Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Geek'd: another job related post!

I so rarely get days off in my life these days, that when I finally get one, I really utilize it to... do absolutely nothing!

Which is precisely what I did.

I wasted away my day off like a boss on Sunday! 

But... 

I paid for it on Monday.

I slept terrible that evening, resulting me in sleeping in until practically noon. Then I found myself having to deal with a resume and cover letter to write for a job that I decided to apply for at the last minute, had to edit (basically rewrite) a feature article while also securing a photo for said photo, (which a friend of mine was so kind to give me to use) and then go to work by 3:30PM. Yeah, I had 3 hours of time to do all that.

This also saw me fail to make it to my tax office to FINALLY get my taxes done, given that my student loans application needs the numbers from it so that I can apply. Which was the original plan for Monday.

Anyway, yes, despite having a handful of jobs that keeps me busy and overwhelmed, the fact is, one of them is only good until the end of September. And current events in the industry dictate that I may not have work for awhile in my follow-up gig.

So... I need new to help pay for the rent in September. And the job posting as supplied by my course coordinator seemed to fit the bill for me. Not that I have too many hopes of making the cut, but it was worth a shot.

But it also meant I had to go over the dreaded resume.


Updating my resume is something that often only happens when necessity dictates (as it did this week and will again tomorrow). This is purely because I find updating my resume very difficult work, especially when I have to add a new position to my list, which was the case on Monday.

I thought for a bit and figured it was because I used a chronological resume. A chronological resume is best utilized when you have plenty of positions to fill it and it lists your jobs in reverse order of you performing them, with the most recent one displayed first.

Also, I always fashion my resumes to target the employer.

But as a result, I'm constantly changing, deleting and adding things to my resume.

This constant headache and the frustration that derived from having to work on it reminded me of a friend who told me about a "skills-based" resume (otherwise known as a combination resume) that had given her great results in the job seeking industry. Instead of listing skills she learned in each individual job, she simply listed her jobs last, instead using most of the space in her resume to highlight all the skills she had from all the jobs and education she has.

In this way, she could prevent repetition of similar skills under various jobs, but she can also focus more on what she can provide the company rather than "what kind of jobs she once did."

There is a downfall to this style (and is why I'm hesitant to personally utilize it myself) and it is in the case you have a job that is particularly impressive or strong in the industry. It fails to highlight said job and may give you a disadvantage as a result. For example, I went to Vancouver to volunteer at the Olympics there in 2010. The fact that I made the effort to travel to Vancouver to partake in an Olympic is impressive and is something that deserves to be highlighted out. But in this style, it is not, and it is likely that the dedication and eagerness that was involved in going there is lost.

Anyway, Tuesday is looking to be a tough nut to crack with interviews and stories to relate and school to follow up on. And then work soon after. But I have to find time for life. There really isn't any other choice.

Money can only wait so long after all.

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