning and purchasing for generation X and Y. This is a social phenomenon that intrigues the internet marketers and sociologists alike. The influence of online social network on consumer behaviors has created new business opportunities. This trend favors the home business in particular as social marketing requires more skills and knowledge than capital.

These powerful trends converge to create new waves of global economic forces shaping the way people make a living.

Are you watching by the sideline with apathy, or riding these waves to power up your career staretgy by starting a home business today?

Jordan Cheng helps the entrepreneurial-minded achieve financial freedom by
Starting A Home Business and accelerate personal success using the innate Mind Power.

Have you been waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, panicked about your future, wondering if you’re going to be able to make things work out? Is your stomach all tied up in knots? Is your mind racing as you contemplate options, unsure about what to do and where to go from here? Do you find yourself wistfully thinking about the way things were, wondering how you could have it back? If so, then you are in the middle of a career transition crisis.

It’s a crisis because you’re feeling unstable, realizing that you’re at a crucial turning point. It’s a transition because you’re making the passage from one thing to the next and feeling out of control. Nobody likes feeling out of control. This is especially true when making a career transition  either changing from one type of job to another, or moving from being traditionally employed to being a solo preneur.

Transitions are rough. They’re hard on your body, spirit, and emotions. They’re tough on the people around you, your wallet, and your ego. Major life transitions beat you up, roll you over, and spit you out the other side. Even if you planned your transition ahead of time, had all the kinks ironed out, and had everything lined-up and ready to go, chances are . . . it’s still going to be rough.

The good news is that there are things you can do to stabilize your transition. Here are the 10 main things I did to ease my transition from working in the ivory tower of academia to starting up and becoming a successful small business owner.

10 Inner Practices for the Transitioning Soul

1. Allow the process. Big change often feels like death, as if an old part of you must die in order for the new part of you to be born. The birthing of something new requires a deep integration. So allow that to happen. Some things will cease to be. Others will take on a new form.

2. Stay in charge of your happiness. Understand that you determine your happiness  not someone or something outside you.

3. Reach beyond what you fear. Don’t go through it. Reach beyond to something greater, something more important than what you fear.

4. Trust that everything in your life is unfolding exactly as it is meant to be. Spend as little time as possible asking why or looking for answers. Trust and know.

5. Make your inner voice the predominant voice you listen to. Turn to others for support. Turn inward for guidance. Not the other way around.

6. Remain unattached to outcome. Fretting about the future or worrying about the past keep you attached. Stop doing both, and you’ll be surprised at the number of doors that open, pathways that light up, and possibilities that present themselves to you.

7. Stay connected. Don’t allow your fears to multiply by isolating yourself. Remain in contact with family and friends who support your vision, and stay involved with leisure activities that you enjoy.

8. Take good care of yourself with a balanced, healthy lifestyle. Eat nutritious food, exercise regularly, and get plenty of sleep. Weekly massages are terrific at releasing and balancing the body.

9. Meditate and practice T’ai Chi or Chi Qong to center and ground yourself, increase your energy, and sooth your psyche.

10. Avoid jumping into anything new too soon. Go slowly. When your life is disrupted by a transition  even one you initiate  it takes time to adjust to the new reality. Use that time to reflect and think about what is really best for you.

Will doing these ten things make your career transition crisis go away? No. However, they will go a long way toward giving you some breathing room to explore what matters most to you and how you’d like your life to be. Doing these inner practices will help relax the tension in your body, clear away the fog of confusion in your mind, and allow your inner voice to speak to you. Getting in touch with your inner voice and allowing it to guide you will put you back in the driver’s seat and turn your career crisis into a career transformation.

Successful Small Business Start Up Coach, Consultant, & Author takes the fear out of starting up businesses by providing value, inspiration, and direction to entrepreneurial women transforming lives and making a difference in the world. Accidental Pren-her