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Reinventing Yourself Can Make a Difference in Landing a Better Job Are you stuck in a dead end job that isn’t getting you any closer to your goals? Did you wake up one morning to find yourself knee deep in a career you never wanted and one that is not making you happy? Many people feel this way – it can be easy to “fall into” a career that you think is temporary and then get so caught up in the day to day aspects of the job that never quite get out of it. If you find yourself in this kind of rut, the good news is that it is never too late to make a fresh start. No matter what your age is or what stage in your career you are at, you can always reinvent yourself to get closer to that perfect job. All you have to do is work up the courage to make the jump. The first step in giving yourself a career makeover is identifying exactly what you want to do. While it may be true that there is always time to reinvent yourself and start over, if you have to go through the process too many times, you are only wasting valuable time that could have been spent doing what you love. Don’t fall into yet another career that isn’t all that is it cracked up to be. Think about the things that you wanted to do when you first entered the working world. What was your dream job then? What career field was your passion? Is it still what you want to be doing today? Discover your dream, and then start building your goals around it. Once you know what you want to do, the time comes to start researching it. How do most people get started in the field? Will you need to start your own business, or are there companies out there already doing what you want to do? What kinds of entry level positions are available? Will you be able to do this in your town, or would moving to another city mean more opportunities for you? Before you make the leap, research your job options carefully. You may need to plan financially for the step you are about to take, so do your homework up front. Talking to other people in the field you want to enter is a great way to get actionable advice from people who have been there. When you know what kind of experience you will need to get started in the field of your dreams, think about the experience you have had in the past, and what you have done that matches up. This can mean either work related experience or things you have done as a hobby or class you have taken in school. Be creative here – you may have experience you don’t even realize you have. For instance, if you want to open a bakery, and you are always in charge of the bake sale at your child’s school, this counts as experience. Comb through your history and pick out all of the things you have done that will give you a leg up in your new career. Last but not least, you have start creating a new image to present to the working world. Start over with a brand new resume, this time highlighting the experience you have this is relevant to your new career goals. Work on a great cover letter that explains your passion and why you want to switch fields. If you are starting your own business, work on building a website and creating a brand you can be proud of. The sooner you start living your new career, the sooner your dream job will fall into place.

Big Time Experience with Small Time Publications (writing newsletter articles) When you start writing, you may have ambitions of getting your name on the front page of newspapers and on feature stories in magazines, but you will soon find out that it takes time to get there. Even the best writers have to make their way through the ranks before making it to headline status. Don’t be discouraged though. Even though you may have been rejected more times than you could have ever imagined, there are still many places that will be accepting. Even if you feel like you’ve exhausted all of your creative power, there are publications that are ready to help you develop even further. The buildup is not leading towards riches or fame, but writing newsletter articles can be a great step in that direction. The first thing that any writer should realize is that there is more to learn. Even knowing all of the grammar and all of the clarity rules will not make you a good writer. Only experience can bring you to that place. Newsletters are a great place to start getting cleaning up your writing and to start learning to write for different audiences. Who Prints Newsletters? Why are newsletters such a great place to start earning publications? There are plenty of organizations and groups that print them. The printing money and the circulation are already in place. The other great thing about writing newsletter articles is that there is almost always a high demand for newsletter writers. The pay is not great and is most often non-existent, but the newsletters must go out all the same. Hit up any organization in town that you know prints a newsletter. Some of the printing is done nationally for the larger organizations, but many will be done locally. Try volunteer and non-profit organizations as well as university and church groups. These organizations will all have news that they need to get to the public. Many of them survive based on public donations. What that means for you is that there is plenty of demand for talented and interesting writers. The Expert in Print If you have any sort of claim to expertise along with your writing skills, you will be a fantastic candidate for writing newsletter articles. One great draw for a reader is the pull of a well researched and authoritative article. Imagine the thrilled group of environmentalists when you approach them with evidence that the developmental process for non-stick pan coating is connected to the decreasing population of Asian tortoises. You’d have a job in no time. Regardless of whether or not you got paid for your work, you can expect that you’d get repeated assignments, growing experience and bylines galore for your next step of job applications. Being knowledgeable about a certain subject will give you many writing opportunities. If you have any experience in a subject area, be sure to add it to your resume. As you write newsletter articles, you’ll only add to you’re your expertise. Other Newsletter Articles If you don’t necessarily believe that you have an area of expertise that is not a problem. There are many other ways to get into writing newsletter articles. A big part of newsletter content is just content. Newsletters need to be made up of interesting and varied articles. There are usually volunteers that head up the projects and they in turn hire various writers to fill in the titles that they choose. If you can be flexible in your writing and if you can find a newsletter that works with a topic you care about, you will be well on your way to building your resume with bylines and great circulation. Writing newsletter articles will probably not be a career in itself because of the low pay scale, but it will take you closer to a lucrative writing career. Think of writing newsletter articles as a type of community service. Even after you have added paying pieces to your repertoire you may continue to write for the newsletters that you care about.

Let your Resume Speak Volumes for that Next Big Job Before you even get through the door of any job interview, there is already one document that has done the talking for you – your resume. A good resume can mean the difference between getting the call of the interview and waiting by phone, and a well written, thoughtful resume can make you stand out over and above other applications with similar skills and work experience. Let your resume give you the edge on that next big job by following a few simple tips. When you sit down to write your resume, you need to plan it out before you start typing. There are two main formats for a resume: the chronological format, in which you simply list your job history, starting with your most recent or current job and moving backwards, and the functional format, in which you highlight your skills and experience rather than specific jobs and specific employers. The chronological format is definitely the most common, and many employers prefer this kind of resume, but choose the format this is going to show off your skills in the best light. If your work history is a choppy and a chronological format resume would only draw attention to that, use the functional format. The key is to choose the format that will give you the best chance of getting noticed for the job and to stick with the format throughout your resume. No matter which resume format you choose to use, the top of your resume should always include your name, contact information and work objectives. Name and contact information is pretty straight forward, although experts do recommend that if you have a “gender neutral” name that you include a helpful “Mr.” or “Ms” to clear up any confusion. Your work objectives should be your career goals. For instance, if you want to manage a small team of sales people, then say that, so your potential employers know that you are moving in a certain direction with your career and not simply apply for jobs willy-nilly. After your work objective comes your work experience. List your jobs in reverse chronological order. Instead of simply creating a bullet pointed list your work related tasks, look for a way to frame all of your responsibilities so that they sound like you showed leadership and problem solving capabilities. For instance, if you were in charge of keeping the expensive accounts in order, say that you were in charge of troubleshooting monthly expense account records, saving the company hundreds of dollars every month. If you have a few blips in your work history, be clear about what you were doing in the downtime. If you were raising children, traveling, or in school, say that you were. If you weren’t really doing anything, put as positive a spin on things as you can without lying. Never leave gaps in your work history unaddressed on your resume. After your work history, it is time to list your education credentials. If you didn’t finish a degree, say how much college work you completed and highlight any coursework relevant to the job. If your college degree or post grad work is in progress, say when you expect to be finished. This is another place where gaps matter. If there is a gap in your education history, again say what you were doing in that time, referring back to your work history where appropriate. You can overcome these gaps as long as you don’t pretend that they don’t exist. Round out your resume by listing any awards and professional memberships you may hold. Don’t get into your hobbies unless they are specifically related to the position for which you are applying. Personal details like religion and race have no place on your resume and you are not required to disclose your age. Instead, let your experience do the talking.