The Definitive Job Hunt – Part 2

Rowan Manahan, from Fortify Your Oasis, has tapped me to be part of his online collaboration: “The Definitive Guide to Clearing Job Hunt Hurdles”.

Step 2: Representing Yourself in Writing

There are tons of resources on how to write a better resume. My firm has accumulated a pretty extensive advice section on our website on How to Format A Resume and Writing A Better Resume.

And I’ve done my far share of ranting about resume writing before, so to avoid beating a dead horse, I’ll keep this short.

Here are my 3 things to keep in mind:

1. Follow these simple rules to all written communication with your potential new employer:

• Check, Check, Recheck and then check again for spelling and grammar errors
• Keep the tone professional
• Don’t ramble (don’t do this in the interview either!)

2. When communicating by email – be sure your email address is sending the right message. (Hint if your moniker contains "hot1", ends in “4u”, or makes any reference to your anatomy go to gmail or yahoo and set up an address you can use just for professional correspondence) Yep, I've ranted on this before too!

3. Check your image - keep in mind that your potential employer isn’t going to just look at the information that you willingly provide – have you Googled yourself lately? I recently interviewed a potential intern, and after viewing her MySpace page, I found it difficult to take her seriously. What’s on your MySpace page? (or your Blog for that matter!)

Next Step: Blowing them away in the interview (even without weapons of mass destruction!)