Strategies for Career Success

Pathways Career Success Strategies

Strategies for Career Success - April 2007

in this issue

Resume Checklist
Take Charge of Your Career
Client Comments
Quote
Check Out Our Partners

Editor's Note

Welcome to Strategies for Career Success, a monthly newsletter published by Pathways Career Success Strategies.

I recently met someone who made a very interesting career change. Last year the 67-year old native New Yorker with seven grown children retired from being a lawyer and became an ordained Catholic priest in rural Wisconsin. Now that's a career change!

This month's newsletter features a resume checklist. See if your resume passes the test. Also learn how you can take charge of your career through professional career coaching.

Enjoy!

Joan Runnheim

Resume Checklist

How good is your resume? Go through the checklist below and see how yours stacks up.

1. Positioning

If I spend just 10 seconds glancing at my resume, what are the ideas/words that pop out? (specific job titles, my degrees, specific company names). This is how I am positioned by my resume. Is this how I want to be positioned for this target area? Or is this positioning a handicap for the area I am targeting?

2. Level

What level do I appear to be at? Is it easy for the reader to guess in 10 seconds what my level is?

3. Summary Statement

If I have no summary statement, I am being positioned by the most recent job on my resume. Is that how I want to be positioned?

4. Accomplishments

Within each job, did I merely list historically what I had done, or did I state my accomplishments with an eye to what would interest the reader in my target area?

Are the accomplishments easy to read?

5. Overall appearance

Is there plenty of white space? Or is the information squeezed so I can get it on one or two pages?

Is it laid out nicely so it can serve as my marketing brochure?

6. Miscellaneous

Length: Is the resume as short as it can be while still being readable?

Writing style: Can the reader understand the point I am trying to make in each statement?

Clarity: Am I just hoping the reader will draw the right conclusion from what I've said? Or do I take the trouble to state things so clearly that there is no doubt that the reader will come away with the right message?

Completeness: Is all important information included? Have all dates been accounted for?

Typos: Is my resume error free?

Does your resume pass the 10 second glance? If not, make the changes necessary so you can make it to the next stage- the interview.

The above is excerpted from Packaging Yourself: The Targeted Resume and is based on methodology developed by the Five O'Clock Club, America's premier career coaching and outplacement network. Joan Runnheim, President of Pathways Career Success Strategies, is a Certified Five O'Clock Club Career Coach.

Click here for additional articles on other topics.

Take Charge of Your Career through Coaching

Is your career stuck in neutral? It may be time for a career coach to help you jump start your career. Coaching is for those individuals who see the value in having a confidential partner to prompt them to make better career decisions.

Clients use a career coach for any of the following reasons and often for a combination of these reasons. Which of the following could you or someone you know use a coach for?

To find a job/career you love
To find a career you are perfectly suited for
To be recognized & rewarded for your accomplishments
To successfully handle a challenging work situation
To have a resume that gets you a new job quickly
To know the perfect words to say on an interview so you get the job and salary you want

To sign up for a complimentary 15-minute coaching session, click here.

Joan Runnheim is a Certified Career Management Coach and a Certified Five O'Clock Club Career Coach with 10 years of experience helping people take charge of their career.

Client Comments

"I hired Joan Runnheim to help me make a career change using her Career Change Accelerator Plan. I was impressed with how quickly I was able to pinpoint the career of my dreams. Joan provided me with assignments that were extremely helpful in analyzing what it is that I truly want to do and her compassion made the process enjoyable. I would highly recommend Joan for any person who is venturing on making a career change during mid-life."

- Christine Weigel

Quote

"Obstacles don't have to stop you.
If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up.
Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

- Michael Jordan

Check Out Our Partners

Get a handle on your stress! Get some help with our partner StressPest.

If you're a business owner, learn the "secrets" of big business and make your small service business thrive with business coach, Maria Marsala.

Contact Us

Please feel free to forward this issue to friends and associates. Anyone can subscribe for free at www.pathwayscareer.com

To unsubscribe from this list email joan@pathwayscareer.com

To contact us:
Joan Runnheim

Pathways Career Success Strategies

joan@pathwayscareer.com

Hudson, WI 54016

(715) 549-6432

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