Resume Lies

Your resume is what speaks volumes for you before the dream job interview.  It’s what gets you the interview phone call.  Your resume is your marketing tool to sell yourself to an employer even before they ever meet you or speak to you.

Since a resume does all of the above, many people tend to embellish substantially on their resumes in order to get that phone to ring.  The problem is being able to produce the documents to prove what you print on your resume is true.

The most common resume lies are manipulating dates because of gaps in employment, increasing grade point averages, exaggerating job duties in previous jobs, inflating job titles, increasing previous salaries to get more money offered, and even lying about having diplomas, and degrees.

Some people lie about having technical skills such as proficiency in software programs and even fluency in another language.  Imagine lying on your resume saying you are fluent in Spanish.  It would be really embarrassing to show up at the interview being asked to speak in Spanish and all you can say is “hola, no, and si.”

According to the Society for Human Resources Management, almost 40% of human resources professionals surveyed last year have reported they have increased the amount of time they spend checking references over the past three years.

Telling a few lies on your resume is getting riskier.  Employers are getting smarter about verifying information on resumes.  Sure the job market may be challenging with lay offs and unemployment on the rise.  However, spicing up your resume with a little lie here and there will eventually catch up with you. 

Does your resume tell the truth?  Tell us what you think about lying on resumes by adding comments below.

Credits: www.forbes.com  Photo: www.oldmp.com

Are You Really Worth It?

The majority of people will agree that one of the most important factors when considering a new job opportunity is salary.  Before accepting a job offer it is essential to know how much you should be compensated.  Be prepared to negotiate.

In order to get the salary you deserve and perhaps even more, you will need to research the current salary range for your career field  in that geographic area.  This may take some time to do but it will be worth it when you have equipped yourself with the information you need to negotiate a salary you will be happy with.

There are numerous resources to choose from online to assist you in finding out what you’re worth.  You can use a salary survey to compare your current salary with the future job’s salary.  You can review several salary surveys to assist you in determining what salary you should accept.  A salary calculator can also be found online to factor in the cost of living as well because this differs in every city. 

Another good resource is to take a look at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook.  This handbook describes training and education needed, earnings, expected job prospects, what workers do on the job, as well as working conditions for a vast range of occupations.

Knowing what your salary should be can be vital in negotiating a salary you are comfortable with.  The bottomline is educating yourself with the knowledge you need in order to effectively negotiate your salary and make the effort to get the salary you deserve.

Do you know how much you are worth?  Tell us your experience with salary negotiation and add to the comments below.

Photo: www.pictoreal.com

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Boss?

“Bad Bosses” are often driven by fear and lack of proper leadership skills.  It is common for these individuals to be micromanagers and heavy on controlling their employees.  Another characteristic is being overly critical and nit picky, penalizing employees for minute issues, and providing ridiculous negative evaluations.  They do whatever they can to try to intimidate employees in order to instill fear in them.  Anyone who is not afraid of the “big bad boss”, has their own mind,  speaks up, and stands up to this type of boss ends up being “legally harassed” and put on “the list”.  

Working for a “bad boss” causes high performing, intelligent employees to become demotived, unhappy, frustrated, and possibly stressed.  Ultimately they will seek another place of employment because working under those conditions is unfulfilling.

What happens is the insecure, fearful, and more than likely incompetent “bad boss” actually becomes intimidated by any subordinate who sees straight through their “I know more than you” facade.  Once this type of boss recognizes how talented, innovative, creative, and proficient the employee is, they go into attack mode, abusing their authority in order to “keep subordinates in their place.”  This is their attempt to lower the confidence of the employee and find any miniscule flaws in that person in their sick effort to even convince themselves that they are smarter than their subordinate.  They have some serious self esteem and self confidence issues.

Since this subordinate is a potential threat and most certainly could do the boss’ job with ease and much better, they are put under a microscope, given the negative evaluations, and eventually forced to leave the organization because typically the boss’ boss allows it and that’s the unfortunate, sad part about the whole ordeal.  Good people are unable to perform at their highest level under those kinds of conditions so it’s a good idea for them to move on.

Have you ever had a “bad boss” or are currently working for one?  Tell us about your experience or share your thoughts by adding to the comments below.

Photo: www.flickr.com

Need a Career Coach?

Most people will change careers multiple times during their lives.  There are a myriad of reasons why people change careers.  Often many lack guidance or the ability to carefully evaluate what career would be the most satisfying and successful one. 

Top athletes have coaches to direct them in making the right moves on the court or on the field.  Why not have a career coach to help guide and direct you to the career that’s right for you?

How do you know you need a career coach?

1.  You feel stuck in your current career.

2.  Your job is no longer rewarding, but you are not sure what else you would be interested in doing.

3.  You feel unhappy, unsatisfied, unappreciated, and stressed.

A career coach can help empower you to find your career passion, develop the best strategy for making the transition from your current career to your next, and accomplish your career change.  You will receive guidance on creating a career plan, which will include your career mission and goals. 

With a career coach, you will be able to focus and clarify your professional needs.  Your coach will help you determine your strengths and weaknesses and what role they play in your career.  By identifying your values and beliefs, your coach will be able to help you establish goals as well as monitor your progress.  Your coach is there to support you in this process to point you in the right direction and help lead you to fulfillment.

Do you believe you could use a career coach?  Tell us what you think or share your experience by adding a comment below.

Credit: www.mindtools.com Photo: ClipArt

You’re Fired! I Quit! Kiss My – - -!

Leaving a job because you were fired, quit, or forced to resign can be an emotional experience.  At the spur of the moment, you can be tempted to make wrong emotional decisions that could be harmful in the long run.

If you leave your job on bad terms with tension accompanying the transition, try to make it as painless as possible.  You may be tempted to tell your boss off, curse them out, or send a nasty mass email to the entire company announcing your departure.  There will most likely be a few co-workers you will want to curse out and tell off too.  Don’t do it.  It may seem like the right thing to do for what they have done to you.  Of course, there’s the great feeling that you get after you’ve told them a thing or two or three.  Even as much as they deserve every word of it, remain calm and emotionally intact.

Later on down the road, you may run into these people again and you may even have to work with them or even worse, work for them.  It’s best not to burn bridges, just in case you need to go across them later on in life.

As angry as you may be about the situation, one thing you absolutely don’t want to make the mistake of doing is damaging or stealing company property.  Even though the company may have treated you unfairly, it’s not worth going to jail for.  Theft and vandalism are criminal offenses and you don’t want to be the one the company uses as an example to prevent others from those crimes.  Besides, it won’t make any sense to go to jail for stealing a pack of sticky notes and pens or writing “so long suckers” on the bathroom walls.

One good thing to do for yourself before you leave is to make sure you ask your employer for a reference.  This a proactive step to take because you will have to include the job on your resume.  By asking, you could be able to obtain a good reference or at least a neutral one.  If you are leaving due to a serious offense, it is best to ask your boss for one anyway even though things didn’t work out as nicely as you both would have wanted.  Your boss, unless he/she is satan’s spawn, should have no problems giving you a good reference.

I have quit a few jobs in my life.  A couple were left on not so good terms.  Somehow, I have mysteriously managed to keep myself from cursing out and telling off co-workers and bosses before I left.  The closest I’ve ever gotten was walking away from a boss who was yelling at me, just begging to get told off.  Instead I told him that was fine and calmly picked up my 2 or 3 personal items from my desk.  I didn’t even have to tell him I quit.  (He knew he was dead wrong for the way he spoke to me.)  I simply walked away and the last thing I remember was saying to my boss while he stood there in shock, “Mail me my check!” as the elevator closed. 

Believe it or not, your silence in these situations can be louder than any 3 or 4 letter words you can blast in their ears.

You may be upset, angry, stressed, or even disappointed about leaving a job, but the best way to leave under any circumstances is to leave peacefully with dignity.  So if you ever hear “You’re fired!” or have to say “I quit!”, don’t say “Kiss my – - - ”.  You can fill in the blanks.

Leaving may be a blessing in disguise and the best thing for you.

Do you have any experiences you would like to share?  Leave a comment below and add to the discussion.

Credit: www.humanresources.about.com Photo: www.jupiterimages.com    

Got Passion? Get Paid.

 

It’s Monday morning and you wake up before the alarm clock goes off.  You can’t wait to get to work and start your day doing what you love.  You have in your possession that positive, innovative, motivating force called passion.

Does that sound like you?  If it does, you’re a fortunate one who has found the kind of work that brings out the best of your attributes.  Plus, you’re getting paid to do it.  You have drive and passion for the work that you do.  Passion makes you want to maximize your time, use it to be productive, and go above and beyond the call of duty.  You arrive early to get started on your day and you even stay late, not because you are finishing an important presentation.  You simply loss track of time due to passionately working, doing what you love.

Then there are some of us who believe wholeheartedly in TGIF (Thank God It’s Friday) and live for Fridays, dreading Mondays, in need of passion.  Monday is a good day to call in and report to the boss that we have contracted some sort of sickness over the weekend that we know is as fake as a $3 bill.  If you’re really not passionate about this job, you don’t even try to sound sick anymore.

The passion for the job is just not there so sitting through boring, time wasting meetings is a real challenge.  You’re there because you have to be, not because you want to be, or you have some positive input you’re itching to share on the topics discussed.  So you try to kill time by sending text messages to all of your friends during the meeting.  You daydream about the vacation you want to take to the Caribbean islands and the notepad you brought in was used to doodle or write your grocery list, not taking meeting notes.  Sound familiar?

Being passionate about your job means you always put forth your best efforts and produce quality work.  You are proactive and want to do the job to the best of your abilities to see growth and success.  You feel good about what you do and you enjoy it.

When you are passionate about what you do for a living, you volunteer for projects.  You look forward to the meetings and when you eagerly share your optimistic thoughts, it motivates and encourages others, as you inject your positive energy into the room.

I discovered my passion a little over a year ago.  I auditioned for a stage play and got the part.  I figured I wasn’t going to be paid for it, but I didn’t care because I was just going to do it for fun anyway.  To my surprise, I was going to be paid and it was a whopping $7 an hour for rehearsal time and production time.  Still, I didn’t care about that. 

I absolutely loved it!  I showed up at rehearsal times early and left late chatting with the playwrights or my fellow cast members.  It was awesome!  I even discovered I have a talent for acting and got a chance to use my singing gift as well.  Everything came to me so naturally.  Remembering my lines was easy.  I read through the entire script once, but somehow knew all of my lines without blunder and the funny ad libs I came up with just enhanced my performance.  Being on that stage acting, singing notes I never sang in rehearsals that just seemed to come from the soul, made me realize that was a place I belonged.  I found my passion.

What are you passionate about? 

Credits: www.careerplanning.about.com, Stock Photo

The Next Pink Slip Might Be Yours

    

The state of Georgia reported that the unemployment rate in Metro Atlanta rose from 4.0 percent in November 2007 to 4.4 percent in December 2007.

For the entire state of Georgia, the unemployment rate rose from 4.2 percent in November to 4.6 percent in December said the Georgia Department of Labor, but this rate in Georgia is still below the U.S. unemployment rate of 4.8 percent.

The unemployment increase is largely due to job losses in construction, manufacturing, and other service related jobs.

The economic forecast was looking a bit grim and unemployment was expected to continue to rise, but the U.S. Department of Labor has reported Thursday, that applications for unemployment benefits decreased by 1,000.

However, the gloomy telltale signs of a weakening economy are becoming more and more evident as the first month in 2008 comes to a close.  An unusally high number of layoffs and company closings are being reported.  Lack of job creation and not to mention the stock market dive are all key indicators that…..Houston, we have a problem. 

Could it be that those 1,000 have reached their end for receiving unemployment benefits?

What does this say about the U.S. economy?  Are we really headed for a recession?

How do you prevent the next pink slip from being yours?

Credits: www.associatedpress.com, www.ajc.com Photo: www.pfaw.org