Disaster Planning for Resume Writers

Good golly, it's been a while since I wrote a blog post.

But having seen the devastation of Hurricane Harvey, reading the Facebook posts of resume writing colleagues evacuating Florida ahead of Hurrican Irma, and having recently faced the untimely death of my "twin" brother, Sean, I am compelled to write a quick blog post about disaster planning.

I've actually written about this topic before. You can read some of my blog posts about disaster planning here:

• Business Interruptions: Natural Disasters
• Backup Systems and Disaster Recovery
• How to Backup Your Computer Files Automatically
• Business, Interrupted

The current wildfires in the northwest and the hurricanes and resultant flooding may be bringing your attention to the need for disaster planning, but even simple personal situations can trigger a huge problem. It pays to be prepared.

So here are four important things to consider:

• Review your insurance coverage at least once a year. If you don't have a separate business policy to cover your career services work, consider it. Mine costs about $350/year and includes business interruption coverage. In the event of a major disaster (most likely a tornado or house fire in my area -- hurricanes aren't really a thing in Nebraska), it will replace some of my lost income. Ensure you also have business insurance for your equipment -- your computers, for example. Your personal policy may not cover your business laptop. 
• To speed up your claim processing in the event of a disaster, make sure you have an inventory (up to date!!) of your home and office. Your insurance agent will need a list of all your possessions -- including purchase dates and serial numbers. Could you provide that at a moment's notice? If not, take the time to AT LEAST take photos of your stuff. When you do create an inventory (even a simple one to start), email it to yourself so you'll have online access to it. (Or email it to a friend.) And then keep it updated!
• The most LIKELY disaster you'll encounter is a small one -- a loss of power while you're putting the finishing touches on a resume, or someone steals your laptop. Ugh! In both of these situations, you'll be kicking yourself if you don't have a backup. Subscribe to an online service that offers automatic backup capabilities. And do a REGULAR (monthly?) backup to physical media (thumb drive, CD/DVD, hard drive) and keep it OFFSITE. If your basement floods and your home office is down there, it won't do you any good if your thumb drive is in your desk drawer.
• Have a will. Please, if you don't have one -- get one. Sean died without a will. It took almost two months and a court order to have me designated as his personal representative. We couldn't clean out his apartment until we got that (that was specific to his specific apartment's management policy), but what a mess. Even a basic will in the meantime is better than nothing at all, so consider an online service like LegalZoom or US Legal Forms.

If you're in the path of the wildfires or hurricanes or other natural disaster, stay safe. If you're not, take a few moments to address these four issues so the next time a disaster heads your way, you're ready.

How to Back Up Your Computer Files Automatically

The theme of the most recent issue of Resume Writers' Digest is disaster recovery. Probably the one disaster ALL of us have experienced as a resume writer is the loss of data. Whether it's losing the file you were working on when the power blinked or, as has happened to me on at least three occasions, the loss of data when your computer dies. I know I'm not the only one, because I see your anguish on Facebook when it happens to you!

Even if your primary computer cost several thousand dollars, you probably place a much higher value on the data that's actually stored on computer. Since we conduct the transactions of our resume business on our computers (not to mention financial records, family photographs and other items that are now stored solely on our desktop and laptop computers), a single catastrophic failure of your computer's disk drive could result in an incredible loss.

You can protect against this type of scenario by periodically backing up your data to an external hard drive. Some people prefer this over backing up their data and documents online and sending their data into "the cloud." There's something reassuring about knowing that your data is backed up to an external drive that only you have access to.

But while backing up our data is something that we know we should be doing regularly, chances are we're not actually doing a good enough job at it. Fortunately, there are some ways to automatically back up your computer files to an external hard drive, reducing the chance that you will suffer any significant data loss.

Before you can set up your backup process, you'll need an external hard drive. In recent years, the price of hard drives has dropped significantly, so you should be able to purchase a high capacity drive on practically any budget.

Because the backup process is not something you will be performing every day, don't be overly concerned with data transfer speeds. For most people it's simply not necessary to have the absolute fastest hard drive for backup purposes. You should, however, try to get the largest hard drive you can afford. The more space you have for backup storage, the better.

In order to have your backups occur automatically, you will want to have software that manages the process for you. Having to do manual backups of all your files on a weekly basis is a sure way to get frustrated and stop doing backups altogether.

If your computer runs Windows 7, then you already have a software solution available to you -- the "backup and restore" feature. You can begin the process on Windows 7 by entering yourControl Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, then selecting Backup and Restore. The Backup and Restore function lets you choose the folders of your computer that will be backed up, and schedule the process to occur automatically. Some earlier versions of the Windows operating system also have similar functions.

Some Windows users might not be satisfied with this solution, however, and want something with more options and features. There are other options available, including software packages that actually synchronize -- in real time -- all of the files and folders that you want to back up. This means that you always have backup copies of all of your important data in files. (If you use a backup solution that backs up only on a twice monthly basis, for example, you risk losing any new data since the date of the last backup.)

If you have a Mac like I do, you can use Time Machine to set and schedule your backups. Find information how to do that here.

You can always refine your backup process later, but the important thing is to get a schedule in place and get into the habit of protecting your important data.

Summer Issue of Resume Writers' Digest

The Summer 2011 issue of Resume Writers' Digest is now online -- and the theme is "Disaster Planning." After witnessing the destruction of tornadoes (Tuscaloosa, Joplin), hurricanes (Irene, anyone?), earthquakes (East Coast, really?) and flooding (right here in my hometown, Omaha) ... I was inspired to devote the theme of this issue to disaster preparedness.

Realistically, however, the biggest "disaster" that we will likely face as resume writers is health-related. Self-employed resume writers are more likely to face a loss of income -- and maybe our business -- from a health crisis than from a natural disaster. If you're paying for your own health insurance, you'll want to read our story on "Choosing an Insurance Plan."

You'll also want to read "Do You Have Enough Insurance Coverage?" and assess whether your business needs additional insurance protection.

Probably all of us have lost data -- whether from a hard drive failure, electrical power surge, corrupted CD, or other technological failure. Another article in the issue focuses on "Backup Systems and Disaster Recovery" -- providing tools to prevent your data from being lost forever.

Interested in getting the issue? Subscribe or sign up for a free membership at BeAResumeWriter.com and get access.

Business, Interrupted

Omaha has gotten pounded by storms over the past few weeks. Last Thursday night, we had tornadoes and high winds. Sunday morning, I was awakened by tornado sirens at 2:30 a.m. (two tornadoes damaged the suburb areas of Omaha, causing $20 million in damage). And then on Wednesday night, we had more tornadoes (including a twister that killed four Boy Scouts at a training camp less than an hour north of the city), plus marble-sized hail, and enough rain to start a river running down my street.

Weather is an issue wherever you live. From earthquakes and wildfires in California to hurricanes in the South, to tornadoes in the Midwest, there's a high likelihood that sometime during the course of your business ownership, something will happen that will interrupt your business.

In Nebraska and in Iowa, saturated ground can't handle any more rain; flooding is already a problem.


A couple of years back, I wrote an article for Resume Writers' Digest about this subject. Rather than dig it out again, I'm just going to give you the highlights of what you should do to make sure you're protected.

• Make sure you have adequate insurance. You should have a separate business policy to cover yourself -- and it should include business interruption coverage. In the event of an extended event, it will replace some of your lost income. Make sure you also have adequate coverage for your business equipment. Some personal policies have a "cap" on the total amount of computers and similar equipment covered (could be as low as $2,000-$3,000). If that's the case, add a rider to your personal policy to increase your coverage.
• Inventory your home and office. Most people are unaware that if you have a claim -- especially an extensive one -- your insurance agent will need a list of all of your possessions, including purchase dates and serial numbers. Not only will having this information readily available increase the likelihood that you are reimbursed for everything you lost (who can remember everything you own in a time of disaster?), but it will also speed up processing of your claim. I recommend hiring a member of the National Association of Home Inventory Professionals to do this. (Otherwise, it's one of those items on your to-do list that you "always meant to" get around to, but didn't.) Make sure you keep a copy of your inventory offsite too (mail it to a friend who doesn't live near you, or a relative). Keep it updated -- check it at least every six months and add new purchases.
  
• Back it up. This is another subject I've talked about before -- and honestly, I'm not as good about it as I should be. So make it automatic! Subscribe to an online service that offers automatic backup capabilities. For the stuff that can't be backed up online automatically, make it a habit to back that up on the first day of each month. And be sure to keep a copy of your backup offsite!! It will do you no good to have a backup in your basement if it floods and everything is destroyed.
  
• Buddy up. I've talked about this concept before in terms of having a professional will, but it's also vital in an emergency. Partner up with a colleague in another part of the country who would be able to take your calls and handle new business and projects while you're in recovery mode. Keep an emergency list of contacts, including your buddy and the phone number (and passwords) you'd need to transfer your phone service and give your colleague access to your e-mail and website.

No one likes to think about this kind of disaster affecting your life -- but if you're in business long enough, it's inevitable. In the past week alone, we've dealt with wind damage and power losses. In the past, an ice storm knocked out our power for 12 days.

So take a cue from the Boy Scouts -- and BE PREPARED!

Backup Systems and Disaster Recovery

With the California wildfires in the news, it's an appropriate time to remind resume writers about the importance of disaster planning.

Whether you're faced with wildfires, earthquakes, hurricanes, or flooding, any of these can create the potential for significant disruption of your business. I'd advise creating a basic disaster plan ... but in the meantime, you need to create a backup plan. Literally.

Answer this next question honestly: Do you have a copy of your critical electronic information? If so, how old is it?

Think about it -- if your hard drive failed today, or there was a fire, or someone stole your laptop -- how would you be able to replace your critical data -- your financial files, accounting records, client resumes, mailing lists and client databases, and the forms, scripts, and paperwork you've spent years fine-tuning?

Prevention is the key. There are many ways to store your data:

• Flash/Jump/USB drives.
• Zip and Jaz drives
• Tape back-up systems
• CDs
• Online web space

Create a back-up schedule. At a minimum, you should back-up your files monthly. Establish a routine -- for example, backing everything up on the first day of the month, or the last Friday of the month.

Then Get It Off Site! It's not going to do you any good if your back-up CD is in the computer bag when your laptop is stolen, or in your desk drawer when your office is flooded. Make it a practice to store back-ups off site.