Beyond Page 2 - Passion, Resume & CV Development and the Internet (guest blog)

Ask an East Coaster for a paragraph and he'll write you a novel. This is a post written by my good friend John Lohnes about the virtues of being passionate and its application to writing your resume, a topic that he is very passionate about. I hope you enjoy!

As a people we all have our passions; something that excites us; something that when we reach a pivotal moment of potential success, it keeps us awake or we forego sleep to complete it – the emotional need to experience a successful conclusion drives us. Conversely, there are activities, or obligations, which we trudge through – asking ourselves – when will this end? My passions include seeing a blank page fill with an idea / words which transform into lyrics, and their subsequent evolution into a completed song – the latter in combination with an equally passionate partner. It’s the creation of “something from nothing” that I’m passionate about.

I also feel that same passion when I work with a Client as we create, construct and develop their Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV) into a document that is competitive against their piers – a Top Percentile Candidate Resume, a Professional Communication Document – a Personal Sales & Marketing Brochure. Again, it’s a blank page, or an existing document, and by probing the Client for relevant information we see the transformation of an average Resume or CV to one deemed strong in competition. Those individuals whom I’m pleased to call my Client’s, or if you will “collaborators”, have passions that generally lie elsewhere. They view the writing of a Resume or CV as an activity they trudge through, saying, “when will this end?”

Beyond Page 2 - The Hook

 Photo Credit Martin Guhl

You've spent days writing and formatting your resume, you have found the positions that you want to apply to and have expressed your interest in these opportunities and like countless others you now sit back and wait. Eagerly waiting for that phone call that deep down inside you probably know is not going to come. And its not that you aren't deserving of the opportunity, but rather your resume is exactly the same as all of the others that the recruiter or the hiring manager have to review.

Upon initially being opened your resume has a maximum shelf life of 30 seconds and in some instances even less. If your resume does not capture your audience instantly then the likelihood that it will be fully read is very slim. If your resume does not exude the passion, energy, enthusiasm and love you have for what you do in those first seconds then you will simply be relegated to the maybe pile and forgotten.

Media, Advertising and Communications experts have mastered the art of hooking their audiences by working to understand what drives, interests and motivates them. We have all experienced the introduction to a book that we just cannot put done, a commercial that we refuse to change or a speech whose opening is so riveting that we are on the edge of our seats for its duration. What all of these elements have in common is their uncanny ability to hook you, to give you a small glimpse of what lies ahead without ever giving it away, demanding that you stay tuned, turn the page and listen intently for the full message.

Your resume is no different and must captivate your audience to want more. When that recruiter or hiring manager opens up your resume, instantly they need to be captured, wanted to know more. The first impress that your resume leaves needs to be so convincing of your passion, enthusiasm, energy and love for what you do that its leaves the audience with no choice but to say I want more.

As you are piecing your resume together make sure you have a number of critical eyes review it before sending it out. As part of the review process make sure that you understand how motivated your readers were to read your entire resume. If the opening did not entice them, then does the rest of the content really matter?

Beyond Page 2

In today's economy, where there are so many people looking for work and so few opportunities available the challenge for job seekers is not simply finding the right position for themselves, but also differentiating themselves from the masses seeking employment. How do candidates, with all things being equal  differentiate themselves to move to the top of the pile. Capturing your essence, your value and experience in 2 pages or less can be a daunting task and a very frustrating experience especially if you are not getting the results you expect.

The reality of it though is that your resume is not designed to tell your whole story but rather to capture your major highlights and achievements. Very easily, your resume can be likened to that of a commercial, a 30 to 45 second spot designed to entice consumers, or in this case hiring managers and recruiters to want to learn more about the product being sold. Resumes then need to written in such a way that they captivate and compel hiring managers and recruiters to want more.

Your initial opportunity to captivate and hook your audience is extremely short. Your opening needs to be well positioned, enticing, energetic and passionate about what you do. It needs to exude confidence and leave no doubt in the readers mind that you are a person that needs to be seen. Write your hook with the same enthusiasm and passion that you use when you talk about your favorite sports team, your kids or even your bike... whatever it is that you love to do.

Beyond your hook, the two most important pieces to any resume are its layout and its content. When considering both the layout and the content of your resume it is important to recognize that both of these facets will equally impact the success of your resume. If your layout is not sharp, easy to follow and creative and your content is weak, irrelevant to the position and grammatically faulty you may as well hang out at the corner store buying lottery tickets as your chance of success will be greater there then in today's job market. The layout of today's paper resumes need to have an easy flow to them, while at the same time sharp and creative. On the content side well positioned, grammatically correct relevant responsibilities and achievements are a must. And where ever possible it is important to quantify your resume, simply because numbers have real value, they are demonstrable and comparable.

Finally, beyond page 2 today there really needs to be something more. With the continual growth and ease of social media tools such as Facebook, LinkedIN, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace etc. it simply is no longer enough to only have a paper resume. Top shelf candidates are finding ways to use these tools to further their career aspirations and job search success.

The question is how do you stand out?

In The Still of The Night

Every night, or actually every morning I receive a call from a very special member of one of my favorite tribes. Its not that I don't adore or relish the tribes and communities that I belong to, but this particular one holds special place in my heart as it consists of my family, my wife and our 2 kids. The call, which is more like a whimper usually arrives between 2 and 3am from our daughter looking for her bottle. And over the course of the past couple of months I have gotten up with her almost every night to feed her, to hang out with her, to engage with her and to bond with her. Its not that my wife won't get up with her, in fact she is always a trooper and offers to do so all the time. It is just that it has now become routine, just part of something that her and I do.

The other night when I got up with her, I was amazed at how quickly the past 6 months had passed. How much she has grown and how quickly she had changed. In reality, both of the kids have grown up so much in the last little while that it really puts into perspective the things that are really important in life. As I was thinking about how quickly they were growing up, I started to wonder what the first day of school would be like for them and for us, how would we deal with the first girlfriend and more importantly how would I deal with the first boyfriend, how would we deal with rejection, temptation and peer pressure, how would we deal with them moving out, finding their own voices and ultimately preparing them both for life in general.

As I sat there with her and her bottle I figured that it would all be alright, that all the tools we need to deal with the bridges that we would cross were already within us. All that we would need to do is make sure we used those tools. The tools themselves are really not epiphanies or state secrets guarded at costs, but rather simple truths that all of us are capable of utilizing.

The Tools in the Tool Box

1) Listen
2) Engage
3) Enable
4) Share
5) Reward
6) Participate

As I sat there with our daughter, feeding her I began to wonder further about the impact of these tools on all of our relations. How different would things be if people really listened to what was being said around them, how different would the world be if companies really engaged with their customers / consumers, how different would life be if our children were enabled, given the opportunities to really express their thoughts, to own their voice, where would be if we truly and freely shared the ideas we had, regardless of how big or small they might, what if we genuinely rewarded those who inspired us by acknowledging their efforts and work, recognizing their dedication and passion and finally what if we participated with our tribes and communities.

It was then, in the still of the night that I realized how much more there was to learn.

In the Still of the Night is an interactive blog where I will explore and write about my opinions and thoughts about the 6 Tools in The Tool Box. Over the course of the next couple weeks while I explore each of the Tools individually, the real value of those posts will not be in what I write. The real value will be in what you write and how you respond to my perspective. I encourage to write all that you can and I look forward to exploring and engaging with you!

Welcome to Treadstone Careers

I believe that I am like everyone else... I work hard, strive to provide for my family and set goals that are both challenging but also achievable. And despite what I would classify as a successful career to date I find myself feeling empty, lacking a satisfaction that I so desperately crave in order to validate the time that I spend away from my family.

With that in mind I began to search out more, to look for opportunities that would provide me with the satisfaction that I was looking for. Over the course of my career I have excelled in helping some of Canada's largest companies find the "right" talent for their organizations. I have found them in Canada, North America and in some of the most obscure places around the global. I have found them using traditional methods such as job boards, print media and old fashioned networking. But I have also found them through non - traditional methods such as social networking groups, social media and new age networking. Thus Treadstone Careers was born.

My desire is the use the knowledge that I have gained over the course of my recruitment career and the contacts that I have made in my networks to help people find the careers that they are looking for. My intentions are not to put square pegs into round holes but to truly provide my connections with value, insight and strategies that provide opportunities for you to realize your career ambitions and expand your social networks.

I welcome you to Treadstone Careers, I encourage you to ask questions and post comments. Send me messages on topics that you would like me to discuss and I will gladly post my thoughts and opinions for all to read.

Thank you for reading, but more importantly thank you for following!

Ljuba