Write Killer Resumes

In Part One of this article, I had listed a few traits that a good boss should have.

Here are some more:

4. Be positive!

A negative boss cannot inspire his employees to do well. I mean, can one draw others to him or her if he or she wears a perpetual frown? A boss’s attitude will affect his subordinates. So you should have a positive attitude.

Smile and be cool all the time!

5. Be patient

It has been said that all good things come to those who wait. And that includes making better workers. How can you expect others to excel if you are beating down on their backs all the time?

6. Feel for others.

If you feel for your employees and have their welfare at heart, you have more than won them over. Once people know that you really care, they will go the extra mile for you.

A boss who thinks only of himself will not have any followers.

7. Laugh and bond.

Laughter and fun go a long way to breaking down barriers and building bonds with others. If you keep your protocol even on social occasions, you can bet your sweet job that very few, if any, will feel for you and your mission.

Lastly, for good measure, be fair. Don’t have favourites or look at things from a biased view. Especially, avoid race, religion and politics.

The boss is the fulcrum of the organization because he or she has to create a balance between his company’s needs, his or her own needs and the needs of the employees.

It is a balancing act that is difficult to achieve but there are guidelines to becoming one. Here they are below:

1. Know how to lead

A boss must have that quality which inspires his employees to do something that in his judgment is good for the company. He must sell his mission to the employees.

2. Cut your employees some slack

A good boss accepts the fact that as employees are humans they too will make mistakes. So he or she would not be angry when mistakes are made. That way, people won’t be afraid of making mistakes which is only a natural thing to do.

Being big-hearted is one quality that pays off in winning your employees’ loyalty.

3. Guts and responsibility

A good boss must have the guts to inspire, hire and fire. More importantly, a boss must take responsibility for things going wrong.

Two opposite examples come to mind. One, the fat cats on Wall Street. Many like Nero were partying and boozing while America burned. They caused the economy to tank.

More recently, Captain Philips of the container tanker Maersk Alabama leapt into a lifeboat full of Somalian pirates in exchange for the lives of his crew. He was rescued of course but the point is that this poorly paid captain (in comparison to the Wall Street bosses) saw responsibility as an obligation.

He would have made a good CEO in many of the finance houses.

Recently, I posted an article about five things that any resume must not have. Now, I shall talk about five things that every resume should have. Again, I am quoting from the 22 February 2009 issue of Sunday Times (Singapore).

These are the items that make a resume powerful:

1. Clearly spelt out career objective.

You should write briefly about the career goals you have. That would help your prospective employer zero in on the jobs or area of responsibility that are most relevant and in line with your goals.

2. A clear summary of your career so far.

Nothing irritates and employer more than having to figure out what job came first in your resume. Also he or she would not want to figure out what are your strengths or weaknesses. You should list all these on your resume.

3. Focus on your achievements.

Instead of telling your interviewer what your job entails tells him or her how well you have been assessed to do it. In other words, talk about your achievements.

4. Don’t write your resume in the passive, clinical way.

Instead of being passive write in an active manner. A statement like ‘ I was part of a group which conducted thorough research” it would come across better if you wrote,” I took charge of designing the penetrative questionnaire for the research team.”

An active voice shows you are in command.

5. Well organized resume.

Your work experience and academic qualifications must be chronologically arranged. This is to enable the interviewer to see your progress in education as well as in the work-place.

There has always been a prejudice against older workers and that has become more evident during tough times like these. Many of those 40 years and above have been given the cold shoulder when it comes to hiring.

One concerned Singaporean, Mr. Ong Kok Lam wrote to the Straits Times which published his letter on 8 April 2009.

Mr. Ong was surprised that bosses could shun older workers of whim he could write 101 reasons for why they are better than their younger counterparts. He however listed only 10 / They are:

1. Employers pay less in pension contributions for older workers.
2. Older workers are more mature and wiser.
3. Older workers are usually more conscientious.
4. Unlike younger workers, the older ones are more willing to accept lower pay.
5. Older workers are more willing to work longer hours.
6. Older workers are more willing to do overtime.
7. Older workers are more committed to their jobs as they know the value of being employed.
8. Younger people tend to be rash and older workers are more patient.
9. The older ones are more experienced in handling emergencies
10. Even at 52, an older worker has 10 more years to contribute to the organization.

These are all qualities that make for a good resume.

In February 2009, the Sunday Times of Singapore ran an article titled, writing a good resume”. It was a good article and one part caught my eye.

I am now paraphrasing a section in which I agree with. We have so much common ground here.

Here are the five no no’s:

1. Don’t send in a generic resume.

The reason is that hirers are irritated with such resumes because they don’t highlight the relevant skills they are looking for in a candidate.

With this I don’t totally agree because generic resumes can be used for some positions that require many skills.

2. Grammatical errors and typo mistakes.

Such mistakes show you are sloppy and that also means that you are not responsible.

3. Not enough personal details

This makes it difficult for hirers to contact you if they are interested.

4. Bad photographs

They say a picture says a thousand words. In a way, this is the first “contact” the hirer has with you. If you appear unkempt then they won’t be interested.

5. Salary

Unless you are asked to, don’t state the salary you want on your resume. That way, you avoid pricing yourself too high or too low.

Salary expectations are best left to the point at which you are almost hired.

One of the most terrifying things to do is to give a speech. Believe you me, I have gone through it ; I actually fainted when I had to give an impromptu speech to qualify for a certificate in the Dale Carnegie course I took.

Yes , even those who have prepared their speeches well do get nervous. Therefore those who don’t make sense are he ones who would suffer the most.

You know that you are off the mark when nobody is listening to your speech. They fidget, talk to each other and some even walk off.

That does not say much for your eloquence

What went wrong ?

First, you did not create a good impression with your body language. This is most important because that is the first contact you have with the listeners. And this includes having a steady, audible voice.

Second, you did not talk in terms of the listeners. You had a message that may have been well-written but it was not delivered to the listener’s doorstep. In other words , you did not address the listeners’ interests. You probably spoke about your organisation and yourself to promote your own agenda.

Third, your message may have been muddled. There was no core message but many issues were spoken about. The audience was left wondering “what is this all about”.

Fourth, you might have said something that was not politically correct. Could it have been a matter of race ,religion , politics or gender?

Fifth, you could have been too personal with he audience. People like friendly speakers but they feel threatened if they get too close.

Sixth, you could have used poor English or Mandarin or whatever language you were delivering your message in. Poorly written speeches mean poor messages.

Lastly, you could have presented an unbalanced message that was tilted in your organisation’s favour. Unless it was a necessarily defensive speech as in the case of damage control, listeners don’t want propaganda.

These are some of the mistakes you could make. The best way is to learn from experience.

Talking is only one side of communication. The other side is listening. The two go together to make for complete communication but I think that listening is more important because you first must gather information to converse, make a speech or write an email.

So what is good listening?

It is all these and more:

1. An interest in what the other person is saying. If you show interest then more likely you shall pay attention. And that leads to understanding.

2. Undivided attention to what is being said. If you have total attention for what is being said, you shall understand the message.

3. Comprehension. Do you understand what was being said? If not, you should
always clarify points.

4. Then you must also participate by asking for information. It is daunting if someone is speaking but the listener does not ask for more information nor add his or her own views. In other words discuss. Silence is not golden in this sense.

5. Don’t fidget, look away or look down on your toes when someone is talking to you. That means you don’t want to hear.

Someone once said that of all human skills, listening is the most important. He says that people feel wanted, loved and reassured when someone takes the time to listen.

Some of the most charming people are not good conversationalists. In fact they can fumble for words but they listen and that makes them such good counselors or friends.

Listening makes the person who is talking feel worthy. and respected.

Conversation is the cement of human relations. If there was no conversation there would be no bonding, no friendship, no science, no religion … and no business.

If you techies are thinking “but we have the internet, why would we need conversation?” –then you have missed the point. And the point is that emails can give convenience but they can never take the place of human interaction as in conversing with one another.

Whenever we meet someone, it is a golden opportunity to build bridges though you can’t be friends with all. If you miss a chance, you can always start over. But how? That’s where we now deal with the art (some say science) of conversation.
First you should be relaxed. That means not to be tensed up. Look at the person with focused attention but do not stare.
Then you should say anything that comes to mind. Of course I don’t mean anything offensive. The point is that almost anything can be a topic to break the ice.

You must always be respectful though.

It’s very simple. Whatever is happening is a topic for discussion- someone reading a book, eating a sandwich, trying a new shirt.

Second, watch how you deliver your lines. Never come on too strong with anybody even those you know. In other words, control your tone.

Thirdly, just let the conversation develop. That means just add onto what is being discussed.

Finally, you have to be mentally flexible to see if your fellow conversationalist is keen to carry on. If so, then the conversation thrives. If not then, just stop.

Talking to other people is one of the best ways to learn things and set down the foundation for a relationship that could go anywhere. You don’t need to know right away where it’s going or what is possible. People’s needs are constantly changing, so even if you can’t envision any potential in that first conversation, you should still always exchange contact information (one more reason to carry your business cards everywhere you go) and stay in touch.

Conversation lays the foundation of building many contacts and it is a very refreshing way o enrich your mind.