It's Emmy Night ... Speaking of Awards

My husband loves to watch awards shows -- mostly the Emmys and the Oscars. He has his favorite shows that we root for, and there's usually a surprise or two among the winners. (Yay, 30 Rock!)

Did you know the resume industry has its own awards? It's true! Career Directors International offers four separate awards:

• Toast of the Resume Industry™ (TORI) resume writing competition;

• President's Choice Award for Excellence in career services;

• Master Resume Writer™ Lifetime Achievement Award;

• Career Innovator™ Awards competition (new in 2007)
  

My favorite of these is the TORI award.

I love the idea of recognizing our peers for their work. I'm guessing there will be fewer political statements in the TORI acceptance speeches than at the Emmys, though.

Here are this year's nominees. Winners will be announced at the Career Directors International conference in Texas on October 20.

Best International Resume

Beverley Neil - d'Scriptive Words
Debbie Navara - www.resumesonline.com.au
Gayle Howard - Top Margin Resumes Online
Jennifer Rushton - Keraijen
Jill Kelly - Career Edge

Best New Graduate Resume

Laura Labovich - A & E Consulting, LLC
Erin Kennedy - Professional Resume Services
Sharon Williams - JobRockit
Jennifer Rushton - Keraijen
Gayle Howard - Top Margin Resumes Online

Best Creative Resume

Beth Stefani - Orison Professional Services, Inc.
Jill Kelly - Career Edge
Debra Mills - Pro-CV Writing Services
Barbara Safani - Career Solvers
Gayle Howard - Top Margin Resumes Online

Best Resume for Career Re-Entry

Erin Kennedy - Professional Resume Services
Freddie Cheek - Cheek & Associates, LLC
Barbara Safani - Career Solvers
Jennifer Rushton - Keraijen
Gayle Howard - Top Margin Resumes Online

Best Technical Resume

Karen Bartell - Best-In-Class Resumes
Laura Smith-Proulx - An Expert Resume
Jennifer Rushton - Keraijen
Jill Kelly - Career Edge
Barbara Safani - Career Solvers

Best Executive Resume

Annemarie Cross - Advanced Employment Concepts
Barbara Safani - Career Solvers
Gayle Howard - Top Margin Resumes Online
Jennifer Rushton - Keraijen
Jill Kelly - Career Edge

Best Professional Resume

Lisa Becker - CareerPro Global, Inc.
Laura Smith-Proulx - An Expert Resume
Jennifer Rushton - Keraijen
Gayle Howard - Top Margin Resumes Online
Freddie Cheek - Cheek & Associates, LLC
Barbara Safani - Career Solvers

Best Career Change Resume

Barb Poole - Hire Imaging
Sharon Williams - JobRockit
Freddie Cheek - Cheek & Associates, LLC
Jennifer Rushton - Keraijen
Jill Kelly - Career Edge

Best Cover Letter

Arnold Boldt - Arnold Smith Associates
Beverley Neil - d'Scriptive Words
Jennifer Rushton - Keraijen
Laura Smith-Proulx - An Expert Resume
Sharon Williams - JobRockit

Nominee selections were made by Louise Kursmark, Marty Weitzman, Darlene Dassy, and Robin Schlinger.

New Book: 30-Day Job Promotion

Susan Britton Whitcomb has just released a new book, "30 Day Job Promotion: Build a Powerful Promotion Plan in a Month." You can read a sample chapter here.

The book covers:

• Top 10 characteristics of promotable people
• 3 common reasons people want to get promoted—money, ego, and “itch”
• 6 secrets of a Master F.I.T. so the new position fits like a glove
• 5 A's of a winning game plan
• 12 dumb mistakes to avoid when going for a promotion
• Quiz to predict your client's "promotability factor"
• 10 commandments of career success
• Scripts and tips for to help your clients have “crucial career conversations” with their manager
• A winning T.A.L.K. formula—timing, agenda, languaging, keep it going
• 15 common roadblocks to promotion, along with tips for overcoming them
• 10 steps to salary negotiation to help clients get paid for the work they really do
• 10 inspiring success stories of real-life people who have earned promotions

Buy the book on Tuesday, Sept. 18 and help Susan climb the Amazon best-seller charts!

New Subcontracting Opportunity

When you think of subcontracting, you might think that only pertains to actually writing the resume. But other subcontracting opportunities exist for professional resume writers.

One of these opportunities is being offered by Peter Newfield, of Career-Resumes.com. He is looking for resume writers with strong technical knowledge (of effective resume strategies), good sales ability, and solid organizational capabilities for a Resume Sales Position (multiple positions available).

Perform written resume critiques, providing resume development quotes and converting leads into sales. Receive a commission on inquiries which result in a paid order -- earn an average of $60 per conversion. Set your own schedule.

For more information, e-mail Bridget at RWDigest@aol.com (subject: Resume Sales Position). I'll send you the details and application information.

Ideas + Action = Prosperity

One of the best things about publishing Resume Writers' Digest, I think, is the opportunity to bring the "best practices" of our industry's best and brightest to light, so that we can all share in the rewards.

But sometimes you may be thinking to yourself as you read the newsletter, "That would never work for me."

Author Mark H. McCormack gives a tip for how to put some of those seemingly unworkable ideas into practice in his book, "Never Wrestle With a Pig":

"An "idea" has to be more than a suggestion that someone else can pick up and run with. At the minimum in business, an idea must be a clever recombination of two seemingly disparate concepts into a larger concept that no one else has considered before."

If you can't make that idea into something "no one else has considered before" -- you can certainly think of a way to implement it to your advantage and have it work for YOU in a way YOU had never considered before.

Take a look at this six-page special section on the 2001 PARW Conference in St. Petersburg, Florida. Then find ONE idea you can adapt and put into practice for yourself -- and DO IT!

Conferences are great inspiration. It's not too late to register for the Career Directors International Conference next month (Oct. 18-20) in San Antonio, Texas.