tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27485543563150005072024-03-19T02:15:40.946-05:00Resume Writers' DigestIdeas, information, and resources for professional resume writers.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1068125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-43447867248596081152024-01-17T11:54:00.002-06:002024-01-17T11:57:34.236-06:00Case Study: Shortcuts in Resume Writing<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH4DoT53QE-RxQPyMaGm4ZiosHbv7U1GZrl47-zMVaOVAacp0ZMdqPJYyHJuLbtljFYnc9-Zi5JABfse7589ZWRZlztckplDFgDws3biQkgnKrC719AWVdbHaHWg8-9aMj6YHaM5PZytteP8vOZP18Gi26bhCmWZnH5vD-yU2KFEd5rhVOPsoxcCHfLc8x/s6912/Case%20Study%20Blog%20Header.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3456" data-original-width="6912" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH4DoT53QE-RxQPyMaGm4ZiosHbv7U1GZrl47-zMVaOVAacp0ZMdqPJYyHJuLbtljFYnc9-Zi5JABfse7589ZWRZlztckplDFgDws3biQkgnKrC719AWVdbHaHWg8-9aMj6YHaM5PZytteP8vOZP18Gi26bhCmWZnH5vD-yU2KFEd5rhVOPsoxcCHfLc8x/w640-h320/Case%20Study%20Blog%20Header.png" width="640" /></a></span></p><p></p><p><strong style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial;">SHORTCUTS IN RESUME WRITING – A CASE STUDY</span></strong></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif">A client called me yesterday to tell me he had a first interview on Monday with one of his <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/c2890b53e3/b5d062765f/e865da7878&source=gmail&ust=1705599318882000&usg=AOvVaw3FsXgL3qEVcNZmHCt81ijV" href="https://www.bearesumewriter.com/resources/Documents/Customized-Target%20List%20of%20Companies.pdf" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><strong>Top 4 Target Companies</strong></a> and that it went well. He’s been asked back for an in-person interview next week. <br /><br />There were a couple of tools I used on his project that were helpful “shortcuts.” This client isn’t my “ideal” client these days. (I work mostly with Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, and Sales – or “MAPS” clients — but he was a returning client from 2014, so I was happy to work with him again.)<br /><br />His previous resume (2014) had focused on his role as Warehouse Manager/Shipping & Receiving Manager (that resulted in him landing a job initially as Maintenance Technician with his current company). I did an update to his resume in 2016 for an internal role and he was promoted to Warehouse Manager. He was then promoted to QA Inspector/Lead Technical Writer (without a resume update). Unfortunately, last year his employer lost a major contract. He was given the opportunity to switch to a manufacturing position or be laid off. He decided to change to the manufacturing role (with a pay cut), but wanted to start looking for new opportunities. That’s when he reached out to me.<br /><br />Quality Assurance is the focus for his current job search, but it required completely overhauling his resume. (Which was necessary anyway, with the 7-year timeframe between his last work with me and this job search.)<br /><br />To gather information for his new career focus, I used one of Evelyn Salvador’s Career Worksheets. The <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/c2890b53e3/b5d062765f/a978d1e765/card&source=gmail&ust=1705599318882000&usg=AOvVaw2rUQqlQF1XlSvD7A-Sj2Bg" href="https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/c2890b53e3/b5d062765f/a978d1e765/card" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">“Documentation: Manufacturing and Production”</a> worksheet provided insightful questions to gather information about his most recent relevant role (2019-2023). I provided him with a checklist to identify the keywords relevant to his experience, and incorporated some of the Documentation questions into my questionnaire. <br /><br />Once I had his information, it was time to tackle the resume writing. Lately, I’ve been starting the writing process by browsing Michelle Dumas’ <a href="https://www.distinctiveresumetemplates.com/portfolio/ref/132/">Distinctive Resume Templates</a> to find one that feels like a fit for the client, job target, and industry. I decided on the <span style="color: #1155cc;"><a href="https://www.distinctiveresumetemplates.com/product/blue-collar-resume-template/ref/132/?campaign=Case%20Study%3A%20Greg%20M." target="_blank">Blue Collar Resume Template</a></span> (with Blue Collar Coordinating Documents – resume addendum, cover letter, and references templates). The templates are visually appealing and ATS-friendly and I find it easy to populate them (changing the color scheme <span style="color: #1155cc;"><a href="https://www.bearesumewriter.com/Sys/Store/Products/334161" target="_blank">with an appropriate color for the client</a></span> — in this case, blue to denote “trust, security, and stability.”<br /><br />I also had this client take a DISC profile assessment (I’m a <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/c2890b53e3/b5d062765f/6c11f0c896&source=gmail&ust=1705599318882000&usg=AOvVaw1_QbH6toT11yZMAZKzIiyC" href="https://www.profilingpro.com" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">DISC administrator through Jane Roqueplot and Profiling Pro</a>), which I culled insights from to include in his resume. <br /><br />He used his new resume to apply to a handful of positions last week and got a call last Friday to set up a phone interview on Monday (yesterday). Because it had been a while since he had interviewed (especially for an outside role), I sent him a couple of resources over the weekend to help him prepare. One was my <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/c2890b53e3/b5d062765f/4734173d43/click_key%3D3b1149a1248d063b906772920c987c015b4e4dd8%253A1382045046%26click_sum%3D8b8cf0e3%26ref%3Dshop_home_feat_3&source=gmail&ust=1705599318882000&usg=AOvVaw1sXgHqiHh8gllxIYuQp24I" href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/1382045046/pre-interview-worksheet-and-checklist?click_key=3b1149a1248d063b906772920c987c015b4e4dd8%3A1382045046&click_sum=8b8cf0e3&ref=shop_home_feat_3" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">“Pre-Interview Worksheet & Checklist”</a> (a Fillable Worksheet). I also sent him my guide to Virtual Interviews (based on this Pass-Along Materials document: <span style="color: #1155cc;"><a href="https://store.payloadz.com/details/1582446-documents-and-forms-resumes-jobseekers-guide-to-virtual-interviews-pass-along-materials.html">Jobseeker’s Guide to Virtual Interviews</a></span>). <br /><br />I had previously sent him my <span style="color: #1155cc;"><a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/1381955254/be-the-star-of-your-career-story-create?click_key=004e6f94ebd2e32da3c9bb6741af7b3e20170dc3%3A1381955254&click_sum=97d18842&ref=shop_home_active_7">“Be the STAR of Your Career Story”</a></span> worksheet to put together a couple of accomplishment stories while I worked on writing the resume. He reported back that he had used a story about reducing production time from three months per unit to three weeks and said the interviewers were impressed. <br /><br />In the phone interview, they basically offered him the job (they asked him how much it would take to get him to move on from his current employer), so his next step is doing salary research and prepping for the in-person interview. I’m going to be sending him some resources to help with that later today.<br /><br />Resources mentioned in this case study: <br /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/c2890b53e3/b5d062765f/5d6f5c97c6&source=gmail&ust=1705599318882000&usg=AOvVaw2y0InfngsVh3QGsOaOB-wK" href="https://www.bearesumewriter.com/Buy-Career-Worksheets/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Evelyn Salvador’s Career Worksheets</a> <br /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/c2890b53e3/b5d062765f/c8ddad2c0c&source=gmail&ust=1705599318883000&usg=AOvVaw3gSAyBFnOdXCNwDpCUlM1H" href="https://www.distinctiveresumetemplates.com/portfolio/ref/132/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Distinctive Resume Templates</a> <br /><em>(</em></span></span><img alt="➡️" aria-label="➡️" class="an1" data-emoji="➡️" loading="lazy" src="https://fonts.gstatic.com/s/e/notoemoji/15.0/27a1_fe0f/72.png" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; height: 1.2em; vertical-align: middle; width: 1.2em;" /><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: small;"> </span><span face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif"><em>use promo code <span style="color: orange; font-weight: bold;">50offbearesumewriter </span>on the Distinctive Resume Templates website to save 50% on your first purchase of any amount.)<strong><span style="color: orange;"> </span></strong></em><br /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/c2890b53e3/b5d062765f/8c5a478b41&source=gmail&ust=1705599318883000&usg=AOvVaw2T31paCi0Ox_ZnR4hCMba1" href="https://www.profilingpro.com" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">DISC Testing</a> <br /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/c2890b53e3/b5d062765f/06964918de&source=gmail&ust=1705599318883000&usg=AOvVaw3U85Vqg_d-uxXRUTOp9TNj" href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/ToolsforJobSearch" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Tools for Job Search</a> <br /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/c2890b53e3/b5d062765f/41bdef108a&source=gmail&ust=1705599318883000&usg=AOvVaw0I4VZQvTSep8w3tp3fVhao" href="https://www.bearesumewriter.com/page-1764164" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Pass-Along Materials Archive 2011-2020</a> <br /><br />What did you think of this case study? Are</span></span><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"> there resources you use as shortcuts? What are they? Comment below!</span></span><div><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif" style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-90695511564331771352024-01-08T12:08:00.008-06:002024-01-17T12:11:57.444-06:00Mindset Mondays: Exercise to Practice Gratitude<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik2XrlHh4sNLdsCbe8A7f2TfnCxDKMBDRipRC_fQXgE2aodpOn3OZMISe-WWD5-uhYHSNKm0APw6SU0_GSsy3jF-oYLb0BQ64_7ZKtOdukQynIL-OfURSF71cOa9__MzBUfQhVNr19YQL6RsO7Y7FfQWLopy2_Hqr57a1gls_F956zudgEthY_t22E7GbU/s2240/MM%20Exercise%20Gratitude.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik2XrlHh4sNLdsCbe8A7f2TfnCxDKMBDRipRC_fQXgE2aodpOn3OZMISe-WWD5-uhYHSNKm0APw6SU0_GSsy3jF-oYLb0BQ64_7ZKtOdukQynIL-OfURSF71cOa9__MzBUfQhVNr19YQL6RsO7Y7FfQWLopy2_Hqr57a1gls_F956zudgEthY_t22E7GbU/w640-h360/MM%20Exercise%20Gratitude.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">Practicing gratitude can go a long way to helping you feel happier and more successful in life. The most interesting thing about having a success <span class="il">mindset</span> is that it is indeed a <em><span class="il">mindset</span>.</em> Studies have been done on numerous people throughout history that show that even people you may not see as successful can <em>feel</em> successful if they have the right <span class="il">mindset</span>. </span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"></span></span></p><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Write It Down.</strong> Keep a small notebook by your bedside, your desk, or in your glove box. Whenever you feel a wave of gratitude, write it down. This helps you to remember the experience and even relive it when the need arises.</span></li></ul><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Record It.</strong> Almost everyone can record themselves today with smartphones and tablet computers. If you don’t want to write down your feelings, you can record them. Whenever you feel grateful, or need to feel it, make a short two minute recording to document it. </span></li></ul><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Focus on It.</strong> Allow your <span class="il">mind</span> to focus on all the gratitude you feel, but in a tremendous way. Amplify the feeling by describing it as fully as possible. How does your morning walk feel? How does your morning coffee smell? What do you feel when you watch your sleeping child?</span></li></ul><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Say It Aloud. </strong>Even if you’re not writing it down or recording it, you can still state your gratitude out loud. </span></li></ul><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Feel It.</strong> Don’t just write down or record and state your gratitude. Take a moment to feel it. Focus carefully on how it feels to breathe in the fresh air, and take the moment in fully. Immerse yourself in the feelings as much as you can. </span></li></ul><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Share It.</strong> When you are feeling gratitude, it’s a great time to tell others about it. When you share your feelings of thanks to the world either by calling someone and telling them that you’re thankful for them or by sharing on Instagram or Facebook or X/Twitter your gratitude, you’ll feel it more fully. </span></li></ul><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Focus on what makes you happy and less on what makes you unhappy. It may seem silly, but it’s backed by science. Your thoughts control your feelings, and <em>you</em> control your thoughts. It’s that simple.<br /><br />We’re expecting our first big snowfall of the season today … they’re saying 4-7 inches – so I’m going to be grateful for the moisture … and that Jon and I work from home! </span></span></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial;">What are YOU feeling grateful for today? Comment below!</span></span></p>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-66322132655937526532024-01-01T12:05:00.002-06:002024-01-17T12:07:46.331-06:00Mindset Mondays: The Importance of SMART Goals<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxsQX-8JU0klBYYSl8dDUHsNV9JbcSh0rWPafzWq-F7WckAPAoyUpOVbGvipVWcBLxCmlcySlGT7ndybIzNyIauiwH0YR7O4VRd1iw2W3fMnuU0WF7YBLYjXyLzTz2HBBbWE0_OdSpk4xWs_9lAkKF-blkxxkzgDiaUk7XZI29hHXIJrDXFZuqzb0cwBtN/s2240/MM%20Importance%20of%20SMART%20Goals.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxsQX-8JU0klBYYSl8dDUHsNV9JbcSh0rWPafzWq-F7WckAPAoyUpOVbGvipVWcBLxCmlcySlGT7ndybIzNyIauiwH0YR7O4VRd1iw2W3fMnuU0WF7YBLYjXyLzTz2HBBbWE0_OdSpk4xWs_9lAkKF-blkxxkzgDiaUk7XZI29hHXIJrDXFZuqzb0cwBtN/w640-h360/MM%20Importance%20of%20SMART%20Goals.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">Today’s tip is using GOALS to direct your <span class="il">MINDSET</span>. After all, if you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there. Right?<br /><br />If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times, right? Everyone you know — at least all the life coaches and teachers — want you to learn how to make your goals so that they’re <strong>manageable</strong> and <strong>do-able.</strong> Learning how to create goals correctly will change your life. <br /> <br />The best-known method for creating goals that you can achieve is the SMART goal method. <br /> <br />The SMART acronym stands for:</span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"></span></span></p><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Specific.</strong> State what is precisely required to meet your goal. </span></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Measurable.</strong> Include a <em>number</em> that enables you to measure the results. </span></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Achievable.</strong> <span class="il">Set</span> goals that you can realistically accomplish in the time <span class="il">set</span> using the resources and methods you have available. </span></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Realistic.</strong> The outcome must be truly possible. Some people like to use the word <em>relevant</em> here because the goal must be relevant to the big picture you have in <span class="il">mind</span>. </span></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Time-Bound.</strong> We all expand our time to match what is allowed, so setting a time limit is essential to realizing your goals. </span></li></ul><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: arial;">You can even expand this acronym to the acronym <strong>SMARTER</strong> and add two more criteria, if you want to be great at making goals that result in success. These two additional letters stand for “evaluated” and “reviewed,” — which makes sense because the only way you can know for sure if something you do works is to evaluate it and review it. <br /> <br />Once you do that, you can tweak and change things to improve your goal setting for future goals. The practice of using the SMART goal method for all your goal setting needs will improve every time you start setting up your goals and objectives because you’ll be able to use past experiences to guide you. <br /> <br />No matter how small your objective is, try using the SMART goal technique to help you create goals that really can be reasonably met by you.</span></span></p>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-24079749508535962972023-12-11T12:02:00.009-06:002024-01-17T12:04:10.150-06:00Mindset Mondays: Practice Positive Thinking<p><span style="font-family: arial;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzS5GuUo6-a-zvBeShj1-ff1Y4n564PtNtku1v7UCtShIQxxBsO_djfAdaVnt3SC4C1rdZ82yALkLNdrKRZ0KZGMXXkD29_wikGCxtkzqGHUFVGoK3HdOA5SVfVgKvYex4mJa-0p2z-YI87ZBNj1rgF30V8By3G-oDAe1BeDH5FFmXsVy3KwclHpRVePcz/s2240/MM%20Practice%20Positive%20Thinking.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzS5GuUo6-a-zvBeShj1-ff1Y4n564PtNtku1v7UCtShIQxxBsO_djfAdaVnt3SC4C1rdZ82yALkLNdrKRZ0KZGMXXkD29_wikGCxtkzqGHUFVGoK3HdOA5SVfVgKvYex4mJa-0p2z-YI87ZBNj1rgF30V8By3G-oDAe1BeDH5FFmXsVy3KwclHpRVePcz/w640-h360/MM%20Practice%20Positive%20Thinking.png" width="640" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">Negative thoughts can affect your ability to see your success — as well as make you feel bad about yourself and the world around you — and can lead to poor choices. Thankfully, you can turn yourself around by focusing on positive thinking.</span><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"></span></span></p><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Create a Minimum “To Do” List.</strong> Each day, look at your calendar and schedule and see what you need to do for the day to be a success — but just for that one day. It shouldn’t be 12 hours of work either. It should be a realistic depiction of the minimum necessary tasks to experience success.</span></li></ul><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Keep a Gratitude Journal.</strong> Every evening, write down three things you are thankful for in general and for that day. Then, the next morning, read those three things before you start your day. When you focus on the good in your life, you’re going to feel more successful.</span></li></ul><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Meditate Daily.</strong> Take time out of your day to mediate. You don’t have to meditate for a long time to see results. Just five minutes a day can make a big difference in your mood and your thoughts. You can also meditate in different ways, such as by walking in nature, lying on the living room floor listening to music — or the typical way most people think of it. But clear your <span class="il">mind</span> so you can reset and start fresh.</span></li></ul><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Time Limit Your Negativity.</strong> When you allow a negative thought to enter your <span class="il">mind</span>, instead of dismissing it, try stopping and doing something else that makes you feel positive. <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/51eb6ab15c/TEST/d3adc019ef/v%3DbVqfPbfVNBM&source=gmail&ust=1705600789107000&usg=AOvVaw1iPSS8kVrsYxNfVm4Ng5xa" href="https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/51eb6ab15c/TEST/d3adc019ef/v=bVqfPbfVNBM" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">Five minutes watching babies laugh on YouTube</a> can pay off in numerous ways.</span></li></ul><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Practice Changing Your Thoughts.</strong> When a negative thought enters your <span class="il">mind</span>, you can practice changing it. If you have a negative thought, think it out, and then turn it around to something positive. With practice, the negative thoughts will resolve themselves.</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;" /><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">You don’t have to be overly positive for these tactics to work. If you have trouble turning a negative thought into a positive one, use a neutral thought instead. </span></span></p>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-52182471706395604572023-12-04T10:45:00.001-06:002023-12-04T10:46:12.956-06:00Mindset Monday: Take Daily Baby Steps<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHmUCoiPDUO2mMdmNzkpsb5keWtF5POk8CT7KeC2Y5MpKiD0kaXntNV_2xDXiXvwGi9IEM5DztYtkI1zKzxqmF5Mawtiv1AvZsNAxUbsUWHttm1gaVzoKnDG1EHxuuEvbM37R4CYA4CSQhwFVz9Y53umzmEN79axoyUHCA8z3lVL9b0xtJ9WTWSdJe-aSo/s2240/MM%20Daily%20Baby%20Steps.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHmUCoiPDUO2mMdmNzkpsb5keWtF5POk8CT7KeC2Y5MpKiD0kaXntNV_2xDXiXvwGi9IEM5DztYtkI1zKzxqmF5Mawtiv1AvZsNAxUbsUWHttm1gaVzoKnDG1EHxuuEvbM37R4CYA4CSQhwFVz9Y53umzmEN79axoyUHCA8z3lVL9b0xtJ9WTWSdJe-aSo/w640-h360/MM%20Daily%20Baby%20Steps.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Happy <strong>Mindset Monday!</strong> To support your success, I’ll be sharing mindset tips with you on Mondays. Today’s tips are to help you succeed without getting overwhelmed.<br /><br />When you want to experience success, sometimes looking at the whole project is too overwhelming. However, if you take small steps daily, you’ll meet your goal and it will be less stressful.<br /><br />This will help you to:</span></p><ul><li><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><strong>See things more clearly.</strong> The giant goal of building a six-figure career services business can seem daunting, but the smaller goal of getting one new client a week is a lot more do-able, because you can see it happening.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Increase your focus.</strong> It’s easier and more effective to focus on what you can do today, instead of thinking too far ahead. For example, if one of your goals is to write a book, it may seem impossible. Break your goal down to write one chapter a month. You could break it down further into writing 4,000 words a month, or about 1,000 words a week, or 150 words a day.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif"><strong>Stop procrastinating.</strong> Knowing you need to write 150 words to meet your goal is less stressful and easier to imagine than writing 4,000 words in one sitting — so you’re more likely to jump in and get it done.</span><br /></span></li></ul><ul><li><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Lower stress.</strong> If the thought of writing a book overwhelms you, it’s okay. You don’t have to focus on the whole project at one time. Instead, focus on writing the chapter outline. Or write 150 words. This will help you complete the work and meet your goal without dreading the task.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif"><strong>Build confidence.</strong> When you take small, daily steps, you’ll be able to start measuring your success within just a couple of weeks. Being able to look back on what you’ve accomplished will build your confidence level. Having more confidence makes it easier for you to envision the big goals you’ve made.</span><br /></span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif"><strong>Create habits.</strong> Building habits that affect your life today and in the future is the best way to ensure you start reaching the goals you set. Habits work much better for getting things done than trying to motivate yourself or hope for willpower. Those small daily actions end up creating patterns that become habits.</span><br /></span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif"><span style="font-family: arial;">It may seem impossible to get big results by taking small steps each day, but you can. For example, if every single day you increase your walking time by just one minute, by the end of the year, you’d be walking six hours a day. (No one needs to walk that much, but it demonstrates just how powerful one minute can become, given enough time!)</span><br /></span></p>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-42009684862886744002023-11-27T10:42:00.000-06:002023-12-04T10:46:28.037-06:00Mindset Monday: Envision Your Success<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwVd5kPQZN0C-1lrw_xIsmYp1Br92kA-mR5QWyOBGZFrSsyHJr9Je4TQPwsBLirM7tvaB2W2irFPzYRqnmwCCwp7_6AfKp-CsxbDGeF9ld8tUIvwSAt-3P11KUrVyam4T73-V_J5L_er1VQmetxptWzXJb5EWwS1DDQM9OhCcn9CGjfdnavZk10EHl9U7H/s2240/MM%20Envision%20Your%20Success.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwVd5kPQZN0C-1lrw_xIsmYp1Br92kA-mR5QWyOBGZFrSsyHJr9Je4TQPwsBLirM7tvaB2W2irFPzYRqnmwCCwp7_6AfKp-CsxbDGeF9ld8tUIvwSAt-3P11KUrVyam4T73-V_J5L_er1VQmetxptWzXJb5EWwS1DDQM9OhCcn9CGjfdnavZk10EHl9U7H/w640-h360/MM%20Envision%20Your%20Success.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><div class="wsc-contenteditable-mirror wsc-element" style="border: medium; display: inline; float: left; height: 0px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 0px; z-index: 1;"><div style="border: 0px transparent; box-sizing: content-box; color: transparent; height: 783px; left: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; pointer-events: none; position: relative; top: 8px; width: 905px;"><div style="border: 0px; height: 783px; margin: 0px; min-height: 100%; min-width: 100%; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 913px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div></div><div class="wsc-contenteditable-mirror wsc-element" style="border: medium; display: inline; float: left; height: 0px; margin: 0px; overflow: visible; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 0px; z-index: 1;"><div style="border: 0px transparent; box-sizing: content-box; color: transparent; height: 758px; left: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; pointer-events: none; position: relative; top: 8px; width: 905px;"><div style="border: 0px; height: 758px; margin: 0px; min-height: 100%; min-width: 100%; padding: 0px; position: relative; width: 905px;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div></div><p><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;">Today’s mindset tips are to help you with visualizing your success.<br /><br />Most personal success mindset instructions tell you that before you can experience success, you should pinpoint what your vision of success looks like. Take some time to realistically “daydream” about the work you’ll accomplish — and your success.<br /><br />The main reason you need a vision is because if you don’t know what you want, you won’t recognize it — even if someone handed it to you on a silver platter. <br /><br />To help you visualize the success you want to achieve, try one (or more) of these suggestions:<br /></span></p><ul><li><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Create a vision board.</strong> When you’re trying to achieve a goal, use a vision board to help you fully imagine what that success looks like. For example, if you want to build your career services business to six figures, create a vision board depicting what that looks like to help you create the steps to get there.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Write down your goals.</strong> If you don’t want to create a vision board, you can still visualize your success by using very descriptive writing to describe your goals. When you write down a SMART success goal, be very specific about what constitutes success to you.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><strong>Picture your goals being met.</strong> When creating your vision board — or writing down each goal — take the time to imagine it in your mind. You may want to consider doing this in a nice, quiet place in your home, where you can relax and/or find inspiration. Allow yourself to pretend you have achieved your goal. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">Use the following questions to help set the stage for your vision:</span></li><li><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif" style="font-family: arial;"><em>– Where will you likely be when you meet the goal or finish the project?<br />– Will someone be there when you achieve the goal? Who?<br />– What emotions will you probably feel?<br />– What clothing will you be wearing?<br />– Who will you call first, and what will you say?</em></span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="tahoma, geneva, sans-serif"><br />Picture the future — and then work your plan to achieve it!<br /></span></span></p>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-21802468565468887502023-11-13T10:31:00.000-06:002023-11-13T10:31:01.013-06:00Mindset Monday: What Does Work-Life Balance Mean to You?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPtB2oj6Q2CEEURTtV_xvBlidLzLz1Qo9MCBpS1OQv_FEutkfQSEsUgwDOpEDA53dUgz9d6RuRhWKkAZZH7nZwVbbkfLjiTE0Y6nft_W6qsUmYUS29r65P5JI6ptwtbRsJheR7am0_wFjQslaIwh0zu9HKrExf64l3wfizoUC9vHOjI1gEIdNi8EzAte8m/s2240/WorkLifeBalance.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPtB2oj6Q2CEEURTtV_xvBlidLzLz1Qo9MCBpS1OQv_FEutkfQSEsUgwDOpEDA53dUgz9d6RuRhWKkAZZH7nZwVbbkfLjiTE0Y6nft_W6qsUmYUS29r65P5JI6ptwtbRsJheR7am0_wFjQslaIwh0zu9HKrExf64l3wfizoUC9vHOjI1gEIdNi8EzAte8m/w640-h360/WorkLifeBalance.png" width="640" /></a></div><span style="font-family: tahoma, geneva, sans-serif;"><p>Welcome to <strong>Mindset Mondays!</strong> To support your success, for the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing mindset tips with you each Monday. Today’s tips are to help you with your work/life balance — something a lot of us struggle with (me included!).</p></span><p></p><span style="font-family: tahoma, geneva, sans-serif;">Before you can dream about creating work/life balance, you first must define what exactly it means to you. The main thing to understand is that work/life balance does not mean that you spend equal time on everything you want and need to do.<br /><br />Instead, it more than likely means that you can spend the time needed <em><strong>in each area of your life</strong></em> even if you can’t spend all the time you want. Discover your personal work/life balance with the following suggestions.</span><ul><li><span style="font-family: tahoma, geneva, sans-serif;"><strong>List the things you need to do and the things you want to do.</strong> For most people, it’s helpful to put all the things they want to do and need to do in a calendar with a realistic schedule. That way, you know if you have time or not.</span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: tahoma, geneva, sans-serif;"><strong>Set your priorities.</strong> Your priority might be different from someone else’s and that’s fine. Your personal life is yours to live, as you see fit and you can prioritize what you want to. Try to remember that there is a difference between <em>wants</em> and <em>needs</em> as you move forward. You may <em>want</em> to sleep until 10 a.m. every day, but your limited time to get things done might make that unrealistic. </span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: tahoma, geneva, sans-serif;"><strong>Be consistent.</strong> Like most things, you’ll get better results when you are consistent for the long term. It works with almost everything you want to do, from finishing a certification to losing weight to running a six-figure career services business. </span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: tahoma, geneva, sans-serif;"><strong>Track your results.</strong> Don’t assume that a step you took resulted in a specific impact until you track and measure your results. You don’t really know which actions you took that worked until you prove it. For example, if you’re working on saving money, you look your savings account and see your account balance. Do the same when you’re trying to save time, build a closer relationship with someone, and so forth. </span></li></ul><ul><li><span style="font-family: tahoma, geneva, sans-serif;"><strong>Surround yourself with people who value you</strong>. When you do this, there is no pressure to be something you’re not. Just be yourself and do what you feel comfortable doing. However, you still need to grow and learn new things. </span></li></ul><div><span style="font-family: tahoma, geneva, sans-serif;">“Time Freedom” is one of my personal values. Having the flexibility to work when I want to work (even if that means working late one night so I can have an afternoon off to pick up my niece and nephews from school the next day) is a core value to me.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: tahoma, geneva, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: tahoma, geneva, sans-serif;">What does work-life balance mean for you? What are your core values? Are your values in alignment with how you’ve structured your business? Leave a comment below!</span></div>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-50986774841713184072023-10-23T14:20:00.001-05:002023-10-23T14:20:34.248-05:00Solving a Problem: Getting Organized in Your Job Search (Creator Spotlight)<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh47L4xcfsM7d9dYf0HRwNU82ozDhPXDitttNRfLXnuurEFoQkzhpTUoUyTdOA-DUUGcm3YVE-odUcmDJKq8f0tRPGXMDpvTm3b3AeWo3oLbBtS94aMxCzxk0zbliG4PZrE8w5beu_TtukrIfcImOspFpgfXp13s897UnnmZnCYjZ8xDmsdSnySH0fc1Wc_/s1920/GetOrganizedToGetHiredHeader.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh47L4xcfsM7d9dYf0HRwNU82ozDhPXDitttNRfLXnuurEFoQkzhpTUoUyTdOA-DUUGcm3YVE-odUcmDJKq8f0tRPGXMDpvTm3b3AeWo3oLbBtS94aMxCzxk0zbliG4PZrE8w5beu_TtukrIfcImOspFpgfXp13s897UnnmZnCYjZ8xDmsdSnySH0fc1Wc_/w640-h360/GetOrganizedToGetHiredHeader.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">One common problem jobseekers face in their job search is getting — and staying — organized.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Alison King has created a course — <b><a href="https://royalcareeracademy.teachable.com/p/get-organized-to-get-hired" target="_blank">Get Organized to Get Hired: Organize Your Job Search, Reduce Overwhelm, and Get Hired – Quicker</a><a href="https://royalcareeracademy.teachable.com/p/get-organized-to-get-hired">!</a></b> — full of actionable tips and techniques to help jobseekers organize all the documents, communications, and appointments throughout the job search process. “The course is especially targeted to jobseekers who plan to apply to 10+ jobs and need help keeping all the administrative details straight!”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The course is designed for anyone (“any industry, job title, or experience level,” King says) who is preparing for — or in the very early stages of — their job search, whether they are looking to move up in their current industry or switch to a new career. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">King recognized the need for a course after conducting her own job search and realizing it was confusing trying to track all the details for multiple job applications. “It’s especially challenging for people like me who are not super-organized by nature,” she noted. “During my own job search, I got organized by necessity — not because I love organization — so I wanted it to be accessible to people like me.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The course is quick — “about an hour to get through it,” King says — and offers low- and no-cost solutions so jobseekers can apply the tips immediately and feel confident and organized as they start their job search process. It includes templates for LinkedIn networking, tips for digital file organization for different versions of resumes and cover letters, and a spreadsheet to use to track all the jobs they apply for.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“This was the course I wish I had when I started my own full-time librarian-to-copyeditor job search in April 2022,” King says. “It had been a few years since I’d done a job search, and I had NEVER done one where I applied to more than five jobs.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“The admin work got overwhelming so quickly, and I felt like my head was spinning all the time with emails, interview scheduling, and networking,” she adds. “Although I had seen some career pros allude to certain aspects of job search organization, I couldn’t find all that information in one place. When my job search ended four months later (and not a moment too soon, because otherwise I’d be going back to my school librarian job in September!), I knew I had to share the systems I developed with other jobseekers. My search was stressful, but these systems made the admin part far more manageable!”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://royalcareeracademy.teachable.com/p/get-organized-to-get-hired" target="_blank">The course is $49</a> and is self-paced so students can go through it at their own pace. Use promo code <b>RWD10</b> to save $10 off the course price for a limited time. (Enter the promo code on the checkout page.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">For career colleagues considering creating their first — or next — course, King offers a peek into her course development process.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“My challenge is that I get really inspired to write a course, (so I) write a ton of it at once, and then leave it unfinished for too long. I lost momentum for months … or maybe a year? Seriously, I have multiple docs on my (hard) drive of potential course content in various states of ‘done-ness,’” King says. “There was some imposter syndrome mixed in there too, since I’ve only been writing resumes for about three years.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">When creating the <a href="https://royalcareeracademy.teachable.com/p/get-organized-to-get-hired" target="_blank">“Get Organized to Get Hired”</a> course, “I think I finally just set a date that I needed to release it — for my own sanity,” she added.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">King also says the “Career Colleague Teachable Tribe” (CCTT) courses offered by <a href="http://BeAResumeWriter.com">BeAResumeWriter.com</a> were helpful.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“I was part of both CCTT sessions Bridget offered. The sales page template was a life-saver. I had never written a sales page before, so that was a big block to launching.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">King is already working on her next course. “With my most recent course about cover letters — which I started writing ages ago during the first CCTT — I got motivated to finally finish while at the NRWA conference. I’d go back to the hotel at night to write and while touring Colorado after the conference. I told myself I needed to finish it before I landed back home in Philadelphia because otherwise, I was likely to let it linger again.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">She reports she did finish writing the cover letter course on the plane ride home and is launching the course soon.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“With the cover letter course, I actually used ChatGPT to help fill in the blanks where I was getting writer’s block. It took a lot of adjusting the prompt (“make it shorter” and “make it less formal”), but that was enough to work with as a base before making it my own tips and voice,” she said.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">King also said she used some of the Pass-Along Materials content from Bronze membership in BeAResumeWriter.com to fill in the blanks in the content and help with creation of the downloadable files she created for students.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“Ultimately, I need to remind myself that ‘Done is better than perfect’ and that I can always go back and adjust things later … so just launch the darn thing!” </span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">For more information about Alison King and her courses, visit:</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="http://royalcareeracademy.teachable.com/p/get-organized-to-get-hired" target="_blank">Royal Career Academy</a></b> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="http://www.kingcareerservices.com" target="_blank">King Career Services</a></b> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/alisonking100"><b>Alison King on LinkedIn</b></a> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p><br /></p>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-25547298333652491672023-09-11T17:00:00.002-05:002023-09-26T12:22:34.191-05:00Day 3 at INBOUND: Two Words – Reese Witherspoon<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyf4WkZ3XsHJtnfjiKsG4-Hojl3dScDbAiwQHwCb8hkLjsWRFks72lW7DoByBVlLncSlY_bUTuYSa0tG6BxOEGwOgBa10VCRunlFOdJRd0unuRVae1F2wxWeMtb2ckTmm2ZFFCz_eE2LW2hCqjp9TvADlhNUmFPsxpokc9L1psftUm8yAVqFdFcFlKMDsQ/s1220/INBOUND23Logo.webp" style="font-family: arial; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="1220" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyf4WkZ3XsHJtnfjiKsG4-Hojl3dScDbAiwQHwCb8hkLjsWRFks72lW7DoByBVlLncSlY_bUTuYSa0tG6BxOEGwOgBa10VCRunlFOdJRd0unuRVae1F2wxWeMtb2ckTmm2ZFFCz_eE2LW2hCqjp9TvADlhNUmFPsxpokc9L1psftUm8yAVqFdFcFlKMDsQ/w640-h360/INBOUND23Logo.webp" width="640" /></a></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><i>“If you want to change the stories, you need to change the storytellers.” </i></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i style="font-family: arial;">— Reese Witherspoon</i></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">When we decided not to attend INBOUND 2023 in person, one of my biggest disappointments came when I learned that Reese Witherspoon would be one of the Main Stage speakers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I love Reese Witherspoon. I saw the original “Legally Blonde” in the movie theatre like half a dozen times. (I was a paid tester for the precursor to “MoviePass,” so we saw it a LOT.) We also drove to Des Moines to see “Legally Blonde: The Musical” and then saw it again when it came to Omaha. “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White, and Blonde” wasn’t as good as the original, but I’ve been anxiously awaiting a <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/us/legally-blonde-3-release-heres-everything-you-may-want-to-know/articleshow/101261618.cms?from=mdr#" target="_blank">rumored third sequel</a>. I also loved <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1Io3KGupTI" target="_blank">this pandemic skit</a> that Laura Bell Bundy did in character as Elle Woods.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">But anyway, knowing we weren’t going to Boston this year, and hearing about Reese Witherspoon being a speaker, I was bummed. So I was thrilled when HubSpot announced that the Main Stage speakers would be live-streamed — including Reese!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">But before Reese, there were sessions on Brand Building (with Beyoncé’s publicist), “How to Build a $100M Community,” a panel session on “The Future of Media,” an interview with the founders of HubSpot on how they built the company, and then a session on the growth of the Angel City Football Club (I missed most of this one because I was on a client call).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">One change from the first two days of INBOUND (read about them here: <a href="https://rwdigest.blogspot.com/2023/09/insights-from-day-1-of-inbound-23-ai.html" target="_blank">Day 1</a> and <a href="https://rwdigest.blogspot.com/2023/09/day-2-at-inbound-i-took-24-pages-of.html" target="_blank">Day 2</a>) was that it was 10:06 a.m. Central time (more than two hours in) before the first mention of artificial intelligence. (The first two days were AI intensive!)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">And then it was time for Reese Witherspoon! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Her session was titled, “Lessons on Innovation, Leadership, and Navigating Change.” The one disappointing part was that the 2023 Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) strike and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) strike meant that she wouldn’t be talking about her past, present, or future work, as the interviewer, Zinhle Essamuah, anchor of NBC News Daily (NBC), mentioned in her introduction of the actress, producer, and entrepreneur.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Still, there was plenty to talk about. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Witherspoon described how she wasn’t seeing a lot of scripts with female leads, so she decided to fill that gap. “I can’t expect to make change by staying in the same circle,” she said. “I’m going to put my money where my mouth is.” So she started the first iteration of her production/media company, Hello Sunshine.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">She self-funded the company. “It was high risk,” she noted. “Being famous does not equate to having business acumen.” She said she didn’t know how to be an executive, but she did know “critical life skills,” — for example: “Show up, do what you say you’re going to do, return emails, and if you tell someone you’re going to read their script, do it.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Her experience acting helped prepare her to work collaboratively. She laughed when she noted, “10 percent of (her) job is acting; the other 90 percent is helping people get along.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">But it wasn’t easy. Witherspoon said that the award nominations flowed in, but the money did not. She said she had the proof she could create important work, but “I wasn’t paid appropriately for what I was bringing to the table.” So she retooled. She raised capital and got the company on solid financial footing. Persistence was key.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“Nobody believes as much in my dream as I do. I would wake up and do something to further my dream forward,“ she added.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Earlier in the week before INBOUND, the news broke that Witherspoon <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/06/business/reese-witherspoon-draper-james-acquired/index.html" target="_blank">had sold a majority stake in a clothing line she had started</a>, Draper James. It was a completely different growth path than Hello Sunshine. “Retail is hard. It’s really difficult.” But, she noted, she finally found the “right partners” and said she was excited for the company’s future growth. She will keep a seat on the board of directors, and has several family members involved in the brand’s retail presence in Nashville.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Essamuah asked Witherspoon her advice to people looking to maximize their bottom line. She responded, “It doesn’t matter where you get to in a business, you always have to be adapting.” She noted that her business has changed “again and again.” One thing that is consistent: “It’s so important that the audience is understood, spoken to correctly, and they feel seen and heard. That’s all storytelling is. That’s all media is. That’s all the relationship with your customer is,” she said. “Do you see me? Do you hear me? How do you make me feel? Do I see myself reflected in the stories you tell?”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">For us as career industry professionals, this is an important message. Whether we’re telling our client’s story (in the resume) or our own story (in our own marketing), understanding our audience is critical. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">After spending three days “attending” the virtual Main Stage sessions at INBOUND, that was an important reminder. Artificial intelligence is here to stay, but AI can’t replace personal connections and relationships. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Witherspoon ended by answering a question about the best advice she had ever received. She mentioned an Ava DuVernay quote she loves: “If your dream is only about you, it’s too small.” </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“Every single person in this room as the ability to change another person’s life, and I think you’re going to go out and do it,” Witherspoon said.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><i style="font-family: -webkit-standard;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Did you miss yesterday’s blog post? Read it here:</span></i></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://rwdigest.blogspot.com/2023/09/day-2-at-inbound-i-took-24-pages-of.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span>Day 2 at INBOUND: I Took 24 Pages of Notes (and Someday, AI Will Take Those </span>Notes</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> For Me</span></a></span></div><p><br /></p>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-6756371990986882182023-09-07T22:10:00.002-05:002023-09-26T12:20:51.618-05:00Day 2 at INBOUND: I Took 24 Pages of Notes (and Someday, AI Will Take Those Notes For Me)<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo_TdT4pBQ6RQq7kcHvvuH9I7_SLVPO_FqXOLQRDrFkjdlUaKp6G0BGGNwILqjaSiCfMfnC3hoR_hJYDSs47xJh5MbplHTk156y8md2v2V3xcEHk0YbDCrUBs0_s74hlrtyPzYOx-_yE4bZY-VKQlAjorFY5QsBPenzJ6wtJWBqtQ_F9Dak4SY3lCHi-A_/s1220/INBOUND23Logo.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="1220" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo_TdT4pBQ6RQq7kcHvvuH9I7_SLVPO_FqXOLQRDrFkjdlUaKp6G0BGGNwILqjaSiCfMfnC3hoR_hJYDSs47xJh5MbplHTk156y8md2v2V3xcEHk0YbDCrUBs0_s74hlrtyPzYOx-_yE4bZY-VKQlAjorFY5QsBPenzJ6wtJWBqtQ_F9Dak4SY3lCHi-A_/w640-h360/INBOUND23Logo.webp" width="640" /></span></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">What was the big takeaway from today (Day 2) at INBOUND 23?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">That someday (probably today, actually), I won’t have to type furiously to capture everything I want to remember from a day’s worth of conference sessions. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Mentioned prominently by several speakers today was how generative AI can eliminate the drudgery of work, allowing creative professionals to focus on the work that matters.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">We already know that AI can transcribe videos pretty accurately — Teachable added that functionality to its course platform recently — so the fact that I spent most of my day watching sessions and virtually transcribing the speakers as they talked about how AI could take notes for us in the future and even — with “digital twins” — represent us in meetings … well, let’s just say the irony wasn’t lost on me.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">But I’ve learned over the years that I learn best when I’m typing the information myself. So I’m not sure how that will work in the future, but for today, I got a LOT out of the sessions by watching the videos myself and doing the transcribing personally.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">There were three sessions today that I found particularly impactful. I’ll try to give you a couple of key takeaways from each.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The Captain’s Playbook: Strategies for Success</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The second day of INBOUND started an hour earlier than yesterday, but I didn’t want to miss this session, so I was up early. One of the neat things about INBOUND is the Spotlight sessions that bring in some big names to speak. In 2019, we got to hear from Jennifer Garner. Last year, former President Obama did the closing keynote.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">This morning, Derek Jeter was the first speaker. Jeter isn’t just a former baseball player (and a good one, at that!). He’s a businessman, founder of a nonprofit, and father. His talk wove in elements of each of these. One of his key messages was about failure — and the resiliency required to survive it. “I played a sport where, if you fail for long enough, you go to the Hall of Fame. Baseball and the weatherman are the only two jobs where you can fail that much and still have a job,” Jeter said. “You have to get used to failure and try to find a positive in anytime you’ve done something wrong.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">He talked about creating a “winning culture.” He said, “You always hear people say they want ‘Everyone on the same page.’’ He said you need enough people on the same page, pulling in the same direction. “You have to make people feel they are part of the same team, that they are valuable.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Listening to him made me want to watch his documentary, “The Captain” (which Jon looked up and it’s on ESPN+. We’ll definitely be checking it out.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Getting Candid: Lessons in Workplace Culture and Feedback</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I had never heard of the concept of “Radical Candor” before this session, but I learned a lot about it — including that I want to try it in real life.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“Radical Candor is about caring and changing. It helps organizations become more collaborative,” says the book’s author, Kim Scott. Scott told the origin story of the concept. She and her dog were out for a walk and the dog was almost hit by a car. A man nearby said, “I can tell you really love that dog.” But, he added, you’re going to kill that dog if you don’t get her to sit. He pointed to the ground said “SIT” and the dog sat. He added, “It’s not mean, it’s clear.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I like that: It’s not mean, it’s clear.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZlczYxvtxNEWlaTqxwpNfUygsr1X6ZbAXwPe9BTc1kBu-MD_v-F3k_r8VhPeqASoKcIZiFFHpbfkM0glO-KnN25bqOly5uhOZMBMK3dj1qyM6-3y3n7lCH65v2qGOI70y3D0_n60F4wScVhZqcLC-5decHNv6JFuNNBAbgANSjoy6NcFfQ2pQbFLvnix/s2929/RadicalCandorFramework.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2063" data-original-width="2929" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZlczYxvtxNEWlaTqxwpNfUygsr1X6ZbAXwPe9BTc1kBu-MD_v-F3k_r8VhPeqASoKcIZiFFHpbfkM0glO-KnN25bqOly5uhOZMBMK3dj1qyM6-3y3n7lCH65v2qGOI70y3D0_n60F4wScVhZqcLC-5decHNv6JFuNNBAbgANSjoy6NcFfQ2pQbFLvnix/w400-h280/RadicalCandorFramework.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I got a sense of the Radical Candor framework from Scott’s presentation, but I’m looking forward to <a href="https://amzn.to/3Z7fZiQ" target="_blank">reading the book</a>. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">One of the most important pieces of the concept was “It’s difficult to change personality vs. behavior.” Focus on what you observe.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Scott noted that “Some people have used Radical Candor to be obnoxious.” Someone told her, “It’s not a superpower if it can’t be used for evil.”</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Preparing for the AI Boom: The Perspective of a Futurist</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I’ve been in sessions with futurists before, but never one talking about the future of AI. This one was interesting. Sinead Bovell, the founder of Waye, first took us back to 1993. “The World Wide Web has just dropped. People are talking about it. They don’t fully understand it. We don’t know the industries that will be invented,” she said. “Explain to people from then how we live today: social media, apps, the creator economy. Imagine what has yet to be invented in a world where we co-exist with smart machines.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">With that in mind, where we are today with AI makes more sense. Bovell says we really haven’t seen anything yet when it comes to AI. She said right now, people are treating AI as a gadget. But, she adds, we haven’t invented the things that will exist on top of AI. She said it’s like the camera has been invented, but movies haven’t.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">When it comes to the workforce, Bovell says employers are asking the wrong questions. They are asking “What roles can I replace with AI? Where can I leverage this for the bottom line?” She said they should be thinking about, “How can I add value with these systems?” She encourages attendees to be thinking “3, 5, 10 years down the road. If you’re only thinking 3-5 years down the road, things will look very different. If you were completely caught off guard by the breakthroughs in AI this year, you’re not looking far enough ahead.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Bovell provided several “use cases” for how AI might impact us in the future. She talked about a chatbot as a part of a team — you can converse with it and it can answer your questions, create A/B tests, and execute a project. It’s still up to you to make the decision about how to move forward, but AI can add value and transform your team.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">As I mentioned in yesterday’s Day 1 blog post, “change” and “artificial intelligence” are the two themes of this year’s conference. Today’s sessions really focused on both.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I can’t wait for day 3. Two words: “Reese Witherspoon.”</span></p><p><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Did you miss yesterday’s blog post? Read it here:</span></i></p><p><a href="https://rwdigest.blogspot.com/2023/09/insights-from-day-1-of-inbound-23-ai.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Insights From Day 1 of INBOUND 23: An AI Drinking Game and How Technology Let Me Down</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Read Day 3’s blog post here:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://rwdigest.blogspot.com/2023/09/day-3-at-inbound-two-words-reese.html" target="_blank">Day 3 at INBOUND: Two Words – Reese Witherspoon</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-51142162797613213962023-09-06T22:25:00.003-05:002023-09-26T12:19:28.767-05:00Insights From Day 1 of INBOUND 23: An AI Drinking Game and How Technology Let Me Down<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvNUekC37ZGnSBXzA6obdLfW0Bb7ngvA3a08V3U0Dc9g-AoCKzIR_OOdem4rNFrUobSLTfF8W8vpX0BHKem9PsE82ZRq00_2_IjrFR4caZzvo7PWAyk4KUTt_rHBRM2-V4qFNbjmzvWEipBFL5QL8eZcWPGDB0hk-MrtQt0VxhfQ2wSs8yxOblu5pEzgFy/s1220/INBOUND23Logo.webp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="686" data-original-width="1220" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvNUekC37ZGnSBXzA6obdLfW0Bb7ngvA3a08V3U0Dc9g-AoCKzIR_OOdem4rNFrUobSLTfF8W8vpX0BHKem9PsE82ZRq00_2_IjrFR4caZzvo7PWAyk4KUTt_rHBRM2-V4qFNbjmzvWEipBFL5QL8eZcWPGDB0hk-MrtQt0VxhfQ2wSs8yxOblu5pEzgFy/w640-h360/INBOUND23Logo.webp" width="640" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span>As I mentioned in my email last week to Resume Writers’ Digest subscribers, Jon and I decided not to attend HubSpot’s marketing conference, INBOUND 2023, this year. It’s an awesome conference, and we will miss being in Boston in September for the third time!</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">But we aren’t completely missing out, because HubSpot is live-streaming some of the daily sessions. Today was <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bEInPzbsns&utm_campaign=INBOUND%20Email%20Promotion&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=273001202&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--Wsixo2_k61FJTrjOEz-3QlXnXwgRoU_tDXxifw7X_I52V96aTeTM18VD9kvsjW7_zKZeIXd6vqyml976m9pPqg8KAZMsxTcaawFXm7HSSTn-SCW8&utm_content=273001202&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Day 1</a>, and I wanted to share some key insights from the keynote session, and my thoughts.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">There are approximately 12,000 in-person attendees in Boston, and Jon and I were among the estimated 100,000 people watching online.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">First of all, looking at the livestream session descriptions, you’ll see it’s heavy on artificial intelligence (AI)-related topics. That was initially a little off-putting to me — but I was pleasantly surprised by the actual sessions themselves. I joked on a group text with our friend Jason (who is attending INBOUND in person) that we could make an AI “drinking game” where you have to take a drink every time they say, "AI."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">His response was: “I’m not sure even I can survive that drinking game. Just reading the agenda for today is 14 shots.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Since I drink Cherry Cokes, I’d survive … but to say that AI is THE topic of conversation this year would be an understatement.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">And a nod to the “How Technology Let Me Down” part of the headline of this blog post: As I mentioned, the sessions are live-streamed. So I was taking notes as it went along. I’ve mentioned before that I absolutely LOVE <a href="http://bit.ly/RWDLovesEvernote" target="_blank">Evernote</a> … but today, Evernote failed me. In the opening session, there were three separate speakers. As I started to write the notes for the third speaker, I noticed that half of my notes from the second speaker had disappeared. I pay for the Premium version of Evernote, so I thought maybe I had overwritten part of the note accidentally, so I went back to check my version history to restore the note.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Nope. No luck. That wasn’t the issue. The content had just disappeared. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Fortunately, it appears that I can go back and re-watch the second speaker of the first session and re-capture my notes. But UGH! After realizing that, I took the remainder of the day’s notes in Microsoft Word. Jon mentioned that there is an update for Evernote, and we’ll be updating it tonight to see if that fixes it. (In pasting in my notes from Microsoft Word after the last session, part of it didn't paste into Evernote either. So yeah, we’ll be doing the update to the app.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">One of my favorite things about attending conferences — whether that’s a <a href="https://rwdigest.blogspot.com/2023/08/career-industry-conference-update-2023.html" target="_blank">resume writing conference</a> or a marketing conference — is the inspiration. The content (especially actionable content) is important, but the ability to just step back from daily activities is such a critical thing for me.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Now, unfortunately for me, I couldn’t completely unplug from daily life. We’re getting new siding put on the house after a June 2022 hailstorm and I had to take my Honda Pilot in for an oil change (it was supposed to be yesterday, but my mechanic had to reschedule).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Ok, onto the highlights from the keynote session.<br /><br /><b>HubSpot Keynote</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The first of the three speakers during the keynote was Yamini Rangan, CEO of HubSpot. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Change is the theme. Technology is changing. The way customers buy is changing. How we connect with customers needs to change.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Artificial intelligence isn’t new — it’s been around for decades. But predictive AI — which predicts the future based on past data — has the potential to transform knowledge and creative work.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">If you put the word “artificial” aside, focus on “intelligence.” That’s the shift happening with AI — going from acquiring information to acting on intelligence. What’s the best way to use this intelligence? Rangan says, “The intelligent way to use intelligence is to drive customer connection.” The power of acting on intelligence is to “connect deeply” with customers. That connection matters, she says, “because it drives growth.” She added that customers who focus on customer connection saw five times more growth than the average company. Companies who consistently connect with customers through every stage of the customer journey saw 19% more growth.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“No matter the segment or industry, the more you engage with your customers, the more you can grow,” Rangan said. “Customer connection drives growth. AI can drive connection at scale. Always start with the customer. Get deeply curious about your customer’s journey.” Getting to know customers on a granular level — understanding the whole person — is the key.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“Customer expectations are changing. We need to put ourselves in the shoes of our customers to understand this change — from how they discover and consider the product to how they buy and use these products,” she added.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The customer journey:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">• <b><i>Discover.</i></b> This is changing from search to social. You use to be able to search and get links from all over the Internet. Now, customers are discovering products before they search — on social media. “Customers don’t want to search — they want to get social.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">• <b><i>Consider.</i></b> Customers want to learn more. How they learn is changing from “clicks” to “conversations.” Before, when your customer wanted information, they went to your website. They would click, filter, and sort through information. All that clicking is time-consuming and inefficient, especially in the world of ChatGPT. Now, they want to go to your website and chat. They want a one-to-one helpful conversation to find out exactly what they need. “They don’t want to <i>convert</i> on your website; they want to <i>converse</i> on your website.” Their expectations are going from being okay getting personalized information to getting personal insights. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">• <b><i>Buy.</i></b> Make it easy to buy. Don’t make them give you information they’ve already provided. Customers expect you to give them insights every time they connect with them, regardless of the channel. Personal is tailored. They expect insights that are specific to them.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">• <b><i>Use.</i></b> “This is where the real work begins.” Rangan says that customer expectations have changed from being okay with reactive help to getting proactive help. They submit a ticket or call in or follow up with an email to get the answer they need — but, most of the time, they don’t get the answers they are looking for. She says 98% of customers find service interactions frustrating, but you can use AI to “delight them proactively.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">She ended by saying, “AI can be the most profound change to transform marketing, sales, and service.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Next up in the keynote was Andy Pitre, Executive Vice President of the Product Team. He also talked about change, and how it can be hard.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“This is the age of intelligence,” he noted. “Work smarter, not harder.” He talked about how the HubSpot CRM centralizes your customer data in a connected ecosystem, giving you the tools to customize the customer experience.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">His part of the presentation focused more on the integration of AI into the HubSpot product itself. (And this was the part of my notes that Evernote lost, so I’ll have to go back and rewatch his section.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The final part of the keynote was Dharmesh Shah, founder of HubSpot and current Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He’s famous for his “dad jokes” in his speeches, and he didn’t disappoint. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">He started the presentation talking about how his son has been using GPT for the past couple of years. His son is now an advanced user, and built a role-play game that uses GPT. Shah said that English will become “the most popular programming language in the world” thanks to GPT. (Users will be able to program using English instead of code.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">He said advances in AI will address the frustrations that his son has experienced. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Frustration 1: Static language models --> dynamic</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Currently, GPT uses historical information. It doesn't know what has happened since September 2021. Shah said we will see learning models being augmented by real-time data.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Frustration 2: Text input --> Multi-Modal inputs</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Currently, we use text as an input. In the future, we’ll be able to add images, audio, and code as prompts.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Frustration 3: Passive --> Active</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Right now, GPT waits for you to enter a prompt. In the future, it will make suggestions. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">All of this will create to create “the next big wave in generative AI: AgentAI.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Shah sees a future where AI-powered software will work mostly autonomously to pursue goals by working as an expert (working with large language models and other agents). He sees different “agents” tailored to your needs – search agent, web crawling agent, pricing analysis agent.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Shah asked the audience to consider two questions.</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">First, “How should I now be thinking about data in the age of AI?”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">He said AI models are increasingly common, and data is the common denominator. The first generation of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software was increased more than 30 years ago. Cloud CRM came about 20 years ago. The new thing is “Smart CRM” — CRM with AI included.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Second, “Will AI take my job?”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Shah said that “AI will take your job…”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">But then he added “…and give you one that’s better.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">He said it offers the promise of “less grind and more growth.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>He introduced the AIAIO framework:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">• <b><i>Awareness</i></b> – discover what AI can do</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">• <b><i>Investigation</i></b> – explore use cases</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">•<b><i> Adoption</i></b> – get things done</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">• <b><i>Integration</i></b> – weave AI into workflows</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">• <b><i>Optimization</i></b> – look for leverage</span></p><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">He then shared a dad joke:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“I want to thank my wife for introducing me to the word ‘plethora’ — it means a lot.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Okay, I thought that was funny.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">He seemed pleased that the crowd laughed and thanked the crowd. He added, "When I try these jokes on Zoom, people don’t laugh. Maybe they’re not remotely funny.” </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">He ended on a more philosophical note: “It’s not about believing in AI; it’s about believing in yourself.” </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The keynote started the day — and the conference — out on the right note. Change is inevitable. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>READ DAY 2 HERE:</b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://rwdigest.blogspot.com/2023/09/day-2-at-inbound-i-took-24-pages-of.html" target="_blank">Day 2 at INBOUND: I Took 24 Pages of Notes (and Someday AI Will Take Those Notes For Me)</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-27336151541555790502023-08-31T12:00:00.004-05:002023-09-10T23:43:53.149-05:00Career Industry Conference Update: 2023<p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirc0KcPLPQ7WHfuI_jgvh_6jVodp77ru7JoQKdriIrD3driZxjY-zpsaP4HaHNkfCRRJ4bZSn47qaPdiscqu9emlSpfXfxPYwKbmfd-ZMGG82nma7Y9xpipXOwtO7nUYjoU8H6uzVloCKV8Goue4poyZ-0gpgX1eT-TZFYzwR1N0kwGSZZNrAO4Ra4h9gS/s3000/NRWA2021ExcerptsCover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="2250" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirc0KcPLPQ7WHfuI_jgvh_6jVodp77ru7JoQKdriIrD3driZxjY-zpsaP4HaHNkfCRRJ4bZSn47qaPdiscqu9emlSpfXfxPYwKbmfd-ZMGG82nma7Y9xpipXOwtO7nUYjoU8H6uzVloCKV8Goue4poyZ-0gpgX1eT-TZFYzwR1N0kwGSZZNrAO4Ra4h9gS/s320/NRWA2021ExcerptsCover.jpg" width="240" /></a></span></div><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">As the calendar rolls over to September, it’s time to talk about career industry conferences. This is an update to a post from November 2019 (<b><a href="https://rwdigest.blogspot.com/2019/11/have-you-ever-been-to-resume-writing.html" target="_blank">“Have You Ever Been to a Resume Writing Conference?”</a></b>), which built on a post from August 2011 (<b><a href="https://rwdigest.blogspot.com/2011/08/when-is-omaha-conference.html" target="_blank">“When Is the Omaha Conference?”</a></b>)</span></span></p><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2004729663630568995" itemprop="description articleBody" style="line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 686px;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Last year, I found myself in Boston for the 2022 INBOUND conference instead of in New Orleans for the NRWA 2022 Conference. We had first attended INBOUND in 2019 (check out Jon’s series of blog posts about our travels in <b><a href="https://joncrunch.blogspot.com/2019/09/this-is-like-hipster-carnival-inbound.html" target="_blank">2019</a></b> and <b><a href="https://joncrunch.blogspot.com/2022/09/clam-chowder-fries-inbound-2022-trip.html" target="_blank">2022</a></b> – warning: there are really good food pictures!) with our friends Jason and Jolene. We actually haven’t been to an in-person resume conference since 2017, when we drove to Chicago for the NRWA conference.</span></span></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2004729663630568995" itemprop="description articleBody" style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 686px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2004729663630568995" itemprop="description articleBody" style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 686px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span>Here’s the breakdown of where the national resume writing organizations have had their conferences in recent years. (I’ve bolded the ones I attended.)<br /><br /><i><a href="http://www.thenrwa.com/" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">The National Resume Writers' Association (NRWA):</a></i><br />2023 – Colorado Springs, CO</span><span> </span><span>(<a href="https://thenrwa.org/2023-conference-registration" target="_blank">scheduled for Sept. 21-23, 2023 at The Antlers Hotel with an online component as well)</a></span></span></div><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-2004729663630568995" itemprop="description articleBody" style="line-height: 1.4; position: relative; width: 686px;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444; font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">2022 - New Orleans, LA </span><div style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">2021 – NRWA Virtual Conference</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;">2020 – NRWA Virtual Conference</b><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2019 - NRWA Conference at Sea (Cruise to the Bahamas)</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2018 - Seattle, Washington</span></span><br /><b style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;">2017 - Chicago, Illinois</b><br /><b style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;">2016 - Annapolis, Maryland</b><br /><b style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;">2015 - Charlotte, North Carolina</b><br /><b style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;">2014 - Denver, Colorado</b><br /><b style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;">2013 - Chicago, Illinois</b><br /><b style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;">2012 - Charleston, South Carolina</b><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2011 - Portland, Maine</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2010 - Fort Worth, Texas</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2009 - Annapolis, Maryland</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2008 - San Diego, California</span></span><br /><b style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;">2007 - Savannah, Georgia</b><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2</span></span><b style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;">006 - Phoenix, Arizona</b><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2005 - Stamford, Connecticut</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2004 - Nashville, Tennessee</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2003 - Seattle, Washington</span></span><br /><b style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;">2002 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania</b><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2001 - San Antonio, Texas</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2000 - Las Vegas, Nevada</span></span><br /><b style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;">1999 - New Orleans, Louisiana</b><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">1998 - Chicago</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">I’ve been to Colorado Springs for hockey before, but never for a resume writing conference. It’s within driving distance of Omaha too! </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /><i style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;"><a href="http://www.careerdirectors.com/" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">Career Directors International:</a></i><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2016 - Present: No conference</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2015 - Entrepreneurial Success Secrets Live for Career Professionals: Orlando, Florida</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2014 - Global Career Empowerment Summit: SOAR — Orlando, Florida</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2013 - Global Career Empowerment Summit: Your Big Breakthrough — Orlando, Florida</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2012 - Global Career Empowerment Summit: Blaze Your Trail — San Diego, California</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2011 - Global Career Empowerment Summit: Jump On Board the Success Express — </span></span><a href="http://www.careerdirectors.com/conv_2011.htm" style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">Savannah, Georgia</a><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2010 - Global Career Empowerment Summit: You Selected & We Delivered: The Most Outrageously Power-Packed Career Conference Yet — San Diego, California</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2009 - Global Career Empowerment Summit: Take Your Career to New Heights — Orlando, Florida</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2008 - Annual Conference: Get Super with CDI — Seattle, Washington</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2007 - Annual Conference: The Future is You! — San Antonio, Texas</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2006 - Annual Conference: Live the Dream — Orlando, Florida (PRWRA)</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2005 - Annual Conference: Play to Win — Las Vegas, Nevada (PRWRA)</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2004 - Indianapolis, Indiana (PRWRA)</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2003 - New Orleans (PRWRA)</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2002 - Atlanta, Georgia (when the organization was still PRWRA)</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">(Thank you to Laura DeCarlo for help assembling the conference titles and locations!) I was never able to make a CDI conference (they were often in October and conflicted with my UNO Hockey obsession).</span></span><br /><br /><i style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;">Career Management Alliance (no longer in business as of August 2011):</i><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2011 - Las Vegas, Nevada</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2010 - New Orleans, Louisiana</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2009 - San Antonio, Texas</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2008 - Minneapolis, Minnesota</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2007 - Louisville, Kentucky</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2006 - ??</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2005 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (when it was still Career Masters Institute)</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2004 - Atlanta, Georgia (CMI)</span></span><br /><b style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;">2003 - Kansas City, Missouri </b><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">(CMI)</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2002 - San Diego, California (CMI)</span></span><br /><br /><i style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;"><a href="http://www.parw.com/" style="color: #4d469c; text-decoration: none;">Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches</a></i><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2024 – Orlando (<a href="https://www.thrive.show" target="_blank">Thrive Orlando 2024</a>)</span></span></span></div><div><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">2023 – Orlando (Thrive Orlando 2023)</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">2022 – Clearwater, Florida (Thrive 2022)</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">2021 – Virtual Conference</span></span></div><div><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">2020 – No conference due to COVID</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2019 - St. Pete Beach, Florida</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2005-2018: No conference</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2004 - St. Pete Beach, Florida</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2003 - Las Vegas, Nevada</span></span><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">2002 - Dallas, Texas</span></span><br /><b style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;">2001 - Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida</b><br /><b style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68); color: #444444;">2000 - Toronto, Canada</b><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">1999 - Colorado Springs, Colorado</span></span><br /><br /><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(68, 68, 68);">PARW/CC held conferences from 1999-2004 but then discontinued conferences in 2004. The conferences returned in 2019 and are held annually in Florida.</span></span></span><br /></div></div>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-63551131383115502942023-07-20T09:34:00.002-05:002023-09-10T23:44:08.082-05:00Do You Struggle With Pricing Your Resume Services?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBZIoS4eVW-U84RUr19OK7IUZ5b9J4jeruttEABrlh4dTFgCzcDGN0M_sf1Eq0P5Rq9_RC4ULSYLD7kSscIxbN2QECPyQJYJQVyxxWJdYUGaodVZiNjUtVNEmp3NAcB39MA-hbi6mJLEtyOOSjKNZYhlspN01nOHUmgUmQZrXqMTbdP5zZHIFMacXx6h_/s1200/Pricing%20Your%20Resume%20Services.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="800" height="513" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBZIoS4eVW-U84RUr19OK7IUZ5b9J4jeruttEABrlh4dTFgCzcDGN0M_sf1Eq0P5Rq9_RC4ULSYLD7kSscIxbN2QECPyQJYJQVyxxWJdYUGaodVZiNjUtVNEmp3NAcB39MA-hbi6mJLEtyOOSjKNZYhlspN01nOHUmgUmQZrXqMTbdP5zZHIFMacXx6h_/w342-h513/Pricing%20Your%20Resume%20Services.png" width="342" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In my most recent pricing survey of resume writers, 100% of respondents said YES, they have struggled with pricing their career services.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpOaXj0fgnWse7D0W3H53_nl3TGVoYHXTbERhGQi8xnzlwcvfUiU523C6R2RcNzb3I8ZMKsKYs8qd3PDnQ_R1AL7xQWYKWSC6of40zxI5v5yLgBNgM0Ku-YWPs_TroRa_-roTGLDgHB164P2bTIFkdKBOZKFpDyfywSjgjMpMxxhrGGQ-7v-6ck1ktIw/s2590/StruggleWithPricing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="948" data-original-width="2590" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpOaXj0fgnWse7D0W3H53_nl3TGVoYHXTbERhGQi8xnzlwcvfUiU523C6R2RcNzb3I8ZMKsKYs8qd3PDnQ_R1AL7xQWYKWSC6of40zxI5v5yLgBNgM0Ku-YWPs_TroRa_-roTGLDgHB164P2bTIFkdKBOZKFpDyfywSjgjMpMxxhrGGQ-7v-6ck1ktIw/w640-h232/StruggleWithPricing.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Eighty-five percent said they would like to learn more about pricing their services.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdJP23WwCapiD04UW-R0aPipS8l_yFCYSHgZE7_eP37kETqZoOPq6mBUHKb2YXV1tL8AXji8vQvCwePELYhFtrMcv8gB0jtL_AXcYWV1Ivc3ooRDkP2CaJ8QwGl8uDXXwKF76QGZMR_bmH30XdHjZMVJi6zho5AgReBVqOeTUccBcBT5eco4zVYmV7Sw/s1996/LearnMoreAboutPricing.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="964" data-original-width="1996" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdJP23WwCapiD04UW-R0aPipS8l_yFCYSHgZE7_eP37kETqZoOPq6mBUHKb2YXV1tL8AXji8vQvCwePELYhFtrMcv8gB0jtL_AXcYWV1Ivc3ooRDkP2CaJ8QwGl8uDXXwKF76QGZMR_bmH30XdHjZMVJi6zho5AgReBVqOeTUccBcBT5eco4zVYmV7Sw/w640-h310/LearnMoreAboutPricing.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Accurate (and adequate) pricing is one of the biggest predictors of success in your resume writing business. </span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Why Resume Writers Don’t Stay In Business</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I recently read an article about the top 11 reasons small businesses fail. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Number three was: Failure to price your product or service correctly. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Number one was inadequate cash reserves, and number four was the failure to adequately anticipate cash flow. Both of those also relate to pricing, in a way. The author went on to say, “You can be the cheapest, or you can be the best, but if you try to do both, you’ll fail.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Pricing is one of the biggest challenges in succeeding as a freelance resume writer. Charge too much, and you may have trouble attracting clients. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Charge too little, and you’ll have a hard time succeeding. At a minimum, you’ll work harder than you need to, or you won’t be able to give clients enough of your time or energy to truly help them. The worst case scenario is that you can’t afford to stay in business if you don’t charge enough. So pricing is a critical component for your success.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Let me start by saying that pricing your services is a very individual, personal decision.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Before you set your pricing, think about two things: 1) Who are you serving? Who is your target client? 2) What problem are you solving for them? What benefit or benefits do they get from working with you?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">No matter what you end up charging, if you are crystal clear about who you serve and what you can do for them, it will help you attract great clients, and it makes your pricing less of a factor in choosing you.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Once you know who you want to target, you can start figuring out your pricing. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Pricing Models</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Let’s talk about pricing models for services.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin-left: 9.8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0pt 9.8pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.85pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->The first is a straight hourly rate, based on the time the project requires (clients don’t like this model because of the uncertainty for them, so it can be harder to get them to commit. If they don’t know up front if their resume project will be $500 or $5000, they’re not likely to work with oyu.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 9.8pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin-left: 9.8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0pt 9.8pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.85pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->Flat fee, based on the number of hours it’s estimated the project will take. Clients like this because they know what they’ll pay, but the risk is that you have to estimate the time required accurately. You can either provide set “packages” for your services, or quote projects individually, once you’ve determined what your client needs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in 0in 0in 9.8pt; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><style class="WebKit-mso-list-quirks-style">
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</style></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin-left: 9.8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0pt 9.8pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.85pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span>•<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span><!--[endif]-->Value-based. This is not a common pricing strategy for resume writers, but it ties your pricing to the outcome the client will get. For example, if your client gets the job, you get a percentage of their first-year salary. (This is more common for recruiters.) </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin-left: 9.8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0pt 9.8pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.85pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">But how do you come up with the hourly rate, or the rate that you’re basing your flat fee packages on? That’s where the formula for pricing your services comes in. Danielle has a worksheet in your Google Drive that you can use to calculate this.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>A Formula for Pricing Your Services</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The formula for pricing your services consists of three steps. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The first is to estimate your expenses and income. Remember, as a resume writer, you’ll now have some expenses that you didn’t as an employee — marketing costs, supplies, equipment, and extra taxes. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">(In my course for resume writers, <a href="https://resumewritersuniversity.teachable.com/p/the-pricing-is-right1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pricing Right: Price Your Career Services with Confidence</a>, there is a worksheet with expenses to consider.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Add those up. Then, determine what you want to be making. Those two numbers, added together, are your income target. For example, let’s say you want to make $80,000 and your annual expenses are $15,000. Your income target would be $95,000.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Step two is to determine your billable hours and schedule. Even if you’re not billing by the hour, you still need to figure out how many hours a week you’re available to work each week — and use that to determine your billable hours. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">You’ll have billable hours and non billable hours each week. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Billable hours are the hours you’re working on client projects; non billable hours is the time you spend on marketing, client acquisition, and all the fun paperwork that comes with being a freelancer. Let’s say you think you can generate 20 hours of billable time each week. And let’s say you want to include two weeks of vacation each year. For example, if you multiply 20 hours by 50 weeks, you get 1,000 billable hours each year.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The third step is to use the income target and your total annual billable hours to calculate your hourly rate. Divide your income target (step one) by the total number of billable hours per year (step two). For example, $95,000 divided by 1,000 billable hours gives you an hourly rate of $95/hour.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Adjusting Your Rates</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">But you don’t have to stick exactly to the $95/hour rate. You want to consider some other factors that can influence your pricing. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">• the type of clients you work with and the results you’re able to get for them<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin-left: 9.8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0pt 9.8pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.85pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->what you were used to making<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin-left: 9.8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0pt 9.8pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.85pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->your experience/certifications<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin-left: 9.8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0pt 9.8pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.85pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->level of personalization<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt; margin-left: 9.8pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: 1.0pt 9.8pt; text-autospace: none; text-indent: -9.85pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">•<span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]-->what other resume writers are charging<o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; caret-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16pt; margin: 0in; text-align: start; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Once you figure out your pricing, you have to figure out how you’re going to communicate it. 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</style></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Also, consider HOW you’re going to get paid. Deposit up front? Payment in full to start? A common tactic in consulting is progress payments — a deposit and then payment at agreed-upon intervals. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Most resume writers get paid 100% up front because of the custom nature of work. But if you’re hesitant about that to begin with, at least collect a deposit (25% or 50%) up front and the balance when you deliver the draft (or before you deliver the draft).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Want more insight into pricing your resume services? Check out <a href="https://resumewritersuniversity.teachable.com/p/the-pricing-is-right1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“Pricing Right: Price Your Career Services With Confidence.”</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-55911271879735538102023-07-18T07:24:00.003-05:002023-09-10T23:44:26.439-05:006 Steps to Starting a Resume Writing Business as a Side Hustle<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinse5Uy-MThEXTZ1uB0NrWvRXk-HqWm8a1cFEze4g-M9RZeRPc9tBlMOi_zQnZu0uI92Q925ujt4iKuAfIKq1fgVj27TNVXwOW4UyXwgB6jI5ZLqGb3WFSozKIjLxltTEQTKoHF7SdcqC25lvEA8YN9TFtcb0wjnr8feMvltCNJHF0UHwZzZ9hY2TB-msS/s1200/6StepsSideHustleBlogGraphic.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="800" height="577" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinse5Uy-MThEXTZ1uB0NrWvRXk-HqWm8a1cFEze4g-M9RZeRPc9tBlMOi_zQnZu0uI92Q925ujt4iKuAfIKq1fgVj27TNVXwOW4UyXwgB6jI5ZLqGb3WFSozKIjLxltTEQTKoHF7SdcqC25lvEA8YN9TFtcb0wjnr8feMvltCNJHF0UHwZzZ9hY2TB-msS/w384-h577/6StepsSideHustleBlogGraphic.png" width="384" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>I was asked a question today about starting a business as a side hustle (in addition to a 9-to-5 job). I'd estimate about 75% of resume writers get started in business this way. I know I did, more than 20 years ago.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I put together this list of advice for getting started. If you’re thinking of starting a resume writing business as a side hustle and you have questions, leave me a comment below or contact me!</span></p><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Step One: Avoid Conflicts</span></b></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">First step is checking your current contract (if you have one) to make sure there is nothing that prohibits side work. Most important, if you’re doing work that relates to your 9-to-5 job, you want to make sure that you wouldn’t unintentionally be giving your current employer the rights to your side hustle work (or clients). <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/joanmichelson2/2019/02/01/7-tips-for-ensuring-you-own-your-side-hustle-and-the-profits/?sh=62ac9f463fa5" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">That can really happen.</a></span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div data-en-clipboard="true" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">You also want to make sure that you’re not using company resources for your side hustle. So you wouldn't want to use your work computer for your business, for example. Or, if you have a company-provided cell phone, get a separate one for your business. (That’s smart anyway, so you can answer calls with your business name. “All About Resumes, This is Jan!” Or have your voicemail reflect your business: “Thank you for calling All About Resumes. If you want more information about how we can help you meet your career goals, visit our website, allaboutresumes.com, or leave us a message and we’ll get back to you.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Step Two: Identify Yourself</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Step two is coming up with a business name. You do NOT need to incorporate as an LLC at this point. It’s not necessary and is a lot of paperwork and expense that isn’t required.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">This article explains why:</span></div><div><a href="https://www.sbdc.duq.edu/Blog-Item-Limited-LLC-vs-Sole-Proprietorship#:~:text=Increased%20paperwork%20compared%20to%20a,of%20forming%20a%20sole%20proprietor." rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">LLC vs. Sole Proprietorship: Which one is best for your business?</span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">As a small services business (under $100K in revenue to start), your legal liability risk is low. If you want to shield yourself, an E&O policy (errors and omissions) would be sufficient (and probably overkill). If you do choose to pursue E&O insurance, check out <a href="https://www.hiscox.com/small-business-insurance/errors-and-omissions-insurance/e-and-o-coverage?medium=tsa&_vsrefdom=2018022101&leadorigin=SEM_Generic_Google&_vsrefdom=p.3.c.23174&medium=tsa&gad=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwzdOlBhCNARIsAPMwjby3VyxU9CjWffKbW_lfIyIHK39or9bY_pMfOhg93HW5QTSWTvwhn4saAoQjEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Hiscox</a> or your homeowner’s insurance. (If you’re seeing clients in person at your home or an office, also ask your homeowner’s agent about a business liability policy.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Get an EIN from the IRS:</span></div><div><a href="https://www.moneyunder30.com/benefits-of-getting-an-ein"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">https://www.moneyunder30.com/benefits-of-getting-an-ein</span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Here’s how to get one (it’s free):</span></div><div><a href="https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/apply-for-an-employer-identification-number-ein-online"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/apply-for-an-employer-identification-number-ein-online</span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Step Three: Establish Your Business</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The next step is opening a business checking account. All your income and expenses should be run through this account. It can be as simple as “Your Name dba as ___” (dba = "doing business as"). My first sole proprietorship was “YD Creations” (my maiden name is pronounced “Why Dee” — like the letters Y and D). So my bank account was “Bridget Weide dba YD Creations.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Start as a sole proprietor. Your income and expenses will be reported on your personal tax forms. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Register your business with the state. Google “start a business in ___” (your state). </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">For example, I live in Nebraska:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">https://www.nebraska.gov/osbr/index.cgi</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">You also want to check into whether you will need to collect sales tax on your sales.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Your state’s department of revenue can help you identify the specific services that are taxable.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Again, here’s my state’s guidelines:</span></div><div><a href="https://revenue.nebraska.gov/businesses/starting-business-nebraska"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">https://revenue.nebraska.gov/businesses/starting-business-nebraska</span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">This is especially important if you are providing taxable services. In some jurisdictions, resume services are taxable. In others, they aren’t. Sometimes they are taxable if it leads to the creation of a physical product (resume printouts) but not digital files. It’s important to get this right from the beginning, so don’t skip this step.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">You may also need to register your business with your local city or municipality. Check to be sure.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Step Four: What Will You Sell?</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Next is figuring out what services you are going to offer and your pricing for each. Will you provide resume development only, or also provide interview coaching? How about salary negotiation services? Career coaching?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Will you bill by the hour, by the project, on retainer, by results generated, or other?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Step Five: Getting Paid</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The next step is figuring out how you will accept payment. You may want to set up a Square account (or similar third party service). Your bank may use Zelle but your customers would need to also. You probably don’t need a credit card (merchant account) at this point. Keep your expenses low to start.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Step Six: Now It’s Time to Make Yourself Known</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The final step is all about marketing. Register your business domain (www.____.com). Set up an email (and website, probably). Register your social channels if you’re going to use them. Put the word out to your network and contacts that you’re “open for business.” Reach out to anyone who had inquired about you doing work for them in the past.</span></div><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Starting a business can be daunting, but starting as a side hustle can give you the security of your regular paycheck with the ability to start growing your business on the side. These six steps will help ensure you get off on the right foot.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">And someday, when you’re ready, you can make the leap to being a full-time career services professional (if you choose to!).</span></p><p><br /></p>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-42533139580517118302023-04-06T08:57:00.002-05:002023-09-10T23:44:56.513-05:0010 Questions With Kara Varner<div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwa8vb0HuYkXXoLgCIoH-OexmWJEvjNOS7Ye_nSWTh-P03s25Z4d8lIg5yqaNb_ZYblVefxAbrtZwVeegwL9m-OpACEmGOoD6B3ROrz4RNzGe3M-iVyrjjvaVZmwel9Z_J-sEemoSqJ-ZhQVoa-oH9mR9d7XeyEzEVsR_ldnSDqyefL5rUfkWEovXMrA/s1920/TenQuestionsVarner.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwa8vb0HuYkXXoLgCIoH-OexmWJEvjNOS7Ye_nSWTh-P03s25Z4d8lIg5yqaNb_ZYblVefxAbrtZwVeegwL9m-OpACEmGOoD6B3ROrz4RNzGe3M-iVyrjjvaVZmwel9Z_J-sEemoSqJ-ZhQVoa-oH9mR9d7XeyEzEVsR_ldnSDqyefL5rUfkWEovXMrA/w640-h360/TenQuestionsVarner.png" width="640" /></span></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Get to know other resume writers in our community with our “10 Questions” series! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Today’s profile is <b>Kara Varner, MAOM, CARW, CPRW, CRS-MTC, CEIC, of <a href="https://www.aplatinumresume.com" target="_blank">A Platinum Resume LLC</a></b>. Kara has been a resume writer for 10 years and is based in Colorado. She has a 20-year career background in federal government, civilian, and corporate positions. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Kara has a diversified background that assists her clients with navigating the application processes for civilian, corporate, contract, and federal government employment. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>1. Why did you decide to become a professional resume writer?</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">At first, I became a professional resume writer to focus on helping transitioning military service members, federal employees, and military spouses. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>2. How did you get into the career industry? What did you do before?</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I became interested in the profession when a neighbor asked me to review his resume. Prior to becoming a resume writer, I was an Employee Assistance Program Manager in the Federal Government. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>3. What do you typically wear when you’re working?</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Sweats. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>4. What is your best habit, and what is your worst?</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Best Habit:</span></b> Replying to emails, writing out my to-do list every night. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">Worst Habit:</span></b> Procrastination. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>5. What is your favorite object in your office? Why?</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Artwork by my daughters, gifts from friends, and two signs that say: <b><span style="color: #38761d;">You Got This</span></b> and <b><span style="color: #38761d;">Do What Makes You Happy.</span></b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">6. <b>What is your “go to” technique or secret when you get stuck when you are writing a resume? How do you get unstuck?</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I write out any thoughts I have and step away. I try to focus on something else (project, TV show, kids) and my brain thinks it through in my subconscious. Then I am able to come back “fresh.”</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>7. What is the best career advice you ever got? </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Be yourself. Be authentic. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>8. How do you unplug?</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I enjoy family time or time with my daughters doing something girlie. I watch “Real Housewives,” “Jack Ryan,” “Reign,” “The Home Edit,” and “The Young and the Restless.” </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>9. What ONE thing would you change about your business or the career industry if you could?</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: #38761d;">The Career Industry:</span></b> Educate and improve the perception of the industry and the true value of the services. I continually work to help clients and friends understand the value of a professional resume and the amount of work that goes into crafting resumes. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>10. What are your favorite social medial accounts to follow?</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://thelifecoachschool.com/podcast/">“The Life Coach” podcast</a> (Brooke Castillo)</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Connect with Kara on LinkedIn:</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/karavarner" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/karavarner</a> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Find her company on Facebook:</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/APlatinumResume/" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/APlatinumResume/</a> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Follow Kara on Twitter:</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.twitter.com/VarnerKara" target="_blank">https://www.twitter.com/VarnerKara</a> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Visit the website for A Platinum Resume:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.aplatinumresume.com/">https://www.aplatinumresume.com/</a></span></div>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-17706483334874809092023-04-04T15:20:00.003-05:002023-04-06T13:18:47.325-05:00The Riches are in the Niches: Finding the Perfect Niche Using Keywords<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPoLt_sERAe-O9AIRMGyrWNEbQFfk8lT-XWTOQiZ7v9uun7G33Oz1w5BTLDr4G6070xVti6jrMXouZVn3nEkY5XK_D5p37X7Bk1C0ON2sguTiVMWcudbkM_-jIKcQsmCtxbroR_VomWuNBoUpUNVXliEzxNizU0v_20-a6hqUStngJeD_Bvvs1YZPIAA/s2240/RichesAreInTheNiches.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPoLt_sERAe-O9AIRMGyrWNEbQFfk8lT-XWTOQiZ7v9uun7G33Oz1w5BTLDr4G6070xVti6jrMXouZVn3nEkY5XK_D5p37X7Bk1C0ON2sguTiVMWcudbkM_-jIKcQsmCtxbroR_VomWuNBoUpUNVXliEzxNizU0v_20-a6hqUStngJeD_Bvvs1YZPIAA/w640-h360/RichesAreInTheNiches.png" width="640" /></a></div><div><br />While many resume writers are generalists, some of the most successful career industry professionals specialize in working with a specific niche of jobseekers: Women returning to the workplace, for example. Executives. IT professionals. New college graduates. Mid-level sales managers.<br /><br />Not sure what you want to specialize in?<br /><br />One way to find the right business niche is to conduct keyword research. Keywords are terms people enter into search engines to find information they need — which helps them solve their problems. Search engines like Google track this information and make it public. You can use this data to refund your niche ideas and discover which niches people are actively searching for.<br /><br /><b>Start With Your Passions and Interests<br /></b>Start by brainstorming. What kinds of jobseekers do you like working with? What areas do you have experience in? (Some resume writers specialize in the field they came from — for example, Wendi Weiner works with attorneys.)<div><br /></div><div>Once you have some ideas, you can use keyword research to narrow down and refine your niche.</div><div><br /></div><div>Keep in mind — even if you specialize in a niche, you can still work with jobseekers from all backgrounds and levels of experience. (But having a niche will make it easier for you to be found by prospective clients.)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>How to Find Keywords</b></div><div>There are many premium SEO software programs available, but most people find that Google’s free <a href="https://ads.google.com/home/tools/keyword-planner/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Keyword Planner</a> tool is enough. The purpose of this tool is to help you assess keywords for Google ads, but we can use it for basic keyword research. There are also free alternatives available, like SEO Book and WordStream.</div><div><br /></div><div>Enter into the tool some keywords related to what you do. You could use a simple phrase like “resumes for executives” or “IT resumes” and you’ll get a list of similar keywords that are related. Skim this list and look for other areas that might be interesting. For example, under “IT resumes,” you might niche even further to “IT project manager resumes.”</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ24-uUSDr2yShaeTNoHkIWo9tKU2sakXE9YC0IoRecxvWIY2KRbMKIzbqS6H5jolEvfV5d5HYw4hj0ZtdW_V-CDLrVuzyfnIN-SDaVyGsu8g8nMgjJcGnMh-S2E37W68D_lcbczYaT3t0EJg2y0FPSfIPP-30WV5Ou1un_JITy25z987QHhb303j4Og/s1384/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-06%20at%201.05.28%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1030" data-original-width="1384" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ24-uUSDr2yShaeTNoHkIWo9tKU2sakXE9YC0IoRecxvWIY2KRbMKIzbqS6H5jolEvfV5d5HYw4hj0ZtdW_V-CDLrVuzyfnIN-SDaVyGsu8g8nMgjJcGnMh-S2E37W68D_lcbczYaT3t0EJg2y0FPSfIPP-30WV5Ou1un_JITy25z987QHhb303j4Og/w640-h474/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-06%20at%201.05.28%20PM.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><b>How to Assess Keywords</b></div><div>Look for a high volume of monthly searches. A good guideline is over 1,000 searches. This tells you that people are actively looking for this information.</div><div><br /></div><div>The next step is to check out the competition. You’re looking for keywords that have high search volume and low competition. To assess competition, go off the tool and perform a simple Google search. Put the keyword in quotation marks so you can get the exact phrases. You’ll then see how many sites are targeting the same keyword.</div><div><br /></div><div>Since you’re not doing actual SEO planning, you don’t need an exact assessment of these keywords. Lookout the sites that come up on the first few pages of the search results, and you can see whether other businesses are covering these niches.</div><div><br /></div><div>Your niche doesn’t need to be completely uncharted territory – there are only about 4,000-5,000 professional resume writers worldwide, so if there are 15 resume writers who specialize in teacher resumes, there is PLENTY of work for everyone! But by looking at the competition, you may get ideas on how to set yourself apart.</div><div><br /></div><div>When choosing the right niche for your career services business, you should consider objective data as much as possible to assess whether your niche is popular and profitable. Keyword research is one effective way to do this.</div><div><br /></div></div>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-2989218757199257122023-03-30T07:07:00.000-05:002023-03-30T07:07:00.178-05:0010 Questions with Andrea Adamski<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoqqzn__BZWzhdJJA0p1LmgfeEXas1rzilT476nx6HIXYFWOtPvJrgAAikudaT4g55Ydh4n4PzYNzLUc-nDlBgu2SGXPboXT47LuPqBOU5Mp2m_A61yXUxLqu0t8EMcZrbjz0Zu-mQXWPWDPZaKLVioqtZ94MqqVfCgZ97B7WDOTP5iT7uCBQIvtoL5A/s1920/TenQuestionsAdamski.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoqqzn__BZWzhdJJA0p1LmgfeEXas1rzilT476nx6HIXYFWOtPvJrgAAikudaT4g55Ydh4n4PzYNzLUc-nDlBgu2SGXPboXT47LuPqBOU5Mp2m_A61yXUxLqu0t8EMcZrbjz0Zu-mQXWPWDPZaKLVioqtZ94MqqVfCgZ97B7WDOTP5iT7uCBQIvtoL5A/w640-h360/TenQuestionsAdamski.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br />Get to know other resume writers in our community with the latest entry in our “10 Questions” series!<br /><br />Today’s profile is <b>Andrea Adamski, CPRW. </b>Andrea has been writing resumes for more than a decade. She owns her own business, <a href="https://writeforyouresumes.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Write For You Resumes</a>, based in Kansas City, Missouri, and also does contract work as Director of Writing Services, training writers and serving as quality control for Your Next Jump, a career services company based out of Washington, D.C.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Andrea is a member of the National Resume Writers’ Association (NRWA), Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches, and BeAResumeWriter.com. She is currently pursuing the Nationally Certified Resume Writer (NCRW) credential.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Her work has been selected for publication in <a href="https://amzn.to/3JScgyv" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Expert Resumes & LinkedIn Profiles for Managers and Executives</a> (fourth edition), <a href="https://amzn.to/3zfbuqE" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Modernize Your Job Search Letters: Get Noticed…Get Hired</a>, <a href="Resume & LinkedIn Strategies for New College Graduates: What Works to Launch a Gen-Z Career" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Resume & LinkedIn Strategies for New College Graduates: What Works to Launch a Gen-Z Career,</a> and she is a contributor to the NRWA “Ask the Experts” series.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /><b>1. Why did you decide to become a professional resume writer?<br /></b>I worked in marketing copywriting in the corporate world for nearly a decade. My coworkers familiar with my writing abilities would ask me to help them with their resumes on the side. They would then refer me to their friends and it snowballed.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>2. How did you get into the career industry? What did you do before?<br /></b>I worked in marketing copywriting, mostly in the healthcare and financial industry.<br /><br /><b>3. What do you typically wear when you’re working? <br /></b>Jeans or leggings and one of my Dolly Parton or Prince t-shirts, unless I am meeting a client — then I dress accordingly (no Dolly t-shirt). <br /><br /><b>4. What is your best habit, and what is your worst? <br /></b></span><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">My best and worst habit is probably one and the same — I am detail-oriented. I pay attention to the details. However, you can get too mired in that and border on OCD, so I have to watch myself.<br /><br /><b>5. What is your favorite object in your office? Why? <br /></b>A picture of my kids. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhml1WC3UBxWyvn4zJw5GnKr0f6iMearPbodINyJKf3j8aYiUL4hzJFH-YevwW5_ZBpiDrrLS4nvitDU1zPrwo1MiAPB2ZQPp28c5qTjumEYAf0d4_aIkbIe18qlUf-RS1maU3cvpobD88B_Hp4p07UpusMSngAee2DQUwj7PQsBSoi0yBUnl5uhwHb8Q/s1920/AdamskiKids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhml1WC3UBxWyvn4zJw5GnKr0f6iMearPbodINyJKf3j8aYiUL4hzJFH-YevwW5_ZBpiDrrLS4nvitDU1zPrwo1MiAPB2ZQPp28c5qTjumEYAf0d4_aIkbIe18qlUf-RS1maU3cvpobD88B_Hp4p07UpusMSngAee2DQUwj7PQsBSoi0yBUnl5uhwHb8Q/w640-h360/AdamskiKids.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>6. What is your “go to” technique or secret when you get stuck when you are writing a resume? How do you get unstuck? </b><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">I take a break if possible, cook dinner, help my kids with something. My kids and I play a lot of Uno.</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>7. What is the best career advice you ever got? </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I don’t know if this is specific just to careers, but if you are going to complain about something, first have a solution in mind. I try to think through possible solutions before I voice complaints.<br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>8. How do you unplug? <br /></b>I spend time with my family and kids, I love crafts, especially crochet. Sometimes I sew to unwind. I also love to read and watch true crime. If I wasn’t a resume writer, I think I might have liked to be a detective.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /><b>9. What ONE thing would you change about your business or the career industry if you could? <br /></b>The ageism and bias in resumes and the interview process. I am very cognizant of trying to help my clients with this as there aren’t many protections at the resume stage like there are once you walk in for an interview.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>10. What are your favorite social medial accounts to follow? <br /></b><br /></span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/DollyParton" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DollyParton</a> on Facebook (Dolly Parton)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/KansasCityChiefs/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">KansasCityChiefs</a> on Facebook (Kansas City Chiefs)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Connect with Andrea on LinkedIn: <br /></b><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreaadamskiresumes/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreaadamskiresumes/</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /><b>Find her company on Facebook: </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/WriteForYouResumes">https://www.facebook.com/WriteForYouResumes</a><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><b>Follow Andrea on Twitter: <br /></b><a href="https://www.twitter.com/WriteForYouRes">https://www.twitter.com/WriteForYouRes</a><br /></span><br /></span></div></div></div>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-34549008563553493362023-03-29T12:45:00.001-05:002023-03-29T12:46:20.071-05:00Naming Your Career School (including School Name Idea Generator)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_v7RdsDnxHE-lv0iMXhqOS_eC1ivXUaDI4JWtzmsri521REgjgWRh37Z9PtcWJB_gMcfauNklmJGc3dX20q1MKEQEY-ZEJUQk2Mo1AlEyAnRoUJ2a5HMSOqG05_jJ9Rceb3gz8jyMnTvgs0DnDVBfh5C_-cqh31E5aiECEYZRCsfMgGClCdxnBbym5A/s2240/NamingYourCareerSchool-BlogHeader.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2240" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_v7RdsDnxHE-lv0iMXhqOS_eC1ivXUaDI4JWtzmsri521REgjgWRh37Z9PtcWJB_gMcfauNklmJGc3dX20q1MKEQEY-ZEJUQk2Mo1AlEyAnRoUJ2a5HMSOqG05_jJ9Rceb3gz8jyMnTvgs0DnDVBfh5C_-cqh31E5aiECEYZRCsfMgGClCdxnBbym5A/w640-h360/NamingYourCareerSchool-BlogHeader.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">I am a HUGE proponent of career industry professionals creating courses for jobseekers (and/or career industry colleagues)! Courses are a lead generator for 1:1 services, a path to creating passive income and recurring revenue, and a way for jobseekers to access your career knowledge and expertise. Teaching a course can help you become an expert authority for prospective clients — to help prospective clients to get to know/like/trust you. </span><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">One obstacle to getting started for some career colleagues is coming up with a name for their school. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">WHAT IS A SCHOOL vs. WHAT IS A COURSE?</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Just like with a brick-and-mortar school, your courses “live” inside your online school. That includes mini courses, free and paid courses, your standard courses, and any premium or signature courses you offer. All of them live inside your school.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">So you want to create a school for your career courses, and you only want to put career-oriented courses in your school. (If you want to do courses on non-related topics, put them in their own school.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">One of the biggest mistakes I see when coming up with a school name is that the school owner doesn't think through what the bigger picture of what they want this online course environment to look like. This may seem obvious, but sometimes first-time course creators get tunnel vision about the first course, and they don't take time to dream about the bigger picture. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">I want you to create more than one course — I want you to create a school that allows you to meet your goals. So think big! Brainstorm a list of courses you want to create. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Then you can come up with an appropriate school name.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><i><span style="font-family: inherit;">Most school names:</span></i></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Relate to your business name somehow (or your brand)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Relate to your own name</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;">Relate to a specific benefit to your audience or relate to the topic you’re going to be offering.</span></li></ul></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can use the Career Professional School Name Idea Generator to brainstorm school names.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAXIj3ty3sGKW0IwTfY0Ki8Yrbtul0iOGcZMo8JNrjCNxyCPjwme9Rc6vCWX4lcTLqJe1td5LKJeuJVBMGqJcYw7tQIsozCZJ47LTlv647WxXlUO2H-3MQF7rqkAnaLMXLSwrhp-4hryITgKACC31Bm95j7f4ltslKDVCHx9JJ8Sw_u5_cPIjD0QxSw/s1920/Career%20Professional%20School%20Name%20Generator%20Page%201.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKAXIj3ty3sGKW0IwTfY0Ki8Yrbtul0iOGcZMo8JNrjCNxyCPjwme9Rc6vCWX4lcTLqJe1td5LKJeuJVBMGqJcYw7tQIsozCZJ47LTlv647WxXlUO2H-3MQF7rqkAnaLMXLSwrhp-4hryITgKACC31Bm95j7f4ltslKDVCHx9JJ8Sw_u5_cPIjD0QxSw/w360-h640/Career%20Professional%20School%20Name%20Generator%20Page%201.png" width="360" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXGpGz_sh-6sGmq-0yP_uqWExQ4sN3K7CnlGKsCSUfq3CfUimq7v4RBKPSp1swDYitk5_qT3uH11uXApOQcPT8qqew450DmArh952K2B5N0X-0mlfvlq2ncAV-EfEMvWpxvJy2BPvpodn1Vj2HbCD3QyZ8EYjFXBt3JyxjcEk7gn2iiXGQNC42LvsNxw/s1273/Career%20Professional%20School%20Name%20Generator%20Page%202.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1273" data-original-width="1074" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXGpGz_sh-6sGmq-0yP_uqWExQ4sN3K7CnlGKsCSUfq3CfUimq7v4RBKPSp1swDYitk5_qT3uH11uXApOQcPT8qqew450DmArh952K2B5N0X-0mlfvlq2ncAV-EfEMvWpxvJy2BPvpodn1Vj2HbCD3QyZ8EYjFXBt3JyxjcEk7gn2iiXGQNC42LvsNxw/w338-h400/Career%20Professional%20School%20Name%20Generator%20Page%202.png" width="338" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkiF9ZmeIvHiMi-Q-hxuL3aSr7khSpvT1aMk5_wmxprJMUR4VWPe8ZVt34gUSwNz7u7e5nhXvEfgkSyB-ipsg91VhZg6HyLdtFFwOijo3Hu_YvxIPMg7g0ZKqCaXSTxWQNhl12PAOghKGJJeaTdAy0yTaHoFSRq8FHc4EkyfPhOE3KjG_32B8co_VWyA/s1809/Career%20Professional%20School%20Name%20Generator%20Page%203.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1809" data-original-width="1076" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkiF9ZmeIvHiMi-Q-hxuL3aSr7khSpvT1aMk5_wmxprJMUR4VWPe8ZVt34gUSwNz7u7e5nhXvEfgkSyB-ipsg91VhZg6HyLdtFFwOijo3Hu_YvxIPMg7g0ZKqCaXSTxWQNhl12PAOghKGJJeaTdAy0yTaHoFSRq8FHc4EkyfPhOE3KjG_32B8co_VWyA/w379-h640/Career%20Professional%20School%20Name%20Generator%20Page%203.png" width="379" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">You can mix-and-match job synonyms, nouns, and verbs (image 1) with adjectives (image 2) and synonyms for the word “school” (image 3) to come up with a list of school name possibilities.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Note: If your dreams for your school are for it to be bigger than you — especially if you want to use other instructors — don’t name your school the “(Your Name) Career Academy” because then the instruction is limited to you. You want to establish your school branding up front so you don’t have to change it later, if you don’t have to.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Best Practices for Naming Your Career School</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are some best practices for coming up with your school name:</span></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Make it memorable.</b> How can you help your school stand out from others?</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Incorporate keywords.</b> Are there certain words that people will search for on Google when looking for you, or when looking for courses like the ones you’re going to offer? If you can, use SEO tactics in your school name to help your school be found on Google when someone is looking for help in your area of expertise.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Keep it short.</b> Less than five words, ideally. And say the school name out loud. Make sure it sounds good when you say it, and when you see it.</span></li></ul></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Validate Your School Name</span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, once you’ve come up with some viable school name possibilities — or that one special school name you want — here’s how to validate it.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">The first thing is to Google it and make sure that same name is not already being used. If there is already a training program or another career professional’s service that has the same name, I suggest you choose something else or find a different way to express it.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Second, see if you can register the domain name for that school name so that it’s easy for you to register the domain name and point it to your school. (That’s whether or not you like to your school directly from your website). That way, it’s easy to send prospective students directly to your school.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, the last way to validate your school name is to make sure the name is available in your course platform. For example, on <a href="http://sendmeto.teachable.com/3c8Tf7" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Teachable</a> (which I use), you want to make sure the school name is available as a subdomain.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">In Teachable, log into your account and click on SITE on the dashboard and to go DOMAINS on the menu. Click on that and it will take you to your DOMAIN NAME. Put the name you were thinking of using and see if it’s available. You’ll type it as:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">(YOURSCHOOLNAME).TEACHABLE.COM</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Without the parentheses, of course!)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">If the name is already being used by another course creator, it will say “This URL is already in use. Please update.”</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">After you’ve claimed your subdomain, you can update your school name in Teachable. Click on “SETTINGS” in your dashboard. That will take you to a GLOBAL SETTINGS page, where you’ll want to make sure you’re on the WEBSITE settings page.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">You’ll see SCHOOL NAME — it will have a default name. Click EDIT and type in the name of your school.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">While you can change your school name, coming up with a school name early in the course creation process can also be helpful when it comes time to name your career course!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;">Good luck with naming your school!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-49417034260519822802023-03-23T15:57:00.002-05:002023-03-23T15:57:17.773-05:00My Top Takeaways from the Teachable “Create The Future” Summit (March 21-22)<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Ever since I’ve been a <a href="https://teachable.sjv.io/c/2718849/1642772/12646" target="_blank">Teachable</a> customer, I’ve attended the twice-a-year online Teachable trainings. (I made my first Teachable sale, for $18.50, in November 2019.)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">This past Tuesday and Wednesday, I caught about 75% of the “Create the Future” Summit sessions. (And, as a Pro account member, I can go back and watch the rest of the sessions <a href="https://community.teachable.com/c/replays/" target="_blank">here</a>.) </span></p><p><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Here were some of my top takeaways:</b></span></span></p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"></span></b></span><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">There are over 50 million people who identify as a “creator.” You’re a professional creator if you’re getting paid to create (including writing), but <span style="background-color: yellow;">imposter syndrome is real.</span> (“It’s a belief that you’re not good enough, even though you know that you are.”)</span></li></ul><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Prioritize your time when it comes to social media posting. Pick 1-2 platforms that you spend most of your time/energy on — on the rest of them are repurposed content from your main platforms. <span style="background-color: yellow;">Figure out where your audience is hanging out and focus there.</span></span></li></ul><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Teachable shared one of the sessions on YouTube (not sure how long the replay will be up) – <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/288f3ec7d5/TEST/dcdf198da4&source=gmail&ust=1679689692908000&usg=AOvVaw2rYocxLBI16GItmPeGCxFN" href="https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/288f3ec7d5/TEST/dcdf198da4" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">How to Use Short-Form Video for Quick Wins</a>. (The presenter had some typos on his slides, but the information was interesting.) "External circumstances were never more in your favor.” That leaves us with internal circumstances keeping us from doing video — “the hating culture,” (especially on Tik Tok), self-doubt, being too shy to be on camera, believing you don’t have enough equipment or money to do videos, the belief you don’t have time, believing you’re “too old” (you never are!), or feeling that the competition is too immense. <span style="background-color: yellow;">“Love video even if it won’t love you back as fast as you wanted.”</span></span></li></ul><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Growth is not always linear — it goes up and down. And <span style="background-color: yellow;">“experts get paid more than generalists.”</span></span></li></ul><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">“No one cares what you’re worth. <span style="background-color: yellow;">You have to price based on the results you can get for them. </span>This isn’t about you; it’s about them.”</span></li></ul><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">On your sales page, you want the reader to feel like — when they get to how much it will cost — that it’s going to be more than what you’re actually charging. <span style="background-color: yellow;">You want them to get to the end with a feeling that they got a great deal.</span> (“I thought it was going to cost $1200 … I got a steal at $999.”)</span></li></ul><ul style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The better you design the content (bold, italic, underline, color, font size), <span style="background-color: yellow;">the better it will be able to be consumed and understood.</span></span></li><li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="background-color: yellow;">Figure out what your customers want/need through market research </span>— surveys, interviews, monitoring social media and online forums). What are people raving about? What are people complaining about?</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div>I love attending these kinds of trainings — it reignites my creativity. <br /><br />As a reminder, Teachable offers these learning opportunities a couple of times a year, so <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/288f3ec7d5/TEST/254cf5d18a&source=gmail&ust=1679689692908000&usg=AOvVaw0jtnxIkv5GuYgIxNvQIqJh" href="https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/288f3ec7d5/TEST/254cf5d18a" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">sign up for a free Teachable account</a> so you’ll get the invitations. </span></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;">For a limited time, you can also <a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/288f3ec7d5/TEST/0fad24d6be&source=gmail&ust=1679689692908000&usg=AOvVaw3DjolNUlV53BWw2AHOS4q5" href="https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/288f3ec7d5/TEST/0fad24d6be" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">get 25% off any paid Teachable account</a> if you use my affiliate link:<br /><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/288f3ec7d5/TEST/342f88dde7&source=gmail&ust=1679689692909000&usg=AOvVaw0vt_dwq4SqR7y5zQIah-Cj" href="https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/288f3ec7d5/TEST/342f88dde7" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: #242424;"></span></a><em style="color: #242424;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/288f3ec7d5/TEST/3e22ec85d7&source=gmail&ust=1679689692909000&usg=AOvVaw0sw2o7QSBJBC2HuRil4z_a" href="https://cts.vresp.com/c/?ResumeWritersDigest/288f3ec7d5/TEST/3e22ec85d7" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">https://teachable.sjv.io/c/<wbr></wbr>2718849/1642772/12646</a><br /><br /><strong><span style="background-color: yellow;">(And, if you sign up for a NEW <u>paid</u> Teachable account using my affiliate link by March 31, email me at <a href="bb(at)bearesumewriter.com" style="color: #1155cc;" target="">bb(at)bearesumewriter.com</a> and I’ll schedule a complimentary 30-minute Zoom call with you to talk you through your first course idea and answer any questions you have!)</span></strong></em></span><br style="caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222;" /><br /></span><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Check out my courses for career industry professionals here:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://resumewritersuniversity.teachable.com/courses/" target="_blank">Resume Writer’s University </a></span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-family: tahoma, geneva, sans-serif;">Affiliate disclosure: Links in this post may be affiliate links, meaning I may receive an affiliate commission if you take action based on my recommendation. Don’t worry, though, I *only* recommend resources that I either personally use or would unequivocally recommend. As mentioned above, I’ve been a Teachable customer since 2019.</span></p></div>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-12684276053219989462023-01-16T19:49:00.001-06:002023-03-29T11:06:44.755-05:00A Resume Writer’s Guide to Printables<p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH0jDzRLecofGLgd78Qv67v57FVivi5T_AV1xpqS2aEW6rrJuIPasB7oaKfj21qseFWriFyC-2tvqxXPW3uGxvDdE3mYcKOWCC02gQK01t31f28xqLOe1kdPWyaTM7Prlhmyw-kLuPN1O39kd-rIQswqgHgjTNLU9gbgrtROZSpwxs4Wlgo4UQuI6RKA/s452/STARTemplate.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="342" data-original-width="452" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH0jDzRLecofGLgd78Qv67v57FVivi5T_AV1xpqS2aEW6rrJuIPasB7oaKfj21qseFWriFyC-2tvqxXPW3uGxvDdE3mYcKOWCC02gQK01t31f28xqLOe1kdPWyaTM7Prlhmyw-kLuPN1O39kd-rIQswqgHgjTNLU9gbgrtROZSpwxs4Wlgo4UQuI6RKA/s320/STARTemplate.png" width="320" /></span></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">What are printables? And how can they benefit YOU and YOUR JOBSEEKING CLIENTS?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Printables are things designed for the purpose of downloading and printing, such as: worksheets, checklists, to-do lists, trackers, planners, journals, guides, and calendars. Outside of the career industry, printables can also include color pages, art projects, patterns or designs.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Printables come in all shapes and sizes and have a wide variety of uses. For jobseekers, they can help them organize their job search, track their job search activities and make quick work of completing tasks, and collect and synthesize information. For resume writers, they can be used to grow your email list, turn prospects into paying customers, help your clients prepare for and execute their job search, and provide passive income revenue.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Printables can be a single page document or contain several pages (like with workbooks and accomplishment trackers). They are detailed and to the point, generally having a very specific purpose. Printables can be anything from a checklist to an instructional guide. They are a great way to help your clients AND you, without a lot of extra effort.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As mentioned, printables can benefit you as a resume writer by:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Increasing Subscriber Sign-ups.</b> Creating printables to serve as a lead magnet to increase interest and boost subscriber sign-ups.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Boost Perceived Value.</b> Adding printables to your existing 1:1 career services, courses, and coaching programs can instantly boost the perceived value of the product. People want answers to their questions, but they also want to reach their desired result quickly and easily. If printables help them achieve that goal, they will consider them to be highly valuable, allowing the resume writer to charge more for their services, product, program, or course.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Gain More Social Proof.</b> When high-quality information is provided, along with the tools to help readers implement what they've learned, it creates loyal customers. These loyal customers share their results with others. They provide high-value testimonials and fodder for future case studies … which, in turn, brings in more new clients.</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">For list-building, a person looking for interview preparation questions may find a guide with a list of interview question prompts. However, if the seller includes a printable journal to write out key points for answering the question prompts, it adds to the value of the product and provides a bigger benefit for the buyer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Printable Objectives</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Each printable you crease should have an objective. Some common objectives are to:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Help a person take action on what they are learning.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Challenge oneself — for example, when setting goals for the job search.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Track data or calculate math. Think interview tracking worksheets or salary negotiation spreadsheets.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Develop a strategy for accomplishing a goal.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Brainstorm an idea and bring it into existence.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Plan out something (like a job search or recruiter connection strategy) in more detail.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Plan quarterly or annually with things like planners and calendars.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Organize information (such as job applications).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Organize thoughts and ideas (such as rough drafting interview questions, as mentioned above).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Compare and evaluate two or more things (like job offers).</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Walk a user through the process of solving a problem. (“Is it time to quit your job?”)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Repurpose or reuse something, such as content, graphics, audio, and video. (For example, a guide to accompany your LinkedIn training course.)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Manage processes or projects.</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">To document your day, week, or month through journaling (i.e., an accomplishments tracker)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Do something relaxing to take your mind off something (like a coloring sheet to relieve the stress of a job search)</span></li></ul><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">Creating Printables</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">You can certainly create your own printables. One of the best ways to get started is to look at the existing Pass-Along Materials you have access to. But there’s a NEW way to get started with printables — Tools For Resume Writers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">A new addition to the existing Bronze member benefits of BeAResumeWriter, Tools For Resume Writers gives you access to customizable Canva templates that you can brand with your own fonts, colors, logo, etc. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">There are currently three printables available to customize:</span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: arial;">S.T.A.R. Worksheet (How to Create Compelling Career Stories)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">Invest In Your Career</span></li><li><span style="font-family: arial;">LinkedIn Industry List</span></li></ul><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">The Tools For Resume Writers customizable Canva templates are included with Bronze membership in BeAResumeWriter.com.</span></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="http://bearesumewriter.com/tools" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="1880" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh09LChJyOssxzkdOjWmBKxWeXVWFHMQCBk2vk9rrLqR7tFClPdKKOicja5EKxc6GFtC8FR0YhjJowPETh1Cd3vSpeHQN56_1y_4u1qj22OqCuypMVZAYjUaYmBOpLh4UVNZ5ee231wNBwPkeTTUk0rnDej9Rphjs8Umu5nOarDrElkzGyuEq0ykPPcVg/w640-h100/TOOLSHeader.png" width="640" /></a></b></div><b><br /></b><p></p><p><b><span style="font-family: arial;">How to Deliver Printables</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Printables can be delivered in one of two formats — digital downloads and print documents. For digital downloads, use PDFs whenever possible to make delivery easy. You can sell your downloads on your own website using a digital download service (like <a href="https://www.payloadz.com/rs/go.asp?rs_id=17680" target="_blank">Payloadz.com</a> or <a href="https://www.sendowl.com?r=RWDigest" target="_blank">SendOwl</a>). These services will allow you to create seller links you can post on your website and use to deliver the download after the sale. You can also use third-party marketplaces, like Etsy or Amazon to sell your print products.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-42092534194140793912023-01-11T12:28:00.002-06:002024-03-14T21:56:18.701-05:00Resume Templates — Yes or No?<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq16derlfgrLkYkh2Z2W5VECQVDL_wbJRvs_4iKdQsH8mIwZJx6qIWNh1V9Xl20UwBetOKoqdbu5S5HECPwTmTCkEy_QTxCDtln_A6dta1D3O5VgWurMlX4UuUsYnO8Y4DHeuhH1bCa9xJw3fl3BKUoQZRd3ASplQS8NzjaTRECTEVI9xe_9cquoZ4cg/s1694/DistinctiveResumeTemplates.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="592" data-original-width="1694" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq16derlfgrLkYkh2Z2W5VECQVDL_wbJRvs_4iKdQsH8mIwZJx6qIWNh1V9Xl20UwBetOKoqdbu5S5HECPwTmTCkEy_QTxCDtln_A6dta1D3O5VgWurMlX4UuUsYnO8Y4DHeuhH1bCa9xJw3fl3BKUoQZRd3ASplQS8NzjaTRECTEVI9xe_9cquoZ4cg/w640-h224/DistinctiveResumeTemplates.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I’ve been a resume writer long enough to have seen many generations of resume templates over the years. In the 1990s, there were the “resume-in-a-box" software programs. In the 2000s, you had Microsoft Word resume templates — which were either super boring or overly designed (with multiple columns). More recently, you've been able to purchase resume templates on Etsy or use the resume designs in Canva.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The problem is, many of these documents LOOK good, but aren’t GOOD to use in an actual job search because, especially in recent years, they have not been compatible with applicant tracking system (ATS) software, putting applicants at a disadvantage with their online resume submissions. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">But the world of resume templates changed when <a href="https://rwdigest.blogspot.com/2021/02/10-questions-with-michelle-dumas.html" target="_blank">career industry pioneer Michelle Dumas</a> introduced <b><a href="https://www.distinctiveresumetemplates.com/portfolio/ref/132/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">“Distinctive Resume Templates.”</a></b> As a longtime professional resume writer herself, Michelle recognized the need for modern, ATS-friendly professional resume templates that could be used by career industry professionals to enhance their interview-winning content with visually attractive designs.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Michelle and I started in the resume writing industry in the same year (1996) and we’ve both seen lots of changes through the years. But one thing hasn’t changed: The need to create compelling, attractive, and interview-winning career documents.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In 2020, she created a series of resume templates to use with her company’s own clients. They were designed to be easily customized, right down to the color schemes. Her first goal was to streamline the resume development process, creating templates that were useful but also easy to customize. In using the templates with clients, she realized how useful they would be to career industry colleagues. So she started selling them to other resume writers.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“Our work is tremendously time-consuming and we trade our precious time for money. Writing a great resume for a client is a very time-consuming process,” Dumas says. “Our income is limited by how much we are able to produce, which makes it hard to grow/scale a business.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">By introducing resume templates into your resume writing business, you can focus more on the content creation and let the design enhance the content, instead of having to struggle with formatting the resume and associated career documents.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">“Writing and graphic design are two different skill sets,” Dumas says. “We are professional resume writers, not graphic designers. While both of these — the writing skill and the design skill — require talent, they are completely different skill sets. Graphically-enhanced resumes that incorporate color and shapes became the norm and the expectation.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Simple Microsoft Word design enhancements can make a big difference. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">For example, take this Key Qualifications section:</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1VD4qTY2AcqEhMOGUWt0QHaPXg7fPUxjXbAnupjZLG65FqMDCqL3etlNx3ne68vWHs9IV5-J0_rfzyV1JaeG2R1nVgtMq4932LUM8aPSdd1_ryWS97NcbAU1eooQE6B8sEXZJE9DvKO2xbEzJswqvYcqu_CRcUv01skjk-UzwDBqo8JcFyON7R9fNlg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img alt="" data-original-height="178" data-original-width="1362" height="84" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj1VD4qTY2AcqEhMOGUWt0QHaPXg7fPUxjXbAnupjZLG65FqMDCqL3etlNx3ne68vWHs9IV5-J0_rfzyV1JaeG2R1nVgtMq4932LUM8aPSdd1_ryWS97NcbAU1eooQE6B8sEXZJE9DvKO2xbEzJswqvYcqu_CRcUv01skjk-UzwDBqo8JcFyON7R9fNlg=w640-h84" width="640" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br />In the Amplify template, it becomes this:</span><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyRJAs3pHDncnC14MUzj8QVO18HWuZOF9gvaQA1lc_KiX6hIxeuwSI8IgakRQTF7MDf9eYk1XUbD73DcAP0SUsYGWaAbJhYOpnM-wGr-HYir-r9bs-S2AknH8QkNAq5_-YCdyPx02J3F6gGOsVIXjz2F1OMfnb-si0wq3rDztsFsWA2AnFoVZBmZ4aA/s1574/KeyQualifications-Amplify.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="1574" height="122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIyRJAs3pHDncnC14MUzj8QVO18HWuZOF9gvaQA1lc_KiX6hIxeuwSI8IgakRQTF7MDf9eYk1XUbD73DcAP0SUsYGWaAbJhYOpnM-wGr-HYir-r9bs-S2AknH8QkNAq5_-YCdyPx02J3F6gGOsVIXjz2F1OMfnb-si0wq3rDztsFsWA2AnFoVZBmZ4aA/w640-h122/KeyQualifications-Amplify.png" width="640" /></span></a></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Because the templates are provided in Microsoft Word format, you can change the color of the themes. The change from blue to green was done with ONE CLICK.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9EjHE0-5zyinmUEqCZu4Qkgxt14IzzmQvnxH4HeOqH_NvI8FNRO179aRm85BBO7ZMtzPKaY7zPTEgvpPjYHSAvR5BRa2VyUJsg2pdkfkkmuZxevo41VzbmP5reHtaLLPNRJLYL3ALt2MIb3pGDBHercHmcSmEh1pWRzYg-Jcq0PjQwfzK2CrynzwQoA/s2750/KendallResume-forDumas-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2750" data-original-width="2125" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9EjHE0-5zyinmUEqCZu4Qkgxt14IzzmQvnxH4HeOqH_NvI8FNRO179aRm85BBO7ZMtzPKaY7zPTEgvpPjYHSAvR5BRa2VyUJsg2pdkfkkmuZxevo41VzbmP5reHtaLLPNRJLYL3ALt2MIb3pGDBHercHmcSmEh1pWRzYg-Jcq0PjQwfzK2CrynzwQoA/w309-h400/KendallResume-forDumas-1.jpg" width="309" /></a> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVquNvnihvGORgwlAh-Jj8tTNo_WgJmX12B4FeQrnDlwK9utSIj9xTjxNUNzzyISbsv-btb3_wfTf7IXJldrEIH3stplMaGQKssiKLZ6F7ROaFPGL4veYTM9zn_zL3F-v9d1baeH7HmbWLT1PbjpR06V4xigBc82CqN7UUCHer9iZp6pXYEXFxEy89SQ/s2750/KendallResume-forDumasEmail-GREEN.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2750" data-original-width="2125" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVquNvnihvGORgwlAh-Jj8tTNo_WgJmX12B4FeQrnDlwK9utSIj9xTjxNUNzzyISbsv-btb3_wfTf7IXJldrEIH3stplMaGQKssiKLZ6F7ROaFPGL4veYTM9zn_zL3F-v9d1baeH7HmbWLT1PbjpR06V4xigBc82CqN7UUCHer9iZp6pXYEXFxEy89SQ/w309-h400/KendallResume-forDumasEmail-GREEN.jpg" width="309" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The templates are Microsoft Word templates (.dotx extension), and MS Word is required to use and customize them. Template collections are sorted into categories — professional and executive, student and entry-level, industry and trade-specific, career change, etc. When I choose a design, I start with the client and pick the template to fit the content. Sometimes I write the content first and then copy-and-paste the text into the template. Other times, I write “to the template,” writing directly in the template. Or, you could do a combination of both. Fill in the “easy stuff” — education, certifications, affiliations — in the template, and then write out (long hand or in a blank Word document) the other content and then paste it into the template.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Dumas suggests that resume writers can save approximately one hour per project by using one of the templates. My personal experience reveals similar time savings — more for complex projects. For an average $1167 project (the average price for a resume and cover letter project, according to the <a href="https://bearesumewriter.com/News/12958998" target="_blank">2022 Profile of Professional Resume Writers</a>), the investment of $21 in a <a href="https://www.distinctiveresumetemplates.com/portfolio/ref/132/" target="_blank">Distinctive Resume Template</a> provides a strong return on investment (representing only 2% of the project cost but saving one hour of the average nine hours resume writers estimate spending on an average resume project).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Instructions for making the color changes are included in each document, including <a href="https://vimeo.com/446004144" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">links to videos</a> to illustrate the process. Successive page headers are automatically set up, including page numbers.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">There are dozens of templates to choose from. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I’ve been using <a href="https://www.distinctiveresumetemplates.com/portfolio/ref/132/" rel="" target="_blank">Distinctive Resume Templates</a> with my clients since March 2022. My favorite designs that I’ve used so far with clients are:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">•<span> Amplify (the design showcased in the samples above)</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">•<span> Alluring Luxury</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">•<span> Ascendant Modern</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">•<span> Blue Collar</span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">•<span> Career Launcher First-Job Resume Template</span></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The resume templates are $12 per design. You can also purchase coordinating templates (cover letter template, biography template) for $8 each (or save 10% when you purchase the resume and coordinating templates in the same transaction). For less than $21, I save hours of design time while providing my clients with attractive, ATS-compliant documents.*</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">* The templates are marketed as “ATS-friendly” but I have found them to be ATS-compliant for all the clients I’ve used them with. The official documentation says:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Disclaimer: While all efforts have been made to ensure resumes created with these templates will be ATS-friendly, it is impossible to guarantee ATS compatibility. The purchaser takes full responsibility for ensuring ATS compatibility, if this is important to them. Distinctive Career Services, LLC is not responsible for the content or effectiveness of any resume created with one of our templates.</span></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">But like I said, I’ve found all the ones I’ve used to be ATS compatible.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">(I test graphic resumes for ATS-friendliness by saving them as text and reviewing the content to make sure it remains intact.)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The license for the template allows resume writers to use the templates to create resumes for clients. (You may use the templates with your clients on an individual basis. However, only one writer per firm may use the template, so if you are a contracting writer, you must purchase one license per writer – but discounts are available for large agencies.)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Want to try them? Get 50% off your first purchase using this promo code:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="background-color: white; caret-color: rgb(34, 34, 34); color: #222222; font-size: medium;"><b>50offbearesumewriter</b></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">(Fifty percent discount is valid on first purchase of any amount. Visit <a href="https://www.distinctiveresumetemplates.com/portfolio/ref/132/">DistinctiveResumeTemplates.com</a> to redeem.)</span></div></div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.distinctiveresumetemplates.com/ref/132/" title="Distinctive Resume Templates"><img alt="DistinctiveResumeTemplates" id="creative_card_creative_modal_image" src="https://www.distinctiveresumetemplates.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/resume-templates-medium-rectangle-ad-2.png" /></a></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><i>Note: This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you click on the links, but there is no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I would use myself, and all opinions stated in this blog post are my own. As stated in the blog post, I personally use <a href="https://www.distinctiveresumetemplates.com/portfolio/ref/132/" target="_blank">Distinctive Resume Templates</a> with my own clients. Thank you!</i></span></div>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-34013908296319325762023-01-03T14:55:00.001-06:002023-01-03T14:55:33.994-06:00Profile of Professional Resume Writers 2022<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhza4TN6HSqJtsCqjTBQ2Ad1Ei_PJs6lC6zS4f6FlyYHfeQuGBh-LRck108Sa0S09q1pJq4lmdKzksDf2e-U3aIgvePz8mJkM3fxLE-yOPr69rEkztmsJ3ZTAmGEB-jrpy6wOwmZi0BVdIb4wP_PfJrrD13J6_X_kMirOmnIbYKnY4ZFdlNoyiikipAJg/s3000/ProfileCover2022.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3000" data-original-width="2250" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhza4TN6HSqJtsCqjTBQ2Ad1Ei_PJs6lC6zS4f6FlyYHfeQuGBh-LRck108Sa0S09q1pJq4lmdKzksDf2e-U3aIgvePz8mJkM3fxLE-yOPr69rEkztmsJ3ZTAmGEB-jrpy6wOwmZi0BVdIb4wP_PfJrrD13J6_X_kMirOmnIbYKnY4ZFdlNoyiikipAJg/w300-h400/ProfileCover2022.jpg" width="300" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><br />As a resume writer, do you ever wonder how you compare to other career industry professionals? The Resume Writers’ Digest Industry Survey is the tool I use to provide this kind of information to the industry. The results are published in the “Profile of Professional Resume Writers: Who We Are, What We Charge, How We Work.” <br /><br />The survey was conducted in February 2022, asking respondents to reflect back on 2021. The results were compiled in March 2022 and analyzed and turned into a report written by Kristin S. Johnson in April 2022.<br /><br />If you are a career industry professional, you can receive the report <a href="https://resumewritersuniversity.teachable.com/p/profile2022" target="_blank">here</a>.<br /><br />Here are some of the key findings from the 2022 report:<br /><br /><b>Profile of the “Average” Resume Writer<br /></b>While no resume writer is “average,” this graphic illustrates the characteristics of the profile of the typical survey respondent.<br /><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5UfMlTjk1BjolrwsK2FnNP1x8JnkU-pnYCYB0_uddod58n5SBNbmEyDGpMbfbsaC9sVEjVPJNmnvqdNSSzij-mHeLRRBmKtPRXIoLu1KmQE_BsKAXVST0FGQXcdP2gzgn-e9JAJSWmD0KO0B5_Jqem6PMg3AAxcgYOvC8kYWXb15mHia1eUsnjdXDSA/s2250/ResumeWriterProfileGraphic.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2100" data-original-width="2250" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5UfMlTjk1BjolrwsK2FnNP1x8JnkU-pnYCYB0_uddod58n5SBNbmEyDGpMbfbsaC9sVEjVPJNmnvqdNSSzij-mHeLRRBmKtPRXIoLu1KmQE_BsKAXVST0FGQXcdP2gzgn-e9JAJSWmD0KO0B5_Jqem6PMg3AAxcgYOvC8kYWXb15mHia1eUsnjdXDSA/w400-h374/ResumeWriterProfileGraphic.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">See how this compares to the 2016 profile:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1T-zZdtacYQml6mCvkvH0hidsH2B7XJ5Bf2RixaJUw27-Vznx-TVFVDvucrCTKXujYgmHSl2i6sNmS0OX_PS_J7VDx8ds52mpnsD_Dk988gaIjae6XE-6yIjJUp-d6bmjyPHjOE3WoUz5WlywOVtMMgkafWMEK96d69Lp4LWMVvjlpFKDWNU_cYMCPg/s1778/2016-ProfileofAverageWriter.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1612" data-original-width="1778" height="581" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1T-zZdtacYQml6mCvkvH0hidsH2B7XJ5Bf2RixaJUw27-Vznx-TVFVDvucrCTKXujYgmHSl2i6sNmS0OX_PS_J7VDx8ds52mpnsD_Dk988gaIjae6XE-6yIjJUp-d6bmjyPHjOE3WoUz5WlywOVtMMgkafWMEK96d69Lp4LWMVvjlpFKDWNU_cYMCPg/w640-h581/2016-ProfileofAverageWriter.png" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="text-align: start;">Interested in the full 2022 report? </span><a href="https://resumewritersuniversity.teachable.com/p/profile2022" style="text-align: start;" target="_blank">Get it here.</a><span style="text-align: start;"> </span><br style="text-align: start;" /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="text-align: start;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="text-align: start;"><br /></span></span></div><i>Note: The Resume Writers’ Digest Industry Survey is not statistically valid due to a small sample size; however, the results are an interesting insight into the career services industry.</i></span><i><br style="text-align: start;" /></i></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><br />Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-91853072121347707162022-11-10T11:53:00.005-06:002022-11-10T11:59:43.045-06:0020 Years Later: Freelancer or Entrepreneur?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCEFkS7KXtaNG-qsOrw1CcFeKYFrKYfCg68ByZCoGAfZDp8cEG5m92LkXiISLHO1gi-NrL9NM2_4Wlac4tUjDf9TqfsmgplwW2dXuIp2rVkJWk2cRzDHV9v8H8eX3b04ZmAlYnBaZ0sY1K05Ss-S7qM5cUzBE3fA6ZrClTj0O_5nQOki8jDfp87f-Jdg/s1640/FreelancerorEntrepreneur.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="924" data-original-width="1640" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCEFkS7KXtaNG-qsOrw1CcFeKYFrKYfCg68ByZCoGAfZDp8cEG5m92LkXiISLHO1gi-NrL9NM2_4Wlac4tUjDf9TqfsmgplwW2dXuIp2rVkJWk2cRzDHV9v8H8eX3b04ZmAlYnBaZ0sY1K05Ss-S7qM5cUzBE3fA6ZrClTj0O_5nQOki8jDfp87f-Jdg/w640-h360/FreelancerorEntrepreneur.png" width="640" /></a></div><p>In my “From the Editor” column from the January/February 2002 issue of Resume Writers’ Digest newsletter, I talked about the difference between being a freelancer and an entrepreneur.</p><p><b>Twenty years later, it’s still a great topic. </b></p><p>As a resume writer, do you want to be a freelancer or an entrepreneur? (There is a difference.)</p><p>Here’s the original column:</p><p><i>Many self-employed professional resume writers consider themselves to be entrepreneurs when, in fact, they are more likely freelancers. Does it matter? Changing how you define yourself might create more opportunities, lower your stress level — or both.</i></p><p><i>Without resorting to the dictionary definitions of each term, let me try to explain the difference. Entrepreneurs are trying to build and sustain a growth-oriented enterprise. It is their goal to grow. These are the resume writers who hire subcontractors, affiliate with major career sites, and aim to make more than $150,000 from resume writing. </i></p><p><i>Then there is a freelancer. The freelancer wants to derive a living from resume writing — but not necessarily be the biggest or the best. The truth is, most resume writers are freelancers. They contract directly with clients and/or write for others as a subcontractor. They can be home-based, office-based, or both.</i></p><p><i>The key difference is that they don’t take on more work than they can handle themselves. If they start to get busy, they raise their rates, or refer prospective clients to a colleague. They don’t start looking for subcontractors, or more office space.</i></p><p><i>Acting like an entrepreneur when you’re really a freelancer can cause you many sleepless nights. You read about some of the biggest names in the business and dream up strategies to conquer the town — or your chosen niche. But if you realized that goal and suddenly had dozens of new clients each day, would you be happy working with them? You wouldn’t necessarily have to become a resume mill, but if you enjoy total immersion with a select few clients each week, you’ll have to adapt your style to emphasize volume.</i></p><p><i>How you view yourself — freelancer, entrepreneur, or entrepreneur-in-training — will determine how you manage your time, market your services, and run your business.</i></p><p><i>Take a look in the mirror and answer this question: Which are you — freelancer or entrepreneur?</i></p><p><b>A note from 20 years later: </b><br />The results of the <a href="https://resumewritersuniversity.teachable.com/p/profile2022" target="_blank">Resume Writers’ Digest Industry Survey</a> suggest most resume writers are freelancers, working with 2-3 new projects per week. But the good news is, if you want to be an entrepreneur and expand your work with subcontract resume writers, it’s easier than ever. You can work with writers around the country — or around the world — from your home. No need to “look for more office space.”</p><p>Looking to work with subcontract resume writers? Contracting writers can get a free listing in the Directory of Subcontract Opportunities, one of the “Making Money as a Resume Subcontractor,” resources available to Bronze members of BeAResumeWriter.com. Submit your information <a href="https://fs3.formsite.com/RWDigest/mmrslisting/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>. </p>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-53258322207000453632022-10-04T08:20:00.001-05:002022-10-04T08:20:00.227-05:0010 Questions with Linda Whited<p></p><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizf_5E9bmZswf2DYLn3vvC5eQ_JyFre7M0bqqGjWeicbsi8yxPH6tqsZi8llzKuuZachhbY_duoNDE4z0LsUvAaCdZlTc2rf3udISFB9mtW7zHOWb0Y9i991C5ZVGWuqTJOh2S2EO5andrVz8JZOw2TuYug-uOjb4D0XM3rWibF6tlb2xZpPQrUMhL_w/s1920/TenQuestionsWhited.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizf_5E9bmZswf2DYLn3vvC5eQ_JyFre7M0bqqGjWeicbsi8yxPH6tqsZi8llzKuuZachhbY_duoNDE4z0LsUvAaCdZlTc2rf3udISFB9mtW7zHOWb0Y9i991C5ZVGWuqTJOh2S2EO5andrVz8JZOw2TuYug-uOjb4D0XM3rWibF6tlb2xZpPQrUMhL_w/w640-h360/TenQuestionsWhited.png" /></a><br /><br />Get to know other resume writers in our community with our “10 Questions” series!<br /><br />Today’s profile is <b>Linda Whited, NCC, CCC,</b> of <a href="https://timetobecareersavvy.com"><b>Time to be Career Savvy.</b></a> Linda has been a resume writer for six years. She is a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC), Certified Career Counselor (CCC), and member of the National Career Development Association (NCDA). <br /><br /><b>1. Why did you decide to become a professional resume writer?<br /></b>My calling is to help more people make confident career decisions. I believe that the hours we work should matter and not just be a means to an end or paycheck. So helping others with their resume – and their career story – equips them to move toward meaningful work.<br /><br /><b>2. How did you get into the career industry? What did you do before?<br /></b>I have always been intrigued by a job if the person describing it is fired up about what they do. I could be a trash collector if I met someone who felt called to do this work. :)<br /><br />So I figured, instead of job hopping all the time, I might be better suited to support others to find that passion and enthusiasm for work. I am driven to help others to find meaningful work because I believe it can change the world, one person at a time. <br /><br /><b>3. What do you typically wear when you’re working? <br /></b>T-shirt and yoga pants. I work from home.<br /><br /><b>4. What is your best habit, and what is your worst? <br /></b>My best habit is my optimism. I find the positive in almost everything and this helps me problem solve and makes me a better friend to everyone.</span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />My worst habit is probably having social media on my phone. I tend to scroll as a time waster and usually regret it.<br /><br /><b>5. What is your favorite object in your office? Why? <br /></b>Probably the coffee mug with the hot coffee in it. It changes daily, but each mug has some fun memory or association with it, and coffee fuels my day.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>6. What is your “go to” technique or secret when you get stuck when you are writing a resume? How do you get unstuck? </b><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">I get up and walk around or go outside for some fresh air. Moving my body changes my perspective.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>7. What is the best career advice you ever got? <br /></b>To think of a career as less of a ladder and more of a smart phone — the iOS is always there, but the apps come and go based on my needs at the time. We don’t need to always be progressing upward as our needs change over time. Changing that metaphor has been freeing for me and my clients.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b>8. How do you unplug? <br /></b>I love movies, especially Marvel movies, so I watch them with my husband and then share the stories with my kids. We act out scenes with action figures. Captain Marvel is my favorite. #girlpower</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b>9. What ONE thing would you change about your business or the career industry if you could? <br /></b>I would make applicant tracking systems consistent so the rules we follow to optimize resumes would work 10/10 times. I’d also make sure everyone had a career mentor and became a mentor themselves because networking matters and is a barrier for so many.<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>10. What are your favorite social medial accounts to follow? <br /></b><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/careerleaders/">@CareerLeaders</a> on Instagram (Career Thought Leaders)<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/theartofcharm/">@TheArtofCharm</a> on Instagram (and <a href="https://theartofcharm.com/podcast/">Podcast</a>)<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/ckyourprivilege/">@ckyourprivilege</a> on Instagram <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/brenebrown/">@brenebrown</a> on Instagram<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahdjohnston/">@sarahdjohnston</a> on LinkedIn (Sarah [Dougherty] Johnston)<br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Connect with Linda on LinkedIn: <br /></b><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmwhited">https://www.linkedin.com/in/lmwhited</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b>Find her company on Facebook: <br /></b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/timetobecareersavvy">https://www.facebook.com/timetobecareersavvy</a></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /><b>Follow Linda on Twitter: <br /></b><a href="https://www.twitter.com/lindamwhited">https://www.twitter.com/lindamwhited</a> <br /><br /></span><br /></div>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2748554356315000507.post-43304207447962722252022-09-20T08:36:00.002-05:002022-09-20T12:15:46.071-05:0010 Questions with Madelyn Mackie<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgku-ivdp1UxyZhDABo9gjeLL_AGHenLRpIgOp6Z0ZESWAdizrfFcbcGA7X3j-1UeFHyLCkcISnQ713xp0e2N6EpMdwNDzMgx3PRp3pL82BGpanJTIJQPLIjtL9Qw7rg5Wb13H3eZF2mlOeZgL8zArq9z5RuDKdiqr7uToRpauR5a8f7lVPnaVeoTQkUA/s1920/TenQuestionsMackie.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgku-ivdp1UxyZhDABo9gjeLL_AGHenLRpIgOp6Z0ZESWAdizrfFcbcGA7X3j-1UeFHyLCkcISnQ713xp0e2N6EpMdwNDzMgx3PRp3pL82BGpanJTIJQPLIjtL9Qw7rg5Wb13H3eZF2mlOeZgL8zArq9z5RuDKdiqr7uToRpauR5a8f7lVPnaVeoTQkUA/w640-h360/TenQuestionsMackie.png" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Get to know other resume writers in our community with our “10 Questions” series! </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Our newest profile is <b>Madelyn Mackie</b> of <a href="https://www.madelynmackie.com" target="_blank">Madelyn Mackie & Associates | Activate Your Career Dreams</a>. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Madelyn is the “career activator”! As a Certified Career Management Coach, member of the National Resume Writers’ Association, and former board member of the National Speakers Association, Madelyn offers conference keynotes, professional development trainings, and career coaching to help her clients design unique, job-getting documents, build successful career plans, and create lifelong success. She has been a professional resume writer for nine years. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Madelyn draws on her experience of navigating four high-profile careers — the lab (as a published biochemistry researcher), the stage (as a stage and production administrator at four Tony Award-winning theaters), the C-suite (as an officer with the American Red Cross), and the owner’s box (CEO of Madelyn Mackie & Associates, a career management and professional development firm) — to help individuals activate their career dreams.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>1. Why did you decide to become a professional resume writer?</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I never set out to be a resume writer. My goal was to be a professional speaker. I speak on career transition and tell the story of how I went from the lab, to the stage, to the C-suite, and often, I would be approached by members of my audience asking me if I could help them do the same thing — which translated into career coaching and resume writing.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">2. How did you get into the career industry? What did you do before?</span></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In my first career, I was a public bio-chemistry researcher. After I wrote and published my first paper, I quickly realized I had no intention of doing that for the next 40 years. For my next career, I worked in professional theatre for 15 years on the production side — and I loved it! Eventually, I got burned out and turned my volunteer work at the American Red Cross into a full-time role as a Program Manager and External Relations Officer.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>3. What do you typically wear when you’re working?</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Since the pandemic, it’s fuzzy slippers, leggings, a business top, and relentless red lipstick. Gotta look good on Zoom!</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>4. What is your best habit, and what is your worst?</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I try to always treat everyone the way I would want to be treated. I firmly believe you put good things out in the world, good things will come back to you.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">My worst habit is the snooze button.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>5. What is your favorite object in your office? Why?</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">My business license from 2011. It reminds me to “take pride in how far I have come and faith in how far I can go.” When I applied for that license, I didn’t have a single client or speaking gig or even a business bank account. Now, 11 years later, I have all those things and so much more.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>6. What is your “go to” technique or secret when you get stuck when you are writing a resume? How do you get unstuck?</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I immediately go work on another part of the resume that is easier — like education or older experience and work my way backwards on the resume. By the time I get to the value statement at the top, I have some motivation and inspiration to write it.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>7. What is the best career advice you ever got? </b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The best business advice I ever received is “Listen to your audience.”</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>8. How do you unplug?</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">I love sitting on my balcony with some cheese and crackers, an apple cider, and a romance novel. It’s nice to get away into the land of “happily ever after” for a little while.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>9. What ONE thing would you change about your business or the career industry if you could?</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Not a single thing. What I love best about our industry is that it is constantly changing and evolving. There is always something new to learn and my fellow resume writers never hesitate to share their knowledge and expertise.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Connect with Madelyn on LinkedIn:</b><span> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/madelynmackie/" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/madelynmackie/</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Find her company on Facebook:</b> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ActivateYourCareerDreams" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/ActivateYourCareerDreams</a></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>Bridget Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12303071890800411643noreply@blogger.com2