The Ins and Outs of Resume Swag

If you’re a manager, chances are, stacks of resumes have frequently infiltrated your pristine desk, signaling hiring time. Unarguably, weeding through throngs of initial candidate introductions just to land an ideal few is a chore most abhor. Sure, it’s daunting, but also a task I’ve had responsibility for tackling.  

When you think about it, everything changes. Social Media’s surge deserves mad props for propelling language and social mores to another level. So, why should resumes be immune from upgrade? Based on employment solicitations I’m periodically required to review, an outdated presentation format can crush a job seeker’s candidacy.

Whether you’re an out of touch hiring manager or anxious job seeker, take a look at the ins and outs of planting resume swag:   

1. Contact Info

IN: A professional email address and mobile phone digits

OUT:  Inclusion of physical address and business inappropriate email address (ex: baller100@hotmail.com)

 2. Job Description

IN: Achievement-driven content

OUT:  Task-focused content

3. Professional Experience

IN:  Limit to last 10 years of employment

OUT: Career history in its entirety, including first job fresh out of high school or college     

4. References

IN: Exclude from contents

OUT: “References Provided Upon Request.”

5. Length

IN: Single-page resume format is ideal with a 1 ½ page maximum

OUT: Excessive if it exceeds the preferred 1 ½ page limit

6. Volunteerism or Hobbies?

IN: Volunteerism is a resume bonus because it demonstrates a commitment to service.

OUT: Hobbies are irrelevant except when commonality with the hiring manager is struck.

 7. Cover Letter

IN: Inclusion

OUT: Exclusion

8. Jargon

IN: Avoid when not applicable to the position sought; include if it demonstrates the required industry command

OUT: Academia or technical language

9. Phrasing

IN: Exceptional communication skills demonstrated in public speaking and marketing collateral mastery. 

OUT: Good communication, both written and verbal, is too generic.

10. Unique Sales Proposition

IN: USP inclusion lends competitive distinction or why you’re best-suited for the position over your competition

OUT: USP absence defeats the sales purpose.

11. Social Media

IN: Inclusion recommended ONLY if representative of portfolio samples  

OUT: Link listing to showcase tech savvy  

What hasn’t changed is the fact that the resume remains a job seeker’s sales tool. Although incorporating the informational nuggets above may increase resume success, it’s advisable to consult a writing professional who is positioned by craft to brand you best. 

An Apology to Loved Ones Who Defied 'No Outrage' Day

Note: In a NYT Op-Ed last week, Bill Maher called for a ‘National Day of No Outrage' on March 25th. Ignoring Maher’s unapologetic plea to personal outrage, this post shines a humorous light on one of the biggest behavioral barriers facing communications. 
Dear Family and Friends,

Dogs are wisely observant, so I’m sure my beloved Weimeraner has noted the battles lost when attempts to divide my attention via his nudging paw have failed. Inciting only minimal cause for pause initially, the situation imploded when you guys hitched a bandwagon ride.     

Remember the Verizon commercial spotlighting the nerdy male who mocked the cellphone competition in “Can you hear me now?” repetition? Well, of equal annoyance for a multi-tasker like me is the question, ‘Are you listening?’   

Since falling for my iPhone 4S, you’ve expressed outrage over diluted communication. Not to dispute Mehrabian’s theory which segments communication into 55% body language, 38% voice tone and only 7% verbal, I suppose the messenger-tilted scale doesn’t absolve the receiver’s accountability. Should I have begged forgiveness for having denied any of you an uncluttered receptacle for messaging? Ok, my bad.          

Even the excuse of a misplaced summons to communications court, brilliant or so I thought, couldn’t crumble your cookies of presumed guilt. Yet, far from the simplicity of dropping mail off at a postal box, increased competition for attention IS disrupting your message’s delivery. Are you happy now with the admission?    

Pardon me if this cuts like a knife, but updating my FB status, joining the Twitter rage of the day and playing on Pinterest held more promise than the blabbering voices in my ear. And even in the off moment when no thumbing a text or uploading vacation pics took place, last night’s Patron-soaked celebrity event or upcoming Saks sale for which I’m ‘App Happy’ added ample distraction from Saturday’s boring banter. Hopefully, that’s all behind us now.

Awash in a new day, I’m convinced my recent medical diagnosis, ADDT, i.e., “Attention Deficit Disorder (due to) Technology, lines a healing pathway. So, with the offering of the truth and nothing but, can you finally see fit to forgive me?

S.         

Freelancer Warning: Before You Say Yes to the Project

During a recent gabfest with a graphics Goddess, the subject of an empty creative calendar cropped up. It’s not the first and it won’t be the last time I’ll hear a former solopreneur attribute the retirement of the boss badge to administrative burnout. Let’s face it, one who possesses a surplus of talent doesn’t automatically come equipped with the finesse of driving value and dealing with difficult clients. I mean, what freelancer hasn’t experienced the client who wants what they want when they want it but continuously balks at every turn?!

So, before you say yes to the project, ask yourself these questions to discern whether the project strikes a match:  

1.      Does the project ignite your fire? 

2.      Is the communication pipeline open?

3.      Is your communication style compatible with the client’s?    

4.      Is the client equally vested in the project’s success?

5.      How responsive has the client been to your requests?   

6.      Has the client raised numerous objections during preliminary discussions that you’ve failed to overcome?

7.      Can the work be accomplished within the expected timeframe?

8.      What is the potential for future work and/or referrals?

9.      How well does the project align with your previous experiences or capabilities?

10.   Does the client recognize your value?

11.   Do you have significant resources to execute the project?

12.   Is the budget sufficient?

Though experts disagree, the economy continues to stagger. Other than the 1%, who doesn’t need money to register a plus in the profit column? Should your responses yield more negatives than positives to the questions above, it could very well be that the project under consideration may not be for you. Furthermore, if you’ve made your best attempt to mediate some of the challenges to no avail, bypass this one. Despite the pass on income, no work is ever worth the loss of sanity.     

          

STOP: No Textese, Please!

The text message “JW, WAYD?” from a recent college graduate sent me scrambling for translation. Sure, I text, but it’s not life absorbing like it is for perpetually thumbing teens and young adults. After all, to hit communication bullseye, the messenger must be understood.

Does the limited acceptance of the acronym for “Just wondering, what are you doing?” signal an unconscious aim for communication’s abyss? Not necessarily, according to the Text4Science project brains who shrug shortcut laziness for creativity and imagination in language use.

As a writer, I’m all for giving creative props, yet, I’m unconvinced that texting will drive the literary skills development as researchers at the University of Tasmania in Australia proclaim. Although science may lend credence to texting as a learning tool, we can’t feign ignorance to the probability of the student’s inability to differentiate when usage is appropriate. Most teens and young adults just aren’t that savvy such that job applicants and employees of the youthful variety have been known to sprinkle cover letters and professional emails with textese. 

Seemingly, the message that there is a time and place for everything has been lost on this Anything Goes Generation. With the rising acceptance of pajamas in some public schools (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-pajamas-20120122,0,1735091.story) and profanity as routine language, educators are not only challenged with locking down creative ways to enhance learning but commanding standards that were once instilled in the home.

It may be the age of the microwave, however, self-respect and respect for others should always dictate behavior and a time and place for everything remains. Sorry dudes and dudettes, the language spawned from texting was never intended to be all purpose-applied.   

Racial Slurs Won't Derail Linsanity

For NBA fanatics in America, Big Apple Linsation handily cancelled any recall of last year’s lockout lows. For communities occasionally rocked by world uncertainty, Linderella delivered a welcomed celebratory distraction. Black, white, brown or yellow people across the globe were united in “rah rah sis boom bah”until Linsanity yielded to media insanity. 

When the Asian-American NY point guard failed to engineer a team lin, Max Bretos, an ESPN anchor cited “a chink in the armor” for cause. “Oh no he didn’t,” I huffed when one considers the racial slur “chink” is earmarked for those of Asian descent. But yes, I’m afraid the media maggot did. Sadly, he wasn’t the lone blow fly.  

Anthony Federico, the writer responsible for the ESPN.com headline has since been fired while Bretos’s slip of the tongue netted a 30-day suspension. What’s puzzling is the lack of admonishment levied against Spero Dedes, the play-by-play voice of the Knicks, whose loose lips parted the same phrase via ESPN Radio New York. And this is supposed to be a team? Clearly those aboard the Lin train seem to execute this concept better than the executive team.

What about Fox Sports columnist Jason Whitlock who recently tweeted “Some lucky lady is going to feel a few inches of pain tonight”? Plain and simple, the statement opened a stereotypical attack on Lin’s masculinity. So unnecessary and unprofessional, but the columnist hasn’t been ejected from his throne when a suspension is justified. Never mind the apologies since issued by Dedes and Whitlock as provoked afterthoughts.   

Jeez, where’s the accountability in media these days? I see it slip-sliding away along with established editorial constraints requiring continuous enforcement.  

Past the professional roar of cultural insensitivity, you have to admit that lin or lose, the Jeremy kid is something special. Harvard’s grad is not only a ball of “I Can” fire on the court but gentlemanly enough off of it to forgive and forget. Perhaps he’s teaching us far more than we bargained for.               

Roland Martin’s Tweet-sanity: Mantalk or Malice?

Not since Janet Jackson’s “Boob Bowl” has the super sport of football been upstaged by controversy until now. It wasn’t the politically-charged Chrysler ad or the post-game tirade launched by Tom Brady’s supermodel wife. Instead, it was CNN commentator Roland Martin’s salty tweets that unleashed a cyber Katrina.

Who knew David Beckham’s itty bitty tighty whiteys would surge such strong reactions? Some say the resulting suspension by CNN was justified and others cry foul. I think a dissection of Martin’s tweets on the basis of (1) context and (2) perception might lend a greater understanding.    

CONTEXT:

No matter how you dice it, context matters. Here context refers to the circumstances in which an event occurs. Behind closed doors, Martin’s testosterone-packed tweets amount to mere mantalk. It’s a fact that conversations far removed from political correctness take place in venues where men congregate daily.

The award-winning journalist erred, however, when he committed his thoughts to public record. Yes, Twitter is as public as it gets and some private conversations are unsuitable for mass consumption. Based on reactions I’ve read, some in the public expect Martin to wear the reporting hat 24/7. Is the expectation extreme? For a journalist, whose profession is erected on an unbiased foundation, I think not.  

PERCEPTION:

Few eyes blinked when Brady vowed to kick some New York butt in the 2012 Super Bowl. Why? Because the bravado he expressed is a sports culture commonality. Conversely, Martin’s language, “smack the ‘ish’ out of him” and “Oh, he needs a visit from #teamwhipdatass” inflamed, because to some, it implied any man gone gaga over Beckham’s buffed bod in H&M’s underwear and the preference for pink might be dissuaded through violence.  

It’s no secret the color pink has endured a historical bashing by heterosexual men who cite it unmanly. Plus, we can’t ignore gay men are fashion’s fiercest from head to toe. Hello!

Although I remain unconvinced that malicious intent lurked behind Martin’s words, it’s been said “as a man thinketh, so is he.” Perception - how one processes messages - is a powerful thing and this Martin, a trained communicator, should know.  

        

      

Cracking the 'Cracker Counties' Code

Did you happen to hear Politico’s Jonathan Martin say ‘cracker counties’ during an MSNBC interview with Chuck Todd recently I missed it, but when I read the account, my reaction meter registered OMW as in “Oh my word.” Literally. Are you kidding me?! This can’t be professional journalism. Right?

As Martin later explained, ‘cracker counties’ is an endearment central to Floridians, referencing residents with long term generational ties to the region. Since America at-large is likely unfamiliar with the term, Todd bore the journalistic responsibility of clarifying its meaning. To my knowledge, he didn’t.     

Now if we detach the word ‘counties’ from ‘cracker,’ we’re left with the pejorative commonly used as a vile distinction for poor, uneducated whites. Fast forward to 2012 and the expression ‘let’s get crackin’ slung by hip hoppers has nothing to do with color. For the unhip, it means let’s proceed. 

Given mainstream media’s premature proclamations and blatant misstatements, including John King’s recent gaffe where he referred to Mitt Romney as Governor Mormon, it’s mildly shocking that many called ‘cracker counties’ into question. And don’t overlook the fact that the messenger matters and if a minority had spewed the term publicly, a backlash behemoth would’ve resulted.  

Let’s be clear, political immersion doesn’t make one a journalist: Todd attended George Washington University without graduating and the Hamden Sydney College from which Martin graduated doesn’t currently offer a journalism program.      

Although journalism, once the bedrock of peeling fact from fiction in an unbiased manner, has obviously sputtered, audience expectations remain the same: Stick to the facts and shed the bias. 

MSNBC Interview with Chuck Todd and Jonathan Martin

See John King's 'Governor Morman' Gaffe