Resume help wanted, apply within

There are plenty of places to go for help in writing a resume if you're willing to pay. And there are probably fewer, but still good, people who will help review resumes for free. Today I went to one of the free ones, and I'm happy to say that other than a few tweaks, my resume seems in good shape. It's a few posts below this one if you're interested, and I plan to rewrite and move a few things around and will have another version posted by early next week.

Today I went to EastBay Works in Concord, where a kind person from Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill looked at my resume and gave me a few tips. We also discussed my job search, and I was glad to hear that I'm doing everything right in looking for full-time work. I'm doing everything she said she'd recommend to people hunting for jobs: I'm spending half of my time networking and the other half applying for jobs I find on craigslist, Indeed or other such Web sites; I'm going on informational interviews; I've joined a networking group; I'm volunteering, I'm looking for work I'm qualified for and tyring to move my job skills from one field to another, and I'm doing freelance work related to my field.

Since the top third of a resume is what gets looked at the most and quickest by an employer, she suggested that I move my excellent work experience up and take the "Skills" section and incorporate that into the accomplishments bulleted in my professional experience. I plan to make those changes and to try to spice up the look of the resume by early next week. After that, I'd like to try to find someone who hires for Web writing jobs and see what they think.

Rewriting the resume

Writing a successful resume is one of the most difficult parts of the job search. For the past few weeks I've been focusing on rewriting my resume after discovering that it was geared more toward newspapers and less toward other areas where I want to work, such as the Internet. I don't know why it took me months to figure this out, but with the help of someone during an informational interview, I learned that my old resume wasn't going to get me a job. I'm trying new things and expect the next one to do more.

There are tons of Web pages about how to write resumes, and plenty of people are willing to do it for a price, or even for free, and I could even add some power words to spice it up and attract some more looks.

One trick is to put words from the job description, such as the common "communication skills" in the resume so that when a computer scans it for keywords, those will pop out and move it up the pile. I like to take the approach of having as many people look at it as possible, getting their feedback, and using what I think is best. On Thursday, for example, I'm going to EastBay Works to have my resume reviewed by a professional for free. I've also given it to my Success Team at Job Connections for their input, which has been the most valuable so far, and changed things around. Another idea is to give it to a potential employer, probably during an informational interview, and see what they think and if it's what they're looking for in a potential employee.

Once I get it completed, probably by the end of the week, I'll post it in a blog and see what the readers think.