10 Questions With Dawn Rasmussen

Get to know the other resume writers in our community with our “10 Questions” series!

Today’s profile is Dawn Rasmussen!

Dawn is a certified resume writer and the president of Portland, Oregon-based Pathfinder Writing and Career Services. She is the author of “Forget Job Security: Build Your Marketability,” which she says is “the first-ever book that provides a complete roadmap on how to manage your career.”

One thing that Dawn says makes her “tick,” is “a relentless and tireless desire to help everyone understand the importance of actively managing their career every minute of every day.” When she isn’t busy working with resume clients, speaking to conference groups nationally and internationally, writing articles and blog posts, or teaching, Dawn can be found hiking Oregon’s spectacular outdoors, kayaking, or plotting her next adventure.

1. How long have you been a professional resume writer?
Since 2007.

2. Why did you decide to become a professional resume writer?
I love writing and realized that the instincts were already there. The best part, however, is that this craft also means I get to help people. When they are not confident, I can reassure them and hold up the mirror that I have polished so they can see their value and worth. Over the nearly 13 years I've been doing this, I've heard back from so many clients that this project together had a positive impact on their lives, and to me, that is the best reward and reinforces that I am doing what I was meant to do.

3. How did you get into the career industry? What  did you do before?
It was an accident that was rooted in serendipity. The organization where I worked had a major org shift and I was without a job. My work had involved running a statewide school-to-career program for 49 high schools around Oregon. I was already going into the classrooms as a guest speaker, talking about resumes and job searches. After my job transition, a friend with whom I had lunch with said, "I know what you should do … become a resume writer!" Her daughter had dabbled in it and offered to set up a chat. After the conversation, I dove in feet first by joining the relevant professional organizations, attending the annual conferences, learning how to hone my craft, and ultimately, getting certified.

4. What do you typically wear when you’re working?
I wear dressy casual (clothes). No jammies for me. When I am in “jammy mode,” I don't feel focused, nor polished. I prefer being comfortable but in the professional zone.

5. What is your best habit, and what is your worst?
Best habit is self-discipline … that was one warning I was given when I first started working as a professional resume writer — that I would need to be focused on creating a structure. That’s been an easy thing for me … the worst part was finally giving myself permission to take a day off. With a hustle mindset, I had been mentally berating myself for wanting to take a day off because I felt guilty for “not working” — without realizing that, for all the days that I worked 10-14 hour days, it was ok to have a rest day too.

6. What’s your favorite object in your office? Why?
My Buddha. I am not Buddhist, but this Buddha in a meditative pose reminds me to stay centered, calm, and realize that I cannot change the whole world…just the parts that I can change. This figurine was purchased two years ago when I was with a dear friend of mine when we visited Cambodia and Thailand with her two sons. This was a trip of a lifetime, and it always brings a smile to my face.

7. What is your “go to” technique or secret when you get stuck when you’re writing a resume? How do you get unstuck?
I walk away from my desk. I need to clear my head and give my brain a rest. That way, when I come back, I know what I need to do, but I am refreshed and can open my mind to new approaches.

8. What’s the best career advice you ever got?
Dress for one career level higher than where you are … that helped me especially when I was working in the mailroom, and wanted to move up the ladder. No one understood why I was wearing skirts and dresses, but it helped with my professional image.

9. How do you unplug?
Anything outside in nature which includes hiking, backpacking, birdwatching, gardening, and kayaking.

10. What ONE thing would you change about your business or the career industry, if you could?
I wish the careers industry would have a more unified voice. Right now, there are so many different organizations and people with certifications — the general public can’t make heads nor tails of it all. Additionally, there should be a coordinated response when negative media stories come out about scammy fake resume writers who burn consumers…we need to educate the public that professional resume writers exist, and how to find them.

You can find Dawn on Facebook at Pathfinder Writing and Careers, on Twitter (@DawnRasmussen), and on LinkedIn at LinkedIn.com/dawnrasmussen.

Career Membership Sites: Helping Jobseekers Beyond the Resume

Jobseekers often need more help beyond just writing them an interview-winning resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, and job search documents.

Some resume writers are offering additional support for jobseekers using membership sites. These sites can offer specific assistance in one area, like LinkedIn profiles, or a wide range of support for the job search. Some charge a small monthly fee while others are a one-time fee for “lifetime” access to the materials.

Here is a roundup of several career membership sites for jobseekers:

The Classical Career Club
This club offers four membership levels and is hosted on the Patreon platform. Memberships start at $3 for a "virtual tip jar" level that offers members access to a “bi-weekly newsletter featuring original content as well as curated lists of the best jobseeking and career development articles on the web.” The level also includes “good karma” as a membership benefit.

The “Athenian” level, $20 per month, is for those who are "serious about your career development and know you need to play the long game.” It includes the benefits from the three previous membership levels,  plus exclusive patron-only posts and a weekly newsletter, access to The Classicial Career Club community, and the “Classical Career Coaching’s Guide to Networking,” which is “20 pages of info on How to Use Your Network, Networking Cover Letters, Informational Interviewing, and much more.” This level also includes periodic additional long-form jobseeking resources, an ATS-friendly basic resume template, and regular access to VIP office hours and monthly “Ask Me Anything“ sessions.

The membership club owner, Steve Brady, has also upped the value of his memberships by offering members the opportunity to put the total amount of their membership fees towards the resume package of their choice once they reach their one-year anniversary of membership. Great idea!

***

Job Search Secret Weapon (Job Search Journey)
This membership site is a collaboration between three veteran resume writers: Virginia Franco, Sarah Johnston, and Adrienne Tom. The membership site “connects jobseekers with everything they need and in one place” and is geared towards early-to-mid career level professionals. Members pay one upfront fee to get access to the membership site resources targeted to a kit that fits their specific needs in the job search.

The membership site offers several different “kits” for the job search: a “Resume/Cover Letter kit,” “LinkedIn kit,” “Interview kit,” “Job Search Planning/Hidden Job Market Strategy kit,” and a “New Grad kit.” Each kit includes a variety of resources, including articles, worksheets, templates, and/or videos. Kits range from $69 to $129 each. Job search guides start at $9.99.

***

Job Search Membership Site

Holly Genser offers a three-tier membership site for job search. The first tier is resources only (ebooks, worksheets, and tracking forms) provided on a password-protected page (currently $50). The second tier adds a personal session with Holly (and is $150). The third tier offers more time with Holly and special features, including a resource to help clients create a strategy for Gentle Networking and a mock interview ($250). 

Excel at Job Interviews Membership Site

Holly also offers a membership site for interviewing. Like the job search membership site, the first tier is written resources — with five guides, a tracking worksheet, and decision-making guide ($50). The second level includes the written resources and a 50-minute “jumpstart” session ($150). The third tier includes the resources, “jumpstart” session and a 90-minute mock interview ($375).

***

Leveraging LinkedIn For The Job Search
This fixed-term membership is an inexpensive ($15), yet effective way for jobseekers to start, cultivate, and maintain their LinkedIn profile. This eight-day membership delivers one lesson each day, via email, for eight days. It includes an action checklist to guide specific actions to take to build a LinkedIn profile that attracts interest from recruiters and hiring managers and helps you connect to your next job. The activities in each lesson can be done in just a few minutes.

Lessons include:

• Lesson 1: Step-By-Step Guide to Setting Up Your LinkedIn profile. This lesson walks you through the process of setting up your LinkedIn account, using screenshots to show you exactly how to do it. (13 pages)
• Lesson 2: Privacy Settings on LinkedIn. How to make sure the right people see what you want them to see. (5 pages)
• Lesson 3: Putting Together Your Profile. What to put in your profile so that it’s attractive to recruiters and hiring managers. (13 pages)
• Lesson 4: Making Connections on LinkedIn. How to connect with the people you already know on LinkedIn, and then leverage those relationships into connections with people you want to know. (10 pages)
• Lesson 5: How to Give — and Get — LinkedIn Recommendations. Understanding LinkedIn’s online endorsement system, and how to get your network to say nice things about you publicly. Includes an easy formula to write LinkedIn Recommendations. (22 pages)
• Lesson 6: Using LinkedIn to Find Jobs. Where to find job openings on LinkedIn — both advertised and unadvertised opportunities. Includes a Target Companies List. (20 pages)
• Lesson 7: Maintaining Your LinkedIn Account. Now that you’ve spent time building your profile, don’t lose it! Step-by-step instructions to back up your profile and secure your data. (9 pages)
• Lesson 8: LinkedIn: Next Steps. How to use LinkedIn on an ongoing basis and make the most of your LinkedIn profile. (2 pages)

Preparing for an Annual Performance Review

While annual performance reviews are typically conducted in the fourth quarter of the year (October – December), it's smart to get jobseekers thinking about their performance review early in the year. That gives them time to compile accomplishments throughout the year, instead of waiting until the last minute and having to dig through emails, documents, and files on a deadline.

Here are some guidelines for jobseekers preparing for an annual performance review:

If this is your first appraisal at this company, find out how it’s typically handled — and what it involves — either by asking co-workers or your manager.

If this is not your first review, get out your information from last year’s evaluation.

Prepare for this year's performance review by:
• Reviewing the feedback and ratings you received last year
• Looking at the areas where you scored well last year
• Identifying the areas that needed improvement last year
• Reviewing your goals and plans from your last review — have you made progress? Have any of the priorities from the previous year’s review changed?

Next, you’ll want to come up with your list of activities, projects, and accomplishments since your last review. Be sure to quantify your accomplishments. Your manager may not be aware of everything you were working on, so preparing a brief summary is important. What does your manager need to know before he or she meets with you?

Also assemble any relevant documentation to showcase in your review:

• Letters or emails from customers, supervisors, co-workers, and/or vendors
• A list of any trainings you’ve completed
• Copies of any honors, awards, or recognition you’ve received since your last evaluation
• A summary of your professional development activities since your last review

Your manager may also ask you to prepare a self-assessment. Some companies provide a form for you to complete the self-assessment. Others may give you some open-ended questions.

Looking for more tips for jobseekers to prepare for an annual performance review? Check out the Jobseeker's Guide to Preparing for a Performance Review Pass-Along Materials. It includes ideas for questions you should ask, information on how you will be assessed, and what to do if you get a negative performance review.

Pass-Along Materials content is done-for-you careers content that helps educate and inform jobseekers to help them be successful in their job search. For more job search topics, click here.

Social Media for Resume Writers -- Simplified

https://www.pexels.com/@energepic-com-27411

Last month, in this blog post, I showcased how some resume writing colleagues are using social media effectively to increase their visibility and influence. If you’re frustrated by your efforts to get engagement on social media, I totally get it! I want to tell you about a tool I’ve been using to get the most out of social media without a ton of effort.

Social Media Challenges
You're busy running your resume writing business. You've got resumes to write, emails to answer, prospects to follow up with … all of these are competing for your time and energy.

Social media often ends up low on your priority list. (Which, many times, means it just doesn't get done.) Coming up with ideas for what to post each day is overwhelming. You're not sure what to post on social media, let alone come up with new content to post every single day.

Social Media Solutions
Over the past month, I've been using Angie Gensler’s Social Media Content Calendar as a guideline for my social media posts.

I like having a plan. One thing that I really like about the SMCC is that it gives me a content idea for every day of the year — but even more than that, I also bought the Image Templates, so I have ready-to-go images to go with them. (I also incorporate in the Ready-To-Use Social Media Graphics I provide to Bronze members of BeAResumeWriter.com — but you can never have too much content!)

I pre-schedule a lot of my posts using the Facebook page scheduler tool (when you're logged into your business page, click “Publisher Tools” at the top of the page). I also use Hootsuite (the free version allows you to manage up to three linked social media accounts.)

The neat thing about the SMCC is that it’s all mapped out for you, month by month.

For example, here’s two weeks’ worth of the calendar:

As you can see, you won't be posting exactly the same things that everyone else is. These are content prompts. (And, like I said, you can incorporate in the BARW Ready-To-Use Social Media Graphics — for example, on Saturday the 11th, for “Uplifting,” I go into my RTU folder for the month and choose a graphic with an inspiring quote.)

If you work with a virtual assistant, you could give him or her the Social Media Content Calendar and they can handle all the content creation and posting for you.

I also purchased the upgrade to the Social Media Images pack. Like I’ve said before, you can never have too much ready-to-go social media content!

Results
I’ve seen my engagement and visibility on Facebook increase with the increase in content I’ve been posting. While I’m spending a little more time posting things, it’s paying off.

Want To Learn More?
Wondering what is included with the Social Media Content Calendar?

Here’s what you get:

• Daily post ideas planned out for you in a proven-to-work system for social media marketing.
• 52 questions and 52 quotes — done for you! (You also have the option to purchase 155 more done-for-you image templates that can be customized with your branding.)
• Three completely editable versions to work from — Google Sheet (this is the one I use), Microsoft Excel, and Google Excel
• Complete list of holidays for the U.S., Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom
• Access to comprehensive lists of weird and special national holidays and observances.
• Ongoing support, resources, and tutorials to help you master social media marketing.

Check out this video:



Another neat thing is that 5% of the proceeds from the purchase of the Social Media Content Calendar are donated to charity. Read about Outreach International here.

The SMCC is designed to be used with Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. The calendar is 100% editable and customizable, so it can be used by resume writers anywhere. (Not in the U.S.? US holidays can easily be removed, and Angie has provided supplemental lists of holidays for Australia, Canada, and the UK.)

If you were inspired by my blog post last month about how other resume writers are using social media effectively, and you want to be an example I draw on in the future, I highly recommend the Social Media Content Calendar. As you can see, it’s an easy way to get more engaged with social media.


Please note this post contains affiliate links and I may earn a commission if you click them and make a purchase. This is, of course, at no cost to you. Please read my disclaimer for more information