Resume Tips and Career Advice

Sadly, I took a peek at my resume a few days ago and realized I had some pretty out of date references. Shockingly, I still had a college professor, my internship coordinator, and a personal friend. All of whom are great people, don't get me wrong, but none of whom can speak to my professional abilities.

I think it's pretty much a no-brainer as to who your references should be, (three quick characteristics: Will say nice things about you, can be honest, knows the way you'll fit into an organization) so rather than drone on for a few more paragraphs about picking the right references, let me encourage you to take a quick check of your resume and make sure your references are the best for who you are NOW. If you've been out of school for a year or two, you've probably got a better reference than an instructor, unless you're, y'know, working at a University or something.

Emurse gives users an option to add in awards and honors to their resumes, but which honors should you mention, and which are better left on the trophy shelf?

As an early-to-mid career person myself, I haven't quite amassed the trophy case I'm one day aiming for, but that doesn't mean I won't mention significant honors if they apply to the job. Once again, customization is key, making sure your audience (the potential employer) sees exactly what they expect as a smart, qualified applicant is key.

I've received some local honors from my time in Utah, but now that I'm competing for jobs in the Big Apple, I tend to leave any regional award that's not easily explained out. Obviously an award like "[Job Function] of the year" explains itself, but I find myself leaving out awards named for individuals, or given by specific companies that aren't so-called "boldface names" as they won't hold any substantial weight with a potential employer.

What's your take on awards? Do you use them as a leg-up on other potential candidates? Have you ever nabbed an interview based on a specific award you listed on a resume?

A trend I've noticed more and more as of late- the end of the "objective" section of a resume. In high school careers classes, as well as college career centers, many people counsel students to include these sections on a resume. Though, in my experience, the objective section often offers more laughs than an actual idea of where the job seeker is headed.

To me, if you're not 100% sure your objective section is a winner, then leave it out. A quick Google search pointed me toward this Job Seekers' About.com page on resume objectives. While the site's suggestions are relatively solid, something tells me a killer cover letter will do more than a buzzword-laden business-speak objective section could ever do.

(Bonus, I've even embedded a clip of Stephanie Pratt from The Hills-- my guilty pleasure-- interviewing for a job at a prestigious fashion PR firm. The owner of the firm laughs off her "Design handbags" objective as short-sighted and inexperienced.)

So for many workers, like myself, we've never gone through a major downturn in our careers. As a result, our short-sightedness has put us in a difficult position of being strapped financially, which makes life pretty rough. How are you cutting back costs and stretching your dollar?

For us, our first stop is cutting out unnecessary expenses. Think about it, people can spend up to $60 per month on cable / satellite TV alone. Do you really NEED HBO? Or for that matter, do you really need cable TV at all? Cutting back temporarily while you're still in the midst of job searching can create a longer runway to find the right gig, rather than the necessary gig.

Along the same tip, we've started clipping coupons. Spending half the money for a full load of groceries is more than doable, though admittedly for single people, the savings don't add up as quickly as they do for larger families.

What's your dollars and cents savings? How do you lengthen the job searching runway so you end up with the right gig, rather than any gig?

Temporary workers come with an obvious stigma. There's this thought that rather than find a "real job," these temporary employees mozy from workplace to workplace, but I don't think that's true. I look at temping as the best way to make ends meet while still looking for that mythic "dream gig," and I myself am about to head down that path.

For me, I've been on the freelance / temporary circuit this year, and while I'd absolutely love to find the ideal gig for myself, it's really difficult. You see, I sort of paint myself into an ideal-career corner, as I've got a very specific set of skills that aren't exactly in demand right now. (I'm a technology video producer, and I do a show called TechVi which is brilliant and amazing, but doesn't pay the bills.)

As the bills pile up, I've started to realize that relying on my sugar momma isn't going to cut it. TechVi doesn't exactly take up all of my time, but since I'm aiming to be an extremely credible journalist, I can't go the tried-and-true route of journos looking to jump ship and head to PR. That puts me square in the sights of temp agencies. Right now, I've started to check out some agencies in my area (New York) but am only in the beginning phases.

Seeing as how you, mythical reader, and I are going through pretty much the same thing, are there any pitfalls you watch out for when moving temp? Any resources you love? I'm going to be documenting the process thoroughly here on Emurse, so expect the resources to pile up as we go through this together.

Oh did I mention, I'm looking for work? Yeah, I know you are too, but there's gotta be someone out there looking for the smartest, most interesting yet-to-be-discovered technology writer of his generation, right?

Craigslist has taken down the newspaper industry fairly rapidly due to the decline of classified ad revenue at most regional newspapers. Whether you love them or hate them, classifieds, and now Craigslist, are often the first source of leads for job hunters, but as any hiring manager or experienced job seeker (read: unemployed for a long period of time) will tell you, the results are often meager. So how do you get through the average and rise above the sheer volume of applicants?

Luck, for one. Obviously something I can't really help with. Cover letters, which we talked about yesterday. But even more than that, it's doing intelligence checking. Use Craigslist as a lead, but don't just hurl an application or resume the second you see an opening, use that as the starting point for an in-depth check. Do you know someone at the company? Can you get a vibe for how the company operates? Do your research, and you'll come away with a better picture of what the opening truly means, and that means you'll have a better shot at the job, and potentially coming away with job satisfaction-- something that lasts for a lot longer than the initial research process.

Some people think cover letters need to be a well thought out, lengthy bit of prose on top of a well crafted resume. Turns out though, that people on both sides of the hiring equation think less is more.

For me, a cover letter shouldn't be a restating of a resume, or some sort of long, drawn out explanation as to why a candidate is perfect for the job. Instead, a cover letter should be short, sweet, to the point, and should break down why a candidate is perfectly matched for a job in ways a resume can't.

This downturn has had a notable new trend with job seekers: Going social. Of course, the best source for jobs has always been personal networks, and the dreaded "networking mixer" springs to mind, but this time around online social networks have been seen as the holy grail of finding that perfect gig.

To me, anyway, sending out as many potential resumes to all your social network acquaintances doesn't exactly ring of finding the perfect gig, and ZDNET would agree. They point out employers who tend to use social networks don't always find potential candidates from them, because especially in lackluster economic times, the deluge of email applications they receive means more time spent screening potential applicants.

Instead of using the "jobs" section of LinkedIn or the like, we'd recommend going the old fashioned way, and hitting up your social networking contacts like you would in real life-- sending contacts messages asking if they've heard of any gigs that might suit you. It's not as easily searchable as those jobs sections, but in the end, you'll likely find a better gig anyway, and at least you'll already have a leg up with a potential recommendation.

Have social networks worked for you? Have you found a gig from a "jobs" section of LinkedIn or the like? Sound off in the comments and let us know what works for you.

It's definitely on the mind of most anyone who has been laid off, fired, or is otherwise out of work from their job: Should I start freelancing? While the appeal of setting one's own hours, not to mention the flexibility of working at one's own pace sounds alluring, the numerous pitfalls, personal and otherwise, make freelancing a choice that isn't perfect for everyone.

There are numerous question and answer sites devoted to the question, but we'd love to get your take on freelancing. Is it something you've tried out and liked? Hated? What would you recommend people know before taking the leap, and what would you avoid?

One of my favorite links on the question has a full rundown of questions you should ask yourself before taking the plunge, and also questions you should ask about continuing to freelance. Among them:

• Do you have a marketable skill?
  
• Do you have enough discipline to work unsupervised?
• Do you have savings? (To offset the initial jump into freelance life)

Do you have any other questions you'd ask? Freelancing is one of those love-it-or-hate-it kind of gigs, so I'm sure you've got an opinion to share. Be sure to sound off in the comments and let us know what you think.